Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, less than a week after that panel heard testimony from former FBI Director James Comey.



In letters to the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies -- with whom Sessions was originally scheduled to appear Tuesday -- he wrote of the necessity to change his schedule following Comey's hearing and an invitation to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee.



"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," wrote Sessions. "The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information."



Lawmakers on the appropriations committees had indicated an interest in questioning Sessions on Russian meddling in last year's presidential election rather than on the Department of Justice's budget, as was scheduled, leading to the decision, according to the letters.



On Wednesday, written testimony by Comey about his interactions with President Trump was released in which the ex-director noted that he asked Sessions "prevent any future direct communication" between Trump and himself after the two shared a private dinner on January 27 and one-on-one Oval Office meeting on February 14 that Comey found to be "inappropriate." Comey wrote that Sessions did not reply to his request.



During Comey's appearance Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, asked Comey a series of questions about Sessions' involvement in the Russia investigation during the two weeks between Trump expressing his "hope" that Comey could let go of the probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Sessions' recusal from inquiries related to the election.



The attorney general cited his involvement in Trump's campaign for stepping away from the Russia investigation in March. His recusal announcement came days after it was revealed that he met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. on at least two occasions in 2016.



Comey additionally expressed that FBI leadership believed Sessions would "inevitably" recuse himself and that they "were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic."



Last week, ABC News learned that the relationship between Trump and Sessions had declined to the point that Sessions recently suggested he could resign. Multiple sources confirmed that the president was disappointed with the attorney general's recusal -- a decision he only learned about minutes before it was announced in March.



Despite the report, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday in response to a question from a reporter that Trump "absolutely" has confidence in Sessions.



Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will replace Sessions at the appropriations committees' hearing Tuesday.

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Genres : Action, Adventure, Animation, Crime, Comedy, Family

Starring : Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Mariah Carey, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson

Director : Chris McKay

Plot Synopsis

In the irreverent spirit of fun that made "The LEGO Movie" a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensembleLEGO Batmanstars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham City, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker's hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.
Gerry Anderson's famed children's TV adventure show Thunderbirds was a couple decades before my time, and I don't recall seeing it in syndication during my own childhood. A later, goofier Anderson series called Terrahawks premiered right around the time I was of an age for such things, but the little I watched of it didn't make much impression on me. As an adult, Thunderbirds does not hold any special nostalgia in my memories. Nonetheless, I find myself fascinated by its richly detailed, elaborately constructed fantasy world and Anderson's innovative (if a little creepy) "Supermarionation" puppetry process. When the series was released on DVD in the early 2000s, I couldn't resist the lure of its retro charms.

The appeal of Thunderbirds for kids is pretty obvious. The program feels like it must have sprung directly from the mind of a child. Watching an episode is like watching a roomful of toys come to life. This is what children see when they play. Unfortunately, for an adult viewer, the series fares less well as scripted entertainment. What should have been a tight half-hour show was bloated to hour-long episodes that were very slackly paced and repetitive. Honestly, I never made it all the way through that DVD box set, despite trying on a couple of occasions.

Regardless of these issues, the show was enormously popular in its native England, enough so that Anderson and his producers (including his wife Sylvia and financier Lew Grade) felt that they could bring it to the big screen with a pair of feature films: Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968). Expectations for the first movie ran so unreasonably high that Grade reportedly boasted that Thunderbirds would outgross James Bond. He was woefully mistaken. Audiences of the day were not accustomed to paying movie theater prices to watch what amounted to glorified episodes of a TV show they already got at home for free. Thunderbirds Are Go was a box office dud. Although distributor United Artists was willing to try again with the sequel, that one bombed as well.

If anything, the movies distill the essence of Thunderbirds down to a more manageable package, and are a reasonable entry point for a casual viewer interested in the program but daunted at the prospect of slogging through more than thirty TV episodes first. The storylines are self-contained enough that no prior viewing is required. All you need to know is the basic premise: One hundred years in the future, retired millionaire astronaut Jeff Tracy and his five sons run a humanitarian relief organization called International Rescue from a fabulous secret headquarters on an uncharted island. After conventional rescue attempts have failed, they can deploy a fleet of five high-tech vehicles for emergency operations on land, sea, air or even space.







In Thunderbirds Are Go, the IR team branches out from rescue missions and agrees to provide security for the launch of a space vehicle called the Zero-X, which is scheduled for a mission to Mars. In addition to foiling sabotage efforts from dastardly villain The Hood, they'll have to save the ship's crew during a bad re-entry on the return trip. In between these two bookends, the space crew arrives on Mars and encounters snake monsters with bazooka mouths simply for the sake of adding an action scene during a lull.

After the first film's failure, the sequel Thunderbird 6 takes a lighter, more comedic tone. Convinced that International Rescue desperately needs a sixth vehicle to compliment its fleet, Jeff Tracy commissions inventor genius Brains to design another craft  yet he has no idea what this new vehicle should be or do (nor who will pilot it, unless he plans to adopt another son), and shoots down all of Brains' ideas. Meanwhile, half the Tracy boys and their British liaison Lady Penelope take a world tour on the maiden voyage of a new luxury airship called Skyship One, which happens to have also been designed by Brains. When the ship is hijacked and threatens to crash onto a missile base, the only chance of rescue comes from an unexpected source.

Both movies are essentially extended TV episodes and feel heavily padded to reach their 90-minute lengths. Thunderbirds Are Go opens with a nearly interminable scene that shows every detail of the Zero-X launch in exhaustingly slow detail. The turgid pace does not combine well at all with the deliberately affectless acting from the puppets. Around the middle of the movie, the plot takes an interlude for an extended dream sequence in which young Alan Tracy dreams about going to a space nightclub and watching a puppet band (based on the real British group Cliff Richard & The Shadows) perform an entire song. As if that weren't frustrating enough, almost the entire first hour of Thunderbird 6 is pointless filler material during which nothing of note happens.

Of the two, Thunderbirds Are Go is overall the better movie, even though its story is very silly stuff and the Thunderbirds themselves are underutilized with insufficient screen time. However, by the time Thunderbird 6 finally kicks into gear, it climaxes with a fairly exciting (if not terribly logical) rescue operation that's more satisfying than anything in the first film.

Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 are both very flawed productions, but still have some charm as artifacts of a unique and idiosyncratic vision. For as unnervingly close to the Uncanny Valley effect as the puppetry gets (especially whenever jarring close-up shots of live action hands are intermixed with the puppet work), it's transfixing to watch and contemplate how much effort was necessary to sell the illusion  all for the noble goal of inspiring the imaginations of children.







The double feature of Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 was first released on Blu-ray in 2014 as a limited edition of 3,000 copies from Twilight Time. That disc eventually sold out and went out of print. Now that Twilight Time's exclusivity agreement has expired, new distributor Kino Lorber has licensed the movies from MGM Home Entertainment for a Blu-ray reissue.

In many respects, the Kino package simply copies the prior Twilight Time release, right down to carrying over an audio commentary by Twilight Time founders Nick Redman and Jeff Bond. However, rather than consolidate both movies onto one dual-layer Blu-ray, Kino has opted to separate them onto two single-layer discs. Kino wasn't able to obtain all of the prior bonus features, but attempts to compensate somewhat by adding a new exclusive commentary on Thunderbird 6. Although the MSRP of the Kino edition is, technically, the same $29.95 that Twilight Time's copy went for, the Kino version is not a limited edition and will benefit from reduced pricing at retailers.
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
Editor's Note: This is the eighth part of a 12-part series that focuses on the market.

Last week, we compared the performance of the main indexes to see which performed the best/worst to compare with your portfolio asset allocation.

Today we begin a new series on the fiduciary-conflict of interest Rule, and I answer questions on what it is and how retirement investors are affected.

Question: What is the fiduciary-conflict of interest rule?

Answer: It is legislation, crafted during the Obama administration, focusing on eliminating conflicts of interests from financial advisers, brokers and insurance planners. It was created for advisers to act in the best interest of their clients.

Q: Does it apply to all investors?

A: No, only assets in advised individual retirement accounts. Per Morningstar, the rule affects $3 trillion worth of assets.

Q: Why the importance?

A: The Obama administration and the Department of Labor argued the rule would protect retirement savers from losing $17 billion a year because of conflicts of interest, mainly coming from fees and commissions from product recommendations.

Q: Who governs the new ruling?

A: The U.S. Department of Labor. According to the DOL.gov website, after April 10 (which is now June 9), advisers who are paid to make recommendations about retirement accounts, such as individual retirement accounts, IRAs and 401(k) accounts, will be treated as fiduciaries. This includes advisers who are paid directly by you or paid indirectly through commissions or other payments they may receive from third parties. As fiduciaries, they must protect their customers from harmful conflicts of interest.

Q: What is a fiduciary?

A: A fiduciary is legally obligated to act in his/her clients' best financial interests. The focus of the rule is to provide consumers with retirement planning advice at a fiduciary standard. The rule is not intended to limit the retirement planning options available to anyone. The rule goes into effect in two parts, the first taking effect June 9, with the remaining regulations going into effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Q: Why are so many financial Institutions, Advisers and Brokers fighting the ruling?

A: This one is simple -- follow the money. This new rule could greatly reduce their income. According to Matthew Heimer from Fortune Magazine, Currently, many relationships between investment pros and retirement clients are required only to meet a "suitability" standard. In practice, under that rule brokers can and do park clients in investments that are either absurdly expensiveoften because they generate chunky commissions for the broker  or highly risky, or both.

Heres the bottom line: According to the Department of Labor, "The Financial Institution and the Adviser(s) [must] provide investment advice that is, at the time of the recommendation, in the best interest of the retirement investor."

As an advocate for the investor/trader on Main Street, I ask, "why hasn't the new Fiduciary ruling been in effect all along?" More important, if dealing with a financial professional, "how will the new Fiduciary Rule affect you?"

In my next column, Ill break down the ruling to show how unnecessary fees affect you, plus discuss fair questions to ask your adviser.

Plan your work, work your plan, and share your harvest!
Shawnee Professional Services and Shawnee Community College were honored with Illinois Community College Trustees Association Business and Industry Partnership Awards for 2017 on June 2 at the annual ICCTA awards in Normal.

The business is a longstanding client of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Shawnee Community College. Candy Eastwood, coordinator for the Center for Community and Economic Development at Shawnee Community College spoke highly of the group in a news release.

SPS is the perfect example of a successful company that recognizes the benefits of remaining loyal to their community and continues to seek employees from the region," she said. "Shawnee Professional Services, as well as their employees, give a lot of time and energy to making their community and the surrounding region a great place to live and grow their business. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition.

Shawnee Professional Services is a design company focusing on land surveying, water and waste design, transportation design, topographic, utility mapping, right-of-way acquisitions and grant administration. It was also named the college's Business/Industry Partnership of the Year in 2016. Seventeen of the business' 40 employees are graduates of the college.

 The Southern
The newspapers request for ACHA records netted two union contracts  a five-year contract signed in 2005 and another in 2010 that was schedule to expire in the fall of 2015.

The contracts are similar, and the below terms are as stated in the 2010 contract, which remains in effect until which time a new contract is agreed upon. Below is a summary of the terms of the contract.

 The contract covers all employees with the exception of the executive director. It includes two classes of employees: office staff and maintenance workers, the latter of which are split into Maintenance Mechanic I and Maintenance Mechanic II. (The 2005 contract included a position of maintenance supervisor, but that did not carry over into the 2010 agreement).

 The contract only listed salaries for the maintenance workers. Maintenance Mechanic Is make $16 an hour under the terms of the contract, and Maintenance Mechanic IIs make $13 an hour. Maintenance employees receive, under the contract, 75 cents per hour extra for the hours worked providing services to Elmwood and McBride.

Those are the two family housing complexes that have fallen into such disrepair that HUD will begin moving people out of them in the coming weeks. Though those salary rates are not out of the norm, records from HUD and the ACHA show that most maintenance workers made above the prescribed wages, some in excess of $20 an hour. But there is no written explanation as to how wages set above the contract rate were determined, or should have been determined. (More on that below)

 The contract called for a 40 hour workweek, but five of those hours included paid lunches and breaks. Essentially, that meant employees received 40 hours pay for 35 hours work, per week.

 All workers received 16 paid holidays per year, including their birthday and Election Day.

 They received 22 annual sick days. Concerning sick days, the contract called for the ACHA to pay employees upon retirement or permanent layoff for up to 40 days at half their rate pay.

Further, the contract stated that each Sept. 30, the ACHA would buy back any accumulated sick days over 40 days at half pay, not to exceed 40 days in one year. For an employee making about $35,000 annually, that could amount to a benefit of close to $2,700, assuming the employee had accumulated 40 extra days. Though, as with many policies in the contract, it's not made entirely clear how this would work, given that the contract calls for the days over 40 to be bought back yearly. Seemingly, that would prevent accumulation above 40 days. However, previous arrangements may have allowed long-serving employees to have built up a large bank of sick days.

 Employees receive five personal days annually.

 The number of vacation days they receive is determined by longevity. Those employed by the ACHA less than three years receive 10 days. Those with three to seven years receive 15 days. Employees with seven to 16 years employment at the ACHA receive 25 days. And for those with more than 16 years, they receive 30 days.

 The contract called for vacation time to accumulate up to 45 days, and employees who retired or were permanently laid off would be paid for that time based on their full wage rate.

 In total, for a worker with at least 16 years, they receive 10 weeks (calculated by five-day workweeks) off between their vacation and personal days and holidays, with another close to four-and-a-half weeks paid time off if they fall sick. Combined, that amounts to more than a fourth of the year.

 All employees receive an annual after-tax $1,500 performance bonus. The newspapers' records request did not result in any employee evaluations tied to these bonuses and HUD, in 2013, stated that the ACHA had failed to tie employee evaluations to performance. Wilson, in the August 2015 interview with the newspaper, said the bonuses were allocated in December. At one time, they were called Christmas bonuses and the language was changed in more recent years, he said. Apparently, this was just for appearance.

 The health care plan for employees is entirely paid by the ACHA, under the terms of the contract. For single employee coverage, the ACHA paid $606 a month, and the employee paid nothing. For employees with family members on the plan, they are required to pay a small percentage. The ACHA paid $1,211 monthly for family plans, and the employee was required to pay 10 percent, or $121 monthly. As it relates to the family plan, the contract includes the caveat that employees pay 10 percent "depending on the ACHA's finances."

 Employees required to wear uniforms receive a $250 clothing allowance and six shirts annually.

 The ACHA pays into two retirement plans for each employee, with no matching contribution required from the employees. One retirement plan the ACHA pays into under the terms of the contract is managed by the union. For that one, the contract called for the ACHA to pay $2.75 per hour per employee to the plan, an amount that increases 10 percent annually through the life of the contract. The ACHA also paid into a separate Security Benefit plan -- it's described in the contract as a group life and government agency retirement plan -- at an amount equal to 25 percent of an employees annual wages.

 Finally, upon ratification of the contract in 2010, the terms called for each employee to receive a $250 signing bonus.
CAIRO  Despite more experience and tougher assignments, black workers employed by the Alexander County Housing Authority made less than white workers, according to a 2014 review by Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

The review included multiple HUD offices and the list of citations were long. But few were as damning in a town with a long history of oppression of its black citizens as the report detailing alleged Title VI violations in housing and employment.

The report cited "disparity with respect to the rate of pay ... on the basis of race" despite the fact that the workers were represented by the Local 773 in a collective bargaining agreement that intended to provide equal pay for equal work.

In reaching that conclusion, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity staff looked at maintenance work orders for all ACHA units for the month of September 2013, and the pay maintenance employees earned during that time.

On an hourly basis, the top three highest paid maintenance employees were white. Billy Tatum and Ronald Greenley were retired and working part-time on a contract basis, and Robert Fitzgerald was working full time.

Regarding the retired, part-time maintenance technicians, the two white retirees were receiving the highest hourly salary, at $20.37 per hour. They had contracts with ACHA to perform their work. There also was a third retired part-time maintenance technician, Henry Wade, who is African-American, yet did not have a contract to perform work with ACHA. He was only paid at a rate of $15.93 per hour, much less than the comparable white retired part-time employees, the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity report concluded.

In September 2013, there were four full-time maintenance employees, three of whom were able to work the entire month, the report stated. In order of seniority, Rodney Houston, African-American, had 28 years of experience and was paid a $17.75 per hour. After that, Robert Fitzgerald, white, had 8 years of experience and was paid $19.74 per hour. Finally, James Renfrow, white, had 4 years of experience and was paid $17.75 per hour; Eric Childs, who is African-American, also had 4 years of experience and was paid the same as Renfrow.

Upon further analysis, according to work-orders and paystubs, HUD found that Houston, who is black, worked substantially more "billable hours" than Renfrow, who is white. At the same time, Houston has an extra 24 years of experience compared to Renfrow, yet gets paid the same rate. Finally, Houston has an extra 20 years of experience compared to Fitzgerald, yet was paid less than he was.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national original in programs that receive federal dollars. HUD also cited the ACHA for discriminatory housing practices, given that complexes in their housing portfolio in the worst conditions house almost exclusively African American families while others are more racially integrated.

According to the report, HUD officials asked then-Executive Director Martha Franklin why the system for assignments and pay was set up the way it was, and she stated that the system pre-dated her tenure as executive director. She said the same as to why the housing developments of McBride and Elmwood almost exclusively served black residents.

Franklin for years served as the right-hand woman for James Wilson, who headed the ACHA for 24 years until his first retirement in early 2013. He returned for 11 days as executive director in 2015, and collected pay from the ACHA under the terms of a consulting contract and legal settlement in between that time.

In a 2015 interview with the newspaper, Kevin Starr, general manager for the Local 773 that represents employees, said that if there were discrepancies in pay and other arrangements made that benefited some represented employees and not others without explanation, the union would not support that, at it is contrary to a unions position to fight for equal pay for equal work.

Thats what we stand for, he said, at the time. We stop those things. We dont allow one person to get something that someone else doing the same job does not get.

Starr said, in an interview earlier this month, that negotiations for a new contract are ongoing with the HUD Recovery Team overseeing the ACHA in federal receivership. He acknowledged that the union understands that there are issues with the previous contract that need to be rectified in a new agreement that is fair to all workers as well as taxpayers.

HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity 2014 report noted that in the 1970s, the ACHA had agreed to integrate Butler Homes and the Pyramid Courts (now known as McBride Place). "Yet now, approximately 40 years later, these buildings remain essentially just as segregated as ever," the report concluded. "Furthermore, it appears that ACHA staff is aware of the security and maintenance challenges of McBride and Elmwood, yet has failed to redeploy resources to address those concerns.

"As a result, ACHA was aware of the racial segregation, as well as the adverse impact that this segregation could have on the AMP 1 tenants, yet failed to take steps to remedy the situation." (AMP 1 refers to Elmwood and McBride apartments).

"The same is true on the topic of employment discrimination, where the ACHA had previously agreed to open its hiring process up to African-American employees," the report continued.

"And again, 40 years later, the hiring process remains closed, and no African-American employees are in management or policy-making positions. What is especially pernicious about this practice is that failing to open the door to diversity in management similarly fails to create incentive for management to challenge the status quo and the policies that have and still contribute to residential segregation on the basis of race. And it is the ACHA residents, particularly the African-American families who live in AMP 1, who suffer."
CAIRO  In a 2005 memo to employees, then-Alexander County Housing Authority Director James Wilson wrote in bold and all capital letters, THERE IS NO HOUSING AUTHORITY IN THE STATE THAT CAN MATCH OUR BENEFIT PACKAGE! PERIOD.

The memo was announcing a temporary freeze in cost-related benefits necessitated by budget concerns that year. But softening the blow for workers, Wilson accurately bragged that, even with the freeze, the ACHA employees represented by the Laborers International Union of North America Local 773 were well endowed in the benefits category compared to their peers.

The newspapers analysis of the situation concerning the ACHA  which has led to a housing crisis in Cairo that threatens to displace close to 400 people who rely on public housing  indicates Wilson and the Local 773 had a mutually beneficial relationship.

The newspaper's months-long analysis of what went wrong with the ACHA has included an extensive review of records and interviews, both on-the-record and on background, with multiple people familiar with the operations of the ACHA and the players involved, as well as with experts in unemployment insurance, labor law, collective bargaining and Housing and Urban Development policies and best practices.

While management and labor helped each other for years  as indicated by public records  the housing developments they were charged with maintaining for some of the countrys poorest residents fell into complete disrepair.

All ACHA employees received generous benefits. And some benefited more than others.

They "lived it up too good"  as Wilson described his view on what went wrong, in that same late 2015 interview mentioned above.

But while they 'lived it up too good,' residents have lived with roaches and rats, mold, exposed asbestos, lead-contaminated water that went untested, electrical and plumbing problems and heating system issues that forced most residents to warm their homes in the winter with their ovens.

In an August 2015 interview with The Southern Illinoisan, Wilson himself described the conditions of the housing developments he oversaw as executive director for 24 years as "third world."

This past week, before a U.S. Senate hearing on President Donald Trump's proposed federal housing budget, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told HUD Secretary Ben Carson that neither would "even consider staying a night" in those conditions "and yet, our American citizens, people we represent, are living there." Carson responded in agreement of Durbin's assessment.

The ACHA and Local 773

Today, the Local 773 is headquartered in Marion, across from the Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois. But the Local 773 traces its roots to Cairo.

Over its cumulative history, the Local 773 has played an important role in fighting for living wages and safe working conditions for people in Cairo, and in more recent history, throughout Southern Illinois and even nationally.

But unfortunately where it concerns the ACHA, the union may have played a role in bleeding the ACHA financially dry. And the ACHA's financial troubles are only one piece of the disaster facing the community as it relates to this housing crisis.

The pending relocation of about 185 families threatens to hollow out this struggling community and puts the school system in jeopardy, as close to 40 percent of Cairo Unit District 1's children live at Elmwood and McBride, the developments from which HUD officials are moving people utilizing Tenant Protection Vouchers, citing unsafe and unlivable conditions.

ACHA-Local 773 contract provides for two pensions, annual bonus, full health coverage, ample time off The newspapers request for ACHA records netted two union contracts  a five-year contract s

Further, a recent financial analysis indicated that other developments in the ACHA's portfolio are at risk, because the local agency is insolvent and was predicted to run out of cash this past month. So far, the HUD Recovery Team managing the ACHA in administrative receivership, despite the federal agency declining to allocate money for new housing in Cairo, has managed to stave off the worst of options, which include dissolution of the housing authority and/or bankruptcy.

Wilson: A proud union member

Wilson, during his lengthy career in public service, was fiercely loyal to the Local 773, as evidenced by his comments, actions and public records.

In an August 2015 interview with The Southern Illinoisan, while discussing the fiscal state of the housing authority and employee benefits, Wilson said, I tell everyone were just like the state of Illinois. We lived it up too good and we didnt see this coming and we thought it would last forever and when the cuts came we werent in a position to be able to handle them. Thats exactly right.

Wilson also said during that interview that there was plenty of blame to go around for the unsustainable benefits that have come home to roost  and also pointed fingers at union negotiators, employees and the ACHA board members who voted in favor of the contracts.

Around the time of that interview with Wilson, Local 773 Business Manager Kevin Starr, responding to Wilsons comments that the union also was to blame said, This seems like somebody who knows the milk has spoiled and the cash cow is gone.

Wilson, when asked by a reporter if he wanted to respond to that comment, said he would not speak further with the newspaper concerning the ACHA except to say on this matter that he was a proud, decades-long member of the union and intended to keep paying his dues.

Starr also said at the time that it was well-known that HUD's Office of Inspector General was investigating the ACHA and we welcome a federal HUD investigation. He further acknowledged at the time that the employee contract was problematic  he called it sloppy  and said there would be internal reviews of the complaints and concerns that were raised by HUD about potential conflicts of interest between the ACHA and Local 773 in reports issued to the ACHA in 2013 and 2014.

Those issues concerned complaints of:

 discriminatory wages where black workers claimed they made less than white workers despite having worked there longer and having more difficult assignments;

Black workers made less than white workers despite more experience and tougher assignments, HUD review found CAIRO  Despite more experience and tougher assignments, black workers employed by the Alexa

 an unwritten gentlemans agreement whereby the Local 773s negotiator assigned to the ACHA, John Price, was individually negotiating salaries for office workers outside of collective bargaining with Wilson;

 the retirement settlements that included large cash buyouts for some Local 773 represented employees;

 and that Price, as a member of the ACHAs board of directors, did not recuse himself from votes involving employee matters despite the conflict of interest presented by his dual role as a governing board member and the Local 773's lead negotiator for ACHA employees represented by the union.

The latest contract on file for ACHA workers was signed in 2010 and expired in September 2015, though it remains in effect until a new one is agreed upon by the represented workers and management. This past week, Starr said those negotiations are in process despite the uncertainty facing the housing authority. Starr was not serving as general manager when the 2010 contract was signed.

Were continuing negotiations with HUD at this time and trying to get a fair and reasonable contract for employees at the Alexander County Housing Authority knowing that a lot of things are going to have to change, he said.

As I said in our previous interview, the contract is not written correctly and there are a lot of things thatve been added to it that need to come out. And a lot of the perks that are in there need to be adjusted to make it fair not only to the employees but to the taxpayers as well.

Starr further noted, re-emphasizing a statement he made in 2015 to the newspaper, that Price was removed from his duties as lead negotiator for ACHA employees that year. And when his term was up on the ACHA board in January 2015, he was not reappointed by the Alexander County Board chairman, who holds sole appointing powers. Based on ACHA records the newspaper obtained via a public records request, Price was a member of the board from 2007 to 2015. A document labeled as accounts payable for board members shows Price received payments of $12,163 during that time frame. Most of that amount matches with travel vouchers he received to attend training sessions.

Though Price was removed as the lead negotiator for ACHA employees, Starr said he continues to negotiate on behalf of other public workers in Alexander County, including city and courthouse workers represented by the Local 773. He also continues to hold a high-level elected position within the union, that of secretary/treasurer, according to the Local 773's website.

Starr declined comment on the pending federal investigation, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss before it is concluded.

2013 report questions conflict of interest

In an October 2013 report to the ACHA, HUD cited many of these problems, though they persisted without major consequence for close to another two and a half years. In that 2013 document, HUD cited as problematic the following as it related to the ACHA workforce:

 job descriptions for maintenance staff were not adequate to describe assigned work activities and specialized training required;

 the ACHA awarded retirement packages and offered part-time employment to specific employees with no documented or defined formula or eligibility requirements;

 due to that lack of a defined process for awarding these packages, retirement packages may not have been offered to employees with like tenures;

 maintenance employees were not receiving correct prevailing wage;

 nepotism and an inadequate nepotism policy;

 Martha Franklin, then serving as executive director (she served briefly in that role after Wilson's retirement), was also a member of the Local 773, and she was serving in executive, management and non-management functions;

 Price was serving in a dual role as an officer of Local 773 and an ACHA board member;

 Employee evaluations were not tied to housing authority performance.

HUD allowed known issues to persist

HUD offered a more extensive evaluation of many of these issues following its 2014 site visit, but the federal governments wheels turned slowly, and by time they took over the ACHA on Feb. 22, 2016, the housing authoritys finances were in a state of ruin.

On April 10, HUD officials announced to residents that they would begin relocating about 185 families from their unsafe units. In making that announcement, they said many families may have to relocate to places outside of Cairo because there is a shortage of affordable housing in the city. Therein lies the rub, as a number of residents have expressed a desire to stay, and city and school leaders worry about the exit of that many people.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson recently wrote a letter to the Cairo school superintendent that acknowledged those concerns, while writing that little could be done at this point to turn the situation around. Sadly there are very limited financial options for a nearly bankrupt housing authority, Carson wrote. Borrowing his words, the newspaper launched its Nearly Bankrupt series in May offering an exhaustive review of the issues that led to the housing crisis facing Cairo.

This story examining the relationship between the ACHA and Wilson is the third in that series. The first story in the series examined large buyouts and unusual employment and retirement arrangements. The second looked at unusual payments and arrangements made related to the position of executive director.

The ACHA's 'unsustainable cost structure'

A financial assessment report published by HUD in April stated that labor costs are ACHAs second highest expense item, behind utility costs.

Generous employment and benefit agreements have contributed to the Authoritys unsustainable cost structure, the report states.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average benefit rate (total benefits/total salary) for a state or local government agency is 35 percent. ACHAs benefit rate ranged from a low of 45 percent, in 2012, to a high of 76 percent, for 2016. The 2015 and 2016 rates were both more than double the sectors average rates, according to the report.

One-sided labor agreements are one of the primary causes for this elevated rate, the report states.

Though, this seemed to be a point of pride for Wilson.

In the memo referenced above in which Wilson announced a temporary freeze on cost-related benefits, Wilson notes that the ACHA has been good to employees. There is not one union contract that has better vacation, pensions, sick or holiday benefits, he wrote in the 2005 memo. Additionally, we currently have the best insurance the union offers. Wilson further noted that the ACHA hosts staff parties and allows employees to take leave for doctors appointments without charging them for the time they are away. In noting another benefit, Wilson wrote: Many times employees borrow housing equipment  trailers, mowers, trucks, etc.  THIS IS AT NO COST!

Ultimately, the cost would be borne by taxpayers whose government contributions purchased these items and paid for maintenance, fuel and replacement vehicles and equipment when these items were worn out, but Wilsons note doesnt mention that.

Wage discrepancies questioned

In response to a public records request, the newspaper received employee contracts signed in 2005 and 2010. The most recent contract expired in 2015, but remains in effect until which time a new agreement is reached.

While Wilson bragged about benefits for employees, the vague language in the ACHA's bargaining agreement with the Local 773, for both office staff and maintenance workers, resulted in some people making quite a bit more than others in similar positions without written explanation, which runs contrary to standard bargaining agreements designed to establish uniformity in pay for equal work.

Most contracts specify ways employees can earn more within a job classification, such as through longevity, additional education and extra assigned duties, but the contract was silent on this point.

This was the subject of a lengthy write-up by HUDs Region V Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), which participated in the 2014 multi-pronged team review of the ACHA.

The report indicated that FHEO staff, among the multitude of issues it reviewed, analyzed alleged disparities in pay and workload among white and black maintenance staff. The review found examples of black workers who had more experience with the ACHA, and assignments considered to be more difficult, but who made less than their white counterparts.

To summarize, there is a disparity with respect to the rate of pay among ACHA maintenance technicians, on the basis of race, the report stated. The African-American employees are paid less, however, they are more likely to be assigned to (Elmwood and McBride), the buildings that in poor physical condition and more prone to crime, compared to similarly situated white employees.

At the same time, ACHA assigns more maintenance staff resources to AMP 3 (the Connell Smith and Shuemaker apartments for seniors and people with disabilities), buildings that are newer, closer together, and happen to be more racially integrated.

Local 773 funded Wilson's mayoral race

As previously noted, the relationship between Wilson and the Local 773 was mutually beneficial. During the time he was executive director, from 1989 to 2013, Wilson served as mayor for 12 of those years, from 1991 to 2003.

In 2003, the final year he ran for mayor, Wilson raised $52,200 in donations  in the month of January alone. James Flummer, then a private attorney living in Cairo, donated $200 to his campaign. The remaining $52,000 came from political committees associated with Illinois chapters of the Laborers International. The largest chunk, $37,000, was transferred into his campaign account from the Southern and Central Illinois Laborers Political League, which is presently based in Marion and managed by Local 773 employees or affiliates.

An additional $12,000 donation that year was made by the Illinois Laborers Legislative Committee, based in Springfield. And a $3,000 donation was made by the North Central IL Laborers Council PAC, based in Peoria.

In his campaign against Paul Farris for the part-time position of mayor, Wilson spent a small fraction of that money on advertising on the local radio station and in the local paper and other costs that do not appear out of the ordinary for a competitive campaign in a city of about 3,500 people  the population of Cairo in 2003.

But Illinois State Board of Elections records indicate Wilson paid himself the vast majority of the funds  $43,550  between January and March of 2003.

The handwriting on Wilsons campaign spending forms is difficult to read, but in the purpose section he  or someone associated with the committee on his behalf  wrote that Wilson paid himself for such things to as organize workers and GOTV  which is likely an acronym for "get out the vote"  though its not further specific as to how that money was spent in those efforts.

Theres no indication that the big money  by Cairo's standards  fueling the bitter mayoral election that year was directly tied to activities or interests associated with the housing authority. But it is illustrative of Cairo politics and Wilson's relationship with the Local 773.

Around this time, a public feud was brewing between Waterfront Services and the Local 773, which involved members of the Smith family.

ACHA high-rise named for Local 773 founder

The Local 773's influences on the ACHA can be observed most notably from the local agency's high-rise development for seniors on the Ohio River  The Connell F. Smith Senior Building.

The headquarters for the Local 773 is currently headquartered on Ed Smith Way in Marion.

But it began in March 1940, when the chapter was given to late Connell F. Smith, of Cairo, Ed Smiths father. It came about at a time of exploding public works projects across the country, and its original membership was largely unskilled laborers. Of note, the union was formed around the same time as the apartment complexes known today as Elmwood and McBride came online  one built for white residents, the other for black residents.

Over the years, the unions reach extended to the construction industry and the public sector throughout the 1970s, according to the SIU Special Collections Research Center. In 2003, eight local Laborers unions across Southern Illinois joined together to make up the current-day Local 773. The Local 773 currently represents more than 4,500 workers nationwide  about 2,200 of whom are public sector workers in Southern Illinois employed by regional cities, counties and housing authorities.

Prior to serving as mayor, Wilson served as chairman of the Alexander County Democratic Party. He made his first run for mayor of Cairo in 1991 and won. At this point, he'd been director of the ACHA for two years.

HUD approves waiver for Wilson

In 2000, HUD signed off on Wilson serving a dual role as mayor and housing authority executive director. Records obtained by the newspaper dated 1999 and 2000 show that Wilson and HUDs then-Region V acting director, John Dibella, discussed, via written correspondence, whether Wilsons dual roles as mayor and ACHA executive director presented a conflict of interest. In one of the letters, Dibella noted that the issue had been pending for years.

In a letter dated May 25, 2000, Dibella instructed that HUD had found it was a conflict of interest under the terms of the Annual Contribution Contract that governed HUDs allocation of federal housing dollars to the ACHA. But he also informed Wilson that he could request a waiver, which Wilson did promptly.

In a response letter, the then-attorney for the ACHA, John Holland, wrote that he disagreed with HUDs finding that it was a conflict of interest. Holland opined that there was no overlap in legal jurisdiction between the city and housing authority, the latter of which operates as a function of county, rather than city, government. Nonetheless, he requested the waiver as HUD had advised was necessary.

In July 2000, Dibella granted Wilson the waiver to hold both positions.
ELLIS GROVE  No part of Fort Kaskaskia was believed to have survived, until SIU students started digging earlier this month. Students in the Center for Archaeological Investigations Summer Field School unearthed a portion of a stone wall, according to the centers director, Mark Wagner.

This is supposed to be a wooden fort with no stone construction, Wagner said. I didnt expect to run into a stone foundation.

Fort Kaskaskia State Historic site, according to Illinois.gov, preserves the earthen remains of Fort Kaskaskia, constructed around 1759 to defend the town of Kaskaskia. The small, wooden fort contained a three-room barracks and kitchen and appears to never have been fully completed. It was periodically occupied by French and American troops until 1807, and sheltered local settlers during the Indian scares related to the War of 1812.

Wagner said the fort is famous, but not much is known about it. Historical records are scarce. If they exist, they are really, really poor quality. Besides training students, the field school serves as a public outreach and provides Illinois Historic Preservation Agency with information it would not otherwise have.

The class started their investigation of the site by using remote ground penetrating radar. The equipment can detect things under the ground, but it cannot tell what is there.

Their radar revealed something buried underground. They marked the object, which appeared to be about 80 feet long. The class began digging and discovered a portion of a stone wall foundation.

We believe it is an intact wall to the barracks, Wagner said.

He added that few maps of the original fort exist, but a map dated 1776 shows the barracks. The construction of the wall is similar to construction found at Fort de Chartres near Prairie du Rocher.

Joe Oswald of Chicago, a student at Northeastern Illinois University, said the project was incredibly interesting.

Were kind of going on scant documentation. Thats why this feature is so important for orientation of the fort, Oswald said.

The wall is not the only artifact that the field study class has found. In another spot, they found what Wagner believes may have been a bakery. There is a lot of burnt clay and students found a large portion of a metal bowl, believed to be tin or iron.

Someone burned something there, but we're not sure who or when," SIU student Elizabeth Robinson of Carterville said.

Much of the space inside the fort is very clean. One reason could be that the space was occupied by military. Military units tend to keep a space very clean, according to Wagner. Another reason could be that the fort was only occupied for short periods of time.

Students have found a lot of nails, which makes sense because the fort was believed to be entirely constructed of wood. They also found a French flintlock from a gun and a musket balls.

The class also opened a couple sites outside the walls of the fort and had another very interesting find. They recovered a military button from a Revolutionary War British uniform.

Wagner explained that George Rodgers Clark led a militia from Kaskaskia to Vincennes and captured the fort from the British in February 1779. Of the 150 men captured at Vincennes, 30 were members of the Regiment of Foot.

This is the first evidence that the British were at the fort. Wagner said how the button got there is a mystery, but Clarks men may have taken warm coats from the British. It is also possible that a few of the prisoners were brought to Fort Kaskaskia.

The British were not supposed to be here, and there are a lot ways it could have happened, Elizabeth Robinson of Carterville, an SIU freshman, said.

Robinson is enjoying being in the field getting her hands dirty. She describes it as Girl Scout Camp with digging.

You learn something new every time, she said. It is amazing what you can learn out here doing it, and I know it will stick.

Oswald and Robinson said they have found a lot of prehistoric artifacts, like spear points and scrapers, as well a chert flakes, a byproduct of making those points. These artifacts are dated back to the Archaic and Mississippian eras, some 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.

"Until we excavated here, we only knew that French and Americans of the modern era occupied the site," Oswald said.

The SIU students were joined by members of the Shawnee Tribe from Oklahoma on June 6. Lewis and Clarks interpreter, George Drouillard, had a Shawnee mother. Drouillard was with Lewis and Clark at Fort Kaskaskia. This was made possible by a program Shawnee National Forest developed to help reconnect Shawnee youth with their heritage in the Eastern Woodlands.

By working with us the Shawnee kids helped uncover a piece of their own history, Wagner said.

Students will finish at Fort Kaskaskia on June 16. Wagner said visitors are welcome to watch and ask questions, but by middle of the week they will begin wrapping up the dig. Wagner hopes to bring students to the fort in 2018 and 2019.

This years field school will continue at Miller Grove, a freed slave community in Pope County. The dig at that site was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.

The field school dig at Fort Kaskaskia is funded by a grant from Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.

If we did not have the grants, wed be a lot closer to Carbondale, Wagner said. This is a much better opportunity for them [students]. Not many people get to work on a French Colonial fort.

Since Fort Kaskaskia is a state historic site, all artifacts and records will go to Illinois State Museum where it will join an existing collection from a dig at the fort in the 1970s. Daily notes from students will be included. Wagner hopes someone years from now will benefit from their work.

Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site is located north of Chester off Illinois 3. In addition to the fort remains, the site also has a cemetery, Mississippi River overlook and picnic area, and a large campground. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site is located near Fort Kaskaskia at the bottom of the bluff.
Bipartisan politics  every lawmaker preaches it, yet its practice seems to be going by the wayside.

How many times have we heard lawmakers say that theyll work across the aisle when it comes to making campaign promises? How many actually do it?

The simple answer: Not many.

As Illinois spirals into yet another year without a budget, now is as good a time to practice what is preached. The only way the state is going to get out this mess is through legislators coming to together and forming an agreement.

And that agreement must come through compromise.

Back in mid-February, then-President Barack Obama addressed the Illinois General Assembly. He stressed the need for bipartisan action. He said its the only way things will get done.

We wouldnt bend on our most deeply held principles, but we were willing to forge compromises in pursuit of a larger goal. We were practical when we needed to be. We could fight like heck on one issue and then shake hands on the next. Somebody like Jesse White was able to travel around the state and people didnt even know what party he was necessarily from because he brought so much joy with the tumblers and the work that they were doing, he said during his address to legislators.

The pursuit of that larger goal is the budget right now. More than ever, our state needs that budget to forge on. More than ever, Democrats and Republicans have to work together.

In that address, the former president got everybody  Democrats and Republicans  to stand and clap when he said, So when I hear voices in either party boast of their refusal to compromise as an accomplishment in and of itself, Im not impressed. All that does is prevent what most Americans would consider actual accomplishments  like fixing roads, educating kids, passing budgets, cleaning our environment, making our streets safe.

Bingo.

Say what you will about Obama; theres no denying that he was right. All of things that he mentioned are things this state needs right now.

The state has until July 1 to get a budget done  and now that May 31 has passed, a three-fifths supermajority is needed to pass a budget.

According to the Associated Press, the state's budget deficit will top $6.2 billion for the fiscal year through June 30.

Also, two ratings agencies  S&P and Moodys  have the states credit-worthiness one notch above junk status. They have said that if a budget isnt reached July 1, then it could hit junk status.

In other words, we may not have seen rock bottom yet.

Look, the state is in the middle of a critical crisis  and thats putting it lightly. Now, more than ever, we need compromise. We dont need votes in favor of party lines.

We need Gov. Bruce Rauner to put aside some of things hes demanding be part of the budget. On the other side, House Speaker Michael Madigan needs to give in to some of Rauners items on the Turnaround Agenda.

The people of this state are worth more than just a D or an R behind somebodys name. This isnt a time for pushing political agendas  if that needs to be done, well, lets do that after a budget is in place.

This is a time to put all of that aside and start getting Illinois back to where it needs to be.

If this continues, no business in its right mind would ever want to come to Illinois. People arent going to want to move to Illinois. Heck, the people who live here wont want to stay.

Heres the bottom line: Its time. The time has come to put everything on the table, put aside the differences, and come up with a good, old-fashioned compromise.

Forget party lines. Forget political agendas. Forget differences.

And stop forgetting the people, services and institutions of Illinois.
Genres : Drama

Starring : Jeanne Watts, Joan Plowright, Louise Purnell, Derek Jacobi, Sheila Reid, Kenneth Mackintosh

Director : Laurence Olivier

Plot Synopsis

Nearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual exile. Olga (Jeanne Watts), a schoolmistress, attempts to support her siblings and the home that is the sole legacy of their late army officer father. Masha (Joan Plowright) finds relief from her empty marriage in an affair with a passionate young colonel, played by Alan Bates (Gosford Park, The Cherry Orchard). Irina (Louise Pernell), the youngest, wills herself to return the affections of an ardent suitor in the hopes that he will whisk her off to the city before it is too late. Intoxicated by yesterday's triumphs and heedless of tomorrow's disasters, the Three Sisters are left to sift through the debris of their shattered dreams on the eve of the social and political upheaval that will transform Russia forever.



Stepping behind the camera for the first time since 1957's The Princess and the Showgirl, director Laurence Olivier demonstrates the same facility for cinematic expression that made his filmed version of Hamlet and Henry V so definitive. In Olivier's assuredly brisk, graceful, meticulous and witty rendering of Chekhov's masterpiece, the sisters are doomed to remain in their provincial purgatory. Olivier shepherds his cast of National Theater of London members (including Olivier himself and I Claudius star Derek Jacobi, in one of his first screen roles) through a compelling drama that never stoops to clichA. Photographed by ace British lensman Geoffrey Unsworth (2001: Space Odyssey, Tess), Olivier and his cast propel Chekhov's play into a film that The New York Times' Vincent Canby acclaimed as "Something quite rare."
With various generals on both sides of the war, harrowing battles, and personal stories about heroes in the line of fire, there has never been a shortage of WWII films worth bringing to screens. From the Blitz to the Bulge, famous battles have provided the foundation for harrowing personal stories about the men on the ground. 1969's The Bridge at Remagen -- from director John Guillermin and starring George Segal, Robert Vaughn, and Ben Gazzara -- charges forward with an action packed recreation of one of the most important battles towards the end of the war - but frequently gets bogged down by repeatedly reminding the audience that war is hell.

For Lieutenant Phil Hartman (George Segal), his unscrupulous pal Angelo (Ben Gazzara) and the rest of the 9th Armored Division, the war has gone on long enough. The men are practically asleep on their feet making their new glory hungry Major Barnes' (Bradford Dillman) decision to volunteer for an important mission a real blow. The men need rest, but instead of getting sleep, they have to try and take a bridge and outflank the retreating German army from crossing back over the Rhine.

On the other side of the bridge, Major Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughn) has been tasked with securing the bridge. Hitler and his officers want that bridge destroyed lest the Allies manage to secure an easy route into Berlin. General Von Brock (Peter van Eyck) sees the folly in that plan. If they blow up the bridge as Hitler intends, the retreating German forces will have nowhere to go and would be trapped. As Kreuger also sees the folly of Hitler's thinking, he too opts to keep the bridge open as long as possible. When both sides meet at the Rhine, the battle could very well decide the outcome of the war.

Obviously, with any retelling of historical events, you have to cut the filmmakers some slack for needing to take some dramatic liberties in order to make a personal and human-focused film. After all, you can't just have battle footage with artillery, machine gun nests, and mortar explosions before the whole thing starts to feel meaningless. You got to get in there and get personal with the men; give the audience someone to hang their shingle on. With The Bridge at Remagan, I appreciate the lengths at which director John Guillermin and his screenwriters Richard Yates and William Roberts went to personalize the story through the eyes of George Segal's Lieutenant Hartman and Robert Vaughn's Major Kreuger. However, there are several stretches where the film just gets stuck in the mud.

The true story of the allies capturing the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen was intense and featured of the largest anti-aircraft battles of the war as U.S. forces fought to prevent German bombers from destroying the bridge. It was days of heavy combat that ultimately saw the Allies on top enabling them to move some 25,000 troops over the bridge before it finally collapsed. Obviously, it would be very difficult to recreate the ground and air battles, so the filmmakers kept the boots on the ground so to speak.

The dynamic of Lt. Hartman and Major Kreuger is an interesting one as both men are frustrated with the state of things. Hartman wants his men to see some down time and recover from their exhaustion. He's tired of the chain of command only seeing numbers of fighting men and not caring for the state they're in. They've seen enough fighting to last several wars and they need a break. On the other side of the coin, Kreuger has to deal with the strict narrow-minded bureaucracy that is actually hurting the war effort. If his meager defending forces were given just one division of reinforcements, he'd have enough firepower to keep the allies back and allow the trapped German troops to cross the river and regroup. This material is great stuff and works to give the battle human faces, but these interludes stutter the pacing of the film making the front two-thirds feel a bit bloated while the last act is all action.

It's the numerous scenes of moralizing and philosophizing where The Bridge at Remagen gets a bit muddy. One or two scenes of this are fine. It establishes themes, character conflicts within the ranks, and sets the stakes for the big battle to come. But when you're spoon-fed scene after scene of it, the film starts to drag more than it should. That isn't to say the film is boring, just a little bloated. At 117-minutes, that front end can run a little longer while the back end can feel rushed and shortchanged. The characters keep telling the audience of the urgency of getting to the bridge as soon as possible, but the filmmakers decide to take the longest route possible.

Aside from the pacing, The Bridge at Remagen is an engrossing and entertaining war film. The battle sequences are well executed and put the audience right into the fight. Especially when Allied forces move onto the bridge, those are some damn impressive and well-executed action sequences. Performances all around are solid as Segal and Vaughn lead the show, while in keeping with his character, Ben Gazzara gets to steal the limelight every now and again. My only small gripe is the bloated front end. If you can get through that, the rest of the film works to create a satisfying whole. It's not a perfect film, but The Bridge at Remagen is certainly a worthwhile watch and a must for genre fans.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

The Bridge at Remagen arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time in a limited edition run of 3,000 units. Pressed onto a Region Free BD-50 disc, the disc is housed in a clear sturdy Blu-ray case. Also included is a booklet containing stills from the film as well as a terrific essay from film historian Julie Kirgo. The disc loads directly to a static image main menu with traditional navigation options.
Orangeburg County Council members defended their decision to help fund the pedestrian bridge at South Carolina State University during a recent council meeting.

Dr. Abe Salama, who retired from S.C. State, told council Monday the $5.3 million spent on the bridge was a waste of money.

To me, it is the most wasteful money that we have spent as a county, Salama said.

He said students would not use the bridge.

I challenged the person who pushed for that, he said. I said stand by me at the light and see how many students would go and cross (the bridge) or wait for the light to change and cross.

The bridge over Chestnut Street officially opened to the public last month. Officials say it provides a safer route onto campus for the roughly 800 students living at University Village and Campus Corner apartments.

Salama says the design fails to do what was intended.

The bridge (comes) back to Chestnut, to the same area where we said it is not safe, he said. They didnt design it to go back to the yard of University Village.

County Administrator Harold Young said, What Dr. Salama failed to see is that because of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, when you build a bridge, you dont just build it for able-bodied people.

Young said a person in a wheelchair has to be able to access the same structure.

This led to the architectural design of the off-ramp leading back out to Chestnut on one end.

Young added that the bridge also serves as an aesthetic piece for the area.

The bridge is actually also a showpiece that is an entryway for the university that could be built upon to help revitalize the community, he said. Thats why the money was invested into it.

Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith said, The bridge is not a waste.

What I and everybody who has invested in that crossing, our intention was to save lives and I know thats what its going to do, Cooper-Smith said. You cannot put a value on a life.

I dont regret the money I invested, she added.

Councilman Willie B. Owens asked if Salama has any children of his own.

I have three, Owens said. I dont have a child that I think is worth as little as $5 million.

He added that he knows, without a shadow of a doubt that we did the right thing.

You have the right to express your opinion but I think its ridiculous, Owens said.

Councilman Johnny Ravenell said, To me, if that bridge saves one life, I dont care if it was $100 million, it was well worth it.

Funding for the bridge includes about $1.2 million from federal earmarks, $1.5 million in federal aid/repurposed earmark funds, $1.1 million in Orangeburg County Capital Project Sales Tax funds, $1.1 million in Orangeburg County Transportation Committee funds and $400,000 in Transportation Alternatives Program funds.

In other business:

 Council approved a Planning Commission resolution and first reading of an ordinance rezoning the property at 2195 Whittaker Parkway, Orangeburg, from the Residential Single Family District to Residential General. The request was made by Eugene Alfred Casley Jr.

Young said the rezoning would allow for a double-wide manufactured home, or mobile home.

For some reason or another it got moved or destroyed and they missed the window of putting it back without being grandfathered, he said. When they lost that grandfather, they had to come back and request a different zoning class to be able to put a double-wide back there.

Young added that citizens adjacent to the property submitted petitions in support of the request.

The community and the Planning Commission saw no problems with it, he said.

 Council approved a maintenance abandonment request on a portion of Lean Lane at the recommendation of the Public Works Committee.

 Harvey Elwood of New Perspectives Media updated council on a concert he recently held with councils support.

The report we got back from everybody, everybody had a wonderful time, Elwood said. It was peaceful, nice, well attended.

He said there were roughly 2,000 people in attendance.

The free concert was held at the fairgrounds and featured the S.O.S. Band and Alexis Spight.

 Council went into executive session to discuss economic development updates regarding projects currently operating anonymously under the names Project Halo and Project Columbus. They also discussed contractual matters relating to the Regional Medical Center board and the Way Building.
A Chinese tire company's plans to invest up to $1 billion and create up to 1,200 jobs can radically change Orangeburg County over time, a development leader says.

"Impressive would be the right word to describe a company of that magnitude," Orangeburg County Development Commission Chairman Kenneth Middleton said.

Wanli Tires plans to build an Orangeburg County facility were revealed this week when a state board approved borrowing for infrastructure.

The Joint Bond Review Committees paperwork indicates the company plans to invest a minimum of $400 million and create at least 400 jobs.

Few other details, including the proposed location, are available since the state has not officially announced the investment.

Middleton said large companies such Wanli and Volvo, which plans to build a plant in Berkeley County, have a ripple effect on the area in terms of spin-off companies, retail and housing.

"It will change the face of Orangeburg County and the surrounding region on into the future. Forever," Middleton said.

Tax base

Orangeburg County Treasurer Steve Summers said the investment will be a boon to the county. But the numbers can look different from what is initially announced.

"It ain't necessarily what materializes when things go on the books," he said.

A project Wanlis size will take time to build. Money will be spent incrementally over the next decade.

After depreciation and incentives like a fee-in-lieu of taxes agreement, the property tax bill will probably be based on something close to about a $400 million to $500 million investment.

"If we had $500 million, that is a reasonable estimate some years down the road," he said. "This talk about $1 billion is not going to be what the fee is computed off of. Once you tie depreciation and adjustments, it will be half of that."

Summers used South Carolina Electric and Gass Cope power generation station as an example. The $450 million investment the company promised ended up being taxed as if it were a $300 million investment.

Wanli will most likely receive the fee-in-lieu of taxes incentive. It would then be taxed using a 6 percent assessment ratio rather than the standard 10.5 percent.

The fee-in-lieu of taxes incentive allows companies to pay a fee rather than taxes, typically for about 20 years.

Summers said a $500 million investment with a 6 percent assessment ratio would most likely be paying a fee based on an assessment of about $30 million.

Assuming the current millage rate of about 390 mills is in place five or six years from now when Wanli is operational, he said it would generate almost $12 million for the county and the county school system.

He said about $7.1 million, or 60 percent, would go to schools and 40 percent, or $4.7 million, would go to the county operations each year.

Assuming the investment is valued at $1 billion, about $23.4 million would go to the county and schools. About $14 million would go to schools and $9.4 million would go toward county operations.

Summers cautioned there remain a lot of moving parts with the project that could impact any projected numbers.

Asked if the new industry could reduce taxes for homeowners, Summers said in theory yes, but as a practical matter that has yet to be determined.

"The school system and the county governments will have to deal with the budget components and then make any adjustments on property taxes to balance budgets," Summers said. "We don't know what that will be yet at this time."

South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance President and CEO Lewis Gossett says a project the size of Wanli Tire Corp.'s plan is similar to the establishment of a new small town.

"A facility of this size is a small town and they need all kinds of services," Gossett said. That includes restaurants, medical care and other services.

"What you will really see is local people going to work and making money they need to help pay for shelter, food and clothing. That is disposable income you will see in the fast-food place that opens, the car wash, the cleaner, he said.

Gossett said a project of the size of Wanli will provide more tax revenue and help improve local schools.

"Bigger and better manufacturing improves schools, he said. "It will have a big impact on the local economy whether a supplier ever locates nearby or not."

Gossett said the best thing about the entire project is that it is fueled by the private sector.

Employment

The jobs are welcome in a region that often has the states highest unemployment rates.

The latest available unemployment numbers from April 2017 show Orangeburg County's unemployment rate was 6 percent.

Thats the county's lowest rate since December 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, the county still had the fourth-highest unemployment rate among South Carolinas 46 counties.

The statewide average was 4.3 percent. Nationally, the April unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.

Bamberg County's unemployment rate for the month was 6.8 percent, which was the lowest the county has seen since December 2004. The county still had the highest unemployment rate in the state.

Calhoun County had a 4.4 percent jobless rate in April. Thats the lowest rate the county has seen since April 2001.

Calhoun County had the 15th highest unemployment rate in South Carolina in April.

Orangeburg County's largest manufacturer is Husqvarna, which produces riding lawnmowers, zero-turn lawnmowers, tillers and similar products.

The company employs around 2,300, according to county officials. The local unemployment rate typically increases in July and August due to seasonal layoffs.

State employment officials say the jobs Wanli is expected to bring will have a large impact on the area's unemployment rate.

Whenever a company of this magnitude announces it is going to locate a facility within a community, we see nothing but positive results, and this is truly a great opportunity for the people in Orangeburg and the surrounding counties, said Cheryl Stanton, executive director of the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

By employing a large number of individuals in the area, Wanlis effect on the workforce will ultimately help drive the economy with beneficial ramifications throughout the community, she said.

Middleton said the county isnt just seeking a big fish for the pond.

It takes different pieces to make a wonderful puzzle, he said.

"We are trying to build as a development commission a mosaic of diversified companies so if anything happens to one company, it is not a negative, devastating impact on our community," he said.
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News / National

by Staff reporter

COMPLETION of analogue-to-digital transition by year-end is no longer possible due to financial logjams, The Sunday Mail Society has learnt.The digitisation programme is being carried out by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and Transmedia Corporations. Digital migration relates to television broadcasting, and is a process led by the International Telecommunications Union to improve the quality and quantity of programming globally.The project appeared to be on course after Government last year released US$16,2 million for digitisation. But indications are that arrears of around US$10 million are stalling progress. Further, BAZ is failing to make international payments to buy equipment due to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe transaction controls designed to limit a cash shortage in the country.BAZ chief executive Obert Muganyuri said the 2017 digitisation completion deadline was no longer attainable. Zimbabwe switched off part of its analogue broadcasting system two years ago in the first phase of the migration to digital broadcasting in compliance with the June 17, 2015 ITU deadline. The strategy was to start with the periphery and then move inland. "It is no longer possible for us to meet the 2017 deadline even if we are to get all the funds required. We were supposed to get the money at stipulated times to enable us to ship the required equipment and set up the infrastructure. In short we have lost a substantial amount of time. Similar challenges also saw us missing the second phase 2016 deadline," said Muganyuri."Apart from improper funding, we are also having challenges in making foreign payments with the little money we have due to restrictions put in place by relevant authorities. We cannot transfer funds into nostro accounts for the procurement of equipment." As a counter-measure BAZ recently made an arrangement with one international supplier to deposit US$5 million into a local company's account. The transaction facilitated release of equipment that had been held in storage due to non-payment.This includes digital transmission equipment for six sites, FM transmission equipment for five sites, and electronic news gathering equipment. "We pray for an increased cash flow from Treasury. Finished equipment will not be brought to us unless we pay for it. But this will result in the total cost of the overall project increasing due to incalculable costs like storage fees and interests on debts. We currently owe our suppliers at least US$11 million," added Muganyuri.About US$48 million has so far been spent on digitisation, with the final bill estimated at US$125 million. However, this does not mean work has stopped. BAZ and Transmedia have digitised two of six television studios, including a master-control-room and play-out-system. Work on the head-end facility has also been completed, including the satellite uplink terminal and digitisation of six transmitter sites out of the 24 that need upgrading. Tower construction work has also been carried out on seven sites from an additional 24 transmitter sites that are set to be constructed. In all, there will be 48 transmission sites.Also a new satellite dish for signal distribution  only smaller to the one at Mazowe Satellite Station  has been set up at Pockets Hill in Harare. "They are some local works of a civil nature that have continued to take place for example the completion of a new tower in Zvishavane with the expectation to move to Honde Valley and Hwange. However, the workers have slowed down on pace due to lack of confidence in the payment system," said Muganyuri. Muganyuri said Government was continuing to assist content producers through provision of production equipment as well as meeting production costs.A Content Commission Committee that looks at viable projects is in place, and finished products will be purchased as a way of empowering producers. But independent producers using their own capital have bemoaned delays in project completion. "We are holding on to some of our productions that cannot be screened on the current running system. The equipment we are using is compatible with the digital platform and we feel heavily discouraged with the stalling of the digitisation programme. This is the reason why some of us have resorted to selling our productions to regional channels," complained a Harare-based producer.Full digitisation will see introduction of a multiple-channel environment on the terrestrial platform, an improved audio-visual reception and programme diversity.In addition, the platform will also offer provision of other value added services like Electronic Programme Guides, which is a menu-based system providing users with continuously updated menus displaying scheduling information for the current and upcoming programming among other things.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has been named the winner of three categories of the Gulf Sustainability and CRS (Corporate Social Responsibility) Awards.

The awards aim to honour organisations and individuals implementing outstanding sustainability and CSR initiatives at the GCC level. The latest edition of the awards saw huge participation and hot competition from public and private entities.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the RTA, was elated to see RTA clinching three prestigious awards at the GCC level.

This accolade underscores our commitment to support the green economy concept. RTA plays a key role in supporting this concept as directed by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai," he said.

"In 2012, HH unleashed a long-term initiative to build a green economy under the theme: Green Economy for Sustainable Development. Last year, HH also launched the World Green Economy Organisation, based in Dubai, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program. Winning a considerable share of these awards bears reference to RTAs keenness to turn our governments drive to a reality on the ground, he added.

Al Tayer made this statement upon accepting the awards from Nasir Bu Shehab, CEO of strategy and corporate governance sector cum chairperson of Energy and Green Economy Committee at RTA. Abdullah Yousef Al Ali, CEO of Public Transport Agency, was also present at the event.

RTA won the Environmental Sustainability Programmes Award, thanks to adopting the best international standards in RTA environment and energy management systems.

The second recognition won by RTA was the Government Sustainability Initiative Award. RTA won this award, thanks to its efforts of aligning economic, communal and environmental sustainability with its strategic goals, besides launching initiatives to enhance the financial sustainability of RTA.

RTA won the third award in the category of Water Treatment & Management, in recognition of the agencys success in reducing the consumption of water used in washing buses at the bus depot by as much as 85 per cent. The procedure it uses reduces wastewater, conserves water consumption, cuts emissions associated with the transport of wastewater, and overcomes the problem of oily wastewater. - TradeArabia News Service
Niceic, the British training and safety body for electrical contractors, is set to open its regional office in Dubai, UAE, in a bid to help GCC authorities tackle the high incidence of building fires caused by electrical faults.



Niceic is the electrical contracting industrys independent voluntary regulatory body for electrical installation safety throughout the UK.



Its expansion of services comes after the introduction of Dubais new fire code in January, which mandates third-party independent inspections, strict accountability and a number of fines for non-compliance or a breach of standards.



Eddie Arrowsmith, the regional engineering manager at Niceic responsible for Middle East operations, said: "A large number of the fires in the region can be traced back to electrical faults which puts thousands of lives at risk every day."



Electrical faults are the most common cause of fire across the GCC, he stated, citing a key study by Dubai Statistics Centre.



The study revealed that 22 per cent of fires between 2011 and 2013 had been caused by electrical faults such as the one which started the fire at The Address Downtown Dubai on New Years Eve 2015.



In Oman, one third of all fires, in 2015 could be traced back to electrical malfunctions, with 1,225 incidents over the course of the year.



Saudi Arabias civil defence estimates 70 per cent of all fires in the kingdom are due to electrical faults and in Qatar the widely reported tragedy at Dohas Villagio Mall, which claimed the lives of 13 children, two firefighters and four teachers, was also caused by an electrical fault.



Arrowsmith said along with development corporations, major international design and construction firms have created highly sophisticated buildings which have transformed cities throughout the GCC.



"It is of paramount importance that these buildings are maintained professionally, to ensure that they continue to provide safe and efficient offices and homes, that are fit for purpose and do not pose a risk to residents or occupants," he added.



Over its 60-year history, Niceic has built a reputation for promoting safety, integrity and technical excellence in the electrical industry and will now export the same standards to the GCC.



According to Arrowsmith, Niceic is the most widely recognised brand in the UKs electrical industry and currently maintains a roll of over 36,000 registered contractors.



In the GCC, it will provide training, technical advice, certification and information on all the latest industry developments, with each contractor completing a rigorous assessment process, covering a representative sample of their work, premises, documentation, equipment, and the competence of key supervisory staff, he stated.



Re-assessment will take place on a regular basis to ensure continued compliance, he added.



Arrowsmith said the training will also give contractors a boost when bidding for new projects, as building owners who can verify the quality of electrical work in their assets enjoy lower insurance premiums.



Niceic first arrived in the GCC in 2015 to provide third-party accreditation for a major employer looking to demonstrate the competency of its electrical workers, he stated.



Since then, a growing number of firms now want to accredit their services and raise the standard of electrical work in the region, such as Dubai-based developer Meraas and UAE total facilities management company, Farnek, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Saudi government has awarded contracts to major regional and international firms for development of five airports in the kingdom, said a report.



These include a contract to operate the new King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, operation of which had already been awarded to Singapore-based Changi Airports International (CAI) for a 20-year period, reported Arab News, citing the transport minister.



Sulaiman Al Hamdan said the contract to develop and operate the new Taif International Airport was signed with Asyad Holding Group in collaboration with Consolidated Contractors Company and Munich Airport.



The contracts to operate Qassims Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Airport, Hail International Airport and Yanbus Prince Abdul Mohsin bin Abdul Aziz Airport were signed with the consortium of Turkish TAV Airports Holding and Al Rajhi Holding Group.



Al Hamdan, who is also the chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), said these contracts comes within the authoritys strategy of expanding the private sectors role in airport projects and increasing investment opportunities to provide the best services to passengers with the international standards.



The contracts for the Taif, Qassim, Yanbu and Hail airports are based on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, said the report. Once completed, these airports will together receive over 19 million passengers every year, it added.


Majid Al Futtaim, a leading shopping mall and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has announced its new upcoming neighbourhood shopping destination in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE: My City Centre Al Dhait.



The retail pioneers expansion into the Northern Emirate comes as part of the companys strategy to increase its total investment in the UAE by Dh30 billion ($8.16 billion) by 2026. The new shopping mall is set to open early next year.



The new community mall, which represents an investment of Dh68.5 million ($18.6 million), is Majid Al Futtaims third My City Centre mall. Strategic located between two growing residential communities in the north and southwest of Al Dhait in Ras Al Khaimah, it will begin construction this month.



My City Centre Al Dhait will bring a diverse and tailored mix of shopping and dining outlets, offering nearby residents a convenient and accessible experience, ideal for everyday shopping needs. It will be home to 30 stores across 5,494 sq m of gross leasable area, including a 1,178-sq-m Carrefour Market, and will offer 117 parking spaces to visitors.



The new My City Centre Al Dhait shopping destination underscores the success of Majid Al Futtaims My City Centre brand, a neighbourhood retail brand focused on offering accessible, convenient and lifestyle-oriented stores to serve surrounding communities, said Ghaith Shocair, chief executive officer Shopping Malls, Majid Al Futtaim Properties.



My City Centre Al Dhait is the most recent example of Majid Al Futtaims vision to create great moments for everyone, everyday, by providing accessible, convenient shopping and service destinations that addresses the immediate needs of residents through convenience and easy reach, while also acting as a social hub for the local community, he added.



Majid Al Futtaim has expansion plans ongoing in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, while redeveloping a number of its 21 existing retail and leisure destinations.  TradeArabia News Service
Leminar Air Conditioning Company, a leading distributor and service provider of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and plumbing products in the GCC, has been signed up by UK-based Hattersley as the exclusive distributor for its products in Kuwait.



A member of the Al Shirawi Group of Companies, Leminar is the largest HVAC distribution company in the region with six showrooms across the UAE and offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.



Hattersley, part of Crane Building Services and Utilities, will be one of Leminars principal suppliers in Kuwait along with other significant brands like Georg Fischer, RUUD, Mueller, Alfa Laval, Napco, Winters, Armacell and Clima Uno. Leminar is presently the distribution partner for the brand in the UAE as well.



An agreement was signed in this regard between Richard Tuck, the president of Hattersley, and Navin Valrani, the chief executive of Leminar Air Conditioning Company.



Accordingly, Leminar will supply Hattersleys traditional valves, including ball, butterfly, check, gate and globe valves as well as a range of balancing solutions for constant and variable flow systems for customers in Kuwait.



On the partnership, Tuck said: "Hattersley brand is synonymous with quality, reliability and service to the very highest standards and we insist on having partners who can match up to us."



"Leminar exceeded the expectations and played an important role in strengthening our regional presence. With their continued support, we hope to achieve remarkable success in Kuwait as well," he added.



Valrani said: "As a business, it has been our strategic objective to add reputed brands to our portfolio. In 2013, when the alliance with Crane materialised, we were confident this was a brand which had so much to offer on projects in the region. The success we found in the UAE proved us right and we look to repeat the same in Kuwait."



Earlier in the year, Leminar had also formalised a distribution agreement with Mesan USA for the supply of its CTI (Cooling Technology Institute)-certified products in Kuwait.-TradeArabia News Service
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE has ordered an early salary deposit for Dubai government employees in June to help families meet their needs and requirements during Eid Al Fitr.



Government employees will receive their salaries on June 15 about ten days prior to Eid. The Dubai Government has started taking the necessary steps to implement Sheikh Mohammeds directives.



Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, director of Dubais Department of Finance, expressed his heartfelt thanks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid for the gesture, which he said reflects the Rulers keenness to support government employees in meeting their families' requirements and needs prior to Eid and help them spend quality time with them during the upcoming holiday.  TradeArabia News Service
News / National

by Staff reporter

At least $600 million is circulating outside the formal banking system with revelations that more than $1 million exchange hands among informal traders in Mbare, Harare daily.According to a latest Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe report on Currency in Circulation, an estimated $6 billion of a cocktail of foreign currencies including $140 million bond notes and coins, were in circulation as of the end of March.However, the central bank noted with satisfaction that a considerable amount of money was circulating in legal activities including formal SMEs and informal markets.The bank said it recognises the important role played by the SMEs in the implementation of the Financial Inclusion Strategy which will ensure that money circulating outside the banking system was tapped back.The Financial Inclusion Strategy is envisaged to sustain growth in the economy and the use of mobile money by SMEs."The Reserve Bank estimates that around US$600 million is circulating outside the banking system," reads part of the report."The Reserve Bank does not have specific estimates of actual money circulating at the Mbare Green Market, Siyaso and Mupedzanhamo."An amount of $1 million will be an acceptable working figure in line with expected volume of business in the (Mbare) area, although a specific survey will be required to confirm this."The bank said the country was experiencing a major economic shift from relying on large corporates to SMEs owing to high population growth.Growth of SMEs, the bank said, was helping address some of the economic and social challenges emanating from high unemployment."Growth of the SME sector has also been boosted by the manufacturing base that has declined as a result of increased competition from cheaper imports," cited the RBZ."A stronger SME sector can bolster a country's resilience by broadening and diversifying the domestic economic base, thereby reducing vulnerability to sector specific shocks and fluctuations in international private capital flows."The integration of SME sector into formal business can also increase a country's tax base and boost revenue."Although the central bank expresses concern over the sector which has remained unbanked, Small to Medium Enterprises Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni says high bank charges scare potential clients.Said Minister Nyoni in an interview with The Sunday Mail: "The problem is not SMEs, but banks which are taking too much money from people."If you are in business and banking causes you to lose money, say US$1 from US$100 you would have banked, you would not be inclined to bank freely."Minister Nyoni said about 2,8 million people were in the SMEs sector.
Dubai-based start-up Shedul.com, a free booking platform and the world's fastest-growing software for salons and spas, has closed a $6 million round of Series-A financing.



The round was led by Dubai-based Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) and backed by Dubai's BECO Capital and San Francisco-based Lumia Capital. The new round of funding follows an earlier seed round also lead by MEVP.



Launched in 2015, the platform streamlines small- and medium-sized business operations with intuitive, free-to-use software. Shedul.com takes the hassle out of running a business by managing appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records, human resources, inventory, and financial reporting, a statement said.



In less than two years, Shedul.com has quietly signed up a vast user base of over 40,000 merchants in more than 120 countries, most of who learned about the platform by word of mouth. Over half of Shedul.com users are in the US, followed by the UK, Canada, and Australia.



Millions of bookings are made on the platform each month, and growing at an average rate of 35 per cent month-on-month. The platform is well on track to process over $1 billion worth of appointment bookings by the end of 2017, according to the statement.



Co-founder and CEO William Zeqiri said: "Good free software spreads quickly. We're solving a critical pain point for small businesses by redefining how they engage with customers through technology."



Zeqiri and co-founder Nick Miller, the company's COO, conceived of the idea on a last-minute trip to Nepal. The native New Zealanders booked their flights and hotels online, for a country they hadn't stepped foot in, without any trouble. But just before their departure, Zeqiri realized he needed a haircut. "I couldn't find anything last-minute in my own city" he recalled.



The reason, Shedul's co-founders discovered, was that software offerings for salons and spas are often expensive to purchase and difficult to use. As a result, the majority of businesses operate without any software at all: 52 per cent of salons in the US still manage their bookings with pen and paper.



With Shedul.com, gains in efficiency lead to greater customer retention and frequency, Miller explained. "We have merchants who have over 80 per cent of their bookings made online by customers," he said. "The convenience factor increases customer engagement and directly results in more revenue to the merchant."



Walid Mansour, managing partner at MEVP, said: "Shedul.com is a truly global success story and a testament to Dubai's emergence as a centre for innovation and technology" he said.



The founders said they plan to use the funds from the recent round of financing to scale their operations and expand product development.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt have has severed diplomatic relations with Qatar over security issues in a major row between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, media reports said.

Saudi news agency SPA said Riyadh cut diplomatic ties and closed borders with Qatar to protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.

A Saudi official cited by SPA said the country decided to sever diplomatic and consular ties with Qatar, and to close all land, sea and aviation ports.

Saudi Arabia said in exercising its sovereign rights to protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism, it has decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar, close all land, sea and air ports, prevent crossing into Saudi territories, airspace and territorial waters.



A statement attibuted to an official source on SPA said it will "start immediate legal procedures for understanding with fraternal and friendly countries and international companies to implement the same procedure as soon as possible for all means of transport to and from Qatar for reasons relating to Saudi national security."



The decisive measure was due to gross violations committed by authorities in Qatar over the past years, the Saudi statement said.

Bahrains action is based on the insistence of Qatar to continue to undermine the security and stability of the Kingdom of Bahrain and to interfere in its domestic affairs, as well as on the escalation and incitement of its media and its support to acts of terror and to financing armed groups associated with Iran to carry out subversive attacks and spread chaos in the Kingdom the BNA news agency said.

Bahrain is also withdrawing its diplomatic mission from Doha and giving all members of the Qatari diplomatic mission 48 hours to leave the Kingdom and the completion of the necessary procedures, the report said.



Bahrain is also closing its airspace, ports and territorial waters to air traffic and shipping to and from Qatar within 24 hours of the announcement of the statement.



Bahrain is also banning its citizens from travelling to Qatar or staying there, while Qatari citizens are not allowed to enter or pass through Bahrain.



Qatari residents and visitors are therefore given 14 days to leave the Kingdom in order to avoid any hostile attempts or activities that may exploit the situation, according to the report.



The dangerous Qatari practices have not been confined to the Kingdom of Bahrain, but have also been extended to sister countries that have been informed that such acts reflect a very dangerous pattern which cannot be ignored or accepted and must be addressed with full strength and firmness, the report said.

Egypts foreign ministry also accused Doha of supporting terrorism as it announced the severing of diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, the Command of Coalition to Support the Legitimacy in Yemen announced that it has decided to end the participation of Qatar in the coalition, said a Saudi Press Agency report.
The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), a global leader in transportation and logistics, has signed an agreement with King Abdulaziz University (KAU) to provide training opportunities to KAUs Marine Sciences graduates on board its vessels.



Bahri will offer intensive practical training for students undergoing marine navigation and engineering programmes at KAU as part of its Bahri Society initiative, said a statement from the company.



The move comes in line with Bahri's commitment to contribute towards achieving Saudi Vision 2030 and its ongoing efforts to train Saudi youth, improve skills and develop their expertise in the maritime sector, it added.



Under the terms of the agreement, Bahri will find a berth on board its managed vessels for KAU Marine Sciences students, allowing the cadets to carry out their sea time and any other tasks or projects which they are required to complete as part of their study programme.



The company will ensure that the cadets have suitable accommodation and food on board and are treated in the same manner as any cadet that Bahri would employ on board its vessels.



As part of this sponsorship agreement, Bahri will absorb the costs involved for each cadet that undergoes training on board its vessels. These costs will include airfare, visa, monthly salary and food allowance, it stated.



The companys senior maritime officers will assess the trainees based on the procedures applied by Bahri, thus contributing to the enhancement of training outcomes.



The programme, which includes 60 cadets in this year's edition, will involve practical maritime services training on board Bahris commercial vessels, where the student is trained in two phases for six months each.



On completion, the students return to the Faculty of Marine Sciences to complete the curriculum to obtain their Certificate of Graduation based on their specialisation (navigation or marine engineering), said a statement.



Ali A Al Harbi, the acting CEO of Bahri, said: "As one of the leading companies in transportation and logistics, we are committed to recruiting and training the best marine officers and engineers in the world and facilitating the continuous development of our human resources."



Identifying and supporting young talent is one of the main pillars of our Bahri Society initiative. As part of this initiative, we have launched a training programme for marine sciences students that will enable them to enrich their knowledge and gain practical experience in a diverse work environment, he said.



Abdulaziz Sabri, acting president, Bahri Ship Management, said: The aim of the programme is to develop the skills of young cadres and enhance their talents within a well-designed scientific framework that will help drive the growth of the marine sector at both the local and international levels.



Sabri pointed out that, upon graduation, the students will get the chance to work at Bahri and secure their career.



Last year's programme included 29 students from King Abdulaziz University and 27 students from Saudi Aramco, working in the department of docks and maritime management, it added.  TradeArabia News Service
Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group has been awarded a contract to construct two 81-metre ferries by Canadian ferry operator BC Ferries as part of ongoing fleet renewal programme.



BC Ferries operates 24 ferry routes along the coast of British Columbia, Canada. These new vessels will be able to cover many of the companys routes to the Northern and Southern Gulf Islands off the coast of Vancouver, it added.



Part of a fleet renewal programme, the new ferries will replace the 59-year old North Island Princess and the 53-year old Quadra Queen II.



Damen initially submitted its vessel designs to BC Ferries in March 2016 in response to a Request for Expressions of Interest that the Canadian company issued to the international shipbuilding industry, said a statement.



After attracting interest from no less than 28 shipyards, the highly competitive tender process proceeded in October 2016 when short-listed companies  including five Canadian shipyards  were invited to submit their bids. Damen was selected as the subsequent winner of this tender process.



Both vessels will be constructed at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania and are expected to enter service in 2020. The 81-metre long design will have capacity to carry approximately 44 vehicles and up to 300 passengers and crew, it said.



Mark Wilson, vice president of engineering, BC Ferries, said: This is a design-build, fixed-priced contract that provides us with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction.



A key objective of our fleet renewal programme and the acquisition of these two minor class vessels is to achieve capital and operating cost savings and efficiencies through an overall class and standardisation strategy, he said.



Damen Leo Postma, sales manager, Damen, said: We are extremely proud to be constructing these two vessels for BC Ferries.



Furthermore, we are looking forward to further developing our existing relationship with BC Ferries by building safe, reliable high quality ferries contributing to BC Ferries vessel replacement programme, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
The public nomination process for the prestigious Abu Dhabi Awards will close today (June 3), a statement said.



The seven-week nomination phase provided the opportunity to recognise good by nominating an individual who has undertaken a good deed that has benefited the Abu Dhabi community specifically.



Nominees can include Abu Dhabi citizens, residents, and non-residents as well as those who live overseas, as long as they have contributed to the development of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, said the statement.



The awards ceremony takes place once every two years to allow more time for individuals to perform quality good deeds, ensuring a consistent pool of potential recipients who have had a tangible impact on Abu Dhabi for consideration, it said.



All are encouraged to highlight good deeds they have witnessed by submitting a nomination for the Abu Dhabi Awards. Nominations include top-line information about the good deed the nominee has performed along with contact details they can be reached on, making the nomination process a simple for everyone.



Entries can be submitted through any one of the following; only one nomination is required as good deeds are measured by impact and not by the number of nominations they receive:

 Online at www.abudhabiawards.ae

 Via the Facebook page www.facebook.com/abudhabiawards

 Via the call centre on 800 3331

 In-mall stands and collection centres across the Capital, Al Ain and the Al Dhafra region - TradeArabia News Service


The proposed $150-million Mahabharata film, based on the Indian epic, will be produced to the best global standards drawing upon the finest creative and technical talent, UAE-based billionaire businessman Dr B R Shetty said.



The magnum opus be produced in such a way that it will capture the imagination of a global audience, he said as he shared the vision for the film, together with director V A Shrikumar Menon at an international media event in Abu Dhabi.



The announcement of the film had been made earlier in India.



Dr Shetty said: It has always been my vision to take this grand epic to the people of the world and this project gives me the opportunity to honour my commitment to the epic.



Mahabharata is one of the greatest epics. This movie will be a true Make in India made for the world. Mahabharata mesmerises as well as brings focus on life and living. I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. Importantly, I am awestruck by the fantastic screenplay by

M T Vasudevan Nair and I have tremendous faith in the ability of V A Shrikumar to paint this narrative on celluloid, Dr Shetty added.



The film will be a coming together of the creme de la creme of the global cinema in terms of its cast and crew. The technical crew would include some of the great names in world cinema including Academy winners. The cast will have the best of talents from Indian cinema as well as some big names from Hollywood, he said.



A global team led by an internationally renowned casting director will handpick the cast. Discussions in this regard has already begun with various parties, said Menon.



My vision for this magnum opus is to be a rendition of the one of the worlds greatest epics that will take the audiences breath away. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal will be playing the role of Bhima and has set aside two years for this project. This dedication and investment of time will be required from every actor. We will have the best of global and Indian talent associated with the film. We are paying special attention to the VFX and over 50 per cent of the production budget has been reserved for it to ensure that no corners are cut in delivering a dazzling visual experience.



We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry with this initiative, he said.



Mahabharata is to be made with master versions in three languages -- Malayalam, English and Hindi. It will be dubbed and sub-titled in all Indian languages as well as major foreign languages.



Elaborating on the plans for distribution of the film, Menon said: We will soon be announcing specific additions to the team in the areas of marketing and distribution to build global alliances to ensure Mahabharata reaches audiences worldwide. We aim to have a large global release worthy of the film, targeting multi-country and multi-platform releases as also international franchises across its lifetime. We will begin showcasing the project at major film markets across the world soon.



Dr Shetty is the founder and chairman of Abu Dhabi-based NMC group. He also heads UAE Exchange, Xpress Money and Travelex. A serial entrepreneur, Dr Shetty has business interests in pharmaceuticals, global financial services, retail, advertising and information technology.



Menon is an Indian ad film director. He is the founder chairman, managing director and creative head of Push Integrated Communications, an integrated communications company that provides a gamut of services including business consulting, branding, advertisement, corporate events, public relations etc. As an ad film director, he has directed more than 400 films for various brands. His first feature film titled Odiyan is set to release in 2018.



The film will be an adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nairs Jnanpeeth Award winning novel Randamoozham (The Second Turn). The novel narrates Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas. The screenplay is written by the writer himself, who holds a record of maximum national awards for screen writing in the history of Indian cinema. - TradeArabia News Service




Dubai-based Gates Hospitality, a top boutique F&B company, has hit the milestone of welcoming more than 1,000 customers each day with the opening of a new venue, Via Veneto, on the famous Boulevard in Downtown Dubai.



The man behind the rise of Gates Hospitality, Naim Maadad, believes success both now and in the future must be grounded in value for money with Dubai shifting swiftly away from big name international brands and chefs.



The opening of Via Veneto close to the Burj Khalifa is the latest venue we have launched in Dubai  bringing the total to eight across the city. We now have the capacity to serve more than 1,000 people each and every day  something that has been achieved in the last five years in what is a very tough market, Maadad said.



When developing a new concept, first and foremost we consider value for money. The days of throwing in a brand name with the supposed international wow factor is over in our opinion. Our venues are either a homegrown concept or one with a small but solid reputation in their own market.



Gates Hospitality figures also show UAE residents account for approximately 80 per cent of business throughout the year.



Maadad added: Dubai residents and those from across the UAE do still want to go out two or three times a week but a major factor in that is cost. Times are tougher but what we deliver in all of our venues is a great time out of the house with fantastic food and drink at a price that is right.



Of course there are special occasions when people want to spend more than normal and we have options to cater to that  but now and in the future we must deliver what the local market wants.



Gates most successful launch has been Reform Social & Grill  the hugely popular family venue in The Lakes, Emirates Living. That has been joined in the stable by Ultra Brasserie, two healthy deli-style venues, The Black Lion, folly by Nick and Scott, Publique and Bistro Des Arts.  TradeArabia News Services
Bosch, a global supplier of technology and services, has become the first company in the UAE to be certified to the new ISO 37001:2016 Anti-bribery Management Systems standard by Tasneef-Rina Business Assurance.



The certificate will be presented to the general manager and vice president of Robert Bosch Middle East, Volker Bischoff and Bosch Middle East compliance manager, Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, in the presence of Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, the Minister of Economy of the UAE.



Al Mansoori, who is also the chairman of the SCA board, said: As per the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 issued by Transparency International, UAE took the lead of being transparent and excellent in anti-bribery management amongst Mena countries.



This progress came as a result of the vision and directions of our leadership to improve the financial industry through systems and workflows that enforce corporate governance according to the worlds best practices. Over years of fighting the corruption we feel confident now that we succeeded in building sustainable economy that is capable of facing all the future challenges. Making the UAE economy more diversified and creating a healthy competitive environment is a top priority for our government.



Rashid Al Hebsi, CEO of Tasneef said: In order to fight corruption, we must join forces among all institutions. We understand the importance of building a safe environment that aims at enhancing the Arab region economy and we try to play this role. We are looking to be one of the worlds leaders in promoting anti-bribery, anti-corruption, transparency and efficiency in corporate management. We are also proud to grant ISO 37001:2016 certificate to Robert Bosch Middle East to be the first German company to obtain this certificate. This makes Bosch an icon to be followed by other companies who aim at fighting bribery and eliminating all aspects of financial corruption.



This certification is testament to the importance of an ethical business landscape and to the Bosch way of working, said Bischoff.



At Robert Bosch Middle East, we believe in transparency and fully understand the value of an organization that operates in an ethical manner. We are proud of the trust Tasneef-RINA Business Assurance has placed in us, and we look forward to continuing our work with both public and private entities in the UAE and regionally, providing diverse products and solutions.



Robert Bosch Middle East is not only the first company in the area to be certified with this standard, but also the first German company in the world. The leading global supplier of technology and services has its regional headquarters in Dubai, from where it offers a wide range of high-quality products and solutions to its customers in 14 countries in the Middle East. The company sells automotive parts and equipment, drive & control technology, power tools, thermotechnology, and security systems to a broad customer base in the region.



ISO 37001:2016 is based on internationally recognized good practices and it specifies the requirements and provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving an anti-bribery management system and all related policies, procedures and compliance documents.



Tasneef-Rina Business Assurance is leader in the certification of management systems that can serve the vision of the UAE.  TradeArabia News Service
Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) has won the Leadership Vision Award in Energy Management, organised by International Clean Energy Forum, and the European Commission, a report said.



The forum, which aims to promote the programmes of clean energy, consists of 24 countries and is based in China, reported WAM, the Emirates official news agency.



Dr Rashid Al Leem, chairman of Sewa said that the Authority won the Award because of its efforts and initiatives in the application of energy management standards, which contributed to its ISO 50001 certification.



Al Leem added: "We are delighted to have won this Award, which was attended by more than 32 bodies from around the world.



He extended his thanks and appreciation to Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah for his continued support to Sewa.
Ducab High Voltage (HV), a dedicated extra-high-voltage power cable manufacturing facility in the Middle East, said it has provided a full turnkey solution to Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) for its latest project  its longest ever high-voltage power circuit, which runs between Muwaileh and Sajaa.



The project has been completed within a short period of time to meet the energy demands of Sharjah city, said a company statement.



Ducab HV is a joint venture between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa); Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) and Ducab, a global leader in the development, design and manufacture of copper and aluminium wire and cable products in the region.



Using Ducab HV cables, Sewas new circuit strengthens its existing network, allowing for future development of power supply to Rahmaniyah, Sharjah Airport Free Zone, and University City.



The project uses more than 160 km of 132-kV cables, which were supplied and installed by Ducab HV, said a top official.



"This was our largest project to date, and we are exceptionally proud of our work with Sewa," remarked Abdulla Ali, the installations manager at Ducab HV.



"Being a local company enabled us to be agile enough to deliver to their requirements in a short time, thereby providing Sewa with the opportunity to complete this landmark project in a quick and efficient manner. Ducab HV would like to congratulate Sewa on the successful conclusion of this project," he stated.



May Al leem, the PPD director, Sewa, said: "Ducab HV was able to provide us with cabling for our new circuit in a timely and cost-effective manner. Our experience in this collaboration was positive from start to finish, demonstrating the very real benefits of using local suppliers as opposed to importing materials."



"With the new cabling in place, we are now able to better meet the growing energy demands of Sharjah City, with the potential to expand as needed," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe has arrived back from New York, USA, where he attended a high level conference to support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 14, which urges member states to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.He was accompanied by the First Lady, Dr Grace Mugabe, government ministers; Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri and other senior government officials.He was received at the Harare International Airport the two vice presidents; Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, the Minister of State for Harare Miriam Chikukwa, cabinet ministers and service chiefs.President Mugabe was in New York where he attended a high level meeting on Sustainable Development Goal number 14, which deals with the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and oceans.
Two weeks of steep losses have seen the Bloomberg Commodity Index once again trade close to a one-year low with all sectors apart from precious metals suffering losses this past week, not least energy and soft commodities, not least energy and soft commodities.



One week on from the Opec and non-Opec agreement to extend production cuts by nine months and the market has taken quite a negative view on how successful this deal will be in bringing down global inventories. Rising production from Libya, Nigeria, and the US (to mention only the biggest contributors) is slowing the process. Adding to this, we have president Trump's goodbye to the Paris climate deal leading investors to speculate as to whether this could lead to an even greater supply of US fossil fuels.



Precious metals reversed some the recent strong gains before an across the board ugly US job report helped send both gold and silver higher. A potential break of the multi-year downtrend could attract renewed buying interest from funds currently holding a neutral position.



The short-term focus has switched to the June 14 Federal Open Market Committee meeting where another rate hike is expected. Following the weak June 2 US jobs report, speculation will grow that the FOMC may deliver a dovish rate hike, i.e. reduce the expected number of future rate hikes.



Industrial metals remain troubled by signs of fading demand, especially from China where stalling credit growth and tighter monetary policy have raised concerns. This was backed up by a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing showing a contraction for the first time in 11 months. Nickel led the rout, dropping to a one-year low as iron ore futures traded in Shanghai hit a seven-month low following a 40% price collapse since the February peak.



Soft commodities were mixed with a slump in sugar to a 13-month low more than offsetting gains in cocoa, coffee, and cotton. A strong start to the Indian monsoon season and the weakness of the Brazilian real have been the latest negatives.



Overall, the International Sugar Organization is forecasting production surpluses in both 2017-17 and 2018-19. It goes to show the relatively short cycle of agriculture commodities compared to others with a high price in one year often leading to a strong recovery in production and lower prices the following.



Sugar has now reversed all the strong gains that made it one of the biggest winners in 2016.



Opec and non-Opec producers went into the recent meeting in Vienna with the objective of maintaining market stability. They were operating in the belief that a seasonal rise in demand during the second half would help accelerate the reduction in global supplies.



The weakness following the announcement to extend production cuts showed how the market has been growing increasingly impatient. The risk of reduced compliance during the coming months remains elevated while the lack of an exit strategy post Q1'18 also poses a challenge.



It has left the market nervous that increased production will hit the market at a time when US producers continue to add extra barrels on a weekly basis.



Oil prices currently appear immune to positive news with the weakness this past week being driven by an intense focus on increased supply. Production surveys for May carried out by Reuters and Bloomberg pointed to an increase of between 250,000 and 315,000 barrels/day.



This is due to increased production from Libya and especially Nigeria, both nations being exempt from cutting production. These rises more than offset continued high compliance from other members.



Additional weakness was seen following the weekly Petroleum Status Report from the US Energy Information Administration. This came despite a bigger-than-expected inventory drop in both oil and gasoline.



The market instead focused on the continued rise in production which, when combined with a jump in US exports to a record high of 1.3 million barrels per day (b/d), further added to the concerns about global inventories not drawing down fast enough.



Adding insult to injury, president Trump's decision to step away from the Paris climate deal has raised concerns that US fossil fuel production growth could accelerate even further. This concern was recently highlighted by the CEO of Russia's Rosneft who said that the US could add 1.5 million b/d to global production next year, thereby nullifying the impacts of the Opec/non-Opec deal.



The oil market is once again in for a lower-for-longer situation and only a slowdown in US production in response to recent price weakness and/or a strong pick up in demand will prevent sellers gaining the upper hand. The technical picture has deteriorated once again with some highlighting $42/barrel as a potential target for WTI crude oil.



Unless hard data in terms of rising demand and lower supply come to the rescue, oil remains at risk of suffering deeper losses still. We hold the view that data will support and that should lead to a second half recovery... but probably not beyond $55/b before focus on rising Opec and US supply in 2018 once again hurts sentiment.



WTI crude oil is currently stuck in a wide range between $53.50/b and $43.75/b. A break below $47/b could signal an extension, initially towards $43.75 and possibly as far as $42/b, the November low.





Precious metals reversed some of the recent strong gains before an ugly US jobs report for May helped the sector to recover. The initial weakness this past week occurred after gold once again failed to break the downtrend from 2011, this despite the biggest weekly surge in hedge funds buying since 2007.



Despite this latest surge in investment demand from hedge funds as seen below, the net-longs remain close to its long term average. Not least silver where we recently saw a record net-long being cut to a 16-month low within five weeks.



With gold looking to the Fed for guidance, renewed weakness in commodity prices and the ongoing concerns about the strength of the world's two biggest economies could see the FOMC risk skew towards fewer not more rate hikes. Political risks persist with president Trump increasingly on course to isolate the United States.



The strong dollar theme has disappeared during the past few months as European and Japanese growth have surprised to the upside.



On the back of these factors we maintain a bullish outlook for gold above $1,230/oz, neutral below, and only a break below $1,190 would force a change towards a negative outlook. The eventual break of the trendline, currently at $1,272/oz on the monthly chart and $1,278/oz on the weekly, could see the market shift higher as momentum and fund buyers will react to the improved technical outlook.



Prior to that, however, some additional profit-taking is likely to emerge ahead of the FOMC meeting. The previous three rate hikes all saw gold weaken ahead only to rally strongly afterwards.



Ole Hansen is head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank a leading multi-asset trading and investment specialist.




Somewhere Hotels, a stylish mid-market hotel brand in Dubai, has relaunched its new website which meets the needs of the tech-savvy, 21st century traveller.



The new website promises not only to simplify the booking process, but to make it more enjoyable for the user, supporting its Somewhere message of satisfying guests by being simple and different, yet better.



With its global expansion, Somewhere Hotels now introduces itself to Barsha Heights, expanding its ever-growing customer base in Dubai. The flagship four-star hotel is located in the heart of Barsha Heights, right at the doorstep of the metro station, providing guests with immediate access to commute.



The hotel boasts modern, contemporary and laid back designs, thus conveying a concept of simplicity and a warm and welcoming ambience. Additionally, the motion of minimalism and simplicity is incorporated to the new website to stay true to the facilitys mood.



By shifting from a corporate guise and feel to a more casual and interactive look, the website caters to the modern-day tech enthusiast. The booking process has been reduced to a simple three-step operation, just like most renowned booking websites. Enhanced tabs and a more appealing look are just a few of the many features added to the new website.



"We believe that the website visit and booking process for a customer should be as enjoyable as their stay with the hotel," the hotel said in a statement. - TradeArabia News Service
Increasing numbers of first time flyers, rising disposable income, expanding tourism, and new routes are driving a need for 34,170 passenger and 730 freighter aircraft worth a total of $5.3 trillion in the next 20 years, a report said.



Meanwhile, the worlds passenger aircraft fleet above 100 seats is set to more than double in the next 20 years to over 40,000 planes as traffic is set to grow at 4.4 per cent per year, according to Airbus latest Global Market Forecast 2017-2036.



Over 70 per cent of new units are single aisle with 60 per cent for growth and 40 per cent for replacement of less fuel efficient aircraft.



A doubling in the commercial fleet over the next 20 years sees a need for 530,000 new pilots and 550,000 new maintenance engineers, and provides Airbus global services business a catalyst to grow. Airbus has expanded its global network of training locations from five to 16 in the space of three years



Air traffic growth is highest in emerging markets such as China, India, the rest of Asia and Latin America and almost double the 3.2 per cent per year growth forecast in mature markets such as North America and Western Europe. Emerging markets currently home to 6.4 billion of the worlds 7.4 billion population will account for nearly 50 per cent of the worlds private consumption by 2036.



Air travel is remarkably resilient to external shocks and doubles every 15 years, said John Leahy, chief operating officer  Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. Asia Pacific continues to be an engine for growth, with domestic China to become the worlds largest market. Disposable incomes are growing and in emerging economies the number of people taking a flight will nearly triple between now and 2036.



Over the next 20 years Asia Pacific is set to take 41 per cent of new deliveries, followed by Europe with 20 per cent and North America at 16 per cent. Middle class numbers will almost double to nearly five billion as wealth creation makes aviation even more accessible particularly in emerging economies where spending on air travel services is set to double.



In the twin aisle segment, such as the A330 Family, A350 XWB Family and the A380, Airbus forecasts a requirement for some 10,100 aircraft valued at $2.9 trillion.



In the single aisle segment, such as the A320neo Family, Airbus forecasts a requirement for some 24,810 aircraft valued at $2.4 trillion. Airlines adding capacity by upsizing to the largest single aisle, the A321, will find even more business opportunities with the A321neo thanks to its range up to 4,000nm and unbeatable fuel efficiency. In 2016, the A321 represented over 40 per cent of single aisle deliveries and over 60 per cent of single aisle orders.  TradeArabia News Service
In keeping with the spirit of sharing during the holy month of Ramadan, Ramada Downtown Dubai reaches out to the community by handing out Iftar meals to labourers and cab drivers.



The team from the hotel distributed 200 Iftar boxes consisting of dates, biryani, fruits, laban milk and water, and joined the labourers at Al Quoz Industrial Area in breaking their fast. The following week, they also distributed 50 Iftar boxes to RTA cab drivers.



Shahzad Butt, general manager, said: Ramada Downtown Dubai has always been actively involved in various CSR activities, and this Ramadan, we have beefed up our initiatives to show appreciation to the people who play important roles in our society. Our team will continue to reach out and share blessings not only during the Holy Month but throughout the year. - TradeArabia News Service
River of Life Church, 2955 E. 2nd St., will host Christian news reporter Dr. Anthony Harper, publisher of Intermountain Christian News, on Wednesday. He will present videos with Israeli leaders and reporters from his recent trip to Israel, as well as updates from the press conference he attended last week in Washington, D.C.
Help Yourself

Learn Excel Advanced

The Library will offer an Excel Advanced class from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. Building on the basic features of Excel, learn about charts, graphics, formulas/functions and pivot tables. Attendees should have a working knowledge of Excel. Call 577.READ x2 for more information.

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, 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.

12-step to start

Teen Challenge Wyoming is offering a 12-week, 12-step program, Stepping into Freedom, starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 21. Class is open to adults 18 and over and will be held in the Fort Caspar Room at the 12/24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott. For more information or to sign up, call Adult/Teen Challenge Wyoming at 258-5397 or Chris at 259-7062.

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 17, practice session; June 24, Big Brush Landscape.

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 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. 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, rain or shine. Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Virtual Reality demo

Don't miss the chance to immerse yourself in an entirely new world when the Natrona County Library hosts a virtual reality demo from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 17. Choose from over 40 of the best virtual reality games and apps while being taken through a guided experience with the HTC Vive. Free and open to the public. Gameplay will last for approximately seven minutes per player. Tickets will be handed out at the beginning of the event, available on a first-come, first-served basis. The HTC Vive is provided by the Natrona County Library Foundation. Call 577.READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

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 S. 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.
Help Yourself

Learn Windows 10

The Natrona County Library will offer a Windows 10 class from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, June 12. Learn how to navigate Windows 10, including the updated Start menu, Action Center, and more. Feel free to bring your Windows 10 device with you to follow along. Call 577-READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Learn Excel Advanced

The Library will offer an Excel Advanced class from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. Building on the basic features of Excel, learn about charts, graphics, formulas/functions, and pivot tables. Attendees should have a working knowledge of Excel. Call 577-READ x2 for more information.

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, 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.

12-step to start

Teen Challenge Wyoming is offering a 12-week, 12-step program, Stepping into Freedom, starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 21. Class is open to adults 18 and over and will be held in the Fort Caspar Room at the 12/24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott. For more information or to sign up, call Adult/Teen Challenge Wyoming at 258-5397 or Chris at 259-7062.

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 17, practice session; June 24, Big Brush Landscape.

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 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. 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 at 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.

Virtual Reality demo

Don't miss the chance to immerse yourself in an entirely new world when the Natrona County Library hosts a virtual reality demo from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 17. Choose from over 40 of the best virtual reality games and apps while being taken through a guided experience with the HTC Vive. Free and open to the public. Gameplay will last for approximately seven minutes per player. Tickets will be handed out at the beginning of the event, available on a first-come, first-served basis. The HTC Vive is provided by the Natrona County Library Foundation. Call 577-READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

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.
Dove Award-winning contemporary Christian group, Sidewalk Prophets, headline the 2017 Uprising Music Festival on Aug. 20 at Mike Lansing Field. The popular band returns to the festival with six other regional and national Christian artists, along with an afterparty hosted by Transform DJs.

The event begins with a community worship service at noon, with the bands taking the stage at 1:30 p.m. and wrapping up at 10 p.m. The event is free. Food and merchandise vendors will be available.

The band line-up includes Sidewalk Prophets, Anthem Lights, Seth & Nirva, Bread of Stone, Transform DJ's, Skylar Kaylyn from Wheatland, and Foreverlin, Wyoming-grown.
Vacation Bible School is coming up at Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Conwell. The theme this year is "Join the Ranks!" This Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. Vacation Bible School is for kindergarten through 6th grade. There will be refreshments, relay races, tricks, prizes, and lots of fun. If there are any questions, please call the church office at 266-5417.
Opinion / Columnist

So, there is going to be "the mother of all rallies" NERA rally, in Bulawayo this next Saturday, 17 June 2017."Youth members of the coalition calling for reforms before elections in 2018 are mobilizing all the people in the country to make sure they attend the event to show cause for a change in the electoral process so as to have transparent and democratic elections in 2018," we are told.This is downright stupid; NERA has been "calling for reforms" these last four years, we all know that not even one reform has been implemented in that period and we have gone past the cut-off date anyone can realistically expect any reform to be implemented and put into effective use before next year's elections.The 17 or so opposition parties led by Tsvangirai's MDC-T who formed NERA have been calling on the Zanu PF regime, which won the presidency plus more than two thirds majority in the rigged July 2013 elections, to implement the reforms. Zanu PF has flatly refused to do any such thing."You can't expect us to reform ourselves out of power,' said Professor Jonathan Moyo, Zanu PF cabinet minister and a member of the party's politburo. Of course, he has just rubbing it in; this was self-evident except to those who chose to bury their heads in the sand.It is now four years since the rigged 2013 elections and not even one reform has been implemented. The mother of rallies NERA rally is being held with exactly one year to go before the next elections and the organizers are still calling for reforms to be implemented. How stupid is that!Anyone even vaguely familiar with what the raft of reforms, we are talking about here, are about would know the reforms cannot be implemented and put into practice in 12 months, even with the best political will. The SADC supervised GNU was given 18 months to implement the reforms. In the end, the GNU lasted for 60 months but even not even one reform was implemented. Are we now to believe that the mother of all rallies will produce the mother of all calls that will finally force Zanu PF to implement all the reforms in next month or two at the very latest!What is sickening here is that the same individuals, now expecting Zanu PF to implement the reforms in record time; are the ones who failed to do the same thing in five years, when they had the power and opportunity to do so. They wasted the golden opportunity to implement the reforms then. They ignored calls for them to implement the reforms and instead strung the nation along with the lies that the new 2013 constitution would deliver all the freedoms and human rights, guaranteed. Now they are doing the same thing again, stringing the nation along with a string of new lies.Those in the opposition camp have decided to contest next year's elections knowing fully well that with no reforms in place Zanu Pf will rig the vote. They are coming up with all manner of lies to justify why they are once again contesting flawed elections. The mother of rallies, the NERA rally next week, will not force Zanu PF to implement even one token reform.The much talked about grand coalition of the opposition parties will not stop Zanu PF blatantly rig the vote, as has happened in the past. The opposition's planned voter registration and mobilization will not stop the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut. These are all lies peddled by opposition politicians who do not have the guts to admit they failed to implement the reforms, even when it was in their power to do so, and are contesting the flawed elections for selfish reasons.Since the election fiasco of 2008 which gave birth to the GNU, Mugabe and Zanu PF have learnt that they can still continue to rig elections and resist all pressure to implement reforms provided the party allows the opposition to win a few seats. It was to win these bait seats that MDC leaders contested the 2013 elections even when it was obvious Zanu PF was going to rig the vote, as Coltart admitted."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," admitted David Coltart in his recent book, The Struggle Continues 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe."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."Mugabe and Zanu PF know that by denying the people of Zimbabwe their freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections and even the right to life, the regime is committing high treason. The opposition politicians who continue to contest these flawed elections are, in reality, partners in crime; Zanu PF is bribing the opposition with the few gravy train seats, down payment for giving the flawed elections some modicum of credibility."May we all mobilise our structures in & around Bulawayo to attend in their numbers," announced the NERA Organising Committee chairperson Mugari Joelson.The NERA rally will not get even one token reforms implemented. NERA lost all political credibility a long time ago. What would be of great interest to the nation is the answer to: Who is bankrolling this "mother of all rallies" NERA rally? It will come as no surprise to find the generous donor funding NERA's utterly pointless activities is also paying Nikuv's princely fees for corrupting the voters' roll - Robert Gabriel Mugabe!
Monday through Friday, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1240 S. Missouri, will sponsor "Mighty Fortress" Vacation Bible School program. This VBS program will be held from 9 a.m. to noon and is open to children 3 years old through the fifth grade. Students will enjoy fun activities as they meet and greet friends, enjoy snacks, sing songs and work on crafts. Please contact Tonya at the church office, 234-0568, for more information.
A two-vehicle crash temporarily closed part of the Old Glenrock Highway on Sunday.

All lanes of U.S. Highway 20/26 between mileposts 171 and 173 -- roughly halfway between Glenrock and Casper -- were closed sometime before 11 a.m., according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation's road information website. They were reopened in the afternoon.

The crash sent multiple people to the hospital, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The cause remains under investigation.

The Glenrock Chamber of Commerce reported on its Facebook page that the road was totally blocked for a time. It did not offer further details.
Oil isnt the only liquid that Gillette residents get excited about.

For years, the City Council there has sought to implement a fee for using the municipal swimming pool. That push became all the more important when the energy industry tanked and the city started looking to cut costs and raise revenue.

But, said Gillette City Administrator Carter Napier, residents were not happy.

We got a lot of feedback from the community decrying the idea, Napier said. Charging a fee at the pool was harmful to those of lower incomes, and on and on.

So Napier, who will take over as Caspers city manager later this month, got creative. The city pool is full of water. Why not treat it as a utility, like the rest of Gillettes water system?

The fees city residents pay for water at their homes are regularly used to upgrade infrastructure and to pay for capital projects like a new water treatment plant. At Napiers suggestion, Gillette City Council rolled the public pool into the items covered by utility fees.

The rates that our users pay for water services basically help to cover the cost of the pool, Napier said.

It was a way of assuaging public opinion  the pool remains free to the public  without giving up on the original goal of recouping the cost of its operation.

Napiers navigation of the pool question hints at how he may approach Caspers budget for the fiscal year starting July, which is projected run an approximately $5 million deficit covered largely by the citys reserves.

Some of the Council kind of had to wrap their head around it because it was such a different idea, said Gillette Mayor Louise Carter-King. But that is one thing that Carter challenged the department heads to do. Were in a different time that we havent been in before, so get your thinking caps on and start thinking outside the box.

Making preparations

Because it is even more closely tied to the energy industrys health than Casper, Gillette had a bit of a head start on reforming its budget for leaner times. While the city slashed $60 million from its budget last year, Napier said he started preparing departments for cuts nearly two years ago: reviewing every vacant position, for example.

Our corporate neighbors were telling us about things they were seeing (in) the tea leaves, Napier said. We started consolidating a lot of responsibilities early on so that we wouldnt have such a heavy lift when things started to go south.

Casper has taken similar steps over the last 12 months, and the budget proposed by Interim City Manager Liz Becher calls for eliminating 17 positions, on top of over 40 other positions that have been lost over the last few years.

When Leisure Services Director Doug Follick retired last winter, his department was rolled into public services as a way of saving money.

Some of the more speculative ideas that city staff presented to Casper City Council at the budget session over the last few weeks have already been implemented in Gillette. For example, parks are being mowed less frequently  an idea Casper staff floated as one cost-saving measure.

People say, Boy I wish the parks were as nice as they used to be, Napier acknowledged. But by and large, the community has been very supportive.

Napier said hes aware of the tension between focusing solely on essential services during a downturn and maintaining the quality of life that helps keep residents  and the tax base they provide  from leaving town.

Staying balanced

Casper City Council, to whom he will answer in his new role, set the central essential service, public safety, as its top priority. But members have also prioritized keeping all city services sustainable.

Thats a balance Napier said he believes in.

Adjacent states are not feeling the hit as much as Wyoming cities and towns are, he said.

That means localities in Montana, South Dakota and Colorado, for example, can keep up beautification projects and arent forced to consider closing their recreation centers. If Wyoming towns pursue austerity and shut down everything but the water lines and police station, its not only people Napier worries about losing  its businesses, too.

We still have to be competitive, Napier said. Its a real conundrum.

Gillettes current budget slashed all discretionary capital spending but maintained projects funded through 1-cent tax dollars, a source of funding that Caspers Council members have discussed shifting to the general fund.

Despite the discomfort several Casper City Council members had about spending the $5 million in reserves, the panel agreed to approved Bechers proposed budget largely as written, with the caveat that they would revisit spending choices with the new city manager.

Theyre clearly eager to have Napier on the job, setting his start date as June 26 despite his previously stating he would not start before early July.

Napier envisions a highly collaborative process in his work with City Council, despite technically having somewhat more autonomy than in his current role as an administrator in Gillette, which has an elected mayor to serve as executive.

I dont view my role as being separate and apart from input from the Council, Napier said.
Casper City Council has selected Carter Napier as its new city manager. But how long he is able to serve in that role is dependent partially on whether residents decide to abolish the position.

Two Keiths  Rolland and Goodenough  are pushing forward with a petition that, if successful, would call a special election to decide whether Casper should keep its current government form, with an elected city council hiring a city manager as administrator, or switch to an elected mayor form.

Or, to be precise, voters would be asked: Shall the City of Casper form of government be changed from a city council and city manager to a form of government of a city council and mayor with the power and duties per W.S.  15-1-108 who shall be elected by the voters of the City of Casper for a term of four years?

Its a bit of a mouthful.

But under the terms of the petition sent to the media by Rolland, an elected mayor could take office as soon as January 2019.

Rolland said the city clerk had largely approved the petitions language and he was planning to start collecting signatures at Nic Fest to test public interest. His goal is 5,000 signatures, above the 3,017 required to account for any signatures that are disqualified.

Whether the effort will gain any traction with Casper voters remains unclear. The basic idea behind the petition is that city managers have too much power because they have autonomy to act largely independent of the City Council on many issues  like personnel  and voters cant blame a single elected leader for any failure of city government since the manager can only take direction from Council based on a majority vote.

But the petition has caught Napiers attention.

Sure, I looked into it, he said. It did cause some questions.

Napier, who is coming from a position as a city administrator in Gillette, which has an elected mayor, said that even if the petition gathers the requisite signatures and voters choose to eliminate the city manager position, his job would stay largely the same.

If its an administrator form of government, I understand that form of government... If its going to be a manager form of government, I understand that form, too, Napier said.

He rejected, however, the contention that city managers are unaccountable. Managers can be fired by a simple vote of Council, in contrast to mayors, who cannot be easily unseated.

Theres no recall in Wyoming. Theres no, we-get-to-have-another-vote-because-we-dont-like-the-mayor-anymore, Napier said. But with the city manager that happens in one night... the manager is the one thats more dispensable.

Rolland said the Council appears largely opposed to the change for just that reason.

They would no longer pick the mayor nor would they pick the city manager, which is the reason I want this change. The VOTERS should DIRECTLY pick the mayor/chief administrative officer, Rolland said by email.

***

It was odd that Councils selection of Napier two weeks ago was announced by the City of Gillette almost 24 hours before Casper sent out a statement.

The difference may be attributable in part to the fact that Gillette has a full-time communications manager, Geno Palazzari, who works with the media and sends out press releases.

Good spokesmen and women make a journalists job easier in some respects: one person to call for arranging interviews and answering questions during hectic times. Of course, spokesmen can also obstruct  intentionally or not  and make it harder to speak to the actual decision makers.

It will be interesting to see whether Napier decides to restructure how the City of Casper communicates with the media and residents. The city managers office currently has a person who is in charge of public communication  but not in a full-time capacity.

Former City Manager V.H. McDonald, who retired abruptly in early April, told me a day before he stepped down that he was never interested in promoting his work.

That came up as he was expressing frustration that the media never covered the positive aspects of Caspers government. That complaint is a perennial frustration of my colleagues and I, who can point to dozens of stories we write about good things. But that doesnt make the sentiment any less pervasive.

Youre working hard and youre doing multitudes of work that never gets covered and never gets spoken about, McDonald said. Were working on a splashpad for the north Casper neighborhood and that doesnt get covered.

He described driving around Casper to see what needed fixing and walking back-and-forth under an underpass to note necessary improvements.

Thats a great story, I told him. Id be happy to spend a day driving around Casper with the city manager to see how he works. But if nobody tells me thats going on it may fly under the radar.

Its reasonable, of course, that McDonald didnt want to invest energy in public relations. Doing so would be hard to justify in these economic times. But with City Council members, and even Interim City Manager Liz Becher, worrying that negative headlines can hurt the city, it may be something they consider investing in.

***

This column usually has some fun or funny  I try  tidbits mixed in. Thats missing this week because Ive been out of town and working remotely. Most of those tidbits come from hanging around City Hall in person, before and after council meetings, for interviews and more. And if not City Hall, then other in-person reporting.

While the tidbits that end up in this column are never blockbuster stories, they help shape my understanding of how and why Casper works that way it does. Thats the importance of reporting in person and something newspapers remain reliably good at empowering their reporters to do.
RAWLINS  When you hear a rattlesnakes signature buzzing sound, your skin crawls.

An immediate tension sets in, your heart begins to pick up speed and a chill rolls down your spine. Theres a tightening in the depths of your gut and you feel uneasy, your senses briefly heightened as adrenaline pumps through your veins.

From birth, human beings have a natural aversion to snakes.

Pet dogs, on the other hand, do not. And where a human knows to recoil from the hiss of a snake, mans best friend does not. They need training to realize the danger.

Thats where Ashlea Colson comes in.

We clip their fangs and we muzzle them, Colson explained as she set up four hissing plastic buckets around a small picnic table in a gazebo on the outskirts of the Carbon County Fairgrounds.

How do you muzzle a snake?

We use electrical tape and a lot of caution, Colson said with a laugh. The snakes, for their part, didnt seem to find much humor in the situation. Their generally dour expressions lent an even more irate quality with thin strips of black tape neatly binding their jaws shut. They still attempted to strike out at handlers as they were moved about, but could do little more than imitate their ordinarily deadly attacks.

We actually have the snakes out, we take them out and well set the first one on a piece of plywood in the grass so its really clear to the dog what were doing, Colson explained as she set up the four waypoints of her training course.

The idea is to test and ultimately condition the dog to respond correctly to the presence of a live rattlesnake, which is to say, adversely. To this end, Colson uses electronic remote-controlled collars that administer an unpleasant sensation that causes the dog to associate rattle snake sounds with bad times.

Very few dogs have a natural aversion to snakes, Colson said. The rest of them all go nose-first in to sniff them.

The dogs learn quite quickly. One jolt from the collar and Dean, the first dog to run the days course, wanted nothing more to do with snakes. The course goes from an obvious snake on a wooden platform to a snake laid in the grass and more concealed; then it tests a dogs willingness to avoid a snake by placing it on a leash and having it run around a snake to get to its owner.

Finally, on an apparent victory lap for the dog, they place a final snake down to see if the dog reacts appropriately while also distracted by the sight of other, waiting dogs.

We want them to be aware that they can be anywhere, Colson said. We try to make it good for everybody, people and their dogs. Most dogs it only takes once, some dogs come back for seconds. They think theyre going to get the best of the snake like our beagle did.

Rattlesnakes are not uncommon in Wyoming, and even in the city Colson can recall times when theyve been abundant, showing up on sidewalks and in peoples yards.

We had a lot (of rattlesnakes) last year. In fact, animal control and the city called me and my dad to go pick them up, since we have the tongs and the buckets, and we can just pick them up and throw them out, Colson recalled.

Colson has been learning the art of caring for animals all her life, starting with 4H as a youngster. Now she operates One of a Kind Canine  a boarding and training facility in Rawlins  as a certified professional dog trainer, but her childhood also lent her a love for less furry animal friends.

My dads always been a big fan of reptiles, she said. We learned about snakes and frogs and bugs and little lizards, we learned all about that since we were little.

This is Colsons fifth year holding her annual rattlesnake aversion course and she said that interest has only grown as times gone on. People register slots in the class as early as December, she said.

As for the snakes themselves, who go through so much, there is a happy ending.

When were done we take them way, way out where nobody goes and release them so we have snakes for next time, Colson said.

___

Information from: Rawlins (Wyo.) Daily Times, http://www.rawlinstimes.com
HELENA, Mont.  Montana wildlife officials say the way they count wolves is too expensive and falls far short of an actual population estimate, so they plan to switch to a model that uses information gathered from hunters.

However, wildlife advocates say wolf numbers are declining and the switch could threaten the species survival. They worry the data is too unreliable to be used to manage the population.

The change, expected within the next three years after improvements to the model, will be cheaper than the annual wolf counts conducted now and provide a more accurate estimate of the total population, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said.

Back in the late 90s, early 2000s, we could count every wolf in the state, wildlife biologist Bob Inman said. As populations increased into the 700 to 1,000 range, we physically cant do that anymore.

The model, which uses hunter sightings to help map areas occupied by wolves, typically puts wolf numbers much higher than the annual minimum counts.

Ranchers and hunters in the state have contended for years that the wolf population is too high and threatens livestock and elk populations.

Wolf advocates say hunting and trapping has led to a decline in wolf numbers in recent years, and the model could obscure the threat the predators are facing.

If the numbers that are going in are going to be bad, the numbers going out are going to be bad, said Marc Cooke of the advocacy group Wolves of the Rockies. Im very leery of it.

He said he distrusts hunters reporting because of their anti-wolf bias and that state wildlife officials pay too much deference to those hunters.

Theres a trust gap being developed between the department and wildlife enthusiasts, he said.

Congress lifted protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho in 2011, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continued to oversee how those states managed their populations for five years to ensure that hunting and trapping did not drive down the predators numbers again. A judge lifted federal protections for wolves in Wyoming in April.

In Montana, six Fish, Wildlife and Parks wolf specialists now verify by sight all the wolves they can to make sure there is more than the minimum required 150 individual wolves and 15 breeding pairs. That means scouring wolf territory year-round on the ground and in the air, an expensive job that became even pricier last year when federal funding ended.

The state has relied primarily on those annual minimum counts, but it also has been using the Patch Occupancy Model since 2007. The model uses data from hunter sightings and runs a formula with variables such as territory and pack size to come up with a population estimate.

The estimates from the model are typically much higher than the minimum wolf counts. For example, the model estimated there were 892 wolves in Montana in 2014  61 percent higher than the minimum count of 554 that year.

The models population estimates for 2015 and 2016 wont be available until this summer, Inman said. The annual minimum counts for those years were 536 wolves in 2015 and 477 in 2014.

In 2016, we didnt have federal funding and we didnt direct the specialists to count every wolf, Inman said. Im sure there will be people who will look at that number, and only that number, and think that things are going in the wrong direction, but its not the case.

The minimum counts will still be conducted over the next couple of years while improvements are made to the model at the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Montana.

Cooke said the state agency needs to conduct more outreach and public education to explain what theyre doing, instead of just thrusting it on the public.
Recent developments in the legal dispute between the Northern Arapaho Tribe and federal government on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming suggest a resolution may not be near after all.

The tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs moved to settle in March, after a federal judge ruled in favor of the Arapaho in several key aspects of the case last fall that deals with how federal money is distributed to the tribes.

The Eastern Shoshone Tribe, which shares the reservation with the Arapaho, sought to enter the lawsuit shortly before the settlement conference, a move that had the potential to upend the mediation.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris has yet to rule on whether the Shoshone will be allowed to enter the case, which began in 2015, but it appears that regardless, the settlement efforts have not yielded a consensus between the Arapaho and the federal government.

Two weeks after the settlement conference in late April, lawyers for both the Arapaho and BIA filed dueling draft orders asking Morris to grant motions for summary judgment.

Coming nearly full circle in the dispute, the Arapaho are requesting that the court order the BIA to grant it contracts to carry out various services for tribal members on the reservation. The BIA is arguing that it was justified in rejecting the Arapahos proposals to receive funding for those services.

The case began when the Northern Arapaho severed its ties with the Joint Business Council, a body the Arapaho and Shoshone business councils had used for decades to collectively negotiate with the federal government and some private companies.

The BIA sought to continue working with the JBC, despite only the Shoshone being represented on it, and the Arapaho sued.

The federal government is mandated to provide various public services to tribal members on reservations. It is also required to allow tribes to operate those services independently with federal funding.

Morris ruled in October that the federal government had likely acted illegally by negotiating with only the Shoshone to provide multi-tribal services on the Wind River Reservation despite the Arapahos own interest in providing independent services for its membership.

Following that ruling, the BIA agreed in principle to start negotiating with both tribes separately, and that agreement appeared to form the basis for the mediation ordered by Morris.

But the motions filed last month, following the settlement conference, suggest the original dispute over whether or not the BIA must fund separate yet overlapping programs for both tribes on the reservation continues.

Wind River is the only reservation in the nation where two separate tribal governments have been granted sovereignty over the same geographic area. The Northern Arapaho have generally claimed that such a quirk has no bearing on the legal requirement that the BIA allow them to operate independent tribal services, whereas the feds have held that it is practically impossible to separately contract certain services.

For example, in their May motion following the settlement conference, the BIA rejected the Arapahos request to receive all funding allocated for wildlife management on the reservation.

While the funds were designated for both Tribes, the NAT was proposing to provide services for the benefit of Arapaho tribal members, attorneys for the agency wrote.

But the Arapaho countered that the federal government is required to provide full funding for any program which tribes are entitled to operate  including ones that cover the entire reservation  regardless of the Shoshones presence at Wind River.

NAT has the right to seek and obtain federal funding for its own benefits... without the permission of any other Indian tribe or tribal government, the tribes attorneys wrote. BIA complains that it has insufficient funds, but Congress obligated the Secretary to accept every qualifying... contract, notwithstanding that at the same time it may not yet have appropriated sufficient funds to pay each tribal contractor in full.

The two motions requesting that Morris issue summary judgment in the case suggest that settlement efforts have stalled for the moment.

Meanwhile, the Shoshone are still seeking to enter the case. If the BIA agrees to fund all tribal services separately on the basis of each tribes population, the Shoshone stand to lose significant federal funding.

Because 71 percent of the estimated 14,200 enrolled tribal members on the reservation are Arapaho, any per capita funding arrangement would see more money go to the Arapaho. Under contracts negotiated through the Joint Business Council, the tribes split funding evenly despite the differences in population.
Opinion / Columnist

"They (coalition) are different from the one in Britain which was done after the elections. Ours is different because you do not know qualitatively who is bringing more people. But why tichida (want) coalition is because we do not talk of quantity as we already have a huge support base," Morgan Tsvangirai told his supporters in Gweru."The reason is that hatidi (don't want) international community inozoti blamer kuti hamuna coalition se opposition ndosaka makadyiwa. (you lost because you don't have a coalition)."We are doing this in the national interests."This is nonsensical for the following reasons:1) If MDC-T has a "huge support base" already then why should the party need to go into a coalition with any other party? Why would a party with a huge support base lose an elections?2) The only way a party with a huge support base will ever lose an election is if the said election is rigged. Why would anyone blame MDC for not having been in a coalition after losing a rigged election?3) The international community, especially SADC, blamed Tsvangirai and MDC for participating in the 2013 elections with no democratic reforms in place. MDC was warned, with no reforms in place, the elections would be rigged.4) Since the rigged July 2013 elections MDC has promised not to contest any future elections until reforms are implemented. Not even one reform has been implemented since and yet MDC is gearing to contest the next elections contrary to its own "No reform, no election!" resolution.5) The whole world will blame MDC for the madness of contesting yet another flawed elections. Tsvangirai is using the formation of a coalition as a smoke screen to hide behind the folly of contesting yet another flawed election. No one will be fooled by the smoke screen. No one!6) What did the nation gain by MDC contesting in the 2013 flawed elections? Tsvangirai should name even one thing.7) What did the nation lose by being dragged into a flawed 2013 election? Everything! It allowed Zanu PF back into power with all the political and economic consequences of having the corrupt and tyrannical regime dictating the nation's destiny. But worst of all, by participating MDC got Zanu PF off the hook of implementing the reforms.8) By contesting next year's elections MDC will once again allow Zanu PF back into power and again allowing the regime to get away with not implementing the reforms. The nation must put its foot down and demand that Tsvangirai and his sell-out MDC friend honour their "No reform, no election!" resolution!9) Contesting another flawed election is insane!10) The whole world is sick to their back teeth of opposition parties like MDC who fail to implement democratic reforms even when they have the golden opportunity to do so, ignore warnings not to contest elections with no reforms and then complain of "stolen elections" after the fact! This is just nonsense!
HOUSTON  The Navys newest combat ship was put into active service following a commissioning ceremony Saturday, named after former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was injured during a 2011 shooting.

Giffords told a crowd at the ceremony in the Texas Gulf Coast city of Galveston that she was honored the 421-foot-long ship will carry her name and the vessel is strong and tough, just like her crew.

I thought of you in my darkest days, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States of America.  You make me proud. You make America proud, Giffords said as she stood next to her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who was in the Navy. Kelly lived in Galveston County when he was stationed at Johnson Space Center in suburban Houston during his NASA service.

Speakers including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said Giffords strength and courage made her worthy of being the namesake of the ship, the USS Gabrielle Giffords.

Nothing gives me greater joy and honor than seeing this great ship named for someone whose strength and resilience is a great lesson to us all, Clinton said.

Others who attended the ceremony included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, who served as the ships sponsor.

The Navy has said it named the ship after Giffords because of the perseverance she showed after the shooting.

Giffords was shot in the head at a meet-and-greet event outside a grocery store in Tucson in 2011. Six people died and Giffords was among 13 injured. The killer, Jared Loughner, was sentenced to life in prison. Giffords suffers from a language disorder and is partially paralyzed as a result of the shooting.

Giffords helped christen the $475 million ship in 2015. Its the ninth in a series of high-speed vessels designed to navigate in shallow coastal regions known as littoral waters.

It is the 13th Navy ship named after a living person since 1850 and the 16th ship named for a woman.

The ship will be based in San Diego.

I will never forget this day or the crew of the USS Gabrielle Giffords. Fair winds and following seas, Giffords said.
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!)
Opinion / Columnist

IT'S so good to be back. I was watching you and ndaikunzwai zvangu. Hehe, Bishop Lazarus is under the weather, hehe Bishop Lazi has been censored. Others even swore by their mothers saying "watch the space, that stubborn Bishop won't have the guts to preach again." Ini zii zvangu.Well, I am back saka naro shoko. So many political things have been happening over the past few weeks. Defence Minister, Dr Sydney Sekeramayi found himself in the thick of the political things following the mischief by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Jonathan Moyo who just woke up and thought of doing what he has always done best  causing confusion.Pasina kana avabvunza, Prof Moyo suddenly found it necessary to tell us that he thinks Vice President Mnangagwa is not a suitable candidate to succeed President Mugabe.He told us that Dr Sekeramayi was a more war veteran than VP Mnangagwa. Of course that's a blue lie but it was coming from a whole professor and so we were supposed to believe him. The learned professor went further saying Dr Sekeramayi was more suitable to succeed President Mugabe.Well, Prof Moyo is entitled to his opinions. Watching and listening from where I was, I kept asking myself: "Is this the same Prof Moyo who was fired from Zanu-PF in 2004 following the famous Tsholotsho saga where he was accused of being the architect of the plot to smuggle VP Mnangagwa into power?" That Mnangagwa, that the Professor thought could lead the country in 2004, isn't he still the same? What exactly has changed? Is it VP Mnangagwa who has changed or it's the Professor?Look, guys, why don't we sort our grudges elsewhere. There is no way hatred and vengeance can turn into some academic sermon. It's also nauseating to think Zimbabweans are fools with a short memory. 2004 is not that far anyway? Shuwa, shuwa iwe wega ndiwe wakachenjera?But then Zanu-PF, in fact let me say President Mugabe has a shrewd way of dealing with those who think they are the best thing that has happened to the party. Ziii, zvavo Gushungo over the Prof Moyo mischief. You are actually tempted to ask; "Nhai Gushungo makamunzwawo here Jonathan?"The mischief was continued in the Zimbabwe Independent. "Sun will rise from Mash East: Mugabe" the paper screamed. The paper claimed that in a private briefing before addressing the youth rally in Marondera, President Mugabe had said: "When the sun sets, it shall rise from Mashonaland East; do you hear me?" Kikikikiki!President Mugabe would never say such a thing. That's not the way he speaks and that's not the way he thinks. That laughable story was planted by someone who doesn't really know the President. Tibvunzei tikuudzei kuti zvakamira sei.The lousy story was supposed to make it appear as if the Professor knew what he was talking about when he threw Dr Sekeramayi's name into the political ring from the blues. Fortunately, the mischief was detected from the onset and all the machinations are just a waste of time.There was even another funny story saying; "Gen Mujuru wanted Sekeramayi as VP." The idea was to make it sink in people's minds that Dr Sekeramayi vanokwanisa kutoita. Bombard the unsuspecting audience with all funny stories on Dr Sekeramayi. Make them believe he is in the race and make them see him as a suitable candidate.But then we are no longer living in the days of the Magic Bullet Theory when the mass media was thought to have direct, immediate and powerful effects on its audience.The audience now have power over the mass media. We see funny stories being planted to make us believe that Dr Sekeramayi is in some race and is suitable for that race. Instead of falling for the mischief, we stand aside and say imi vanhu hamuna kungwara mhani. Don't drag us into your petty little grudges from the past.But then you feel sorry for Dr Sekeramayi. We all know he doesn't like the company that is trying to recruit him. It's not his type. For now, let's put this issue on hold, but "Mudhara vachauya zvavo soon. Kuita kurova dhongi newaya." Watch the space!While the supposedly learned are throwing all manner of mischief all over the place, the youths in Zanu-PF are getting to grips with real politics. The temptation is to say; "Kudzanayi Chipanga for national commissar," but then the boy still has quite a number of challenges. He turns to overdo things even if it's not necessary. Maybe that's youthful exuberance.The Zanu-PF national youth secretary, Chipanga is beginning to excite me. He seems to have read and understood Proverbs 10 vs 17 which says: "Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray."After the highly-successful "Million-Man-March," I thought the boy was a fluke but no, he seems to know what he is doing. His organisational capabilities are just a marvel. If what we saw in Marondera, when thousands of youths came to meet President Mugabe is anything to go by, then this Chipanga boy is a breath of fresh air.Chipanga has got his excesses. For example, it really was not necessary for him to go overboard and equate President Mugabe to an angel and claiming that the President will be part of the team that will vet people who qualify to go to heaven.But hey, guys, the boy was just being a boy. He was just joking. Let's not get carried away with the petty stuff. Let's look at the Marondera rally holistically. The message within the message. I think Chipanga and his youths nailed it.What is really exciting Bishop Lazarus is that this Chipanga boy seems to have finally realised that at some point some people were using him and now it's time for him to stand on his own."To all those thinking that they will have an opportunity to address the rallies to settle personal scores or who are approaching the programme with dirty hands, let them know from today that the platform is for one person, President Mugabe, and they should take their hands off," said Chipanga.Bishop Lazarus knows that before the Marondera rally, Chipanga was under siege from one embattled senior Zanu-PF official who wanted to smuggle himself into the scheme of things.This official hunted Chipanga all over Harare and wanted to make it appear as if he was the brains behind the success in Marondera. This official is still living in the past. He still thinks Chipanga is his boy.But come on guys, let's give it to President Mugabe. Do we remember that day when he surprised all of us by confirming Chipanga as the substantive leader of the youths? I heard some people whispering, "but Chipanga munhu waTyson?"Well, the grandmaster of African politics was at work and we all couldn't figure out what he was up to.Now we know. Kunonzi kurumura munhu munokuziva here macomrades? That is exactly what the grandmaster was doing. "Hey, wena Chipanga, you don't need these people with no people! You can stand on your own."That was the message. At first even Chipanga was vexed, but now he seems to have opened his political eyes.The youth rallies have become the big deal in town. We all can't wait for the next rally.Good going Chipanga and your team. But please don't get carried away.Your former friends are still hunting for you. They think these rallies can save them and so they will continue hunting.Big Brother is watching. Handiti you know Big Brother is everywhere and is anything?And hey, get the Bishop correctly here  Chipanga deserves a pat on the back because he has rejuvenated the youths in Zanu-PF. He has proved his capabilities in terms of mobilising the youths and Bishop Lazarus is waiting for step number two when Chipanga will show his intellectual capabilities. In that regard, there is still a challenge which Chipanga can easily overcome. He is still very young and can learn a lot in life.Bishop is out!
WASHINGTON  Fellow Republicans pressed President Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does  or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from a riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate intelligence committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

I dont understand why the president just doesnt clear this matter up once and for all, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of that committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comeys testimony as candid and thorough and said she would support a subpoena if needed. Trump should voluntarily turn them over, Collins said.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also a member of that committee, agreed the panel needed to hear any tapes that exist. Weve obviously pressed the White House, he said.

Trumps aides have dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russia investigation have been recorded, and so has the president. Pressed on the issue Friday, Trump said Ill tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future.

Lankford said Sessions testimony Tuesday will help flesh out the truth of Comeys allegations, including Sessions presence at the White House in February when Trump asked to speak to Comey alone. Comey alleges that Trump then privately asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynns contacts with Russia.

Comey also has said Sessions did not respond when he complained he didnt want to get time alone with the president again. The Justice Department has denied that, saying Sessions stressed to Comey the need to be careful about following appropriate policies.

We want to be able to get his side of it, Lankford said.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said theres a real question of the propriety of Sessions involvement in Comeys dismissal, because Sessions had stepped aside from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. Comey was leading that probe.

Reed said he also wants to know if Sessions had more meetings with Russian officials as a Trump campaign adviser than have been disclosed.

Trump on Sunday accused Comey of cowardly leaks and predicted many more from him. Totally illegal? he asked in a tweet. Very cowardly!

Several Republican lawmakers also criticized Comey for disclosing memos he had written in the aftermath of his private conversations with Trump, calling that action inappropriate. But, added Lankford, releasing his memos is not damaging to national security.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the intelligence committee, sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urging him to investigate possible obstruction of justice by Trump in Grassleys position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein is the top Democrat on that panel and a member of both.

Feinstein said she was especially concerned after National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers refused to answer questions from the intelligence committee about possible undue influence by Trump.

Feinstein said she did not necessarily believe Trump was unfit for office, as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has asserted, but said he has a destabilizing effect on government.

Theres an unpredictability. He projects an instability, Feinstein said. Doing policy by tweets is really a shakeup for us, because theres no justification presented.

Sessions stepped aside in March from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the campaign after acknowledging that had met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. He had told lawmakers at his January confirmation hearing that he had not met with Russians during the campaign.
Arizona added a record 15,100 food-service jobs in the first quarter of 2017, despite a voter-mandated increase in the minimum wage that some analysts believed would cause a reduction in service industry jobs.

Opponents of Proposition 206, which raised the minimum wage from $8.05 to $10 an hour, said one quarters worth of job gains is not enough to prove the full impact of the law, which phases in more wage increases through 2020.

But the growth in the first quarter was surprisingly strong, according to Lee McPheters, a research professor at Arizona State Universitys W.P. Carey School of Business, who said normal growth would be less than half the posted rate.

This was a shock to all Arizona analysts, because common-sense economics tells you, well the cost of food-service workers has suddenly gone up to $10 an hour, theres going to be fewer of them, said McPheters, who calculated the increase based on Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. In fact this was an all-time record quarterly increase for food service workers.

McPheters said Arizona gained a total of 56,200 jobs in the first quarter of 2017, with food service and health care  which added 11,800 jobs  accounting for the largest increases. The 6.8 percent growth in food-service jobs was the highest growth rate in the nation, according to McPheters report in May to the Economic Club of Phoenixs annual economic outlook luncheon.

Despite the gains, opponents of Proposition 206 said it is still too early to say anything conclusive based on the quarterly report, and that results will become more concrete once the law is fully implemented.

Under the law, which voters approved by a comfortable 58-42 percent margin, the minimum wage will continue to rise, to $10.50 an hour next year, $11 in 2019 and $12 by 2020.

Garrick Taylor, a spokesman for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that Arizona is currently in the early stages of implementation for this law.

As you know, we were opposed, to Proposition 206, Taylor said.

While the chamber would never be disappointed with job growth, Taylor said that the experience of other states that have faced a mandated increase in the minimum wages gives us cause for concern.

We hope that we will be proven wrong, he said.

But some businesses said they have already been stung by the trickle down effect of the wage increase.

MaryBeth Scanlon said there were other factors behind her decision to close Pizza People Pub, including restaurant saturation in downtown Phoenix, but that the wage increase played a role. Scanlon said the law not only increased the amount she had to pay her workers, but also the amount she had to pay suppliers, who had to raise prices as well.

Scot Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, said that long-term trends show that increases in minimum wage tend to bring about lower growth in jobs for people who need them most.

Mussi said that its too early to draw definitive conclusions based on one quarter.

But McPheters predicted that the growth in restaurant employment could continue through this year, driven by the cultural trend in which people are spending less time and money on food preparation and more time eating out.
Tucson Electric Power Co.s decision to suspend its commercial energy-efficiency rebate programs for the rest of the year has left some customers in the lurch with projects they thought would qualify for the incentives.

And TEP has reduced rebates for some residential energy-efficiency upgrades to deal with a shortfall in funding.

TEP suspended its commercial and multi-housing energy-efficiency programs in May, saying it had run out of money and would shift remaining incentive funds to residential programs.

The programs offer TEP customers rebates for qualified energy-efficiency improvements to help state-regulated utilities reach mandatory energy-saving goals, with funding provided by monthly surcharges on customers bills.

TEP spokesman Joe Barrios said the company has no plans to ask for additional funding this year but remains committed to its energy-efficiency programs going forward, noting the company has funded more than 500 commercial projects this year.

The issue surfaced after TEP realized its current collections under a customer-paid surcharge would fall short of the programs overall $23 million budget for this year by some $6 million.

TEP decided to suspend the commercial and industrial programs, including apartment complexes, and focus funding on residential rebate programs.

Local contractors say in some cases TEP wont pay rebates for some commercial projects that were initially approved.

Danny Levkowitz, owner of Tucson-based Sun Lighting, said he had about a dozen projects that he believed were in line for rebates when TEP pulled the plug on the program in May.

After meeting with TEP officials last week, the utility agreed to fund all but a few of the pending projects, Levkowitz said.

One Sun Lighting project approved for funding last week after being turned down is an ongoing LED lighting-replacement job for Merles Automotive Supply at the Tucson-based auto-parts companys warehouse on the south side.

But among the projects that TEP said it wouldnt approve for rebates is a $15,000 LED lighting upgrade at a large local printing company, which would qualify for more than $9,000 in incentives, Levkowitz said.

As a result, Sun Lighting will have to refund the customers deposit and return equipment already purchased for the project, Levkowitz said, estimating that it will cost his company a couple of thousand dollars in restocking fees and return freight charges.

Another local contractor, ABCO Solar, had two customers  a pool company and a church  who dropped their energy-efficient lighting projects after signing contracts and then being told by TEP they wouldnt qualify for rebates after all.

Its a real deal-breaker, ABCO president Charlie ODowd said of the loss of the rebates, adding that about a dozen prospective customers have dropped their project plans.

Its not unusual for such rebates to run out, as they are generally issued to eligible customers on a first-come, first-served basis while the allocated money lasts.

The incentives are meant to help state-regulated utilities fulfill a state mandate to achieve cumulative energy savings of 22 percent by 2020.

Theyve run out of funds before, Levkowitz said of TEP. I think they handled this extremely poorly this time.

TEPs Barrios confirmed that some TEP commercial customers recently turned down for rebates will now receive them.

A total of 530 commercial customers have or will receive rebates for energy-efficiency improvements this year, Barrios said, while TEP is reviewing about 100 who may not qualify for various reasons.

Barrios said the company has been meeting with its contractor partners and reviewing all of this years applications for commercial energy-efficiency rebates, to determine which customers had a reasonable expectation that they were qualified for a rebate.

The multi-step rebate-approval process includes a project proposal and a participation agreement that must past muster by TEPs program coordinator, DNV GL Energy Services, and inspections before and after installation.

Projects may be subject to post-installation inspection before customers are sent a final payment notification that a project is ready for rebate payment.

That was not the case in every case where a contractor expected that funds might be available, Barrios said. In cases where a contractor performed work and then submitted an application, those wont receive funding.

Barrios said TEP plans to closely monitor its commercial program going forward and communicate more clearly with contractors, so customers can have clear expectations regarding potential rebates.

To stretch the available 2017 rebate funds, Barrios said, TEP also has pared back its residential rebate offerings:

The $1,000 maximum rebate for energy-efficient home heat pumps has been dropped to $850.

A rebate for variable-speed pool pumps has been cut to $100 from $200.

Rebates for Nest smart thermostats have dropped from $50 to $35.

The Arizona representative of a non-profit group that has pushed for energy-efficiency programs said TEP should have known last year there wasnt going to be enough money to fund its programs.

Were trying to come up with a solution, but I think that solution is going to require additional funding, said Jeff Schlegel, Arizona representative for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project.

The shortfall in the energy-efficiency funding occurred as the 2017 budget and surcharge rate was unchanged from 2016, despite the fact that the surcharge was reduced last year to offset an overcollection of about $8 million from prior years.

In March, TEP filed a request to raise the demand side management bill surcharge  which averages less than $2 per month for the typical home customer  to make up the funding shortfall. But the company withdrew that request in May to avoid adding to a general rate increase approved in February.

Barrios said TEP officials have been in touch with the Corporation Commissions utilities division staff on the status of the energy-efficiency programs, but theres been no request to consider additional funding this year.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some June 11 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
Operators of a controversial Tucson charity have taken a few steps to get right with the rules but are still engaging in practices, such as compelling homeless clients to work for them without pay, that are frowned upon by other local nonprofit leaders.

The directors of Cross County Outreach  a successor to the now-closed Giving Tree charity  have now obtained workers compensation insurance for their homeless clients who work at the store, following an investigation by the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

They also obtained the license required to distribute potentially hazardous donated food to the public, after a warning from the county health department last year.

And directors say they have stopped requiring clients to contribute their food stamps to communal meals at their homeless shelters.

Were trying to be the best we can be, said Libby Wright, director of Cross Country Outreach. She said the organization is meeting a big need in the Tucson homeless community. You could open 1,000 homes (homeless shelters) in Tucson and still there would not be enough, she said.

Wrights previous nonprofit, The Giving Tree, shut its doors in 2012. At the time, public support was collapsing following a 2009 Star investigation that found myriad violations of local and state rules, as well as of widely accepted standards for charities.

Wright stepped down in 2011, then opened Cross Country Outreach in 2013 and registered it as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) in 2014. Like The Giving Tree, Cross Country Outreach runs on revenue from Shop 4 A Cause, a thrift shop at 5140 E. Speedway, which is for-profit, and from private donations, Wright said.

A 2016 Star investigation found the new nonprofit was violating many of the same codes and engaging in many of the same practices that got The Giving Tree into trouble. That included requiring its clients to share their food stamps, overcrowding its shelters in violation of local building and zoning codes, making homeless clients work without pay in the thrift store and failing to provide workers compensation insurance.

Leaders of two organizations with homeless shelters in Tucson, Gospel Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army, said they wont refer the homeless to Cross Country Outreachs shelters because of Wrights history of questionable business practices.

Theres such a desperate need for (shelters) that unfortunately some are not run with the best practices of operation, said Pastor Roy E. Tullgren, executive director of Gospel Rescue Mission.

Tullgren said he would consider referring people to the shelters if Wright has definitely stopped forcing homeless clients to share their food stamps and is housing an appropriate number of clients in her shelters.

In 2016, four former clients told the Star that they were required to spend their food stamps on shared meals at the shelter. Jere Pedrazza, one of the charitys co-directors, previously said clients must share $100 of their monthly food stamps with roommates at one of the charitys shelters.

But in May, Pedrazza told the Star, We dont touch their food stamps.

EMPLOYEES, NOT VOLUNTEERS

Wright purchased workers compensation insurance after an investigation by the Industrial Commission of Arizona determined the nonprofits homeless clients, who work at Wrights for-profit thrift store, were employees rather than volunteers.

Cross Country Outreachs directors had argued their workers are volunteers and therefore dont need workers comp, said Bob Charles, public information officer for the ICA.

But the ICA determined the workers were employees because they worked in return for a place to live, he said, while volunteers work without expectation of compensation.

Homeless clients who come to Cross Country Outreach looking for a place to stay can either pay $70 a week to stay in one of the organizations two shelters or they can work in the thrift store 4.5 hours a day, five days week, Pedrazza said.

This practice could violate the states minimum wage law, depending on the value of clients housing, said Tucson labor law attorney Don Awerkamp. For homeless clients working 22.5 hours a week for a $70 value, their pay equates to $3.11 an hour, well below minimum wage.

In May former Cross Country Outreach client Lauren Diangilo, 40, left Wrights womens shelter, known as Grace Home, after a four-month stay. She said that homeless clients were being taken advantage of by Wright.

The long hours clients are forced to work dont allow much time to look for jobs or save up money for rent at a more permanent residence, she said.

Shes preying on vulnerable people, Diangilo said. These people have no resources to get out.

Beth Morrison, CEO of Our Family Services in Tucson, said its uncommon to charge homeless people to stay in a shelter.

A shelter is typically an emergency place for people to get on their feet. If people are giving up their funds to stay in a shelter its obviously hard to accumulate funds to pay rent or look for a job, she said.

Wright maintains that the workers are volunteers working by choice to contribute to the homes that they live in, despite the decision of the Industrial Commission.

Rachel Drew, a current client and one of the stores supervisors, said shed been working at the store for five years, helping customers shop and manning the cash register.

I enjoy doing what I do, Drew said. Clients like Drew who do extra work at the store are paid a small stipend, Pedrazza said.

FINANCES

Wright has said the new nonprofit is a scaled-down version of The Giving Tree, which brought in $1.4 million in donations and revenue in 2007. Cross Country Outreach took in $44,175 in donations and revenue in 2015, according to the Form 990 Wright provided to the Star.

The nonprofits 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status was automatically revoked by the Internal Revenue Service in May 2016 due to failure to file a Form 990, which tax-exempt organizations must file annually. The status was reinstated six months later, according to the IRS.

Explaining the lapse, Wright said her CPA filed for an extension that allowed them to file the 990 late. She would not provide the CPAs contact information to the Star.

The important thing is its been reinstated, Wright said of the tax-exempt status.

ZONING CODES

In 2016 the Star reported the nonprofits shelters were in violation of city zoning codes. At the time, Pedrazza said 20 people were living in Grace Home and former residents had said closer to 30 people were crammed into the shelters.

The shelters are in an R-2 residential zone, so a shelter housing more than 15 people requires at least 1.5 acres, or 65,340 square feet. Grace Homes lot is 8,289 square feet. City code inspectors told the Star last year they were prevented from entering the homes to respond to a complaint of overcrowding.

As of early May, Pedrazza said there were 11 people living in Grace Home.

Former resident Diangilo said the living conditions were not ideal, describing a horrible bed bug infestation.

Bed bugs are not a new complaint at the womens shelter: The Pima County Health Department said it had received complaints about bed bugs at Grace Home in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Wright dismissed that concern.

They can say anything they want to say, Wright said of former residents. She said the house is regularly inspected for bed bugs. Were always on it.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Last year, Cross Country Outreach only had one board member, who was a co-director of the nonprofit, after two members left the board and one died.

The Arizona Corporation Commission only requires nonprofits to have one board member. But charity experts say an independent board, including members who arent directly involved in operations, is critical to running a reputable nonprofit.

Cross Country Outreach has since added two new board members, but the new members seem unfamiliar with the nonprofits operations.

Board member Natalie McGee was unaware homeless clients must pay money or work in the thrift store without pay in order to stay in the shelters.

I dont think it costs anything, because people dont have anything, McGee said. People contribute what they can.

Roland Cobert, who runs another Tucson nonprofit called Cross Country Ministries, said he did not know that Cross Country Outreachs 501(c)(3) status had been temporarily revoked last year.

But he said details like that are unimportant when compared with the benefits the nonprofit provides to the community.

Maybe these people havent been the most studious and doing what the government requires of them, Cobert said. But they are helping a lot of people.
The Arizona Daily Star Sportsmens Fund Send a Kid to Camp program raises money so children from low-income households and military families can attend overnight YMCA, Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps and Camp Tatiyee, for school-age children and older teens with special needs, at little or no cost to their families.

Our goal is to raise $205,000 and send at least 700 local boys and girls to area camps this summer. So far, weve received 1,371 donations totaling $197,301, which puts us at $7,700 from our goal. In April, we increased our goal by $5,000 to each camp so children on waiting lists can be accommodated. Camps are now in full swing.

Since 1947, the Arizona Daily Star Sportsmens Fund has helped pay for 38,551 children to go to camp. Were one of the oldest 501c(3) charities in Arizona and one of the most efficient in our giving, with 97 cents of every dollar going to send kids to camp.

Your contribution qualifies for the Arizona tax credit of up to $800 for donations to qualifying charitable organizations. Donations are welcome throughout the year.

Recent donations include:

Paul Galligos, $75.

Mr. and Mrs. Sonny Atwood, $100.

Donald Benzel, $50.

Gerald Bouwens, $100.

Martha Breard, $25.

Catherine Casey, $20.

Marymae and John Cioffi, $100.

Theresa Dellheim, $50.

Steve and Sandi Fredrickson, $75.

Alan Friedman, $1,000.

Paul Galligos, $75.

Brian and Evelyn Gooch, $50.

Leslie and Bill Holmes, $100.

Elizabeth Horrigan, $100.

Marilynn Johnston, $25.

Barbara Kehew, $100.

Norma Kindseth, $125.

John Kofron, $300.

Norman Kyle, $300.

Sheila LiPera, $100.

Joyce Lockhart, $10.

Ricki Lundstrom, $50.

David Martin, $25.

Susan McCarthy, $100.

Betty Ord, in honor of the memory of Roberto Clemente, $50.

Tom Roof, in memory of and in honor of the Chick Hawkins family, $200.

Christa Ryan, $25.

Sarah Schultz, $75.

Bruce Simons, $200.

Letizia Stanghellini, $250.

Carolyn Stewart, in memory of Sue Robinson, $35.

Margaret Stoll, $500.

Diane Stricker, in memory of Rolly Stricker, $100.

Stephen Turner, $50.

Nancy Tyson, $50.

Judith and John Ulreich, $200.

Edgar Updegraff, $200.

Bill and Linda Wallace, in memory of Eric Wallace, $250.

R. Wantuck, $250.

Richard Watson, $400.

John and Shelia Wing, $100.

Joanne Yangas, $150.

Greg Ziebell, in memory of Roger Closs and Dick Auguston, $100.

Two anonymous donations totaling $125.
Garnets have been a highly collectible gemstone since prehistoric times, and Arizona is renowned for hosting some of the best specimens.

These gemstones are formed as a result of a combination of high temperatures and pressures. They crystallize in the cubic system. Six main types of the garnet group include almandine, andradite, grossular, pyrope, spessartine and uvarovite. The English term garnet originates from the Old French term grenat, meaning red.

Garnets are classified as a group of silicates containing aluminum, calcium, chromium, ferrous iron, ferric iron, magnesium, manganese and titanium. Silicates are classified as the largest and most common class of minerals. They are found in igneous and metamorphic rock with attributes of hardness, transparent, opaque-to-translucent glassy luster and an average density.

Early industrial uses of garnet included its use as a coating for sandpaper first manufactured by Henry Hudson Barton of Barton Mines Corp. in 1878. Its abrasive qualities are ideal for grinding and sawing stones. Almandine has been used as color for stained glass windows. Almandine and pyrope appear red due to the presence of iron. Uvarovite is a chrome garnet known for its fine emerald green color. Many of the worlds best specimens are mined in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

In Arizona, several sites produce gem garnets including pyrope. These include the Four Corners area in northeastern Arizona located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, at Garnet Ridge, 5 miles northwest of the Mexican Water Trading Post, and in Buell Park, 16 miles north of the tribal headquarters at Window Rock on the Arizona border with New Mexico. Pyrope garnets are popular among collectors and are fashioned into faceted stones averaging one-half- to 1-and a-half carats in size, with some up to 5 carats. Their appearance ranges from orange-red to deep ruby-red pebbles.

Almandine-Spesartine garnets are found at Lion Spring on the southwestern flank of Elephant Mountain in the Aquarius Mountains in Mohave County. The site has produced a wide array of sharp garnet crystals embedded in a light-colored rhyolite matrix.

The Washington-Duquesne area in the Patagonia Mountains is a place where garnets are common and are found as gangue rock resulting from local mining operations. The Empire Mine, patented by a Captain OConnor in 1874, was originally worked by chloriders for the next several decades. Production included high-grade lead silver ore. The Duquesne Mining and Reduction Co. acquired the property in 1905. George Westinghouse, inventor of the railroad air-brake, served as the president, consolidating 84 patented lode claims including the Bonanza and Empire Mines. An aerial tramway was built to service the Pride of the West Mine to the mill and smelter at Washington Camp.

Andradite is named after the Brazilian mineralogist Jose Bonifacio deAndrada e Silva, who first described its properties. Andradite, a calcium iron silicate that commonly occurs in contact metamorphic rock and impure limestone, is scattered throughout the tailings of the Empire Mine. These garnets appear dark-brownish green with adamantine luster and are stained black by oxide of manganese and iron. The green coloration is derived from the presence of chromium impurities. Some andradite crystals from this locality have been found up to 3 inches in diameter.

Stanley Butte in the Stanley district in Graham County, 25 miles south-southeast of the town of San Carlos, is another location for andradite sometimes appearing with grossular. At this locality andradite is found as massive material with green-tinted brown crystals up to 2 inches.

While many of the above localities were open to collecting garnets and other minerals and gemstones years ago, the transfer of land rights and titles to property have now made many of them off limits to visitation. It is best to contact local authorities ahead of time to better ascertain whether or not collecting is permissible.
JoAnn Larra Trujillo and Gloria Hugues Rodriguez are making a naked appeal:

The League of Mexican-American Women, which for 50 years has helped nurture and mold Tucson teenage girls, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for educational scholarships, is on the brink of disappearing. It is low on members, low on girls and their families willing to participate in the annual coming-of-age event, and low in optimism that it will reach 51.

We want to continue, said Trujillo, a League member since 1979.

But because of the lack of interest, changing societal attitudes and the mounting costs of organizing the gala ball in which the debutantes are presented, the League is running on fumes and out of time.

Its sad, said Rodriguez, a 35-year member.

Born in the mid-1960s, when the winds of social and political change were beginning to whip across the country, the League was formed by a small group of Mexican-American women to promote education and provide college scholarships to Tucsons high school students. Its centerpiece was the September fundraiser, Fiesta en Xochimilco, based on the social tradition of the quinceanera. But unlike the quinceanera in which the 15-year-old girl is the center of everyones attention, the Leagues Florecitas look outward to community, family and culture.

The girls engage in community service projects, such as feeding the hungry, cleaning up a park, volunteering with Bens Bells, their church or school. They take classes in etiquette and participate in the annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros parade. They are asked to enhance their personal and family values. They are encouraged to become full participants in their community, to give back.

Now the League is asking the many Florecitas and others to support the League, become active members and to reinvigorate the groups mission.

No one objects to raising money for education, said Rodriguez, but what else can we do to raise money?

At its height, the League had more than 80 members, and each year upwards of 40 teen girls were Florecitas and an equal number of Botoncitos, 14-year-old girls, were Florecitas-in-waiting.

Currently the League has about 40 members with about a fourth who do the heavy lifting. And this years Xochimilco dance, celebrating the Leagues golden anniversary, has only six Florecitas and two Botoncitos.

In 1980, the League gave out more than $20,000 in scholarships; last year it was slightly more than $18,000. However, with the dramatic increase in college costs, that $18,000 didnt go far.

Rodriguez and Trujillo said the League has never been exclusive to Mexican-American women and girls. It is open to any woman and girl.

The Fiesta ball has been especially a multi-generational tradition for League members. Trujillos two daughters and one granddaughter were Florecitas while Rodriguezs daughter and four granddaughters were presented at the gala. Other members daughters and granddaughters have been Florecitas but none of the Leagues members family have received a League scholarship, Rodriguez said.

When the two joined the League, it offered them a chance to get out of their daily routine of taking care of home, family and work. Rodriguezs family was in the wholesale fish and restaurant business, and Trujillo worked in her family restaurant.

League members would meet Wednesday nights, talk business and then socialize. They made friends and discovered mentors.

It was a comadre setting. You felt that, Rodriguez said. Trujillo said it was a lot of work but it was girls night out.

But as the years passed, the group was unable to attract enough new members to replace members who left or passed away. Getting younger women was a challenge. While both Rodriguez and Trujillo each have a daughter who has joined the League, they are baffled why more women have not followed.

Maybe the explosion of smart phones and social media has played an inverse role, discouraging women from having face-to-face relationships, they conjectured. Or maybe the League has more competition among other organizations and groups, they said.

Whatever the reasons, Rodriguez said, it is imperative that more women become involved. The League will welcome you.

The League will hold a reunion for former Florecitas on Sept. 2. This years Florecitas will have their annual Mass celebrated Sept. 3 at St. Augustine Cathedral and the Fiesta en Xochimilco will be held Sept. 9 in the Grand Ballroom at the Tucson Convention Center.

Former Florecitas and future League members can call Trujillo at 520-327-3740. Or visit the groups website, http://leagueofmexicanamericanwomen.org
The Air Force has again signaled it wants to eliminate three squadrons of A-10 Thunderbolt II jets, permanently grounding the aging aircraft, according to Rep. Martha McSally.

McSally, a former A-10 pilot who represents Congressional District 2, said safety concerns about 110 Thunderbolts that do not have the new, replacement wings, could mean a permanent parking space in the aircraft boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.

It is unclear how grounding three out of the nations nine A-10 squadrons would affect D-Ms operations, McSally said.

She asked an Air Force general who appeared before Congress last week and made remarks about the future of some of the A-10s to clarify where the cuts might take place, but McSally said she has not received an answer to her request for more information.

In February, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said in Washington, D.C., that the Air Force will keep all A-10s flying through at least 2021. Previous commitments by the Air Force would have seen the gradual phasing out of the aircraft starting in 2018, with plans to retire the entire fleet by 2022.

The venerable A-10, which is known for its toughness and ability to provide close-air support for ground forces, is the main mission at Davis-Monthan.

A total of 173 A-10s out of 283 received new wings as part of a Pentagon-backed program to expand their lifespan, enough for about six squadrons.

McSally said she hopes to secure funding to get new wings for the remaining A-10s, but believes it could take several years to secure the necessary funding while going through the militarys competitive bidding process.

She notes the A-10s are in demand  flying in Iraq and Syria conflict zones and stationed in South Korea as well as deployed in Europe.

How are you going to maintain something like that with six squadrons? she asks. It doesnt make any sense to me.

The Tucson Republican says she will continue to push the Air Force to keep the A-10s flying and fully funded until a time when the plane can be tested alongside its would-be successor, the F-35, in a fly-off to determine which aircraft is superior at close-air support for ground troops.

She believes such a competition would be several years away at the earliest.
Russian officials barred activist Alexey Navalny from entering the country's presidential race a day after he held nomination gatherings to kick off his run, according to state-run media outlet RIA-Novosti.

Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected Navalny's registration the day after he submitted it, citing a previous embezzlement conviction, RIA-Novosti reported.

"Firstly, a citizen who has been sentenced to imprisonment for committing a grave or especially grave crime and who has an outstanding conviction for the said crime, has no right to be elected president of the Russian federation," said CEC member Boris Ebzeev.

The decision was not a surprise. Navalny's candidacy was unlikely because Russian law prevents convicted criminals from running for public office, though Navalny and his supporters have said his conviction was politically motivated to block his presidential bid.

Navalny will appeal the commission's decision, his campaign press secretary Ruslan Shaveddinov told CNN late Monday.

Navalny would be running against incumbent President Vladimir Putin, who announced his intention to seek re-election -- his fourth presidential bid -- as an independent candidate at his annual press conference earlier this month.

At the time, he said his aim was for Russia to have a "competitive" and "balanced" political system, but it wasn't his responsibility to create political opponents.

"I want this," Putin said, "and I will strive for a balanced political system and that is impossible without competition in the political field."

Putin has been either the Prime Minister or President of Russia since 1999.

In response to a question about why Russia lacked effective opposition leaders, Putin said most of the current opposition figures were more focused on "making noise" instead of a genuine agenda that could benefit the country.

Navalny called for a boycott of the March 2018 election in response to the CEC's decision.

"We are announcing a voters' strike," Navalny said. "The procedure in which we are invited to participate is not an election. It involves only Putin and those candidates whom he personally chose, who do not pose a slightest threat to him."

The opposition activist is widely popular among young people and has tapped into anger over a sluggish economy and endemic corruption. Navalny first rose to prominence during 2011's large-scale anti-government protests.

Expert: Putin will 'almost without a doubt' win election

Jill Dougherty, a Russia expert and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, said Navalny still has a role to play in the presidential race, though it probably won't be as a candidate.

"I think he will be a factor," she said, "but he will not be an organized participant in any electoral process. He will be kept on the outside and he is definitely opposition, so he's used to being kept on the outside."

But Navalny's support among young Russians could also play a factor in the election.

"A lot of the people who support him are very young, like 19 or 20 years old -- sometimes even younger," Dougherty said, and they have been exposed to the rest of the world and the way the rest of the world lives, and they are dissatisfied.

"Their dissatisfaction, although not very focused at this point, is a factor the Kremlin is worried about," she said. "The Kremlin is very focused on the youth and making sure that young people support Putin."

Dougherty also pointed to Ksenia Sobchak -- a Russian socialite and reality TV star who has said she wants to challenge Putin -- as someone who could offer a liberal alternative to Putin if Navalny can't run. But Navalny's supporters wouldn't necessarily support her, she said.

"Putin will almost without a doubt win the election," Dougherty said, "because he is supported by the majority of Russians and because the system is organized ... to favor his candidacy."
Help India!

By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

Since past few weeks, Varanasis city administration was trying to uproot the micro-level business setups of street vendors but on Friday, it turned violent.

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On Friday evening, Police force reached the roads surrounding the Banaras Hindu University. The road has numerous shops of various vendors. These shops serve a majority of the population coming into BHU hospital as well as the students of the BHU.

After reaching on the spot, Police started vandalising the street shops and allegedly started beating the vendors too. Soon after it happened, various students and activists from BHU reached the spot and started protesting against the Police action.

To make the matter worse, Police arrested Chintamani Seth and Prem Sonkar who are the leaders of a union of street vendors. Along with these two, various activists and students from Banars Hindu University also got arrested.

The protestors have alleged that citys Police is breaking the Supreme Courts ruling as well as Street Vendors Act, 2014 of the parliament by dislocating and beating the vendors of the city.

The matter soon out of the hands, when Police refused to release the arrested students, leaders and activists on bail but sent them to jail. On late evening of the, Police promised that those got arrested should be freed by morning.

This step has caused a big chaos in Prime Ministers constituency where the local economy is chiefly depended upon the small and street-level business setups.

However, the episode is not new in the city. Since Yogi Adityanath sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, there have been several episodes where police has manhandled street vendors. On May 30, Police also turned down the shops of food vendors in Sigra area, and allegedly beaten the shop owners.

According to estimates, there are 24,000 registered in the street vendors in the city while the remaining are trying to get listed but they accuse the administration that instead of listing them as valid street vendor, police is trying to throw them out.
The outcome on the June 8th shocked everyone; no-one was expecting Labour to gain seats and Conservatives to lose seats. Since then every political commentator has been attempting to make sense of how Labour has seen such an increase in vote share. Theresa May also increased her vote share to higher than that of Blair in 1997, but lost seats, significantly in England.

Theresa Mays grip on power has been maintained, so far, by their best showing in Scotland in 40 years, by winning 12 seats. Labour managed to make some of the ground up on their significant losses in Scotland from the last election by winning 7 seats.

The youth of today

BBC's Question Time, the day after the election, highlighted that large proportion of journalists, political commentators and politicians havent quite grasped why Labour had a significant victory in terms of expectation over Theresa May and the Conservatives. Labours strength and gain didnt come from having a large proportion of press or wealthy backers on their side. Their strength came with the mobilisation of people across the country and their ability to harness Social media to its full extent.

The Conservatives spent more on social media campaigning but failed to engage voters with their advertising, whereas Labours online campaigns were often poignant and felt real rather than forced and fake.

The youth vote was another key factor, with reports suggesting 72% of 18-24s voted on June 8th. The figure has yet to be confirmed but this engagement with younger voters means that they will be likely to vote again in the future.

Cognitive dissonance

It was reported in the Telegraph and various other media outlets that within Labour heartlands, UKIP voters were switching their allegiances to Conservative.

However, this hasnt turned out to be true, a fair chunk of UKIP voters have switched to Labour, it is estimated to be a 50/50 split between Conservative and Labour in UKIP gains. The so-called establishment displayed a staggering amount of Cognitive Dissonance from society itself. Theresa Mays campaign epitomised this very aspect, with her constant avoidance of public scrutiny and engaging with real voters.

Theresa May tried to make this election all about Brexit but whilst people believe it is important, people have concerns in their everyday lives that she failed to address. She was trying to tell people what is important to them, rather than listening to what is important to them. This display of cognitive dissonance supported by many the press and journalists turned people towards Labour from other parties such as UKIP.

Politics has changed

Analysing it from a traditional sense of who won and lost is murky. Conservative, SNP and Labour have all simultaneously won and lost, Conservative because they will still form a government but a weak minority after losing seats; Labour gained seats and changed the conversation within politics itself but still lost the election and the SNP won Scotland but also lost seats.

The strength Labour showed, was their ability to mobilise people and engage voters - what happens next is unknown.

Labours victory is signalling that change is slowly happening within the heart of society itself and whilst some of the old guards remain on to fight for the status quo, there are others engaging who want real change. They gained seats and changed the conversation within politics itself but still lost the election and the SNP won Scotland but also lost seats. This could be the start of something new - where politics grows up and politicians begin to work together because this election has proved that our political system is broken.
Outside 10 Downing Street yesterday Theresa May had a very matter-of-fact, almost wooden appearance about her as she discussed the election. It was as if she'd had a landslide and then finished by saying "Back to work".

It appeared the woman was in complete denial she had won but not enough to get an overall majority. It seemed from her demeanor as if the general election was done and dusted, or never happened at all. This shows theresa May finds it hard to admit she miscalculated and can move on.

This wooden almost robotic style of hers was the same throughout the campaign in total contrast to Jeremy Corbyn's more open style of performing to huge crowds.

It makes one wonder how her constituents can relate to this demeanour that seems devoid of understanding ordinary people - unless the residents of Maidenhead see another Theresa that was not apparent on the campaign.

Theresa May and the DUP

Now Theresa May has got into bed with the Northern Irish party founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley what are we to make of this? The DUP are hard line Euro-sceptics and have been like this for many years, even before UKIP emerged on the scene. Those Tories who want a hard Brexit should be rubbing their hands with glee.

They are climate change deniers, anti-abortionist and take the Biblical creation of the world literally believing the planet goes back only 6,000 years.

Many are worried what influence and what price the DUP will ask of May in return for them supporting her in parliament - especially with their hard-line views.

This arrangement is not a coalition as was between the Conservatives and Lib-Dems in 2010, this arrangement is a much looser agreement in comparison. The DUP who have 10 MPs who will support the Conservatives on a policy by policy basis and being the junior partner in this arrangement will not have a tremendous influence on Tory party policy - at least one hopes so.

The DUP have refused to even think about a coalition or informal arrangement with Jeremy Corbyn because of his meetings with Sinn Fein and the IRA in the past.

Theresa May is now damaged goods

Theresa May falling short of a majority she wanted and having to rely on the DUP is now a weakened leader in the eyes of the world and other parties.

No doubt even amongst other Conservatives. It seems the EU Brexit negotiators are being patient while Theresa May sorts herself out post general election, but even they will wonder what kind of leader they will be facing in the aftermath of this general election disaster.

David Cameron when he lost the referendum had the decency to go even though he had promised to hang around. However, May will not fall on her sword and wants to be present at the negotiating table alongside David Davies her Brexit negotiator in chief. Is this because she is power mad and will not let go of the job she always wanted that of Prime Minister? Or is it as some have said out of a duty to steer this country through Brexit?

Theresa May is known for changing her mind on many things; for example, she was not going to have a snap election then she did. Compared to Margaret Thatcher whether you like her or not May is a lightweight and unlike the stubborn iron lady, May seems to buckle when up against stronger opponents with stronger arguments.

Jeremy Corbyn may get his chance to be Prime Minister but a week, as they say, is a long time in politics, and right now anything could happen.
Court of Appeals of Kentucky. AMERICAN GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY AND AMERICAN GENERAL ANNUITY SERVICE CORPORATION APPELLANTS v. DRB CAPITAL, LLC AND RAY THOMAS, JR. APPELLEES NO. 2016-CA-000395-MR Decided: June 09, 2017

BEFORE: CLAYTON, DIXON AND D. LAMBERT; JUDGES. BRIEFS FOR APPELLANT: Michael Joseph Farrell, Huntington, West Virginia, Samantha Thomas-Bush, Huntington, West Virginia, AT ORAL ARGUMENT FOR AMERICAN GENERAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY: Amy Boyea, Arlington, Texas, Michael J. Farrell, Huntington, West Virginia BRIEF FOR APPELLEE: Matthew Beatty Demarcus, Covington, Kentucky, Ray Thomas, Jr., pro se, Ashland, Kentucky, AT ORAL ARGUMENT FOR DRB CAPITAL, LLC: Matthew DeMarcus, Covington, Kentucky, Ray A. Thomas, Jr., pro se, Ashland, Kentucky

OPINION AFFIRMING

This is an appeal from a Boyd Circuit Court order approving the transfer of payment rights in a workers' compensation structured settlement to appellee DRB Capital, LLC (DRB). After review, we affirm the circuit court's order.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellee Ray Thomas, Jr. settled a workers' compensation claim with his employer and its insurers. Under the settlement agreement, the parties agreed that Thomas would receive periodic payments through the purchase of an annuity. His employer's insurer assigned its obligation to make those payments to appellant American General Annuity Service Corporation (AGASC) via qualified assignment. AGASC then purchased the annuity from American General Life Insurance Company (AGLIC) to fulfill the obligation.

Following these events, Thomas sought to transfer his rights in the periodic payments to a third party in exchange for one lump-sum payment. Thomas contracted with DRB for this purpose. DRB in turn filed an application to approve the transaction, which AGASC and AGLIC (collectively American General) contested.

In opposition, American General argued that the language of the settlement agreement, the qualified assignment to AGASC, and the annuity contract each proscribed an assignment of Thomas' payment rights. They also argued that the provisions of Kentucky's Structured Settlement Protection Act (SSPA), found at KRS 454.430 et seq., do not apply to structured settlements resulting from workers' compensation claims. After considering the parties' arguments at a hearing, the circuit court ultimately approved Thomas' assignment to DRB. The circuit court concluded the SSPA applies to workers' compensation settlements and further found that the assignment was in Thomas' best interest. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The construction and application of statutes is a matter of law and may be reviewed de novo. Bob Hook Chevrolet Isuzu, Inc. v. Commonwealth, Transp. Cabinet, 983 S.W.2d 488, 490 (Ky. 1998).

III. DISCUSSION

On appeal, American General cites unpublished Liberty Assignment Corp. v. Bluegrass Capital Group, LLC, 2011-CA-000852-MR, 2013 WL 1352095, at *1 (Ky. App. Apr. 5, 2013), in support of its position that Kentucky law requires the enforcement of the anti-assignment provisions included in the various settlement agreements and the annuity contract. American General further argues, as it did before the lower court, that the SSPA does not authorize a circuit court to approve the transfer of workers' compensation awards. For the following reasons, we disagree with American General.

KRS 454.430 to 454.435 sets forth the procedure one must follow when seeking to transfer payment rights under a structured settlement. Namely, he must petition and receive approval from a circuit court of competent jurisdiction. See KRS 454.435. KRS 454.431 supplies the findings the competent circuit court must make in approving the transfer. Among them, is that the transfer does not contravene other applicable law[.] See KRS 454.431(1).

In Kentucky Employers' Mut. Ins. v. Novation Capital, LLC, 361 S.W.3d 320, 322 (Ky. App. 2011), another panel of this Court considered whether KRS 454.435 conferred jurisdiction on circuit courts to approve the factoring of a workers' compensation award. That panel construed the statutory language in light of the entire SSPA and answered in the affirmative. As that decision squarely addressed American General's contention regarding the applicability of the SSPA in a workers' compensation context, we find the case dispositive as to the issue and will proceed to the dispute over the anti-assignment provisions.

Based on the language of KRS 454.431(1) providing for other applicable law to apply, we agree with American General that the SSPA does not displace common law contract principles. We also specifically acknowledge American General's citation to Conseco Finance Servicing Corp. v. Wilder, 47 S.W.3d 335, 341 (Ky. App. 2001), which compels this Court to enforce duly executed agreements. Accordingly, we must address whether the anti-assignment provisions provided in the contracts between the payee, the insurer, and the annuity issuer were enforceable. Liberty Assignment, supra, suggests such provisions should be enforced because of Kentucky's preference for duly executed contracts and because of the reasoning in Wentworth v. Jones, 28 S.W.3d 309, 313 (Ky. App. 2000), a case where the particular settlement agreements at issue implicated Internal Revenue Code 26 U.S.C.  104(a)(2) 130. In contrast, appellants argue the anti-assignment provisions are void as a matter of public policy under Wehr Constructors, Inc. v. Assurance Co. of America, 384 S.W.3d 680, 688 (Ky. 2012). The Wehr decision considered the enforceability of an anti-assignment clause in an insurance policy that required the insured to obtain prior written consent from the insurer before assigning a claim under the policy. Our Supreme Court held that a non-assignment clause in an insurance policy, while certainly enforceable prior to an occurrence of a covered loss, is not enforceable for assignments made after the occurrence. Wehr Constructors, Inc., 384 S.W.3d at 688. The Supreme Court further stated that it adopted this rule in the spirit of its prior holdings adverse to contractual provisions tending to restrain the alienability of choses in action [.] Id. Earlier in the opinion, the Supreme Court characterized a chose in action as a type of personal property that may not, ordinarily, be restrained from alienability. Id. at 685.

Here, despite American General's attempts to distinguish this case from Wehr by arguing Mr. Thomas did not have a personal property right in the settlement proceeds, we are persuaded by the reasoning provided in Wehr. As the payee under the structured settlement agreement, Mr. Thomas had a legitimate claim to his periodic payments just like any creditor in a debtor-creditor relationship. That claim is the hallmark of a personal property interest and under Wehr, may not, ordinarily, be restrained from alienability. The anti-assignment provisions in this case were accordingly unenforceable, and Mr. Thomas was able to avail himself of the SSPA procedures. The Boyd Circuit Court's order is affirmed.

Respectfully, I dissent. I agree with the majority that the Kentucky Structured Settlement Protection Act does not displace common law contract principles. The only issue before us, then, is whether the anti-assignment clause is enforceable. It is. The anti-assignment clause was created after Mr. Thomas prevailed on his workers' compensation claim and after damages had been assessed. As public policy only prohibits enforcing an anti-assignment clause that was created before the chose in action arose and before the claim had been asserted and settled and before damages had been assessed, Mr. Thomas' chose in action was never restrained from alienability, and the anti-assignment clause can be validly enforced pursuant to common law contract principles.

The majority opinion reads too broadly the holding in Wehr Constructors, Inc. v. Assurance Co. of America, 384 S.W.3d 680 (Ky. 2012) by holding that the instant anti-assignment clause violates public policy. In Wehr, the Kentucky Supreme Court had to determine whether an insurance contract's anti-assignment clause, which pre-existed a covered loss, could be enforced after the loss occurred. The Court ultimately held that public policy would be violated if parties were allowed to contract away the assignability of a claim before that claim arose. In stark contrast stands the instant case, where the anti-assignment clause was created after the covered loss occurred, after Mr. Thomas prevailed on his claim, and after damages had been assessed. A comparison of the facts and holding of Wehr illuminates the discrepancy.

In Wehr, the Murray Calloway County Hospital Corp. (Hospital) decided to add onto its facilities. The hospital purchased a builder's risk insurance policy from Assurance Company of America. The policy stated that Your rights and duties under this policy may not be transferred without [Assurance's] written consent except in the case of death of an individual named insured. Id. at 681.

The Hospital then contracted with Wehr Constructors, Inc. (Wehr) for the installation of concrete sub surfaces and vinyl floors as part of the building project. However, after the installation by Wehr, a portion of the floors and sub surface was damaged. The Hospital claimed a loss which exceeded the policy and sought compensation under their builders risk policy with Assurance. Assurance denied the claim. A payment dispute arose between the Hospital and Wehr. Wehr filed suit to recover money that it alleged was due to the company.

Eventually, Wehr and the Hospital settled the claim. As part of that settlement, the Hospital assigned to Wehr any claim or rights the Hospital had against Assurance arising out of the builder's risk insurance policy. This assignment occurred after the damage to the floors had occurred. If the loss was covered under the builders risk policy, then Assurance was liable for payment under the contract. The court determined that the insurance contract's anti-assignability clause was only enforceable before the loss occurred. Because of public policy reasons, the restriction was not enforceable after the loss occurred:

In summary, the courts that have considered this issue have overwhelmingly concluded that once an insured occurrence has transpired, the insured's claim then ripens into a chose in action, a type of personal property, which, pursuant to fundamental principles of debtor-creditor relationships, may not, ordinarily, be restrained from alienability.

Id. at 685 (footnote omitted).

In the case at bar, when Mr. Thomas was injured, he had a chose in action ripen under workers' compensation. A chose in action is defined as [p]ersonal property that one person owns but another person possesses, the owner being able to regain possession through a lawsuit[,] or [a] proprietary right in personam, such as  a claim for damages in tort. BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY (10th ed. 2014). He pursued a claim and prevailed. He recovered his damages, and his employer agreed to pay the claim.

It was only after Mr. Thomas obtained his property right to the damages after his chose in action was resolved  that an anti-assignment clause entered the scene. Mr. Thomas signed an Agreement As to Compensation and Order Approving Settlement with National Union Fire Insurance Company (National Union). As the insurer, National Union agreed to make the payments which the employer was obligated to pay to Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas agreed that National Union could make a qualified assignment within the meaning of Section 130 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986. Just as in Wehr, this assignment was valid. Mr. Thomas was not restrained in his ability to enter into this agreement and the subsequent assignment.

The agreement stated that either the insurer or the assigned, American General Annuity, shall be the sole owner of the annuity policy and shall have all rights of ownership. The annuity policy that was issued by American General stated that no payee or beneficiary had the power to assign any payments of policy. Under the terms of the policy, any assignment by the payee was void. This restriction was consistent with Section 130 of the IRC. In relevant part, that section states:

(c) Qualified assignment.--For purposes of this section, the term qualified assignment means any assignment of a liability to make periodic payments as damages (whether by suit or agreement), or as compensation under any workmen's compensation act, on account of personal injury or sickness (in a case involving physical injury or physical sickness)

(1) if the assignee assumes such liability from a person who is a party to the suit or agreement, or the workmen's compensation claim, and

(2) if



(B) such periodic payments cannot be accelerated, deferred, increased, or decreased by the recipient of such payments,

(emphasis added). The IRC does not allow the payments of a qualified assignment to be changed by the recipient of the payments. Further, a party can enter into a contract and agree to an anti-assignability clause. The Restatement (Second) of Contracts  317 states:

 (2) A contractual right can be assigned unless

(a) the substitution of a right of the assignee for the right of the assignor would materially change the duty of the obligor, or materially increase the burden or risk imposed on him by his contract, or materially impair his chance of obtaining return performance, or materially reduce its value to him, or

(b) the assignment is forbidden by statute or is otherwise inoperative on grounds of public policy, or

(c) assignment is validly precluded by contract.

To counter the necessary conclusion under common law contract principles that the anti-assignment provision is valid, DRB Capital, relying upon the holding in Wehr, argues that the assignment is void against public policy. If that is the position of DRB Capital, it is interesting to note that the language in its contract with Mr. Thomas precludes his assignment of their policy. In DRB Capital's Absolute Sale and Security Agreement paragraph O 1, the agreement reads: I understand and agree that I have no right or power to assign my rights or obligations under this Agreement. I further agree that the Purchaser (DRB Capital) may assign or transfer its rights and/or obligations, without my prior approval In paragraph 5 of the same agreement, DRB Capital requires Mr. Thomas to disavow any previous underlying settlement or annuity which prohibits an assignment of a structured payment settlement. That paragraph continues with Mr. Thomas agreeing that he knowingly waives any such provision and claim he may have relating to that provision.

Just as in Wehr, Mr. Thomas' assignment to American General was and should have been approved. As a result of the valid assignment, Mr. Thomas was no longer the owner of the annuity contract. So, after that right was assigned, what was left? The case of Wentworth v. Jones, 28 S.W.3d 309 (Ky. App. 2000) is illustrative.

Our Court in Wentworth considered whether an anti-assignment clause in an annuity policy issued pursuant to a qualified assignment was enforceable. J.G. Wentworth (a limited partnership) appealed an order of the circuit court invalidating orders of garnishment that had been challenged by Integrity Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company. The appellees, McCollum and the Estate of Johnnie Mae Jones, entered into structured settlement agreements with their respective tortfeasors. The appellee insurance companies issued annuities to fund those structured settlements. J.G. Wentworth is in the business of purchasing from tort victims their alleged right to receive monthly payments in exchange for a one-time lump-sum payment. The appellees relied on an anti-assignment provision in their original structured settlement agreement as a bar to the enforceability of their assignments to Wentworth. Our Court reasoned that while a contractual right to receive a future stream of payment is generally assignable, the annuity contracts in Wentworth were of a unique character and, therefore, distinguishable from all other species of contracts  especially with respect to the issue of assignability. Id. at 313 (citing E. Allan Farnsworth, Farnsworth on Contracts  11.2 (1990)). The Court analyzed the IRC, Kentucky garnishment statutes, the Kentucky Insurance Code, and public policy considerations and was persuaded that the attempt by Wentworth to enforce its putative assignments from these tort victims must fail[.] Id. at 313.

Thereafter, the Wentworth court held:

Appellees contend that since they had absolutely no ownership interest in the annuity contracts, they had no interest susceptible of assignment. We agree. The interest obtained by Wentworth by its attempted assignment agreements with these payees was wholly illusory. Allstate Insurance Company v. American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, 882 F.2d 856, 860 (4th Cir.1989). Furthermore, they argue that Equitable alone had the exclusive right to assign these agreements. We are persuaded that they are correct both as to the terms of the agreements themselves and as to the restrictions imposed by Section 130 of the Internal Revenue Code stripping the plaintiff-payees of all legal interest in the annuity contracts. We are without jurisdiction to tamper with Internal Revenue Code restrictions that form the basis or genesis for the tax concessions built into these agreements.

Id. at 314.

Just like the tort victims in Wentworth, Mr. Thomas also has no interest susceptible of assignment. His right to assign did not exist with his contract with American General and apparently, DRB Capital believes that his right to assignment does not exist with them either. In his appearance before this Court, Mr. Thomas explained his need for the new payment arrangement with DRB Capital. I appreciate his comments and understand his current need for the money. However, when he entered into the qualified assignment, Mr. Thomas relinquished his ownership of his claim. He is now a beneficiary and not an owner. A beneficiary does not have the right to change the terms of a policy or create a new policy.

I would reverse and remand the decision of the trial court, and vacate the order approving the transfer of the structured settlement payment rights.

LAMBERT, D., JUDGE:

DIXON, JUDGE, CONCURS. CLAYTON, JUDGE, DISSENTS AND FILES A SEPARATE OPINION.
The problem the UK faces is how the country looks to the world because with Brexit negotiations, our perception will be crucial. Unfortunately, we currently have a Prime Minister who is attempting to cling onto power rather than do what is best for the country. To begin with, it was understandable that Theresa May stayed on because stability is vital, however, as days have passed her leadership looks more desperate than stable.

She is facing a massive backlash from Conservative backbenchers and some front bench, her power has dwindled massively.

This shows from the cabinet she has put together, which hasnt changed and this highlights the lack of power she holds as leader of the Conservatives.

Theresa Mays weak leadership

For the first time a poll released shows that Jeremy Corbyn is more trusted as leader than theresa May, but of course, this is to be taken with a pinch of salt. Theresa Mays front bench is attempting to pick up the pieces but they are resorting to petty rhetoric, with Michael Fallon even saying on Peston we have more in common with the DUP than other parties. A quote worth remembering if you consider the DUP is a far-right Protestant fundamentalists, with creationists in their leadership.

Brexit has already made the UK less relevant on the global scale, Boris Johnson highlighted this, after he failed to convince the G7 to sanction Russia following the chemical attack by Assad, which was defended by Vladimir Putin.

One German MP has said today Britain is in danger of looking like a first world failed state. The backlash from this election will have an effect on Brexit negotiations and Theresa May has just weakened the UK.
News coming from Pakistan is terrorist organisations have taken deep root. It has been reported by Al Jazeera news channel that two Chinese studying Urdu at Quetta in the Baluchistan Province were abducted and killed. The Chinese government is alarmed and has expressed "grave concern" over this report.

Chinese couple abducted

Chinese media has reported that the two Chinese, a man and a woman, were kidnapped on May 24th. The couple who were teachers were on their way to school when armed men accosted them. They told them they were needed for questioning.

Another Chinese woman who was suspicious of the men escaped and ran away.

The men took the Chinese couple in a vehicle. They were kept hidden in the mountains of Baluchistan and the Pakistan army were unable to locate where they were being held. As the army mounted pressure the terrorists killed the couple. This is reported by Amaq, a news agency affiliated to ISIS. A photo and video were released that showed the couple lying on the ground bleeding to death after they were shot.

Double game of China

China has expressed its displeasure but has said nothing against its ally Pakistan. The fact that terror groups are operating with impunity in Pakistan, some with government patronage to engage India is ignored.

Though the Chinese have said that "China opposes all forms of kidnappings of civilians and opposes all forms of terrorism", yet China has blocked India's effort to declare Azar Masood a terrorist in the UNSC. India has alleged that he is head of the Jaish- e- Mohammed, a terrorist organisation which masterminded the attack on Mumbai in November 2008.

China considers Pakistan its all-weather ally mainly with an idea to contain India. More and more Chinese are settling in Pakistan after China opened the Pak-China economic corridor with a road to the port of Gwadar. The road passes through the troubled province of Baluchistan which wants independence from Pakistan. An insurgency is on and ISIS has now entered the fray.

Pakistan has also abducted an Indian and alleged he is an agent of RAW ( Research and Analysis wing) of the Indian intelligence. He is accused of helping the insurgency.

Future

The killings of the couple will concern the Chinese government. Pakistan is keen for China to invest heavily but it has to change its policy on terrorism. The killings of the Chinese couple show the dangers the Chinese face in Pakistan. The trouble is likely to grow and China will have to be wary for the sake of its citizens.
A report released by the U.S. Department of Defense shows the incessant military strike made by American forces on ISIS. The report reveals major strikes made on key ISIS strongholds as part of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve. The report also shows the terrorist group slowly losing ground in Syria and Iraq.

What is the major military strike made against ISIS in Syria and Iraq?

The report released by the U.S. DoD showed that coalition forces have conducted 27 strikes in Syria. These strikes are in support of 35 engagement against ISIS targets.

Most of the targets are oil tanks, refineries, vehicles, and two ISIS headquarters. These strikes are intended to weaken the Islamic state forces in preparation for the attack on Raqqa and other key strongholds in Syria.

In Iraq, coalition forces have conducted seven strikes in support of 35 engagements with ISIS forces in the Northern reaches of the country. These strikes are in support of the Mosul offensive which aims to eliminate ISIS forces occupying Northern Iraq. These strikes took out ISIS vehicles, fortified emplacements, vehicles and key ISIS-held buildings in Mosul, Kisik, Baiji and Tal Afar in Northern Iraq.

At the moment, Syrian government forces are steadily pushing ISIS fighters out of the country.

U.S.- backed rebels and Kurds are also gaining ground on its offensive against Raqqa. In Iraq, the Mosul offensive is also gaining ground as the Iraqi army is steadily retaking territories from ISIS control. With the rate of success of Operation Inherent Resolve, it is just a matter of time that the terror group will be finally crushed.

How many U.S. casualties are there already since the start of the war against terror?

According to official reports from the Pentagon, there are already 6,927 reported U.S. casualties from the start of the war against terror way back in 2001. The entire war on terror is slowly gaining ground especially in Syria and Iraq, where ISIS is the main target at the moment.

Slowly the terrorist group is losing ground daily as they wither away from the military might of the coalition.

However, ISIS is slowly establishing new strongholds in other countries. Qatar, Yemen, Indonesia and the Philippines are areas where ISIS operations are actively observed. The U.S. coalition against this terror group will have to find methods to hunt them in these countries after the battle in Syria and Iraq is won.
The feud between Donald Trump and James Comey is far from over! In fact, the U.S. president said he is willing to testify under oath to disprove the claims of the former FBI director. The appointee of George W. Bush recently gave his statement on the alleged reason why the POTUS has decided to fire him in the midst of FBI's investigation of Russia's interference during the 2016 presidential elections.

'An effort to obstruct'

Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the fired FBI chief said his private meetings with Donald Trump were "disturbing" and "concerning." James Comey was referring to his one-on-one interactions the U.S.

president, wherein the leader allegedly asked him to pledge his loyalty and drop the the investigation into Michael Flynn's alleged involvement in Russia's election meddling.

The POTUS, on the other hand, is not backing down and promised to counter the ex-chief's allegations about him. Donald Trump guaranteed his administration "will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever" when they disprove the former Fbi Director's claims.

"James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said, and some of the things he said just weren't true," the leader said on Thursday. "No collusion, no obstruction, he's a leaker."

Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2017

'I hardly know the man'

Donald Trump stated that it "does not make sense" to ask the director for his loyalty given that he barely knew him.

The U.S. leader denied he pressured the then-FBI chief to pledge his allegiance. This is contrary to what the director claimed. "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press," the POTUS wrote on social media.

The fired FBI boss, on the other hand, might just hope that his one-on-one meetings with the president were recorded to fortify his claims.

When the president was asked if these tapes exist, Donald Trump said he will reveal the truth some other time.

It was also revealed that the president's legal team is planning to file a complaint against the former FBI director for disclosing his memos to the media. In fact, Donald Trump's attorney, Marc Kasowitz, noted James Comey personally admitted that his act was "unauthorized disclosures of privileged communications with the president."

Aside from this, the president's legal team will also file a complaint against James Comey for his testimonies before the Senate's judiciary and intelligence committees.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PHILLIP DON SCOTT, Defendant-Appellant. No. 16-14892 Decided: June 09, 2017

Before MARCUS, JULIE CARNES and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

Phillip Scott appeals his conviction for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, challenging the district court's denial of his motion to suppress all evidence, including methamphetamine, seized after a traffic stop. On appeal, Scott argues that the district court erroneously interpreted Ala. Stat.  32-5A-133 when it determined that the officer had probable cause for the traffic stop. After careful review, we affirm.

We apply a mixed standard of review to the district court's rulings on a motion to suppress. United States v. Ramirez-Chilel, 289 F.3d 744, 749 (11th Cir. 2002). We are required to accept the district court's factual findings as true unless they are clearly erroneous, but review de novo the district court's application of the law to the facts. Id. We defer to the credibility determinations of the fact-finder unless their understanding of the facts appears to be unbelievable. Id. We may affirm the denial of a motion to suppress on any ground supported by the record. United States v. Carabello, 595 F.3d 1214, 1222 (11th Cir. 2010).

Traffic stops are seizures under the Fourth Amendment. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653 (1979). A traffic stop is constitutional if it is based on probable cause to believe a traffic violation has occurred or justified by reasonable suspicion. United States v. Harris, 526 F.3d 1334, 1337 (11th Cir. 2008). The police may stop a vehicle when there is probable cause to believe that a driver is violating any one of the multitude of applicable traffic  regulations relating to the operation of motor vehicles. United States v. Strickland, 902 F.2d 937, 940 (11th Cir. 1990) (quotation omitted). This standard is met when an officer personally observes a traffic infraction. See Harris, 526 F.3d at 1337-38. Courts apply a reasonableness standard to Fourth Amendment issues, which allows for some mistakes of both fact and law on the part of government officials. Heien v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 530, 536 (2014). Thus, an officer conducts a valid traffic stop even if he makes an objectively reasonable mistake of law -- if, e.g., he incorrectly believ[es] that the law requires all brake lights to be operational instead of just one. United States v. McCullough, 851 F.3d 1194, 1201 (11th Cir.), petition for cert. filed, No. 16-8731 (Apr. 18, 2017).

In McCullough, we held that an officer made a valid traffic stop in Alabama when he stopped a driver for having a license plate cover that obscured the state name. Id. The Alabama law at issue required that [e]very motor vehicle operator  shall at all times keep attached and plainly visible  a license tag or license plate. Id. (citation omitted). We read the text as leaving open the possibility that more than the alphanumeric symbols must be plainly visible. Id. We also noted that, even if the Alabama statute permitted a driver to obscure certain portions of the license plate as long as the alphanumeric symbols were left plainly visible, the officer's contrary conclusion was objectively reasonable because the language of the statute was unclear. Id. As for the defendant's claim that the officer could not have made a reasonable mistake of law because a state appellate court had already construed the statute to require only that the alphanumeric symbols be plainly visible, we said that the presence or absence of an appellate decision was not dispositive of whether an officer's interpretation was objectively reasonable. Id.

Similarly, in Heien, the Supreme Court concluded that an officer had reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop when he stopped a driver for only having one working brake light because it was objectively reasonable to believe that the driver was violating North Carolina law. Heien, 135 S. Ct. at 540. The Court explained that although the North Carolina Court of Appeals later held that a driver only needed one working brake light, the language of the North Carolina statute at issue was unclear and made it at least reasonable to think it required two. Id. Specifically, the statute required that a car must be:

equipped with a stop lamp on the rear of the vehicle. The stop lamp shall display a red or amber light visible from a distance of not less than 100 feet to the rear in normal sunlight, and shall be actuated on application of the service (foot) brake. The stop lamp may be incorporated into a unit with one or more other rear lamps.

Id. at 535 (citation omitted). The Court said that even if the reference to a stop lamp suggested the need for only a single working brake light, the provision's last sentence made it unclear. Id. at 540. The Court added that the provision had not previously been construed by North Carolina's appellate courts. Id.

Under Alabama law, [n]o person shall turn a vehicle or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety nor without giving an appropriate signal in the manner hereinafter provided. Ala. Code  32-5A-133(a). The statute further provides that a signal of intention to turn right or left when required shall be given continuously during not less than the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning. Id.  32-5A-133(b). There is no other statutory language relevant here.

We recognize that the plain language of  32-5A-133(a) and (b), in combination, is unclear about whether a driver must signal at least 100 feet before a lane change (as opposed to a turn). Section 32-5A-133(a) refers to both turning a vehicle and moving right or left upon a roadway, and says that a later section of the statute would hereinafter provide an appropriate signal that drivers must use before turning or changing lanes. Ala. Code  32-5A-133(a). For its part,  32-5A-133(b), which provides the appropriate signal and 100-foot requirement, refers only to turning and does not mention changing lanes or moving right or left upon a roadway. Ala. Code  32-5A-133(b). Since the statute provides no other signal requirement for a move right or left, it is unclear whether the 100-foot signal requirement in  32-5A-133(b) applies to both turning and changing lanes, or just to turning. Thus, as in both Heien and McCullough, the plain language of the statute is unclear. Heien, 135 S. Ct. at 540; McCullough, 851 F.3d at 1201.

Nonetheless, also as in both Heien and McCullough, the officer made a valid traffic stop because any mistake of law he made was objectively reasonable. The record shows, and Scott does not dispute, that he signaled as he was changing lanes, but he did not give 100 feet of notice before changing lanes. Because the Alabama statute says that it will define the appropriate signal for both turning and changing lanes, and the only requirement in the statute is for a signal to be given 100 feet before turning, the officer's belief that the statute required 100 feet of notice in order to change lanes may be correct. But even if he was mistaken, he made a valid traffic stop because his reading of the statute was objectively reasonable. See McCullough, 851 F.3d at 1201. Indeed, we have never determined whether  32-5A-133 requires drivers to signal at least 100 feet before a lane change, nor have the Alabama state courts. Nor have we ever determined whether Florida's similar statute requires drivers to signal at least 100 feet before a lane change. See Fla. Stat.  316.155.

Finally, Scott's reliance on United States v. Alvarado-Zarza, 782 F.3d 246 (5th Cir. 2015), is misplaced. First, we are not bound by the Fifth Circuit's decision. Second, Alvarado-Zarza interpreted a Texas traffic statute that did not use the same language as the Alabama statute at issue here. See Alvarado-Zarza, 782 F.3d at 249-50. Unlike Alabama's statute, the Texas statute's 100-foot signal requirement applied only to turns because it never mentioned lane changes and the statute elsewhere differentiated between turns and lane changes. Id. at 250.

In short, because the officer's reading of the statute was objectively reasonable and he made a valid traffic stop, the district court did not err in denying Scott's motion to suppress.

AFFIRMED.

PER CURIAM:
Just a day after James Comey testified in front of Congress, President Donald Trump made his first public speech in Washington, D.C. In yet another example of his unhinged behavior, Trump started tossing around giant binders while discussing his plans for infrastructure.

Trump's speech

During the entire 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump made a lot of promises in an attempt to appeal and cater to the widest audience and potential voting base as possible. While much of what Trump ran his campaign on was met with partisan backlash and criticism, his plans to invest money in infrastructure received mostly positive reviews.

Despite this, Trump would go on to support the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, turning his once promising and non-partisan plans on infrastructure into just another divisive topic. Fast forward to present day and Trump has faced non-stop scandals and allegations plaguing his administration ever since he was sworn into office just over five months ago. With the headlines being dominated by the aftermath of the James Comey testimony, Donald Trump took time to trash the former FBI director on Twitter, accusing him of being a "leaker." While Trump has made his thoughts known on Comey, Fox News reported on June 9 about the president's awkward speech on infrastructure.

.@POTUS: "These binders make you do unnecessary things that cost billions and billions of dollars." pic.twitter.com/8BkjKckr0q  Fox News (@FoxNews) June 9, 2017

While speaking to the Transpiration Department in Washington on Friday, Donald Trump addressed his plans for infrastructure investment, but the situation got out of hand when he started throwing around binders on stage.

"It is a long, slow, unnecessarily burdensome process," Trump said in regards to the process of obtaining permits to building in the United States.

.@POTUS: "We're going to have a great new system...It'll be the best in the world." pic.twitter.com/HNxFMaTOfd  Fox News (@FoxNews) June 9, 2017

"Many, many projects are long gone because they couldn't get permits, and there was no reason for it," Donald Trump continued to complain.

Not stopping there, the former host of "The Apprentice" went on to tout his support for the Dakota Access Pipeline. "I'm also very proud to say that the Dakota Access Pipeline is now officially open for business," he said, before later adding, "We're going to have a great new system...It'll be the best in the world."

Binder toss

At this point, Donald Trump went on to complain about the regulations holding him back from investing further in infrastructure.

"These binders make you do unnecessary things that cost billions and billions of dollars," Trump said. At that time, the president walked over to a table of giant binders of regulations, lashing out over the struggle before picking them up and tossing them off a table on stage.
The decision by President Donald Trump and his administration to withdraw from the Paris agreement to fight climate change has had a ripple effect across the globe. It has been met with condemnation from other world leaders, citizens around the world, and from most non-conservatives in the United States. Already, the top American diplomat in China has resigned from his post over the decision and now Hawaii has become the first state to independently pass laws to be in line with the agreement.

What did Hawaii do?

Now, Hawaii has taken a bold stand against President Donald Trump and is in favor of fighting climate change.

They have become the first state in America to pass independent laws that will legally implement parts of the Paris agreement. Hawaii's Governor David Ige, who has been in office since 2014, held the bill signing ceremony a few days ago in the capital of Honolulu.

During the event he emphasized that climate change is real, and that his state is seeing its effects first-hand, and that Hawaii has a responsibility to protect the Earth. He also said that Hawaii was dedicated to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of 12 state and Puerto Rico who have sworn to uphold the Paris agreement on a state level.

The two bills that Ige signed into law are Senate bill 559 and House bill 1578. Senate bill 559 is designed to develop strategies and procedures to lower greenhouse gases statewide, which is a major doctrine of the Paris agreement.

House bill 1578 sets up a Carbon Farming Task Force as part of Hawaii's Office of Planning. Their goal will be to support the development and growth of sustainable farming practices in the state.

History behind the bills

Both Senate bill 559 and House bill 1578 were introduced back in January as President Donald Trump started to do what many saw as taking apart the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and gutting many of President Obama's efforts to fight climate change.

Both bills were originally going to be signed in three weeks, but the ceremony was moved up after America withdrew from the Paris agreement.

Hawaii was quick to become the first state to do this, as they know the affects climate change can have on their closely connected environment and economy. Toward the end of May, the state saw the highest tides in the 120 years that it has kept a record of them. Rainfall patterns have also changed, which has caused more extreme weather, with the state setting several hurricane-related records in 2015.
Over the last five months, one of the biggest issues that Donald Trump has worried about has been who is leaking information to the media. Over the weekend, a new report points the finger at one of the president's closest political allies in the name of Kellyanne Conway.

Kellyanne was at an embassy party last night, leaking sensitive Priebus and Trump White House conversations to @washingtonpost reporters. 1/ pic.twitter.com/XZz48UAG6G  Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017

Conway caught?

Not long after Donald Trump locked up the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention last summer, he was forced to make a major decision in regards to his campaign.

Paul Manafort, who was the campaign manager at the time, was caught having financial ties to Russia. With the scandal surrounding Trump and speculation increasing over what his relationship was with the Kremlin, Manafort was forced to resign. In his place, the former host of "The Apprentice" hired veteran Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway. From that point forward, Conway was on the front lines in defense of Trump, regardless of how controversial the issue might be. Conway would often engage in heated debates on cable news, making her one of the top targets of the political left and those who opposed Trump's candidacy. Since the election, Conway has often come under fire, most notably due to her use of the term "alternative facts," and for quoting the non-existent "Bowling Green Massacre" to defend the president's travel ban.

While Conway has been a strong ally for Trump, Newsweek reported on June 10 that she might be one of the people leaking information to the media.

Is Kellyanne Conway a leaker? Twitter account, report cries foul of White House adviser https://t.co/z3ml6TgK55 pic.twitter.com/w4nA5mtKve  Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 10, 2017

On Friday night, an anonymous Twitter account going by the name "Kellyanne Leaks" using the @KellyanneLeaks handle, reported that the current presidential counsel had been leaking information to the press on an off the record basis.

The Twitter account, which was later reported on by Newsweek for further verification, posted photos of Kellyanne Conway while she attended a party at the British Embassy while waiting for the results of the U.K. parliamentary elections to be announced.

Per @Hadas_Gold: Kellyanne overheard mimicking Reince urging aides to stop leaking& wondering what the WH legislative director does all day pic.twitter.com/yLp1liWsQk  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 10, 2017

Twitter account @KellyanneLeaks busts Conway for trashing Reince Priebus at embassy party https://t.co/D95yuYXOrY pic.twitter.com/clEmmSMvVa  Raw Story (@RawStory) June 10, 2017

The Twitter account reports that Kellyanne Conway elaborated to reporters from the Washington Post about what Donald Trump instructed her to say in regards to the possibility of the president secretly recording his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey.

"She said Trump told her to say 'Jim Comey will have to wait and see about the tapes,' she added 'I chose to convert that to 'no comment,'" the account posted while quoting Conway.

She said Trump told her to say "Jim Comey will have to wait and see about the tapes"; she added "I chose to convert that to 'no comment'" 3/  Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017

"He should just be honest: 'I'm upset because there's someone working on a story who pronounces it RAYNSE instead of REINCE.'" 6/  Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017

Before some WaPo folks joined her, she was talking about recent weeks in the WH to some other party guests. This expression was telling. 7/ pic.twitter.com/pR8KIuZSsF  Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017

Conway on Priebus

In addition, Kellyanne Conway allegedly spoke about White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, mocking how he has handled himself in his position, while mimicking his voice to the press.

"She had a good/cruel riff mocking @Reince45 in WH staff meetings. 'No leaks guys'" she said, mimicking him in a dopey voice," one tweet read. While it's unknown how accurate the current reports are, the Twitter account has been picked up by Raw Story, NBC News' editor Bradd Jaffy, as well as the aforementioned article in Newsweek as additional sources.
Three US servicemen were killed on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them. One US serviceman was injured and evacuated from Afghanistan and was taken for medical care. It was reported by Rueters.

Green-on-blue attacks

According to the spokesman Attahullah Khogyani of the Nangarhar province governor, where the incident occurred, the US servicemen were killed by a soldier of the Afghanistan armed forces.

He, said in a statement that the attack took place in the Achin district.

"The reason for the shooting is not clear.

The investigation has already begun," he said.

The Pentagon's report also noted that an investigation of this incident was initiated.

As it was confirmed by one US official, the incident was a "green-on-blue" attack by the opponent army member of the Afgan security forces in Nangarhar Province.

Some years ago, these green-on-blue insider attacks on the international services were the major problem.

The White House attention to this attack

Mike Pence, The US Vice President, speaking in the state of Wisconsin, noted that President Donald Trump had already been informed about what had happened.

The White House confirmed that Trump had received reports about what had happened. This is by no means the first case of an attack on coalition forces in Afghanistan by local servicemen.

In New Jersey, the White House spokesman Raj Shah told the reporters that Trump was "following the emerging situation in Afghanistan."

Taliban took responsibility for the attack

The terrorist group Taliban claimed the responsibility for the attack.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the loyalist of their group had infiltrated the Afgan army to kill the foreign army.

In March, one of the soldiers of the Afghani army was killed after he opened fire on foreign forces at a base in Helmand province, three US soldiers were wounded.

Troops' number

According to the official data, currently, in Afghanistan, there is about 13 thousand military personnel of the international coalition. They include about 8.4 thousand American soldiers and officers who train Afghan units and act as military advisers.

The United States' authorities are considering the possibility of sending an additional military contingent to Afghanistan.

A few days ago, during the funeral of the Afghan Senate Deputy Speaker's son, a drone dumped an explosive device on the people. There were 19 victims of the attack.
With a few exceptions, such as the demand for waivers by the Office of Governmental Ethics, the Trump administration has already defied many demands, including requests by congressional committee members and Democrats in a policy that was instituted by the White House and the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). The policy apparently is only to answer oversight requests by committee leaders as they are all Republicans.

Grassley demands White House rescind policy

The Senate Judiciary Committee's page posted a letter from Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) telling the White House to rescind the OLC opinion, saying that while it hurts members of the minority Democratic Party that it also hurts those in the majority.

Grassley said that the White House's policy disrupts the flow of information between the administration and Congress which "frustrates the constitutional function of legislating."

Grassley's letter to the President was at seven pages and went as far as to say that the opinion by the OLC was "nonsense." But rather than attack the President for the opinion, Grassley appeared to go after the President's staff saying that the Trump was being "ill-served" by them. It was reported that last month, White House officials activated their policy telling other agencies in the government to not respond to oversight requests from Democrats over the Trump-Russia investigation that is being conducted by the Justice Department.

Democrats targeted

It's been reported that the OLC wrote a guidance memo which was considered a formal restriction of a flow of information to Democrats. The memo said quite directly that Democrats do not have the authority to conduct oversight without Republican committee delegation. Democrats apparently released dozens of letters on Thursday that they had sent to the administration that went answered.

What might have likely triggered "Grassley's" letter is when Republican members of these committees began to get their requests unanswered as well.

Grassley also went on to say that Congress doesn't treat executive branch officials with such contempt and expects the same in return. He has also made the comparison with the former Obama administration to say that he has had his requests ignored in the past but a policy by the White House that formally restricts that flow of information doesn't "drain the swamp" it actually "floods" it.

It's likely that with the powers Mueller has been given to continue his investigation over the Trump administration that their policy might be targeted. It's unknown at the writing if Grassley has made any progress from his letter.
On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee held a public hearing with the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, the Director of the National Security Agency Mike Rogers, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The hearing was originally focused on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which Republicans have decided to focus on as opposed to the Trump-Russia criminal investigation on the White House. Blasting News has reported extensively on the fact that Republicans have been reluctant to conduct or manage any kind of investigation on the President over possible collusion with Russian officials.

Trump's Idaho surrogate provides cover

Even more, when the investigation became one of criminal intent and was assigned to a special prosecutor, Republicans also showed that they were not interested in getting "on board" with the process. While the public hearing with the four intelligence and justice officials showed a bipartisan effort to go off-script from their original focus on FISA to ask the officials questions about the investigation, one Republican senator from Idaho, Jim Risch, defied his colleagues and the committee's trend from their focus on the Russia investigation to provide some cover to the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, Sen. Risch followed questioning by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) by first acknowledging Warner's statement saying "with all due respect" before attempting to clarify, for the record, what he saw the intelligence officials say, which was that they -- quoting Risch: "had not been pressured by anyone, including the president of the United States to do something immoral, illegal or anything else." The bulk of the questioning by the dais was as to whether the President had told them directly to block the FBI's investigation that was being conducted on members of the Trump transition team.

Risch during Comey hearing

On Thursday, Risch would continue to provide cover for the Trump White House by being the first in the Senate Intelligence Committee to suggest that President Trump had in fact not told Comey to end the investigation at all. Risch played with the language used by Comey saying that when the President told him that he "hoped" he would end the investigation on Flynn, that it wasn't the same as ordering him to do so.

James Comey was the former Director of the FBI who was fired by President Trump for investigating members of his transition team. Here is a segment of Jim Risch "grilling" James Comey.

Risch during FISA hearing

Many reports have come to light to say that President Trump had tried to talk James Comey into dropping his investigation on Gen.

Michael Flynn. These reports accompanied those about Rogers and Coats being asked by the President to block the FBI's investigation. After Risch made his statement during their hearing, he began to ask his questions saying condescendingly that the purpose of the hearing was to talk about FISA. Blasting News has written about that FISA narrative that the administration has focused on since President Trump claimed that Trump Tower had been wiretapped by the Obama administration.

Republicans like Nunes -- and now Risch -- have continued to provide cover by attempting to do things as drawing out details with saying that President Obama misused the FISA court to "unmask" the names of Trump transition team officials.

One article by Blasting News reported on Devin Nunes' subpoenas to the intelligence and justice community that specifically focus on that unmasking. Blasting News has also written on Jim Risch and a more detailed view as to why Risch represents the reasons Republican lawmakers are not interested in conducting an investigation on the President.

Risch ignores negative news on Trump

The administration has also attempted to distract the narrative of Russian collusion by focusing on leaks that have uncovered potential obstruction of justice on his part, while at the same time calling those reports fake news. Right after James Comey was fired by the Trump administration, Risch was on the PBS NewsHour -- as the video below will show -- where he was asked about the memos that Comey had kept, to which Risch claimed he hadn't seen the reports.

As the Blasting News article referred to earlier also mentions, he did the same thing with other reports that were even confirmed by the Trump administration's own Press Secretary Sean Spicer over the firing of General Flynn.

In his latest interview, Risch seemed quite anxious to answer every question with an acknowledgment that President Trump had full power to do what he wanted, including declassifying classified information before Russian officials. Sen. Risch's Senate seat will not be up for re-election until 2020. Here is his interview with the PBS NewsHour from May.
In a very dramatic gesture, President moon Jae-in puts a hold on the deployment of the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system or THAAD on South Korean territory. The move is influenced by President Moon's desire to open diplomatic talks with the North and to avoid the threat of Pyongyang raining missiles into South Korean cities.

What is South Korea's plans towards the North?

President Moon is open to slowly decrease the influence of the United States in South Korean policy making. Ever since the end of the Korean war, the United States have entrenched a contingent of soldiers continually on South Korean soil.

This is a problem for the new S. Korean President as he desires a great unified Korea in the future. The problem is that North Korea will not come to talks unless the South renounces all trade sanctions by the United Nations and drop the alliance with the United States.

It is Moon's policy to create the environment perfect for a dialogue with the North, but in doing so, he must effectively cut ties with the west. This is the very thing he seems on plannnig, especially with the sudden suspension of the deployment of the THAAD system. It is also expected that Moon will slowly orchestrate a moment where he will finally cut ties with the United States in favor of a united Korea. This is a fact that may be unacceptable to America as South Korea is the location of a major U.S.

base.

What is the reaction of the United States on this sudden shift in policy?

Despite the political agenda President Moon is pushing, the United States is adamant in projecting power in the Korean peninsula. Aside from South Korea, the U.S. is allied with Japan and the Japanese government supports an all out embargo on the rogue state.

Though the suspension of the installation of THAAD is a major setback it will not affect the overall security already in place by the United States against missile strikes.

The U.S. Navy had deployed to the Korean peninsula three carrier groups, two nuclear submarines and a fleet of support and supply ships. This is specifically intended to stop Pyongyang's continued focus on developing nuclear and ballistic capabilities.

It is uncertain how the United States will enforce its influence in this region, especially with President Moon slowly slipping into North Korea's sphere of influence. Yet one can be certain that if South Korea does shift to join its Northern sister, America's power in the east will be vastly limited.
South Carolina Serial Killer Todd Kohlhepp, 46, was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences in May this year for killing seven people and keeping Kala Brown chained up in a storage container. The Metro reported that he "pleaded guilty two weeks ago to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison." After several Freedom of Information requests hundreds of records, including video footage, were released by the 7th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Couple believed they were working for the South Carolina serial killer

Kohlhepp, a real estate agent in South Carolina, owned a 95-acre property close to Woodruff.

Brown and her boyfriend, Charles David Carver went missing from their Anderson home on August 31 after going to Kohlhepps property where they believed they were going to work to help him clear and clean it.

The serial killer was taken into custody in November after officers searching his property heard Brown banging on the inside of a storage container on his property. She had been kept chained up as a prisoner and sexually abused for more than two months.

Officers open the metal storage container and discover Brown chained inside

In the disturbing video included below, officers can be seen walking up to a metal storage container on Kohlhepps Woodruff property. After breaking the lock on the container, officers enter and make their way through the container.

They discover Brown, chained up on a bed at the back of the container. Brown was chained to make her movement limited and this included a chain attached to her neck. The video shows a table next to her with a plastic container and two books.

Brown tells the officers that her neck is attached to the wall and one officer says they are getting bolt cutters to free her.

Another officer asks Brown where Carver is. Brown tells the officers that Kohlhepp had shot Carver in the chest. She says it was soon after this that the serial killer locked her up in the container and she never saw Carver again.

Serial killer takes officers to shallow graves of victims

As reported by the Metro, after discovering Brown in the storage container, Kohlhepp took the investigators to the shallow grave where Browns boyfriend, Carver, had been buried.

The killer then took them to the spot where he had buried a husband and wife team, Johnny Coxie, 29, and Leigh McCraw-Coxie, 26, who disappeared in December 2015 from Spartanburg.

The couple, like Brown and her boyfriend, had been lured to the serial killers property when he offered them work. As with Brown, the killer initially locked McCraw-Coxie in the container. However, he admitted killing her several days later when she attempted to burn the container after he had given McCraw-Coxie cigarettes.

As noted by USA Today, the serial killer then went on to confess to the 2003 killings of four employees at Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee. The killings of Chris Sherbert, Brian Lucas, Beverly Guy and Scott Ponder had remained unsolved until Kohlhepp confessed to the investigators in November.

A separate video shows Kohlhepp confessing to the Superbike Motorsports murders, saying he had cleared the building in less than 30 seconds.

In the video footage released, Kohlhepp can be seen speaking at length about the weapons he used in the killings and which he believed worked the best. He even asked officers whether they believed Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would win the U.S. president election, due to happen a few days later.

Seven consecutive life sentences for serial killer

After pleading guilty on May 26 to the murders of seven people and keeping Brown chained up in a storage container, Kohlhepp received seven consecutive life sentences. On top of those sentences, he received a further 60 years for kidnapping and sexually assaulting Brown and other offenses.

The serial killer remains incarcerated in the maximum security Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.
If you thought GOP Senators were any better than their House GOP associates, think again.They are trying to salvage the Health Bill atrocity that the House passed. The Senators only care about getting the bare majority needed to ensure that it will be a one party action like the Gorsuch confirmation.

Rush

The reporting on this secretive, rushed procedure is all over the map. Some stories say there is little chance of passage. Others say the Senate may come up with something close to Obamacare, an action that would ensure the failure of the bill in the House.

Others are clearly afraid of what their future will be if anything like the House Bill squeaks through. It is a predictable mess.

Shame

But enough is clear to permit the opinion that this is a shameful project that is based on Obama-hate that is firmly anchored in the brain of Donald J. Trump. There is not a scintilla of concern for health or the welfare of Americans on either side in the GOP Congress. It is the child of a 2009 dinner when the GOP decided to oppose everything that Obama did.

Conservative bill

When Obama sent a Heritage Society, insurance company-friendly bill, the GOP scorned it. The House repealed it time after time just to flex their anti-Obama muscles. The repeals were routinely rejected by the Senate.

When the GOP got the control it wanted, they passed the House Trumpcare Bil after one disastrous try. It would savage 23 million Americans, leaving them uninsured, It would cripple Medicaid. Nice bill.

Damage

The most damaging thing that could be said about the intentions behind Trumpcare is that the money it would save by crippling Obamacare would be almost exactly equal to the money we would lose if the tax gift Trump wants to bestow on the one percent were to pass.

This is robbing the poor to add to the wealth of the wealthiest.

Trump sickness

It would be delightful if I could end this with a laugh and say hey folks it ain't gonna happen. But it is entirely possible that the sickness Trump brings to governing has spread through Congress. If so the GOP Senators may conspire with the House GOP to foist on us a bill that destroys what we had in prospect.

Obamacare was an imperfect system that was making real progress. Instead, we have a guaranteed loser to please the deranged ego of a man who hates Barack Obama and does not care about the health of children. If you don't believe that, take a look at this story.

This is the second time Trump has screwed over dying children by diverting charitable contributions https://t.co/9cmZwl4TXO pic.twitter.com/4noTf8SHjq  Raw Story (@RawStory) June 10, 2017

This does not make it into the MSM which is why we need places like Raw Story to get at some disturbing truths.

Best Case

Stories telling how derelict the Senate GOP is could shame a few Senators into getting out of the Trump lockstep brigade. Failing that pray for a miracle.
Adam West, whose real name was William West Anderson, was the actor who played the first Batman. He died on Friday, June 9, 2017, at the age of 88. The legendary actor passed away after a short battle with leukemia, according to a confirmation from his rep. West was surrounded by family and friends in Los Angeles, California.

His family included Marcelle, his third wife of 47 years, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His family made a statement on Facebook that West always saw himself as "The Bright Knight" and he will always be their hero.

Batman

West played the part of Batman in the television series from January 12, 1966, until it was canceled in March 1968 after three seasons. It was aired much longer in re-runs. West once said he used to itch all over in the skin-tight blue and gray costume he wore as he fought the villains who tried to destroy Gotham City.

After "Batman" was canceled, West struggled to find work. He put on his cape and mask and made appearances to earn money at carnivals and car shows and in low-paying films. He downsized and moved to Ketchum, Idaho where he still had a house when he died.

Batman is a coveted role today, but West said at that time playing the character kept him from getting some good roles.

However, he put his heart and soul into playing Batman. He did get some jobs after the series ended in 1968, including quite a few voice overs. West never received any awards. "Batman" was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy series in its first year, but it lost to CBSs "The Dick Van Dyke Show." West received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2012.

It was a coincidence that Adam West played the part of Mayor Adam West in the movie "Family Guy." His last appearance in a movie was in 2009 as Kostka Volvic in "The Dictator's Son."

In recent years there have been several A-list Hollywood actors who followed West in the Batman role, including Val Kilmer, Christian Bale, George Clooney, and Ben Affleck.

Social media reactions

There are plenty of condolences and warm wishes on social media. As soon as the news was announced, Seth MacFarlane and writer David Goodman were among those who paid tribute to West. Affleck called West a hero and a kind, funny, and an all-around great guy. He ended by saying, "Thank you for showing us all how it's done." Other tributes on Twitter came from Mark Hamil, Conan O'Brien, Will Arnett, LeVar Burton, and many others.

Even though there were several actors who played Batman after West, one comment came from a person who said West will always be the real Batman to her. Many called West their childhood hero.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. DENINE R. HOOD, Appellant v. CITIZENS BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA, a subsidiary or division of CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP INC. No. 16-3313 Decided: June 09, 2017

Before: HARDIMAN, ROTH, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

OPINION*

Denine Hood appeals the District Court's summary judgment in favor of Citizens Bank on her discrimination claims. We will affirm.

I

Hood is an African-American woman who was a Branch Manager for Citizens. Hood was fired after Citizens determined that she had permitted a customer to open an account by submitting an expired driver's license. After initially claiming she may have misread the license, Hood later admitted that she typed a false license expiration date into the Bank's computer program to open the account, and informed the customer he would have to return later with a valid ID or have the account closed. Hood also admitted that she opened an account for another customer who was not physically present. Both incidents violated Bank policies.

Following her termination, Hood sued Citizens claiming age, gender, and race discrimination under state and federal law. Citizens moved for summary judgment and the Magistrate Judge recommended that the motion be granted because Hood had not provided evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could conclude that the employer's legitimate reasons for terminating Hoodviolations of Bank policywere pretextual. Relevant to this appeal, the Magistrate Judge emphasized that while Hood argu[es] that the record evidence shows that [Citizens] treated other employees [who violated bank policy] outside of [Hood]'s protected classes more favorably,  none of the employees to which [Hood] points as a comparator were similarly situated. App. 780. The District Court adopted the Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation as its opinion in full. This timely appeal followed.

II 1

We review summary judgments de novo, apply[ing] the same standard as the District Court. Marten v. Godwin, 499 F.3d 290, 295 (3d Cir. 2007). Summary judgment is appropriate if, after adequate time for discovery, a party has not made a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Id. (quoting Celotext Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986)). [W]e view all evidence and consider all reasonable inferences in [the] light most favorable to the non-moving party. Matreale v. N.J. Dep't of Military & Veterans Affairs, 487 F.3d 150, 152 (3d Cir. 2007).

III

The gravamen of Hood's appeal is that the District Court erred when it granted Citizens summary judgment on her claims of race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.  2000e-2(a)(1), and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA), 43 Pa. Stat.  955. As the District Court concluded, because Citizens offered a legitimate reason for terminating Hood, this argument requires Hood to cite some evidence, direct or circumstantial, from which a factfinder could reasonably either (1) disbelieve the employer's articulated legitimate reasons; or (2) believe that an invidious discriminatory reason was more likely than not a motivating or determinative cause of the employer's action. Fuentes v. Perskie, 32 F.3d 759, 764 (3d Cir. 1994).

Hood raises two principal assignments of error on appeal. She claims the District Court erred by: (1) not crediting her evidence that a white Branch Manager named G.P. received almost no discipline for a similar infraction; and (2) failing to find that the actions Hood took which led to her firing were taken within her discretion as a manager. We address each argument in turn.

A

In her opening brief, Hood tries mightily to make G.P. a valid comparator, referencing her no fewer than 73 times. G.P. was a white Branch Manager who was the subject of an investigation after she made three deposits in her personal bank account that raised a suspicion that she was structuring her transaction to avoid having to complete a Currency Transaction Report. In response to the investigation, G.P. claimed that she was depositing cash as she discovered it around her home, not intentionally dividing up a single transaction. G.P.'s supervisor advised her to file Currency Transaction Reports in the future to avoid the appearance of attempted structuring, but took no other disciplinary action. App. 397.

We agree with the District Court that G.P. was not a valid comparator for Hood. For starters, the record is devoid of evidence that Citizens believed G.P. was guilty of structuring. Although Hood finds G.P.'s story laughable, Reply Br. 4, the Bank was not required to find that G.P. had violated company policy, particularly in the face of a denial and in the absence of conclusive evidence that she had violated company policy. Hood speculates further that Citizens would not have given G.P. a warning if it believed her explanation, but it is certainly plausible that the Bank would caution G.P. going forward, even if it had been unable to prove misconduct. In sum, because the record supported violations of Bank policy as to Hood and no violations as to G.P., the District Court did not err when it found G.P. to not be a valid comparator.

B

Hood also contends that the District Court failed to credit evidence that her conduct did not constitute a violation of bank policies, or was not a terminable violation. Hood Br. 35. On the first point, Hood does not dispute that Citizens requires that customers provide an unexpired government-issued photo identification when opening an account. Hood Br. 28. The fact that Citizens has other identification policies that are less specific as to the identification required does not mean that the policies are inconsistent, as Hood claims. Id. At most, it means she did not violate those more general policies.

Finally, Hood further argues that the Bank's deviation from a progressive discipline system to immediately terminate her employment following two infractions is evidence of discriminatory intent. Hood Br. 36. However, the Performance Management Improvement Process Hood suggests should have been followed explicitly states that immediate termination is an option for serious misconduct. App. 193. Hood argues that a reasonable jury could find no such zero tolerance policy for serious misconduct existed in practice, as other employees have not been immediately fired for assorted violations Hood considers to be of comparable or greater seriousness. Hood Br. 38. But so long as those employees were not similarly situated to Hood, Simpson v. Kay Jewelers, Div. of Sterling, Inc., 142 F.3d 639, 645 (3d Cir. 1998)and we agree with the District Court that they were notthe discipline they received is not probative of pretext as to Hood.

* * *

For the reasons stated, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.

FOOTNOTES

. The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1331 and 1367(a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1291.

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.
First there was a meeting involving all of the major Kurdish political parties in the Iraqi Kurdish region's capital of Irbil. Then the announcement was made by Masoud Barzani, the President of the Regional Government for Kurdish Iraq. He took to Twitter to tell everyone that Iraq's autonomous Kurdish northern region will hold a referendum for independence.

Where and when will this referendum be?

The referendum on whether to become an independent nation will be held on September 25th. It will take place in the three governorates that compose the Kurdish part of Iraq, Dahuk, Arbil and As-Sulaymaniyah.

It will also take place in areas that are disputed between the Kurdish regional government and Iraq, but are currently under military control by the Kurds following the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive started by ISIS.

Current relations between Iraq and the Kurds

It is widely anticipated that the referendum out of Kurdish Iraq would result in a yes vote, as the Kurdish people have wanted their own independent nation for decades. The government of Iraq has yet to make an official statement on this announcement. This April, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi did say that he respects the right of the Kurds to vote on independence but did not think it is the right time to hold a vote.

The Kurdish region of Iraq, which has 5 million people (Iraq's total population is about 36 million), has had the benefit of having a high degree of autonomy for many years.

The Kurds have their own parliament and military, the Peshmerga. Kurdish relations with Iraq's government were trending in a negative direction before ISIS, with disagreements about how oil revenue was shared. Following ISIS's 2014 offensive, the Kurds have militarily taken control of some areas of Iraq after defeating ISIS, causing greater tension with Iraq's government.

Potential fallout from independence

Three of Iraq's powerful neighboring states, Iran, Turkey and Syria, all have significant and often restive Kurdish populations. All three of these countries have halted any moves towards Kurdish independence, with Turkey even viewing their Kurdish political movement as a terrorist organization.

It would be unclear how these countries and their Kurdish populations would react to Iraq's Kurdish region gaining independence.

This would also put the United States in a potentially difficult situation depending on how Iraq would react to a successful Kurdish referendum. America has been allies with Iraq since they overthrew Saddam Hussein and helped to set up their current government and constitution. However, the U.S. has also spent its time post World War I alternating between being allies with or ignoring the Kurds. How America would handle a successful referendum and potentially Iraqi resistance to Kurdish independence is also an unknown.
According to a recent report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which is a mouthpiece for the North Korean government, the state of North Korea is close to having a functional ICBM that would be capable of delivering an atomic payload to the continental United States.

There have been no demonstrations of such technology from the small nation, but since the time Kim Jong-un took power, the North Korean missile program has seen improvements in both range and reliability.

The North Korean Taepodong-2 was designed to lift satellites into orbit, so in theory, it would be able to reach the US homeland.

Most experts believe this to be a poor choice for use with an atomic weapon, and the continued development of ICBM technology in North Korea would seem to support that view.

Isolating influence

The continued development of offensive missile technology in North Korea is being met with fierce opposition from the rest of the world, and even China has urged the despotic Un to relent in his efforts.

President Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to field a nuclear capable ICBM, but there has been little action to enforce this statement. In the last few months the pace of North Korean missile tests has quickened, and in recent weeks the nation fired multiple missiles into the surrounding waters.

The goal of these tests isn't well known, but many propose they were meant to demonstrate North Korea's ability to defend itself from a hostile naval action.

Japan reacts

One of the most visible effects of North Korean militarism are the increasing preparations being taken by Japan. In the wake of the most recent flurry of missiles dropping, the calls for action by Japanese Prime Minister Abe have become louder.

In recent months Japanese drills to prepare its towns and cities for a possible sneak attack from a hostile atomic strike have become more frequent, though there has been no direct threat made by Kim Jong-un against Japan.

The reason for Japan's readiness isn't clear at this moment, nor is the reason for their belief that North Korea would intentionally launch atomic weapons at them without cause.

United States tests

In addition to having a large naval force in the region of the Korean peninsula, the US also tested an anti-ICBM missile system recently. The test was deemed a success, but it is unknown how the system would work in actual combat.

With all the preparations being taken, and the aggressive rhetoric coming from North Korea, it would seem as though Pyongyang is preparing for something. What that is we can't know, but it will probably make a bit of noise if and when it happens.
ASTANA - The just concluded trip of President Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan adds impetus to the building of the Belt and Road, cements the bond among countries for the community of shared future and opens up broad prospects for peace and prosperity in the region, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday.

Xi left Astana on the same day for home after a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

"This is Xi's first foreign visit after he presided over the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and also a major diplomatic activity of China in the Eurasia region," Wang told the press.

"This tour embodies the 'Silk Road Spirit,' which features peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit," he noted.

ELEVATING CHINA-KAZAKHSTAN TIES TO NEW HEIGHT

The relationship between China and Kazakhstan has witnessed rapid development since they established diplomatic ties 25 years ago.

In Astana, Xi held talks with his old friend, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, to take stock of the achievements the two countries have made and to chart the course for future cooperation.

This trip marked Xi's third state visit to the Central Asian country and it has been the 16th meeting between the two leaders since 2012.

Noting that the political mutual trust has reached an unprecedented height, Xi said China is willing to build "a stronger community of shared interests and shared future" with Kazakhstan, and hopes the two countries can be "good neighbors, friends and partners forever."

Xi and Nazarbayev agreed to maintain close high-level and institutional exchanges, respect the two country's choices of development path and policies in accordance with their respective national conditions, support each other's efforts in safeguarding their core interests, and jointly address the challenges to regional security and stability.

On Thursday, Xi, accompanied by Nazarbayev, visited the Chinese national pavilion of the Expo 2017 in Astana and attended the opening ceremony of the Expo. Xi's attendance shows support not only for the Kazakh side in organizing the event, but also for Central Asia countries in pursuing development and seeking growing international standing.
Editor's note: In the run-up to the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress, China Daily will cover a series of key projects and advanced equipment of national importance, showcasing the country's huge improvement and relentless efforts at innovation.

Observatory being built in Sichuan to discover what makes gamma rays tick

Imagine an explosion that can release 10 times the energy the sun radiates in its 10-billion-year life. It's called a hypernova, one of the brightest and most powerful stellar events.

Scientists suspect such an explosion would produce a large amount of cosmic rays, highly energetic particles blazing across the universe at close to the speed of light. These cosmic bullets pack so much energy they can cause electronics problems in satellites, planes and other devices on Earth after traveling for billions of years.

First discovered in 1912, cosmic rays continue to baffle scientists as to exactly where and how they are made. But China is spending more than 1.2 billion yuan ($176.53 million) to build the world's largest cosmic ray observatory for gamma ray astronomy to crack this mystery, and possibly to learn how to recreate the high-energy particles on Earth.

The installation is called Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatorya 136-hectare telescope array spreading across Haizi Mountain in Daocheng county, Sichuan province. It consists of more than 6,300 detectors and 12 telescopes, and is located 4.4 kilometers above sea level, making it one of the highest cosmic ray observatories in the world.

Construction of the roads and basic groundwork around the observatory started last year, and work on the detectors is set to begin this year, said Li Kunpeng, the senior engineer for the project from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of High Energy Physics. By the end of next year, 25 percent of the observatory will be operational and able to receive data. The entire project is scheduled to be finished by about January 2021.

The observatory will be the world's most sensitive detector of ultrahigh-energy cosmic gamma rays carrying more than 10 trillion electron voltsa unit of energyand is able to detect charged cosmic rays up to 10 quintillion (1 followed by 18 zeros) electron volts. This scale dwarfs the energy level from the sun's cosmic rays, which is typically measured in millions and up to billions, said Cao Zhen, the project's chief scientist.

"Ultrahigh-energy particles could be the remnants and messengers of major cosmic events that could have happened billions of years ago in distant galaxies," he said, adding that they are a million times stronger than the most energetic particle created by the world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

"By studying their origin and how they accelerate, we will have a better understanding of the early days of the universe, and, if possible, we can emulate their acceleration mechanism for research, leading to new discoveries beyond the limits of our current equipment," he said.

Such discoveries include new properties or laws in high-energy radiation, star formation, dark matter as well as other fundamental fields, Cao said. This can lead to new applications such as the new-generation gamma knife, in which highly energetic photon particles are used to kill brain tumors, or better materials to protect astronauts and electronics from cosmic rays.

Catching these space travelers is no simple task. Even if they reach the Earth, the atmosphere absorbs most of them. So the ideal method is to use satellites equipped with telescopes and detectors to intercept them in space, like NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and China's Dark Matter Particle Explorer.

However, the more energy a particle has, the rarer it becomes. Some ultrahigh-energy particles occur only once a year within a 1-square-kilometer surface, Cao said.

As a result, it is more common and cost-efficient to lay out the massive detectors arraywhat scientists call a sky neton mountains or below ground to reduce interference from air.

Similar installations are the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, which is under ice, the ARGO-YBJ International Observatory in the Tibetan Plateau, and later the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array.

"The LHAASO will complement these existing observatories, and will become an advanced platform for scientists around the world from astronomy to nanotechnology to work together in unraveling the mystery of the universe," said He Huihai, the project's chief technologist.

Scientists from France, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and other countries will also collaborate in the project along with Chinese scientists from more than 20 institutions and universities, he added.

What makes the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory unique is its way of catching the cosmic rays. When a high-energy particle enters the atmosphere, it ionizessheds one or more electronsand charges the molecules in the air, and the ionized molecules continue to bump into other molecules, he said.

After a dozen rounds, this creates a shower of secondary molecules spreading across a large area, "the LHAASO will catch parts of the shower within nanoseconds, analyze their data, and find the one particle that started it all", he added.

Once a particle is located, scientists can estimate the direction it came from and order telescopes to look in that area to see what happened.

Coupled with lightwave analysis and different types of telescopes, scientists can even deduce the chemical makeup of the situation and possibly figure out how the particles got so fast.

"Given its extreme difficulty, such a task is only possible through global effort," He said. "This is the best part of studying the cosmos, it unites scientists across nations and fields together under one purposeto learn about the universe."
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday to address matters former FBI Director James Comey brought up this week in testimony to the same panel.

In a letter seen by Reuters, Sessions told Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, that the intelligence committee is the "most appropriate" place to address matters that came up during Comey's hearing on Thursday.

The letter did not say whether Sessions planned to give public testimony or to appear before the panel behind closed doors.

"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," Sessions said in the letter.

The committee "is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added. The Senate panel is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

In March, Sessions removed himself from any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the elections, but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met last year with Russia's ambassador.

In testimony to the Senate panel on Thursday, Comey accused President Donald Trump of firing him to try to undermine the FBI's investigation of possible collusion by people in Trump's campaign with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Comey's appearance raised new questions about the attorney general's relationship with Russian officials and others with ties to President Vladimir Putin. One question is whether Sessions had any undisclosed meetings with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak or other Russians during the campaign or after Trump's inauguration.

In the most eagerly anticipated US congressional hearing in years, Comey told lawmakers the Trump administration had lied and defamed him and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the president dismissed him on May 9.

Sessions had planned to appear before the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees, but the deputy attorney general will take his place, the letter said.

Reutres
What's in a name change?

When it comes to Johnson State College and Lyndon State College in Vermont, it's one word  dropping "college".

And the reason: to improve marketing and attract higher-tuition paying foreign students, especially from China, a move that colleges and universities across America have been doing since the number of foreign students has surged.

Last year, 328,547 Chinese students studied in the US, accounting for 32 percent of the foreign students in the US, according to data from the Institute of International Education (IIE).

However, Vermont ranks 48th among the 50 states attracting foreign students. Last year, 1,712 students studied in Vermont, 39 percent of them Chinese. Foreign students brought $75 million to Vermont in 2016, an increase from $34 million just six years ago, according to the IIE.

The two Vermont schools, which are about 55 miles apart and have separate campuses, now are one, at least in name: Northern Vermont University (NVU), which will welcome its first freshman class in the fall 2018.

Now, Lyndon has eight international students: five are from China. Johnson State has two international students from England and Bermuda. There are no Chinese students.

In 2016, the board of trustees of the state colleges system voted unanimously to unify Johnson and Lyndon State into NVU, keeping each school's separate campus, to save money and increase revenue.

In explaining the name change, Patricia Coates, director of communications for the Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS), told China Daily that "college" may have different conceptions outside the US. In China, "college" sometimes is equal to "high school" or "junior college".

"Frankly, let's be honest, 'university' provides a marketing advantage and that is a big part of what we hope to leverage from this unification [of Lyndon and Johnson]," Coates told the news website vtdigger.org in a 2016.

Vermont's state college tuition is among the highest of any state in the nation, according to the website. The state's smaller public colleges have seen enrollments decline and are more dependent on tuition because of low state support. Tuition and fees make up 58 percent of their revenue; room and board, 17 percent; and state support, 16 percent.

At Lyndon, according to the school's web site, in 2015 there were 1,200 students, and in-state tuition was $10,700 and out-of-state tuition was $21,764. International students qualify for the Open Frontiers Scholarship awards when enrolled in any degree program at Lyndon, and can receive $5,500 each year.

For the academic year 2016-2017, Johnson's website lists in-state tuition at $10,244 and out-of-state is $22,680.

The tuition for NVU hasn't been disclosed yet.

It's not the first time that an institute of higher education in Vermont has changed its name. In July 2015, Castleton State College in Castleton changed to Castleton University after a unanimous vote from the school's board of trustees.

University president Dave Wolk explained that the reasons for the name change included growth in the number of graduate programs and the student body, as well as Castleton's international recruitment efforts.

The school's website says that in 2015, 40 countries, including China, were represented among its student body of 2,246. Tuition for the academic year 2017-2018 for an entering student is $22,490 for in-state and $38,042 for out-of-state.

Patrick Liu, director of international student enrollment at Castleton University, said people in a number of countries, including China, have a different conception of "college" than Americans.

"Sometimes, people might think the education quality of a university would be higher than a college," said Liu. "So the change of the school's name could avoid such misunderstanding and make it easier to explain to students overseas. It's good for the school's promotion and development, especially overseas."

In 2016, Lyndon welcomed its first students from Xi'an into the undergraduate degree program. The school has an electronic journalism arts program that collaborates with China's Xi'an University. Each January, students from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, spend a few weeks on campus with hands-on learning in electronic journalism.
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United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROBERT COTA, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. No. 15-50248 Decided: May 31, 2017

Before: PREGERSON and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges, and DONATO, ** District Judge.

MEMORANDUM*

Robert Cota, Jr. appeals from his conviction and sentence of 240 months in prison after a jury trial on a charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1) and 846. Cota makes several challenges to the district court's denial of his pre-trial motion to suppress wiretap evidence. As the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.  1291, and we affirm.

1. We reject Cota's argument that the wiretap affidavits did not contain a full and complete statement of facts, as required by 18 U.S.C.  2518(1)(c), because they included boilerplate language and lacked particularity. In reviewing a district court's decision on a motion to suppress wiretap evidence, we review de novo whether the warrant affidavit contained a full and complete statement as to whether or not other investigative procedures have been tried and failed or why they reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous. 18 U.S.C.  2518(1)(c); see United States v. Christie, 825 F.3d 1048, 1066 (9th Cir. 2016). The warrant affidavit must contain more than boilerplate conclusions that merely describe inherent limitations of normal investigative procedures.  Christie, 825 F.3d at 1068 (quoting United States v. Blackmon, 273 F.3d 1204, 1210 (9th Cir. 2001)). However, some boilerplate language is not fatal, as we evaluate the level of detail in the affidavit as a whole, rather than piecemeal. United States v. Rodriguez, 851 F.3d 931, 942 (9th Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Christie, 825 F.3d at 1068).

Although the affidavits in this case do contain some impermissible boilerplate language and generalities about the limitations of traditional investigative techniques, there was sufficient detail in the affidavits as a whole. See id. at 942-43. The affidavits discuss more than ten categories of traditional investigative techniques that had been tried and failed or reasonably appeared unlikely to achieve the goals of the investigation. The affidavits include specific examples of how traditional techniques could only take law enforcement agents so far, especially when it came to identifying conspirators and understanding the narcotics distribution network. In light of the many assertions that are supported by specific probative facts, the few conclusory statements  do not render the affidavit[s]read in [their] entirety in a practical and commonsense fashioninvalid under  2518(1)(c). United States v. Commito, 918 F.2d 95, 98 (9th Cir. 1990).

2. We also reject Cota's contentions that the July 2011 affidavit did not contain a full and complete statement of facts, and that Cota was at least entitled to a Franks hearing, based on the government's failure to mention Cota's Fourth Amendment search waiver (Fourth waiver). To obtain a Franks hearing, a defendant must make a preliminary showing that the wiretap application[ ] contained material misrepresentations or omissions. United States v. Gonzalez, Inc., 412 F.3d 1102, 1110 (9th Cir. 2005). Reviewing the district court's denial of a Franks hearing de novo, Christie, 825 F.3d at 1069, we hold that the district court did not err. First, Cota has not sufficiently established that the government acted deliberately or recklessly in failing to mention the Fourth waiver. See Rodriguez, 851 F.3d at 940-41; see also Gonzalez, Inc., 412 F.3d at 1111 (requiring defendant to make a substantial showing that supports a finding of intent or recklessness). Second, Cota also failed to demonstrate that the government's omission of the Fourth waiver was material. The Fourth waiver would not have affected the issuing court's finding of necessity because the affidavit explained that physical searches would have been unproductive and potentially harmful to the investigation. See Rodriguez, 851 F.3d at 941. For the same reason, the omission of the Fourth waiver from the affidavit does not lead to the conclusion that the affidavit did not include a full and complete statement of facts. See id.

3. We also reject Cota's argument that the wiretap applications did not demonstrate necessity for a wiretap, as required by 18 U.S.C.  2518(3)(c). After determining that a wiretap application contains a full and complete statement of facts, a court may only approve the application if it finds that normal investigative procedures have been tried and have failed or reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if tried or to be too dangerous. 18 U.S.C.  2518(3)(c). We review for abuse of discretion the issuing court's finding that a wiretap was necessary under  2518(3)(c). Christie, 825 F.3d at 1066. The issuing court has considerable discretion in finding necessity, particularly when the case involves the investigation of a conspiracy. United States v. Reed, 575 F.3d 900, 909 (9th Cir. 2009). Based on the affidavits' thorough discussion of the investigation, including the goals of the investigation and the information sought via wiretap, and in light of the inability of traditional techniques to ferret out the sort of evidence sought in this conspiracy investigation, the issuing courts did not abuse their discretion in finding necessity for the wiretaps here.

4. Finally, we reject Cota's argument that his Sixth Amendment right was violated when the district court found the fact of Cota's prior felony conviction, which served to enhance his sentence under 21 U.S.C.  851. In Almendarez-Torres v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the fact of a prior conviction used to enhance a sentence is a sentencing factor and not an element of the offense that must be decided by a jury. 523 U.S. 224, 247 (1998). Therefore, the district court's application of  851 to enhance Cota's sentence did not violate Cota's Sixth Amendment right.

AFFIRMED.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. ADELA ORTIZ-ORTIZ, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 14-73863 Decided: June 09, 2017

Before: HAWKINS, GOULD, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.

MEMORANDUM*

Petitioner Adela Ortiz-Ortiz (Ortiz), a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals's (BIA) denial of her applications for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The BIA found Ortiz not credible due to inconsistencies between her testimony to the immigration judge (IJ) and statements that she made during an interview with an asylum officer. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C.  1252. We grant the petition and remand on an open record.

1. When the BIA conduct[s] its own review of the evidence and law rather than simply adopting the immigration judge's decision, our review is limited to the BIA's decision, except to the extent the IJ's opinion is expressly adopted. Hosseini v. Gonzales, 471 F.3d 953, 957 (9th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the BIA did not adopt any part of the IJ's opinion, and expressly rejected much of the IJ's credibility analysis. We confine our review to the BIA's decision.

2. The government contends that several of Ortiz's challenges are unexhausted because she did not raise them in her notice of appeal to the BIA. But Ortiz appealed to the BIA pro se, so we construe [her claims] liberally, and do not employ the exhaustion doctrine in a formalistic manner. Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079, 1083 (9th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). Viewing her prior appeal to the BIA in such a manner, we hold that Ortiz's claims are exhausted.

3. The BIA concluded that Ortiz lacked credibility on the basis of two inconsistencies in her testimony: (1) during her interview with the asylum officer, Ortiz said that on March 19, 2013, two men on motorcycles shot at her at a town fair, but during the hearing before the IJ, Ortiz testified that her ex-husband Mario Alberto Divas beat and tried to kill her outside of a church on that day; and (2) during her interview with the asylum officer, Ortiz said that she was on her way back from shopping when she found a young girl hanged, but before the IJ, Ortiz testified that she was on her way home from work, and that the girl had been tied up with wire and shot several times.

When theses purported inconsistencies are considered alongside the other significant evidence of abuse and threats in the record, they are relatively minor. Ortiz submitted letters and declarations of friends and family members stating that Divas beat her; pictures and a physician's report detailing scars consistent with her testimony; and a country report and articles describing a high rate of domestic violence in Guatemala. Ortiz also gave ample testimony during the hearing that was fully consistent with her statements to the asylum officer.

Further, we question whether Ortiz's statements are inconsistent at all. Ortiz could have encountered shots fired at her at the town fair and later that day been beaten by Divas outside a church. Ortiz's statement that she found a young girl hanged is not inconsistent with they tie[d] her up with a wire if by tie[d] her up Ortiz had meant tied her up to something above the ground. And Ortiz might have spent time both working and shopping on the day she saw the murdered girl.

Finally, the circumstances of Ortiz's testimony make the asserted inconsistencies only minimally probative of her credibility. At both her reasonable fear interview and at her hearing before the IJ, Ortiz testified without counsel, through an interpreter, and about very traumatic subjects. It is likely that the inconsistencies identified by the BIA were the products not of untruthfulness, but of misunderstanding, mistake, or bad memory. See Abovian v. INS, 219 F.3d 972, 979 (9th Cir.), amended on other grounds, 228 F.3d 1127 (9th Cir. 2000); Singh v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 1081, 1091 (9th Cir. 2005). Considering the record as a whole, the totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors, we hold that the BIA's adverse credibility determination was not supported by substantial evidence. Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1040 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting 8 U.S.C.  1158(b)(1)(B)(iii)).

4. Ortiz has a Fifth Amendment right to due process [at her] deportation proceedings, which ensures that [she] receive[s] a full and fair hearing. Padilla-Martinez v. Holder, 770 F.3d 825, 830 (9th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). The BIA decision violates due process if the proceeding was so fundamentally unfair that [Ortiz] was prevented from reasonably presenting h[er] case. Ramirez-Alejandre v. Ashcroft, 319 F.3d 365, 380 (9th Cir. 2003). For the reasons that follow, we have concerns about Ortiz's due process rights.

The IJ did not ask Ortiz about (1) the November 2011 beating where Divas knocked out four of Ortiz's teeth and sent her and her son to the hospital; nor (2) the December 2012 attack where Divas threw Ortiz into the street by her hair and stabbed and raped her. Both incidents were grounds for the asylum officer's reasonable fear of persecution finding, and both incidents were listed in Ortiz's Form I-589 Application for Withholding of Removal. In light of our review of the record, we conclude that the IJ's failure to ask Ortiz about the incidents violated her due process rights. See Oshodi v. Holder, 729 F.3d 883, 890 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc) (Every asylum and withholding applicant is required to be examined under oath as to the contents of h[er] application. (emphasis in original)). Failing to ask Ortiz about the incidents was also prejudicial. See id. at 88990 (An applicant's testimony of past persecution and/or h[er] fear of future persecution stands at the center of h [er] claim and can, if credible, support an eligibility finding without further corroboration.); see also Jacinto v. INS, 208 F.3d 725, 734 (9th Cir. 2000).

We remand to the BIA on an open record. The BIA shall grant Ortiz an opportunity to testify about the November 2011 and December 2012 incidents, and shall determine whether Ortiz is entitled to withholding of removal and CAT relief in light of our decision that the record does not support the BIA's adverse credibility decision.

PETITION GRANTED and REMANDED
Forsaking stable jobs in the big city, three university grads return to their hometown to make a quality rice-noodle product that benefits the village as well as consumers.

Despite graduating from university and landing big-city jobs, three young men who had been lifelong friends wanted something more than just a big income, expensive clothes and other material signs of success.

Their parents, however, had always wanted their sons to have high paying jobs so they could have a better life.

But the three men were determined to follow their dream to start their own business and live independently.

Much to the chagrin and shock of their families and neighbours, Nguyen ang Ton Canh, Nguyen Phuoc Anh and Nguyen Huu Vinh, all born in the 90s, decided to quit their jobs and return to their hometown in Trieu Phong District in the central province of Quang Tri.

Canh had studied economics at Hue University and Anh the same subject at a Nang College, while Vinh had graduated from HCM City Transportation University.

The knowledge they had obtained at school and in the workplace, however, would later serve them well.

Weve been buddies since we were kids. Growing up, we all had the idea of returning to our village and starting a business, but we werent confident doing it apart, Canh recalled recently.

But, one day, during a meeting away from their jobs in big cities, they realised their dream was still very much alive.

Oh my god! We recognised that we were still dreaming of returning to the countryside to help it develop, Canh said.

But they werent sure about which career to pursue.

Canh, however, was confident the three of them would find their way.

Every career has potential and if you care about it enough, it can develop in a stable way, he said.

So they returned to their hometown, Linh Chieu Village, well-known for its tradition of making bun (rice vermicelli).

Making bun was the traditional career of not only our families but also the entire village, he said. We spent our childhood around this, so now we want to contribute to the villages development doing the same with a better product.

Ready to go: Bun made at the Van Linh factory. VNS Photo

Initial steps

Within a year of agreeing to pursue their goal, the trio produced their first batch of clean vermicelli.

During that first year, they had faced many questions. How can we make our products different from the rest? What are our strengths and weaknesses? And, importantly, where are we going to get the money?

They realised they had a competitive advantage over others: their grandparents, parents and relatives had a rich background in making traditional rice vermicelli.

But, most of all, the three young men were full of energy.

After saving a total of nearly VN100 million (US$4,000) from their jobs, they decided to make preservative-free vermicelli which meets hygiene and food safety standards.

Vinh said that many consumers had boycotted traditional vermicelli in the market because of low quality and a high level of preservatives.

Even vermicelli made by Linh Chieu Village had been affected by the trend, with villagers sometimes throwing away their product due to decreased demand.

Their first branded products hit the market in May last year, packaged under the trademark Van Linh Vermicelli.

It had not been easy.

I still remember the first days after we launched ourproduct in the market, Canh said.

We could sell only 50 kilos per day, but we had made 100 kilos. So, we had to eat vermicelli the whole day!

To increase sales, the three men advertised their new product in the region and continued to improve the quality with the aim of receiving certification from the local health authority.

Their university studies came in handy on several occasions. With the IT skills they had learned at school, they set up a website to advertise their products.

After that, sales of vermicelli increased day by day, including purchases by big restaurants in ong Ha City and Lao Bao Town.

Although the price is higher than similar products, Van Linh Vermicelli is now the choice of many consumers.

About 500 kilos of fresh rice vermicelli are sold each day in the province.

The three men now want to expand production and sales to other cities and are trying out new products like dry vermicelli.

Asked if they would like to receive money from investors, Canh said they wanted to first build a solid foundation since their business was still small-scale.

For Vinh, quitting his job in big cities and returning to his hometown was a decision that he never doubted.

Well never regret what we decided," he said. "To us, our success today is thanks to the courage we had to pursue our dream of creating a vermicelli trademark for our village. VNS
Authorities have turned the famous Hue citadel into a night attraction, with the former palace hosting programmes reflecting life during the heydays of the Nguyen Dynasty.

by Phuoc Buu

It might not be an original move, but one of the most famous historical monuments in the country, the imperial palace of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), can be seen in a new light now.

More than seven decades after the dynastys century plus reign ended, the palace has come out of the shadows of the night with local authorities turning into a night attraction, inviting visitors from within and outside the country to admire the impressive structure and get a feel for life in the glory days of the dynasty, with programmes featuring re-enactment of some royal rituals and royal music performances.

The latest initiative of the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has been welcomed by locals, visitors and tour operators.

The centres director, Phan Thanh Hai, said they were encouraged by the fact that almost 500 people visited the citadel to enjoy the night programme on the day it opened in late April.

We think the night programme has been successful so far. This is encouraging and we are going to review it and improve upon it so that we can have more tourists visiting the citadel at night, said Hai.

Inspired by the show "Imperial Palace at Night" that is held during the biennial Hue Festival, the night programme is a daily version which does not include the royal banquet. Every night, visitors get a chance to watch multiple shows at different places around the former imperial palace.

A re-enactment of the Royal Patrol is the first event to greet visitors when they enter the main gate at Ngu Phung Pavilion at 7pm every evening. People dressed as mandarins and soldiers, just as they used to under the Nguyen Dynasty, take part in the patrol. They act out scenes, accompanied by authentic traditional music performed by musicians also dressed in royal costumes.

Behind the Ngu Phung Pavilion, visitors can step up to the front yard of the Thai Hoa Palace, which was where kings and leading mandarins worked in the morning. The yard now hosts live performances of nha nhac, or royal court music, an art form that the UN cultural agency UNESCO has listed as a world intangible cultural heritage.

Those who linger in the yard will be able to watch rehearsals by the imperial palaces inner guards who practise martial arts.

Traditional music: A ca Hue performance.  VNS Nguyen Van Sum

Near the Kien Trung Palace, behind the Thai Hoa Palace, visitors can listen to ca Hue, also known as "the Hue tune". This is a variation of royal music that includes songs with lyrics, including some folk songs and others were composed by royal family members and yesteryear poets.

These performances, featuring traditional Vietnamese instruments like the an tranh (16-string zither), an nhi (two-string fiddle), an nguyet (moon-shaped lute) and sanh tien (wooden clappers), are more authentic and of a higher quality than the more casual ones visitors get to enjoy on boats plying the Huong River. A particularly attractive feature of this music is the teacup clappers who provide rhythmic accompaniment, creating a unique sound akin to the clapping of hands.

A dance-play that used to be performed for the royal family is staged every night at the Truong Sanh Palace. This might be difficult for foreigners to understand. Furthermore, the venue is a long walk away from the entrance, so only the keenest cultural aficionado is likely to make it there.

Interactive culture

Those who are interested in doing something more than listening and watching the cultural programmes have the option of joining royal games. This is likely to instill an appreciation of how hard some of these games were to play.

au ho, for example, involves throwing bamboo arrows into vases with narrow necks. Players stand about 5m in front of the vases and throw the arrows. Different vases are used, depending on the difficulty level.

With the three hours that visitors have inside the citadel, one of the best things to do is to reserve some time for walking and looking at the buildings from the outside. It could end up being the best part of the night, watching the imposing monuments lit up at night, because it lends an aura of mystery to the whole place.

Throwback: The Royal Patrol enacted in front of the Ngu Phung Pavillion.  VNS Nguyen Van Sum

It was a really good experience. The shows were interesting and the ambience was something we could not have imagined some decades ago, said Pham Thi Thuy Trinh, a 71-year-old local resident.

Trinh used to live inside the former Imperial Palace at a time when the Hue College of Arts was located there. Many college staff used the royal buildings for their lodgings.

Before UNESCO recognized the complex of royal monuments as a world tangible heritage in 1993, the palace was left uncontrolled and intruders had free run of the place.

Hai said that his office had planned the night programme at the citadel a long time ago, but they only got the go ahead from provincial authorities recently.

Nguyen Van Phuc, deputy head of the Thua Thien- Hue Province Tourism Department, said the show would benefit the provinces tourism industry, and make the city a key national heritage landmark.

The Citadel by Night programme has proved to be the most striking tour. Visitors have enjoyed it, Phuc said.

According to a survey conducted by the department, travel agencies in Hue and around the country in connection with the Citadel by Night programme have considered it a good one to hold back tourists in Hue.

Officials feel the programme can help turn the spotlight on all tourism attractions in Hue, its monuments, mountains, pagodas, monasteries, Southeast Asias biggest lagoon system and areas where ethnic minorities reside.

For years, the province has lagged behind neighbouring localities like a Nang, Hoi An and Phong Nha in exploiting its large tourism potential, and the night programme could help change that.

While it is too early to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the programme, the conservation centre is happy with the good start it has seen.

Some people, however, have expressed concerns about overloading the ancient buildings with visitors, adding considerably to its wear and tear. For now most people are content to let the monuments bask in the night light. VNS
CEDAR FALLS  The decision to participate in the College Hill Arts Festival was a no-brainer for the Youth Art Team.

About 30 young artists ages 5 to 15 representing 16 Waterloo-Cedar Falls schools will lead the creation of a large, temporary street mural during the 39th annual festival.

The event runs from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 23rd and College streets. There is no admission charge.

A portion of College Street will be closed off while the mural is being created on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Its a really fun location right on College Hill and an opportunity for the Youth Art Team to build relationships with businesses and other artists, says Heidi Fuchtman, the teams coordinator. This spring we invited people from the festival for a brainstorming and sketching session with the students, and they came up with some really fun ideas.

Gary Kelley, the nationally-known Cedar Falls artist and long-time illustrator of CHAF posters, attended the session along with Mary-Sue Bartlett, CHAF co-chair and community leader Barbara Brown.

The street mural is something new this year, something fun and creative for children to do at the festival. It also will be interesting for patrons at the festival to watch it being created, says Bartlett.

Pulverized Crayola chalk paint mixed with water is applied using a brush to create the temporary mural. Vehicle traffic or rain will eventually wash it away.

The Youth Art Team has created a number of public art projects over the last seven years, including temporary street murals, making and displaying wooden butterflies throughout the Cedar Valley and Des Moines, an Urban Gallery art installation and a peacock mural on the Kistner Building, both in Waterloo, and the Viewfinder Project exhibition at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Angela Waseskuk from the University of Northern Iowa will head up a team of art teachers who will arrive early Saturday, along with older students, to begin staging the mural. Theyll set up a grid and outline the design. Endya Johnson will lead the Youth Art Team students and volunteers.

At 10 a.m., any child attending the festival can volunteer to help paint individual squares to create the mural, assisted by Youth Art Team members. There is no charge or preregistration to participate.

Any child who wants to can participate, paint and sign their square on the street. They can do as many squares as they want. Team members will hook them up with paint and help them find their place in the design, Fuchtman explains.

She describes the Youth Art Team as less program, more collaboration.

Students take ownership. This is a way to engage them and build their skills in leadership. Whats really exciting about this project is seeing our team really engage with other kids and help them be creative, too.

Students have based their mural on sketches of Gary Kelley and concepts of the festivals popular Young Art Collectors Gallery. The gallery, open to children ages 14 and under, features original art created by exhibiting artists priced at $10 or less and encourages children to make independent choices about art.

The team imagined kids stepping inside a time machine disguised as the Young Art Collectors Gallery and using a secret code to ride a huge slide down to an adventurous world where they see things like dinosaurs eating cookies, Fuchtman explains.

Basically, the mural is a purple octopus with a mustache like Garys who is juggling some of Garys posters. Weve had some of his festival posters laminated for taping down to the ground, and there are three other pieces connected to the concept, Fuchtman says.

While children are creating art, other festival visitors can stroll through the juried artwork of 75 artists displayed in booths at the outdoor gallery setting on the University of Northern Iowa campus. Original artwork will include jewelry, sculpture, painting, pastel, ceramics, graphics/printmaking, mixed media, fiber, photography, glass and wood.

Artists are: Julie Bernt, Nancy Briggs, Erin Carpenter, Al Clement, Neil Estrick, Richard Gruchalla, Paul Jeselskis, Russell Peters, Roberta Polfus, ceramics; Jan Friedman, Theresa Gallup, Kirsten Gereau, Andrew Johnson, fiber; John Larsen, Robin Mueller, Jon Offutt, Ken Patzoldt, Robinson Scott, Alan Sievers, Scott Simmons, glass; Douglas Fulks, Marie Rust, John Shirmer, Ken Swanson, Rita Troller, graphics; Beverly Baker, Nichole Collins, Mary Gohman, Brenna Klassen-Glanzer, Teresa Matheson, Cindy McDougal, Ryan Rathje, Jill Schienle, John Strobel , Cheri Meyer, E. Douglas Wunder, Mark and Wendy Zoschke, jewelry; Janet Ahrens, Sally Austin, Ted Gilmer, Ynon Mabat, Wayne Gao and Michelle Chang, Carole Osborn, M Robinson, Mark Schlabaugh, Vinnie Sutherland, Shawn Wolter, mixed media.

Also Chris Abigt, Bekah Ash, Karri Jamison, Timothy Kobs, Sean Miller, Carol Moliterno, John Schafer, Andrew Van Schyndle, painting/pastels; Debra Ehmann and Martin Rowe, Tom Lazur, Andrew Roth, Tracy Saldo, Michael Stipek, Jon Wolton, photography; Alice Calhoun, Donald Esser, David Leeper, Rick Martin, Cliff Matyszczyk, Layl McDill, Darren Miller, Ralph Parker, Karen Ruff, Nicole Brin, Dave Thompson, sculpture; Jon Hecker, Robert and Yvonne Myrvall, Ken Nelson.

In addition, there will be music on the performing arts stage and vendors purveying food and beverages.
FINCHFORD  A Finchford man was jailed Saturday for the sexual assault of a woman earlier in the day.

A woman at his residence was also arrested on unrelated drug charges.

Black Hawk County sheriffs deputies began investigating the case Saturday when they learned Lamarr Mullins-Montes, 27, of Finchford, met the female victim at a convenience store in Waverly. He reportedly took her to a rural location in Black Hawk County and sexually assaulted her. After the sexual assault, he allegedly hit the victim in the back of the head and then shoved her out of a moving vehicle.

An Iowa State Patrol trooper located Mullins-Montes a short time later near his residence in Finchford and detained him.

As a part of the investigation, deputies executed a search warrant at Mullins-Montes home at 7922 Clark St., Finchford. Mullins-Montes was charged with third-degree sexual abuse and assault while participating in a felony.

Also arrested was Tammy Jean Cornwell, 56, of Finchford for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after the items were found in her possession during the execution of the search warrant on Clark Street. Cornwell had no involvement in the sexual assault.
NORTH ENGLISH -- The Iowa County Sheriff's Office said one person was killed following an officer-involved shooting in North English.

Authorities said in a news release that Williamsburg Police and sheriff's deputies responded to the 100 block of South Walnut Street for a domestic disturbance involving a gun around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

"This incident led to an officer-involved shooting with a male subject who was pronounced dead at the scene," said Sheriff Robert Rotter in the release.

Rotter said the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will be taking over the investigation. More information is expected to be released later this week.
Dueling Protests Face Off At 'March Against Sharia' Outside Trump Tower

By aaroncynic in News on Jun 11, 2017 5:00AM

Tensions ran high at dueling demonstrations across the street from Trump Tower in the Loop where a small group of anti-Muslim protesters and Trump loyalists were met by a larger group of counter-protesters for what was called a march against Sharia.



The demonstration was part of a set of 29 demonstrations that took place in cities across the country on Saturday, called for by the group ACT For America, which has been classified as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.



This is a march against Sharia law and for human rights, the group said in a press release. Our nation is built on the freedom of religiona pillar of our democracywhich we must always respect, protect, and honor. However many aspects of Sharia law run contrary to basic human rights and are completely incompatible with our laws and our democratic values.



According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACT is one of the nations largest anti-Muslim groups, claiming 280,000 members and 1,000 chapters. Its founder, Brigitte Gabriel, has frequently spouted Islamaphobic rhetoric, saying that a practicing Muslim cannot be a loyal citizen of the United States, and that Europe is in danger of becoming Eurabia.



Initially, police kept protesters to separate sides of Wabash Avenue where it intersects with Wacker Drive, where at least 100 counter demonstrators gathered. But after a contingent of Trump loyalists, one of whom was dressed in a red, white, and blue unitard, arrived, some counter protesters crossed to get closer. Police formed a line and erected barricades to keep the two groups separate. As the morning dragged on, the groups mostly hurled insults at each other.



This is a place of diversity, shouted one man across a police line at Trump loyalists. This is the home of Harold Washington. Get out of my city.

A visibly-agitated man shouted at a female counter-protester with short hair that she looked like a "boy."

After loud chants of racists go home and you guys are assholes, counter-demonstrators wheeled in a sound system, and at one point a few began singing Kendrick Lamars Element, slightly changing up the words to say if I gotta slap a nazi I'ma make it look sexy.



Demonstrators dispersed after about two hours, with police escorting Trump loyalists across the river while counter protesters chanted hey hey, goodbye.All across this country today, people came out and shut the racists down, said John Beacham of Answer Chicago. There was nowhere in this country they were victorious. The people came out and showed what the real power, the real force in this countryLGBTQ, Muslims, immigrants, black people, latinos, young people, workers, womenlocking arms shoulder to shoulder to oppose racism.
WATERLOO  The Waterloo Human Rights Commission, in partnership with the Iowa Justice Action Network and Voices, is hosting a conference focusing on sentencing issues related to mass incarceration.

The two-day conference will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Jubilee United Methodist Church, 1621 E. Fourth St., and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, 225 Commercial St.

Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, is the keynote speaker.

He is a leading expert on sentencing policy, race and the criminal justice system. He has written extensively and testified before Congress and other legislative bodies. The Sentencing Project is a national organization that provides quality data on all aspects of mass incarceration and advocates for sentencing reform.www.sentencingproject.org.

Jubilee United Methodist Church is providing a free meal to the community Thursday at 6:30 p.m. followed at 7 p.m. with a brief talk from Pam Hayes about the reasons prisons exist.

Individuals who have been in prison as well as those who have had family members incarcerated will share their stories. This is an opportunity to look at the big picture of why we incarcerate people and how it could be done in the future.

The Thursday night program is free. Registration for the Friday conference online at www.iowajusticeactionnetwork.com, or by mailing a check to IJAN, 2709 Edgewood, Cedar Falls, 50613. The cost is $25.

For more information contact Abraham Funchess, executive director, Waterloo Human Rights Commission at 291-4441 or Abraham.Funchess@Waterloo-ia.com.
DUNKERTON  A Prairie Walk on June 17 at Bennington Township Cemetery will be hosted by the Cedar Prairie Group of the Sierra Club, Iowa Prairie Network Region 3 and Friends of the Tallgrass Prairie Center at the University of Northern Iowa.

The old settler cemetery is a mesic prairie remnant with a wide variety of native plants. There have been no burials in the cemetery for more than 100 years. The walk will be led by Bruce Stiles, assisted by Daryl Smith.

People will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Thunder Ridge Mall parking lot in Cedar Falls and car pool/caravan to the cemetery. For those who wish to join the group at the site at 10 a.m., the cemetery is located north of Dunkerton Road at the corner of North Elk Run Road and East Mount Vernon Road next to St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church.

An outing also is planned for July 22 at Cedar Hills Sand Prairie.
CEDAR FALLS  There are plenty of words to describe being the first Iowans to summit Mount Everest  and reach the highest point on Earth  from its north side in China.

Andy Anderson, a professor at University of Northern Iowa, and his cousin John Anderson, reached that goal at 4:15 a.m. local time May 22, used many of them. Pretty cool. Good. Amazing. A fantastic view.

But words dont quite do justice to the magnitude of the accomplishment. A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but after a moment they put the cameras down and just enjoyed the view.

Of course, they snapped pictures to prove they had summited the 29,029 feet mountain, but not of the moment of reaching the top of the world and not of the surreal experience of getting to watch the sun rise from Earths highest peak.

We did our summit photos, and then honestly, I put my camera away and just watched the sun come up, John Anderson said. It just kind of all came together. We persevered through, and with the good old Iowa work ethic, and we got up to the summit and watched the sunrise, and we got back down.

The journey

The significance of the journey and achieving their goal is plain as they describe the about 40 days on the mountain.

The journey getting there was important  but putting closure to that is also very important. Putting closure to that very difficult goal was good, Andy Anderson said. It felt good to be on top and have done what I set out to do.

Getting to the top was no small feat.
The deaths of two teen girls adopted by foster parents and the abuse of another prompted Iowa lawmakers to question Department of Human Services staff about oversight last week.

Natalie Finn, 16, of West Des Moines, died from cardiac arrest Oct. 25 after suffering from malnutrition. Police and medics found her wearing an adult diaper and lying on the floor of her bedroom in her own waste. Nicole Finn, 42, was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies. Her ex-husband, Joseph Finn, 46, faces three felony charges.

The 56-pound body of Sabrina Ray, 16, of Perry, was discovered May 12 in the basement of the home of her adoptive parents, Mindy and Marc Ray, who were vacationing at Disney World. She was allegedly drop-kicked down a staircase by her adoptive brother. The parents, brother, grandmother and a cousin face felony charges. Sabrina and two adopted sisters allegedly were denied food and water and abused.

After Malayia Knapp, 17, ran away from home in December 2015, Urbandale police found raised black-and-blue welts and open sores from beatings administered by an older brother at the behest of their mother. Mindy Knapp was later convicted of assault.

All three children faced food deprivation and beatings, were among multiple adopted foster children in families receiving state subsidies and were home schooled, ostensibly to avoid monitoring by educators.

These cases arent an indictment of the overwhelming majority of admirable foster and adoptive parents providing desperately needed safe environments for children, often under difficult circumstances, or dedicated home-school parents.

Rather, they raise concerns about DHS oversight with 800 fewer employees under former Gov. Terry Branstad and those scamming the system for subsidies.

Iowa was sixth in the nation in 2013 for highest share of children in foster care  4,500 or six of every 1,000. The number has fluctuated from a high of 6,781 in 2005 to 3,974 in 2014.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, state laws give judges considerable discretion to extricate children from dangerous environments, including where drugs are manufactured or found in a childs body as well as neglect and abuse.

The federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 encouraged more foster parents to adopt children into permanent homes rather than moving them around with subsidies similar to those received by foster parents.

For a family adopting an older child with special needs, Iowa subsidies are between $5,800 and $12,333 annually. Household income isnt considered. The state determines how many children a family can handle.

The Rays adopted four children from foster care, the Finns four prior to their divorce, and the Knapps six.

As the Des Moines Register reported, state workers can stop subsidies if foster or adoptive parents arent supporting the children. Foster kids are subject to monthly home visits and routine checkups, but children adopted out of state care  especially those independently home-schooled  are not monitored again.

Warning signs existed in these three cases.

Neighbors reported Natalie begging for food. Police and child protective workers visited the house in August, found ample food and believed she chose not to eat. Following her death, Joe Finn told police the kids ate and used the restroom at his home unsupervised, contrary to Nicoles rules, and went to the bathroom on the floor out of spite and defiance.

State inspectors visited the Rays day care annually. Two complaints were filed for inadequate nutrition and corporal punishment, but no evidence of abuse was found. Police did receive calls regarding medical and criminal mischief.

The Knapps  with three biological children and six adopted  were allowed to keep seven in their home by a judge following Mindy Knapps conviction.

Wendy Rickman, division administrator of adult children and family services, told legislators the DHS is not dysfunctional. Kids who reside in foster care today in the state of Iowa, 99.7 percent of the time, are free from any kind of (abuse).

Despite DHS assurances child abuse prevention services staffing is status quo and reductions were related to closing institutions, Andrea Vitzthum, a Polk County assistant county attorney working in the juvenile division, disagreed.

Vitzthum said DHS workers told her they regularly feel overburdened with insufficient resources. When we question what is going wrong at DHS, I think we all have to look in the mirror. This agency has been asked to do more with less for many years.

Indeed, 50,000 calls were made to the states Child Abuse Hotline last year  more than 7,200 from educators. At least 20 Iowa children were killed  with abuse suspected in 11 cases.

At the very least, the state should require regular inspections of homes and independent interviews with children when parents receive subsidies. Even if only a handful of unscrupulous people are involved, the ruse of adopting children for money must end in the wake of these fatal and abusive cases.
President Trumps recent trip could be considered a short-term success. Partially because of the sale of more than $110 billion worth of advanced weaponry and partly due to expected access to major Saudi construction upgrades planned through 2030. Trump did what some American companies are good at, which is to take deals that are good in the short term but could turn out to be disasters in the long term. These deals make shareholders feel good for the current quarter, and the deal-maker knows in a few years other managers will be responsible for the fall-out.

It is prudent to deal with a Muslim country like Saudi Arabia that considers itself a protectorate of the religion. But consider that freedom for women in Saudi Arabia is years behind their counterparts in Israel or even in Iran, another Muslim country. The Saudi Wahhabi version of Islam is extreme but also approaches the real practices of Islam 1,400 years ago; that is, to strive for a unified Islamic world under one caliphate following sharia law.

The Shiites, the Iraqi Yezidis, the Syrian Alawites, the Jews, the Christians  for that matter all others  are infidels. The weapons purchased from the U.S. are viewed by the kingdoms detractors as insurance money like that paid to mafia mob bosses. In order to counter the Iranian threat, the Saudis are siding with Israel, which is naturally for self-preservation. But, the same sectarianism used to counter the Shiite Iranians is also the source of energy for ISIS. Every generation of fanatical Wahhabis has considered the alliance with Israel and America as selling out. Some, like Saudi native Osama Bin Laden, rose up to directly challenge the kingdom. Others send significant support to ISIS and ISIS-like forces including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt who are against the kingdom. Those forces include thugs, terrorists and ideologues who are still reliving the crusades or are trying to emulate the early Islamic expansionist successes of the caliphates.

So the Saudis are allowed to do as they please and get weapons they use in Yemen because the Yemeni Shiites are fighting a proxy war. We try to help the Iraqis to take Mosul with the help of the Kurds and the Shiite Iraqis while donations from wealthy Saudi donors help ISIS blow up car bombs in the Iraqi capital to undermine the ruling Shiite majority. There are some who believe as long as there are people who wish to continue using religion as a war-fighting instrument to fight sectarian wars we should stay out of their way and let them thin the herd.

But we are not isolated from the events of the world. Actions that are against our long-term interests will require our children to deal with their consequences. The Saudis have a relatively small population of 33 million, but their money buys them influence in poorer Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Egypt by building mosques and religious schools. The Obama administration signed the nuclear agreement with Iran knowing Iranian people are demanding change. With Irans supreme leader in diminishing health, projections are a more cooperative Iran could emerge after his passing.

But any confrontation with the U.S. or by Saudi-supported proxies is sure to strengthen the religious extremists in Iran. A Sunni-Shiite fight could be a scenario in the short term that could result in the weakening of each side. But ISIS is also an ideological group that is as much anti-Shiite as anti-infidel. In Egypt they attacked Coptic Christians because they know their base supports such actions. In short, when our actions could facilitate continued violence, then we are inevitably faced with resulting direct or indirect fall outs in the future.
Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and brand-savvy, underpinning a fast growing market for luxury products, according to an Italian luxury material manufacturer.

"The Chinese consumer market is promising, not only because of its volume, but also that local consumers are very reactive, enthusiastic of new things and sensitive to brands and quality," said Andrea Boragno, CEO and chairman of Alcantara, which makes a leather substitute used in fashion and accessories, automotive interiors and consumer electronics.

The company opened its second international store in Shanghai in April following a concept store in Milan where the company's headquarter is based.

China is one of the two fastest growing markets for Alcantara and the second largest market following the European Union in terms of sales last year, according to Boragno.

In his eyes, Chinese designers have made strides in recent years by shifting from copying to developing their own identity based on their creativity and culture. The company is already working with Chinese designers to promote their brand.

The company will stick to "Made in Italy" to maintain exclusive quality while planning to work with Chinese brands in the future, he added.

Boragno attributed Alcantara's popularity in China to Chinese consumers' willingness to pay for exclusivity as well as the recognition of a green lifestyle.

The carbon-neutral-certified material producer has been managing to reduce and offset its greenhouse gas emissions to zero since 2009 through advanced and efficient production processes and participation in global sustainable initiatives.

Last year, Alcantara invested 22 million euros, of which more than seven million was devoted sustainability-related activities. It plans to invest 28 million euros this year, with over 25 percent of spending on health, safety and environmental activities, according to the company's annual report.

"Going green will not hurt profits in the long run. Instead, we strongly believe that the generation of value for stakeholders can become a driver to generate value for shareholders," Boragno said.

Alcantara organized an exhibition using sustainability as the theme in Italy this week to echo the G7 Environment Ministers Meeting, which includes works from Chinese calligrapher Qin Feng using the company's material.

Sustainability is a necessary factor that will help materialize the long-term objective of increasing the company's financial value, Boragno added.
The president

DAVID GIBSON

CEDAR FALLS -- Following the November election, in which Donald Trump won bigly, I told people what a total disaster we were in for. I got, "He will pivot." "He's all bluster and won't do what he says." "There are checks and balances." "Give him a chance." And, "Oh don't worry, everything will be fine." Autocrats do what they say.

Many in the Trump administration, including Jared Kushner, Ivanka's hubby, who has been running a de-facto State Department, former campaign operatives and the fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, are under investigation for possible collusion with Russia to throw the election. The emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution is violated daily.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are going beyond the scope of their jobs concerning legal citizens and immigrants. (Muhammad Ali's son was detained, twice, for no apparent reason.) Trump is using an unsecured phone and recently asked foreign leaders to call him on that phone, conversations that can be heard by people unknown. Multitudes of Ph.D. doctors have expressed concerns about Trump's mental health; some going as far as suggesting his frontal cortex is dying. Ad infintum.

7-0 council vote

BILL KAMMEYER

WATERLOO -- I had to have my wife pinch me Monday (June 5) when watching the Waterloo City Council meeting. I thought I was dreaming. I couldnt believe council members Ron Welper, Pat Morrissey, Jerome Amos and Tom Powers actually changed their votes and sided with Tom Lind, Bruce Jacobs and Steve Schmitt on the ordinance that would have required local businesses to install security cameras.

The 4-3 divide on the City Council is no secret, so watching all seven members suddenly vote together on a controversial issue was shocking. At least until I looked at my calendar. It appears three of the four who switched their votes happen to be up for re-election in November.

I certainly wasnt fooled by this sudden change of heart, and I dont think others were either. Its sad how much politics has infiltrated our local government. Our City Council is as partisan as Congress. I wish theyd work together on things and vote together more often and not just when its politically convenient. Council members may have changed their votes on this issue, but it will take a lot more for me to forget how high theyve made my taxes.

The left

DAVE SMITH

WATERLOO -- Why do an increasing number of Americans think homosexuality and transgenderism are OK? Why are an increasing number of Americans embracing a social/secular world view? One primary reason is public schools and most colleges have been controlled by the left for many generations. It is a mystery that so many people embrace leftist/socialist ideas because they always produce bad fruit where they are tried. They do not work.

It is not surprising in recent elections, the vast majority of people receiving food stamps, public housing, medicaid, disability, Obamacare subsidies and various welfare benefits voted for liberal Democrats, who promised to continue and/or expand such programs.

Ability to govern

GARY DUNEMAN

WAVERLY -- Periodically I read Donald Trump is not being given a chance to govern. At times this comes from those who did not vote for him.

From the time he announced his candidacy for the presidency I have seen nothing to indicate he has any ability to govern. Why should we trust anything he wants to do when: (1) His life has centered around what is best for Donald. (2) He is constantly lying or twisting facts and ideas. (3) He has spent his life cheating people. (4) He is surrounded by people of questionable character and motives. (5) He degrades those who disagree with him. (6) He is vindictive. (7) He is emotionally immature. (8) He is an extreme narcissist. (9) His level of knowledge and understanding of the issues presidents must understand is paper thin. (10) He only wants to win regardless of what happens in the process; his twisted mind defines winning in such a manner that he always wins. (11) He continually degrades others. Notice those negative traits he puts on others are traits he has. (12) He has no diplomatic skills. (13) His personality and character are contemptible. (14) He is extremely deceitful.

Free press

GARY DLASK

CEDAR FALLS -- I agree with much of what Erin Murphy said in his piece (May 30). An aggressive and unbridled press is one of the cornerstones of a strong democracy.

However, it should also be an unbiased press. Unfortunately, if you watch any of the cable news outlets, this is definitely not the case.

Health care bill

CECILIA NEWTON

WATERLOO -- The June 5 Washington Post Health 202 reported the following: "The key, according to Grassley, is allowing just enough time between the bill's roll out and bringing it to the floor so that senators are protected from charges they passed it too quickly -- without giving their colleagues time to read and digest it."

Really? That's the key? However, since Sen. Grassley has said he has no idea what his health insurance costs he probably is not too concerned about adequate and affordable coverage.
Q: What are the county laws for fireworks?

A: You can shoot off consumer fireworks in unincorporated Black Hawk County for the full period allowed by state law, June 1 through July 8 and from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3. But the law only allows you to use fireworks on property you own or where you have received express permission from the owner.

Q: We keep hearing children need to read during the summer. Are there any plans for the library to have mobile visits in different neighborhoods this summer for children who arent able to get to the library? If there is a plan, what is the schedule?

A: The library does not have plans for mobile visits. While staff agrees it is important to make reading accessible for all children, they currently do not have the funding to staff a mobile unit. The library continues to investigate whether that could be an added service in the future.

Q: Does the Waterloo school system have a policy against bullying?

A: Yes, Waterloo Community Schools does have a policy against bullying, said spokeswoman Tara Thomas. The anti-bullying/harassment policy for students and adults (103.1, 103.1-R) can be found on the districts website, waterlooschools.org. The district also has an anonymous way to report any bullying: call (319) 433-2081, text (319) 435-8187 or email stopbullying@waterlooschools.org.

Q: Regarding erosion barriers: At mile marker 07124, leaving Pfeiffer Park heading toward Hartman Reserve, is a major construction area and no erosion barriers. The rain brings the mud onto the bike trail. What is going on there?

A: Cedar Falls Community Development Director Stephanie Houk Sheetz said, The city of Cedar Falls is working with the contractor to re-install erosion control measures and topsoil and seed the site. Concerns with erosion at this site or elsewhere in the city of Cedar Falls can be directed to the Engineering Division at 268-5161.

Q: Why is the city of Cedar Falls using such small storm water drains on the second phase of University Avenue reconstruction?

A: Cedar Falls Community Development Director Stephanie Houk Sheetz replies: The storm water conveyance system for University Avenue was designed using standard practices for the size and frequency of intakes along the corridor. The intakes are designed to remove storm water from the road surface as efficiently as possible and get the water into the storm sewer system. Please contact the city of Cedar Falls Engineering Division with any specific areas of concern at 268-5161.

Q: Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. on PBS there used to be Iowa Press. Lately I cant seem to find it. Did they quit airing that show?

A: According to IPTV, the show is on hiatus and will return in September.
LA PORTE CITY - A rural La Porte City woman remained hospitalized Saturday following a stabbing incident at a home.

Black Hawk County sheriffs deputies said they were called about 12:45 a.m. Saturday to 11537 Barnes Ferry Road on a report of a stabbing. After arriving, deputies located Nancy Zeien, 46, inside the residence with multiple stab wounds to her body.

A male, Justice Zeien, 42, was also located on the property with a knife wound to his arm. Both subjects were transported to the hospital by ambulance for treatment of their injuries. Nancy Zeien had surgery and remains hospitalized.

Justice Zeien was treated and released. He was arrested and charged with willful injury, going armed with intent, assault domestic causing serious injury, and assault domestic while using a dangerous weapon. The incident remains under investigation.

Deputies were assisted on scene by La Porte City Police and Ambulance.

Courier file records show the couple married in 2013.

Fire destroys Plainfield barn

PLAINFIELD  A Thursday night fire destroyed a barn in rural Plainfield.

Firefighters with the Frederika Volunteer Fire Department and the Plainfield and Tripoli departments were called to 1705 110th St. around 7:10 p.m. Thursday and found the barn engulfed in flames. Crews kept the fire from spreading to nearby buildings and were on the scene for about three hours.

The property owners had evacuated livestock from the barn before firefighters arrived.

The Bremer County Sheriffs Office, Waverly Ambulance and Bremer County Emergency Management assisted.

Postal worker

dies in crash

MARSHALLTOWN  A postal service worker killed in a Friday morning crash in Marshalltown that involved a Waterloo driver.

Iowa State Patrol troopers said the accident happened around noon near the Marshall County Courthouse when a driver of a minivan was headed south on North Center Street.

The postal vehicle was westbound on East Church Street when it collided with a minivan in the intersection, causing the postal truck to roll over. The postal service worker died in the crash, officials said. She was identified as Amy Sanders, 34, of Grinnell.

The driver of the minivan has been identified as 60-year-old Debra Meister of Waterloo. The report states Meister entered the intersection with a red signal.
By The Associated Press Jun. 06, 2017 | 02:19 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Kentucky's Republican governor says the house he bought from a friend and political appointee is worth about half what the county tax office says.

Gov. Matt Bevin's lengthy tax appeal says his house and property are worth his purchase price of $1.6 million. Jefferson County established the value at nearly $3 million before the governor's purchase. If the governor bought the house for less than fair market value, it could raise ethics concerns.

The 8,000-square-foot home originally sat 19 acres of land, and Bevin bought just 10 acres.

His lawyer also told the Jefferson County Board of Assessment Appeals on Monday that the house needs a lot of structural work, and he noted that the city of Anchorage has lowered its valuation to $2.2 million.
Advertisement

By The Associated Press

Jun. 09, 2017 | FRANKFORT, KY

By The Associated Press Jun. 09, 2017 | 03:14 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Kentucky's Republican governor wants to opt out of a federal program credited with reducing pollution while jacking up gas prices in the traffic-clogged northern part of the state.



The move would let gas stations in the Cincinnati suburbs of northern Kentucky sell traditional gasoline instead of a reformulated version designed to reduce pollution. The reformulated gasoline costs more to produce, meaning gas prices in northern Kentucky can be as much as 20 cents higher per gallon than other parts of the state. The EPA would have to approve it.



Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Charles Snavely sent a letter to the EPA last month asking to be released from the program. Kentucky has been in the program since the mid-1990s, when it opted in under former Democratic Gov. Brereton Jones.
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A startup needs to test an idea quickly. For this, an MVP is created. MVP, Minimal Viable Product  a test version of a product or service with a minimum set of functions (up to one or two), which allows you to see the product's value for consumers and the market. MVP is created to test hypotheses and check the viability of the intended product: is it worth developing the project further, what changes should be made? The sooner a startup brings its MVP to market and tests the idea, the better. This article will look at how no-code technology can help founders achieve their business goals.

This article will try to cover everything that a founder needs to know about no-code at the initial stage of creating a startup.

What is no-code?

No-code, zero-code platform is a tool for creating websites, applications, chatbots, and other programs without the need for direct code writing by programmers. No-code is a valuable alternative to traditional development.

No-code is confused with low-code, but there is a difference in these terms. Low-code includes no-code and the ability to "finish code", add parts of code and the functionality.

A user of a no-code platform usually does not need to know layout, programming languages, or hire a team of programmers. The user of the no-code tool creates an application using a visual block constructor, which he fills with the necessary content and functions, and the no-code platform itself does the processing of requests, compiling the application and other "magic." It generates code using AI and/or contains blocks of code pre-written by programmers.

No-code allows the startup founder to create an MVP himself, entrust it to his employee with basic technical literacy and understanding of the project, or hire a no-code developer. Even in the case of hiring a no-code developer, the cost of creating an MVP will be significantly lower than with classical development with programmers. For example, you can read the interview of a startup and no-code developer on our website, who initially worked as a Product Manager and was able to master no-code for his project himself.

Benefits of no-code for a startup founder

There are the following key advantages for a startup founder in using no-code technology:

a large selection of no-code tools, platforms, and their integrations at the moment  already in 2022, there are many tools and platforms for creating an MVP, a larger project, or even a finished product on no-code, but few people still know about them, and others are far from all startups and founders use their potential;

cost  no-code development saves the money by speeding up the development process, not hiring professional programmers or no need to maintain a developer department, monitoring functions and quick bug fixes, avoiding or reducing the growth of technical debt;

speed is the main advantage over classical development  no-code allows you to build a simple application in a weekend, and a more complex one can be built in a month. In this way, you can test an MVP and even several versions of an MVP very quickly;

low entry threshold  to master a no-code platform, you often do not need technical education at all, but only an understanding of a company's business processes or product from the inside. In the case of pro-level no-code platforms, technical education is required, but you can get used to it hundreds of times faster than with any programming language. This makes no-code available to almost everyone who wants to work with technology;

ease of use  no need to write hundreds of code lines  just move the blocks and assign links between them. Work on a project can be entrusted to your employee without communicating with a team of third-party developers. You can speak "in your language" without the need to understand the "inner kitchen" of developers;

flexibility  with the help of no-code, it is easy for a startup founder to add new functionality and new features right during a project or a MVP testing without a significant increase in development costs.

Possible disadvantages of no-code for a startup founder

As often, any property can be, under certain conditions, both a disadvantage and an advantage. In no-code, many of the benefits with the wrong choice of tool can turn into disadvantages:

no-code is not always a budget solution for a project. Sometimes in a no-code development package, you get unnecessary functions and additions (on AppMaster.io you can separately connect the frontend and pay only for the backend or only for those functions that you are using); if you do not understand the needs of your project, then you can make a mistake with the choice of a no-code tool and not be able to implement the necessary functions on it, or it will be too difficult to implement them; often, no-code tools fail to ensure proper data security and contribute to data leakage (but AppMaster.io allows you to host a finished application on any server); no-code tools often do not provide the ability to upload source code or provide uploading in an inconvenient format, which makes it difficult to move to another tool or to your development. You have to choose a no-code tool "once and forever immediately" (AppMaster. io gives you the ability to download the source code. Also, we generate human-readable code and you will not have any difficulties with its transportation); most no-code tools on the market are not suitable for creating a finished product, and there are significant difficulties with scaling the project if the MVP is successful (AppMaster.io is a professional no-code platform and our capabilities allow us to implement and support the finished product and scale it in the future).

Forewarned is forearmed. Choose your no-code tool wisely and take full advantage of your choice.

Types of no-code platforms

Conventionally, all no-code tools can be divided into several types: no-code devices with a low entry threshold (you can create frontend and not very powerful backend on them), integrators that help connect applications and services, and professional no-code platforms (they strive to replace the code completely, provide the ability to create a robust backend and high bandwidth).

The basic principle of operation of your MVP and the choice of a no-code platform depend on such a conditional division into types. For example, if you make a simple application like a diary, you can limit yourself to a no-code tool with a low entry threshold and a beautiful design.

If your application has powerful potential, high bandwidth, multi-user interface, and works with large amounts of data or real-time data, it is better to choose a professional no-code platform like AppMaster.io or Direcual.

If you use several services at once, link them on integrators like Integromat and Zapier.

Adalo

An easy-to-learn designer with a relatively user-friendly interface. The free version is helpful for learning. The free version contains Adalo watermarks and does not allow you to upload your applications to GooglePlayMarket and AppStore. Beginners often choose this no-code platform to create their first applications with simple logic.

Bubble

It will take more time to learn Bubble , but the platform allows you to work with the backend, databases, business processes, and layout. There are many plugins. The free plan allows you to master the tool, and you can start developing at the middle rate. The price increase is due to the rise in the number of users.

Integromat

It is an integrator. Experts talk about it as a simple and affordable platform for linking applications and services. Scenarios can be created personally, or you can use templates. If you need to connect an application with a service not from the Integromat database, fill out the form and connect to its API via HTTP.

Zapier

This is an integrator for linking applications with each other or with other external services. You can transfer data between thousands of applications. There is a script constructor (one event starts a chain of necessary actions).

Directual

The no-code platform positions itself for creating MVP applications (Minimal Viable Product, minimum viable product) and full-fledged applications of finished products. Scenarios are the backbone of the platform. Using scripts, you can automate the backend logic of the application, create and combine workflows. The Directual catalog includes out-of-the-box connectors, HTTP requests, webhooks, database listeners, and integration with popular services.

AppMaster.io

No-code next-generation platform for creating native and web applications on a real backend. Visual drag-and-drop designer, user-friendly business process designer, one-click app publishing to AppMaster Cloud, or integration with any cloud platform. Push notifications, authorization using social networks. Networks, email, and more. Connect applications to hundreds of services or programmatically access them using APIs. The ability to upload source code and documentation in a human-readable format and transfer it to your servers. Documentation auto-generation. Modern and fast language GoLang at the core.

No-code perspectives for startups

No-code development is gradually gaining popularity around the world. There are already more than 500 no-code tools for creating websites and various types of applications.

According to the forecasts of IT world experts, no-code will develop more and more actively and capture parts of the market responsible for medicine, small online business, small business, and all niches where it is possibly necessary to optimize and automate development processes.

The mass shift of businesses and their customers online and to gadgets has increased the demand for the fast and inexpensive creation of mobile applications that would work according to a single quality standard and have a simple, understandable, user-friendly interface.

Conclusion

No-code is visual programming in the form of a constructor without directly writing code. Usually, basic knowledge in development is enough to build applications on no-code.

The logic of no-code constructors is intuitive: the application interface is assembled from blocks, icons, buttons, and text which are connected to the database. Usually, you can choose a suitable template or do everything from scratch. Speed and economy are the main advantages of no-code tools.

No-code is suitable for creating an MVP, testing an idea or new features in a product, saving time for solving standard tasks. PRO level no-code platforms can provide you with a finished product, an application.

If you don't have an account on AppMaster.io yet, join us. After registration, you will be given a free trial period for 14 days, in which all the basic functionality of the platform is available. It will allow you to learn the intricacies of working with a professional-level no-code platform and understand its potential.
MIAMI, FL, June 11, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The direct marketing and sales experts are committed to the development of their employees as they argue that as their staff learn, grow and develop, the company simultaneously moves forward. Mr Martin held a company-wide workshop, explicitly targeted towards career progression and the skills necessary for professional success.



About Florida Business Consulting: http://floridabusinessconsulting.net/about.html



1. Create a positive environment

Mr Martin believes that success is largely dependent on the environment a person creates. The entrepreneur and business owner argues that the right environment will help people to feel more engaged and enthusiastic. "Negative influences can be draining and cause people to lose motivation. A positive environment is a vital component for success," said Mr Martin.



2. Know your why

"Knowing your why is imperative to ensure you stay the course and achieve your goals," commented Mr Martin. During the workshop, he explained to the firm's employees that they needed to get clear on their 'why'. He encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to be clear on why they want to do something, as that will help them to succeed in the long term.



3. Listen to your gut

Eric Martin believes gut instinct is something that should never be dismissed. The entrepreneur believes that while business decisions should be made with the mind, most of the time people already know the right answer long before the logical mind does. "Important decisions should never be made based solely on emotions. However, it's important to give the emotions a say in the matter," commented Mr Martin.



4. Commit to your goals

Setting goals is easy, but achieving them takes tremendous commitment and dedication. At Florida Business Consulting they offer a motivating and inspiring working environment where they assist and encourage their employees to achieve their goals and reach their full potential. "Success isn't an overnight thing, it takes time and effort, and often the ability to bounce back. If you want to follow through on your goals, you have to go all in," said Mr Martin.



Florida Business Consulting specializes in bringing brands and consumers closer together through face-to-face marketing. Working on their clients' behalf, the firm conducts thorough market research to pinpoint the most promising markets for their clients' brands. CEO, Eric Martin frequently hosts motivational and educational workshops and seminars to help their employees expand their knowledge and skillset and accelerate their career progression.



SOURCE: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292572



Established in 2011, Florida Business Consulting is a privately held marketing and fundraising services company in Downtown Miami. For more information Follow the company on Twitter @FloridaBizC and 'Like' them on Facebook.



# # #
Davide Lerner in Haaretz:

Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a Manchester pop concert this week, started life advantageously enough: to parents who had fled Gadhafis Libya for a new life in Britain. But actually it was that kind of dislocation that would send him off kilter two decades later, says Olivier Roy, one of Frances top experts on Islamic terrorism.

An estimated 60 percent of those who espouse violent jihadism in Europe are second-generation Muslims who have lost their connection with their country of origin and have failed to integrate into Western societies, Roy says.

They are subject to a process of deculturation that leaves them ignorant of and detached from both the European society and the one of their origins. The result, Roy argues, is a dangerous identity vacuum in which violent extremism thrives.

More here.
While the pay could be better, benefits of teaching out of this world
Iran has sent four cargo planes of food to Qatar and plans to provide 100 tonnes of fruit and vegetable every day, Iranian officials said, amid concerns of shortages after Qatars biggest suppliers severed ties with the import-dependent country.

Qatar has been in talks with Iran and Turkey to secure food and water supplies after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut links, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar says the allegations are based on lies.

Following the sanctions  on Qatar, Iran Air has so far transported food and vegetables to this country by four flights, Shahrokh Noushabadi, the head of public relations at Irans national airline was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Saturday.

The head of the industries, business and trade organisation in the Fars province was also quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying on Sunday the first planes carrying food to Qatar had flown from the southern city of Shiraz.

Every day we will export 100 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to Qatar, Ali Hemmati said.

Qatar, a small peninsular nation of 2.5 million people, was importing 80 percent of its food requirements from bigger Gulf Arab neighbours before they cut ties with it.

Iran, long at odds with Saudi Arabia and a behind-the-scenes target of the move, has called for the sides to overcome their differences.
The southwest monsoon is making a steady advance into Maharashtra and West Bengal and the weatherman has predicted a good week ahead.

India Meteorological Department Director General K J Ramesh said monsoon is in an active phase and has reached Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar (in Maharashtra) and several parts of the Konkan region, apart from Bijapur district in north Karnataka.

There is also a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal and this will take the monsoon to several parts of West Bengal. The coming week will be very good for the advance of monsoon on the western side and east India, Ramesh said.

However, there will be no significant change in maximum temperatures over most part of the country during the next 24 hours and mercury is likely rise by 2-3 degrees Celcius over plains of northwest India thereafter.

The IMD last week upgraded its initial monsoon forecast from 96 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) to 98 per cent, which comes in the range of normal rainfall.

The monsoon reached Kerala on May 30, two days ahead of its normal schedule.

Favourable conditions are developing for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra. It is expected to advance to interior Karnataka and remaining parts of Rayalaseema, some parts of Telangana and some more parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, central and north Bay of Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya and some more parts of West Bengal and Sikkim during next 2-3 days, the IMD said.

It also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over Assam and Meghalaya, Konkan and Goa and Coastal Karnataka tomorrow and heavy rains over West Bengal and Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, central Maharashtra, Marathwada and Kerala.
Loans of small and marginal farmers worth Rs 30,000 crore will be written off by the government.

The Maharashtra government has finally bowed down to the demands of farmers and offered loan waiver to them. Farm loans of small and marginal farmers worth Rs 30,000 crore will be written off by the government.

It was moral victory for farmers who had gone on strike last week in support of their demands that included loan waiver, pension and free power. The government was facing immense pressure from opposition parties like Congress and NCP to waive farm loans. A delegation led by Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had met Sukanu Samiti a committee of farmers to discuss about the issues faced by them and finally loan waiver decision was taken by the government for providing relief to distressed farmers. The Samiti has deferred its plan to organise protest against the government till July 25. However, they have threatened to intensify their stir if the government fails to deliver its promise to revive agriculture sector. They have also called off rail roko agitation to be held by them on June 13.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, We are working to fulfil Mundes dream of serving the poor. We have announced the biggest-ever loan waiver to give relief to distressed farmers.

Around 1.07 crore farmers in the state with less than five acre land holding will be eligible for the waiver. The Fadnavis government will soon have a dialogue with the centre to discuss about the implementation of Swaminathan committee recommendations. Steps will also be taken to increase farm income and reduce dependence of farmers on government to bail them out of debt.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna leader Raju Shetti said, The government had initially announced that farm loans will be waived of on October 31. Instead we had demanded that they should take this decision with immediate effect as they agreed to our demands. Thus farmers will now be eligible to apply for fresh loans.

Raghunath Dada Patil a farmers representative said, The government has taken the right decision to waive farm loans without imposing any conditions. This is a historic step and small and marginal farmers will derive benefit out of it. Even though citizens had to undergo huge inconvenience due to farmers strike but a breakthrough has been achieved.

Few days back, a committee was formed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis under the leadership of Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil to oversee the hardships faced by farmers. Agricultural Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Minister for co-operation Subhash Deshmukh, State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Water Resources minister Girish Mahajan, State Transport Minister Divakar Raote are included in this committee. The government has also taken a decision to revise milk prices by June 20.

The loan waiver will push up states fiscal deficit to 2.71% (budgeted: 1.53%) in FY18 of gross state domestic product (GSDP).
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said that the Qatar issue might soon turn into a global problem if the tension in the gulf region increases.

A new problem area that may be created in Qatar would not be limited inside the region, Anadolu news agency quoted Binali Yildirim, as saying at a fast-breaking (iftar) dinner in Istanbul.

He added that the risk of this issue becoming a global problem was very high due to the geostrategic nature of the region. Yildirim called on the countries of the gulf region, who are in conflict with Qatar, to act responsibly and contribute to reducing the tension rather than increasing it.

Asserting that Turkey has made more efforts to ease the tension, Yildirim said that Ankara was negotiating with the world leaders and their diplomatic counterparts in the region to ease the current situation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also promised to continue supporting Qatar amid a diplomatic row engulfing that Gulf state.Erdogan said he had never witnessed Doha supporting terrorism, adding Turkey will continue to give all kinds of support to Qatar.

The Turkish leader has urged Saudi Arabia to reduce tensions and lift sanctions. However, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the U.A.E. in a collective statement has accused 59 individuals and 12 charity organisations in Qatar of being linked to terror.

It is wrong to add more troubles on top of everything in the term that the Muslim world is already struggling with a lot of problems, the Turkish President said.I am telling you: There won`t be any winners in the brother`s fight.
 Flash

Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, speaks at the BRICS Political Parties Forum held in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, June 11, 2017. [Photo/China.org.cn]

A Chinese minister appealed for cooperation and strategic communications during an address to a BRICS political parties' forum in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on Saturday.

In his keynote speech, Song Tao, minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said political parties of the BRICS countries should exhibit their advantages in dealing with domestic and foreign issues and perform well their political guiding role and influence.

It was the first time for representatives from political parties of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries to sit down and exchange views in a forum specifically designed by China, which will chair the Ninth BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Fujian Province, in September.

The political party represented the core of decision-making and the main source of policies in most of countries in the world, so its advocacy and decisions not only affected a country's policies, but also influenced a region's peace and prosperity, he said, urging in-depth communications among the governing parties of BRICS members and learning from one another.

"BRICS parties can have strategic communication in top level design for [our] cooperation, which will enhance mutual understanding and trust, and help the five countries to work together with the same faith and direction to push cooperation to a new level."

The minister hoped BRICS parties could look beyond self-interest and protectionism so as to guide people to see the real developmental trends of the world while designing and pushing forward BRICS cooperation at a higher place in a community of shared future for mankind.

He also believed the parties, as the representatives of billions of people, could boost and guide public opinions on BRICS cooperation and enhance peoples' communication through party-level dialogue. At the same time, political parties should carry forward cooperation in a pragmatic way and turn thoughts into actions with higher cooperative efficiency, which would drive governments, enterprises and social organizations to actively participate in promoting BRICS.

"President Xi Jinping once said about BRICS cooperation, 'Our efforts today relate to the welfare of three billion people in the BRICS countries and also relate to the prospect and future of the whole world and the entire human race,'" Song said, "As political parties, we should stand at the highest level, and mastermind and guide BRICS cooperation with vision based on our historic responsibilities. The Communist Party of China would love to make contribution to this aspect and expects to work with parties of other countries to better develop the BRICS family."

The BRICS Political Parties, Think-Tanks and Civil Society Organization Forum is being held from Saturday to Monday under the theme of "Pooling Wisdom and Strength for Common Development and A Brighter Future."

Representatives will discuss ways to cement cooperation, aiming to build consensus and boost stronger BRICS cooperation through in-depth exchanges, to offer proposals and create a sound environment for the 9th BRICS Summit.

The event has drawn over 400 participants from BRICS and other developing countries. It is hosted by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Rain likely, heavy at times early. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Rain likely, heavy at times early. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low 63F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Iraqi Assyrian Girl Freed From Islamic State Says 'Mum, Dad' Again

Iraqi Assyrian Christina Ezzo Abada, a former hostage of Islamic State militants for three years, is carried by her brother next to a wooden cross inside their cramped home at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. ( Reuters/Erik De Castro) (Reuters) -- A six-year old Iraqi Christian girl, kidnapped by Islamic State when she was three, was reunited with her family on Friday, and getting used to saying "mum" and "dad" once more. "The best day of my life is the day when Christina came back," said her mother, Aida Nuh, on Saturday. Dark circles around her eyes are evidence of sleepless nights since August 2014, when the militants snatched Christina from her, a few weeks after overrunning the town of Qaraqosh, 15 km (10 miles) southeast of Mosul. "She stayed three years with the terrorists. Of course she forgot who her mother is, who her father is, that we are her family, but she will learn again." Islamic State has kidnapped thousands of men, women and children from Iraq's minorities, mainly Yazidis. Christians who did not or could not escape in time were faced with an ultimatum - pay a tax for protection, convert to Islam, or die by the sword. Some, like Christina, were kidnapped. Christian families who remained in Qaraqosh were forcibly displaced on Aug. 22, 2014. The militants took away Christina from the minibus which had driven them to the edge of Islamic State territory, after threatening Aida, who desperately resisted. Iraqi Assyrian Christina Ezzo Abada, a former hostage of Islamic State militants for three years, sits next to her sister inside a cramped home at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. ( Reuters/Erik De Castro) The family's efforts to track her though Arab friends were rewarded on Friday, when they got a call telling them Christina had been found in Hayy al-Tanak, a poor neighborhood of Mosul. Eighth months into the U.S-backed offensive to take back Mosul, all of the city has fallen to Iraqi government forces except a pocket by the western bank of the Tigris river. Iraqi Assyrian Christina Ezzo Abada, a former hostage of Islamic State militants for three years, plays inside a cramped home at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. ( Reuters/Erik De Castro) We went to a dirty place in Hayy el-Tanak (..), we took the child," said Christina's blind father, Khader Touma, wearing dark glasses and surrounded by the family now complete with the return of his youngest daughter. Her two sisters and two brothers had escaped to Kurdish territory before the arrival of the militants. Iraqi Assyrian Christina Ezzo Abada, a former hostage of Islamic State militants for three years, and her other family members gather inside their cramped home at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. ( Reuters/Erik De Castro) "I'm with mum and dad," said Christina, playing with a plastic toy, in a mobile home for displaced people in Ankawa, a Christian suburb of the Kurdish capital Erbil, east of Mosul. The parents said they now hoped to emigrate, to put their ordeal behind them. In the meantime, they face a long wait in the cramped cabin, because their home in Qaraqosh was almost completely destroyed in the fighting to dislodge the militants. Iraqi Assyrian Christina Ezzo Abada, a former hostage of Islamic State militants for three years, is reflected on a mirror as she plays with her brother inside a cramped home at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. ( Reuters/Erik De Castro)

Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Andrew Bolton.
Health care, education for all will help keep us safe

Health care, education for all will help keep us safe

I had the pleasure of meeting U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, recently elected senator from Illinois, at a campaign event June 3 in Eau Claire. Sen. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a helicopter pilot, one of the few combat positions available to women at that time. She was severely injured when an RPG hit her Blackhawk helicopter, causing her to lose both of her legs and severely damaging her arm. Sen. Duckworth has also served in high positions in both the Illinois and United States Departments of Veteran Affairs. When she speaks about some of the challenges the military faces, she speaks with knowledge and authority.

Sen. Duckworth stated in her talk on Saturday, that for every 100 eligible recruits to the U. S. military, 71 percent end up being disqualified for these three reasons:

Having health conditions, such as asthma, obesity, etc. that have not been treated.

Not being able to pass the 6th-grade-level reading and math parts of the pre-enlistment testing.

Having a criminal record, usually for minor offenses, frequently drug related.

We seem, as a country, to be willing to constantly boost the budget on military and defense spending, but then cut and squeeze funding to the bare minimum for health care, education, and mental health and addiction services.

The mainstay of the military is the human beings who give their services every day to protect our freedoms and to help keep America strong. To keep our military strong, we need healthy, educated Americans who are willing and able to serve.

We need a strong health care system that covers all Americans from pre-birth onward. We need a quality education system where all Americans in all schools have equal opportunity to excel and achieve their highest good. We need more treatment program access for families with mental health and drug addiction issues so that the revolving door of mental illness and addiction stops for their children.

Quality health care, education, and mental health and addiction service availability for all Americans will help keep us safe and free! Thank you, Sen. Duckworth, for these insights. Thank you for your service in the past, and for your continuing service to the American people.

Rita R. Simon, M.D.

Chippewa Falls
June 9, 2017

CAIRO  Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed into law May 29 a controversial bill approved by parliament six months earlier that regulates the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The new law has been harshly criticized by human rights organizations, who argue that it cripples the work of NGOs, increases their administrative burdens and sets forth draconian punitive measures against the groups.

Observers say the law restricts the activity of NGOs to performing only those developmental activities needed by the Egyptian government and imposes draconian sanctions on any NGO that violates the government's provisions; the observers say this is tantamount to a breach of human rights.

The new law also prohibits NGOs from carrying out field activities, conducting opinion polls or cooperating with any international bodies without obtaining the required approvals from a newly established body. This body is the National Authority for the Regulation of Foreign Nongovernmental Organizations and includes representatives of Egypts top national security agencies such as the General Intelligence Service, the Administrative Control Authority, the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry.

The draft law was submitted by Abdel Hady Al-Kasby, the head of the parliamentary Social Solidarity Committee and parliament member for the Egypt Support Coalition, on Nov. 9 and signed by 204 parliament members.

The Egyptian parliament discussed the draft law in two sessions, on Nov. 14 and 16, without subjecting it to a real civil dialogue or to any review by NGOs. On Nov. 29, the law was approved by the parliament and submitted to the president for ratification.

Human rights activists and analysts told Al-Monitor the law includes severe administrative restrictions on NGOs and paralyzes their work, noting that the law's implementation would bring Egypt under international criticism.

Parliament member Mohammed Abu Hamed defended the law, saying that NGO concerns are misplaced and that laws only produce their legislative effect after their implementation. He told Al-Monitor, Egypts Cabinet will issue the implementing regulations of the law within two months at most.

Article 2 of this law requires all types of NGOs to regularize their situation in accordance with its provisions in terms of registration, the announcement of sources of funding and types of activities within one year of its entering into force.

The article indicated that any NGO that fails to do so shall be dissolved by a court order, its assets shall revert to the Social Fund for Development  a government fund for the support of NGOs  and all of its activity carried out in violation with the provisions of this article shall be suspended.

Lawyer and human rights activist Hafez Abu Saada, the director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, told Al-Monitor over the phone, It will be difficult for NGOs to regularize their situation since Article 8 of the law requires every NGO  even those operating in Egypt for years in accordance with the law and the constitution  to pay a registration fee up to 10,000 Egyptian pounds [around $553] and submit registration papers and documents. The new law is problematic.

He said the law was issued despite the objections of human rights groups and NGOs. He added, The law not only restricts the work of human rights organizations but also the work of charitable and development organizations in Egypt, which will be facing difficult situations. It imposes severe administrative restrictions on NGOs. It is very repressive and intimidates citizens to discourage them from participating in civil society and community work.

Saada said the draft law sets forth several exaggerated penalties on persons working in NGOs. Indeed, Article 87(a) specifies for an imprisonment sanction ranging between one to five years and a fine not less than 50,000 Egyptian pounds and not more than 1 million Egyptian pounds against anyone who establishes an NGO in violation of the law or cooperates with a foreign organization to practice civil society work without obtaining permits from the competent authorities. It also provides for the transfer of the assets of violating organizations to the Social Fund for Development.

Saada added, Most countries do not impose restrictions on NGOs in their legislation, contrary to what is happening in Egypt. The new law interferes in every detail of the day-to-day work of NGOs and requires them to obtain permission to conduct an activity from the National Authority for the Regulation of Foreign Nongovernmental Organizations.

In a statement May 30, Reda al-Danbouki, the director of the Womens Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, said, Under the new law, NGOs cannot accept monetary donations of more than 10,000 Egyptian pounds unless through the donors bank account. It also requires the concerned NGO to notify the competent administrative authority upon receipt of any donation to obtain its approval for collecting this donation. This would discourage small donors from contributing to civil society work.

However, Abu Hamed told Al-Monitor, We have set these procedures to control the situation. The law will not harm any civil society organization or association that operates under the new law and submits its documents to the competent authority. Those who will be affected by the sanctions imposed by this law are the NGOs that did not abide by any controls. A large number of NGOs have been working without being subject to any controls and are now worried about operating under the new law.

Abu Hamed added, This law mainly aims to protect national security and does not intend to shackle NGOs or prevent them from working, since it indicates that the state shall not interfere in the affairs of NGOs. It should, however, be mentioned that the law does not expressly mention that the state shall not interfere in the work of NGOs.

He continued, During the discussions of the law, parliament members sat together with a number of owners of NGOs to exchange points of view on its articles. They raised some observations; we took some of them into consideration and dismissed others.

While Abu Hamed asserted that the law guarantees the independence and promotes the work of NGOs, Waheed Abd al-Majid, deputy director of the Egypt-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The new law abolishes the vital role of civil society, and this would weaken all components of the state, noting that NGOs should have been allowed to review this law before its ratification so as to resolve all outstanding disagreements.

Foreign bodies also slammed the new law. In a May 31 statement, the European External Action Service said, The new NGO law in Egypt is bound to put an additional burden on NGOs' activities and restrict the space of debate and discussion in the country. It risks making civil society's contribution to political, economic and social development more difficult.

The statement added that some provisions of this law are likely to directly affect European cooperation assistance to Egypt, since a large part of our cooperation relies on NGOs as important implementing partners.

On June 1, Germany's Federal Government Human Rights Commissioner Barbel Kofler expressed her concern about the law in a statement, saying, It severely restricts rights and freedoms of civil society organizations.

Ahmad Abu Zayd, the spokesman for Egypts Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to these criticisms in a statement June 1, saying that legislators, while drafting the law, were keen on "modernizing the legislative framework governing the work of NGOs in line with the principles and provisions of the constitution.

He added, The law seeks to bring all NGOs  about 50,000 organizations  under one legal umbrella and sets specific controls for the financing of NGOS pursuant to the principles of transparency and the rule of law, without any intention to cripple their work.
June 11, 2017

The Egyptian government is putting the final touches on the demarcation of its maritime borders with Saudi Arabia to complete the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to the kingdom.

The parliaments legislative and constitutional committee is holding three meetings June 11-12 to discuss the agreement. In an unprecedented move in the history of parliamentary sessions, the parliamentary media committee did not send the weekly committee meeting agenda to media outlets and only sent out the schedule of general sessions. A member of parliament told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, This might be the first step to making the meetings covert and unannounced to the media. The secret nature of the meetings has not been confirmed yet, but the committee head has the right to [make their proceedings secret] anytime.

Another member of parliament who supports the agreement to transfer Tiran and Sanafir islands to Riyadh and is close to decision-making circles reinforced these concerns when he told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The Egyptian parliament wants to extend the second term of its session ending June 30, which violates the laws of the regulations organizing its work, in order to approve an agreement before the end of July.

The statements of the parliamentary source were in line with those of an Al-Monitor source in the Saudi Royal Court. The Saudi source said, "An Egyptian presidential official visited Saudi Arabia in May and asserted that, by the end of June, encumbrances presented by the political and public opposition will be removed and legal changes will take place to cede the ownership of the two islands to the kingdom. The Egyptian regime considers the issue settled.

The source added, The Egyptian presidential official told the Saudi side that the [Egyptian] government has finished preparing the file with all information and documents that will be used legally and publically to approve the agreement. The source also said Mofid Shehab, a teacher of international law and a former minister of parliamentary affairs who previously held the position of legal adviser to the Saudi Embassy in Egypt, supervised the work. The source said, The committee will resort to experts from the General Directorate of Military Survey as well as geography experts and former diplomats to complete the formal framework before the public opinion to pass the agreement.

The source underlined the statements of the Egyptian official about the arrangements of Egyptian, Saudi, Israeli and international security missions regarding Tiran Island, which have become final and which will not be amended. The source confirmed Al-Monitors previous statements that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry notified the US State Department in April that the Egyptian government will firmly proceed with the approval of the agreement.

The Egyptian government had officially signed the demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia in May 2016 to transfer ownership of the islands to the kingdom without referring the matter to parliament. Eight months later, a copy was sent to parliament. This sparked controversy about which party has precedence to act in disputes between the Egyptian government and those opposing the transfer, namely: Should the parliament or judiciary be given precedence in such cases? The issue reached the parliaments legislative committee after the judiciary failed to settle it. The dispute landed in the hands of the Supreme Constitutional Court to decide whether the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled in favor of the Egyptian ownership of the two islands, has precedence.

Article 151 of the Egyptian Constitution states that the President of the Republic represents the state in foreign relations and concludes treaties and ratifies them after the approval of the House of Representatives. They shall acquire the force of law upon promulgation in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. With regard to any treaty of peace and alliance and treaties related to the rights of sovereignty, voters must be called for a referendum, and these treaties are not to be ratified before the announcement of their [voters] approval in the referendum. In all cases, no treaty may be concluded that is contrary to the provisions of the constitution or that leads to concession of state territories.

A member of parliament told Al-Monitor, The Egyptian regime  has held several unannounced meetings with members of parliament of different political affiliations and opposing parliamentary blocs to ensure the agreement of the majority. One member of parliament attending the session revealed that a representative of the security sovereign parties said during the meeting that Saudi Arabia has the right to proprietorship of the two islands and Egypt was only occupying them and he presented documents he considered historical.

The legislator added, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will see to holding several meetings with some members of parliament from different blocs to show the agreement-related documents. Ismail asked about where it says Saudi Arabia has the right to the islands proprietorship in the documents that Shehab presented.

The Egyptian government went beyond the secret meetings. The Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center prepared a report, which Al-Monitor received a copy of, containing 39 questions and answers about the issue. The report says the islands are Saudi Arabian, but they were under Egyptian protection that should last no longer, adding, Egypt occupied the islands peacefully to protect them, but this does not mean they are under its sovereignty. The report presented documents showing proof of Saudis quest to regain the two islands over the years.

The report also sought to answer the questions of the parties opposing the transfer of the islands ownership, asking how Tiran and Sanafir can be Saudi Arabian when they house Egyptian governmental service centers such as a police and customs station. The report read, The station was part of Egypts governing of the islands, but it does not mean Egypt owns them or has sovereignty over them. The Egyptian government tried to deny the evidence that those opposing the agreement, mainly Egyptian soldiers, put forward, saying in the report, Not one drop of Egyptian blood was shed over these islands.

The parties that oppose ceding ownership of the islands to Saudi Arabia explained how they plan to win the parliamentary battle. A parliamentary source from the opposing bloc told Al-Monitor, We are arranging a campaign to collect public and parliamentary signatures of those rejecting the agreement. The signatures of the members of parliament will be registered before the notary public and submitted as an official document of rejection to the speaker of parliament, thus revealing the names of those approving of the agreement to public opinion.

Members of parliament from the so-called 25-30 bloc, a major leftist coalition, tried to transfer their membership from their current committees to the legislative committee to foil the agreement and tip the balance to the opposing side before the agreement is put to a general session vote. But the parliament speaker refused to this; opposition parliamentarians considered this to show an unacceptable bias on his part.

Meanwhile, Al-Wafd Party legislators submitted an official letter to Bahaa Abu Shoka, the president of the legislative and constitutional committee, along with international agreements, documents and related decisions and laws to confirm that the two islands are Egyptian and that the whole agreement is unconstitutional. In a media statement issued earlier this month, the 25-30 bloc demanded closing the issue forever in case the Supreme Constitutional Court rules in favor of the precedence of the Supreme Administrative Court.

Legislator Haitham al-Hariri, a member of the 25-30 bloc, told Al-Monitor, We will maintain our parliamentary and public mobilization to resist this agreement. He said Egypt owns Tiran and Sanafir and has fought for them, adding that putting the agreement to a public referendum  a possibility suggested by some  and outside the parliaments jurisdiction is catastrophic on the legal and constitutional levels, because arguing Article 151 of the constitution applies here [would lead to] an official acknowledgement that they are not under Egyptian sovereignty.

Abdelrahman Youssef contributed to this report.
June 8, 2017

Jason Greenblatt, the US presidential envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, has become quite an expert on the intricacies of inter-Arab relations. He has also become much familiar with the most minute details on the agenda of permanent status issues. For instance, he knows the demographic composition of each East Jerusalem neighborhood; he knows which settlement belongs to which settlement bloc for possible land swap; and he knows what kind of intelligence technology the United States could put at the disposal of Israel after an Israel Defense Forces withdrawal from territories in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

A senior PLO official who participated in the talks with the US envoy told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian negotiation team led by the secretary-general of the PLO, Saeb Erekat, is very impressed with Greenblatt's know-how, open mindset and apparent neutrality. According to the official, Greenblatt is assisted by diplomatic personnel from the US Consulate in Jerusalem and its embassy in Tel Aviv. The source noted that Greenblatt is very target oriented and is working diligently for the launch of a regionally backed Israeli-Palestinian peace process in September 2017.

The Palestinian leadership was very pleased with President Donald Trump's decision not to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and especially for the reason given: the need to aspire to a peace process. The PLO source said that President Mahmoud Abbas took credit for it and thanked President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan and King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia for their support. The source emphasized that after the Riyadh summit (during Trumps May 20 visit), coordination between the leaderships of the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia has strengthened; the four leaders aim to insert the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative into the Americans terms of reference for the opening conference of the negotiations. The deep rift between the United States and the European Unit on the Paris Climate Accords generated greater Palestinian focus on their dialogue with Washington.

The PLO official added that according to current Palestinian assessment, the administration staff will upgrade its activity through the next months in order to propose to Trump a set of founding principles as a basis for a regional conference to launch the negotiations. It is also possible that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit the region in the near future in this context.

The Palestinian negotiating team believes that, unlike President Barack Obama, Trump will stay away from detailed terms of reference that will predetermine permanent status issues. The official believes that Trumps guideline principles will be relatively vague, creating a symmetry between Israeli and Palestinian interests. Possible guidelines as the Palestinians have heard from their sources at the US Consulate in Jerusalem may include seven or more elements.

A first principle would be that of peace between the two parties that puts an end to the conflict. Another element would be the right of each side to determine its future and character, in the context of peaceful coexistence. A third principle would be stringent security and anti-terror arrangements, especially regarding Israels security and Palestinian demilitarization. The guidelines will also include a role for Jordan and the Arab League in security monitoring after a permanent agreement, backed by the United States; settlement building restraint by Israel during the negotiations; and normalization of relations by the Arab states with Israel in parallel to the negotiations. Finally, the guideline will determine that the negotiations need to deal with all permanent status issues, including Jerusalem and refugees.

A senior Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs official who participated in some of the Jerusalem meetings with Greenblatt downplayed this Palestinian version. According to him, Abbas is in dire need of a diplomatic achievement. The US administration is still far from making a decision on whether to publicly announce any American position. We have made clear to the American envoy that Israel will insist on two conditions upon which we are ready to start negotiations with Abbas. Stop all incitement to violence, and commit not to transfer funds to terrorists and their families. So far, Abbas has refused these basic demands. You cannot promote terror and negotiate at the same time, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs source noted that the Trump administration is interested in renewing the peace process and that there are differences of opinion between Israel and the United States on this point. Still, he argued that Trump understands well the domestic situation in Israel. He further explained that in any negotiations, Israel will demand recognition as a Jewish state, and that after reaching an agreement, Israel will be responsible for security in all of the West Bank.

And so, between these positions of the two sides it will be virtually impossible for the US administration to square the circle, yet one should not underestimate Trumps resolute. He is determined to defeat the Islamic State; in that respect, renewing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would serve him well. Trump is not pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. Trump is pro-Trump.
June 10, 2017

The recent visit to Moscow of Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince and defense minister of Saudi Arabia, didn't make many headlines. However, given the current developments in the Gulf with Qatar, the visit has acquired new significance.

Until recently, "America's hand" was seen behind virtually all events in the Middle East. Now that Moscow has raised its regional profile, Russia's hand" is seen here and there: No sooner had the Qatar crisis erupted June 5 than some suggested the prince had discussed with the Kremlin the Saudis decision to shun Qatar  which is very unlikely.

President Vladimir Putin gave his guest a hearty welcome when the prince arrived May 30. Their public statements struck a particularly friendly note, as is usually the case at the meetings of high-ranking officials. Putin praised their rapidly expanding ties, stressing that since early 2017, economic cooperation has increased by 130%, according to state-owned Tass news agency.

As he touched on political and military contacts, Putin reminded journalists that the two states are searching for ways to resolve complicated situations, particularly in Syria, and that energy agreements are very important for our countries.

Salman also stressed energy cooperation with Russia, saying, The main point is that we are building a solid foundation for stabilizing the oil market and energy prices and this is creating good opportunities for building our strategic future. He also described the current stage in the bilateral relations as one of the best.

Indeed, todays relationship contrasts sharply with the once virtually nonexistent economic ties, which were inhibited in the 1990s and 2000s. Both countries economies are driven largely by oil production and there wasnt much opportunity for collaboration at that time.

Also, Russian Muslims hold the Saudi royal house in high esteem. The renewed emphasis on religion in Russia makes the reverence particularly significant. It is noteworthy that authorities from Russia's Muslim-majority regions pay regular visits to Saudi Arabia and meet with the countrys top officials in a bid to grow their stature in Russias Muslim community.

Yet the resulting state-to-state interactions have been somewhat bizarre in recent years. The friendly relations are underpinned by numerous agreements, but few of those have been implemented. Both countries aim to build trust, which they deem absolutely necessary. Moscow and Riyadh have had different perspectives on the international landscape and until recently, they found themselves on opposite sides of most regional issues.

However, the situation has changed, as life is teaching the two countries to be clear eyed about current developments. While Russia and Saudi Arabia continue to maintain opposing views on the Syrian peace process and Irans regional role, they have managed to find some common ground. Moscow toned down its rhetoric about Yemen and Bahrain, and it promotes cordial relations with Saudi-allied Egypt and cooperation with the kingdom on the ruptured Libyan government. Finally, both Russia and Saudi Arabia have faced similar economic problems caused by the oil price plunge, which prepared the ground for their rapprochement and a potentially promising oil alliance.

Notwithstanding their contrasting approaches to regional matters, Russias military campaign in Syria won Riyadhs respect. Thus, the kingdom started to view Moscow in some ways as a potential alternative to Washington, which had proved unreliable under the administration of President Barack Obama.

In this context, the frequent encounters of the Saudi prince with Putin have special importance.

Even though Syria was officially the key item on the meetings agenda, no formal arrangements were finalized. What is more important, though, was the two sides refrained from rebuking each other.

Salman, according to some informed sources in Moscow who spoke with Al-Monitor, was supposed to spend far more time in Russias capital. Today, however, it is clear that the dramatic developments brewing in the Gulf regarding Qatar most likely led him to shorten his stay.

As the meeting failed to produce any serious deal, it allows for some speculation about the princes real agenda regarding Moscow. It seems quite evident that Salman intentionally arrived in Moscow soon after US President Donald Trumps trip to the Saudi kingdom May 20-21. Even the red carpet welcome the Saudis gave Trump couldnt close the credibility gap between them. Riyadh doesnt completely trust Washington. Given the uncertain future of Trumps presidency and his still-vague Middle Eastern strategy, putting all of the kingdoms eggs into one basket would be an ill-conceived step, to say the least.

Thats where Egypt comes into this speculative scenario.

Some experts in Moscow assume the Egyptian government needs Russias weapons but is unable to pay the bill. However, Riyadh, capable of backing Egypt, is becoming involved in establishing security zones in Syria, which could emerge as a way to constrain Irans ambitions for control in Syria. Yet Saudi Arabia, a militarily weak state mired in the Yemeni war, would rather entrust a reliable ally, presumably Egypt, with a peacekeeping role in the security zones. This would give Egypt a chance to strengthen its regional stature and bolster popular confidence in its government, which is grappling with severe economic problems.

This interpretation fits current developments in the Gulf.

Russia is on good terms with Qatar and Iran  Saudi Arabias sworn enemy. Qatars alleged ties to terrorism and Iran are the reasons it is being ostracized in the Gulf. Judging by statements from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow is not willing to interfere in the crisis engulfing Qatar  which suits Riyadh but that in no way means Russias support for Iran is waning. What this could mean is that Russia wants to see Saudi Arabia as a leading representative of Arab Gulf monarchies interests  in which case Russia must satisfy the Saudis legitimate interests in the region.
June 9, 2017

This years holy month of Ramadan is the worst in the history of eastern Ghouta in Rif Dimashq, with residents in this rebel-held area facing a severe humanitarian crisis. Food prices have increased significantly and some food items have become scarce because of the Syrian regime embargo as well as infighting between armed opposition groups in the area.

The regimes forces and loyal militias have taken control of the eastern neighborhoods of Ghouta, taking advantage of the factional fighting.

On March 21, the situation took a turn for the worse when regime forces closed the Wafideen crossing, the only pathway through which basic food items reach Ghouta. The regime forces also took over the tunnels connecting Ghouta to Damascus eastern neighborhoods, causing a severe humanitarian crisis in light of the suffocating siege on the people of Ghouta.

Abu Mahmoud al-Shagouri, a resident of eastern Ghouta, told Al-Monitor, The situation is getting worse with every passing day. It is our fourth Ramadan under a siege imposed by the regime forces.

He said, We cannot find anything in the market except for some vegetables that are no good for cooking; meat and legumes are very expensive and we cannot afford them. We have been living without work for a long time because of the war and siege. This is the worst Ramadan for us under these dire conditions.

The people of eastern Ghouta used to depend greatly on agriculture to cope with the siege imposed on them since Oct. 20, 2013. However, the regime forces took control of large areas of those arable lands after advancing in the eastern neighborhoods of Ghouta. This has worsened the humanitarian situation, placing further pressure on the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in eastern Ghouta.

Since the start of Ramadan, NGOs have stepped up their efforts to provide civilians with daily iftar meals (at sunset) for the nearly 400,000 people trapped inside Ghouta.

Activist Baraa al-Shami, who is also a resident of eastern Ghouta and works as a journalist for Aleppos Media Center, told Al-Monitor, There is a great burden on the NGOs working in eastern Ghouta during Ramadan, especially as the situation is going from bad to worse because of the regime and its loyalists tightening the siege.

Shami said, The NGOs are unable to provide daily meals to all the residents stuck in eastern Ghouta. The meals include only food for iftar, while nothing is left for suhoor [predawn meal] because of a lack of foodstuffs and the large number of people.

He added, Ghouta is divided into [three] sectors by the NGOs. Each day one sector only receives meals for iftar as they cannot be provided to everyone at the same time. People who are not given their meals on a specific day have to make do with the leftovers of the day before. We are talking about a siege here and there is no local or international organization that can bring in basic foodstuffs from the outside.

In light of these conditions and lack of suhoor meals, people have been cooking herbs for suhoor and iftar during Ramadan, especially since they are still able to grow herbs in certain areas in eastern Ghouta. However, these herbs are insufficient for the minimum daily nutrient intake, especially with fasting that lasts up to 16 hours this year in Syria.

Nevertheless, necessity knows no law, said Seif al-Din al-Shami, a resident of eastern Ghouta. He told Al-Monitor, Six years ago Ramadan feasts provided plenty of food, Ramadan sweets and drinks. With the outbreak of the war, Ramadan feasts became gradually less abundant. I have a family of five people. I receive an iftar meal from the NGOs every three days, and my wife cooks spinach or chard on the other days. Sometimes we have no bread. This is not enough during Ramadan, especially since we are fasting for long hours.

He noted, Every time we appeal to the international community, international humanitarian organizations and the Red Cross, our calls fall on deaf ears. We have become aware that the world does not care about what is happening to us. I don't understand how the worlds countries remain silent, while thousands of people are being starved only because they called for their freedom and for the change of a criminal regime. The world has sacrificed millions of Syrians to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.

The people of eastern Ghouta are living in the worst humanitarian conditions this Ramadan. Relief organizations are doing their utmost to provide aid for the people, yet this remains barely enough for the civilians inside Ghouta. Meanwhile, the international relief organizations have not tried to provide any assistance to the trapped civilians in eastern Ghouta since October 2013.
Hundreds of people flooded into Birmingham's Linn Park on Saturday to enjoy the explosion of color, energetic music and good times during the Magic City Caribbean Festival.

The sixth annual festival hosted by the Central Alabama Caribbean American Organization (CACAO) had 30 vendors that ranged from merchants selling African fabric to artists creating intricate henna tattoos. As performers masqueraded through the streets in their elaborate costumes decorated with vibrant feathers and sequins during a parade, UAB graduate Indya Woods realized she picked the perfect place to experience a culture different than her own. During her first experience of the event, Woods said she enjoyed watching people from different walks of life become entranced by the reggae beats.

"People coming out to events like this fights against negative stereotypes," Woods said. "You see different pieces of one culture. Not just a small portion of it. I would love to see it get bigger and spread across Birmingham."

CACAO Founder Pauline Ford said educating the community about the diversity of Caribbean culture was the focus of the festival. Ford, who is from Jamaica, said the Caribbean is a place where many different ethnicities, such as Indian, Chinese, European, mingled due to the need for labor starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The array of different cultures from all over the world influenced their food, music and other parts of life, Ford said.

In 2012, CACAO decided it was time to allow Birmingham to experience the diverse nature of their culture.

"We were coming together as Caribbean people, but we wanted to give something back to the city," Ford said.

Woods and her friend Victoria Trotter experienced the multiethnic culture during the festival. They heard it as they danced to sounds of steel drums. Trotter tasted it when she ate chicken curry, an Indian dish, for the first time.

"I thought it would be really spicy, but it was really good," Trotter said. "I definitely want to try some of the restaurants now."

The festival is just one of the ways CACAO says it contributes to the city. Donations, membership fees, and an annual dinner/dance event in December raises money for scholarships given to Caribbean students who decide to go to an Alabama college. Ford dreams that one day the festival will become a 3-day event that will include a fundraiser for the scholarship.

But on Saturday, she was happy at how much the event has grown. She still remembers the first festival, which only had two vendors and was held at Railroad Park during a cloudy and rainy day. Six years later, she was smiling at a diverse crowd of people dancing and laughing together. The sight was not only an example of the Jamaican national motto - Out of Many, One people - but it also created a message of unity.

"Without working together, you're fighting against a common goal and that goal is success," Ford said. "If we can do this along a common theme in Birmingham, just think about what's possible not only in this city, but in this state, and in this country."
Alabama is tied with New Hampshire for having the second-highest number of sites where the drinking water supply is contaminated with a certain type of toxic chemical, according to a new study.

Though the federal government does not regulate the appearance of highly fluorinated toxic chemicals known as PFCs or PFASs in drinking water, the chemicals are linked to a range of maladies including cancer and thyroid disease.

And they were found in the drinking supply at five sites in northern Alabama, according to the research study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Northeastern University, which was released Thursday.

"New Jersey has the most known contamination sites with six, followed by Alabama and New Hampshire with five each and New York with four," the EWG, a national advocacy group, wrote in a statement. "At many of the sites, contamination levels are extremely high."

David Andrews, senior scientist at the EWG, said the fact that Alabama ranks so high on the list is "is partially due to the presence of a large manufacturing facility in the state," a reference to the 3M Co manufacturing facility in Decatur, WBHM reported.

Contaminated water sites were also reported in Etowah County and Fort Payne, according to the study.

UPDATE - 1:32 p.m., June 13, 2017: But Paul Nail, executive director of the City of Fort Payne Water Works board, said that the city's drinking water has never been found to contain notable levels of PFCs or PFASs. He alleged that the report by the Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University was incorrect in stating that the city's water had contained such chemicals.

"It is not in our water. Both our sources are spring-fed and we've never had a hit of those chemicals," Nail explained.

Monica Amarelo, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Working group, emailed a statement in response to Nail's comments.

"The team double checked the data from the Environmental Protection Agency in its UCMR 3 database," Amarelo wrote. "EWG did report correctly the information in that database, which does list Fort Payne as the water system with the detection. However, there may be errors in government databases."

Bill Walker, EWG managing editor and co-editor of the report, issued the following statement:

"The Fort Payne Water Department has explained to us that the detection of PFCs reported in the EPA database was actually in the Northeast Alabama Water District, which has its offices in Fort Payne. EWG updated the information on the map to exclude mention of Fort Payne, and apologize for any confusion this caused."
Just days after testimony from former FBI chief James Comey, Jeff Sessions will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Sessions' testimony will center on the investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. presidential election.

The testimony will start at 1:30 p.m. CT and will be livestreamed on the committee's website and via PBS livestream. The hearing will be broadcast live on most major news channels, including C-SPAN3.

Here's what you need to know:

Who is Jeff Sessions?

Sessions, a former federal prosecutor and long-time Alabama Senator, was the first upper chamber lawmaker to endorse Donald Trump's presidential bid. His name was mentioned for several positions in the Trump administration, including Vice President and Secretary of State. He was eventually named Attorney General but only after a bruising confirmation hearing when he was repeatedly questioned about his links to Russia.

Sessions on Russia...first and second draft

During his confirmation hearings, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked Sessions about his contact with Russians during the presidential campaign. Sessions at first said he did not have contact with Russian officials but later said he did meet twice with Russian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak in his role as Senator, but denied discussing the campaign.

Sessions recuses himself

As controversy over Sessions role in the Russian investigation continued, the new Attorney General announced he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. His recusal reportedly angered Trump and caused a fallout between the two, with Sessions reportedly offering to resign. White House spokesperson Kellyanne Conway later said the president still had "confidence" in Sessions.

What Sessions said:

"Let me be clear: I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign, and the idea that I was part of a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries from the Russian government are totally false."

And then...

In a closed-door meeting last week with Senate intelligence committee members, Comey reportedly said Sessions had a third contact with Kislyak, though the exact nature of the event is unknown. The Justice Department remains adamant there was not a third private conversation with the Russian ambassador.

During his public testimony, Comey alluded to additional facts about Sessions.

Speaking in front of the Senate panel, Comey said there were "facts I can't discuss in an open setting" that made Sessions involvement in the Russian investigation "problematic."

What Sessions said Part II:

"The facts haven't changed; the then-senator did not have any private or side conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel," Sessions said through a Department of Justice spokeswoman.

One more thing on Sessions and Comey

Comey is the former director of the FBI - he was fired in early May in the middle of the agency's investigation into Russian ties to the campaign.

Trump's ouster of Comey came after Sessions wrote a letter to the presidential in report of his removal, arguing that a "fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI."

At the time, the Justice Department cited Comey's alleged mishandling of the investigation into the use of a personal email server by Trump's Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton during her tenure as Secretary of State.

What's happening this week

Sessions was scheduled to appear before the House and Senate appropriations subcommittee - chaired by his former fellow Alabama Senator Richard Shelby - but later said he accepted an invitation to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee as it was the "appropriate forum" to address the Comey allegations.

"The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," Sessions said in a letter to the Appropriations Committee.

The time of the testimony is not known and the committee has not announced whether the Attorney General will testify in an open or closed sessions.

Not everyone pleased...

Some Senators on the appropriations committee aren't happy with the change in Sessions plans.

In a series of tweets, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, criticized the decision.

Atty Gen. Sessions provided false testimony in response to questions from me and @SenFranken about his contacts with Russian officials. (1)  Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) June 10, 2017

(2) Now, twice in 2 mos., AG Sessions cancels an Approps hg in which I could Q him about his false testimony and half-hearted Russia recusal  Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) June 11, 2017
A 17-year-old recent graduate of Fairhope High School was shot dead near Demopolis early Saturday morning, shocking the tight-knit Fairhope community.

At 12:24 a.m. Saturday, the Demopolis Police Department received a call reporting a shooting in Gallion, a small community several miles east of Demopolis, according to a statement issued by the department.

When officers arrived on the scene they found the teen - whose name the police have not released but has been confirmed by family and friends as recent Fairhope High graduate Lauren Wright, according to WKRG - suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency responders took her to the emergency room at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in Demopolis, where she died Saturday morning.

Police arrested Demopolis resident Dalton Martin Jowers, 19, early Saturday and he has been charged with the murder of Wright, Chief Tommie Reese, the Demopolis director of public safety said in the police statement.

Wright worked at the Fairhope restaurant Pinzone's Italian Downtown, which plans to host a fundraiser and tribute event for Wright at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"Everything she touched turned to gold. There was nothing that baby couldn't do," Pinzone's owner Shelby Nelson told WKRG. "She was the most beautiful human being you could have ever met and she loved everybody all the time."

Wright, who reportedly wanted to attend culinary school, was in Demopolis visiting friends when she was killed, according to WKRG.

The Demopolis Police Department said Saturday that its criminal investigations division was still investigating the murder.
Asylum-seeking minors with relatives in other EU countries are entitled to be reunited with them, but it rarely happens.

Calais, France  As darkness starts to fall over the fields in Calais, 16-year-old Efrem is finishing his dinner and chatting with friends. Later on, he will attempt to jump onto a truck and smuggle himself into the UK.

Last October, French authorities instructed the police to clear and demolish Frances largest refugee camp, known as the Calais Jungle, transferring minors to reception centres across the country. But in the months that followed, many have made their way back.

The first ones started returning around December 21st, 22nd, says Michael McHugh, who works for the Refugee Youth Service in Calais. And thats when we knew we had a problem.

There are now an estimated 200 unaccompanied minors aged between 12 and 17 in Calais, living in the woods around the site of the demolished camp. They are fed a hot meal once a day by local charities in a nearby field.

Although the nights are cold and a few weeks ago it hailed, they sleep without tents to avoid detection by the French police  against whom there are mounting reports of excessive violence. A little under half say they have relatives in the UK. Of the three teenagers who died in the last 18 months trying to cross the border or waiting for transfer, all had immediate family members in Britain.

READ MORE: One day in Calais  The refugees hiding in the forest

A failing system for children

Asylum-seeking minors with family members in other European Union countries are in principle entitled to safe passage under the Dublin III Regulations, which underpin the EUs asylum system. But with little more than a handful of children transferred to the UK from Greece and Italy last year, charities say the system is failing.

Efrem, an Eritrean fleeing indefinite military conscription under his countrys dictatorship, says he has a 25-year-old brother in London. When officials took him to a centre with the promise that they would be reunited through official routes, he accepted. But after four months in the centre, he says, No papers, no passport  nothing.

So he returned to Calais, where he has been chancing his luck with the trucks every day for the past three months. He takes a last swig of water and then zips up his jacket. I try now, he mutters and heads towards the overpass on the far side of the field.

The EU registered 63,300 new unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arriving in 2016, according to Eurostat. This is about a one-third decline on 2015 numbers, but is still about five times higher than the annual averages for 2008-2013.

The majority enter the bloc via Italy and Greece and a number then make their way up towards Northern Europe, with most heading for Sweden, Germany and the UK.

You could reasonably expect the total number of arrivals with family members in other EU states to be in the low thousands, says Andrea Anzaldi, the Italy field manager for Safe Passage, a UK-based organisation set up in 2015 to respond to this issue.

But to his knowledge, only three or four children have been safely transferred from Italy in the past few years (Italys Dublin Unit hasnt responded to his requests for official data).

The first obstacle is a lack of information. Unaccompanied children arriving in the EU typically do not speak the local language and have very little knowledge of English, and translators are rarely provided. Their main sources of information are friends who have already travelled clandestinely through Europe, and advise them to evade immigration authorities so they do not get stuck in the south. Charities are trying to address this issue by informing the children about their legal options: Safe Passage is creating information videos in their own languages, and the Refugee Youth Service has crowdfunded a mobile office van in Calais, complete with Wi-Fi and extension cables and staffed by a French lawyer and social worker.

IN PICTURES: Flames, fear and football as Calais Jungle cleared

Knowing your rights

But even if the children are informed about their options, the people whose job it is to administer them often arent.

You have to think of a small village in the centre of Sicily, with 20 children, says Anzaldi. Social workers are not clear about the Dublin Regulations. They say; OK, someone at the Ministry of the Interior sent me this child. So what we do is, you have to eat, OK, eat. Tomorrow, you maybe go to school. They havent really focused on these issues.

The same applies with social workers in France, says Noemie Yepes, Safe Passages France field manager. More often than not, she says, They dont know anything about the family reunification system, but its not officially recognised that they need training in it.

These are the problems currently facing Hassan, who lives in West Yorkshire. Hes been trying for more than three months to reunite in the UK with his 12-year-old nephew Ali, who travelled alone from Afghanistan and is now in state protection in northern France.

Hassan says the boys French social workers initially said they would try to help reunite them, but later said it was impossible. Every time I talk to him hes crying, crying, says Hassan. Hes just a baby, hes 12 years old. Its very hard for him to stay without his family. I am his family, arent I?

Yepes says Alis social workers dont understand EU law and are dragging their heels carrying out their legal duties. After three months in state care, Ali still hasnt been registered with the French authorities as an asylum seeker, a pre-requisite for initiating the EU family reunification process.

Under current French and Italian law, registration of minors can only be performed by a state-appointed legal guardian  a procedure which should take a matter of days but can drag on for months, during which time children often abscond and sometimes fall into the hands of traffickers (although a newly passed Italian law is expected to significantly speed up the process in Italy).

Safe Passage is currently preparing to litigate against the responsible department in Alis case to force them to take action. Its crazy to think that you have children who are homeless, and its easier for us to get access to them, so they will be processed quicker, than one in child protection, Yepes says.

Getting clear instruction

Things are often no smoother at the UK end. A lack of published guidance on the Dublin Regulations in the UK means that caseworkers have no clear instructions on how to implement them, says Judith Dennis, a policy manager at the British Refugee Council.

Safe Passage is currently in the process of bringing legal action against the UK Home Office for alleged inconsistencies in its handling of the Calais camp clearance, in which 550 children were transferred to Britain under an accelerated version of the Dublin family reunion process, but a further 400 or so who claimed family links to the UK were left behind. Safe Passage says that the Home Office didnt provide adequate explanations for the refusals, and in some cases hadnt even contacted the family members in the UK to check whether they had a valid claim.





The charity also accuses the UK government of relying on private actors like Safe Passage to do the governments job of identifying eligible children, and of taking an unnecessarily long time to transfer children to the UK once their family link has been verified. Kids can wait for months until theyre actually transferred, with no reason for that happening, says Safe Passages UK spokesperson Charlotte Morris. According to past debates from the Home Office, the Dublin process is working well, and it is committed to its timely and efficient operation.

Morris says a system needs to be established on the frontiers of Europe that will allow all children with family members in other EU member states to be swiftly transferred. But with a rise in nationalist feeling across the bloc threatening the EUs continued existence, this seems unlikely to become a priority for member states in the near future.

As things stand, Hassan and Ali look set to remain in limbo for a while longer. Every day, when I speak to him, he repeats all the time the same thing: come on, please, quick, quick, quick, says Hassan. I say calm down, maybe one week or two weeks or three weeks more, and you will be with me, and he says OK.

But privately, Hassan isnt so confident. I just want to know, he asks, lowering his voice as he brings the conversation to a close, with this information  what do you think? Will it happen?

Efrem, Hassan, and Alis names have been changed to avoid prejudicing their cases.
Following recent statements by the Saudi foreign minister calling on Qatar to end its support of Hamas, social media users in the Arab world reacted in support of the Palestinian resistance movement and to counter the ministers statements which characterised Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

Adel al-Jubeirs remarks came as part of the rift between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain announced they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar for its support for terrorism, an allegation that Qatar has repeatedly denied.

The hashtag translating as Hamas is resistance, not terrorism (#___), took off on Thursday.

Figures showed that the tweet was most used in Palestine, and was one of the active tweets used in Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Qatar, Oman and Libya.

Thousands of social media users stressed that resistance is the right of the Palestinian people in order to obtain freedom from the Israeli occupation. They also said that speaking about Hamas as a terrorist movement is doing a service to Israel and echoes the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They also said Hamas position as a resistance movement is not a matter to be disputed in the Arab world.

Palestinian analyst, Sari Orabi, wrote on Facebook: We are not obliged to affirm that which is not being disputed; only the criminals and lowlifes disagree with us, and they know themselves.

Salim al-Menhali, a UAE-based professor of international relations, said:

It is normal that Hamas is resistance, not terrorism, for it does not attack anyone; it defends Palestine from the occupiers what is not normal is for Hamas to be attacked to please the enemy.

   #___            ..            (@fadehsa) June 10, 2017

Palestinian former prisoner, Mahmoud Merdawe, wrote on Twitter: The [Israeli] occupation is rejoicing over some of the official Arab positions that are describing Hamas as a terrorist movement.

https://twitter.com/mmerdawe/status/872471832997376000

Twitter user Adham Sharkawi, said: Hamas only fights Israel, and it only bombs Tel Aviv. Linking it with terrorism is a free service to Israel, and a dumb reiteration of Netanyahus words.

#___

    

    

    

    !    (@adhamsharkawi) June 8, 2017

Palestinian activist and blogger Ahmed Biqawi wrote: Every once in a while, the villains everywhere force you to reaffirm, reaffirm what is already known, and this is extremely sad.

                  .#___    (@Biqawi) June 8, 2017

The Saudi foreign ministers public statements came as a shock to many in the Arab world. Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum responded to the comments saying: 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.

Ayman Nour, an Egyptian politician, echoed the state of shock, tweeting: The Saudi FMs statements in Paris are proof of the state of confusion.

     

   

 #___  Ayman Nour (@AymanNour) June 8, 2017

On Facebook, one user said: To the house of Saud, terrorism is the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan before that. Terrorism is the creation of terrorist organisations in the first place, and it is opening your doors to Trump, who is against Islam 

(Translation: The terrorist is he who occupied the land, stole the holy sites, and oppressed the Palestinian people.)

https://twitter.com/NajiShukri/status/872519194620854279

(Translation: The most beautiful thing about the Palestinian people is that whenever they feel that their resistance is being targeted and that its steadfastness is being criminalised, and that its sacrifices are being scorned, they overlook their differences.)

Qatar, which hosts some of Hamas political leaders in Doha, responded to the Saudi demands, saying the presence of these leaders is coordinated with the United States and is aimed at facilitating Palestinian unity. Its part of our effort to mediate between the Palestinian factions to reach reconciliation, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Al Jazeera.

And, in an interview with Russia Today, the Qatari foreign minister said: The US views Hamas as a terror organisation. But to the rest of the Arab nations, it is a legitimate resistance movement. We do not support Hamas, we support the Palestinian people.

Hamas, founded in the Gaza Strip in 1987, defines itself as a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement, aiming to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project.
After Saudi Arabia and other GCC nations cut ties with Qatar, a series of surreal decisions were taken against it.

On June 5, GCC members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, announced their decision to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar and install an air, land and sea blockade.

The announcements were only the first of a number of measures that were taken over the following week, most of which were issued in by the three governments, and some targeted their own citizens.

Here are a few of the most prominent  and strangest  of these decrees.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis  All the latest updates

Breaking up families

The Saudi-led bloc issued orders of forced removals against their own nationals, as well as Qatari nationals.

Qatari residents of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain were given two weeks notice to leave and return to Qatar. Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini citizens residing in Qatar were told by their governments to return immediately or face serious consequences.

Thousands of individuals and families suffered under these orders, as the deep familial and interpersonal ties between GCC countries mean that there are a huge number of families where one spouse is Qatari and the other is a national of another GCC country.

These families were split up. Qatari mothers residing in Saudi, the UAE or Bahrain took the brunt of these decisions, since they were forced to leave their children, who only have their fathers citizenship, behind.





Criminalising sympathy

Sympathy for Qatar expressed by social media users across the GCC created a PR disaster for the countries who severed relations with their Gulf neighbour.

To stem the flow of negative reactions Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain took steps to curb their citizens from expressing opinions that opposed their policies.

The UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi announced that any objections to the UAEs strict measures against the government of Qatar or expression of sympathy with Qatar would be a crime punishable by a prison sentence of 3-15 years and a fine of no less than $136,000 (500,000AED), whether on a social media platform or via any written or spoken medium.

Shamsi added that the UAE had taken decisive action against Qatar as a result of its hostile and irresponsible policy against the UAE and a number of Gulf and Arab states. He noted that these infractions would be prosecuted in accordance with cybercrime laws because they were deemed to be harmful to the nations higher interests and social stability.

Shamsi stated that the general prosecutors office would be implementing the law on offenders who were guilty of what he called crimes. He stressed that this decision was taken to preserve the national security of the UAE and its higher interests and the interests of its people.

The criminalisation of sympathy with Qatar was implemented in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with slight differences in the length of prison sentences and size of fines.

The Bahraini Ministry of Interior stated any expression of sympathy with the government of Qatar or opposition to the measures taken by the government of Bahrain, whether through social media, Twitter or any other form of communication, is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine.

WATCH: Blockade on Qatar toying with peoples lives (24:39)

Banning Al Jazeera and blocking websites

Hotel residents in Saudi Arabia can no longer watch Al Jazeera channels, after the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage warned against airing Al Jazeera inside any hotel or tourist establishment.

The commission stressed that all channels belonging to the Al Jazeera Media Network are to be removed from the list of satellite stations in all hotel rooms and touristic facilities and furnished residential units  including the TV lists kept within, in order to avoid punishments that included fines up to $27,000 (100,000 Saudi riyals) and a cancellation of the hotels licence.

This general directive was sent to the owners and operators of tourist facilities, and it stressed that channels screened should be compatible with official Saudi channels.

In addition, the commission ruled that no individual receiver units be available inside rooms, each hotel to must have a central receiver programmed in accordance with official Saudi policy.









At the end of May 2017, Egypt blocked 21 websites, including Aljazeera.net, claiming that they had content supporting terrorism and extremism as well as publishing lies. A source at the official Middle East News Agency said that most prominent among those blocked sites were Aljazeera.net, al-Sharq, Masr al-Arabia, al-Shaab, HuffPost Arabi, Rassd, and Hamas Online.

Among the blocked sites was also Mada Masr, an Egyptian news site that works from within Egypt and describes itself as progressive and not linked to Islamists or to Qatar.

The Saudi-led bloc against Qatar followed suit and blocked websites from the Al Jazeera Media Network and the Qatari newspapers al-Watan, al-Raya, al-Arab, and al-Sharq.

Saudi internet users were greeted by the statement The requested site is in violation of the systems and directives of the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Users within the UAE attempting to access a number of sites, including Aljazeera.net, see a message from the telecommunications regulatory authority stating that the sites content is restricted and does not comply with the standards of the telecommunications authority.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis  Your questions answered

Closing postal services

On June 8, the Emirates Post Group, a government agency, announced that all postal services to Qatar would be halted in accordance with instructions from the government of the UAE.

The group further stated that all postal offices within the country had been informed to stop accepting any mail being sent to Qatar.

Charity organisations

On June 8, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt issued a joint press release in which they designated a number of individuals and organisations of differing nationalities as terrorist.

The list included 59 individuals, including Yusef al-Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, as well as 12 bodies including Qatar Charity and Eid Charity.

The UN responded to this statement by reiterating that they are bound only by the terrorist designations issued by its own agencies, not those issued by any other party.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general of the UN, said that the UN has strong cooperation with Qatar Charity, including a number of joint projects being implemented in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

An official at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded said that accusing Qatar Charity of terrorism is not only a defamation of humanitarian charitable work, but also constituted a violation of international standards and rules.

He pointed out that the inclusion of a number of journalists on the list indicated that the purpose was to intimidate and to muzzle freedom of expression guaranteed by international accords.
Slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafis son has been released following nearly six-years of detention.

The most prominent son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been released from prison according to a statement released by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion in Libyas Zintan. The statement did not disclose his current location due to fears for his safety.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 44, was released on Saturday after he was captured and imprisoned by fighters from Zintan while attempting to flee the country to neighbouring Niger back in 2011 when opposition fighters seized Tripoli.

His release comes as part of a general pardon issued by the government in the city of Tobruk backed by renegade General Khalifa Haftar, one of two rival administrations based in Libya.

The second of Muammar Gaddafis nine children, Saif al-Islam had been seen by many before the 2011 uprising as his fathers heir apparent and the second-most powerful man in Libya.

Saif al-Islam remained prominent throughout the violence that gripped Libya in the wake of the Arab Spring. There were numerous allegations against him of torture and extreme violence against opponents of his fathers rule. By February 2011, he was on a United Nations sanctions list and was banned from travelling.





In June 2011, he announced that his father was willing to hold elections and to step down if he did not win them. However, NATO rejected the offer and the bombardment of Libya continued.

As an internationally prominent negotiator and influencer, Saif al-Islam could claim a number of victories and prominent roles.

By the end of June 2011, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him, but he remained at large until after the death of his father Muammar and his brother Mutassim in Sirte, on October 20, 2011.

Following long negotiations with the ICC, which had been calling for his extradition, Libyan officials were granted authority to try Saif al-Islam in Libya for war crimes committed during the 2011 uprising.

At the time, Saif al-Islams defence lawyers feared that a trial in Libya would not be motivated by justice, but would be motivated by a desire for revenge. The UN had estimated that up to 15,000 people were killed in the conflict, while Libyas National Transitional Council placed the figure as high as 30,000.

In 2014, Saif al-Islam appeared via video link in the Tripoli courtroom where his trial was held, as he was incarcerated in Zintan at the time. In July 2015, the Tripoli court sentenced him to death in absentia.

READ MORE: Libya  The story of conflict explained

A Western-educated and well-spoken man, Saif al-Islam presented a progressive face to the oppressive Libyan regime and was extremely visible and active in the drive to repair Libyas relations with the West between the year 2000 and the start of the 2011 uprising.

He received a PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2008. His dissertation dealt with the role of civil society in reforming global governance and was prominent in his calls for political reform.

LSE was later condemned for having sought a relationship with the Libyan regime, namely for accepting Saif al-Islam as a student, who had signed an agreement for a $2.4m gift from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation on the day of his doctorate ceremony.

As an internationally prominent negotiator and influencer, Saif al-Islam could claim a number of victories and prominent roles. He played a pivotal role in the nuclear negotiations with Western powers including the United States and the UK.

Also in negotiating compensation for families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing, the Berlin nightclub attack, and the UTA Flight 772, which detonated over the Sahara desert.

WATCH: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi interview (22:15)

He also mediated the release of six medics  five of whom were Bulgarian  who were accused of infecting children with HIV in Libya in the late 1990s. The medics were imprisoned for eight years in 1999 and, upon their release, announced that they had been tortured while in detention.

He had a number of other proposals including Isratine, a proposal for a permanent resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through a secular one-state solution. He also hosted peace talks between the Philippines government and leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which resulted in a peace agreement that was signed in 2001.

Saif al-Islam is still wanted by the ICC on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ajmi al-Atiri, the commander of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, was set to release a video statement explaining the details of the release.
In a few days, Hamas will be marking the third anniversary of the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, which lasted more than 50 days, causing thousands of Palestinian deaths, and injuries on both sides.

As this memory is being marked, events are heating up in Gaza as human suffering increases and the siege continues. The siege is affecting many aspects of peoples lives including their standard of living, the economy, and concern over debates in Israel about whether or not Gaza will export its internal crisis outside its borders by launching a new war against Israel.

Regardless of the accuracy of this Israeli analysis, there have been a number of recent statements by Hamas officials referring to the unbearable conditions Palestinians are living under and the possibility of an imminent explosion. This opens up debate on the armed resistance against Israel declared by Hamas along a number of axes.

Motives behind the military option





More than 25 years have passed since the launch of the 1991 peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis at the Madrid Conference, and today Hamas does not feel that the Palestinians were able to preserve the meagre concessions and achievements that they secured there. They see the reason for this to be their lack of military strength on the ground, which would have prevented Israel from taking their lands and destroying their institutions and impeding their mission of liberation.

It is likely that alarm bells were ringing for Hamas leadership when the Israeli army constructed a separation wall in the West Bank in 2002 and reoccupied of most of the territories they had withdrawn from during the political negotiations. They were seeing most of the gains achieved by the Palestinian Authority fall and get trampled under the boots of Israeli soldiers who acted with impunity because there was no military deterrent to push them back.

READ MORE: Analysts: Qatar supports Gaza, not Hamas

The Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 was a golden opportunity for Hamas to rebuild itself militarily by arming itself, increasing its capabilities and redrawing its plans in the absence of an Israeli military presence in Gaza, even though there was a tight land, sea and air blockade imposed by Israel on the Strip.

Hamas' stockpiling of military power does not mean that it is necessarily heading for a fourth military confrontation with Israel. by

The withdrawal was followed by three fierce wars by Israel on Hamas in Gaza in 2008, 2012 and 2014. In spite of the human and monetary losses Hamas suffered, there was a marked improvement in its fighting from one war to the next and it was able to overcome many of its weaknesses in the field, learning from the lessons that each of these conflicts brought. This makes Hamas prepared to enter a new confrontation with Israel, whether it instigates it or has it forced upon it, in spite of statements to the contrary that it is not prepared for another fight because of the losses it sustained in previous wars.

Hamas armed future

Hamas does not hide the fact that the military confrontations with Israel have depleted its resources and have taken a heavy toll, causing the deaths of thousands of its fighters. In spite of that, Hamas is committed to the military option and continues to prepare for it, a fact that raises questions about the reason for this dedication especially in light of the fact that there are voices within Hamas urging a less costly path.

Hamas sees that the balance of power between it and Israel is tilted in favour of the latter and it may not be logical to compete with them in a purely operational sense. However, for Hamas, accepting this hypothesis as fact would encourage Israel to invade Gaza periodically and grab its lands with impunity at any time, as it does in the West Bank.

READ MORE: Gazans worried by Qatari crisis

That is why the movement is continuing to stockpile its military capabilities as far as its resources will allow, turning Gaza into a fortress that Israel would have difficulty breaching. Hamas has turned Gaza into its de facto centre of authority and does not want to be compelled to hand it to Israel because of an imbalance of power, so it is in a race against the clock to increase what capabilities it has.





This effort exerted by Hamas to build its military capabilities to face Israel has led it to the point where it now controls what can be termed a regular army. This army is based on the Qassam Brigades and comprises 27,000 troops, according to Israeli estimates. These are distributed among six regional divisions, 25 battalions, 106 companies, and 2500 fighters in an elite unit, approximately one-third of whom are trained and prepared to carry out operations inside Israel.

In order to build these capabilities, Hamas is spending generously on what it sees as its backbone, which will enable it to repel an Israeli attack and preserve its authority in Gaza. It fully expects to continue this effort in the coming days in spite of Israeli objections and its attempts to turn international opinion against the movement.

These attempts were made abundantly clear a few days ago when the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, visited one of the Gaza tunnels on the southern border of Israel and classified it as something that was constructed to kidnap and kill Israelis.

Cease-fires and calm

As it announced in its new charter in May this year, Hamas may not object to a new framework for its relations with Israel, such as negotiating a long-term ceasefire that could last a number of years or even become permanent.

Hamas fears that it will be pushed into a critical corner by Israel, where Israel will then be able to impose more and more conditions on Hamas until it becomes a paper tiger that is easy to pounce on. by

At the same time, Hamas has been expressing rising doubts about the real motive behind reaching a long-term (possibly multi-year) ceasefire with Israel in light of Israeli insistence that such a ceasefire should include stripping Hamas of its weapons and transforming Gaza into a demilitarised zone.

Hamas sees this condition as a stick in the wheel of any negotiations with Israel through regional or international mediators, because it sees its military capabilities as the last deterrent it has. We would not be revealing any deep secrets if we were to say that Hamas has in fact rejected offers sent to it via various parties sent by Israel. They came with offers to relieve the siege on Gaza or remove it entirely, on the condition that the movement stop its efforts to arm itself. These offers were rejected outright.

Hamas fears that it will be pushed into a critical corner by Israel, where Israel will then be able to impose more and more conditions on Hamas until it becomes a paper tiger that is easy to pounce on. This would be a nightmare scenario for Hamas who do not want to permit a repeat of what happened in the mid-1990s when their military capabilities were decimated by repeated strikes from the Palestinian Authority, which took control of the entirety of Palestinian military action. Hamas is determined that history will not repeat itself.

Finally, the past years have seen the arrival of a number of international, security, and UN envoys in Gaza to negotiate with Hamas over its weapons in return for integrating it into the political process, lifting the terrorist designation that was attached to it and resuming financial support to the Gaza Strip.

READ MORE: Gaza power crisis: We want to end this nightmare

However, Hamas did not even give these offers the chance to be discussed within its political and organisational structure. Perhaps this was because it was convinced that the offers were a trap it was afraid to fall into, so it insisted on its position in spite of what that cost it in terms of international isolation and regional siege.

Nonetheless, Hamas stockpiling of military power does not mean that it is necessarily heading for a fourth military confrontation with Israel. Rather it is working to reach a state of constant readiness in fear that Israel will strike it first in a surprise attack, and that is something the movement should be very wary of.

Perhaps Hamas has learned well, or should learn, that it is difficult for Israel to accept an armed entity on its borders, an entity that proclaims day and night that it intends to destroy it. This opens up the field to many speculations, from the outbreak of a fierce new war the likes of which has never been seen before, to a possible tightening of the siege on Gaza, spelling a slow painful death for its residents that Hamas would not be able to withstand for long, or the third option of a prolonged pause in hostilities, an option that lacks many of the circumstances it would need in order to succeed.

Dr Adnan Abu Amer is the head of the Political Science Department at the University of the Ummah in Gaza. He is a part-time researcher at a number of Palestinian and Arab research centres and he periodically writes for Al Jazeera, the New Arabic and the Monitor. He wrote more than twenty books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian resistance and Hamas.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Eight guards among the dead when armed men attack the central prison of Kangbayi in DR Congos restive east.

Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates have escaped after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in the Democratic Republic of Congos restive east, an official said.

The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm by assailants whose identity is not yet known, Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, told reporters on Sunday.

In the exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers, authorities have [counted] 11 dead, including eight members of the security forces, AFP news agency quoted Paluku as saying.

For the moment, out of 966 prisoners, there are only 30 left in the prison.

The Beni area and the neighbouring town of Butembo had been put under curfew from 6:30 pm, according to Paluku.

Only police officers and soldiers should be out from this time, he said.

READ MORE: 500 people killed in DR Congos Kasai in five months

Located in the north of the troubled North Kivu province, Beni has been the scene of a wave of violence since 2014 that has seen nearly 700 civilians killed, many of them hacked to death.

The government blames the killings on a rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Not much is known of the group, which appears to be dominated by Ugandan Muslims who were initially focused on overthrowing Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni.





Several dozen suspected ADF members were imprisoned at the Kangwayi jail.

The attack came a day after the ADF attacked a police station and a prosecutors office in the capital Kinshasa, killing a police officer and seriously injuring four others after a series of similar attacks over the past three weeks.

It also comes after two jailbreaks in Congo in the past month.

On May 19, dozens of prisoners escaped from a dilapidated prison in Kasangulu, about 40 km west of Kinshasa.

Just two days earlier, rebels from Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK)  a secessionist rebel group that rejects Kinshasas authority and wants to set up a parallel state in the west of the country  had attacked Kinshasas main prison, freeing their leader and 50 others.





The violence has erupted as Congo is mired in a deep political crisis tied to President Joseph Kabilas hold on power.

Tension has been mounting across the nation since December when Kabilas second and final term officially ended.

Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Years Eve, Kabila is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017.

However, Kabila earlier this month seemed to back away from the 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.
UK-bound flight from Slovenia makes emergency stop in Germany as passengers claim men on plane talked about terrorism.

A London-bound easyJet flight was diverted to Cologne on Saturday evening due to a suspicious conversation heard on board, with passengers evacuated on emergency slides and three men arrested, German police said.

The pilot of Flight EZY3246, which had taken off from Slovenias capital, Ljubljana, made a diversion to Cologne Bonn Airport after passengers reported that the men were talking about terrorist matters, a police statement said. The men were not identified.

Investigations continue regarding the suspicion of preparations for a serious violent crime that could have jeopardised the state, the statement said.

A backpack that belonged to the men was examined and destroyed in a controlled explosion by authorities but no dangerous contents were found, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

Police carried out security checks on the aircraft and questioned the Stansted-bound passengers after all 151 on board were evacuated safely from the Airbus 319 aircraft using emergency slides, the airport said in a statement on its website.

A spokesman at the airport told Al Jazeera that the passengers had been checked into hotels close to the terminal overnight.

Airspace disruption

Six aircraft were diverted to other airports as a result of the police investigation, the airport said.

It said air traffic was affected for several hours as a result of the incident.

No additional passengers were detained, the spokesman said.

Bild newspaper quoted a spokesman for the German federal police as saying the pilot decided to land the aircraft in Cologne after passengers told airline personnel they had heard the men using words including bomb and explosive.

The newspaper also reported that according to unnamed sources, the three suspects are British and work in London. They are not known to police and were on a business trip, the sources told Bild.

Several European countries are currently on high alert following a number of deadly attacks.

Amid this climate, several airlines in the United States and Europe have recently removed innocent passengers of Middle Eastern or Asian descent from planes on unfounded allegations by fellow passengers, leading to claims of racial discrimination.
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!
In raucous meeting, MPs discuss controversial government plan to hand over two strategic islands to Saudi Arabia.

An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Sunday began reviewing a disputed 2016 agreement to hand control over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, a move critics say ignores a final ruling by a high court to annul the pact.

The raucous meeting of the legislative and constitutional committee follows a January ruling by the High Administrative Court that upheld a lower court verdict, declaring the agreement unconstitutional and void.

Speaker Ali Abdel Aal, a staunch government supporter, struggled to keep order, with committee members arguing among themselves about whether reviewing the agreement was appropriate given the January court ruling.

There were also arguments on whether media representatives should be allowed to stay in the chamber while the discussions were ongoing.

READ MORE: Egypt court voids block on islands transfer to Saudis

Media representatives stayed but there was no live television broadcast from the meeting as earlier promised by MPs and it took nearly an hour before the meeting got under way. However, arguments and shouting matches among legislators continued amid chaotic scenes.

The Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypts highest tribunal, also has yet to rule on whether courts of law had jurisdiction to rule on the agreement.

Abdel Aal believes the legislature alone, which is packed with supporters of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has the right to rule on the agreement, a prerogative he said he would not let anyone take away.

I have nothing to do with the ruling of any court of law, he said.

These rulings are the concern of the judiciary and they amount to nil, said the speaker who, in his struggle to keep order in the meeting, threatened to throw out committee members opposed to the review claiming they were trying to derail the process.

Egypts government contends that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba belonged to Saudi Arabia, which placed them in Cairos custody in the 1950s for protection against possible Israeli attacks.

Critics say surrendering them amounts to treason and claim it was linked to Saudi financial aid, a charge denied by authorities.

The agreement was announced during a high-profile visit to Cairo in April 2016 by Saudi King Salman, during which the monarch announced a multibillion-dollar package of investments and soft loans to Egypt.

The governments decision to take the April 2016 agreement to parliament came at a time when relations between Cairo and Riyadh had just emerged from months of tension over differences in approach to regional flashpoints like Syria and Yemen.

Over the past two months, Sisi visited Saudi Arabia twice. Last week, the two regional heavyweights joined allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a coalition against Qatar, the tiny but energy-rich nation they accuse of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Iran.

The governments intention to have parliament ratify the agreement became apparent when state media embraced the official line on the islands.

READ MORE  Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

The official MENA news agency, for example, has posted on its website a video of historical maps purporting to show the islands to be Saudi, along with quotes from Sisi and experts in support of handing them over to the Saudis.

We dont sell our land to anyone and also we dont seize the land of others, Sisi said in the video.

The decision to cede control of the islands to the Saudis sparked street protests in April last year, the largest since Sisi took office via military coup in June 2014, and a parliamentary vote to ratify the deal is likely to lead to a fresh round of unrest and could set the legislative and judiciary on a collision course.

Critics of the agreement also contend that it violates the constitution, which bars the surrender of any territory.

We have martyrs who gave their lives in defence of that territory. If the Saudis think they are theirs, then why now? And whats the price? prominent novelist and lawmaker Youssef al-Qaeed said in comments published Sunday.

This is truly a calamity because no one, absolutely no one, has the right to surrender a grain of sand from Egypts barren desert, no matter what the justifications are.
Millions head to polls to choose National Assembly members, with President Macron hoping to cash in on recent victory.

Emmanuel Macrons victory in Mays presidential election was a political earthquake for France, and his one-year-old party is now eager to win a strong parliamentary majority to push through reforms.

More than 47 million people are eligible to vote in the first round of a parliamentary election on Sunday to choose members of the National Assembly, the countrys lower house of parliament.

Polls open at 8am (06:00 GMT). They will close, in the largest cities, at 8:00pm (18:00 GMT).

More than 50,000 police will be on patrol in a country still under a state of emergency following a wave of attacks that have killed more than 230 people since 2015.

Here are key facts to know as French voters head to the polls.

How do the parliamentary elections work?

There are 577 seats up for grabs, including 11 which represent more than 1.5 million French citizens living overseas.

Each constituency represents about 125,000 inhabitants.

INTERACTIVE: Frances footprint in the world

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round on Sunday, the two top-placed go into a second round on June 18  as well as any other candidate who won the votes of more than 12.5 percent of the local electorate.

A total of 7,882 candidates are standing nationwide in a process expected to see many fresh faces elected  not least because more than 200 outgoing members of parliament are not running for re-election.

The average candidates age is 48.5 years and more than 42 percent are women. In the outgoing parliament, women represented only 26.9 percent of deputies, or 155 out of 577, which was itself a record.

What is expected to happen?

Since 2002, voters have consistently given new presidents a legislative majority.

Macrons predecessors  Francois Hollande in 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 and Jacques Chirac in 2002  all won outright majorities. Unlike Macron, however, they all came from long-established parties.

Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said the likelihood of Macrons party winning a majority really depends a lot on people coming out to vote.

She added that many in France are simply suffering from election fatigue after a very long presidential campaign.

Macron is still heavily favoured to win a majority  a host of opinion polls show his party could take around 30 percent of the vote, putting it in pole position to secure an absolute majority in the second round a week later.

The centrist launched his En Marche! movement shortly before announcing he would run for president.

OPINION: Macron, Trump and the Middle East

Macron, a former banker and economy minister, favours the European Union, is a fierce defender of an open immigration system and, unlike several of his opponents, has avoided making pronouncements against Muslim dress codes.

Macron has been saying from the very moment he was elected as president that he needs this majority to implement the measures he promised during the election, Thomas Brisson, a Paris-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera. [Since last month] when the National Front was still expecting to make big gains in this election, they have had to downsize those expectations.

What if Macron fails to win an absolute majority?

The media-savvy Macron is hoping to use the momentum from his presidential victory over seriously weakened traditional right- and left-wing parties to build a large majority in parliament.

His party is running candidates in the legislative elections as La Republique En Marche! (Republic on the Move, REM).

READ MORE: What does Emmanuel Macron stand for?

With half of REMs candidates coming from civil society, he hopes notably to tackle reform of the traditionally thorny issue of labour law.

If he fails to win an absolute majority  289 out of 577 seats  it would complicate his job as president because he would have to build a coalition with right and left parties.

The far-right National Front of his defeated presidential rival Marine Le Pen and the radical left will both also be seeking to capitalise on the move away from established parties.

Whos in the running?

The Republicans: The party of ex-prime minister and scandal-wracked former presidential candidate Francois Fillon is hoping to take its revenge, even to impose a right-wing cohabitation on the centrist president. But with 50 of its MPs not standing again, it could lose more support to REM.

France Unbowed: The communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon scored 19.6 percent in the first round of the presidential ballot. His La France insoumise (France Unbowed) movement is putting up candidates in 500 constituencies, and hopes to win at least 15 seats in the National Assembly to form a parliamentary group.

READ MORE: French voters react to Emmanuel Macrons election win

National Front: Weakened after the poorer-than-expected score by Le Pen in the presidential run-off against Macron (33.9 percent), the National Front nonetheless wants to present itself as the main opposition after she secured 10.7 million votes in May.

The far-right party hopes to win at least in the 45 constituencies where Le Pen won more than 50 percent in the head-to-head on May 7.





But it could be an uphill battle, especially after her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen withdrew from political life, dealing the party a blow in its southern heartland.

The party looks set to struggle to win 15 seats nationally, a score that would represent another deep disappointment

But Le Pen remains defiant, telling the AFP news agency this week that with other parties likely to agree to work with Macron, we will be the only opposition force.

Socialist Party: The left-wing party that formed the previous government needs to avoid all-out collapse. After a historically low score in the first round of the presidential election  6.3 percent for candidate Benoit Hamon  the stakes could hardly be higher.

Part of its electorate has left for Macrons, others for Melenchons, party.

Some are already bracing for another bleak election night for a party which has long been one of the two mainstream forces in French politics. Veteran observers recall the debacle of 1993 which produced just 57 Socialist and allied deputies.
Flotilla will head to Oman before starting mission in international waters near Yemen, the countrys navy says.

Iran is sending two warships to Oman before they start their mission in international waters near the coast of Yemen, the countrys navy has said.

The Tasnim news agency reported that the two ships, an Alborz destroyer and a Bushehr logistics warship, will depart from the port city of Bandar Abbas on Sunday for an overseas mission to Oman and then on to international waters.

An Iranian naval flotilla will depart to Oman on Sunday and then will go to the north of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, the agency quoted the navy as saying.

The Gulf of Aden, which lies between the Horn of Africa and the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a strategic shipping lane which connects the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

READ MORE: Who benefits from a weak and divided Yemen?

The move comes amid a crisis in the Gulf after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off ties with Qatar for allegedly supporting extremism.

Qatar has vehemently denied the charges.

The Qatari government said it has been leading the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, including giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge the agendas of armed groups.

Our position on countering terrorism is stronger than many of the signatories of the joint statement  a fact that has been conveniently ignored by the authors, the government said.
Iraqs prime minister has rejected Saudi and UAE media claims that a $500m ransom was paid by Qatar to Shia Muslim armed groups in Iraq to secure the release of 26 kidnapped Qatari hunters, saying that the money was received by the government of Iraq and that the sum was still in the Iraqi central bank.

Yes we received [ransom] money and we got hold of the funds and right now we still have it deposited in the Iraqi central bank, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday in an address to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of mainly Shia Muslim armed groups that have some state backing.

It was never cashed out. I heard in various media outlets that the money was dispersed to one group or another but let me make it clear. This [ransom] money is still kept in our central bank, Abadi added in his remarks, which were broadcast on Iraqi state TV.

The revelation comes on the seventh day of a blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on Qatar, and after more countries, including Egypt, cut diplomatic ties with Doha for allegedly supporting terrorism  with the alleged ransom considered a last straw.

The Qatari government has repeatedly denied all allegations by its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, including the accusation that the money it paid to free the kidnapped Qataris in Iraq went directly to armed groups.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis: Who are the terrorists?

In April, the Iraqi government took what has been estimated to be $500m in ransom payments brought into the country by a Qatari delegation.

At the time, leaked comments attributed to al-Abadi suggested that the Iraqi government did not know about the intended payment and that the seizure of the money by Iraqi authorities had not been what Qatar intended.

However, on April 26, Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani disputed the Iraqi prime ministers comments, saying that Qatar was quite surprised by al-Abadis statements.

In the last 15 months, while [the Qatari hunters] were kidnapped, the Qatari authorities were always in touch with the Iraqi government and there were no positive developments except in the last few weeks  right before they were released, the foreign minister said at the time.

The Qatari government was coordinating every single detail with its Iraqi counterpart. We received numerous requests from the Iraqi government for funds during their mission to secure the release of the hostages, Al Thani added.

Let me make it clear: The ransom money was brought into Iraq with the approval of the Iraqi government and in the open. If the Iraqi government doesnt need these funds, the money will be returned to Qatar.

In spite of this disagreement over the intended recipient of the ransom money, the fact that the Iraqi government has held the money since April remained undisputed by both parties.

But a campaign by Saudi and UAE media to connect Qatar to terrorism in the wake of the GCC crisis has continued to repeat the claim that the ransom money in Iraq went directly to armed groups with ties to both al-Qaeda and Iran.

The Qatari hunters were abducted on December 16, 2015, and held for almost one year and a half.

It remains unclear who abducted them.
Defence minister says first half of 2017 has seen most illegal expansion since before Oslo peace process began.

Israel has so far this year advanced its highest number of settlement projects since 1992, the defence minister said, despite warnings such plans make a two-state solution impossible.

Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman made the comments on Sunday as Israels government faced mounting pressure from leaders of the settlement movement, who wield heavy influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing coalition.

Netanyahu has found himself seeking to balance the competing demands of the settlers and US President Donald Trump, who has asked him to hold back on such projects for now as he seeks a way to restart negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

Lieberman told journalists and ministers at the start of a cabinet meeting that, so far this year, plans had been advanced for 8,345 homes in the occupied West Bank, including 3,066 slated for immediate construction.

READ MORE: 50 years on: How Israel devoured the rest of Palestine

Settlement projects pass through a list of planning stages before final approval.

The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992, Lieberman said.

The figures were similar to those published by settlement watchdog Peace Now last week.

Counting plans and tenders, Peace Now said 7,721 units had been advanced this year, almost triple the number for all of 2016, which amounted to 2,699.

Peace Now could not immediately say whether it agreed that this years figures were the highest since 1992, AFP news agency reported.

Last week alone, Israel advanced plans for more than 3,000 settlement homes.

While the majority of those are for pre-existing homes, some will be built in the first new official settlement in some 25 years, Peace Now said.





Last month, Trump visited Israel and Palestine, meeting both Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas as he seeks what he calls the ultimate deal.

But he has given no details about how he plans to restart talks, and there is deep scepticism over whether such an effort would have any chance of success.

Settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to a solution as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state in a two-state settlement.

More than 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, alongside around 2.9 million Palestinians, which critics say makes a two-state agreement highly unlikely.
Prime Minister Netanyahu calls for total shut down of UNRWA, saying it is responsible for incitement against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for the dismantling of the UN agency that aids millions of Palestinian refugees, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement and saying he had conveyed his message to the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Netanyahu was pursuing a fantasy.

The United States, Israels main ally, was the biggest donor to UNRWA last year, pledging $368 million.





In public remarks to his cabinet at its weekly meeting, Netanyahu said UNRWA perpetuated, rather than solved, the Palestinian refugee problem and that it stoked anti-Israeli sentiment.

It is time UNRWA be dismantled and merged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Netanyahu said.

Referring to a meeting he held in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, Netanyahu said: I told her it was time the United Nations re-examine UNRWAs existence.

UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war that followed Israels creation.

It says it currently aids five million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.

READ MORE: 50 years on: How Israel occupied the rest of Palestine

Chris Gunness, UNRWAs chief spokesman, told Reuters news agency that only the General Assembly, by a majority vote, could change the agencys mandate.

In December 2016, UNRWAs mandate was extended for three years by the General Assembly by a large majority, he added.

Netanyahu made his comments two days after UNRWA said it had discovered part of a tunnel running under two of its schools in the Gaza Strips Maghazi refugee camp.

UNRWA said it had protested to Hamas, the group that rules the enclave and which had used a network of cross-border tunnels to launch attacks inside Israel in a 2014 war.

Hamas denied the accusations, calling them Israeli fabrications.

The Israeli claims regarding discovering alleged tunnels underneath the UNRWA school are classic Israeli lies aiming to dehumanise the Palestinian refugees, senior Hamas leader and spokesman Izzat al-Rishq told Al Jazeera.









This is not the first time the Israeli government tries to spread such lies in order to destroy the work of UNRWA in helping Palestinian refugees get their education.

Rishq said Netanyahus call to dismantle UNRWA was part of the Israeli plan to eliminate the Palestinian refugee problem once and for all.

UNRWAs Gunness said the agency had robustly intervened and protested to Hamas in Gaza.

He said UNRWA would seal the tunnel, which was discovered while the schools were empty during the summer holiday.

Over the years, Hamas has built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel in order to launch attacks.

Israel has besieged the Gaza Strip, home to nearly two million people, since Hamas wrested control of the territory from the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Since then, it has conducted three major assaults on the territory.

Additional reporting by Al Jazeeras Ali Younes. Follow him on Twitter: @Ali_reports
The new government will have to tackle unemployment running at 30 percent and improve relations with its neighbours.

Voters in Kosovo have begun casting their ballots in a snap parliamentary election overshadowed by concerns over the economy and tensions with neighbouring Serbia.

Sundays poll takes place a year early following the collapse of Prime Minister Isa Mustafas cabinet last month, which ended Kosovos first grand coalition.

About 1.9 million Kosovars, of which nearly half a million live abroad, are registered to vote in the third election since the country declared independence in 2008. Polling stations opened at 7am (05:00 GMT) and will close at 7pm (17:00 GMT).

Nineteen political parties, five coalitions and two citizens initiatives, all promising to secure growth, have nominated candidates for the 120-seat parliament.

RELATED: Kosovo PM Mustafa loses no-confidence vote

The new government will have to tackle unemployment running at 30 percent and improve relations with its neighbours, especially Serbia, a pre-condition for both countries to move forward in the European Union accession process.

Mustafas government lost a no-confidence vote in March, accused by the opposition of failing to meet its pledges to improve the lives of the youngest population in Europe.

Opinion polls put a coalition led by former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj as the frontrunner.

His small Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) party signed a pre-election deal with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the biggest in the country and in power since 2007.

A victory for Haradinaj, however, would probably complicate relations with Serbia, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes.

A coalition led by Mustafas Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the leftist opposition party Vetevendosje (VV) which wants to unite all Albanians in one state are vying for second place in the vote, according to opinion polls.

Economy in focus

In a calm election campaign, almost all the political parties promised to boost economic growth to up to eight percent a year and to raise public sector wages by up to 40 percent.

Kosovos economy has been growing steadily and is forecast to expand by around four percent in 2017 but the growth is mainly due to remittances from Kosovars living abroad.

The new government will also have to try to reach a border demarcation deal with Montenegro, which is the last condition for the EU to grant visa-free travel for Kosovars.

Neighbours Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have already secured visa-free travel with EU member states.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, nine years after NATO bombing drove out Serbian forces accused of killing and expelling Kosovo Albanian civilians during two years of clashes. Serbia still refuses to recognise its independence.
Kuwaiti FM says Qatar is ready to discuss the crisis with Arab states that have cut diplomatic ties with Doha.

Kuwait on Sunday said that Qatar is willing to hold a dialogue with the Gulf Arab countries that cut ties with it and was ready to listen to their concerns, in the latest twist of a major diplomatic rift.





Kuwait has led a mediation effort to defuse an escalating crisis after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, along with Egypt and a group of smaller countries, severed relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting terrorism  allegations Doha denies.

The three Gulf states also imposed a land, sea and air blockade, and ordered all Qataris out within 14 days, while calling their own citizens back.

[Kuwait] affirms the readiness of the brothers in Qatar to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers and to heed the noble endeavours to enhance security and stability, Kuwaits state-run KUNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah as saying on Sunday.

RELATED  Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

Kuwait stresses the inevitability of solving this disagreement within the Gulf framework, he added.

Al Jazeeras Ibrahim Mohamed, reporting from Kuwait City, said that the Kuwaiti foreign minister also stressed that his country will continue to mediate with the aim of mending fences and to address the root causes of the differences.

Suffering, heartbreak, fear

Qatar has condemned the boycott declared by its neighbours as collective punishment, as hundreds of mixed-citizenship couples with one Qatari spouse are facing the grim prospect of being split up.

Amnesty International also criticised the blockade being imposed on Qatar, saying it is splitting up families and destroying peoples livelihoods and education.

For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of this political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear, James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty Internationals Global Issues Programme, said in a statement.

READ MORE: The five most bizarre decisions in Gulf-Qatar crisis

In a sign that they may allow some Qataris to stay in their countries, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain issued statements urging mixed nationality families to call their respective interior ministries, which would take into consideration the humanitarian circumstances of their situation.





Affected families were urged to call hotlines set up by authorities in the three countries to get assistance, the statements added without giving details.

For its part, Qatar issued an overnight statement saying residents living in the country from the three nations would have complete freedom to stay despite the hostile and tendentious campaigns now targeting it.

The state of Qatar, in accordance to its firm beliefs and principles, works on avoiding political conflicts with states and governments when dealing with their people, is said.

Those residents have the complete freedom in staying in the state of Qatar in accordance with the laws and regulations adopted by the state.

The decision will come as a relief to the more than 11,000 people from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain living in Qatar.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has repeatedly said the blockade of his country is in violation of international law.

Such measures have never been exercised before enemy states, let alone a friendly and a sister state in the Gulf Cooperation Council, he said on a recent trip to Germany.
The new presidents party is expected to hold a majority in parliament, as many French voters abstain from the poll.

Frances prime minister has declared victory for President Emmanuel Macrons fledgeling party in the French parliamentary elections first round, as projected results show his centrist bloc on course for a massive majority to push through his pro-business reforms.

France is back, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Sunday, as he said that voters had sent a message without ambiguity in the first round elections for a parliament with a new face.

The latest results, if confirmed, are another blow to the countrys mainstream Socialist and conservative parties already reeling from Macrons election in May, which blew apart the left-right divide that has shaped French politics for the past century.

Pollsters said well over 30 percent of those who voted had picked Macrons centrist party in the first round, a result which they said could deliver him as much as three quarters of lower house seats when the second round results come in next week.

His one-year-old Republic on the Move, known as En Marche! (LREM), party fielded more than 400 candidates, bringing together seasoned veterans and political novices including a former bullfighter, fighter pilot and ex-armed police commander.

But the election was marked by low turnout, with just 41 percent of registered voters in France having cast ballots by late afternoon.

READ MORE: French parliamentary elections: All you need to know

The head of the leftist Socialist party, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, said that there would be no room for democratic debate in the parliament if Macrons party were to win the forecasted landslide in the second round.

Its a renewal of the political class, Reuters news agency quoted Jose Jeffrey, a health ministry administrator who voted LREM, as saying. Ive known people who have been MPs for 40 years.

At the close of voting, pollster Elabe projected Macrons Republic on the Move and its centre-right Modem ally would win 32.6 percent of the first round vote.





Trailing behind, the conservative Republican party and their allies were forecast securing 20.9 percent support.

The far-right National Front party secured 13.1 percent, and the Socialist Party and a grouping of left-wing parties only managed nine percent.

Elabe projected this would translate in the second round into a massive 415-445 seats for LREM-Modem, Reuters reported.

The Republicans would become the largest opposition force with 80-100 seats, Elabe projected.
Morocco, a close ally of the Gulf countries, says it will remain neutral and offers to facilitate dialogue.

Moroccos King Mohammed VI has offered to mediate a diplomatic row between Qatar and three Gulf Arab states that severed diplomatic relations with Doha and have since imposed a debilitating blockade on the country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Morocco said in a statement on Sunday that the kingdom was ready to play a constructive and neutral role in this crisis.

If the parties so wish, the Kingdom of Morocco is ready to offer its services to foster a frank and comprehensive dialogue on the basis of non-interference in internal affairs and the fight against religious extremism, the statement read.





Because of the strong personal ties of sincere fraternity and mutual consideration between King Mohammed VI  and His brother Kings and Emirs of the Gulf countries, the Kingdom of Morocco has been careful not to pay into public statements and hasty statements which only reinforce discord and deepen differences, the ministry said in the statement.

It added that the King had called on all parties to be wise in order to reduce tension, to overcome this crisis and to finally settle the causes that led to this, in accordance with the spirit which has always prevailed within the GCC.

The Kingdom favours a constructive neutrality, which cannot confine it to passive observation of a disturbing escalation between brotherly countries.

The dispute between Qatar and the Arab countries escalated after false remarks attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani were published on Qatars state-run news agency by hackers.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt severed relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting extremists and their regional rival Iran.

The Qatari government has dismissed the allegations as baseless and said that it has been leading the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, including giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge the agendas of armed groups.

Our position on countering terrorism is stronger than many of the signatories of the joint statement  a fact that has been conveniently ignored by the authors, the government said.
Voters choosing between independence, US statehood or maintaining territorial standing but some decry non-binding poll.

Puerto Ricans are heading to the polls to vote on the status of their Caribbean island in a non-binding referendum.

A former Spanish colony taken over by the United States at the end of the 19th century, Puerto Rico has enjoyed broad political autonomy since 1952 as a commonwealth or free associated state, but not sovereignty.

As American citizens, Puerto Ricans can freely enter the US and serve in the army.

But they do not have the right to vote for US presidents or elect representatives to congress, even though American politicians have the ultimate say over the territorys affairs.

Voters will have three choices on Sunday  independence, full US statehood or maintaining the territorial standing it has held since 1898.

The important thing is we allow the people of Puerto Rico to have a choice, Ricardo Rossello, Puerto Ricos young governor, told Al Jazeera.

The Spanish-speaking US territorys referendum proposes the immediate decolonisation of Puerto Rico, as the island is in crippling $70bn debt.

Rossello, 38, came to power in January on the promise that he would work to end a long colonial relationship and make the island the US 51st state, a move he believes would decrease debt.

The world has all but eradicated colonial territories, so it is a shameful status in my view. It is one that inhibits the growth of Puerto Rico so it shouldnt move forward, Rossello said.

Only congress, which has yet to approve or review the process, has the power to change the islands status.

A divided island

Puerto Rico has a complicated relationship with the US.

Sundays referendum the fifth such vote since 1967.

In previous polls, as low as six percent of voters chose the option of independence.

Several Puerto Ricans are boycotting the vote, denouncing the event which will have little impact as a circus.

It is invalid and no matter what ends up happening, the US government is not going to approve [the outcome]. It needs to be done a specific way and when it is done the correct way, I will vote, one man told Al Jazeera.

Many see the US authority as an intolerable stranglehold, especially considering that President Donald Trump has several times argued against bailing out the distant territory.

Anibal Acevedo Vila, a former governor of Puerto Rico, said he expected a low turnout.

I can assure you that not even half a million people are going to vote, he told Al Jazeera, adding that the low figure would send a message to congress that the process was invalid.

Debt crisis





Puerto Rico suffers from high social spending and poor infrastructure.

Many young people moving abroad for jobs.

Critics attribute the malaise plaguing the islands economy to Washingtons power over them.

For decades, the territory enjoyed a US federal tax exemption that attracted investment by American companies.

But in 2006, congress removed the tax incentive, prompting a pullout which ultimately led to a collapse of the territorys tax base.

Puerto Rico declared the largest ever bankruptcy filed by a local US government in early May after Rossello launched drastic austerity measures, but Washington still has the last word over the territorys finances.
Orchestrated campaign against Qatar to change independent foreign policy is not going to work, special envoy says.

A senior counterterrorism adviser to Qatars foreign minister has hit out at the diplomatic squeeze on Doha by several Gulf states, calling it a policy of domination and control.

Mutlaq al-Qahtani, a special envoy to Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the decision to sever ties by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt  as well as other allies  over Qatars alleged funding of armed groups would not prove successful.

We have our national committees on terror financing and counterterrorism, he told Al Jazeera. We also have our preventive action plan, but more importantly, we work very hard on tackling the root cause of terrorism.

When questioned about his country hosting the Taliban, Qahtani said that was absolutely a request by the US government.

We were facilitating the talks between the Americans, the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan, because this is our foreign policy: to facilitate talks, to mediate and to bring peace, he said.

Regarding the list of individuals and entities linked to Qatar over terrorism, Qahtani denounced it as misleading and not credible. Most of the names in the list are not in Doha, he added. They do not live in Doha and they have never been to Doha.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

The tiny gas-rich emirate is at the centre of the biggest diplomatic crisis to hit the Gulf in years.

Qatar has been isolated for the past week by Saudi and others over terrorism and because of its relatively relaxed approach to relations with Jeddahs great regional rival, Iran.





As a result, Qatars only land border has been closed, it has been stopped from using the airspace of neighbouring nations and its citizens have been told to leave the three Gulf Arab countries within two weeks.

Qahtanis remarks are some of the few comments to so far emerge from Doha during the crisis.

The most visible member of the government has been Sheikh Mohammed, who has said Qatar would not surrender to the political pressure.

Qahtani said diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute would continue.

We have more friends, more than other people might think, he said after Sheikh Mohammed visited Germany and Russia over the weekend.

So we are engaged and want to engage with more countries.

READ MORE: Iraq: Qatari ransom money with us, not armed groups

He was also dismissive of a terror blacklist published by the Gulf allies at the end of last week, which named various Qataris and Qatar-based organisations.

As many as 18 individuals were named, including members of the royal family and a former government minister. Also on the list were Doha-based chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and Qatari-funded charities.

Qahtani, though, said the list was little more than a public relations exercise.

Its quite unfortunate to use this kind of list, this kind of subject. Its very serious and extremely dangerous to use it in a PR campaign, in a PR game, he said.
Rights group to seek compensation from Saudi Arabia and allies for collective punishment and international crimes.

A Qatari rights group says it will take legal action against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain after receiving hundreds of complaints from citizens affected by a blockade imposed by the three Arab states on the country.





Qatars National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) on Saturday said it was working to hire an international law firm to address damages the blockade has caused citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The moves by the Gulf states against Qatar amount to a collective punishment and international crime, NHRC Chairman Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri said at a press conference.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and other Arab states on Monday cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism  an accusation Qatar rejected as baseless.

They also imposed a land, sea, and air blockade.

Qatari nationals were ordered to leave Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE within 14 days. Saudi, UAE and Bahraini citizens were also given the same timeframe to leave Qatar.

READ MORE: Five things to know about the Qatar-Gulf rift

Marri said the NHRC held a meeting with Qatar Lawyers Association and asked them to prepare the case files for the 700 complaints the committee received.

One case highlighted by Marri involved that of a man with Qatari citizenship who had been living in the UAE for 20 years.

When he was deported from the UAE and came to Qatar without any housing, without any work, without any income, it really is a human rights situation, he told reporters.

Marri added that the international law firm will sue and request damages from those countries at national courts.

Hundreds of mixed-citizenship Qatari couples are facing the grim prospect of being split from their families.





A number of these families have told Al Jazeera about the uncertainty and hardship they are facing due to the crisis.

Earlier this week, Wafa al-Wazeedi, a Qatari whose children have Bahraini citizenship, told Al Jazeera that her family is lost.

We may be separated from our children and return back to Bahrain for no reason, she said.

Wazeedis son added that he feels Qatar is more his home than Bahrain.

I have only been there four times in my life. If I am required to give up my Bahraini passport to live [in Qatar], I would be more than glad to do that. This country has given me more than my own country has given me, he said.

Separately, Amnesty International criticised the blockade being imposed on Qatar, saying it is splitting up families and destroying peoples livelihoods and education.

For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of this political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear, James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty Internationals Global Issues Programme, said in a statement.

READ MORE: Qatar group warns of human rights violations amid rift

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have all announced hotlines to help families with Qatari members, their official news agencies reported on Saturday and Sunday.

The three countries news agencies did not make clear what services the hotline would provide.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has repeatedly said the blockade of his country is in violation of international law.

Such measures have never been exercised before enemy states, let alone a friendly and a sister state in the Gulf Cooperation Council, he said on a recent trip to Germany.

Legal action to protect humanitarian work

Qatari organisations have also said they are prepared to take legal action against the Gulf states over a list published by Saudi Arabia and its allies on Thursday accusing 59 individuals and 12 groups with links to Qatar, including several high-profile charities, of being linked to terror.

Qatar has rejected the list, which includes charitable organisations, saying that it once again reinforces baseless allegation that hold no foundation in fact.

READ MORE  Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

Qatars Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities (RACA) condemned the accusations in a statement, adding it would take legal action to protect the humanitarian work charities in Qatar do.

On Friday, the United Nations humanitarian agency, said it is not bound by the terror list, adding it has over the years built strong partnerships with these organisations [listed] based on shared humanitarian principles, which are strictly non-political.

Qatar Charity, an accused organisation and Qatars largest NGO, has worked extensively with the UNHCR, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, Oxfam, CARE, and USAID.
Qatari FM envoy on counterterrorism says Qatar was facilitating talks between the US, Taliban and Afghans.

Qatar hosted the Taliban at the request of the government of the United States, the Qatari foreign ministers special envoy on counterterrorism told Al Jazeera.

Mutlaq Al Qahtani said the Gulf country hosted the Taliban by request of the US government and as part of Qatars open-door policy, to facilitate talks, to mediate and to bring peace.





He added that Qatar was facilitating the talks between the Americans, the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan.

There was no immediate comment from the US.

The Taliban opened its political office in Qatar in 2013.

Al Qahtanis statement comes after US President Donald Trump accused Qatar of historically funding terrorism at a very high level  an allegation Qatar denies.

The US president has not provided any evidence for his accusation.

On Friday, Trump called on Qatar and other countries in the region to do more [to combat terrorism]  and it faster.

The US president was weighing in on an ongoing diplomatic rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries.

READ MORE: What you need to know about the Qatar-Gulf rift

Saudi Arabia and its allies have cut ties with Qatar, alleging it is harbouring a multitude of terrorist and sectarian groups, a claim Qatari officials have repeatedly denied and called unjustified and having no basis in fact.

Tackling root causes of terrorism

In a statement on Friday, Qatar said it was leading the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, including giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge agendas of armed groups.

During his interview with Al Jazeera, Al Qahtani said: Domestically, we have enacted proper laws, we have our national committees on terror financing and counterterrorism. We also have our preventive action plan.

He added that the country focuses on preventive diplomacy, trying to solve conflict, using our good offices, trying to bring people and civilisations with different faiths to mutual understanding, coexistence and tolerance, while also paying a lot of emphasis on unemployment, because we believe unemployment is one of the causes of terrorism or one of the root causes of violent extremism that could lead to terrorism.
Rights group calls hotline set up by Saudi, UAE and Bahrain to help mixed-citizenship families a face-saving exercise.

Qatars National Human Rights Committee has dismissed a move by three Gulf Arab states, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, to assist mixed-citizenship families who face the prospect of being split up, as little more than a face-saving exercise.

The NHRC said in a statement on Sunday that a hotline set up by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to assist mixed Qatari families who faced the prospect of deportation and expulsion was too vague to have any practical impact and was void of a mechanism to be of assistance to those affected.





The directives provide no solution to the serious legal and human rights issues that have resulted from the arbitrary measures imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain on the State of Qatar, which are in violation of all humanitarian norms, charters and principles, and constitute international human rights crimes. The statement said.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which have cut ties with Qatar, announced via state media on Sunday the creation of hotlines to help families with Qatari members.

The statements carried by their official news agencies did not specify what services the hotline would provide.

On Monday, the three countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and shortly after ordered Qatari nationals to leave within 14 days.

Saudi, UAE and Bahraini citizens were also given the same timeframe to leave Qatar.

As a result, hundreds of mixed-citizenship Qatari couples are facing the grim prospect of being split from their families.

Qatari officials have repeatedly stated that the ultimatum issued by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain for Qatari citizens to leave was a violation of human rights that required UN intervention.

READ MORE: Saudi-led blockade on Qatar breaking up families

The siege of Qatar is not only a gross violation of the rights of Gulf citizens (both Qatari and non-Qatari), but also the rights of expat residents in the State of Qatar, the NHRC said in the statement.

The blockade of Qatar has trampled over a wide range of civil, economic social and cultural rights. The right to movement and residence, the right to private property, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to religious freedom, the right to work, the right to education, and the right to health have all been seriously damaged.

Families have been split apart, livelihoods are being lost, and the academic prospects of students are being destroyed.

Amnesty International has also slammed the decision accusing the Gulf states of toying with the lives of thousands of people in their dispute with Qatar.

For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of this political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear, James Lynch, the deputy director of Amnesty Internationals Global Issues Programme said.
Interior ministrys decision comes as Qatar insists it will not retaliate to Saudi-Emirati blockade with such measures.

Nationals of countries that cut diplomatic ties with Qatar this week are free to remain in the Gulf state in line with existing regulations, according to the interior ministry.

The statement on Sunday, carried by Qatars state news agency, said there was no change in policy towards the nationals of brotherly and friendly countries, which cut or reduced diplomatic relations following the malicious and hostile campaigns against Qatar.

Nearly a week after Saudi Arabia and several of its allies severed ties with Qatar in an unprecedented Gulf diplomatic crisis, there were no signs of the bitter dispute being resolved.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism.

Qatar strongly rejects the allegations and has said it is open to talks on ending the dispute, which also saw the three Gulf states order all Qatari citizens out of their countries within 14 days.

WATCH: Blockade on Qatar toying with peoples lives

The crisis has raised deep concerns about instability in the region and, on Sunday, Kuwaits foreign minister said his country would continue efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.

Qatar said late on Saturday it would not retaliate with such measures of its own.

The decision will come as a relief to the more than 11,000 people from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain living in Qatar.

Concerns have been raised about the impact of these measures on people who live in all the countries affected.

For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of this political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear, Amnesty International has said.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it was ordering suitable measures to help families with mixed citizenships, but provided few details.

Qatars National Human Rights Committee dismissed the Saudi initiative to assist the families facing the prospect of being split up through deportation and expulsion as a face-saving exercise.

The NHRC said a hotline set up by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to helped mixed families was too vague to have any practical impact and was void of a mechanism to be of assistance to those affected.








Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani affirms that Qatars support is for Palestinian people and not Hamas.

The Arab nations view Hamas as a legitimate resistance movement and not a terrorist organisation as viewed by the US, Qatars Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said.

In an interview with Russia Today during a visit he paid to Moscow on Saturday, the Qatari foreign minister rejected accusations that Qatar was supporting Hamas.





The US views Hamas as a terror organisation. But to the rest of the Arab nations, it is a legitimate resistance movement. We do not support Hamas, we support the Palestinian people, he said.

Hamas is the Palestinian group that has governed Gaza since 2007. The small strip of land, home to nearly two million Palestinians, has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for a decade.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Qatar must end its support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood before ties with other Gulf Arab states could be restored.

Jubeir added that Qatar was undermining the Palestinian Authority and Egypt in its support of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

We dont think this is good. Qatar has to stop these policies so that it can contribute to stability in the Middle East, he said.

Qatars foreign minister, however, added that the countrys stance was in line with other Gulf states.

Hamas presence in Qatar doesnt mean theres support for Hamas in Qatar, which cooperates with the Palestinian Authority. Hamas presence is a political representation of the Hamas movement.

Qatars foreign minister told Al Jazeera on Thursday that the presence of Hamas leaders in Qatars capital Doha was coordinated with the US and aimed at facilitating Palestinian unity.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis  All the latest updates

Hamas presence [in Doha] is coordinated with the US and the countries in the region, and its part of our effort to mediate between the Palestinian factions to reach reconciliation.

Hamas, meanwhile, said it was shocked by Saudi Arabias call on Qatar to stop supporting the group.

Jubeirs remarks constitute a shock for our Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nations, according to a Hamas statement released on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting extremists and Iran  charges Qatar calls baseless.
US Secretary of State and Russian FM offer to mediate between Gulf Arab states as blockade on Qatar enters seventh day.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have called for dialogue over the Qatar-GCC dispute, as a blockade imposed by three Gulf Arab states on the country entered its seventh day.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the two leaders spoke on the phone and discussed the consequences of the decision by a number of Arab countries to break diplomatic ties with Qatar.





On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, along with Egypt and a group of smaller countries, severed relations with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar has rejected the allegations as baseless.

Sergey Lavrov and Rex Tillerson pointed to the need of resolving disagreements through negotiations and expressed their willingness to contribute to such efforts, the ministry said in a statement.

It noted that the two top diplomats agreed to continue contacts on other international problems, including the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and the Ukrainian crisis.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Lavrov said Russia was ready to try to do everything in its power to help resolve the Gulf crisis.

We cannot be happy in a situation when the relations between our partners are worsening.

We are in favour of resolving any disagreements through dialogue.

READ MORE: Qatar-Gulf crisis: All the latest updates

The three Gulf states also imposed a land, sea and air blockade, and ordered all Qataris out within 14 days, while calling their own citizens back.

In its statement, the Qatari government said it has been leading the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, including giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge the agendas of armed groups.

Our position on countering terrorism is stronger than many of the signatories of the joint statement  a fact that has been conveniently ignored by the authors, the government said.
The son of Libyas former leader Muammar Gaddafi has been released from prison.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been freed under a new amnesty law.

His release was approved by one of Libyas administrations based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

A court in Tripoli had sentenced him to death in 2015 for war crimes and suppression of demonstrations during the 2011 uprising.

The son of Libyas former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam is also wanted by the International Criminal Court.

So what will this mean for Libya as it struggles with violence and competing governments?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Noha Aboueldahab  Visiting Fellow at Brookings Doha Center.

Fathi Fadhli  Professor at the University of Tripoli and Author.

Ibrahim Fraihat  Conflict Resolution Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
A blood feud keeps Beta and her sister trapped at home, hoping their fathers bid for asylum can provide an escape.

Three years ago Betas brother killed another boy in her village in northern Albania, triggering a blood vendetta against her family.

While her brother was sent to prison by the Albanian courts, the threat of revenge against the family remains due to widespread adherence to a 15th-century code known as the Kanun. This alternative justice system maintains that killing must be avenged in order to restore family honour.

After the incident, Betas father fled to London where he hopes to get asylum, leaving Beta and her sister confined to the family home for their own protection.

Beta is growing increasingly frustrated by her confinement, which has also prevented her from going to school. The only hope now is that her father will be granted asylum and she and her sister can escape their self-imposed prison sentence.

FILMMAKERS VIEW

By Simon Hipkins

I have a very distinct memory of something that happened during the research for this film which will stay with me for a long time to come. I was standing by Lake Shkodra in northern Albania, filming landscape shots in the evening light. Looking through the camera, I could see the image of a ruined house across the water reflected in the red light of the fading day.

I had just spent the last three weeks travelling through the surrounding towns and villages with my co-producer, Dominic. We had been searching for a family affected by Albanias infamous blood feuds and had met numerous families whose members were marked for death because their relatives had murdered someone.

The stories we had heard were disturbing: there were families who had lived in hiding for decades, teenagers who had never been to school, frustrated men who had turned to alcoholism, high levels of domestic violence and incidents of suicide. by Simon Hipkins, filmmaker

The stories we had heard were disturbing: there were families who had lived in hiding for decades, teenagers who had never been to school, frustrated men who had turned to alcoholism, high levels of domestic violence and incidents of suicide.

In nearly every case, the only hope seemed to be the possibility of escaping Albania. But what was even more disturbing was just how many of these families accepted their situation as part of their destiny.

And so it was written, were the words we heard time and time again. In a situation without hope or end, fatalism had become reassuring.I found this both upsetting and fascinating. As a storyteller, I was struggling to imagine how I could capture and explore such a complicated psychological state.

And then it happened: I looked up from the viewfinder of my camera and saw two children, a boy and a girl, sitting on their bikes beside me by the waters edge. They looked across at me, curious about the foreigner with the video camera. The girl turned to the boy, Why is he filming? The boy simply replied, Gjakmarrja, which literally translates to blood-taking.

I had to laugh  why else would a foreign documentary-maker come to Albania? But then it also occurred to me that for the children who grow up here, this tradition of blood feuds is a part of everyday life. In fact, its something Albania is known for.

That night, I realised I should make a film about children like these. If I could see the world through their eyes, I might have a chance to show how something so extraordinary can become ordinary.

Kanun as an alternative form of justice

The very next day, I met sisters Beta and Migena, their mother Rezarta, and grandmother Liza for the first time. I was immediately drawn to the strong dynamic between these three generations of women.

Their lives had been heavily shaped by Albanias difficult past: Liza had lived under oppression during the communist age and Rezarta had come of age amid the chaos of the post-communist era. Beta and Migena were part of Albanias next generation and  despite their confinement  had a growing awareness of life outside of Albania through access to television and the internet.

Later that evening, I spoke on the phone to Beta and Migenas father, Paulin, who was living in London. Paulin told me about his ongoing battle to try and get asylum for the family in the UK. He gave his blessing to the film, saying he hoped it would prevent other people from experiencing what his family was going through.

Since the fall of communism in 1991, life for most Albanian people has been extraordinarily hard. After a series of corrupt pyramid schemes collapsed in 1997, hundreds of thousands were left penniless.

In the unrest that followed, more than 650,000 weapons were looted from military stockpiles. Confidence in the state was lost, criminality soared, and people began to revert back to traditional tribal laws which had been suppressed under communism.

In the north of Albania, this meant the resurgence of the Kanun as an alternative form of justice. Blood feuds are perhaps the most dramatic example of this: in cases of murder, family honour must be upheld through the retaliatory killing of either the perpetrator or one of his male relatives.

With an abundance of weapons and crime in Albania, the modern interpretation of this was extremely violent and not always limited to male members of the family.

Betas family are a prime example of a family suffering the consequences of a modern day blood feud. All the male members of the family fled abroad after an attempted reprisal attack, leaving Beta, her sister, mother and grandmother alone.

Their home and surroundings are a beguiling place, beautiful but nevertheless a prison guarded by fear of what the other family might do.

Ignoring Albanias blood feud problem

Its hard to know just how many families like Betas live in isolation due to blood feuds in Albania. Local NGOs claim some 398 families continue to live in self-confinement (with over 12,100 people murdered in blood feuds since 1991), but the Albanian governments official data, limited to police records, shows much lower figures.

In 2015, the Albanian government stated there is no reason for any of its citizens to seek asylum abroad and declared Albania a safe country. A year later the European Commission included Albania as part of its proposed migration regulations which aims to create a common EU list of safe countries of origin.

If this legislation comes into effect, it will allow EU member states to fast-track processing rules for asylum seekers from these countries. This will make it a lot more difficult for Albanian citizens to claim asylum in EU countries.

The creation of such a list of safe countries has been criticised by human rights organisations for potentially institutionalising a practice by which EU member states could deny their responsibilities towards asylum seekers, in violation of their international obligations.

The Albanian government is currently pursuing membership of the European Union and the EU is spending 650 million euros on new infrastructure and development projects in the country. One of the criteria for EU membership is a transparent justice system and the rule of law. With this in mind, its easy to imagine why some might choose to ignore the phenomenon of blood feuds.

And while the denial of such a societal problem definitely doesnt make it go away, it can mean the stories of families like Betas become easily forgotten.

With the help of our translator Stela, we slowly got to know Betas family, who had had very little contact with the outside world for the past three years. It became clear that while Migena and her mother had lost much of their hope, Beta remained positive and somewhat naive about the familys situation.

Beta reminded me of the little girl I had seen by the lake. She had an incredible excitement and curiosity for life despite not having left her home for three years. So I decided I would try to make the film through her eyes  and learn as she did about the fate of her family.

Over the two months of filming, Beta never stopped surprising me. I could never have imagined finding such a remarkable individual, or a family whose story was so revealing.

The result, I hope, is not just a film about life in present-day Albania but a universal story about what can happen to a family after a killing and what price they must pay to keep hope alive.

I am grateful to Beta, Migena, Rezarta, Liza and Paulin for opening their lives to me as a filmmaker and allowing me to tell their story.
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If your head is swimming with the accounts of Russian Collusion with the Trump campaign, a cock and bull story confected by Hillary Clinton to explain her loss and to undermine the President, allow me to simplify it now that James Comey has testified and revealed with a load of bunk it is.

First of all, dont forget that as the head of the FBI, James Comey had the power to request the appointment of a Special Counsel anytime he felt it was warranted. In fact, despite countless leaks to the press that there was evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russia, he had informed the relevant Congressional leaders that the FBI had no such evidence after months of investigation, a concession which, unsurprisingly enough, was never, leaked. The four Democrat leaders of the Gang of 8, which oversees the operation and knew this themselves, kept promulgating the lie that there was some such evidence.

After he was fired, in an act of venomous revenge -- not atypical of the Swamp  Comey had a friend, a Columbia Law School professor, leak his version of a conversation with the president. In this version, Trump was trying to hide the collusion by cutting off an investigation.

Why did he not simply release the memo to the press in a less cowardly fashion? Because he clearly hoped it would not be traced to him, and the motive thus made clear. Moreover, he confessed that he wanted to force the appointment of a special counsel. This follows to a striking degree the path in the Plame case -- where the attorney general, John Ashcroft, recused himself, and Comey was made acting attorney general, whereupon he appointed his friend Patrick Fitzgerald. I trust that many readers already are familiar with the manner in which Fitzpatricks investigation into a leak by Cheney-hater Richard Armitage, which tied up the administration and resulted in a confected process crime against a Cheney aide, Lewis Libby. In case you want to refresh your recollection of those events, here is the article I wrote about it eleven years ago.

This time, another leak about an inconsequential meeting with the Russian Ambassador caused Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself. As a correspondent notes about that recusal:

James Comey justified in his statements that on February 14th he did not inform his recently confirmed boss Attorney General Jeff Sessions, of the content of the oval office meeting with President Trump  or his suddenly overwhelming feelings of impropriety, because he anticipated Jeff Sessions would be forced to recuse himself from anything to do with the Russian investigation.. There was nothing known on February 14th which would establish a need for Sessions recusal. Theres no reasonable basis for such an assumption on February 14th, unless it was Comeys intention to leak FISA-granted surveillance of Russian Ambassador Kislyak, having an innocuous meeting with Senator Jeff Sessions, to the Washington Post. A disingenuous, albeit politically framed, leak did factually surface on March 1st.

After Sessions recusal, the acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Comeys good friend Robert Mueller as special counsel:

Any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump and matters that arise or may arise directly from the investigation and other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. sec. 600.4 c [process crimes like destruction of evidence and perjury which occur during the investigation]

In sum, knowing that the underlying case was garbage, Comey forced the hand of the attorney general and then the acting attorney general to recuse themselves and let his good friend go after the administration -- tying it up with criminal investigations and hoping to find some process crimes (perjury, obstruction, destruction of evidence) to prosecute. In other words, hoping for another witch-hunt.

In fact, with a better understanding of the man heading the FBI, the President should have fired him immediately. As the Wall Street Journal warned in January:

If experience is a guide, Mr. Comey is the sort of man to be embraced with extreme political caution. Democrats cheered last summer when he invented a legal distinction between extreme carelessness and gross negligence to give Hillary Clinton a legal pass for mishandling classified information. Now they blame him for throwing the election to Mr. Trump for informing Congress, 11 days before the election, that he was reopening the investigation. Republicans have also been burned by Mr. Comey, not just over his Clinton gymnastics but also his efforts to undermine the Bush Administrations antiterror efforts during a prior stint as Deputy Attorney General. Now he will be responsible for current investigations into suspected links between the Russian government and some of Mr. Trumps close associates. We believe as much as anyone that FBI directors should be willing to go after criminality irrespective of politics. The trouble with Mr. Comey is that he is nothing if not political, especially when it comes to opportunities to burnish his personal reputation by going after the objects of liberal wrath. Ask Frank Quattrone, the investment banker wrongly targeted by Mr. Comey in the post-Enron prosecution frenzy; or Scooter Libby, victim of the Javert-like exertions of Mr. Comeys close friend Patrick Fitzgerald during the Plamegate hysteria.

At this point, Robert Mueller has several choices. With his appointment now revealed as a ruse designed by a vengeful partisan, he can resign, or he can wrap it up quickly -- after all, he now has all of Comeys files on the already months-long investigation, which has produced nothing.

Judicial Watchs Tom Fitton argues that the Comey leak to the New York Times through his cut out invalidates the Special Counsel appointment,

The appointment of Special Counsel was made under suspect circumstances. Comey's illicit actions turned it into a public corruption issue.  Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 9, 2017

Newt Gingrich argues much the same:

Comey Invalidates Special Counsel The most startling revelation from fired FBI Director James Comeys testimony this week was his barefaced admission that he intentionally leaked details of his private conversations with the President to the press in an effort to prompt the appointment a special counsel. When asked Thursday by Senator Susan Collins of Maine whether he shared the memos he wrote about his conversations with President Trump with anyone outside the Department of Justice, Comey answered: I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter  didnt do it myself for a variety of reasons  but I asked him to, because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. This statement is tremendously important because it completely delegitimizes Robert Muellers so-called independent investigation and reveals it as poisoned fruit.

Interestingly enough, Comeys testimony this week took place after he consulted with Mueller.

Collusion in any event is not a crime. The only evidence of "collusion with Russia" is that of Ted Kennedy, who in 1983 did try unsuccessfully to enlist the Russians to help him defeat Ronald Reagans re-election bid.

Should Mueller not quit or Rosenstein not end his appointment, anyone questioned by the special counsel or his staff ought to demand what crime is under investigation. No one should speak to any agent investigating this non-crime without counsel present and demanding that the interrogation be videotaped. The FBI refuses to allow such documentation, and as we know from the case of agent John Eckenrode in the Libby case, their notes are often in error or conveniently lost and the agent involved resigned so he cannot, as a practical matter, be cross examined about them because of the limited discovery options to defendants.

In other words, do not fall into gentleman G.W. Bushs trap of acting like this Mueller team is honorable or seeking to find the truth about a real crime. Chances are they are not.

At the same time that the Comey show was playing, we learned that the improbably named Reality Winner, a young linguist working for an NSA contractor, leaked classified information to which, as the holder of a top secret classification, she had access. This follows leaks by Manning and Snowden. Her online communications would suggest to any reasonable person that she was sympathetic to the enemy.

A diary found in her home indicated she planned to burn down the White House and run off to join the Taliban, among other things. We are giving the government more and more access to all our communications and these classified intercepts are being handled by partisans like Susan Rice to unmask and widely distribute, and to young, clearly disturbed, and poorly vetted people. Maybe its time to re-evaluate whether we really need to gather up all this stuff and put it in such hands.

Perhaps instead of chasing chimeras, Congress ought to consider whether the massive spying by the Obama Administration, in violation of established law, is a better use of its resources. Or the Obama Administrations systemic disbanding of those units investigating Irans terrorism networks because it feared that might interfere with the Iran deal.

Maybe Congress ought to consider whether dismantling intelligence that has a better chance of scotching terrorism is more significant than listening in on the private communications of the Democrats opponents by the many people in the national security apparatus whose patriotism and professionalism are, in the words of Glenn Reynolds, overestimated.
American Mosques: Warehouses of Jihad

They do it first by establishing mosques in every town and city. These meeting places are perfect warehouses of not only indoctrination, but future terrorists, who are made to read and understand the principles of jihad, martyrdom, and Dar-al-Harb ("land of war"  any place not Islamized).

Mosques cost money, and the money for these warehouses of hate is coming straight from Saudi Arabia. These mosques are being infused with an activist strain of Islam, Wahhabism. If you have to ask where the Saudis are getting their money, you are not paying attention...it's coming from you. According to "The Mosque in America: a National Portrait," a survey released in April 2001, there were at least 1,209 mosques in the U.S. Today, it's estimated that that number has quadrupled.

Mosque Leaders Promote Sharia

Mosque elders tend to be sent to the U.S. with one clear mission: make sharia law the supreme rule within the United States, using any and all tactics necessary. Next, from within the safety of their local mosques, they begin to use their revolting practices, riotous youth, and wild sermonizing to force genteel Americans to relocate to safer, less threatening neighborhoods and cities. Of course, not all Americans will move or can afford to do so. To take control of a town, Muslims will not need to evict everyone. They probably need about 25% in order to make life very unpleasant for those who do not go along with their demands.

Political Islamist Infiltration

They will elect Muslims to all positions of local influence, who will create and enforce policy according to the Quran. Once they have control over a town, they will begin to establish informal sharia, and there's nothing the government can (or will want to) do about it.

Sharia is the brutal means by which Islam controls its populations by force, intimidation, and punishments for offenses to Allah. Already, in many European countries, national governments have, out of fear, given Islamic fascists the right to establish their own shadow governments within the borders of countries like Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, and England, where they can control their own populations without accountability. Proposals for sharia are being taken seriously by Canada.

This is an admission that Islam is not just a religion. It is a cult. It seeks total control over a person's mind and body. As such, our Constitution is totally incompatible with it. Muslims will push politicians for local control and self-determination of their own laws. In this way, America will become two nations: a weakened traditional one and a growing, menacing Islamized one.

Islamists Ally with Leftists

At the same time, Muslims will ally with leftist politicians, who will gladly cede some of their power to this group of enforcers, so conservative politicians and Christians who advocate self-defense and sane social policies are kept out of office. Money that was once used to build mosques will now be used to buy politicians. On university campuses, Islam will be portrayed as righteous and peaceful, while Christianity will be associated with evil Western and American values. Rebellious American youths (BLM, OWS, antifa, etc.) will eat it up.

There will be increasing local and regional incidents of crimes and threats against Christians, Jews, and anybody who speaks out against the religion of hate. Terrorism is a completely legitimate tool of Islam and was widely practiced and advocated by Muhammad. Remember: all words in the Quran are perfect, immutable laws defining an eternal ethic:

Against them (the unbelievers) make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly. (Quran 8.06)

Leftist politicians will continue to hold the Bill of Rights over anyone who dares to accuse this religion of wrongdoing. Islamized citizens will ignore skyrocketing crime and threats. They will look the other way for fear of retribution, honor killings, and punishments from those who uphold the Islamic requirement to seek revenge on anyone who dishonors or disagrees with Islam.

Eventually, America will become weakened, and politicians will allow the Muslims to do whatever they want, as long as the infidels are allowed to be free of terrorist threats. As Christianity wanes, people will reject it as an anachronism irrelevant to modern trends. Islamic ethics will prevail, and Muslim sects will gain members, money, and influence.

Islam Will Destroy Our Constitution

As government policies lean toward Islamic ideals, the Bill of Rights will be seen as archaic and out of touch with contemporary values and the new direction of the country. It will be just a piece of parchment in a museum, lacking anyone who would be so bold and revolutionary as to fight a religion, even a religion of hate.

Regrettably, a vast ignorance prevails in this sphere. Academic pundits, leftist journalists, and hired Islamic apologists, useful idiots, proclaim that Islam is a religion of peace and that the great majority of Muslims are not a party to any plans and actions of radicals.

Islam Is Irreconcilable with Our Culture

So how do we stop this sequence of events? How can our government, which has so effectively protected the rights of peaceful religions, protect us from an aggressive one? How should we put Islam out of business?

By massive allocation of an educational campaign while simultaneously declaring Islam for what it is: an ideology irreconcilable with our core beliefs enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights and the United States Declaration of Independence and Constitution. By treating Islam the way we treated Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and Maoists. By preventing Islamization of our country by all legal measures and staunchly resisting the creeping sharia in our society.

Perhaps it is time to realize that not all religions are the same. If a religion does not recognize the constitutional rights of others, it must lose its rights under First Amendment protections. If it seeks to control all aspects of our life by force and fraud, if it seeks exemption from national laws protecting constitutional rights, then it must not be considered a religion.

It must be called something else, and it cannot be recognized as a protected ideology under the First Amendment.

O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guides not a people unjust. (Quran 5:51)

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

Any religion or dogma that seeks to create its own government and its own legal system and seeks to mobilize its own militia is itself not interested in separation of church and state and has no right to use that separation to create hegemony. In fact, such a doctrine is not even a religion at all. It is a totalitarian regime and must be considered the enemy of everything Americans believe in.

I'd welcome an inspection of other religions to determine if they are truly peaceful, and I am confident that all other faiths will remain protected and unaffected because religions tend to be peaceful. There is only one faith that seeks global hegemony for a seamless church-state government and imposition of its law everywhere, and that's Islam.
Former FBI director James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday suggests that the first question to FBI director nominee Christopher Wray at his Senate confirmation hearing should be: "Are you currently going through menopause?"

Comey said he was confused, uneasy, troubled, concerned, shocked, very disturbed, and stunned during his conversations with President Trump. The only missing menopausal symptoms are night sweats and weight gain.

Comey should have been sweating when he "woke up in the middle of the night" and decided to potentially violate federal law by using a close friend to leak contents of a government memo to a reporter at the New York Times, which Comey wrote while FBI director on an FBI computer while in an FBI car.

Comey's bombshell  that he's a leaker  came during questioning by Sen. Mark Warner:

I created records after conversations. I think I did it after each of our nine conversations. If I didn't, I did it for nearly all of them, especially the ones that were substantive.

Much of the media reaction to Comey's testimony, including some in the "fair and balanced" wing, began: "President Trump had a bad day."

Really? It's like a headline announcing that a guy was spared from an 11th-hour execution that reads: "Condemned Missed Traditional Last Meal."

Comey's angry, self-serving opinion of President Trump as a liar is the swamp "gospel" of self-evident "truth" by much of the spinner class. The real news  that Comey confirmed that Trump was never under investigation on Comey's watch, never interfered with the Russian investigation, and didn't order him to stop investigating Gen. Michael Flynn  is their "oh, yeah, by the way" subtext.

Comey admitted having "a queasy feeling" when he obeyed former attorney general Loretta Lynch's order to downplay the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton. She told him to call it a "matter," just as Clinton was spinning it.

That's the same Lynch who met with Bill Clinton in a plane on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport while his wife was under criminal investigation by Lynch's DOJ. Good thing for Lynch that Bill wasn't the Russian ambassador.

Comey's queasiness didn't prompt him to memorialize Lynch's instruction. He told Sen. Tom Cotton that he didn't record conversations or memos with the attorney general or any other senior member of the Obama administration.

Nor did Comey mention Lynch's order in his infamous July 2016 statement recommending against indictment of Clinton:

Although there is evidence of potential violations regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.

Comey made it his job to decide that Clinton shouldn't be charged with violating numerous federal laws after laying out the case for her indictment. But he told the Senate committee it wasn't his job to decide if Trump had obstructed justice.

Comey didn't cave to "pressure" from Trump. He didn't obey what he now perceives as Trump's "order" to drop the investigation of Gen. Flynn.

Comey said he didn't have the "presence of mind" to tell Trump it was inappropriate. He said he was not strong, not "captain courageous." Wonder Woman in need of hormones, possibly.

Yet Comey never considered resigning or telling the White House counsel about his feelings about Trump's "inappropriate" behavior. He did tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to leave him alone with Trump.

There's a headline AARP should be hyping to seniors everywhere: "Giant Terrorist Tracker Cowered by 70-Year-Old."

Comey said he leaked the contents of his record to the press because he "thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel." Contrast this with his stated desire not to instigate appointment of special counsel in the Clinton investigation. He didn't give it to Congress. He wanted special counsel on Trump's trail after admitting to the committee:

Trump was never under investigation on his watch.

It would have been legal to tell the public, as Trump had requested, that Trump wasn't under investigation.

Trump told him that "if there are people in my circle that are, let's finish the investigation."

At the time of their conversation, he didn't think that Trump had ordered him to "let [Gen. Michael] Flynn go."

Post-firing, he now says it was an order  an order he didn't obey. That would be insubordination and grounds for firing.

No "individual working for this administration, including the Justice Department," asked him to stop the Russian investigation. And he didn't.

This isn't the first time Comey tried to oust a top Republican, according to Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist. Davis quotes former attorney general Alberto Gonzales and others to counter Comey's version of events that allegedly transpired in then-attorney general John Ashcroft's hospital room in 2004.

In this account, Comey's actions showcase a duplicitous, secretive schemer whose true loyalties were not to the officials to whom he reported, but to partisan Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Comey gave a riveting account of the 2004 incident in his 2007 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding President George W. Bush's firing of U.S. attorneys  which, according to Davis, was orchestrated by none other than Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.):

Comey kept secret his pre-hearing planning with Schumer and his staff to maximize the fallout of the bomb he planned to drop on Gonzales and the Bush administration.

Chuck Schumer and James Comey scheming against Republican presidents?

Jan LaRue is senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union.
Avoiding all political correctness, there are some ancestral reasons that Iran should have been easy to deal with. However, the last administration coddled the mullahs in Iran and let opportunity fly away. It may be too late to do anything about it right now; however, later on, after Iran is in pieces, there could be a basis for change.

Iranians (historically called Persians) are not Arabs. Iran (Persia) was home to a set of rather mighty empires, most notably the Achaemenid Empire, which fell to Alexander, then later on the Parthian and Sassanid Empires, which kept the Roman Empire at bay until Emperor Heraclius (Bzyantine/East Roman Empire) finally defeated them in A.D. 628.

To put it bluntly, and politically incorrectly, the Persians were not Semites, but Indo-Europeans. To those unaware, Indo-Europeans are those peoples who came out of the Caucasus area, hence the term "Caucasian." Most moved west into Europe; a noticeable few went eastward into Iran, northern India, and Xingjiang, China (the Uyghurs). Persians are essentially Europeans who went the wrong way.

To this day, ethnic Persians can pass easily for Mediterranean Greeks or Italians. To further emphasize this, the Balkan Croatians claim descent from these Iranians.

According to a recent research, in the time before the great migration of nations (before the fall of the Western Roman Empire), two tribes of Iranian origin set out on a great adventure. Serbs and Croats were once tribes of Iranian origin[.]

Indeed, Iran's national language is an Indo-European tongue: Farsi. Farsi uses an Arabic alphabet, but the language is not Semitic  think of Yiddish, which is a Germanic/Slavic dialect that uses the Hebrew alphabet. Likewise, Iranian is closer to English than Arabic.

So what happened?

The Byzantine (they called themselves Roman) and Sassanid Persian Empires fought a brutal decades-long war, which Byzantium finally won in A.D. 628. Both empires were so weakened that they fell prey to Islam just a few years later. Byzantium had some fight left and would take over 800 years to fall, but Persia was conquered in two decades by A.D. 651.

The Iranians have never forgotten this. We all know that with Islam comes the sexual takeover of the female population. Women are booty, and there is a degree of genetic drift, as children of mixed ethnicity arrive nine months after conquest. Islam  which originated on the side of the Arabian peninsula adjacent to the African coast  must have necessarily brought in some African blood as well. The ethnic makeup of Iran today is not what it was 1,400 years ago, pre-Islam.

To put it bluntly, if the Viking predations lightened the complexions of many European nations, Muslim invaders made them more swarthy. The clearest example of this would be the Gaels versus the Galicians of Spain. Galicia was once a temporary waystation of the Goidelic Celts, who, according to legend, then went from Spain to Ireland. These Celts were once the same people. Only in the 8th century, Ireland was hammered by the Vikings, while Spain was hammered by the Moors. The Irish were lightened a bit, while their Galician cousins acquired a tan. Thirteen hundred years later, the Galicians of Spain are sometimes a bit swarthier than the Irish, even though they take pride in their Celtic ancestry. The same mechanism operated in Iran.

Iran's core ethnic group is besieged, however. Persians are only 61% of the population. Ahmadinejad was not an ethnic Persian. His mother claimed to be a descendant of Mohammed, indicating maternal Arab ancestry in part. There was a very disputed rumor that he was part-Jewish on his father's side.

A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots. A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian  a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

Historically, the Persian ethnic core of Iran truly despises Arabs and has mixed feeling about the religion of Mohammed that the Arabs brought with their invasion. It may be one reason why Iran almost singularly holds to Shi'a Islam. If they were going to be forced to be Muslim, they would be damned if they were going to be standard Sunni; that was too Arabic for them.

[Iranian intellectual Sadek Zibakalam said,] "I think the majority of Iranians of all types hate Arabs, and I believe they hate us, too," Sadek Zibakalam, who is also a professor at the University of Tehran, said in an interview with the Iranian weekly Sobh Azade. ... This hatred, Zibakalam argued, is not the product of the current hegemony conflict in the region, as many people might suspect, but has its roots in history. "Persians will never forget their defeat at the hands of Arabs in the Battle of Qadisiya 1,400 years ago. It is as if a fire keeps seething under the ashes and is waiting for the right moment to explode," he said.

To those who know history, this means that this Persian hatred stems back to the 7th-century invasion that brought Islam to them. Iranian national identity is a contradiction. How can they hate the Arabs who conquered them, yet love the Islam that the Arabs imposed on them?

This contradiction will not easily disappear. In fact, Iran is seeing a resurgence of Christianity.

Iranians have become the Muslim people most open to the gospel in the Middle East. [M]ore Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together since Islam came to Iran. In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today, there are hundreds of thousands  some say more than 1 million.

Historically, the ancient Persians, such as Cyrus the Great, were friends of the Jews. Cyrus issued an edict that the Jews were to return from the Babylonian captivity and rebuild their temple. During the Byzantine-Sassanid War (A.D. 602-628), the Jews and Persians were allies against Christian Byzantines. Anti-Semitism is not in Persian blood. It is an Islamic import. This also is a contradiction.

This may seem like the history of Mars to us Americans, but it is known to every true ethnic Persian.

Islam has a track record of destroying history wherever it goes, which suppresses outward expressions of the truth. The psychological dissonance is untenable, and in a typical Islamic response, the mullahs of Iran have sought to erase Iran's history, and thereby erase the contradiction, lest the people wake up.

The Islamic Republic has made no secret of its desire and intent to destroy any and all vestiges of Iranian heritage and national identity[.] ... [The Islamic Republic] has eliminated references to Iran's ancient history in textbooks. All of this anti-Iranianism by the IR has provided much needed ammunition to those who question to whole idea of Iran as a nation, and has allowed those characters to label Persians as recent invaders of independent and sovereign nations, denying ... the fact that this territory has been called "Iran" for the past 2500 years.

The 61% of the country that is true Persian knows better. This historical tension is what the West should have exploited, and what the mullahs fear most. The true Iranians (Persians) should be encouraged to assert a Persian ethnic identity in contradiction to the fantasies concocted by the mullahs. And when ready, the West should encourage the Persians to divest themselves of Islam as nothing more than a noxious imperialistic Arabic import.

We in the West tend to divorce religion from politics. In the Mideast, that will not work. The Iranians should be encouraged to return to their roots, which, oddly, were Judeophilic and European until the Muslims invaded.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago. He writes on the Arabs of South America at http://latinarabia.com. He also just started a website about small computers at http://minireplacement.com.
For some perverse reason, I've always found it easier to write with the sound of talking in the background. If there's nobody around, I put on a podcast or an episode of some cable TV series. The other day I put on All the President's Men. I've probably seen it half a dozen times, beginning with its original release in 1976.

The movie, directed by Alan J. Pakula from a script by William Goldman -- based, of course, on the book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about how they brought down President Nixon -- is a brilliant piece of work. It tells a complicated, potentially dry story in a riveting manner. The actors, starting with Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein, are terrific. And thanks to the work of first-rate cinematographer Gordon Willis, it's visually arresting throughout, with individual camera shots (such as the slow vertical pullback from our intrepid reporters as they sift through hundreds of loan slips at the Library of Congress) that are well-nigh unforgettable.

But even as Pakula and company were creating a cinematic masterpiece, they were also pulling a fast one ideologically. That film fooled almost every member of my generation into having a ridiculously high opinion of the news media. It depicted journalists, from the scruffy Washington Post neophytes Woodward and Bernstein to their legendary managing editor Bill Bradlee (who in one sequence is seen in a natty tuxedo, presumably on his way to a tony Georgetown shindig), as heroic figures who not only worked overtime to report the news in a scrupulously fair and unbiased manner but also, when challenged to do so, put their lives on the line to safeguard our freedoms.

The movie, which came out when I was a college student, convinced millions of us of at least two big things. One: politicians (at least Republican politicians) were slimy. Two: journalists were noble  especially those at the Washington Post, and especially the twin saints, Woodward and Bernstein.

It took years to break me entirely of that illusion. A bit of personal experience did the trick. After I started writing controversial books that journalists wanted to interview me about, I realized quickly enough that most of them were simply not to be trusted. They'd present themselves as friendly and sympathetic, then write a hit piece. No matter how much we'd talked and what I'd actually said, they'd end up picking a line or two out of context and putting a dishonest spin on it so it would fit a narrative. Or else they'd just invent quotes. As for politicians, I ended up as the writer-for-hire on the autobiography of a congressman who turned out to be one of the most decent, selfless people I'd ever met. (Of course, not all politicians I've met since have measured up.)

Eventually I realized that even back then, in the era of Watergate, the Post had been no bastion of objectivity. The movie presented it as such, although Pakula, fascinatingly, stuck in one tiny detail that seems to have been intended to suggest otherwise. I don't think I ever noticed it until the other day: there, on a cluttered shelf in Ben Bradlee's office, surrounded by books, papers, and sundry knicknacks, was a framed photograph of John F. Kennedy. Now, Bradlee had been a close friend of JFK, after whose death he'd published a memoir entitled Conversations with Kennedy. JFK, in turn, had been the #1 rival of Richard M. Nixon's life. Needless to say, it was impossible for the Post, under Bradlee's leadership, to report in an unbiased way on the Watergate affair.

And that was in the 1970s. Things have only gone downhill since. In 2013, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the daily, and since the advent of Trump has been using it as a club to beat the candidate, and then the president, over the head with. Admittedly, the Post isn't doing anything that most of the other mainstream national media outlets have been doing, but at times it has felt as if the Post is even more viciously, mendaciously anti-Trump than even the New York Times and CNN -- and that's saying something. In recent weeks, it's eagerly taken part in the broad-scale media effort to knock off, one after the other, various high-ranking members of the Trump administration and those few prominent reporters and commentators who've actually dared to give the new prez a fair shake.

The other day, it was the turn of David Horowitz and the David Horowitz Freedom Center to experience the Post's potshots. Like most of these MSM attacks on Trumpsters, the article, written by Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg, was a model of contemporary journalistic partisanship. The rhetoric was right out of the hack playbook: the DHFC, the Post darkly informed its dwindling readership, was, until Trump's election, a little-known charity whose ideas would soon move from the fringes of the conservative movement into the heart of the nation's government. Echoing the insipid lies of Hope Not Hate! and similar far-left propaganda outfits masquerading as principled monitors of bigotry, O'Harrow and Boburb breathlessly described the DHFC as part of a loose nationwide network of like-minded charities linked together by ideology, personalities, conservative funders and websites.

Get that: a network! How shady that sounds! Until you actually stop and think for two seconds and realize that this is just another way of saying that activists and thinkers on the right, as on the left, tend to know one another; that you can see the bylines of conservative commentators over and over again at the same handful of places, just you can see left-wing bylines repeatedly at another handful of places; and that, just as certain foundations tend to donate to right-leaning organizations, certain other foundations fund leftist ones. Amazing!

Worst of all was the revelation that several people close to the DHFC have ended up working in the Trump White House. The reason why this has happened is simple: the DHFC is one of the few established conservative institutions in the U.S. that, from early on in the presidential campaign, has been on the same page as Trump about a wide range of issues. These issues, which propelled Trump into the presidency, can be summed up in a single statement: that America belongs to its people, and that its government's chief obligation is to those people's well-being and security, not to foreign governments or foreign companies or would-be immigrants (especially illegal ones).

In other words, there's nothing there. Zero. Zilch. But then there were more serious charges. For example, Horowitz accepted millions of dollars in speaking fees from corrupt dictators and sleazy businessmen for using his connections to arrange for legislation and waivers they needed. He helped set up millions in U.S. aid to Haiti, but much of the money ended up in his own pockets. He took massive sums from oil companies to help secure government approval for pipeline construction. On some issues supposedly close to his heart, he turned his opinions around 180 degrees in exchange for cash under the table.

Oh no, my mistake -- those sordid hijinks, and many more like them, were engaged in by Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton Global Initiative, and were documented thoroughly in Peter Schweizer's 2015 book and 2016 documentary Clinton Cash. Schweizer's book, as it happens, was mocked in the Post as hysteria and as innuendo and speculation; his film was dismissed in the Post, absurdly, as lacking hard evidence; the Post smeared Schweizer personally as a right-leaning rabble-rouser and called Breitbart, for which Schweizer works, a nationalist news site that puts Trump ahead of truth.

Ah, truth! Remember truth? If the Post and other major MSM outlets had done their duty by the truth during the past year or two, both Clintons, whom every sane American now recognizes as a couple of shameless grifters, would be on trial or already behind bars, and David Horowitz, a gutsy and forthright fighter for freedom, would, at the very least, be left alone to do his important work.
American democracy has been corrupted, and if not cured, the disease will be fatal. There is no other conclusion to be drawn when the public is deceived on the scale that was revealed (but ignored) by James Comey. The stunning truth is that the American political and media establishment allowed a phony story  that they knew was phony -- to dominate our political discourse for months. When James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, he revealed that he had informed many important Congressional leaders that there was no investigation of President Trump and the Russians underway, even as MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, and the Washington Post daily carried stories alluding to an imaginary investigation.

None of these informed leaders spoke out! They allowed a make-believe tale intended to harm the legitimacy and therefore political power of President Trump to dominate mindshare in the nations collective political conversation.

Sundance of Conservative Treehouse adds up the names and numbers of Congressional leaders who were briefed by Comey, according to his testimony. Consider the vast uniparty conspiracy that permitted a national obsession over a malicious fantasy, originally spun by John Podesta and Team Hillary in the immediate aftermath of her election loss.

FBI Director Comey told President-elect Trump on January 6th he was not under investigation; Comey again told President Trump on January 27th he was not under investigation; and again on February 15th Director Comey told President Trump he was not under investigation. However, more importantly, James Comey also admitted he told congressional leadership the exact same thing, repeatedly. Specifically, James Comey stated he informed: Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Devin Nunes, Adam Schiff, Richard Burr, Dianne Feinstein and Mark Warner. James Comey personally told Republican and Democrat leadership, and both the Senate and House intelligence committees, that President Trump was not under investigation. (snip) To add to that list, James Comey said he briefed each of the intelligence committees that President Trump was never under investigation. Do you realize how many people that is? Mike Conaway (11th District of Texas), Peter King (2nd District of New York), Frank LoBiondo (2nd District of New Jersey), Tom Rooney (17th District of Florida), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (27th District of Florida), Michael Turner (10th District of Ohio), Brad Wenstrup (2nd District of Ohio), Chris Stewart (2nd District of Utah), Rick Crawford (1st District of Arkansas), Trey Gowdy (4th District of South Carolina), Elise Stefanik (21st District of New York), Will Hurd (23rd District of Texas), Adam Schiff, Ranking Member (28th District of California), Jim Himes (4th District of Connecticut), Terri Sewell (7th District of Alabama), Andre Carson (7th District of Indiana), Jackie Speier (14th District of California), Mike Quigley (5th District of Illinois), Eric Swalwell (15th District of California), Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas), Denny Heck (10th District of Washington), James Risch (Idaho), Marco Rubio (Florida), Susan Collins (Maine), Roy Blunt (Missouri), James Lankford (Oklahoma), Tom Cotton (Arkansas), John Cornyn (Texas), Dianne Feinstein (California), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), Angus King (Maine), Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Kamala Harris (California)  All of them knew President Trump was not under investigation. That also means that all of their key aides, staffers who assist each of the aforementioned politicians  and sit in on intelligence briefings, knew President Trump was not under investigation. That network extends downstream to thousands of people on capitol hill, and everyone surrounding the White House, and everyone in key legislative contact, and they all knew President Trump was never under investigation.

There was only one person Sundance could find who violated the de facto vow of omerta:

Other than one obtuse statement from what was apparently a frustrated Senator Chuck Grassley, the entire DC system kept a lid on the truth that President Trump was not ever under investigation.

Let me translate:

The American people were played as patsies, their attention diverted to a fantasy that had -- and still has -- no evidence whatsoever of its existence. That fantasy was propounded for political reasons, and used to subvert the outcome of a democratic election.

And except for Senator Grassley, the entire roster of congressional establishment held its tongues.

Sundance closes with a chart that ought to be kept in mind always, when we think about concepts like the deep state, the political establishment, and the ruling elite:

For all his faults, Donald Trump is fighting against this corrupt collectivity that dominates our politics. That is preisely why this fantasy tale was created, constantly discussed, and tolerated by those who knew better. The American people must decide which side will prevail.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, verse 18, Jesus tells the Pharisee Nicodemus, "Whoever believes in [the Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."

Former presidential candidate and junior senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders doesn't share Jesus's point of view and is peeved because Russell T. Vought, Donald Trump's nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), does.

In a 2016 article entitled "Wheaton College and the Preservation of Theological Clarity," Vought expressed the opinion that the Christian college was justified in firing their first female African-American tenured professor, Larycia Hawkins, for sympathizing with Islam and for posing on Facebook dressed in a hijab.

In defense of Wheaton's decision, Vought wrote that "Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned."

At Vought's Senate Budget Committee confirmation hearing, during introductory remarks, a visibly annoyed Sanders directed his comments toward the nominee while pontificating about "[t]his country, since its inception, [having] struggled, sometimes with great pain, to overcome discrimination of all forms." Sanders stressed, "We must not go backward."

Sorry, but Bernie the Socialist is the last person who should be sermonizing about the inception of a nation whose foundational philosophies are diametrically opposed to everything he espouses.

Moreover, rather than refer to Article VI, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution as his guide, which says that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States," Bernie chose instead to "overcome... all forms of discrimination" by verbally scourging a Christian.

For denying that God is government and that salvation comes from the state, Vought probably comes off to intolerant Sanders as a political heretic. Meanwhile, despite the Quran (3:56) saying, "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter," Bernie continues to support Minnesota Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison to head the DNC.

Sounding like Pontius Pilate interrogating Jesus, the liberal senator applied a religious litmus test to the president's nominee by challenging Vought's belief in basic Christian theology, asking:

I don't know how many Muslims there are in America, I really don't know, probably a couple million. Are you suggesting that all of those people stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned too?

Sanders continued probing: "Do you believe that statement is Islamophobic?" Vought replied, "Absolutely not, Senator. I'm a Christian, and I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith."

Bernie is a millionaire socialist who publicly embraces sharing the wealth while privately practicing the religion of Marxism by vacationing in a $600,000 summer home. That's why Vought's unwavering adherence to a "set of principles" is hard for Bernie to grasp.

In an attempt to defend his position, Vought said, "As a Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect, regardless of their religious beliefs."

The irony here is that Vought was explaining his belief to a pro-abortion advocate who demands a standard from Vought on behalf of Muslims that the religion of liberalism denies the unborn.

However, based on Bernie's boorishness, apparently, liberals are certified to be disrespectful toward anyone who disagrees with progressivism. That authorization may be why Sanders felt comfortable interrupting Vought to say, "And do you think your statement that you put in that publication do you think that's respectful of other religions?"

Vought answered that he wrote the post as an alumnus of Wheaton College, which "has a statement of faith that speaks clearly with regard to the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation."

In response, Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) chimed in and laid bare the left's hypocrisy concerning truth being relative when he admonished Bernie by saying: "I hope that we are not questioning the faith of others, and how they interpret their faith to themselves."

Then, by chastising Vought for being a biblical purist, versus a vacillator like himself, Democrat senator from Maryland Chris Van Hollen exposed the schizophrenic left's truth-being-relative hypocrisy even more. The Maryland senator attested that "I'm a Christian, but part of being a Christian, in my view, is recognizing that there are lots of ways that people can pursue their God."

If what Chris "in my view" Van Hollen says is true, then Vought's interpretation of the Bible, regardless of how repugnant it is to Mr. Sanders, shouldn't be a problem  should it?

On behalf of the senator, following the contentious hearing, a spokesperson delivered the following statement:

In a democratic society, founded on the principle of religious freedom, we can all disagree over issues, but racism and bigotry  condemning an entire group of people because of their faith  cannot be part of any public policy. The nomination of a candidate like Vought, "who has expressed such strong Islamaphobic language," the statement said, "is simply unacceptable."

Suffice it to say that our nation's founding principle of religious freedom did not equate tolerance with acceptance of things like atheism, Native American shamanism, paganism, or "Mahometanism." In fact, in 1779, George Washington delivered a speech that expressed to Delaware Indian chiefs his theological convictions:

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.

Therefore, if George Washington were running for deputy director of the OMB, Bernie Sanders would accuse him of being a phobic-racist-bigot and then say, "I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this nominee is really not someone who is what this country is supposed to be about. I will vote no."

Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com.
Former Vice President Joe Biden's niece, Caroline Biden, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in court on Friday in connection with a credit card scam that involved stealing more than $110,000 from a New York pharmacy.

But Ms. Biden will not see the inside of a prison cell. She received 4 years probabation and must make full restitution. In six months, if she pays back what she stole and stays out of trouble, she can go back to court and have the charges reduced to petit larceny for which she will receive two years probation.

They won't even make her pick up the litter in Central Park.

New York Post:

Biden was also in Manhattan Criminal Court in 2014, on charges of resisting arrest, obstruction of justice and harassment stemming from a dustup with her Tribeca roommate. In that case, the silver-spoon Georgetown University graduate was accused of taking a swing at a female cop who responded in Sept. 2013 to a drag out fight over unpaid rent between Biden and her roommate. I shouldnt be handcuffed! cops said Biden railed at the time. You dont know who youre doing this to! She was given another sweetheart deal in that case: a promise that the charges would be dismissed if she stayed out of trouble for six months. The charges were eventually dismissed and sealed. Biden didnt even have to show up in court to get that deal  her then-lawyer James Liguori told another Manhattan judge that she was serving her second rehab stint at Caron Renaissance Ocean Drive, a posh inpatient facility in Delray Beach, Fla. She was there for anger management, her lawyer told the judge. The facility only treats anger in the context of a broader drug addiction treatment, the facility told The Post at the time. Biden at the time had suffered from booze and pill addiction issues, friends told The Post then. The pressure of being Joe Bidens niece made her totally unravel, pal Paul Johnson Calderon told The Post in Sept. 2013. Its a desire for attention, a cry for help. Shes a very complicated girl who has a lot of feelings and a lot of issues. In the new credit card case, Biden had borrowed the unidentified victims Chase credit card in order to make a single purchase at Bigelow totaling $672. Instead, between April 5, 2015 and June 24, 2016, she admittedly went on a buying binge. She was arrested and arraigned on May 5, and Friday was her second court appearance.

Let's imagine a counterfactual. Suppose the criminal who stole $110 K from this pharmacy was named Cleopatra Jones instead of Caroline Biden. Suppose Cleo had been in trouble with the law before. Suppose she was forced to have a public defender appointed instead of some slick, Brooks Brothers suit of a lawyer who was politically connected and on a first name basis with every judge in the district.

Now imagine what sentence our poor little Cleopatra Jones would have gotten.

Cleo's friend might have said something like this: "The pressure of being a poor, black woman made her totally unravel. ts a desire for attention, a cry for help. Shes a very complicated girl who has a lot of feelings and a lot of issues.

Imagine what the judge would have said to that.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's not a question of what or black. The color of justice in America is green, as in money. If you have it, you skate. If you don't, you serve time.

Littlechap from "Stop the world, I want to get off," was right:

I wanna be rich, have money to burn.

A thousand a week, say, would do me a turn.

I'd keep it in oncers in case of a slump.

I'd have stacks and stacks and the Income Tax

Could take a running jump.



I've have all me suits made a dozen a time.

I'd buy all the best shares, provided they climb

Give me half a chance, a small advance,

Me fingers itch to make me dirty rotten filthy stinking rich!
No one who has heard the hypnotic strains of "Summertime" will ever forget  a soulful trumpet, and then, like an angel from heaven, a high soprano sings, "Summertime, and the living is easy. This is a prophecy of hope over a new baby  nothing can harm you, your daddy is rich and your ma is good looking. You will someday take your wings and fly, the child of promise."

Forget for a moment that the composer is a New York Jew in his 30s, and the scene is a 1920s Charleston barrio for the children and grandchildren of Southern slaves. Summertime is not easy  there are corn, beans, and tomatoes to can, fish to catch and preserve, and the evils of life to battle. But this is America, where it is always summertime, and hope makes life seem easy.

Porgy is Everyman  disabled, lonely, living hand to mouth, but with a pure heart. Bess is involved with Crown, a hard-drinking, womanizing cad suspected of murder. She is addicted to "happy dust" and unable to handle the world, the flesh and the devil arrayed against her. Sportin' Life is a demonic prototype singing in a high falsetto about the glories of evil and the errors of God: "It Ain't Necessarily So."

The Catfish Row family tries to help Bess, while Porgy elects to be her savior and protector. Bad weather kills the new father in his fishing boat, and Crown tries to take over the encampment. Porgy defends Bess and murders Crown. After Porgy is jailed, Sportin' Life lures Bess into a trip to New York. The local bureaucracy, like governments everywhere, is either overly involved or indifferent, and it lets Porgy off. Finding Bess gone, Porgy plans to leave for New York. Our hearts in the audience drop like a stone.

I was 13 when I heard this drama. I remember that even at that age, I gasped, knowing that poor crippled Porgy was no match for New Yawk City. He will be shredded and left for dead in a Haarlem sewer somewhere. But he is hopeful. His love for Bess and his dream set him forth. He takes up his wings and flies.

There is a reason this drama is called the American opera. In no other country do you ever hear of a national dream  a Russian dream, a Brazilian dream, even a British dream. Only in America do we have an identifiable prophecy in the words of this song: your daddy is America, he's rich, and also good looking; America will watch over you and protect you, no matter how poor or ignominious your birth. And someday you will take up your wings and fly. That is America.

We've hardly noticed this, but Jews in the arts have defined us. Irving Berlin wrote the rousing "God Bless America," which prefaced World War II and became an anthem to a generation. A group of Jews produced The Wizard of Oz, the persistent search for a sense of self, our weaknesses and our strengths in a nation with a permanent rainbow, Somewhere. The American dream is the Jewish dream, a place where all people will be treated equally, and no one jailed or ruined because of his religion, or looks, or cultural patrimony. And until the formation of the nation of Israel in 1948, there was no other place on earth the Jew could feel safe and join in the promises.

But Porgy and Bess is more than just the story of the American Prophecy. It is also George Gershwin's story. He is Porgy, crippled by drink and self-neglect; he is Bess, lured by addictions. The accolades of the New York glitterati could not save him. His doctors too were careless, according to later reports. But he defined America for us.

Cornelia Scott Cree is the author of the forthcoming Immaculate Assumptions: All the Stuff You Heard about the Bible that Isn't True. See Amazon.
Last summer, we reported on the massive investigation by Indiana authorities into potential Democratic party voter fraud. The investigation spanned 56 counties and dozens of volunteers and staffers who worked for a Democratic-linked voter registration group.

Prosecutors have now charged 12 of those employees with sending in fake voter registration forms.

Daily Caller:

According to the Associated Press, prosecutors say that 11 temporary canvassers working for the Indiana Voter Registration Project made and sent in an unknown number of fake voter applications. The canvassers supervisor, Holiday Burke, was charged as well. The organization, the AP reported, is managed by Patriot Majority USA a group with strong ties to Democratic Party, including former President Bill Clinton and former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, as well as labor unions. The investigation by state authorities began last August when a clerk in Hendricks County marked around a dozen voter forms with suspicious information. The probe went into 56 counties where the organization collected 45,000 applications. Patriot Majority rejected the notion the group engaged in any illegal activity. We looked onto the Statewide Voter Registration System and noticed that there had been an unusually high number of date of birth and first name changes, the secretary of states office told CNN last October. If the 12 defendants are found guilty on all charges that include acquiring or sending in voter registration applications known to be false as well as counterfeiting, each could face up to 2  years in prison. Public Integrity noted in 2013 of Patriot Majority, Although it describes itself as a grassroots group, a single $6 million donation from an unnamed source made up one-fourth of Patriot Majority USAs $23 million in 2012 revenue. More than half of its haul, $12 million, came from anonymous donors that gave more than $1 million each, its tax return indicates.

This is only half the equation. Authorities have apparently been unable to discover if any of those falsified registrations ended up in fraudulent votes being cast, although the fact that they discovered the fraud before the election means that few, if any, of those registrations were actually used.

The fact that all of this came from one Democratic-linked organization and spanned most of the state, should worry all those people who keep saying that voter fraud is not a problem. The reason it's not a problem is because it is rarely investigated and the whole point of the fraud is that it remain a secret. If state authorities are not interested in rooting out fraud, they aren't going to find any.

President Trump's commission on voting integrity may or may not discover similar schemes in other states. But calling it a "voter suppression commission" is way off base, and the Indiana voter fraud case proves that.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved Resolution 176, on June 5th, 2017, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and unequivocally reminded all that "...there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem for 3 millennia." This was preceded by the Jerusalem Embassy Act (Public Law 104-45), legislated on November 8, 1995,(which unequivocally stated) "... that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel..." and that the American Embassy, currently housed in Tel Aviv may at the will of the President of the United States, be relocated to Israel's capital, Jerusalem.

Senate Resolution 176, as well as the many formidable legislative actions generated by the U.S. House of Representatives have demonstrated that among our electorate are honorable men and women from all sides of the political spectrum who chose not to stand down from taking on those who wish to distort our core American values and our obligation to do right by our loyal allies. They shall be remembered as examples of courage for all to emulate.

Yet, so far President Trump has chosen not to honor the intent of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 because he has not kept his word to move the American Embassy. There's little doubt it's in the name of political expediency, same as prior presidents who were fearful of further, potential alienation from already hostile nations and populations.

Lest we forget, fifty years ago, war was forced upon our loyal ally, Israel, by her neighboring nations (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq), who united in an ultimate aim of driving Israel's young and old, male and female, citizens and soldiers, Holocaust survivors, as well as Christians and Muslims sharing the land with the Jews, into the sea to their deaths. After that, their plan was to take for themselves all that the people of Israel labored so hard to build in their tiny refuge in the Middle East. Every nation of means chose to turn their back on the mixed multitude of people being targeted, preferring a wait-and-see stance. The United Nations security forces were asked to withdraw from the Sinai and did so without protest, while the United States assumed the role of a bystander. The odds of Israel's survival were minimal, at best. Yet, when push came to shove, Jews and other people of conscience came from abroad to take a stand and with their threatened brethren and together thwarted a potential second Holocaust. Israel's preemptive air strike took out the air power of Egypt within hours, while her ground forces overcame the might of well-trained and more numerous opposition armies, in six days , before a cease-and-desist treaty was initiated.

Jerusalem, once again, became a united city, and was annexed, in toto, by Israel and reaffirmed as her eternal capital. All faiths were granted and guaranteed unobstructed and protected access to their holy sites within Jerusalem, and elsewhere in Israel.

Yet, every six months since Nov. 5, 1995, a waiver to delay the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem was sought, side-stepping the United States' original commitment to the intent of Public Law 104-45, on the grounds of so-called, but unidentified national security issues.

Has the United States become safer, and the world a more stable place with the implementation of these waivers? Obviously not, as the Palestinians have capitalized on our repeated failures to act responsibly, and they use this perceived weakness to expand their unending demands. Meanwhile, they have not put aside their hatred of Israelis and Jews to concentrate on building the infrastructure necessary to support a separate state. Yet, American administrations stubbornly hold on to a dream of peace that Palestinians do not share, and a succession of American presidents have seen fit to diplomatically punish their only reliable ally in the Middle East, Israel, by denying her the same diplomatic respect that any other nation's capital currently enjoys: hosting the embassy of the United States.
To hear Ben Rhodes, the mastermind of President Obama's opening to the Cuban regime, tell it, Americans are just pining to go to Cuba. Nothing must top feeling like Beyonce dancing away the night on the Malecon in quaint old Havana.

Few issues have as much bipartisan support as promoting freedom of Americans to travel to Cuba. Restricting travel is restricting freedom. https://t.co/ejlDFA8UvI  Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 10, 2017



The facts on the ground tell a different story.

As Rhodes touts trips to Cuba's communist military dictatorship as somehow something in the line of 'freedom' in his new 'narrative, airline carriers are fleeing the island hellhole, for one and tourists are bailing out. According to Marketwatch:

Americans are less interested in travel to Cuba this year than they were in 2016, a survey from insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance found. Some 76% of the 1,514 respondents said they were not likely to plan a trip to Cuba in 2017 compared to 70% in 2016. Only 2% of those surveyed planned to visit Cuba in the next six months or by the end of 2017, the same as 2016 despite a projected increase in travelers from the countrys ministry of tourism. It also found that 60% of Americans said would not like to travel to Cuba compared to just 58% in 2016.

After briefly mentioning that the place doesn't have food or water, the Marketwatch reporter cited a source who suggests maybe it's 'confusion' about travel requirements from the U.S. side.

Sumers suggested confusion over the approved reasons to go to Cuba is keeping the average American visitor away still.

We're going to go with the food. And the lack of drinkable water. And Band-Aids. And toilet paper. And ATMs. And stinky hotel rooms. According to this Cuba-touting travel site, mosquito repellent, too. Apparently, you can't buy any in quaint old Havana. You're expected to get bit.

Other tourists have reported high entry and exit fees (now $160 just to get in), corrupt officials, a lack of decent accommodations, thieving airport officials, and a flood of hookers touting their bodies for sale. Why wouldn't there be corrupt officials seeking to shake The Gringos down? These people have been taught all their lives that America is the enemy and have stewed in a communist culture of envy for decades.

Combine it with the reality that Cuba is a military dictatorship with state goon beatings of dissidents, and the only logical conclusion out there is that this is no place for a vacation holiday.

Would you want to go to such an island hellhole? Ben Rhodes hypes it as a great thing, but the tourist after tourist finds it a different story.

As President Trump prepares to turn the screws on Cuba this coming Friday in Miami, tourists are beating him to it, voting with their feet.
We understand that President Trump will go to Miami and erase another one of President Obama's legacies.

According to The Miami Herald, the changes will be profound:

Trump is preparing to tighten at least some of Obama's changes, including restricting business with the Cuban military and U.S. travel that resembles tourism. Those type of revisions have been endorsed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the only two local GOP members of Congress who backed Trump and as a result have pressured his administration on the issue. Rubio in particular has been working closely with the White House and National Security Council on the upcoming changes. "I am absolutely confident that the president is going to deliver on his word, on his commitments," Diaz-Balart told the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald in a recent interview. "He was very clear that he thought that President Obama in essence got nothing in exchange for the concessions he gave to the Castro regime."

Indeed, he didn't! This is the most one-sided deal since the Cubs traded Lou Brock to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, Bobby Shantz, and Doug Clemens.

We hear that President Trump will roll back many of President Obama's decisions. He will accuse the island of human rights abuses. More importantly, he will institute strict rules on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba and ban U.S. companies from doing business with Cuban entities linked to the island's powerful military.

This is excellent, since most Cuban entities are linked to the Cuban military and the Castro family.

This is a U.S. president who understands that President Obama went around the embargo to open doors to Cuba.

It was 30 months ago that President Obama changed our policy toward Cuba. He never demanded a thing of the Cuban government. He was too eager to open an embassy and show up in Cuba.

Obama showed up, indeed, but change has not shown up. It's time to go back to the days when we treated the Castro regime as an abuser of human rights and demanded this for that.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter.
When it comes to immigration, Trump's policies are not very different from Obama's.

1) The Trump administration has processed more "DREAMers" than Obama had during the same time period in the latter's presidency.

According to newly published data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Trump administration has issued 17,275 initial amnesty cards and over 107,500 renewals of existing status. This surpasses the 122,000 level of amnesty cards issued during the final quarter of Obama's presidency (Oct. 1-Dec. 31, 2016), which means the Trump administration is not even slowing down the pace! And although the first 20 days of this quarter were still under Obama's tenure, the Trump amnesty is likely close to 200,000 by now, when extrapolating in the number of presumed cards issued during April and May. Thus, while Trump's own lawful immigration order lies in ruins from tyrannical courts  with no effort to fight back through Congress  Obama's patently unconstitutional DACA order remains in full force even after his presidency. The jarring thing here is that Trump could fulfill a core campaign promise simply by refusing to renew existing DACA cards. We are not talking about a balanced budget or entitlement reform  just a simple display of inaction. Even Marco Rubio said the president should only decline to retroactively strip DACA, but should follow through with the promise not to renew the amnesty.

This is correct. Trump does not need congressional approval to discontinue the DREAMer program. But instead of stopping it, he has expanded it.

2) Trump is continuing "catch and release" with illegals:

The apprehension of illegal border crossers by Border Patrol agents jumped 31 percent in May from the previous month. The jump follows a six-month decline in apprehensions after the election of President Donald Trump. The increase comes as Border Patrol agents report "catch and release" programs are quietly continuing. "Obama's catch and release is definitely continuing and our government is releasing illegal aliens into U.S. communities," Border Patrol agent Brandon Judd told Breitbart Texas in his capacity as president of the National Border Patrol Council. Agents previously expressed feeling betrayed by the new president's administration after Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appointed Kevin McAleenan as head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the U.S. Border Patrol. "He nominated this guy .. the problem is that this guy was hired by Barack Obama and was made deputy of [CBP] and all of the things we fought against on the border happened under this guy's watch and he would have been the one responsible for implementing them. That's DACA, DAPA and Catch and Release." Darby said in a Pursuit of Happiness interview referring to some programs started under the Obama Administration. "This is the guy who was picked by Barack Obama to enact Barack Obama's open border policies," Darby explained. "This guy for some reason has been picked by Trump to be the boss of the border patrol agents who did so much and believed so much in Donald Trump."

So Trump has a picked an Obama appointee to carry out Obama-era policies.

3) Trump is admitting more Syrian refugees than ever:

A total of 3,957 refugees were admitted into the United States in May, a 19.3 percent increase over April's figures ... with the largest contingents coming from the DRC (2,683), Burma (2,216), Iraq (1,696), Somalia(1,655) and Syria (1,603).

No court ruling requires him to admit individual refugees from these countries. Only low-information voters think otherwise.

4) Trump has agreed to zero funding of his "border wall" in the first year of his presidency. In the second year of his presidency, he has requested only $1.6 billion, which is not enough to fund a substantial portion of it.

5) Trump has refused to defund sanctuary cities. He has proposed ending grants to sanctuary cities from one small Justice Department grant program, keeping 99% of all grants to sanctuary cities intact. That's not keeping a campaign promises; that's tokenism.

I think, rhetoric aside, that Trump's immigration and border security policies are very much like Barack Obama's, and if Hillary Clinton had been elected president, we would have seen the exact same thing  more DREAMers, more Muslim refugees, and no border wall.

On this issue, President Trump is Hillary Clinton with a jacket and a tie.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
It appears that the Senate repeal of Obamacare being worked on is not a repeal at all, but instead a massive infusion of new taxpayer dollars to prop it up:

There is general agreement among the majority of the conference that a large "stabilization" fund is necessary to help individual insurance markets stay afloat, as well as tossing away House language that allowed people with pre-existing conditions to be charged much more money. Republicans are still not settled on how precisely to handle future Medicaid spending, but there is growing consensus that the expansion's wind-down will be pushed past the House's 2020 cut-off. All of those moves are likely to require more funding, and the way to get it is to delay repeal of some of Obamacare's tax increases, a strategy that isn't going to fly with conservatives. In an interview this week, Rand Paul charged that the House bill is bad enough because it keeps "90 percent" of Obamacare, said he opposes the creation of high-risk pools favored by many Republicans, and urged Republicans to abandon attempts to save the individual marketplace with an infusion of cash. "We promised the voters that we'd repeal Obamacare," Paul said. "Instead, we want to repeal sort of a tiny bit of it and replace it with something that looks a lot like Obamacare."

In light of that, why is President Trump propping Obamacare up? He is providing subsidies to keep Obamacare going  subsidies not authorized by law, but instead "made up" by Obama. Not only is there no legal requirement for these subsidies to continue, but these subsidies are the subject of a lawsuit that claims they are illegal. Not only is Trump continuing these subsidies, but he is being put in the position of defending Obama's illegal subsidies in court.

It would be easy for Trump to unilaterally end these subsidies, but he refuses to, pleasing only Democrats.

Trump administration officials have told Democrats they will continue paying controversial ObamaCare insurer subsidies, easing fears that a fight over the issue could lead to a government shutdown. "Our major concerns in these negotiations have been about funding for the wall and uncertainty about the CSR payments crucial to the stability of the marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act," Pelosi said. "We've now made progress on both of these fronts." Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also praised the development as "good news" amid the negotiations.

And yet we need the pressure of a collapsing Obamacare to get a more free-market solution out of the Senate. Without such pressure, all we will get is more socialized medicine.

Trump has betrayed the voters on "DREAMers," on moving our embassy in Israel, on ripping up the Iran treaty, on defunding sanctuary cities, and now this. Should we be surprised that he is voluntarily keeping Obamacare going?

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.


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Al Musallam (pictured right) joined Gulf Air as deputy chief executive officer and has been at the helm of the airline, as acting chief executive officer, since December 2012. He was given the permanent post as CEO just over a year ago in May.

Gulf Air credited Al Musallam along with the executive management team, with spearheadeding the national carriers 2013 restructuring strategy to reduce

the airlines annual losses.

A year ago H.E. Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, deputy Prime Minister and the then chairman of Gulf Air board, reported that those losses had been slashed by 88%.

A new board was appointed on May 14 with tourism minister, Zayed Bin Rashid Alzayani, taking over the role as chairman of the board

Alzayani said: On behalf of Gulf Airs board of directors and the airlines executive management team and workforce, I extend my sincerest thanks to Mr Al Musallam for his invaluable contributions and achievements delivered during his tenure with the airline. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.




Qatar Airways available seat kilometres (ASK) increased by 21.9 per cent in the fiscal year to 185,208 million.

Chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: Our annual results once again reflect the success of our expansion and growth strategy that has seen the Qatar Airways Group grow from a small regional airline into an aviation powerhouse over the last two decades.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary in the industry, I am proud to share our annual results with the world so that they can see how far we have come as an airline group and how our dedicated team of more than 43,000 employees have worked together to make Qatar Airways the huge success it is today.

During the year which ended in April, Qatar made significant investments and partnerships; launched 10 new destinations; and a number of innovative on-board product developments while its modern fleet to 196 aircraft.

In July 2016, the airline announced an increase in its stake in International Airlines Group (IAG) from 15.24 per cent to 20.01 per cent, strengthening its position as a shareholder in one of worlds biggest airline groups. A further strategic investment was made by the airline in December 2016, when it acquired 10 per cent of LATAM Airline Groups total shares.

Other key partnerships secured throughout the same period include a joint business agreement with IAG subsidiary, British Airways, with revenue sharing on the London Heathrow-Doha route, as well as new codeshare partnerships with airlines such as Finnair, Iberia, Sri Lankan, Vueling and Air Botswana.

The airline has announced that it will launch a record number of 24 new destinations in the next year, including exciting cities such as Dublin; San Francisco;

Rio de Janeiro; and Santiago.

Referring to the severance of diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, the report stated that Qatar Airways continues to operate to the rest of its network as per its published schedules with day-to-day adjustments for operational and commercial efficiencies, which is standard airline practice.






However, Jacqueline Fernandez feels to judge someone; you ought to be perfect yourself.

Actresses are constantly under the radar and are judged for every little thing they do. Recently, Deepika Padukone and Fatima Sana Sheikh got trolled for their attire choices for a film shoot. However, Jacqueline Fernandez feels to judge someone; you ought to be perfect yourself.

I dont think those are the kind of negative individuals should be affecting you. I dont believe in judging people as I feel everyone has their reasons. Everyone is individualistic, so you cant judge someone unless you are perfect. Some people need to remember that first, Jacqueline Fernandez said.

She has a great line up with all the A-list actors this year with three releases, A Gentleman, Reload and Judwaa 2. But the Sri Lankan beauty has not let that get to her head. I am not a star yet, hopefully soon, she says with a smile.
The director of the film Aarambhh says that he is not playing a young lover boy, but is playing his age.

Mumbai: 'Malang' may have a romantic plot, but debutante director Aarambhh Singh says he will not make Sanjay Dutt dance around trees and the actor will play his age in the movie.

Dutt has been signed on to play the lead role in the movie that will mark the directorial debut of Aarambhh, who had worked on 'Bhoomi' as an associate director.

"It's a romantic film with Sanjay sir, but that doesn't mean I will make him run around the trees. We are not showing him as a young lover boy, he is playing around his age. Love and romance can happen at any age. We will give a new definition to love through this film," Aarambhh told PTI.

The director says he narrated the story of 'Malang' to the actor while they were shooting for 'Bhoomi'.

"We only had Sanjay sir in mind for this film. In the film, his character will have various shades but when he meets a woman cop, he introduces himself as a simple man," he adds. The director says the hunt is on for the leading lady.

The film which will go on floors in December will be shot mostly in Varanasi and Shimla. It will be produced by T-Series' Bhushan Kumar as well as Sandeep Singh and Omung's Legend Studios.
After the accident, 8 people died on the spot, whereas 1 was declared dead at the Ahmednagar Government Hospital.

The injured have been admitted in the Ahmednagar Government Hospital. (Photo: ANI)

Mumbai: As many as nine people were killed and 22 critically injured after a bus travelling from Pune to Latur met with an accident in Beed on early Sunday morning.

After the accident, eight people died on the spot, whereas one was declared dead at the Ahmednagar Government Hospital.

The injured are admitted in the Ahmednagar Government Hospital.

Further details are awaited.
Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi said that the Mahatma would have laughed at this comment for its utter tastelessness.

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Saturday hit out at BJP national president Amit Shah for his comments on Mahatma Gandhi. In a function at Raipur, Mr Shah had referred to Mahatma Gandhi as a Chatur Baniya. He also said that the Congress had never been a party based on principles. Instead, it merely has been a Special Purpose Vehicle to get freedom.

Mahatma Gandhis grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi said that the Mahatma would have laughed at this comment for its utter tastelessness. Gandhi laughed at cartoons of himself. He would have laughed at this one also but for its utter tastelessness and the hidden mischief in it, he said. Interestingly, Gopalkrishna Gandhi is one of the frontrunners for the joint Opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.

The Congress termed Mr Shahs remarks as an insult to the father of the nation and demanded an immediate apology from Mr Shah and also from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to reporters at the Congress communications, chief Randeep Singh Surjewala said Rather than fighting casteism, they (BJP) identified even the father of the nation with his caste. This shows the character and ideology of the ruling party and its president. Where will these people take the country?

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also attacked the BJP chief over his comments.
On Saturday, the Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch.

Ramgarh (J&K): The Pakistan Rangers on Sunday violated unprovoked ceasefire on forward Border Security Force (BSF) troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramgarh sector at 10:45 am.

The Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. The firing continued for about 45 minutes.

No injuries or damages have been reported

In the another incident earlier in the day, the Army retaliated to a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Bhimber Gali sector in Rajouri district at 9:45 am.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district along the LoC.
Goa and Karnataka are locking horns over the sharing of Mahadayi or Mandovi river water.

Panaji: Shiv Sena Goa unit president Shivprasad Joshi on Sunday said many people in neighbouring Karnataka cannot sing the national anthem, remarks that could trigger a political controversy.

"People in Goa are patriots. I know many students who can sing complete 'Vande Mataram' unlike Karnataka where many people do not even know how to sing the national anthem and they also do not know our national fathers," Joshi told reporters.

Goa and Karnataka are locking horns over the sharing of Mahadayi or Mandovi river water.

Praising Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, whose entry is banned in Goa, he said Muthalik has done a commendable job in Karnataka and he is a protector of women.

"When Sri Ram Sene workers went to the Mangalore pub (in 2009) to make our sisters understand that it is not fair to indulge in pub culture, parents of a girl who was alleged to have been assaulted by the Sene workers, thanked Muthalik. The parents said Muthalik was doing the right job of protecting women," the Sena leader said.

He said though the Sena did not demand a ban on "pub culture", but it is against the "late night affairs outside these places".

"You visit a pub in the night at 12 and you find girls and boys sitting outside and drinking. Is this fair? We don't mind what tourists do here, but when it comes to local boys and girls, it is our duty to educate them," Joshi said.

Responding to a question on the ban imposed on Muthalik's entry, he said the Sena would support the Sri Ram Sene if they want to do good work for Goa.

"Even any Muslim organisation wants to come to Goa and do some good work, we will back them," he said.
The Chief Minister assured that justice would be done and the culprits would be punished.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday called off his 'indefinite' fast.

Chouhan, who had started an indefinite fast on June 10 amid raging farmers' protests in the state, ended his fast by consuming coconut water.

"We will make the state land use advisory service so that farmers get correct and timely information about climate change. I, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi promise that we will irrigate every land. We have decided to implement every policy with the consent of farmers," he said before ending the fast.

He further said not only in India but in the entire world, Madhya Pradesh stands at number one position in the agriculture sector.

Earlier in the day he said that despite falling asleep "intermittently", the farmers and their issues made a constant thorough in his dreams and thoughts and hence, vowed to solve the pertinent matters.

"I slept intermittently and all that while I kept thinking about what all topics - out of the ones we discussed with the farmers - can be worked upon as soon as possible," he said, adding, "kisaan khwaabon mein bhi thhe, haqeeqat mein bhi." (The farmers and their issues were in my thoughts and dreams.)

"I have always tried doing a lot for farmers, and their problem is ours. They are our own. I also thought upon how to increase the productivity and sustain it," he added.

Chouhan also entailed how the families of the deceased met him and asked him to discontinue the fast.

"One thing that made me emotional was the number of our children that we lost in these protests. Their parents came to meet me yesterday and despite such grief befalling upon them, asked me to put an end to the issue," he said.

Commenting about the amenities provided to him in the tent he has made a stay in for the fasting period, he said, "I was told that this was a five-star tent. They even asked me to put an AC, but I said that wasn't required. You don't go on a fast for the farmers by living in AC. We made a meeting room, because I had to meet officials and farmers."

Earlier, Chouhan had hinted that he would end the fast soon after the families of the four farmers, who were killed in the police firing in Mandsaur, met Chouhan and requested him to call off his fast.

Read: As MP CM enters 2nd day of indefinite fast, farmers hope for peace-talk, justice

"We requested the Chief Minister to call off his hunger strike. We don't think that he is doing any drama. He is genuinely concerned about us. We also asked for stern action against the culprits," said a deceased farmer's father.

The Chief Minister assured that justice would be done and the culprits would be punished.

Chouhan had asserted that he would not let the state engulf in violence and would ensure that peace returns.

"I discussed many problems and its solution. There are some issues which have already been addressed and there are some on which we have to take a decision. We are considering every issue seriously whether it is small or big. We will think about it and discuss it and thereafter, we will definitely take a decision in the interest of farmers," Chouhan said.

"My fast will continue till there is peace in the entire state. Madhya Pradesh is a temple to me and its people are my God. People's pain is my pain," he added.

Chouhan's move comes in the wake of unrest in the state following farmers staging a protest demanding better prices for their produce as also a waiver on loan repayments.
Shetti to meet JDU leader Sharad Yadav on June 14.

New Delhi: The farmers stir in Madhya Pradesh could cost the BJP an important ally from Maharashtra with the Lok Sabha MP and leader of Swabhimani Paksha, Raju Shetti, all set to meet the JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on June 14 in the national capital.

Aam Aadmi Party, which had so far remained neutral on the farmers agitation in MP, has also joined the Opposition bandwagon.

Mr Shetti, who has a considerable influence among the farmers in western Maharashtra, is reconsidering his ties with the BJP. Apparently miffed over the BJPs handling of the farmers situation in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Shetti told a news agency; I am reconsidering my tie-up with the BJP. I am unhappy over their shoddy handling of the issue. I will meet Sharad Yadav to plan a nation-wide agitation in the support of farmers demands.

Sources in the BJP revealed Mr Shetti was unhappy as he was not accommodated in the Fadnavis Cabinet in Mahrashtra. Mr Shetti is the lone MP from his party. It is said Mr Shetti was miffed as Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis inducted another leader of Swabhimani Paksha, Sadabhau Khot, into his Cabinet. Rift within the Swabhimani Paksha became evident when Mr Khot skipped a rally organised by Mr Shetti in Pune recently, demanding loan waiver for the farmers. Delhi chief minister and AAP supreme Arvind Kejriwal has reportedly met Mr Yadav to discuss the farmers issues.

There are reports that social activist Medha Patkar could also be roped in by the Opposition parties. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also met Mr Yadav. Reports say the Opposition parties would soon organise a countrywide agitation on the farmers issues.
Ramdev however, praised the people of Pakistan saying that they were good and peace-loving people except some bad elements.

Motihari: Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday said that India should immediately reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as it was the root cause of all the problems from Pakistan.

"All the problems emanating from Pakistan is because of PoK and hence India should immediately reclaim PoK," he said.

He said India should destroy all terrorists camps operating from PoK.

The Yoga guru was talking to reporters on the third and concluding day of a three-day yoga-cum-meditation camp organised by his Patanjali group as part of Champaran Satyagrah centenary celebrations at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Motihari.

Holding terrorists like Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim responsible for bloodshed at the India-Pakistan border, Ramdev said that these they should be handed over to India, dead or alive.

He, however, praised the people of Pakistan saying that they were good and peace-loving people except some bad elements who believe in bloodshed.

Replying to a query on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, Ramdev said that Indian army personnel too had their human rights.

In a reply to another question, he said that Patanjali Yogpeeth would set up a unit in Bihar to process products like jaggery, honey and litchi among others this year.

Besides, Ramdev said that Patanjali would also start work on 'cow research and promotion centre' in Bihar in the near future.

Ramdev praised the Nitish Kumar government's decision to implement prohibition in the state and said that 'yoga education' be included in government and private schools in the state.

Inclusion of yoga as part of education would help better the future of students, he said while making it clear that "Yoga is not a political agenda at all."
General Rawat said that the process to allow women in combat roles is ongoing and they will be recruited for positions in the military police.

New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Saturday that women would first be inducted into the military police before considering other options in the armed force for them. Women, he said, need to be given combat roles in the Army as terrorists often used women as shields.

Firstly, we will start with women as military police jawans, will take next step after success Because many times, during operation, we have to face people and many a times ladies come in front of us, General Rawat told media after attending a passing out parade ceremony at Dehraduns Indian Military Academy here.

General Rawat said that the process to allow women in combat roles is ongoing and they will be recruited for positions in the military police. Presently, women are only recruited into selective areas of the Army, like medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings.

According to reports, India will be joining countries like Germany, Australia, Canada, the United States, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Israel that have already allowed women in combat roles in their Army.

Last year, in a major step forward, Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh became the first women fighter pilots to be formally commissioned by the Indian Air Force.

Answering a question on the ongoing unrest in Kashmir, General Rawat said youth in the Valley are being instigated through a campaign of misinformation on social media.

Pakistan is spreading disinformation among the youth of Kashmir with doctored videos and messages. This is further supported by some people in the Valley who spread it and glamorise the young boys who have joined terrorist organisations, he said.

The Army Chief, presiding over a colourful passing out parade by 490 gentlemen cadets, said that security forces have to devise ways to counter this.

Kashmir has remained in a volatile state since July 2016, following the elimination of poster-boy militant Burhan Wani in an encounter in Tral. There have been wide-spread protests, including some in the middle of active security operations, leading to security forces adapting a tougher stance.
India hopes Chinese snub to Pak at Astana may change situation.

New Delhi: India is now hoping that the Chinese snub to Paki-stan at Astana, Kazakhstan, will lead to a re-think by Beijing on blocking UN sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar. This comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly snubbed Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif by not having a bilateral meeting with him after two Chinese nationals, including a woman, were abducted and killed by extremists in Pakistans restive Balochistan province.

New Delhi is now of the view that Beijing could now do a rethink on its dogged opposition to proposed UN sanctions agai-nst the chief of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar in view of the outcry in China after its two nationals were mercilessly killed, sources said, adding that Pakistan has failed to act against all terrorists in its country while selectively aiding some.

It was China which had single-handedly ensured the entry of its iron brother Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

With New Delhi attaching enormous significance to Chinas snub to Pakistan, the reading in government circles now is that the killing of the two Chinese nationals is ominous, coinciding as it did with Islamabads SCO entry at the just-concluded SCO meet in Astana.

After consistently blocking Indian moves for UN sanctions against Masood Azhar, Beijing, in February this year, had even blocked a move by the new Trump administration in the US for UN sanctions on Azhar. But the killing of Chinese nationals has now come as a rude shock to Beijing.

China is undertaking massive investment on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a land route going right down to Gwadar port in Balochistan. This Chinese exercise has meant that Chinese nationals are now living and working in Balochistan, which is witnessing insurgency and extremism.
The appointments committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, had extended the tenure of several law officers, until further orders.

New Delhi: Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi has written to the government saying he is not interested in continuing as the top law officer. Senior lawyer Harish Salve, who represented India at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, is being tipped to succeed Mr Rohatgi.

The AG, who is on a holiday in London, said he has had fantastic relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad during his three years as AG, but would now like to return to his private practice.

Mr Rohatgi told a television channel, Even if I return to private practice, my services will be available to the NDA government, BJP and its leaders as and when needed.

Mr Rohatgi was appointed AG for three years in 2014. His three-year term was ending on June 19, but the Centre last week decided to allow him to continue.

The appointments committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, had extended the tenure of several law officers, until further orders.

Along with Mr Rohatgi, additional solicitor generals Pinky Anand, Maninder Singh, P.S. Patwalia, Tushar Mehta and P.S. Narsimha were also given extensions.

Mr Rohatgis extension came despite criticism from certain quarters about his handling of some sensitive cases. The attorney general was blamed for embarrassing the government in the collegium system issue and the SCs scrapping of the National Judicial Appointments Commission was seen as a major blow. The embarrassment that the dissolution of Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand state Assemblies caused in the SC also did not go down well with the Modi government. My only regret as AG was the 2015 apex court judgment striking down National Judicial Appointments Commission law. I worked for five years as law officer under the Vajpayee government and now three years under the Modi government. I want to return to my private practice. I have a good relationship with the government Thats why I wrote to the government not to extend my term, he told a TV channel. The AGs juniors told this correspondent that Mr Rohatgi had written to the government in the last week of May expressing his desire not to continue as AG, shortly after arguing for the Centre in the triple talaq case.
The state said it will try its best to foil the bandh while the GJM will try to enforce it.

Kolkata: Darjeeling is expected to witness a fresh turmoil after a peaceful Sunday as the state government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha are all set to go on a virtual warpath. The state said it will try its best to foil the bandh while the GJM will try to enforce it.

In the wake of the indefinite bandh call by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) since Monday, the government on Sunday ordered all state government offices in Darjeeling and Kalimpong to remain open and asked employees to report on duty each day till the strike is not withdrawn. It has been decided that no leave shall be granted to any employee on any of these bandh days, a notification issued by the state finance department stated.

According to the notification, absence by an employee on that day would be treated as dies non and result in a break in his or her service. Also, no salary will be admissible unless the absence is covered by the following grounds like hospitalisation of the employee, bereavement in the family, severe illness and absence continuing prior from June 9. Employees who had been on child care, maternity or medical leave prior to June 9, or earned leave sanctioned before June 9, will be exempted.

The GJM on Saturday had announced that all government and central government offices including that of the GTA will remain closed for an indefinite period from Monday. Schools, transport and hotels would not be under the purview of the strike. Banks will also remain closed except on Monday and Thursday.

GJM chief Bimal Gurung said that the GJM is ready to land in jail in its effort to enforce bandh in the Hills. We know there will be a number of arrests on Monday. If the prison in Darjeeling gets, full we will be sent to other prisons. But our movement will be on. There is no significance of a movement if there are no arrests or persons land in jail, he said. Five Morcha supporters were arrested on Saturday night in connection with the incidents of violence on Thursday and Friday.

On being questioned about the inconvenience of the tourists who have stayed back in the Hills, the Morcha chief said, Situation in the Hills is not so good and it may turn worse. So I will appeal to the tourists that they leave. We do not want them to be face any sort of difficulty.
Loyalists, dissidents congratulate CM for breaking 28-hour-long fast.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with his wife during the second day of his indefinite fast for peace in Bhopal on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended his peace fast in which his wife Sadhna gave him company, by taking a glass of coconut water from veteran saffron leader Kailash Joshi, and then the offerings of Datias Peetambara Peetha deity- known for rescuing her devotees out of political crises  served by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijavargiya, considered his bete noir.

The occasion turned a show of unity in BJP with senior party leaders, both loyalists and dissidents, seen congratulating him for breaking his 28-hour-long fast, even as state women and child development minister Maya Singh offered a glass of coconut water to Mr Chouhans wife to end her fast.

The unity show came in the wake of reports that bickering in the ruling party had exacerbated the situation during farmer unrest.

I am now fully satisfied that complete normalcy has been restored in the state. No incidents of violence have been reported from anywhere since Friday night. Even kin of victims of police firing at Mandsaur met me here requesting me to end fast, Mr Chouhan, who appeared relaxed and confident for the first time after the farmer unrest hit the state on June one, told reporters. Earlier, the chief minister along with his wife spent the whole night in the waterproof dome built for the occasion amid heavy downpour.

The local news channels telecasted his night stay in the tent, generating sympathy for the couple.

In the morning, he met delegations of small farmers and representatives of 236 farmer bodies to hear their grievances.

Earlier, Mr Chouhan led the attack on the Congress, dubbing the party as conspirator and instigator of violence witnessed during ten-day farmers stir that ended on Saturday.

A manipulated video clipping was circulated during the agitation to drive a wedge between me and the farmers. My reactions to employees agitation earlier in which I had warned not release a single additional pie to them was shown as my reaction to the farmers agitation, he said.

The forces behind violence will be unmasked, he announced in a veiled threat to Congress.
The woman said she could feel the spider move inside her ear and was terrified when doctors confirmed the presence.

Spiders are the kind of creatures nightmares are made of and no one would want one anywhere near them. But these tiny insects are even scarier because of the way they can crawl into almost any space.

When a woman in Karnataka complained about a headache and tingling sensation in her ear, her husband drove her to a hospital. Further inspection saw a spider casually emerge out of the womans ear in a blood curdling footage.

Click below to watch

The woman said she could feel the movement of the spider in her ear after she woke up from a nap in her veranda. She also said that she was petrified when doctors said that it was actually a spider crawling in her ear.

Doctors said that removing a living creature from a patients ear is much more challenging than removing non-living objects. They said the persons anxiety can make things more complicated.
21-year-old Junaid Chaudhary was allegedly planning to kill Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah.

Junaid Chaudhary, a close aide of Chhota Shakeel, who was arrested by the Delhi Police fro northeast Delhi on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: An alleged aide of gangster Chhota Shakeel, arrested in Delhi on Friday, reportedly wanted to become a top gangster like underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted.

21-year-old Junaid Chaudhary was allegedly planning to kill Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah. He was arrested late on Wednesday night from Wazirabad in northeast Delhi.

According to police sources, Junaid thought that assassinating Fatah would land him in Delhi's Tihar Jail where he could then kill Chhota Rajan - once Dawood Ibrahim's right-hand and now his arch rival - who is lodged in a high-security ward there.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) PS Kushwah said Junaid was planning to target the writer, known for his controversial remarks criticising hardliners and strongly opposing terrorism. Junaid was enraged with Fatah's remarks and wanted to kill him, Mr Kushwah said.

"Mr Fatah was not in Delhi, Junaid was here to carry out a recce," he said.

Sources claimed that Junaid has said that he won't be deterred by the arrest and will continue with his mission after his release.

Junaid is the son of a milkman from Bhagirathi Vihar in Gokalpuri area in northeast Delhi.

Police say Junaid had allegedly received Rs. 1.5 lakh as the first installment from unknown sources and had arranged for weapons from western Uttar Pradesh to kill Chhota Rajan. He had also hired some men to carry out his plan. The police recovered a pistol and four live cartridges from him.

Junaid was arrested in June last year along with Roger Robinson, Yunus and Manish with arms and hawala money sent by Shakeel, but was released on bail within four months. They had been planning to kill Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Chakrapani and Chhota Rajan at that time.

According to police, a close aide of Shakeel had first contacted Junaid, who later roped in others to kill Rajan. They were promised Rs. 10 lakh for the assignment.

The Delhi Police zeroed in on the four through telephone intercepts as the accused were in constant touch with Shakeel. Once identified, the four were picked up from their homes in Delhi-NCR, the senior official said.

Rajan, 55, who was on a run for around 27 years, was arrested from Bali in Indonesia, based on a tip-off from Australian Federal Police, and brought to India in November, 2015.
ddhav Thackeray has promised that he will not allow the government to construct the Mahamarg, the Sena MP said.

Mumbai: Furthering the political drama, Shiv Sena MP, Sanjay Raut said to his party workers on Saturday to expect a political earthquake in July and made it clear that the partys battle is with its very ally, BJP. This clearly points at a tiff between Sena and BJP, especially after the state-wide farmers strike.

While addressing to party workers in Nashik, Mr Raut said, Our fight is with our ally. It is hell bent on destroying us. This is the question of our existence, so be prepared for that. A big battle is ahead in July.

Earlier this week, Sena ministers boycotted the weekly cabinet meeting saying they were not taken into consideration on the loan waiver declared for farmers. The minister said that the loan waiver would not happen without consultation with Uddhav Thackeray.

Slamming the BJP-led government for forcefully acquiring land from farmers for the Super Expressway (Samruddhi Mahamarg) project, Mr Raut said Sena will not allow the same. The BJP wants to help industrialists grab the land for Samruddhi Mahamarg by taking it forcefully from the farmers. Shiv Sena has stopped the process of land acquisition. Uddhav Thackeray has promised that he will not allow the government to construct the Mahamarg, the Sena MP said.

Vouching for a complete loan waiver, Mr Raut instructed the workers to send the loan waiver forms to farmers in every village. In last three years, 4,500 farmers committed suicide. What is the use of such a government that cannot prevent suicides? We want a complete loan waiver, he said.

Clarifying doubt over transport minister Diwakar Raotes involvement in the high-power group of ministers to resolve farmers issues, Mr Raut said the former kept the party views strongly. Earlier, Mr Raote had said that he was not aware of his involvement in the high-power committee.
Clad in kurta-pyjama, slippers, they flouted rules and harassed crew.

Some AI officials recently while flying abroad, spoke rudely to the crew over food and in-flight service.

Mumbai: Air India has issued a notice to all of its top officials, asking them to maintain a certain discipline while travelling in business class.

The notice was issued on June 6, after an inspection revealed that the airlines senior-most officials were flouting rules by walking around in bathroom slippers and kurta-pyjama and harassing the crew on board.

As per the airlines rules, officials travelling in the business class must be attired appropriately. Shirts, trousers and closed shoes are a must for them. It does not permit jeans, kurta-pyjama or slippers.

According to the notice issued by the chairman and managing director of the airline, Ashwani Lohani, all staff members availing of the privilege of flying in the airline, for personal or official reasons, will have to maintain a certain dress code.

An inspection conducted by the CMD revealed that many senior staff members were not dressed as expected.

The notice (in this papers possession), states that, Air India officials travelling as staff on leave (SOL) and staff on duty (SOL) on flights are not dressed in a befitting

manner.

It needs to be ensured that all Air India officials travelling on our flights should be properly attired and maintain a proper decorum and conduct.

According to top officials, recent incidents led the airline chief to inspect the situation at the ground level. It was only after receiving feedback, that the notice was formulated so that senior officials do not flaunt the dress code. These senior officials have also been reported to mistreat the cabin crew.

Sources also said that the carrier is set to send notices to all these senior airline officials, seeking an explanation about their casual approach while using their privilege to fly business class.
The decision came after a meeting between the farmers leaders and a Group of Ministers.

The decision will benefit around 70 per cent of farmers with small land holding in the state, but the state exchequer will be saddled with a burden of around Rs 40,000 crore. (Photo: AP)

Mumbai: Bowing down to the agitating farmers in Maharashtra, the state government has finally agreed, albeit partially, to their demand for a loan waiver. While there are some riders for farmers with large land holdings, farmers who own up to five acres of land will get immediate and complete relief and can apply for a fresh loan from Monday.

The decision will benefit around 70 per cent of farmers with small land holding in the state, but the state exchequer will be saddled with a burden of around Rs 40,000 crore.

The Asian Age had reported on June 8 that the financial assets of farmers would be checked before the government grants them a loan waiver. As per the decision, farmers who own up to five acres of land will get a complete loan waiver, but certain financial criteria will be applied for farmers with larger land holdings to ensure that only needy cultivators benefit from the move.

The state had been witnessing farmers agitation from June 1, which had brought the supply of vegetables, fruits and milk to cities to a standstill initially.

Declaring the governments intentions, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday tweeted, Government agrees for loan waiver for farmers. Conditions and detailing will be finalisedby a joint committee. At the same time, the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry (sic).

The decision came after a meeting between the farmers leaders and a Group of Ministers.

The farmers were demanding an immediate loan waiver as opposed to Mr Fadnavis proposed deadline of October 31.

Speaking about the decision after the meeting, revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said, All farmers will get a loan waiver with some parameters. Farmers with small and medium land holdings will get fresh loans from tomorrow. We are also going to drop criminal cases of political nature that were lodged against farmers during the agitation. A delegation under the chief minister will meet the Central authorities to demand the implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. Also, we are going to increase milk rates soon.

The government will appoint a joint committee comprising farmers representatives and ministers to decide the loan waivers parameters. The committee will check the financial background of farmers, especially those with large land holdings. Some of them might be businessmen and working professionals who should not get the loan waiver, which is for needy farmers, water resources minister Girish Mahajan said.

Welcoming the decision, Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatana MP Raju Shetti, who was in talks with the government, declared that the farmers strike was being withdrawn temporarily. Marginal farmers can get fresh loans from tomorrow so that they can get seeds, he said.

Kisan Sabha leader Dr Ajit Navale said farmer unions would monitor the implementation of the decision till July 26. If the decision is not implemented properly and demands are not met, we will continue the agitation, he said.

Satyashodhak Shetkari Sabha leader Kishor Dhamale said the Andhra Pradesh government had already decided 32 parameters for loan waiver, which could be considered for Maharashtra too.
Homes built for PAPs will now be turned into affordable houses.

Homes that were initially meant for PAPs will now be available as affordable houses as they refused to live there.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government, which is under pressure to construct 20 lakh affordable houses in a five-year period, has decided to declare 50,000 homes built for project-affected people (PAP) in Mumbai as affordable houses. The houses were built a few years ago for PAPs, but are still vacant as no one was ready to opt for alternative accommodation.

Creating affordable houses in Mumbai has been a tough challenge for the government as the land is very expensive. The government has already moved proposals for a few hundred houses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). However, the demand is higher for houses in Mumbai, as people come here daily to earn their livelihood.

In the last three years, the government has not built a single house in Mumbai or in any other parts of the state. There has not been much demand for affordable housing from rural areas, where the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is applicable.

In Mumbai, the government has identified around 50,000 vacant houses of 250 square feet each, which are vacant. Most of the vacant houses are in Mahul and Trombay where PAPs have refused to shift to.

The government had handed over about 23,059 houses to the Brihan-mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and 24,824 houses to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to rehabilitate their PAPs some time back. However, most of these houses are still vacant as the PAPs had refused to live in them. The government has now decided to open up these houses under the affordable housing scheme, a senior official from housing department said. There will be little discrimination as these houses are 250 sq ft in area and under the PMAY, the houses are 322 sq ft.

Confirming the move, housing minister Prakash Mehta said that the government would take the vacant houses under the affordable housing sche-me. About 50,000 houses in of Mumbais Vidya Vihar, Bhandup and Mahul areas lying vacant. We are planning to open them for the public under the affordable housing scheme. This will help the people to get houses in Mumbai, Mr Mehta said. Asked about the details of the scheme, the definition of affordability and whom to give the houses to, the minister said that discussions are underway.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced the 19 lakh affordable houses after coming to power in 2014. This was one of the main announcements of the BJP-led government. However, in the past two-and-a-half years, state agencies have not started any work on this.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

Ms May called it the Brexit election and projected her strong self versus the weak Corbyn as her winning gamble.

Dreams are boring

Mine are full of regret

Who wants to recall

What youd rather

forget?

Other peoples dreams are boring

Even nightmares pale

No sense in their

sensations

 Freudian explanations fail.

From Panini Hated Puns by Bachchoo

Humans are hanged, pictures and parliaments are hung.

Never, since King Canute whipped the seas to calm them, has there been an act of hubris whose results the UK witnessed through the night of Thursday last. Prime Minister Theresa May, having assumed office when David Cameron resigned, called a general election in April after insisting for a year that she wouldnt.

Before the results of the Brexit referendum she gave speeches saying Britain would be less secure, economically damaged and its health and other services would be disastrously hit by leaving the European Union. Was she, then home secretary, just pandering to her Prime Minister, because as soon as he resigned she stood for the leadership and told the country she was its most determined EU Leaver, saying Brexit means Brexit, though no one today knows what that means.

She inherited a working majority of Tory MPs in the Westminster Parliament and was even supported by the Opposition Labour Party when she moved Article 50 of the EU treaty, which starts the withdrawal negotiations. There were feeble calls for her to go to the country to receive an electoral mandate but she refused  till this April when she said she was calling one to obtain a larger Tory majority to go into the negotiations 10 days after the date she chose for the election.

Why did she do it? Her advisers and the opinion polls told her that the Tories were 20 per cent ahead of the Labour and that Jeremy Corbyn was the Oppositions weakest leader since Michael Foot was trounced in the 1983 general election.

Ms May was persuaded that Mr Corbyn was a wash-out, a walkover, a loser  whichever cliche you choose  by the constant attacks on him in the press, mostly from Rupert Murdochs Sun and from the Daily Mail, owned by Lord Rothermere, a non-domiciled tax-evader.

There was the fact that very many MPs of his own party disagreed with several of Mr Corbyns stances and had even attempted to replace him through a vote of no confidence. They didnt succeed, as his popularity with the general and increasingly young membership of the party countermanded the attempted coup, but the divisions encouraged Ms May to go for a contest.

She believed the pollsters prediction of a Tory majority of 80 to a 100, which would give her a mandate to negotiate as she wanted and have Parliament ratify the terms she came away with. As the eight weeks of the campaign progressed several truths and perceptions became evident or were changed. And so were the predictions.

Ms May called it the Brexit election and projected her strong self versus the weak Corbyn as her winning gamble. It was all about her. Her Cabinet was not consulted on the election manifesto and was told to repeat a mantra, regardless of what being asked: What is your policy for saving the NHS? Answer: Theresa May is the strong and stable leader who will get the best Brexit deal and Jeremy is a dithering washout! Question: What did you have for breakfast this morning? Answer: Theresa May is the strong and stable leader who will get the best You get the point. Throughout the campaign she referred patronisingly to the Tories as my candidates.

Her team  basically two trusted non-elected lieutenants  formulated a manifesto policy to pay for the care of the enfeebled elderly in care homes with state funds and then seize their houses when they died in compensation. It was labelled the dementia tax and when the party realised that it would lose her millions of older peoples votes, she back-pedalled on the percentage the state would grab. She began to be seen by the electorate as strong and stable as the Tower of Babel. She began to be labelled weak and wobbly in parody of her infantile slogan.

Mr Corbyn on the other hand presented a clear view on Brexit but proposed 10 things in his manifesto, which were approved by his whole party and appealed to the electorate. He was not afraid of debating the well-coated promises of abolishing university student fees, of nationalising the railways and energy companies and reducing the cost of travel and fuel; of raising no taxes except those of the people who earned more than 80,000 a year and increasing corporation tax to a level lower than that of the earlier Tory government; of funding the NHS, increasing the police force and the minimum wage for workers.

The gap between the Labour and Tories fell from 20 per cent to three per cent and then two per cent as June 8 approached. Ms Mays party far from gaining any seats was reduced to 318 below the simple majority of 326 in Parliament.

Despite rumblings among the senior Tories and their funders, Ms May has set her face against resigning. She will form a government and push through legislation with the backing of the Northern Ireland minority party the Democratic Unionists (DUP) who have 10 seats in Westminster and will force concessions on keeping the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (which remains in the EU as a soft border, not requiring visas to cross). The EU may not be willing to countenance any such thing.

If such a coalition or arrangement lasts for the next 10 days, Ms May goes to the Brexit table without a mandate for the hard bargaining she claimed to espouse. The Opposition parties have absorbed the electorates message. As far as these negotiations are concerned, there is now the distinct possibility that they will end in Britain staying well within the EU, whether they call it membership or not. Thats if, with dissent in her own ranks, she can sustain a minority government.

The next few weeks will determine whether Britain is headed for another election soon.
The Islamic world, wracked by multiple conflicts and crises, is traversing a period akin to Europes Dark Ages.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, Christian Europe was divided by the rivalries of the kingdoms of Spain, France and England, the Holy Roman Empire and the squabbling papal and city states of Italy. They were unable to unite in halting the advance of the ascendant Ottomans who reached the gates of Vienna and were stopped there more by Sultan Suleimans demise rather than credible Christian resistance.

Today, the roles are reversed. It is the Muslim world which is unable to unite to fend off the domination of the West. The crisis between Qatar and its GCC partners is reminiscent of the rivalries of Italys papal states and role of external powers in determining the destiny of its weak rulers.

The Islamic world, wracked by multiple conflicts and crises, is traversing a period akin to Europes Dark Ages.

First, in many Muslim countries, there is crisis of political legitimacy. Governance structures, mostly bequeathed by departing Western colonists, have corroded. The authoritarian regimes in the GCC and Iran were untouched by the Arab Spring; but most are vulnerable domestically to both democratic and ideological challenge.

Egypt has reverted to military rule. Turkeys populist leader battles internal and external opposition. External intervention in Libya has yielded a civil war and the emergence of the militant Islamic State group and other terrorist groups. Similarly, Syria has been destroyed by external intervention and a brutal sectarian and ethnic civil war. The fiction of Iraqs unity is preserved by the presence of Iranian militias, US military support and the war against ISIS. The US-installed Afghan regime is weak, corrupt, divided, and militarily beleaguered. Ironically, among OIC members, Pakistan is one of the few which, despite corruption scandals, retains a modicum of democratic legitimacy.

Second, violence is spreading across the Muslim world. Global terrorist groups  ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, etc.  are now active participants in civil and cross-border conflicts and pose a threat to global stability.

Muslim nations are not the main sponsors of global terrorism; they are its principal victims. Some major powers have fought terrorists selectively and at times used them for partisan purposes. No effort has been made to stop state terrorism or to differentiate between terrorists and insurgencies which, like the Afghan Taliban, have local, negotiable goals.

Third, the crises within the Islamic world have been exacerbated by ideological and doctrinal differences. The most vital schism is between Sunni and Shia power. This schism was dormant until Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. It rose to the fore in the Iraq-Iran war. It was manifest in the Afghan civil war between the Afghan Taliban and the Northern Alliance. It was, however, the US invasion of Iraq, its dismantling of the Sunni-dominated Baath Party and Army and the organisation of one-man one-vote elections that enabled the Iran-sponsored Shia parties to gain central power in Iraq and extend Iranian influence across the Levant and beyond.

The sectarian divide is not the sole ideological rift within the Muslim world today. The Muslim Brotherhood and its populist ideology have become abhorrent to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE. Hamas, the Palestinian affiliate of the Brotherhood, has suffered collateral damage. On the other hand, Qatar and Turkey have espoused the Brotherhood and Hamas, offered refuge to their adherents and support to them in the Libyan civil war. Such Qatari divergence was evidently the main reason for the Saudi-UAE break with Doha.

Last, but not least, todays weak, vulnerable Islamic world is wide open to the influence and domination of major external powers. The recent Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh was, more than anything, an illustration of the susceptibility of most of the assembled Muslim nations to US domination.

What seems most dangerous for the immediate future is the hard-line positions being adopted by the Trump administration on most international disputes and crises, including North Korea, South China Sea, Syria and Iran. If implemented, these positions, particularly the formation of an alliance against Iran, are likely to lead to the intensification of the conflicts affecting the Muslim world.

Pakistans main preoccupations are: TTP and ISIS terrorism, Afghanistan and India. It appears that Pakistan will face challenges in addressing these issues.

While addressing its own priorities, Pakistan cannot play possum on issues involving the Islamic world. Such abstention does not behove the Muslim worlds second largest nation, its largest military power and its only nuclear weapon state. Pakistan has consistently concluded that its national and security interests can be best advanced by promoting unity and cooperation among Muslim countries. Today, more than ever, Pakistan is obliged to play an active role to develop viable avenues for conflict resolution and cooperation among the Islamic nations and, hopefully, lead the way to a new age of enlightenment in the Muslim world.

By arrangement with Dawn
Saif al-Islam freed by armed group under amnesty law.

It is unclear what role the younger Gaddafi could play in Libya, where a complex array of armed groups and competing governments are vying for control.

Benghazi, Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been freed by an armed group in western Libya where he was being held following the 2011 revolt against his late father, former leader c, one of his lawyers and the brigade involved said.

He was released in the town of Zintan under an amnesty law passed by a parliament based in eastern Libya, lawyer Khaledal-Zaidi said on Sunday, adding that Saif was headed to another city which could not be named for security reasons.

Saif, 44, is the most prominent of the late leaders children, and was touted by some as a possible successor before the uprising six years ago in which Gaddafi was toppled and killed.

It is unclear what role the younger Gaddafi could play in Libya, where a complex array of armed groups and competing governments are vying for control.

But some in eastern Libya, where military commander Khalifa Haftar has been building power, have been pressing for Saifs release amid a push from former regime figures to reassert influence. Earlier reports that Saif had been freed from Zintan turned out to be false and there have been conflicting reports about his status.

Zintans Abubaker Sadiq brigade, which was responsible for guarding Saif, said it had decided to release him following requests from the ministry of justice of a government based in eastern Libya. We decided to release Saif al-Islam Muammar Gaddafi, who is free, and we confirm that he left Zintan on the date of his release on the 14th of Ramzan (Friday), the brigade said.
Sacked FBI chief Mr Comey delivered his bombshell allegations at a Senate hearing on Thursday.

Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Sunday accused James Comey of cowardice by leaking accounts of his meetings with the President days after the ex-FBI director testified that Mr Trump sought to derail the Russian probe.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible, Mr Trump wrote in an early morning tweet. Totally illegal? Very cowardly!

Sacked FBI chief Mr Comey delivered his bombshell allegations at a Senate hearing on Thursday, saying in his sworn testimony that he had asked a friend identified as a Columbia University law professor to release a memo of his conversations with the President to the press.

Mr Comey said he had hoped releasing the information via the media would prompt the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Russia probe, a ploy that ultimately proved successful.

He branded the President a liar and said Mr Trump urged him to abandon the investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, an allegation Mr Trump has denied.

On Friday, Mr Trumps former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski criticised Mr Comey as not man enough for having leaked the memo via his friend rather than doing it himself.

He gave his notes to a Columbia law professor because he wasnt man enough to give the notes directly to the media when he wanted them out to the media, Lewandowski told NBCs morning show.

Though Mr Trump has lambasted Mr Comey as a leaker, he also claimed total and complete vindication following the ex-FBI chiefs testimony, focusing on Mr Comeys confirmation that Mr Trump was not personally being probed.

A day before Mr Comeys testimony, two top spy chiefs, NSA director Mike Rogers and Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, both refused to answer when Intelligence Committee members inquired whether Mr Trump had ever asked them to help ease the probe. Both men said that they never felt pressured to do so.
Ministers push for foreign secretary to take over from PM after disastrous poll results.

Britains PM Theresa May and her husband Philip leave after attending Holy Communion at St Andrews Church in Sonning, Berkshire, England, on Sunday. (Photo: AP)

London: At least, five UK Cabinet ministers are pushing for Boris Johnson to topple Theresa May as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister, one of his close allies said on Sunday but the foreign secretary denied any plans of a coup.

Pressure has been building up on Ms May to step down after a disastrous election result for the Tories which saw the ruling partys majority slashed and being forced to cobble together a minority government with the support of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at Cabinet level, a Johnson ally told The Sunday Times. He has been inundated with messages of support... We need a Brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal, he added.

But Mr Johnson reacted to media speculation on Twitter by dismissing any rebellion, I am backing Theresa May. Lets get on with the job.

Mr Johnson, one of the Conservatives most popular politicians, tweeted that an article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper headlined Boris set to launch bid to be PM as May clings on was tripe. The Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in Thursdays election. Ms May called the snap vote in a bid to strengthen her mandate ahead of exit talks with the European Union. Instead, she has left Britains government ranks in disarray days before the divorce negotiations are due to start.
Some 3,400 grammes of explosives, 100-inch safety fuse, five non-electric detonators, three bags and maps have been recovered from them.

The ISIS militants were planning to attack sensitive installations in Sialkot district, about 180 km from Lahore. (Photo: Representational/File)

Lahore: Five Islamic State terrorists planning a major terror attack in Pakistan have been arrested and a huge cache of explosives recovered from them in Punjab province, officials said on Sunday.

The militants were planning to attack sensitive installations in Sialkot district, about 180 km from Lahore. They have been booked under the anti-terrorism act.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police arrested them on Saturday during a raid in Sialkot. Abdul Wahab, Behzad Ali, Shahzaib Zafar, Waqas and Daniyal Arshad were said to be active members of the ISIS.

Some 3,400 grammes of explosives, 100-inch safety fuse, five non-electric detonators, three bags and maps have been recovered from them.

The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing of two Chinese nationals, including a woman, who were abducted by armed gunmen from Pakistan's restive north-west Balochistan province recently.
The Pakistani naval chief Muhammad Zakaullah interacted with the ship's crew and appreciated their operational competence, ISPR said.

Karachi: A Chinese navy fleet comprising of three warships the Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu arrived at Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Saturday for a four-day goodwill and training visit.

The convoy is being commanded by Rear Admiral Shen Hao, Deputy Commander East Sea Fleet. The visiting ships were accorded a warm welcome during an impressive reception ceremony and received by senior officials of the Pakistan Navy and the Chinese Embassy Staff.

Xinhua quoted Rear Admiral Shen as saying that the visit would further promote understanding and mutual trust between the two nations and boost the cooperation.

Shen hoped that the cooperation and communication between the two navies would be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace.

Later, Chief of the Pakistan Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah also visited the Chinese Ships and met Shen. On his arrival on board, the Chinese Ship's smartly turned out contingent presented him the guard of honour.

During his visit on board, the Pakistani naval chief interacted with the ship's crew and appreciated their operational competence, ISPR said in a statement.

The naval chief said that the Pakistan-China friendship was highly valued and the continued cooperation between them has proven to be a source of strength for both the countries. The admiral added that the visit of PLA (Navy) Task Group was expected to enhance interoperability and maritime collaboration between the two navies.

During their stay at Karachi, the officers and men of the ship will hold professional discussions and interaction with their counterparts from the Pakistan Navy on subjects of mutual interest.

Moreover, official calls on senior Pakistan Navy officers and civilian dignitaries, operational training activities, joint interactive sessions, and table top discussions on professional topics and social events are also planned.

At the end of the visit, a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) will be conducted at the sea between Pakistan Navy Flotilla and PLA (Navy) Task Group to enhance interoperability between the two Navies.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Eternal life is " the immeasurable and gratuitous love of the Father, gifted by Christ on the Cross, offering his life for our salvation. This love with the action of the Holy Spirit radiates a new light on earth and in every human heart that welcomes it; A light that reveals the dark corners, the hardships that prevent us from bearing the good fruits of charity and mercy"; Pope Francis told the 10,000 people present today in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus.

Like every Sunday, Francis also recalled the readings of the day. "The biblical readings of this Sunday, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity," he said, "help us to enter into the mystery of God's identity." The Second Reading presents the good words that Saint Paul addresses to the community of Corinth: "The Lord's Grace Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all"(2 Cor 13:13). This "blessing" of the Apostle is the result of his personal experience of God's love, the love that Risen Christ revealed to him, who transformed his life and pushed him to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. From this experience of grace, Paul can exhort Christians with these words: "Be joyful, tend to perfection, bend to each other, [...] live in peace" (v. 11). The Christian community, even with all human limits, can become a reflection of the communion of the Trinity, its goodness and beauty. But this - as Paul himself testifies - necessarily passes through the experience of God's mercy, His forgiveness. "

"This is what happens to Jews on the journey of exodus. When the people broke the covenant, God appeared to Moses in the cloud to renew that covenant, proclaiming His name and meaning: "The Lord, Almighty and Merciful God, slow to anger and full of love and fidelity" (Ex 34: 6). This name expresses that God is not far off and closed in himself, but is Life that wants to be communicated, is open, is Love that redeems man from infidelity. God is 'merciful', 'pitiful' and 'gracious' because he offers us to fill our limits and our shortcomings, to forgive our mistakes, to bring us back to the path of justice and truth. This revelation of God has come to his end in the New Testament thanks to the word of Christ and his mission of salvation. Jesus showed us the face of God, One in substance and Trinity in people; God is all and only Love, in a relationship that exists all that creates, redeems, and sanctifies: Father and Son and Holy Spirit. "

"And the Gospel of today 'staged' by Nicodemus, who, despite occupying an important place in the religious and civil community of the time, never stopped looking for God; He did not think 'I have arrived', he did not stop looking for God and now he perceived the echo of his voice in Jesus. In the nigh time dialogue with the Nazarene, Nicodemus finally understands that he is already sought for and expected by God to be personally loved by Him. It is like the almond blossom, says the prophet, 'that flowers first'. In fact, Jesus speaks to him: "God so loved the world to give the only Son, so that everyone who believes in him is nor lost, but has eternal life" (Jn 3:16). What is this eternal life? It is the immeasurable and gratuitous love of the Father, gifted by Christ on the Cross, offering his life for our salvation. This love with the action of the Holy Spirit radiates a new light on earth and in every human heart that welcomes it; A light that reveals the dark corners, the hardships that prevent us from bearing the good fruits of charity and mercy. "

After the recitation of the Angelus, Francis recalled that yesterday, in La Spezia, Itala Mela (1904 - 1957) was proclaimed Blessed. "She grew up in a family distant from faith," he said, "in her youth she professed to be an atheist, but converted after an intense spiritual experience. She engaged in Catholic academics; Then became a Benedictine Oblate and made a mystical journey centered on the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, which we celebrate specially today. May the witness of the new Blessed One encourages us, during our days, to turn our thoughts to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who lives in the fibre of our heart. "
Hi,



I am an Indian.

Working in Australia on 457 Visa. I am on Dependent visa.

We would like to apply for PR.



Please guide us on the same.



Any suggestion would be helpful.



Thanks,

Prasanna
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A local filmmaker is honoring servicemen and women and their families with his movie Gone.

Local filmmaker makes movie honoring soldiers and their families

Film about soldier who goes off to war, but doesn't make it back

Gone to premier in Nov. at showcase in New York

After three weeks of filming, the crew filmed the final scenes at the American Legion Cemetery in Tampa Sunday.

"Its about a soldier that goes off to war and throughout the whole story the wife is basically reading his I am sorry I didnt make it back home letter, but at the same time you see him trying to escape the POW compound with his battle buddy, director Gerard Lima said.

The main character, Sgt. Andrew Marshall, is played by actor Jimmy Manfredy.

"My dad being in the Army and all the military personnel that have given their life, this was my homage to them without actually being in the uniform and telling somewhat of their story, Manfredy said.

Manfredy, who has never served in the military, said he got a lot of advice from his co-star, Robert Jones. Jones served in the Army for 24 years, completing five tours of duty.

"The main thing about this film is showing the other side, Jones said. Everyone always talks about when we go to war, this is what happens at home, what the wife or the husband or children go through."

Lima said the film was a project he was working on with his father, who is a former Army Ranger, but he passed away two weeks before filming started. The film is now dedicated to him.

Gone will premier in November at the HBO/Cinemax Urban Action Showcase in New York. It will then be available on Amazon and Google Play.
Outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny has held a telephone conversation with Theresa May to discuss Brexit and the political stalemate in Northern Ireland.

As Mrs May tries to hold her government together in the wake of a disastrous election result, Mr Kenny suggested that she hold an early meeting with his successor Leo Varadkar.

The two leaders discussed the outcome of the UK general election and the Prime Minister outlined the proposed supply and confidence arrangement between her party and the DUP.

The Taoiseach indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring, a spokesperson said.

Mr Kenny also noted the absence of any nationalist voice in Westminster as a result of Sinn Feins decision not to take up their seven seats in the London parliament.

Both leaders agreed that of immediate concern were efforts to establish an executive as soon as possible, with exploratory discussions with the NI parties to take place tomorrow.

They discussed the meeting between the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire which is scheduled for tomorrow, the spokesperson added.

In relation to Brexit they noted that negotiations between the UK and the EU should begin next week as previously planned. Mr Kenny reiterated the concerns of the Irish government ahead of those talks.

The Taoiseach stated that there should be an early meeting between the Prime Minister and his successor Leo Varadkar and wished her well in the challenges that now lie ahead, the spokesperson concluded.
Sinn Fein's attempt to seize North Belfast has failed for the fifth time following a strong performance by DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds.

The most starkly divided constituency in Northern Ireland remained so after this election, with party workers revealing that their tallies showed some boxes of votes were as high as 90% in favour of Mr Dodds, while others were 90% for Sinn Fein candidate John Finucane.

The pair were almost 20,000 votes ahead of the rest of the field, and remained neck and neck throughout most of the count.

Mr Dodds triumphed in the end, winning with an increased vote of 21,240 - up from 19,096 at the last general election in 2015.

However, Sinn Fein also had a record-breaking election with Mr Finucane, a political first-timer, winning 19,159 votes, just 2,081 behind Mr Dodds. The next closest contender was third-placed Alliance candidate Sam Nelson with 2,475 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Dodds described his win as a "victory for unionism".

And he declared it a victory for North Belfast, because it had returned an MP who will take his seat.

"It is also a victory for representation, with the largest unionist vote in North Belfast for 20 years," Mr Dodds added.

"The DUP in this election has made history and there is more to come.

"This is a great night, not just for the DUP but for the Union we love."

Mr Dodds described his win as a "phenomenal result", adding that he was not daunted by a smaller majority. In 2015 he had won by a margin of 5,326, but this time his lead was pegged back to 2,081.

"I have had a similar majority before so it does not worry me in the slightest," Mr Dodds insisted.

"It would have been ludicrous if North Belfast had been left voiceless by the actions of Sinn Fein in not taking its seats at Westminster, and the collapse of the Executive and the Assembly."

Mr Finucane may have lost out, but he took heart in the size of the vote he had attracted on his first time standing in an election.

"This is my first political campaign," he pointed out.

"I am exceptionally proud to stand here having got the biggest mandate any republican has ever had in North Belfast, to have returned 19,000 votes and to have increased our vote."

Mr Finucane, the son of murdered solicitor Pat, had been a surprise choice as candidate. Previously Gerry Kelly had stood for Sinn Fein in the area.

Meanwhile, the Alliance Party had a good showing in a constituency it has not traditionally been strong in, with its candidate Mr Nelson beating the SDLP's Martin McAuley into fourth place.

Mr Nelson attracted 2,475 votes, while Mr McAuley, a party Press officer, polled 2,058.

The final two candidates running were Malachi O'Hara for the Green Party, who got 644 votes, and Gemma Weir for the Workers' Party, who got just 360 votes.

The turnout was 67.56%, well up on the 2015 figure of 59.2%.
Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (bottom R) addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron attends a campaign visit in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at an event at The Space in Norwich while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: A young girl holds a sign as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Members of the public look-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters applaud as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters lok-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

TOPSHOT - Tourists gather near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A supporter of Britain's main opposition Labour Party takes a photograph as they wait for the leader Jeremy Corbyn to arrive at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, gives the thumbs up during a campaign rally on Buchanan Street on June 7, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland ,England, and Wales on today on the final day before polling day in General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) ***BESTPIX***

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip meet staff at a Dunelm home furnishing shop in Nottingham while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits local voters at the campaign office in Carshalton during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

(FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (top) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (bottom) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

(FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (L) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (R) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

TOPSHOT - This combination of pictures made on June 6, 2017, shows Britain's Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative party Theresa May (top L) on May 30, 2017 in Wolverhampton, Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (top R) on May 22, 2017 in Kingston-upon-Hull, Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon (bottom L) on April 20, 2015 in Edinburgh, and Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron (bottom R) on May 26, 2017 in Manchester. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTOLEON NEAL,OLI SCARFF,LESLEY MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour supporters cheer as Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party speaks during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

SOLIHULL, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Prime Minister Theresa May greets supporters as she arrives for her last campaign visit at the National Conference Centre on June 7, 2017 in Solihull, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow to vote in a general election. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon waves as she holds a final general election campaign rally on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images

Supporters hold placards as they attend the final general election campaign rally of Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party and Chris Ostrowski, Labour candidate for Watford during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, during a speech by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, ahead of a speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 5th June 2017 - Picture by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye. SDLP Candidate Margaret Ritchie pictured on the campaign trail at Warrenpoint. Speaking while campaigning in South Down for Margaret Ritchie, the former SDLP Deputy Leader said: The SDLP's Margaret Ritchie is in a two horse race and the choice is very clear - elect a candidate who can represent people of all backgrounds, who will protect the Good Friday Agreement and who will fight against Theresa Mays plans for a dementia tax and a hard Brexit. Or choose a party who wont take their seat, cant represent all those who live here, and whose main political ambition is to silence South Downs voice and abandon the fight for the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Feins plan for Irish politics is to remove all representation from Westminster for the first time since the 1960s, and to end a tradition in Irish politics starts by Daniel OConnell himself. Without a functioning Assembly, MPs could be our only public representatives with any power to hold direct rule Ministers to account. To give up that card by voting for abstentionism MPs risks all the progress weve made in the last thirty years.

Pacemaker Press 31/5/2017 DUP Leader Arlene Foster and Deputy leader Nigel Dodd during the DUP Manifesto Launch at The Old Courthouse in Antrim on Wednesday morning ahead of the General election on the 8th of June. Pic Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Pacemaker Press 5/6/17 Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill during A television debate from the five main parties which was recorded at UTV in Belfast. Pic Pacemaker

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / Press Eye. Alliance party general election Manifesto launch at CIYMS in East Belfast. Paula Bradshaw

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / Press Eye. Alliance party general election Manifesto launch at CIYMS in East Belfast.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event on the Promenade in Colwyn Bay, Wales, while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and Vince Cable, local candidate for Twickenham, visit in Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn greets supporters as he leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn greets supporters as he leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron (R) and attends a campaign visit with the party's candidate for the Twickenham constituency, Vince Cable, in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 07: Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron (L) and former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (R) sit in a restaurant as they campaign in Twickenham on June 7, 2017 in Twickenham, England. Mr Cable is campaigning to retake his former seat after it was won by Conservative Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 in a general election. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

NORWICH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Philip May (L), husband of Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, listens as she speaks during a Conservative Party general election campaign visit at The Space on June 7, 2017 in Norwich, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after addressing supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 07: Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron speaks to the media in front of a betting shop as he campaigns with former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (not pictured) in Twickenham on June 7, 2017 in Twickenham, England. Mr Cable is campaigning to retake his former seat after it was won by Conservative Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 in a general election. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (bottom R) addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron attends a campaign visit in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at an event at The Space in Norwich while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: A young girl holds a sign as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Members of the public look-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters applaud as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters lok-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

TOPSHOT - Tourists gather near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

TOPSHOT - A supporter of Britain's main opposition Labour Party takes a photograph as they wait for the leader Jeremy Corbyn to arrive at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip meet staff at a Dunelm home furnishing shop in Nottingham while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits local voters at the campaign office in Carshalton during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

(FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (top) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (bottom) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

This combination of pictures made on June 6, 2017, shows Britain's Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative party Theresa May (top L) on May 30, 2017 in Wolverhampton, Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (top R) on May 22, 2017 in Kingston-upon-Hull, Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon (bottom L) on April 20, 2015 in Edinburgh, and Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron (bottom R) on May 26, 2017 in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour supporters cheer as Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party speaks during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

SOLIHULL, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Prime Minister Theresa May greets supporters as she arrives for her last campaign visit at the National Conference Centre on June 7, 2017 in Solihull, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow to vote in a general election. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon waves as she holds a final general election campaign rally on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images

Supporters hold placards as they attend the final general election campaign rally of Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party and Chris Ostrowski, Labour candidate for Watford during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, during a speech by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, ahead of a speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, gives the thumbs up during a campaign rally on Buchanan Street on June 7, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland ,England, and Wales on today on the final day before polling day in General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A voter arrives at the polling station in St Nicolas Parish Hall, Belfast, as voting gets underway in the 2017 General Election. Pic: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Arlene Foster, Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, leaving Brookeborough Primary School, Co Fermanagh, having cast her vote in the 2017 General Election. Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Sinn Fein leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill arrives at a polling station at St Patrick's primary school in Annaghmore, Clonoe to cast her vote in the General Election. Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Alliance candidate for West Belfast Sorcha Eastwood casts her vote in the 2017 General Election, with her husband, Dale Shirlow, at a polling station in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, still wearing her wedding dress after they were married earlier in the day. Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Dougie the Cocker Spaniel sits beside a sign reading 'Pawing Station' outside a polling station on June 8, 2017 in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. Voters are going to the polls today to vote in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Copies of the Evening Standard newspaper, with the headline 'You decide' are pictured in central London on June 8, 2017, as Britain holds a general election. AFP/Getty Images

A sign is pictured outside a polling station in Kingston-Upon-Hull, northern England, on June 8, 2017 as Britain votes in the general election. AFP/Getty Images

Voting activists encouraging commuters to vote in the General Election 2017, at Turnham Green station in London. PA

Toby, a beagle cross waits for his master outside a polling station on the Glen road on June 8, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 08: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn casts his vote at a polling station at Pakeman Primary School on June 8, 2017 in London, England. Polling stations have opened as the nation votes to decide the next UK government in a general election. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Two anti-Brexit activists pose with their hand-puppets depicting British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party Theresa May, left, and Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, in front of the the Houses of Parliament on election day in London, Thursday, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Leader of the Conservative party Theresa May and Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. AFP/Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon and Stephen Gethins eat chips on the General Election campaign trail (Jane Barlow/PA)

Winner: Jim Shannon (DUP) with his electoral agent Simon Hamilton during the 2017 Westminster Election count at Aurora Leisure Complex, Bangor. Picture by Brian Little/PressEye

Winner: Sinn Fein candidate for South Down Chris Hazzard celebrates after winning the seat at the election count at the Eikon Exhibition Centre Sprucefield for Lagan Valley, Newry & Armagh, South Down and Upper Bann. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th June 2017 - Westminster General Election 2017 The election count at Valley Leisure Centre Newtownabbey for East Antrim and South Antrim DUP's Sammy Wilson Photo by Matt Mackey / Press Eye.

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 8th June 2017 - Westminster General Election 2017. Michelle Gildernew celebrates at the election count at Omagh Leisure Complex Omagh for West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone. Photo by John McVitty / Press Eye.

PACEMAKER BELFAST 09/06/2017 Gregory Campbell with his wife Frances after he was re-elected to represent East Londonderry

9 / 6 / 17 PACEMAKER PRESS Francie Molloy wins the Mid Ulster seat for Sinn Fein in the UK Parlimentary Election. PICTURE MATT BOHILL PACEMAKER PRESS

DUP leader Arlene Foster (2nd L), DUP deputy leader and north Belfast candidate Nigel Dodds (L), Emma Little Pengelly (2nd R) DUP south Belfast candidate and Gavin Robinson (R) DUP east Belfast candidate celebrate at the Belfast count centre on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After a snap election was called the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday, after a closely fought election the results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, leader Arlene Foster and former leader Peter Robinson cheer as Emma Little Pengelly is elected to the South Belfast. PA Niall Carson/PA Wire

Paul Nuttall has resigned as the leader of Ukip (Joe Giddens/PA)

Leo Varadkar said the UK election result presents an opportunity for Ireland

Liberal Democrat Party leader Tim Farron speaks to suporters and the press at 1 Whitehall Place on June 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Liberal Democrat Party leader Tim Farron speaks to suporters and the press at 1 Whitehall Place on June 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May (L) leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on June 9, 2017, en route to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II, the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority. British Prime Minister Theresa May will on Friday seek to form a new government, resisting pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority ahead of crucial Brexit talks. May is set to meet the head of state Queen Elizabeth II and ask for permission to form a new government, according to her Downing Street office. / AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on June 9, 2017, en route to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II, the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority. British Prime Minister Theresa May will on Friday seek to form a new government, resisting pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority ahead of crucial Brexit talks. May is set to meet the head of state Queen Elizabeth II and ask for permission to form a new government, according to her Downing Street office. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVASDANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

The car carrying Prime Minister Theresa May arriving at Buckingham Palace before her audience with Queen Elizabeth II after the General Election resulted in a hung parliament. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday June 9, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Prime Minister Theresa May with her husband Philip arrives at Buckingham Palace where she will seek the Queen's permission to form a UK government on June 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on June 9, 2017, en route to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II. AFP/Getty Images

DUP leader Arlene Foster along with her MPs pictured at the Stormont Hotel in south Belfast this afternoon. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

Leader of the DUP Arlene Foster holds a press conference at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on June 9th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Leader of the DUP Arlene Foster holds a press conference at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on June 9th 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

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 on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O'Neill (left) and party president Gerry Adams (right) speaking outside Sinn Fein offices on the Falls Road in Belfast after the party emerged with seven MPs following the General Election. PA

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds (L) points to DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (R) as they hold a photocall with their newly elected candidates who stood in the general election on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Sinn Fein's party president Gerry Adams speaking outside Sinn Fein offices on the Falls Road in Belfast after the party emerged with seven MPs following the General Election. PA

Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O'Neill (centre left) and party president Gerry Adams (centre) speaking outside Sinn Fein offices on the Falls Road in Belfast after the party emerged with seven MPs following the General Election. PA

UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves via a fire exit following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness on June 9, 2017 in Boston, England. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

A television presenter stands outside 10 Downing Street in London on June 10, 2017, holding a copy of The Daily Mirror newspaper with the headline "Coalition of Crackpots" the day after the general election resulted in a hung parliament and British Prime Minister Theresa May forming a minority government. AFP/Getty Images

DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (R) waves to the media alongside Gregory Campbell (L) after holding a press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May (far left) stands with other candidates at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Maidenhead, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Theresa May at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, after she held her seat. PA

Prime Minister Theresa May reacts at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, after she held her seat. PA

Theresa May kept her senior ministers in post after suffering humiliating losses in the snap election. AFP/Getty Images

British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Maidenhead, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

DUP leader Arlene Foster (2nd L), DUP deputy leader and north Belfast candidate Nigel Dodds (L), former DUP leader and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson (R) watch on at the Belfast count centre on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Local candidate Mr Fishfinger waits as ballot papers are counted at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre on June 8, 2017 in Kendal, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images)

General Election 2017: Theresa May clings to power - hoping to get by with a little help from friends in DUP [Photos] Close

Theresa May's grip on power appears far from secure amid confusion around a potential deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to support her in Parliament.

Downing Street initially said an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached with the DUP which will be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

But it later emerged no deal has yet been finalised and talks on the arrangement will continue during the week as Mrs May desperately tries to shore up her position after losing her Commons majority in the election.

The 10 DUP MPs could prove crucial in supporting the Conservatives on key votes after Mrs May was left eight seats short of an overall majority in the general election.

A confidence and supply deal would mean them backing the Government on its Budget and confidence motions, but could potentially lead to other issues being decided on a vote-by-vote basis.

The talks were in line with DUP leader Arlene Foster's "commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge", her party said in a statement.

The talks so far have been positive. Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament. DUP

Number 10 had earlier said: "We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week."

Following talks between Mrs May and the DUP on Saturday night, a second statement confirmed that no final deal had been reached.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

"We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond."

As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward. Downing Street

Mrs May needs support in Parliament because the Queen's Speech setting out the Government's programme is due on June 19, with a crucial vote on it expected after a few days' debate.

Sinn Fein leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill has said the proposed deal between the Conservatives and the DUP will end in tears.

She said: Experience shows us that unionists have minimal influence on any British government.

This new arrangement between the DUP and the Tories will be transitory and will end in tears.

But it will be the people of the north who will have to pay the price for the DUPs support for Brexit and for cuts.

Sinn Feins focus remains on entering talks to re-establish an Executive which delivers for all on the basis of equality, respect and integrity and this requires the full implementation of agreements on rights and legacy.

They have achieved little propping up Tory governments in the past and put their own interests before those of the people. Michelle O'Neill

The potential deal with the DUP came after Mrs May sent her Chief Whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast for talks.

In other developments:
Arlene Foster has said she will do the best for Northern Ireland and the UK in any deal with the Conservatives to allow the party to operate a minority government.

The DUP and Conservatives have been locked in discussions over how the two could work together in parliament.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister's office said a deal had been done, but the DUP later said the talks were continuing. Arlene Foster has said those discussions are set to continue on Tuesday.

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Speaking to Sky News on Sunday in her first interview since discussions begun, the DUP leader said: "We have had very good discussion yesterday with the Conservative party in relation to how we could support them in forming a national government. One that would bring stability to the nation.

"Those discussions continue but we have made good progress."

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Asked what the DUP would be demanding in any deal, she continued: "I am not going to negotiate over the airwaves. But we will act in the national interest and do what it right for the United Kingdom as a whole and in particular for Northern Ireland.

"There has been a lot of hyperbole since Thursday. A lot of things said, a lot by people who really don't know what we stand for.

"Just to be clear we will act in the national interest, we want to do what is right for the whole of the UK, we want to bring stability to he government of the United Kingdom."

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(Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images) Getty Images DUP leader Arlene Foster (2nd L), DUP deputy leader and north Belfast candidate Nigel Dodds (L), former DUP leader and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson (R) watch on at the Belfast count centre on June 9, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) Getty Images British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Maidenhead, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images Theresa May kept her senior ministers in post after suffering humiliating losses in the snap election. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May reacts at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, after she held her seat. PA PA Prime Minister Theresa May at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, after she held her seat. 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(Photo by Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images The car carrying Prime Minister Theresa May arriving at Buckingham Palace before her audience with Queen Elizabeth II after the General Election resulted in a hung parliament. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday June 9, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire PA Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on June 9, 2017, en route to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II, the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority. British Prime Minister Theresa May will on Friday seek to form a new government, resisting pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority ahead of crucial Brexit talks. 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(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) Getty Images WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour supporters cheer as Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party speaks during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images This combination of pictures made on June 6, 2017, shows Britain's Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative party Theresa May (top L) on May 30, 2017 in Wolverhampton, Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (top R) on May 22, 2017 in Kingston-upon-Hull, Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon (bottom L) on April 20, 2015 in Edinburgh, and Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron (bottom R) on May 26, 2017 in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire PA EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Getty Images First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire PA (FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (top) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (bottom) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits local voters at the campaign office in Carshalton during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip meet staff at a Dunelm home furnishing shop in Nottingham while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire PA TOPSHOT - A supporter of Britain's main opposition Labour Party takes a photograph as they wait for the leader Jeremy Corbyn to arrive at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images TOPSHOT - Tourists gather near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire PA UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters lok-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters applaud as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Members of the public look-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: A young girl holds a sign as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at an event at The Space in Norwich while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire PA UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron attends a campaign visit in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (bottom R) addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 07: Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron speaks to the media in front of a betting shop as he campaigns with former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (not pictured) in Twickenham on June 7, 2017 in Twickenham, England. Mr Cable is campaigning to retake his former seat after it was won by Conservative Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 in a general election. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after addressing supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images NORWICH, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Philip May (L), husband of Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, listens as she speaks during a Conservative Party general election campaign visit at The Space on June 7, 2017 in Norwich, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 07: Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron (L) and former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (R) sit in a restaurant as they campaign in Twickenham on June 7, 2017 in Twickenham, England. Mr Cable is campaigning to retake his former seat after it was won by Conservative Tania Mathias in the 2015 general election. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 in a general election. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Getty Images Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron (R) and attends a campaign visit with the party's candidate for the Twickenham constituency, Vince Cable, in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn greets supporters as he leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn greets supporters as he leaves after attending a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron and Vince Cable, local candidate for Twickenham, visit in Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire PA Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event on the Promenade in Colwyn Bay, Wales, while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire PA Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / Press Eye. Alliance party general election Manifesto launch at CIYMS in East Belfast. Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 31st May 2017 - Picture by Matt Mackey / Press Eye. Alliance party general election Manifesto launch at CIYMS in East Belfast. Paula Bradshaw Pacemaker Press 5/6/17 Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill during A television debate from the five main parties which was recorded at UTV in Belfast. Pic Pacemaker Pacemaker Press 31/5/2017 DUP Leader Arlene Foster and Deputy leader Nigel Dodd during the DUP Manifesto Launch at The Old Courthouse in Antrim on Wednesday morning ahead of the General election on the 8th of June. Pic Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker UUP's Robin Swann. Photo: Pacemaker Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland 5th June 2017 - Picture by Stephen Hamilton / Press Eye. SDLP Candidate Margaret Ritchie pictured on the campaign trail at Warrenpoint. Speaking while campaigning in South Down for Margaret Ritchie, the former SDLP Deputy Leader said: The SDLP's Margaret Ritchie is in a two horse race and the choice is very clear - elect a candidate who can represent people of all backgrounds, who will protect the Good Friday Agreement and who will fight against Theresa Mays plans for a dementia tax and a hard Brexit. Or choose a party who wont take their seat, cant represent all those who live here, and whose main political ambition is to silence South Downs voice and abandon the fight for the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Feins plan for Irish politics is to remove all representation from Westminster for the first time since the 1960s, and to end a tradition in Irish politics starts by Daniel OConnell himself. Without a functioning Assembly, MPs could be our only public representatives with any power to hold direct rule Ministers to account. To give up that card by voting for abstentionism MPs risks all the progress weve made in the last thirty years. Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, ahead of a speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA Labour supporters an event at the Parade in Watford, during a speech by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party greets supporters during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party and Chris Ostrowski, Labour candidate for Watford during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Getty Images NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May and husband Philip speak to staff at a Dunelm department store during a campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Nottingham, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. (Photo by Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Getty Images Supporters hold placards as they attend the final general election campaign rally of Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon waves as she holds a final general election campaign rally on June 7, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Britain on June 3 headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Andy BuchananANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at an event at the Parade in Watford while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire PA SOLIHULL, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Prime Minister Theresa May greets supporters as she arrives for her last campaign visit at the National Conference Centre on June 7, 2017 in Solihull, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow to vote in a general election. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) Getty Images WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour supporters cheer as Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party speaks during a campaign rally at the Parade on June 7, 2017 in Watford, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Getty Images TOPSHOT - This combination of pictures made on June 6, 2017, shows Britain's Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative party Theresa May (top L) on May 30, 2017 in Wolverhampton, Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (top R) on May 22, 2017 in Kingston-upon-Hull, Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon (bottom L) on April 20, 2015 in Edinburgh, and Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron (bottom R) on May 26, 2017 in Manchester. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTOLEON NEAL,OLI SCARFF,LESLEY MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire PA EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 07: SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, holds a final campaign rally in Leith on July 7, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged people to unite behind the SNP and deprive Theresa May of a majority in the 2017 General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Getty Images First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event at the Malmaison Hotel in Edinburgh while on the last day of campaigning for the General Election. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire PA (FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (L) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (R) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images (FILES) A combination of pictures created in London on May 31, 2017 shows Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (top) speaking during an event to launch the Conservative Party general election manifesto in Halifax in northern England on May 18, 2017 and Britain's main opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn (bottom) delivering a general election campaign speech on leadership in London on April 29, 2017. Britain goes to the polls to vote in a general election on June 8. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL AND Niklas HALLE'NBEN STANSALL,NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits local voters at the campaign office in Carshalton during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire PA Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip meet staff at a Dunelm home furnishing shop in Nottingham while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire PA GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, gives the thumbs up during a campaign rally on Buchanan Street on June 7, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland ,England, and Wales on today on the final day before polling day in General Election. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) ***BESTPIX*** Getty Images TOPSHOT - A supporter of Britain's main opposition Labour Party takes a photograph as they wait for the leader Jeremy Corbyn to arrive at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images TOPSHOT - Tourists gather near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Justin TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron visits Twickenham during the final day of the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA ELECTION stories. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire PA UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters lok-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Supporters applaud as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Members of the public look-on as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: A young girl holds a sign as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at an event at The Space in Norwich while on the General Election campaign trail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday June 7, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire PA UNSPECIFIED, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 07: Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks on the Promenade on June 7, 2017 in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, United Kingdom. The Labour leader is holding six rallies across Scotland, England and Wales today on the final day before polling day in the General Election (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Getty Images Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron attends a campaign visit in Twickenham, south-west London on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'NNIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (bottom R) addresses supporters at a campaign visit in Colwyn Bay, north Wales on June 7, 2017, on the eve of the general election. Britain on Wednesday headed into the final day of campaigning for a general election darkened and dominated by jihadist attacks in two cities, leaving forecasters struggling to predict an outcome on polling day. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFFOLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Local candidate Mr Fishfinger waits as ballot papers are counted at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre on June 8, 2017 in Kendal, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images)

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Conservative MP Anna Soubry said that Theresa May's position was "untenable".

"But not in the short term," she told Sky, "we need stability now."

On the DUP deal, she added: "If DUP vote for the Queen's Speech and Budget, I don't have a problem with that. I didn't sign up to other stuff ... I detest those policies."

Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill said a deal between the Conservatives and the DUP would "betray the interests" of the people of Northern Ireland.

She added: This new arrangement between the DUP and the Tories will be transitory and will end in tears. But it will be the people of the north who will have to pay the price for the DUPs support for Brexit and for cuts.

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Given the Tory governments increasingly partisan approach it is more important than ever that the Taoiseach and the Irish government stand up for the rights of all citizens in the north.

The Irish government needs to seize the initiative to secure designated special status for the North within the EU as part of the Brexit negotiations."
Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire has kept his job in Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet reshuffle.

The Prime Minister has announced her new front bench on Sunday. She had already confirmed her most senior ministers such as Chancellor Philip Hammond and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnston and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will keep their positions.

She will only been able to carry out limited changes having seen her position seriously weakened by the election result.

On retaining his position, Mr Brokenshire said: It is a privilege to be to have been asked by the Prime Minister to continue to serve as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland - particularly at such a crucial moment for Northern Ireland and the whole United Kingdom.

"The UK Government remains steadfast in its commitment to the Belfast Agreement and to governing in the interests of all parts of the community in Northern Ireland. It provides the basis for Northern Irelands continued political progress and as the Government we remain firmly committed to this.

My immediate priority is reaching agreement on restoring an inclusive power-sharing Executive - which is what the people of Northern Ireland voted for in the March Assembly elections."

He continued: "The statutory deadline to restore a functioning Executive to Northern Ireland is 29 June. Time is short but there was real progress in the last round of political discussion. Agreement between the parties can be reached if there is goodwill on all sides.

Talks must resume again as soon as possible and I will meet the party leaders and Irish Foreign Minister Flanagan in Belfast tomorrow. All those involved must engage in the full knowledge that the deadline of 29 June is final and immovable.

The UK government will do everything in its power, working alongside the Irish government in relation to those areas where they have responsibility, to contribute to and support the process, steadfastly upholding the principles of the Belfast Agreement and its successors.

Like the overwhelming majority across the community in Northern Ireland, I believe a devolved government in Belfast is the best way to address the key decisions which affect peoples day to day lives - whether these relate to the economy, security, public services or issues of policing and justice, as well as addressing the legacy of the past.

"A Northern Ireland Executive also has a vital part to play in ensuring that Northern Irelands interests are represented as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

Northern Irelands political leaders now have this chance to take control and restore effective power sharing government under the current assembly mandate. If they do not, the power to make decisions passes to others. Their choice in the next three weeks will shape Northern Irelands future.

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The announcement that Mr Hammond  who had been widely tipped for the axe  was carrying on at the Treasury was seen as an indication of the extent to which the Prime Minister's position has been undermined.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Brexit Secretary David Davis have also been told they will retain their positions.

Former justice secretary Michael Gove made a shock return to the Government ranks. Less than a year after sacking him, the Prime Minister said that Mr Gove would be the new Environment Secretary.

As Sunday's reshuffle progressed, many ministers kept their job. Damian Green's promotion to First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office and Liz Truss's demotion to Chief Secretary to the Treasury were the only other major changes.

Elsewhere Liam Fox remained Secretary for International Trade, Justine Greening at Education and Jeremy Hunt at health.
PSNI arrest three men on suspicion of drugs' offences.

Police have seized drugs, cash and a stun gun following raids across Northern Ireland.

Police carried out a number of searches in the lower Lisburn Road and Whitehall Square areas of south Belfast as well as the Crossgar Road area of Ballynahinch.

Three men aged 27, 29 and 31 were arrested on suspicion of a number of drugs offences. They have been released pending further investigation.

A police spokesman said: We also seized a quantity of Class A drugs with a street value of 15,000, drug paraphernalia, a sum of cash and a stun gun.

Good police work means that a significant quantity of drugs have been removed from sale. Drugs misuse is an issue of concern to the community and we are committed to keeping people safe by tackling drug supply.
Detectives have arrested two men in Belfast under terrorism legislation.

The suspects, aged 27 and 29, were detained in the Beechmount Close area.

Searches were also carried out as part of the police operation and a number of items were seized.

PSNI Superintendent Norman Haslett said detectives from Serious Crime Branch conducted the operation around 11am on Sunday.

"Two men aged 27 and 29 were arrested under the Terrorism Act and a number of items were taken away for further examination," he said.
 Contrary to what most people have been told, the only battle we ever lost was right here at home! Read moreWhat being a veteran means to me
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A man has been arrested in the UK in connection with the murder of Gareth Hutch in Dublin.

The 35-year-old, who was a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, died after he was shot outside his home on North Cumberland Street on May 24 last year.
The Independent Alliance has confirmed that it will be supporting Leo Varadkar in the vote for Taoiseach on Wednesday, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

The five members of the Alliance  Shane Ross, John Halligan, Finian McGrath, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Sean Canney  met with Mr Varadkar this morning.

Speaking afterwards to the Irish Examiner, members of the alliance said they had a very constructive meeting at Government Buildings this morning.

During the meeting, Mr Varadkar told the Alliance that their current positions are safe and will be unchanged when he announces his new Cabinet.

According to some at the meeting, the alliance and Mr Varadkar discussed a broad range of issues including the need for government stability, Brexit, rural affairs and agreed to honour the commitments contained in the Programme for a Partnership Government.

It was also agreed that there would be more free votes in the Dail in future and priority will be given to ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a statement said.

Specifically, they have agreed to accelerate certain pieces of legislation, including the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017, the Keeping People in Their Homes Bill 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Commission of Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2017.

Mr Varadkar said: "I very much welcome the statement of support from the Independent Alliance. I am committed to working with the Independent Alliance and other independent representatives to provide effective leadership and strong government. This morning's talks were open and positive and focused on how we can implement the Programme for Government more effectively.

"This will involve a review of legislation and seeing which issues can be prioritised. There is a renewed enthusiasm across Government for implementing the Programme for Government. Although Ireland faces many challenges, the most significant of these being Brexit, it's great to see such positivity and potential for progress."
By Patrick Flynn

Update 10.40pm: The airline has confirmed that flight diverted to Shannon due to a technical issue. There were 294 passengers and crew on board.

The flight was cancelled and the passengers transported by bus to hotels in the Clare and Limerick area.

Earlier: A US-bound flight has diverted to Shannon Airport this evening after the crew reported engine problems over the Atlantic.

Norwegian Air Shuttle flight DY-7019 was en route from Paris to New York and was about 700 kilometres north west of Ireland at the time.

The crew made a U-turn and requested clearance to divert to Shannon after confirming an issue with oil pressure in engine number 1. As a result, the crew shut down the engine as a precaution.

The crew also sought permission to dump aviation fuel to ensure they landed within safe landing weight limits.

Airport fire crews were mobilised to locations along the runway ahead of the jet's arrival. The flight safely at 8.59pm and was met by airport fire crews who remained with the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner (pictured) jet as it taxied to the terminal.

Engineers were also standing by to investigate the issue but it is not clear whether the flight will continue its journey tonight.
Donald Trump has told Theresa May he does not want to go ahead with his controversial state visit to the UK if it is going to lead to large-scale demonstrations, according to a report.

The Guardian said the US president had said he wanted to be sure he had the support of the British public before coming to the country.

His comments - effectively putting the visit on hold - were said to have been made in a telephone call made in "recent weeks".

The paper quoted a No 10 adviser "who was in the room" at the time as saying that Mrs May had been "surprised" by his remarks.

Downing Street refused to comment, saying only that the invitation which was given by Mrs May on behalf of the Queen when she met Mr Trump in Washington just seven days after his inauguration, remained unchanged.

A spokesman said: "We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

The decision to accord such a controversial president the honour of a state visit so soon after taking office was widely criticised at the time.

There was further criticism after Mr Trump attacked London Mayor Sadiq Khan over his response to the latest terror attacks on the capital.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan: "I don't think we should roll out the red carpet" for President Trump https://t.co/V9GcaBWquf pic.twitter.com/2nUHYkJYrH  CNN (@CNN) June 6, 2017

When Mr Khan's office said he had simply been saying people should not be alarmed by the additional police presence on the streets, Mr Trump accused him of making "pathetic excuses" prompting the mayor to call for the visit to be dropped.
Armed men have attacked a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Beni, killing at least 11 and freeing more than 900 prisoners, officials say.

Eight prison guards were among the 11 dead, said North Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku. About 30 prisoners remained in the Kangbayi prison following the afternoon attack, he said.

Paluku announced a curfew in Beni and nearby Butembo.

BENI : Attaque a la prison de KANGBAYI, 930 prisonniers evades, 11 Morts, selon Julien Paluku - https://t.co/EGbXLtyde7 pic.twitter.com/MkkfjuZlVx  The Voice Of Congo (@VoiceOfCongo) June 11, 2017

"Only the army and the police have the right to circulate in order to have control over the enemy," he said.

It was not immediately known who carried out the attack, although Allied Democratic Forces rebels are imprisoned there and the group has threatened attacks to free its members.

The ADF rebel group was founded in neighboring Uganda in the 1990s and is now based in Congo where it has intensified its attacks. The rebel group has killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Congo since October 2014.

A Congolese court in March sentenced to death nine ADF rebels prosecuted for crimes against humanity, terrorism and participation in a rebellion as part of increased efforts to hold the group accountable for attacks in Beni and surrounding towns and villages.

Scores of armed groups fight for control in Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

Sunday's attack follows others carried out on police or prison facilities within the past month. Congo's police on Saturday said a group of men attacked a police station in Kinshasa, killing at least two.

In May, Christian sect members stormed a prison in Kinshasa, freeing their leader and others. Witnesses say thousands escaped.

AP
Former British chancellor George Osborne has described Theresa May as a "dead woman walking".

He reckons she could be out of Number 10 within days after a poor election performance.

David Cameron's former adviser Alex Deane thinks the UK Prime Minister needs to be left to get on with it.

"I think that she can weather this period and take the party and the indeed the country forward but the more people stir the pot, the harder it's going to be."
A Jehovah's Witness in England embroiled in a family court dispute with his estranged wife has been barred from taking his six-year-old son to some religious events by a judge.

District Judge Malcolm Dodds has refused to allow the man to take the little boy to Jehovah's Witness assemblies, annual conventions and memorials.

The judge concluded that there was a risk of the youngster suffering "emotional damage".

He heard that the couple had separated about a year after the man began to study the Jehovah's Witness faith.

The boy now lives with his mother, who did not practise any religion.

Judge Dodds said the boy was "impressionable" and might suffer as a result of getting "confusing messages" if he went with his father to certain kinds of Jehovah's Witness gatherings.

The boy's father had asked the judge to decide how much time he could spend with the boy. He also wanted the boy to be "part of" his religious beliefs.

The boy's mother had raised concern about the boy being harmed by his father's religious beliefs and had told the judge how her son had once told her "God is good and you are bad".

Judge Dodds had analysed the dispute at a private family court hearing in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, in May.

He has revealed detail in a written ruling.

The family involved has not been identified.

Judge Dodds said the man could spend time with the boy and could take him to Sunday services.

But he said he took a different view about the boy attending "assemblies, annual conventions and memorials".

The judge said the man had already agreed not to take the boy on "field service" - knocking on doors of people's homes, not to read Bible stories to him and not to show him "religious biased media", including cartoons.

"I ... do not wish to restrict him from taking (the boy) to the Kingdom Hall each Sunday for up to two hours," said Judge Dodds.

"I do not see that this practice of the father's faith for a limited period within a group service with child-friendly activities poses a risk of jeopardy to (the boy's) relationship with his mother."

The judge added: "I take a different view of assemblies, annual conventions and memorials. These are much longer events."

He went on: "There is a far greater risk that (the boy) will be influenced ... given his age and how impressionable he is and the risk of emotional damage due to confusing messages.

"As a result I find it necessary and proportionate to prohibit the father from taking (the boy) to Jehovah's Witness assemblies, annual conventions and memorials."

Judge Dodds said the man had been "wise" to agree not to show the boy "Jehovah's Witness cartoons".

The judge said he had watched cartoons called Obey Jehovah, Pay Attention At Meetings and One Man One Woman.

"In Obey Jehovah a child is taught about the sinfulness of having a cartoon character toy with magical powers which the child had to put in a bin," said the judge.

"While making sense to a child if both parents were Jehovah's Witnesses, such a cartoon would send a very confusing message to a child like (the boy) who has one foot in his mother's world and a wider world (in which magical characters are everywhere in books, television, DVDs, on the internet and in films) and his other foot in his father's world where such magical characters are sinful.

"The mother asserts that in her submissions that the objective of the cartoons and Bible stories is to condition and indoctrinate children into Jehovah's Witness beliefs through a mixture of fear, manipulation and a strict boundary between behaviour which is acceptable and pleasing and that which is not.

"The father accepts that (the boy) should not be exposed to such religious based media until (he) is at least 12."
US attorney general Jeff Sessions has agreed to appear before the Senate intelligence committee as it investigates alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election.

Mr Sessions recused himself in March from a federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump after acknowledging that he had met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

He had told politicians at his January confirmation hearing that he had not met with Russians during the campaign.

Mr Sessions has been dogged by questions about possible additional encounters with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

Senate Democrats have raised questions about whether the men met at an April 2016 foreign policy event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

The Justice Department has said that while Mr Sessions was there, for a speech by Mr Trump, there were no meetings or private encounters.

Former FBI director James Comey raised additional questions at a hearing on Thursday, saying that the FBI expected Mr Sessions to recuse himself weeks before he actually did. Mr Comey declined to elaborate in an open setting.

In a letter on Saturday to Senator Richard Shelby Mr Sessions said that he had been scheduled to discuss the Justice Department budget before House and Senate Appropriations sub-committees but that it had become clear some members would focus their questions on the Russia investigation.

Mr Shelby chairs the Senate appropriations sub-committee.

Mr Sessions said his decision to accept the intelligence committee's invitation to appear was due in part to Mr Comey's testimony.

He wrote that "it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum". He said deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein would appear before the sub-committees.

Mr Sessions did not say in the letter whether his appearance would be in public or behind closed doors.

Mr Comey testified in public and then met with the committee in a closed session to discuss matters touching on classified information.

AP
The Gungahlin Jets have lost a crucial money raiser after a stolen bobcat was used to smash a hole through its canteen's wall.

Gungahlin Jets junior vice president Terry Evans was called by a passerby about 8am on Sunday, racing to Amaroo Oval in Gungahlin to see the damage before calling police.

The bobcat was left dumped in a pond, after damaging parts of the field, including the canteen Credit:ACT Policing

Police believe a stolen bobcat was used to damage facilities at the oval on Saturday night before being ditched into a nearby pond.

The bobcat had smashed into the canteen and knocked over trees, goalposts and a fence.
A China Eastern Airlines flight from Sydney to Shanghai has been forced to turn around after engine failure caused a midair emergency.

"The moment that we took off, the wing to my left just started making a massive amount of noise and they cleared all the seats," a passenger told the Nine Network.

Images show a huge hole in the engine casing of the Airbus A330, which was forced to circle for an hour before touching down safely.

An audio recording of the pilot's communication with Sydney Tower air traffic control captured the midair emergency, with the pilot clearly explaining the gravity of the situation.
Author and activist Naomi Klein was on a visit to Sydney last November when Donald Trump shocked the US and Western political establishment by taking the White House.

"I think a great many of us felt that the world had just turned upside down, but [in Australia] I literally felt the world had turned upside down," she says, recalling that moment of supreme disorientation.

Since then, unlike many American liberals, Klein has been fixated less by the drip-drip of revelations about the Trump campaign's alleged murky links to the Kremlin, and more with what she calls the "corporate coup" taking place under cover of the President's antics.

"I'm not saying don't look into Russia, of course that should be investigated," she told Fairfax Media.
Attorney-General George Brandis is staying put - at least for now.

After being plagued for nearly a year by rumours he would be made Australia's next high commissioner to London, Senator Brandis has confirmed the extension of the term of the present high commissioner, Alexander Downer.

Attorney-General George Brandis says Dr Gillespie has no constitutional concerns. Credit:Andrew Meares

Senator Brandis told Sky News on Sunday that stories about his imminent departure for London were "as old as Methuselah".

He confirmed Mr Downer's time as high commissioner had been extended.
It's been described as the worst humanitarian disaster since World War II: up to 23 million people are at risk of starvation in a food security crisis that could soon become one of the worst famines in human history.

Yet for these people - spread across the desperately poor nations of Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and and other East African countries - there have been no star-studded music videos or fundraising concerts.

United Nations efforts to raise at least $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid from wealthy nations have fallen embarrassingly short. Western leaders - distracted by Donald Trump, terrorism, Middle Eastern turmoil and North Korea - have largely been silent. Normally generous private donors have kept their wallets shut.

Indeed, few Australians even know about the crisis.
Although the attitude of companies such as Facebook and Google had changed in the past year, Senator Brandis said, the government needed greater legal powers in cases where assistance was not volunteered.

Attorney-General George Brandis said on Sunday existing legislation did not go far enough to impose "obligations of cooperation" on companies to assist government agencies with terrorism.

Australia is examining UK-style legislation that would give intelligence and security authorities the power to compel telecommunications and social media companies to assist them to access data in counter-terrorism cases.

ASIO Director-General of Security Duncan Lewis and Attorney-General Senator George Brandis at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra in May. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Senator Brandis will instead ask the "Five Eyes" security conference in Ottawa  a meeting of officials from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and Britain  later this month to make similar changes and also to improve mechanisms for warrants enabling Australian agencies to seek access to data from overseas counterparts and vice versa.

"In the United Kingdom, under the Investigatory Powers Act that was passed last year, their authorities have the capacity to issue a device maker or a social media company what is called a technical capability notice which imposes, subject to tests of reasonableness and proportionality, imposes upon them a greater obligation to work with authorities where a notice is given to them to assist in breaking a communication," Senator Brandis told Sky News.

Senator Brandis said companies were becoming more open to helping because there was a "growing awareness by the companies of the reputational harm they suffer, or they would suffer, if they are seen to be not doing everything that they can to assist with law enforcement and intelligence agencies to thwart the use of their systems by terrorists".

Encrypted messaging has become increasingly popular among terrorist groups to plan attacks. Jailed Melbourne Anzac Day plotter Sevdet Besim used messaging app Telegram, as did the Islamic State-linked attackers who killed 130 people in Paris in 2015. Australian IS poster boy Neil Prakash was a keen user of the app Surespot during his time as a recruiter and propagandist.
Higher than average levels of impulsiveness, sensitivity to anxiety, sensation seeking and hopelessness. These four personality traits have been shown by researchers to predict those teenagers at high risk of becoming binge drinkers with 90 per cent accuracy.

In the first Australian trial, a program targeting 438 year 8 students with one of these traits successfully halved the onset of drinking and the incidence of binge drinking for up to three years following the intervention.

A new online course called Climate Schools has been proven to halve the rate of kids binge drinking and delay drinking compared to children doing the standard curriculum. The course is interactive and uses engaging cartoons. Credit:ClimateSchools.com.au

The Preventure program was designed by Professor Patricia Conrod from the University of Montreal more than 10 years ago to modify a teenager's behaviour and thinking. It has now been tested on thousands of teenagers around the world  including in the Czech republic, Canada, Britain and Australia  with similar results.

In the first Australian trial in NSW and Victorian schools, students were classified as high risk using the "Substance Use Risk Profile" scale, which measured whether they had higher than average levels of one of the four personality traits. Some had more than one.
Jacki MacDonald and Keri Craig-Lee on September 15, 1993. Credit:Adam Smith Her mother then dropped the bombshell: "Renate is marrying Elton John on Tuesday." "I never got to the hairdresser." Keri Craig-Lee has been awarded a medal in the general division of the Order of Australia. Ms Craig-Lee said preparing for the wedding of Sir Elton and Renate Blauel only three days later was "such an experience".

She designed the wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses, Sir Elton's bow tie and organised the flowers, which had to be flown in from overseas because the wedding was on Valentine's Day. Elton John and Renate Blauel, in the wedding dress designed by Keri Craig-Lee. Credit:BAILEY/LOCK "We had to close the store, the paparazzi. It was a glass shop  three walls of glass  if you left the shop they followed you," she said. Ms Craig-Lee had to fly back to Brisbane, received bridesmaid measurements via fax and worked around the clock during a "whirlwind" three days. Elton John and Renate Blauel outside the church on their wedding day in 1984. Credit:Bailey/Lock

On the day of the wedding, she was on a plane in Brisbane with friend Jacki MacDonald, who was co-hosting Hey, Hey It's Saturday, trying to get to Sydney during an Ansett Australia strike. "I had all the dresses for the wedding and she had Hey, Hey," Ms Craig-Lee said. St Mark's church at Darling Point where Elton John married Renate Blauel on February 14, 1984. Credit:Fairfax Media "In those days, you could go up to the cockpit and we went up to the captain and said, you just have to get us down there on time." And they did, the superstar wedding making international headlines.

Growing up, Ms Craig-Lee's parents were in the industry, and she used to spend afternoons after school at the factory doing her homework. "My parents had a store so I'd go buying with them, so I think it was definitely always in my blood," she said. "I decided I'd try one little range and see what happened  I was 19. "It got quite a good reaction so I continued on with doing that and I thought I'll give it a year, and see if it works and it grew from there, really." It's still a family affair, with her parents Dianne and Peter and brother Jason helping run her business, well known in Queensland for her store in the Brisbane Arcade.

After meeting her future husband Trevor Lee and falling "instantly in love", the couple married in 1986. She has two stepsons, Anthony and Michael, 25-year-old son Harrisson and 20-year-old daughter Cartier. Cartier is studying at Tisch School of the Arts in New York, acts and sings under the name DJ Pebbles, and is working with music industry mogul Randy Jackson. Mr Lee and the family run Australian Country Choice, the fifth largest private agricultural business in Queensland, employing about 1200 people. "The two families  we're very family-oriented," she said.

Ms Craig-Lee has been awarded a medal in the general division of the Order of Australia for service to the clothing manufacturing sector, to business and the community. The 59-year-old said it was a great honour. "I'm very excited, and very honoured, and absolutely delighted and proud," she said. "The Queen is the most wonderful woman in the world to me. "I've had lunch with Prince Philip, I sat next to him at a really small luncheon at City Hall when he was here  he was charming.

"And I've danced with Prince Charles." Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk recognised Ms Craig-Lee's achievements. "It is tremendous that one of Brisbane's most iconic business women and talented designers has been recognised with an honour," she said. Ms Palaszczuk praised the 108 Queenslanders recognised in the Queen's Birthday honours list. Loading
"Early in the morning I got this sad news that my son was killed. And I dropped from heaven down to hell.

"This tragedy has happened that I am old enough to bury a young man."

Siege victim Kai Hao's mother Yin Ping Zhang with her husband, Weidong Hao. Credit:Eddie Jim

So said the mother of Brighton siege victim Kai Hao as she spoke of her family's grief over the death of her only son at the hands of a terrorist.

Mr Hao, a 36-year-old Chinese-born Australian, was shot dead by Yacqub Khayre at the Buckingham International serviced apartments on June 5.
Farid Asghari's food ration as he boarded a refugee boat near Jakarta five years ago was a small bottle of water and a handful of dates.

On the three-day voyage to Christmas Island, the 16-year-old was squeezed among 160 people, their feet soaked in faeces and vomit.

Farid Asghari at his home in Kew. Credit:Meredith O'Shea

The overcrowded boat threatened to sink. Mr Asghari threw up the one "meal" the boat's crew gave him  dry noodles and two boiled eggs.

On the third day, he tied himself to a beam to get some sleep, until Australian officials rescued the refugees.
Lahore: A Pakistani counter-terrorism court has sentenced to death a man who allegedly committed blasphemy on Facebook, a government prosecutor said on Sunday, the first time someone has been handed the death penalty for blaspheming on social media.

The conviction of Taimoor Raza, 30, follows a high-profile crackdown against blasphemy on social media by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has undertaken a high-profile crackdown against blasphemy on social media. Credit:AP

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where insulting the Prophet Mohammad is a capital crime for which dozens are sitting on death row. Even mere accusations are enough to spark mass uproar and mob justice.

Shafiq Qureshi, public prosecutor in Bahawalpur, about 500km south of provincial capital Lahore, said Raza was convicted for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad, his wives and companions.
It is one of the best-read parts of The New York Times each day, but few admit they read it.

It sounds depressing but it is actually the most uplifting and inspirational parts of the newspaper.

The weddings section? Nope. Its the obituaries, the place where the entire lives of important people  some as long as 95 years  are summed up in 800 words or less.

Each morning a team of editors and reporters at the Times decides which three to five people who died in the last 24 hours merits the obituary treatment. It must be someone who had an impact in their lives  from the obvious pop music star like Michael Jackson to the inventor of the Slinkee to the television image consultant who helped JFK defeat Richard Nixon in 1960.

The new documentary movie, Obit, playing in some small movie theaters around the city, is the fascinating tale of the incredibly thoughtful and talented people who make up the Times obit team.

But the film is even more than a well-told tale of a unique journalism operation  it is a meditation on what constitutes a worthwhile life and the criteria we should all consider when we measure the impending shadow of our ultimate demise.

What is an impactful life? How can we measure who is worthy of a graceful write-up of 500 words or even a front-page obit of more than 1,400 words?

The movie, a must see, points out that Pope John Paul had a 14,000 word obituary and rock stars Michael Jackson and David Bowie had their obits splashed across the front page. Then there is the obit just a notch below the front-page ones: the reefers, important people who dont quite merit top billing on Page 1, but are referred to in the bottom of the front page teasers.

There are many quiet stars of this obituary documentary, but two stood out in my mind: the gentleman who runs the Times morgue (a library of all the old printed clippings and photographs stretching back to the early 20th century), an idiosyncratic and animated man who knows where all old files are buried in a vast room full of overstuffed file cabinets. In a paperless age of gigabytes and cloud storage, he seems like a quaint vestige of an anachronistic era that has ended. But ask any Times reporter and theyll tell you that he is one of their most valuable colleagues because he can access information that cannot be found on Google or any internet database because it happened before the age of Information went up on the worldwide web.

The other subtle Star of Obit is Bruce Weber, a soft-spoken reporter whose observations and work is the centerpiece of the movie. We watch and hear his graceful phone calls with the relatives of the recently deceased and he hits just the right note of sympathy while he goes about the task of cataloging vital information about the potential obituary subject. He fills out a form to start  where was the person born, what was the cause of death, what were their parents professions and so on until a clear picture begins to emerge of a life that no longer exists but left an indelible imprint in our society.

We watch Weber as he agonizes over how to report and write an 800-word obituary of the man who helped elect a president in 1960, Mr. Wilson, who was John F. Kennedys television image consultant, a very new career in the early days of mass media. Rather than run a dry opening paragraph that sums up the mans life and includes his age at death and the cause, Weber decides to do an anecdotal lead, an opening that talks about the Kennedy-Nixon debate and its importance in the history of our country. Webers prose draws the reader in while also making a larger point about the dramatic change of how we elected presidents in 1960 based on looks and telegenic appeal.

It is such a rare treat to leave a movie theater better informed and inspired by the people in the documentary and their clear explication of why their work truly matters. Run, dont walk, to see Obit this weekend  youll look at your life very differently afterwards.
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.
State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) presented a check to Yardley Borough Police Chief Joseph Kelly for $68,600 for the purchase of a new police vehicle and motorcycle during a visit to the station. Our police put themselves on the line every day to keep our community safe, said Sen. Santarsiero. Dating back to when I was a Lower Makefield Township Supervisor more than...
NJ Weedman got a license to sell NJ legal weed. He almost said no.
Aditi Misra, 56, a career teacher with 32 years of experience now heads the Delhi Public School in Gurugram with 6000 plus students. A seasoned academician, Misra spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on the changes being considered at the policy level for and what she thinks needs to be done. Excerpts from an interview:
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

A New History

Sean McMeekin

Basic Books

Illustrated; 445 pp; $30

On the afternoon of July 4, 1917, thousands of soldiers, sailors and workers converged on a former royal palace, a sprawling Palladian structure in the Russian capital, then called Petrograd. The palace was serving as the seat of the Petrograd Soviet  or council  of workers and soldiers deputies, a group of mostly radical revolutionaries that was sharing power with the countrys provisional government. Four months had passed since the so-called February Revolution forced Czar Nicholas II from the throne, and the democratic socialists and liberals who had taken control were locked in a mounting power struggle marked by shifting alliances, palace intrigues and occasional street fighting. Denouncing them as bourgeois minister-capitalists, the mobs now demanded that the Soviet take full command of the country.

The protesters were acting on the orders of the small but militant Bolshevik wing of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Party, which had been busy propagandising military units and factory workers. Although the Bolsheviks had called for a peaceful demonstration, their real plan was to seize power in a coup detat. With gangs in armoured cars and trucks roaming the city, they were already in de facto control. Vladimir Lenin was inside the palace waiting to proclaim a new government. When a leading minister stepped outside to calm the crowd, a worker raised a fist to his face, shouting, Take power, you S.O.B., when they give it to you! Others seized him and dragged him into a car. But the Bolshevik plan soon fizzled. Whether due more to a loss of nerve than bad planning, the mobs dissipated and the Bolshevik leaders were arrested. With evidence that they were being lavishly financed by Russias wartime enemy Germany, the provisional government prepared to dispatch the traitorous radicals. Now they are going to shoot us, Lenin warned his co-conspirator Leon Trotsky before shaving his beard and fleeing to Finland. He would not be seen again in public until the Bolsheviks staged a second coup attempt nearly four months later, this time resulting in the cataclysmic October Revolution, which, according to Sean McMeekins estimates, ultimately caused 25 million deaths, radically transformed Russian society and polarised global politics for more than half a century.

Striking as the Bolshevik reversal was in July 1917, the provisional governments response to the failed coup was even more stunning. Even with public and political sentiment turning against the Bolsheviks, Alexander Kerensky  the ambitious 36-year-old lawyer who had emerged as the governments leader  dropped treason charges against them, freed their leaders and even allowed them to rearm. The next time they saw an opportunity, the Bolsheviks wouldnt pass it up. During the successful coup of Oct. 25, the Red Guards arrested the ministers of Kerenskys liberal government and seized control. What could Kerensky have been thinking?

Thats one of the chief questions posed by McMeekin, the latest historian to tread the well-worn path of revolution scholarship in a new book published to coincide with the events centenary this year. A professor at Bard College, McMeekin argues that one of the seminal events of modern history was largely a matter of chance. Well-written, with new details from archival research used for vivid descriptions of key events, The Russian Revolution comes nearly three decades after Richard Pipess masterpiece of the same name.

For Pipes, the revolution reflected the gradual breakdown of Russias distinct autocracy, shaped by a centuries-old tradition of collectivism and patrimonial rule, but McMeekin disputes Pipess arguments, seeing virtually no difference between the Russian empire and its European rivals.

Far from the hopeless backwater depicted in most histories, McMeekin argues, Russias economy was surging before the war, with a growth rate of 10 percent a year  like China in the early 21st century. The salient fact about Russia in 1917, he writes, is that it was a country at war, yet he adds that the Russian military acquitted itself well on the battlefield after terrible setbacks in 1915, with morale high in early 1917.

Nicholas II  rightly characterised as an incompetent reactionary in most histories  is partly rehabilitated here. His fundamental mistake, McMeekin says, was to trust his liberal advisers, who urged him to go to war, then conspired to remove him from power after protests over bread rations led to a military mutiny.

Although McMeekin agrees the real villains are the ruthless Bolsheviks, he reserves most criticism for the hapless liberals. Leaving Kerenskys motivations during the July events largely unexplained, he only hints at the common rationale for Kerenskys refusal to prosecute the Bolsheviks: Deeply unpopular among the liberals, he needed the leftists on his side, believing the greater threat to his government came from right-wing leaders aiming to restore Nicholas to the throne.

Having taken power, the Bolsheviks turned on the unwitting soldiers and peasants who were among their most fervent supporters, unleashing a violent terror campaign that appropriated land and grain, and that turned into a permanent class war targeting ever-larger categories of enemies of the people. Unconcerned about Russias ultimate fate, they were pursuing their greater goal of world revolution.

McMeekin depends on a surprisingly narrow focus to make his overarching argument, eschewing analysis of the deeper social and political forces required for any comprehensive study of the revolution and its lessons for us today  when radical political groups are again relying on subterfuge and populism to force a fundamental change of the world order. Yes, Russia was rapidly reforming at the turn of the century while its economy was growing  and revolution was far from inevitable. But there were reasons the empire had so much catching up to do, which involved uniquely Russian characteristics like its sprawling landmass, terrible climate and poor soil. These made scratching out a living difficult, and governing unwieldy.

McMeekin leaves no doubt that chance certainly played a significant role in the Bolsheviks ascent, but it was no mere coincidence that following the revolutions dramatic destruction of the ruling elite, the Bolsheviks extreme centralisation succeeded in re-establishing Russias traditional political culture by the 1930s.

A hundred years after the revolution, Vladimir Putins Russia still faces many of the same fundamental problems: rigid authoritarianism, widespread poverty and deeply rooted corruption. Little wonder the Kremlin has been at pains to play down celebration of the revolutions centenary this year.



 2017 The New York Times News Service
With the roll-out of goods and services tax (GST) around the corner, drugmakers are gearing up to make the most of the new regime. While they say they are absolutely ready for the new regime, near-term impact is what is worrying them. Speaking to Business Standard, Annaswamy Vaideesh, managing director of GlaxoSmithKlines (GSK) India business, says that will benefit in the medium to long term.
After a slow start, export of cars from Ford Indias factory at Sanand, close to this city, expanded during 2016-17. The facility produced 78,930 cars for export, at par with the shipment abroad from its Chennai factory.
Ltd is repositioning itself to meet modern-day requirements of the industry, with focus on market expansion, exports and specialty cements as key strategies based on its belief that the category has transformed from a commodity business into one driven by brand and quality.
The countrys top car maker, Maruti Suzuki, is now bigger than the rest of the industry put together for the first time in over a decade. In the first two months (April & May) of the current financial year (FY17-18), the company sold 274,329 passenger vehicles (cars, vans and utility vehicles) in the domestic market, about 19,300 more than the 254,930 units sold by the rest of the industry players put together. Maruti clocked a volume growth of over 19 per cent in these two months, much higher than the industrys growth of 12 per cent.
It is easy to mistake Keshav Patidar (name changed), a 40-year-old farmer in Madhya Pradeshs Mandsaur district, to be an activist of a militant Hindutva outfit. He wears an expansive red tilak on his forehead and is attired in a crisp half-sleeved kurta-pyjama, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made his trademark.

However, Keshav is no fan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nor is he a Congress supporter.

We will side with neither and support only those who talk of farmers and farmer issues, Keshav says. He requested his real name not be printed, as police have taken to detaining his colleagues whod spoken to journalists.

Keshav is a leader of the dominant Patidar community of the Mandsaur-Neemuch region. Theyre a landholding community and traditionally BJP supporters. However, they are increasingly disillusioned with the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state. And, disappointed that Modi hasnt delivered on promises he made to farmers during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign.

I sat beside Shivraj Singh Chouhan the day he announced a big sum for a hostel for Patidar girls. Three years have come and gone. Nothing has happened, Keshav says. The farmer leader was one of several local politicians who the homes of those killed in police firing at Mandsaurs Pipliyamandi.

Anant Jauhari is head of Kisan Adhikar Manch, an apolitical grouping of farmers working in 11 districts of MP. He says farmers are increasingly turning away from political parties. Whether Congress, BJP or others, he says, they have only fostered the interest of big business houses and middlemen whenever they come to power. There were political parties in the past which fought for our cause. Now, most are handmaidens of corporate groups.



This trend of thought is evident in the trade union (TU) movement as well. On May 30, as many as 10 central TUs met in Delhis Gandhi Peace Foundation. They decided to hold a bigger meeting on August 8 at Talkatora Stadium in the capital, to announce protests in the coming months against the Modi governments disinvestment policy. According to one of the leaders, there were suggestions from the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress, and also from Left affiliated unions, that some political leaders be invited.

We resisted this. These are workers movements. We are raising issues that concern all workers, across party lines. We dont want the movement to be given any political colour. These leaders are welcome to show solidarity with us, said the chief of one of the other TUs.

The unions plan to organise massive strikes in November and February, to protest privatisation and disinvestment of public sector units.

Farmers in Mandsaur, elsewhere in MP or even neighbouring Maharashtra where demonstrations have continued for over a fortnight have kept away from aligning with political parties. There were a few Congress flags in sight at these demonstrations. Neither have protestors carried the red banners associated with Leftist political parties or its affiliated peasant and worker unions.

The BJP leadership has repeatedly pointed an accusatory finger at the Congress and other parties for fanning the fires but has found it difficult to convince people. It is not that opposition parties are not keen to jump. But, the respective leaderships have learnt important lessons after their failed anti-demonetisation campaign. The opposition mounted a challenge during the note ban decision but discovered that it lacked Modis credibility.

Yet, shouldnt the Congress exploit this moment? For, the MP assembly poll is slated for end-2018. Mohan Prakash, one of the partys national general secretaries and in charge of the MP unit, rejects such assessments. It is our political duty to stand with people who are in pain and fighting for their rights. We arent looking at elections, he says. And, contends that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tried to visit Mandsaur only to express solidarity with farmers.

The CPI(M)-supported All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Bhumi Adhikar Andolan have also expressed support to the movement. But, local outfits have led the movement. It is foolish for the BJP to be accusing us. We do not have that kind of cadre strength in Mandsaur and adjoining districts, says eight- time former Lok Sabha member and AIKS general secretary Hannan Mollah. An AIKS delegation will visit Mandsaur on Tuesday.

Similarly, there are those in the Congress who concede the party lacks the cadre strength to sustain the movement until the next assembly poll. It also does not want to give the movement a political colour which could lead the ruling party in the state and the Centre an opportunity to malign it.

In Madhya Pradesh, non-party leaders like Medha Patkar, Sunilam and Yogendra Yadav have expressed solidarity with the protests. The police detained them on Sunday as they tried to visit Mandsaur. The Bharatiya Kisan Union has announced a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Thursday.

On Saturday, several of the farmers outfits met in Delhis Gandhi Peace Foundation to decide a course of action. They decided to organise protests in Delhi in the coming week. Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan leader Shiv Kumar Kakkaji led 62 other outfits to agree to a nationwide protest against the firing in Mandsaur on June 16.

For the Modi government, the challenge is evident. A Modi-led BJP might be unvanquished against caste arithmetic but its next big test is the putative class unity of peasants and workers.
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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's indefinite fast to restore peace amid the raging farmers' protest in the state entered its second day on Sunday even as Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia announced Saturday that he would sit on a 72-hour-long 'satyagraha' from June 14 to counter the BJP government's "anti-farmer policies".
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who continued his indefinite fast for peace in the state amid farmers' agitation for the second day on Sunday, has been urged by his ministers and the kin of deceased peasants to end the hunger strike.

On Saturday night, Chouhan met the family members of the farmers killed in a police firing. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said, "Everyone is concerned about the Chief Minister's health".

"The state is peaceful now. Hence, it's an appeal by everyone (to Chouhan) to end the fast," Bhupendra Singh said.

Chouhan began his indefinite fast on Saturday, asserting he would lay down his life for farmers.

Chouhan, who is on a fast at Dussehra Maidan, also met several representatives of farmers' organisations and listened to their problems on Saturday.

However, as the Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen ruled out any loan waiver, a group of farmers started a counter-protest at the same site opposite him.

The Chief Minister would hold talks with farmers on Sunday as well. His wife Sadhna Singh, Higher Education Minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, Home Minister Bhupendra Singh, Women and Child Welfare Minister Archana Chitnis and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raghunandan Sharma are present with him.

The farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been on strike since June 1 to press their demand for loan waivers and fair price for their produce.

The farmers' agitation was marred by violence on June 6 when they pelted stones at the police.

In retaliation, the police opened fire at the farmers, leaving five dead, according to official count. However, farmer leaders claim eight were killed that day in police firing.
With no fresh case of violence, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday called off his fast for farmers, a day after he began the exercise, and declared that peace has returned to the state.

Chouhan, who faced heat over the violent farmer unrest in MP, broke his fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former state chief minister Kailash Joshi.

Before breaking his fast, the chief minister said, "Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today."



He said that those involved in the death of five farmers in Mandsaur will be punished severely.

"I will not end my fast till peace is restored in the state," Chouhan had said last evening after the protest by farmers was marred by violence in the state.

The CM, reaching out to cultivators, also met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 panels of big farmers on Saturday. The delegations pressed for loan waiver and "satisfactory" prices for their produce.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan had claimed that the family members of those killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday have requested the CM to call off his fast.

Kin of four out of the five persons killed in police firing on Tuesday at Mandsaur  the epicentre of the farmers' stir  had met Chouhan here on Saturday.

They had come down from Mandsaur seeking justice for the deceased.

Chouhan had launched his indefinite fast for "peace restoration" on Saturday at the BHEL Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal amid violent farmer protests in western MP, especially in Dewas and Mandsaur districts over the last ten days.

A day ahead of launching his fast, Chouhan, whose government had come under fire over the peasant deaths, had said that the agitation had turned "anarchic", and had appealed to farmers to come to Dussehra Maidan and have a dialogue with him.

"I won't sit in my office at Mantralaya (secretariat)... but sit at Dussehra Maidan and do all (official) work from there," Chouhan had said.

Chouhan had also blamed the Congress for instigating violence during peaceful farmers' agitation - a charge denied by the rival party, which dubbed the CM's fast as a "nautanki" (drama).

The farmers' protest, which began on June 1, took a violent turn on June 6, when five persons were killed in police firing at Mandsaur. A day after the firing incident, the protesters allegedly heckled Mandsaur district collector S K Singh, who was later transferred.

Subsequently, the farmers' protest witnessed bandh and arson as the agitation spread in other districts of western Madhya Pradesh including Neemuch, Dhar, Ratlam and Jhabua.

During the later stage of this 10-day stir, the flames of protest singed the state capital as protesters torched a truck and some other vehicles on the Bhopal-Indore highway.

A day after Mandsaur firing, the protesters had also allegedly set ablaze four passenger buses and a dozen other vehicles in Newri Phata in Dewas district on the highway.

The protesters had also burnt a truck and four motorbikes at Rajgarh district headquarters on June 8.

The agitation had hit the train services in western MP while several roads including Bhopal-Indore and Indore- Ahmedabad highways also remained blocked for hours due to road blockade by protesters.

Earlier on June 4, the chief minister had claimed after a meeting with representatives of agitating farmers at Ujjain, that differences with cultivators were ironed out with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) farmers outfit Bharatiya Kisan Sangh even announcing that the strike had been withdrawn.

However, other farmers' outfits stuck to their previous announcement of 10-day long strike denying any agreement with the government.

On the same day (on June 4), a police assistant sub-inspector sustained severe injuries in his one eye during the stone pelting at Ratlam.

A high-voltage political drama was also witnessed on June 8, when Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was detained on his way to Mandsaur to meet the family members of the farmers killed in police firing.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday wished Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief on his 70th birthday.

"I have come to greet him on his birthday. My best wishes are with him. He has led a long political life and has contributed a lot to Bihar's and the society," Nitish said.

Extending his greetings, Nitish also presented a bouquet of red roses to Lalu.





Nitish Kumar with Lalu Prasad Yadav

"The Chief Minister along with other leaders of the grand alliance has come to wish me on my birthday. I want to thank Bihar's people for their love and support," Lalu told the media.

He further said that he had celebrated his birthday with his family by cutting a cake at midnight.

Meanwhile, Lalu's supporters also gathered outside his residence to wish him on his birthday.

Lalu, former chief minister of Bihar, who turned 70 today, will later celebrate his birthday along with party workers by cutting a 70-pound cake.
The has always been a must visit for tourists coming to New Delhi. Perhaps no other site in the Capital attracts so many selfies as the place in front of the Delhi
BJP chief Amit Shah's planned meet with party's Delhi unit workers and leaders as part of his 95-day all-India tour, has been postponed, apparently in view of his enhanced focus on Kerala and West Bengal.

Party sources said, Shah was scheduled to interact with city units leaders in mid-June, but the programme was postponed, as he is paying more attention to politically crucial West Bengal and Kerala before the 2019 general elections.

No fresh date has been announced for a Delhi meet.

"We had received Shah's programme on June 14-15. But, now he has altered all his priorities focusing on Kerala and Bengal. The meet in Delhi has been postponed," said a senior party leader.

Shah had set off on an all-India tour on April 29 with an aim to strengthen the party-base ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has been trying to make inroads into the states, including Kerala and West Bengal, where it faired badly in 2014 elections, despite a Modi "wave".

The BJP had managed to win just 4 of the 102 Lok Sabha seats in four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana in the 2014 elections.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council at its 16th meeting in New Delhi on Sunday revised the rates of 66 items out of the 133 for which representations had been received seeking change from the fitments originally made in the four-slab indirect tax structure, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. Industry hailed the GST Council's latest decisions as beneficial, particularly for small and medium enterprises.

Following the 15th meeting of the council earlier this month, held to decide on the six remaining items -- including gold and beedi -- from the Srinagar meeting which had decided upon 1,211 items, Jaitley had said that a committee of officers would examine rate adjustments, if any, based on the representations received from different trade and industry associations. Their recommendations were taken up by the council on Sunday.

"The 133 representations received were considered at length and the officers' committee made their recommendations... the council has reduced tax in 66 out of the 133 cases," Jaitley, who heads the council, told reporters here following the meeting.

The Minister explained that the cases for reduction had been considered keeping two objectives in mind.

"One was to maintain equivalence to the existing taxes, and in some other cases, the fitment had breached this equivalence principle. In others, the reduction is required because of the changing nature of the economy and changes that have occurred in consumer preference," he said.

Elaborating on some of the reductions, Jaitley said the tax on cashew has been cut from 12 to 5 per cent. Packaged foods like food and vegetable products such as pickles, chutnies, ketchup and instant food mixes, among others, which historically were taxed at 18 per cent, are going to be taxed at 12 per cent as these are items used by common people, he said.

Tax on cutlery will come down from 18 to 12 per cent, while computer printers will be lowered from 28 to 18 per cent. Insulin and agarbatti will go down from 12 to 5 per cent.

Among other goods, Jaitley said school bags have been lowered from 28 to 18 per cent, while exercise books will come down from 18 to 12 per cent.

All goods and services under the pan-India GST regime, which will subsume the existing multiple central and state levies, have been categorised in four tax slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, besides those items that attract zero tax.

Following representations from the film industry, the GST Council has decided on a two-slab structure for cinema tickets, whereby those costing less than Rs 100 would be taxed at 18 per cent, while those above will attract a tax of 28 per cent.

In order to encourage job work outsourcing in sectors like diamond, leather, textiles, jewellery and printing, where workers take the work home, the GST rate has been reduced to 5 per cent.

Besides, traders, manufacturers and restaurants with a turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh can avail themselves of the composition scheme, against Rs 50 lakh earlier, Jaitley said.

He also said that lottery tickets and e-way bill are two specific issues that will be taken up at the next meeting of the council here on June 18.

While BJP-ruled states gave a go ahead to July 1 roll-out of the GST, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra continued to raise serious doubts over the feasibility of the new indirect tax regime and proposed its postponement by a month or so.

"I have also added a caveat (in the GST Council meeting) that July 1 looks extremely difficult. But you cannot do frugal innovation for world's largest fiscal reform called GST. And you are going to start GST from July 1. So my submission was, let us not do frugal innovation for something which is world's largest fiscal reform," Mitra told reporters after the meeting here.

He said that there is no harm in the postponement of the GST "by one month or so".

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated that the traders and industry have no option but to get ready by July 1 as postponement are not on the anvil.

"Irrespective of the date at which we start, some people will say we are not ready. They have no option but to get ready. You require an honest intent for that," he told reporters when asked about some industry representatives seeking more time for the roll-out.

Industry and stakeholders on Sunday hailed the GST Council's move of bringing traders, manufacturers and restaurants below Rs 75 lakh turnover under the Composition Scheme saying that it will boost small and medium enterprises in the country.

"This is a big decision in favour of traders. Its a people -centric decision, which will benefit the common people. The biggest win is for SMEs today. It is the biggest development for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small businesses that contribute on a large scale to the GDP and job sector of the country," the West Bengal Finance Minister said.

"The purpose of the GST is to protect SMEs, protect states' revenues and benefit people. By stimulating SMEs, which are labour intensive, taxes will go up, impact on GDP will go up and if implemented in appropriate manner, it can lead to greater revenues," Mitra said.

Traders who have below Rs 75 lakh turnover will have to pay 1 per cent tax, manufacturers will have to pay 2 per cent while restaurant businesses will have to pay 5 per cent if they opt to go for the Composition Scheme under GST.

Pratik Jain, Partner and Leader Indirect Tax, PwC, said: "Increasing the composition scheme limit to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh will provide relief to many more small businesses, though service providers (except restaurants) continue to remain outside the ambit of composition levy."

Mahesh Jaising, Partner, Indirect Tax, BMR and Associates LLP said: "The GST Council has decided to increase the threshold of the composition scheme. This should mean that a significant number of SME sector players should benefit from not having to meet with detailed compliances under GST and also having a less financial burden, on account of GST."
To boost industrial development and create million of jobs, the government in Uttar Pradesh has started the spadework to developing the state as an exports hub.
Over 150 students of Delhi Public School (DPS) in Kolkata attended an unusual two-hour class last month. The subject was not routine and the teachers were not the regular ones. They were made aware of the concept of the goods and services tax (GST) by a group of senior officials of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise).
Tele-Law through CSCs To Mainstream Legal Aid in Rural India

- The pilot to be rolled out across 1000 Common Service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh & Bihar- This initiative will also serve as an opportunity to build capacity of 1000 women Para Legal Volunteers (PLV)- Training of VLEs across 1000 Common Service Centres (CSC) able to effectively operationalize the tele- law servicesIn its effort to make legal aid easily accessible to the marginalized communities and citizens living in rural areas, the Government of India has launched the Tele-Law. The Ministry of Law and Justice partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which anchors the Digital India programme, to provide legal aid services through its Common Service Centres (CSC) at the panchayat level, spread across the country. In the first phase, the Tele-Law scheme will be tested as a pilot across 500 Common service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to understand the challenges and make necessary corrections to the scheme before it is scaled up and rolled out across the country in a phased manner.Under the scheme, a portal called Tele-Law will be launched, which will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network. This will connect the citizens to legal service providers with the help of technology enabled platforms. Tele-Law will enable people to seek legal advice from lawyers through video conferencing available at the Common Service Centres (CSC). Additionally, law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal aid and empowerment can also be connected through the CSCs anywhere and anytime, in order to strengthen access to justice for the marginalized communities. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) will provide a panel of lawyers from State capitals, who will be available through video conferencing to provide legal advice and counselling to the applicants, across the 1000 Common Service Centres (CSC). A robust monitoring and evaluation system is also being designed which will help in assessing the quality of legal advice provided and the ensuing benefit to those accessing it.Announcing, the launch of Tele-Law, Honble Minister for Electronics, IT, Law and Justice, Shri. Ravi Shankar Prasad said, I am extremely happy to have launched the Tele Law, the legal aid to poor through which will be made available through the Common Services Centers. Tele-Law will fulfill our commitment to ensure access to justice & empowerment of the poor.

The Common Services Centers and Para Legal Volunteers will offer easy legal advice to litigants in rural India making them digitally and financially inclusive.? In addition to this, under this scheme, every Common Service Centre (CSC) will engage a Para Legal Volunteer (PLV), who will be the first point of contact for the rural citizens and will help them in understanding the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers and assist in further action required in cases as per the advice of the lawyer. Women PLVs will be encouraged and trained under the Scheme. One thousand women PLVs will work for mainstreaming legal aid services through the CSCs. The aim is to promote women entrepreneurship and empowerment and ensure women participation. The selected PLVs will also be provided with relevant training to fulfil their responsibilities effectively. A trained PLV will be available in a CSC for ten days in a month under the Scheme. These PLVs will help the applicant connect with a lawyer through the video conferencing facility at the CSC and will keep a track of the progress of the applicants cases and grievances and maintain a record. They will also submit the records maintained to the District Legal Service Authority every week. The National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) will provide a panel of lawyers who will be sitting in the State capitals and will be available through video conferencing to provide legal advice/counselling to the applicant at the CSCs. This scheme comes as a continuation to the Access to Justice Project for Marginalized Persons which is being implemented by Department of Justice and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). The Access to Justice Project partnered with CSC-E-governance Services India Limited to mainstream legal literacy through common service centres in Jharkhand (10 CSCs in 3 districts) and then through 500 CSCs across 11 districts in Rajasthan. Under the program, 500 VLEs in Rajasthan were trained on social justice legislations such as fundamental rights, the right to information, citizen rights vis-?-vis policing, gender laws, child rights and labour laws.
India Israel relations date back to 17 Sep 1950, when India recognised the formation of Israel. Since the renewal of formal diplomatic relations in 1992, defence cooperation has been one of the main pillars of bilateral engagement between the two nations..

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Defence relationship between the two countries, over the years, has matured into one of mutual trust and confidence. Indian has been importing critical defence technologies from Israel; in addition both the Armed Forces and MoD have been cooperating through the medium of Staff Talks, Joint Working Group (JWG) and exchange of high-level visits. The visit to Israel by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman COSC & Chief of the Naval Staff from 12 to 15 Jun 17 is in continuation of such high level defence exchanges. .

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During his visit to Israel, Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman COSC & CNS is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with Lt Gen Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of the General Staff, Israeli Defence Force, to explore avenues for greater cooperation between the two Armed Forces. He is also scheduled to meet the Commander-in-Chief of Israeli Navy, Commander of Israeli Air Force, Commander of Israeli Ground Forces and other MoD officials. In addition, the Admiral will be visiting Haifa Naval Base and other Israeli Air Force and Army establishments. .

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The visit by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman COSC & CNS will further consolidate the Armed Forces Cooperation between the two countries. .

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Five terrorists planning a major terror attack in Pakistan have been arrested and a huge cache of explosives recovered from them in Punjab province, officials said on Sunday.

The militants were planning to attack sensitive installations in Sialkot district, about 180 km from Lahore.

They have been booked under the anti-terrorism act.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police arrested them yesterday during a raid in Sialkot.

Abdul Wahab, Behzad Ali, Shahzaib Zafar, Waqas and Daniyal Arshad were said to be active members of the ISIS.

Some 3,400 grammes of explosives, 100-inch safety fuse, five non-electric detonators, three bags and maps have been recovered from them.

The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing of two Chinese nationals, including a woman, who were abducted by armed gunmen from Pakistan's restive north-west Balochistan province recently.
Voters in France began choosing lawmakers on Sunday in a two-stage election that will determine how much power new President will actually have. If polls are to be believed, it will be a lot.
The United States' (US) partners in the G7 club of wealthy democracies vowed on Sunday to pursue efforts to curb climate change despite a rift caused by the United States' withdrawal from the Paris accord.

"G7 countries have crucial roles and responsibilities to our own public opinion, to developing countries and to the planet," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said at the start of a two-day meeting of G7 environmental chiefs. "The community awaits our message."

G7 environment chiefs meet in Italy on Sunday for potentially difficult talks 10 days after Donald Trump sparked a rift with US partners by pulling out of the Paris climate change accord.

Scott Pruitt, a friend of the oil industry who is sceptical about man-made climate change and was Trump's controversial choice to head the US Environmental Protection Agency, will represent Washington's interests at the two-day meeting.

Up against him will be the likes of Barbara Hendricks, the German environment minister who once tried to ban meat from her ministry's catering on the grounds it was bad for the planet.

And France is deploying prominent Green campaigner Nicolas Hulot, new President Emmanuel Macron's high-profile pick for the environment brief.

Italy's large environmentalist movement has also vowed to make its voice heard. A major demonstration against Trump's decision is planned for Sunday afternoon in Bologna, an ancient university city and bastion of progressive activism.

"We are expecting a good turnout. A lot of people are very upset about Trump's decision and it has started a new debate," Giacomo Cossu, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told AFP.

Trump announced at the start of this month that the US would not abide by the 2015 Paris agreement and would seek to renegotiate terms he denounced as unfairly damaging to the American and overly generous to India and China.

A spokesman for Hendricks said Germany would be looking for "something more concrete" from Pruitt in terms of what the US was going to do.

Trump has said Washington will not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change.

But many analysts say Trump's rhetoric may make little difference.

Important players in US industry and individual cities and states are already implementing changes aimed at meeting the targets laid down in Paris, where most of the world's countries agreed to try and cap global temperature rises at 2C above preindustrial levels.

Germany and California, the US's wealthiest state, agreed yesterday to work together to keep the Paris accords on track.

"The world is already turning carbon-free and I think there will be no change to this broad trend," Japan's Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto said after Trump's announcement of his decision on Paris.

"So far there's only been an announcement that the US is withdrawing, it has not yet materialised. So we're going to keep trying to persuade them."

Scientists warn that failing to contain climate change will have devastating consequences as sea levels rise and extreme storms, droughts and heatwaves become more common, endangering crops and fragile environments with knock-on effects in the form of new conflicts and mass fluxes of people escaping affected areas.
As European Union officials count the days before their annual vacation, Googles lawyers and lobbyists are hunkering down in Brussels, preparing for what may be a record EU antitrust fine.
It was a scathing put-down. He can lead a protest, Im leading the country, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain said about the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.

Over the past seven weeks, Corbyn led the protest of his life. As May faltered, stumbling her way toward an election she herself had called, the veteran left winger and serial campaigner turned his party into a movement.
Spring twilight comes late to northern France, and around 9, when we left the Marine Le Pen rally, a hush was settling across the countryside. This, the candidate had said, was the real France, and it was certainly the France that American tourists long for, untouched by the homogenising forces of global travel.
Carmaker is looking at rehiring the chief executive of General Motors' Opel, possibly to lead its Audi brand, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, following a media report the executive will quit Opel.

Opel boss Karl-Thomas Neumann plans to resign as General Motors (GM) prepares to sell the business to France's PSA Group, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported over the weekend.

Without citing its sources, the newspaper said Neumann saw the sale as the right strategic step, but was concerned PSA under-estimated the growing importance of electric cars.

The source said (VW) bosses were informally discussing giving Neumann, who quit VW in 2013 for the Opel top job, a prominent position, potentially as head of premium brand Audi.

VW and Opel declined to comment.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has come under fire for how he has handled the fallout from VW's diesel emissions scandal.

He only received a five-year contract extension last month because of an agreement among supervisory board members that he would not serve out his full term, two sources have told Reuters.

Pressure has built on Stadler after Munich prosecutors widened an investigation into the premium carmaker, and after Germany's transport ministry accused Audi of cheating on emissions tests.

In an interview with trade publication Automobilwoche, Stadler over the weekend defended his record: "The diesel crisis has consumed and is still consuming resources. I'm still convinced that we have initiated the right strategic steps."

Neumann, 56, planned to inform Opel's supervisory board about his decision at its next meeting on June 22, FAS said, adding he wanted to stay on only until GM completed the sale of Opel to PSA, owner of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands.

Opel this week said the 2.2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) deal could be completed as early as July 31, pending regulatory approval from antitrust authorities.

Neumann joined GM in 2013 to lead the U.S. carmaker's European operations, which include the Vauxhall brand, after losing out in a management reshuffle at VW. In his former roles at VW, he was in charge of electro-mobility and head of China.
With the at all-time high levels, Andrew Holland, chief executive officer, Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies, tells Puneet Wadhwa he has been expecting a risk-off phase for some time now. The information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals and telecom sectors, he says, will remain under pressure, as there are fundamental reasons for a fall in valuations. Edited excerpts:
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday withdrew his controversial statement made on Army Chief General and tendered an apology for the same.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said, "I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So, I apologise for it and withdraw my statement."

Dikshit had earlier in the day stirred a controversy when he asserted that the General Rawat shouldn't make statements like a 'sadak ka gunda' (a road-side goon).

He said, "It feels our Army chief speaks like a roadside thug. While this is expected from Pakistan who are like the mafia, why does our own chief make such pronouncements?"

Dikshit's comment drew flak from all the quarters.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter and expressed his angst.

"What's wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!!," tweeted Rijiju.

In an interaction with ANI, General Rawat had earlier said that the Indian Army is well prepared to face external as well as internal threats of the country.

"Indian Army is fully ready for a two and a half front war", General Rawat had said.
Turns out, culture affects how people deceive others.

Psychologists have discovered that people's language changes when they lie depending on their cultural background.

Researcher Paul Taylor of Lancaster University in the UK said that the research showed that prevalent beliefs about what those changes look like are not true for all cultures.

The researchers asked participants of Black African, South Asian, White European and White British ethnicity to complete a Catch-the-Liar task in which they provided genuine and false statements.

They found the statements of Western liars tend to include fewer first-person "I" pronouns than the statements of truth-tellers. This is a common finding and believed to be due to the liar trying to distance themselves from the lie.

However, they did not find this difference when examining the lies of Black African and South Asian participants. Instead, these participants increased their use of first person pronoun and decreased their third person "he/she" pronouns, they sought to distance their social group rather than them self from the lie.

There were also differences in the kinds of contextual details reported. The White European and White British participants followed the known trend of decreasing the perceptual information they provided in their lie. In contrast, the Black African and South Asian participants increased the perceptual information they gave when lying, to compensate for providing less social details.

"The results demonstrate that linguistic cues to deception do not appear consistently across all cultures. The differences are dictated by known cultural differences in cognition and social norms," Taylor added.

This has implications for everything from forensic risk assessments, discrimination proceedings and the evaluation of asylum seekers.

"In the absence of culture-specific training, an individual's judgements about veracity are most likely drawn from either experience or an evidenced-based understanding based on studies of Western liars. In these scenarios, erroneous judgements of veracity may impact on justice," he noted.

The study appears in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese Consul General Ma Zhanwu on Sunday said India and China relations have progressed a lot in the past two years, adding that the two nations have shared interests which are far better than the differences.

He further said that there would always be differences between countries, but the positive thing is both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have expressed goodwill in working together and managing the differences to make progress in the bilateral relationships.

"I feel China-India relations will see a great progress in the months to come. In early September this year, Prime Minister Modi will travel to China to attend the BRICS summit", he added.

Prime Minister Modi met Jinping in Astana on June 10 on the sidelines of the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and discussed bilateral relations where the latter pointed out that the international environment was undergoing profound and complex changes.

Prime Minister Modi said India and China were ancient civilisations with a long-standing friendship.

"Against the backdrop of complex and volatile international situation, the sound India-China relations can serve as a stabiliser. The two sides should tap into the potential for cooperation, bolster communication and coordination in international affairs, respect each other's core concerns and properly handle differences," he asserted.

The Prime Minister further said that India appreciates China's support for its accession to the SCO and wishes to strengthen cooperation with China under the SCO framework.

President Jinping congratulated India on its expected official membership of the SCO and stated China's willingness to strengthen cooperation with India under the SCO framework and jointly make positive contribution to its sound and steady development.

President Jinping said China and India, as the two largest developing countries in the world, should focus more on cooperation, advance side by side, lend support to each other's development, uphold world peace and promote common development.

"China highly values its relations with India and wishes to work together to enhance political mutual trust, complement development strategies, deepen practical cooperation, maintain coordination and cooperation on major international and regional issues and push for the sustained, steady and sound development of China-India strategic and cooperative partnership," he added.

President Jinping asserted that the two sides should work for closer high-level and institutional exchanges, strengthen strategic communication and synergise their policies.

"The two countries should also enhance trade and investment cooperation for more early harvests in such major projects as production capacity, industrial parks and railway construction. Efforts should be made to promote regional connectivity and common development, align development initiatives, push for substantial progress in the Bangladesh- China- India-Myanmar Economic Corridor at an early date and enhance cooperation under the framework of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank," he added.

President Jinping said that it is also imperative to step up communication in terms of localities, think tanks, culture, media and tourism, strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral field to properly manage and handle differences and sensitive issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FRIEDENS  President Donald Trump hailed the opening Thursday of a new coal mine as proof deregulation is helping bring jobs to the industry, even though plans for the mines opening were made well before Trumps election.

Corsa Coal Corp. will supply coal used in making steel and is expected to generate up to 100 fulltime jobs. The company said it decided in August to open the Acosta mine 60 miles south of Pittsburgh after a steel industry boom drove up prices for metallurgical coal.

Under a tent perched hundreds of feet above a freshly dug coal pit, about 200 miners, business leaders, and politicians celebrated amid the surge of enthusiasm for the industry. Mining headgear lay atop red, white, and blue table cloths labeled Make Coal Great Again.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said the mine was part of an effort to bring back jobs and industry to the state. Pennsylvania awarded a $3 million grant for the project.

We have not always capitalized on our standing as one of the worlds leaders in these resources, but were changing that, Wolf said.

Trump has made reversing the decadeslong decline in coal mining the central tenet of his environmental policy, blaming federal regulations aimed at curbing planet-warming carbon emissions for job losses in the industry. Trump and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have targeted laws that protected waterways from coal waste and required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants. About a dozen protesters chanted in opposition to the mine at the opening.

Trump noted the impending opening of the mine last week during his speech announcing the nations withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. He said then he had hoped to attend the event; he participated via recorded video message, taking partial credit for the opening.

One by one, were eliminating the regulations that threaten your jobs, and thats one of the big reasons youre opening today: Less regulation, Trump said. We have withdrawn the United States from the horrendous Paris climate accord, something that would have put our country back decades and decades, we would have never allowed ourselves to be great again.

The metallurgical coal being pulled from the new mine is a niche market that makes up only between 5 percent and 10 percent of coal production and operates independently of the market for power-generating coal. Analysts said the new mine doesnt indicate a long-term revival in the coal industry as a whole, which continues to struggle.

Corsas chief executive, George Dethlefsen, said Trump has made the entire mining industry more optimistic.

The war on coal is over, he said. Easing the regulatory burden, lowering taxes, stimulating infrastructure spending, balancing out the interest of economic growth versus environmental policy  its very good for coal.

The price of metallurgical coal tripled to over $300 a ton over the past year after China slashed its coal production and the steel industry bounced back from a global downturn. Cyclones disrupted supplies in Australia, the worlds biggest exporter of metallurgical coal, pushing prices higher. Though prices have sagged since then, Dethlefsen said he is confident that the mine will be profitable for a while to come.

The supply chain for metallurgical coal is extremely fragile. Whether its cyclones in Australia, government policy in China, theres always something that could disrupt the supply chain and prices to shoot up. Dethlefsen said. If we can keep our costs low, we can compete with any country in the world.

Corsa hopes to open another metallurgical coal mine next year, and a third in 2019.

Power-generating coal mines continue to struggle, facing competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy. Over a dozen coal-fired plants from Nevada to Massachusetts are projected to shut their doors this year, according to a report by the nonprofit Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

If Trump brings back the coal, its not going to bring back the jobs, said Jay Apt, an energy policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Those jobs are gone, automation has seen to that.

Still, for the workers here, the grand opening is allowing them a sigh of relief. Though most are longtime Corsa employees brought in from other facilities, many were jittery after a mine closing in 2014 left hundreds collecting unemployment benefits.

I wont lie, we doubted if we were going to have jobs, if the company was going to make it, said Matt Owens, a mine safety coordinator who got into coal after his factory employer shut down a decade ago. But they did.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing into the offshore properties of the Sharif family in relation to the Panamagate case has issued a summon to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appear before it on June 15.

Citing official sources, Dawn News reported that the summon was issued to the Prime Minister on Saturday after he returned from his international trip to Kazakhstan, where he had been attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Sharif, who is currently in Lahore, met with his close confidantes on Sunday morning to discuss the issue.

After consulting with his aides, he has decided to honour the summons and appear before the JIT on Thursday.

The Prime Minister's son Hassan and Hussain Nawaz have already been summoned and questioned by the JIT in recent days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The (DUP) has agreed to support the Conservatives on the basis of an agreement known as "confidence and supply".

Downing Street said an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached and will be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday, reported Independent.

Earlier, Prime Minister Theresa May said that she is considering to clinch a deal with the DUP to guide the UK through crucial Brexit talks.

May had been hoping to boost her mandate for Brexit negotiations which are due to begin in just 10 days' time, but hung parliament has left Tories weakened with less seats that fell below the 326 needed to form a majority government.

However, the Democratic Unionist leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, said she wants to "bring stability to our nation" by backing Theresa May and the Conservatives to continue in power the Guardian reported.

Foster has informed that she was entering discussions with May over the details of any arrangement that would prop up a minority government.

Foster said the election in Northern Ireland, which saw 10 DUP MPs, including two new ones, elected to the Commons, was a "great result" for the union.

Theresa May has said sorry to the Tory MPs and ministers who lost their seats due to her decision of holding elections.

DUP and May's party share cordial relations since she became prime minister 11 months ago and are likely to enter into an agreement so as to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister.

"We want there to be a government. We have worked well with May. The alternative is intolerable. For as long as Corbyn leads Labour, we will ensure there's a Tory PM," the Guardian quoted a DUP source.

The Tories won 318 seats, down 12, and will have to rely on the DUP to get things done. If some Conservative MPs desert the party on key votes than May's plans would be left in tatters.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has urged May to resign as he said she should "go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country".
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, social activists Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh and JNUSU president Mohit Kumar Pandey were detained by the police on Sunday when they were trying to enter restive Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh to meet the deceased farmers' kin.

The activists, backed by at least 100 people, claimed by officials, were detained by the police under the Preventive Custody Act 151 for violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

According to officials, the activists were repeatedly advised not to enter the violence hit district as Section 144 was imposed, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people in an area.

"Under the Section 144, more than four to five people cannot assemble. We repeatedly requested them to follow the orders. There are at least 100 people with them. It is clearly a violation of the rule. Hence we first cautioned them and then took action," Mandsaur's Sub Divisional Magistrate R. P. Verma told ANI.

However, Yogendra Yadav claimed that there were only four of them and were following the orders diligently.

"We don't know why we were arrested, there is no curfew. We did not violate Section 144. When we asked for the order they did not show it to us. What democracy is this?" Yadav told ANI.

Expressing similar concerns Swami Agnivesh said, "It seems that rule of law is only applicable to those who believe in non-violence. The police are only meant to stop us and not for those who indulge in hooliganism."

Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Shukla has said that the activists have been placed under police custody and will be cautioned to not to enter the district again.

"We have taken them into custody under the Cr.PC 151. We will take them to Jaora where some paperwork needs to be done and some conditions will be imposed on them. We will ask them not to go to Mandsaur, if they still persist, we will arrest them and put them in jail," Shukla told ANI.

Mandsaur has been in the grip of intense farmers' agitation who have been protesting against loan waiver and good prices for their produce.

On June 6, the curfew was imposed after five farmers were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Social activists Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav were among 40 persons detained on Sunday while on way to meet the kin of farmers killed in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district.

They were detained at Dhodhar while on way from Ratlam to Mandsaur where at least five farmers were killed on June 6 in police firing amid violence. They were released on bail later.

Ratlam Superintendent of Police Amit Singh said Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was enforced in Mandsaur district in anticipation of fear of breach of peace, which prohibited congregation of four or more persons at one place.

He said those detained included five women, including Patkar.

Earlier, these social activists and various farmer leaders paid homage to killed farmers.

Communist Party of India-Marxist state unit chief Badal Saroj dubbed police action against farmers protesting in support of their demands for loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce as "undemocratic".

--IANS

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At least ten people, including nine members of a family, were killed on Sunday when an Innova car in which they were travelling fell into the Fatehpur Sikri Canal in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Villagers and police pulled out the bodies.

Police said the family from Rajiv Colony of Bareilly was going to Bharatpur in Rajasthan for a week's pilgrimage.

Powerful lights from a truck coming from the opposite side appeared to have blinded the car driver, who lost control on the narrow bridge over the canal.

The swift currents in the canal drowned the 30-year-old driver whose body was found a little distance away.

Villagers who helped in taking out the bodies were angry that not a single ambulance of the state government arrived despite phone calls.

For over five hours, the villagers protested on the Bharatpur- road demanding widening of the canal bridge, street lights and speed breakers.

The police identified the dead as Mahesh Sharma, Deepika Sharma, Poonam Sharma, Haardik, Khushboo Sharma, Rohan, Ritik Sharma, Himanshi Sharma, Surabhi Sharma and the driver, Harish Chandra.
Life was returning to normalcy in West Bengal's troubled Darjeeling hills as no fresh violence was reported on Sunday, but uncertainty prevailed as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called an indefinite shutdown from Monday.

Many tourists, who were stuck in the picturesque tourist town, reached Kolkata on Sunday heaving a sigh of relief after tense few days in the hills.

The West Bengal government has arranged buses to ferry the tourists free of cost from Sealdah station of Kolkata to their homes.

"We are relieved to be back home. It was a disappointing trip in the hills as we had a harrowing time. The experience was bitter and we lived in fear and could not visit any tourist spot," a tourist said.

Meanwhile, GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri claimed that 44 families who had previously switched allegiance from their party to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) are back with the Morcha. TMC leader in the hills Binny Sharma, however, dismissed Giri's claims.

According to Giri, all central and state government offices -- including block development offices, sub-divisional offices and district magistrate offices, banks, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (the hill development body) offices -- will be closed as part of the shutdown from Monday.

However, schools and colleges, transport and tourism -- hotels, eateries, shops -- will be outside the purview of the shutdown.

"There is an uncertainty. We do not know what would happen from Monday even though GJM said tourism will not fall in the purview of shutdown. We are planning to leave for Siliguri in the afternoon. Some tourists are also going to Sikkim," a tourist said here.

After the GJM's central committee meeting chaired by its President Bimal Gurung on Saturday, the party leaders threw a virtual challenge to the Mamata Banerjee-led state government and pressed for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

Giri said the state government's revenue sources like electricity, mines and boulders will also come under the purview of the GJM's shutdown.

After the clash between the police and GJM supporters, the district police launched a search operation.

Five GJM activists have been arrested so far, according to a police official of Darjeeling Sadar police station.

The army units which earlier patrolled Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong towns were not seen on Sunday morning.

--IANS

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The Second World War was truly a "world" war -- for, apart from encompassing most of the globe, it saw all military forces drawing in additional "personnel" beyond the planet's dominant species. These were not only beasts of burden and transport like horses or elephants, but also man's best animal friend performing a range of tasks from "escort" to "early warning", and a shell-totting bear and many more.

Over 50 animals, on the British side, displaying "conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty" were conferred the Dickin Medal, popularly known as "the animals' Victoria Cross". While not all these dogs, homing pigeons, horses and a cat recipients have books on them, some of these -- or others who do -- form a heartening sub-genre of war literature.

One of the most unusual of them was the beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking (or rather eating) "Corporal Wojciech Perski" of 22nd Artillery Support Company of the Polish II Corps -- or rather Wojtek the Bear (c.1942-63) as he is better known.

Entranced by stories about this bear told by her grandfather, seeing him in Edinburgh Zoo and having helped to immortalise his memory in Scotland, Aileen Orr recounts his curious life in "Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero" (2010).

Bought in Iran from his boy owner by a contingent of Polish servicemen, released from Stalin's gulags to join the Allies, the orphaned Syrian bear cub, bearing a Polish name meaning "happy warrior", accompanied them through their onward sojourn through Iraq to Palestine, to combat in Italy.

In Iraq, he helped capture an Arab spy but also stole an entire washing line of women soldiers' underwear. His minders, however, managed to recover them, returned them "with some difficulty in keeping straight faces" and made him say sorry. Wojtek "dutifully played his part, hiding his snout behind his large forepaws and whimpering piteously. Then he peeked out from behind his paws, his bright button eyes searching the girls' faces to see what sort of effect he was having on them".

Participating in the desperate battles of Monte Cassino (where he helped to carry around artillery shells), he came with them to Scotland, where the Poles were brought after the war ended, demobilised and most settled down -- being unable to return to their Soviet-run homeland. He was eventually -- and most reluctantly -- sent to the zoo when his Polish minders had to move on, became a little sad, but was always perked by their visits, the sound of Polish and the treats smuggled in to him.

There was the St Bernard who became the mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy and then of the entire Free Norwegian Forces and has his story told in, among other accounts, Angus Whitson & Andrew Orr's "Sea Dog Bamse, World War II Canine Hero" (2011).

Owned by a whaler's captain and taken to sea from an early age, Bamse became an official crew member when the war broke out and his owner fled to Britain with his vessel. Converted into a minesweeper, operating out of Scotland, it had Bamse, wearing a special helmet, standing in the vessel's forward gun tower during action.

But he played a major role on shore too, once saving a ship officer attacked by a knife-wielding man by pushing the assailant into the sea. Made responsible for rounding up crew on shore leave, he travelled on local buses to get down near a bar they frequented to take them back. He also specialised in breaking up fights among crewmates by rearing up and putting his paws on their shoulders to calm them down.

Ant was a German Shepherd found by Vaclav Robert Bozdech, a Czech pilot in French service, after a crash and went to fly on missions with his master. Smuggled to Britain after France's collapse, he continued as Bozdech's aviation auxiliary in a bomber. Taken to Czechoslovakia after the war, he helped his master escape after the Communists seized power.

His story was first told (rather inaccurately) in Anthony Richardson's "One Man and His Dog" (1961) but better in Hamish Ross' "Freedom in the Air: A Czech Flyer and His Aircrew Dog" (2007) and Damien Lewis' "War Dog: The No-Man's Land Puppy Who Took To the Skies" (2013).

Ex-para Gil Boyd's "The Amazing Adventures of Bing the Parachuting Dog" (2013) tells of the Alsatian-collie mix, trained to locate the enemy and having "an incredible ability to sense danger", who participated in D-Day, and was again part of the paradrop into Germany the next year.

Then there was the Bactrian camel, who accompanied the Red Army to Berlin, a stray dog at an Australian airbase who was the first to warn of approaching Japanese aircraft, the elephants that helped defeat the Japanese in Burma and more.

But without disparaging these examples, doesn't it raise a question why man can extend love to other species, but have no qualms at killing his own kind -- whatever be the reason.

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former "Top Gear" host Richard Hammond was airlifted to a hospital here after being involved in a car crash while filming his new show "The Grand Tour".

The accident occurred in the town of St Gallen in north-east Switzerland during a shoot for the show, reports theguardian.com.

The 47-year-old had to be pulled out from the wreckage of a Rimac supercar worth 2 million euros that burst into flames.

An Amazon spokesperson said Hammond had been "involved in a serious crash" and had a fracture on his knee. But she said Hammond "very fortunately suffered no serious injury".

"Richard was conscious and talking and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames," she said.

The latest incident comes less than three months after Hammond was injured after falling off a motorbike while filming in a remote part of Mozambique.

--IANS

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Iranian authorities arrested another seven persons linked to the two deadly terror attacks in the capital Tehran earlier this week which killed 17 people, police said on Saturday.

The arrests were made in Alborz province's Fardis town, reports Xinhua news agency.

The seven persons were affiliated to terrorist groups, the police added.

On Friday, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said since the attack on Wednesday security forces have arrested 41 individuals linked to the Islamic State (IS) in Tehran, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and West Azarbaijan provinces.

The two simultaneous attacks were carried out by IS militants in Iran's Majlis (parliament) and the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic republic Ayatollah Khomeini.

Six attackers were killed by Iran's security forces.

--IANS

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Actress Kriti Sanon, who has only done three films -- "Heropanti", "Dilwale" and "Raabta" since venturing into Bollywood in 2014, says it has been a slow start for her, but it's not something done purposely.

Asked if she feels it's a slow start for her in Bollywood, Kriti told IANS: "It's not something done purposely. I think sometimes certain films demand more time. 'Raabta' demanded this much time. I had signed 'Raabta' before 'Dilwale' released, but I had to prepare for two months before I started shooting for it. Then, there had to be a gap between both the schedules."

The 27-year-old says she had to learn "swimming, scuba diving and horse riding" for "Raabta".

"I never want to do a film just for the heck of it, rather do it right. That could be one of the reasons that I had to give so much time to certain films... I had signed a film called 'Farzi' and blocked the dates, but it didn't happen...So it has been a slow start," she added.

After "Raabta", which released on Friday, Kriti is now looking forward to "Bareilly Ki Barfi", which has been directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.

"In this one year, I have shot for 'Raabta' and completed 'Bareilly Ki Barfi', so it is a back to back release," she said.

"Bareilly Ki Barfi", which is slated to release on July 21, is a romantic comedy rooted in the subculture of the north Indian city Bareilly. The film also stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao.

The film will feature Ayushmann as the owner of a printing press. Rajkummar will be seen as an author and Kriti as a straightforward girl.

--IANS

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If youre a white woman selling burritos, the culture cops will shut you down for appropriating the culture of Mexicans who have been oppressed by the white man.

This really happened in Portland, Oregon, which is to left-wing crazies what Florida is to clueless criminals.

Kali Wilgus and Liz Connelly went to Puerto Neuvo, Mexico and picked up all the tortilla-making techniques they could from every tortilla lady there in the worst broken Spanish ever, and they showed me a little of what they did.

Connelly thought she and her business partner were going to get a little good publicity for their pop-up food truck when she told Willamette Week that they even peeked into the windows of every kitchen they could and then came home to make their own version, going through a trial-and-error process until they got it right.

Thats when the liberals at Mic.com and The Portland Mercury weekly paper went after them.

In a piece that the Mercury has since removed from their website, self-described Burritogate Provocateur Jagger Blaec wrote that two white womenKali Wilgus and Liz LC Connellydecided it would be cute to open a food truck after a fateful excursion to Mexico.

So lets recap the story thus far: These two white women went to Mexico, ate tacos, and then decided they would just take what the locals clearly didnt want to give them, Blaec continued. If that wasnt bad enough, they decided to pack up all their stolen intellectual property and repackage it.

Thats when Portlands militant progressives could no longer tolerate their own intolerance of women whose white privilege of taking out loans, paying for licenses, insurance and equipment allowed them to physically make their own food for sale.

Outrage ensued and the liberals pressured the criminals to shut down their business, which the owners told Williamette Week they were forced to do after two days of non-stop threats. Blaec labeled the closing of Kooks Burritos a victory.

Lets think about this for a minute.

If a chef travels to Alaska and sneaks a peek at the Inuit recipe for Suaasat, a traditional soup made from seal, whale, caribou, or seabirds... wait, bad analogy. The angry Left would have an entire menu of opposition to that one.

Lets try another...

If a chef travels to Alaska and sneaks a peek at the Inuit recipe for Akutak and fermented cod for his restaurant, should he be forced to close his restaurant and delete the restaurants social media accounts?

So Mexican food is no longer white people food unless the white people buy it from the Mexican people?

Why? Because cultural appropriation covers anything a white person would like to enjoy but has its origins in another culture, especially one which was oppressed by white people anywhere in the world.

The real truth is that a lot of us white folk actually appreciate food from other cultures. It doesnt mean weve appropriated the culture, it just means we like the food and we know others will, too, so we add our own twist and serve it or sell it to others.

Its not like white people are appropriating African-American culture by claiming to be black and taking jobs as NAACP chapter presidents. Ok, there is that one in Spokane... but shes the only one.

What happened to the concept of America as a melting pot in which many cultures are appreciated by others?

At Pitzer College, white women are being shamed into giving up hoop earrings and winged eyeliner because, as student Alegria Martinez puts it, its culturally offensive to the black and brown bodies who typically wear hooped earrings.

Perhaps Martinez could take a class in Egyptology, where she would have learned that winged eyeliner and hoop earrings go back thousands of years. She is appropriating the culture of dead Egyptians and Mesopotamians.

I guess militant progressives should force Martinez to close all of her social media accounts and send her makeup and hoops to Cairo.

Rick Jensen is Delawares award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL.
A man was arrested for allegedly raping a middle-aged woman in front of her daughter, the police said on Sunday.

"Ashish Parmal (30) was arrested in a rape case. He was a neighbour of the victim," the police official said.

The victim alleged she was raped in the early hours of Sunday in front of her daughter, while her husband was away.

"I was raped around 3 a.m. yesterday in front of my nine-year-old daughter. I was physically assaulted along with my daughter," the victim said.

The police said that investigation is going on.

--IANS

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Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday offered an apology after his description of Army chief General Bipin Rawat as a "sadak ka goonda" (street thug) caused outrage.

Dikshit came under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which also asked the Congress to take action against the former MP.

"I have reservations on a comment of the Army chief but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologize," Dikshit, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, tweeted after BJP leaders and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju slammed him.

"What's wrong with Congress? How dare Congress call Indian Army chief as 'sadak ka gunda'!!" Rijiju tweeted.

Dikshit told a journalist that it was understandable if the Pakistan Army chief used foul language but wondered why the Indian Army chief was giving statements like a "sadak ka goonda".

General Rawat sparked a row when he defended a Major's decision to strap a civilian to the bonnet of his jeep in the Kashmir Valley.

--IANS

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended his indefinite fast, which he launched on Saturday here, for restoration of peace in his state rocked by agitation of farmers and violence.

Former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi offered Chouhan coconut water to help him break his two-day-old fast at the Dussehra Maidan here. Chouhan started his fast on Saturday in the wake of violence that marred the farmers' protest strike from June 1, launched to press their demand for a debt waiver and better prices for farm produce.

Earlier, Chouhan had said he lived for the state's people and the farmers and would also die for them. He said he would ensure farmers don't face amy problems.

At least five peasants were killed in police firing in Mandsaur on June 6. Farmer leaders, however, put the deaths at eight. One farmer died later of injuries in clashes with police.

The violence by Madhya Pradesh farmers in Mandsaur has spilled over to several other districts, including the Malwa-Nimad area and even reached the state capital.

State Ministers and the kin of the peasants killed in police firing earlier urged the Chief Minister to end his fast.

On Saturday night, Chouhan met the family members of the killed farmers. He also met several representatives of farmers' organisations and listened to their problems on Saturday.

However, both the Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen had ruled out any loan waiver, following which a group of farmers started a counter-protest opposite Chouhan's podium at the same site.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Special Operations Group (SOG) official was injured on Sunday when militants fired at him in south Kashmir's Shopian district, the police said.

The security official, who was shot in Imamsahib area, was shifted to Srinagar for treatment.

Searches are on in the area to trace the attackers, the police said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain said on Sunday they will provide humanitarian treatment for mixed Qatari families married to nationals of either the three Gulf nations.

The announcement is significant as Qatari nationals living in the three Gulf countries face extradition following a diplomatic row, reports Efe news.

The three states announced special hotline numbers which affected families may call for assistance.

Last week, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar after accusing it of funding terror groups, besides imposing a land, sea and air blockade.

The Gulf states also asked Qataris on their soil to exit within 14 days.

--IANS

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The Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-Delhi), which is now ranked among the top 200 universities in the latest QS World University Rankings, can well be among the top 50 if it improves on parametres such as "perception", "international faculty" and "international students", according to its Director V. Ramgopal Rao.

Rao said that Indian universities lose out on marks on the perception count. Academics and employers consulted by the ranking firms do not perceive Indian institutes to be "research intensive", even though their research papers are published by reputed journals, he said.

"We lose marks on account of perception terribly. The Western world does not see our institutes as research hubs. They still think we are mainly involved in churning out undergraduates. But, in reality, at IIT-Delhi, we have more post-graduates than undergraduates. But how many of those in the West think of us as a research institute," Rao asked.

He said Indian universities also need to improve their faculty-to-student ratio, the number of international students and the number of international faculty to improve rankings.

"Being a Government of India institute, we cannot offer scholarships to international students. For example, if a foreigner gets enrolled in a Masters programme, he will not get the fellowship to which an Indian student would be entitled. These are MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) restrictions," Rao said.

He also said that IITs cannot hire foreign faculty on a permanent basis.

"The current system allows us to hire them on contractual terms, but these teachers are not eligible for the research grants given by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), which is our primary funding agency," he said.

Rao said his institute had looked into reasons for Indian universities not being among the top 50 and noted that moving up is not a difficult task.

"Here, for every faculty member there are five Ph.D students. Our faculty to Ph.D students ratio compares very favourably to American universities. Our research output also compares equally favourably to any US university in the top 50," he said.

"We are in close touch with the MHRD. Under the Vishwajeet Programme, we have identified areas where we are lacking and are seeking to address them," he added.

Rao said Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) has been held abroad to attract foreign students to IITs. "But funding remains a big issue, with IITs getting as little as one-tenth of what any American university gets," he said.

IIT-Delhi has been ranked 172nd compared to last year's 185th ranking in the latest QS rankings. The new entrant in the top-200 club is IIT-Bombay which is ranked 179th, up from 219th last year.

However, the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) Bangalore has slipped to 190the position from last year's 152nd. It was ranked 147th the year before.

Rao said a study done at his institute into factors behind rankings is the reason for the slight improvement in its standing in the QS rankings this year.

QS ranks institutions on six counts: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty/Student Ratio, Citation Per Faculty, International faculty Ratio and International Student Ratio.

Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation are counted as factors that determine "perception" of an institute.

(Vishal Narayan can be contacted at vishal.n@ians.in)

--IANS

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A US-based augmented reality (AR) company Meta has filed a lawsuit against its former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets regarding its technology and market strategy.

According to a report in the Verge, the company sued its former head of optics Zhangyi Zhong and AR company DreamWorld US, as well as 20 unnamed defendants.

The company alleged that Zhong "shamelessly leveraged" his time at Meta to misappropriate its "technologies, supply chain, manufacturing methods, and relationships, as well as business, investment and market strategies," using them to build a prototype at DreamWorld.

However, DreamWorld has refuted the allegation and termed the charges "completely baseless".

Zhong worked for Meta for 16 months before quiting in July 2016 and last month, DreamWorld announced its first product called the DreamGlass.

The product is supposed to cost under $350, compared to the $949 Meta 2 headset, which started shipping last year, the report noted.

"That was possible because Zhong was heavily involved in developing the Meta 2, and had access to Meta's extensive research about augmented reality, as well as information about its relationships to manufacturers," Meta said.

The company said that Zhong quit without notice but secretly founded DreamWorld under a new nickname and began running it through his wife or girlfriend.

"Thus, the company could create a product that took Meta years of trial and error to prototype in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the effort," the company noted.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court has reiterated for the second time in a month that the technical experience of subsidiary firms can be taken into account when the holding company enters competitive bidding for a project. It overruled the Gujarat High Court which had held that while a holding company may control its subsidiary companies which may have the requisite experience, the holding company cannot invoke that to bid for tenders unless it was a joint venture. In this case, CRRC Corporation vs Metro Link Express, the Chinese government-owned corporation was rejected at the first stage itself when the tenders were opened for the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project. The rejection was upheld by the high court against which the corporation moved the Supreme Court. Allowing the appeal, the apex court called the high court judgment unsustainable in law and on facts grossly illegal, arbitrary and perverse. The order stated that the tender process must be resumed expeditiously. Three firms had passed the first stage of the tender process; they are Bombardier, Hyundai Rotem and Alstom Transport. A similar ruling on the eligibility of the holding company was delivered by the Supreme Court recently in the case of bids for the Nagpur Metro Railway in which a Chinese firm won the project.
The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) will go on an indefinite strike from Monday demanding a separate state of 'Gorkhaland'.

"We will go on strike from Monday. Bengal government takes so much revenue from us but it only encroach our territory. We want our Gorkhaland and will not negotiate on this matter. We will not do any violence," Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung told ANI.

Meanwhile, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said that an all party meeting has been called on June 13 to discuss the matter.

"Offices of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, Bengal government and Central Government will be closed from Monday. Court will be open. Banks will be open on Monday and Thursday. School and colleges have been exempted from bandh. We appealed to put all sign boards in Darjeeling, Kerseong, Kalimpong, Mirik and other places in Nepali and English," Giri told ANI.

"We have also written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh apprising him as to how West Bengal suppresses us," he added.

On Saturday, Gurung asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to do or promote 'divisive' in the state.

"I request Mamata Banerjee that she is a chief minister and she must not do divisive . Her dictatorial will find a place in the Guinness book soon," Gurung told ANI.

He assured that the GJM will talk to the Centre as the state government is trying to suppress Gorkhaland for her own political interest.

"We will talk to the Centre and will send a letter to Prime Minister and Home Minister as well regarding all the atrocities. The state government is doing to suppress Gorkhaland for her own political interest," he said.

On Friday, a PIL was filed in the Calcutta High Court against the bandh called by GJM in Darjeeling, declaring it to be 'unconstitutional and illegal'.

The matter will be brought up for hearing this week.

Chief Minister Banerjee has branded the GJM protest as 'abhorrent' and appealed to the people of the region to maintain peace.

The GJM supporters are also protesting against the alleged imposition of Bengali in the schools of the hills.

The agitation arose from an announcement made by Mamata Banerjee earlier that Bengali would be taught compulsorily up to Class 10 in the state schools.

After the GJM cadres clashed with the police following their protests against Mamata's visit to Darjeeling and her decision to make Bengali compulsory in syllabus of schools across the state, the Army was called in to control the situation.

According to reports, the protest led by the GJM turned violent after protesters resorted to vandalism as they torched police vehicles and attacked policemen.
EU, France give 3.5 Million Euros as Grant to Curb Emissions in India

Published: June 10, 2017

EU and France will give a grant of 3.5 million euros to three Indian cities- Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad as part of the EUs commitment under the Paris Climate agreement to curb emissions and promote sustainability in these cities.

Salient Highlights

The grants have been provided to help Indias smart city programme under the Moblise Your City (MYC) initiative.

India has become the first country to get benefits from the MYC initiative.

The MYC initiative is supported by the French and German government and also has financial support of the European Union (EU). The initiative is aimed at helping 100 cities across the world to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by promoting sustainable urban transport and sustainability in urban spaces.

MYC initiative was emphasised by the Indian and European leaders during Prime Minister Modis recent visit to Europe.

Further it has been stated that more funds would be offered to India to carry forward its sustainable transport initiatives on the three smart cities.

Background

French Development Agency (AFD) has been associated with several projects in India and conservation of biodiversity. AFD, at present, is funding the Vijayawada, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kochi and Nagpur metro rail projects.

AFD is a public financial institution of France whose mandate is to implement the policy defined by the French government. It is headquartered in Paris. It finances projects in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and the French overseas territories to promote living conditions for populations and economic growth in these regions.

France is the ninth largest foreign investor in India.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2017

Topics: Ahmedabad  EU  External Assistance  France  India-International Relations  International  Kochi  Nagpur  Smart cities

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The crisis in Tamil Nadus ruling party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), has escalated. Seven months after the death of J Jayalalithaa, its supremo and the states chief minister, the party has split into at least three factions. All within a year after it was re-elected to office.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called in two columns of the Army in Darjeeling last week after supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), the BJP ally that is the dominant political party in the hills, threw stones at the police who lathi-charged and tear-gassed them. Banerjee, who is in Darjeeling, stayed back there to ensure that tourists exited safely. Banerjees decision last week that Bengali would be made compulsory in schools from classes 1 to 10 had angered the inhabitants of the hills. She did a bit of a roll-back and said later that Bengali is not a must in Darjeeling. But the Morcha wanted a Cabinet resolution in writing to the effect.
At least 10 people returning from a pilgrimage were killed today in a bus crash in Russia's far east, authorities said.

The bus carrying 51 people overturned just before midnight local time on a motorway connecting the cities of Irkutsk and Chita, the emergency services ministry said in a statement.

"Ten people died and around 20 others were injured," Russia's Investigative Committee said.

The passengers were pilgrims returning from a visit to a convent in the region, the TASS agency said, citing a local official.

Russia ranks among the world's worst countries for road deaths, mainly due to alcoholism, the poor condition of the roads and failure to follow traffic regulations.

Last year more than 20,000 people died in Russian road accidents, which was a 12 percent drop compared to 2015.

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Ten people, including five women, of a family drowned after the car they were travelling in fell into a canal at Makera area here this morning, police said.

The vehicle carrying them from Mehandipur Balaji temple lost control and fell into the Makera canal, SP (rural) Aditya Shukla said.

The deceased have been identified as Mahesh Sharma (48) his wife Deepika Sharma (44), sons Ritik (17) and Hardik (15), daughters Manasi (18) and Khushbu (21), sister Punam Sharma (42), niece Surabhi (16), nephew Rohan (18) and the car's driver Harish (25).

The bodies have been fished out, he said, adding the victims belonged to Bareilly.

The vehicle may have been speeding on the narrow bridge along the canal or the driver may have dozed off leading to the accident, station in-charge Harish Vardhan Singh said.

Mahesh's brother Vinay said, "The family wanted to pay obeisance at Mehandipur Balaji temple as Manasi had scored 78 per cent marks in the UP Board Class XII results."



Meanwhile, the residents blamed the authorities for failing to expand the narrow bridge along the canal.

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At least three policemen were killed today in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan allegedly by the Islamic State militant group.

The motorcycle-borne attackers targeted a police check post in the provincial capital of Quetta.

Unidentified motorcyclists opened fired at a police check post in Gen area of Chakki Shahwani on Saryab Road of the provincial capital, resulting in the death of three police personnel, police said.

One policeman died on the spot while the other two succumbed to the bullet wounds at the hospital, an official said.

Police launched a manhunt to nab the culprits who fled after the incident.

A local affiliate of Islamic State militant group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred after security forces killed 12 militants in a three-day operation at the start of this month in Balochistan's Mastung area.

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A 5 kg bomb, planted by Naxals, was recovered from a forest in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, police said today.

Acting on a specific input, a squad of district force recovered the improvised explosive device (IED)last evening from the main road between Khallari and Thema villages, Kanker's Additional Superintendent of Police Jaiprakash Badhai told PTI.

He said the IED was hidden beneath the road which was frequently used by security forces during patrolling in the region.

The bomb disposal squad immediately destroyed the explosive, Badhai said.

The Maoists plant the IEDs to target security forces and stall the developmental works in the state, a senior police officer had earlier said.

They mostly plant landmines close to trees and culverts. Several times in the past security men as well as villagers have become victims of such Maoist blasts, he said.

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Oscar-winner Ben Affleck remembered Batman predecessor Adam West by calling him the exemplification of "heroism".

West, who played the Caped Crusader on the classic 1960s TV series "Batman", passed away on Friday here after a short battle with leukemia. He was 88.

The "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" actor, Affleck, took to Twitter to pay tribute to the late veteran.

"Adam West exemplified heroism. Kind, funny and an all around great guy. Thank you for showing us all how it's done. @therealadamwest," he wrote.

West's "Batman" costars Burt Ward and Julie Newmar have also expressed their grief over his demise.

"I am devastated at the loss of one my very dearest friends. Adam and I had a special friendship for more than 50 years. We shared some of the most fun times of our lives together. This is a terribly unexpected loss of my lifelong friend," Ward said.

While Newmar, who starred as Catwoman on "Batman" for two seasons, said, "Stellar, exemplar, a king to the end. He was bright, witty and fun to work with. I will miss him in the physical world and savor him always in the world of imagination and creativity.

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The Army is zeroing in on young stone throwers in Kashmir -- not to lock them up but to take them around India and give wings to their dreams.

A group of 20 boys from restive South Kashmir will be taken on an educational tour to showcase India and its development, a senior Army officer said.

The idea struck Major General B S Raju, General officer Command of Victor Force, the Army's anti-insurgency grid responsible for much of South Kashmir, when he interacted with young boys caught throwing stones at security forces during counter-insurgency operations.

"One can easily make out that they indulge in stone pelting because that is what they have seen while growing up. They are prisoners of the images that they see around them since their birth," Maj-Gen Raju said, adding quite a few did not even know why they were throwing stones.

"It was surprising to find that many of them threw stones just out fun," he said.

The Army officer, who is a father of a son and a daughter, decided to go by the rule book of a parent and started interacting with the stone throwers informally -- to discover that they, too, had dreams.

Recalling the late President A P J Abdul Kalam's quote -- "Dream, dream, dream! Conduct these dreams into thought, and then transform them into action" -- the senior most officer of the Army for South Kashmir soon started counselling the young students on careers.

"When one talks to them, one finds they too have dreams and, because of unforeseen circumstances, these dreams have no wings. My only attempt is to give wings to their dreams and that is why I thought 20 such children be taken around India under the Army's Sadhbhavna scheme," he said.

The Army, with the help of the local police, has been identifying the ones who will be taken to Delhi, where they will meet people in government, to Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, Jaipur and other places of historical importance.

"President Kalam seemed to be a much respected figure with these children and I narrated his statement about India's diversity to them. It was heartening to find these boys listening with rapt attention and raising some valid questions," he said.

The attempt, he said, was to shape their lives. "If we can contribute the bare minimum, it will definitely be an achievement," he said.

The Army believes the children, after returning from their multi-city tour, will narrate their experiences to other young Kashmiris, encouraging them to join the next group.

"For that they don't have to pick up stones," the officer quipped. "All they need to do is approach their own Army men and the needful will be done."



During their many interactive sessions with the children, Army officers found that many of the youngsters, who came from various troubled spots of South Kashmir, had not even seen the scenic beauty of the Kashmir Valley.

So it was also decided that groups of children -- 90 per cent of whom had been siding with "trouble makers" and 10 per cent from Army Goodwill and other schools -- would be taken around picturesque regions such as Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Yusmarg.

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African Union chairman Alpha Conde today put himself forward as a mediator in the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries, urging dialogue after several African nations also recalled their ambassadors to Doha.

Conde, who is president of Guinea which has close ties to Saudi Arabia, said in a letter to King Salman he had observed with "sadness" the feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, which he described as "brother countries" of his Muslim- majority country.

African nations including Chad, Niger and Senegal have recalled their ambassadors to Doha in recent days, while Mauritania has cut relations entirely.

Saudi Arabia finances the building of mosques, schools and development projects in several majority-Muslim African nations.

Conde offered as AU chairman to "mediate... In order to find a swift and peaceful solution to this crisis."



"Only dialogue will allow us to reach a real compromise," Conde added, while praising the "wisdom" and "know-how" of the Saudi king in battling extremism.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others accuse Qatar of supporting extremist groups, an assertion since backed by US President Donald Trump.

Qatar strongly rejects the allegations and has said it is open to talks on ending the dispute.

The crisis has raised deep concerns of instability in the region and today Kuwait's foreign minister said his country would continue efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.

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Bangladesh police said today they have arrested a wealthy businessman, who was a senior member of the Islamist group which carried out the country's worst terror attack at a popular cafe that killed 22 people, who included an 18-year-old Indian woman vacationing in Dhaka.

Imran Ahmed, the owner of a garment factory, and his driver Shamim Mia were arrested near the capital Dhaka during a raid last night, the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said.

Ahmed admitted to have funded the neo-JMB (Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh) and helped the group in procuring weapons and explosives, a RAB spokesman told reporters.

The 37-year-old businessman was a member of the neo-JMB's policymaking body and played an important role in recruiting operatives for the extremist group.

Arms and jihadi texts were seized from the two persons.

Another RAB official familiar with the development said Ahmed was pursued by security forces for providing shelter to a JMB operative who had escaped a security raid two months ago in northeastern Sylhet city where four militants were killed.

Two policemen were also killed in that operation.

Since 2013, Bangladesh has witnessed a number of Islamist attacks on foreigners, liberals and religious minority with the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda making competing claims.

The government has consistently dismissed their claims, saying foreign terrorist groups have no presence in Bangladesh and the attacks were carried out by homegrown outfits.

In the deadliest terrorist attack in the country, 22 people, including 18 foreigners, were killed when militants stormed the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery and Kitchen restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone on July 1 last year.

An Indian woman was also among the victims of the attack.

The country's security forces have since launched a major crackdown against militants, killing 70 extremists in the past year.

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Local fishing expert and award-winning writer Robert Montgomerys fourth book in less than five years has recently been released.

Unlike his previous books, however, which are mainly about nature, conservation, fishing and the appreciation of nature, Pippa's Journey: Tail-Wagging Tales of Rescue Dogs is about dogs, specifically adopted dogs, and highlights the efforts of Farmington Pet Adoption Center (FPAC) and other no-kill shelters.

Pippas Journey describes the often funny, near tragic, and always exciting ride Montgomery took with his dog during their first four years together. He dedicated the book to mans best friend and no-kill animal shelters, and is donating a portion of the profit from the sale of each book to the Farmington Pet Adoption Center, where he found Pippa in 2013.

After losing his beloved dog, Ursa, a year earlier, Montgomery went to FPAC in the winter of 2013 intending to adopt a puppy. After being told no puppies were available, he decided to take a chance on an adult dog. He chose Pippa, a slender mixed breed who had lived the first two years of her life at the shelter and, because of her shy, passive nature and black color, seemed destined to spend her remaining years living in a cage. As he later learned, in addition to shy and timid dogs, black-colored animals are very often passed over for adoption in favor of lighter or multi-colored dogs  referred to as black dog syndrome.

Born in the spring of 2011, Pippa was brought to FPAC with her littermates when she was just a puppy.

All her siblings had been adopted, said Montgomery, recalling the first time he met Pippa was on a cold winter day. When I walked in there  this was in February so all the dogs were inside  she was the only dog not howling and barking and going nutso. She just came up to the fence and was very quiet.  And after I told them I wanted her, they told me that black dogs are really hard to get adopted and thats when I started doing research about that.

In addition to the boredom and loneliness of an extended stay in a shelter, Pippa also suffered through two bouts of mange and the harsh side effects of treatment for heartworm disease. Living her first two years in a shelter also meant Pippa didnt get the same level of socialization and affection that dogs receive in a loving home.

Having lived her whole life in a kennel, she wouldnt know how to do a lot of stuff, said Montgomery. I realized that. She wouldnt be socialized. But I didnt realize as much about the bonding (process). That took a long time and thats a big part of the story. And she didnt know to play, she didnt know how to do anything dogs do.

As he describes in his book, although dogs were part of Montgomerys life from childhood, he didnt see them as valuable companions until later in life. It was a stray 4-month-old puppy found by his sister in 1998 that opened Montgomerys eyes to the gift of true companionship and unconditional love offered by dogs.

She was the first dog I really recognized as a companion, he said. That was a sea-change for me. All those other dogs I had growing up, I loved them and they were my companions, but I never looked at them the same way I looked at Ursa  my dog before Pippa  and Pippa.

In Montgomerys case, it was guilt and regret that served as a catalyst for the change in how he now perceives dogs.

Something happened that made me feel really, really awful, he said. In 1991, I think it was, I was living in Terre Du Lac and I had a malamute.  I got (the dog) without ever thinking about the needs of the specific type of dog and what its characteristics are  (Eventually), I got a job offer in Alabama to be a magazine editor which would require moving down there and living in an apartment. And I gave her up. She was 7 years old and I gave her up just like a piece of furniture. And that really haunted me; I really felt guilty about it.

As he relates in his book, he found the dog a good home but the guilt has burdened him ever since. He cites the work of Vilmos Csanyi, an animal behavior expert who studied the relationship between humans and dogs for 10 years. According to Csanyi, dogs who are suddenly removed from their humans, whether its because of a death or due to abandonment, suffer serious emotional trauma, displaying the same symptoms as children in similar situations.

As quoted in Montgomerys book, A dog that has become a burden and is tossed out of a car and left to its own fate will search for his master for days, will not eat, and suffers visibly.

Similarly, Montgomery describes the experiences of dogs who are chained or kept in small backyard kennels and ignored by their owners as living lonely lives devoid of the human companionship they crave so much.

Dogs greatest gift to us is also their greatest weakness in terms of their own survival, Montgomery wrote.

In addition to the chronicle of Montgomery and Pippas story, the book contains articles about FPAC, different kinds of shelters and how they work, why people should adopt  especially adult dogs  and six inspirational stories of other lost and abandoned dogs written by their humans.

Montgomerys book is available at Amazon through http://dld.bz/Pippasjourney. For more information about Montgomery and his writing, visit his website at www.activistangler.com, his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/roticomontgomery or his Amazon authors page at www.amazon.com/Robert-U.-Montgomery.
Boko Haram gunmen killed eight members of a civilian militia force, hiding in trees and opening fire as they waited for troops to go on a joint dawn offensive.

The members of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) were waiting for soldiers at Kayamla village, in the Konduga area of Borno state, northeast Nigeria, when the attack happened.

"We lost eight comrades in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT)," CJTF member Ibrahim Liman told AFP yesterday in the state capital Maiduguri, which is 10 kilometres away.

"The vigilantes had gone to Kaymala as an advance party that was to be joined later by troops to launch an attack on Boko Haram enclave.

"Unknown to them, Boko Haram terrorists, who by all indications had prior knowledge of the offensive, ambushed them by climbing into the trees.

"They opened fire on the team as soon as they pulled over."



Liman's account was supported by another militia member, Musa Ari, who helped to bury his fallen comrades.

"We buried the last of the eight victims this evening. The bodies were recovered from Kayamla by soldiers," he added.

Konduga district is a known hotbed of Boko Haram activity, despite government and military claims that the jihadists are a spent force, having been forced out of their Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state.

In May, four CJTF members hunting in the bush near a camp for those displaced by the Islamist insurgency had their throats slit on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Two of their colleagues were also killed when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives in Konduga town, some 35 km from Maiduguri by road.

The attacks came just days after Boko Haram gunmen on motorbikes killed six farmers working on their land in Amrawa village, also on the outskirts of the state capital.

In April, eight loggers were killed and their bodies burnt near Kayamla village.

In a new video published on Saturday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for its first raid inside Maiduguri in about 18 months, which left 11 people dead on Wednesday.

At least 20,000 have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Sunday reacted guardedly to India's plans to establish a warning system in the South China Sea, saying the proposal can be a part of the existing mechanism being operated by it since last year.

"Strengthening the early warning research conforms to the interests of all parties," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to a question.

"China and the relevant countries in the region in accordance with the requirements of the United Nations agencies, in the South China sea, have established the related facilities and systems," it said.

"The parties concerned can discuss relevant cooperation issues under the existing cooperation mechanisms," it said.

China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, said its system in the area had begun issuing alerts though the system is under construction.

China feels that India's proposal should be a part of its system.

China in the past had warned India to stay away from the hotly-contested waters, over which Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have counter claims.

India has put in place its own tsunami-alert system after the 2004 deadly tsunami.

M Rajeevan, secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told the media last month that India already had a system in place to provide tsunami warnings to south-east and south Asian nations.

"India is the chairperson of RIMES (Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System for Asia and Africa). We are also a major contributor in terms of resources. So we are exploring the possibility of having a tsunami early warning system in the South China Sea," Rajeevan had said.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit today triggered a row after he likened Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to a "goon on the street" over the latter's public remarks, prompting the BJP to demand his expulsion and an apology from Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress was quick to distance itself from the remarks of Dikshit, who, following criticism, was forced to withdraw his remarks and apologise.

"Ours is not a mafia army like the Pakistani army which makes statements like the goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief gives a statement like a 'sadak ka goonda' (goon on the street)," the former Congress MP and son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.

He also said the Indian Army had depth and was gentlemanly and as it was a great institution, it brought along a particular culture with it.

"I don't think our Army chief lived up to that...I believe this Army chief does not live up to my image of what the Indian Army should be. I believe, the Army chief should not make political statements," Dikshit said.

He, however, later tweeted, "I have reservations on a comment of the Army chief, but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologise."



Dikshit's comments on the Army chief drew flak from Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju. On Twitter, Rijiju wrote, "What's wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!! (sic)."



Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said, "Our party respects the Army and so does the country. If some words have been used for its chief, it is unfortunate."



BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was quick to demand an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the episode and Dikshit's expulsion from the party.

"This statement is absolutely shocking, it is appalling. Calling the respected Army chief of the country a 'sadak ka goonda', the Indian people will not accept it.

"Sonia Gandhi should expel such leaders and apologise," he said.

Patra alleged that the Congress had a "tradition" of making such remarks as its vice-president Rahul Gandhi had earlier used words such as "khoon ki dalali" and said, "We see a trend of Congress leaders speaking against the Indian Army and the Army chief."



He added that this will not be accepted by the people of the country and the democracy will reject the Congress party for this kind of language against the Army chief.

General Rawat, in a recent interview to PTI, had defended Army Major Leetul Gogoi's act of tying a Kashmiri man to his jeep and using him as a "human shield" against stone-pelters in the Valley.

"I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then, I would have been happy. Then, I could do what I (wanted to do)," he had said.

The Army chief's comments had come under criticism from various quarters, including mainstream political parties such as the Left parties and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).

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A Dalit couple was buried alive today when a mound of mud collapsed on them while they were digging at a mine near Pratappura village, some 100 km from the district headquarters, police said.

"Shobaram Ahirwar (37) and his wife Ramkumari (35) died after the extracted mud collapsed on them," said Orchha police station inspector DD Azad.

The bodies of the duo were retrieved and sent for postmortem, he said, adding that a case has been registered in this regard.

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Curfew was lifted completely from Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district, the epicentre of a violent stir by farmers, as the situation there remained peaceful today.

Curfew was lifted from all three police station areas of Mandsaur city yesterday, but was in place in Pipliamandi police station area, which is 15 kms from Mandsaur district headquarters and where five farmers were killed in separate police firings during the agitation.

The curfew from 8 pm to 8 am has been lifted although prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144, which bans assembly of more than four persons, will remain in force, Additional Collector of the district Arjun Singh Dabar said.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on June 6.

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Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs and Cinema, A K Balan today termed as "cultural fascism," the Centre's denial of permission to three short films in the upcoming International Documentary and Short Film festival here.

Balan, in his Facebook post, said artists are the ones who debate on the contemporary issues in the country and urged all artists to protest against the Centre's move.

Three short films, including a 45-minute documentary on Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who allegedly committed suicide, have been denied permission in the festival, starting here from June 16.

Besides the documentary on Vemula, 'In the shade of fallen Chinar' about the lives of a group of young Kashmiri artistsand 'March March March' on the JNU protests were also denied permission by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to be screened at the festival, the organisers said.

"In recent times, the country is witnessing a trend where free thinkers and those who express their opinion openly are being killed," the minister said.

"The latest example of this is the denial of permission for the documentaries.. Kerala will not buckle before this cultural fascism," the minister said in the FB post.

Balan also said, the films would not become anti-national as they deal with contemporary issues.

At least 262 short films and documentaries are expected to be screened in the five-day International Documentary and Short Film festival.

The festival is being organised by the Kerala state Chalachitra Academy as part of its endeavour to catalyse a vibrant documentary and short film movement.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would inaugurate the festival at the Tagore Theatre on June 16.

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DMK today hit out at BJP chief Amit Shah for describing Mahatma Gandhi as a 'chatur bania', saying it was a "demeaning" remark.

Gandhi had made people realise that India was a 'bouquet' of many faiths, DMK Working President M K Stalin said.

Such a remark by Shah, the national president of BJP, which had a "brute majority", was "regrettable", Stalin, also leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, said.

"On behalf of DMK, I strongly condemn it," he told reporters here.

Dueing his visit to Chhattisgarh, Shah had said Congress was 'special purpose vehicle' to secure freedom, with its members comprising those with different ideologies.

"And therefore, Mahatma Gandhi, with a lot of foresight -- he was a very shrewd baniya -- he knew what was going to happen in future. He had said immediately after Independence that Congress should be dissolved," Shah had said.

Shah's reference to the mercantile caste of Gandhi has sparked a political row with the Congress and other opposition parties demanding an apology from him for allegedly insulting the Father of the Nation.

Responding to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami's statement that Stalin's efforts to bring down the AIADMK government had failed, the DMK leader said he was not involved in any such efforts.

"They are themselves toppling their government," he said in an apparent reference to the split in AIADMK, with Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam leading two factions amidst perceived efforts by party Deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran to assert his position.

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Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, whose three-year tenure will end on June 19, has asked the government not to consider him for reappointment to the post.

Rohatgi told PTI that he had written to the government last month conveying his wish to discontinue as Attorney General and return to private practice.

He said the extension given to him by the government earlier this month was "adhoc", till further orders, as it was done when the Prime Minister was on a visit to Russia.

"So, the government has to take a call on my decision," he said.

Rohatgi said that he maintained a "good relationship" with the government and would come to its aid as and when required.

He said he was appointed by the Narendra Modi government after it came to power in May 2014 and he has served his term to his full satisfaction.

He said he considers this duration as the top law officer enough and does not want to be considered for reappointment.

"I have conveyed to the government last month that I don't wish to seek re-appointment. I consider the three-year term as enough and I had also served the previous BJP government for five years. I would like to return to private practice," Rohatgi told PTI.

He clarified that his letter conveying his decision not to seek reappointment should not be considered as resignation as his term is due to end.

"I will come to the aid of the government as long as I live," he said.

Asked about his response if Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists that he continue, Rohatgi said, "I will cross the bridge when it comes."



Besides Rohatgi, two additional solicitor generals P S Patwalia and Neeraj Kishan Kaul have also preferred not to seek reappointment as law officers.

Rohatgi was appointed as the AG on June 19, 2014 immediately after the BJP government came to power in May that year.

During his three-year stint, he argued many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on the appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

He also defended the government which was in a tussle with the Supreme Court Collegium of judges on the appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the apex court in 'triple talaq' matter in which the judgement is reserved.

He has also advanced the government's stand of defending the policy of Aadhaar in which the issue of Right to Privacy has been raised and is pending before the apex court.

As a top law officer, Rohatgi defended the government's policy of demonetisation in which the high denomination currency of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 were declared as not a legal tender.

Rohatgi had led a team of lawyers which had participated in the pre-dawn hearing in the apex court to oppose any relief to Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

He also appeared for the NDA government when its decision to impose President's rule in Uttarakhand was challenged.

The top law officer also assisted the apex court which scrapped the controversial section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
E Niwas' upcoming directorial venture, a suspense thriller film titled "Gumnaam", will be shot on an island in Mauritius.

Niwas' last release was Pakistani actor Ali Zafar-starrer "Total Siyapa".

"The film will be shot mostly on an Mauritius island, some portions will be shot in Mumbai and Delhi as well," Niwas told PTI.

The filmmaker insisted his film is not a remake of the 1965 superhit suspense movie "Gumnaam" featuring Manoj Kumar and Nanda in the lead.

"Except the title and the title song 'Gumnaam', there is no similarity with the original film. Ours is a suspense thriller film about various people from different walks of life, coming together, who are not friends with each other," Niwas said.

The film's producer Jayantilal Gada also said that the upcoming film has nothing to do with the original one.

"We have bought the rights of the title song 'Gumnaam' from Saregama. We have a writer working on the script," Gada added.

The film will go on floors by August-September and the makers are planning to release it early next year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Women authors have contributed immensely in enriching modern Assamese literature and now 11 short stories by some eminent authors have been translated and compiled in a new book.

"Echoes from the Valley: Stories by Assamese Women Writers" represent evolving trends in the short story genre of modern literature and has been translated and compiled by journalist Parbina Rashid.

"After sifting through hundreds of stories, I zeroed in on these 11, not because the others were any less in terms of literary value, but because these when put together completed the picture of an intriguing culture," she says.

This anthology is an attempt to understand the evolution of women in Assamese society through the eyes of these 11 writers, starting from Sneha Devi, who wrote in the first half of the 20th century to Nirupama Borgohain, Indira Goswami followed by Arupa Patangia Kalita, Rita Chowdhury, Anuradha Sarma Pujari to young writers like Moushumi Kandali and Juri Borah Borgohain.

"Keeping the central theme as woman and her struggle, both within and without, these stories have managed to trace how women have developed their consciousness about themselves as individuals," Rashid says.

As the restricted 'woman's space' in the family and the society has gone through a slow but gradual evolution over the years, these selected stories are put under three sub-heads to give a particular direction to that movement - mute yesterday, transitional today and abstract tomorrow.

"These stories may have been written by three generations of authors and represent several decades of socio-cultural scenario of Assam but I have tried to maintain a connection between the old and new, without the generation gap becoming too prominent," Rashid says.

'Mute yesterday' represents Assamese society from the 1950s to the 80s, a period when women paid a heavy price at the altar of customs and traditions and the stories include Sneha Devi's 'Katha aasil' (Let's Talk), Indira Goswami's 'Sanskar' (Purification) and Nirupama Borgohain's 'Midasar Tragedy' (Midas' Tragedy).

The second category, 'transitional today' focuses on the latter half of the last century when customs and traditions still played an important role but the women protagonists of this period were confident enough to protest against injustice - both subtly and sometimes with aggression.

The stories included in this section are Rita Chowdhury's 'Aadha' (An Incomplete Story), Anuradha Sarma Pujari's 'Banphoolar Keitaman Din' as (A few days in Banphool's life), Monikuntala Bhattacharjya's 'Kachar Pyramid' (The Glass Pyramid) and Arupa Patangia's 'The Two Sides of the Hillock'.

The third category 'abstract tomorrow' comprises stories from 2000 onwards by young emerging writers who are not afraid to experiment with either the narrative or the subject.

The stories included in this category are Anuradha Gogoi's 'Haath' (The Hand), Moushumi Kandali's 'Kalindi Tumar Krishna Jalrakhi' (Kalindi, Your black currents), Geetali Borah's 'Darialit Jonak' (The Moonlight) and Juri Borah Borgohain's 'Parthivi' (Urge).

Asam Sahitya Sabha president and Sahitya Akademi award winning author Dhruba Jyoti Borah says the stories in the book have an universal human appeal.

Author and editor of Assamese weekly Asom Bani Dileep Chandan says the book is a testimony to the contribution of women writers to the prose genre in Assamese literature and is sure to carve its own place in the literary arena.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At this year's International Yoga Day celebrations here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have for company scores of roza-observing Muslims who will be performing various asanas.

At least 300 Muslim men and women under the banner of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch will be among the 55,000-strong participants at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan.

"More than 1,000 Muslims had contacted us about participating in the International Yoga Day celebrations, but at least 300 have confirmed their participation. Most of the participants will be observing roza, while performing yoga.

"In fact most of them are likely to arrive to the programme venue after Sehri (pre-dawn meal)," Mahiraj Dhwaj Singh, national co-convenor (organisation) of Muslim Rashtriya Manch for UP and Uttarakhand, told PTI.

Azam Khan, the national president of Shriram Mandir Nirman Muslim Karsevak Manch, will also be performing yoga while fasting.

"I will be participating in the third International Yoga Day celebrations and performing various yoga asanas (postures)," he said.

Singh said a request seeking a separate area for the Muslims participants will be made to the organisers.

Mohsin Raza, minister of state for Muslim Waqf and Haj, when contacted, said, "I will also participate and perform yoga while observing roza. Both yoga and roza are good for one's health."



Raees Khan, the UP and Uttarakhand in-charge of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, informed that the manch is trying to ensure attendance of at least 1,000 Muslim yoga enthusiasts at Modi's programme.

"So far 300 have already confirmed their participation. Most of the participants will be rozadars. Since 15 days, the participants have been practicing different aasans and postures," he said.

Member of UP unit of BJP Iqbal Haidar, who also heads a brotherhood committee of Muslims and had pledged to build Ram temple in Ayodhya, said, "I will be fasting, but at the same time participate in the Yoga Day celebrations. Yoga and roza are two different entities, and there should be no confusion in this regard. There should also be no difficulty or restriction on the participation of a rozedar in yoga programmes."



For convenience of ordinary citizens, LED screens will be installed at different parks in Lucknow, so that visitors could also participate simultaneously. Directions have already been issued to hold a 28-day workshop for the participants prior to the International Yoga Day.

The main programme would be the mass yoga demonstration from 7.00 am to 8.00 am, which will adhere to Common Yoga Protocol. Other events would include yoga fests, seminars, workshops, musical and cultural programmes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top stories from the Eastern region at 1800 HRS



CES1 BH-LALU-BIRTHDAY



Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today greeted RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on his 70th birthday



CES3 NL-KHAPLANG-NSCN(IM)



Kohima: The NSCN (IM) today said it had forgiven late NSCN(K) supremo S S Khaplang for all his alleged political mistakes.

CES4 NL-KHAPLANG-LIEZIETSU



Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu has said NSCN(K) chairman S S Khaplang had passed away before any solution to the protracted Naga political problem could be reached.

CES5 OD-NAVEEN



Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today asked district collectors to act as agents of change to improve public service delivery and governance by using '3Ts' - teamwork, transparency and technology.

CES6 BH-NITISH-BRIDGES



Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today dedicated two road bridges over the river Ganga to the people of the state.

CES10 OD-WEATHER-LOWPRESSURE



Bhubaneswar: Heavy rains coupled with gusty surface wind is likely to pound several areas in Odisha due to a well marked low pressure over Bay of Bengal and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.

CES9 JH-IGP



Ranchi: Jharkhand government today appointed three new zonal Inspector Generals of Police to strengthen law and order in the state.

CES11 BH-IIT SUPER 30



Patna: Mathematician Anand Kumar's Super 30 has once again created a record as its 30 out of 30 candidates cracked the II-JEE Advanced examination, results which were announced today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top stories from the Eastern region at 2100 HRS



CAL1 WB-GJM-BANDH



Darjeeling: A day before the scheduled Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-backed indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling hills, the president of the outfit, Bimal Gurung, has advised the tourists to leave the hills because of the possibility of "untoward" incidents.

CAL3 BH-LALU-LD BIRTHDAY



Patna: A 'grand alliance' at the centre was RJD chief Lalu Prasad's birthday wish today as greetings poured in from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and other leaders.

CES3 NL-KHAPLANG-NSCN(IM)



Kohima: The NSCN (IM) today said it had forgiven late NSCN(K) supremo S S Khaplang for all his alleged political mistakes.

CES4 NL-KHAPLANG-LIEZIETSU



Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu has said NSCN(K) chairman S S Khaplang had passed away before any solution to the protracted Naga political problem could be reached.

CES5 OD-NAVEEN



Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today asked district collectors to act as agents of change to improve public service delivery and governance by using '3Ts' - teamwork, transparency and technology.

CES6 BH-NITISH-BRIDGES



Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today dedicated two road bridges over the river Ganga to the people of the state.

CES10 OD-WEATHER-LOWPRESSURE



Bhubaneswar: Heavy rains coupled with gusty surface wind is likely to pound several areas in Odisha due to a well marked low pressure over Bay of Bengal and fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.

CES11 BH-IIT SUPER 30



Patna: Mathematician Anand Kumar's Super 30 has once again created a record as its 30 out of 30 candidates cracked the II-JEE Advanced examination, results which were announced today



CES14 WB-DEMONETISED-NOTES-SEIZURE



Howrah(WB): The Government Railway Police has arrested five persons and seized Rs 24 lakh in demonetised notes from them in Howrah district, GRP sources said today.

CES16 OD-WEATHER



Bhubaneswar: Weather turned pleasant across Odisha today following prolonged rainfall triggered by a low pressure on the Bay of Bengal after a long spell of gruelling heat in the state, where sunstroke has claimed 17 lives this summer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top stories from the northern region at 1820 HRS:



DEL30 JK-ARMY-STONE TOUR



By Sumir Kaul



Srinagar: The Army is zeroing in on young stone throwers in Kashmir -- not to lock them up but to take them around India and give wings to their dreams.

DEL29 JK-POLICEMAN



Srinagar: Militants fire upon a policeman outside his camp in south Kashmir's Shopian district, leave him injured.

DEL28 MIB-DD-ENGLISH CHANNEL



New Delhi: Public broadcaster Doordarshan's international channel -- DD India -- is all set to turn into an English channel, while the bilingual DD may soon air only Hindi .

DEL16 DEL-NDRF



By Neelabh Srivastava



New Delhi: An elite NDRF team equipped with nuclear and biological combat gear has been positioned in the heart of the national capital to quickly respond to dangerous threats to not only the seat of power but also to the local population.

DEL17 UP-LD PILGRIMS



Mathura (UP): Ten people, including five women, killed after a car in which they were travelling falls into a canal at Makera area here, say police.

DES4 UP-YOGA-MUSLIMS



By Arunav Sinha



Lucknow: At this year's International Yoga Day celebrations here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have for company scores of roza-observing Muslims who will be performing various asanas.

DES24 UP-LD INDUSTRIAL POLICY-RSS



Lucknow: The proposed industrial policy of the Uttar Pradesh government has not gone down well with an RSS-backed body, which has demanded that certain points in the draft be reconsidered.

DES30 JK-OMAR-KASHMIR



Srinagar: The Centre's decision not to resolve the "political issue" in Kashmir has worsened the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, former chief minister Omar Abdullah says, stressing that military solutions cannot be used to fix a "political" problem.

DES34 IIT-TOPPER



Chandigarh: Watching cartoons on TV, listening to music and playing badminton were the stress-busters for Sarvesh Mehtani, a student from Chandigarh, who tops the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) test, the result of which was announced today.

DES33 UP-BUS-OVERTURN



Balrampur (UP): At least 52 people suffer injuries after a bus overturns near Pilibhit village here, say police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top stories from the northern region at 2120 HRS:



DEL30 JK-ARMY-STONE TOUR



By Sumir Kaul



Srinagar: The Army is zeroing in on young stone throwers in Kashmir -- not to lock them up but to take them around India and give wings to their dreams.

DEL28 MIB-DD-ENGLISH CHANNEL



New Delhi: Public broadcaster Doordarshan's international channel -- DD India -- is all set to turn into an English channel, while the bilingual DD may soon air only Hindi .

DEL16 DEL-NDRF



By Neelabh Srivastava



New Delhi: An elite NDRF team equipped with nuclear and biological combat gear has been positioned in the heart of the national capital to quickly respond to dangerous threats to not only the seat of power but also to the local population.

DEL17 UP-LD PILGRIMS



Mathura (UP): Ten people, including five women, killed after a car in which they were travelling falls into a canal at Makera area here, say police.

DES4 UP-YOGA-MUSLIMS



By Arunav Sinha



Lucknow: At this year's International Yoga Day celebrations here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have for company scores of roza-observing Muslims who will be performing various asanas.

DES24 UP-LD INDUSTRIAL POLICY-RSS



Lucknow: The proposed industrial policy of the Uttar Pradesh government has not gone down well with an RSS-backed body, which has demanded that certain points in the draft be reconsidered.

DES30 JK-OMAR-KASHMIR



Srinagar: The Centre's decision not to resolve the "political issue" in Kashmir has worsened the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, former chief minister Omar Abdullah says, stressing that military solutions cannot be used to fix a "political" problem.

DES34 IIT-TOPPER



Chandigarh: Watching cartoons on TV, listening to music and playing badminton were the stress-busters for Sarvesh Mehtani, a student from Chandigarh, who tops the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) test, the result of which was announced today.

DES43 LAW-LEGAL AID



New Delhi: The government plans to provide free legal advice to the poor in 500 villages across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh via video-conferencing.

NRG23 UP-YOUTH BOOKED



Muzaffarnagar: A youth booked for allegedly posting an "objectionable" photo of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media, says a police official.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top stories from the southern region at 2100 HRS:



MDS 8 KL-CATTLE-SARKAR-VIJAYAN:



Thiruvananthapuram: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar says he concurs with issues raised by his Kerala counterpart on the Centre's new notification on ban on sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter in animal markets.

MDS 9 KL-CHANDY-CAG:



Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy writes to the Comptroller and Auditor General citing alleged lapses on its recent findings on the Vizhinjam port project agreement signed by the previous UDF government led by him.

MDS 10 TN-JAYA-2NDLD-DEEPA



Chennai: In a drama involving relatives of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, her niece J Deepa alleges she was manhandled by security guards at her aunt's residence here, and blames her brother Deepak and AIADMK chief V K Sasikala's family for "orchestrating" the episode.

MES 6 KL-SCHOOLS:



Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government's sops, from free handloom uniforms to smart class rooms, to woo more students to the public education sector seemes to have reaped its results.

MES 8 KA-CONG-FARM LOANS



Bengaluru: Congress in Karnataka demands that the Central government formulate a national policy on farm loans.

MES 9 KL-SHAH CONG



Thiruvananthapuram: BJP National President Amit Shah comes in for attack from Opposition Congress in Kerala for describing Mahatma Gandhi as 'chatur bania' and demands an apology from him for the 'unpardonable mistake'.

MES 10 KL-FILMS-MINISTER



Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs and Cinema A K Balan terms as "cultural fascism" the Centre's denial of permission to three short films in the upcoming International Documentary and Short Film Festival here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seif al-Islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has been released after more than five years in detention, his captors have said.

A statement by his captors yesterday, the Abu Bakr al- Siddiq Battalion, said Seif al-Islam was released on Friday, but gave no details on his whereabouts.

Battalion officials reached by The Associated Press at Zintan, a town south of the capital Tripoli where it is based, confirmed his release. They declined to disclose his whereabouts, citing concerns over his safety.

They said his release was decided as part of a recent pardon issued by the Libyan parliament based in the country's eastern region.

The parliament in the city of Tobruk is part of one of three rival administrations in Libya, evidence of the chaos that has prevailed in the country since Gadhafi's ouster and death.

Gadhafi's son was captured by the battalion's fighters late in 2011, the year when a popular uprising toppled Gadhafi after more than 40 years in power. He was later killed.

The uprising later plunged the oil-rich North African nation into a ruinous civil war in which Seif al-Islam led Gadhafi's loyalist forces against the rebels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
General Motors, which has decided to stop selling vehicles in the Indian market from year-end, has given its employees less than a month to opt for a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) as it starts winding down operations in the country.

After announcing its decision to stop retailing vehicles on May 18, the company sent emails to employees the very next day about the VSS that will close on June 15, 2017.

President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem had stated around 400 employees engaged in domestic sales and after sales activities would be impacted.

According to the internal communication accessed by PTI, the company offered compensation of "45 days salary for every year of completed year of service or part thereof in excess of six months" in normal cases.

On the other hand, for those who are nearing retirement, GM offered employees compensation of "monthly salary multiplied by the remaining months of service till normal age of retirement".

The minimum compensation payable eligible shall be three months salary, it added.

According to sources, nearly 250 people in marketing, sales, finance and administration are likely to be given golden handshakes by September itself.

Kazem had, however, stated at the time of announcing the company's decision to exit from domestic operations that only half of 400 affected employees "are expected to move on by the end of 2017".

Employees in after sales department have, however, been issued letters for the continuation of service till further notice, the sources added.

When contacted, a GM India spokesperson said: "GM understands this is a difficult decision that impacts a number of our hard-working and professional employees, and we are providing counselling, financial advice and outplacement support, as well as a separation package in excess of the statutory requirements."



In case of Halol plant, where the company has ceased production since April this year, GM India had come out with a fresh voluntary retirement scheme last month for a short period citing request from workers.

The company had reportedly increased VRS offer to workers at the plant to 100 days of salary per year of work from an earlier 40 days of every year of completed service.

Already, dealers of GM India are gearing up to drag the auto major to court while also exploring the possibility of a class action suit in the US over inadequate compensation.

A majority of 96 dealers, which operate around 140 showrooms across India, are unhappy with the company's offer of just around 12 per cent of total investments they have made as compensation.

Moreover, they also said there would be job losses of around 9,500 due to the closure of showrooms and service outlets.

In 2015, the company had announced to invest $1 billion (Rs 6,400 crore) in India to enhance manufacturing operations and roll out 10 locally produced models in the country over the next five years.

In January this year, the American firm put on hold its investments on new models for the country as it undertook a full review of its future product portfolio in India.

On May 18, General Motors suddenly decided to stop selling its vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here after struggling for over two decades to make a mark.

The company will now focus on exporting vehicles from its manufacturing plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra after it stopped production at its first plant at Halol in Gujarat last month.

GM India sells models like Beat, Sail and Cruze in India.
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said the government wants to make India a "food factory" of the world and is fully committed to provide transparent environment to investors.

Laying the foundation stone for a mega food park being developed by KINFRA at Palakkad in Kerala, Badal said the government has made food processing a major thrust area of 'Make in India' initiative.

"The present government is fully committed to providing an environment that is smooth, transparent and easy for investors wanting to start an enterprise in India in a bid to make the country a resilient food economy and 'Food Factory' of the world," Badal said.

The food park is being set up on 78.68 acres at a cost of Rs 119.02 crore.

"Giving a big push to the infrastructure development for food processing in the state of Kerala, foundation stone of two mega food parks are being developed by Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) at Palakkad and other by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) at Alappuzha has been laid today," a statement from the ministry of food processing said today.

The foundation stone for the food park being developed by KSIDC at Alappuzha was laid by Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, it said. This is being set up on 68.18 acre of land at the cost of Rs 129.15 crore.

"Government of India is providing financial assistance of Rs 50 crore to each of the projects," the statement added.

Each of the mega food parks will leverage an additional investment of about Rs 250 crore in 25-30 food processing units in the park and generate a turnover of about Rs 450-500 crore annually, Badal said.

"Each of the Parks will also provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 people and benefit about 25,000 farmers in the Central Processing Centre (CPC) and Primary Processing Centres (PPC) catchment areas," the statement added.

Minister for Food Processing Industries said that the modern infrastructure for food processing created at the food parks will benefit the farmers, growers, processors and consumers of Kerala and prove to be a big boost to the growth of the food processing sector in Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel will arrive in Udaipur tomorrow and is likely to leave for Mandsaur, the epicentre of the farmers' stir in Madhya Pradesh, with his supporters the following day.

"Patel will be reaching Udaipur via road from Ahmedabad on Monday evening and will take part in a community feast in Namri panchayat. We had asked the police to allow him to address a gathering but it was not permitted," said Gehrilal Dangi, district president of Patel Navnirman Sena.

He has plans to leave for Mandsaur, but whether the administration allows it is uncertain, Dangi added.

He said that the Patidar community in Gujarat and Rajasthan stands in support of the Madhya Pradesh farmers.

"Patel desires to meet the agitating cultivators during his visit," Dangi said.

Additional SP Brijesh Kumar Soni said: "We have information that Hardik Patel will be in Udaipur on June 12 and take part in a community gathering."



Hardik, who had spent six months of exile in Udaipur after a Gujarat High Court order, had returned to his hometown in January this year. He was staying at a former Congress MLA's house during this period



He was released from jail in Gujarat after nine months in confinement in July last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Justice S N Dhingra, who headed a commission to probe alleged irregularities in land deals including those linked to Robert Vadra during the previous Congress government in Haryana, said his report is "important and full of facts" and highlights the working of bureaucracy.

He said the report has not yet come into the public domain but "once it sees the light of the day, people will come to know how the bureaucracy works".

However, the retired Delhi High Court judge refused to be drawn into the controversy on the findings of a committee comprising three bureaucrats -- Krishna Mohan, K K Jalan and Rajan Gupta which was set up by the then Bhupinder Singh Hooda government on October 19, 2012 and had given a clean chit on the land deal connected with Vadra.

While Krishna Mohan, who was the then Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management Departments, has retired, Jalan is at present the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Gupta, who was the then Principal Secretary in the states' excise and taxation department, is with the state cadre now.

It was reported that Jalan was the Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning department, which had renewed the licence to Vadra in January 2011 and Ashok Khemka, IAS, who had found alleged irregularities in the land deals, had then raised objection to his appointment in the committee along with Mohan.

The CBI is also probing some of the land deals done during the previous Congress regime and the Supreme Court on April 12 while reserving its judgement on a batch of connected matters had said that "the CBI may conclude the pending investigation within a period of four months."



The Haryana government in April had also filed Justice Dhingra commission's report in a sealed cover in the apex court pursuant to its April 12 order.

The report was filed after a senior advocate, assisting it as an amicus curiae in the matter, had "pointed out that it has not been published on account of a statement made on behalf of the Haryana government in some proceedings pending in the High Court (Punjab and Haryana)."



The top court had noted that the report of the Justice Dhingra Committee "will have bearing on present proceedings."



When the issue relating to land deals had reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Khemka had reportedly alleged that the then state government was misleading the court.

Justice Dhingra told PTI that his probe was independent and he was not concerned with the committee's report which had held as "administratively improper" the October 15, 2012 order of Khemka, who as the then Director General, Consolidation of Holdings and Land Reforms-cum-Inspector General of Registration (DGCH), had cancelled land deal in Sikhopur village which was in favour of Vadra's company Skylight hospitality.

The committee of bureaucrats, who were allegedly close to Hooda, had justified the land deal concerned by interpreting the provisions of the Consolidation Act 1948.

It had said "the sale and purchase of the land under the consolidation in an estate is prohibited without sanction of the Consolidation Officer only after notification of a scheme under section 19.

"Accordingly, as on September 18, 2012, the date when the impugned sale deed was made, at best it can be said that only a notification under section 14 (1) of the Act was in force and no scheme under section 19 was notified, therefore the impugned sale deed did not not require prior sanction of the consolidation officer and it cannot be declared violative of any law for this reason".

Further, the committee had observed that Khemka's October 15, 2012 order regarding cancellation of mutation was "administratively improper because the then DGCH (Khemka) had already been transferred out on October 11, 2012 and as such an important quasi-judicial order the nature of which has been discussed" should not have been passed by him after his transfer.

Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality had entered into the agreement with realty giant DLF for the sale of the land.

Hooda had filed a petition in November 2016 in the high court challenging the very constitution of the Dhingra panel, alleging that the government action of ordering the probe was "mala fide" and a result of political vendetta.

Without mincing any word either on the findings of the committee set up by the then Hooda government or on his report, Justice Dhingra said he was entrusted to look into the grant of licences for change in land use in four villages of Gurgaon, now Gurugram, and during the probe, largescale harassment of people owing land at the hands bureaucracy surfaced.

"There is a delay in making public my report but the purpose of my inquiry will not be defeated. Whenever, even after 10 years, the report sees the light of the day it will be relevant as my report is one which speaks about the working of the bureaucracy and how people are harassed. It is an important report full of facts," he said.

However, the retired judge said he would only reiterate what he told in a press conference while submitting his report on August 31, 2016 that "Had there been no irregularity, I would have given one sentence report mentioning there is no irregularity. My report has 182-page. Without it (irregularity), I did not have any reason to write 182 pages."



Haryana's Manohar Lal Khattar government had on May 14, 2015 set up the one-man commission to probe issues concerning the grant of licence(s) for developing commercial colonies by the Department of Town and Country Planning to some entities in Sector 83, Gurgaon including mutation of land deal between Skylight Hospitality and DLF.

The commission formed under the commission of inquiry Act had examined the licences given by the then Hooda-led Congress government for the development of colonies, housing societies and commercial complexes in four Guragon villages of Sihi, Shikohpur, Kherki Daula and Sikanderpur Bada.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress Rachel Weisz has revealed that she was expelled from school as she had an authority problem and was very disruptive.

Speaking on "The Graham Norton Show," she said, "I was very badly behaved and was expelled from school, although my mother likes to say, 'They asked you to leave,' which is an important distinction.

"I didn't do just one bad thing it was multiple things. I had an authority problem and was very disruptive."



Meanwhile, the 47-year-old actress - who is married to Daniel Craig - previously revealed she wanted to be a detective when she was younger, reported Contactmusic.

"I wanted to be a detective when I was young. I had a detective club at school - we had secret codes and secret handshakes and we were forever looking through the school gates and seeing 'crimes' that we believed were happening and that we were going to solve.

"One day we found a



key lying on the ground and we thought it belonged to a stolen car, which was most exciting.

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NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said the Maharashtra government's decision to grant a loan waiver to farmers should be implemented without delay so that peasants could apply for fresh loan ahead of Kharif season.

Against the backdrop of strident protests by cultivators in various parts of the state, the Devendra Fadnavis government today decided in principle to waive farmers' loans with certain stipulations.

The former Union agriculture minister told reporters the loan waiver decision should be implemented soon so that farmers can apply for new loan for the Kharif season and concentrate on sowing.

"Farmers are demanding a loan waiver on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The Maharashtra government took the decision today, days after farmers took to streets and protested for their demands," he said.

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said the government should not place any criterion for eligibility to avail loan and all farmers should get fresh credit.

Seeking to take credit for the loan waiver, the former deputy chief minister said, "The government was forced to announce the loan waiver as we took to street and fought for the loan waiver. This decision should have been taken during the Budget session, which would have saved lives of many farmers who have committed suicide due to indebtedness".

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India is helping Nepal to set up a national police academy near Kathmandu at a cost of Rs 550 crore which will provide training to 410 Nepalese police officers annually.

The academy at Panauti, 35 km south-east of Kathmandu, will be on the lines of Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel NPA, the alma mater for the officers of the Indian Police Service.

The feasibility study for the national police academy (NPA) was done by the NPA, Hyderabad, while India's Ministry of Home Affairs is doing consultancy service for the project monitoring and quality assurance services.

Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs is the executing agency and coordinating with the government of India-nominated officials in a joint project monitoring committee.

"India is providing Rs 550 crore towards construction of the academy. As of now, 350 police officers from Nepal undergo training in India every year. The new academy in Nepal will cater to the training of 410 Nepalese police officers annually," an official said.

India provides substantial financial and technical development assistance to Nepal, which is a broad-based programme focusing on creation of infrastructure at the grass-root level, under which various projects have been implemented in the areas of health, water resources, education and rural and community development.

In recent years, India has been assisting Nepal in development of border infrastructure through upgrade of roads in the Terai areas; development of cross-border rail links at Jogbani-Biratnagar, Jaynagar-Bardibas, Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj, Nautanwa-Bhairhawa, and New Jalpaigudi-Kakarbhitta; and establishment of integrated check posts at Raxaul-Birgunj, Sunauli-Bhairhawa, Jogbani-Biratnagar, and Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj.

India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture.

India shares a 1,751-km-long border with Nepal that touches Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been summoned by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the high-profile Panamagate case on June 15 to question him about the scandal, the first sitting premier to appear before a team probing graft charges.

JIT chief Wajid Zia, in a letter dated Saturday, asked the prime minister to appear before the six-member probe team at 11.00 am on June 15 with all documents relevant to the case.

The summon was issued to Sharif after he returned from his Kazakhstan visit where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Sharif, who is currently in Lahore, met with his close confidantes this morning to discuss the issue. After consulting with his aides, the prime minister has decided to honour the summons and appear before the JIT on Thursday, the Dawn reported.

The Joint Investigation Team, formed by the Supreme Court to probe the money trail of the property owned by Sharif family in London, had questioned Sharif's sons - Hussain and Hasan - last month over the family's alleged improper business dealings.

His eldest son Hussain was questioned five times while Hasan, the younger son was summoned twice.

The court last year took up the case and issued split decision regarding allegations that money laundered when Sharif was prime minister in 1990s was used to buy the property.

On May 5, the Supreme Court set up a high-level six- member JIT to probe Sharif and his sons' alleged corruption in the .

The JIT is bound to complete the probe in 60 days unless it is granted additional time.

It is for the first time that a sitting prime minister is appearing before a high-level probe team traditionally constituted to investigate high-profile criminal cases.

It is not yet clear that Sharif will be questioned for once or he would be called again like his two sons.
JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was today detained in south Kashmir's Shopian district due to apprehension of breach of peace, police said.

Malik, along with Noor Muhammad Kalwal, the zonal president of his outfit, was detained by the security forces at Reban in Shopian this morning, a police official said.

A JKLF spokesman, while condemning their detention, said the outfit's chief had gone to Reban to meet the family of jailed leader Sarjan Barkati.

The spokesman said the duo have been taken to some unknown location.

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A senior journalist of an Urdu newspaper was today shot dead by unknown gunmen in northwest Pakistan, police said.

Bakshish Elahi, Bureau Chief of K-2 Times Haripur was shot down by the gunmen who came in a bike near his home at Lora Chowk Haripur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They fled the scene after committing the crime.

The assassins fired five shots on his body including one on his head and four on his chest and belly.

The dead body of the slain journalist was shifted to women and children hospital Haripur for postmortem.

Soon after the incident, journalists of Haripur protested against the murder and blocked the GT road demanding arrest of the killers within a day.

President Haripur Press Club (HPC) Zakir Tanooli along with other journalists protested against the killing of Bakshish Elahi and blocked the road.

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The death of NSCN-K chief S S Khaplang may pave the way for peace talks with the hardline Naga rebel group, bringing about a possible change in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast.

77-year-old Khaplang, who had also led the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW), a conglomerate of several insurgent groups, was instrumental in the recent step up in the attacks against security forces, besides running an arms racket.

He was opposed to a peace dialogue with the Centre.

While opinion is divided on how the insurgency situation will evolve in the Northeast, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said a peace dialogue with the NSCN-K is possible if the organisation gives up violence and secessionist activity.

"Khaplang was the main person who was supporting and facilitating insurgency in the Northeast and had a clout. He was a Myanmarese citizen and hence there was a problem. His death will definitely have impact in the region," he told PTI.

Rijiju said the central government will rehabilitate all Indian citizens in the Naga group if they abjure violence.

"We appeal to all the Indian Nagas in the NSCN-K to surrender and return to the mainstream. We will rehabilitate them," he said.

Rijiju, however, said he cannot talk about Myanmarese citizens, who are part of the NSCN-K.

Khaplang was a Hemi Naga from Myanmar.

Executive director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies, Wasbir Hussain, said Khaplang was the most important player in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast and he abrogated the peace talks with the central government two years ago.

"His death raises questions whether his successors are more belligerent than him," he said.

Hussain said the Nagaland government had some time ago claimed that it was in touch with Khaplang to bring him back to the peace process and the rebel leader had apparently agreed to it provided the talks centered around "substantive" issues.

"Now the question is whether Khaplang's successors will keep that apparent commitment or whether the group will step up attack on the Indian state," he said.

Hussain said it will be also significant to see whether Khaplang's departure from the scene will impact the activities of the rebel umbrella United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia.

"This is because Khaplang and the anti-talks faction of ULFA leader Paresh Baruah were the two main movers and shakers of this potent rebel platform," he said.

Editor of the Dimapur-based English daily Nagaland Page, Monalisa Changkija, said it was too early to say whether peace will return to the Northeast following the death of Khaplang.

Changkija said if the NSCN-K leadership goes into the hands of Nagas belonging to Nagaland, there is a possibility of holding peace talks.

"Why would Government of India talk to someone from Myanmar. It will take time some time to get a clear picture. It is difficult to predict just a day after Khaplang's death as to how the situation will evolve," she said.

Khaplang, who had engineered many attacks on the security forces including the killing of 18 Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015, died on Friday at Takka in Kachin province of Myanmar.

Khaplang, along with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, had formed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 1980.

However, Khaplang split and formed his own group NSCN-K in 1988 following differences with Swu and Muivah. Swu died in June 2016 in a Delhi hospital.

The faction headed by Swu and Muivah has been carrying on a peace dialogue with the central government since 1997.

Khaplang had also entered into a ceasefire agreement with the central government in 1997, but abrogated it on March 28, 2015.

The NSCN-K was involved in the killing of 18 Army soldiers in an ambush in Manipur on June 4, 2015.

Following the Manipur ambush, the Indian Army had carried out cross-border raids on NSCN-K camps located inside Myanmar killing several militants.

Subsequently in September 2015, the government declared the NSCN-K an unlawful organisation for five years.

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Kosovo votes today for a new parliament that will have to navigate tense relations with Serbia, endemic corruption and possible war crimes indictments for some of its leaders.

The early election is only the third since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008. But it "might be the hardest to predict," according to Florian Bieber, professor of Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz in Austria.

A month after the last government lost a confidence vote, the battle for a new prime minister pitches an ex-guerrilla commander against a former student protest leader and an economist likened to French President Emmanuel Macron.

But overshadowing the election is a new special court set up to try war crimes allegedly committed by members of the pro-independence Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought Serbian forces in the late 1990s.

Among those some speculate could be on the list of indictees - which may be announced later this year - are President Hashim Thaci and outgoing speaker Kadri Veseli, who both hail from the powerful Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

The European Centre for Minority Issues, a Germany-based research institute, said the court's arrest warrants could pose a threat to stability.

Such arrests, "compounded with the political agenda, may severely hamper or even bring about the fall of the future government," it said.

The new court was largely absent from the debate during the short election campaign.

But the threat it poses could explain why the PDK decided to end its ruling coalition with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said political scientist Loic Tregoures, a Balkans specialist.

The party may have pushed for a snap election to consolidate its position before the court begins work, he said.

The PDK's new alliance is the favourite to win and has been dubbed the "war wing coalition" owing to the prominence of former KLA fighters.

The coalition's candidate for prime minister is Ramush Haradinaj, known as "Rambo", whom Serbia wants to try for war crimes.

Haradinaj has criticised EU-brokered talks between Belgrade and Pristina aimed at "normalising" relations. He says they should only move forward if Serbia recognises Kosovo - an unlikely prospect.

Another coalition has emerged around the centre-right LDK party, closer to civil society groups.

Its candidate for premier is outgoing finance minister Avdullah Hoti. He has pushed a strongly pro-European platform and earned the nickname "Kosovo's Macron", promising to take on corruption.

Nearly 20 years after the war, political elites in Kosovo are "characterised by crime, corruption and nepotism," according to an assessment by the Slovenia-based International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies.

Citizens are also "waiting in vain" for the abolition of its visa requirement for EU states, it added.

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Sri Lankan police today arrested a prominent figure of a Buddhist extremist group along with two others for their alleged role in a series of arson attacks on Islamic religious centres in the country in recent weeks.

Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakodi said, "We have arrested a man for attacking two Muslim religious places and businesses over the last month's time".

The 32-year old, a key figure of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), was arrested from the suburbs of Colombo suburb of Maharagama. He was arrested for attacks in the area.

"He has links with BBS and is one of their activists," Jayakodi said.

He said other two were arrested from Danture in the central province and Trincomalee in the east.

Muslim civil society groups had claimed that, there have been over 30 incidents of racial and hatred attacks over the last seven weeks. They had accused the police of inaction to prevent the attacks.

The attacks were blamed on BBS or the Forces of Buddhist Power.

Addressing a press conference this morning, the BBS spokesman Dilantha Vithanage said, the arrested men were not members of their group.

Gnanasara is wanted for contempt of court and has been ordered by a court not to leave the country. Police had launched a search for him but was not able to arrest him.

The concerned Muslim raised the issue with the international community.

Envoys of many countries, including Australia and Canada, have visited a prominent mosque here to express their solidarity with minority Muslims.

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The Maharashtra government today announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.

"The government has, in principle, decided to waive farmers' loans with certain stipulations. The loans of farmers with small and medium land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.

Patil, who headed a high-power committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders here today.

Fadnavis said the state government had agreed to the loan waiver for farmers, adding that conditions and details will be finalised by a joint committee.

"Discussions between the government of Maharashtra and representatives of farmers have reached a consensus and farmers have called off the strike," Fadnavis said.

"The government has also accepted the demand of farmers to increase the milk prices," the CM tweeted after the meeting.

He said that the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry.

The move is expected to benefit 1.07 crore farmers in the state, who have land holdings of less than five acres, a farmer leader said. He said the loans of such small and medium farmers, worth Rs 30,000 crore, have been waived.

Meanwhile, the revenue minister said cases against those who participated in the farmers stir will be withdrawn, except in certain matters.

MP Raju Shetti, the leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, said if the government fails to fulfil its commitments, they would restart their agitation from July 25.

"Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said.

Shiv Sena minister Diwakar Raote said "I was a representative of Sena in the talks. I said the Sena was with the agitators. Fadnavis, in today's discussions, agreed in principle to the demands."



Dhanajya Dhorade, a farmer leader from Puntamba where the stir first began, said he was happy that the agitation was successful and demands of the farmers were met.

Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that "all loans" of farmers will be waived.

"The atmosphere now is like a Diwali celebration. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted," he said.

The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said.

"We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said.

"However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation," Kadu said.

Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.

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Madhya Pradesh police today arrested - and subsequently released -- 30 activists, including Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Swami Agnivesh, in Ratlam, while they were on their way to Mandsaur to meet families of farmers killed in police firing.

The activists were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam district's Jaora town and detained in the circuit house there for about 30 minutes.

"They dispersed after they were released," City SP Deepak Kumar Shukla said.

The police told the activists, among them JNU students' union president Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from farmer outfits, that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, where prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place, though curfew was lifted yesterday.

"Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us," Yadav, of the political outfit Swaraj India, told reporters after the arrest.

He stressed the group had wanted to meet the families in Mandsaur "peacefully" and wanted to present them with a "letter of tribute" and soil brought from different parts of the country.

"But we were not allowed to go to Mandsaur," he said.

On being stopped from entering neigbouring Mandsaur, the activists sat on a protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic, the police said.

The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour.

The police said the activists were arrested when they insisted on being allowed to enter Mandsaur.

They were arrested under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

Yadav also demanded that the government waive farmers' loans and give them higher prices for agriculture produce.

He called for a probe into the death of six people who had been killed in the stir. Five died in police firing, and one was allegedly beaten to death.

Patkar said she could not understand how their presence in Mandsaur could disturb the situation.

"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers' families," she said.

Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress, as protests over low prices for crops and heavy farm debts started on June 1 and snowballed into a widespread agitation.

In Mandsaur, curfew was imposed after the five farmers were killed in two incidents of police firing during the protest on June 6.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today dedicated two road bridges over the river Ganga to the people of the state.

At a function in the state capital attended among others by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Education Minister Ashok Chaudhary and a host of ministers and officials, Kumar dedicated the two bridges, Sonepur-Digha and Ara-Chapra, by pressing the button of remote control.

The two bridges will go a long way in improving road connectively between south and north Bihar and reduce vehicular traffic pressure on the dilapidated Gandhi Setu, the reconstruction of which is underway for sometimes.

The distance between various destinations between south and north Bihar too will be reduced drastically by more than 100 km.

The 5.25 km Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge was cleared by the UPA government in 2006 when Lalu Prasad was the Railway minister, while the 4.35 km four-lane Ara-Chapra bridge was given green signal by the Chief Minister in 2010.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated to the nation the rail section of Sonepur-Digha bridge in March last but the road bridge could not be inaugurated then due to delay in construction of approach road on both Digha and Sonepur sides.

There will be restricted traffic on the two road bridges for the time being with the authorities deciding to allow movement of only small vehicles, according to officials.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that that he was happy to dedicate the two road bridges to the people of Bihar on a day when the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is celebrating his 70th birth day.

Kumar said the railway authorities should have invited Lalu Prasad on inauguration of the rail section of the Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge last year as it was conceived during Prasad's stint as railway minister in 2006.

"Those who organised inauguration function for launch of rail bridge between Sonepur and Digha by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year did not have decency to invite Prasad," the Chief Minister said.

The Sonepur-Digha bridge was earlier meant for rail project only, but after becoming the railway minister in 2004 Lalu Prasad impressed upon the UPA government to incorporate road part of the bridge too to smoothen road connectivity between South and North Bihar, he recalled.

The Chief Minister said that his government has decided to honour Bihar's two great sons, Veer Kunwar Singh and Jai Prakash Narayan, popularly known as JP, by naming the Ara-Chapra bridge after the former ahead of 160th anniversary of celebrations of his participation in the 1857 rebellion against the British rulers.

The Sonepur-Digha bridge has been christened after JP, he said.

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The United States' partners in the G7 club of wealthy democracies vowed today to pursue efforts to curb climate change despite a rift caused by the United States' withdrawal from the Paris accord.

"G7 countries have crucial roles and responsibilities to our own public opinion, to developing countries and to the planet," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said at the start of a two-day meeting of G7 environmental chiefs. "The international community awaits our message."



Scott Pruitt, a friend of the oil industry who is sceptical about man-made climate change and was Trump's controversial choice to head the US Environmental Protection Agency, attended the meeting but was due to fly home after the first day.

With Germany's environment minister, Barbara Hendricks, also departing early and France's Nicolas Hulot not arriving until Monday because of legislative elections, there appeared little prospect of substantial dialogue on an issue which has caused significant tensions between Donald Trump's administration and key US allies.

Adding to the frustration of the Italian hosts, Britain was represented by a junior minister as efforts to form a new government in London continued.

Patricia Espinosa, the UN official in charge of implementing the Paris accord, stressed that Trump's pullout would not make any difference in the short-term.

"We've all registered with regret the US decision but at the same time the US remains a party to the agreement because it foresees a three year period before any party can withdraw.

"So for us it is really clear that what we need to do is to go forward with implementing the accord and helping countries translate their national programme into their development policies so we can get to 2018 and have a first assessment of where we stand," she said.

Italy's large environmentalist movement had planned a demonstration against Trump's decision for Sunday afternoon in Bologna, an ancient university city and bastion of progressive activism.

"We are expecting a good turnout. A lot of people are very upset about Trump's decision and it has started a new debate," Giacomo Cossu, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told AFP.

Trump announced at the start of this month that the US would not abide by the 2015 Paris agreement and would seek to renegotiate terms he denounced as unfairly damaging to the American economy and overly generous to India and China.

Trump said Washington would not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris, and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change.

But many analysts say Trump's rhetoric may make little difference.

Important players in US industry and individual cities and states are already implementing changes aimed at meeting the targets laid down in Paris, where most of the world's countries agreed to try and cap global temperature rises at 2C above pre-industrial levels.

Germany and California agreed Saturday to work together to keep the Paris accords on track and the most populous US state had its own representative at the Bologna talks.

"The G7 countries have to have a cohesive approach," on climate change, Japan's Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto told today's opening session.

Scientists warn that failing to contain climate change will have devastating consequences as sea levels rise and extreme storms, droughts and heatwaves become more common, endangering crops and fragile environments with knock-on effects in the form of new conflicts and mass fluxes of people escaping affected areas.

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In ferment for the last several days, Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur, the epicentre of a violent stir by farmers, remained peaceful today, prompting Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to end his indefinite fast.

Chouhan, who began the fast yesterday to calm frayed tempers of the farmers demanding a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce, announced a slew of schemes for their benefit but issued a stern warning to those who engaged in "incendiary activities".

There was no curfew in all three police stations areas of Mandsaur city for the second day today, but prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of more than four people remained in force in the entire district.

Curfew will, however, continue in Pipliamandi police station area, about 15 km from Mandsaur district headquarters, where the killing of five farmers in police firing on June 6 led to sudden escalation of violence and arson that spread to several other districts of Madhya Pradesh.

"The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far," Collector OP Srivastava and SP Manoj Singh said.

Chouhan, under relentless opposition attack over the farmers' stir, broke his fast about a day-and-half into it with a glass of coconut water offered by former MP chief minister Kailash Joshi.

"Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today," Chouhan said before ending his fast.

"In a state where agriculture has flourished, it is impossible that farmers would indulge in violence on such a scale. While any pain to farmers is unacceptable, those who have engaged in incendiary activities will be severely dealt with.

"Those whose properties have been damaged will be compensated, but it will be investigated who were behind this violence. I began this fast in accordance with 'Rashtra dharma' (duty towards the nation) as in the name of farmers' agitation some people created a situation that caused me worry," he said.

BJP leaders have been accusing the Congress party of having stoked the agitation.

On being asked whether he had agreed to the demand for loan waiver, Chouhan, however, avoided a direct reply, maintaining he had told the farmers what he had to say.

During his fast, Chouhan had met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 of big cultivators.

BJP's state unit president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan claimed the family members of those killed in Tuesday's police firing had yesterday met Chouhan and requested him to call off his fast. The kin of four out of five men killed in firing had met Chouhan at the fast venue.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya claimed the farmers requested Chouhan to end his fast and even said they were ready to withdraw the agitation.

Before ending his 28-hour fast, Chouhan announced a slew of measures for the benefit of farmers and declared purchase of any farm produce below the minimum support price (MSP) will be treated as crime.

"Any purchase of farm produce below the MSP declared by the Centre would be considered a criminal act in MP," Chouhan told a gathering at BHEL's Dussehra Maidan here, the venue of his fast. He said agricultural land would now be acquired only with the consent of farmers concerned.

He said 'Kisan Bazaar' would be set up in all municipal areas and a cooperative institution on the lines of the Amul Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat will be set up across the state.

The chief minister said the government was in the process of setting up a Rs 1,000-crore Price Stabilisation Fund to purchase farm produce at the MSP.

Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure remunerative prices of farm produce.

Meanwhile, Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were today detained in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district while trying to enter neighbouring Mandsaur to meet the families of the five farmers killed in police firing.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Jaora town as prohibitory orders were in force across Mandsaur district.

On being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives of various farmers' organisations sat in protest on the Mhow- Neemuch highway, disrupting traffic. They were detained and later released.

After their detention, Yadav told reporters, "Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us."



"We wanted to meet the families of deceased farmers peacefully and honour them by giving them a letter and soil brought from different parts of the country but we were not allowed to go," he said.

Patkar said, "We are being told that if we go to Mandsaur, peace may get disturbed. We are unable to understand how it will affect peace."



"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers' family," she said.
People look at tributes in a square in central Manchester, England, Thursday, May 25, 2017, ahead of a minute's silence for the victims of the suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert that left more than 20 people dead and many more injured, as it

All the suspects arrested over last month's Manchester concert bombing have been released without charge, British police said today, acknowledging that detectives are still not sure whether the attacker had accomplices.

Salman Abedi, a Briton of Libyan heritage, detonated a knapsack bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, killing 22 people and himself.

Shortly after the attack, police said they had rounded up members of Abedi's network. But Greater Manchester Police said today that all 22 people arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses have now been released without charge.

Russ Jackson, head of counterterrorism policing for northwest England, said police believe Abedi assembled the bomb himself, but it's unclear "whether he acted alone in obtaining the materials for the device ... And whether others knew or were complicit in the storage of materials knowing what was being planned."



Jackson said some of those arrested had offered "accounts which explain innocent contact with Abedi." He said risk to the public had been considered before suspects were released.

Suspects arrested under terrorism laws can be held for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.

Jackson said police had traced Abedi's movements in the weeks before the attack in detail, and "understand how the chemicals and equipment were obtained and where the bomb was assembled."



He said the vast police investigation will continue "as we work to understand the full extent of the involvement of anyone else."



Police released new images today of Abedi walking through Manchester with a blue suitcase, which they believe contained bomb materials. Police are searching a landfill site for the case.

They also appealed for information from anyone who saw a white Nissan Micra police believe Abedi used to transport and store bomb components.

Police also say they want to speak to Abedi's younger brother Hashem, who has been detained in Libya.
The Punjab government has decided to start a free mortuary van service in the state.

All government hospitals have been directed to provide such vans free of cost.

Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said hospital attendants will be required to fill up a form to record whether the family of the deceased have proper arrangements for transporting the body.

Till now there was no provision of providing mortuary vans in the government hospitals of state.

Mohindra, in a statement, said in case of unavailability of a mortuary van, family members were left helpless and had to face difficulties.

He mentioned the incident in Jalandhar a month ago when a person had to carry his father's body on a 'rehri'.

"I enquired from the hospital's authorities about this particular incident and asked why they did not provide a vehicle to family member of the deceased. The hospital authorities told me there was no such provision and the state government had never issued an order to provide a vehicle in such cases," Mohindra said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former "Top Gear" host Richard Hammond was flown to hospital after a crash while filming in Switzerland.

The 47-year-old was on a practice run for a race in an electric car for Amazon Prime show "The Grand Tour", reported BBC.

Hammond "climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames", the show said in a statement



Co-host Jeremy Clarkson tweeted that it was the "most frightening" accident he had ever seen but said Hammond, who fractured a knee, was "mostly OK".

The show's statement said Hammond had been involved in a "serious crash" after completing the Hemberg Hill Climb in Switzerland, where a race takes place on Sunday.

He had been driving a "Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for "The Grand Tour Season 2" on Amazon Prime, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury".

Hammond was "conscious and talking" after the crash, , and had been flown to hospital in St Gallen "to be checked over", the show said.

"Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we'd like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response. The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated," the statement added.

The crash comes 11 years after Hammond nearly died when he lost control of a Vampire dragster while filming for "Top Gear."



He was in a coma for two weeks after the accident at Elvington Airfield, near York.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has conveyed to the government that he be relieved from the post which he has held for three years.

Rohatgi told PTI that he had written to the government last month conveying his wish that he would not like a re- appointment to the post of the country's top law officer, and wanted to return to private practice.

He said he was appointed by the Narendra Modi government after it came to power in May 2014 and he has served his three -year term.

He said he considers this duration as enough and would like to return to his practice.

Rohatgi was appointed as the AG immediately after the BJP government came to power in May 2014 and during the stint, he argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the apex court in 'triple talaq' matter in which the judgement is reserved.

Early this month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had extended his tenure until further orders.

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two Italian marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Besides some of these high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi had also appeared on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saaniya Sharma shot her second successive round in 60s to finish tied 31st, best placed Indian, in the USD 150,000 Hong Kong Ladies Open, here today.

Saaniya, who carded 80 in the first round scored 68 and 69 in the final two rounds to finish at one-over 217.

Among other Indians, Vani Kapoor shot 76, her worst of the week, to finish at five-over 221 and Tied-43rd. Sharmila Nicollet (74) and Neha Tripathi (75) were Tied-46th at six- over 222, while Amandeep Drall (79) was Tied-52nd.

Thailand's Supamas Sangchan (71) managed to hold off the challenge from fellow Thai, Renuka Suksukont (67) and Taipei's Hsieh Yu-Ling (68) were tied second one shot behind the winner.

Supamas, who was bogey-free for first two days, had three bogeys, including two in the last three holes, when nerves seemed to be playing on her but she held on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today said the teachings of Sant Kabir should be taught to those who raise "anti-national" slogans and programmes on the mystique poet should also be organised in the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The JNU last year witnessed protests against the 2013 hanging of the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, which led to clashes between students' groups.

Addressing a symposium, Singh said that teachings of the 15th Century saint should be included in educational curricula of schools and universities as they are relevant in the contemporary period as well.

"Those who raise slogans of azadi-azadi (independence) and talk about disintegrating the country should be taught Sant Kabir...Misguided youth should be given the knowledge of Kabir's thoughts. Such programmes on Kabir should also be held in JNU," the chief minister said in an apparent reference to the last year's row over alleged raising of controversial slogans at the JNU.

Singh was speaking at a symposium on 'Kabir Sahitya me Samrasta aur Sanchaar' (Harmony and Communication in Literature of Sant Kabir), jointly organised by Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism andMass Communication and Kabir Development and Study Centre here.

Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki presided over the function as the chief guest.

Highlighting the significance of Kabir's teachings, Singh said they should be included in the curricula of schools and universities.

"Besides, research should also be undertaken on the literatureof Kabir in colleges of Chhattisgarh as well as in the country. Sant Kabir had contributed immensely to both literary and spiritual world. He always stood by humanity and tried to unify all religions. He believed in universal brotherhood and harmony. He fought against blind faiths and superstitions," the CM said, adding that Kabir's thoughts are respected and followed even in the modern times.

Singh said Kabir's poetry and literature is as relevant in the present times as it was about 500 years ago, in any context and any form.

"If entire world is to be considered as a global village then Sant Kabir would be its biggest brand ambassador," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, the Haryana governor described Sant Kabir as the "greatest global communicator".

"Sant Kabir preached brotherhood among all religions, treated entire world as one family and humanism as a virtue. What Sant Kabir preached is still relevant in the present age," he said.

Highlighting the role of media in transforming the society, the governor said that media and press should be 'Lok-Kalyankari' (pro-people) as they have a vital role in shaping public opinion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP president Amit Shah has postponed his visit to Arunachal Pradesh and the party is likely to defer its national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in view of the presidential election.

Shah's presence in the capital is required as the BJP is likely to begin the process of finalising the name of its presidential nominee any time now, a party leader said.

The BJP president was to leave for the northeastern state tomorrow.

The election to the top constitutional post will be held on July 17. The last date for filing nomination is June 28.

There could be a meeting of senior party leaders here, he said, giving the reason for postponing Shah's Arunachal Pradesh trip.

If the opposition too puts up a candidate, which is very likely considering the ongoing talks among top leaders of the Congress, the Left, JD(U), among others, a contest will be inevitable.

The BJP leader said there was no point in keeping the national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in Andhra Pradesh, as the presidential election is scheduled for July 17.

He noted that the executive meeting was fixed long before the Election Commission announced the presidential poll schedule.

The Election Commission had on June 7 announced the schedule for the presidential poll.

The nomination process will begin from June 14 with the issuance of a notification and the counting of votes will take place on July 20 in New Delhi.

The electorate, comprising elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and members of state assemblies, is tilted in favour of the NDA, but the opposition is trying to woo some regional parties to support their candidate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today directed Indian Ambassador in the US Navtej Sarna to update Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh about issues relating to safety and security of Indians in that country.

Swaraj's direction came after the Punjab Chief Minister, in a tweet, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swaraj to take up the issue of security concerns of Indians living in the US with President Donald Trump.

"I have asked Sardar Navtej Singh Sarna, Indian Ambassador in Washington, to update you on this," Swaraj tweeted.

Earlier, Singh said in a tweet, "Indians, Sikhs in US are not feeling safe, please take up their security with @realDonaldTrump on priority @narendramodi ji @SushmaSwaraj ji."



There has been a spate of attacks on Indians in several parts of the US in the last three months.

A 26-year-old man from Telangana was shot at by an unidentified person in California in the US on June 4 and continues to be in "very critical condition".
The action in Salman Khan-starrer "Tiger Zinda Hai" is of international standard and both the superstar and lead actress Katrina Kaif are putting in their best foot forward, says director Ali Abbas Zafar.

Salman and Katrina have teamed up again for the sequel to their 2012 blockbuster "Ek Tha Tiger".

"Salman and Katrina both have worked really hard. This time he (Salman) will be seen in a different body type, he is much leaner," Ali told PTI.

"The film requires a certain kind of action and it's challenging to do it. The action is of a certain scale, it's contemporary and of international standard."



The makers of "Tiger Zinda Hai" have roped-in stunt director Tom Struthers, known for his stellar work in "Inception" and "The Dark Knight".

The film's first installment revolved around an Indian spy code-named Tiger (Salman), who falls in love with Pakistani spy Zoya (Katrina) during an investigation.

In the sequel, both Salman and Katrina will reprise their roles as spies Tiger and Zoya.

"The characters played by Salman and Katrina are the same in the second part. It's too early to talk in detail about the plot of the film," Ali says when asked if Salman and Katrina are set on a new mission.

Presently, the "Dabangg" star is busy with the promotions of "Tubelight" that is slated to hit the cinema houses this Eid.

Once Salman is done with the release of "Tubelight", the shooting for "Tiger Zinda Hai" will resume, says Ali.

"The film is shaping up well and we are happy with the way it has turned out so far," he says.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists have discovered the most complete specimen of a tiny dinosaur-era bird, trapped in 98 million-year-old amber, that has exceptionally well preserved feathers, talons and other features.

Excavated from a mine in Myanmar, the piece of amber holds the specimen of a group of extinct toothed birds called enantiornithines, which died out at the end of the Cretaceous period (about 145 million to 65.5 million years ago).

Body proportions and plumage development in the tiny specimen indicated that it was very young.

The feathers' structures and distribution highlight some key differences between the ancient avians and modern-day birds, according to the study published in the journal Gondwana Research.

The fossils' exceptional preservation of plumage helps paleontologists understand the diversity of feathers and the role they played for early avians, said Jingmai O'Connor, professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Feathers can never be well understood in normal fossils," O'Connor said.

"But in amber, we get crystal-clear views of what primitive feathers were like, and they reveal all sorts of bizarre morphologies," she said.

Though scientists had previously found specimens of this bird group in amber, the new find included features never seen before, such as the ear opening, the eyelid and skin on the feet.

Its body measured about six centimetres in length. Scientists used micro-CT scans and digital 3D reconstruction to further analyse the specimen, 'Live Science' reported.

The amber chunk - which measured around 8.6 cm long, 3 cm wide and 5.7 cm thick - had been divided down the middle into two pieces.

This cut sliced through the specimen's skull, damaging some of the bones and separating the chick's beak from its braincase and neck.

However, the body was near-complete, with the amber containing the tiny bird's head and neck, part of its wings, feet and tail; and plenty of soft tissue and attached feathers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Traditional money lenders in the city for ages, the Kabuliwalas, are slowly getting lost in the bylanes of Kolkata due to mushrooming of chit funds, micro finance companies and easy banking system.

"Money lending is no longer a profitable business for us, like it used to be 25-30 years ago. Chit fund companies, easy banking system have been taking a toll on our business for last several years. Lastly demonetisation has dealt a heavy blow to our business. Now we are harassed when we ask for payment of our loans. I want to go back and settle in my own country before I die," Omar Mansoor, a 60-year-old Afghan money lender, told PTI.

The story is same for 45-year-old Reza Khan, who will be moving back to Kabul next month, after he lost a huge amount of money in the lending business.

"Nowadays if we go to seek our payment, those who have borrowed money from us, threaten us with police and use local politicians to harass us. Most of us have gone back to Kabul," Khan said.

The Afghans are commonly known as Kabuliwalas - people hailing from Kabul, Afghanistan- in West Bengal.

The Kabuliwalas were immortalised by Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, in his iconic short story, "Kabuliwala" in 1892.

Kabuliwalas, are known for their distinctive physical features such as tall, well built, piercing eyes and rugged faces.

Long before Afghans left their homeland to escape the Taliban oppression, the Kabuliwalas started coming to Bengal in the late 19th century and early 20th century to sell dry fruits. The profit they made by selling dry fruits was ploughed into the money lending business.

Soon after Independence in 1947, when the formal trade between the countries began, the Kabuliwalas found their market for dry fruits shrinking and permanently switched over the business of money lending. Many of them were licensed money lenders.

But things started changing in the 1980s, after Marwari, Punjabi and Bengali communities entered the money lending business.

With the advent of easy banking system, mushrooming of chit funds and micro finance companies, the Kabuliwalas are out of their business and struggling to make ends meet.

Such is the dismal state of Afghans in the city that the number of Afghans have come down from 10,000 in Kolkata in 2001 to less than 1,800. A large number of them have gone back to Afghanistan after the situation improved there following the country's first parliamentary elections in 2005.

There are only 15 Afghan kothis, or Afghan tenements left in city - where these Pathans live with others of their communities.

While some Afghans now live with their families, although most of the Kabuliwalas still prefer to keep their family in their homeland.

According to Mullah Khan, who has been in business of money lending for last five decades, says in the last decade the monthly interest charged by Afghan moneylenders has dropped from 7-8 per cent to 3-4 per cent but the cases of default are still on rise, prompting them to devise their own know-your-customer norms. But that too have been of little help.

Although many of their close friends have left for Afghanistan, there are still a few who wants to stay back in Kolkata, but have shifted to new business such as real estate and retail.

"Retail and real estate are good profit making business. Most of us are not very educated so we won't be able to get a job if we go back to Kabul. And my father is buried in Kolkata. I can't leave him behind and go. We are spending a lot of money on the education of our children so that they don't have a future like us," Zabbar Ahmed said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Indian fishermen were killed and 11 others injured when a Panama-registered cargo ship hit their fishing boat early today off the Kochi coast, the police said.

The ship, 'Amber L', which left the scene after the incident,was detained along with its crew after a massive searchby the Navy and Coast Guard, Inspector General of Police (Ernakulam Range) P Vijayan told PTI.

Additional Director General of Police Tomin J Thachenkary, who is also heading the Kerala Coastal Police, said the ship was subsequently taken into custody.

The authorities in Kerala are waiting for the Centre's nod to initiate legal action against the captain of the ship and others responsible for the accident.

"There is a provision for arresting the ship," said Thachenkary.

Kerala Fisheries Minister J Mercykuttyamma said the captain and crew could be booked under the IPC provision dealing with culpable homicide.

The injured fishermen were admitted to various hospitals here and the condition of two of them was stated to be serious, the police said.

Another occupant of the boat was missing and a search operation was on to rescue him.

The boat carrying 14 fishermen was hit by the ship at around 2 am, around 20 nautical miles off the Kochi coast. Most of the fishermen on board the boat were from Tamil Nadu and Assam, the police said.

The 11 injured persons were rescued by fishermen who were on another boat.

The rescued fishermen said their boat was hit while it was being anchored in the sea after fishing.

A Cochin Port Trust official said the ship, which was taken into custody by the police, could not be berthed at the Port Trust due to its huge size.

The ship could remain in the outer anchorage position, he added.

The fishing vessel, named Carmel Matha and owned by Nazaer Palluruthy, capsized immediately after it was hit by the ship.

The Navy said a search-and-rescue operation was on and an advanced light helicopter and the INS Kalpeni were pressed into service to trace the missing fisherman.

This is the second fatal incident in the recent years involving a foreign ship in the sea off the Kerala coast.

In February 2012, two fishermen were shot dead allegedly by Italian marines on-board an oil tanker, Enrica Lexie.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced an aid of Rs two lakh each for the families of the deceased fishermen.

It will be given from the Labour Department's Settlers Employees Welfare Scheme, he said in a statement in Thiruvananthapuram.

Usually, only those registered under the scheme are entitled to an aid. However, the government has decided to give a special relaxation in this case and directed the Labour Department to provide the aid, said Vijayan.

He also directed the police to conduct a "fruitful" probe and take necessary action against those guilty.

The Coastal Police and the Fisheries Department have been asked to remain vigilant as regards the safety of the fishermen who put out to sea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were today arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district after they tried to enter neighbouring Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing during the farmers' stir.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam district's Jaora town.

The police told them that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted yesterday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district.

After being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from various farmer outfits across the country, sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.

The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour.

They also argued with the police and Ratlam administration officials to allow them to enter Mandsaur.

Following this, the police arrested the 30 activists under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

After the arrest, Yadav told mediapersons, "Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us."



"We wanted to meet the families of deceased farmers peacefully and honour them by giving them a letter and soil brought from different parts of the country but we were not allowed to go," he said.

Yadav said the government should waive farmers' loans, and they should get the right price for their agricultural produce.

He also demanded a probe into the death of the six people who have died during the farmers' agitation so far.

Patkar said, "We are being told that if we go to Mandsaur, peace may get disturbed . We are unable to understand how it will affect the peace."



"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers' family," she said.

Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during the farmers' protest on June 6.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The commerce and industry ministry is organising consultations with all stakeholders, including exporters, to resolve their issues pertaining to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the ministry, has constituted a GST facilitation cell to assist and advise exporters, trade and industry for smooth transition from present regime to the GST.

"DGFT also convened a meeting of stakeholders to understand the issues being faced by them in GST system. These issues have been taken up with department of revenue and GSTN," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

Most of issues have been resolved by the department and GST Network, it added.

It said that exporters can email their queries concerning GST and pertaining to foreign trade policy to the facilitation cell.

"All regional offices of DGFT have also constituted GST facilitation cell and the cell would headed by head of the regionaloffice," it said.

The ministry has announced to align the mid-term review of foreign trade policy with roll out of GST for the convenience of exporters and industry.

GST is scheduled to be rolled out from July 1.
Five states have made it to the Niti Aayog's shortlist under a programme that aims to build three future 'role model' states for better health systems.

The government think tank had invited all states and UTs to participate in the programme named as Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH).

Sixteen states expressed their interest, of which 14 made their presentations to a committee headed by Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy.

"Of these fourteen states, five have been shortlisted," Niti Aayog said in a statement on Saturday.

The think tank however did not disclose the names of the states that have been shortlisted.

Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh had presented their project proposal to the Niti panel.

The panel is headed by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy and comprise CEO Amitabh Kant as well as a representative from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

"Three will be selected on the basis of further evaluations and objective assessment of criteria affecting the potential for impact and likelihood of success," Niti Aayog said.

"Metrics such as MMR, IMR, incidence of malaria and others have been considered for determining potential impact while density of doctors and nurses, compliance to IPHS norms are some of the metrics used to determine likelihood of success," it said further.

The programme will be launched in the three selected states after the signing of MoUs.

Niti Aayog said that the programme will be implemented by it along with McKinsey & Company and IPE Global consortium, who were selected through a competitive bidding process.

Under SATH, Niti will work in close collaboration with the state machinery to design a robust roadmap of intervention, develop a programme governance structure, set up monitoring and tracking mechanisms, hand-hold state institutions through the execution stage and provide support on a range of institutional measures to achieve the end objectives.
Replying to income tax scrutiny notices with supporting documents will soon be just a click away.

Instead of having to make the rounds of the tax department with sheaf of papers in response to notices received, tax payers can soon upload them on the departments e-filing portal sitting in comfort of ones own premises.

The Income Tax Department will very soon launch on its e- filing website a facility for uploading of information sought through scrutiny notices, a senior government official told PTI.

"This is part of our focus to reduce human interface and make the department more taxpayer friendly," he said. "The facility to e-file the documents to scrutiny notices is being done to reduce interface between the assessing officer and the taxpayer."

Also, the tax department plans to start soon an SMS facility to communicate with taxpayers about any scrutiny notice sent to them.

"We will send SMS on the registered mobile number informing them to go to their account in the efiling portal to see the new notice," the official said.

Once the facility is started, tax payers will get an SMS alert of a new notice or information being raised by the tax department. The assessee can then log on to the efiling portal and upload the documents that have been sought.

Currently, the department sends SMSes for informing tax payers, especially the salaried class, about the tax deducted at source (TDS). Also, such alerts are sent on filing of tax returns and their acceptance.

As many as 3.65 crore individuals filed tax returns in assessment year 2014-15, while only 1 per cent of these are picked up for scrutiny. There are over 29 crore persons holding permanent account number (PAN).

Also to avoid discretion to assessing officer, a computer-based programme picks up cases for scrutiny based on the risk parameters identified by the I-T department.

The Income Tax Department had earlier said that all tax related proceedings between the assessee and the taxman from the new fiscal will be conducted online. A new link called e-proceeding has already been launched on the e-filing portal through which assessees reply to notice, questionnaire, or letter issued under various sections of the I-T Act.


The UIDAI has refused to share information on cases of fake and duplicate Aadhaar cards, saying the disclosure might affect national security, or can lead to incitement of an offence.

Replying to an RTI query by a PTI correspondent, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues the card, also denied to give details of action it has taken in such cases.

It said, the UIDAIs Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) facilities, information assets, logistics and infrastructure and dependencies, have been classified as Protected System, under the Section 70(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

"Any disclosure of the UIDAI grievance database, which essentially forms a part of the UIDAI CIDR operations, therefore, would have an impact on national security, strategic, scientific and economic interest of the State etc.," the UIDAI said in response to the RTI application.

It was asked to provide details related to the cases of duplicate and fake Aadhaar cards received by the UIDAI, and action taken on them.

The information sought would fall under Section 8(a) of the RTI Act, and therefore, it is denied, the UIDAI said.

The section bars information "disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence".

Further, the format in which information is held by the UIDAI, contains identity details which, if divulged, maybe prone to identity-theft etc, the authority said.

The Aadhaar card carries 12-digit unique identification number. The card acts as a proof of identity and address.

There have been a few complaints against certain unauthorised websites for promising Aadhaar-related services.

At least eight FIRs have been filed by police against as many unauthorised websites for promising such services.


Thursdays lawsuit, filed on behalf of five indigent plaintiffs, including Brown, alleges that Lexington County has been engaging in the equivalent of modern-day debtors prison practices: issuing arrest warrants for people who are unable to pay court fees or court-ordered fines for minor infractions like parking tickets, and jailing them without offering them lawyers or determining whether they have the ability to pay in the first place.



The lawsuit names as defendants Lexington County; the sheriff of Lexington County, Bryan Koon; a judge of one of the magistrate courts, Rebecca Adams; and a few other Lexington County court officials.



At issue in the case are two county policies: The Default Payment Policy and the Trial in Absentia Policy. Under the Default Payment Policy, a court will impose a payment plan for fees or fines, requiring steep monthly payments that are often beyond the individuals financial means. If the person fails to pay, the court issues a bench warrant ordering law enforcement to arrest and jail the individual unless the full amount owed is paid.



Under the Trial in Absentia Policy, the complaint says, Lexington County courts order the arrest and incarceration of people unable to pay fines and fees in connection with trials and sentencing proceedings that are held in their absence. Even if the individual contacts the court to request another hearing date and to explain why they cannot appear at the scheduled hearing, courts will convict them in absentia, and sentence them to jail pending payment of fines and fees. Before notifying these individuals of their sentences, courts issue bench warrants ordering law enforcement to arrest and jail the individual, again unless the full amount owed is paid.



Simply put, courts cannot jail people because they are too poor to pay finessometimes called pay or stay. In 1833, Congress abolished the use of debtors prisons and in 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit in a case called Bearden v. Georgia.



In Bearden, the Supreme Court noted that it had long been sensitive to the treatment of indigents in our criminal justice system. It continued: There can be no equal justice where the kind of a trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has.



If a person has the means to pay court fines but simply refuses to do so, that person can be jailed after a court determines that they had the ability to pay but willfully refused. But it is patently unconstitutional to lock up a person in jail if they are poor and simply do not have enough money to pay the fines.



Yet that is what has been happening in Lexington County, according to the ACLU. And often, it is people of color who are caught up in this unfair system.
CAMEROUN :: Cameroon, FRONTLINE FIGHTERS FOR CITIZENS INTEREST [FFCI]:HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT ON URBAN TERRORISM IN THE NORTH WEST REGION

The North West Region of Cameroon has experienced a series of vandalism since November 21st, 2016, when the socio-political crisis started. This unprecedented series of violence caused by civilians has resulted in the loss of human lives and property and it is alleged that there is more violence and vandalism announced to take place in the future. The burning of the Bamenda Women Empowerment Center illustrated below is just one among many.

This whole saga started in November 2016 with the Teachers and Lawyers strike. These strikes were declared to be pacific and nonviolent. But they were cunningly using some radical groups to envenom the situation and this has degenerated to a point where the teachers and lawyers no longer have control of the crisis anymore. Radical groups have taken the law into their hands with the aid of some leaders at home and abroad calling for secession and federal system of government. They are calling on teacher, pupils and students not to go to school until their demands are met and are employing threats, violence, and vandalism to enforce a no school going. This no school going is having an adverse effect on the future of the youth; teenage pregnancy has increased by 80%, domestic robbery is on the rise, corruption of the youth and child abuse, illiteracy will increase in a couple of years given many children will never go to school because of what has transpired this year. An illiterate population shall be easily manipulated by the leaders for their selfish interest. As days go by, we witness an ever increasing acts of vandalism in the city of Bamenda and the North West Region as a whole.

These outlaws have engaged in a massive destruction of public and private property, and urban criminality since the beginning of the current crisis. Many of them still go unpunished given that they are highly protected upon by the Consortium of Trade Unions. Whenever one of these radicals is arrested by the forces of law and order, the leaders of the consortium propagate messages on social media calling for their immediate and unconditional release. They call on the population to stage a ghost town in order to achieve their goal and even go about committing more atrocities; burning down public institutions and roads.

Those arrested recently and placed under detention were not all involved in acts of vandalism; after an on the ground investigation, FFCI discovered that some of them were just passers-by and sought for their release. Some organizations had been propagating false information that most of those arrested had died in detention, which was very wrong and contrary to the reality. This propagation of false information incited the population into more violence and vandalism. The propagation of false information is ongoing and is having a negative impact on the efforts government is making to normalize the situation and meet the demands of the teachers and lawyers. Most of the demands that have been met by government have not been given the right publicity and the population is still unaware that government has done a lot and is prepared to do more in order to satisfy the teachers and lawyers and have them resume work.

It is crystal clear today the demands of the teachers and lawyers went beyond pure professional demands. Secessionist and federalist ideologies were the bases of their demands. Their demands tabled to government was just a shadow of their real intentions.

We the Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interest (FFCI) - a human right defense Organization, strongly condemn the manipulation of some ignorant Citizens by teachers, lawyers and political opposition Actors to achieve their Public demonstrations in the North West and South West Regions.

The lawyers and teachers may have been right in their motives and initial aims but cunningly used the wrong actors (Radical groups).

The FFCI carefully followed the strike actions and must comment that the teachers and the lawyers used and are still trying to use the vulnerable and most available citizens [the unemployed] to achieve their unlawful demonstrations.

We dare to say, but must say; these citizens deeply implicated the main opposition party (Social Democratic Front SDF). We dont stand on any ground to blame the SDF chairman but watched him authorizing the traders and teachers to hold on with the strike action during the festive period and continue then after.

According to the FFCI national president, Mr. Mowha Franklin, after a face to face discussion with Fru Ndi on the 18th Dec. 2016, he seemed to be the switch to the strike actions both in the North West and South West regions. We doubt why he could not organize his own manifestations or uprising but wait for the teachers and lawyers to start changing the teachers and lawyers demands into his quest for federalism. Thereby confusing citizens of their immediate needs.

As a slogan, the teachers say; behind their curtains e go bad today, Misleading, influencing and supporting while within their shells the final perpetrators of their unexplained actions. This is a clear indication that they are not sure of themselves and could be considered troublers of public order.

How many teachers were amongst those arrested and detained in the looting, robbery and aggression scenes that accompanied the strike action? Why will one swallow a pear seed when he knows his anus is not big enough to pass it out?

We do not rush into southern Cameroon/Western Cameroon Crisis. We however watched the National flag being brought down and finally burnt by individuals whom we finally classified as completely uneducated and influenced. If Southern Cameroon wants to be heard, why cant they make themselves visible civilized and courageous? The reunion of Cameroon was a peaceful and highly welcome occasion and if there has to be a separation, it should be done on the table and by eligible elite and not vandals, whatever be the atmosphere.

We went a long way to see that the detainees in Bamenda were released in collaboration of the authorities on bail.

We the FFCI therefore urge the Cameroonian judiciary system to charge the teachers and lawyers to pay not only for the physical but also the social and economic damages registered all along the strike actions of both public and private property.

Nevertheless, the Forces of law and order must revise and improve on their methods of intervention. They should make sure that the civilians they arrest are those caught in action and not just pick up innocent citizens to justify their presence on the field.

FFCI is particularly concerned because in its capacity as a defender of human interest, it also has a primary role to promote education which is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights.

We therefore call upon both the Cameroonian government and the protestors to know that we are seriously violating the normative instruments laid down by UNESCO; promoting and developing the right of every person to enjoy access to education of good quality, without discrimination and exclusion. These instruments bear witness to the great importance that member states and the international community attach to the normative action for realizing the right to education.

FFCI therefore observing actively, urges the government of Cameroon to fulfill within the shortest frame of time its political and legal obligations vis a vis providing education of good quality and to implement and monitor more effectively educational strategies in action and not only on paper.



WOMEN EMPOWERMENT CENTER IN FLAMES

The Bamenda Women Empowerment Center run by the Ministry of Womens Employment and the Family has been consumed by fire. In the early hours of the 20th of May, 2017, smoke could be seen coming out of the building.

The President of FFCI and his staff made a stopover at the premises after the 20th May celebration at the Commercial Avenue in Bamenda to see for themselves the enormous damage that the blaze has done to the center.

Main entrance of the women empowerment center



The Bamenda Women Empowerment Center was opened to train young girls and women in many different professional areas so they could become self-employed and independent. The center has trained more than a thousand young girls and women to date.

President of FFCI in one of the workshops of the women empowerment center



The cause of the fire is still unknown but fingers are already pointed at some extremist groups that have been setting ablaze public and private structures that do not respect the ghost town operation in the region.

Until a new structure is put up, the many young girls and women who were being trained at the center will be redundant; they would have to indulge in other activities and wait until a new structure is built for them to proceed with their training. How long shall it take for a new structure to be built is the question that is begging for an answer. What is certain is that with the structure down, the lives of the trainees may never be the same again; many may never complete their training and fulfil their dreams.

Women empowerment center after blaze

Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interest [FFCI], would like to inform the youth that their right to education is fundamental; it is an inalienable right, preserved by the constitution of the Republic of Cameroon and furthermore, in the United Nations Charter on Human Rights and Freedoms. Accordingly, no individual, association, syndicate, group, etc., has the power or right to jeopardize that right for whatever reason.

There is information circulating and propagated by some unscrupulous persons in Cameroon and the Diaspora to the effect that UNESCO has cancelled the current school year in Cameroon and therefore any certificate obtained this school year shall not be valid or recognized.

FFCI (Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interest), would like to state clearly that Cameroon is an independent country and therefore no country, be it the United States of America, France, Italy, etc., and no organization, be it UNESCO, UN, AU, etc., has the power, right, or authority to cancel the school year in Cameroon. It is only the state of Cameroon that has the power, right, or authority to cancel the school year of this country. Therefore, these bad intentioned persons are either acting out of ignorance or deliberately want to frustrate the youth by spreading false and unfounded information.

The education of the youth is priceless; the best heritage a parent can leave to his children is not wealth but education. It is safe to say the education of the youth is indispensable.

The truth is that Strikes in Cameroon have often had poor Prognosis. This is because they are poorly organized or led by invisible leaders. The grievances are often a salad of problems which one could hardly tell if they are eventually resolved or not. The leaders often stay behind, while the innocent and the less privileged are thrown behind bars.

We the Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interest (FFCI) are not condemning strikes but wish to make it clear that neither the civilians nor the forces of law and order in Cameroon fully understand the process of striking. We would therefore recommend other means of tabling our problems or better still; get proper education about our rights and the roles of public Riot.

It is erroneous to peaceful manifestations criminal acts but the vandalisms that accompanies them usually varies from misdemeanors to typical felonies.

And when they become felonies, the victims or suspects arrested in Cameroon with the slow judiciary process are usually abandoned in prison. Some die awaiting trail and some become unbearable to their families.

Frontline Fighters for Citizens Interest FFCI strongly condemn the everlasting GHOST TOWN, VIOLENCE and VANDALISM which have been a nightmare to the entire population of the North West Region.

The most significant violation of human rights during this crisis period is the systematic halting of classes and the threats against pupils, students, parents and the vandalism committed against businesses and private residences.

Thousands of inmates awaiting trial would have to wait much longer given lawyers are not performing their duties and this is a serious violation of their rights given justice delayed is justice denied.

Traders who dare to open on a ghost town day run the risk of having their businesses vandalized. A good number of businesses have been burnt down for not honoring ghost town days. This is of course a violation of their right to operate their businesses.

It should be noted that in the North West Region, cheap contraband petrol from Nigeria is sold in every corner. This cheap fuel is easily bought and used to burn down markets, schools, etc. If government stops this contraband fuel from entering the country, it would make it difficult for vandalism to continue at the rate at which it is at the moment because the fuel is also one of the sources of income of these out laws.
Hon. Joseph Wirba W. Musa

The runaway SDF Member of Parliament for Jakiri in Bui division North West region has advised the over 70 in mates at the Kondengui maximum prison to end their hunger strike because the Cameroon government will not listen to them.

Writing from his hideout he said if those striking die,the government will instead be happy that those resisting the struggle have reduced.

To Our Prisoners Without A Crime Who Are On Hunger Strike!

My Heart bleeds my dear brothers about your ordeal! I send this message to plead with you to please end your hunger strike.

My reasons are simple. We are dealing with an inhumane government which does not think we are human enough. A government that kills children in the streets for demonstrating will care less if others die in prison! A government that tortures female university students, rapes them and rub them in sewage filth will care less if you all die in prison!

If you all died out there from hunger, they will in fact be happy that the number of those resisting their oppression has reduced!

As your brother who has undergone untold suffering, and an attempt on his life, I plead with you all on my knees to please end the hunger strike immediately, so that we all can live to fight our oppressors another day!

You have proven to the whole world what you are made of and West Cameroonians are very proud of you! Please call off your hunger strike and begin eating by drinking a lot of water and light liquid meals like pap and smooth beverages like chocolate, milk and Oval tine!

I love you very much and will continue fighting for us to take back what is ours from this colonial regime! God bless you abundantly and strengthen your resolve to keep fighting for our people!
"That's not a good scenario for anyone but we don't look too far ahead, we just look at what my options are now and we know right now the medication I'm on is working and there are further treatments."
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 ...
Hindus believe everyone ultimately wants to unite with the Infinite  that which doesnt die or pass away. Union with Ultimate Reality or the Absolute is referred to as "moksha" or liberation.

To understand the Hindu term moksha, consider the words of one of the greatest beings to walk the 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi. He said to attain freedom, seekers of moksha must be single-minded and ceaselessly vigilant. He states moksha means destruction of the shackles of birth and death, deliverance from evil. In the state of moksha, darkness is removed, the seeker rises above opposites, and experiences others equally.

In "The Spiritual Heritage of India," Swami Prabhavananda, an Indian spiritual teacher, states moksha, freedom from limitations and suffering, is the supreme aspiration of all Indian philosophy. Failure to experience moksha causes all suffering. Many Hindu saints and sages recommend yoga, meditation, self-inquiry, and finding a guru, a remover of darkness and ignorance, to increase concentration and still the mind. A seeker must differentiate the real from the unreal through regular meditation. Detachment from worldly pleasures and a continuous search of the Infinite are required. An aspirant must obtain a calm mind, self-control, patience, burning faith, and self-surrender. Deliverance comes through annihilation of the ego. As the ego dies, all troubles cease.

An Indian saint, Ramana Maharshi (1897-1950), had a profound experience of self-realization at 17 during a near death experience when he questioned who dies? He discovered the Infinite does not die. Ramana said moksha or liberation is our true nature. No moment exists where the Self is not. I thought, the mind, and ego are synonymous. When the I investigates its own nature, it sees the mind is not real. Through continual investigation of thought  self-inquiry  the knot between the Self, pure consciousness and the physical body, dissolves. When the mind is empty and turned inward, it sees its own source and then becomes that Self. It can happen in an instant.

Then, a maturing or marinating process begins where the walls of the illusory mind fall away and wisdom and truth come forth  a deep abiding peace beyond all understanding, an experience beyond description, beyond words.

Papaji, a student of Ramana, taught the way of freedom through self-inquiry. People from all over the world sought him out and attained moksha through his compassionate teachings and loving presence. His admonition simply was to stop and keep quiet; self-realization takes only one second, one second to remove all thoughts from the mind. To obtain freedom, moksha, requires a fierce resolve. He said, Always desire Self because you will always get what you desire most; the desire for moksha is moksha.

When the desire for freedom is utmost, distractions of the mind fall away. Think only freedom, and you become freedom because you are what you think. This strong resolve, extreme desire, will result in happiness, beauty, love. Surrender ego, and grace will take you in her arms instantly.

Papaji's encouragement is that one doesnt need to spend years meditating; all one must do is keep quiet to realize the Truth, avoid senseless activities and worldly pleasure. For an instant, reject everything. He says self-inquiry is like a diamond, a direct assault on the arrogance of the mind. Through this quietness, the mind is simply being still; the Self meets the Self and melts into Self-Being-Oneness.

Moksha, liberation from the mind and suffering, is possible for everyone. It is the highest, most majestic gift a human being can experience. The Psalmist proclaimed, Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know the Truth of who you are.
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.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.

A right delayed is a right denied.Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King Jr.

No one is born hating another person People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Nelson Mandela

We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist

James Baldwin

There is a fine line between free speech and hate speech. Free speech encourages debate whereas hate speech incites violence.

Newton Lee

The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

Albert Einstein
Hot on the heels of the bespoke Rolls-Royce Sweptail debuting at Italys Concorso dEleganza, the one-off was snapped filling up at a local gas station.



According to some sources, the custom Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe-based model set back the owner $12.8 million to commission and have built. Company chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos has denied the veracity of such claims but asserts that it could very well be the most expensive new car ever built.

The most obvious elements which distinguish the Sweptail from a regular Rolls-Royce can be seen from the outside. The front end features a custom chrome grille that is one of the largest ever fitted to a Rolls. Also found at the front are redesigned LED headlights and huge circular lights.

While the front fascia is indeed eye-catching, it is perhaps the rear that has undergone the most comprehensive transformation. The roof now stretches seamlessly through to the decklid by way of a triangular window. Additionally, the rear bumper incorporates silver accents that form the shape of the letter U.

VIDEO
With the launch of the Crossland X and Grandland X, which join the brands already established Mokka X, some may have forgotten that Opel have a new flagship SUV on the table.



Coming to refresh our memory is Kleber Silva, with a set of renderings that offer his own interpretation of how the vehicle could actually look like.

Whether or not these serve it justice is a good question, but besides penning it down, the artist also named it the Omega X, harking back to the executive car made by the German company from 1986 until 2003.

Confirmed by the automobile brand earlier this year, the large SUV will hit the assembly lines in Russelsheim by the end of the decade, serving as a successor to the defunct Antara, otherwise known as the Chevrolet Captiva Sport, or Holden Captiva 5, in markets outside Europe.

Despite being approved for production, Opel havent divulged anything else about it for now, but it should have a lot in common with the new Peugeot 5008, including the EMP2 modular platform.

PHOTO GALLERY
Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash while filming scenes for an upcoming episode of Amazons series, The Grand Tour, in Switzerland, along with ex-Top Gear co-stars Jeremy Clarkson and James May. The good news is that hes okay.



The 47-year old host was driving the $1 million Rimac Concept_One on a road that was closed for the Bergrennen Hemberg race, when for unknown reasons, he seemingly lost control of the all-electric supercar.

Luckily, Hammond did not suffer any serious injuries and was able to get out of the 1,224hp (in 2017-spec) car just before it burst into flames.

Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames, said the program in a statement. He was flown by air ambulance to hospital in St. Gallen to be checked over, revealing a fracture to his knee.

The Grand Tour added that the cause of the crash in unknown and is being investigated.

Co-host Jeremy Clarkson tweeted that Clarkson tweeted that It was the biggest crash Ive ever seen and the most frightening but incredibly, and thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK.

This isnt Hammonds first brush with death behind the wheel of a car (or the handlebar, for that matter), as he was famously involved in a near fatal accident in 2006 after crashing a jet-propelled car that left him two weeks in a coma.

Thanks to Daniel H. for the tip, Photo via Jeremeyclarkson1@instagram

Video
Teslas market capitalization briefly surpassed that of BMW on Friday morning as the electric automakers shares continue to surge.



Not long after exceeding the market caps of General Motors and Ford, the companys value exceeded the $61.3 billion of BMW before dropping off to about $2.6 billion below at the close of trading.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Teslas surging value is that as of early December 2016, BMW was valued at $30 billion more, exemplifying just how confident investors have become of Elon Musks company throughout the first half of 2016.

Even Musk himself has been unable to explain the sudden increase in the electric automakers market value and many investors are still skeptical abut the firm, particularly since it has only ever posted two quarterly profits in its history. Whats more, Bloomberg reports that some believe Tesla could burn throughout upwards of $1 billion a quarter for the next handful of quarters.

The difference in production and profit numbers between BMW and Tesla are also particularly vast. Last year, the German premium carmaker sold almost 2.4 million vehicles compared to the sub-80,000 sold by Tesla. Whats more, BMW made $7.7 billion last year while Tesla lost around $725 million.

PHOTO GALLERY
Update June 11

In response to the BC Teachers Federation overwhelming strike vote, Education Minister Peter Fassbender has released the following statement:

"The vote results are not unexpected. While the BCTF leadership received the mandate they sought, no one should interpret this as any kind of enthusiasm on the part of teachers to shut down schools.

"I know teachers would prefer to be in their classrooms and I know that students and parents would rather finish this school year on a positive note. It is now up to the BCTF leadership to decide if they are going to move to a full walkout.

"The earliest a full strike could begin is next Monday - five days from now. It took five days of hard bargaining to get a framework agreement with school support staff. They did not need to strike to get a fair deal and neither do teachers.

"The BCTF leadership needs to come to the table with realistic expectations and a willingness to engage in meaningful bargaining. Teachers deserve a raise but their total compensation demands are about four times more than other recent settlements.

"BCPSEA has a fair wage offer on the table, one that's in line with recent agreements covering nearly 150,000 public sector workers - including 34,000 school support workers. The offer also includes a special $1,200 signing bonus if we reach agreement before June 30th.

"My message to the BCTF is: let's stay at the table and get to an agreement by June 30th, so we can head into the summer with the assurance that our education system is on a path to long-term stability and focused on student outcomes."

Original story June 10

British Columbia's teachers' union has voted 86 per cent in favour of moving to a full-scale strike with just weeks left in the school year.

BC Teachers' Federation president Jim Iker announced the results late Tuesday night, saying the union will make a decision on escalating job action after further discussions.

The union must now give three days' notice before teachers walk off the job, meaning a notice issued early Wednesday could result in a strike on Monday.

Premier Christy Clark has said the government still wants to see a settlement.

Teachers have been without a contract since June 2013, and the vote is the latest development in the dispute that has seen the union and government divided over issues of wages and classroom conditions.

The government has saved $12 million each week in salaries during the teachers' current but limited job action, plus nearly $5 million more by chopping wages.
Photo: Pamela Robertson

Residents on the Sunshine Coast are taking their housing crisis into their own hands.

Pamela Robertson created a GoFundMe page with the lofty goal of raising $1 million to buy an 11-acre property five minutes from Gibsons and build 46 small homes to help with the region's housing crisis.

It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and yet there is a negative impact in our community that is affecting so many families, Robertson wrote. We can remedy some of that.

She says they have already built one tiny home and are looking for funding to build the rest.

Robertson believes they can purchase the property for $500,000 and add infrastructure for $200,000. The remaining $300,000 will be used to purchase supplies to build dozens of tiny homes.

Robertson is listed as the owner of Mini Mansion Builder on her Facebook page.

The fundraising endeavour has had had a modest start, with just $1,500 raised by Friday afternoon.

John Envoldson, a local structural engineer, has offered to provide his engineering expertise for free.

It is a very big undertaking, we know, but it is a very small fish compared to the immensely big pond of resources available, Robertson said. If we all pool together we can accomplish the impossible and encourage each other to the finish line.
Photo: tumblr.com

In primitive times, people discovered that they were stronger if they worked together as a team.

One person didnt have the strength, or natural weapons of a sabre toothed tiger, or the size of a wooly mammoth, but if they worked together they could take on pretty much anything, and come out victorious.

I believe that this need to work together as a single unit fostered our belief that we have the right to judge the choices, decisions, and actions of other people. We feel this way because the choice of one might affect the survival of many, including ourselves. We are hardwired for survival.

Weve all done it. Weve observed another person and voiced our pleasure, or displeasure with what they are doing. There are times when we need to band together in unity, like when President Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement.

Many voices criticized his decision, and individual states chose to make their own goals as if they were still part of it.

At time like this, working together and standing in judgment of a decision that someone else has made, makes perfect sense. We need our planet to continue to support us if we want to survive. Caring for Earth is everyones business.

There are, however, times when the actions of another person are none of our business.

When I decided to get engaged 10 weeks after meeting my husband, my family banded together to let me know how crazy they thought my action was. I felt judged and wasnt very happy about it.

The first precept for robust happiness is to enjoy the journey you take through life.

To do that, you need to take ownership of the path you walk. You cant travel a route that is determined by someone else if you want to be happy. It can be difficult to follow your own direction when you know other people believe you are making a mistake.

Lets take parenthood as an example.

You may have gone straight from high school to college, and because if worked out for you, you feel your children should do the same thing. When your graduate decides to take a gap year, it goes against everything you believe, and you do your best to dissuade them from this lunacy.

You want to guide them, they want you to stop interfering.

Going straight to college may have worked for you, but you have no idea how things would have worked out if you had taken a gap year. Some incredible opportunity may have presented itself. There are no guarantees, or written in stone results in any decision you make.

Your child isnt you. What was right for you isnt necessarily the best action for them. We each make decisions and then live with the results. If a gap year isnt the success your offspring imagines, there will be other wisdom gained and lessons learned.

The personal path another person takes is none of your business. That statement may seem a little extreme, especially if their path is intricately intertwined with yours, but it is the best philosophy to have if you want to live a robustly happy life.

You cant predict who will enter your life, or how long they will stay, so it is vital that you create a life that you love. This may involve some compromise and negotiation if you are in a relationship or family setting, but make sure you are content with the decisions you make that impact you.

If you take a direction that doesnt feel right just to please someone else, whose fault is it when you decide youve had enough of being unhappy? Worse yet, if that person disappears out of your life, do you want to find yourself on this undesirable path all by yourself?

It is important to honour the path that others choose, and surround yourself with people who honor yours.

Does that mean you should you ignore Trumps view of climate change, or ignore someone who is littering, or kicking a dog, to honour their journey?

When is it OK to voice opinions, and when is it a simply a case of interfering and being judgmental?

As a rule, if what people do is harmful to themselves, another living creature, nature, or society, then it is time speak up. Sometimes a single voice isnt strong enough and we need to band together to take advantage of the power of team.

Note 1: Breaking someones heart is not the type of harm I am referring to. It is more the life or death type of harm.

Taking a gap year is unlikely to be dangerous for the person taking it, or the family and friends they leave behind. They arent harming themselves or others, unless you want to count those sleepless nights when you lie awake worrying, so let them make the decision and take responsibility for it.

There is nothing wrong with voicing your concerns, but try not to be emotionally attached to the outcome. Giving additional viewpoints and ideas to think about can be helpful, especially if you let them know you will accept whatever they decide to do.

That approach is very different from doing, everything you can to talk them out of their plan.

Humans have spent 200,000 years honing their ability to work together for the greater good. It is a skill that still serves us today. However, meddling in someone elses life, or standing in judgment of their personal choices is not an appropriate time to use this skill.

It may be hard to watch someone you love make a decision you really hate, but look at the bright side. When circumstances are reversed, we hope they will do the same for you, even if they think you are crazy.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer A successful BioBlitz

The BioBlitz event held in the South Okanagan, Friday and Saturday, was a success according to organizers.

The region hosted one of 24 bio blitzes held this summer as a part of Canada 150.

"It's like a citizen science project where citizens are encouraged to identify as many species as they can in their local environment," said Tanya Brouwers, coordinator for the South Okanagan event. "And the weekend has been fantastic with lots of kids involved. For example last night in Oliver we saw lots of baby spade foot toads.

The local BioBlitz included eight walks through the region in different parks and protected areas.

Scientist/ experts led the walks asking participants to identity all the different species along the way from plants to birds and reptiles.

It ended Saturday afternoon at the Penticton Museum with a wrap up event featuring different species like burrowing owls and spade foot toads and a chance to talk with organizers.

"The goal is really twofold, to engage the public and bring awareness of natural surroundings and to increase Canada's national database with all participants encouraged to take photos and upload them," said Brouwers.

For more details on upcoming BioBlitz events go here.
Photo: Contributed Mattheau Aldridge

Kamloops RCMP are asking the publics assistance in locating Mattheau Aldridge.

Aldridge is 15-years-old and is reported to have gone missing on May 19.

He is described as being a caucasian male, weighing 126 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

It is unknown where Aldridge is, but he may have travelled to Clearwater .

Anyone who sees Aldridge is asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 or the nearest RCMP/ police office.
Photo: The Canadian Press B.C. NDP leader John Horgan and B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver

Gerard Janssen remembers the day then-premier Glen Clark was left pounding on a locked door after arriving late for a vote in the British Columbia legislature.

Clark's blunder in May 1997 nearly lost the government the vote. Janssen, the party whip, punished the New Democrat premier with four nights of house duty and a cancelled trip to New York.

Not even the most powerful person in provincial politics was above sanction by Janssen, who as whip ensured politicians were in the house when they needed to be.

"Members are members," Janssen said in a recent interview. "It doesn't matter if you're a cabinet member or if you're a premier. You're an MLA. You have a responsibility to the caucus and you have a responsibility to British Columbians."

The whip organizes a party's legislature members for votes on legislation and enforces party discipline when they don't attend.

The job is straightforward when a government has a strong majority. But the position becomes crucial when the seat count is tight, such as in B.C. following last month's election.

The Liberals won 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens three. The Green party has agreed to support a New Democrat minority government by voting with them on confidence matters.

"Right from the beginning you need to drum into people's psyche that this is a very, very narrow margin that we have here and there is no room for error," said incoming NDP whip Scott Fraser, who has been a member of the legislature for 12 years.

Members will have to arrive in Victoria on Sunday during weeks when the house sits and even people who are sick will need to show up, he said.

"If you die, you still have to come in," Fraser joked during his orientation speech to the new caucus. "We'll shine you up. We'll get you in there. We'll lift your hand up for the vote."
Photo: Excel Flight Training The search for missing aircraft continues.

UPDATE: 4:40 p.m.

The search for a small plane and two passengers that disappeared en route to Kamloops, could take weeks, says a military spokesman.

Castanet was told 10 Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and six military aircraft were brought in for the search to sweep the vast area between Cranbrook and Kamloops

A Piper Warrior plane was reported missing Thursday afternoon after it took off from Cranbrook, in southeastern B.C.

Police said the aircraft was flying to Kamloops and two people are believed to have been on board  pilot Alex Simons, 21, of Kamloops and passenger Sidney Robillard, 24, of Lethbridge, Alta.

Searchers have very little information about what may have happened, Elliott said, noting they know the plane originally took off from Lethbridge and stopped in Cranbrook to refuel.

Searchers working out of Kelowna have taken the plane's intended flight path and drawn an area around it, based on a variety of statistics, Elliott said.

Military aircraft are now systematically scouring that area at a variety of altitudes to try to find signs of the missing plane. Local search and rescue groups and the RCMP are assisting.

Searchers are also looking into potential sightings reported by members of the public, which Elliott said have been "very, very helpful."

The hunt will continue indefinitely, he added.

"We're going to keep searching until we've covered (the area) to our satisfaction," Elliott said.

But low clouds and heavily wooded terrain are making the task difficult, and Elliott said the search could last weeks, depending on the weather.

 With files from The Canadian Press.

UPDATE: 10:50 a.m.

Low cloud, steep terrain, trees and snow are combining to make the search for a small plane in the Southern Interior even more difficult.

This is the fourth day of the search for the Piper Warrior that went missing on a flight from Cranbrook to Kamloops on Thursday. Alex Simons, 21, and Sydney Robillard, 24, were on board the four-seater aircraft.

The weather is not good, said Cpt. Dennis Powers of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre based in Kelowna. There is a lot of low cloud, the search area is very mountainous, there is snowpack and we're looking for a mostly-white plane and the terrain is steep with a lot of trees.

Powers said the search area covers 150 miles (241 kilometres) with much of the focus at this time at the southern end closer to Cranbrook, although he stressed the whole route is being covered.

Volunteer pilots and spotters from the Okanagan Valley and the Thompson region were in the air, helping the military with the search.

We have about 14 aircraft in the air, ten are CASARA (Civil Air Search and Rescue Association) volunteers. A lot of the volunteers are from the Okanagan, from Penticton to the south and north to Kamloops. They are of tremendous assistance.

Powers said trained CASARA volunteers were also on board four military aircraft acting as spotters.

He said the military aircraft included two Comorant helicopters and two C-115 Buffalo fixed-wing planes.

Another military spokesperson is reported by The Canadian Press as stating searchers have little information about what happened to the aircraft, but they do know that a thunderstorm rolled through Cranbrook shortly after the plane departed and weather may have been a factor in the disappearance.

ORIGINAL STORY: 6:55 a.m.

The search for a missing aircraft that failed to show up on a flight from Cranbrook to Kamloops has entered its fourth day.

Mountainous terrain and poor weather hampered the search Saturday.

"We will continue to search until all stones have been overturned and all areas covered thoroughly," Capt. Gregory Clarke of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre, told CTV.

A command centre set up at the Kelowna airport is co-ordinating search efforts, including four military aircraft plus additional civilian planes.

Alex Simons, 21, and Sydney Robillard, 24, were on board the four-seater Piper Warrior. Simons was piloting the aircraft when it went missing Thursday.

The plane left Lethbridge, Alta., and refuelled in Cranbrook, taking off at 2 p.m.

Simons earned his pilot's licence in March from Excel Flight Training in Lethbridge, which owns the aircraft.

"He took her up around Lethbridge and other places many times and she loved it," Robillard's mother told CTV.

Search crews are focusing on the plane's flight path, plus a 15-mile zone around it.

"We are systematically searching this area from three different altitudes," Clarke said. "We start up high, searching electronically the first night. Then, continue down in a top-down approach and get down to about 500 feet in our final passes."

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: CTV Man wanted for sex assault arrested at SeaBus terminal.

A man has been arrested on a warrant for sexual assault at a SkyTrain station last February for allegedly forcibly kissing a woman as she waited on a platform.

Vancouver Transit Police recognized the suspect when they were called to the SeaBus terminal near Waterfront station on June 6, after responding to reports of a man yelling and waving a stick around.

But he didn't go easily.

The man spotted the officers arriving and headed for a narrow catwalk close to the water along a restricted area of the ferry terminal.

Attempts to talk the man down failed and a Transit Police negotiator was called in, finally convincing the man to leave the space.

The 47-year-old suspect was taken into custody by the Vancouver Police Marine Squad emergency response team.

"I congratulate our negotiator on a job well done in de-escalating the situation," said Barry Kross, Transit Police deputy chief.

In the February incident, a woman was grabbed and kissed while waiting on the platform of the 22nd Street SkyTrain station.

The victim pushed the man away and left to pick up her daughter, but when she returned to the station later and boarded a bus she found the man sitting beside her, according to a report on CTV.

The suspect is alleged to have tried to grab the daughter's leg.
Photo: Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics The owner of the Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics facility said there was no warning of order.

The owner of the Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics facility in Vernon said she had no warning or call to fix anything at her gym before being slapped with a 'do not occupy' order on Friday.

The order was put on the doors of the gym and the dance studio at 2515 East Vernon Road Friday afternoon while 16 students rehearsed inside one of the buildings.

At no point did the building inspector attempt to contact me, said Camille Martens, a former Olympian gymnast and the owner of the property. He did not enter either building to look for himself at any potential areas of concern.

Martens insisted she had no warning or call to fix anything specific at the property.

She called the district's move shocking and upsetting.

In a statement, Martens said: To do that just before the weekend when we have no way of doing anything seems sadly in line with how they have done everything else. As a single mom who makes a low annual income, Ive been relying exclusively on the generous volunteer assistance of legal and engineering advice. The tremendously supportive parents from the club, the lawyer and engineers that are helping me, have made it possible to try to keep the club running smoothly amidst this. For them I am extremely grateful and indebted.

The regional district said the order was issued after it received a professional engineer's report outlining necessary alterations to bring the buildings into compliance with the B.C. building code and a local bylaw.

It further claimed there were a number of safety deficiencies and potential deficiencies of concern to users of the facility.

Martens said she has been working with an engineer who had volunteered his time to help her and was expecting to write his report by the end of June.

According to Martens, the engineer believed most of the issues could be rectified easily and the building was safe. She did not specify which building.

"My hope is that this never-ending nightmare will quickly be resolved," she said.
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The 1 State You Dont Want to Raise Kids In, According to Experts

More than 700 million kids  1 out of every 4 around the world  are being robbed of their childhood, according to a report by nonprofit Save the Children. Child labor, child marriage, malnutrition, extreme violence, and a lack of education are among the childhood enders that deprive kids of the chance to be safe, happy, and healthy, according to the organization.

Childhood is most threatened in Niger, Angola, and Mali, according to the groups ranking of 172 countries. Kids have the best shot at a happy, healthy childhood in countries, including Norway, Slovenia, and Finland. The U.S. ranked 36 out of 172 in the Save the Children report, between Bosnia and Russia. Thats better than the majority of countries but behind most other developed nations.

All around the world, childhoods are at risk. Even here in the U.S., the most vulnerable children are being robbed of their chance to learn, grow, play and be safe, Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children, said in the statement.

To get a clearer look at the state of childhood in the U.S., the organization ranked all 50 states on five child-ending factors: infant mortality, child homicide and suicide rates, adolescent birth rates, food insecurity, and high school completion. The disparities among the states were vast. In these 15 states, childhood ends too soon for too many kids, according to Save the Children.

15. Florida

A quarter of all children in Florida  more than 1 million kids  live in food insecure households, where they sometimes dont get regular meals at home. Nationwide, the figure is 1 in 5. Only seven states had a more serious childhood hunger problem.

In addition, 22% of Florida kids dont graduate from high school on time, an alarming statistic considering dropouts are more likely to be unemployed and earn $10,000 less, on average, than their peers with a diploma. But Florida did better on rankings of violence (25th), teen pregnancy (23rd), and infant mortality (29th).

14. Tennessee

Teen pregnancy is a problem in Tennessee. The state ranked 42nd in births to mothers between the ages of 15 and 19, with more than 30 girls out of every 1,000 having a child of their own before they are out of their teens. (In Massachusetts, the state with the lowest teen pregnancy rate, it was 9 out of 1,000.) The children of teen mothers are more likely to suffer from poor health, lack of education, and poverty, the report noted, putting their own childhoods at risk.

Yet Tennessee ranks near the top in one measure of childhood well-being: the high school dropout rate. The state had the ninth-lowest dropout rate in the country. Just 12% of kids dont complete school on time, better than the national average of 16.8%.

13. South Carolina

South Carolina was 36th in the U.S. for infant morality, 35th for childhood malnutrition, 35th for the high school dropout rate, and 35th for teen pregnancy. The state did somewhat better on measures of violence. The homicide and suicide rate for kids younger than 19 was 6.5 per 100,000, putting it in 27th place. The national average is 6.1 per 100,000.

12. South Dakota

South Dakota has the second-worst murder and suicide rate for children in the U.S.: 17 out of 100,000. In some parts of the state, such as the deeply impoverished Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the suicide rate is 7 to 10 times higher than the national average, according to Lakota Childrens Enrichment. The state also ranked 41st for infant mortality, with 7.3 out of 1,000 kids dying before they reached their first birthday, compared to 5.9 nationwide.

11. Ohio

Life is hard for many kids in Ohio. The state ranked 36th for violence, 34th for high school dropouts, 36th for malnutrition, and 38th for infant mortality. Teen pregnancy is slightly less common, at 23 per 1,000, putting it in 28th place. In some parts of the state, including Youngstown, Dayton, and Cleveland, more than half of kids live in poverty, Cleveland.com reported.

10. Arizona

Nearly 27% of kids in Arizona sometimes dont get enough to eat, the third-worst rate of child malnutrition in the country. Forty-three percent of children in Apache County, which is home to the Navajo Nation and the Fort Apache and Zuni American Indian Reservations, experience food insecurity. Thats the highest share in the nation, according to Feeding America.

Arizonas high school dropout rate is also high, at 22.6%. The state did better on rankings of infant mortality (17th) and violence (28th).

9. Nevada

Teens in Nevada are more likely to drop out of high school than in any other state except New Mexico. Roughly 29% of students fail to graduate on time, according to Save the Children. In Iowa, which had the best high school completion rate, fewer than 10% of students dont graduate in four years.

Nevada also ranked 38th for teen pregnancy, 33rd for violence, and 39th for malnutrition. It was 15th for infant mortality.

8. Alabama

Whether it was measures of infant mortality (48th), food insecurity, (47th), teen pregnancy (41st), or homicide and suicide (38th), Alabama ranked poorly compared to other states. But this Southern state seems to be doing at least one thing right. It had the third-lowest percentage of high school dropouts after Iowa and New Jersey.

But theres a catch. The Save the Children report looked at share of high school students who failed to graduate on time in the 2014-15 school year. Alabama officials have now confessed those numbers were inflated. And Alabama isnt the only state where graduation rates might not be totally accurate. A 2015 report from NPR detailed the various quick fixes schools around the country use to boost graduation rates.

7. Arkansas

Arkansas had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. Thirty-eight out of every 1,000 Arkansas teen girls will have a baby before they turn 19. In two counties, Phillips and St. Francis, the teen birth rate in 2013 was 91 and 87 per 1,000, respectively.

Arkansas also had the sixth-worst infant mortality rate in the country. In 2015, 293 babies died before their first birthday, or 7.5 per 1,000. Infant mortality rates across the U.S. are high compared to other industrialized countries, the report noted, and more babies died in this country in 2015 than in 40 European countries combined.

The state ranked 25th for high school dropouts and 26th for violence.

6. Alaska

Homicide and suicide rates for children in Alaska are higher than anywhere else in the country. Though the raw numbers are low  36 murders and suicides among people younger than 19 in 2015  that translates to a rate of 17.6 per 100,000 because of the states small population. Young Alaska native men between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest rate of suicide of any demographic in the country, according to the States Suicide Prevention Council.

Alaska also had a high dropout rate (46th) and teen birth rate (40th). It ranked 35th for infant mortality and 24th for malnutrition.

5. Georgia

Infant mortality is higher in Georgia than in most other parts of the U.S., at 7.8 per 1,000. Twenty-six percent of kids suffer from food insecurity, the sixth highest share in the country. The state ranked 33rd for teen pregnancy, 34th for violence, and 40th in on-time high school graduation rates. A quarter of kids in the Peach State live in poverty.

4. Oklahoma

Thirty-five out of every 1,000 Oklahoma teen girls will have a baby before their 19th birthday, the second-highest rate in the country. Whats behind Oklahomas high teen pregnancy rate? Tara Grigson of the Oklahoma Policy Institute pointed to a lack of sex education in schools and state laws that keep most teens from accessing birth control without their parents consent.

Violence was also a problem for some Oklahoma children. The state had a child homicide and suicide rate of 9.4 per 100,000, worse than all but six other states.

3. New Mexico

New Mexico was in the bottom 10 on 4 out of 5 markers of childhood well-being analyzed by Save the Children. The state had the largest share of high school dropouts in the country, with just over 31% of students failing to graduate on time.

One area where New Mexico is doing better than most other states is infant mortality. It ranked 15th in the U.S., with 5.1 infant deaths per 1,000, lower than the national average.

2. Mississippi

In Mississippi, the infant mortality rate is 9.3 per 1,000. Thats the highest in the U.S. and above the infant mortality rates in countries, such as Botswana (8.6 per 1,000), Uruguay (8.5 per 1,000), and Costa Rica (8.3 per 1,000).

In addition, 27.4% of kids were living in households that sometimes lacked access to food, the largest share in the country. The states teen birth rate was the third-highest in the U.S., and 25% of high school students didnt graduate on time. In terms of violence, Mississippi ranked 24th.

1. Louisiana

Louisiana is the worst place for kids in the U.S., according to Save the Childrens analysis. The state ranked in the bottom 10 on every measure the organization looked at: food insecurity (40th), high school dropout rates (43rd), teen pregnancy (45th), infant mortality (46th), and violence (47th).

Nearly 500 Louisiana babies died before their first birthday in 2015, a rate of 7.7 per 1,000. And 129 people younger than 19 were murdered or committed suicide, a rate of 10.5 per 100,000.

More from Money & Career Cheat Sheet:
Paul McGee is leaving Three Dots and a Dash at the end of this month. (Lenny Gilmore/RedEye)

Paul McGee is leaving Three Dots and a Dash, the popular River North tiki bar that has earned accolades from around the world since opening less than 16 months ago. McGee will also step down from his role at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, where he has helped guide the cocktail programs at Bub City, RPM Italian and several of the company's other new River North restaurants.

"Im so proud of my staff at Three Dots and a Dash and all that weve accomplished together, said McGee in a statement. The decision to leave my partnership with Lettuce Entertain You has been a very difficult one, but its a decision that Ive made carefully. Im excited for what the new year will hold!"

After opening in July of last year, Three Dots and a Dash was named Best New American Cocktail Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans. It was also listed as the 27th best bar in the world in an annual ranking by Drinks International.

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"Paul has been a great partner and is an influential ambassador for Chicago's cocktail culture," said Lettuce Entertain You chairman Rich Melman. "We are thrilled with his creative contributions to our restaurants' bar programs and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor."

McGee's departure from Three Dots and a Dash follows last month's news that Charles Joly was leaving his post as beverage director of The Aviary.

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Lettuce Entertain You said Diane Corcoran will oversee the bar program at Three Dots and a Dash beginning Dec. 1.

kmarlatt@tribpub.com

Twitter: @kenneymarlatt


Two years ago was a painful misstep.

Last year, a learning experience.



In 2017, Goose Island aims to reclaim its place atop the craft beer mountain with the most ambitious release yet for its iconic Bourbon County family of beers. On the day after Thanksgiving, the brewery will release a whopping seven of them, the most ever:

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Bourbon County Brand Stout

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

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Bourbon County Brand Barleywine

Bourbon County Brand Northwoods Stout (flavors of blueberry and almond)

Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout (flavors evoking bananas Foster)

Bourbon County Reserve Brand Barleywine (aged two years)

Bourbon County Reserve Brand Stout (aged in 11-year-old Knob Creek bourbon barrels)

After an hour chatting with Goose Island brewmaster Jared Jankoski, it seems clear that the brewery has regained some swagger following the painful setback of 2015, when four of its six Bourbon County beers soured in the bottles after being tainted with bacteria later identified as Lactobacillus acetotolerans.

Even last year's release seemed to betray a degree of hesitation; Goose Island issued just four Bourbon County beers in 2016, an unusually small lineup. Jankoski acknowledged that the brewery decided not to release one or two additional Bourbon County beers that "just weren't where I wanted them to be." (Jankoski declined to name them, but the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved labels last year for Bourbon County beers aged in scotch and rye whiskey barrels, neither of which emerged.)

"I wanted, for lack of a better term, people's consumer confidence to be extremely high," Jankoski said. "Every decision I made was guided by the idea that (a letdown) would never happen again. I think we made the right changes for that to be the case."

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Last year's Bourbon County release became a test run of sorts, about dialing in practice and procedures.

Among them was the introduction of flash pasteurization to kill any unwanted bacteria. Goose Island also tightened its standards for acquiring used bourbon barrels. As industry competition to get barrels has become ever more fierce, the brewery had largely taken whatever was available, even dry or recoopered barrels. No longer. The scope has been narrowed to "fresh" barrels that haven't been rinsed and are still wet with whiskey. This year's crop comes only from the Heaven Hill distillery.

"We wanted to ensure we are using single source, so that we can keep very close tabs from a quality perspective," Jankoski said.

When it came time for this year's Bourbon County release, Goose Island found itself feeling confident again and in the midst of several bourbon barrel-aging projects.

The brewery had discussed nursing some of those projects longer  maybe aging Reserve Barleywine for a third year?  but Jankoski advocated for releasing any beer that was ready.

"Are we confident they're going to be good? Yes," Jankoski said. "Have we learned (since 2015) and applied what we learned? Yes. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of the work we've done."

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Here's more on that work:

Bourbon County Brand Stout

As usual, the beer that launched the Bourbon County program (most likely in 1995) will anchor the lineup and be available nationally. This year's version might be a touch boozier. Jankoski says: "People might notice a little more bourbon-forward note. These barrels come to us quite fresh, and they impart a little more alcohol."

Bourbon County Brand Barleywine

This barleywine was once a blend of beers aged in second- and third-use barrels, meaning barrels that had previously held only bourbon (second use) and barrels that had previously held both bourbon and Bourbon County Stout (third use). But now Barleywine is exclusively aged in second-use barrels, which boosts the bourbon character. Expect even more this year. Jankoski says: "The elevated bourbon character should be a nice wrinkle when aging the beer. I think it'll be a really fun beer to see how it changes over a couple of years."

Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout

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Made each year with a different coffee bean, this year's vintage will evoke years past by employing Intelligentsia's Black Cat espresso, which was also used in the first-ever Bourbon County coffee, in 2010. Jankoski says: "Black Cat is really robust and nicely integrated into the beer."

Bourbon County Brand Northwoods Stout

Now we're getting to the fun stuff. This year's variant to get national distribution is functionally Bourbon County Blueberry Almond Stout. This beer gets fresh blueberry juice and almond extract for "aromas of rich dark chocolate, fresh blueberry and nutty marzipan." Jankoski said that he has wanted to make this beer for a couple of years, but that melding the flavors was more difficult than expected. Jankoski says: "I like blueberry in stouts, and there are a couple good ones out there. We tried to do this a couple times before but didn't feel super great about it. I screwed with it quite a bit before we finally settled on it. We tried a couple different almond extracts; some were more like the nut, but I didn't want that round nutty character. I wanted that fruitier extract character, which I think meshes nicely with the blueberry notes and with Bourbon County Stout itself. I hope the balance is appreciated because that's what the beer is based on."

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Proprietor's Bourbon County Brand Stout

The beer gets banana puree, a hint of banana essence, whole, roasted, unsalted almonds and cassia bark in a recipe formulated by Quinn Fuechsl, who has brewed at Goose Island for three years. As always, Proprietor's will be a Chicago-only release. Jankoski says: "People have tried to create banana Bourbon County beers for a long time, but it's tough. It's not necessarily the ingredient that's the issue, but the way it is blended into the beer. If you go with too much or too little, it can either be underwhelming or so far out of balance. Quinn was able to pull it together nicely and put some balance on it. The first time I tasted it, I got a really nice fresh-baked banana bread note with the baking spice integrated very nicely."

(Goose Island)





Bourbon County Reserve Brand Barleywine



Rumors have swirled about this beer, and they were true: This "reserve" barleywine has been aged 20 months in the barrels that previously held Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, a beer released in 2015 after spending two years in 35-year-old Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. Goose Island spins a mythical story for this beer, saying it lost track of a few barrels of barleywine a few years back, which were inadvertently aged for two years. The results were outstanding, though, which led Jankoski to envision a two-year aged barleywine for wide release. The Rare barrels offered the ideal opportunity. Jankoski says: "It's like laying in a hammock of rich developed malt. It's very viscous. It's very nice."

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Bourbon County Reserve Brand Stout



Aged in 11-year-old Knob Creek barrels, this "reserve" Bourbon County will be released only in Chicago and Kentucky. Jankoski says: "I don't expect it to be drastically different from original Bourbon County, but what I'm hoping is that the nuance from a single-origin small-batch bourbon will have some notes come through and that there's some differentiation. Hopefully the people who are nerdy about BCS will enjoy picking apart the differences."

And there you have it: the biggest single release of Bourbon County to date, which, as always, will greet the public on the day after Thanksgiving.

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @joshbnoel
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., talks at Printers Row Lit Fest on June 10, 2017. The former comedian's most recent book is "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate." (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune)

The audience in a sold-out gymnasium clutched their copies of "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate" as the Tribune's commentary editor Marcia Lythcott quoted Franken's affirmation from his days as Stuart Smalley on "Saturday Night Live." "I'm good enough," she said. "I'm smart enough." Then the audience joined in. "And doggone it, people like me."

The mantra proved true as ever for Sen. Al Franken, who preached to his choir Saturday afternoon about his new book, in between bookended standing ovations. Franken was joined by the Tribune's publisher and editor-in-chief Bruce Dold to talk about his D.C.-by-way-of-30-Rock journey. Dold jumped right in with questions about President Donald Trump in the wake of former FBI Director James Comey's Senate testimony. Franken said that it all may come down to, "What did the president know  and when did his son-in-law tell him?"

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As the conversation moved to "SNL," Franken spoke about how he thinks this season was one of the best. "I was watching an actual debate and thinking, no, you're not doing it right," Franken said about real Trump, after experiencing Alec Baldwin's Trump.

Although Franken said he's not planning on hosting anytime soon, he did a bit as Sen. Paul Simon for the audience and shared inside intel on which politicians can take a joke. He talked about an encounter with George W. Bush.

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"You were my favorite comedian on 'Saturday Night Live,'" Bush said. And then, "OK, I'm lying."

Franken replied, "Well, you were my favorite president."

Liberal-leaning folks were cracking up over Bush and tales of Tom Coburn, Jeff Sessions and Lindsey Graham. Could Franken be the bipartisan giant needed to bring the country together? When asked by Dold if he would run for president, Franken said, humorlessly, "No." That answer was met by the audience with a resounding "Awwww."

mogreene@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @morgreene

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Video: Replay of U.S. Sen. Al Franken's conversation with Tribune publisher & editor-in-chief, Bruce Dold

Al Franken on truth, laughter and the Senate

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Printers Row Lit Fest all about love, literature and community







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)
Consuming literature is a lonely endeavor. Unless you're reading out loud, sitting down with a novel is an intimate experience between you and your pages. But it doesn't have to be.

A lover of books also loves to talk about favorite authors and works, which is where Printers Row Lit Fest steps into its role. The outdoor festival held Saturday and Sunday provides a space for bibliophiles to come together to create a community accepting of any and all kinds of literature.

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John Glover, owner of Glover's Bookery, says there's a value in sharing what you enjoy. "People that talk books are either really interesting or really weird, but I enjoy learning what everyone else likes," the bookdealer said. Glover has trekked to Chicago from Lexington, Ky., for Lit Fest every year since 1986 to sell rare, used and out-of-print literature.

In the tents that line the middle of Printers Row in the Loop, you can often catch parts of conversations on why Thoreau is a great writer, or how unbelievably cheap an antique Twain hardcover was.

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Nataliya Shurupova of Chicago and her husband, Kevin Leonard, visited Lit Fest for their third consecutive year in search of 20th-century hardcover books. Leonard grabbed copies of "Charlotte's Web" and "Alice in Wonderland," and Shurupova excitedly pulled out a 1910s version of "The Odyssey" that she got for $24. "I'm not a collector, I'm just buying what I like to read," she said. She, like many of the Lit Fest visitors, has been reading and keeping books since she was a child, but her growing library will go to her young son, Alexander. Alexander isn't too excited about books yet, "but we're always encouraging him to read," his father said.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Attendees look through books on the first day of the Printers Row Lit Fest on June 10, 2017. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune)

Lit Fest can be a place for collectors  and not just those seeking books. Nineteenth-century maps, old movie posters, vinyl records and retro magazines line shelves just as Shakespeare and Hemingway do. On the blazing hot Saturday, spending too much time outside in search of the perfect novel would cause you to sweat. The Chicago wind helped, but true opportunities to cool down came in the form of moderated discussions with authors and writers inside Jones College Prep and the Harold Washington Library Center.

Audiences, out of the high-noon sun, got to relax for 45 minutes, listen to their current literary crushes and secure autographs after the talks.

Some authors and writers, like poet and Harold Washington Literary Award Winner Rita Dove, shared their experiences and discussed why they write. Dove delved into how her worldview was shaped while she was living in Germany, and how she is trying to use her poetry to help conversations surrounding race in America.

Trans activist and writer Janet Mock and Dove stressed in their respective dialogues the importance of representation. Dove told the audience she hopes her work helps her readers "see that a black woman can do these things."

For Mock, "I want to make people feel like 'you're not alone' and 'you can make it through this,'" without watering it down and pretending that her experiences are the same as others. They may have commonalities, but there are still differences  Mock can only offer her stories and hope there is solace in that.

Gusting winds gave book lovers reason to hold on tight to their favorite titles at the Printers Row Lit Fest on June 10, 2017, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Other writers and academics like Michael Eric Dyson acted as thought leaders during their conversations. Mock, in her two books, felt that she had armed her readers to talk about issues of gender and sexuality (and their intersections with race and class), and Dyson is actively taking part in discussions of race relations  as was seen on Bill Maher's "Real Time" Friday evening, in the wake of the host's controversial use of a racial slur during a previous episode of the show.

After the writers talked, there were short Q&A sessions. After gushing to Mock or thanking Dyson for his work, visitors engaged in meaningful questions about allyship, reparations and other tough and touchy topics. Lit Fest gave these readers a chance to take their thoughts off the page and get personal with the authors, for as long as time allowed.

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If you didn't get to ask your question, fear not. You might just have run into Dyson while looking at a copy of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" at an old bookstand.

Here are some other weekend highlights.

Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby, an Evanston native whose New York Times best-seller "We Are Never Meeting in Real Life" includes all sorts of grisly, laugh-and-cry-out-loud Chicago ordeals, along with Scaachi Koul ("One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter") and Jenny Allen ("Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas"), spent Saturday morning talking about finding humor in the everyday, even when the everyday resembles a dumpster fire. The three women with indignantly titled books (pointed out by moderator Tricia Bobeda) spoke frankly about topics ranging from ovarian cancer to psychopathic dads to public pothole tumbles while the audience laughed along with quips on memes, "writing processes" and Koul's rejection of the journalism school dictum "Don't write about yourself." "You don't write about yourself," she said. "I don't need another essay collection about a white guy (writing about his body parts)." Bobeda asked the essayists who they would like to write about, other than themselves. Irby said Forest Whitaker. "I would like to write our love story," she said. It seemed like most of the audience was thinking, "Oh my God, please."

 Morgan Greene

Rita Dove

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Harold Washington Literary Award recipient Dove was feeling so good at the end of her discussion with Tribune columnist Mary Schmich at the Harold Washington Library that she belted out a soothing rendition of "Summertime" when asked if she'd sing. The Saturday morning conversation between the two Pulitzer Prize-winning women revolved around the universality of childhood experiences as reflected in Dove's latest book "Collected Poems: 1974-2004," and Dove's transformative year abroad in Germany in 1974  the first time she said she was seen without the "racial baggage" she felt she carried around in America as a black woman. "Rita Dove is a force of nature," Schmich said  complimenting the previous U.S. Poet Laureate on not only her written body of work, but also her influence and skills in other arts. The current state of race relations in the United States was also discussed. "Racism is an institution that built the nation, but also undermines our values," Dove said, adding that writing a poem to encompass and break through current racial tensions would be her task for a while. Dove sounded up for the challenge, closing with, "Women writers are leaders. Black women can do this."

 Jessica Roti

Michael Eric Dyson

Fresh off his redeye flight from Los Angeles after appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Georgetown professor Dyson was lively and ready on Saturday to tackle a tough, in-depth conversation on race relations from his latest book, "Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America." Speaking with WBEZ's Jennifer White at Jones College Prep, Dyson provided as many laughs ("I get it, it's hard to be white out here right now," he laughed) and raps (a few lines of NWA's politically-charged "F--- Tha Police"  as Ice Cube also appeared on "Real Time" to discuss Maher's indiscretion) as he did keen insights on white Americans and their resistance to acknowledging white privilege as an institution that benefits all of them, while black and brown people try to get ahead in that same system built against them. During the conversation, Dyson (who is also in his 38th year as an ordained minister) spoke about the delivery of his subject as a sermon ("Not just for Trump folks," he was sure to emphasize), the way whiteness is used as a default setting  devoid of what is considered actually having a race  and the way whiteness sets the standard for other forms of bigotry, be it homophobia, transphobia or sexism. Maher's recent use of a racial slur was also discussed, with Dyson fervently calling on all white people to "not be seduced into complicity" by white privilege.

 J.R.

Jeremy McCarter

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On Sunday morning, Jeremy McCarter asked the audience to take a trip back in time and imagine a way out of this political moment of crisis. Think back to last summer, he said, when he stood in the same spot with the same cameras rolling and the same heat outside. When we took democracy for granted. Last year, the book was "Hamilton: The Revolution," co-authored with Lin-Manuel Miranda. This year, the book is "Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals." The 20th-century "constellation" of narratives also focuses on scrappy and hungry visionaries, but over the course of the past year, McCarter realized that "Young Radicals" was inseparable from today. On election night, he sent an email to his editor. "I feel like I'm living my book," he wrote. "I also feel nauseous." During the event, as McCarter read a selection from the book about "The Masses" editor Max Eastman taking a stand against Woodrow Wilson, and spoke about using hope as a fuel for action, he kept asking the audience to place the hundred-year-old stories in the present moment. And he wondered aloud, the audience joining silently, about the possibilities of tapping into what fueled that group of people determined to change the world.

 M.G.

Chicago Tribune's Morgan Greene and Jessica Roti contributed.

ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @chitribent

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
Steven Randy Rueckert, left, and Daniel Herbert, attorneys for Jason Van Dyke, confer with Van Dyke during court Aug. 11, 2017. Van Dyke was at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building in Chicago for a hearing on the shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago Police Board on Monday plans to discuss whether to delay disciplinary proceedings for five police officers facing firing for their roles in the Laquan McDonald shooting investigation, a move that could eventually allow some of the officers to return to the police payroll.

The five cops, including Officer Jason Van Dyke, are accused of trying to cover up the investigation by making and approving statements in police reports that were contradicted by video footage of the shooting.

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On Monday afternoon, the police board could decide if the disciplinary case will be delayed until Van Dyke's criminal trial is over. Van Dyke has been suspended without pay since November 2015, when he was charged with murder for killing the 17-year-old McDonald, shooting him 16 times.

Lawyers on both sides of the criminal case have filed motions to the police board requesting the disciplinary proceedings be delayed. They've argued that statements Van Dyke and the other officers were required to make during the investigation may be used as evidence that could adversely impact Van Dyke's criminal trial. Under a decades-old legal standard, statements that government employees are forced to give under threat of being fired cannot be used against them in criminal proceedings.

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Meanwhile, the other four officers  Daphne Sebastian, Janet Mondragon, Ricardo Viramontes and Sgt. Stephen Franko  have been suspended without pay since last summer, when the Police Department moved to fire them.

Their lawyers have argued they should be entitled to return to work and get paid if the police board delays the disciplinary hearings. Van Dyke, meanwhile, would remain in his no-pay status because of his criminal case.

All the officers' lawyers declined to comment for this story.

Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said in an email Friday that Superintendent Eddie Johnson has "no intentions of returning these officers to the street."

Guglielmi couldn't say whether they would be allowed to return to work and assigned only to paid desk duty. That's something that often happens with cops whose cases are going before the police board.

"As a party to this process, it is inappropriate for CPD to comment or speculate on any actions before the police board," Guglielmi said.

Chicago police officers accused of criminal wrongdoing are not typically brought up before the police board on disciplinary charges until their court cases are over with. The Van Dyke case has been an exception.

Legal experts say that in cases where police officers are facing jail time and firing at the same time, it can be problematic if evidence is presented during a disciplinary hearing before there's a criminal trial.

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"Neither side wants their witnesses cross-examined before the criminal case," said Robert Loeb, a veteran Chicago criminal defense lawyer.

In the McDonald case, disciplinary charges before the police board focus largely on alleged dishonesty but vary on specifics among Sebastian, Mondragon, Viramontes and Franko. All are alleged, though, to have violated Rule 14, which bars them from making false reports.

Van Dyke stated in reports that he fired his weapon in fear for his life when McDonald advanced on him with a knife. On the video, however, Van Dyke can be seen jumping from his car and opening fire within seconds as McDonald appears to walk away from him.

Sebastian and Mondragon reported that Van Dyke and his partner, Joseph Walsh, repeatedly ordered McDonald to drop the knife. The teen ignored them as he waved a blade while approaching the two officers, according to what Sebastian and Mondragon stated in police reports.

Viramontes stated that McDonald turned toward Van Dyke and Walsh after Van Dyke told the teen to drop the knife. After Van Dyke shot McDonald, the teen fell to the street but continued to move, trying to get back up with the knife, according to Viramontes' account in the reports.

The department charged Franko with, among other things, signing off on Van Dyke's allegedly false reports on the incident.

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The fatal shooting of McDonald on Oct. 20, 2014, has driven political upheaval and changes to policing in Chicago.

A Cook County judge forced the video's release in November 2015. Murder charges against Van Dyke, the firing of police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, a wave of street protests and a sweeping probe by the U.S. Justice Department into the city's police practices followed.

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Justice Department officials, during President Barack Obama's final days in office, concluded that Chicago police routinely violated the civil rights of citizens, particularly in minority communities, and that its officers were poorly trained with inadequate supervision.

The conduct of the officers who face potential firing is also under scrutiny from a special Cook County prosecutor appointed to determine whether their actions warrant further criminal charges. The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago had also been investigating the shooting.

Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's investigators recommended the firings of the five officers and the dismissal of six others, including two high-ranking police officials who worked under Superintendent Johnson.

The two officials  Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy and Deputy Chief David McNaughton  retired from the department. Three other officers  Walsh; David March, the lead detective on the case; and his direct supervisor, Sgt. Daniel Gallagher  also left the department before facing department discipline.

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The superintendent opted not to bring department charges against the 11th officer that Ferguson's office recommended for firing.

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @JeremyGorner
At least 40 people were shot, 6 fatally in Chicago over the weekend beginning June 9, 2017. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Family members crowded into a small corridor under the "Emergency" sign at Mount Sinai hospital after a mass shooting injured nine people about a few block away in Lawndale early Sunday.

Few details were available about the shooting in the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard about 3:15 a.m., where police canvassed a green space dividing the road. They laid down more than 30 evidence markers.

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One man waiting outside the hospital said his 17-year-old son was shot in the leg. Another man said a 24-year-old relative was undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the side.

Chicago police officers guarded three vehicles parked near the entrance, one with a bullet hole in the back window, apparently used by the victims to drive themselves to the hospital, according to preliminary information from a law enforcement source.

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The nine people injured in the Lawndale shooting were among 33 people shot from Saturday to Sunday morning, including two men shot on the Riverwalk near North Dearborn Street and West Wacker Drive in the Loop.

All of the 9 people shot have had their conditions stabilized, according to police. Two 17-year-old boys, a 35-year-old man, a 29-year-old man, a 23-year-old man, a 30-year-old man were all taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. A 22-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman were taken to Stroger Hospital and a 26-year-old man was taken to Rush Oak Park hospital.

Of the shooting victims citywide, three men were killed.

In the most recent homicide, 24-year-old Dontae Thomas, was shot in the abdomen in the Lawndale neighborhood just before 5:10 a.m. Sunday.

Thomas was standing in the street in the 1400 block of South Avers Avenue when someone drove by in a white sedan and fired shots. Thomas, of the 3700 block of West Wrigthwood Avenue in Chicago, was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 a.m, according to the medical examiner's office.

Just before 1:30 a.m., a 29-year-old man identified as Fredrick Vasquez was fatally shot in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Vasquez was standing on the sidewalk in the 1000 block of North Monticello Avenue when someone inside a gray sedan fired shots at him. Vasquez was taken to Norwegian American Hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest and pronounced dead at 2:04 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner's office.

A 19-year-old man identified as Ivan Gutierrez, was pronounced dead on the scene after a drive-by shooting in Back of the Yards just before 3:15 a.m. Sunday, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. Earlier, police said the dead man was 20.

Gutierrez was standing in the street with two other people, who were also shot, in the 5300 block of South Seeley Avenue. A 33-year-old man was shot in the body and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. A 22-year-old man was shot in the body and taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

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An autopsy is scheduled for Monday for Gutierrez, who lived in the 5300 block of South Seeley Avenue, according to the medical examiner's office.

Shooting on the Riverwalk

A 30-year-old man and a 28-year-old man were shot on the Riverwalk just before 2:05 a.m. Sunday. The victims were arguing with other men when the situation escalated into gunfire, police said.

The shooting appeared to be related to a fight about a woman, and "not a random act,'' according to Chicago police.

The older man was shot in the left foot and the younger in the right leg. Both men were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.

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A blood-soaked sock rested on the northeast corner of Dearborn Street and Wacker Drive inside yellow crime scene tape. Police closed the entrance from that corner to the Riverwalk and a portion of it underneath. Blood smears could be seen on the pavement below from the Dearborn Street Bridge.

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The Chicago police marine unit also responded to the Riverwalk, and a diver searched deep in the water.

"Did you see him throw a gun in there?" an officer asked a man who said he heard the shots.

The man said he did not because he was on the other side of the bridge.

One of the men involved in the shooting ran into the Renaissance hotel, which is across the street on Wacker, according to preliminary information from a law enforcement source.

Detectives continue to investigate and are making good progress reviewing surveillance video, police said.

Other shootings:
At least 40 people were shot, 6 fatally in Chicago over the weekend beginning June 9, 2017. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Two 16-year-old boys were shot and critically wounded Sunday night at 31st Street Beach on the South Side.

One boy was shot in his neck and the other in both legs about 6:40 p.m. in the 3100 block of South Lake Shore Drive, officials said.

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The assailant, a person they did not know, pulled a gun and fired shots as the boys were having a "physical altercation,'' according to Chicago police.

They were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, police said.

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Officials closed the beach, the Chicago Fire Department tweeted. Police were working as of 7:40 p.m. to help patrons leave.

Police blocked a stretch of beach outside a concession stand where a band had been playing.

Maurinise Lee, 50, said she had been coming to the beach for years and had been listening to the band play near what became the shooting site when she heard "a commotion."

"I didn't see anything except people dropping to the sand, and it's sad," Lee said.

Theo Martin said he was near the shooting when it happened and initially thought it was fireworks.

"I didn't even run," Martin said.

He said he saw a group of young men who were wearing gym shoes, not flip flops, and said they "looked like trouble."

Not long after the shooting, a helicopter flew over the crime scene repeatedly asking the public to leave the beach. Many did, but some lingered behind.

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Families, many still in their bathing suits, walked west on 31st carrying coolers and grills. One young girl carried flotation tubes and another boy held his sand bucket.

"They were shooting," a mother told her son as they walked away.

"Why?" the boy asked.

"I don't know why," she answered.

Kim Giles, of Maywood, came to the beach to meet up with relatives from around the Chicago area, including more than a half-dozen children. She said the shooting was "a shame."

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"You can't go to the park. You can't go to the beach," Giles said. "Everyone was enjoying themselves until that happened."

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Abandoned blankets and chairs remained on the beach long after the shooting.

Police work the scene where two 16-year-old boys were shot and critically wounded at 31st Street Beach on June 11, 2017, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Earlier Sunday, another rifle atttack in the Back of the Yards neighborhood left a 24-year-old man dead. The fatal shooting happened about 5:10 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Winchester Avenue, police said. The victim, a 24-year-old man, was walking when someone in a green vehicle pulled up and an assailant armed with a rifle got out and shot him in the abdomen and right leg, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He was identified as Christian Rodriguez, of the 6200 block of South Kolin Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

In other shootings:

About 11 p.m. on the South Side, a 32-year-old woman was wounded in the Gresham neighborhood. She was shot in the 7700 block of South Sangamon Avenue when someone from a vehicle fired toward the porch where she was standing, hitting her in the right arm. No one is in custody. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and her condition was stabilized.

A South Side shooting Sunday night left a woman wounded in the Woodlawn neighborhood. The 36-year-old was in the 1400 block of East 66th Place about 9:40 p.m. when someone shot her in the left shoulder, back and head. The head wound was a graze wound, police said. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where her condition had been stabilized. She was in an alley when someone in a white Toyota pulled alongside and someone stepped out and opened fire, police said. No one is in custody.

About 12:50 p.m. on the Southwest Side, a 19-year-old man was wounded in the Little Village neighborhood. It happened in the 4100 block of West 30th Street, according to police. Paramedics found the victim nearby in the 2800 block of South Kedvale Avenue and took him to Mount Sinai Hospital, Fire Department spokesman Curtis Hudson said. Police said he heard shots and felt pain to his left shoulder.
Marengo Fire and Rescue responded to an explosion and fire in the 500 block of 7th Avenue in Marengo on June 11, 2017. The explosion rattled the neighborhood in the far northwest suburban city, injuring at least two people and damaging more than 50 homes. (John Konstantaras / Chicago Tribune) (John Konstantaras / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

A fiery explosion rattled a neighborhood Sunday morning in far northwest suburban Marengo, injuring at least two people and damaging more than 50 homes, according to authorities and neighbors.

"They are just happy to be alive,'' said a family member of the residents who live in the home where the incident began. The homeowners, who were out of state when it occurred, were "too distraught'' to speak as of Sunday night, according to the family member.

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Marengo Fire and Rescue responded to a possible explosion and house fire in the 500 block of 7th Circle around 4:50 a.m., according a city news release. Upon arrival, crews found four homes on fire and numerous homes in the area "impacted."

Two people who suffered "minor injuries,'' were taken to Centegra Woodstock Hospital, according to the city release.

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"More than 50 homes were impacted,'' the release said, and power was also knocked out to 136 homes. ComEd is working to restore the power.

Emergency crews responded from several communities, including Marengo, Huntley and Boone County, and the flames have been contained, authorities said. Displaced families were being transported to Marengo Community High School.

"Our entire block is just torn up, it looks like a tornado hit it,'' said John Ettner, who lives across the street with his family three houses away from the home that exploded.

Ettner was sleeping when he heard a "loud bang,'' and went outside to investigate and saw a "fireball,'' and flames shooting from the roof of the home that exploded.

"It was a miracle'' that no one was killed or badly hurt, Ettner said.

At one point, Ettner said, community members pulled four people from a burning home. "The community had to get together.''

At least 20 homes in the area, including Ettner's, have been rendered unlivable after the incident, he said at about 12:30 p.m.

William Trecker, who lives about eight houses down, said he was awoken by a "loud explosion" about 4:40 a.m.

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"It blew all the stuff off our walls," Trecker said, adding that a sign above his infant son's head had fallen into his crib from the blast.

Not knowing if something had exploded or rammed into his own home, he ran outside and saw smoke, fire and the destruction of several homes. He also saw neighbors helping others climb out of second-floor windows and called 911.

"It was a mess, it took about 12 or 13 minutes before the fire departments showed up," Trecker said. "All the houses were catching on fire ... multiple houses. The front doors got blown in, blown out."

The house where the explosion occurred, he said, was "completely gone." Trecker also said the family who lives at that residence was away at the time.

It is unclear what caused the blast. The state Fire Marshal was on the scene and investigating, and utility companies are assessing the areas, according to city officials.

Trecker, who moved to the area with his family about a year ago, said he saw at least nine homes damaged and on fire. Fire crews entered his and other homes and turned off the gas, and several families were evacuated and picked up by a bus to be taken to shelter.

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Facebook posts from surrounding communities reported feeling homes rattle about the time the home exploded.

Shelter and services including cooling stations are being provided to anyone displaced by the blast at Marengo Community High School, 110 Franks Rd. Susan Westerfield of the American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois said there are at least a dozen families there.

Additionally, the city release warned residents after many had reported that solicitors have been going door-to-door for home repair.

Soliciting in Marengo requires a permit and at this time no permits are being issued, the release said. Residents should be aware that after incidents such as this one, "many scammers use this as an opportunity to take advantage of residents.'' Marengo Mayor John Koziol cautions residents to be aware of this and encourages them to work through their insurance company to address any necessary repairs.

Displaced residents were asked to contact the City of Marengo at updates@cityofmarengo.com or 815-703-9707 to provide their names, address, and phone number.

City officials were also posting updated information on the city's website www.cityofmarengo.com, and Facebook page to keep residents updated on when they can return to their homes.

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Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
Gregory L. Pearson, 49, is accused of fatally shooting his live-in girlfriend May 19, 2017, at the South Chicago neighborhood apartment they shared. (Chicago police photo / )

A South Side man who prosecutors say fatally shot his live-in girlfriend last month at the apartment they shared wrote a note claiming the shooting was in self-defense, but never called 911 and had to be tracked down weeks later in a suburban motel, prosecutors said Saturday.

Gregory L. Pearson, 49, is charged with first-degree murder in the May 19 slaying of Tina D. Brown, 53, in their home in the 8800 block of South Essex Avenue. Judge Laura Sullivan denied bail and barred the man from contacting anyone connected to the case.

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Fugitive trackers traced Pearson to a motel in south suburban Lansing and caught up with him Thursday night. There, authorities found and confiscated a holstered chrome-plated .357 Magnum handgun with six live rounds from his nightstand, authorities said. That weapon is believed to have been the firearm that fatally wounded Brown, according to prosecutors.

After his arrest, Pearson told authorities that Brown put a knife to his throat during a quarrel at the home and that he shoved her away before shooting her as she braced herself against a cabinet, Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Carlson told the court.

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Brown's daughter discovered her mother's body in a pool of blood at their apartment at about 12:30 a.m. after returning home from a military ball, prosecutors said. Surveillance video from the apartment building showed Pearson arriving at the apartment a day before the homicide, but did not show him leaving until an hour after Brown is believed to have been killed.

A neighbor reported hearing "a loud pop" coming from Brown's apartment about 90 minutes after she returned home the day of the slaying, prosecutors said.

After police arrived, they found a blood-stained knife about a foot-and-a-half from Brown's body, along with a note written by Pearson claiming that he shot the woman in self defense. "There are no records of the defendant calling 911," Carlson said.

Though Pearson claimed that he shot the victim while standing about 10 to 12 feet away, during Brown's autopsy "no evidence was found to suggest a gun was fired at a close range to the victim," Carlson said.

A relative of Brown sitting in the courtroom gallery uttered "Rot in Hell" toward Pearson as both she and Pearson left the courtroom. Pearson, dressed in a Motown Revue "Hitzville" T-shirt, didn't appear to hear the remark, joking with another detainee as he was escorted out.

Pearson is expected to return to court next week.
A group gathers in counterprotest of a rally against Islamic Sharia law on Wacker Drive across from State Street and Trump Tower on June 10, 2017. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

A small but emotional rally billed as opposing Islamic Sharia law downtown Saturday sparked a counter-protest nearly twice as large, causing a phalanx of police officers to act as a barrier between the two groups to prevent any fights.

About 30 people gathered at northwest corner of Wacker Drive and Wabash Avenue, carrying signs that read "No killing Gays" and "Sharia abuses women."

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The group was split into two factions. One group of protesters along Wabash Avenue hoped to bring awareness to specific Sharia practices they claimed oppressed Muslim women and children. They wanted to distance themselves from what they said was a more "radical" faction protesters gathered near the Heald Square Monument, whose anti-Muslim rhetoric was met with anger and frustration by counter-protesters.

Those who led the counter-protest, which included about 60 people, said the anti-Sharia protesters demonized Islam and created unnecessary fears about the religion. The counter-protesters gathered on the northeast side of the intersection, banging drums and crying out "Racists, racists go home!" and "When Muslims are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!"

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When they realized the anti-Sharia protest was growing in numbers, counter-protesters crossed the intersection and moved onto their corner, so that the two groups were demonstrating face-to-face.

The anti-Sharia protest was one of demonstrations planned in more than 20 cities, including New York, Boston, Dallas and Atlanta, sponsored by the conservative group Act for America, which calls itself the "NRA of national sercurity."

The marches were held because "many aspects of Sharia law run contrary to basic human rights and are completely incompatible with our laws and our democratic values," according to a statement posted on the group's website.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has called Act for America an anti-Muslim hate group and recognized that its protests were attracting anti-government and far-right extremists. Act for America cancelled its rally in Batesville, Ark., after the law center revealed that neo-Nazi Billy Roper was the main organizer. Many of the anti-Sharia protesters in Chicago said they were not members of Act for America but supported the group's mission for the rally.

Chicago's protests were peaceful, although at times they grew heated. A verbal dispute between protesters on opposing sides nearly turned physical when a protester lunged toward a counter-protester before being stopped by police. Verbal attacks and other confrontations caused police to form a barrier between the groups, and they eventually put metal fencing between them.

Several times, downtown pedestrians who noticed the anti-Sharia signs and outfits  some wore "Make America Great Again" caps and bandanas over their noses and mouths  stopped to confront the protesters, calling them racists and bigots.

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"Get out of my city, man, this isn't a place for you!" one pedestrian shouted at the protesters. "This is a place of diversity. This is the home of Harold Washington."

Counter-protesters were upset by a large green flag with four letter K's waved by an anti-Sharia demonstrator, believing the flag was a nod to the Ku Klux Klan. The flag was the flag of Kekistan, a fictional right-wing country born from Internet gaming culture.

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The flag's design mimics a German Nazi war flag, which serves to make fun of liberals and their "political correctness," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. While protesters claimed the flag was not a symbol of white supremacy, and was just meant to "troll people," the law center links Kekistan with white nationalism.

One protester made a point of separating herself from the faction of protesters who carried the flag. The woman, who declined to give her full name, said she wanted to speak out against practices like female genital mutilation and child marriages, but said she supports Islam as a whole.

"Sharia law doesn't belong here in America. It doesn't align with our constitution," said the 61-year-old from Woodstock. "You have a lot of Muslims who want to reform Islam but they're being silenced."

Meredith Payne, a 44-year-old who lives in West Rogers Park, said she lives among a large Muslim community that's respected and loved by others there. That compelled her to join the counter-protest and speak out against what she said was Islamophobia. She said she was pleased that more people supported the counter-protest than the protest.

"It's definitely a positive thing, and something we need to continue to do anytime we see hate anywhere," she said.
Timothy McGhee, 26, a Navy veteran, seriously wounded the father of his sister's children and an innocent bystander during a domestic quarrel that turned into a shooting in the Burnside neighborhood, prosecutors said Saturday, June 10, 2017. (Chicago police photo)

A Navy veteran seriously wounded the father of his sister's children and an innocent bystander during a Thursday domestic quarrel that turned into a shooting in the Burnside neighborhood, prosecutors said Saturday.

Timothy McGhee, 26, is charged with attempted murder in the Thursday morning shooting in the 700 block of East 92nd Place. On Saturday, Judge Laura Sullivan ordered McGhee held without bond.

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In court, prosecutors said the 26-year-old man was dropping off his children with McGhee's sister when they began arguing. As the argument intensified, McGhee came out of the home and got involved in the quarrel, prosecutor Joseph Carlson told the judge.

As the man walked back to his car, where his girlfriend and his 7-month-old child were waiting, McGhee pulled out a handgun and opened fire on the man, Carlson said. The man ran back to his vehicle to retrieve his own handgun, but did not fire it during the fight, Carlson said.

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An 18-year-old woman sitting in another car heard the quarrel unfold, heard four to five gunshots fired and saw the man take cover behind another car, prosecutors said.

The man was hit in the upper thigh and fell the ground. His girlfriend managed to drive him to Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center, where he was treated for a shattered femur, a severed artery and sustained vascular damage that resulted in massive blood loss, prosecutors said.

Immediately after the shooting, the 18-year-old woman realized she had been shot in the back. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was treated for damage to her spleen, diaphragm and colon, Carlson said.

No other injuries were reported.

At the scene of the shooting, McGhee "freely stated" that he shot the victim, according to his arrest report. Police also found and confiscated a semiautomatic handgun from his bedroom.

McGhee, who had a valid Firearm Owners Identification card, is an eight-year Navy veteran, according to his court-appointed attorney.
Ashley Barnes tried to get a ReWalk exoskeleton for home use, but her insurer would not pay for it. (Courtesy of Ashley Barnes)

Ashley Barnes was 35 years old when doctors told her she would never walk again.

A botched spinal procedure in 2014 paralyzed her from the waist down. The Tyler, Tex., resident had been an avid runner, clocking six miles daily when not home with her then-9-year-old autistic son, whom she raised alone. Life in a wheelchair was not an option.

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"I needed to be the best mom I could be," Barnes said. "I needed to be up and moving."

So she threw herself into physical therapy, convinced she would one day run again. Soon she realized that wasn't a reality.

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Although she wore a brave face, "I would save my moments of crying for my room," she said.

About a year later, hope resurfaced when she learned of the ReWalk system, a battery-powered robotic exoskeleton that attaches to the legs and lower back. It contains motors at the knee and hip joints and sensors to help it adjust with each footfall. While wearing the device and holding two forearm crutches, someone with complete lower-limb paralysis can walk.

Rehabilitation centers often employ such devices in physical therapy, which is how Barnes first encountered one at the Baylor Tom Landry Center, a rehab clinic in Dallas. After seven months without being able to stand, she did. Then she took a step as she began to learn how to walk again.

In 2014, the ReWalk system became the first personal robotic exoskeleton approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The following year, the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to cover the exoskeletons for qualifying vets. Meanwhile, several companies began touting similar devices. For example, Ekso makes units used to rehabilitate people after spinal cord injury or stroke.

Health insurers, however, generally don't cover the expensive equipment.

After working with the ReWalk system at her rehab center, Barnes, who uses a wheelchair at home to get around, decided she wanted one of her own. But Tricare, her insurer, denied the request.

In a statement, Tricare said it "does not cover these devices for use on a personal basis due to concerns with their safety and efficacy. This is particularly important due to the vulnerability of paralyzed users in the event of a fall."

Two years and countless no's later, Barnes still doesn't have one because, according to Tricare, it isn't "medically necessary."

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Barnes strongly disagrees.

"This is medically necessary," she said. If she had one of the devices, "I'd be able to go to the bathroom. I would be able to walk around, exercise in it. I would love to be able to stand up and cook things in my microwave or on my stove."

She paused before adding, "I would no longer have to look up at my son."

- - -

The ReWalk Personal 6.0 System costs, on average, $81,000. Ottobock's C-Brace is priced at $75,000. For the Indego Personal, which received FDA approval last year, it is $98,000.

About 28 percent of the more than 5.2 million Americans living with paralysis survive on an annual household income of less than $15,000, according to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The basic expenses of living with paraplegia are, on average, $519,520 in the first year and $68,821 each subsequent year, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Furthermore, only 34.3 percent of people are employed 20 years after a paralysis-causing injury.

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To date, ReWalk has sold only 118 personal devices in the United States.

Some people do get devices covered by insurance, but it can be an onerous process, as evidenced by Mark Delamere Jr. The Boston native, 19, was paralyzed in a car accident in 2013, on the third day of his freshman year of high school.

Like Barnes, he thought he would never walk again. Like Barnes, with the help of a robotic exoskeleton, he did. Unlike Barnes, though, he has an exoskeleton at home.

But for two of his teenage years, he sat in a wheelchair while his family filed claims and appealed denials.

"They don't really classify these things with the purpose of you getting better, because they think the injury is never going to change," his father, Mark Sr., said.

Eventually, though, Mark Jr. got approved by his insurance company and received the ReWalk, which he uses for at-home therapy and just to "walk around the house and the neighborhood, up and down the street." Asked to describe the feeling, he was at a loss for words.

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"It's kind of crazy," he said. "It just feels kind of  I don't really know. It feels so different."

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But his story is rare. "People are paying out of pocket or fundraising" for exoskeletons, said Dan Kara, research director for robotics at ABI Research, a technology analysis and consultant company.

The price of the devices exceeds their value in the eyes of insurers, which "want to be able to prove they actually improve quality of life and utility," said Howard Forman, a Yale professor of diagnostic radiology and public health. "Utility" means that an exoskeleton would provide a medical benefit beyond simply helping people move around and complete daily tasks.

Virginia Tech researchers found that these devices, by getting otherwise immobilized people to move around, can help them manage spasticity  a continuous contraction of muscles, which can be quite painful  and improve bowel function. Barnes said when she was training with the exoskeleton, tending to her bowels took about 20 minutes each day, not the customary hour.

One major concern is how relatively untested the technology is outside the controlled environment of a rehabilitation facility. Indeed, they don't always work as planned.

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Stacey Kozal, a 42-year-old Ohio resident, was paralyzed from the waist down after what she said was a devastating flare-up of lupus. For more than a year, she fought with her insurance provider, Anthem, in hopes of obtaining Ottobock C-Braces. These devices have bendable knee joints equipped with sensors that "measure the current position of the joint every .02 seconds," according to Ottobock's website. A built-in microprocessor adjusts ankle pressure while a hydraulic system moves the knee to help the user place her foot down in the right place.

Eventually, Anthem agreed to cover a C-Brace for each leg, which Kozal used to hike the Appalachian Trail, where limitations revealed themselves. The battery required constant recharging. Rain was problematic because the C-Brace isn't waterproof.

While she plans to wear her C-Braces around the house, she's now hiking the Pacific Crest Trail using old-fashioned braces that lock her legs in place. She uses her core, hips and upper body to swing her legs forward, and she keeps her balance with the aid of forearm crutches. C-Braces are heavier than traditional devices, so when their batteries died on the Appalachian Trail, they made it more difficult for her to move around.

Another major issue for insurers, though, is the price. But Forman said, "Though these technologies are incredibly expensive now, we have all kinds of evidence that eventually ... they can become affordable to anyone."

Indeed, some entrepreneurs are working on cheaper solutions. Silicon Valley start-up SuitX created a lightweight model called the Phoenix. While most exoskeletons have motors powering each joint, the Phoenix simply uses two hip motors. Even so, if approved by the FDA, the device would cost $40,000, according to SuitX.

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"The rehabilitation marketplace is limited by the number of people who have these conditions," Kara said. The exoskeletons are "basically handcrafted, which is expensive. If you could up the volume, you could lower the price."

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The key would be expanding the user base. One way to do that, he noted, is to sell the devices for purposes other than rehabilitation. Warehouse workers might wear them to assist with lifting heavy loads. Some companies are already testing this idea: Lowe's, for example, recently outfitted several of employees with exoskeletons as part of a pilot program.

The worldwide market for exoskeletons  $97 million now  is expected to grow to $1.9 billion by 2025, according to ABI Research.

Kara compared the prospects for exoskeletons to the growth of LiDAR, which uses pulsed lasers to record topographic features. For years, researchers used LiDAR to create 3-D maps of the Earth, but it was expensive. However, the rise of self-driving cars, which use the technology to navigate roadways, fostered improvements in the technology. As a result, Kara said, the price of LiDAR systems has begun to fall and is "expected to drop dramatically, from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars or less."

Waiting for exoskeleton prices to drop is tremendously frustrating, Barnes said. "We take so much for granted when we don't have physical problems," she said. "Like just being able to reach up and grab something in my laundry cabinet without having to break my neck to get it."

She isn't ready to just accept that she  and others who will face these issues  might never get a sense of greater normalcy.

"My biggest reason for standing up tall to them is I want to do it for all those behind me," she said. "The more it gets approved, the more it can't get denied."
To blame a two-year governor for many years of fiscal mismanagement is absurd. Although he may be unrealistic with the severity of potential cuts, asking for a balanced budget is a responsible expectation.

The recent failure to pass a budget before June 1 provides a clear example of the majority party's strategy. When it had more than 50 percent of the votes needed, it did not pass a balanced budget or one with a deficit. Now, needing 60 percent to pass a budget, majority party leaders will blame the minority party for not working with them to pass a budget. The majority has no intention of passing a budget that does not include what it wants. Instead it will focus the blame on the minority party in order to win the next election.

The majority party expects this governor to succumb to its tactics  as all previous governors have  to get a budget passed. This time its playbook is obvious and has met the resistance the people of Illinois voted to end when this governor was elected.

It is absurd to put the blame on the Illinois governor who insists the state spend no more than it receives in revenue.

 Randy Noble, Rockford
Tom Czubernat, of Hillside, and Jodi Trendler, of Naperville, represented the Resiliency Institute of Naperville Saturday, one of more than 100 vendors and exhibitors at the 8th annual Aurora Greenfest at the Prisco Community Center. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News)

Jodi Trendler, of Naperville, believes that when it comes to being environmentally conscious, reusing and repurposing are the only ways to go.

"We have to practice these things so that we protect our planet and we're responsible for teaching the next generation as well," Trendler said. "There's no choice. We have to leave enough resources so future generations can live."

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The themes of "Repair, Repurpose, Reconnect" were the focus of the eighth annual Aurora Greenfest, held Saturday at the Prisco Community Center.

"This is totally aimed at helping people learn how to live with sustainable resources and, as we say, going green will bring you green and save you some green," said Cynthia Allen, who handles logistics and exhibitors for GreenLife and the Conservation Foundation. "We also provide a lot of fun activities and exhibits for families, which make this something anyone any age can enjoy."

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The program included live music and a number of local food trucks. New this year was an exhibit offered by the Chicago Herpetological Society, featuring its collection of lizards and snakes. Raptors, eagles, and falcon hawks were also on hand as were bats, which Allen said remains a favorite for attendees each year.

"Bats are very important in our ecological system as they can eat their weight in mosquitoes in about an hour," Allen said.

Trendler was manning a booth for the Resiliency Institute of Naperville, which she said promotes "ethics, earth care and people care" by leaving the next generation its fair share.

Emily McKee and her husband, Tim Horsley, of DeKalb, used the day to explore and expose their daughter Clara, 2, to some "green" education.

"I'm a professor at NIU and my interests are in environmental studies and anthropology, and I want our daughter to be introduced to things you don't always find in your backyard," McKee said. "I've been trying to leave a lighter carbon footprint myself, and I want to raise my daughter to do the same."

Jim Kleinwachter, of Warrenville, was representing the Conservation Foundation as a land protection specialist. He spoke to many people about the use and benefits of rain barrels.

"I've been selling these barrels for a few years here, and people typically come up and ask me how they work and if they are complicated and what happens with the mosquitoes," Kleinwachter said. "To me, this is the gateway to going green. The barrels are easy to use and when you grow things with rain water, there's a world of difference. Even my dog prefers to drink it than tap water. That should tell you something."

Kids flocked to the herpetological exhibit, where Michael Scott introduced them to a variety of snakes and other animals.

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"These creatures eat bugs and are a natural defense against rodents and keep them under control," he said. "Frankly, I wish all people would look up to nature's animals instead of seeing them as a nuisance. They were here before people."

Ellen Braun, of St. Charles, and her grandson, Everett Braun, spent time at the animal exhibit. It was the second year they attended Greenfest, she said.

"There are a lot of hands-on things to do, and I like the fact this provides some environmental education," Ellen Braun said. "We try to recycle and reuse. We even picked up some pop can tabs we found on the ground before we came in."

George Richter, director of SOAR, whose organization rehabilitates sick birds and releases them back into the wild, said crowds continue to make the same comments every year.

"The most common thread I hear is how awesome it is to see these birds up close without a cage or glass between them," he said. "People are amazed to be this close and see how they really look."

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Balmoral Park near Crete celebrated its reopening on Saturday. The former harness racing track is now hosting horse show jumping competitions. (Mike Nolan/Daily Southtown )

Crete Mayor Michael Einhorn said he was "seriously bummed out" when Balmoral Park hosted its final harness races the day after Christmas in 2015.

"It was a sad event, a very sad event," he said.

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The uniqueness of the 200-acre park in unincorporated Will County just outside of Crete, home to both harness and thoroughbred racing over the decades, raised the question of, "What do you do with the place?" Einhorn said.

The public got the answer to that as Balmoral has begun a new chapter hosting horse show jumping events under the ownership of a New York company, Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, which purchased the park a little more than a year ago.

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Visitors to Saturday's reopening of Balmoral sat in the enclosed grandstand and looked on as riders put horses through their paces, leaping over a series of obstacles in the main competition ring. It is one of nine rings spread throughout the former track infield.

The center ring closest to the grandstand incorporates Balmoral's tote board and finish line marker.

Jumping and hunter competitions being held at the park, 26435 S. Dixie Highway, might not be entirely familiar turf for some people.

"It's all about timing and spacing between the jumps," Tom Struzzieri, HITS' president and chief executive, explained.

Riders in the jumper competitions will soar over obstacles  sometimes called fences, with crossbars laid across two supports  that are five feet high or higher, John Eickman, a vice president with HITS, said. Hunters, too, jump, although the obstacles are shorter, about three feet, and the competition is more focused on the presentation of the horse and rider, he said.

Finishing the jumper course in the fastest time and not knocking off any of the rails  or to "go clean"  is the goal, and Eickman describes the jumpers as the "speed skaters" and the hunters as more like "figure skaters."

Struzzieri said show jumpers, as far as the riders, come "in all sizes, shapes and ages," and notes that it is the only sport where males and females directly compete against each other.

Prior to the start of Saturday's Purina Animal Nutrition Grand Prix, which offered $50,000 in prize money, riders were giving Balmoral a thumbs up.

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"The facilities are great," Derek Braun said.

The 32-year-old was born in New York but currently lives in Lexington, Ky., and said he's been competing in show jumping since he was 7.

Prior to a ribbon being cut to formally reopen Balmoral, Einhorn told the crowd of onlookers that after the last harness races at the track, "I thought we were doomed, quite frankly," and that he "said a lot of prayers." He called the work done at the park by HITS "a very impressive transformation."

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Balmoral will host competitions into September, and a full schedule is available at HITS' website, www.hitsshows .com.

There is no charge for admission or parking on weekdays when events are being held, and a $5 admission fee on Saturdays, although kids 12 and under get in free on those days.

HITS is also partnering with local nonprofit groups, where on Saturdays they'll work to direct cars or people to the competition areas and in turn receive the proceeds from the $5 admission charge.

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HITS also holds show jumping events at properties it owns near Ocala, Fla.; in Thermal, Calif., near Palm Springs; Culpeper, Va.; and its home base in Saugerties, N.Y. It closed on the purchase of Balmoral in late May of last year.

Over the years, the list of the track's owners have included high-profile names such as the late shopping mall magnate Edward DeBartolo Sr., and the family of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, according to Balmoral and public records.

mnolan@tribpub.com

Twitter @mnolan_J
Zion police officers answer questions during an event Saturday hosted by the Zion Police Department, the NAACP of Lake County and the Bridge Builders. The event was intended to inform the public about their rights and responsibilities during traffic stops. The officers who participated included, from left, Zion Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn, Officer Nicholas Richards, detective Kenneth Vaughn and Deputy Chief Kirk Henderson. (Emily K. Coleman/News-Sun)

Zion police officers have people sit on the curb with their legs crossed during traffic stops so it takes someone longer to stand up, giving the officer time to notice and respond.

The explanation for that police tactic and others was offered during an event Saturday designed to demystify police actions, build trust and inform the public about their rights and responsibilities during traffic stops.

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The program, attended by about 15 people at the Zion-Benton Public Library, was co-sponsored by the Zion Police Department, the Bridge Builders and the NAACP of Lake County.

Understanding the why is important, Zion resident Abu Bakr said after the meeting.

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"It removed the paradigm that I had knowing that everything they do has some tactic behind it," he said. "When I drive by, not knowing the tactic, I might say, 'Man, that's an awkward way to have a person. Why are they harassing that person like that?'"

Zion Police Chief Stephen Dumyahn broke down the factors officers consider before they ask someone to step out of the vehicle  the person's behavior, the number of the people in the car, the location of the stop and the time of day.

A backup car is automatically dispatched to the scene unless the officer initiating the stop calls it off, Dumyahn said during an hour-long question-and-answer session that followed two short videos about traffic stops.

As an administrator, Deputy Chief Kirk Henderson said he prefers officers to have probable cause, not the consent of the driver, to search a car because some court cases have found that sometimes people don't feel free to refuse a search.

"There's three officers standing around; it's not unreasonable that a 17-year-old might feel intimidated," Henderson said. "They've actually looked closely at what were the officers doing. Were they yelling at them? Were they standing with hands on their guns? Were their guns out?"

When an officer needs to pat down someone of the opposite gender, the preference is to have someone of the same gender do it, officer Nicholas Richards said.

The city of Zion has reciprocal agreements with Winthrop Harbor so they can call and see if there are any female officers on duty, Henderson said.

If that's not possible, the male officer will pat down the woman in front of the dash camera and in the presence of another officer, detective Kenneth Vaughn said. Officers are also trained to use the back of the hand, Henderson said.

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Taking someone back to the station to do a pat down isn't possible because of concerns over officer safety, Henderson said. The officer needs to make sure the person doesn't have a weapon before putting them behind them in a squad car.

Bakr said he attended Saturday's event because he has teenage boys who are of driving age and he wants to learn more to pass along to them.

That's not unusual, Dumyahn said, but he wished that more young people had attended the event. Those are the people his officers are going to be seeing more of with school out for the summer.

The department is in the midst of a stepped-up enforcement period, especially in the neighborhoods that have the most calls about shots being fired, he said.

"It's just for people to see the police are out and the individuals who may be carrying the guns in those neighborhoods, they're going to be a little more uncomfortable seeing that many police officers out and about," Dumyahn said. "For a community of this size, we have way too many shots-fired calls."

The police department tries to get its officers into the schools to build relationships and to hold educational programs as much as possible, Dumyahn said. That can be difficult, though, because of the time constraints schools face.

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The department does participate in a lunch program that rewards students by allowing them to have lunch with members of the police or fire departments, he said. Officers also participate in reading programs.

"We really strive to have officers have a lot of contact with the community that's not enforcement related," Dumyahn said. "We don't want it to be all enforcement related."

It's up to administrators to create opportunities for conversations between officers and community members to take place, Henderson said. The nature of the job just doesn't supply opportunities otherwise.

ecoleman@tribpub.com
Boebert now leading Frisch by 1,200 votes in CD-3 race

Frisch had been in the lead, which was declining as more counties in CD-3 continue to report results after election day
China's securities regulator has punished the Chongqing-based Southwest Securities for not exercising due diligence on the reorganization of two companies.

Southwest Securities served as the independent financial adviser for the reorganization of Shenzhen-listed Anshan Heavy Duty Mining Machinery Co. with Nine Top Group, an office service company based in east China's Zhejiang Province.

The brokerage firm did not sign a delegation agreement with the Anshan company as required by regulations, and failed to fulfill its responsibility of "full, extensive and reasonable investigation" into Nine Top Group, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement.

Southwest Securities did not discover the facts that Nine Top inflated its service charge income and trade income from 2013 to 2015 and that it factitiously raised its bank deposits by 300 million yuan (44 million U.S. dollars), the statement said.

The independent financial advisory report provided by Southwest Securities in April 2016 thus included false content and major omission.

CSRC decided to confiscate the brokerage's 1-million-yuan income from the case and impose a fine of 5 million yuan. Two staff members in charge of the business also received penalties.

In past few days, the commission also dealt with three violations of information disclosure rules and another case of stock sales within restricted period, the statement said.
Liu Yunshan, a senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has urged Party cadres at the grassroots level to do more in serving the people and advancing reform and development.

Liu, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection in southeast China's Fujian Province from Thursday to Saturday.

Liu visited various villages, communities and enterprises to learn about the progress made in the Party building at the grassroots level, where he asked the CPC members to learn from the example of Liao Junbo, a late official who had served in Fujian.

The CPC Central Committee on Tuesday decided to posthumously honor Liao as an "outstanding CPC member." Liao died at the age of 48 in a traffic accident while heading to a meeting on March 18.

A statement of the CPC central leadership noted that Liao, vice mayor of Nanping City in Fujian, had worked wholeheartedly to lead local cadres and people in poverty-relief work, showing his loyalty to the Party and selfless devotion to duty.

Liao had also served as Party chief of Fujian's Zhenghe County, where he pushed forward economic development that eventually helped more than 30,000 people shake off poverty within less than four years.

During the inspection tour, Liu held a seminar with some officials in Zhenghe county to discuss how to learn from Liao to better serve the people.
A Tibetan delegation of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China has informed Japanese officials and friendly groups about the current situation in Tibet and called upon Japan to properly handle Tibet-related issues.

During a five-day visit that concluded on Saturday, the delegation met with former President of Japan's House of Councilors and Chairman of Japan-China Friendship Center Satsuki Eda, Chief Secretary of Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei.

Heading the Tibetan delegation, Duoji Ciren, member of the standing committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, said China has been sticking to the principle of developing bilateral relations with Japan based on the four political documents and the four-point principled agreement between the two countries and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future.

He stressed that Tibet-related issues concern China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging Japan to respect China's core interests and major concerns on related issues and properly handle such issues.

Duoji also said Tibet has been developing fast since it was liberated over half a century ago, with the full support of the central government, help from the whole nation and efforts of all ethnic groups of Tibet.

Currently, Tibet is working toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects along with the whole nation, with all social undertakings thriving and people of all ethnic groups living and working in peace and contentment in the autonomous region, he added.

Eda, for his part, said it is important to maintain the friendship between the two countries as well as the two peoples. The Japanese parliament has established a regular exchange mechanism with the NPC, and the Japan-China Friendship Center has also invited Chinese youth to visit Japan on a regular basis to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Hayashi and Takei said the visit of the Tibetan delegation provided a good opportunity for the Japanese side to learn more about the situation in Tibet, and Japan is willing to deepen communication and cooperation with China in all areas so as to further improve bilateral ties.

The delegation also held seminars with Japanese scholars and overseas Chinese in Japan during the visit.
Photo taken on June 5, 2017 shows the Embassy of Qatar in Manama, Bahrain. Bahrain announced Monday it cut ties with Qatar, accusing the country of disturbing its security and stability. [Photo/Xinhua]

On June 6, Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, the Maldives and Libya, broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing the Gulf state of supporting and financing terrorism and extremism as well as undermining security and stability in the region. Meanwhile, the Arab League also announced that Qatar would be expelled from the organization.

Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar were members of the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but had long been at loggerheads over foreign policy issues.

Qatar was not hostile to the Arab Spring, and has since been active as a mediator in Middle East affairs. The disagreements between Qatar and its neighboring countries mainly involve the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria, Iran, Hamas, and the regional development mode.

In the process, Qatar has been trying to take over the leading role played by Saudi Arabia among the Gulf nations.

A typical event highlighted the deep political divisions among the Gulf nations in 2014, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE all withdrew their ambassadors from Doha. The crisis ended with a temporary Qatari compromise.

However, the current crisis still stunned the outside world. As for why these countries chose this time to take action, the following two aspects can explain it.

First, closer relations and unusual interactions between Qatar and Iran have threatened Saudi Arabia's leading role in the Gulf.

The scramble between Saudi Arab and Iran for leadership of the Arab world has become increasingly fierce in recent years. The two sides are irreconcilable and wage a tit-for-tat struggle against each other, often in proxy dispute.

Saudi Arabia obviously regards Iran as its biggest "enemy." To some extent, hostility towards Iran seems to have become "political correctness" among other Gulf nations.

However, Qatar has been drawing ever closer to and defending Iran. Its approach undoubtedly has touched a raw nerve for Saudi Arabia as it is destroying the unity of the Gulf countries in showing hostility and seeking to isolate Iran.

Saudi Arabia's Okaz daily accused Qatar of "breaking ranks" and choosing to "side with enemies of the nation."

At the same time, the diplomatic tie-cutting storm is largely aimed at making an example of Qatar to warn other Arab nations to be very careful who they choose to be friends with.

Second, American adjustment of its Middle East policy and Donald Trump's high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia are also factors that cannot be ignored.

President Trump has now taken a more hostile policy towards Iran since he came to power, and has rebuilt the trust relationship with Saudi Arabia. During his visit there in May, Trump signed a US$110 billion arms deal. In his speech at the Islamic Summit, Trump condemned Iran, saying it was responsible for instability in the Middle East and calling for a coalition to isolate it.

The new American Middle East policy has boosted Saudi Arabia's confidence and, to a certain extent, has also affected the disputes between Saudi Arabia and Iran in vying for the leading position in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia thus decided to seize the opportunity to deflate the arrogance of Qatar, who it feels has always been inconsistent towards Saudi Arabia and ambiguous over Iran.

Therefore, the latest crisis can be seen as a reflection of new subtle changes in the Middle East geopolitical pattern after the United States clarified its Gulf policy.

From a historical point of view, the diplomatic storm this time should not lead to a complete and irreversible breakdown of Gulf relationship. However, it does reflect a series of issues  the deep divisions of Arabian countries, changes in the Middle East geopolitical pattern, and the trend of the United States' Middle East policy  all of which deserve close attention.

The author is an assistant research fellow with the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University.

The article was translated by Li Jingrong from an unabridged version published in Chinese .

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
 Flash

Tanzania's new police chief Simon Sirro on Saturday appealed to the east African nation's media to help police in investigations on a spate of killings in Coast region that has left more than 30 people dead.

Sirro, who was recently appointed by President John Magufuli new Inspector General of Police (IGP), said: "The media can help the police force by running stories that aim at curbing the problem but not writing sensational headlines."

He told a news conference in Morogoro region that Coast region was facing a serious spate of killings of innocent people by unknown assailants, but asked the public not to panic.

He said police were investigating three cases of abductions that were reported in Kibiti district in Coast region this week.

On Thursday night, three Nyamisati villagers in Kibiti district were shot and abducted by unknown gunmen.

This is the latest case of attack in the Coast Region where a spate of killings has been reported since last year.

Earlier reports indicated that the three people from the village were feared dead from the attack.

Fresh security concerns surfaced in the region this week following the cold blood murder of a militiaman, Erick Mwarabu, a resident of Kifuru in the Kazamoyo division.

The recent sacking of Sirro's predecessor came two days after Tanzania's ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), tasked the government to do all it can to end the alarming killings of innocent people in the southern districts of Rufiji, Kibiti and Mkuranga in Coast region.

Humphrey Polepole, CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary, said the government should end the killings in order to quash fear and uncertainty among residents in the three neighboring districts, located about 131 kilometers from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

The chilling killings by armed gangs in Rufiji, Kibiti and Mkuranga districts began in 2015 claiming the lives of 33 people including police officers and local politicians, especially members of the governing party.

He said CCM has been saddened by the killings in the districts, explaining that people were now losing hope with their government because there was state of insecurity in the area.

"We have keenly been following up on the grisly killings in the three districts. It is high time the ruling party intervened to stop losing more innocent people," he said.

Police have tightened security in the three districts but they have seemingly failed to stop the killers.

In April this year, seven police officers were gunned down as they were returning to camp after a daylong patrol.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Mwigulu Nchemba, told Parliament in Dodoma recently that the government planned to establish a special police zone in Kibiti to arrest the wave of brutal killings in the area.
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Police in London Saturday released a photograph of the knife used by killer Khuram Shazad Butt in the London Bridge terror attack.

The Metropolitan Police issued the photograph of the pink ceramic knives used by the three terrorists in a public appeal to learn where the distinctive knives had come from.

The Met also issued photographs of the hired van, and some of its deadly contents, which Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba used to plough down innocent pedestrians as they strolled over the bridge.

Eight people died and dozens were injured in their attack.

Police said the knives were found on or nearby the bodies of the trio after police shot them dead on June 3.

The kitchen knives, each measuring 30 cm in length are branded Ernesto and are ceramic, rather than metal.

The attackers had wound adhesive tape around the handles and in Butt's case, a leather strap had been attached to the handle and was hung around his wrist. It is this knife that police have released images on Saturday.

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "We've been working round the clock to understand what these men did in the lead-up to the attack but we need to know more about these unusual knives. Where have they come from? Where might the attackers have bought them from? If you know anything about these particular types of knives, please let us know -- it could prove a crucial lead in our investigation."

Detectives are also continuing to appeal for witnesses to the incident itself and have also released images of the white Renault van, registration plate number HN66 TKX, used by the three men to carry out the attack.

The attackers first drove southbound onto London Bridge at 21:28. They drove off the bridge turned round and drove back, northbound up the bridge again. Once at the north end, the attackers did a U-turn and drove back southbound, fatally and purposely driving into pedestrians as they did so.

They then crashed into railings outside the Barrowboy and Banker pub. The men then abandoned the van and ran off to Borough Market where they began to stab members of the public.

Counter terrorism officers have so far spoken to 262 people from 19 different countries. Of these, 78 are significant witnesses.

Commander Haydon continued: "My officers are particularly keen to hear from anyone who witnessed the white van targeting individuals on London Bridge, saw the suspects attacking members of the public or saw armed police engaging the suspects."

Following the attack, specialist forensic officers examined the van and recovered a large quantity of items from it, including: 13 wine bottles with rags wrapped around them and believed to be filled with a flammable liquid and two blow torches.

Also inside the van were of office chairs and a suitcase which police say had been stacked inside the vehicle as a cover story to their families to explain why they had hired the van.

Police also said when they searched a bedsite flat rented by Redouane, they found an English-language copy of the Koran opened at a page describing martyrdom. They also found water bottles spelling of petrol.

Detectives believe the bedsit was the attackers' safe house where the three men planned and prepared the London Bridge attack.

Police also revealed Butt had attempted to hire a 7.5-tonne lorry online, but failed to provide payment details. They say if the terrorists had hired such a heavy vehicle the death and injury toll could have been much higher.

A number of people are still in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of terror-related offences, with detectives saying they expect to make more arrests and search further addresses in the coming days as their fast-moving investigation continues.
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A Tibetan delegation of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China has informed Japanese officials and friendly groups about the current situation in Tibet and called upon Japan to properly handle Tibet-related issues.

During a five-day visit that concluded on Saturday, the delegation met with former President of Japan's House of Councilors and Chairman of Japan-China Friendship Center Satsuki Eda, Chief Secretary of Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei.

Heading the Tibetan delegation, Duoji Ciren, member of the standing committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, said China has been sticking to the principle of developing bilateral relations with Japan based on the four political documents and the four-point principled agreement between the two countries and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future.

He stressed that Tibet-related issues concern China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging Japan to respect China's core interests and major concerns on related issues and properly handle such issues.

Duoji also said Tibet has been developing fast since it was liberated over half a century ago, with the full support of the central government, help from the whole nation and efforts of all ethnic groups of Tibet.

Currently, Tibet is working toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects along with the whole nation, with all social undertakings thriving and people of all ethnic groups living and working in peace and contentment in the autonomous region, he added.

Eda, for his part, said it is important to maintain the friendship between the two countries as well as the two peoples. The Japanese parliament has established a regular exchange mechanism with the NPC, and the Japan-China Friendship Center has also invited Chinese youth to visit Japan on a regular basis to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Hayashi and Takei said the visit of the Tibetan delegation provided a good opportunity for the Japanese side to learn more about the situation in Tibet, and Japan is willing to deepen communication and cooperation with China in all areas so as to further improve bilateral ties.

The delegation also held seminars with Japanese scholars and overseas Chinese in Japan during the visit.
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Chinese naval fleet visits Pakistan [Photo / Jz.81.cn]

A Chinese navy fleet comprising three warships arrived at Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Saturday for a four-day goodwill and training visit.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony hosted by the Pakistani side, Commander of the Chinese navy fleet Rear Admiral Shen Hao said the visit will further promote the understanding and mutual trust between the two peoples, and boost the cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

Shen hoped that the pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development.

Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah visited the fleet.
ASTANA - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here Friday on carrying forward bilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and deepening their strategic partnership.

China and Tajikistan are neighbors with close relations and strategic partners with high-level mutual trust, said Xi.

The two countries have maintained close high-level contacts, achieved fruitful results in cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, agriculture, infrastructure construction, energy and security, and coordinated closely under the frameworks of the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said the Chinese president.

Noting that the two countries have made important achievements in jointly building the Belt and Road, Xi said the next step is to promote such cooperation towards a high-end, innovative and diversified direction.

He urged the two sides to strengthen economic policy coordination and development strategy alignment, strive for new progress in connectivity construction, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and boost cooperation in such fields as production capacity, equipment manufacturing, disaster relief, defense, law enforcement and security.

China is willing to work with Tajikistan to carry forward the spirit of good neighborliness, strengthen strategic coordination and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to lift the China-Tajikistan strategic partnership to a new height, Xi said.

For his part, Rahmon called the two countries "good neighbors, good friends and good partners," saying the Tajik side cherishes the Tajikistan-China friendship, values the important role of China in international affairs, and dedicates itself to deepening bilateral strategic partnership.

Summing up the two countries' fruitful cooperation since they forged diplomatic relations 25 years ago, Rahmon told Xi that his country stands ready to synergize its development strategy with the historic Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China, and boost bilateral cooperation in areas like connectivity, electricity, agriculture and security.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Xi arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Kazakhstan and the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO.
ASTANA - Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Friday that China and Turkmenistan shall work together to promote their pragmatic cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

He made the remarks while meeting with his Turkmenian counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

China and Turkmenistan are good friends and partners, Xi said, adding that the two nations boast ever increasing mutual trust, pragmatic cooperation and close coordination in international issues.

China highly values its friendship with Turkmenistan and is ready to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with it, so as to consolidate the bilateral strategic partnership, Xi said.

He added that China appreciates Turkmenistan's support for and participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and is willing to work with the Turkmenian side under the initiative so as to bring more tangible benefits to the two peoples.

For his part, Berdimuhamedow said that the past 25 years, since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkmenistan and China, have seen the two countries extend support for each other on issues concerning their core interests and in international affairs, and engage in fruitful economic and trade exchanges.

Turkmenistan wishes to work with China to enhance cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative in such fields as natural gas, clean energy, production capacity and transportation infrastructure, he added.

Xi visited Turkmenistan in 2013, when the two countries established strategic partnership. Berdimuhamedow also paid visits to China respectively in 2014 and 2015, and met with Xi during the SCO's Tashkent summit last June in Uzbekistan.
ASTANA - Chinese and Kazakh enterprises and financial institutions have signed at least 24 deals worth more than $8 billion during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan, Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said Friday.

Both sides agreed to push for the progress in cooperation in energy, mining, chemical industry, mechanical manufacturing, agriculture and infrastructure, said Zhong.

China signed an agreement with Kazakhstan to supply the latter with super computer equipment, and the two countries are discussing the signing of a renewed investment protection deal, he said.

They also inked a protocol to approve the entry of Kazakhstan's frozen mutton to China.

Zhong said both sides will continue measures to facilitate bilateral trade, expand cooperation in economy and trade, customs and quality inspection, and cement the rebounding momentum in bilateral trade.

China and Kazakhstan agreed to quicken the implementation of plans to align the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Kazakh "Bright Path" new economic policy.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Kazakhstan's "Bright Path" policy is aimed at revitalizing the country's economy.

Kazakhstan is a comprehensive strategic partner of China and an important member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

During Xi's trip, the two countries reached a broad range of consensuses on trade, investment, energy and financial cooperation, and achieved positive results.

Meanwhile at the Astana summit of the SCO, Xi put forward a series of economic and trade proposals.

To implement these proposals, Zhong said the Chinese Ministry of Commerce will work to advance the mechanism arrangement for regional economic cooperation.

The ministry will actively promote cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises and local governments from SCO member countries.

China will also work for the establishment of a union of economic think tanks and strengthen capability building by promoting people-to-people exchanges.
Xiaomi unveiled the handset Mi 5C in February, its first Surge S1-powered device. [Photo/China Daily]

In 2014, Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun called the chip segment the "crown of the smartphone sector". Three years on, he has his own jewel in that crown - the Surge S1, Xiaomi's first in-house chip.

The technology tycoon has fond and vivid memories of a momentous instant that signifies Xiaomi's evolution from a smartphone major into a tech giant.

He recalls a night of September 2015 when, at 1:40 am, in a trial, the Surge S1 enabled the first call between a group of engineers and Lei. "My heart was surging with excitement at that moment. That's how the chipset got its name."

James Yan, research director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said though the Surge S1 is still at the entry level, Xiaomi's attempts to make inroads into the competitive industry highlight its determination to differentiate its products from a crowd of rivals and seek growth via innovation.

The pursuit of innovation was what drove the Beijing-based tech major back in 2014. It coasted on the stupendous success of its online-only sales model to establish a chip unit, Beijing Songguo Electronics.

It had figured out that reliable access to chips was going to be the key to success in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

Today, Xiaomi is only the second Chinese smartphone major after Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to master chip-design technology.

Xiaomi unveiled its first in-house chip Surge S1 in February in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

While Huawei spent 10 years to win market recognition for its chipset, Xiaomi took only 28 months to turn the idea of making an in-house chip into reality.

"Rapid technological advances in the past years shortened the research and development process and gave us a late-mover advantage,"Lei said in a recent interview.

When Xiaomi was mulling the chip unit, several experts had told Lei that it is a high-tech, cash-intensive business. R&D of chips alone would require 1 billion yuan ($147 million), and making a success of it would require at least $1 billion.

"If we want to challenge the world's top three players, we must devote long-time efforts to it," Lei had said then.

Xiaomi did just that.

After setting up Songguo in 2014, Xiaomi inked a technology transfer contract with Leadcore Technologies, a 100 percent subsidiary of Datang Telecom, a State-owned telecom company.

That partnership helped accelerate the R&D process."We have the smartphone shipment scale that can afford a bet on the chip business.We also have lured a number of experienced experts.That's our biggest advantage," Lei said.

Xiaomi's efforts paid off. It was able to launch its first Surge S1-powered smartphone Mi 5C in February. The 1,499 yuan ($218) handset put Xiaomi among global majors such as Samsung Electronics Corp, Apple Inc and Huawei that use in-house chips in their handsets.

At the March product launch, Lei said Xiaomi's nail-size chipset's sophisticated design allows more than one billion transistors to amplify and switch electronic signals.

So far, the company has poured more than 1 billion yuan into its chip business, partly supported by the Beijing municipal government.

The Surge S1 started as a middle-end chip and is positioned to compete with similar products of MediaTek Inc and Spreadtrum Communications Inc, all of which seek to balance devices' power and performance.

Yan of Counterpoint said Xiaomi needs to be on its toes. "It must delicately handle the relationships with third-party chip suppliers and be wary of any problems that may arise during the mass production stage, for Huawei's 10-year experience told us that the path to self-developed chips is by no means a smooth one."

The intensified push into the chip sector also coincides with Xiaomi's efforts to grow its technology patents. The company said it has so far obtained more than 3,600 patents.

Last year alone, it filed over 7,000 more patent applications, most of which will likely be approved in two to three years.
XI'AN - Sajjad Raza busies himself harvesting wheat on a tract of land in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Raza, 29, is not a farmer, but a doctoral student in agriculture.

"In growing this wheat, we are trying to find out the quantitative relationship between nitrogenous fertilizer and the nitrogen concentration of the wheat produced," he says.

Raza is among 120 Pakistanis at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, based in Yangling, Shaanxi's agricultural demonstration zone.

Since 2013 when the Belt and Road Initiative first saw light of day, more and more students like Raza have come to study in China.

"China has become a major destination for Pakistani students," Raza says in fluent Chinese.

Raza came to Shaanxi in 2014 after turning down an offer from a Beijing agricultural university. He studied Chinese for eight months before starting his courses.

"Since I majored in the subject, I decided to head to the vast agricultural area in western China," he recalls.

His cohort began growing wheat and corn in 2015, toiling in the fields like any other farmers, while collecting samples and performing analyses like any other scientists. They are now well accustomed to the swarms of biting insects and merciless June sun.

"The temperature will be around 50 degrees Celsius in my hometown, so I am used to this kind of heat," he says, while rejecting the cherries offered by his Chinese classmates. During the holy fasting month, he won't eat until sunset.

"Farming is not easy work, and I'll be delighted if I can make even a small contribution to agriculture in China through my work," he says.

It is the winters that Raza finds hardest. "I had to buy so many new clothes on arrival here, and stayed in the dorm all day long," he recalls with something of a smile.

Raza freely admits farmers use too much fertilizer, in both China and Pakistan.

"A hectare of corn makes 10,000 yuan (about 1,500 U.S. dollars), with the addition of fertilizer which costs only 2,000 yuan," he says, "but over-fertilizing hardens the soil and pollutes the environment."

A major objective of Raza's research is to reduce the amount of fertilizer used by farmers in both countries.

Chinese authorities have said that the Belt and Road is not a solo performance by China, but a chorus for all.

"I hope I can join the chorus, too," Raza says. "By maximizing the effect of fertilizers, we can reduce their use. I hope I can help the farmers of China and Pakistan live better lives."
A senior deputy to the Tibet autonomous region's People's Congress, has asked Japan to respect China's core interests and grave concern about the Tibet issue.

During his visit to Japan last week, Duoji Ciren met Satsuki Eda, former president of Japan's House of Councilors, Yoshimasa Hayashi, secretary-general of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union, and Syunsuke Takei, Japan's vice-minister of foreign affairs.

Duoji reminded Japan of the Dalai Lama's clique's separatist anti-China character and told his hosts that the Tibet issue is a matter concerning China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. It involves China's core interests and national feelings, he added.

He said Japan should deal with the issue concerning Tibet appropriately, with the big picture of China-Japan relations in mind.

Leading a delegation from Tibet's people's congress to Japan, Duoji said Tibet has shaken off the chains of feudal serfdom since peaceful liberation more than half century ago. Thanks to the full support of the central government and aid from people all over China, Tibet is working hard to build itself into an open, civilized and wealthy place and it is no longer closed and backward, he said.

Satsuki Eda said a friendly relationship between Japan and China is of great importance.

Japan's parliament and the National People's Congress of China have established a mechanism of regular exchanges. The Japan-China Friendship Center, one of seven Japanese groups committed to promoting friendship between the two countries, regularly invites young Chinese from all walks of life to visit Japan to enhance mutual understanding, Eda added.

In the words of Yoshimasa Hayashi and Syunsuke Takei, the visit from the Tibetan delegation, offered Japan a rare opportunity to get a real picture of Tibet.
Some of outdoor enthusiasts and practitioners take a group photo after a safety seminar, organized by the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA), ends in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, June 10, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

Nearly 300 people involved in outdoor activities on Saturday attended a seminar on outdoor safety and environmental ethics in Hefei, capital city of East China's Anhui province.

As the second leg of this year's safety seminar tour, the event was part of the Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA)'s Outdoor Safety Educational Program initiated in 2013. It aims to train field leaders and enable people to enjoy their outdoor recreation like hiking, mountain biking and mountaineering safely across the county.

Four certified senior trainers gave lectures on topics including wilderness first aid and environmental protection.

The seminar was open to the public, to encourage more people to learn how to mitigate risks and make less impact on nature.

The attendees left with free safety materials including the Outdoor Safety Handbook compiled by the CMA.

Trainer Shi Jian said it was the third time he shared his outdoor knowledge and experience with other practitioners and enthusiasts.

Shi, who works as a field guide and founded a local outdoor club, said he was pleased with the seminar.

"It gives outdoor practitioners a chance of face-to-face communications to promote the same value and necessity of safe outdoor activities."

China has seen a surge in popularity of outdoor activities in recent years. About 130 million people participate in activities like hiking, rock climbing and mountain climbing each year, according to statistics issued by the Chinese Alliance for Outdoors and Explorations in 2016.
URUMQI -- The first refrigerated-container train in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region left Horgos Saturday for the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The train with 40 refrigerated-containers is 620 meters long. It carried about 1,160 tonnes of concentrate juice from the border port of Horgos to Hangzhou.

Previously, Xinjiang mainly relied on the highway system for fruit juice transport. The new train route will help local companies reduce logistics costs.

Located about 670 km from Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, Horgos was once a busy passage used by traders traveling along the ancient Silk Road. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, has injected new vitality into the land port.

In the first five months of 2017, the trade volume in Horgos grew more than 70 percent year on year.
Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel (left) poses with Li Jinzao, director of the China National Tourism Administration at the Great Wall in Beijing, June 11, 2017. Photo by Jiang Chenglong for China Daily

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was pleased to receive a scroll with the words, "He who doesn't reach the Great Wall is not a true man", after visiting the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall on Sunday.

"I am so glad to be praised as a true man after walking up the Great Wall. I look forward to enhancing tourism exchanges and cooperation between Luxembourg and China," the prime minister said.

Bettel is the first leader of an EU country to visit China since Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker declared 2018 as the China-EU Tourism Year on June 2.
Aerial photo taken on April 1, 2017 shows Anxin county, North China's Hebei province.[Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing and Xiongan New Area will need systematic cooperation to achieve coordinated development and mitigate urban ills, experts said on Sunday.

Lin Jian, a researcher at Renmin University of China's National Academy of Development and Strategy, said Xiongan will take over many functions of Beijing to help the capital ease its population pressure.

"How to attract people to move there will be a crucial task," he said. "The authorities need to make plans in the sectors of education, medical care and cultural development in Xiongan," Lin said. "Beijing can offer its help."

He said many State-owned enterprises, colleges and government institutions will move to Xiongan. The corresponding educational and medical resources should be planned in advance for people who will move there; otherwise, problems could occur, he warned.

"Xiongan cannot be a cultural desert, which means Beijing should also provide cultural facilities to the new area," Lin said.

On Friday, Beijing pledged to closely cooperate and fully support the development of Xiongan and encourage people to move there as needed.

Liu Bozheng, deputy director of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei development leading group, said Beijing will cooperate with Xiongan on construction and services, accelerating the relocation of industries that suit the new area.

"The Beijing municipal government attaches high importance to the development of Xiongan New Area," he said.

He said Beijing will assist in planning and policymaking in sectors such as infrastructure construction, transportation integration and the sharing of public services. The capital will also encourage innovative companies to establish themselves in Xiongan.

China announced plans to create Xiongan New Area in April as part the integration of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It is designed to ameliorate urban ills such as traffic congestion and air pollution.

Located about 100 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing, the new area will have a substantial footprint in three existing counties of Hebei provinceXiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin.

Zhao Weidong, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce, said on Friday that Beijing has established a platform to cooperate with Tianjin and Hebei and has transferred some wholesale markets and logistics facilities to Hebei.

The commission promoted 26 projects with a total investment of more than 5 billion yuan ($740 million) last year involving the move of markets and logistics facilities to Hebei.

According to data from the city, Beijing's population and its growth rate has been declining for the past three years. Meanwhile, the city's GDP was up 6.7 percent last year compared with 2015.
Leaders of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) pose for group photos after the conclusion of the 17th SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan June 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]



ASTANA - Top leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries said Friday that political and diplomatic means are the "only choice" to settle regional conflicts.



The presidents of six countries, namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, made the remarks in a joint communique issued after their annual summit in Kazakhstan.



The leaders supported Afghanistan's efforts to combat terrorism, extremism and drug-related crimes, saying the United Nations should play a core role in coordinating international cooperation to secure peace and stability in the Asian country.



The six presidents urged extensive dialogues inside Syria to settle the current conflict through political means based on the UN Security Council resolutions, adding that the Astana Process will create necessary conditions to pursue a political solution to the Syria crisis within the framework of the UN-led Geneva talks that is acceptable for all parties concerned.



The top leaders affirmed the efforts made by all relevant parties to implement the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue reached between Iran and six other countries with the participation of the European Union.



They also eyed the full implementation of the Minsk agreement signed on Feb 12, 2015 to solve the Ukraine crisis as early as possible.
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Editor's note: Just before the Chinese national college entrance examination on June 7, many high school seniors tore up their textbooks and test papers to release some of that pent-up pressure. Forum readers share their opinions.

TedM (UK)

These students have spent many years in boring classrooms for very long hours, plus homework.... thereby having too little valuable time with family or in social situations. Many students say to me 'we have no life'. It is not surprising that these students explode steam as soon as the pressure cooker lid is released. So why is tearing up old text books so bad?
Three former executives of Pangu Investment Co Ltd stood trial in Xigang District People's Court in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on Friday for fraudulently obtaining loans and foreign exchange using fabricated documents. All of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

These economic crimes, however, are only the tip of the iceberg for the company's actual controlling shareholder Guo Wengui, who fled to the United States in 2014, and is subsequently subject to an Interpol Red Notice.

Guo, who rose from obscurity in the countryside of Liaocheng in East China's Shandong province, is wanted for allegedly accumulating huge amounts of wealth over the past two decades by means of land speculation, insider trading and swindling bank loans.

To pave the way for these activities, he allegedly established an alliance of interests with corrupt senior officials who he bribed with money and women. He has been associated with a number of fallen officials including Ma Jian, former vice-minister of the Ministry of State Security, Zhang Yue, former chief of politics and law of North China's Hebei province, and Xiang Junbo, former chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Guo's business empire was actually enabled by these corrupt officials' trading power for money and rent seeking, as well as their illegal seizure of State and private assets. That also explains why Guo had been seen as being an "infinitely resourceful" businessman who could do anything he wanted.

His case has long been regarded as sensitive, and thus eye-catching, because of the large number of senior officials involved.

That most of the officials involved in Guo's case have already been caught and punished has fueled speculation about Guo's fate.

The trial in Dalian, though not a big case given the seriousness of the crimes Guo is suspected of committing, sends a clear message that the judicial authorities have acquired enough evidence in the three years since he fled the country to initiate the trial of Guo.

The court is making public the trial proceedings by updating its official micro blog with words and photos in a real-time manner.

Such courtroom transparency has become the normal practice in cases where there is great public interest. It not only satisfies the public's right to know, but also puts the judicial process under public scrutiny, so as to better ensure judicial justice and fairness.

It was believed that Guo's repatriation would only be a matter of time. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent. All people are equal before the law, no matter how "resourceful" they are.
Jasemin Sibo was born and bred in Ipoh. Her origin is from Guangzhou, China and is of Canton origin. Her late mother was born in Guangzhou during the Chinese Civil War and was a talented artisan. Her father, gifted with a historian mind has roots in Zhongsan village, the birthplace of Dr. Sun Yat Sen the Father of Modern China who toppled Chinas Dynastic era. Jasemins maternal grandfather Cheong Chee was one of the business pioneers in Ipoh during the tin mine boom.

Jasemin spent her formative years in idyllic Ipoh where she completed her primary and secondary school years. She was also a school prefect and played an active role in the Girl Guides Movement. Her love for the performing arts and linguistics faculty saw her competing at inter-school Guiding & Scouting events. She holds a Master of Commerce degree specializing in International Business with the University of Sydney.

Jasemin was a banker with American Express Inc. in Sydney, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur offices for 5 years. She was also a pioneer in two Malaysian GLCs namely TalentCorp and Multimedia Development Corporation, Cyberjaya. In 2013 she joined Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and performed brief stints as a TV talent for the Fullerton Bay Hotel commercial and Channel NewsAsias Money Mind program. It was during this period that inadvertently propelled Jasemin into the international media limelight as an International Author with the publishing of Epiphany by Penguin Randomhouse (USA and UK).

Jasemin's second book Zhu Pearl is a bilingual novel based in Ipoh. It is a personal tribute to her late grandmother, mother and surviving nanny and to honor Chinese women all over the world for their sacrifices made. China Daily kindly translated it into Chinese entitled . Her third book Henna: The Dancer from Cambodia is a fantasy narrative poem which was made into a short film in collaboration with New York Film Academy.

In all her creative endeavors, Jasemin weaves in Chinese cultures and symbolism to honor her roots.
I came to China in 2003, as an exchange student at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. Though it was only for six months, my experience left a deep impression and, after I had returned to Canada and graduated with my MBA, I decided to return to Shanghai.

My career path wasn't a standard one for an MBA at that time. I soon found my place as an independent business consultant and later joined Honeywell for a two year project. This was a turning point in my life as one of the assignments I had at Honeywell was to study sustainability in China, and I found that as early as 2007, China was already making some impressive investments in wind energy and other cleantech.

This inspired me to learn more and in 2009 I traveled through places like Yunnan and Sichuan looking for answers about the future of sustainability in China. That trip led me through Kunming and was the basis for my story about the Belt and Road Initiative. At that time, Yunnan was suffering from drought and I walked through the parched fields and empty reservoirs in its countryside, where I met a goat herder and I stopped to talk to him for a while. His clothes were tattered and his life seemed hard, but he was persevering, and it gave me the idea that this region's people were optimistic and hard-working, and I wished I could stay in touch with him but he had neither phone nor computer, only his rural dwelling, so I said goodbye and moved on, but the memory stayed with me and when I returned to Yunnan this year, I wondered what had happened to him. In my imagination he is now living in a newly urban environment, is no longer poor, and probably uses WeChat on his smartphone just like everyone else.

There are many things I love about living in China, but top among them is being able to witness and be part of the rapid changes in China's social and economic development. Now what I see is China staring to develop outwards. I think that OBOR is a new blueprint for infrastructure-led economic development. While the World Bank and country-specific aid have not entirely failed, they don't go far enough or fast enough. With the Belt and Road Initiative, China's combination of multilateral government participation, mixed and ample funding sources, and rapid construction means results will be better than anything we have seen before.
My late father said China-must-be-strong was a stolen 10 year old child in Guangdong to labor for warring Japanese butchers overseas. I voluntarily self-retired in Australia on my 50th birthday to revisit South-East-Asia and China!

In 1995, was invited to Indonesia to assist/advise Himpurna of retired RI Generals on funding projects and brokering prospects. Among Himpurna were LtGen Tjokro-(ex-Jakarta-Mayor), Vice-Admiral Prapto-(ex-Ambassador-to-SKorea) and Vice-Air Marshal Slamat-(ex-Attache-to-UK).

In 1996, was invited by SinoChem to advise it on ways to fund Chinas first GSM to get off the ground in Beijing. In Zhejiang, GSM licensee thus became ChinaUnicom!

In 2009, was invited by IET(China_Branch) to deliver a speech/talk at the Fudang_University_Shanghai.

Since Year-2000 wherever and whatever I witnessed in China, I would write and tell others the truths behaving like a freelance mentor, especially in China.
I was born in the South Island of New Zealand and lived more than 40 years in 3 different cities there.

Although my wife spent most of her adult life in New Zealand, she was born in a small Island Kingdom in the South Pacific Ocean called Tonga. Her people have their own language, history and rich culture quite different to my own European background. Interestingly, DNA and ancient artifacts, connect her people with people from Taiwan and Guangdong .

In 2012 my wife and I left all that was familiar and close, to come to work and live China.

I first came to China in 1991 as a tourist visiting Guangzhou and Beijing, then subsequently returned several times after that with my wife and visited about 20 Chinese cities.

After arriving to stay in 2012, we first lived for 9 months in Zhejiangs Ningbo city before coming to Chongqing. I was working for a large international education company as an Education Manager. Within this time I also had the opportunity to work in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu for training or to support other branches. It was a rich as well as challenging experience which gave me a new understanding for Chinese culture.

From this new understanding, I decided that no matter what the future held, if I was to remain in China long term, then a greater grasp of Mandarin was essential. Therefore, from this new springboard, I quit my job and enrolled at SISU as a full time Chinese Major. I will soon complete my degree and I am looking forward to what for me will be the 4th chapter of my China life. Whatever that may entail, I know for sure it will be a new adventure of learning and adapting in this vast and vibrant country.
Britain's Primer Minister Theresa May addresses the country after Britain's election at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - A controversial working relationship between the British Conservatives and the North Ireland Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was agreed in principle Saturday.

The so called supply and confidence deal, aimed at keeping Prime Minister Theresa May in power at 10 Downing Street, came under immediate attack.

Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, who served as a minister in the previous coalition government, called on details of a deal struck between the two parties to be published.

Cable, beaten in the 2015 election, regained a parliamentary seat in Thursday's general election, which ended with the Conservatives being forced to form a minority government.

The Conservatives won 318 seats, not enough for a majority in the Commons, but buoyed by the 10 DUP MPs. It would give May a working majority.

A confidence and supply deal falls short of a full coalition arrangement, but it means May would have enough votes to carry major issues in the Commons.

The agreement emerged after Gavin Williamson, the Conservative Party's chief whip, spent the day in Belfast holding talks with DUP leader Arlene Foster and key DUP members.

Details of the deal will be discussed by May's cabinet which is scheduled to meet at 10 Downing Street on Monday morning.

A spokesman for May said Saturday night: "We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative government on a confidence and supply basis when parliament returns next week.

"We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond. The details will be put forward for discussion and agreement at a Cabinet meeting on Monday."

A number of demonstrations on the British mainland are already being planned to protest at the proposed link between the Conservatives and the DUP.

The Northern Ireland party is officially opposed to same-sex marriages and abortions, both which are legal in the rest of Britain.

Even before the question of a working relationship emerged, the DUP would normally vote with the Conservatives. The DUP is also pro-Brexit, even though the majority of people in Northern Ireland voted remain in last year's EU referendum.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron also called for details of the deal to be published, saying: "The actions of this (Conservative) government will have profound implications for the Brexit negotiations and the future of our country. At such a critical time, the prime minister must be clear with the people about the deal she has stitched up with the DUP behind closed doors."

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the main opposition Labour Party described the proposed arrangement as "a grubby deal for a coalition of chaos."

Alastair Campbell, the former Labour Party spin doctor who worked with former prime minister Tony Blair, hit out at the deal, saying May threatened the peace process in Northern Ireland by negotiating a "sordid, dangerous and distasteful" deal with the DUP.

Blair was a participant in the peace formula which brought to an end three decades of troubles between pro-republican and pro-unionist forces in Northern Ireland.

Professor Jon Tonge from the University of Liverpool, an expert on Irish politics, writing in tomorrow's Observer newspaper about the deal, commented: "The DUP's monopoly status as the friend of the Conservative party means a high price tag. Yet, other than continuing vetoes over same-sex marriage and abortion legalisation, the DUP leadership will not be interested in reinforcing the party's religious outlook. It will come down to what money the Conservatives can offer Northern Ireland. And Conservatives, gay or straight, Catholic, Protestant or atheist, will have to offer plenty."

Earlier Saturday, May's top aides, her joint chiefs of staff both resigned. They quit following reports that a number of Conservative MPs would force a leadership election if the pair remained in their jobs.
LONDON  British police say everyone arrested over the Manchester concert bombing has been released without charge, but detectives are still not sure whether the attacker had accomplices.

Salman Abedi detonated a knapsack bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, killing 22 people. He also died.

Shortly after the attack, police said they had rounded up members of Abedi's network. But Greater Manchester Police say all 22 suspects have now been released without charge.

Russ Jackson, head of counterterrorism policing for northwest England, said Sunday that police believe Abedi assembled the bomb himself, but it's unclear "whether he acted alone in obtaining the materials for the device."He said the investigation will continue "as we work to understand the full extent of the involvement of anyone else."

AP
Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan [Photo/China Daily]

Singapore welcomes Chinese companies to submit bids on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail, Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan has said.

In a written interview with China Daily, he said Singapore "recognizes China's experience and expertise". The international request for bids, to be conducted in a fair and transparent manner, will be jointly put out by Singapore and Malaysia later this year, he said.

The minister, in an official visit to China from Sunday to Monday, noted that the project aims to improve connectivity among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Regarding the Belt and Road Initiative, Balakrishnan called Singapore an "early and strong supporter" and said China and Singapore can work together to add value to the initiative.

The two countries can further consider the joint provision of training for officials from the "Belt and Road" countries, and encourage think tanks to conduct joint research on topics related to the "Belt and Road", he said.

Singapore has been China's largest foreign investor as well as China's top trading partner within ASEAN.

"Singapore will continue to support Chinese companies as more venture abroad," he said.

Speaking of bilateral ties, he said Singapore and China share a "close and longstanding friendship", and this partnership "also reflects the long term strength of our bilateral ties and the bright prospects for the future".

While the two countries have their respective national interests, there are no fundamental strategic disagreements, he said.

"We both need regional peace and stability. We both depend on free and open trade," he added.

On China-ASEAN ties, Balakrishnan said ASEAN's strategic partnership with China is "strong, substantive and multifaceted", and both sides need to boost two-way tourist visits and promote people-to-people exchanges.

"We will continue to actively advance ASEAN-China relations in the remaining year of our ASEAN-China coordinatorship, part of which will coincide with Singapore's Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018," he said.

"We look forward to working closely with our ASEAN colleagues and with China to bring the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership to greater heights," he added.

On the South China Sea issue, the minister said the South China Sea situation "has been calm and there have been no major disruptions in the past year", and the complicated issue "must be resolved by the claimant states themselves".

Singapore is glad to be able to contribute effectively to the good progress made on the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed by China and ASEAN members in 2002, and the consultations on the Code of Conduct thus far, he said.

"I welcome the progress made by our officials in finalizing the framework for the COC in Guiyang last month," he said.
People visit the Chinese national pavilion of the Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 10, 2017.The Astana Expo 2017 is scheduled for June 10 to September 10, the first time for a Central Asian country to host a global event of this kind. More than 100 countries and 10 international organizations will participate in the exhibition.[Photo/Xinhua]
President calls development necessary to counter rise of 'destabilizing factors'

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 17th meeting of Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

In his latest speech on Friday, President Xi Jinping highlighted China's firm stance on fighting terrorism and safeguarding regional peace at a time when the world is facing more security challenges than ever.

Recent acts of terrorism show that the fight against the "three evil forces"terrorism, separatism and extremismremains a long and arduous task, Xi said in a speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Xi wrapped up his four-day visit to the Central Asian country on Saturday.

"Without security, there would be no development to speak of," he said.

Xi's trip to Kazakhstan has added impetus to building the Belt and Road Initiative, cements the bond among countries for the community of shared future and opens up broad prospects for peace and prosperity in the region, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

The president's strong voice against the three evil forces has led to practical results. During the summit, the member states signed the SCO Convention on Combating Extremism. The leaders of the SCO countries also issued a declaration to jointly fight international terrorism.

Xi's remarks came against the destabilizing backdrop of a series of recent terrorist attacks. The world is facing many uncertainties and people are expecting a brighter future despite their frustration with the current situation, the president said in a speech at the UN's Geneva headquarters in January.

How is a safer world to be built? That's the question Xi has elaborated on in many major diplomatic occasions, including the SCO summits, since he took office in 2013.

At the SCO summit in Astana, Xi pointed out that "destabilizing factors and uncertainties are on the rise". China is willing to work together with all parties to "build a common home of security, stability, development and prosperity", he said.

While addressing the UN's Geneva headquarters in January, Xi urged all nations to build a world of common security for all.

"A country cannot have security while others are in turmoil, as threats facing other countries may haunt it also. When neighbors are in trouble, instead of tightening his own fences, one should extend a helping hand to them," he said.

The notion of building a community of a shared future for all humankind, which was first put forward by Xi in late 2012, epitomizes the direction in which the Chinese government believes global governance should head.

In March, the UN Security Council for the first time incorporated this concept into its resolution on promoting security and stability in Afghanistan and the region, showing the global recognition the proposal has won.

Safeguarding peace

Xi's firm stance on fighting terrorists and safeguarding peace has been translated into action by China in recent years, with the country making more contributions to improving global governance.

China, now the largest contributor to the United Nations peacekeeping force, has deployed more than 2,600 of the 88,000 "blue berets" in 10 peacekeeping missions in countries like South Sudan, Lebanon and Liberia.

China also uses multilateral platforms such as the Xiangshan Forum and the Shangri-La Dialogue to discuss security and defense cooperation with Asia-Pacific members and others.

In his keynote speech at the UN Geneva headquarters in January, Xi announced that China will provide an additional 200 million yuan ($29.42 million) in humanitarian assistance to help refugees and the homeless in the Syrian crisis.

In recent years, China has advocated talks between the countries directly concerned to address the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, pushed for an early resumption of the stalled six-party talks to end the Korean Peninsula nuclear conundrum, and helped achieve a landmark Iranian nuclear agreement in 2015.

China's prescription

The Chinese president has pointed out on many diplomatic occasions that in fighting terrorists, countries should not just treat the symptoms, but remove the root causes.

"We should intensify counterterrorism efforts, address both the symptoms and root causes, and strive to eradicate poverty, backwardness and social injustice," Xi said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing last month.

"Development is the master key to solving all problems," he added.

During his first state visit to Egypt, President Xi made a speech at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, where he stressed "development" as the key to resolving most Middle East problems, especially growing terrorism and disorder.

Jin Yong, a professor of International relations at Communication University of China, said that the growth of terrorist activities will not be stopped except through development and creation of job opportunities.

"Unemployment and poverty are the main causes of terrorism worldwide," he said, adding that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative could help remedy the rising risks of terrorism.

"Just as President Xi has said, we should focus on the fundamental issue of development in pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative," he said.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that Xi's proposal of "building a world of common security" shows that China is a responsible power in maintaining global peace and promoting cooperation.

Unlike many countries that turned to protectionism when facing global challenges, China advocates inclusive growth by pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, he said, adding that the initiative will inject impetus for global economic growth.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
The U.S. Navy P-3C Orion flying over Marawi City conducting ISR operations.

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The Philippines' anti-American; pro-China and pro-Russia president has remained oddly silent as soldiers of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) he ordered to leave the Philippines last year are now fighting side-by-side with government troops trying to destroy Islamic State Muslim terrorists that continue to cling to parts of Marawi City on Mindanao Island they seized last May 23.



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The crazed and psychotic Rodrigo Duterte declared Martial Law covering the entire Mindanao Island nine hours after the terrorists began their rampage, setting fire to homes and institutions and daring the Philippine Army to come get them.



Both the Army and the Philippine Marines, which together have thousands of men on the island, have proven unable to quickly crush a small force of terrorists led by a bandit named Isnilon Hapilon who leads Islamic State forces in Southeast Asia and supported by the bandit Maute Group that swore fealty to Islamic State in December 2016.



The Muslim terrorists are said to number no more than 300 men, according to the army. As of June 9, the army and Marines lost 48 men killed-in-action; 10 killed in a friendly fire incident and over 100 wounded in the ongoing 'Battle of Marawi" or the "Marawi Crisis."



The army estimated Muslim terrorist casualties at 138 killed. Close to 40 civilians have been killed in the fighting, many of whom were executed by the Muslim terrorists.



The army said some of the terrorists are foreigners, noting that some of those killed and whose bodies were recovered looked like they came from the Middle East.



Marawi City is the capital of Lanao del Sur province and is the largest Muslim city in the Philippines in terms of a Muslim population.



Philippine media said USSOCOM has been providing "technical assistance" to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The army took pains to emphasize the U.S. role "is limited to intelligence sharing" so as not to antagonize the unsound Duterte, who is a known communist sympathizer and an admitted murderer.



U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific, however, told media that "U.S. special operations forces are assisting the AFP with ongoing operations in Marawi that helps AFP commanders on the ground in their fight against Maute and ASG militants" at the request of the Philippine government.



It noted that "the U.S. government continues to work with the AFP to increase intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities through security assistance and training."



The U.S. Embassy in Manila said USSOCOM was assisting Filipino troops battling the Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants in Marawi.



"The United States is a proud ally of the Philippines, and we will continue to work with the Philippines to address shared threats to the peace and security of our countries, including on counterterrorism issues," said the embassy in a statement.



China and Russia have provided no material aid to support Philippine government troops in the Battle of Marawi.



A U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3C Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft was seen flying over Marawi on different days, according to local media reports.



U.S. sources said Philippine media covering the fighting have photographed an AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma Unmanned Aerial Vehicle being operated by American personnel and the P-3C Orion circling the city on separate occasions.



The P-3C Orion clearly displayed markings of the U.S. Navy. American military media said this aircraft is performing persistent surveillance and intelligence-gathering tasks using its powerful electro-optics and other onboard systems.



The Orion played a similar role for coalition land forces in operations over Iraq and Afghanistan. The smaller RQ-20 Puma performs a similar mission but on a tactical level.



Washington deployed USSOCOM Special Forces operators to Mindanao in 2002 to train and advise army and Marine units fighting Abu Sayyaf terrorists. More than 1,200 American operators served in Mindanao.



The program was discontinued in 2015, but a small number of operators remained for logistics and technical support. The unhinged Duterte ordered this small force to leave in 2016.



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TagsMarawi City, Mindanao, Philippines, Battle of Marawi, Islamic State, U.S. Special Operations Command, USSOCOM, U.S. Navy, Maute Group
(Photo : US Army) U.S. Army M1-A2SEP Abrams tanks along the DMZ in South Korea.

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The U.S. Army is likely to dramatically increase the firepower of its troops in South Korea despite Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, not committing to a decision to increase the number of troops in that country.



Gen. Milley would rather commit more army troops to current "hot" trouble spots such as Iraq and Afghanistan where the U.S. is already engaged in military operations, he told members of the U.S. Senate's Appropriations Committee.



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He showed some hesitation, however, when asked if more troops are needed in South Korea in the face of North Korea stubborn refusal to discontinue both its nuclear weapons development program, and its ballistic missile tests aimed at developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the continental United States.



"That is a very difficult question full of all kinds of nuances. I can't give you a yes or a no," said Gen. Milley in response to a question about adding more men to the Eighth United States Army (EUSA) deployed to South Korea



There are over 38,000 servicemen and women in EUSA, whose most powerful fighting force is the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and its 10,000 men deployed close to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North Korea from South Korea.



Gen. Milley estimates the situation in Korea calls for a forward presence with the right capacity to respond to a belligerent North Korea, and this may not mean more troops but more firepower.



His veiled hint at an impending increase in U.S. firepower might indicate re-arming troops already in South Korea with more advanced weapons and equipment that boost their combat capabilities.



The move towards enhanced firepower made news late last month when the army announced its plan to move pre-positioned stock stationed in South Korea back to the continental United States so as to outfit an armored brigade combat team (ABCT).



Gen. Milley said the move is part of a bigger effort to rebalance brigade combat teams (BCTs) to emphasize the need for heavy, armored BCTs over lighter infantry BCTs. The army is converting an infantry brigade combat team to create a 15th ABCT and will organize the 16th into an ABCT using the pre-positioned stock from South Korea.



Gen. Milley said after years of conducting counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the army is realizing it must restructure and rebalance the force to be able to operate in more contested environments against Russia and China.



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TagsU.S. Army, South Korea, Gen. Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, North Korea, Eighth United States Army, EUSA
(Photo : PLA) Personnel of China's Strategic Support Force.

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Although immature compared to that of the United States, China's information warfare capabilities remain geared towards gaining "information warfare dominance" over the U.S.



China's information warfare activities are the province of the new Strategic Support Force (SSF) organized only in December 2015, said the Department of Defense's (DoD) recently released annual report to Congress on China's military developments.



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The report is also an in-depth look into the working of the SSF, which Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered to pursue "leapfrog development" and advance military innovation.



The People's Liberation Army (PLA) describes SSF as a "growth point" for developing "new-type" forces and is an important force in joint operations.



SSF possesses the capabilities to contest space and cyberspace, which to the PLA are the "new commanding heights of strategic competition." Equally important, the SSF will develop a range of "new concept weapons."



SSF will be a key tool that will allow the PLA to leapfrog the U.S. military in critical emerging technologies.



"China believes its cyber capabilities and personnel lag behind the United States," said the DoD report.



"To deal with these perceived deficiencies, China is improving training and domestic innovation to achieve its cyber capability development goals."



China's investments in information capabilities are focused on developing a more "informatized" military, said the DoD's report.



"The PLA conducts military exercises simulating these operations and likely views conventional and cyber operations as means of achieving information dominance. PLA writings suggest EW, cyberspace, deception, counterspace, and other operations during wartime could deny an adversary's use of information."



DoD said the PLA recognizes the effectiveness of information warfare and cyber in recent conflicts and advocates targeting command-and-control and logistics networks.



"As a result, the PLA may seek to use its cyberwarfare capabilities to collect data for intelligence and cyberattack purposes; to constrain an adversary's actions by targeting network-based logistics, communications, and commercial activities; or to serve as a force-multiplier when coupled with kinetic attacks during times of crisis or conflict."



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TagsUnited States, china, information warfare, information warfare dominance, department of defense, Xi Jinping
(Photo : PLAAF) Shenyang J-11B fighter carrying PL-12s.

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China claims to have developed a solid-fuel variable flow ramjet engine with the potential to triple the range of beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles arming fighter jets of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).



The speed of this engine remains unsuitable, however. And the large engine still can't fit inside the small body of an air-to-air missile.



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China's state-controlled media claims this ramjet is a breakthrough in the engine research field. The ramjet might enhance the combat capabilities of China's supersonic and stealth aircraft, including the Chengdu J-20 "stealth" fighters, by enabling them to engage U.S. Navy fighters and other aircraft at longer range.



The large ramjet, however, still has to be miniaturized to fit into small missile bodies. Researchers admit a lot of research needs to be done to decrease the original size of the huge and bulky ramjet engine.



They also admit that the thrust generated by this engine remains unsuitable for its use as the propulsion unit for supersonic air-to-air missiles at the present time.



A research team from the No. 4 research institute affiliated with state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said they successfully conducted two flight tests of the solid-fuel variable flow ramjet engine. It said the new ramjet engine is ready for further engineering applications.



Researchers said the solid-fuel ramjet engine offers the advantages of low cost; high power; compact size and high controllability.



Chinese military pundits said the ramjet, when perfected, will "remarkably increase" the range of air-to-air missiles and anti-ship guided missiles mounted on PLAAF fighters and attack aircraft, including the J-20.



The engine will allow J-20s to fire from longer range. In the future, missiles equipped with this ramjet might reach hypersonic speeds in excess of Mach 5 (6,000 km/h).



In 2000, the research institute organized a special research team to work on the project. The research institute conducted eight flight tests with the new ramjet engine over the past few years.



Once the engine is miniaturized, it will likely enable China's air-to-air missiles to shoot down targets up to 300 kilometers away at speeds in excess of Mach 5. State-controlled media claim the new ramjet can also be installed on China's latest missiles such as the PL-12, an active radar-guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.



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Tagschina, solid-fuel variable flow ramjet engine, People's Liberation Army Air Force, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, PL-12
(Photo : US Army) LRPF.

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The U.S. Army is accelerating a new program whose end product will be a long-range surface-to-surface missile capable of accurately destroying enemy targets over 400 km away.



The development plan for army's "Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) Program" is expected by the end of this year. The army should select the contractor that will produce this missile by early 2021.



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An indelible feature of conventional warfare, long-range bombardment took a back seat in the army due to the nature of the counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria where close-range combat predominated.



The army is now reverting to type to counter the improving long-range fire capabilities of Russia and China, especially the former.



LRPF is being developed to replace the ageing MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATacMS) system that became operational in the 1990s. The ATacMS missile has a range of 300 km.



Made by Lockheed Martin, ATacMS was cancelled in 2007 due to the rising cost of maintaining the system but received a service life expansion for 121 missiles in 2016. The system should finally be retired when LRPS becomes operational.



Apart the service life extension program for ATacMS, LRPF includes the acquisition of 6,000 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) and continued low-rate initial production of 93 Patriot Missile Segment Enhanced missiles.



In addition, the Army wants a launch pod missile container compatible with existing launchers platforms such as the GMLRS and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).



The U.S. Army's top modernization priorities are focused on boosting its advantage in conventional combat against Russia and China after over a decade of counterinsurgency campaigns in the Middle East.



Weapons that inflict long-range destruction abound in the army's fiscal year 2018 budget request. These include the army's long neglected surface-to-air missile defenses and LRPF.



Taken together, these weapons included in the army's $26.8 billion funding request seek to recapture the army's capability to conduct large-scale, conventional, all arms military operations against Russia and China.



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TagsU.S. Army, Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) Program, MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, ATacMS, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
Dear Abby:

My ex-husband is coming to our small town to celebrate our daughter's graduation. He is bringing along his parents. I'm happy they are coming to show love and support for our daughter; however, his mother has dementia.

They take her to restaurants and hotels and allow very uncomfortable scenes to play out - like sending food back (every single time) or allowing her to accuse the housekeeping staff of thievery. Rather than rationally deal with the problem themselves, they put the staff in a very awkward position.

I am going to cook some meals for them while they are here, but based on my work schedule, that's all I can do. Should I call ahead to the hotel and restaurants to warn them of the impending storm?

Hurricane Insanity

Dear H.I.:

If you are known at the restaurants, you should definitely call ahead and speak to the manager about the fact that the poor woman is "not well." I'm sure it would be appreciated, and perhaps the party can be seated in a private area of the restaurant.

When someone has dementia, there comes a point where they should be kept in familiar surroundings to avoid situations in which the person can become agitated. This may be what's happening with your ex-mother-in-law when she finds herself in an environment she's not used to.

The Alzheimer's Association hosts support groups for caregivers and for families with loved ones who have dementia. Your ex might benefit by reaching out, preferably before he and his mother make the trip. He can contact them at alz.org or by calling the 24/7 helpline at 1-800-272-3900.

Dear Abby:

You know the adage, "You don't know what you've got 'til you lose it"? In 2009, before I was deployed to Kuwait, I was in a short relationship with "Donna." Because I didn't want her to worry about me while I was gone, I ended it and broke her heart. (Big mistake.) When I came home, Donna had moved away, and I lost her phone number when my old phone broke.

I know Donna's sister still lives here. Should I ask her about Donna, and how she's doing, and whether she'll contact her for me? Or should I just keep trying to get over her?

Regretting it in the West

Dear Regretting:

What are you waiting for? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. By all means, talk to Donna's sister, who might enjoy being able to play the role of Cupid. If Donna is still single and available, she may be as glad to see you as you will be to see her.

DearAbby.comDear AbbyP.O. Box 69440Los Angeles, CA 90069Universal Press Syndicate
A Lake Conroe woman is growing increasingly distressed as an expanding chasm, or what she and legal documents are describing as a "sinkhole," next to her Lake Conroe waterfront home grows larger with every rainstorm.

Sue Horne says the home she has lived in for nearly 15 years in the gated Grand Harbor community, a pricey neighborhood billed as providing a fabulous backdrop with gorgeous wooded and waterfront estate size lots on the west side of the lake, is threatened because of what's being termed as "one continuous sinkhole."

The widening hole, on "common property" on a slope adjacent to her home that descends down to the lake, has damaged her pool, the pool's decking and caused her backyard kitchen to sink nearly a foot, she said. This, while according to Horne and the lawsuit she has filed, the homeowners association that maintains the community, Grand Harbor POA, has failed to stop the hole from expanding. The POA also is being blamed for additional damage to Horne's home by ignoring the advice of an engineer on how to address the issue, while instead hiring laborers at a cheaper cost to try fix the problem.

The issue dates back to October 2015 when the supply and return lines to Horne's pool inexplicably broke and her pool deck and the outdoor kitchen -- expensive improvements she made after buying the house in 2002 -- began sinking. Horne is the original owner of the East Cool Breeze Lane home. The nearly 4,500-square-foot house on a large lot just under 27,000 square feet is valued at over $600,000 by the Montgomery Central Appraisal District.

In her lawsuit, Horne is seeking $200,000 to $500,000 from the POA, as well as from a Harris County man who owns the vacant lot next to her home.

"There's been nothing done to mitigate," Horne said. As far as stopping the damage, they've done nothing."

The Houston-based law firm representing the homeowners association is denying the allegations Horne has made in her lawsuit. In a legal filing responding to the suit, Tekell, Book, Allen & Morris accuses Horne of being "negligent" by improving property on the nearby easement. But in its denial, the firm did not specify what sort of work supposedly has been done on the easement. The lawyer handling the case and the POA had not return calls seeking comment as of Friday.

Horne's lawyer, J. Randal Bays, says the claim by the POA's law firm regarding the easement encroachment "shows a basic misunderstanding of Texas law."

"You can't trespass on your own property. An easement gives another certain rights to use your land," Bays wrote in an email to The Courier. "Ms. Horne owns the land at issue and on a portion of her land the developer had an easement permitting the installation of a drainage pipe. It's still her land. And being a good neighbor and rule follower, Ms. Horne obtained the POA's approval before she landscaped the easement."

According to Horne, she was even forced to pay for expensive repairs to her house when a worker she describes as a "ditch digger" hired by the POA to work on repairing the hole, while operating a backhoe, grabbed the electrical lines from the side of her house, pulled the lines through the home's meter box and left, while "everything in my breaker box was arcing." Also damaged, according to Horne and neighbors, were cables that run down the hillside and are attached to and provide support to wooden bulkheads that run along the side of the lake.

In her lawsuit filed last month, Horne says after she reported the issue to the POA, the infrastructure committee for the association recommended to the POA's board that $120,000 be spent on a plan that would include repairing a 24-inch drainage pipes that had collapsed under the slope. The suit claims water from the damaged pipes was not being directed into the lake as intended, but rather was apparently saturating the slope and land above, creating the sinkhole, eroding the land on the slope, spilling silt into the lake and ultimately causing the problems on Horne's property.

But, according to Horne, instead of heeding the recommendation of the committee, the POA board decided to hire laborers whose previous experience included clearing drainage ditches. And according to her suit, members of the POA board even later bragged they were able have the work done at a "cost of some $40,000 rather than the $120,000 repair cost estimate provided by the engineer."

But the lower-cost laborers, according to Horne, not only caused the extensive electrical damage to her home, but also failed to slow the growth of the expanding hole.

"You can see, my property is going into Lake Conroe," Horne told The Courier.

"I'm concerned about my property and the property of others because we have a tunnel that's going behind my bulkhead that's 14 feet in length, tumbling back. It's moving and nothing's being done to stop it."

Although it's Horne's home that is closest to the growing sinkhole, chasm, tunnel, or whatever else one wants to call the expanding and unnatural opening in the ground, other neighborhood residents also share her worries about its growth.

Russell Hoch, who lives two houses away from Horne, is concerned about possible damage to the bulkheads now that their supporting cables have been cut, as well as the potential danger from the widening hole, especially when his grandchildren come to visit.

"They want to run down the hill, go to the dock, go fishing," Hoch said of his grandchildren. "They look over and see that, and they want to go investigate. It's hard to keep them away."

Another neighbor, Edward Griffith, who lives down the street from Horne, says the hole gets bigger with every rainstorm -- heightening worries during the heaviest rainfall period of the year. He also notes the increased volume of silt that is being washed into the boat canal that runs along the back of the houses.

Neither Hoch or Griffith are part of the suit, but both fault the POA for offering assurances that they were working on the matter, while the problem remains unresolved and the hole grows larger.
Howard Wayne Baker, the former president of the Fort Worth chapter of the Bandidos motorcycle gang has been found guilty of the murder of a rival gang member

After a day of deliberation, a Fort Worth jury ruled Friday that Baker, 62, was guilty of murder in the death of 41-year-old Geoffrey Brady in December 2014 at a Fort Worth bar. He was also found guilty of aggravated assaulted, engaging in organized crime and directing a street gang.
THE WOODLANDS - The Strong Firm, P.C., a business law firm based in The Woodlands, has recently been recognized as a community partner with ExxonMobil for providing pro bono legal services to Houston and Montgomery County areas.

Attorney Bret L. Strong, Founder and Managing Shareholder of The Strong Firm P.C., was recognized at the ExxonMobil 2017 Houston Pro Bono Awards Luncheon held Feb. 22 in Houston.

"The ExxonMobil Law Department has a strong and longstanding commitment to pro bono service, and we value The Strong Firm as one of our key pro bono partners," Rob Johnson, Assistant General Counsel  Legal Services, Law Management Pro Bono Liaison, Exxon Mobil Corporation, said. "Bret Strong and The Strong Firm have a tradition of giving back to the community, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on pro bono matters that assist our neighbors in South Montgomery County."

Strong said that the firm is proud to have had the opportunity and honored to be recognized.

"Our firm has a strong commitment to supporting the needs of our community," Strong said. "Our philosophy is to give back as we can; not just financially but with hands-on volunteering as well. Getting out and getting involved makes our community a better place to live."

Founded in 2004, The Strong Firm P.C. is a locally owned and operated business law firm based in The Woodlands which specializes in all aspects of business law including real estate; oil, gas and energy; mergers, acquisitions and sales; business law and contracts; corporations, LLCs and partnerships; trusts and estate planning; business disputes; commercial disputes; lending and borrowing; and trademarks.

In addition to Strong, the firm's team of attorneys includes Eric Thiergood, Income Shareholder; Wendy Lambie, Senior Associate Attorney; Royce Lanning, Associate Attorney; Laura Dumas, Of-Counsel; and Katherine Wilcox, Associate Attorney.

The Strong Firm P.C. serves individuals and businesses in The Woodlands and the Greater Houston area as well as clients around the country and the world. The firm has been voted the number one best Attorney, Lawyer and Legal Services in The Woodlands on Woodlands Online for eight years running.

Community-minded, The Strong Firm P.C. is an active member of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Montgomery County, and serves as the official law firm of The Woodlands Township's three signature races: the Muddy Trails Bash, the CB&I TRI-The Woodlands Triathlon, and the Memorial Hermann 10 for Texas. In 2014, Bret Strong was named a "Hometown Hero" by Interfaith of The Woodlands.

The Strong Firm P.C. is located in The Woodlands at the Two Hughes Landing building overlooking Lake Woodlands at 1790 Hughes Landing Boulevard. For more information, call 281-367-1222 or visit the firm's website at www.thestrongfirm.com.

More information about ExxonMobil's pro bono program can be found on its corporate website.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The new U.S. House majority is still undetermined, but one thing was clear by Thursday night: The majority party's margin will be narrow. With a number of races closer than...
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They came from as far away as New Braunfels and Bastrop, sharing their DNA, their photos and their anguish over missing loved ones.

By the end of the third annual Missing in Harris County Day, 10 families had submitted DNA samples and dozens more learned about the safekeeping of people with dementia.

Among those seeking answers Saturday were the relatives of Rodrigo Jorge De la Garza Jr., 28, who was last seen in Houston on Jan. 18 following a family dinner at Chili's the night before.

He is the father of a little girl who turns 4 Sunday.

"We've been looking for him for all this time and we don't have any answers about where he's gone or who took him," said his father, Rodrigo De la Garza Sr.

The pair worked together in excavation, digging holes for swimming pools.

"I saw him every day," De la Garza Sr. said. "There has to be something. He always calls. This time? No call at all. ... We don't know if he's still alive."

Two family members submitted DNA samples and relatives shared photos from their cellphones.

About 100 people representing 30 missing persons turned out for the event at the Houston Food Bank Conference Center on the city's east side. Some were seeking relatives missing for years; others were new to the journey of living without answers.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences held the first event in 2015 to help people connect with resources and organizations that could assist them in finding their missing, abducted or exploited loved one.

Attendees were asked to bring photos of the missing person and other documents that might be helpful, including dental records, X-rays or police reports. Since its inception, the program has resulted in the identification of 12 deceased individuals and the location of one living person, an institute spokeswoman said.

Jo Ann Lowitzer, from Spring, wore a memorial T-shirt with photographs of her daughter, Alexandria Lowitzer  known as "Ali"  who was was 16 when she disappeared on April 26, 2010.

Ali boarded the bus at Spring High School and exited at the usual stop in her neighborhood.

Surveillance video shows her leaving the bus and witnesses corroborated that evidence.

"That's how we know what she was wearing," her mother said.

Ali never showed up to her job at the Burger Barn. Never came home. And never called.

It's been more than seven years. She would be 23 now.

"We think somebody took her for human trafficking," her mother said.

The family's private investigator has collected clues that strengthen the trafficking theory, including evidence of Ali's email being accessed over the years from Las Vegas and other out-of-state locations. Jo Ann Lowitzer said she'd like the Harris County Sheriff's Office to work more closely with her to solve the case.

The crusade for her daughter has blossomed into efforts that assist other families. She was the catalyst for state recognizing April 26 as Texas Missing Person Day, and she brought along copies of the resolution to share with others.

The Houston Police Department also offered tips for caregivers struggling to keep up with family members who have Alzheimer's or other types of dementia.

Houston Officer Darrin Buse described one case in which an older man was accused of lewdness in a store after her emerged from the restroom, approached a woman and repeatedly motioned to his crotch. Police were called.

But the man did not commit a crime, Buse said. He had dementia and approached someone who resembled his caregiver for help fastening his pants.

That man had impaired motor skills, one of the effects of brain deterioration that cause people with dementia to be misunderstood.

Wandering can also be a problem for caregivers. Depending on the circumstances, law enforcement agencies will issue a "Silver Alert" for a missing older person much like the "Amber Alert" for a missing child.

Buse, who works in HPD's missing persons unit, offered suggestions for limiting wandering. A curtain shielding a door can be a simple way to deter someone from an exit. A black mat at a doorway may be interpreted as a deep pit and avoided.

Disconnecting the battery to a loved one's car is a tried-and-true way to avoid drive-offs and sidestep confrontations about confiscating keys.

There is no need to wait 24 hours to report someone missing.

"A missing person with Alzheimer's is an emergency," Buse said. The same applies to missing children.

Two-thirds of the 566 lost and missing people reported to HPD in April were children, according to a Chronicle review of missing persons reports. The month's cases included 157 missing juveniles, 231 runaway minors and 178 missing adults. Read about how Houston police handle these cases and what prompted the "Missing in Harris County Day" campaign on HoustonChronicle.com.

cindy.george@chron.com

Twitter.com/cindylgeorge
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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Manchu Vishnu & his Wife Viranica were blessed with Twins already. This celebrity couple have been expecting their third child now.Apparently, Vishnu & Viranica had fallen in love almost a decade ago. They tied the nuptial knot in the year 2009. Viranica was born in USA but brought up in India. Viranica planned the birth of Twins in the same hospital she was born. Two Lovely Babies were welcomed into Manchu Family in 2011. Ariana and Viviana are the names chosen for the baby girls.

If reported are to be believed, Manchu Viranica is pregnant again & she will be delivering the baby in the same hospital that's proven lucky for her. Even Vishnu planned US Trip during this period to be with his wife. He is currently shooting for 'Achari America Yatra' along with Brahmanandam.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sometimes the best startups can be found in the most unusual places. There's a great bastion of entrepreneurial spirit in the hinterlands of Ohio and that's where one particular tech company is solving a staffing problem in the medical field.

Michael C. DeAloia

Startups in the Hinterland. When one typically thinks of Mansfield, entrepreneurship does not immediately come to mind. It's a Rust Belt city with a rural economy. But as Bob Cohen, executive director of Braintree will quickly note, "The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in Mansfield."

Braintree is a regional non-profit incubator and citadel of entrepreneurial thought. Cohen became executive director in 2004 and has grown the footprint, relevance and influence of the organization.

The organization was launched 30 years ago in an abandoned grocery warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was a joint project of the City of Mansfield and Richland County as a way to spark entrepreneurialism. Since its inception, the incubator has helped more than 100 startup companies, and focuses on advanced manufacturing, alternative energy, IT, bioscience and agriculture. Braintree has expanded from its humble origins in Mansfield to now include Canton, as well.

Next year, Braintree will move into a new space in the Mansfield area. The new incubation model going forward will require less space. The new software companies simply do not have the large appetite for space as some of the past manufacturing start-ups Braintree once focused heavily upon. Space was the big requirement of Braintree past portfolio companies like Midwest Aircraft Products (aviation manufacturing), Goyal Industries (passenger rail components), Greywacke Engineering (defense contractor) and Hess Industries (software intensive tool & die company).

The new incubation model has to fit a company such as Localynx, an app company that only needs a few desks, chairs and abundant wireless Internet. Software companies need the flexibility to stay in a space for short periods of time, while the manufacturing companies needed significant space to operate for longer time periods.

The Canton Braintree operation was launched in 2015 and it offers flexible office space geared toward software companies. This facility has done so well that Cohen is now scrambling for larger space. And hopes to have a new Braintree office ready sometime next year.

But Braintree is not just about space. It is a gateway to capital that could be invaluable to a raw tech startup. Braintree offers TechSprout (grant program to help with commercialization), Appleseed Microfinance (a loan fund) and access to the Innovation Fund (a regional investment fund) to its fledgling companies.

Braintree has funded 12 companies through these programs and is currently incubating 15 companies in its two locations.

Cohen has been instrumental in developing a strong slate of events for the Braintree community as well. Caffeinated Ideas is a brainstorming session over many cups of java. Entrepreneurs will talk through an idea they have and receive feedback from other attendees. Another event, Sundown Rundown, connects investors, mentors and talent through pitch events. This affair hones the entrepreneur's presentation skills to be precise, quick but informative.

Braintree is defying its age and reinventing itself to accommodate the times. It's a reflection upon the fresh entrepreneurial spirit that can be found in abundance in the hinterlands of Ohio. And is a great testament to the organization serving these noble souls.

Going to a Hyr level. Local serial entrepreneur Manoj Jhaveri is at it again. Recently, Jhaveri, and his merry band of cohorts, launched Hyr Medical in Highland Heights. The company seeks to solve the locum tenans inefficiencies in medical staffing. Locum tenens is a Latin phrase that means "to hold the place of, to substitute for."

In medical staffing, it represents an independent doctor assuming extra hours in a hospital system in which he or she does not have an affiliation. It is not uncommon for a physician to take extra shifts at other hospitals a few times a month. Currently, the only way to find a physician for these additional turns is through a locum agency. This agency is a third-party recruiter between the doctor and the hospital system. This appears to be an inefficient way to staff physicians, not to mention the agency typically charges a 50-100 percent markup on the hourly rate for the doctor.

Hyr Medical has created an online marketplace that compresses the communications between doctor and hospital. The company's platform includes an algorithm that sets the rate between the two parties. The end result - the docs make more per hour and the hospital pays less - and Hyr makes a modest margin.

To date, the company has raised $100,000 but will soon seek $500,000 in growth capital. It will soon complete its Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with the help and development support of Lean Dog, a Cleveland -based software developer. Beta product is to be launched sometime this month (June). Recently, the company hired a full-time CTO to aid in development.

Hyr Medical recently won third place in the recent Medical Capital Innovation Competition. This Cleveland-based competition had nearly 200 companies from across the United States apply and more than 25 companies pitched.

According to Jhaveri, "It was a very humbling experience. We have received fantastic support from the region and are fortunate to have a great team of advisors, partners and investors.
MAYFIELD, Ohio -- A year ago, it rained on the village's annual Cruise Night and it was postponed one day, making the usual Saturday night event become a Sunday night affair.

In addition, the 2016 Cruise Night was held in a different spot than usual, as it was centered on North Commons Boulevard due to the construction of the now-functioning village Community Room.

On Saturday night, however, all was as it should be as a warm, summer-like night played host to the 28th Annual Cruise Night at its old strip, Wilson Mills and S.O.M. Center roads.

More than 600 vintage cars, 25 years and older, made the scene, traveling to Mayfield from communities in Pennsylvania and Michigan, as well as several Ohio towns. As usual, there were vendors of everything from kettle corn to Italian foods, and three music bandstands, including a new one set up in the lot of Heinen's, 860 S.O.M. Center Road.

"It's our big event, along with Fourth of July fireworks," said Mayor Brenda Bodnar, serving as mayor for her second Cruise Night. "It's really a family night. You can see all the families walking around. It's great for our community.

"We have all of our restaurants participating in this in some way, too. It's a night when the whole community gets together."

Joe Guzik, of South Euclid, and his granddaughter, Gracie Marie Guzik, 3, of Lyndhurst, sit in the 1956 Chevy Bel Air Joe and his son, Chris, restored.

Phil Stella, a member of the village's recreation board, was selling official Cruise Night t-shirts under a tent along with fellow resident Allen Meyers.

"Mayfield Village pretty much puts on this event for all of northeast Ohio," Stella said. "What makes it different from other events, where you you usually just park and gawk, is that you actually get to cruise, and it's all for free."

Vintage cars paraded east and west along Wilson Mills Road, which was closed off between I-271 and S.O.M. Center Road. Along the route, families sat in the grass or on lawn chairs watching the cars go by, pointing out things they found especially noteworthy.

Parked in various lots were the stars of the show, actual moving antiques, that have been restored, in some cases, beyond their original glory. In many cases, their owners/restorers, sat in lawn chairs near their treasures.

Tibor Check, sitting with wife, Elizabeth, by their 1953 Chevy truck, lives in Chesterland and said he has been to about 20 Mayfield Village Cruise nights.

Check has restored about 10 cars in his lifetime, but said, "This (the truck) is my favorite because I did it with my two sons (Andrew and Tibor, Jr.), at my garage."

Newbury's Dennis Bergansky, and his daughter, Amy, pose next to the 1955 Ford Customliner Dennis restored.

Andrew's vintage car was, in fact, parked right next to his father's, in the village hall lot. It took from 2004-09 to properly restore the truck.

"I learned (to work on cars) from my grandfather, my father and from hanging around other guys," Check said, adding that the first car he ever owned was a 1964 Ford Galaxy.

His orange truck has a special added feature. On the dashboard can be found the autograph of actress Cindy Williams, a star of the movie "American Graffiti," and TV's "Laverne and Shirley."

"She was in my truck," Check said, stating that the star signed the dashboard at an "American Graffiti" event held in Mentor in 2011.

Adding to the family feel of the night was Joe Guzik, a 68-year South Euclid resident, who said he and son, Chris, 45, teamed to restore the black and white 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air, made in Flint, Mich., Guzik proudly displayed.

"It took about eight years," Guzik said. "We totally restored it. We put on new quarter panels and a new trunk floor, and the engine. It's a 265-cubic-inch, 205 horsepower engine. It's called a Power Pack. That's what originally came with the car. The interior is all original."

The Mayfield Village Cruise Night was the recently completed Chevy's debut.

Of course, every car has its own story.

Newbury's Dennis Bergansky, who was at the event with his daughter, Amy, said his 1955 Ford Customline began its life with a Texas owner. Bergansky bought the car 11 years ago from an Ohio seller.

"It was a rust bucket," he said of the light ice blue/white car -- once a classic 1950s turquoise -- that today shines like new. "It was a do-it-yourself project. I drive it now and then. It's not an everyday driver."

Bergansky said he, too, has been at Mayfield Village Cruise Night before.

"I like it," he said. "There's lots of cars and it's nice when a lot of people can see your car."

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FINDLAY, Ohio -- Farmers in Northwest Ohio realize that runoff from their fields feeds the giant toxic algal blooms that grow in Lake Erie's western basin each summer, and that they share responsibility for reducing the annual outbreak.

Many are attacking the problem using innovations in farm machinery, enhanced soil conservation practices and a return to some old-fashioned organic farming methods.

Their objective is to reduce the amount of phosphorus that flows from their fertilizer and manure into creeks and drainage ditches, and eventually into the Maumee River. From there it empties into the lake, forming a toxic pea soup that closes beaches, spoils vacations, scatters schools of walleye to cleaner regions, and threatens drinking water with toxic bacteria.

The 2015 algal bloom was the largest ever. Last year's bloom was the smallest in nearly a decade, but the farmers aren't taking credit for that.

"We like to think last year's bloom was influenced by what we're doing here," said Bill Kellogg, who with his son Shane has been implementing conservation practices for more than a decade on their 5,000-acre corn and soybean farm in Hardin County. "But the reality is the major reason for the small bloom was that we didn't have any major rain events."

The Kellogg farm is one of three demonstration farms in the Blanchard River watershed employing agricultural renovations to reduce nutrient runoff. Their successes and failures will be shared with local farmers and land management agencies.

The demonstration farms are part of a $1 million, five-year project, and the centerpiece of the Ohio Farm Bureau's Water Quality Action Plan. The program encourages farmers to voluntarily adhere to the Four Rs: use the Right nutrients on their fields, at the Right rate, and at the Right time of the planting season, in the Right location.

The Kelloggs already have seen healthy returns on a $177,000 purchase of a sub-surface cultivator, which places fertilizer 3 to 8 inches below the soil. An on-board computer determines the exact amount of fertilizer needed in each row. The high-tech machine has cut $100,000 from the Kelloggs' annual $300,000 fertilizer bill.

"If you can keep the dirt on the field the fertilizer stays there, too," Shane Kellogg said.

"We want to try to prove to the other farmers and people in larger cities that we're out here and we're trying to fix this thing," he said. "We want to help the problem, not be a part of it."

Duane and Anthony Stateler of Hancock County have different issues to deal with at their demonstration farm where they raise 7,000 hogs from the nursery to the slaughterhouse. It's a 156-day process, during which the piglets gain more than 270 pounds and produce more than 2 million gallons of manure per year.

The Statelers' manure-treatment system is decidedly low-tech, but environmentally friendly. The pigs' waste products flow through grates in their pens into a 10-foot deep pit. When the pit is filled, the Statelers stir it and flush it into giant manure tanks for application in the fields via their subsurface tiller.

"We have farmers banging on our doors begging for our manure," said Anthony Stateler. "It's 40 percent cheaper than commercial fertilizer, and with its nutrient value it's the best organic fertilizer source out there."

Last week, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, Republican from Ohio, visited Chris Kurt's 470-acre demonstration farm in Hardin County, where he grows corn and soybeans and employs conservation techniques such as a phosphorus filtration bed pilot project. Water from a field flows through an underground pit containing steel slag, which removes the phosphorus before the cleansed water flows into a drainage ditch.

Portman praised Kurt's farming methods as evidence of the value of investments from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has been targeted for elimination as part of the Trump budget cuts.

"The Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network is a great example of how GLRI funds are being used to improve water quality in the region while supporting sustainable farming practices," Portman said.

"The project I saw firsthand uses cutting-edge conservation practices to improve water quality, and it is incredibly important to the Blanchard River Watershed and the Great Lakes," Portman said.

Over the next few weeks, Chad Penn, a soil research scientist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, will oversee the installation of a larger phosphorus filtration bed on the Kurt farm to handle runoff from a 20-acre field. The bed is being financed with a $190,000 grant from the Great Lakes Commission.

Two Ohio laws also contribute to the ongoing battle against phosphorus runoff. Senate Bill 150 requires certification of every farmer who applies fertilizer to more than 50 acres of fields. Senate Bill 1 restricts fertilizer and manure distribution in the western basin on snow-covered, frozen or saturated fields, or when rain is predicted for the following day.

"There is not a farmer out there who wants to be a part of the problem," said Doug Deardorff of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Findlay.

"Fertilizers and manure are expensive, and they [farmers] want to make sure they stay on their property. They certainly don't want to see them flushed down the streams to become part of an environmental problem," Deardorff said. "But there's always room for improvement."

Some of the soil conservation practices being used on the demonstration farms include:

* Planting cover crops such as winter rye, alfalfa and other native plants that blanket the fields during winter and are plowed back into the soil in spring as "green manure." They help to curb erosion and weeds, and add nutrients to the soil;

* Planting conservation cover such as buffer strips of native grasses, wildflowers and trees to help filter phosphorus and reduce soil erosion, as well as to provide food for pollinators;

* Sub-surface placement of fertilizer and manure with specialized equipment that manages flow rate and helps to avoid soil surface runoff;

* Burying phosphorus filtration beds beneath the soil surface to capture phosphorus and discharge clean water into drainage ditches;

* No-till farming, another old-fashioned technique, in which the tops of the corn or other crops are harvested, and the roots remain in the soil. This practice educes erosion, adds organic matter to the soil, and improves water quality by filtration;

* Building two-stage ditches in the fields that include vegetative benches that mimic natural channels, help to remove phosphorus, reduce turbidity and prevent stream bank erosion.

Cover crops are an old organic farming practice that had fallen out of favor except among traditional Amish farmers. But they're gaining favor again in the Blanchard River watershed, Bill Kellogg said.

An especially wet May in Northwest Ohio has sent large phosphorus loads from farm fields into the Maumee River, increasing the chances of a large toxic algal bloom this summer in Lake Erie's western basin.

"The number of cover crops in Hardin County is unbelievable," Kellogg said. "Things are being done differently around here. Even non-farmers are stopping by asking, 'What are you planting in that field that doesn't look like soybeans?' "

The Kelloggs credit cover crops with improving their soybean yields by more than three bushels an acre. And they're proud of their wildflower beds, too, which are helping the pollinators.

"I spent my entire career trying to eliminate milkweed, and now I'm planting it for the butterflies and the bees," said Bill Kellogg.

The new and resurrected soil and water conservation techniques on the demonstration farms are having an impact in the Western Lake Erie Basin, where 99 percent of the acreage is being managed with at least one conservation practice, said Joe Cornely of the Ohio Farm Bureau.

But conservationists and Lake Erie advocates say voluntary conservation programs aren't enough. Studies have shown that about 85 percent of the phosphorus entering Lake Erie comes from farm fertilizers and manure in the Maumee River.

"I know there are farmers out there doing good things, and they should be applauded," said Kristy Meyer, managing director of Natural Resources at the Ohio Environmental Council.

"But they're not doing it on the scale necessary to make a significant difference in the water quality being discharged into Lake Erie. They need to do much more."

Ohio needs common sense regulations, Meyer said. Too many farmers run their fields the way their families have run them for generations, without applying smart conservation practices, she said.

That opinion doesn't go over well in Hardin and Hancock counties, however.

"We do realize that agriculture is part of the problem, but we don't want people coming in here telling us what we can and cannot do, threatening us with more regulations," said Bill Kellogg.

The reality is that more than anything the alga bloom is impacted by the weather: spring and early summer rainfall.

"Give us control of the weather and we'll end this thing in no time," Bill Kellogg said.

Recently, the Kellogg farm received 7.4 inches of rain over a three-week period, which doesn't bode well for the bloom of 2017, he said.

Early projections by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called for another below-average-size algal bloom, based on a relatively dry March and April. But an extremely wet May has discharged a substantial load of phosphorus into the Maumee River and made the initial projection less reliable and a large bloom more likely, said NOAA forecaster Rick Stumpf.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Matthew McConaughey spent considerable time in Cleveland recently filming a movie called "White Boy Rick." The film is based on the true story of a Detroit crack dealer sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for possessing nearly 17 pounds of cocaine.

Rick Wershe Jr. was 18 years old at the time of his 1988 conviction. The inevitable social commentary in a movie based on Wershe's adolescence promises to be compelling. His story raises important questions and illuminates a few criminal justice hypocrisies along the way.

For starters, why was a non-violent juvenile sentenced to life without parole possibilities? In Michigan as in Ohio, adult murderers and rapists are routinely released after serving far less time than the 29 years Wershe currently has on the books.

In 2003, Michigan rewrote the draconian law used to convict Wershe, a change that now renders him eligible for parole. A decision on his latest parole request filed Thursday is expected soon.

Starting at the age of 14, Wershe, who had no juvenile drug convictions, was recruited to work as an informant for the Detroit Police Department and the FBI. The teenager proved skilled in the ways of a double agent. Despite being Caucasian in an overwhelmingly African-American city, Wershe infiltrated a major Detroit drug organization, and helped bring down a couple of the city's top kingpins.

The cinematic intrigue embedded in Wershe's story is undeniable, but it's the law enforcement exploitation and grooming of children that fascinates me most. How often does it happen? What are the ethics surrounding the recruitment and use of teenage informants?

When the FBI lost interest in the use of Wershe's snitching services, having achieved the convictions they sought, he was discarded. By then, the high school dropout had an insider's view of the crack-cocaine business. In short order, he became a major dealer himself, while beginning to openly date the married niece of the late Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.

Wershe's success didn't last long, though. The Drug Enforcement Agency quickly took note of the flashy teenager attempting to establish a Miami-to-Detroit drug pipeline, and ended his career as it was taking off.

If Wershe is paroled by the movie's January release date, his journey will make for an interesting epilogue. Heroin is now the drug that bedevils his hometown. In the meantime, McConaughey appears to have left Cleveland better than he found it. His Just Keep Livin foundation, which works to empower high school students, has added Cleveland to the cities it sponsors with fitness and wellness programs.
If David Stockman is right, Wall Street should hunker down.

"This is one of the most dangerous market environments we've ever been in. It's the calm before a gigantic, horrendous storm that I don't think is too far down the road," he recently said on "Futures Now."

Stockman, who was director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, made his latest prediction after lawmakers grilled former FBI Director James Comey over whether President Donald Trump tried to influence the Russia investigation.

"This is a huge nothing-burger, but you don't take comfort from that. You get worried about that because the system is determined to unseat Donald Trump," said Stockman.

Stockman argues the latest drama on Capitol Hill is a distraction from the real problems facing the economy.

"If the Senate can involve itself in something this groundless, it's just more hysteria about Russia-gate for which there is no evidence. If they can bog themselves down in this, then we have a dysfunctional, ungovernable situation in Washington," he said, noting there are just seven weeks until lawmakers go home for the August recess.

Stockman contends it's unlikely tax reform and an infrastructure package will become reality in this environment  two business-friendly policies seen as a huge benefit to Wall Street.

In fact, he warns, the country could see a government shutdown in a matter of months.

A scenario like that could wipe out all of the stock market gains since the election and more, according to Stockman.

"I don't know what Wall Street is smoking. They ought to be getting out of the casino while it's still safe. Yet there's this idea that since he [Trump] wasn't incriminated, that proves that we can move on," he said. "I think it's crazy."

Stockman believes the could easily fall to 1,600, about a 34 percent drop from current levels. He's made similar calls like this in the past, but they haven't materialized.

"There is nothing rational about this market. It's just a machine-trading-driven bubble that's nearing some kind of all-time craziness, mania," he said.

Sign up for the "Futures Now" newsletter here.
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Bobbi Brown Adam Jeffery | CNBC

A chat at Kiehl's landed her a business partner In the late 80s, while Brown was still working as a makeup artist, she started talking to a man in a Kiehl's pharmacy. He was a chemist. "I said, 'I have an idea. I want to make a lipstick that isn't greasy, isn't dry, doesn't smell like my mother's lipstick, actually looks like the color of my lips,'" she says. The natural look was a novel idea at the time; 80s makeup was bold. "He said, 'I'll make it for you.' And he made it for me. And then he called me and he said, 'How about we're partners? We will sell it for $15, you get $7.50, I get $7.50.' I thought, 'That's great.' "That's how it started."

A talk with a friend gave her P.R. What began as one lipstick color grew into a line of 10 shades. Brown told a friend about her new endeavor  that friend also happened to be an editor at Glamour magazine. She asked if Brown if she could write about the lipstick collection.

"I'm like, 'Why would you want to do that?' Now, I know it's called P.R.," recalls Bobbi. Brown put her home phone number in the Glamour article, and after it ran, she was flooded with orders. Still a working make-up artist, Brown and her husband, who was then in law school, stuffed lipsticks in manila envelopes and sent them off. The lipsticks didn't even have a box. A walk in the park was her market research "I actually ask a lot of people their opinion," says Brown. Early on, she would walk up to strangers in the park and ask them to test her products. "And everyone loved it. I guess now they call that focus groups, but I just asked people's opinion," says Brown. "I would go to the park, and I would see all these different nationality women and I would ask them to try certain things and that's how I knew what worked on different skin colors." An aversion to awkward elevator silences led to a production facility "It's weird to be in an elevator and people don't say anything," says Brown. "I always say, 'Hi.'" One time was particularly serendipitous: "I was in the elevator of my New York apartment and I said to the girl in the elevator, 'Hi, what do you do?' She said, 'I work at a lab in Long Island City.' I'm like, 'Can I have your card?' And that's [the lab] where I made the lipstick." Even after selling the company, Brown insisted Lauder have the the lipsticks made at the same Queens facility. A cocktail conversation got her high end distribution "I was at a party and I introduced myself to the woman that was throwing the party and I said, 'What do you do?' She said, 'I'm a cosmetics buyer at Bergdorfs.' So I said, 'Oh, I've got this line of lipsticks.' "And that's how I got into Bergdorfs," Brown recalls about landing her line in the upscale department store, Bergdorf Goodman.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions joins White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2017.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday to address matters former FBI Director James Comey brought up this week in testimony to the same panel.

In a letter seen by Reuters, Sessions told Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, that the intelligence committee is the "most appropriate" place to address matters that came up during Comey's hearing on Thursday.

The letter did not say whether Sessions planned to give public testimony or to appear before the panel behind closed doors.

"In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum," Sessions said in the letter.

The committee "is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added. The Senate panel is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In March, Sessions removed himself from any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the elections, but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met last year with Russia's ambassador.

In testimony to the Senate panel on Thursday, Comey accused President Donald Trump of firing him to try to undermine the FBI's investigation of possible collusion by people in Trump's campaign with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Comey's appearance raised new questions about the attorney general's relationship with Russian officials and others with ties to President Vladimir Putin. One question is whether Sessions had any undisclosed meetings with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak or other Russians during the campaign or after Trump's inauguration.

In the most eagerly anticipated U.S. congressional hearing in years, Comey told lawmakers the Trump administration had lied and defamed him and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the president dismissed him on May 9.

Sessions had planned to appear before the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees, but the deputy attorney general will take his place, the letter said.
Recently, industry trade group Airlines for America said they expect a record 234.1 million passengers to travel worldwide on U.S. airlines this season, a reflection of vacation-hungry families, low oil prices and overall strong demand for air travel.

That's good news for airlines, yet full planes  and the extra fees many airlines charge for preselecting a seat  means families may have trouble getting seated together on airplanes, making it likely adult travelers may find themselves planted next to cranky children.

As part of the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2016, airlines were supposed to ensure that families flew together without charging extra fees. However, "the rulemaking for this law has never taken place," said Charles Leocha, co-founder of the consumer advocacy group Travelers United, with the policy tied up in bureaucratic red tape since its passage.

Although some airlines make strides to seat families together, the lack of a regulatory framework means families flying this summer "are still on their own," said Suzanne Kelleher, a family travel expert at Tripsavvy.com.

Southwest Airlines, which doesn't have assigned seats, gives families traveling with children six years or younger a head start in the boarding process, prioritizing them ahead of most other travelers in a way that insures families can get seats together.

American Airlines "checks for families traveling with children 13 and under a few days before the flight, and seats each child with an adult," said airline spokesperson Ross Feinstein. "If the automated system doesn't find adjacent seats for families, our agents will assist families at the gate."

Meanwhile, United Airlines staff works "to keep families seated together and will ask customers onboard to move seats to accommodate families," said United spokesperson Charles Hobart.

If preassigned seats haven't been secured, "Check in online 24 hours before your flight, when you should be able to see your seat assignments," Kelleher said. "If you see that your seats are not together, call your airline's customer service center."

If sitting together as a family is a priority, "It can be worth it to shell out the extra cost for 'premium seats' to make sure to get seats together," she said.

Kids flying solo
During high school and college, I spent summers and school breaks working as a waitress at a shore club in Westchester. Don't let the setting fool you: It wasn't a glamorous job. In 90 degree weather, I had to wear a white, long sleeve collared shirt, dress pants and a tie, all while doing demanding mental and physical work. We weren't allowed to be seen anywhere on the premises, except for the dining room or the dimly-lit basement. During the hottest days, I often wondered why I hadn't been able to secure an internship, or a job in an air-conditioned office like some of my friends had. Though I respected my hard working colleagues, I didn't see how the experience would help me further my career goal of becoming a journalist. But looking back, I realize the experience taught me skills that would later help me land positions in my field. In fact, some of these skills are ones employers are looking for right now. Here are five skills I learned working as a server:

1. Collaboration

Teamwork is crucial to a restaurant running smoothly. When a wine glass fell from one of my tables at the opposite end of the room (while I was taking orders from another customer), a colleague stepped in and swept it up. When I noticed a customer without water, regardless of whether or not it was my table, I filled it. If we didn't help each other out, problems would arise. That lesson applies to office jobs, too when a colleague is stuck on a project and asks for your input, you offer to lend a hand. When you hit a roadblock a few days later, you ask for input. Being a great team player doesn't just help your company run more smoothly, it also boosts your relationships with your colleagues. (Your boss will notice, too.)

Getty Images

2. Attention to detail

In the food industry, details matter. Not only do people want their food to look and taste good, they expect the whole experience to be well-managed. If I didn't tie my tie correctly, I was told to redo it. If I didn't fold a napkin correctly, I was told to fix it. After a few times, these things became second nature to me, and no explanation from my boss was needed. Whether you're folding a napkin or writing a succinct email, there will be times when you forget to look at the small things, and end up making a mistake. Nobody's perfect, but try to learn from those small errors. Give yourself time to look at the details so you present your best work.

Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

3. Effective communication

As a server, I had to learn how to speak up. When I didn't understand the complicated electronic ordering system that sends orders from the dining floor to the kitchen, I learned that asking your manager to help you is a lot easier than botching orders and dealing with the fallout. Being able to clearly and professionally express yourself is one of the top skills employers are looking for right now. Whether it's writing emails or speaking with energy, how you communicate matters.

Reza Estakhrian/Getty Images

4. Owning my mistakes

A few times, I accidentally submitted the wrong food item to the kitchen. I'd click "steak" instead of "rib eye steak" in the computer system that tells the chef what to prepare. That was something that he, surrounded by hot cooking equipment in a sweltering environment, never appreciated. By owning my mistake, apologizing and making a note of what I should do correctly the next time, I was able to move on. Every professional will, at some point, do something incorrectly. Having the experience of communicating your mistake, as well as what you learned from it, is useful in any job setting.

5. Learning new things quickly
Does the stock market perform better under a Democrat or Republican president? The answer might not be as simple as you'd think.

For years, researchers have found that a Democrat in the White House is correlated with strong excess market returns over the past century. A new paper questions that belief, and suggests that previous results in the literature were the result of reporting bias, data mining and selection bias. Those are serious allegations in the impartial world of academic research.

The most recent evidence showing a correlation between a Democratic president and strong market returns was from earlier this year, when a working paper from two University of Chicago researchers was put out by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Lubos Pastor and Pietro Veronesi's research  which expanded upon a 2003 paper  found that in the period 1927 through 2015, the stock market saw average excess returns of 10.7 percent under Democratic presidents and negative 0.2 percent under Republicans.

Pastor and Veronesi explain that nearly 11 percent difference  the so-called "presidential puzzle"  with a model for time-varying risk aversion through occupational choices and presidential elections. When risk aversion is high, like during economic crises, voters flock to Democratic candidates, they argue. When risk aversion is low, during boom times, voters select the Republican candidate.

Not so fast, say researchers at Research Affiliates, a quantitative and "smart beta" fund manager run by Rob Arnott. The new paper argues that previous studies  including Pastor and Veronesi's  on stock markets under different parties overstate returns under Democratic presidents because of two unique occasions that throw off the average.
Uber Technologies' chief business officer, Emil Michael, may leave the company within days, NBC News reported, citing a source.

Michael, who joined the ride-hailing company in 2013, may leave Uber permanently or take a leave of absence, the source added. Michael is considered one of CEO Travis Kalanick's closest allies.

Michael has been involved in some incidents that added to a recent spate of bad publicity for the company. At a public dinner in 2014, he talked about hiring a team of opposition researchers to dig up dirt on journalists investigating the company, and was reportedly part of a small team of execs that visited a karaoke-escort bar in South Korea, which drew an HR complaint from a female exec in attendance. CEO Travis Kalanick's ex-girlfriend, Gabi Holzwarth, told The Information that Michael called her earlier this year to try and dissuade her from talking to the press about the escort bar incident, where she was present.

Uber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The news comes as Uber considers recommendations from a highly anticipated report, spearheaded by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, on the company's reportedly raucous corporate culture. It also comes on the heels of the revelation of an email Kalanick sent to employees, advising them of sex guidelines for a company party in Miami.

Holder's review launched in February after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and the lack of a suitable response by senior managers.

Uber's board is said to be voting today on recommendations from the Holder report. A potential leave for Kalanick is also reportedly under consideration.

Reporting by Jo Kent; writing by Michael Calia. Reuters contributed to this article.
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Last year, Silicon Valley was united in its opposition to President Donald Trump. Then it fell into a collective depression when the New York businessman got elected to the White House. As investors and tech executives mull what to do next, venture capitalist Josh Harder has opted for a new career path: He's running for Congress. Harder, who spent the past three years at prominent tech investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners, recently moved back to his hometown of Turlock, California, 100 miles southeast of San Francisco, in California's Central Valley. The 30-year-old Democrat and political rookie is building an army of volunteers and looking to tap his tech contacts for money as he aims to unseat Republican Congressman Jeff Denham in the state's 10th district next year. "People in my generation, if they don't raise their hand and step forward  and are spending their time writing Facebook creeds instead of trying to affect change  then we deserve what we get," Harder, who went to high school in the district's biggest city Modesto, said in an interview with CNBC. "I'm frustrated and tired of standing on the sidelines." In Denham's district, which is lined with almond fields and battered by 8 percent unemployment (higher in some parts), the Democratic Party is preparing to go hard after the incumbent, targeting his seat as one of the most likely to flip in 2018. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won the majority of votes there in the 2016 presidential election, and Denham, who was first elected to Congress in 2010, held on by less than 5 points.

Immigration binds Silicon Valley and the Central Valley

Harder is just getting started, knocking on doors and rallying support through small events, including an evening get-together for about 30 volunteers last week.

Josh Harder and his volunteers Harder for Congress

He sees no reason to wait. Across the country in Georgia, another 30-year-old Democrat, Jon Ossoff, is raising record sums of money to try and win a special election this month for a Congressional seat that Republicans have held since 1979. Harder's big challenge is bridging the gap between his experience in the business and technology world with the needs of a rural area whose poverty rate of 20 percent is about 5 points above the national average, according to the latest census figures.

The needs of his district really have nothing to do with tech priorities. Ethan Kurzweil partner at Bessemer Venture Partners

The tech industry, which donated about 40 times the amount of money to Clinton as to Trump last year, is a huge asset to Harder. But he knows some local voters might see him as a carpetbagger: He was educated at Stanford and Harvard, and spent the bulk of his career in white-collar consulting and tech jobs. Harder, who still has plenty of connections to the Central Valley, including his parents in Turlock, said he spends all his time talking about three important local issues: jobs, health care and immigration. "He's trying to run a local race," said Ethan Kurzweil, a partner at Bessemer who's worked closely with Harder and plans to donate to his campaign. "The needs of his district really have nothing to do with tech priorities." However, immigration is one issue that unites Silicon Valley and the Central Valley against Trump's "America first" agenda and his proposal to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. While tech counts on engineering talent from overseas, about one-fifth of Stanislaus County is foreign-born, primarily from Latin America. "Half our kids are Spanish speakers," said Kate Nyegaard, an 81-year-old resident of Modesto, who has spent almost her entire life in the district and previously sat on the school board. Nyegaard and her husband, a doctor from Paraguay, recently hosted Harder at their house for a two-hour meet and greet. Based on the candidate's views on health care, climate change, immigration and women's rights, Nyegaard said she's all in for the young candidate. "Denham is not really paying attention to what the people here want," said Nyegaard, who also happens to be the sister of film director and Modesto native George Lucas. "We could use some new faces and new energy."

A vulnerable Republican

Harder will first have to win what could be a hotly contested primary. He is one of five Democratic candidates already running, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Signs referring to the water shortage in Kettleman, California's Central Valley. Harriet Taylor | CNBC

If he gets through the primary, Harder believes Denham has made himself even more vulnerable since his narrow 2016 victory by siding with House Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The editorial board of the Modesto Bee said his vote would make the lives of his constituents "much worse." In Stanislaus County, the heart of the 10th district, the number of uninsured dropped by 68 percent in the two years after ACA was implemented. Almost 63,000 people enrolled in ACA's Medicaid expansion are at risk of losing coverage, according to a study by the University of California at Berkeley. "This is an area that feels and understands how misrepresented it is," Harder said. California's Department of Health Care Services estimates that under the American Health Care Act, the replacement to the ACA, the state will see $24.3 billion in federal government funds cut by 2027. Denham disputes that idea that the new health care bill, should it become law, will kick his constituents off Medicaid. He said the only people who will lose coverage are those who get a job. This week Denham introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to test new reimbursement models and make it more appealing for doctors to practice in areas with many Medicaid patients. "There's still an access issue here," Denham said, in an interview. "We're responding to this on a step-by-step approach to address all aspects of health care." But Harder also knows he can't win with only an anti-Trump platform. He needs a plan for economic growth in an area like Stanislaus County, where unemployment is almost twice the statewide average.

Modesto, California. PROJimmy Emerson | Flickr
22.00

Final full list 



Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service  Rt Hon Theresa May MP

First Secretary of State, and Minister for the Cabinet Office  Rt Hon Damian Green MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer  Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP

Secretary of State for the Home Department  Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs  Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union  Rt Hon David Davis MP

Secretary of State for Defence  Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon KCB MP

Secretary of State for Health  Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

Lord Chancellor; and Secretary of State for Justice*  Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP

Secretary of State for Education, and Minister for Women and Equalities  Rt Hon Justine Greening MP

Secretary of State for International Trade, and President of the Board of Trade  Rt Hon Liam Fox MP

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy  Rt Hon Greg Clark MP

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Secretary of State for Transport  Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government  Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP

Lord Privy Seal, and Leader of the House of Lords  Rt Hon Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Secretary of State for Scotland  Rt Hon David Mundell MP

Secretary of State for Wales  Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland  Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP

Secretary of State for International Development  Rt Hon Priti Patel MP

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport  Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions  Rt Hon David Gauke MP

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster* (and Conservative Party Chair)  Rt Hon Sir Patrick McLoughlin MP

The following also attend Cabinet:

Chief Secretary to the Treasury  Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP

Lord President of the Council, and Leader of the House of Commons  Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)  Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP

Attorney General  Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP

Minister of State (for Immigration), Home Office  Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP

Further announcements regarding other ministerial appointments and confirmation of existing appointments will be made in due course.

* unpaid

19.30

This is the one genuinely disappointing re-appointment to date. I have nothing whatsoever against McLoughlin, who was a resourceful Chief Whip and is a great Party servant, but it is unfair to put him in charge of clearing up the campaigning mess that took place on his watch  see Marks piece this morning.

Indeed, this move could prove fatal, if the Party is thrown into a second election within a year. Conspiracy theorists might argue that McLoughlins return is intended to frighten off MPs from pushing a leadership change that might be followed by an autumn election. Maybe they are right.

19.00

And on that farm he had a dog. With a bow-wow here, and a bow-wow there

This is quite a clever appointment. Gove is back at the centre of events, but not too near it. The Environment Secretary has become a post for a fourth Brexit musketeer, and Gove will hopefully be free to think through what British farming will look like after we leave the EU.

So: a year in exile, and now he sits with Boris Johnson round the same Cabinet table. On the surface, the appointment looks like a surprise: Gove and May quarelled viciously in government, and she lost Fiona Hill, the co-Chief of Staff who has just resigned again, after a spat.

But in another it isnt. Gove was discreetly used during the election campaign by May Central. And now what is left of it has decided he is needed.

Brandon Lewis, tipped by ConHome for promotion, will attend Cabinet as a Home Office Minister.

18.45

Whatever may nor may not be happening to Gove, its nothing to do with being Leader of the House. Instead, Andrea Leadsom has bagged the post.

This is at least a sideways move and arguably upwards for the former Environment Secretary. It is also, at first glance, a strange apppointment. Leadsom seemed a good fit at Defra  in so far as May would let her do anything.

But the Prime Minister seems to think she needs Leadsom now, and has moved her just a little closer to the centre of power. A few days ago, the latter was tipped for the sack. Now, she is a Government lynchpin.

18.30

James Brokenshire back at Northern Ireland. Would have been odd to move him under present circumstances.

Also: is Gove really on his way to Downing Street? If so, will he be Party Chairman? Leader of the House? Not much else left.

Karen Bradley reinstated at Culture, Media and Sport.

17.30

Chris Grayling back at Transport. Priti Patel back at International Development. Gavin Williamson back as Chief Whip.

We are reaching the death-knell of this shuffle  or, to be more accurate, mini-shuffle. The lack of room the Prime Minister has for manoeuvre is now visibly cramping her in.

Party Chairman, anyone?

17.15

Jeremy Hunt re-appointed as Health Secretary.

Hunt is already Britains longest-serving occupant of the post, and one cant help wondering if he now has the world title in his sights.

His persistence is another sign of Mays limited options. Health is a potentially explosive portfolio, demanding a seasoned politician to defuse it. There are few potential successors  so Hunt stays put.

Alan Cairns stays as Wales Secretary.

17.00

David Lidington to Justice  and to become Lord Chancellor.

He is the third non-lawyer in a row to hold the post once occupied by Thomas. But I suspect that the judges wont mind at all: he is a courtly, highly intelligent, civilised operator and a committed public service. And he will bring a fine mind and, dare I say it, Christian conscience to the festering business of prison reform.

Two reservations. 1) His range and reach as Leader of the House will be hard to replicate, and these qualities will be needed more than ever in this hung Parliament. 2) As well as being a fairly static shuffle, this one is also leaning a bit Remainish, with Green as First Secretary of State and Lidington, a former Europe Minister, gaining promotion.

16.45

Justine Greening stays as Education Secretary.

This is the point at which we can start thinking that this will be a static reshuffle, with the Prime Minister unable to take risks or make major changes.

Greening has had difficulties at the department over schools funding and grammar schools. The Conservative Manifesto offered her a way out of the first. Does Nick Timothys departure allow her one from the second?

And Sajid Javid is back at Communities and Local Government,

His is another name that was floated as a potential casualty. But so far, May is playing it safe. Javid will return to continue, we hope, his push for more housing.

Furthermore, he is developing an interest in integration, which he is well-positioned to pursue politically as the sole Muslim in the Cabinet (at present).

16.30

Liam Fox stays at International Trade.

Fox was scarcely visible during the national campaign, leading to speculation that the Prime Minister might move him  or axe him altogether.

Were she thinking of doing so, her lack of a majority now means that discretion is the better part of valour.

16.15

Liz Truss is Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Thats a demotion from a department of her own to second fiddle in someone elses  Philip Hammonds  and keeps the spiky former Justice Secretary out of the public eye.

Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt in Number Ten.

16.00

David Gauke is Work and Pensions Secretary.

Green wasnt on ConHomes list for such a big elevation  though we thought he might be made Chancellor  but Gauke was bang on our list for the welfare department.

He is a man of the Right who has transitioned through Team Osborne  he has been in the Treasury team since 2010  to Camp May (and who for interest was a Remainer last summer).

15.45

Damian Green is First Secretary of State  in effect, Deputy Prime Minister. George Osborne had the title when Chancellor of the Exchequer under David Cameron after the 2015 election.

This is May circling the wagons  the former Work and Pensions Secretary is one of her oldest political allies: their relationship reaches back to undergraduate days at Oxford

He takes charge of Ben Gummers former fiefdom at the Cabinet Office  so will be at the centre of events.

Green is of course another former Remainer. Some will say that Ministers should no long be looked at through a Remainer/Leaver lens. But in the current political context, the appointment will make some Brexiteers very nervous.

And the former Work and Pensions Secretary is now in play as a Stop Johnson leadership candidate should the eventuality arise.

Justine Greening also in Downing Street.

Greg Clark reappointed as Business Secretary.

15.15

Liz Truss first to be seen going into Downing Street.

Damian Green next in

There is persistent speculation that May will appoint a Deputy Prime Minister. Names floated: David Davis or Michael Gove. The last would bring the former Education Secretary very close to Boris Johnson in the top team, which doesnt sound like a very strong and stable idea to me.

13.30

Paul Goodman reporting

Beth Rigby of Sky News and others are tweeting that May will complete her Cabinet resuffle this afternoon. We understand that details are due to be announced from 14.00.

On Friday, she reappointed the three holders of the great offices of state  Philip Hammond, Boris Johnson and Amber Rudd  to their current positions as Chancellor, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary respectively.

She also sent David Davis back to the Brexit Department, and Michael Fallon returned to Defence. This was all as ConservativeHome predicted in its advance look at the shuffle last week, though we had a questionmark against Hammonds return.

Which leads us to the big question for this afternoon. It looks as though the Prime Minister may have wanted to move her Chancellor, but is now in no position to do so.

Will she play it safe and move or sack as few people as possible, thereby guarding her back against ex-Cabinet colleagues seeking revenge?

Or will she move at least a handful  on the ground that, if she doesnt, the media and her opponents will unite to claim that shes a lame duck Prime Minister, who no longer has the freedom to choose her own Cabinet?
Throughout the general election campaign, this site spoke to a lot of Conservative MPs. Since it ended, we have spoken to more. We have scarcely found a single one who believes that Theresa May can lead the Conservative Party into the next election and win it. The near-unanimous view is that she must go.

But while the end is undisputed, there is no agreement about the means, for two main reasons. First, any leadership election could end up looking like the last scene of Hamlet, but without the consoling presence of a Fortinbras waiting in the wings to clear up the bloody mess. There is no consensus on who might step in to succeed the Prime Minister. A leadership election would litter the Tory stage with corpses, with free marketeers turning on Mayite interventionists, friends of Lynton Crosby assailing allies of Nick Timothy, Leavers clamouring for a hard Brexit, Remainers called for a soft one, and George Osborne and the Cameroons piling in from the wings. The danger is that whoever emerged as Mays successor would do so with no authority either. An exultant Jeremy Corbyn would claim that the new Prime Minister had no mandate to govern. In such circumstances, a second election might hard to avoid. In any event, what if May refuses to step down voluntarily in the first place?

And while ConservativeHome can find no support for her continued premiership, it can find none for an early election either. Tory confidence is shattered. This is partly because there is now no trust in the manifesto that Timothy and Ben Gummer masterminded, the main measures of which cannot now be carried through the new Parliament. The social care proposals are dead. The programme of Mays putative partners, the Democratic Unionist Party, opposes her plan to end the pensions triple lock and means-test the winter fuel allowance. Above all, there is no mandate for the Governments Brexit plan, or for anything else either. Just wait until rebellious Conservative MPs, all fear of the Prime Ministers authority gone, get stuck into the Queens Speech.

The evil that the manifesto did lives after it. The good will be interred with its bones. You may agree or disagree with our view that, considered as a whole, it was a plan for grown-up government. But either way, voters rejected it. In its absence, they are about to find out what it is like to live with childish things. During the election, May and her team mocked Corbyns magic money tree. The result plants it smack in the middle of Westminster and Whitehall. Tory Ministers are now in charge of distributing its fruits to all comers.

There is another explanation of why Conservative MPs are terrified of another election soon. They have lost confidence in machine as well as manifesto. Without a replacement for Team 2015, the Party was short of boots on the ground, as the consequences of an ageing membership caught up with it. There was more trouble with VoteSource. Above all, the myth of Lynton Crosby and Jim Messinas infallible research, social media campaigning and data has been exploded. Having had a big hand in the Remain campaigns targeting, the latter met the same fate this time round. Spent the day laughing at another stupid poll from YouGov, he tweeted during the campaign. But the polling companys new model was proved correct. Messina should do a Matthew Goodwin  and eat his tweet on live TV. As for Crosby, he seems to have been busy briefing to save his skin.

This takes us to the second main reason why many Tory MPs are reluctant to ask May to go now  or seek to force her out. A leadership election would apparently take the best part of eight weeks. Last time round, the Party Board actually settled on the best part of ten. How on earth could the Conservative Party conduct such a contest, with the Prime Minister presumably in place having resigned as Party leader, during the opening of the Brexit negotiations?

Perhaps these could be postponed. However, Brexiteering MPs would cut up rough over any attempt to do so, fearing a sellout. Some Tories will doubtless float a coronation, with the membership cut out of the decision. But we members had no say in Mays election, and that hasnt turned out well. Arguably, it would have been better had her proposals for more council houses, an energy price cap, workers on boards and an industrial strategy been tested in the white heat of a full leadership election last summer. In any event, there is no agreed successor to anoint. David Davis doesnt want the job. Boris Johnsons supporters are on manoeuvres, but there is opposition to his candidacy. Some of the Remainers who voted for May now want her out as possible. Meanwhile, many of the Leavers who backed Andrea Leadsom want to keep the Prime Minister in place for the moment  in order to keep the Governments Brexit plan on track. Oh, the irony!

Better by far, say the wise old owls, to hang on. An arrangement with the DUP would give the new Government a majority, they say. There is no prospect of a no confidence vote succeeding. And May can find shelter behind our old friend, the Fixed Terms Parliament Act. Maybe she should see the Brexit talks through, some muse, and then depart with the thanks of a grateful nation.

Perhaps the old birds are right. But this site is nagged by the uncomfortable feeling that they may be failing to see the wood for the trees. May won the biggest Tory share of the vote since Margaret Thatcher, but the landslide she anticipated did not take place. Voters seem to have mulled her refusal to level with them over social care, her reluctance to debate, her lack of ease with campaigning and engagement  and, having weighed her in the balance, found her wanting. It is not certain that she has the flexibility and adaptability to share power with her Cabinet and Party and Parliament, as she must now do to survive.

It is all very well to take refuge behind fixed terms plus hope in the DUP. David Cameron had a majority, and his government was crippled by rebellions. May was at mercy of the Commons even before the election: remember the Budget and national insurance? Conservative MPs may not yet have grasped that we face the possibility of five years of a Do Nothing Government  with all that this implies for the proper management of the countrys finances. On paper, such an administration may be able to stagger on  at the mercy of tide and chance, with a Party leader vulnerable at any moment to a leadership challenge via letters to Graham Brady. But in practice?

Finally, and perhaps most balefully, a handful of Tory dissidents may seek to sink the deal with the DUP: Ruth Davidson is unhappy about it, and she counts for quite a bit. We have no easy answers. Nor does anyone else. We must perhaps wait until the new Parliament meets before the next act in this drama unfolds. But whatever it may bring, Tory MPs cannot pretend that May can lead them into the next election. They dont believe it. Nor do our readers. Nor now, reluctantly, do we.
As the chief financial officer of a Fortune 500 company, Perley McBride is better than most at math. But if crunching the numbers easily enough on how to maneuver Frontier Communications through towers of debt on the horizon, he has no easy answer for the most basic equation the company faces today.

How does Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy flip years of declining subscriber counts onto an upward trajectory?

Asked that question at a May conference, McBride had no ready answer. It was a moment in time that captured the central problem facing Norwalk-based Frontier, following a rough year in McBrides words in which the company antagonized thousands of former Verizon Communications customers in Florida, Texas and California after acquiring a quilt-work of territories in the three states for $10.5 billion, then scrambling to patch technical and customer service problems that stretched into months.

Since spending $2 billion in October 2014 for AT&Ts historic Connecticut operations, Frontier has seen its shares dwindle 80 percent.

A Frontier spokeswoman declined comment to a Hearst Connecticut Media query on how Frontier plans to win back residential customers nationally. Speaking May 22 at an investment conference in Boston sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, McBride volleyed questions from analysts about a customer churn rate  those dumping Frontier service  equal to 2.4 percent of its customer base monthly as of the first quarter of 2017, as well as $17.5 billion in long-term debt as of March.

As first reported by Bloomberg, a $1.5 billion loan issued last week by Frontier was trading below its face value only days after it was flipped to new investors  an unusual circumstance in the world of investment banking with underwriters typically doing deals on the expectation the securities they create will get a bump in value.

Weve had elevated churn, but our churn issues are behind us, McBride said. The entire sales engine for the company was disrupted in 2016.  Because there was so much attention and focus on the (Verizon) properties and getting those issues resolved, that clearly had a spillover effect on the legacy business. Our call center queues were spending most of their time addressing the (Verizon) issues.

McBride added that the company has seen churn levels return to their historic norms in its non-Verizon businesses, and that performance in California improved in April and May. But a year after the deal, Frontier was still losing customers faster than it has been signing new ones  107,000 broadband accounts on a net basis in the first quarter of 2017, leaving it with under 4.2 million.

And the losses are even more severe for TV service, with Frontier losing 7 percent of its TV customer base in just three months, a pace that would put it below 1 million subscribers if Frontier does not find a way to brake or reverse the decline.

Asked point blank if he expects Frontier revenue to actually rebound to a growth trajectory, McBride said that was possible for Frontiers sales to commercial businesses, with the company installing its first nationwide commercial sales head last year who is focused on smaller and midsize businesses. But McBride did not offer a similar vote of confidence for its residential revenues.

In the Norwalk area, Frontier is currently offering Internet plans priced between $20 and $40 a month, with Altice USA starting its Internet packages at $40 with speeds Frontier cannot match with its copper-based DSL broadband, though it is a match with the FiOS fiber optic networks it inherited in its Verizon territories.

Like its cable competitors, McBride sees the broadband account as Frontiers lifeline to customers, as people increasingly turn to over the top video services like Amazon Fire TV or Hulu that are fed over the pipe into the home.

We have always been proponents of the broadband pipe as the anchoring pipe, McBride said. We look at our video losses in Q1  30 percent of them stayed with us, they kept FiOS broadband, they just dropped FiOS video.  Consumers habits on video are changing.

In addition to introductory promotions, McBride said Frontier is considering trials of no-contract plans in its efforts to bring in customers, without revealing any specifics. And he said Frontier has also only recently gotten an online service-ordering platform operational, with the project delayed by the enormous problems created in the Verizon acquisition. McBride estimated that Verizon generated at least 20 percent of its sales through that channel.

Through it all, Frontier has been cutting jobs and selling off real estate; asked in Boston if Frontier would consider divesting any components of the company as a way to pay down some of its debt, McBride did not rule out the option.

If the McCarthy era has been one of turmoil for Frontier, McBride said he sees signs the company is turning the corner. But it is a long road ahead  in the 2017 installment of the University of Michigans American Customer Satisfaction Index survey of broadband customers published last month, Frontier ranked dead last a second straight year.

When you are fighting fires day in and day out, its hard to launch new platforms, McBride said. Was 2016 a rough year? Absolutely. Do we have good competitors? Absolutely. But we are constantly working on things inside, constantly improving the leadership, constantly improving our priorities and I think we have tremendous assets to work from.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman
On Thursday morning, a handful of hours after the General Assembly ended with a whimper  and neither bang nor budget  the state Capitol was quiet and state hero Nathan Hale looked lonely in the east atrium.

The early morning partying was subdued, with steadily diminishing numbers of Republicans and Democrats segregated in various Capitol offices, as they had been all session. For the first time in years, there wasnt even a wisp of contraband cigar smoke, let alone a spilled beer from a blotto, puking intern.

Most of the 151 House members and 36 senators had quickly decamped for the provinces, having transitioned back into pumpkins at the midnight witching hour. Even Gov. Dan Malloy, whose daily public schedule rivals Mr. Ubiquity, U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal, rejected a chance to make a post-session appearance before a joint convention of the House and Senate.

It was 3 a.m., time to search for that assistant House clerk who apparently got lost on their way to the Senate with SB 605, which had been amended by the House a couple of times with minutes to go.

It was a bill that would have halted a planned $10-million improvement program at Silver Sands, a state park that the city of Milford wants to pretend is their private beach. It had to get back to the Senate before midnight.

At that moment, 11:48, the House and Senate were raging. It was the last-gasp chance to get a bill passed in the 22-week session. Legislation was flying through the building.

Earlier, while it was still daylight, both chambers had been held up by minority Republican maneuvers to make points. In the House, GOP lawmakers wanted to give a deal to Dominion Energy, owners of the Millstone nuclear plant in Waterford. Dominion, which refused to open its books to state lawmakers, wants to get paid for their electricity at a rate given to the nascent renewables of wind, hydro and solar. Forget the hazardous spent-fuel rods bubbling away in those on-site pools for the foreseeable future. Theyre the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions unsolved problem.

Up on the third floor, in the Senate, the GOP wanted to make a show of an actual budget, as opposed to the vague outlines proposed by House and Senate Democrats, and the spending plan of Malloy, who proposed that affluent communities like Greenwich, Fairfield and Milford take massive hits in state aid.

Those issues ate up a couple hours each and all of a sudden it was 10:20, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, was calling a House bill that would establish a state Transportation Authority to provide legislative oversight of big projects. Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said it would usurp the authority of the governor. At 10:30, the vote was 18-18, so for the 14th and final time in this session, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman broke the tie for her fellow Democrats.

Down in the House chamber, at 10:46, a Senate bill to ban the state DOT from engaging in any studies of a vehicle-mileage tax was PTed  passed temporarily, the theme of the session  putting its future into doubt.

At 10:49, the vaunted lock box constitutional amendment, turning the states transportation fund as a supposedly impregnable account that lawmakers could not raid in hard times, was called in the Senate.

I think we are perpetrating on the people of Connecticut a fraud, said Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington. Somehow voting began without Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney summing up the issue. I am going to cancel the vote, Wyman pronounced. It passed at 11:02, eight minutes before the mileage-tax legislation got reintroduced in the House and approved 116-34.

At 11:13, Rep. Richard Smith, R-New Fairfield, stood to compliment Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz for starting session days on time and finishing, except for the last couple of nights, fairly early. The House chamber rose in prolonged applause. It really comes down to a simple thing, Aresimowicz said, recalling his mothers advice: The most important thing you can do is respect people.

At this point, the House was actually voting faster than the Senate. Then Duff read off a 47-item consent calendar. Gulp. At 11:38, the Silver Sands bill returned to the House like a zombie. It had been PTed earlier in the evening after Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, the longest-serving member and former Environment Committee chairman, stripped the legislation down to a parking study in Milford. Now, Rep. Kim Rose, D-Milford, seemed desperate. Mushinsky withdrew her earlier amendment, seemingly surrendering to Milford Mayor Ben Blake the power to delay it for a couple years.

Then Smith stood to add an amendment ordering the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to work with his hometown to study solutions to parking problems at Squantz Pond. So Blake would still have the power, but the bill would have to go back to the Senate. Mushinsky stood again: Its a bad bill, bad policy and if it passes I hope it gets vetoed, she said. It passed 89-60, at 11:48, as the Senate was passing the huge consent calendar.

At 11:55, the Senate voted its final consent calendar. The assistant House clerk hadnt run upstairs in time and the DEEPs plans for actual rest rooms and a concession stand were back on track. A day later, the bill history said Bill placed on agenda, Senate agenda never adopted.

Ken Dixon can be reached in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. See twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst. Dixons Connecticut Blog-o-rama is at blog.ctnews.com/dixon/
Nearly 80 PA people have been charged for Jan. 6 riot. Three are dead.

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For the second time in two years, a Conservative Prime Minister has sought party advantage by gambling with the countrys future only to lose. Now we have to live with the consequences.

So what is to be done? Lest we forget, the Conservatives won. They are unambiguously the largest party and should form a government. Together with their natural allies the DUP, they have a small but clear overall majority.

If their alliance is to be acceptable to the rest of the UK, as well as arithmetically sufficient, various conditions need to be met.

Vince Cable believes that there must be transparency in a potential Conservative alliance with the DUP. He writes: 'The poison has to be drained from the Brexit issue'

Their arrangement must be fully transparent, as was the 2010 Coalition agreement, so that there are no secret deals or bribes.

And, difficult though this will be, the governance of Northern Ireland, in which the British state must be even-handed, has to be separated from the wider issue of governing the UK.

One glimmer of hope is that the DUP, for all its sectarian history and obscurantist beliefs, is pragmatic about economic policy.

It will kill off the idea of the UK leaving the EU customs union, which is fundamental to the economy of the island of Ireland. If these important points are taken on board, there is no reason why the new Government should not survive for several years, and possibly a full term.

There are, however, some very strong lessons from this Election which, if heeded, could improve the way Britain is governed.

Vince Cable is calling on Theresa May to set up a meaningful consultative forum with other parties to develop a cross-party approach to the EU negotiations

First of all, and crucially, the poison has to be drained from the Brexit issue. The rebellion of young people had a lot to do with the way in which my generation decided and damaged their future in last years EU referendum.

The will of the people has proved not to be the will of young people. There is no longer any mandate for a hard Brexit involving withdrawal from the customs union and the single market.

There will have to be a compromise in which the 48 per cent accept the reality of Brexit, and the 52 per cent accept that a hard Brexit is no longer an option and that crashing out of the EU without a deal cannot happen.

One initiative which Theresa May should now take is to set up a meaningful consultative forum with other parties to develop a cross-party approach to the EU negotiations.

We also need to get back to a sensible economic agenda. After all, much of the anger and frustration of many voters stems from perceived economic policy failure.

The Election campaign was beyond abysmal in its treatment of issues to do with productivity, living standards and budgetary policy. The Conservatives abandoned their tradition of serious economic policy-making, and while Labours manifesto at least had numbers, they were wildly implausible.

The Election also exposed the polarisation between regions, classes and generations. If these divisions are not to become intolerable, even violent, then the way we do politics has to change.

He writes: The social democrats in the Labour Party have all but disappeared, while the Tory tradition of politicians like Ken Clarke (pictured), Michael Heseltine and John Major has also largely vanished'

Policy areas such as personal care, pensions and industrial strategy have to be based on consensus so that long-term commitments survive changes of government.

This should a big opportunity for the political centre  but the centre ground has largely been vacated. My party has revived a little but we are far from recapturing past heights.

The social democrats in the Labour Party have all but disappeared, while the Tory tradition of politicians like Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine and John Major has also largely vanished.

But if moderates fall silent, extremists will dominate.
The laughable failure of Mrs Theresa Mays empty, tremulous campaign was in fact predictable. I suspected it would happen. But I mostly kept quiet about it here for the past few weeks.

This was not because I have any time for Mrs May and her feeble, politically correct government, but because I did not much want to help Jeremy Corbyn either. And at election time, theres no room for neutrality.

Theres one good outcome. This farcical unwanted Election must surely have shown everyone a key fact  we now live in a country where the supposed natural party of government can no longer really command a majority.

The laughable failure of Mrs Theresa Mays empty, tremulous campaign was in fact predictable. I suspected it would happen

Thats like having a fridge that doesnt keep your food fresh, or a bicycle with no wheels. If we had any sense (do we?) wed dump this dead, rotting faction in the nearest skip or landfill, and find a new one to replace it. The Tories failed on Thursday because they have long believed in nothing and are interested only in being in office.

They won in 2015 only because of a grotesque splurge of millionaire donations, and ultra-expensive black magic techniques, which partly made up for the collapse of their once-majestic membership and the machine it supported.

They are, in effect, a zombie party, lurching and shuffling along in a procession of the undead, thanks to transfusions of money and the BBCs ancient broadcasting rules, which guarantee them air time.

What happened next must be one of the strangest chapters in our history. Labour (which had itself become a zombie party under Blairite control) changed its leadership election rules, and accidentally made it possible for a real socialist to win.

Youd never get a real conservative coming to the top of the Tory Party, which has elaborate mechanisms in place to stop that happening.

Odder still, the man who won, Jeremy Corbyn, was astonishingly old-fashioned, a country-bred grammar school boy brought up by parents who had taken part in the great political struggles of the 1930s.

Odder still, the man who won, Jeremy Corbyn, was astonishingly old-fashioned, a country-bred grammar school boy brought up by parents who had taken part in the great political struggles of the 1930s

He is out of his time, which is no bad thing. To see him address a rally in modern Britain (as I have done) is a bit like going to the station to catch your regular commuter service, and finding a steam train waiting at the platform  surprising, nostalgic, wheezy and ancient, more or less certain to break down, but wonderfully picturesque.

It struck me as I watched him that he was far more dangerous than the Tories thought he was. His absolute courtesy and refusal to make personal attacks appealed to many in my generation who remember a different and in some ways better Britain.

His realisation that George Osbornes supposed economic miracle was a sham, and that many have lost hope of getting steady, well-paid jobs or secure homes, appealed to the young.

He may not have any actual answers to these questions, but he at least knew they were being asked. His absolute opposition to the repeated stupid wars of recent years also has a wide appeal, in many cases to conservative-minded people and Service families sick of the waste of good lives.

A genuinely patriotic, socially conservative party might have had a proper response to these things. But the Tory Party is not that. It is just a cold machine which runs on gallons of expensive snake oil. So it decided to attack Mr Corbyn personally.

This bounced off him. In fact, the long Tory assault on Mr Corbyn was his greatest asset. When the campaign began, and people had a chance to see what he was really like, especially his dogged politeness under fire, they did that rather moving thing that British people do when they see a lone individual besieged by foes. They sided with him against his tormentors.

It was no good raving about Mr Corbyns Sinn Fein connections, when the Tories have themselves compelled the Queen to have the grisly IRA gangster Martin McGuinness to dinner at Windsor.

Its not much good attacking his defence policy when the Tories have cut the Army to ribbons and the decrepit remnants of the Navy sit motionless by the dockside, thanks to Tory cheeseparing.

We are shocked by Vladimir Putins macho remarks about how he never has a bad day because he is not a woman and so does not go through natural cycles that make the female sex more emotional.

Macho: Putin posing for selfies with a group of brides in Moscow

No Russian would be even slightly discombobulated by this sort of thing. Feminism in Russia is still firmly associated with communist tyranny, under which International Womens Day was ruthlessly enforced.

The only result of this was millions of burned meals, produced under duress by sulky Russian men who greatly resented being told the sexes were equal.

The forgotten killers in our midst

Many more people die in car crashes than die in train or plane crashes. Yet we  quite naturally  make much more fuss about the rail and air disasters. This is because so many victims die at the same time.

But, while this is understandable, is it wise? If the roads are so dangerous, and they are, we should be taking action about it.

But because the deaths come in small numbers, we do not. This problem is even more pressing when it comes to terror attacks. By treating them as national catastrophes, we make them more important than they are, and (I fear) fulfil the sick desires of the killers, who long for headlines.

Many more people die in car crashes than die in train or plane crashes. Yet we  quite naturally  make much more fuss about the rail and air disasters

Look at these figures for non-terrorist crime: two teenagers were fatally stabbed in London in the past two weeks. The number of teenager murders in the capital has already equalled that reached in the whole of 2016. That is to say 12 teenagers have been murdered so far this year, nine of them stabbed. In todays London, someone is stabbed to death roughly every other week.

More of these attacks would have been fatal had it not been for the astonishing skill and dedication of paramedics and surgeons, who regularly save people whose injuries would have been terminal only a few years ago.

I wonder, too, how often vehicles are nowadays used as weapons by people who are not terrorists. There have been recent attacks of this kind in New York and in Marbella, not connected with terror at all.

I am fairly sure that, if investigated, many of the culprits of these horrors would (like most terrorists) be found to be users of mind-altering drugs. Yet amid all the other calls for this and that, there is no will in the police or the courts to enforce our laws against drug possession. I do wonder if this is not an even more urgent matter, for more people, than the more obviously spectacular terror menace.

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It still feels extraordinary to me that Theresa May made absolutely no acknowledgement of the devastating election result

It still feels extraordinary to me that, speaking on her return to Downing Street from Buckingham Palace on Friday, Theresa May made absolutely no acknowledgement of the devastating verdict the voters had just delivered to her.

All she said was the Conservatives would work with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party to deliver an unchanged Brexit. What about the rest of her policies and the things that worry people in Britain today? What about a hint of apology for the cuts in police numbers, including armed response officers?

And instead of taking risks with the Northern Ireland peace process by allowing the DUP tail to wag the UK dog, what about working with all the other parties and the rest of Parliament to get the best deal for Britain in Europe? The Prime Minister simply does not understand whats happened to her Brexit plan. She lost her majority. The plan lies in tatters.

We now have a new House of Commons that is not going to have an extreme Brexit forced down their throats. And MPs are not going to nod through her gargantuan Repeal Bill of EU legislation without full debate and argument.

The Prime Minister made a huge mistake by closing down all her EU negotiating options before the talks even began. She was wrong to decide that Britain should come out of the EU completely, including its customs union and single market  where half our exports go  rather than keeping one foot in the trade bloc, an option open to her.

And by framing her negotiating strategy within a set of rigid red lines, she has severely restricted her bargaining ability to get the best deal available. These red lines have been imposed by hardliners in her party and the press who want Brexit at any cost, whatever the consequences for jobs and prosperity in Britain.

The EU, in response, has offered a future trade deal as long as this is on terms acceptable to them. In effect, they are saying to Britain: You can have your deal but you will have to respect our rules to get it.

I hope the EU will be reasonable and business-like. The problem is that the Prime Minister is embarking on the negotiation of her life having tied her own hands.

Britain will leave the EU in March 2019 but in all probability we will need an additional two or three-year transition period. This will require compromise by Britain on a continuing role of the European Court of Justice and movement of people.

The wild men in her party have already started to agitate against accepting any such terms which they call a bad deal. They claim that no deal would be better than a bad deal.

Lets be clear what no deal would mean for Britain: WTO tariffs imposed on around 90 per cent of the goods the UK exports to the EU, including 36 per cent on dairy, 15 per cent on food, 11 per cent on textiles, and ten per cent on cars. It will also mean import costs that will put up supermarket prices; service trade severely restricted because of regulatory differences; customs checks and inspections which would be lengthy and costly.

The most vulnerable in our country, the most indebted, the ones with the least to fall back on, would suffer most from the consequences.

The Prime Minister made a huge mistake by closing down all her EU negotiating options before the talks even began. Pictured is the PM with President Juncker

In the new parliamentary arithmetic, these terms would not get approval from the majority of MPs.

So where should Mrs May go from here?

To withstand the internal party pressures on her, the Prime Minister clearly needs broad political support.

For a start, she needs weight placed on the other side of the scales by sensible members of the Cabinet such as Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Business Secretary Greg Clark. Their silence to date has been unforgivable.

She has to be honest about both the compromise needed to achieve a deal and the consequences of not getting it. Such honesty would be a sign of strength, not weakness.

As one of Europes largest economies, Britain can both leave the EU and retain its trading rights in the single market  as Norway did when its public voted against joining the EU  albeit with less say in deciding the rules that govern that trade.

We have a bigger economy than Norway, we are more important to the rest of Europe, and have the influential status of a powerful recent member of the EU. If, with one foot still in the European camp, we asked for flexible terms  for example in how freedom of movement operates  we would be listened to and, in my view, accommodated. The Prime Minister will not be given this chance if she simply continues as she has started, by laying down the law and spelling out where she wont budge.

For a start, she needs weight placed on the other side of the scales by sensible members of the Cabinet such as Chancellor Philip Hammond

I believe if she shows flexibility, most of the country will back her.

It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing.

There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing for the country.

Mainstream Labour MPs, who worry about the impact of the continuing Corbyn revolution on centrist voters, should be prepared to stand by the wounded PM, and likewise she should welcome their approach in the national interest.

If she gives in to the Brexit headbangers, on the other hand, she will only have herself to blame when the awful reality of our position dawns and she is forced into retreat by Parliament.

Does she have the sense and courage to hatch a new Brexit plan? The next few weeks will tell.
As the Prime Minister has discovered through hard and bitter experience, you cannot run a country through a cabal. It was as if she was trying too hard to please the zealots while forgetting to comfort or reassure the great majority of reasonable voters

The giant aftershocks of the EU referendum continue to run through British politics, shaking pillars that once seemed wholly firm, demolishing walls that once seemed safe. This momentous and disturbing Election forces us to ponder hard about where we should now turn.

While Thursdays vote was not a second referendum, it has greatly altered the conditions in which we approach negotiations on leaving the EU, now only a few days away.

The Mail on Sunday has not stood back from this issue. We supported the Remain side in the referendum. We then accepted the clear verdict of the people, which was our plain duty as consistent supporters of democracy and the rule of law. We gave our thoughtful backing to Theresa May when, to our surprise, she chose to call an Election.

We thought it was reasonable for her to ask for a mandate on her Brexit policy, the justification she gave for the early Election. We urged her to take this opportunity to broaden her appeal, and to seek to speak for the millions, like us, who had opposed Brexit, accepted the referendum result but still expected their hopes and fears to be taken into account.

Alas, this was an opportunity she rather definitely did not take in a campaign startling for its narrow, dogged nature. She has never yet moved from her mantra of Brexit means Brexit, and her worrying fallback position that no deal is better than a bad deal even though their stiff-necked, chilly implications went against her own better nature.

It was as if she was trying too hard to please the zealots while forgetting to comfort or reassure the great majority of reasonable voters who remain open to workable compromise and recognise that half a loaf is in fact a great deal better than no bread at all.

And then, before she could properly get going, she was swiftly bogged down by the self-inflicted confusion over the dementia tax and over pensions, and then by an increasingly nervous and unconvincing performance.

Although she managed to garner more votes than Tony Blair attracted in his 1997 heyday, her campaign was beyond doubt a dismal failure.

Perhaps it looked good at the strategy meeting where her tiny knot of advisers decided what to do. But, as the Prime Minister has discovered through hard and bitter experience, you cannot run a country through a cabal. And those advisers, having had all the power, have now taken all responsibility and are gone.

The brutal departure yesterday of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, Mrs Mays long-serving political bodyguards and personal think tank, was symbolic of a revolution.

The brutal departure yesterday of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, Mrs Mays long-serving political bodyguards and personal think tank, was symbolic of a revolution

To a great extent, they were the heart of the pre-Election Government and its policy. That Government, and that policy, are finished for good. They were also personally close to and greatly valued by Mrs May. They were her immediate political family. Their loss will be a personal grief to her.

They have gone because, on the eve of Brexit talks and with no clear succession in view, Mrs May cannot go, and so others must suffer publicly on her behalf. She could not save them, much as she wanted to do so.

Mr Corbyn waits in the wings to take advantage of any such failure. He is still burdened with all the terrible drawbacks that have always made him unfit for office

Nothing could demonstrate more clearly how her authority has shrivelled. Mrs May, and her colleagues at the top of the Tory Party, remain in office, but all are utterly transformed. If they are to remain in power as well, and if they are to avoid the now very real danger of a Corbyn government, they are going to have to think very hard and act very cleverly.

Interestingly, the wily and experienced Brexit Secretary David Davis has already wondered aloud if the Government has lost its mandate  if it ever had one  for the so-called hard Brexit, especially leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union.

As the dismal results began to trickle in during the small hours of Friday, Mr Davis asked on Sky News whether the Government had now lost that mandate, saying thats what we put in front of the people, well see by tomorrow whether theyve accepted that or not. That will be their decision. It certainly looks as if they have not accepted it. Now what?

There have been suggestions that Mrs May, in the interval which remains to her while the Tory Party decides what to do about the leadership, should be given a Deputy Prime Minister to stand at her side  and also to reconnect her with Cabinet government. Perhaps Mr Davis, a quick thinker who is no stranger to infighting and hard bargaining, would be the best person to fulfil this role.

For the future has to be secured. Failure to get the Government back on course is not an option.

Mr Corbyn waits in the wings to take advantage of any such failure. He is still burdened with all the terrible drawbacks that have always made him unfit for office. His electoral success has not made his economic and defence policies any less disastrous, or diminished the shame of his past as an apologist for terrorist movements.

Ruth Davidson, a firm Remainer, would not have done half so well had she been committed to Mrs Mays hard Brexit. Ms Davidson was never subservient to Mrs May, and now she is even less so

Keeping him out of power is one of the most pressing duties of this Government.

So, while there have been and will be plenty of autopsies of the lost campaign, here we mainly seek to look forward, rather than backwards. And that means a re-evaluation of European policy.

Brexit lay beneath the surface of this Election. After the opening salvoes, it was hardly mentioned. But in practice its after-effects played a huge part. Labour unexpectedly recaptured a large slice of the working class vote which supported Leave, and many of those who had defected to Ukip.

While Ukip disintegrated, to the point where it may be difficult to reassemble it yet again, Labour gained quite spectacularly in some seats by mobilising the youth and student vote which the Remain campaign so notably failed to motivate a year ago.

While Ukip disintegrated, to the point where it may be difficult to reassemble it yet again, Labour gained quite spectacularly in some seats

It was almost as if, having wished too late that they had turned out in June 2016, they turned out instead in June 2017. If there ever were a second referendum, they might swing it for Remain.

Their votes have proved highly effective. It is likely they will keep using them. This is a permanent change in British politics which looks set to benefit Labour more and more in years to come.

It is also interesting that the Scottish Conservatives under Ruth Davidson  whose successes did so much to keep Mr Corbyn out of Downing Street  did not really campaign as Tories.

Ms Davidson, a firm Remainer, would not have done half so well had she been committed to Mrs Mays hard Brexit.

Ms Davidson was never subservient to Mrs May, and now she is even less so. She is already making it clear that her partys Westminster votes can only be counted on if her wishes are respected.

She has openly raised the issue of same-sex marriage. But this is not exactly a live problem at Westminster now. Could she be hinting that she will want movement on other matters?

Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionists, supposedly bristling Right-wingers and Brexiteers, are understandably anxious about the effect of Brexit on Northern Irelands wide-open border with the Irish Republic.

It is hard to see how this problem can be solved outside the Single Market, without which cross- border traffic into the Republic will suddenly be subject to thousands of time-consuming bureaucratic barriers.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionists, supposedly bristling Right-wingers and Brexiteers, are understandably anxious about the effect of Brexit on the border with the Irish Republic

As for the enormous burden of legislation on the planned Great Repeal Bill, incorporating EU laws into English law, the Government simply will not be able to achieve this without placating a Parliament in which it has no Commons majority and no popular mandate with which to overpower the non-Tory majority in the Lords.

We have had a lot of polarising talk about soft Brexit and hard Brexit. But both of these are dismissive expressions, designed to create division rather than move towards civilised compromise.

Here and now we have an opportunity to introduce the idea of open Brexit, a readiness to negotiate flexibly as well as strongly, searching for lasting and workable solutions which are best for Britain and its people, and for the United Kingdom, rather than designed to please or placate one faction or another.

As the Tories  and their Democratic Unionist allies  seek to remake the Government in the light of last weeks catastrophe, they should note that rigidity and inflexibility do not work well on todays fast-moving political battlefield. Now is the time for suppleness, quick thinking, and readiness to change our minds when the facts change.

We have had no end of a lesson. If we are prepared to learn from it, it will do us no end of good.
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From an owl captured mid-flight to crystals apparently protruding from a page, these eye-popping images combine pen and paper with digital wizardry to incredible effect.

The breathtaking pieces are the work of Cambodian graphic designer Visoth Kakvei, 27, who baffles fans with his extraordinary works of art.

The freelancer, who lives in Maine, enjoyed drawing as a child but only returned to the craft when he started drawing landscapes four years ago. Inspired by science, architecture and music, the artist soon found himself developing the intricate drawing style that has won him legions of followers on Facebook and Instagram.

'Most of my artwork is all about space, stuff like the moon and stars,' Mr Kakvei told FEMAIL. 'The dimensions make it look alive.'

After working on hand-drawn pieces, Mr Kakvei said he wanted to try 'bring them to life', and so combined the work with digital elements to produce truly mesmerising images.

He added: 'Every time I do my hand-drawn artwork I always see it comes to life in my mind while I'm doing it. One day I tried to mix it together to see how it would turn out. It eventually became a new style that me and my fans both love.'

On the hunt: A majestic owl appears to be flying out of the page towards its prey in this dramatic digitally-enhanced drawing

Into the abyss: This mystical design shows a hand made of intricate flowers slowly disappearing into a black pit in the palm

Mystical: Touches of luminous colour bring an other-worldly feel to this beautiful image of flowers, leaves and crystals

Long way down: A dark hole appears to have opened up at the centre of this page covered in a beautiful floral design

Hidden predator: Brightly coloured digital elements, left, and hand drawing combine to create this vivid and wild scene

Mesmerising: Visoth's signature swirls, dots and flowers combine with geometric shapes to create this hand-drawn pattern

Flying fish: This beautiful fish illustration was given a new lease of life and brought off the page with digital mastery

A gust of wind: A carpet of leaves is whipped into the air and blown away in this entrancing image by Mr Kakvei
Competition to come up with the next trend has driven one hipster bar to come with an unusual cocktail menu that includes childhood as one of the themes.

Melbourne bar Om Nom Kitchen's new cocktail menu includes alcoholic drinks that will 'evoke childhood memories' - among others.

The bar, located in the iconic Adelphi Hotel, is described as a 'luxurious, sumptuously decorated bar' where staff aim to provide that little extra 'wow factor' to leave guests blown away.

Om Nom Kitchen, located within the iconic Adelphi Hotel, has launched creative new cocktail menu designed to 'evoke childhood memories'

One of the most notable menu items is the $78 Champagne Bubble Bath cocktail which serves up to four people and is made using vodka, creme de violet, rose liqueur and pressed citrus

The Sex on St Kilda Beach cocktail is equally impressive, with the drink presented with sea shells, a deck chair and edible sand

The new cocktail range is designed to engage the senses and involve different textures, scents and interactive elements through additions like 'berry sorbet lipstick' and tipples topped with popcorn.

One of the most notable menu items is the $78 Champagne Bubble Bath cocktail which serves up to four people and is made using vodka, creme de violet, rose liqueur, fresh pressed citrus and champagne.

It is served in a tiny bathtub and topped with small floating rubber ducks.

The Hubba Bubba Martini (left) is made using Hubba Bubba vodka and bubblegum syrup and the Netflix Movie Nights cocktail (right) is served with salted popcorn in a large popcorn cup

Other striking menu items include the Girls Night Out (pictured), which is served on a mirror platter with raspberry and chambord lipstick, rose petals and champagne perfume

The Sex on St Kilda Beach cocktail is equally impressive, with the drink presented with sea shells, a deck chair and edible sand.

The cocktail is made using peach liquor, a rose foam shooter, a serving of chamboard caviar, rum, coconut water and fresh fairy floss.

Designed to bring back schoolyard memories, the Hubba Bubba Martini is made using Hubba Bubba vodka, bubblegum syrup and fresh pressed lemon juice.

The Smoking Marshmallow Colada is served in a cloud of hickory smoke and topped with freshly roasted marshmallows

The Toothpaste Mojito (left) is made with pressed mint and served with a toothbrush and the Plum and Sage Sorbet Bellini (right) is made using house made plum sorbet

The Nitro Tea Party (for two) is made with gin, Ketel One vodka, spiced rum, Cointreau, spiced syrup, cranberry and spices and served in a smoking nitro charged teapot

It is then served with Hubba Bubba and a fresh lemon garnish.

Guests would be forgiven for mistaking the Netflix Movie Nights cocktail for a snack, with the eye-popping drink served with salted popcorn in a large popcorn cup.

Inside the playful cup, the drink is made with popcorn washed rum with house made cherry cola, fresh lavender and spices.

The Secret Garden is made with cucumber gin, crisp cucumber, organic mint, elderflower and fresh pressed apple and served on a bed of edible soil with absinthe jelly worms

The Toasted Pecan Negroni (left) is served smoking with a side of roasted pecans and the Spiced Gin and Tonic (right) is served smoking in a porthole infuser to share

Other striking menu items include the Girls Night Out, which is served on a mirror platter with raspberry and chambord lipstick, rose petals and champagne perfume and the Smoking Marshmallow Colada which is served in a cloud of hickory smoke and topped with freshly roasted marshmallows.

The Toothpaste Mojito is also a standout cocktail, with the simple classic tweaked with pressed mint and served with a toothbrush.

The menu is the mastermind of Om Nom Kitchen Bar Manager and Mixologist, Chris McDonald, who was recently working at the UK cocktail bar Be At One.

The French Kiss is made using Ketel One Vodka, Cointreau, port, house made chutney, fig jam and fresh pressed pineapple and served with a platter selection of cheese and lavosh

The Salted Caramel Cracking Espresso (left) has caramel and coffee nitro charged foam and is frozen at the table and the Adelphi Grog (right) is served in a smoking grog bottle

The Passion Bean Martini is served with an icing sugar dusting (left) and the Om Nom Ping Pong (right) is made with Sloe Gin, fresh pressed citrus, candied orange and popping candy

'It's the small details that impact greatly in the art of cocktails,' Chris said, adding that his favourite ingredient is salt.

And while he is a fan of perfecting cult favourites, he also loves to get imaginative and design drinks based on his own taste preferences - once turning his own craving for pancakes into a cocktail with maple syrup, bacon and a mini pancake.

Chris' favourite two cocktails from the new menu are the Summer Gin and Tonic and the Toothpaste Mojito.
Animal lovers have been known to throw birthday parties for their pets, but one North Carolina family hosted a particularly spectacular soiree in honor of their cat's milestone birthday.

Luna, an adorable orange tabby , recently turned 15 years old. Her owners felt that the beloved pet needed an extra-special celebration and decided to throw her an extravagant quinceanera.

And they certainly committed to the theme: Luna was all dressed up in a fluffy pink dress and tiara, and their home was decked out in all-pink decorations.

Birthday girl! Luna the cat recently turned 15 years old, and to celebrate, her family threw her a fun-filled quinceanera

A special celebration: A quinceanera is a Latin tradition that occurs on a girl's fifteenth birthday, and marks her transition from girlhood to womanhood

All out! The Olavarria family decided to throw a blowout bash for Luna, and began planning a week in advance

A quinceanera is traditionally a huge fifteenth birthday party, not dissimilar to a Sweet 16.

Celebrated in Latin America  and by American with Latin American roots  the parties are typically huge family affairs, where the birthday girl gets dressed up in a pretty princess dress.

However, the celebrants are typically human.

Luna's owner, Brigitte Olavarria, said that her mother Maritza was largely responsible for the over-the-top festivities for the cat's big birthday.

Maritza began planning the party a week in advance, and sent out the invitations to close friends and family.

When it came to the decorations, Maritza went a decidedly feminine route and opted for all-pink-everything, including a particularly precious cat dress featuring lace and pearl detailing.

Fit for a princess: Luna showed up to her special day decked out in a cute pink dress and crown that is actually a Christmas ornament

Girl's night: When it came to decorations, the Olavarria family opted for a girly, sparkly pink color scheme

A royal feast: While human guests enjoyed tres leches cake, Luna got her own special can of tuna

Instead of the tiara that many young women wear for their quinceaneras, Maritza headed to Wal-Mart, where she found a crown-shaped Christmas ornament that just to happened to be perfectly Luna-sized.

'Luna seemed to really enjoy it,' Brigitte told HuffPost. 'She was such a good sport during the whole celebration. I think she was happy to see our family together.'

The party's 12 guests enjoyed a delicious tres leches cake from the family's favorite bakery, and Luna got her own can of tuna.

'Her eyes really lit up when we opened that can of tuna,' Brigitte said. 'She loses her mind over tuna.'

Raging! Luna's bash had 12 people in attendance, which is surely more than some humans can say of their own birthday parties

Beauty at any age: Though Luna turning 15 means she has entered the 'geriatric' phase of her life, she still appears as sweet and spry as ever

See you next year? Owner Brigitte said she has already begun planning Luna's 'sweet sixteen' for next year

Cat-lovers around the world were thrilled when Luna's party pictures turned up on Reddit earlier this week.

'This looks nicer than my birthday parties,' said one response. Another admitted, 'I aspire to be this extra for my cat's birthday. I love it.'

According to the International Cat Care organization, a 15-year-old cat has officially entered their 'geriatric' years. Despite Luna's advanced age, the Olavarria family said they are already preparing for next year's bash.

'We're thinking about throwing her a sweet 16,' Brigitte said. 'Every additional year we get with our precious Luna deserves to be celebrated!' After all, Luna is 'not just an ordinary cat,' but a 'member of our family'.
Sarah Pursglove has recalled the pain of battling her husband for their joint $400 million fortune

On paper the relationship between Sarah Pursglove and her ex husband Robert Oesterlund was beyond perfect.

Sarah married and built a multi-millionaire empire with Robert after meeting in Helsinki in 1995.

They raised two daughters and enjoyed enormous wealth - $400 million to be exact.

However, Sarah, 47, has revealed how their millions eventually lead to his affair and a very public divorce battle.

Speaking to the Sunday Times Sarah said: 'He betrayed me in every single way you could possibly be betrayed  you just never expect a husband to do what hes done.'

Sarah filed for divorce in 2014 after she discovered her partner's infidelity when she followed him after discovering he had booked a taxi ride for two.

She was horrified to see a woman emerge from the car before Robert shared a kiss with her.

Sarah said: 'That was it  our marriage was over. I was devastated, I felt betrayed and hurt.'

But while the betrayal itself was painful enough Sarah was to be faced with further torment during divorce proceedings.

Robert claimed that the couple was only worth a few million dollars, hiding the family's true fortune that they had earned together from the courts and leaving Sarah to face years of legal battles to get the money she was owed.

Her lawyers eventually uncovered statements in the Bahamas where the couple owned a Superyacht suggesting that the family was worth $400 million.

The mother-of-two eventually reached a settlement that, for legal reasons, we cannot reveal.

However, Sarah says, she was never interested in the relationship's financial side: 'It was never about the money.

'I would have been happy living with him in a small apartment, as long as we were together. I was naive not understanding how money can change people.'

The couple made their fortune in internet advertising, going from just one company in 2001 to a 40-firm empire.

They hired personal trainers and private tutors for their two daughters and travelled the world on their yacht and by private jet.

Robert Oesterlund (pictured) attempted to conceal their joint wealth from his wife when she filed for divorce, claiming their joint worth was just a few million when in reality they were worth $400 million

The $23 million yacht owned by Robert Oesterlund and Sarah Pursglove. They keep a 12-man team to crew the craft and their other two boats

It is a long way from Sarahs beginnings in the former council house in Caernarvon, north Wales, that she shared with her mother and sister.

She left school at 16 to pursue her love of photography and ended up working on a cruise ship.

In 1996 she met Mr Oesterlund, a Finnish flower-seller, and they married two years later.

She says they struggled financially until they hit gold with the internet advertising business in Florida.

The couple's relationship first hit the rocks when, in 2009, Robert revealed that he had outstayed his visa and was unable to live in the US for ten years.

He moved to a superyacht in the Bahamas where Sarah and their two daughters would visit him every weekend, but, she recalls that he began drinking as a way to liven his spirits.

After an accident aboard the yacht that left Sarah hospitalised when she was thrown from the deck into shark infested waters the couple purchased a $5 million property in Finland as well as a 165ft vessel costing $23 million.

The boat, named Deja Vu, Sarah believed was a catalyst for Robert's change in behaviour as it attracted celebrities and party goers.

She told the Mirror: 'The money had gone to his head. I thought he was having a midlife crisis. I gave him a chance, thinking it would pass.'

It was after purchasing a $35 million penthouse in the Four Seasons in Toronto that Sarah became aware of his affair.
A pair of shoes worn by a teenage Princess Diana are set to go under the hammer.

The white leather peeptoe shoes are thought to have been worn by the princess when she was between 16 to 19 years old and during the time she worked as a nursery assistant.

The slingbacks, which have a small heel, are a UK size 5.5 and Diana was a size 7 as an adult.

The Bruno Magli shoes come complete with a green felt drawstring shoe sack featuring Diana's monogram - the letter D - in red.

Piece of history: The white peeptoe shoes are thought to have been worn by a young Diana when she was between 16 and 19 years old, during the time she worked as a nursery assistant

Lady Diana Spencer aged 19 at the Young England Kindergarden Nursery School in Pimlico, London, wearing a pair of peeptoe shoes similar to the ones going under the hammer

The shoes were left at a friend's house in London between 1977 and 1978 and the embroidered red D on the shoe sack is similar to the monogram adopted by her for the Kensington Palace letterhead as Princess of Wales.

The lot, which goes under the hammer with Dominic Winter Auctioneers on Wednesday, June 14, is expected to fetch between 300 and 500.

Chris Albury, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers, said: 'We know that these shoes belonged to Princess Diana as a teenager and judging by the shoe size we believe that she would have been about 16.

Poignant: The shoes were left at a friend's house in London between 1977 and 1978 and the embroidered red D on the shoe sack is similar to the monogram later adopted by Diana for the Kensington Palace letterhead as Princess of Waless

Among the letters going to auction is another from the Prince of Wales to his friend and landscape consultant Vernon Russell-Smith. This letter is dated November 10 1988 and defends the Prince's strong opinions against modern architecture - which remain controversial to this day

This letter was written to interior designer and good friend of both Charles and Diana, Dudley Poplak. The letter is dated December 11 1992 - just two days after Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana

It is written on H.M. Yacht Brittania-crested paper and concludes by thanking Mr Poplak for being 'hugely reassuring and comforting', and sending 'countless good wishes'

The letter, due to go under the hammer this week, is signed off 'Yours ever, Charles'

'That is about the time she first met Prince Charles when he visited her family home for a pheasant shoot.

'Some of Diana's dresses have fetched colossal sums at auction but these smart and practical designer shoes are from a pre-princess time of youthful innocence and carry a modest estimate of 300-500.'

Also up for auction will be various notes and letters written by Prince Charles and Diana.

This letter, written on Kensington Palace-crested paper in February 1992 - also against the backdrop of a failing marriage - Diana thanks Mr Poplak for sending her some philosophical readings

Among the lots is a candid letter penned after his split from Diana and highlighting his concern at his lack of popularity.

The letter is dated December 11, 1992 and was written to interior designer and good friend of both Charles and Diana, Dudley Poplak.

The auction also includes a handwritten letter sent by Princess Diana as her 11-year marriage was breaking down and a note from the Princess discussing meditation and French philosophy.
A British woman who found love on Tinder has been warned not to travel 11,000 miles to Australia to marry her new boyfriend - by his former partners.

Jess Maverick, 29, from Cardiff discovered Aussie DJ Steve Collins, 29, from New South Wales when a glitch on the dating app hooked them up.

After whirlwind romance largely conducted on Snapchat and Facebook the couple are now set to marry later this year.

Jess Maverick, from Wales, is planning to fly 11,000 miles to Australia to marry Steve Collins, whom she met on Tinder after a glitch caused them to match - however, his ex girlfriends have come forward to warn her not to

But two of Steve's ex girlfriends have spoken out after learning of his long distance romance and accused him of 'three-timing' which he denies.

They have warned Jess not to marry him.

Former long-term girlfriend Bel Marsden, 30, says she gave birth to Steve's son Hunter in April.

She said: 'Steve has put me through hell and back again in the past few months.

'No doubt he has spun Jess a story too. It makes me feel sick to think that she is planning to move her entire life for him.'

Bel Marsden says she gave birth to Steve's son Hunter in April after a two year relationship with the Australian DJ

Lisa Davis says that she began chatting to Steve while he was expecting a baby with Bel

And 'other woman' Lisa Davis, 28, said: 'Everything Steve told me was a lie'.

Jess, an insurance investigator, fell in love with her new man after the pair spoke on Skype and WhatsApp despite living on opposite sides of the world.

They met in Dubai for their first date in March and now Jess plans to up sticks to Australia in October before tying the knot in December.

Bel, a photographer, said: 'Steve has a really good way of making you feel like you are the most amazing person in the world, but it's the same old c***.'

Bel claims that while Steve was planning a marriage and kids with Lisa he began messaging her again in January and the pair (pictured with son Hunter) went on several dates

It was Bel's sister who initially discovered Lisa, having seen photos of Steve with the Dental Nurse on Facebook

Bel met Steve through a friend in June 2014 and they hit it off, spending two years together before she fell pregnant last August.

But the relationship went downhill and Bel threw Steve out of her house in Wyoming, New South Wales, in late October claiming he missed her 11-week check-up.

Around that time, the expectant dad struck up a flirty chat on Tinder with Lisa, of Forster, New South Wales, and they started dating.

Dental nurse Lisa said: 'He gave me these long loving looks and would say things that made me feel special.

Steve's Tinder profile which Jess matched with despite her living in South Wales and he living in New South Wales Australia after the app had a glitch

The pair had their first date in Dubai, half way between their two locations, and even got matching mandala tattoos

'I really believed he loved me and wanted to be with me - he told me he wanted to marry me on several occasions.

'He didn't tell me about Bel or the pregnancy at all.'

While he was planning marriage and kids with Lisa, Bel claims he started messaging her and took her on a series of dates in January.

Bel, who was heavily pregnant at the time, said: 'We were very cuddly, I still loved him.

Jess is currently planning to up sticks and move to Australia in October before getting married to Steve in December

When asked about Bel and Lisa's accusations Jess says she isn't 'bothered' and says Steve can 'do what he likes' while she is in the UK

'We had a really long conversation and in my heart I hoped we could still make something happen.'

But the rekindled relationship ended when Bel's sister spotted photos of Steve and Lisa on Facebook.

Bel said Steve initially lied and said the mystery blonde was a 'psycho stalker' who went to his gigs, reassuring her nothing was going on.

Soon afterwards, at the end of January, he broke things off with Lisa and went back to couple's counselling with Bel, even spending Valentine's Day with her.

But in March Bel's worries got the better of her and she messaged Lisa on Facebook and the pair spoke on the phone.

After finding out about Lisa, Bel got in touch and the pair confronted the DJ at one of his club nights - however, he completely ignored them

Bel says that there is no bad blood between she and Lisa and they have become good friends

Bel said: 'I found out Steve had started seeing her near the end of our relationship. He was on Tinder while he was with me.

'They had a very intimate relationship and at the same time he was making me feel like I was the love of his life. I was totally disgusted.'

What neither of them knew was Steve was also seeing a third girl, Jess, after they matched on Tinder in January - despite her living in Wales and and him in Australia.

In an interview about the bizarre mix-up last month, Jess said: 'I was attracted to his dark brown eyes straight away and swiped right.

'It was only once I saw we'd matched that I looked at his profile and saw he actually lived 10,655 miles away.'

Jess said she and Steve - who told her he had been single for six months - started chatting daily on Whatsapp and talked on Skype for up to six hours at a time.

She said: 'Our chemistry was amazing. We both admitted we loved each other.'

In March, besotted Jess forked out 500 to meet Steve in the flesh and they flew to Dubai for a week of passion, even getting matching mandala tattoos.

Steve says that he is committed to Jess and is looking forward to the future

But when Steve returned home, Bel says he continued to bombard her with texts asking to meet up.

She ignored them - but then read in a newspaper about his relationship with Jess.

Bel said: 'The more I read I honestly couldn't believe it. I was in shock and I broke down in tears.

'Hearing about him going from woman to woman and doing the same thing is awful. I want Jess to know what kind of person he really is.'

Bel and Lisa arranged to meet at a clubnight Steve was DJ'ing at.

They walked up to the decks where he was standing - but he blanked them.

Bel said: 'He didn't acknowledge us, but for the first time I felt like he had no control over me. Having Lisa by my side I felt free of him.'

Lisa added: 'When Bel first contacted me and we worked out what Steve had done I was in complete shock. I was hurting but we supported each other.

'There is no bad blood between us now and we've become really close friends.'

When told what the women were claiming, Jess said: 'I'm not really too bothered to be honest. He can do what he likes while I'm here.

'I have known some of the stuff that you have told me. I'm not completely blind to this.'

Asked whether it will change things with Steve, she said: 'We'll see.'

Steve said: 'Bel and I were together for about three years and during that time we separated on three different occasions.

'Over that time our relationship had its good and bad moments.

'During our separation we were both seeing other people. I was seeing Lisa and Bel was seeing a New Zealand man.

'Bel and I started talking again so I decided to end my relationship with Lisa and as I understood it Bel ended her relationship with the New Zealand man.

'However the problems in the relationship were too insurmountable to give it another try.

'As we were both very emotionally drained we both decided to go our separate ways.

'Jess and I are happily committed and we are both looking forward to our future together.'
A mother has taken to Facebook to respond to a cruel stranger who voiced disgust at her young son's medical condition, after words failed her in the moment.

Dallas Lynn from South Carolina was shopping in Walmart with her three-year-old son Jameus, who was wearing colostomy bags because his colon still wasn't fully formed.

A woman behind Dallas noticed the bags, and didn't hold back from sharing her unflattering opinion about them.

Dallas Lynn from South Carolina took to Facebook to talk about her son Jameus' colostomy bags

The three-year-old wore the bags because his colon was not fully formed and he needed medical help expelling waste

The incident, which happened a year ago but has recently gone viral after Dallas re-shared it, has caught the attention of tens of thousands of horrified supporters.

These days, little Jameus has a cecostomy tube in his stomach, but last year he was still wearing colostomy bags.

Dallas explained that she usually put a onesie on under his shirt to keep the bags in place and stop him from tugging at them, but that day she'd skipped it. So when she picked Jameus up to hold him, his shirt rode up his belly showing the bags.

'There was an older woman in line behind me who caught a glimpse and shrieked a little before she said to me, "Why in the world would you let someone do that to him?"' Dallas wrote.

The heartless and rude reaction left her shocked.

Dallas wrote about shopping at Walmart when her son's bags were exposed, prompting a rude reaction from a stranger.

'I turned around speechless and just looked at her before she continued and asked why he had them,' Dallas wrote. 'I gave her the short version and basically said, "His colon didn't finish forming so he needed them."'

Naturally, Dallas didn't owe the nosy woman an explanation, and she left out the details of Jameus' rare diseases, called Hirschsprung's  but that didn't stop the woman from saying more.

'She then goes, "Well I am sorry but I just think that is so 'repulsing', can you please keep his shirt down?"' Dallas went on, putting the woman's misspoken word in quotes.

'At this point I just wanted to shake this woman and scream, "What is wrong with you?!" But instead, I told her to have a good night and went to another line.'

'So now I'm sharing this picture,' she said, posting a picture of her little boy with his bags fully visible, 'because there is nothing repulsive about my son. Stomas and ostomies seem to be a taboo, when in reality, over 500,000 Americans have one. My sons disease may be rare, but his stomas are not.'

Jameus was born with Hirschsprung's disease, and his body does not properly expel of waste

She went on to educate others, explaining that a stoma is a 'surgically created opening that allows body to expel waste'.

'Was this the first choice of a life I would have chosen for my son? Absolutely not,' she said. 'But this was his only shot at life. When he was two weeks old, his colon ruptured. It left him with a life threatening infection that nearly killed him. His stoma saved his life.'

'There is a very good chance he will have these for the rest of his life and if he does, it will be my job to teach him a positive body image... It will be my job to teach him to love himself, and his bags. Had he been a couple years older and been able to understand the ignorance the lady was spewing in line behind us, how much of a negative impact do you think that would have had on him?'

Because of his health conditions, Jameus has had 24 surgeries and procedures in his short life, as well as infections that landed him in the hospital.

Jameus has had 24 surgeries and procedures in his short life and is far from done

'See what that woman doesn't understand is, when my son is healthy, he is no different than any other two-year-old. He runs, plays, swims and goes to daycare,' she said. 'When he's healthy... You wouldn't know he gets painful home dilation and irrigation treatments twice a day every day. You wouldn't know that every day a catheter is put into his stoma to "feed" it stool twice a day in the hopes of growing his colon.'

'Please be kind and choose your words wisely, especially should you choose to comment about something that is none of your business,' she concluded. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about, and my son is winning his.'

Dallas' post has been liked over 69,000 times, and over 17,000 people have left comments.

'He's such a beautiful boy, with a lovely smile. It's a shame that there are people in this world with ugly hearts,' wrote one.

'So sorry you had to put up with that. Ignorance is growing too much in this world and is giving too much confidence to those it infects. Your son is lucky to have a good mum that takes care of him so well,' wrote another.
Utah, in the U.S., is home to the worlds highest concentration of International Dark Sky Parks, including Goblin Valley State Park

SERIOUSLY STARRY UTAH

Utah, in the U.S., is home to the worlds highest concentration of International Dark Sky Parks, including Goblin Valley State Park.

INSIDER TIP: Cedar Breaks Dark Sky Park holds star parties.

DETAILS: Bon Voyage offers ten nights in Utah from 2,295 pp in August with flights  two nights Salt Lake City; three nights Cedar City; two nights Capitol Reef Resort; and three nights Moab, bon-voyage.co.uk

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is holding a star party on July 29, when you may see Saturn

PARTY WITH THE STARS

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is holding a star party on July 29, when you may see Saturn.

INSIDER TIP: Listen to aboriginal singing at Jasper National Parks Dark Sky Festival in October.

DETAILS: North America Travel Service offers a seven-night star-gazing fly drive from 1,540 pp, including car hire and flights, northamericatravelservice.co.uk

Northumberlands Dark Sky Park is so inky, you can spy the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy without a telescope.

GAZE AWAY

Northumberlands Dark Sky Park is so inky, you can spy the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy without a telescope.

INSIDER TIP: Plan your visit for star shows (northumberlandnational park.org.uk).

The Perseid meteor shower arrives in August.

DETAILS: Stay for three nights in Beacon Hills Stable Cottage for four from 411, premiercottages.co.uk
WHAT'S NOW & HOW TO DO IT: NOURISHING NAIL POLISH

If you are suffering from dry or brittle nails, try one of the new healthy polishes packed with oils and vitamins to strengthen nails  without compromising on colour.

If you are suffering from dry or brittle nails, try one of the new healthy polishes packed with oils and vitamins to strengthen nails  without compromising on colour

RACE YOU THERE

Dolce & Gabbanas limited edition eye shadow quad in Summer Dance The super-luxe gold compact contains four wearable, neutral shades of warm pink, yellow, green and copper, all inspired by the lush landscape and climate of Sicily. Try something new and wear all four shades together for a fashionable sunset shadow effect. harrods.com Shop

GET PIPPA'S HOLIDAY GLOW

The Duchess of Cambridges sister Pippa Middleton (left) is known for her beautiful, glowing skin  and it has been suggested her secret is Xen-Tan self-tanning products.

The Fresh Tanning Mousse (33.99, feelunique.com) provides an all-over colour, which develops in four hours. It has an olive undertone, which ensures your skin never looks orange or unnatural.

The Duchess of Cambridges sister Pippa Middleton (left) is known for her beautiful, glowing skin  and it has been suggested her secret is Xen-Tan self-tanning products

THIS WORKS

Studio 10 Wake Up & Glow Lip & Cheek Duo Multi-tasking products are a must-have for summer travelling It plumps lips, adds natural-looking colour to cheeks and its creamy, long-lasting formula contains anti-ageing hyaluronic acid to protect skin qvcuk.com Shop

DOES SPF MAKE-UP REALLY WORK?

Yes, it does, but only as an extra layer of protection  on its own, its not enough to protect your skin from strong sunlight.

Underneath SPF make-up, choose a light-textured, easily absorbed facial sunscreen and apply it as you would a primer, as additional coverage.

For a budget option, try Nivea Sun Protect & Bronze Face Sun Cream 30 (5.99, Superdrug), which has a light, non-greasy, moisturising formula.

Institut Esthederms Adaptasun Sensitive Skin Face Cream Strong Sun Helps skin adapt to the sun, protecting it from UVA and UVB rays. Its creamy texture is great for layering under make-up Space NK Shop

THREE OF THE BEST FACIAL MISTS

IN YOURS 50S...

Annee de Mamiel Dewy Facial Mist Packed with calming essential oils Ideal to keep in your bag for a refreshing spritz on a hot day Shop

IN YOUR 60S...

Organic Rose Beauty Mist by Melvita Enriched with wild rose and is delicate enough even for sensitive skin prone to redness lookfantastic.com Shop

IN YOUR 70S...

Elizabeth Ardens Eight Hour Miracle Hydrating Mist Rich in anti-oxidants and vitamins Works to refresh make-up and is suitable for all skins Boots Shop

SHAMELESS INDULGENCE
In 1991, few people knew the truth about Princess Diana's marriage: that it was falling apart... and that Charles had rekindled his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Devastated, she decided to make her side of the story public by recording her thoughts for author Andrew Morton via a go-between. Her one condition: that her involvement be kept a strict secret.

The book he wrote  Diana: Her True Story  caused a sensation. Now, 20 years after her death, it is being republished, with transcripts of those tapes.

Our second extract begins just two days before her wedding on July 29, 1981  which was watched by a global TV audience of 750 million.

'I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him. I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world. He was going to look after me. Well, was I wrong on that assumption!'

We got married on Wednesday. On the Monday (July 27, 1981), we had gone to St Paul's for our last rehearsal, and that's when the camera lights were on full and I got a sense of what the day was going to be.

And I sobbed my eyes out. I absolutely collapsed and it was because of all sorts of things. The Camilla thing rearing its head the whole way through our engagement.

I was desperately trying to be mature about the situation, but I didn't have the foundations to do it, and I couldn't talk to anyone about it.

I remember my husband being very tired  both of us were quite tired. Big day.

He sent me a very nice signet ring the night before to Clarence House, with the Prince of Wales feathers on and a very nice card that said: 'I'm so proud of you and when you come up, I'll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look 'em in the eye and knock 'em dead.'

As I walked up the aisle, I was looking for Camilla. I knew she was in there

I had a very bad fit of bulimia the night before. I ate everything I could possibly find which amused my sister (Jane) because she was staying at Clarence House with me.

Nobody understood what was going on there. It was very hush-hush. I was sick as a parrot that night. It was such an indication of what was going on.

I was very calm the next morning when we were getting up at Clarence House. Must have been awake about 5am. Interesting  they put me in a bedroom overlooking the Mall, which meant I didn't get any sleep.

I was very, very calm, deathly calm. I felt I was a lamb to the slaughter. I knew it and couldn't do anything about it. My last night of freedom with Jane at Clarence House.

On the day, there was great anticipation. Happiness because the crowds buoyed you up  but I don't think I was happy.

Father (still suffering from the after-effects of a massive stroke) was so thrilled, he waved himself stupid. We went past St Martin-in-the-Fields and he thought we were at St Paul's. He was ready to get out. It was wonderful, that.

As I walked up the aisle, I was looking for her (Camilla). I knew she was in there, of course. I looked for her.

I had to get my father basically up the aisle and that's what I concentrated on. And I remember being terribly worried about curtseying to the Queen.

Anyway, I got up to the top. I thought the whole thing was hysterical, getting married, in the sense that it was just so grown-up, and here was Diana  a kindergarten teacher. The whole thing was ridiculous!

'I thought the whole thing was hysterical, getting married, in the sense that it was just so grown-up, and here was Diana - a kindergarten teacher. The whole thing was ridiculous!'

I remember being so in love with my husband that I couldn't take my eyes off him. I just absolutely thought I was the luckiest girl in the world. He was going to look after me. Well, was I wrong on that assumption!

So walking back down the aisle, I spotted Camilla  pale grey, veiled pillbox hat, saw it all, her son Tom standing on a chair. To this day, you know  vivid memory.

When we got out, it was a wonderful feeling: everybody hurraying, everybody happy because they thought we were happy. And there was the big question mark in my mind. I realised I had taken on an enormous role, but had no idea what I was going into  but no idea.

Back to Buckingham Palace, did all the photographs. Nothing tactile, nothing.

I was basically wandering around, trying to find where I should be, clutching my long train with my bridesmaids and pages.

We got out on the balcony. It was overwhelming what we saw, so humble-making, all these thousands and thousands of people happy. It was just wonderful. I sat next to Charles at the wedding breakfast, which was a lunch. Neither of us spoke to each other  we were so shattered. I was exhausted at the whole thing.

I never tried to call the wedding off in the sense of really doing that. But the worst moment was when we got to Broadlands (the family seat of Charles's late great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, where the royal couple spent the first part of their honeymoon).

I thought, you know, it was just grim. I just had tremendous hope in me, which was slashed by day two.

We went to Broadlands. Second night, out come the van der Post books he hadn't read (Laurens van der Post, the South African philosopher and adventurer, was much admired by Prince Charles). Seven of them  they came on our honeymoon. He read them and we had to analyse them over lunch every day.

(On the second leg of the honeymoon, aboard the royal yacht) we had to entertain all the top people on Britannia every night, so there was never any time on our own. Found that very difficult to accept.

The yacht was manned by 21 officers and 256 men. Evening meals were black-tie affairs, attended by selected officers. And while everyone ate, a Royal Marine band played in an adjoining room.

By then, the bulimia was appalling, absolutely appalling. It was rife: four times a day on the yacht.

Anything I could find, I would gobble up and be sick two minutes later  very tired. So, of course, that slightly got the mood swings going, in the sense that one minute one would be happy, the next, blubbing one's eyes out.

I remember crying my eyes out on our honeymoon. I was so tired, for all the wrong reasons totally.

We survived that all right. Then went off to Balmoral straight from the yacht. Everyone was there to welcome us and then the realisation set in.

My dreams were appalling. At night, I dreamt of Camilla the whole time.

I was obsessed by Camilla totally. I didn't trust (Charles)  thought every five minutes he was ringing her up, asking how to handle his marriage.

Charles got Laurens van der Post up to come and help me. Laurens didn't understand me. Everybody saw I was getting thinner and thinner and I was being sicker and sicker.

'We stayed at Balmoral (pictured) from August to October. I got terribly, terribly thin. People started commenting: "Your bones are showing." By October, I was in a very bad way'

Basically, they thought I could adapt to being Princess of Wales overnight. All the guests at Balmoral coming to stay just stared at me the whole time, treated me like glass. As far as I was concerned, I was Diana  the only difference was people called me 'Ma'am' now, 'Your Royal Highness', and they curtsied. That was the only difference, but I treated everybody else exactly the same.

Charles used to want to go for long walks around Balmoral the whole time. His idea of enjoyment  this will make you laugh would be to sit on top of the highest hill at Balmoral. It is beautiful up there. I completely understand; he would read Laurens van der Post or (Swiss psychoanalyst) Carl Jung to me. And bear in mind I hadn't a clue about psychic powers or anything, but I knew there was something in me that hadn't been awoken yet  and I didn't think this was going to help!

So anyway, we read those and I did my tapestry and he was blissfully happy, and as far as he was happy, that was fine.

He was in awe of his Mama, intimidated by his father, and I was always the third person in the room. It was never: 'Darling, would you like a drink?' It was always: 'Mummy, would you like a drink?' 'Granny, would you like a drink?' 'Diana, would you like a drink?'

Fine, no problem. But I had to be told that that was normal because I always thought it was the wife first  stupid thought!

We stayed up there (at Balmoral) from August to October. I got terribly, terribly thin. People started commenting: 'Your bones are showing.' By October, I was in a very bad way.

I was so depressed, and I was trying to cut my wrists with razor blades. It rained and rained and rained.

I came down early (to London) to seek treatment, not because I hated Balmoral, but because I was in such a bad way.

I was so depressed, and I was trying to cut my wrists with razor blades

Anyway, I came down here. All the analysts and psychiatrists you could ever dream of came plodding in trying to sort me out. Put me on high doses of Valium and everything else.

But the Diana that was still very much there had decided just time, patience and adapting were all that were needed. It was me telling them what I needed.

They were telling me 'pills'! That was going to keep them happy  they could go to bed at night and sleep, knowing the Princess of Wales wasn't going to stab anyone.

Anyway, a godsend, William was conceived in October. I was told I was pregnant, fine, great excitement. Marvellous news, occupied my mind. In those days, my greatest pleasure was that I was lucky enough to have a baby on the way.

Then we went to Wales for three days (in October 1981) to do our visit as Princess and Prince of Wales. Boy, oh boy, was that a culture shock in every sense of the word.

Wrong clothes, wrong everything, wrong timing, feeling terribly sick, carrying this child, hadn't told the world I was pregnant but looking grey and gaunt and still being sick.

I was desperately trying to make Charles proud of me. Made a speech in Welsh. He was more nervous than I was. Never got any praise for it. I began to understand that that was absolutely normal.

Sick as a parrot, it rained the whole time round Wales. It wasn't easy, I cried a lot in the car, saying I couldn't get out, couldn't cope with the crowds.'

He said: 'You've just got to get out and do it.' So I just got out. He tried his hardest and he did really well in that department, got me out  and once I was out, I was able to do my bit.

But it cost me such a lot because I hadn't got the energy because I was being sick with my bulimia  so much.

I couldn't sleep, didn't eat, whole world was collapsing around me. Very, very difficult pregnancy indeed. Sick the whole time, bulimia and morning sickness.

With Harry the morning sickness wasn't so bad. With William (pictured days before birth), it was appalling: almost every time I stood up, I was sick

People tried to put me on pills to stop me from being sick. I refused to risk the child becoming handicapped as a result. So sick, sick, sick, sick, sick.

And this family's never had anybody who's had morning sickness before, so every time at Balmoral, Sandringham or Windsor in my evening dress I had to go out, I either fainted or was sick.

It was so embarrassing because I didn't know anything because I hadn't read my (pregnancy) books, but I knew it was morning sickness because you just do.

So I was 'a problem' and they registered Diana as 'a problem'. 'She's different, she's doing everything that we never did. Why? Poor Charles is having such a hard time.'

Meanwhile, he decided he couldn't suggest too much.

With Harry the morning sickness wasn't so bad. With William, it was appalling: almost every time I stood up, I was sick.

I couldn't define what triggered it off, but obviously I felt it was a nuisance to the set-up  and I was made to feel it was a nuisance to the set-up.

Suddenly, in the middle of a black dress and black-tie do, I would go out to be sick and come back again, and they'd say: 'Why didn't she go off to bed?'

I felt it was my duty to sit at the table. Duty was all over the shop. I didn't know which way to turn at all.

I was 'a problem' and they registered Diana as 'a problem'

There was only ever one cancellation when I was carrying William: the visit to the Duchy of Cornwall's estate. And I was made to feel so guilty by my husband for that.

This myth about me hating Balmoral  I love Scotland, but just the atmosphere drains me to nothing.

I go up 'strong Diana'. I come away depleted of everything, because they just suck me dry, because I tune in to all their moods  and, boy, are there some undercurrents there!

Instead of having a holiday, it's the most stressful time of the year. It's very close quarters.

I panic a lot when I go up to Balmoral. It's my worst time, and I think: 'How the hell am I going to get out of this?'

The first couple of days, I'm frightfully chirpy when I get up there and everything's wonderful. By the third day, they're sapping me again.

There are so many negative atmospheres. That house sucks one dry. But I come back down to London to see someone, and I'll go back the same day. And it will be like an injection, a replenishment coming into my set-up.

I say to myself: 'I am normal, it's OK to be me, it's all right. You're going back to work soon, going to be back in your own home; you go back up there again and try and perform.'

It's exhausting.

My grandma (Ruth, the late Lady Fermoy) always said to me: 'Darling, you must understand that their sense of humour and their lifestyle are different, and I don't think it will suit you.'

When I didn't include her (in the later stages of wedding preparations) she got hurt, so out came the Valium. She's been on Valium ever since.

My mother let me down terribly with the wedding. She kept crying and being all valiant and saying that she couldn't cope with the pressure.

I tended to think that I was the one under pressure, because I was the bride. So I didn't speak to her for three or four years afterwards.

We found a date when Charles could get off his polo pony for me to give birth

When we had William (June 21, 1982), we had to find a date in the diary that suited Charles and his polo.

William had to be induced because I couldnt handle the Press pressure any longer  it was becoming unbearable. It was as if everybody was monitoring every day for me.

Anyway, we went (into St Marys hospital) very early. I was sick as a parrot the whole way through the labour. Very bad labour. They wanted a Caesarean  no one told me this until afterwards.

'When the Queen came to see William in hospital, she looked in the incubator and said: "Thank goodness he hasnt got ears like his father"'

Anyway, the boy arrived. Great excitement. Thrilled. Everyone absolutely high as a kite.

We had found a date where Charles could get off his polo pony for me to give birth. That was very nice  felt very grateful about that!

When the Queen came to see William in hospital, she looked in the incubator and said: Thank goodness he hasnt got ears like his father.

I came home, and then postnatal depression hit me hard. And it wasnt so much the baby that had produced it  it was the baby that triggered off all else that was going on in my mind.

Boy, was I troubled. If Charles didnt come home when he said he was coming home, I thought something dreadful had happened to him.

Tears, panic, all the rest of it. He didnt see the panic because I would sit there quietly. At Williams christening (on August 4, 1982) I was treated like nobody elses business.

Nobody asked me when it was suitable for William  11 oclock, couldnt have been worse.

Endless pictures of the Queen, Queen Mother, Charles and William. I was excluded totally that day. I felt desperate, because I had literally just given birth  William was only six weeks old. And it was all decided around me. Hence the ghastly pictures.

Everything was out of control, everything. I wasnt very well and I just blubbed my eyes out.

William started crying, too. Well, he just sensed that I wasnt exactly hunky-dory.

 Extracted from Diana: Her True Story  In Her Own Words by Andrew Morton, to be published by Michael O'Mara Books on June 17 at 20.  Andrew Morton 2017.

To buy this book for 14 (30 per cent discount) until June 23, 2017, go to www.mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640.

The first 300 copies will be signed by Andrew Morton. P&p is free on orders over 15.

TOMORROW: Charles told me off when I fainted in public
Where on earth does a single woman visiting New York go on a Saturday night? I dont want to stay in my hotel room and, while the local diner is great for breakfast, I dont want omelette again or pitying glances from fellow customers.

Every time I travel solo, I vow to have a night out. I plan to dress up, linger over a martini in a cool bar, then try out a new restaurant. I rip out reviews from glossy magazines. I make lists. But I always lose confidence.

My default position is to find an anonymous bistro, retire to a corner with a novel, and be in bed by 10pm.

Where on earth does a single woman visiting New York go on a Saturday night?

Not this time, though. On this trip I have Suzanne Randolph to help me.

Suzanne founded The Alix Experience, a membership organisation for professional women who travel globally for business and leisure. She emails me a choice of woman-friendly venues. Ive made reservations at two places downtown, she says airily. Just choose the one you like best.

I decide against the ironic-sounding Wallflower restaurant, but Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria looks gorgeous  and it is, with communal tables so youre not so conscious about dining on your own.

Great choice, I tell Suzanne when she joins me.

An art consultant for 25 years, Suzanne often found herself travelling alone: I was always pressing my nose up against a restaurants window to see if it was a good place to eat as a solo woman diner. If I sat down in a restaurant and felt uncomfortable, Id leave and try somewhere else.

She spent years keeping lists of the best spots and making recommendations to friends before she realised she could use her expertise to set up her own business.

Membership of Alix costs from 1,500 a year. For that, the company will book a table for you in top restaurants, secure tickets to popular events, provide detailed city guides and arrange cooking classes and much more

Membership of Alix costs from 1,500 a year. For that, the company will book a table for you in top restaurants (they have a list of establishments welcoming to women on their own), secure tickets to popular events, provide detailed city guides and arrange cooking classes and much more.

Not everyone can afford that membership fee, of course. So later this summer Suzanne is launching a new mobile app  Alix for One  specifically for the solo woman diner. You pay a monthly subscription of $9.99 (around 8) to access their choice of restaurants, then book directly online.

VIP business travellers can pay $29.99 (23) a month to join a more exclusive tier that offers profiles of vetted members. If youre in a city and fancy company, you simply switch your profile to visible to meet like-minded women travellers on the site.

No one is implying that women travellers are less adventurous than men. Far from it. But we do need to keep safety in mind.

Alix is just one of a new breed of concierge and networking services solely for female globetrotters.

Not everyone can afford that membership fee, of course. So later this summer Suzanne is launching a new mobile app  Alix for One  specifically for the solo woman diner

Carolyn Pearson, a former head of technology at ITV Productions, set up Maiden Voyage, a travel support company for professional women travellers, after a lonely business trip to LA.

I booked the weekend off before my meeting to go shopping, visit Santa Monica and go to the beach. But it felt impossible to go to a restaurant alone on a Saturday night in a strange city.

On her return to her home town of Leeds, she conducted market research and found many other women also spent lonely evenings in their hotel rooms.

Today the company is in 100 countries and has 11,500 members  membership is free for individuals, but companies pay for their female employees to join.

To become one of the companys certified Female Friendly Hotels, an establishment must have double-locking doors, a 24-hour manned reception and discretion when communicating your room number: We tell hotels not to ask if you want one key card or two, or broadcast your room number at breakfast.

They work with a chauffeur company for airport pick-ups, and can advise you on local business etiquette and dress codes.

Today Maiden Voyage has volunteer ambassadors in 70 cities who will share their little black books and will probably meet you for a coffee or do something nice for a few hours.

Liz Hoggard, above, tries out Alix: a new breed of concierge and networking services solely for female globetrotters

Travel club Thelma & Louise, which helps you find the perfect travel companion, came about when co-founder Christine Davies, a former film director on the BBC Holiday programme, wanted to climb Uluru (Ayers Rock) during a trip to Australia to visit her sister.

She couldnt persuade her husband to join her, so Christines sister put her in touch with an Australian friend who was in the middle of a divorce.

The two made a plan via the internet and booked a five-day trip through the Red Centre of Australia. The adventure was such a success, Christine and her new friend called themselves Thelma and Louise after the Nineties film.

Meeting the needs of women travellers makes business sense, as research shows women are more likely to book a multi-night stay than men.

Its the rise of what the travel industry call bleisure, says Pearson, where people combine business and leisure. You might add on a couple of days at your own expense, or check out of your four-star hotel and into a budget hotel at the weekend.

Women account for half of all business travellers. And its the hotels that get what we want who will be the winners, Pearson adds. Hotel du Vin in Birmingham has just put double locks on their rooms because they want to work with us.

Rather than cowering in a dark corner with a novel, like me, here finally is our chance to explore a city properly.

Its about feeling you can walk into a restaurant and be acknowledged, says Suzanne Randolph. I can say proudly that in all the travelling Ive done, Ive never once ordered room service.

Cheers to that!
THE STORY

As the Second World War draws to a close, British intelligence officer Gus Clifton returns from Berlin with a new wife. That would be surprise enough for his two sisters, Julia and Tilly, who have been taking care of the family home in London during his absence. But surprise turns to shock when it emerges that their brothers emaciated new bride, Krista, is German and clearly still suffering from the brutality and deprivation she has endured.

Even more distraught is Nella, Guss beautiful fiancee, who has been loyally waiting for him. All are baffled and dismayed by the situation  Krista is the enemy, in more ways than one. Behind closed doors, she can barely stand to be touched by Gus, and at one point admits to Tilly that she doesnt love him. So why did they get married? What hold does she have over Gus? The uncomfortable truth is gradually revealed as the women, each damaged in her own way, struggle to find purpose in their difficult postwar lives, resulting in a tense, fatal climax.

Great writing, great story  I could not put it down Marian Keyes

THE TASTER

What did she know about her husband? He was 31 years old. Before the war he had worked as a criminal barrister. During the war (he was vague about the details) he had worked with a team which had made use of his fluent German asking people questions. Some sort of intelligence capacity, she imagined. Not that she cared too much. As long as he offered a means of keeping alive, she wasnt going to waste her energy speculating.

THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Buchan, who began her career writing cover blurbs for other peoples books, has produced a string of bestsellers over the past 30 years, from historical romances such as Daughters of the Storm to a series of novels about the tangled web of modern marriage, including Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman. Joanna Trollope called her a real writer for grown-ups. Elizabeth reveals more about the background to her latest novel at youreadinggroup.co.uk, where you will also find suggested topics for your own book club discussion.

The New Mrs Clifton is published by Penguin, price 7.99. To order a copy for the special price of 5.99 until 9 July, call 0844 571 0640 or go to you-bookshop.co.uk; free p&p on orders over 15.
Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com

Q I have mild rosacea and wonder what suggestions you have for a cleanser/wash and a light moisturiser?

A In your longer email, you ask if Weleda Almond Oil range would be good for your skin and pharmacist Shabir Daya says yes indeed, this natural gentle collection would be soothing and a good fit for rosacea-prone skin. Almond Soothing Cleansing Lotion, 10.50/75ml, Almond Soothing Facial Cream for day and night, 15.75/30ml, weleda.co.uk.

For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter

Shabir Daya also recommends Very Clear products from the Derma E range, including Very Clear Moisturizing Cream, 18.95/56g, victoriahealth.com. These products are formulated to reduce redness and irritation as well as helping to clear and prevent acne breakouts and blemishes.

Argan Organics is a consistently impressive small range from Scotland, which uses natural ingredients and is very well-priced. Their Rosacea Cream  Sea Buckthorn Anti Redness Treatment is currently 14.99/50 ml from Amazon. Reviewers mostly found it helped, some greatly. (NB in our experience, very few products suit everyone.)

A colleague with long-term mild rosacea has found Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream, 32.49/30 ml from drhauschka.com, which she has now used for years, suits her skin best.

When we last asked a leading dermatologist for suggestions for rosacea, the top choice was Medik8, which offers Red Alert Cleanse Calming Foaming Cleanser, 25/150 ml, which is sulphate-and soap-free. Companion products are Red Alert Serum Redness Calming Serum, 32/15ml, and Redness Corrector Advanced Neutralising Cream, 63/50 ml from medik8.com.

We love, love, love the smell of frankincense. And we love, love, love what it does to our skins

Beauty Bible loves Neal's Yard Remedies Frankincense Intense Lift Serum, 75 for 30 ml. We love, love, love the smell of frankincense. And we love, love, love what it does to our skins.

This near-magical resin has been famed for millennia for its age-defying effects. Well, kind of, anyway: it was actually used in mummification  and if something can preserve skin for thousands of years, it's got to be worth researching.

Of course, scientists have now done just that. But our testers have never needed a boffin to tell them what they're seeing in the mirror  and for years, now, this particular range of Neal's Yard Remedies has been wowing them. This is the most potent frankincense incarnation to join the line-up: a light-but-powerfully-active serum which is clinically proven, working 'to visibly lift, plump and recontour skin that's starting to show the signs of ageing.'

It's incredibly potently scented, which is what we adore about this; the true, church-y, mystical smell of frankincense (which is also used for protection  something we all need a little bit of right now). A couple of drops is all it takes  and while it's too soon to show results (and our testers haven't got their paws on it yet), this is most definitively a keeper.

For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter
Is it a boy or a girl? Sonia Prajapati, 25, says she gave birth to a son on June 2 at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

But the central government-run institution handed her a baby girl.

She and her husband are now waiting for the report of a DNA test to end the mystery and their anguish.

Sonia Prajapati, mother of the newborn

Safdarjung Hospital, where the alleged baby 'switch' occurred - which the hospital denies

The hospital says the results would be in its favour and denies any possible baby switch.

Sonia and her husband, Bhupender, are distraught.

She is still in the gynaecology ward and keeps looking at the empty crib next to her with tears in her eyes.

Sonia said she felt a little better on seeing the other mothers playing with their babies.

The couple live in south Delhi's Khanpur and have lodged a complaint with the Safdarjung Police station.

'Mine was a normal delivery. I am certain that I had a given birth to a baby boy and even the doctors showed me. In case this was a girl child and I was wrong, the doctors in the OT and the nursing staff should have corrected me.

Scientist viewing a DNA profile experiment in a laboratory: stock photo

'But they didn't. That proves that I gave birth to baby boy,' Sonia, who teaches at the NGO Navasrishti, told Mail Today.

'Also, without taking my permission, doctors here inserted Copper-T (a device used to prevent pregnancy) into my body. It is illegal. And if our DNA matches with the baby girl, I will accept her.'

However, Dr AK Rai, director of Safdarjung Hospital, told Mail Today that the couple's allegation is wrong.

'We are all waiting for the DNA reports and I am sure they will be in our favour as there was no exchange of babies.

A doctor uses a syringe to put a blood sample into a DNA test tube in the laboratory for the forensic test: stock photo

'The DNA reports are likely to come in 20 days and till that time the baby girl is being kept in our nursery and looked after by the nursing staff,' he said.

Dr Rai added that on June 2, only two boys were born at the hospital and the rest were girls.

'At 11am, a patient delivered a baby boy, who was premature and was sent to the nursery and the other male child was born at around 4pm, after the allegations were made by Sonia (the patient) over exchange of babies,' he said.

'How can it be possible?'

The young couple waited four years for a child and are not ready to accept the 'wrong' baby.

'They have returned the child to the hospital's nursery but have not got back their own son. We are trying to help them,' said Krishna Bansal from Navasrishti, who helped the couple raise their voice against the hospital.

'Sonia's family approached us. We asked them to take action as previously incidents of medical faults have been noticed at Safarjung Hospital,' she added.

Bansal has now written to the National Human Rights Commission to look into the matter.

'In this whole scenario, it's the baby girl who is suffering and being kept away from her mother since birth, which is the golden period for any newborn,' she said.
An Islamic bookstore in Sydney's west is openly selling Sharia law books that call for the killing of gay people and ex-Muslims.

The Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn sells a title, 'Shariah: The Islamic Law', that also advocates cutting off the hands of thieves and 100 lashes for adultery.

The shop, next door to a takeaway chicken outlet, rents space from the hardline Sunni group Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah - whose preachers advise Muslims to stay away from non-believers and avoid events like New Year's Eve and the Easter Show.

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The Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn sells titles covering sharia law next to kids' books

The Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn rents space from a hardline Sunni group

The ASWJ has also hosted recent sermons saying it is sinful for men to use public urinals and for women to pluck their eyebrows.

The bookstore is downstairs from a second-storey mosque which was filling up with followers, including many children, on a weekday afternoon when school had just finished.

However the ASWJ, which runs the mosque, insists the bookstore is a separate entity after the shop's owner Abdullah Nafey was contacted for comment.

The book store was registered with the ASWJ from 2011 to November 2016, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission confirmed.

'The bookstore is a tenant of ASWJ Auburn and we do not have any influence or control on the day to day operations or what is sold,' the ASWJ's management committee told Daily Mail Australia.

'We would appreciate if you contact them directly regarding the books you purchased and that you do not infer that ASWJ Auburn is in anyway responsible for their operations.'

Daily Mail Australia found the Sharia law book on a table near the front entrance where a girl in a hijab was browsing through the titles, after the store was no longer in ASWJ hands.

Chapter 16, on Crimes and Punishments, explicitly calls for gay people to be killed, under an Islamic legal system which secular Muslims reject.

'If you find someone who is committing an act of the commitment of lut [that is homosexuality] kill the one on top and the one below,' it said.

The Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn has a mosque upstairs with hardline preachers

The bookstore in Sydney sells sharia law books next to colourful children's books on Islam

The book also advocates the death penalty for anyone who leaves Islam 'in favour of any other religion either through an action or through words of mouth'.

'The punishment by death in the case of apostasy has been unanimously agreed upon by all the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence,' it said.

It cites the Hadith, or stories about the life of the Prophet Mohammad, to justify capital punishment for ex-Muslims.

The book also proscribes death for those who have sex with animals.

Women and children are regular visitors to the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn

'There are times when a human being falls to the level of beasts and commits sexual intercourse with animals,' it said.

'Punishment of stoning to death should be applied on the individual and the animal which was the subject of bestiality should also be killed; and its flesh is unlawful.'

Another page outlines how thieves should have their hands chopped off, as part of a set of punishments known as hudud.

'Cutting the hands is applied after the following conditions are fulfilled: the person must be sane, he must be an adult, he must not have been compelled to commit theft, he must not be hungry while committing theft,' it said.

The same chapter also proscribed 100 lashes for adultery, which is practised in the Aceh province of Indonesia.

'The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of one of them with a hundred stripes,' it said.

'Let not compassion move you in their case. The idea behind awarding the seemingly harsh punishment is that it should serve as a deterrent to society.'

Daily Mail Australia bought several other titles including, 'Punishment of Apostasy in Islam' featuring a noose on the front cover, 'The Book of Major Sins' with an image of hell fire and 'Description of Paradise in the Glorious Quran'.

This book says the women in the paradise afterlife would be free from 'all kinds of situations that women are prone to in this world such as menstruation, post-natal bleeding, urination, defecation, spitting, nasal mucus and sexual discharge among other things that are naturally irritating'.

Sydney psychiatrist and author Tanveer Ahmed said Islamic bookstores were no help if teenagers were already radicalised

Bangladeshi-born Sydney psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed, who grew up in a Muslim family, said while the internet was more likely to radicalise disaffected teenagers, books like this could help harden their views against the West.

'That's when books like this may play a role. It's a symbol of the types of ideas that are available to any young Muslim that becomes more religious and more resentful at the host society,' Dr Ahmed told Daily Mail Australia.

'They become more and more intensely religious. It begins as a way of asserting identity and belonging but it can harden into something worse, often lashing out at people around them for not being religious enough.'
Maddilyn-Rose Stokes, the two-year-old girl allegedly tortured and murdered by her parents in their Brisbane home, died without her neighbours even knowing her name.

No one in the public housing complex where Maddilyn-Rose's family lived seems to have seen anything that raised their concerns about the child's welfare. No one seems to have seen much of Maddilyn-Rose at all.

Shane David Stokes, 30 and Nicole Betty Moore, 23, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with the torture and murder of their daughter.

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Maddilyn-Rose Stokes died on May 25 after suffering third-degree burns to her back, buttocks, groin and legs

Maddilyn-Rose Stokes allegedly suffered severe burns to the lower half of her body in this Department of Housing townhouse

Police leave the crime scene at Northgate, north of Brisbane, where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found suffering severe burns

An ambulance had been called to their home in Ridge Street, Northgate, about 9 kilometres north of the centre of Brisbane, shortly before 3.30pm on May 25. Police followed.

In preceding days the girl had suffered third-degree burns to her back, buttocks, groin and the backs of her legs, down to her feet. Those wounds had become infected.

Maddilyn-Rose was unconscious, could not be revived and died in Lady Cilento Children's Hospital that night, apparently after suffering cardiac arrest.

Her death and what led to it will now be examined by the courts but that she died in such a manner has stunned those who were physically close to the family but barely knew of her existence.

Maddilyn-Rose's family lived in one of seven brick townhouses that form part of a public housing complex at the lower end of Ridge Street, near the Northgate train station. Four units stand at the back, three at the front.

Most of the rest of Ridge Street is lined with free-standing homes, many of them immaculately-kept two-storey buildings with substantial verandahs.

Nicole Betty Moore is charged with the torture and murder of her two-year-old daughter Maddilyn-Rose

Shane Stokes is charged with the torture and murder of his two-year-old daughter Maddilyn-Rose

Maddilyn-Rose Stokes, 2, died in Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, after suffering horrendous burns

Maddilyn, who would have turned three this month, had an older sister who was regularly picked up from her home in a van and taken the 500 metres to the Northgate Early Childhood Centre.

A worker at the centre declined to comment beyond saying: 'We've done everything we need to do and we just want to move forward.'

The two-storey townhouse in which Maddilyn-Rose lived has a tiny backyard and faces paving that covers a courtyard and runs up to the road.

The townhouses either side of her family's place were empty on Tuesday. A drowsy young man in the fourth premises at the back came to the door mid-afternoon to say he had only lived in the block for a couple of weeks.

'No mate, never met 'em. Never seen 'em,' he said.

Police at the townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found unconscious on May 25

The public housing complex where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes suffered third degree burns (pictured) is on a street filled with impressive homes

The townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found unconscious is in a complex with no lawn

A young mother in one of the front units with a baby in her arms and another crying in the background said: 'I've never made any comment and I'm not going to now'.

The elderly man in the unit next to her is partly-deaf and cares for his wife, who suffers dementia. He rarely saw Maddilyn-Rose but he had been in tears last week.

'I didn't see anything or hear anything that would attract my attention,' the man said. 'I was crying to think a two to three-year-old child could be treated like that.'

The longest-term resident in the block is Rhonda Jones and she did not even know the names of anyone in Maddilyn's family until after the girl's death made the news.

'I only ever saw him and her and the child that used to go to day care,' Mrs Jones said. 'I knew there was another one but I never used to see her very often.'

Mrs Jones, who has been in her home for about a dozen years, believed the Stokes/Moore family had been living behind her for between one and two years.

Rhonda Jones has lived in the public housing complex where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was burnt for about 12 years

Neighbour Rhonda Jones says she did not even know Maddilyn-Rose's name until she saw news of her death on television

Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was rarely seen by neighbours outside her family's townhouse at Northgate, north of Brisbane

'They just seemed a normal family,' she said. 'Just normal people. They were very quiet and no one spoke to them.'

Neither parent worked and the couple did not own a car.

'They just kept to themselves,' Mrs Jones said. 'No one knew their names. We do now. It's really sad.

'Occasionally you'd hear a child crying because kids cry. Kids fall over and hurt themselves. But it wasn't like a scream in pain or anything. Nothing unusual.'

The 62-year-old said she rarely spoke to anyone in the complex other than her elderly neighbour. 'Some of the other people we never see for weeks on end,' she said. 'Everyone just keeps to themselves around here.'

'You'd think someone would have heard something.

'If I had heard someone screaming I would have rung the police. If someone knew what was happening someone would have called the police.

The front door of the townhouse in which Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found suffering third-degree burns

Upstairs windows in the townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes suffered severe burns were covered with a sheet on Tuesday

The Northgate Early Childhood Centre where Maddilyn-Rose's sister attended day care

Downstairs windows at the townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes lived were covered with makeshift curtains on Tuesday

'The only time I realised something was wrong was when the police and ambulance arrived.

'I just saw the police and the ambulance going down there. I didn't think the police or ambulance would be going there. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it was them.

'I thought they were going to my elderly neighbour's. There were so many cars and so many people.'

Even after Maddilyn-Rose was taken away in an ambulance, Mrs Jones did not know her name or those of her parents. 'We didn't even know their names for three or four days,' she said.

Mrs Jones had not seen any member of the family since May 25, except in newspapers and on television.

The public housing complex where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes lived (pictured) sits on a street lined with immaculately presented homes

Maddilyn-Rose Stokes, who died in Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital on May 25, with Dora the Explorer

Shane Stokes and Nicole Moore with their daughter Maddilyn-Rose, who they are accused of torturing and murdering

'It's quite frightening, to think we never heard a thing,' she said. 'That's the scary part. It's so tragic.'

Stokes's older brother Gwyn Stokes told Daily Mail Australia he had never met his niece Maddilyn. He had been estranged from his brother for about five years.

The two brothers had been brought up by their father's parents after 'a very bad start to life', Mr Stokes said.

'I still can't put into words how I feel about it - I am just so angry - and I get really upset every time I think about it.'

Mr Stokes said he would have been happy to have taken his niece into his own family.

Maddilyn-Rose's uncle Gwyn Stokes does not know how to tell his children they will never meet their cousin

Neighbour Rhonda Jones says she never saw or heard anything suspicious before an ambulance arrived for Maddilyn-Rose on May 25

'I don't know how to tell my kids that they will never have the chance to meet their cousin,' he said.

'And I think it is even harder when I look at my own daughter who is only a little bit younger because I can imagine what she is like.'

'I still can't put in to words how I feel about it. I get really upset every time I think about it.'

Following Maddilyn's death, Operation Papa Belvedere was formed with officers from Boondall Child Protection Investigation Unit, the Child Trauma Taskforce and the Homicide Squad.

Last week, Detective Inspector Tim Trezise said the girls' parents blamed their daughter's death on a tragic accident.

'Their version is that it's a terrible accident and that a moment's inattention has led to this incident,' he said.

Maddilyn-Rose Stokes suffered burns to her back, buttocks, groin and legs before suffering an apparent cardiac arrest

Shane Stokes, with his daughter Maddilyn-Rose, has been charged with torture and murder

'However, due to the very, very serious nature of these burns and the fact that they were so serious that they've quite likely caused her death, we have a very open mind in relation to other possibilities.'

Two days after Maddilyn-Rose's death, Queensland's Child Safety Minister, Shannon Fentiman, said the Department of Child Safety was 'not currently investigating or involved with this family at the time of this tragic incident'.

'My heart breaks for the family and friends of this little girl,' Ms Fentiman said. 'There are many people grieving today.'

It has been reported that charity Act For Kids had provided the family with support over the past year.

Police will claim the dead girl's father told them Maddilyn-Rose received the burns to the lower half of her body from sitting in a hot bath days in the days before her death. They will say he lied.

The Courier-Mail reported Shane Stokes told police his daughter had been unable to walk because of her injuries but he did not seek medical help. Instead, he turned to Google for advice.

Stokes told police his daughter had been burned during a bath but medical experts believe her injuries were suffered from running hot water, according to the Courier-Mail.

Police at the scene after Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found unconscious in her family's townhouse on May 25

A detective next to crime scene tape after Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was found suffering third-degree burns in her family home north of Brisbane

The newspaper understands Stokes has given different versions of what happened to police. The day after his daughter's death he allegedly told detectives he had left Maddilyn-Rose and her sister in a bath.

He later ran his youngest daughter a cold bath before he and Moore put antiseptic cream on her burns and bandaged them. In another interview, he allegedly said he had washed Maddilyn-Rose under a tap after she soiled her nappy.

Police will allege Stokes searched the internet for advice on treating burns.

On Monday, Detective Inspector Tim Trezisethe announced the parents' arrest.

'I am able to report today that as a result of the tireless efforts of the detectives involved in the case two persons were taken into custody earlier today,' Detective Inspector Trezise said.

Police at the townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes is believed to have suffered severe burns before losing consciousness

The townhouse where Maddilyn-Rose Stokes lived, and those either side of it, were empty on Tuesday

'That is the 30-year-old father of Maddilyn-Rose and the 23-year-old mother. Each has been charged with one count of murder and one count of torture.

'The investigation has been particularly difficult and emotionally challenging due to the nature of the victim being a two-year-old girl suffering significant injuries.

'Obviously any allegations of child cruelty get treated very seriously by police ... and the perpetrators of that cruelty will be brought before the courts.'

Stokes and Moore appeared separately in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Neither applied for bail and both will be back before the same court on June 26.

The elder Stokes was appalled when he learnt of Moore and his brother's arrest on Monday.

'I am very sad and will hold my kids tighter tonight,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'It never should have come to this.'
The hammer-wielding man who attacked police officers patrolling in front of Notre Dame Cathedral is believed to have radicalized himself through the internet and was unknown to French police and intelligence services

Francois Molins, the chief prosecutor in Paris, said the 40-year-old Algerian doctoral student is being charged with attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise and crime of terrorist conspiracy.

One police officer was slightly injured in Tuesday's attack.

The assailant, who cried out 'This is for Syria', was shot by police. He received hospital treatment for a shotgun injury to the torso.

The hammer-wielding man who attacked police officers patrolling in front of Notre Dame Cathedral appears to have radicalized himself through the internet and was unknown to French forces

Molins told a news conference Saturday that the man had the 'profile of a neophyte' that counterterrorism services fear as much as extremists who are trained to carry out attacks.

'Today, the terrorist threat today is shape-shifting. And this time we have been confronted by an internal threat ... individuals who want to carry out projects here when they have difficulties joining the war zones,' Molins said.

The assailant was identified as Farid Ikken this week by a nephew in Algeria, lawyer Sofiane Ikken, and a friend, Algerian journalist Kamal Ouhnia.

Molins, who hasn't identified the suspect by his full name, confirmed that he was an ex-journalist born in Akbou, a town in northern Algeria, who was legally living in France as a student working on his doctoral thesis.

Investigators who searched a student residence where he lived in the Paris suburb of Cergy-Pontoise found a declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State group he filmed on the morning of the attack. He presented himself as a 'soldier of the caliphate,' prosecutors said.

They have also found a laptop and four USB sticks that included Islamic extremist propaganda, photos and videos referring to attacks in London, Paris, Brussels and at a church in the French region of Normandy, and images of the war in Syria.

The assailant - crying out 'This is for Syria!'- was shot by police. He received hospital treatment for a shotgun injury to the torso

The man described himself as a Sunni Muslim who started a 'quite radical' religious observance about 10 months ago, Molins said.

The suspect bought the hammer and two kitchen knives, which were found on him after the attack, in a supermarket on March 27.

Molins said his family and friends didn't notice signs of radicalization. He described the man as socially and psychologically 'isolated.'

Investigators haven't established the existence of any contact between the man and people living in Syria and Iraq.

The youngest of a family of 12 children, the assailant moved to Sweden in 2001, where he studied journalism. He returned to Algeria in 2011, establishing an online newsletter and working as a journalist, before moving to France for doctoral studies in 2013, Molins said

His brother and a cousin, both living in France, have described a 'solitary, serious, discreet' man from a not very religious family. His thesis supervisor, who last saw him in June 2016, described him as a 'strong advocate of Western democracy,' the prosecutor said.
A man has been charged with the armed robberies of nine Sydney taxi drivers who were held up at knife-point as the 20-year-old offender demanded cash.

Police were first alerted to the man after two armed robberies on Wednesday 17th of May and Thursday 18th May in the Ultimo area.

During these attacks a knife was allegedly used and cash was stolen.

A man who allegedly robbed nine taxi drivers at knife-point has been arrested (stock picture)

About 10pm on Wednesday 7th June police attended an armed robbery of a taxi driver in Ultimo where a knife was used again.

Officers were then called to three armed robberies of taxi drivers on Thursday 8th in Glebe and Ultimo.

Police say a knife was used by the offender but he failed to make off with any cash.

In two separate incidents on Saturday 10 June 2017 two armed robberies of taxi drivers in Surry Hills were reported to police.

In these attacks a knife was allegedly produced and cash and property was stolen.

Officers from Sydney City Detectives investigated the incidents and believed them to be related.

Officers were then called to three armed robberies of taxi drivers on Thursday 8th in Glebe (pictured) and Ultimo

About 9:45pm Saturday night a 20-year-old man was taken to the Day Street Police Station and spoke with investigators.

He was then arrested and charged with with three counts robbery with offensive weapon, four counts of aggravated assault with intent to rob and inflict actual bodily harm, demand property with menaces with intent to steal, and dishonestly obtain financial advantage.

He was denied bail and will appear at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday.
Peter Mandelson has issued a rallying call to moderate Labour MPs left shell-shocked by Jeremy Corbyns Election success, urging them to help prop up Theresa May in return for a soft Brexit.

The Labour grandee calls for MPs who wanted to stay in the EU to use the hung Parliament  and Mrs Mays political weakness  as an opportunity to put pressure on her to keep the UK in the single market and customs union during Brexit discussions.

Hinting at a new alliance between moderates, Lord Mandelson says the new parliamentary arithmetic should be used to out-manoeuvre headbangers who want to cut ties with Brussels.

Unexpected success: A smiling Jeremy Corbyn leaving his home yesterday after the general election results

Writing in todays Mail on Sunday, he says: I believe that if [Theresa May] shows flexibility, most of the country will back her. It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing.

He adds pointedly: There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing for the country.

Lord Mandelsons remarks came as Mr Corbyns extraordinary General Election performance failed to silence some of his Labour critics  with one refusing point-blank to return to the Opposition frontbench.

The 66 votes that sank Theresa The Tories were just 66 votes away from gaining a majority, experts say. The party lost three key constituencies  Kensington by a mere 20 votes, Perth and North Perthshire by 21 votes and Dudley North by 22 votes. Had they secured them, they would have finished with enough seats for a working majority. The maximum number of voting MPs is 639 because Sinn Feins seven MPs do not take up their seats, and the Speaker and his three deputies do not vote. Advertisement

Former Shadow Chancellor Chris Leslie sparked fury among Corbyn supporters by dismissing the partys surprise Election result as not good enough.

Mr Leslie, who quit Labours frontbench when Mr Corbyn was first elected leader in 2015, said: We shouldnt pretend that this is a famous victory. And while he conceded that many people now saw Mr Corbyn as credible, he said that the Labour leaders views on the economy and security made serving on his team impossible.

Another senior MP said privately: Jeremy surprised us all with his campaign performance but many of us still have serious doubts that he can ever be Prime Minister material. Last night, sources close to Angela Eagle, who launched a leadership challenge against the Labour leader last summer after branding him unable to do the job, said that she would now consider working with Mr Corbyn.

In her acceptance speech last week after being re-elected as MP for Wallasey, Ms Eagle declared: I pledge to play any part my party should ask of me. Hilary Benn, another fierce critic of Mr Corbyn, was unavailable for comment yesterday but friends suggested he was more likely to seek re-election as chairman of the Commons Brexit committee than to rejoin the partys frontbench.

Ex-Shadow Home secretary Yvette Cooper  who had been the favourite to launch a leadership challenge if Mr Corbyn had faltered at the Election  was also not available for comment. But senior Labour MP Mike Gapes dismissed suggestions that Mr Corbyn would have won the Election had more in the party supported him.

He told one Twitter user yesterday: This is fantasy and you know it. MPs all worked hard to get a Labour victory. JC campaign more effective than expected. But we still lost.

The meme machine that led to youthquake Social media memes depicting Jeremy Corbyn as David Beckham modelling underwear and a politician who doesnt play by the rules won the Labour leader an army of young fans. Social media memes depicting Jeremy Corbyn as David Beckham modelling underwear won the Labour leader an army of fans Millions of images and tweets were shared during the Election campaign, inspiring a huge youth vote, boosting Mr Corbyn and denying Theresa May a majority. An estimated 66.4 per cent of voters aged 18 to 24 cast their ballot, compared with 43 per cent in 2015. This image, showing Mr Corbyn 'dabbing' and dubbing him a politician who doesnt play by the rules Advertisement

My partys moderates must stand by the wounded PM, says former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson

It still feels extraordinary to me that Theresa May made absolutely no acknowledgement of the devastating election result

It still feels extraordinary to me that, speaking on her return to Downing Street from Buckingham Palace on Friday, Theresa May made absolutely no acknowledgement of the devastating verdict the voters had just delivered to her.

All she said was the Conservatives would work with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party to deliver an unchanged Brexit. What about the rest of her policies and the things that worry people in Britain today? What about a hint of apology for the cuts in police numbers, including armed response officers?

And instead of taking risks with the Northern Ireland peace process by allowing the DUP tail to wag the UK dog, what about working with all the other parties and the rest of Parliament to get the best deal for Britain in Europe? The Prime Minister simply does not understand whats happened to her Brexit plan. She lost her majority. The plan lies in tatters.

We now have a new House of Commons that is not going to have an extreme Brexit forced down their throats. And MPs are not going to nod through her gargantuan Repeal Bill of EU legislation without full debate and argument.

The Prime Minister made a huge mistake by closing down all her EU negotiating options before the talks even began. She was wrong to decide that Britain should come out of the EU completely, including its customs union and single market  where half our exports go  rather than keeping one foot in the trade bloc, an option open to her.

And by framing her negotiating strategy within a set of rigid red lines, she has severely restricted her bargaining ability to get the best deal available. These red lines have been imposed by hardliners in her party and the press who want Brexit at any cost, whatever the consequences for jobs and prosperity in Britain.

The EU, in response, has offered a future trade deal as long as this is on terms acceptable to them. In effect, they are saying to Britain: You can have your deal but you will have to respect our rules to get it.

The Prime Minister made a huge mistake by closing down all her EU negotiating options before the talks even began. Pictured is the PM with President Juncker

I hope the EU will be reasonable and business-like. The problem is that the Prime Minister is embarking on the negotiation of her life having tied her own hands.

Britain will leave the EU in March 2019 but in all probability we will need an additional two or three-year transition period. This will require compromise by Britain on a continuing role of the European Court of Justice and movement of people.

The wild men in her party have already started to agitate against accepting any such terms which they call a bad deal. They claim that no deal would be better than a bad deal.

Lets be clear what no deal would mean for Britain: WTO tariffs imposed on around 90 per cent of the goods the UK exports to the EU, including 36 per cent on dairy, 15 per cent on food, 11 per cent on textiles, and ten per cent on cars. It will also mean import costs that will put up supermarket prices; service trade severely restricted because of regulatory differences; customs checks and inspections which would be lengthy and costly.

The most vulnerable in our country, the most indebted, the ones with the least to fall back on, would suffer most from the consequences.

In the new parliamentary arithmetic, these terms would not get approval from the majority of MPs.

So where should Mrs May go from here?

To withstand the internal party pressures on her, the Prime Minister clearly needs broad political support.

For a start, she needs weight placed on the other side of the scales by sensible members of the Cabinet such as Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Business Secretary Greg Clark. Their silence to date has been unforgivable.

She has to be honest about both the compromise needed to achieve a deal and the consequences of not getting it. Such honesty would be a sign of strength, not weakness.

For a start, she needs weight placed on the other side of the scales by sensible members of the Cabinet such as Chancellor Philip Hammond

As one of Europes largest economies, Britain can both leave the EU and retain its trading rights in the single market  as Norway did when its public voted against joining the EU  albeit with less say in deciding the rules that govern that trade.

We have a bigger economy than Norway, we are more important to the rest of Europe, and have the influential status of a powerful recent member of the EU. If, with one foot still in the European camp, we asked for flexible terms  for example in how freedom of movement operates  we would be listened to and, in my view, accommodated. The Prime Minister will not be given this chance if she simply continues as she has started, by laying down the law and spelling out where she wont budge.

I believe if she shows flexibility, most of the country will back her.

It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing.

There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing for the country.

Mainstream Labour MPs, who worry about the impact of the continuing Corbyn revolution on centrist voters, should be prepared to stand by the wounded PM, and likewise she should welcome their approach in the national interest.

If she gives in to the Brexit headbangers, on the other hand, she will only have herself to blame when the awful reality of our position dawns and she is forced into retreat by Parliament.

Does she have the sense and courage to hatch a new Brexit plan? The next few weeks will tell.
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The radio veteran has a slew of luxury properties around New South Wales and Queensland, ranging from a Quayside apartment to a farm in the Southern Highlands.

But Alan Jones is looking to minimize his portfolio, by selling off his three-bedroom Avoca Beach apartment next month.

The opulent beach-side home features three generous bedrooms, a plunge pool, powder room and a massage therapy room.

Alan Jones has listed his luxurious Avoca Beach apartment, which boasts seaside views, for auction next month

The three-bedroom home has a massage therapy room, a powder room and a plunge pool, which is placed half inside

Mr Jones purchased the property in 2008, with all its furnishings, from Macquarie banker Michael Cook

If the property sells, the 2GB announcer will regain every cent, as bidding on the home will start at $4.5million

Mr Jones' apartment was originally purchased as a relaxing retreat for himself and his niece Tonia, but when the pair are not residing there, it is rented out for $800 a night, Domain reports.

Bidding on the home next month will start at 4.5million, a little more than what the media personality reportedly rakes in each year.

It also ensures Mr Jones will make money on his investment, having previously broken records in the area when he purchased the apartment for $4.5million in 2008.

The high-profile announcer bought the apartment from Macquarie Bank's senior managing director Michael Cook with its existing furniture, some of which was chosen by late interior designer Garth Barnett.

Pictures of the home show a colourful, sun-drenched space with lots of room to move. The apartment boasts sweeping views of the ocean and a large balcony has been styled as an upmarket entertaining area.

The colourful, spacious beach-side home was decorated by late interior designer Garth Barnett

The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home features sweeping 180 degree views of Avoca, Terrigal and beyond

Mr Jones purchased the home originally as a weekend house for himself and his niece Tonia

The apartment is one of only six, and sits in an exclusive building called The Lighthouse

Mr Jones' plunge pool juts in to the home, with large glass panes keeping excess water out.

One of the apartment bedrooms features its own balcony, with breathtaking beach views visible through large glass sliding doors.

While most may consider selling the beach-side apartment a loss, Mr Jones will likely remain comfortable in one of his other properties.

It is understood he owns an apartment in Circular Quay's famed toaster building worth $2.5million, an apartment at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, and a farm at Fitzroy Falls in the Southern Highlands, worth about $6million.

The Avoca Beach apartment is open to viewers on June 14, and will go to auction on July 15.

When Mr Jones and his niece are not staying at the home, it is rented out online for $800 per night

The plunge pool saves the lucky home-owner a very short walk over to Avoca Beach on hot days

The spacious outside balcony has been styled as an upmarket entertaining area with lots of seating and dim lighting

The home sits on a cliff face at Avoca, but is only a short stroll to the famed Avoca Beach
A Sydney businessman who was the first person in Australia to be convicted of murder using DNA evidence could be innocent, according to a leading scientist.

Wayne Butler, now 73, was found guilty of murdering Celia Natasha Douty, 40, who was killed while working as a waitress at popular getaway destination, Brampton Island, offshore from Mackay Queensland, in 1983.

Ms Douty was found with head injuries, lying dead in undergrowth at Dinghy Bay  a private beach on the island on September 1, 1983.

Celia Natasha Douty (pictured) was found with head injuries, lying dead in undergrowth at Dinghy Bay  a private beach on the Queensland island on September 1, 1983

Butler was convicted of the murder 14 years later. He was the first person ever convicted using DNA evidence.

Butler was holidaying on the island with his wife when Ms Douty was murdered.

He was jogging alone for several hours on the day of the murder, but returned to his wife acting normal.

Butler was convicted of the murder using DNA testing after semen found on Ms Douty's towel reportedly matched a blood sample taken from Butler.

However, prominent Australian scientist Professor Barry Boettcher claims the DNA testing was botched and Butler was wrongly convicted, the Courier Mail reports.

Prominent Australian scientist Professor Barry Boettcher claims the DNA testing was botched and Butler was wrongly convicted

Professor Boettcher, a blood expert, argued the DNA testing was botched and a semen stained towel was tested against itself instead of the sample of Butler's blood.

He claimed new evidence proved Butler was innocent.

Professor Boettcher obtained a sample of Butler's semen via a lawyer and confirmed he was in blood group B.

'The semen on the towel is blood group O and Butler is blood group B,' he said.

'I have been, right from the start, convinced that it is not his semen on the towel.'

With the new information, Professor Boettcher made an application for pardon on Bulter's behalf.

Wayne Butler, now 73, was found guilty of murdering Celia Natasha Douty, 40, who was killed while working as a waitress at popular getaway destination, Brampton Island (pictured), offshore from Mackay Queensland, in 1983

Butler remains behind bars for the 1983 murder, and suffers from a brain injury he sustained when he was attacked in prison.

Professor Boettcher said the new evidence shed further doubt on the DNA evidence used to convict Butler.

He lodged documentation to police and the Attorney-General claiming discrepancies in DNA testing made before the Court of Appeal hearing.

He argued DNA testing was dodgy throughout the hearing.

'How many people in a courtroom understand DNA evidence? The jury thinks if they've got DNA, he's guilty,' he said.

Professor Boettcher's application for Pardon lodged on behalf of Butler was passed to Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath.
The former CEO of Twitter isn't a fan of President Donald Trump.

Dick Costolo, 53, tweeted on Friday that anyone wishing to know what it's like to meet the 45th president should 'drink a bottle of gin and waterboard yourself.'

Costolo was commenting on a report in BuzzFeed News which claimed that Trump was planning to host a White House meeting of tech executives and venture capitalists.

Alphabet Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, and IBM CEO Ginni Rommetty are among the big names expected to attend a June 19 summit at the White House, according to Bloomberg.

The executives will attend a meeting held under the auspices of the administration's new efforts to introduce innovation so as to streamline federal government services.

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The former CEO of Twitter isn't a fan of President Donald Trump. Dick Costolo (above), 53, tweeted on Friday that anyone wishing to know what it's like to meet the 45th president should 'drink a bottle of gin and waterboard yourself'

Trump was reportedly planning to host a White House meeting of tech executives and venture capitalists. Trump is seen above at Trump Tower in December with, left to right: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos; Google co-founder Larry Page; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Vice President Mike Pence; PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel; Apple CEO Tim Cook; and Oracle CEO Safra Catz

The effort is being led by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

On June 22, another tech-themed event is scheduled to take place at the White House.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy is organizing a gathering that will address emerging technological trends including Internet of Things and commercial drones.

When someone on Costolo's Twitter feed posted the BuzzFeed article about the summit along with a photo of Trump sitting alongside tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Costolo replied: 'If you don't get invited to this meeting and want to know what it was like, just drink a bottle of gin and then waterboard yourself.'

When someone on Costolo's Twitter feed posted a photo of Trump sitting alongside tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Costolo replied: 'If you don't get invited to this meeting and want to know what it was like, just drink a bottle of gin and then waterboard yourself'

This isn't the first time Costolo has used his Twitter account to criticize the president. In March, Costolo tweeted that Trump was a 'wimp' who 'cowers from any fight, points fingers in a loss but takes credit for any win'

This isn't the first time Costolo has used his Twitter account to criticize the president.

In March, Costolo tweeted that Trump was a 'wimp' who 'cowers from any fight, points fingers in a loss but takes credit for any win.'

'A coward, a loser, a two-bit punk,' Costolo tweeted about Trump.

Costolo was responding to a Trump tweet plugging a Fox News show hosted by Judge Jeanine Pirro.

During that particular episode which Trump promoted, Pirro called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to resign after House Republicans failed to agree on a repeal-and-replace measure that would undo Obamacare.

Costolo was CEO of Twitter from 2010 to 2015.

He is currently chief executive of Chorus, a group fitness startup that was launched this past December.

In early 2016, Costolo founded the company with $8million of his own money, according to Business Insider.

Trump, meanwhile, has perhaps the most famous and consequential Twitter account in history.

The president has credited Twitter as well as Facebook for enabling him to mount a successful campaign for the White House, according to The Verge.
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She was last spotted at Pippa Middletons $892,000 Berkshire wedding in May where she danced the night away with boyfriend Prince Harry in a specially constructed glass marquee.

But today, Meghan Markle was all business as she touched down in Austin, Texas, ahead of a rare appearance alongside her Suits co-stars.

Dressed simply in a white shirt and skinny jeans, the actress, 35, appeared relaxed as she walked through the airport, accompanied by a bodyguard, after switching her baseball cap for a pair of chic sunglasses.

Quick change: Meghan looked keen to slip under the radar as she boarded a flight from Toronto wearing a Blue Jays baseball cap

Simple yet stylish: Meghan Markle wore ripped skinny jeans and a white shirt for her arrival in Austin, Texas, on Saturday

Arriving in Texas: The actress looked relaxed as she walked through the airport carrying her own bags and a sun hat

Fellow passenger: Sarah Rafferty, 44, who plays secretary Donna Paulsen in the popular TV show, joined Meghan on her flight

Business: The two actresses are in Texas for the ATX Television Festival, where both will take part in a script reading

It's not the first time the actress has showed her support for the Toronto baseball team - she was spotted wearing the same hat when she visited a London spa last month ahead of Pippa Middleton's wedding.

She was joined on the plane from Toronto by her castmate Sarah Rafferty, 44, who plays secretary Donna Paulsen on the show.

After exiting the airport, Meghan was ushered into a waiting black Chevrolet Suburban SUV before being driven away alone.

The actresses are in the Texan city for the ATX Television Festival, where both will take part in a script reading and panel discussion.

Also in town are fellow Suits stars Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams, who jetted in on Friday and have already been taking part in fan events.

The event, which is now in its sixth year, has already seen panel discussions and performances featuring Friends star Lisa Kudrow and funnyman Will Ferrell among others.

Meghan, who is due on stage tomorrow, has been keeping a low profile since returning from her latest trip to London at the end of May.

Quick exit: After leaving the airport in Austin, Texas, Meghan was ushered into a waiting black Chevrolet Suburban SUV

Time to work: Meghan had her hair tied back and wore large shades for her arrival in Austin, Texas on Saturday

Last spotted: Meghan was last seen at Pippa Middletons wedding in May where she danced the night away with Prince Harry

Security: The actress, 35, appeared relaxed as she walked through the airport, accompanied by a bodyguard

She and her Suits co-stars are currently making the shows seventh season in Toronto, with filming set to end next month.

However, the 35-year-old is not yet thought to have signed on for season eight, which is scheduled to go into production in November.

Meghans attendance at Pippas wedding to millionaire financier James Matthews, 41, came shortly after the actress and Harry made their first public appearance as a couple at a polo match.

The star, who has been dating the fifth-in-line to the throne for 11 months, was seen cheering her prince on during the Audi Polo Challenge at Ascot in Berkshire.

Meghan, who looked impeccable in a navy Antonio Berardi dress and white blazer, was joined in the stands by actor Eddie Redmayne and ballerina Darcey Bussell for the match.

Harry, meanwhile, has spent the last week in Singapore and Sydney, where he officially launched the 2018 Invictus Games.

Last seen: Meghan Markle was pictured beaming alongside her boyfriend Prince Harry as they drove into Pippa Middleton and James Matthews' wedding reception

This years event is set to take place in Toronto in September and Harry and Meghan are thought to have met while he was in the city for the launch event in May 2016.

Since then, the prince has made several visits to the city to see the Los Angeles born actress, while she has made repeat visits to London.

Harry, who arrived back in the UK on Saturday, is due to host a reception for childrens charity WellChild at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.

Guests will include some of the children being cared for by the charity, as well as supporters, staff and volunteers.

On Thursday, he is due at Chatham House in London where the 32-year-old will open the buildings new extension  the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Floor.

The visit is also expected to include meetings with students at the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs.
A British yachtsman has been rescued by a cruise liner after his vessel became severely damaged in a transatlantic race.

The man was rescued by the Queen Mary 2 in the area of the Mid Atlantic on Saturday.

His boat, the 'Tamarind', suffered severe damage but he was not injured, according to the Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC).

The UK Coastguard said: 'He has been assessed by the Queen Mary 2 medical team who have advised he is uninjured and in good spirits.'

The rescue was organised from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and saw the Queen Mary 2, as well as an oil and gas supply ship named the Thor Magni (pictured) and a tugboat, all help with the rescue effort.

The man was rescued in the area of the Mid Atlantic on Saturday and while his boat, called Tamarind, suffered severe damage, he was not injured, according to the Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC) of England

It comes as a North Atlantic storm - 60-knot winds and 15-metre seas - hit competitors of the Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) which left Plymouth at the end of last month.

The rescue was organised from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and saw the Queen Mary 2, as well as an oil and gas supply ship named the Thor Magni and a tugboat, all help with the rescue effort.

The RWYC said the extreme conditions, which began in the early hours of Friday, caused damage to many boats with three emergency beacons triggered.

The Canadian coastguard in Halifax immediately reacted to the situation, requesting ships and air support, including an RAF Hercules, to help all the boats in distress.

As well as Tamarind - which was severely damaged - four other boats were affected but no injuries were reported.

Five people from three different vessels were rescued in total.

On its website, the RWYC said: 'The RWYC would like to thank all personnel at the Halifax Coastguard for their immediate and magnificent response to this emergency situation. All seafarers owe them a debt of gratitude.'

On its website, the RWYC said: 'The RWYC would like to thank all personnel at the Halifax Coastguard for their immediate and magnificent response to this emergency situation. All seafarers owe them a debt of gratitude'

A Cunard spokesman said: 'We can confirm that Queen Mary 2 was involved in a rescue operation at the request of the MRCC at Falmouth, (UK Coastguard). The rescue was coordinated by Canadian Coastguard in Halifax.

'The lone yachtsman is now safely on board Queen Mary 2.'

Master of Queen Mary 2, Captain Chris Wells, who led the rescue mission, said: 'It is standard seafaring practice to go to the aid of a vessel in distress.

'We were pleased to be able to help and delighted that the yachtsman is safe and well and now on board Queen Mary 2.'

Daniel Bailey, maritime operations officer for the UK Coastguard said: 'We are extremely grateful for the support and professionalism that the RMS Queen Mary 2 provided during this rescue.
A rave-loving grandfather and his brothel-working business partner have admitted to running and operating an enormous multi-million dollar drug ring from their home.

John McKenzie, a long-time organiser of popular rave events and festivals, pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs into his parties in the County Court, Melbourne, this week.

The 57-year-old grandfather is now facing life behind bars after admitting to selling ecstasy, LSD, amphetamine and cocaine, after police found substances with a total street value of $1,043,011 at his properties, the Herald Sun reports.

A party-loving grandfather and his brothel-working business partner have admitted to running and operating an enormous multi-million dollar drug ring based in Melbourne, Victoria

A stalwart of Melbourne's partying scene, McKenzie is an alumni of renowned private school Scotch College, where annual fees can cost more than $26,000.

The founder of Cyclone Events, he has run eclipse raves across Asia, Europe and in Africa, as well as across Australia.

Pleading guilty alongside McKenzie was his trafficking gopher Samuel Cahir, who is also an employee at the renowned Le Boudoir brothel, in Collingwood.

The 48-year-old works in maintenance at the brothel, which is owned by his mother.

McKenzie and Cahir's operation was busted during a police raid in 2014, where they uncovered the more than $1 million in drugs, drug cooking equipment and a total of $176,950 in cash.

Having previously been convicted of heroin offences some decades ago, McKenzie did time in Victoria's former maximum-security Pentridge Prison and a Thailand jail.

John McKenzie, a 57-year-old grandfather, and Samuel Cahir, his 48-year-old brothel-working business colleague, are both facing life behind bars over their multi-million trafficking ring

McKenzie told Judge James Parrish that the drugs were partly used to feed his own habbit, which saw him use ecstasy and LSD regularly.

However Judge parish dubbed their business 'large-scale' and run to make a profit, saying their operation could have disastrous results for the community.

'These drugs end up in nightclubs and on the street. It's just a scourge,'

Both McKenzie and Cahir will be sentenced next week.
Remain backers believe they will be able to defeat the flagship Brexit Bill because the Government is now so weak.

Dubbed the Great Repeal Bill, the legislation will transfer decades of European Union rulings and judgments on to the UK statute book so that they can be changed or axed at a later date.

Theresa May has described it as an essential step on Britains journey out of the EU.

Remain backers believe they will be able to defeat the flagship Brexit Bill in the aftermath of the General Election. Tim Farron said: 'I plan to fight the Tories every step of the way'

The difficulty of navigating the Great Repeal Bill through Parliament was part of the reason why Mrs May called the snap Election, as she hoped to return with a larger majority and so avoid critical votes being lost.

But now that the Conservatives have lost their majority in the Commons and are relying on the Democratic Unionist Party to keep the Government going, anti-Brexit campaigners are increasingly confident they can stop the law going through.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told The Mail on Sunday last night: The Great Repeal Bill is facing a long, hard battle and I plan to fight the Tories every step of the way.

Lord Wood, an advisor to Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader wrote online: There is simply no way the staggering scope, complexity and sensitivities of the Great Repeal Bill can be navigated given the Election result

Our rights and protections must not be eroded. I do not trust Theresa May on this and will work with anyone on a cross-party basis to stop her.

'The Government know they dont have the votes to get this through. My message to them is stark: you need to go back to the drawing board or face defeat.

Lord Wood, an adviser to Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader, wrote online: There is simply no way the staggering scope, complexity and sensitivities of the Great Repeal Bill can be navigated given the Election result.

Leading Brexiteers, such as veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash, are adamant that any attempt to sabotage the Bill would fail

But leading Brexiteers are adamant that any attempt to sabotage the Bill would fail.

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said: Any attempt to frustrate or obstruct the Repeal Bill would be contrary to the will of the people at the referendum, and what people voted for in the General Election.

'They can try to put down amendments but it doesnt look to me like they could get the votes to do it.

At the same time as it tries to get the Great Repeal Bill through Parliament, the Government must also get on with Brexit negotiations in Europe.

The talks are due to begin in just over a week, with EU leaders urging Britain to keep to the timetable despite the Election turmoil.

Yesterday Martin Selmayr, the powerful aide to European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker, appeared dismissive of Mrs Mays attempt to remain Prime Minister, describing the resignations of her key aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill as a desperate tactic to keep herself in power.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at traditionalists who are planting a missionary bishop in the UK after last weeks historic vote by Scottish Anglicans to approve gay marriage

The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at traditionalists who are planting a missionary bishop in the UK after last weeks historic vote by Scottish Anglicans to approve gay marriage.

The rebuke from Justin Welby is his latest attempt to avert a damaging permanent split in the worldwide Anglican Communion over homosexuality.

As this newspaper revealed earlier this year, conservative archbishops, led by the Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh, are to consecrate Canon Andy Lines at a meeting in America this month after warning that Western churches are abandoning biblical teaching on the issue.

These archbishops say the new missionary bishop would support disaffected Anglicans who quit in protest at the Scottish Episcopal Churchs decision on Thursday to become the first Anglican body in the UK to allow same-sex marriage in its churches.

But Canon Lines, a former British Army tank commander and father-of-three from Surrey, will also minister to traditionalist parishes that break away from the Church of England.

Now, in a confidential letter to fellow Anglican leaders, seen by The Mail on Sunday, Archbishop Welby has warned the African archbishops against creating disturbance and discords by intervening in Britain. He accused them bluntly of a cross-border intervention that would carry no weight in the Church of England.

Welby said in his letter to Anglican leaders across the 80 million-strong worldwide Communion that there was no need for a missionary bishop in the Church of England because worshippers could already express a range of views.

He said there had been strong opposition to cross-border interventions for centuries, and quoted the uncompromising verdict of the early Churchs First Council of Nicea in 325 AD, which condemned the great disturbances and discords that occur when bishops ministered in this way.

Canon Liness presence in the UK without Welbys approval could be seen as provocative. But Liness backers complain that the Archbishop failed to rebuke the Scottish Episcopalians for permitting gay marriage, even though it is out of step with Church of England official policy.

As this newspaper revealed earlier this year, conservative archbishops, led by the Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh, are to consecrate Canon Andy Lines at a meeting in America this mont

The former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali, a prominent traditionalist who is attending the meeting in Chicago where Canon Lines is to be consecrated, said: The Scottish Episcopal Church has done something that will cause many people to exercise their right of conscience and not remain in it. Who is going to look after them?

The question is not just about territory. It is also about faith.
An Islamic leader is calling for sermons in mosques to be monitored to prevent radical preaching in the wake of recent terror attacks.

Perth Imam Kamran Tahir, 26, said he was happy for cameras to be installed in his mosque to capture what was going on inside and questioned why others would be against monitoring.

'If any mosque - or anybody - says we do not want you to monitor our mosques, naturally that could raise a flag [about] why is that the case,' he told 9 News.

'If the authorities feel that there is a need to install - God forbid - cameras in our mosques then we'll be open to it.'

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Imam Kamran Tahir (pictured) said he was open to authorities installing cameras inside his mosque as a surveillance measure

Mr Tahir and members of his local Muslim community were out in Perth over the weekend to show their loyalty to Australia and 'discuss any misconceptions about Islam'

He is in the process of converting a former ice rink in Bibra Lake, south of Perth, into a mosque after making the move from Sydney.

Mr Tahir, reportedly the youngest Imam in the country, has also condemned terrorism in the wake of this month's London terror attack and the deadly Melbourne siege.

Somalian-born, ISIS inspired Yacqub Khayre murdered one man, wounded three police officers and took a woman hostage in a dramatic two-hour siege in a hotel on Bay Street, Brighton, Melbourne's south-east on Monday.

Khayre had called the Channel Seven newsroom during the siege to claim: 'This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda'.

Somalian-born, ISIS-inspired Yacqub Khayre (pictured) murdered one man, wounded three police officers and took a woman hostage in a dramatic two-hour siege in a hotel on Bay Street, Brighton, on Monday

Police are seen at outside the Buckingham Serviced Apartments in Brighton, Melbourne a day after gunman Yacqub Khayre shot dead a hotel clerk and took a woman hostage

'For me it is my duty to go out and condemn these attacks and say that this is not what Islam teaches but we're doing this in the name of unity, love and harmony,' Mr Tahir said.

At the weekend, Mr Tahir and other members of his local Muslim community were out in Perth's CBD to meet residents and 'discuss any misconceptions they may have about Islam'.

He later posted on his Facebook page: 'I cannot truly thank God with the love and support I saw at the CBD, although there was one particular trouble maker but the true and loving Australians all stood up for us and stopped him in his tracks and truly showed unity and love'.

'I pray to God that may he fill Australia with love, unity and success in abundance.'

Mr Tahir - who is an Ahmadiyya Muslim - also stood alongside other Islam adherents in the middle of Perth's CBD last month while wearing the shirts 'I am a Muslim, ask me anything' in a bid to ease the fear surrounding the Islamic faith after the suicide bombing in Manchester.

He shared images of himself and fellow Muslims outside of the Murray Street Mall with a whiteboard behind them which had the words: 'I'm a Muslim. I condemn terrorism' written on it.
Amanda Hawkins, 19, from Kerr County, Texas - pictured in a mug shot taken on Friday - allegedly left her two toddlers in a hot car while she hang out with her friends

A mother who allegedly killed her two toddlers by intentionally leaving them in a hot car for more than 15 hours on Tuesday set up a GoFundMe page in December to raise money to buy a house.

Amanda Hawkins, 19, from Kerr County, Texas, allegedly left her children Brynn Hawkins, one, and Addyson Overgard-Eddy, two, in the car overnight and ignored them even as they cried for hours late Tuesday.

The girls were unconscious and in 'grave condition' by the time Hawkins sent them to the hospital on Wednesday - a day after they'd been left in the car.

Hospital officials pronounced the children dead on Thursday.

Hawkins and her husband, Isaac, set up a GoFundMe last December to raise money for a new home.

'I'm trying to raise money to get us into a home,' her post on the fundraising site read.

'We are living with my grandparents. We are both working but it's still hard. Any help is greatly appreciated. We will be buying this house.'

The Hawkins' fundraising goal is $1,500, but they are yet to receive any donations, the site shows.

Since then, Isaac Hawkins has been estranged from his wife, according to My San Antonio.

Police released a statement on Friday about the case.

'This is by far the most horrific case of child endangerment that I have seen in the 37 years that I have been in law enforcement,' Kerr County Sheriff Hierholzer said.

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Police say Hawkins killed Brynn Hawkins, one, - pictured right - and Addyson Overgard-Eddy, two - pictured left - by purposely leaving them in a hot car for more than 15 hours

Hawkins and her husband, Isaac, set up a Gofundme last December to raise money for a new home. 'I'm trying to raise money to get us into a home,' her post on the fundraising site read

Hawkins is seen in the photo above with her husband, Isaac (right), and their daughter, Brynn. This image was posted to GoFundMe in December

When little Brynn and Addyson cried during the night while trapped in the car, Hawkins, a Walmart employee, ignored them even when her friends alerted her, according to authorities

Hawkins left her two daughters in the car on Tuesday at around 9pm while she hung out with a 16-year-old male friend and others inside a house nearby, according to a news release from the Kerr County Police Department.

When little Brynn and Addyson cried during the night, the Walmart employee ignored them even when her friends alerted her, the sheriff told KABB.

The sheriff also said Hawkins' male friend slept for a while in the car during the night but did not take the children out.

Her husband Isaac was apparently not present when she allegedly abandoned her kids.

Isaac is the father of Brynn Hawkins.

Addyson Overgard-Eddy's father is Austin J. Overgard. Neither of the fathers were reached for comment.

The young mom finally took her kids out of the car at noon on Wednesday - when the temperature in Texas was as high as 92 degrees - and found them unconscious.

Believing she would get into trouble, she decided not to report it, police say.

But after her male friend convinced her Brynn and Addyson needed medical attention, she finally sent them to the Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrsville, on Thursday.

The young mom found her kids unconscious when she finally took them out at noon on Wednesday - when the temperature in Texas was as high as 92 degrees. The one-year-old, Brynn, is pictured here

Their condition was so bad they had to be transferred to the University Hospital in San Antonio, more than an hour drive away.

Brynn and Addyson died at 5pm, mere hours after they had arrived in the hospital.

She had initially told doctors they had suddenly become unconscious after they smelled flowers at a local park.

Police investigated and questioned Hawkins before she confessed to leaving her children in the hot car.

She was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child, although police say these charges may be upgraded since the children died.

She is being held on $70,000 bond.

If she's found guilty under the present charges, she could face up to two years in prison.

She waited 24 hours to send her kids to the hospital because she was afraid she would get into trouble. Addyson, who was two years old at the time is pictured here. A former friend of Hawkins who knew her well said this toddler was always 'helpful'

'This is by far the most horrific case of child endangerment that I have seen in the 37 years that I have been in law enforcement,' Kerr County Sheriff Hierholzer said

Addyson Overgard-Eddy's father is Austin J. Overgard (seen above), who is estranged from Amanda Hawkins

Austin J. Overgard could not be reached for comment. Addyson Overgard-Eddy is seen on the right

A friend of Hawkins, Miriam Davis, who has known her since middle school, told KSAT 12 that she noticed Hawkins treating her children badly and regrets not calling Child Protection Services.

I hesitated for so long because I didnt want her kids in the system, she told the station. But I didnt know they would die.'
An apparent domestic argument in Queensland has resulted in a burnt home, stab wounds, and the death of two dogs.

A man, 28, and a woman, 43, were heard arguing at a Beenleigh home about 11.30 on Saturday morning.

During the argument, the woman allegedly stabbed the man with a steak knife causing two minor wounds to the stomach.

The man then allegedly set fire to the house using petrol as an accelerant.

A man was allegedly stabbed by his girlfriend in Beenleigh, Queensland, on Saturday, and police say he proceeded to burn their home down

The man, 28, allegedly set the home alight while there were two dogs inside. The animals did not survive the blaze

After allegedly setting the home alight, the man fled from the home and jumped in his car as the woman ran out screaming for neighbours to call the police, Nine News reported.

The man then called police and said he wanted to turn himself in, and video of the dramatic arrest shows him kneeling in front of officers with his hands behind his head.

The man suffered burns and stab wounds, and was briefly treated at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

The man has been charged with one count each of arson, assault and contravene domestic violence order.

The woman was charged with one count each of wounding and contravene domestic violence order.

Both are expected to appear at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday, June 12.

The woman (not pictured) has been charged with wounding and contravening domestic violence order
Warm weather makes us feel distinctly frosty towards our fellow humans, according to new research.

As the mercury rises, men and women become less sociable and less inclined to help others, scientists found.

In fact, the hotter it is, the more drastic the drop in people prepared to offer their assistance.

Warm weather makes us feel distinctly frosty towards our fellow humans, according to new research

In one experiment, a 5F rise in temperature led to a 50 per cent drop in willingness to help.

One theory behind the research is that we have evolved to be more selfish in order to preserve our own energy resources during periods of excess heat.

The research, published in the European Journal Of Psychology, involved several experiments to assess the affects of heat on human social behaviour.

One involved subjects being told a non-profit organisation serving children and the underprivileged wanted help with a survey.

As the mercury rises, men and women become less sociable and less inclined to help others, scientists found

Half were located in a room where the temperature was 26.7F, and the others, where it was 20.6F.

The subjects in the warmer room answered significantly fewer questions than those in the cooler room.

Just 63.9 per cent of those in the hot room helped by answering at least one question, compared to 94.6 per cent in the cooler room.
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Look as if someone bit off more than they could chew

This wild hamster was munching on a corn cob when he lost his grip and took a tumble  all captured by photographer Julian Rad, who spent hours in an Austrian cornfield to get the shots.

This wild hamster was munching on a corn cob when he lost his grip and took a tumble

The hilarious photos were captured by photographer Julian Rad, who spent hours in an Austrian cornfield to get the shots

The images were taken in a cornfield, near a small village in Austria and is a hot spot for wild hamsters
A sheriff has posted a controversial message on social media, calling for Americans to arm themselves in case of an attack.

Wayne Ivey from Bervard County, Florida, said citizens need to prepare themselves in the wake of deadly attacks around the world.

As he gave his six-minute speech which was uploaded to Facebook, photographs showing the recent terror attacks in London as well as domestic shootings including the Pulse massacre, flashed on a screen behind him.

'Like each of you, I am sick and deeply concerned about the senseless attacks that are taking place around the world,' he began.

Wayne Ivey from Bervard County, Florida, urged Americans to prepare themselves in case of a deadly attack. As he gave his six-minute speech, images from tragedies including the 9/11 terror attack, flashed on a screen behind him

The sheriff - pictured last October at a meeting with the then-presidential candidate, Donald Trump - cited terror attacks around the world as the reasons Americans should arm themselves

'Folks, now more than ever is the time for our citizens to be prepared to serve as the first line of defense, not only for them, but for their families.

'Doing nothing or thinking it's not going to happen to you is not going to save your life.

'For those who don't think it's going to happen here, trust me, it's happening all around us. '

The self-proclaimed 'politically-incorrect' sheriff then urged his viewers to carry their concealed weapons and said Americans were at war.

'Whats next is to fully understand that this is war, and you better be prepared to wage war to protect you, your family, and those around you if attacked.'

He also echoed the conservative rhetoric that attackers can only be stopped by other armed citizens.

'No matter who you are or what your position is on guns, theres no denying the fact that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun or a knife is an armed and well-prepared citizen or law enforcement officer.

'As you know I am one of the the most politically incorrect sheriffs in the country and I'm good with that.

'What I'm not good with is sitting back while waiting on the emergency to happen,' Ivey said.

In the final part of his speech, he then told citizens to take up self-defense classes and to watch his police department's videos on 'survival'.

The video he posted on the Facebook page of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, attracted a barrage of both positive and negative comments, although many criticized the sheriff for exaggerating the level of threat and spreading fear.

One commenter wrote: 'How is this helpful? The point of terrorism is to scare people and get a panicked response from them, to disrupt their everyday lives with anxiety.

'You are doing far more harm than good by trying to get everyone armed and on edge. '
Russian police hunted down a 'crazed gunman' in a two-hour operation after he killed five and wounded ten in the well-to-do village of Kratovo near Moscow.

The 50-year-old man named as Igor Zenkov set fire to his neighbour's house, and was later holed up in woodland, shooting at police and wounding four Interior Ministry spacial forces soldiers.

Zenkov, who has been described as a veteran of Russian wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, was reportedly shooting at passersby.

Police later reported that the gunman had been 'liquidated' after a two-hour operation.

He had also caused a dozen explosions from hand grenades, said official sources.

The 50 year old man named as Igor Zenkov set fire to his neighbour's house, and was later holed up in woodland, shooting at police

Russian police were tonight hunting down a 'crazed gunman' who killed five and wounded ten in the well-to-do village of Kratovo near Moscow

Two bodies of his victims were shown in TV pictures on a road in the village in Moscow region.

As law enforcement agents hunted down Zenkov, they announced that 'a special operation is underway to neutralise the shooter.'

Zenkov's flat was stormed but he had already escaped.

Neighbours said he worked for the Russian emergencies ministry and had access to a huge supply of arms even though they described him as 'mentally unstable'.

Police were unable to initially retrieve the bodies of the dead because officers were coming under sustained fire from the gunman, according to Russian reports.

'He behaved so strange lately, as if he was preparing for something,' said an unnamed neighbour.

Russian police were tonight hunting down a 'crazed gunman' who killed five and wounded ten in the well-to-do village of Kratovo near Moscow

Police were unable to initially retrieve the bodies of the dead because officers were coming under sustained fire from the gunman, according to Russian reports

'He behaved so strange lately, as if he was preparing for something,' said an unnamed neighbour

'There were evenings when he barked from his balcony.'

A Russian official said: 'The death toll thus has climbed to five.'

A member of the Russian national guard was hit when the man threw explosives as he left the flat he shared with his mother until her death two months ago, and made for adjacent woodland.

Scared villager Marina Sobe-Panek wrote on social media: 'The gunman has escaped into woods.

'One of the fighters was injured.

'Four people were killed and at least three injured.'

A member of the Russian national guard was hit when the man threw explosives as he left the flat he shared with his mother until her death two months ago, and made for adjacent woodland

A villager said: 'When people say after something bad happens, they could never imagine this or that person acting in this way'

A fifth was later confirmed dead.

Villager Olga Potapova said of Zenkov: 'He has always been weird.

'When people say after something bad happens, they could never imagine this or that person acting in this way.

'Well, we would have always imagined Igor doing something bad. He has always been strange, and always argued with neighbours. It must be that he just completely lost his mind.'

Police do not believe the incident is terrorist related.
Two Britons suspected of encouraging holidaymakers to make dishonest compensation claims have been arrested in Majorca.

The pair were held on Friday by Civil Guard officers in what are believed to be the first arrests of their kind in Spain.

The move follows a series of Mail on Sunday investigations which have found rogue claims firms in the UK are encouraging British tourists to lie about being taken ill to claim thousands of pounds.

The pair were being held on Friday by Civil Guard officers in Majorca (file photo)

The practice is costing the travel industry millions  which will ultimately force the cost of holidays to rise. One company told a Mail on Sunday reporter posing as a tourist who had fallen ill to pretend his entire family had been affected so he could claim even more.

Police in Majorca are understood to be investigating whether the suspects were acting on their own or with one of the firms.

The pair, who have not been named, are expected to face a judicial investigation after being quizzed by police. They are believed to have been targeting holidaymakers in hotels in Alcudia, the main tourist centre in the north of Majorca.

Their arrests follow a campaign by hoteliers in Spain, and other holiday hotspots such as Greece and Portugal, against the growing problem of bogus claims, particularly involving all-inclusive resorts.

The arrests by Spanish law enforcement are believed to be the first of their kind in Spain

Tour operators in Majorca have reported a 700 per cent rise in the number of complaints about stomach problems, with the Spanish hotel owners association estimating that 90 per cent are bogus.

Earlier this month, its general secretary, Ramon Estalella, warned it would be gathering evidence to start prosecutions, and drawing up a protocol so hotels would only pay compensation if genuine medical evidence formed part of any claim.

Last month, the Foreign Office warned holidaymakers in Portugal they would face legal action if they submitted false claims.

The Association of British Travel Agents says there has been a 434 per cent rise in the number of gastric illness claims from British tourists since 2013, with payouts of as much as 2,000 in some cases.

UK visitors to Spain and Portugal are said to be the worst offenders.
Friends of an Australian man who drowned while celebrating a wedding in Bali on Wednesday have raised more than $60,000 in one day to bring his body home.

A GoFundMe account set up for his family reached its lofty target in just 12 hours, and money is still pouring in for the 31-year-old.

Tyler Kennedy couldn't be revived after he was hauled from a Canggu villa pool on Wednesday night, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.

His body was found by close surfing buddy, Jake Townsend, who worked with him on the Gold Coast.

Tyler Kennedy, 31, couldn't be revived after he was hauled from a Canggu villa pool on Wednesday night (pictured)

Tyler's (pictured) friends and family raised $60,000 in just 12 hours to help bring his body home

Another friend, Dean Carpenter, said Mr Kennedy and a large group from Caloundra, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, had been in Bali to celebrate the wedding of Daryl Cook on Monday.

'He was at the villa at about 8pm when he decided to go for a swim,' Mr Carpenter said.

'Ten minutes had passed before Jake found him on the bottom of the pool.

'Jake and Tyler travelled the world together surfing.'

In response to questions about the former Caloundra State High School student, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Bali.

The man's friends and family donated amounts between $5 and $3,000 to help retrieve his body, and many shared kind words and funny anecdotes about the beloved man

Tyler Kennedy's body was found by close surfing buddy, Jake Townsend, who worked with him on the Gold Coast (Mr Kennedy is pictured )

The fundraiser was initially only to cover the cost of retrieving Tyler's body, but the account has reopened for people who were still desperate to do their part.

'We have now well and truly raised enough money to bring Tyler home and give him the send off he so deserves. This means so much to his family,' an update on the GoFundMe read.

'After closing the campaign I have had many people get in contact with me expressing their desire to contribute as they did not get the opportunity to do so before reaching the target.

Tyler's GoFundMe account was reopened for people who were desperate to donate even after it reached $60,000 and the rest of the money will be spent 'honouring Tyler's memory'

'Because of this we have now re-opened the page and any further donations received will go towards helping the family decide how they choose to best honour Tyler's memory.'

The page described Tyler as 'a true legend'.

'Tyler was loved beyond words by all those who crossed his path and he touched the lives of so many,' the fundraising account read.

'He had a smile that would light up a room, an adventurous and fearless spirit and the most humble, kind, huge heart.'

Donations ranged from $5 to $3,000, and many came with touching anecdotes about their beloved friend, who they described as 'a salty soul' with 'balls the size of watermelons'.
A Sydney surgeon's chance meeting with an Indonesian woman has led to life-saving surgery to remove a tumour growing beneath her left eye.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's Dr Raf Ghabrial was on the Indonesian Island of Nias for a surfing holiday in 2016 when he was told about a local woman's life-threatening tumour.

Mother of five Fitiria Marduwu, 41, lived with a large tumour under her left eye for five years. The tumour disfigured her face and put her at high risk of infection.

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Dr Raf Ghabrial offered free surgery to Indonesian mother-of-five Fitiria Marduwu, 41 (pictured together)

Dr Ghabrial told Ms Marduwu he would perform the life-saving surgery free of charge.

'It's an unusual situation, I don't see these things very often,' Dr Ghabrial told Nine News.

With the help of the Lions Club and a Go Fund Me fundraising page, Ms Marduwu travelled 600km from Nias, on the western coast of Sumatra, to Australia.

She arrived in Sydney with her daughter Febri this week.

'It's a wonderful moment, God's gift to us,' Febri said.

Dr Ghabrial (left) said the two hour surgery was 'more complicated than usual' but he successfully removed the tumour from Ms Marduwu's (pictured centre with her daughter Febri) face

Ms Marduwu (left) travelled 600km from Nias, Indonesia, to Sydney this week with her daughter Febri (right) who told Nine 'It's a wonderful moment, God's gift to us'

Dr Ghabrial said the two hour surgery was 'more complicated than usual' but he successfully removed the tumour.

While Dr Ghabrial could remove the tumour safely, he said he was unable to save Ms Marduwu's sight because her condition was left untreated for so long.

With the tumour safely removed, he said the mother-of-five had the option to wear a glass eye.

'The main event was to stop the suffering so she can go back to work, because the family really rely on two working parents in the small village,' Dr Ghabrial said.
After a long and unconventional delay, Melania Trump is joining her husband at the White House with their 11-year-old son on the president's birthday, and promises it will be a celebration he will 'never forget'.

The first lady and Barron are reportedly moving into the White House on Wednesday, which will be President Donald Trump's 71st birthday, an occasion he's been known in the past to celebrate lavishly.

'I need your help to make it a birthday my husband will never forget,' Melania Trump wrote in an email to supporters on Thursday, urging 'loyal' friends to sign a birthday card for her husband.

First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron are reportedly moving into the White House on Wednesday, which will be President Donald Trump's 71st birthday

Melania Trump and Barron have spent the first five months of Donald Trump's presidency living in Manhattan's Trump Tower, while the boy finished out the school year in New York

'You have certainly proven yourself to be a loyal friend of my husband through your support of his positive vision to Make America Great Again and your unwavering commitment to the Republican Party,' the first lady's email added.

The arrival in DC of the first lady, who is described as 'extremely protective' of her husband in a recent Politico report, has White House watchers speculating that she could bring a measure of calm to a presidency convulsed by early controversies.

The move comes amid the seemingly endless barrage of self-inflicted wounds, damaging Russia-related news leaks, vicious White House infighting and other turmoil that have hobbled and distracted the Trump presidency since it set up shop in the executive mansion on January 20.

For Melania Trump, the move brings a sometimes reclusive first lady directly into the round-the-clock spotlight that is life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Melania Trump has mostly kept a low profile since her real estate mogul husband became president.

Arguably, her biggest public outing came last month when she and Trump visited the Middle East and Europe on a trip that the White House later praised as a resounding success for the political and diplomatic neophyte president.

'I need your help to make it a birthday my husband will never forget,' Melania Trump wrote in an email to supporters on Thursday, urging 'loyal' friends to sign a birthday card

Trump, seen at his James Bond-themed 60th birthday party in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has been known to celebrate his birthday in lavish fashion

Normally, when a new US president takes over, his family is an automatic component of the transition.

Michelle Obama and the then young presidential daughters Malia and Sasha were instantly, albeit discreetly in the case of the girls, a part of the new US presidential hearth.

But Melania is the first First Lady in modern history to delay her arrival in Washington after an election win.

During the week at least, Trump has been living alone in the vast, private quarters of the White House as he fends off the flood of reporting over Russia having allegedly meddled in the 2016 US election with the aim of helping him defeat Hillary Clinton.

A giant cake is seen for one of Donald Trump's past birthday celebrations at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. The casino shuttered in October of last year

His family's arrival is not going to change much other than to give his marriage an air of stability, Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who specializes in first lady studies, told Politico.

'The move helps to give the impression that the president is currently in a stable, solid marriage and that his home life is under control,' she said.

Plans for the president's birthday celebration remain thus far under wraps, though Donald Trump has in the past commemorated the occasion in lavish fashion.

In 1988, for his 42nd birthday bash, a 15-foot spaceship zoomed from the stage of one of Trump's former casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey amid flashing lasers, followed by a dance routine of Michael Jackson's 'Bad' re-written to honor Trump and a birthday telegram from then-President Ronald Reagan, the Washington Post reported.

For his 60th birthday at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, Trump went with a James Bond theme, complete with 'Bond girls' in skimpy bikinis.
Two children have died when a shed they were using as a bedroom went up in flames in northern Tasmania.

Police and the Tasmania Fire Service were called to a property on Austins Road, Turners Marsh at 3am on Sunday after a neighbour reported the shed was on fire.

Two children died when the shed they were using as a bedroom caught fire at the families Austins Road property

The bodies of the two children were found in the shed after the fire was brought under control.

Preliminary investigations show the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault.
A man who spent 17 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit has been released after police found his lookalike.

Richard Anthony Jones from Kansas City, Kansas, was set free on Thursday because a judge declared there was no longer sufficient evidence to convict him.

Jones had been jailed for armed robbery in 1999 based on an eyewitness account. During a new hearing into his case, witnesses who testified against him said they couldn't tell Jones from 'Ricky', whose resemblance to the freed man is uncanny and who eerily shares his first name.

The judge ordered Jones's release because there was no physical, DNA or fingerprint evidence that tied him to the crime. What's more, Jones lived on the other side of Kansas while his lookalike lived in the same area the incident occurred.

'I don't believe in luck, I believe I was blessed,' Jones told the Kansas City Star.

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Richard Anthony Jones from Kansas City, Kansas, pictured right, was released after he spent 17 years in prison because police found his lookalike, left

A judge ordered his release because there was no physical, DNA or fingerprint evidence that tied him to the crime and the victims who accused him of robbery concluded they couldn't tell Richard, right, from ' Ricky', left

Jones appealed his case several times to no avail while he served his 19-year jail sentence. Two years ago however, he heard about a man in prison who looked just like him and even shared his first name.

Realizing that this could be the key to his exoneration, he contacted the Midwest Innocent Project - a non-profit organization that provides legal services to the wrongly-convicted - to help argue his case.

'We were floored by how much they looked alike,' said an attorney working on Jones' case.

During the new trial, Jones reiterated his alibi that he was with his girlfriend and her family at the time the victim reported she was robbed in a park.

'I don't believe in luck, I believe I was blessed,' Jones told the Kansas City Star. Jones says he is happy he can now spend time with his children

During his time in prison, he tried several times to appeal his case but it was to no avail. He'd been sentenced to 19 years

He was 'blessed' two years ago when he heard about a man in prison who looked just like him and even shared his first name.

His lookalike 'Ricky' also took the stand and denied committing the crime.

Having seen the doppelgangers next to one another, the robbery victims confirmed to the judge they were no longer sure who committed the crime.

Jones's lawyers also argued that the lineup of men the police had put forward to the victims 17 years ago was 'highly suggestive' because he was the only who resembled the criminal they described.

Jones is now assimilating to life after jail and says he's happy to be back with his children. He has even setup a Gofundme to help him with his new life.

'When it comes to my kids, it's been a rough ride, but they are now at an age where they can understand,' he said.

He told the Kansas City Star that he understood why the victims made the grave mistake after seeing 'Ricky'.

'Everybody has a doppelganger,' said an attorney on the case. 'Luckily we found his.'
A multi-million dollar proposal to build a prison to house hard core extremists must run alongside deradicalisation programs, Australia's Attorney-General says.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday announced a $47 million package to build a new 'mini-max' jail within Goulburn's SuperMax prison, in the state's south, to house radicalised inmates.

SuperMax II will be Australia's first terrorist jail designed with soundproofing, audio and CCTV upgrades to help monitor visitors and prisoners to stop extremists influencing other inmates.

'It seems to me to be a good thing, so long as the way in which these prisons are designed and configured doesn't mean all the terrorists are together in each others company reinforcing each other's ideology,' federal Attorney-General Senator George Brandis told Sky News.

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SuperMax Prison in Goulburn, southern New South Wales (pictured), will be upgraded to the tune of $47 million, with a new 'mini-max' jail to be built within the complex

Federal Attorney-General Senator George Brandis (pictured) says the proposal to build a prison to house hard core extremists 'seems to me to be a good thing'

'I would suggest to my NSW counterparts a proposal like that has to work hand in glove with effective deradicalisation programs.'

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic said people's thinking had to evolve because of the threat facing everyone and policy makers need to take new approaches.

Mr Husic told Sky News that new ideas need to be 'considered in a calm and rational way.'

The plans for the overhaul were put together in the New South Wales Budget and also include boosting the number of prisoners in SuperMax from 45 to 75 inmates, and offering a new deradicalisation program, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Berejiklian said it was time to stop inmates from being exposed to radicalisation.

'We know that radicalisation is a risk in our prison system. This tackles the issue at the source,' she said.

NSW Correction Services Commissioner Peter Severin (pictured) said the new cell will help separate extremist prisoners with other inmates

Corrections Minister David Elliot said the largest upgrade to the prison shows the government are taking the issue of inmates becoming radicalised seriously.

NSW Corrections Commissioner Peter Severin said it was time to get ahead of the threat.

'I cannot justify dispersing these prisoners across the system, the danger of them doing the wrong thing is too high,' he told The Daily Telegraph.
Loguancio, 40, (pictured) shot himself inside a bungalow in Justin Avenue, Glenroy, north Melbourne, following a 43-hour siege on March 3, 2013

The mother of a man who shot himself after a 43-hour siege with police is suing Channel Nine over claims a journalist 'interfered with police attempts to peacefully end the siege'.

Lesley Gilmour alleges Channel Nine journalist Kate McGrath interfered with the police operation and ultimately contributed to her son Antonio Loguancio's death, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Loguancio, 40, shot himself inside a bungalow in Justin Avenue, Glenroy, north Melbourne, following a 43-hour siege on March 3, 2013.

Loguancio called Ms McGrath, chief of staff at Channel Nine, during the siege with police.

He made several calls to the journalist from inside the bungalow, including one 54 minute call.

Loguancio reportedly phoned to complain about the media coverage, telling the reporter his nickname was falsely reported as 'Mad Dog' instead of 'the Mad Wog'.

At least one of the calls was filmed by Channel Nine camera crews.

Loguancio's mother Ms Gilmour claims the calls disrupted the police operation and prevented negotiating his safe exit.

The coroner's findings condemned Ms McGrath's actions and called the media's coverage 'overly sensational', but found she did not cause the death of Loguancio, who was a convicted rapist.

Ms Gilmour claims Channel Nine journalist Kate McGrath disrupted the police operation and prevented police from negotiating a safe exit for her son who shot himself after the siege

Police at the scene of the 2013 siege where convicted rapist Antonio Loguancio, 40, was holed up

'I never got the chance to get him out of the siege because of Channel Nine,' Ms Gilmour told Fairfax.

'I never got the chance to say goodbye. I really think Channel Nine had a lot to do with it.'

Police told a coronial inquest officers asked Ms McGrath to stop all communication with Loguancio during the siege because she could compromise it.

Ms McGrath denied this.

'I didn't deviate from the message, which was 'Look, if you walk out with your hands up it's the best possible outcome for you and for your family,' she told the Coroner.

She said she phoned police immediately after the call and told them Loguancio threatened suicide.

'I didn't deviate from the message, which was 'Look, if you walk out with your hands up it's the best possible outcome for you and for your family,' Ms McGrath (pictured) told the Coroner

Smoke rises from the house at the scene where rapist Antonio Loguancio, 40, was holed up in a bungalow in Justin Ave, Glenroy, in Melbourne's northern suburbs in 2013

The coroner said media coverage was so sensationalised it was 'agitating Tony and potentially stopping him from coming forward' but said Ms McGrath's actions did not cause the death.

'It ultimately amounted to an opportunistic exploitation of a significant police incident, executed by Ms McGrath without any consideration for the fact she may be compromising police endeavours to have Tony surrender himself,' Coroner Audrey Jamieson reported.

She said 'it should have come as no surprise to police that the media sensationalised the information provided to them at the media conference' but cleared Ms McGrath of causing the death.

Emergency services run towards the house as smoke rises at the scene where rapist Antonio Loguancio, 40, was holed up during the siege

Armed police pictured at the scene of the siege on Justin Avenue, Glenroy in Melbourne's north in March 2013

Emergency crews, including fire fighters pictured on scene at the Glenroy, Melbourne home where Loguancio was holed up for 43 hours before shooting himself

'I find that the Nine Network's direct communication with Tony during the siege was inappropriate and disruptive to the police operation but was not of itself, causative to the outcome.'

His mother Ms Gilmour disagrees, claiming Channel Nine was responsible.

Lawyers representing Loguancio's mother Ms Gilmour told Fairfax they would argue Ms McGrath's actions 'heavily influenced the outcome of the siege'.

Channel Nine released a statement supporting the Coroner's finding.

'We are sorry for Ms Gilmour's loss, however, we reject the version of events alleged by the plaintiff and note the Coroner's finding that any conduct of Nine was not causative to the outcome,' Nine told Fairfax.
Kate Lowe's memory of her 'hero' father waving goodbye to her before he died continues to replay in her mind everyday.

It's a pain, mixed with guilt, that she said will last her a lifetime.

On Friday, James Darren Callow, who killed 65-year-old Vietnam veteran Norman Olsen, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years' jail, a punishment Ms Lowe said would, in contrast, one day end for him.

Callow told Mr Olsen he shouldn't have butted in when he made a 'heroic intervention' to save a young woman being attacked by Callow on a Toowoomba road in February 2016.

Norman Olsen (pictured) had gotten out of his car to intervene in a fight between James Callow and his ex-girlfriend. When he grabbed Callow from behind, he was punched, kneed, and ultimately killed

James Callow (pictured) was angry because he had 'no smokes' and 'no cones' and his ex-girlfriend wouldn't give him any money

He was punched and kneed, causing him to fall backwards and smash his head on bitumen after he grabbed Callow from behind, and died two days later from brain injuries.

'Sorry, but you shouldn't have butted in,' Callow was heard to say.

The court was told Callow had been fighting with his ex-girlfriend after complaining he had 'no smokes' and 'no cones' and was angry she wouldn't give him money after he was denied a same-day loan.

He had walked into traffic saying he wanted to die but then returned to the footpath where his ex was standing.

Mr Olsen was driving from his daughter's home after spending the weekend helping her move furniture and remarked 'we can't be having that' to his wife Isabella.

During Friday's sentence, Justice Peter Applegarth praised Mr Olsen's 'heroic intervention' and said his attempts to stop Callow were reasonable and admirable, while rebuking Callow.

'It's very unlikely that you, with the best will in the world and all the support that you could ever get, could come close to being the citizen that Mr Olsen was,' Justice Applegarth said.

Mr Olsen's actions were described as 'heroic' by the court, but Callow at the time simply said to him: 'sorry but you shouldn't have butted in' (Mr Olsen is pictured with his wife, right, and daughter, centre)

A yellow dot marks the place where the 65-year-old Vietnam veteran was attacked. He died in hospital of brain injuries two days later

Mr Olsen's daughter delivered a powerful tribute to her father and best friend.

Every year, the court heard, Kate Lowe commemorated Anzac Day with her Vietnam veteran father.

'I loved being there with Dad and listening to Dad reminisce with his long-lost mates,' she said.

'The memories that Dad shared are something I will never forget.'

Ms Lowe said she lives with guilt over his death because he was only in the area to help her set up her new home.

'Little did I know that it would be the last time I would ever see him alive, the last time I would tell him I love him, the last time I would thank him for everything he's ever done, the last time I would ever get to hug him or kiss him goodbye' she said.

'The memory of him waving goodbye as he drove off continues to replay in my mind everyday.'

Although Callow was jailed, Ms Lowe said his punishment would one day end.

'However, mine will be for a lifetime.'

With time served, Callow will first be eligible for release in June 2020.
A former MS-13 member has given a shocking account of what it was like to be a part of the notorious gang - and be able to live to talk about it.

'Speedy,' who said he does not want to identify himself due to potential retaliation from the gang, is now 28. But he was an impressionable 16-year-old, from Central Islip, New York, when he was first initiated into the gang, he told the New York Post.

'It happened in a park at night,' he said.

'Three gang members kicked and punched me all over my body  my arms, my back, my stomach, my hands, even my groin. Nothing was off-limits to them.

'Speedy,' a former MS-13 member, has opened up about his time in the brutal street gang. Pictured, a different gang member in a cell in El Salvador

'They beat me for exactly 13 seconds, while one of the gang members kept time in the background, counting slowly.'

Speedy said his family is from Guatemala and both of his parents died of cancer - his mom passed away when he was six and his dad when he was 14. Both of his younger sisters were put in foster homes, while be bounced around between uncles and aunts.

MS-13, he said, 'finds your weakness' and exploits it.

The gang supplied him with alcohol, drugs, girls and, most importantly, a network of guys that felt like family. Speedy said being a part of MS-13 made him powerful and meant he could use 'violence to send a message.'

'Hurting others made me feel invincible, like nothing is against you. If you have sadness inside you, it makes you happy,' he told the NY Post.

Speedy also spoke about his time 'shaking people down,' how 'stabbing others' became normal for him and how gang members would find the family of people who crossed them and kill or intimidate them.

'If a father doesnt want to cooperate with us, they will do something to his daughter. I never raped anyone, but others did. If a gang member was interested in a girl he saw, he would rape her and claim her as property,' Speedy said.

The now 28-year-old from Central Islip, New York said he was first jumped into the gang when he was 16. Pictured, 20-year-old Snoopy shows off his gang tattoos

The gang would also target workers on vineyards or farms and 'stick a knife in their back' or a put a gun to their head to steal their paychecks.

Speedy was imprisoned several times for assault, burglary and grand larceny but said he finally had enough when he turned 21.

When he decided to leave, however, gang members didn't accept the decision and shot up his house. No one was home, but Speedy decided to finally get out and leave the area.

After a few years, he has moved back to Central Islip but wears long-sleeved shirts to hide his MS-13 tattoos and looks different after losing weight. He says gang members haven't recognized him.

He also has a son to look after now and attends church regularly.

'Now I really want to get an education,' Speedy said. 'And I want to help kids get out of the gangs. A lot of kids dont want to be part of gangs, but once they get in its hard to get out. I want to help them find a different life.

After the violent initiation, Speedy said he began to think of stabbing people and shaking them down as normal (stock image)

With as many as 20,000 members in 46 states, MS-13 has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking (stock image)

'MS-13 is a virus. And like every virus you have to figure out where it comes from and you have to kill it.'

The ultra-violent street gang was the first to be designated as an international criminal group.

With as many as 20,000 members in 46 states, MS-13 has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Major roundups of MS-13 members have taken place across the country since the early 2000s.

In 2016, 58 members of MS-13 were rounded up as part of 'Operation Mean Streets'.

Two of their most notable killings include stabbing to death a federal witness in 2004 and chopping the hands off of a 16-year-old boy in 2005.
A hospital where one child was killed and another was left with severe brain damage after being given laughing gas instead of oxygen, says the tradie who installed their pipeline is to blame.

Amelia Khan has to be fed through a tube and suffers constant seizures, ever since spending her first hour breathing in nitrous oxide at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital.

The newborn was welcomed into the world on June 20 last year, but parents Danial and Benish Khan's joy was shortlived, quickly realising the infant was gravely unwell.

And now Christopher Turner, the gas worker who installed the pipelines, is facing legal action from the hospital in western Sydney, who claim he told them the gases were 'all OK', the Daily Telegraph reports.

Amelia Khan (pictured) has to be fed through a tube and suffers constant seizures, after being given laughing gas - nitrous oxide - instead of oxygen for her first hour on earth at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital

Despite the events previously being blamed on 'tragic errors', the NSW government is taking up the public hospital's suit against Mr Turner and his employer, gas giant BOC.

If the suit is successful Mr Turner and BOC will have to pay for the coronial inquest into the death of John Ghanem, in July 13, 2016, who was also given the wrong gas.

It follows a lawsuit launched by Mr Khan, 28, and his 20-year-old wife, who suing for the cost of medical expenses and 'nervous shock' caused to them.

The work at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital was reportedly carried out by Mr Turner in mid-June, 2015, more than a year before the incidents to babies Amelia and John.

Baby Amelia's parents Danial and Benish Khan realised soon after her birth that she was very unwell, with tests later revealing she'd been given the wrong gas. It followed the death of another newborn John Ghanem a week earlier after also being given the wrong gas

And despite the hospital reportedly admitting to 'failing to appropriately witness the commissioning of the work in Theatre 8', they are suing BOC for costs incurred as a result of Amelia's sickness.

'In performing the works and/or making the representations BOC and/or Turner were negligent,' court documents from the hospital read, the Daily Telegraph reports.

'On completion of the works, BOC and/or Turner informed Mr Brightwell of the hospital that the installation of the works was "all okay".'

Despite taking the gas company to court, BOC is still reportedly in the running to win a $118 million tender to supply medical gases across NSW hospitals for the next five years.

And now Christopher Turner, the gas worker who installed the pipelines, is facing legal action from Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital (pictured) in western Sydney, who claim he told them the gases were 'all OK'

In a statement released last year, the Khan family said their daughter would always be forced to suffer as a result of the gas mix-up at the hospital.

'She will always have to live with the consequences of what was done to her at the hospital,' the statement read.
Medical marijuana farmers are going to extreme measures to ensure their crops are safe from the prying hands of thieves that could then end up on the black market.

Farmers have implemented strategies which include fingerprint scanners, motion sensor laser alarms, security teams and top secret locations to keep cannabis grown for medicinal purposes only.

Currently 12 businesses have been approved by the industry regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to grow or manufacture medical marijuana in Australia, ABC reports.

Medical marijuana farmers have to spend up to half a million dollars on security who must protect their crops from thieves wanting to put it on the black market (stock picture)

Operators are required to first prove their crop is not able to fall into the wrong hands, and must secure their crops costing upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Adam Benjamin from Medifarm, Sunshine Coast-based growers.

'Depending on the size of your facility it moves into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, so you need money in the bank,' Mr Benjamin said.

If you can invest, he said, it is well worth it.

Since legalising the growing of medical marijuana in October the Department of Health have had more than 75 applications for startups to manufacture marijuana across Australia.

Proper security measures can cost as much as half a million dollars, however Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said it is necessary for growers to have tough standards.

'This is a product the medical authorities deem to be the strictest category product and it is at risk of unsafe use or criminal diversion,' he said.

Strategies include fingerprint scanners, motion sensor laser alarms and guards (stock picture)

He believes it would be irresponsible and negligent not to impose high safety and security expectations.

If manufacturers are able to comply with the regulations the pay off should be worth it for the companies with the worth of crops in their purest form as valuable as gold.

'Medicinal cannabis oils in their pure forms [cost] around the same as gold, around about $US30,000 per kilo or litre, which sounds like a lot but that is a pure form,' Mr Benjamin said.

Senior police are also involved in the process of regulating the facilities to make sure correct processes are in place.

'We have also had military advisors come in. When even they are quite impressed by what we're doing, we know we are doing the job right.'
Syrian state television has claimed the world's most wanted terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in an airstrike, according to several reports.

It's not, however, the first time the leader of ISIS has been reported dead - the latest claims have been met with skepticism by many experts and could well turn out to be untrue.

It would certainly be in the interests of the Assad regime to claim that the world's most wanted terrorist had been killed to provide it with a short -term propaganda victory.

ISIS's official media wing Amaq has also not confirmed the news.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, pictured, has reportedly been killed in an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria

Video footage from airstrikes hitting Raqqa throughout the last week show white phosphorus munitions falling on to the city and setting buildings ablaze

The latest report of al-Baghdadi's death claims the terrorist was killed in Raqqa.

Syrian activists, Raqqa24, did report an airstrike in Raqqa killed at least seven civilians on Saturday, although there was no mention made of al-Baghdadi.

Video footage from airstrikes hitting Raqqa throughout the last week show white phosphorus munitions falling on to the city and setting buildings ablaze.

Al-Baghdadi, a hate preacher who has a $25million bounty on his head, had been believed to be hiding out in the desert outside the besieged city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

But intelligence agencies believe he escaped from the city while it was being retaken by the Iraqi army.

It was thought he may have been trying to get to ISIS' de facto capital in Raqqa.

Reports that al-Baghdadi had been killed emerged as Iraqi forces claimed that his deputy Ayad al-Jumaili, had been killed in an air strike near Iraq's border with Syria.

The hate preacher, who has a $25million bounty on his head, has falsely reported dead before

Syrian activists, Raqqa24, did report an airstrike in Raqqa killed at least seven civilians on Saturday, although there was no mention made of al-Baghdadi

In January it was reported the leader had been 'critically injured in airstrikes in northern Iraq.

The Pentagon said in December it believed that the ISIS chief was alive, despite repeated efforts by the US-led coalition to take out the jihadist group leader.

'We do think Baghdadi is alive and is still leading ISIL and we are obviously doing everything we can to track his movements,' Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told CNN.

'If we get the opportunity, we certainly would take advantage of any opportunity to deliver him the justice he deserves,' he said.

'We're doing everything we can. This is something we're spending a lot of time on.'

According to an official Iraqi government document, al-Baghdadi was born in Samarra in Iraq in 1971.

He apparently joined the insurgency that erupted after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and spent time in an American military prison.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 13 civilians have been killed in coalition air raids over the past 24 hours

The U.S. is providing battlefield support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces trying to capture Raqqa from the Islamic State group

In March, the Pentagon told media outlets that al-Baghdadi was still alive despite reports that ISIS was crumbling.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later said that it was a 'matter of time' before the ISIS leader was killed.

'Nearly all of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's deputies are now dead, including the mastermind behind the attacks in Brussels, Paris, and elsewhere. It is only a matter of time before Baghdadi himself meets the same fate,' Tillerson said.

DailyMail.com has contacted the US Department of Defense for comment.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 13 civilians have been killed in coalition air raids in Raqqa over the past 24 hours.

There was no immediate comment from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group.

The United States is providing battlefield support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces trying to capture Raqqa from the Islamic State group.

Since launching the battle one week ago, the SDF has penetrated two neighborhoods in the city, at its eastern and western fringes.
As anti-Sharia marches were held in at least 28 cities across the country on Saturday, fights broke out between the demonstrators and counter-protesters.

One particular protest in Seattle turned violent as the two groups clashed.

A video of the incident shows several men punching each other as the crowd around them becomes increasingly hostile.

Anti-Sharia marchers clashed with protesters who said the display was really anti-Muslim - and in several cases, the two groups came to blows

A dramatic video shows a group of men punching each other and screaming in Seattle

It's unclear what specifically caused the altercation, and though it seemed to end quickly, fights broke out in other cities as well.

March Against Sharia rallies were organized by ACT for America, an organization that says it is focused on fighting terrorism and promoting national security.

This year's rallies took place in cities including Phoenix, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, New York, Boston and Seattle.

But many of the marches saw even larger counter-rallies.

Hundreds marched through downtown Seattle, banging drums, cymbals and cowbells behind a large sign saying 'Seattle stands with our Muslim neighbors.'

Activists in support of the Muslim community argue with demonstrators rallying for the 'March Against Sharia' in New York City

ACT for America has become an increasingly vocal anti-Muslim activist group, and has organized protests across the United States. This protester, left, and counter-protester, right, demonstrated in New York

Demonstrators gathered in at least 28 cities across the US for ACT for America's March Against Sharia Saturday. These demonstrators are pictures in New York City

Counter demonstrators opposing a group who gathered nearby to protest against Islamic-law yell out on Saturday in New York

Those participating in the March Against Sharia protested against elements of Sharia law that ACT for America believes are increasingly showing up in American society. These protesters rallied in New York City's Foley Square

Participants chanted 'No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here' on their way to City Hall, while a phalanx of bicycle police officers separated them from an anti-Sharia rally numbering in the dozens.

Local activists even set up an 'Ask an American Muslim' booth where attendees could meet and learn about their Muslim neighbors.

In front of the Trump building in downtown Chicago, about 30 people demonstrated against Islamic law and in favor of President Donald Trump, shouting slogans and holding signs that read 'Ban Sharia' and 'Sharia abuses women'.

About twice as many counter-protesters marshaled across the street.

People march and shout slogans in support of Muslim community as activists take part in the March Against Sharia in New York City

NYPD officers patrol during the March Against Sharia at Foley Square on Saturday

People hold up signs during a rally to support Muslims rights as a counter protest, left, to the March Against Sharia, where some people also came out in support of President Donald Trump in New York

An activist who took part in the March Against Sharia is attended by NYPD officer as he suffers a medical emergency during the rally on Saturday

NYPD officers help an activist who was part of the March Against Sharia Saturday as he suffered a medical emergency

Writer Gavin McInnes, left, speaks to activists as they take part in the anti-Sharia rally in New York City

Counter-protesters sounded air-horns and banged pots and pans in an effort to silence an anti-Sharia rally with about 100 protesters in New York City Saturday

A similar scene played out in a park near a New York courthouse, where counter-protesters sounded air-horns and banged pots and pans in an effort to silence an anti-Sharia rally with about 100 protesters.

'The theme of today is drowning out racism,' counter-protester Tony Murphy said, standing next to demonstrators with colorful earplugs.

'The more racists get a platform, the more people get attacked.'

The groups verbally clashed with police officers standing between them. The marches were held in 18 states and are 'against Sharia law and for human rights', according to the ACT for America website.

But the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated ACT for America as an extremist, anti-Muslim hate group.

Counter-protesters hold signs outside of an anti-Sharia rally in Seattle, Washington

Hundreds marched through downtown Seattle, banging drums, cymbals and cowbells behind a large sign saying 'Seattle stands with our Muslim neighbors'

An attendee wears a hijab and a pro-Trump cap during an anti-Sharia rally in Seattle

Participants chanted 'No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here' on their way to City Hall in Seattle, while a phalanx of bicycle police officers separated them from an anti-Sharia rally numbering in the dozens

ACT for America says it condemns bias against religious groups and is 'proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with peaceful Western Muslims as well as peaceful Muslims worldwide'.

Yet many Muslims and others say the group promotes a distorted and prejudiced view of Islam.

'Many aspects of Sharia law run contrary to basic human rights and are completely incompatible with our laws and our democratic values,' the ACT for America website says.

Their activists portray Sharia as largely incompatible with American democracy and often warn of a stealth effort to replace US law with Islamic law.

Muslims call the claims ludicrous and say Islamic law plays a role similar to Jewish law, as a guide to religious life rooted in the Quran and scholars say there's little to no threat to US democracy from Islamic law.

ACT for America says it condemns bias against religious groups and is 'proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with peaceful Western Muslims as well as peaceful Muslims worldwide', however the SPLC has said the group is an anti-Muslim extremist hate group. Counter-protesters are pictures in Seattle

The March Against Sharia rallies come amid a rise in reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the US, including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings and bullying of Muslim schoolchildren. Counter-protesters are pictures in Seattle

Local activists even set up an 'Ask an American Muslim' booth where attendees could meet and learn about their Muslim neighbors

Counter-protester Aneelah Azfali, left, of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) discusses Islam with protesters Allen Crouser, center, and Mary Crouser, right, who came to attend the March Against Sharia in Seattle

'I don't believe Islam can peacefully co-exist with the Constitution,' said Seattle anti-Sharia demonstrator Aaron Bassford, 29.

'I'm not going to tell them they can come here and take away my Second Amendment right. We need unity in this country under no ideology and no banner except the Constitution of the United States of America.'

But the overwhelming majority of Muslims don't want to replace US law with Islamic law, known as Sharia, and only 'radical extremist groups' would call for that, said Liyakat Takim, a professor of Islamic studies at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.

Sharia, Takim said, refers to guidelines or principles - how Muslims should live.

'Fiqh' refers to jurisprudence, or specific laws. The values embedded in Sharia do not change and are shared among Muslims, he said, while fiqh is open to interpretation and change, and in fact differs among Islamic sects and communities.

'The Quran allows slavery, so does the Old Testament. That doesn't mean we allow it today, too,' Takim said. 'Laws are amenable to change.'

The marches come amid a rise in reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the US, including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings and bullying of Muslim schoolchildren.

In St Paul, Minnesota, the demonstrations were mostly peaceful until some people leaving a rally inside the Capitol encountered counter-protesters outside.

A confrontation that included shoving and punching occurred, The Star Tribune reported.

The Minnesota State Patrol separated the groups and appeared to make at least one arrest.

A pro-Muslim supporter, left, argues with a demonstrator with the March Against Sharia protest in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday

A pro-Muslim supporter, right, tries to pull a US flag from ACT for America demonstrators, left, in Chicago

A pro-Muslim supporter chants during a counter-protest outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago

A Chicago Police officer provides security for demonstrators with the 'March Against Sharia' protest in Chicago

In California, small but raucous demonstrations were held in a handful of cities, including San Bernardino, where a husband and wife inspired by the Islamic State group killed 14 people and wounded 22 in a 2015 shooting attack.

Clusters of protesters and counter-protesters gathered on four corners of an intersection at a memorial to the slain. Anti-Islamic law demonstrators marched past the building where the shootings occurred.

Denise Zamora, 39, of Upland said the group wasn't opposed to all Muslims.

'We're anti-Sharia. We're anti-radicals,' she said.

'It's coming in very slowly, and a lot of the refugees are bringing that ideology here,' Zamora said of Sharia. 'All of it is just barbaric.'

No arrests were made at the San Bernardino rally, and there were no reports of violence, police spokeswoman Eileen Hards said.

But it was noisy, with groups chanting, yelling and waving American flags and posters proclaiming various causes.

'There's an anti-Trump, a pro-Trump, anti-extremists, so there are a variety of messages here,' Hards said.

'There are so many messages going on that I'm not sure who's who.'

A pro-Muslim supporter, left, and an ACT for America demonstratorargue under a statue of former US President George Washington in Chicago

A pro-Muslim supporter takes part in a rally against demonstrators with the 'March Against Sharia' protest in Chicago
Three dolphins may have saved the life of a man by scaring away an enormous great white shark after it attacked him while bodyboarding on Sunday morning.

The boarder was out on the water in Bunbury, in Western Australia, when he noticed the four-metre-long maneater swimming straight towards him.

Seemingly making a bee-line straight for him, the shark crashed into the man taking a chunk from his board and knocking him off into the ocean shortly before 9am.

Fortunately the boarder managed to make it back to shore, but it may not have been such a happy ending had three dolphins not swum at the shark and scared it away.

Three dolphins may have saved the life of a man by scaring away an enormous great white shark after it attacked him while bodyboarding at a beach at Bunbury, in Western Australia

The man noticed the four-metre-long maneater swimming straight towards him, before it hit and knocked him from his board. Languishing in the water he managed to swim safely to shore

Left languishing in the water with the shark nearby, he frantically managed to swim the 50 metres back to the beach at Casuarina Point.

A police spokesperson told the ABC that the three aquatic mammals then scared off the shark.

Despite being shaken by the close encounter, he was able to raise the alarm and warn other swimmers in the area.

The beach and nearby Hungry Hollow were both closed, a spokesman for Surf Life Saving WA told AAP.

Some 20 others nearby were forced to the clear out of the water, with beaches due to reopen in the mid-afternoon.

A St John Ambulance spokesman said the man had been treated for shock but was not injured and did not need to be brought to hospital.
People living along rivers in Northern New South Wales have been advised to 'stock up on food, fuel and medicine' as heavy rainfall begins to set in.

A severe weather warning has been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, who warn rainfall in excess of 200mm is possible, as is flash flooding on Sunday and Monday.

The state emergency service advised those living in or near the Bellinger and Kalang River Valley and the Nambucca Valley they could experience moderate flooding.

A warning has also been issued for the Orana River Valley and the Hastings Valley, but the areas are only expected to receive minor flooding.

Residents in northern NSW have been urged to prepare for heavy storms and flooding

One man shared a photograph of a bridge in Main Arm, north of Byron Bay, already covered in water ahead of what is picked to be a very wet weekend

The area highlighted in yellow has been issued a severe weather warning, with storms expected to cause flash flooding and some rivers to overflow

A spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology told Daily Mail Australia while they are warning of flash flooding at the moment, it's possible there will also be rivers overflowing as the storm progresses.

'The areas under threat are prone to heavy bursts of rainfall over a short period of time,' he said.

'The longer this rain keeps falling over one area, the more likely the rivers are to flood, so we are also constantly updating the flood and river warnings and urge people living in those areas to check them regularly.'

'People living and working along these rivers and their tributaries should act now by raising pumps and moving livestock and equipment to higher ground,' a spokesperson for the State Emergency Service said.

'If isolation is likely stock up now on food, fuel, medicine and other essential items.'

Pictures shared to social media today show dark storm clouds rolling in over picturesque beaches

A river in Alstonville is shown overflowing and rushing downhill on to property towards a horse

The State Emergency Service has urged people living near rivers to move their livestock to higher ground

If you are likely to be isolated, the SES also suggests stocking up on supplies now

The SES also advises people not to drive, ride or walk through flood waters and to keep clear of waterways.

Pictures show dark clouds rolling in over idyllic beaches, and in one case, a bridge already under water.

Posted to Instagram from Main Arm, north of Byron Bay, brown flood water sits peacefully 40 centimetres above the ground.

'And now we wait,' user Hone Matson wrote.

'I'm sure the bridge is meant to be above the water, not the water above the bridge.'
Luccia Amerecco, 29, was allowed to leave prison for a consultation about getting her breasts enhanced and for a round of botox

A thief was allowed out of jail on day release to get botox, despite serving a six year sentence for robbery and threatening to castrate her victim.

Luccia Amerecco, of Leicestershire, was serving six-and-a-half year prison sentence at HMP Peterborough after she and her then-boyfriend robbed a man with force.

The 29-year-old, who suffers from bipolar disorder, threatened to castrate her victim and stole 280 from the man.

But while in prison, she has revealed she was allowed on temporary release to go to a consultation to get her breasts enhanced.

And the convict was even granted permission to be released to undergo 250 worth of botox around her eyes and brows.

The recovering drug addict said the treatments led to more guards flirting with her and prompted envy from her fellow inmates.

She told the Sunday Mirror: 'At first I had a positive reaction, but after a while a few said I was self-obsessed. There was definitely jealousy there. Its probably because they didnt think of it first.'

Amerecco said to the newspaper she was surprised to be let out and described the moment as 'something out of Bad Girls'.

She said: 'I couldn't believe they let me out to have botox. I had to pay for the injections myself from my prison wages, but I thought there was no way I'd be allowed to get them while I was still in jail.'

Luccia Amerecco, 29, was allowed to leave prison for a consultation about getting her breasts enhanced and for a round of botox

She claims she saved up 15 a month a week cleaning and serving meals in the prison and estimates she spent 250 on Botox in three areas around her eyes and brows.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.

It was revealed earlier this year the inmate had an affair with a prison officer who was later suspended.

Personal contact of any kind between prison officers and ex-inmates is strictly forbidden by the Ministry of Justice.

Officers who begin sexual relationships can face misconduct probes.

Speaking at the time, she said: 'It started when he began flirting with me. I flirted back because it was exciting to get a bit of attention.

'I liked him and I'd thought it could develop into something nice. Straight away when I got released he started pestering me to send him dirty pictures and videos. It really upset me.'

Matt Bowles was suspended by the Ministry after sending X-rated messages and a picture of his privates to raven-haired Luccia Amerecco after she was freed halfway through a six-year stretch for robbery.

The pair had swapped numbers when they grew close while she was banged up on his wing at Peterborough prison in Cambridgeshire.

And just hours after Luccia was released, Bowles messaged her saying he would ring her when he finished his shift.

Luccia Amerecco was freed halfway through a six-year stretch for robbery (Photo: Sunday Mirror)

Soon the officer, who had lodged a Facebook friend request a week before she was freed on April 10, moved on to sending sexual requests, asking for her to send a 10-second nude video.

A spokesman for HMP Peterborough said at the time: 'We take this matter extremely seriously. A prison officer has been suspended pending an investigation.'

She has since changed her name by deed poll and insists she used her time in prison to gain qualifications.
A petition demanding the far-left group which claimed responsibility for attacking conservative commentator Andrew Bolt be declared a terrorist organisation has attracted more than 4,300 signatures.

Avi Yemini, a self-defence instructor, posted the petition on change.org after footage emerged of masked thugs ambushing the Sky News presenter outside a Melbourne restaurant last week.

'Following the horrific, violent assault on conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, I'm calling on our government to list Antifa as a terrorist organisation and treat its members accordingly,' his petition said.

Scroll down for video

Bolt is pictured here after fending off the pair of protesters who allegedly attacked him

Mr Yemini, who campaigns against left-wing and Islamist extremism, called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to ban Antifa, after video emerged of two thugs physically assaulting Bolt after he had attended a book launch.

Bolt, a former Labor staffer turned conservative, is seen shoving and punching the activists in self defence as they glitter bomb him outside a restaurant at Carlton, in inner-Melbourne.

Chairs and tables tumble before the Sky News personality fends off his attackers in an impressive fashion.

In his petition, Mr Yemini argues Antifa's use of violence to push a political cause were grounds to list it as a terrorist organisation.

The protesters apparently weren't prepared for the right-wing broadcaster to fight back

'It has damaged property. It has caused serious danger to a person,' it said.

'None of them shower so they do pose a risk to public health.'

Bolt has since said it is 'ridiculous how dangerous it is' for conservatives to speak out in the Victorian city.

Mr Yemini said Antifa had forced his Jewish group to last year cancel a Melbourne forum with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson because of safety concerns.

'We have a major problem when in Australia, in 2017, elected senators cannot greet the people out of fear of violence,' he said.

A petition is calling on far-left group Antifa to be declared a terrorist group following the ambush

The Melbourne branch of Antifa claimed responsibility for the attack on Andrew Bolt

Self-defence instructor Avi Yemini said Antifa's violent tactics were a threat to the public

Antifa Australia is a branch of a wider international movement which claims to 'defend the working class from fascists and other right-wing threats' and says 'Aussie pride can f*** right off'.

Members of Antifa Australia have claimed one of their 'family' was responsibility for attacking Bolt with thick liquid at a book launch in Carlton on Tuesday  which lead to a brawl on Lygon Street.

Antifa Australia has boasted of various movements online including an 'anti-racism' march at Sydney's Cronulla beach protesting the 2005 race riots there.

The group also demonstrated at a Reclaim Australia rally in Melton, Melbourne in November 2015.

It also fronted anti-Islam protests at Penrith in Sydney's west, and stormed Australia First Party headquarters in New South Wales.

Antifa Australia last week declined to respond to Daily Mail Australia's requests for comment.

Previously released CCTV footage from the restaurant in Carlton, Melbourne, showed Mr Bolt (L) fighting back, punching one of them in the face at least once

Bolt showed CCTV footage of the incident on his Sky News show earlier last week.

'They jumped me,' he said.

'Spraying me in the face and all over my suit with some sticky liquid with some glitter and dye'.

Victoria Police has confirmed a 'short scuffle' took place.

Bolt was at the Carlton restaurant to launch the Art of the Impossible, a book about U.S. President Donald Trump.

He wrestled with them during the scuffle, knocking over several tables and chairs, and claimed to kick one of them between the legs

'Please, please, stop with the sympathy! Because sympathy is for losers,' he said.

'I don't think we should be losers anymore, I certainly don't feel like one. I want your hi-fives instead.

'I want you to laugh at the CCTV footage of the haymaker and the left hook I gave one of the three men who jumped me'.

Daily Mail Australia understands the man who captured the footage has approached police to make clear he did not know what the alleged assailants were planning.

It is believed the photographer thought he was covering a protest.
They say he's united the Labour Party and reclaimed the youth vote and after an 48 hours, it appears there is little Jeremy Corbyn can't do.

Except, perhaps, executing a successful high five.

Fresh footage has emerged showing the party leader failing at the celebratory hand-clap for the third time in as many days.

Give me a high-five! Jeremy Corbyn has achieved many things in the last 48 hours, but a successful high-five is not one of them

Missed opportunity: In the latest gaffe, Corbyn's expectant hand was instead met with a clasp from the woman, who ruined his attempts at a proper high-five

Styling it out: But the Islington North MP is a professional at brushing off awkward incidents and turns the moment on its head, by going in for a hug

On Thursday night as the party toasted to unexpected gains across the country, a jubilant Corbyn spontaneously wanted to celebrate.

Turning to shadow minister Emily Thornberry at the Sobell Leisure centre in Holloway, he went in for a high five.

But the move ended up in awkwardness as he appeared to instead accidentally brush her chest.

Then the following day, the leader was filmed getting into a taxi outside his north London home while surrounded by cheering supporters.

Not wanting to miss out on the merriment, the Islington North MP stuck his hand out of the moving car in a bid to slap the hand of an adoring fan.

Nothing to see here: The veteran politician doesn't acknowledge the embarrassing gaffe, which is the third of its kind to happen in as many days

Sadly the target was missed, and Corbyn's count of failed high-fives rose to two.

And now the toll has reached three after a new video shows the leader arriving at Labour's headquarters.

As he is greeted by a female fan, dressed in purple, he attempts a hearty swing of his hand.

But instead the woman clasps it in the air and the couple instead go in for an unexpected hug.

Supporters will be wondering whether Corbyn will seek to improve his high-five technique as he attempts to challenge the Conservative's minority government later this week.

Yesterday the veteran politician was spotted in his constituency meeting voters before heading out to his allotment in Barnet in the afternoon sunshine.

While his party lost out on a majority, they secured a higher-than-expected 262 seats and significantly boosted its vote share.

Despite his apparent lack of high-five skills, Corbyn has been backed to remain Labour leader 'for as long as he wants'.
A pilot's quick thinking saved the lives of his passengers after his helicopter's engine failed and he was forced to make an emergency landing in a park.

The young man was flying the chopper over Sydney's Northern Beaches when the engine started surging, forcing him to shut it down and make a desperate mayday call.

He found a small reserve in the beach-side suburb of Avalon and landed it safely, but not before the helicopter started to spiral towards the ground, Nine News reported.

Scroll down for video

The helicopter's (pictured) engine surged and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing

On board the helicopter was an Australian man and his two cousins from Germany who were shaken by the incident - which was a farewell treat before they flew home tomorrow.

The passengers were in the middle of a tourist joy flight from Mascot to Palm Beach when it ended abruptly.

Nino Di Cuollo says the pilot instructed the trio to brace themselves before making his emergency landing.

'In the last two metres, the helicopter just dropped and just hit the ground in a sudden jolt,' he said.

Nino Di Cuollo (pictured) says the pilot instructed the trio to brace themselves before making his emergency landing

Nine News pilot Andrew Millett heard the mayday call and searched over the water, fearing the helicopter had plunged into the ocean.

'I saw a lot of bubbles coming up and I thought, "well this is it", but it was a whale coming up to the surface. And about five seconds after that I heard the pilot's voice on the radio,' he said.

Local surfers who witnessed the incident said they expected the helicopter to end up as a fireball.

The young pilot was breath tested at the scene and passed.

The helicopter will be winched out of the Avalon reserve by either a truck or a larger chopper to be tested by engineers.
A mother is facing life behind bars after she filmed herself sexually assaulting three of her own children and uploaded it to a child pornography site.

The woman, who cannot be named for the protection of her children, appeared in Newcastle Local Court via video link from jail last week.

The woman pleaded guilty to 26 offences including seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The woman pleaded guilty to 26 offences including seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 (stock)

She also pleaded guilty to producing child abuse material using a child under the age of 14 and inciting an indecent act on a person under 16.

The woman will appear in Newcastle District Court this week for sentencing.

The mother was tracked down after the footage appeared on a paedophile website.

An accent heard in the video reportedly led detectives to Australia before the Australian Federal Police tracked down the source.

The girl in the video was identified and her mother was arrested.
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson, pictured, removed steel safety railings protecting pedestrians on London Bridge after they were deemed 'ugly', according to a report

Boris Johnson removed steel safety railings protecting pedestrians on London Bridge after they were deemed 'ugly', it has emerged.

The barriers were removed in 2010 leaving pedestrians vulnerable to vehicle attacks such as the ISIS massacre last week in which eight people were killed and dozens of others injured.

The attackers' van mounted the bridge's pavement at 50mph and ploughed into people before the men left the vehicle and stabbed others.

The day after the atrocity, security officials quickly rushed in new guard rails in a bid to keep people walking through the tourist hotspot safe.

Guard rails could have slowed down the jihadis - but during his time in office Boris scrapped hundreds of miles of the metal bars in a bid to make the streets of the capital less 'cluttered' under a Transport for London initiative.

The railings were also removed from busy areas including Kings Cross and Hyde Park in a bid to prevent cyclists from being trapped between the barriers and traffic, according to the Daily Star.

Despite a warning from counter-terrorism officers that Britain faces an 'unprecedented' risk of more vehicle attacks, Mayor Sadiq Khan's TfL last night said it planned to continue pulling down the balustrades.

A spokesman said: 'Guardrail was removed in 2010 as part of a programme to improve safety  preventing vulnerable road users such as cyclists becoming trapped between railings and traffic  as well as reducing street clutter across London.

Boris Johnson scrapped hundreds of miles of the metal guard railings, pictured left, in a bid to make the streets of the capital less 'cluttered' under a Transport for London initiative. London Bridge is pictured right without the barriers in the present day

Guard rails could have slowed down the jihadis who killed eight people on London Bridge

Anti-terror barriers were installed outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle following the attack on Westminster Bridge in March

Security has been ramped up on river crossings across the capital following the London Bridge attack with pedestrians were labelled 'sitting ducks'

'Guardrail is not designed to withstand vehicle impact. For this, specialist barriers are required. The programme will continue.'

The move came despite a report by the London Road Safety Unit suggesting that guard rails cut accidents by 27 per cent.

Boris - who has been tipped as the next prime minister - spent 220million of taxpayer funds to make the capital more 'attractive' during his time in office.

In 2012, he boasted of removing a 'substantial number of guardrails along pavements' and vowed to 'continue to work' with council chiefs to remove more barriers.

Following last week's attack security has been ramped up on river crossings across the capital after pedestrians were labelled 'sitting ducks'.

During the London Bridge attack the jihadis' van mounted the pavement at 50mph and ploughed into people before the men left the vehicle and stabbed others

Barriers could be installed at some of London's most iconic sites in a bid to stop the tactic, which was also used by Khalid Masood's attack on Westminster Bridge.

The announcement was made by Mark Rowley, London Metropolitan Police's assistant commissioner and the head of National Counter Terror Policy.

Mr Rowley revealed that the white Renault van used to target pedestrians on London Bridge had been 'recently hired' by one of the terrorists.

He added that as well as more armed police across the capital, 'the public will also see increased physical measures in order to keep public safe on London's bridges'.

On March 22, 52-year-old Masood drove his 4X4 car at people walking on the south side of Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street, killing four.

The announcement was made by Mark Rowley, London Metropolitan Police's assistant commissioner and the head of National Counter Terror Policy

During the incident the Metropolitan Police asked Londoners to 'run, hide, tell'

Following the massacre, anti-terror barriers were installed outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

Twitter users lambasted the lack of security measures on London's bridges following the attack.

Tom Buckley tweeted: 'Terrible scenes at London Bridge. However security there has been shocking since Westminster attack. No bollards, nothing. Joke. #sittingduck'

At London Bridge the three attackers were also shot dead during eight minutes of violence

Twitter users lambasted the lack of security measures on London's bridges following the attack, pictured

Paul Sperry said: 'Unbelievable. The London Bridge vehicular jihadist was able to build speeds like Westminster jihadist BECAUSE STILL NO BOLLARDS ON SIDEWALKS.'

Matthew Miers added: 'Why hasn't anyone thought of putting massive bollards on London Bridge to stop people driving across the bridge aiming for people!'

Jake Hook wrote: 'Why haven't anti ramming bollards been installed on roads around London @sadiqkhan we need action not just words #londonbridge.'

On the east side of the bridge, the pavement is at least 10ft wide and there is only a small kerb to stop drivers mounting it and veering in to those walking across.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is said to have told Theresa May to 'stay away' from Scotland following a row with one of the Prime Minister's closest aides.

Ms Davidson, who effectively saved the PM by scooping up 12 seats north of the border on Thursday, reportedly had a furious bust-up with Fiona Hill during the campaign.

The clash came after Ms Davidson was summoned to London to be grilled on why she was not using the Tories' notorious 'strong and stable' slogan in Scotland.

But she apparently gave the demand from Ms Hill - who has now resigned along with Mrs May's joint chief of staff Nick Timothy - short shrift.

If they'd asked, the SNP would have known how unpopular another referendum was, writes Ruth Davidson

A senior party insider told the Sunday Express: 'She just wanted the money to fund the campaign but otherwise wanted to be left alone to get on with it without interference.

'She also ordered Mrs May to stay away from Scotland and focus her campaigning efforts on other parts of the UK.

'The strategy clearly appears to have worked. It's ironic that by keeping Theresa May at bay she has saved her from complete electoral defeat and saved the Union at the same time by weakening SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and her bid for a second independence referendum.'

Ms Davidson turned up the heat on Theresa May today over the Prime Minister's alliance with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

Ms Davidson  whose 12 new Scottish Tory MPs kept Jeremy Corbyn out of Downing Street  spoke to The Mail on Sunday exclusively over her concerns about the deal, which was close last night.

The controversial alliance is vital to Mrs May's hopes of getting a working majority in the wake of last week's calamitous Election result.

But Ms Davidson  now seen as the brightest Tory Party star  pointedly restated her reservations about the deal over the DUP's opposition to same-sex marriage.

Ms Davidson, who is gay, insisted she had received 'clear assurances' from the Prime Minister that any deal would not harm the cause of equal rights and equal marriage, which is not legal in Northern Ireland. She said: 'I have my differences with the DUP and their views on equal rights.

'That is why I sought and received clear assurances from the Prime Minister that we will do all we can, as the party of equal marriage, to advance that cause.'

Downing Street said last night: 'The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

Ms Davidson  now seen as the brightest Tory Party star  pointedly restated her reservations about the deal over the DUP's opposition to same-sex marriage. Pictured: Protesters in London

'We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

'As and when details are finalised, both parties will put them forward.'

The agreement seemed to be close after Government Chief Whip Gavin Williamson was sent to Belfast for negotiations. He faces a race against time to secure a deal before this week's Queen's Speech programme of legislation.

He is understood to have met DUP chief whip Sir Jeffrey Donaldson for the talks.

The DUP was formed by the firebrand Protestant preacher Ian Paisley at the height of the Troubles

However, many Tory MPs are concerned about the arrangement, with South Cambridgeshire MP Heidi Allen writing online that she was 'deeply unhappy' with the idea of a DUP coalition.

She said the Conservatives should operate a minority Government, seeking cross-party support on big issues. She added: 'UK demands grown-up politics.'

The talks prompted protests in London yesterday, while more than 500,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the alliance. Labour, which has called for Mrs May to resign, has ridiculed her for being reliant on the DUP.

There are also fears that signing a formal deal will damage the Government's attempt to broker a power-sharing agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Jonathan Powell, a key adviser to Tony Blair during the Northern Ireland peace talks, said last week: 'Even John Major didn't resort to relying on DUP. This could undo 20 years of work.'

The DUP was formed by the firebrand Protestant preacher Ian Paisley at the height of the Troubles, and some of its leading figures were involved in a loyalist paramilitary group, Ulster Resistance.

The DUP eventually ended its opposition to the peace process and entered into an historic power-sharing deal with Sinn Fein.

But it remains deeply socially conservative  it opposes gay rights and abortion, and supports the teaching of creationism in schools.

RUTH DAVIDSON: 'But for us Scottish Tories, calamity Corbyn would now be in No10'

By Ruth Davidson, Scottish Tory leader

Less than three months ago, in the middle of March, Nicola Sturgeon stood up at the SNP conference in Aberdeen and sent her supporters into raptures. 'There will be a referendum,' she declared, to cheers from the faithful.

On Friday lunchtime last week, Ms Sturgeon stood up at a press conference in Edinburgh, with a very different message. The Scottish public had just dumped 21 SNP MPs out of their jobs. The First Minister was forced to respond she would now be 'reflecting' on her referendum plans.

What a difference an election can make. In the spring, Ms Sturgeon and her colleagues believed a second referendum was theirs for the taking. They assumed that if they demanded it, Scotland and the UK government, would meekly acquiesce. It was a huge mis-read.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson turned up the heat on Theresa May last night over the Prime Minister's alliance with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party

If they'd asked, the SNP would have known how unpopular another referendum was. If they'd stopped to listen, they'd have known most of us felt downright appalled at the idea. Last Thursday we had our chance to speak out.

We said no  again. And, contrary to her assertion back in March, Nicola Sturgeon now knows this: there won't be a referendum. Not now. Not after this. It is dead in the water. SNP MPs like Angus Robertson and Alex Salmond have lost their jobs as a result of Ms Sturgeon's hubris.

The SNP now knows that their reckless decision to push for a second referendum has come with a high political price. And Ms Sturgeon knows that, if she were to continue with this course, it would be her job next. The Union is still in a period of great uncertainty. But last week's setback for the SNP has given us some welcome breathing space.

This weekend, therefore, my focus is clear. We must now use this chance to ensure that we strengthen the Union while we can. That case has been pummelled and damaged in recent years.

Contrary to her assertion back in March, Nicola Sturgeon now knows this: there won't be a referendum

Day by day, inch by inch, the SNP has tried to tease apart the ties that bind us, creating differences where none previously existed. Last week, the Nationalists were punished for trying to take that mission too far  and for taking people's support for granted. We must not make the same mistake. Instead, we must show that that the Union is working for people every day.

That is why I support the Prime Minister's efforts to move quickly to deliver a working government. Now, as most people know, I have my differences with the DUP and their views on equal rights. That is why I sought and received clear assurances from the Prime Minister that we will do all we can, as the party of equal marriage, to advance that cause as we go forward.

And with that government in place, we can begin to restore confidence in the UK. We can focus on getting the best possible Brexit deal for all of us. And we can restore faith in our own country after these years of turmoil.

The new Scottish Conservative MPs will be part of that. We will be no less passionate than the SNP in representing Scotland's interests. But we will do so in the belief that those interests are always best pursued by being part of our Union. We will always fight for Scotland's voice to be heard.

We will always champion Scotland's needs. But we will be constructive not destructive, seeking co-operation where the SNP has only pursued grievance. We will, in other words, show how the Union can work for Scotland. Not by demanding the heavens and then moaning when it doesn't come off.

But by working with colleagues from elsewhere in the UK, by pressing our case, and by making progress. By  for example  creating a new financial deal for our Borderlands regions. By  to take another  ensuring that the needs of our fishing communities in the north-east are heard as we leave the CFP, and that we do more to support the oil and gas industry.

These are the tangible gains that can be made at Westminster by Scottish MPs with a cooperative spirit. This is how we begin to show that the Union isn't something imposed on us to be resented: it's something that we take part in, to our mutual benefit.

We intend to show that the Union works. That if it hadn't been built, somebody would have ended up inventing it

This is how we start to rebuild trust that Westminster is working for Scotland. At the same time, we will aim to show the rest of the UK that we are all better for having Scotland in the mix. And one rather big example of that comes to mind. Had it not been for Conservative gains in Scotland last week, Jeremy Corbyn could now be Prime Minister.

Nicola Sturgeon would be pulling the strings. And what would that have meant? Punitive taxation, a crashed economy, and the prospect of yet more constitutional upheaval. I predict that Mr Corbyn will continue to be exposed over the coming months as a leader utterly unsuited for the job of Prime Minister. We will soon be seeing more examples of how it could have damaged us all.

And people will know - it was with the Conservative gains made in Scotland which stopped him from getting into power. That's important. Over the last few years, nationalists in England have built up resentment against Scotland.

The new Scottish Conservative MPs will take the fight to Mr Corbyn's destructive agenda over the coming years

Aided and abetted by the SNP surge, they've tried to claim England's needs have been ignored  and that the Union is therefore bust. We have seen how the Union could end; with resentment on either side of the border, leading to an inevitable divorce.

Our Scottish Conservative MPs will, I hope, show that sometimes it's better to have allies after all. Sure, sometimes you don't get your own way. But sometimes, being part of a bigger club is worth it.

The new Scottish Conservative MPs will take the fight to Mr Corbyn's destructive agenda over the coming years. And they will do so on behalf of all those in the United Kingdom who oppose his agenda.

In short, we intend to show that the Union works. That if it hadn't been built, somebody would have ended up inventing it. That you don't always get your own way. But that there is always value in taking a bigger perspective that reaches across our borders  and that it is worth making the effort.

And I hope that, if we show it working, we can finally end what has now been a decade of uncertainty over the UK's continued existence. For ten years, the SNP has adroitly constructed the narrative that it's all about to collapse.

That divorce is inevitable. That there's nothing we can do to stop it. And with leaders like Alex Salmond at the forefront, they had the chutzpah and brio to carry it of.

On Thursday night last week, the illusion cracked. The SNP over-reached, taking people's support for granted. Mr Salmond lost his seat. They were exposed as just another political movement that got things wrong

So here's our chance.

If the new Conservative government can show, over the coming few months that the Union works for us all; if we show we are prepared to listen to all parts of the UK, then we can put this constitutional conflict to bed. Not by bullying supporters of independence into silence, but by persuading our fellow Scots that the Union works for them.

And that way, we can get on with what most people want  no matter where you live in the UK. And that is a parliament and a government which is focussed back on the day job.

That's the opportunity last week's election has given us, right across the UK. We will seize it.
The ISIS propaganda machine has been dealt a significant blow with the deaths of senior members involved in creating its slick videos.

Western airstrikes have killed senior members of the ISIS propaganda machine, significantly reducing the number of videos published by the organisation.

Also, the production quality of the terror group's videos have been affected as the organisation is defeated on the battlefield.

One recent video featured one-leggd jihadi Abu Shuaib al-Maslawi. He was filmed hopping on his left leg toward the explosives-laden black SUV that he would minutes later plow into a group of Iraqi troops in the northern city of Mosul.

ISIS produced a propaganda video featuring a one-legged suicide bomber last month, pictured, showing the terror group's has been dramatically weakened by constant bombing

Abu Shuaib al-Maslawi appeared on video before driving his car bomb at Iraqi soldiers

ISIS claims to have manufactured these rocket launchers from a bomb factory in Mosul

Then, turning toward the camera, the one-legged suicide bomber spoke his final words, urging Muslims in the West who cannot come to the extremists' self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria, to carry out attacks inside their home countries.

He said: 'I urge you in the name of God that before sunset may your swords be dripping with the infidels' blood. Every drop of blood that is spilled there will reduce pressure on us.'

Drone footage then showed the heavily armored SUV careening into a line of Iraqi troop vehicles parked outside a building in Mosul, followed by an explosion, a huge fire ball and a cloud of black smoke.

Posted by ISIS on social media in late May, the video contains a change in message and tone that reflects the pressure the extremist group is under as it continues to lose ground in Iraq and Syria.

The ISIS propaganda machine used to be confident, promising that its self-declared caliphate would be 'lasting and expanding.' But in recent months, as the group's territory has shrunk, its messages have as well.

Far from the boastful, self-aggrandizing videos of the past, the group is now urging fighters to resist and not run away from the battlefield. The quality of the videos has dropped as well after some of the extremists' most prominent propagandists and producers were killed.

Experts claim the quality of ISIS propaganda videos has declined in recent months

Slickly produced ISIS propaganda videos shot from multiple angles with religious songs in the background used to spread fear among the group's opponents, with gruesome footage of beheadings, shootings, confessions of detainees and sophisticated attacks against their rivals.

In the videos, the group boasted that Muslims from all over the world were flocking to what they called the 'first caliphate' since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a century ago.

Now the videos mostly urge fighters to be steadfast and call on the local population to join the group after hundreds of ISIS fighters have been killed over the past months.

'The propaganda of the organization has become zero to be frank. It indicates their collapse and that the group is retreating,' said Omar Abu Laila, a Syrian opposition activist now based in Germany who is originally from Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour, held by ISIS. 'Their calls for people to join the group are signs of weakness.'

A major blow came in August, when an airstrike in Syria claimed by the U.S. and Russia killed Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the group's chief spokesman and senior commander who was known for fiery speeches that used to boost the morale of fighters. In 2014, after the group declared its caliphate, al-Adnani vowed to conquer Baghdad as well as the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in southern Iraq.

The terrorist group has lost large amounts of territory over recent weeks

Another blow came in October when a U.S. airstrike in Syria killed Wael al-Fayadh, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Furqan, who was in charge of producing highly professional propaganda videos. One of the group's main media arms, Al-Furqan Media, was named after him. He was replaced by Abu Bashir al-Maslawi, who was killed a short time later.

In late May, the founder of the group's Aamaq news agency, Baraa Kadek, was reportedly killed along with his daughter in an airstrike in the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen.

A video released last month titled 'Answer the Call' urged young men to join ISIS to make up for the loss of manpower.

'What are you waiting for? The infidels have gathered around us from all over the world,' it said, showing scenes of ISIS terrorists trying to persuade men in mosques and clubs to join the fight as suicide bombers.

ISIS has used its videos to show the improvised weapons it has developed to kill and maim

Among the weapons developed by ISIS is this device they claim is a weaponised drone

Another titled, 'We will guide them to our path,' showed two men, one from Canada and the other from Britain, carrying out a suicide attack in Mosul. The video also tried to market the group as an organization that can produce its own weapons, such as rocket-propelled-grenades, shells and remote-controlled small vehicles that can carry mines.

'They have produced 158 videos since November ... and none of them were professional like 'Salil al-Sawarem,'' said Hisham al-Hashimi, an expert on ISIS who advises the Iraqi government. He was referring to a video - 'Crack of the Swords,' in English - that was released days before ISIS captured Mosul in the summer of 2014 and was widely believed to have helped speed the collapse of Iraqi forces defending the city.

'Today ... there is nothing that differentiates between their (videos) and those of other ... rebel factions,' al-Hashimi said. 'It only calls for defensive operations, suicide bombings and to be steadfast. Nothing more.'

Despite the battlefield setbacks in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has been quick to claim responsibility for recent overseas attacks in Britain, Iran and elsewhere. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said five assailants in the twin attacks this week in Tehran had previously fought for ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and the extremist group's Aamaq news agency released a 24-second video purportedly filmed inside parliament during one of the attacks.

Besides Aamaq and Al-Furqan the group has a number of media outlets to spread its message as well as an online radio station, Al-Bayan, and online weekly magazines, Al-Nabaa and Dabiq.

Social media networks keep closing accounts created by ISIS propagandists but the group has so far been able to create new ones. In one widely circulated text message on social media, followers were urged not to publish the group's link so that it wouldn't be closed because 'we are being subjected to a harsh campaign.'
Theresa May has suffered fresh humiliation after Downing Street admitted blundering by claiming a deal had been struck with the Democratic Unionist Party to keep her in power.

In an embarrassing error, No10 spokesman said the DUP had 'agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week'.

But within hours they backtracked after the Northern Ireland party clarified that talks were still ongoing and no agreement had been struck.

The misstep comes amid mounting concern on Tory benches over the link-up given the delicate state of the Good Friday Agreement and the DUP's controversial stances on issues like gay rights.

There is alarm that the deal to prop up the government could fatally undermine attempts to show the Conservatives are modern and inclusive.

The problems were illustrated today when Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon was confronted on the BBC's Andrew Marr show with comments from DUP's Ian Paisley Jr, who previously said he was 'pretty repulsed by gays and lesbian people'.

Downing Street has rowed back on claims that an official deal has been completed with the Democratic Unionist Party

A spokesman for Downing Street said the Democratic Unionist Party 'have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis'. Mrs May is pictured going to church today with husband Philip

A spokesman for the Northern Irish party said the talks were in line with leader Arlene Foster's 'commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge'

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was confronted on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today with comments about gay people by the DUP's Ian Paisley Jr

Sir Michael replied: 'Let's be very clear, just because they're going to support us, they're agreeing to support us on the economic issues, the big economic and security issues facing this country, it doesn't mean that we now agree with all of their views. We don't.'

Ms Davidson  now seen as the brightest Tory Party star  has pointedly restated her commitment to same-sex marriage.

The Scottish leader, who is gay, insisted she had received clear assurances from the Prime Minister that any deal would not harm the cause of equal rights and equal marriage, which is not legal in Northern Ireland. She said: I have my differences with the DUP and their views on equal rights.

'That is why I sought and received clear assurances from the Prime Minister that we will do all we can, as the party of equal marriage, to advance that cause.

Meanwhile, outgoing Irish PM Enda Kenny tweeted that he had called Mrs May to express 'my concern that nothing should happen to put Good Friday Agrmt at risk', warning about the 'absence of nationalist voice in Westminster'.

Hailing an outline deal with the DUP for support from its 10 MPs last night, Downing Street said: 'We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.'

The 66 votes that sank Theresa The Tories were just 66 votes away from gaining a majority, experts say. The party lost three key constituencies  Kensington by a mere 20 votes, Perth and North Perthshire by 21 votes and Dudley North by 22 votes. Had they secured them, they would have finished with enough seats for a working majority. The maximum number of voting MPs is 639 because Sinn Feins seven MPs do not take up their seats, and the Speaker and his three deputies do not vote. Advertisement

But soon afterwards the DUP, founded by Ian Paisley in the Seventies, said discussions with the Tories would continue next week.

No10 was then forced to clarify its position, saying: 'The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

'We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

'As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward.'

Mrs May is expected to meet DUP leader Arlene Foster on Tuesday to try to hammer out an arrangement.

A spokesman for the Northern Irish party said the talks were being pursued in line with Ms Foster's 'commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge'.

He continued: 'The talks so far have been positive. Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament.'

If an agreement is reached, the 10 MPs from the DUP could prove crucial in supporting the Conservatives on key votes after Thursday's election saw Mrs May lose control of the Commons.

Arlene Foster (centre) yesterday presented her expanded group of Westminster MPs following a successful general election. They are (from left) Emma Little-Pengelly, Gregory Campbell, Sammy Wilson, Nigel Dodds, Jim Shannon, Mrs Foste, Gavin Robinson, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Paul Girvan, David Simpson and Ian Paisley jnr

Ms Foster celebrates with DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds at the Belfast count centre on Thursday

The party was founded by the late Ian Paisley, who died in 2014. Mrs Foster was appointed as leader in 2015

It means the DUP would back the Tories on matters which could force the Prime Minister to resign - for example the Queen's Speech which is considered a key measure of Parliament's confidence in the Government.

The Northern Irish party would also side with the Conservatives or abstain in the event of a vote of no confidence.

Supply means the DUP will support any bills necessary for the government to receive the money it needs to enact its policies - such as the Budget.

Petition garners support form 600,000 A petition against British Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party garnered nearly 600,000 signatures Saturday as concern grew over her plan to govern with their support. 'This is a disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power,' read the petition, which outlined some of the DUP's more controversial views including opposition to gay marriage and abortion. The petition echoed some of the slogans at a leftist demonstration by a few hundred people outside Downing Street on Saturday who chanted: 'Racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has go to go'. Some Conservative MPs also spoke out on Saturday as officials announced that Northern Ireland's DUP had signed up to 'an outline agreement' to back a minority Conservative government. May needs the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to be able to govern after losing her parliamentary majority in Thursday's general election. The details of the agreement are not yet known but Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said it 'simply won't work' if it includes any change to abortion laws or 'dilution' of gay rights. Wollaston also said she was opposed to the death penalty and creationism being taught in schools, policies that have been supported by some DUP politicians. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, said she had received 'assurances' from May that there would be no change to gay rights for the rest of Britain. Gay marriage is banned in Northern Ireland, as is abortion except for when the life of the mother is in danger. Advertisement

However, it is unlikely that there will be an agreed policy agenda - instead there will be frequent negotiations on an issue by issue basis.

There would be no DUP ministers, but the party may sit on the Government side of the Commons - a move which could frustrate centre and left-leaning MPs in the Conservatives.

Several Tory MPs already claimed their principles, which oppose the views of the DUP, wouldn't be changed ahead of the deal being announced.

Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling, wrote on Twitter on Friday: 'I joined a party that introduced equal marriage, backs civil rights and defends freedom of faith. Those principles won't be compromised.'

Heidi Allen, MP for South Cambridgeshire, said she was 'deeply unhappy' with the idea of a formal coalition hours before the original announcement was made.

Writing on Twitter, she said: 'Deeply unhappy with [the] idea of a formal coalition with DUP. We should run with minority Gov & work cross-party on big issues. UK demands grown up politics.'

Yesterday, it was revealed Mrs May had sent her chief whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast for coalition talks with the DUP after the election left the Tories eight seats short of the 326 required for a majority.

The Prime Minister made clear she wants support from her 'friends and allies' in the DUP to secure her minority administration ahead of the Queen's Speech on June 19.

The DUP is the leading unionist party in Northern Ireland and it is supposed to share power with republican Sinn Fein but bitter feuds have left the devolved assembly suspended.

Westminster is supposed to act as an honest broker between the parties under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein was already suspicious of Tory neutrality because of the party's traditional closeness to the DUP and any form of coalition will chill relations further.

The deal would raise the prospect of a long-term collapse in Northern Ireland devolution. The current row was triggered by Mrs Foster refusing to resign as First Minister over a green energy funding scandal.

This morning, several hundred protesters gathered in Parliament Square to voice their anger at Theresa May's government and her alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party.

People carrying placards reading anti-DUP and pro-Jeremy Corbyn stood peacefully in Westminster and listened to speaches from Stand Up To Racisim and the Stop The War Coalition.

Musicians performed to the protesters, who seemed in good spirits. One organiser led chants of 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has got to go'.

Hundreds descended on outside parliament to protest Theresa's May's formation of a minority government with the Democratic Unionist Party

People carrying placards reading anti-DUP and pro-Jeremy Corbyn message as they marched on Downing Street

A woman dons a shirt with an image of Jeremy Corbyn that has been mocked-up to resemble the distinctive Che Guevara illustration (left). A man holds a makeshift gallow and noose with 'well hung' written across - referencing the hung parliament election result

A man wearing a black anonymous mask (left) holds a can of beer and an electronic cigarette next to a balaclava-clad man wearing a tai-dye shirt (middle)

The chequered links of Ian Paisley party which has become Theresa May's kingmakers By Isobel Frodsham and Kate Ferguson, Political Correspondent for MailOnline The Democratic Unionist Party was founded in 1971 by preacher Ian Paisley. It is known for its controversial views on abortion and gay marriage and previously campaigned against the legalisation of homosexual acts in Northern Ireland. Mr Paisley was known for rabble-rousing speeches which helped stir up protestant communities during the bloody decades of The Troubles. Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley pictured at a Stormont rally in 1981. They were the DUP's two top figures, but flirted with loyalist paramilitarism during the bloody yearss of The Troubles But most alarmingly, he flirtated with armed loyalist paramilitaries. From the early 1960s Rev Paisley has talked off raising a 'people's militia' and by the early 1980s he was involved in holding large rallies in which hundreds of men dressed in combats would march in Army-like drills as a show of strength. At one rally, on Rev Paisley's instruction they brandished in the air firearms licences in a chilling display to journalists. His flirtation with armed violence led him in 1986 he helped establish Ulster Resistance - a loyalist paramilitary group set up to oppose the peace process and whose members sported military style red berets. In 1988 the group collaborated with infamous armed groups Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters to procure a cache of arms. The guns had been destined for the violent streets of Northern Ireland before they were intercepted. Rev Paisley's second in command in the DUP, deputy leader Peter Robinson, also flirted with extremism. Ian paisley with Martin McGuinness after being sworn in as ministers at Stormont in 2007. The old foes struck up an unlikely friendship and became known as the Chuckle Brothers He attended Ulster Resistance rallies and in a notorious photograph was pictured wearing one of their red berets. Although Mr Robinson left the group when it was linked to weapons trafficking and the force soon crumbled away. While the groups they once goaded and encouraged wreaked violence and terror in Northern Ireland, they both became prominent figures in the peace process. And Rev Paisley struck up an unlikely friendship with his one time sworn enemy Martin McGuinness - the late former IRA commander. In 2007, Rev Paisley led his party into a power sharing deal which saw him become First Minister of Northern Ireland, with Sinn Fein's Mr McGuinness alongside him as deputy. The pair were so often pictured laughing and joking together they were dubbed the Chuckle Brothers and their relationship has recently been immortalised on screen in the film called The Journey. Advertisement
Boris Johnson is being urged to launch a new bid to become Prime Minister as Theresa May struggles to cling on in Downing Street.

A close ally of the Foreign Secretary said it was go-go-go for Mr Johnsons leadership push in the wake of the election disaster.

Meanwhile, five other Cabinet ministers are said to be pleading with him to unseat the Tory leader as the party threatens to go into meltdown after losing its overall majority.

As the knives came out for Mrs May this morning, former Chancellor George Osborne branded her a 'dead woman walking'.

Boris Johnson is preparing a new bid to become Prime Minister as Theresa Mays grip on No 10 becomes increasingly fragile, but the Foreign Secretary won't take any action while Theresa May is in power

She was also embarrassed as No10 prematurely announced it had done a deal with the Democratic Unionists to prop her up in power - only for the Northern Ireland party to make clear there was no agreement yet. Mrs May will meet DUP leader Arlene Foster in London on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson played down the prospect of him mounting a challenge for the time being today, describing the idea as 'tripe'.

But an ally told the Mail on Sunday: We need Bojo. We need a Brexiteer. We need somebody who can talk and connect with people like Jeremy Corbyn does. We need someone who can make Britain believe in itself again.

Talk of a leadership bid came after Mrs May was rocked by the resignations of the two Downing Street advisers who have been blamed for the Election disaster  and a Mail on Sunday poll which found that half of voters want her to quit.

The MoS Survation poll found that 49 per cent of all voters want Mrs May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put

The MoS Survation poll found that 49 per cent of all voters want Mrs May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put. And out of the contenders to replace her, Mr Johnson outscores his nearest rival, Chancellor Philip Hammond, by a margin of more than two to one.

A separate survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted Mrs May to announce her resignation immediately.

Few Tory MPs believe that Mrs May will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer after losing 13 Tory seats  squandering the partys previous working majority of 12.

Mrs Mays joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street. MPs had pointed the finger at Mr Timothy for including the so-called dementia tax in the Tory manifesto, which was linked to a dramatic drop in the partys support.

The aides have also been blamed by MPs and aides for creating a toxic Downing Street in which officials and Ministers are subject to bullying.

It is understood that senior party figures had warned Mrs May that she could face an immediate leadership challenge if her aides stayed in their jobs.

The five front runners for the Conservative leadership are Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Brexit Secretary David Davis, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Michael Gove

Yesterday, Mr Timothy said he took responsibility for the failure of the campaign, but denied that the dementia tax had been his personal pet policy.

In a long parting statement he said: The simple truth is that Britain is a divided country: many are tired of austerity, many remain frustrated or angry about Brexit, and many younger people feel they lack the opportunities enjoyed by their parents generation.

The aides were replaced by a single chief of staff, former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat in the General Election.

Mrs May is expected to face a grilling by the partys powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers this week, where she is likely to face hard questions about the Election result. Sources said there would have been a bloodbath if Mr Timothy and Ms Hill were still in their jobs when the meeting started. The devastated Prime Minister cobbled together an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party last night after sending her Chief Whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast.

But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson  whose success north of the border was crucial in preventing Labour from forming a Government  expressed public disquiet about the alliance with the anti-gay rights, anti-abortion party.

She said she had sought clear assurances from Mrs May that any deal would not set back equality.

There were also public protests against the plan, which would be the only way Mrs May could ensure that her legislation got through the Commons. More than 500,000 people signed a petition against the Tories doing a deal.

The turmoil forced Mrs May to delay a planned reshuffle of her middle-ranking Ministers until today. She is being urged to appoint a formal Deputy Prime Minister to shore up her position, with Brexit Secretary David Davis the favourite for the job.

It would put Mr Davis in a difficult position, as he is widely believed to be considering a run at the leadership if there is a contest. Other possible candidates include Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Possible candidates include Chancellor Philip Hammond (left) and Brexit Secretary David Davis (right). Mrs May is expected to face a grilling by the partys powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers this week, where she is likely to face hard questions about the Election result

The Mail on Sunday poll by Survation  the only company to accurately predict the result of the General Election  makes grim reading for Mrs May.

A total of 41 per cent of voters think that if she does resign, she should do so immediately.

If she does quit, Mr Johnson is the clear favourite to succeed her. He is backed by 26 per cent of voters, with Mr Hammond the next favourite with 10 per cent.

Mr Davis is on nine per cent, Ms Rudd on eight per cent and Mr Gove on four per cent.

His spokesman added: He is completely supporting the PM and working closely with her to get the best deal in our Brexit negotiations.

Respondents in our poll were scathing about Mrs Mays performance in the campaign, with only 16 per cent thinking she had put in the best performance, compared to 67 per cent arguing for Mr Corbyn. When asked why Mrs May failed, the most common answer, 27 per cent, was the dementia tax.

The political paralysis caused by the Election is widely believed to have strengthened the hand of pro-EU MPs who support a soft Brexit, in which the UK retains access to the tariff-free single market and customs union. This approach is backed by 47 per cent of voters, compared with 36 per cent who want a hard Brexit.

Amber Rudd and Michael Gove are also possible replacements for the Prime Minister. A spokesman for Mr Johnson last night insisted he was fully behind Mrs May

The resignations of her closest aides leaves Mrs May an even more isolated figure. The cabal which took most decisions consisted of her, her husband Philip, Mr Timothy and Ms Hill  with her Cabinet left out in the cold.

Craig Oliver, who was David Camerons director of communications, welcomed the departure of the aides. In an article for todays Mail on Sunday, he demands to know how the Conservative party allowed these two people with such questionable judgment to influence so much and get it so wrong?

And Katie Perrior, who worked with Mr Timothy and Ms Hill as Theresa Mays director of communications until the Election, said the two aides were the reason that No 10 bloody well stank of arrogance.

Tory peer Lord Heseltine added to the chorus of criticism, using an article in The Mail on Sunday to describe the Election as an unusually poor campaign, crippled by the reverse over what has been branded the dementia tax and some unwise sloganeering.

Mrs Mays joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street

Tory MP Nigel Evans was even more scathing, describing the Conservative manifesto as full of poison from beginning to end. He said: It was mean-spirited in trying to take school lunches off youngsters, it was irrelevant in trying to bring back fox-hunting and it was a full-frontal assault on our core support which was the elderly. The only thing that was missing from the manifesto was compulsory euthanasia for the over-70s.

Tory grandee Lord Tebbit was withering too, saying: The idea of this Election had been conceived by Mr and Mrs May and two or three close advisers who know very little. They then elected to have a campaign of well over seven weeks. Madness. Because if you are ahead at the beginning, as all the polls indicated, the only thing that can happen during those seven weeks is that things get worse.

Lord Mandelson also enters the debate today by calling for MPs who backed staying in the EU to use Mrs Mays political weakness as an opportunity to put pressure on her to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

The former Labour Minister uses an article in this newspaper to hint at an alliance between moderates, saying that new parliamentary arithmetic should be used to out-manoeuvre the headbangers who want to cut most ties with Brussels.

He says: I believe if [Mrs May] shows flexibility, most of the country will back her. It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing. There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing.

Last night, Mrs May praised new chief of staff Gavin Barwell as first-class and widely respected, adding: I want to reflect on the Election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.
Police have issued a grave warning to parents to remain vigilant with their children after a spate of attempted child abductions.

Sydney authorities are warning parents that getting distracted by your mobile while out with children can invite predators to pounce on their kids.

Four attempted child abductions on the city's streets in the past week have left parents on high alert and police are urging them not to drop their guard.

Police have issued a grave warning to parents to remain vigilant with their children after a spate of attempted child abductions

'Any distraction, including mobile phones, would be a concern,' Police serious crime director John Kerlatec told Sunday Telegraph.

He urged parents never to lose sight of their kids in public spaces like shopping centres, and called o parents to educate them about predator's tactics to fly under the radar.

'I think children need to understand that there are some secrets you always should tell your parents.'

On June 1, a girl, 11, narrowly escaped the clutches of a knife-wielding predator who tried to grab her outside a home in Summer Hill.

Sydney authorities are warning parents that getting distracted by your mobile while out with children can invite predators to pounce on their kids

Police are also investigating an incident involving a three-year-old girl at Pioneers Memorial Park in Leichhardt on May 31.

In another attack that day, a five-year-old girl was indecently assaulted by a man of Indian appearance in Glebe.

And last month a mother had the fright of her life when a man attempted to abduct her 15-month-old toddler from the Macquarie Street Mall in Liverpool.




Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has claimed he didn't ask America for help in fighting ISIS militants inside his country.

The outspoken leader said he had no idea US special forces were coming to his aid until they arrived in the besieged city of Marawi yesterday.

Jihadist militants overran the city last month and Duterte's forces have been struggling to regain control ever since, with 13 marines killed there on Sunday alone.

Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking Philippine president, has claimed he didn't ask America for help a day after US special forces arrived in the city of Marawi, which is under siege by ISIS

Duterte said he had 'no idea' the American troops would be arriving until they showed up on Saturday (pictured, the president awards medals to wounded troops)

Thirteen marines died in heavy fighting in Marawi on Sunday as they try to recapture Marawi from around 200 ISIS militants holed up in one corner of the city

In total 39 government troops have died fighting ISIS, along with 134 militants and 20 civilians (pictured, wounded soldiers in a hospital in the Philippines)

The fundamentalists have been using fortified tunnels to escape government bombardments, anti-tank weapons to halt counter-attacks, and hiding among civilians to use them as human shields.

American special forces arrived in the city on Saturday and have been 'providing technical assistance', according to the US embassy in Manila.

The embassy also said forces were sent at the request of the Philippine government, but Duterte denied this.

The tough-talking leader has been on close terms with President Trump after the pair shared a phone call earlier this year.

Trump had called Duterte to congratulate him on a drug-crackdown in the country which has seen thousands shot dead, many in extra-judicial killings.

Seeking to clarify Duterte's remarks, spokesman Ernesto Arbella said the Philippines and America share an interest in fighting terrorism, and 'the Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it.'

So far the unrest had left 20 civilians, 134 militants and 39 government troops dead, the government said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city, parts of which were reduced to rubble by fighting and government air strikes in an attempt to dislodge the rebels.

Colonel Edgard Arevalo said: 'This temporary setback has not diminished our resolve a bit.

'It instead primed up our determination to continue our prudent advances to neutralise the enemy, save the innocent lives trapped in the fight, and set the conditions for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi.'

ISIS-backed terrorists killed 13 marines in the Philippines amid violent clashes

The bodies of the dead marines have been repatriated to the mainland Philippines

Military chiefs were sent to console the families of the dead after they were killed by ISIS

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in the Mindanao region, the southern third of the Philippines and home to a decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion.

United States special forces are providing support to the Philippine military battling to dislodge Islamist militants in a southern city, the US embassy said Saturday, as 13 Filipino marines were killed in fresh fighting.

Philippine troops are struggling to defeat hundreds of fighters, who rampaged through Marawi on May 23 flying black flags of ISIS, and have used bomb-proof tunnels, anti-tank weapons and civilians as human shields to fortify their positions.

Friday's ferocious, street-to-street gunbattles with the militants saw 13 troops killed in a dramatic surge in the toll from the conflict.

It was among the heaviest fighting in the standoff, according to AFP journalists in Marawi, with the air force supporting ground troops with sustained bombing runs that battered the city.

As the fighting intensified, the US embassy in Manila said American forces were providing assistance to the Filipino troops, although it declined to give details for security reasons.

Rebels on the southern island of Mindanao have used human shields as part of their campaign

More than 200 people have been killed in clashes over the past fortnight including 20 civilians

US special forces have provided assistance to the Filipino army to drive out the Islamic rebels

A US Embassy spokesman said: 'At the request of the government of the Philippines, US special operations forces are assisting the (Philippine military) with ongoing operations in Marawi.'

Philippine military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera confirmed the US help, adding that the special forces were not fighting, but 'providing technical support'.

He said Friday's deaths brought the number of government troops killed in the conflict to 58.

'There were intense firefights, house-to-house gunbattles,' said Herrera at a news conference in Marawi.

'We are saddened with the result... we have fatalities on the government side,' he said.

At least 20 civilians and around 138 militants have also been killed, the government said.

The insurgents have so far withstood more than two weeks of air and ground assaults by security forces, with about 2,000 people believed to be trapped in militant-held areas although the military said this amounts to only around 10 percent of the city.

Herrera said the militants' tactics was making it harder for security forces to carry out attacks without causing civilian casualties and hurting religious sensitivities.

'The local terrorist groups are using the mosque, they are entrenched there. They also used civilians as human shields... we are very precise in our operations to avoid collateral damage.'
A father and son were threatened by two thugs armed with chisel and a gun while at a petrol station.

Shane Gundry, 55, and his 12-year-old son, Treye, had stopped at a gas station in Lockyer Valley, in south-east Queensland, when two men of Aboriginal appearance pulled out weapons and demanded he hand over his keys.

The man's terrified son was still in the car when the armed bandits forced their way into the vehicle, but was able to get out and join his father as the thieves sped away, Nine News reported.

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Shane Gundry (left) was ambushed by two thugs armed with a chisel and a knife while at a petrol station in southeast Queensland

The two bandits (pictured) made off with Mr Gundry's blue Ford Falcon after demanding he hand over the keys

It is believed the two man had driven to the service station in another stolen car before they made off with Mr Gundry's blue Ford Falcon with Queensland registration 813TYX.

One of the men was armed with the chisel while the other produced a gun from his pants which they used to threaten the father as he tried to pay for his petrol.

CCTV footage of the service station on Warrego Highway at Helidon shows the hooded thugs ambush Mr Gundry at the fuel bowser before he ran to the passenger door to free his young son.

'A car can be replaced, but I can't replace my son,' he told Nine News.

A shaken Mr Gundry called his daughter, Peggy, in tears after the harrowing ordeal, and she later posted an emotional plea on Facebook with a picture of her father's car in the hope someone may spot it.

Mr Gundry, 55, (pictured) and his 12-year-old son Treye had stopped at a gas station in Lockyer Valley, southeast Queensland

A shaken Mr Gundry (pictured) called his daughter Peggy in tears after the terrifying ordeal

The two men are described as Aboriginal in appearance, aged in their 20s and were wearing hooded sweatshirts.

They had also attempted to steal a woman's car at the same petrol station but she was able to run back into the store with her car keys and called the police.

Briony Summers said she refused to hand over her keys and watched as the father and son drove into the station and were robbed.

'I was defiant and wouldn't give them my car, or my keys, I rang the police and was on phone to them when Shane and son pulled up at the service station,' Ms Summers said.

'It all happened so quick and in a matter of minutes. Shane was shaken, broken, scared, but he held his composure for his son.'

Queensland Police say the thieves headed westbound on the Warrego Highway and warn anyone who sees the vehicle or men not to approach them but to contact police immediately.
The parents of a man accused of robbing nine taxi drivers at knife-point forced their son to turn himself in when they saw his face on the news.

Nick Spasojevic, 20, has been charged with the string of armed robberies between May 17 and June 10, in which he is accused of stealing from taxi drivers across Sydney's inner suburbs.

Spasojevic's parents saw his face on the news on Saturday night and took him to a police station where he turned himself in, 7 News reported.

The parents of a man (pictured) accused of robbing nine taxi drivers at knife-point forced their son to turn himself in when they saw his face on the news

Nick Spasojevic (pictured), 20, has been charged with the string of armed robberies between May 17 and June 10

Spasojevic (pictured) is accused of stealing from nine taxi drivers across Sydney's inner suburbs

He remains in police custody after he chose not to apply for bail at his court appearance on Sunday.

Police were first alerted to the man after two armed robberies on May 17 and May 18 in the Ultimo area.

During these attacks a knife was allegedly used and cash was stolen.

Police attended an armed robbery of a taxi driver in Ultimo where a knife was used again about 10pm on June 7.

Officers were then called to three armed robberies of taxi drivers the following day in Glebe and Ultimo.

Police say a knife was used by the offender but he failed to make off with any cash.

Spasojevic's parents saw his face on the news on Saturday night and took him to Day Street police station (pictured)

In two separate incidents on June 10, two armed robberies of taxi drivers in Surry Hills were reported to police.

In these attacks a knife was allegedly produced and cash and property was stolen.

Police investigated the incidents and believed them to be related.

Spasojevic walked into the Day Street police station and spoke with investigators about 9.45pm Saturday night.

He was arrested and charged with numerous offences, including aggravated assault and robbery with an offensive weapon.
Near-final results from France's first-round parliamentary elections showed President Emmanuel Macron's new movement winning by a large margin and set to land a huge majority in the final-round vote.

He was on course for a massive landslide win in the parliamentary elections as the vote for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front collapsed.

Late on Sunday night the country's prime minister Edouard Philippe declared victory for Mr Macron, saying: 'France is back'

In results that will have huge implications for Brexit, projections pointed to Mr Macron's Republique En Marche! (REM) party gaining between 414 and 445 seats in the Paris National Assembly.

French president Emmanuel Macron was pictured looking jubilant as he welcomed Senegal's President Macky Sall to Paris today

French President Emmanuel Macron (center) with his wife Brigitte Trogneux (left) cast their ballot at their polling station in the first round of the French legislatives elections in Le Touquet, northern France

Macron's wife, Brigitte Trogneux, casts her ballot in France's Parliamentary election on Sunday

Mr Macron has described the prospect of the UK leaving the EU as 'a crime', and in talks with Prime Minister Theresa May last month insisted 'The EU will be united in Brexit negotiations'.

He would rather see a so-called 'hard Brexit'  including UK leaving the European Single Market - rather than conceding advantages to an exiting state.

The projections represent 32.6 per cent of the popular vote, and would be far above the 289 seats needed to secure an absolute majority following the second and final round of voting next Sunday.

Mr Philippe said voters sent a 'message without ambiguity' in the first round elections Sunday that they want a parliament with a 'new face'.

French President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte, vote in the first of two rounds of parliamentary elections in Le Touquet, France

First round of voting shows Mr Macron's En March! party heading for a crushing majority, with up to 445 seats out of a possible 577. Macron is pictured with his wife Brigitte Trogneux leave their home in Le Touquet, northern France, on Sunday ahead of voting in the polls

Late on Sunday night the country's prime minister Edouard Philippe declared victory for Mr Macron, pictured, saying: 'France is back'

Meanwhile German chancellor Angela Merkel sent her congratulations calling the predicted result a 'strong vote for reforms'.

With 94 per cent of ballots counted, the Interior Ministry confirmed Mr Macron's party had won almost a third of the vote so far.

The conservative Republicans had 16 percent, followed by the far-right National Front with 14 per cent.

The far-left party of Jean-Luc Melenchon had 11 per cent while the Socialists, who dominated the last National Assembly, had just 7 per cent.

Macron and Trogneux headed to the polls hand in hand on Sunday as they hoped for an En Marche! majority

It follows Mr Macron winning the presidency with 66 per cent of the vote last month after crushing Marine Le Pen.

She was hoping to establish the FN as a serious opposition to REM today but the party is now likely to gain between one and four seats in parliament  making them a fringe extremist grouping.

Turnout was estimated at less than 49 percent, a record low for modern France - something that was quickly seized upon by Ms Le Pen.

She lamented the 'catastrophic' figure and urged 'patriotic' voters to turn up en masse in the second round in a bid to boost her party's presence.

Brigitte Macron went for a walkabout in Le Touquet, France, the day before the election

Mrs Macron was mobbed by fans who took pictures as she walked through Le Touquet

Brigitte Macron relaxed at the beach after polls showed her husband's party on course for a landslide victory in the second round of voting next Sunday

Mrs Macron was also seen walking the dog outside her home in northern France after voting with her husband in the first round of elections

Marine Le Pen crushed Marine Le Pen is facing humiliation in the first round with her National Front party unlikely to win anything more than a small handful of seats. It is certainly not enough to make the party into a major opposition force - something that Ms Le Pen had hoped for after advancing to the presidential runoff that Mr Macron won on May 7. She complained that the legislative voting system did not fully represent voters' wishes - because her party got around 14% of votes but was not able to greatly improve on the two legislators it had in the last election. The party's secretary general, Nicolas Bay, warned of Mr Macron getting 'a majority so big that he will have a sort of blank cheque for the next five years'. Advertisement

The head of the conservative Republicans party, Francois Baroin, also urged voters to turn out in larger numbers next week to help ensure that Macron's party faces a robust opposition.

A rock solid mandate will be hugely advantageous to the fiercely pro-EU Mr Macron in the run up to Brexit negotiations.

It contrasts with the relatively chaotic situation in the UK, where no majority government has emerged following last Thursday's General Election.

A total of 7,882 candidates were running for 577 seats in the National Assembly in today's first round of the two-stage legislative elections.

REM currently has no seats at all, because it was only founded last year but with established parties in disarray it is proving extremely popular.

The party's candidates include many newcomers to politics, including a retired bullfighter, a military jet pilot and a mathematician. Half of them are women.

Mr Macron has described the prospect of the UK leaving the EU as 'a crime', and in talks with Prime Minister Theresa May last month insisted 'The EU will be united in Brexit negotiations'

Macron waves as he leaves his house in Le Touquet, northern France, before casting his vote in the first round of the two-stage legislative elections

Brigitte Maron, right, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron poses for a selfie while his husband, back to camera, looks on, as they leaves their house in Le Touquet, northern France, ahead of voting in Tuesday's election

Around 47million voters were eligible to vote today following 39-year-old Mr Macron becoming his country's youngest-ever president on May 7th.

Following his election, Mr Macron called on French voters to give him a 'majority to make changes', adding: 'That's what the country wants and that's what it deserves.'

The Socialist Party is in chaos following five years of disastrous administration by former President Francois Hollande.

Controversy has meanwhile dominated the opposition Republicans Party, the current name for the Gaullist conservatives who have formed numerous governments in the post-war period.

If the CEVIPOF-Le Monde figures prove correct, then this would be far above the 289 needed to secure an absolute majority. Pictured above, a person leaves a polling booth during the first round of French parliamentary election in Nice, France

People wait to vote at a polling station in Castelsarrasin, southern France, during the first round of the French legislative elections on Sunday

The Republican candidate for president was Francois Fillon, an indicted criminal suspect who still faces trial over a fake jobs scandal with his British-born wife Penelope.

Far-right firebrand Ms Le Pen was runner-up in the presidential election.

She has been trying to become an MP since 1993 without success but is still hoping for a change in fortune in the northern constituency of Henin-Beumont.

Macron and his wife Brigitte leave the polling station after voting in the first of two rounds of parliamentary elections in Le Touquet, France, on Sunday

Mr Macron said he would rather see a so-called 'Hard Brexit'  including UK leaving the European Single Market - rather than conceding advantages to an exiting state

A total of 7,882 candidates are running for 577 seats in the National Assembly in Sunday's first round of the two-stage legislative elections

Around 47million voters are eligible to vote in France on Sunday following Mr Macron becoming his country's youngest-ever president on May 7th

French far-right leader and National Front Party, Marine Le Pen, exits from a polling booth after voting for the first round of french legislative elections in Henin-Beaumont, Northern France

Ms Le Pen has been trying to become an MP since 1993, without success, but is hoping for a change in fortune in the northern constituency of Henin-Beumont

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe casts his electronic vote at a polling station during the first round of legislative elections on Sunday in Le Havre, northern France

French Secretary of State in charge of Digital Affairs Mounir Mahjoubi casts his ballot at a polling station in Paris during the first round of the French legislative elections on Sunday

French Minister of Territorial Cohesion Richard Ferrand, candidate for France's legislative elections in the 6th constituency of the Finistere department, casts his ballot in Motreff, western of France

This secure mandate would be hugely advantageous to the fiercely pro-EU Mr Macron in the run up to Brexit negotiations. Pictured above, people pick up ballots prior to vote at a polling station during the first round of the French legislative elections, in Champrond, northwestern France

Very few lawmakers are expected to be elected directly in the first round. Unless a candidate records 50 per cent plus majority in each seat, he or she will move on to a second round run-off next week.

To win in the first round, candidates need an absolute majority and support from at least a quarter of the district's registered voters.

Otherwise, all contenders who get at least 12.5 percent of the votes of registered voters advance to the second round.

If, as polls project, Macron and his fledgling party win a commanding majority in next week's second round, it will be another blow for the mainstream parties on the right and left which failed to get a candidate into the presidential run-off.

'We want a big majority to be able to act and transform France over the next five years,' Mounir Mahjoubi, a tech entrepreneur running under Macron's Republic On The Move banner told Reuters as he canvassed support in his northern Paris constituency ahead of the vote.

Patrick Mennucci, candidate of the socialist party (PS) for the legislative elections in the 4th district of the Bouches-du-Rhone department, casts his ballot at a polling station during the first round of the French legislative elections in Marseille

Gilbert Collard, France's far-right National Front (FN) candidate for the legislative elections in the second constituency of the Gard, casts his ballot at a polling station in Gallician during the first round of the French legislative elections

A woman votes a polling station in Toulouse, France, during the first round of the French legislative elections on Sunday

A police officer stands guard at the entrance of a polling station during the first round of French parliamentary election in Nice

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came in a strong fourth place in the presidential vote with nearly 20 percent support, is running for a parliamentary seat in the southern city of Marseille.

His movement could obtain between 10 and 20 seats.

Parisian voter Thibault Gouache says he's keen to see fresh faces in the parliament.

'The most important thing is changing the people that do politics,' he told The Associated Press. Many candidates have already served multiple terms and 'are disconnected to the reality of what we live on a day by day basis.'

Opinion polls forecast LREM and its centre-right Modem allies will win at least 30 percent of votes on Sunday.

The conservative The Republicans party and its allies trail with about 20 percent, ahead of the far-right National Front on about 17 percent.

The French Parliament is made up of two houses, the National Assembly and the Senate. The legislative elections don't concern the Senate, which is currently run by a conservative majority.

The National Assembly always has the final say in the voting process of a law.
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British holidaymakers have been pictured taking their clothes off, carrying sex dolls and lying in the street drunk on the Spanish party island of Majorca as party season begins.

Alcohol-fuelled photographs from the popular resort of Magaluf come as local authorities have tried to crackdown on bad behaviour from visitors.

And in the neighbouring town of Palma Nova a group of British tourists have been fined after they were filmed running through the streets naked in broad daylight.

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Two girls - one with heavily sunburned legs - lie on the floor of a fast food restaurant in Magaluf

A group of men in Hawaiian shirts chant at the photographer on the resort's controversial Punta Ballena strip

Spanish police vans make their way through groups of revellers. Authorities have previously vowed to crackdown on bad behaviour

Magaluf is one of the most popular resorts for lads' and girls' holidays, with groups from across the UK flocking there to drink and dance their troubles away

Magaluf is a favourite party destination for British tourists who come to blow off steam and enjoy the cheap alcohol prices on offer.

But bad behaviour over the years, including binge drinking, sex in the streets, fighting and nudity, have given Brits a bad reputation with the Spanish authorities - leading them to issue a warning to tourists that there will be consequences for those who misbehave.

Council officials are fighting to improve the area's image, where a lot of the rowdy behaviour is concentrated in a strip of bars known as Punta Ballena.

Their attempts follow a string of controversial stories surrounding the resort in recent years which tour operators say are putting people off visiting the island altogether.

Two years ago, officials announced plans to introduce fines of up to 3,000 (2,182) for anyone caught naked in the street.

The new rules came into effect in June 2015, and also included hefty fines for anyone urinating in public or 'balconing,' which refers to the act of drunkenly jumping from hotel balconies.

That summer British police were even dispatched to the party spot as a trial to help Spanish officers deal with victims and offenders from the UK.

But pictures taken at the resort recently still showed revellers spilling out of bars and falling on the street.

In one photo a partygoer in a 'Willyman' costume - which is essentially a superhero outfit with a plastic penis attached - can be seen pointing his plastic prop at a young woman.

Two shirtless partygoers help each other down the street, left, and right, a woman carrying a drink chomps on a slice of pizza

A tourist in a 'Willyman' costume - which is essentially a superhero outfit with a plastic penis attached - can be seen pointing his plastic prop at a young woman.

A man lies passed out on the floor of one of the strip's many take-away restaurants

Council officials on the island of Mjorca are fighting to improve the area's image

And in another, a group of women carry a blow-up sex doll on the strip.

Meanwhile, two miles away in Palma Nova, a group of 20 male tourists stripped off for a daytime skinny-dip before jogging back to their hotel on Friday afternoon.

Some covered up their privates with one hand but others left themselves exposed to passers-by - including a young boy.

Only one of the Brits appeared to be dressed, with a couple of those that did have at least something on limiting their attire to just hats and sunglasses.

In a clip of the incident a Spanish local watching the outrageous scene could be overheard shouting 'Mira, mira' - Spanish for 'Look, look' - as a second man appeared out of nowhere to stop cars while the men ran across a road at the back of the promenade.

Today council officials in Calvia, which covers the Palma Nova area, confirmed 18 of the tourists had been fined after local police tracked down the hotel they were staying in.

Magaluf is a favourite party destination for British tourists who come to blow off steam and enjoy the cheap alcohol prices

The costumes were out in force with men dressing up as TV wrestlers, left, and right, two women hit the bars dressed as lifeguards

A man takes the opportunity to meditate in the middle of the strip as tourists walk around him

A group of women carry a blow-up sex doll on the street as they move between the area's packed bars and clubs

Emergency services on standby: The resort has British staffed medical emergency centres located close to bar areas

British tour operators have warned the Spanish Tourist Board that the image of Magaluf is affecting their efforts to market Majorca

They were penalised for infringing a by-law by exposing themselves in public and another for obstructing traffic.

It was not clear if the holidaymaker fined for obstructing traffic was the man filmed stopping cars as the naked runners jogged across the road - or whether he was unconnected to the stunt and just trying to ensure no-one was injured.

Council chiefs said the men had paid their fines and apologised.

A spokesman added: 'Calvia Town Hall is not going to permit this type of behaviour and congratulates the local police for the speed with which it has acted.'

A group of British men have been fined after they were filmed running naked through the streets of Palma Nova

It was not immediately clear how much each person had been asked to pay, although fines for such behaviour usually range from 100 (87) to 600 (526).

Local politician Carlos Tarancon urged Calvia Council to take tough action against the Britons involved in the latest stunt, suggesting that as well as being fined they should be prosecuted if minors were affected by their behaviour.

He said: 'The diffusion of a video like this is enough to ruin all the work that's been done over the past year to improve the image of our municipality.

'Anti-social behaviour of this kind should be met with zero tolerance.'

Urging the public to report offenders immediately, he added: 'I would urge people to help solve this scourge in our municipality by informing the police of the slightest incident of its kind so they can assist them in their work.'
Twilight murder victim Elizabeth Edwards, who was stabbed to death by her 14-year-old daughter's boyfriend last year, tried to separate the couple after growing concerned about their relationship, it emerged today.

Former classmates of Lucas Markham revealed how he vowed to kill Elizabeth Edwards, 49, because she had tried to split him from her daughter Kim.

Adam Free, 15, who attended school alongside Markham, told how he become obsessed with the murder of HIS father Warren Free who was beaten to death by a teen gang near their homes.

Twilight murder victim Elizabeth Edwards, who was stabbed to death by her 14-year-old daughter's boyfriend last year, tried to separate the couple after growing concerned about their relationship, it emerged today

Markham went on to brutally stab to death school dinner lady Elizabeth, also known as Liz, as she lay asleep while Kim watched.

He then stabbed Kim's 13-year-old sister Katie in her bed.

The couple's trial last year heard they then had sex before calmly sitting down to watch three of the Twilight vampire movies.

The evil pair, then both aged 14, became the youngest double murderer couple in UK history when they were found guilty of murder last October.

Markham's former schoolmate Adam Free spoke, 15, spoke out just days after a judge lifted an order banning the identification of Markham and Kim Edwards.

Adam told how he sat next to Markham who was an aggressive and disruptive pupil at Sir John Glebe High School in Spalding, Licolnshire.

The pair got to know each other in Year 8 after Markham was segregated for attacking other pupils.

Former classmates of Lucas Markham revealed how he vowed to kill Elizabeth Edwards, 49, because she had tried to split him from her daughter Kim. Pictured above, Adam Free at his home in Spalding

At the time of the murders in April last year Markham had been expelled from the school for disruptive behaviour.

Free said Markham, who he described as being strongly influenced by Kim, was obsessed with the murder of his father Warren Free.

The 43-year-old was killed by a group of teens in August 2014 just streets away from where Markham murdered his victims.

At the time of the murders in April last year Markham had been expelled from the school for disruptive behaviour.

Adam said Markham showed a keen interest in the murder and his family feels this may have been emboldened by it because no-one was ever convicted for it..

He said: 'Out of everyone I know he is the one I know is capable of murder.

'He would do anything that Kim wanted him to do. I think if she asked him to do it he would have just got on with it.

'He was always complaining about Elizabeth whenever I said 'is there something wrong?' He hated her.

The evil pair, then both aged 14, became the youngest double murderer couple in UK history when they were found guilty of murder last October

The former classmate said: 'If I had to put money on it I would say he would kill. He said that he wanted to kill her before but my friends didn't believe him.

'He used to punch me and my friends in lessons. He got into a lot of fights when he was in Year 7 and they put him in isolation.

'At the time of the murders he had left our school but his girlfriend was still there.

'She was in mainstream school and I saw her on the Thursday and Friday before she was arrested.'

Adam said Markham's hatred of Elizabeth intensified when she stopped him seeing her daughter in the summer of 2015.

The sweethearts couldn't bear to be apart and took a tent into school and ran away together in October 2015.

They lived in the woods nearby for nearly a week before going home.

When he returned to the school Markham was relentlessly teased and called Ray Mears, according to Adam.

Kim, was described as a 'goody two shoes' whereas Markham was a violent, angry young man who held a grudge and would plan on exacting revenge meticulously

Adam thinks this marked a key turning point in Markham's personality and saw his former friend become quieter and angrier.

Adam said: 'He went from being a bit noisy to being a bit more quiet. He didn't want to talk to people, he just stayed with her.

'He didn't listen to the teachers. If they told him to do something he'd do the opposite.

'He was a bit of an idiot. He didn't have many friends and was a bit of a loner.

'When he came back from running away he really hated Liz.

'Before he went away he said he wanted to kill her but when he came back he said it all the time.

'Everybody just thought he was joking but he really held a grudge against Liz because she was always trying to split them up.

'Liz saw him as a bad influence and she wanted him out of her daughter's life.'

Kim, was described as a 'goody two shoes' whereas Markham was a violent, angry young man who held a grudge and would plan on exacting revenge meticulously.

Adam revealed the couple's creepy intense relationship even worried him.

He said: 'If she asked him to do anything he would probably end up doing it. It was almost creepy to watch them to together.

'I remember a lot of times at school when I sat next to them, I didn't always pay much attention to what they were talking about but it was strange to watch them together.

'They gave out weird vibes. I was always a bit worried about their relationship.

'One time they had an argument and they both ended up smashing their phones.'

Adam also revealed Markham has a cold, calculated side and a sharp mind which he used to ruthlessly get what he wanted.

Adam said: 'If he did anything he always planned it out. He was good at maths at school, it was the only lesson he didn't mess around in.

'I think he would have planned the murder because he was really organised and liked everything neat.

'I remember whenever he folded anything he'd have to make sure it was perfect.

'He was a smart guy, whenever we were in maths lessons together he'd always get the answer first.'

Since his father's murder Adam has been living with his aunt Bernie Medford, 46, a landlady, and her husband rubbish removal company owner Tim, 51.

All the family were left devastated when the six teenagers accused of murdering Mr Free, 42, were found not guilty.
The adopted daughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev has been killed when she was hit by a suburban train in Moscow.

Yulia Khrushcheva, a 77-year-old pensioner, was by birth the USSR leader's granddaughter - the child of his fighter pilot son Leonid who was killed on combat duty during the Second World War.

Khrushchev, who later led the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis, then adopted and raised the child as his own daughter.

Yulia Khrushcheva (right), the adopted daughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (left), has been killed when she was hit by a suburban train in Moscow

Khrushchev's granddaughter was crossing a railway track on the Moscow-Kiev line (pictured) this week when she was struck by a train

Yulia Khrushcheva was hit by a train connecting Moscow to Vnukovo Airport

Around the same time, her mother Lyubov Sizykh was a victim of the Stalin repressions, arrested on suspicion of espionage, and spent over ten years in labour camps and exile in Kazakhstan.

Yulia enjoyed a gilded life, entering her teens when Stalin died, paving the way for her grandfather to take over the Kremlin, ruling until he was deposed in 1964.

She accompanied him on official visits, including to Indonesia. She became known as a Soviet 'princess'.

Khrushchev's granddaughter was crossing a railway track on the Moscow-Kiev line this week when she was struck by a train.

Yulia (pictured with her daughter Nina) enjoyed a gilded life, entering her teens when Stalin died, paving the way for her grandfather to take over the Kremlin

Yulia Khrushcheva (right as a child), a 77-year-old pensioner, was by birth the USSR leader's granddaughter - the child of his fighter pilot son Leonid (left)

Who was Nikita Khrushchev? Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) led the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, serving as premier from 1958 to 1964. Though he largely pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, he instigated the Cuban Missile Crisis by placing nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. At home, he initiated a process of 'de-Stalinization' that made Soviet society less repressive. Yet Khrushchev could be authoritarian in his own right, crushing a revolt in Hungary and approving the construction of the Berlin Wall. Known for his colorful speeches, he once took off and brandished his shoe at the United Nations. Source: history.com Advertisement

'Yulia Khrushcheva died after being hit by a suburban train near the Solnechnaya station,' said an emergencies ministry spokesman.

Investigators said she 'did not respond to signals that a train was approaching'.

She was hit by a train connecting Moscow to Vnukovo Airport.

'The woman didn't respond to loud signals made by the train driver and was injured,' said Tatiana Morozova, representative of Moscow interregional investigative department on transport.

'She died of injuries at the site.'

It is understood the pensioner had been undergoing eye treatment shortly before her death.

Yulia only discovered the identities of real parents when she was aged 16, until then believing Khrushchev was her real father.

She later became a journalist in the Soviet era but quit, admitting later: 'I got tired of lying.'

She went on to work in theatre.

Her daughter is an academic expert on Russia, Professor of International Affairs at The New School, New York.
A body boarder has spoken of how a four-metre great white shark knocked him off his board and into the air.

Paul Goff, 48, was swimming in just two metres of water south of Perth when the beast struck on Sunday morning.

'It was like a broad punch to the bottom of the board. I saw nothing before I got hit,' he told 7News.

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Paul Goff has lived to tell the tale of how a four-metre great white shark knocked his board

This is the moment the body boarder, 48, scrambled to shore after the shark encounter

The moment Mr Goff scrambled to shore and collapsed on the sand after being knocked off his board has been captured on video.

He is visibly shaken after surviving an encounter with a four-metre long great white shark near the town of Bunbury in Western Australia.

'Oh my god. That was the biggest thing I've ever f***ing seen,' he said.

Afterwards, the body boarder spoke of how the shark had knocked him from his board just 50 metres from the shore at Casuarina Point.

'I had a hit from under the board that knocked me up into the air and sent my body back towards the beach,' he said.

'The board went towards the ocean. The shark came up between me and the board and then went towards the board, so it was coming forward like that.

'It's at that point that I saw its gills.'

Three dolphins may have saved his life by scaring away the enormous great white shark.

The boarder was out on the water when he the maneater headed straight towards him and took a chunk from his board shortly before 9am.

Three dolphins may have saved the life of a man by scaring away an enormous great white shark after it attacked him while bodyboarding at a beach at Bunbury, in Western Australia

The man noticed the four-metre-long maneater swimming straight towards him, before it hit and knocked him from his board. Languishing in the water he managed to swim safely to shore

Left languishing in the water with the shark nearby, he frantically managed to swim the 50 metres back to the beach.

A police spokesman told the ABC that the three aquatic mammals then scared off the shark.

Despite being shaken by the close encounter, he was able to raise the alarm and warn other swimmers in the area.

The beach and nearby Hungry Hollow were both closed, a spokesman for Surf Life Saving WA told Australian Associated Press.

Some 20 others nearby were forced to the clear out of the water, with beaches due to reopen in the mid-afternoon.

A St John Ambulance spokesman said the man had been treated for shock but was not injured and did not need to be brought to hospital.
Theresa May is facing a revived cross-party Remainer challenge to her tough stance on Brexit today.

Senior Tories including Scottish leader Ruth Davidson have joined Labour figures in demanding a rethink, calling for 'free trade' to be put at the heart of Britain's looming negotiations with the EU.

Former ministers Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Alistair Burt warned that a softer approach was now the only way of getting a deal through parliament.

Conservative grandee Lord Heseltine went further branded the commitment to 'hard' Brexit a 'cancer gnawing at the heart' of the party.

And Labour MP Yvette Cooper said there was now no way a 'Tory cabal' could force through its will.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, pictured right in Edinburgh following the election results, and ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan both suggested the government's Brexit stance must now be watered down

Tory grandee Lord Heseltine went further and claimed that the election result meant Brexit may not happen at all

Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the hung parliament meant Brexit negotiations could not be run by a 'Tory cabal'

The catastrophic outcome of the election has effectively killed off Mrs May's hopes of negotiating with Brussels from a position of strength - and looks likely to cut short her time in power.

Despite Labour still ending up a long way short of being able to form a government, Jeremy Corbyn has demanded the Tories give up power. He suggested today that another election soon would be a 'good thing', as a poll showed his party could win a rerun outright.

But shadow chancellor John McDonnell risked inflaming Labour's own tensions on the crucial European issue by insisting the UK must leave the single market.

Ms Davidson has already hinted she will use her sway to influence the Brexit deal, and has insisted there needs to be wider consensus on the terms of leaving the EU.

The 38-year-old who is seen as a rising Tory star after increasing the party's Scottish seats by 12, said: 'I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit which we know we are now going to have to get cross-party support for.

'And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave.'

In a hint at the approach she wanted, she added: 'It is about making sure that we put free trade at the heart of what it is we seek to achieve as we leave.'

Theresa May went to church in Sonning, Berkshire today in the wake of her disastrous election result last week

Ruth Davidson opposes the stridently conservative social agenda of the DUP

Ms Davidson is considered to have a more moderate rhetoric on Brexit in largely pro-EU Scotland which is at odds with May's stance until now and could herald a change of tack by the government.

She said this morning: 'I've always spoken about how I want an open, rather than a closed Brexit, and that puts freedoms at the heart of what it is that we achieve here.

'That's freedom to trade and our economic growth that I think has huge primacy.

Brexit is a 'cancer gnawing at the heart of the Conservatives', says Heseltine Tory grandee Lord Heseltine opened another flank by suggesting Mrs May would now have to ditch the idea of 'hard' Brexit. He described the Europe issue as a 'cancer gnawing at the heart of the Conservative Party'. Then on BBC's Radio 4, asked if the Government would last he said: 'No. It will not go immediately because there is no appetite for another general election and every party in the house will calculate in their own self-interest. 'They know the government is weak, they know the economy is going to deteriorate and they know public opinion is going to change from one where they don't want an election to one where they are calling out for change. 'So there will come a time when the opposition politicians will strike. In the meantime they will simply harry the government. ' Advertisement

'We can look again at what we want to achieve as we leave the European Union, and I want to be involved in those discussions.'

It comes amid reports that the Scottish Conservatives could get their own whip in the Commons to make sure that MPs from north of the border vote in line with their English and Welsh colleagues.

But Ms Davidson has insisted that her new colleagues at Westminster will 'vote entirely as they believe they should'.

Without the dozen Scottish gains, Mrs May would almost certainly have been forced to resign and had the keys to Downing Street to Jeremy Corbyn.

Instead she is close enough to a Commons majority to strike a deal with the socially conservative DUP.

However, even then the margins are so small that she could find it difficult to pass the Great Repeal Bill - which is intended to transpose EU legislation on to the UK statute books.

It was part of the reason why Mrs May called the snap Election, as she hoped to return with a larger majority and so avoid critical votes being lost.

But now that the Conservatives have lost their majority in the Commons and are relying on the Democratic Unionist Party to keep the Government going, anti-Brexit campaigners are increasingly confident they can stop the law going through.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told The Mail on Sunday: 'The Great Repeal Bill is facing a long, hard battle and I plan to fight the Tories every step of the way.

'Our rights and protections must not be eroded. I do not trust Theresa May on this and will work with anyone on a cross-party basis to stop her.

'The Government know they don't have the votes to get this through. My message to them is stark: you need to go back to the drawing board or face defeat.'

Lord Wood, an adviser to Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader, wrote online: 'There is simply no way the staggering scope, complexity and sensitivities of the Great Repeal Bill can be navigated given the Election result.'

But leading Brexiteers are adamant that any attempt to sabotage the Bill would fail.

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said: 'Any attempt to frustrate or obstruct the Repeal Bill would be contrary to the will of the people at the referendum, and what people voted for in the General Election.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, pictured after gaining three MPs at the election, has vowed to fight Brexit plans 'every step of the way'

'They can try to put down amendments but it doesn't look to me like they could get the votes to do it.'

But Ms Davidson demanded the DUP's opposition to gay marriage and abortion must not dominate the new government after the electoral disaster.

The public declaration she sought and was given assurances is a signal of the new strength of Ms Davidson within the Tory party and the weakness of Mrs May.

Revealing a call with Mrs May on Friday evening, Ms Davidson told the BBC: 'I was fairly straightforward with her and I told her that there were a number of things that count to me more than party.

'One of them is country, one of the others is LGBTI rights.'

Former foreign office minister Mr Burt and ex-education secretary Ms Morgan said Brexit could only be agreed and delivered ifthe Conservative minority government built cross-party support behind a plan that would unite politicians and the country.

DUP leader Arlene Foster, pictured left with Theresa May will be looking for guarantees on preventing a hard border with the Republic of Ireland and any new customs operations

Jeremy Corbyn suggested on the BBC Andrew Marr show today that another election soon would be a 'good thing', as a poll showed his party could win a rerun outright.

Shadow chancellor john McDonnell risked inflaming Labour's own tensions on the European issue by saying the UK could not stay in the single market

Mr Burt told the Observer: 'The new composition of the Commons knocks on the head the idea that the negotiations should be solely in the hands of the Conservative party.

'The government must lead them, and you cannot negotiate by committee, but it should now demonstrate that it has a sounding board for parameters consisting of senior parliamentarians across the parties, and some leading business and agriculture figures, for example.'

Mrs Morgan said that 'to get Brexit and major policies such as social care funding delivered, the government will now have to build a consensus across the House of Commons and it will need to compromise'.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper said: 'In a hung parliament, you can't possibly try to run the Brexit negotiations through a Theresa May-led Tory cabal.

'The whole thing will just fall apart. We should set up a small cross-party commission to conduct the negotiations, and have a clear and transparent process to build consensus behind the final deal.'
Theresa May is adjusting to life in Downing Street without her closest advisers today as she seeks to cling on to power at No 10.

Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who formed her formidable Praetorian Guard in Downing Street, were forced to resign amid mounting anger in the party over Mrs Mays disastrous General Election result.

The position of the gruesome twosome, as they were dubbed by colleagues, had become untenable after senior party figures warned Mrs May that she could face a leadership contest as early as tomorrow if she didnt sack them.

They were also further damaged when former No10 communications director Katie Perrior branded them 'toxic' and complained about the way Mrs May tolerated their 'crazy ideas'.

Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy (pictured celebrating with Mrs May after she became PM last July) were forced to resign yesterday amid mounting anger in the party over Mrs Mays disastrous General Election result. Ms Perrior is pictured behind them on the right

One of the criticisms levelled at Mrs May is that she allowed Mr Timothy and Ms Hill to take effective control of the campaign, rather than the hugely experienced Sir Lynton

The resignations will be a devastating blow to the Prime Minister, who has relied on their advice and protection since first entering the Cabinet as Home Secretary more than seven years ago. It now leaves only husband Philip in her small group of trusted confidantes.

The joint chiefs of staff were blamed by Tory MPs for the failure of the campaign, with bearded Brummie Mr Timothy coming in for particular criticism for including the so-called dementia tax in the manifesto.

Yesterday, he denied being responsible for the policy  but said he regretted not including a cap on social care bills in the document.

Critics have also accused them of arrogance and rudeness towards MPs and officials, and said that Mrs May made errors because she gave priority to their opinions over those of her Cabinet.

EX-No10 SPIN CHIEF KEY PERRIOR SLAMS PM'S 'TOXIC' AIDES Former No10 director of communications Katy Perrior A former aide to Theresa May has revealed the 'toxic' atmosphere in No 10 because of the way it is was run by joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill. Katie Perrior, who resigned from Downing Street when the election was called, revealed the pair ran a dysfunctional No 10 obsessed with crushing enemies. Mr Timothy and Ms Hill have quit after being blamed for the disastrous Conservative election campaign which saw a shock loss of Tory seats. Ms Perrior told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'There was not enough respect shown to people who spent 20 years in office or 20 years getting to the top seat in Government. 'They would send people text messages - rude text messages - which is not acceptable. 'What the prime minister needs at a time that youre going through Brexit is diplomats not street-fighters. 'They only really know one way to operate - and that is to have enemies and Im sure Im one of them this morning.' Asked why she quit as Mrs May's communications director, Ms Perrior added: 'Every month that went past I felt Ive done pretty well for holding on because it was pretty toxic.' Advertisement

Ms Hill said last night that it had been a pleasure to work with such an excellent Prime Minister, adding: I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as Prime Minister  and do it brilliantly.

In his statement, Mr Timothy took responsibility for the failure of the campaign but denied that the dementia tax had been his personal pet policy.

The dramatic resignations came as party insiders revealed the shock when the dramatic exit poll was published at 10pm on Thursday.

While Mr Timothy, 37, and Ms Hill, 44, were running operations at Tory HQ, Mrs May was sitting on her sofa at home in Berkshire watching the BBC coverage with her husband. A source said: I think the gruesome twosome must have received a leak because, before the poll was released, they started pulling people into rooms, then emerging looking shocked.

The campaign consultant Sir Lynton Crosby, who masterminded David Camerons 2015 General Election victory, started marching round the room telling staff not to panic.

One of the criticisms levelled at Mrs May is that she allowed Mr Timothy and Ms Hill to take effective control of the campaign, rather than the hugely experienced Sir Lynton. The source added: If Fiona had spent more time briefing against Jeremy Corbyn, and less time briefing against the Chancellor, then we might have achieved a better result.

One of the most senior figures in Mrs Mays administration yesterday added to the impression of chaos by launching an outspoken attack on her toxic and dysfunctional Downing Street, accusing the unelected Ms Hill and Mr Timothy of bullying Ministers and sending rude text messages.

Katie Perrior, Theresa Mays former director of communications, said that No 10 bloody well stank of arrogance.

The ousting of the aides comes just a fortnight after The Mail on Sunday revealed that Cabinet Ministers were keeping notes of their private exchanges with Mr Timothy and Ms Hill  containing offensive language  and threatening to release them if they were sacked in a reshuffle. It was later reported that Chancellor Philip Hammond was among the Ministers who had kept notes.

In his statement, Mr Timothy said: The reason for the disappointing result was not the absence of support for Theresa May and the Conservatives but an unexpected surge in support for Labour.

One can speculate about the reasons for this, but the simple truth is that Britain is a divided country: many are tired of austerity, many remain frustrated about Brexit, and many younger people feel they lack the opportunities enjoyed by their parents generation the Conservative Election campaign failed to get this, and Theresas positive plan for the future, across.

He added: I take responsibility for my part in this Election campaign...in particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care.

But I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policys inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project.
A transgender woman who previously served as a riot cop has spoken emotionally about undergoing gender reassignment surgery to 'put things right'.

Samantha Wood, who was born a man, spoke of her nerves ahead of the life-changing surgery but said it 'needs to be done'.

The operation took place on Saturday morning and Samantha, 43, is set for 12-weeks of recovery afterwards.

Samantha Wood (pictured today, left, and when living as Richard, right) has spoken emotionally about undergoing gender reassignment surgery to 'put things right'

Speaking on the morning of her reassignment, she said: 'I'm scared, really, really scared. I can't hold my emotions back. But it's got to be done.'

Samantha has called the choice to have the procedure 'the toughest decision of my life'.

She has also described how having to stop hormone treatment ahead of the surgery has been a traumatic experience.

She said: 'Having no hormones in your body it has to be one of the worst feelings ever. I'm battered at the moment.

Samantha Wood (pictured when living as Richard), who was born a man, spoke of her nerves ahead of the life-changing surgery but said it 'needs to be done'

The operation took place on Saturday morning at around 9.30am and Samantha, 43, is set for 12-weeks of recovery afterwards. Pictured, Samantha when living as Richard

Following the operation she now says she will be hoping for a smooth recovery before looking to start a new job where people 'accept her for her'.

She said: 'I think the main thing I want to do is I just want a happy job. Somewhere where I am accepted.'

Samantha formerly lived as Richard Wood - a gym-loving cop who battled with rioters during the 2011 London riots as part of the Metropolitan Police.

She was previously married and has three children to two women.

Speaking on the morning of her reassignment, said: 'I'm scared, really, really scared. I can't hold my emotions back. But it's got to be done.' Pictured right, when living as Richard

In 2014 she left the force and later began to pursue her life-long dream of being a woman - which she said left her being shunned by some former 'macho' colleagues

In 2014 she left the force and later began to pursue her life-long dream of being a woman - which she said left her being shunned by some former 'macho' colleagues.

She has now lived as a woman since March 2015 and says she is much happier since doing so.

Describing how she came to make this life-altering decision she said: 'From a young age I always had this sway to female attire. This got stronger and stronger.'

However, she said she 'could never admit' this to herself for a long time and did 'everything macho'.

She has now lived as a woman since March 2015 and says she is much happier since doing so

Samantha (pictured as a younger person) has rebuilt good relationships with her two ex-partners and her three children

She said: 'It was something I could never admit to. One of my exes asked me "do you want to be a woman?" and I said no.'

'I joined the police in 2006. I tried to do everything macho. I used to go to the gym four times a week.'

Samantha has rebuilt good relationships with her two ex-partners and her three children.

Her eldest daughter Kellie even jokingly calls Sam her MAD - mum and dad.

Sam has set up a Facebook page called Sam's Trans Journey - as she hopes to raise awareness and understanding of being transgender.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has revealed just how unpopular the former Health Secretary is at Westminster, admitting this will 'not be a good thing' for the West Suffolk MP. Mr Hancock, who has been thrown out of the Tory Parliamentary Party for going 10,000 miles away from his constituency to appear on the ITV show, got covered in slime, cockroaches and spiders last night. H e was also picked by the public to endure a second Bushtucker trial tonight, called Tentacles of Terror. And in a hint that his colleagues at Westminster have played their part, Mr Heaton-Harris said: 'I know the format of the show. There's a lot of people in the House of Commons & House of Lords who've downloaded a certain app [I'm a Celeb] so they can vote'. He added that he believed that "hundreds" of MPs and peers have downloaded it. Mr Hancock received an icy reception from his fellow campmates when he arrived yesterday - with Boy George threatening to walk out and Chris Moyles asking 'what about his constituents?' ITV newsreader Charlene White also gave him a grilling about his motives and Mike Tindall said: 'All I heard him say was bulls**t bulls**t bulls**t!!'. The former Health Secretary tried to reassure the camp that 'Rishi's great, he'll be fine' and 'stability' has been restored in politics when they grilled him on his reasons for entering the jungle. Campmate Charlene White told him: 'We've had stability for all of five minutes Matt'. As Hancock prepares for his second Bucktucker trial tonight, crew are reportedly holding a backstage sweepstake including taking bets on how many trials he will have to endure, according to the Sun .
Emily Thornberry today laughed off 'boobgate' after a video of Jeremy Corbyn accidentally hitting her breast in a misplaced high five went viral.

The Labour leader was in high spirits as he was filmed joking around with his shadow foreign secretary at their election count on Thursday night.

But he was left red-faced when he accidentally brushed her breast when he lent in for the mistimed greeting.

Luckily for the Labour leader Ms Thornberry has laughed off the mishap when asked about it on television.

Emily Thornberry erupted into laughter today when told to practice her high fives with Jeremy Corbyn after the Labour leader accidentally hit her breast with the misplaced greeting

Sophy Ridge aalso laughed as she jokingly raised Mr Corbyn's embarrassing high five as she wrapped up a political interview with the Labour frontbencher

Wrapping up an interview With the Labour frontbencher on her Sky show this morning, Sophy Ridge said: 'It's been good to speak with you, you certainly seem happy with that election result.

'But you might need to work on the high fives with Jeremy Corbyn though.'

Divine intervention? Theresa May heads to church Theresa May sought solace in church today as her premiership hung by a thread. She was pictured arriving in Sonning, Berkshire with her husband Philip this morning following her disastrous election result. The Tory leader managed to crack a slight smile as she stepped out of the church despite numerous calls for her resignation. Advertisement

Ms Thornberry erupted into laughter and raised her eyebrows in response.

The Labour frontbencher was in a jubilant mood as she appeared on Sophy Ridge on Sunday after her party unexpectedly defied the polls to deny Theresa May a victory in the election.

Ms Thornberry said Labour is 'waiting in the wings' ready to swoop into power if the beleaguered Tory administration topples.

She said: 'We've got Theresa May squatting in Downing Street.

'We've got a full rebellion going on in the Conservative Party, we've got no idea as to what's going to be in this Queen's Speech, they have a manifesto that's been completely been repudiated by the public and indeed by Tory MPs themselves, and no idea what the DUP will agree to or not.'

Theresa May is hoping to cling on to power by thrashing out a deal to get the backing of the DUP - a small right-wing party whose opposition to abortion and gay marriage has sparked huge controversy.

The DUP 's leader Arlene Foster is flying down to London on Tuesday to meet the PM about the deal.

Labour outperformed expectations to win 262 seats while the Tpry majority was wiped out and they are left with just 318 MPs.

But bizarrely Ms Thornberry insisted that Labour had not lost the election, despite having far fewer MPs than the Tories;.

Asked directly if she thought Labour had lost, she said: No, I dont think we did. We did extraordinarily well.

We had a surge of support for our manifesto and our alternative vision of what government can be about.

She later added: We are waiting in the wings and well step in if we are required and called upon to serve.

Jeremy Corbyn was in high spirits as he was applauded by supporters at the election night count in Islington, where he was talking and joking with Emily Thornberry

Mr corbyn lent in to give his shadow foreign secretary a high five at Thursday's election count

The Labour leader accidentally brushed her breast in an embarrassing mishap

The Labour leader quickly tried to move on from the mistake and went back to joking and pointing ta Ms Thornberry - one of his closest allies in parliament

Ms Thornberry called on Mrs May to quit after her election humiliation.

And she said the momentum which carried Labour to pick up more seats could yet sweep them to power.

She said: 'Our policies are popular and what the country wants.

'We will put forward a Queen's speech and it would be up to the other parties, and indeed some other Conservative MPs to decide if they support it or not.'
Horrified passengers on an easyJet flight were left so frightened one vomited when a pilot told them there was only a '50/50 chance' of both engines working.

The stunned holidaymakers were on the tarmac at Malaga airport, Spain, when the captain asked for a vote over whether they would like to remain on the plane or get off.

Passengers say the un-named pilot told them there was a high chance that only one engine would be working.

Nathan (left) and Jemma Hooper (right) with their four children and Jemma's mother Theresa Lawrence (centre) were on the flight

The passengers on the easyJet flight were horrified when the pilot asked them to vote on whether they would like to stay on the plane as there was only a '50/50 chance' of both engines working (stock image)

EasyJet said the pilot was asking passengers if they wanted to get off the plane while the issue was fixed and stressed that under no circumstances would a pilot attempt to fly with one engine.

But the news - which came after the flight had already been delayed for 40 hours - was too alarming for some passengers who were thrown into a panic.

The tourists were supposed to fly to Bristol on Thursday but did not board the plane until Saturday.

Still at the boarding gate, the pilot came out of the cockpit to explain the situation - and asked for a show of hands.

The passengers eventually flew back on a replacement aircraft later that day.

Passenger Terri Hill said: 'He said we could stay on the plane - we'd been on it waiting for an hour at this point and been in Malaga for two nights extra already - or he'd see if we would be allowed to get off again.

'At this point there was a bit of a mutiny on the plane, an awful lot of shouting and people crying, and demanding to get off.

Terri Hill said there was a 'mutiny' on the plane after the announcement

'There were about 12 people who wanted to stay on, but the rest of us wanted to get off.'

Mother-of-four Jemma Hooper, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, said: 'It was absolutely horrendous.

'They were putting people into a broken plane to make it look like they were trying.'

She was travelling with husband Nathan, their four children, and her mum Theresa Lawrence on flight EZY9958 when they were stranded in Spain due to a 'technical issue'.

The man who vomited described the situation after the pilot made his announcement.

The passenger, who did not want to be named, said: 'The pilot himself said he'd never heard or done anything like this in 37 years of flying.

'He gave us the option, asked us what he should do. He asked for a show of hands.

'There were some who just wanted to try it, they wanted to get home. But most didn't.

'There were girls hyperventilating, lots of people were panicking.

'There were elderly people on there, and lots of children.

'The worst thing was we had to wait another hour or two before they would actually let us off the plane.'

EasyJet issued an apology over the incident and thanked passengers for their patience (stock image)

A spokesman for easyJet said: 'The pilot attempted to use one engine to start the other engine as is normal procedure.

'Because he was aware that the passengers had already been considerably delayed due to a technical problem the pilot asked the passengers if they would like to get off or remain on board whilst the engine start up sequence continued.

'It was then decided to fly the passengers back on a replacement aircraft.

'At no point did the pilot ask passengers, or would ever attempt, to fly the aircraft without both engines working correctly.'

One witness who saw the passengers returning through Bristol's Lulsgate airport said: 'It is possible there had been a misunderstanding among some of the passengers.

'It may simply have been that the pilot was asking them if they wanted to remain on the plane whilst they tried to sort the engine problems out.

'However it is was clear that the passengers were absolutely fed up having had already experienced a long delay in getting home.'
The $47 million plan for Australia's first terrorist jail could create a breeding ground for jihadis behind bars, according to an expert.

The new 'mini-max' jail within Goulburn's Supermax Prison is a move Premier Gladys Berejiklian claims will tackle radicalisation within NSW jails.

But Australian National University terror expert Dr Clarke Jones warns the plan to isolate fanatics could make them more radicalised.

'History has shown us that isolating these offenders breeds terrorism. Over time they grow more radical,' Dr Jones told Daily Mail Australia.

A new 'mini-max' jail within Goulburn's Supermax (pictured) will house terrorists to tackle the threat of radicalisation

The NSW government will spend $47 million over three years as part of next week's budget to fund the operation, to be known as Supermax II

He said research on the IRA in the UK showed terrorist offenders reinforced radical beliefs when held in isolation.

'It deprives them of positive relationships with other inmates that change their thinking,' Dr Jones said.

He admitted radicalisation in the prison system is a pressing concern, but said the plan could be more of a hindrance than a help.

'We've got to seriously consider how we go about deradicalisation. The outcomes in this plan would be counter-productive.'

The NSW government will spend $47 million over three years as part of next week's budget to fund the operation, to be known as Supermax II.

'We don't want to see people already behind bars subject to radicalisation,' NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said outside Silverwater Prison on Sunday.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian claims will tackle radicalisation within NSW jails

Terror expert from the ANU, Dr Clarke Jones, warned the NSW Government's plan to isolate extremist could inflame radicalisation

'If you are going to engage in activity which is going to try and convince others and manipulate others to do so, you will be sorted out.'

The new facility will house 54 inmates and is part of an overhaul that will include soundproofing and audio and CCTV upgrades to monitor visits from family and friends and improve intelligence gathering.

The government is aiming to have it completed by the end of 2018

Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin says the number of prisoners on terror related charges has more than doubled since 2013, with 33 out of 45 prisoners in custody over terror related offences at the high security jail.

NSW Correction Services Commissioner Peter Severin (pictured left) said the new cell will help separate extremist prisoners with other inamtes

'We are dispersing them in a way that will allow us eventually to get them to disengage. By centralising those who have the potential to cause the most harm, we actually keep the rest of the system safe.'

The 16-year-old Supermax High Risk Management Correctional Centre, which houses some of Australia's most notorious criminals including serial killer Ivan Milat, is also expected to nearly double in capacity, from 45 inmates to 75.

Meanwhile the federal government is seeking co-operation from social media companies, such as Google and Facebook, to help decrypt communications between terror groups.

Australia has suffered a series of 'lone wolf' Islamist-inspired attacks recently, prompting a review of police tactics and the powers of state and federal authorities.
A woman who became trapped for 12 hours with a shattered pelvis after crashing her car into a ditch has met the trainee 000 operator who saved her life for the first time.

Melissa Jones was travelling on a remote road in country New South Wales to visit her daughter when a momentary lapse in concentration sent her off the road and down an embankment about midnight on February 26.

She lay trapped in her car for 12 hours with life-threatening injuries, including a shattered pelvis, internal bleeding and head trauma.

'I'm gonna die,' Ms Jones said to a 000 operator while lying in a pool of blood.

Search crews - including her own brother - travelled back and forth just metres away from where she lay, but she remained unseen until a helicopter was dispatched, Sunday Night reported.

Now Ms Jones has thanked trainee operator Simon, who took her 000 call and 'saved' her life that night.

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Melissa Jones (left) who became trapped for 12 hours with a shattered pelvis after crashing her car into a ditch, has offered to take the trainee 000 operator (right) who took her call that night to the pub

Ms Jones was travelling on a remote road in country New South Wales to visit her daughter when a momentary lapse in concentration sent her off the road and down an embankment

She lay trapped in her Toyota Corolla (pictured) for 12 hours with life-threatening injuries, including a shattered pelvis, internal bleeding and head trauma

'I'd take you to the pub and shout you a beer, eh?' she said to Simon through tears.

Simon had only been on the job for a few months and hadn't taken a 'life or death call', the program reported.

Ms Jones told Simon her daughter's phone number which triggered a series of events that eventually lead to her being found.

Simon rang daughter Sam who informed him that her mother was on the way to visit her in Mudgee, north-west of Sydney, travelling from 500km away in Tumut.

This information narrowed down the search for rescuers who eventually found her crushed Toyota Corolla 60km northeast of Bathurst.

Simon said he feared the single mother-of-three would not be found in time.

Ms Jones was eventually found in her crushed Toyota Corolla 60km northeast of Bathurst

Simon rang daughter Sam (pictured) who informed him that her mother was on the way to visit her in Mudgee, northwest of Sydney

'My fear was thinking that could have been someone I loved, that could have been my mum and that we may not find her,' he said.

Ms Jones became lost about 100km away from Mudgee and stopped at a service station in Kelso where she asked for directions.

She then hopped back in the car and continued along the road, which she said was 'windy, dark and scary'.

Shortly after, her car careered from the road, rolled down an embankment and into a ditch.

'Well, there's no skid marks, there's nothing from the car I saw,' she said.

Ms Jones thanks Simon and the pair embrace, after she was saved from her crushed vehicle

Ms Jones was found pinned inside the wreckage and had to be cut free, before being airlifted to Liverpool Hospital in Sydney

Ms Jones had life-threatening injuries, including a shattered pelvis, internal bleeding and head trauma

'I'm not quite sure if I had a little micro-sleep or what, I don't really know.

'I couldn't move my legs and I was covered in blood. I'm kind of trying to get out but I just couldn't move, and then I just grabbed the phone and just rung 000.'

The 000 operator asked her to put her headlights on to increase her chances of being found, however they were broken.

Her location could not be traced by police either because she was too far away from the nearest phone tower.

Son Steve said he frantically jumped in his car and drove across the state to try and find his mother after hearing her life was in danger.

The wreckage of Ms Jones's Toyota Corolla which left the road and rolled down an embankment

Son Steve (pictured) said he frantically jumped in his car and drove across the state to try and find his mother after hearing her life was in danger

'I think I would have stopped maybe 20 times on the side of the road,' he told Sunday Night.

'[I would] get out of the car, go over and look around and call Mum.

'Every time I stopped and I got nothing in return it was a stab in the heart.'

A description of Ms Jones's car was circulated to service stations, which led to the store in Kelso calling police.

Security footage from the station indicated her direction of travel, which led to her being rescued just before 11am.

She was found pinned inside the wreckage and had to be cut free, before being taken to Liverpool Hospital in Sydney.
DUP supporters have urged the party to demand action on a banned loyalist march as the price of voting for Theresa May's minority government.

The Portadown Loyal Orange Lodge, who have been banned from marching down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown for more than a decade, want that decision overturned.

The organisation has been banned from marching through the nationalist area following repeated riots during the late 1990s and early 2000s which culminated in the murder of three young children after their house was firebombed.

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The Orange Order wants the DUP to secure a deal with the PM to allow them to march from Drumcree church in Portadown along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road despite the objections of residents. The march was banned following violent scenes in the late 1990s

Portadown's Loyal Order wants the DUP to press Theresa May to allow them march down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown from the church in Drumcree, pictured, which was the scene of several riots during the late 1990s and early 2000s that led to several deaths

The Orange Order has been prevented from marching down the Garvaghy Road since 1998, which initially led to scenes of violence across Northern Ireland, such as this riot in Belfast

At the height of the violence in 1997 and 1998, the RUC were forced to fire hundreds of plastic bullets as cars were hijacked and set on fire across Northern Ireland

The Portadown lodge has sought permission to march down the Garvaghy Road every Sunday for more than a decade.

Members of the Orange Order have held a protest at Drumcree every Sunday since July 1998 when the parade was stopped.

In a tweet released on Saturday night, the lodge claimed: 'Portadown District LOL No1 notes the outcome of the recent General Election with interest. We would like to congratulate Brother David Simpson [DUP MP for Upper Bann] and all the other unionist representatives.

'We note the invitation from the Prime Minister to the DUP to support her government. We trust that the parading issue especially in Portadown will be high on the agenda for the new Government.

'It is clear that the endeavour of the orange family to maximise the unionist vote paid dividends and consequently the DUP has been given the opportunity and responsibility to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.

'We trust that they are successful in promoting the values of the unionist people and the orange fraternity.'

Amid those who protested in Portadown was loyalist terrorist Johnny Adair, bottom left

The Orange Order released a statement following the PM's decision to talk to the DUP

The British Government were forced to draft in hundreds of extra troops because of the precarious security situation caused by the stand off between marchers and residents

These pictures from 1999 show marchers stopping at the barrier which is guarded by troops

The Northern Ireland Parades Commission in its most recent adjudication said: 'The parade is prohibited from entering that part of the notified route between Drumcree Parish Church on Drumcree Road, and Castle Street. The parade is prohibited from entering that part of the notified route which includes the entire length of Garvaghy Road, including Parkmount and Victoria Terrace.'

The Orange Order claims the route along the Garvaghy Road is 'traditional' and claimed the restriction interfered with their human rights.

However the Parades Commission said: 'The Commission believes that the conditions it imposes strike a fair balance between the needs of the community and the rights of the individual.'

The Government claimed last night they had secured a deal with the DUP, although the party, who hold the balance of power with their 10 MPs, denied this and claimed talks were still ongoing.

Garvaghy Road protest approaches its 20th anniversary July 1995: The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition calls for the controversial orange march to be re-routed with hundreds of residents holding a sit-down protest - leading to a massive stand off. July 1996: Chief Constable Sir Hugh Annesley bans the march, leading to violent protests with more than 600 plastic bullets fired and one Catholic taxi driver murdered by the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Eventually Sir Hugh reverses his decision and forced through the march July 1997: Police held nationalist residents in their own homes as the march takes place resulting in mass rioting with the police firing 2,500 plastic bullets July 1998: The newly-established Parades Commission bans the march. Three brothers, Jason, 8, Mark, 9 and Richard Quinn, 10, are murdered after a loyalist mob petrol-bombed their house March 1999: The Garvaghy Road Residents' legal adviser Rosemary Nelson is murdered by loyalist paramilitaries July 2000: 21 police are hurt in clashes with protesters after the march is banned May 2017: Parades Commission continues the ban July 2017: Orange Order calls on the DUP to raise the ban with PM Theresa May as part of the talks to save her government Advertisement

DUP leader Arlene Foster - who is not an MP - told Sky News: 'We had very good discussions yesterday with the Conservative Party in relation to how we could support them in forming a national government, one that would bring stability to the nation and those discussions continue. We have made good progress but the discussions continue.'

Mrs Foster claimed she would travel to London on Tuesday with her negotiating team to discuss terms with Theresa May at Downing Street.

Downing Street initially claimed last night that they had secured a deal with the DUP, however, they were forced to retract the statement as the party has not yet finalised its list of demands.

Number 10 had earlier said: 'We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week.'

Following talks between Mrs May and the DUP on Saturday night, a second statement confirmed that no final deal had been reached.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

'We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

'As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward.'

Mrs May needs support in Parliament because the Queens Speech setting out the Governments programme is due on June 19, with a crucial vote on it expected after a few days debate.

However, Ireland's EU Commissioner Phil Hogan claimed Mrs May's position has been fatally weakened following her drubbing and suggested the DUP will ensure Britain accepts a 'softer Brexit'.

He claimed Britain leaving the customs union would be 'economic suicide'.

In an interview with the Sunday Business Post in Dublin, Mr Hogan said: 'I think there's a strong possibility that the British government and the EU will make an agreement that will be as close as possible to what is presently there in the context of the Customs Union because I think they will see the implications [of not being in it].'

He claimed Mrs May was 'very damaged' following her election disaster.

He added: 'It's very difficult to see how you can strike a reasonable outcome without another election and a stronger mandate for the negotiating team in Britain, whoever that may be.'

The DUP were unavailable for comment.

MailOnline has also asked Number 10 for a comment.

The chequered links of Ian Paisley party which has become Theresa May's kingmaker By Isobel Frodsham and Kate Ferguson, Political Correspondent for MailOnline The Democratic Unionist Party was founded in 1971 by preacher Ian Paisley. It is known for its controversial views on abortion and gay marriage and previously campaigned against the legalisation of homosexual acts in Northern Ireland. Mr Paisley was known for rabble-rousing speeches which helped stir up protestant communities during the bloody decades of The Troubles. Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley pictured at a Stormont rally in 1981. They were the DUP's two top figures, but flirted with loyalist paramilitarism during the bloody yearss of The Troubles But most alarmingly, he flirtated with armed loyalist paramilitaries. From the early 1960s Rev Paisley has talked off raising a 'people's militia' and by the early 1980s he was involved in holding large rallies in which hundreds of men dressed in combats would march in Army-like drills as a show of strength. At one rally, on Rev Paisley's instruction they brandished in the air firearms licences in a chilling display to journalists. His flirtation with armed violence led him in 1986 he helped establish Ulster Resistance - a loyalist paramilitary group set up to oppose the peace process and whose members sported military style red berets. In 1988 the group collaborated with infamous armed groups Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters to procure a cache of arms. The guns had been destined for the violent streets of Northern Ireland before they were intercepted. Rev Paisley's second in command in the DUP, deputy leader Peter Robinson, also flirted with extremism. Ian paisley with Martin McGuinness after being sworn in as ministers at Stormont in 2007. The old foes struck up an unlikely friendship and became known as the Chuckle Brothers He attended Ulster Resistance rallies and in a notorious photograph was pictured wearing one of their red berets. Although Mr Robinson left the group when it was linked to weapons trafficking and the force soon crumbled away. While the groups they once goaded and encouraged wreaked violence and terror in Northern Ireland, they both became prominent figures in the peace process. And Rev Paisley struck up an unlikely friendship with his one time sworn enemy Martin McGuinness - the late former IRA commander. In 2007, Rev Paisley led his party into a power sharing deal which saw him become First Minister of Northern Ireland, with Sinn Fein's Mr McGuinness alongside him as deputy. The pair were so often pictured laughing and joking together they were dubbed the Chuckle Brothers and their relationship has recently been immortalised on screen in the film called The Journey. Advertisement

'Pray the DUP away': Hundreds march on Downing Street to protest Tory coalition Several hundred protesters gathered in central London to voice their anger at Theresa May 's government and her alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party. People carrying placards reading anti-DUP and pro-Jeremy Corbyn messages basked in the sun in Parliament Square one day after a shock election result returned a hung parliament. Organisers from Stand Up To Racism and the Stop The War Coalition spoke to the crowd, who cheered at the mention of the Labour leader's name. A menacing-looking protester dons a balaclava and brandishes a stick during a second day of protests against Theresa May 's government and her alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party A man wearing a black anonymous mask (left) holds a can of beer and an electronic cigarette next to a balaclava-clad man wearing a tai-dye shirt (middle) A heavily tattooed protester voices his opposition to the looming alliance. Organisers from Stand Up To Racism and the Stop The War Coalition spoke to the crowd, who cheered at the mention of the Labour leader's name Musicians performed to the protesters, who seemed in good spirits. One organiser led chants of 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has got to go'. Prime Minister May suffered the loss of her two closest aides as they paid the price for the disastrous General Election result. Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill resigned amid intense Tory criticism in the wake of the snap election which saw the Prime Minister lose her Commons majority. A woman dons a shirt with an image of Jeremy Corbyn that has been mocked-up to resemble the distinctive Che Guevara illustration (left). A man holds a makeshift gallow and noose with 'well hung' written across - referencing the hung parliament election result Hundreds descended on outside parliament to protest Theresa's May's formation of a minority government with the Democratic Unionist Party In an effort to shore up her position in Number 10, the Prime Minister sent her Chief Whip to Belfast for talks with the Democratic Unionist Party ahead of the first test of her diminished authority when Parliament returns. The role of Mr Timothy and Ms Hill as Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff had been severely criticised by disgruntled Tories in the wake of the election result. Advertisement
Former Top Gear star Richard Hammond has apologised to his wife and daughters from his hospital bed a day after his horror crash in Switzerland.

Hammond explained his injuries and thanked former Top Gear presenter James May for 'sneaking gin in' to the hospital for him in a lighthearted video on Drivetribe from his Swiss hospital bed on Sunday.

The TV presenter, 47, who sustained brain injuries after a 288mph rocket car accident in 2006, was airlifted to hospital after flipping a 2million electric supercar which then burst into flames as he filmed his new Amazon show The Grand Tour.

But he miraculously escaped the fireball horror on Saturday with little more than a fractured knee and was 'conscious and talking' after freeing himself from the vehicle.

Richard Hammond, 47, explained his injuries and thanked former Top Gear presenter James May for 'sneaking gin in' to the hospital in a lighthearted video from his Swiss hospital bed on Sunday

He showed of X-rays of his knee, saying that he soon would be getting a 'Swiss Army knee' through an operation

Hammond apologized to his wife and daughters, as former Top Gear presenter James May held up a book titled 'The Idiot Brain', suggesting Hammond was an 'idiot'

Hammond's Grand Tour colleague James May was seen walking into a St Gallen hospital on Sunday as visited Hammond in the hours after the crash

'Yes, it's true - I binned it. Again. I'm here, in a hopsital in Switzerland, this is my knee, that they're going to turn from this into this,' he said in a video, filmed by May, from the hospital as he showed off X-Rays of his knee.

'They're giving me a Swiss Army knee hopefully later today,' he added. I'd like to thank all of the medical professionals who got me by air ambulance from the crash to this hospital and dealt with me every since.

'I'd like to say thank you as well to James May, who smuggled gin in for me last night. I shouldn't have said that out loud.

'And most importantly, sorry to my wife, Mindy, and my daughters, Izzy and Willow. I'm sorry for being such a colossal idiot. More news later!'

Hammond's Grand Tour colleague May was seen walking into a St Gallen hospital as he visited Hammond in the hours after the crash.

May and and fellow colleague Jeremy Clarkson were 'staggered' he survived because there was 'nothing left' of the vehicle.

Amazon later released this image showing the burnt-out wreckage of the car laying upside down on a hill

Richard Hammond is being treated in hospital after flipping a 2million supercar which then burst into flames as he filmed his new Amazon show

This is the moment the former BBC star crashed in the supercar as he and co-hosts filmed their new show

The crash is reported to have happened on a road that was closed for the Bergrennen Hemberg race

The vehicle appeared to have rolled down a hill following the crash in Switzerland

Pictures from the scene showed a car in flames alongside a road in St. Gallen before the blaze was extinguished by firefighters

Richard Hammond is pictured at the end of last month arriving for dinner at the Ivy Chelsea Garden with his wife Amanda Etheridge as well as his daughters Willow and Isabella

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Grand Tour executive producer Andy Wilman said: 'Jeremy and James both raced down to the scene of the crash as soon as it happened. When they saw the wreckage on fire they thought Richard was dead. It was really bad.

'They were staggered he had got out of it alive, because there was just nothing left. Everyone is so relieved. If Richard had been a few seconds slower getting out, he would have been incinerated.'

Pictures from the scene showed the Rimac Concept One car in flames alongside a road in St. Gallen before the blaze was extinguished by firefighters.

Grand Tour producer Amazon later released images showing the burnt-out wreckage of the car laying upside down on a hill.

The crash is reported to have happened on a road that was closed for the Bergrennen Hemberg race.

A spokesperson for The Grand Tour said: 'Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland in a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for The Grand Tour Season 2 on Amazon Prime, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury.

'Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames.

'He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over revealing a fracture to his knee.

The presenter was driving a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia

Firefighters were pictured putting out the burning wreckage of the car

A source said: 'The crash was really bad. The car completely flipped and then burst into flames'

'Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we'd like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response.

'The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated.'

In a post on Twitter on Sunday morning, F1 presenter Sasha Martinengo told his Twitter followers the pair had spoken and that Hammond required surgery.

He posted: "Hi all. Got a msg from @RichardHammond. He is fine. He has a broken leg and needs knee surgery. He might fly home for the procedure."

Grand Tour co-star Jeremy Clarkson tweeted: 'It was the biggest crash I've ever seen and the most frightening but incredibly, and thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK.'

A source told The Sun: 'The crash was really bad. The car completely flipped and then burst into flames.

'There was real concern for Richard but the emergency services were quickly on hand and he's a very lucky boy.

'It brought back horrendous memories of the 2006 crash for those who witnessed it.'

A statement from the organisers of the Bergrennen, which translates as mountain race, said: "On Saturday, an accident took place at the Bergrennen Hemberg in a demonstration run between the training courses.'

"The vehicle left the track and landed in the meadow,' it said, adding that rescuers were "very fast" to reach the scene.

"The fire brigade extinguished the burning car quickly," they said.

The crash, pictured right, comes just weeks after Mr Hammond, pictured left, toppled off his motorcycle and banged his head while riding through a 'remote' part of Mozambique

Mr Hammond was earlier pictured filming the second series of The Grand Tour - his new Amazon show

Mr Hammond took a selfie with fan moments before the crash took place and suffered just a knee fracture

After the news broke, several fans took to Twitter to voice their concern and send him their best wishes, while others highlighted his unbeatable fearlessness.

Twitter user JGA wrote to his co-stars Mr Clarkson and Mr May and said: 'My best wishes to @RichardHammond. Hope he is ok. Nothing puts him off  I know he'll be getting back in a car soon.'

Vitesh Patel said: 'Get well @RichardHammond, don't want to speculate what happened, just get better!'

Tommy Jack wrote: 'Hope Richard Hammond is ok, looked proper nasty crash.'

Meanwhile, an NHS worker had to deny posting a message on Facebook 'wishing death' to injured ex-Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond.

A comment from the account of Cheryl Anne Phillips was posted on a news story about Mr Hammond's horror car crash saying "Hope he dies that's not the first time he's used NHS money to save his life".

However Ms Phillips, who is believed to work for Bristol North NHS Trust, yesterday denied posting the comment, and claimed her Facebook her account had been hacked.

Bristol North NHS Trust confirmed they had launched and investigation into the comments.

The nasty comment sparked an online outcry, including calls for the NHS to give her the sack.

Facebook user John Wynn wrote: "Get well soon Richard, hope the woman that put this comment gets her P45, and to think she works for the NHS, and we pay her wages.I wonder how many more people she wishes this way !!!!!!!!".

Claire Inker wrote: "northbritoltrust your employing members of staff that make vile comments wishing some one dead then they should not be working in a hospital".

Others pointed out that when Mr Hammond was left comatose ten years ago following a crash, he used a private hospital, the Spire, in Bristol.

One person added: "Point number one the NHS do not operate in Switzerland, point number 2 you must be sick in the head to wish another person dead. You should go and crawl back under the rock from which you came."

A spokesman for the North Bristol NHS Trust said: "We do not condone comments of this nature and we will be investigating further.

"We thank social media users who have brought this to our attention and wish Mr Hammond well with his recovery."

In 2006 Hammond nearly died after crashing a jet powered car at 288 mph

He was driving a jet-powered Vampire dragster when the front-right tyre burst in 2006

It led to the vehicle to spin out of control during a stunt at Elvington airfield near York

The crash comes just weeks after Mr Hammond toppled off his motorcycle and banged his head while riding through a 'remote' part of Mozambique.

In a blog post, he wrote: 'It's true, I did fall off a motorbike whilst filming recently for The Grand Tour in Mozambique.

'I banged my head, yes, along with pretty much everything else apart from my left thumb, which remains un-bruised.

'Can't tell you more yet about the how and why of it; that's all for later in the year on the show. As for injuries; well put it this way, I don't think I can get a book out of it.'

In 2006 Hammond nearly died after crashing a jet powered car at 288 mph and slipped into a coma during an attempt to break the British land speed record for the BBC show.

He was driving a jet-powered Vampire dragster when the front-right tyre burst leading the vehicle to spin out of control during a stunt at Elvington airfield near York.

Hammond suffered serious head injuries and he was in hospital for five weeks before returning home to his wife Mindy and their two daughters, Isabella and Willow.

The TV presenter, nicknamed 'Hamster', later told how he struggled 'mortally with depression' and spoke regularly to a psychiatrist following the incident.
Australian athlete and burns survivor Turia Pitt has revealed she is pregnant with her first child with fiance Michael Hoskin.

The news comes after the 29-year-old was spotted out in Sydney wearing a tight grey dress that showed off her blossoming baby bump.

Ms Pitt, who suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body, told 60 Minutes she surprised her fiance by leaving the pregnancy test sitting on the sink which he spotted while brushing his teeth.

Turia Pitt (pictured) has revealed she is pregnant with her first child after she was spotted out in Sydney with a blossoming baby bump

Ms Pitt, who suffers burns to 65 per cent of her body, told 60 Minutes she surprised her fiance by leaving the pregnancy test sitting on the sink which he spotted while brushing his teeth

The australian athlete and burns survivor Turia Pitt shared the remarkable news she is pregnant with her first child with fiance Michael Hoskin (right)

The inspirational burns survivor was spotted out in Bondi wearing a tight grey dress which revealed her blooming baby bump

'When that first test came through I was just like "f***". Then I thought I needed to stay calm,' she recalled.

The pair have both chosen boy and girl names for their child who is due in December.

Her fiance also spoke about how he found out Ms Pitt was pregnant.

'I had a mouthful of toothpaste,' Mr Hoskin said.

The Tahiti-born beauty found out she was expecting only days before she was due to trek Mt Everest, a challenge she had to forgo as she deemed it as too risky.

The Tahiti-born beauty found out she was expecting only days before she was due to trek Mt Everest, a challenge she had to forgo as she deemed it as too risky

Her obstetrician is confident she will have no trouble carrying or delivering her baby

Ms Pitt has been pictured for the first time since revealing she is pregnant with her first child

Ms Pitt was spotted out and about in Bondi wearing a figure-hugging dress

'I wanted to do the walk. I had to think about it because it's just not myself to shy away from adventure,' Ms Pitt said.

She says she took a pregnancy test six times before she told her fiance.

Despite suffering horrific burns after she was trapped in a raging bush fire, Ms Pitt suffered no internal injuries.

Her obstetrician is confident she will have no trouble carrying or delivering her baby.

The loved-up couple were amazed after their first doctor's visit when they heard the tiny heartbeat of their unborn child.

'Seeing the first heartbeat is like, "wow this is real", there is something inside your belly. There's a little baby... that was fascinating. It blew me away,' Ms Pitt said.

When Ms Pitt became caught in the raging inferno six years ago, her fiance has stood by her side and cared for her the entire time

'I know 100 per cent Michael is going to be an amazing dad, because for years he had to look after me,' she said

When Ms Pitt became caught in the raging inferno six years ago, her fiance has stood by her side and cared for her the entire time

'Seeing the first heartbeat is like, "wow this is real", there is something inside your belly. There's a little baby... that was fascinating. It blew me away,' Ms Pitt said

Athlete and burns survivor Turia Pitt pulled out of her humanitarian trek to Nepal

Ms Pitt revealed she was unable to lead the 18-day trip to Nepal with not-for-profit organisation Interplast in a 60 Minutes trailer (pictured with fiance Michael Hoskin)

When Ms Pitt became caught in the raging inferno six years ago, her fiance stood by her side and cared for her the entire time.

'I know 100 per cent Michael is going to be an amazing dad, because for years he had to look after me,' she said.

'He was so caring and so patient and I think those qualities are really desirable especially in a parent.'

During the interview, Ms Pitt also shared how she felt in the early weeks of her pregnancy.

'So you were just about to climb to Everest Base Camp... What happened?' reporter Allison Langdon said in a preview of the episode.

During the interview, Ms Pitt also shared how she felt in the early weeks of her pregnancy

The 29-year-old athlete is an ambassador for Interplast, which provides life-changing surgery and medical training in 17 countries

'I was just feeling really sick,' Ms Pitt responded.

'I was like okay, just stay calm.'

Ms Pitt was set to lead the trek from May 10 to May 28 with Interplast, which provides life-changing surgery and medical training in 17 countries across the Asia-Pacific region.

The trek went ahead and raised more than AUD $240,000 for the organisation.

In the most recent newsletter that she sent to her online followers, she opened up about how life often teaches us lessons in ways we don't like.

'You know, things aren't always gonna turn out the way we imagined, sometimes you're going to feel scared and sometimes you're gonna get dumped,' Ms Pitt wrote.

'But here's the cool part: While you can't always control what happens to you, you get to decide how you're gonna respond.'

TIMELINE: TURIA PITT September 2011 : Turia Pitt is trapped by fire during 100km ultramarathon on Kimberley course. She suffers burns to around 65 per cent of her body

Immediate aftermath : Ms Pitt was comatose for two months and underwent a series of lifesaving operations

She was then required to wear a compression stocking for 23 hours a day and underwent scores of procedures

August 2013 : Ms Pitt publicly reveals her scarred face for the first time in an interview with the Nine Network

September 2013 : Ms Pitt publishes a book about her experience, Everything to Live For

May 2014 : Ms Pitt wins a multi-million dollar settlement from Kimberley ultramarathon organisers Racing The Planet

June 2014 : Ms Pitt treks the Great Wall of China, raising more than $175,000AUD for the charity Interplast

June 2017 : Ms Pitt reveals she is pregnant with her first child with fiance Michael Hoskin Advertisement

'You know, things aren't always gonna turn out the way we imagined,' she said

'I look forward to it and it makes me feel good,' she said of leading Interplast expeditions
A Republican mega-donor is the man allegedly responsible for the millions of Twitter bots President Donald Trump counts as followers.

Robert Mercer, a reclusive billionaire, is a former computer scientist who helped build the technology at IBM decades ago that would later be used to create its Watson supercomputer.

And the technology he's reportedly supplying to the commander-in-chief be 'weaponized' to help portray the White House in a more favorable light.

Robert Mercer, a Republican mega-donor, is said to be the man behind the millions of Twitter bots President Donald Trump counts as followers (Mercer pictured in March 2017)

Mercer (pictured, standing far right in March 2017) is a former computer scientist who helped build the technology at IBM decades ago that the computer giant would later use to create its Watson supercomputer

Trump, meanwhile, currently boasts 32 million Twitter followers. However, his account added more than two million followers in May, according to Mashable.

It has grown by about seven million since February and more than half of those accounts appear to be fake, the new site said.

In total, about 15 million of the total followers are bots or automated accounts, which allegedly could be 'weaponized' to spread fake and misleading news stories that favor the White House or distract from the scandals it now faces, reported the Daily News.

'Fooling humans into doing things in the electronic realm turned out to be really easy,' Simon Crosby, the chief technology officer at a firm called Bromium, told the newspaper.

Some of the technology that's part of Watson, can 'quickly build, test and deploy bots or virtual agents across mobile devices or messaging platforms to create natural conversations between apps and users', according to Crosby and two other computer scientists who did not disclose their identities.

Trump currently boasts 32 million Twitter followers - 15 million of which are reportedly bots or automated accounts (pictured above). Many fear they might be used to spread fake news stories that favor the White House or distract from its scandals

Part of Watson's technology can 'quickly build, test and deploy bots or virtual agents across mobile devices or messaging platforms to create natural conversations between apps and users' (Trump's Twitter bot followers pictured above)

'You have arbitrary and ridiculous information spread very quickly, and now to targeted user more susceptible to believing it and spreading it' said Simon Crosby, a chief technology officer (Trump pictured on Friday before delivering remarks on infrastructure investment and deregulation at the Department of Transportation)

That technology is built to even understand a user's personality, tone and emotion and interact naturally with people.

'You have arbitrary and ridiculous information spread very quickly, and now to targeted user more susceptible to believing it and spreading it, and we now know that it influences people. We saw it in the election, with Brexit,' Crosby said.

'Ultimately, the problem is that anybody can talk to anybody, especially if 'anybody' is a bot on Twitter or Facebook who knows a lot about you.'
Firefighters rescued five people from a flat above a burning shop as 15 people were rushed to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Emergency services raced to the scene in Golders Green in north London at 7.32am amid reports that people were trapped in a burning building.

Firefighters using breathing apparatus rescued three people using a ladder while two others were led to safety following the incident on Princess Parade, off Golders Green Road this morning.

London Fire Brigade rescued five people from this burning building today in north London

15 people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation following the blaze

A further 25 people managed to escape from the burning building in Golders Green, pictured

London Fire Brigade said 25 other people made their own way to safety before officers arrived.

The entire ground floor and half of the second floor of the building caught fire.

More than 70 firefighters battled the blaze.

Station Manager Paul Fitzgerald said: 'Crews used specialist cutting equipment to break in through the shops roller shutters at the front of the building and worked quickly in very difficult and smoky conditions to rescue three people via ladder and lead two to safety. The alarm was raised by a member of the public who noticed smoke coming from the building'

Fire officers rescued three people from an upper window using a ladder, pictured

15 people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation by London Amulance

Some 25 people managed to escape from the building before the Fire Brigade arrived

A total of 10 fire engines and an aerial ladder were deployed from Hendon, West Hampstead, Finchley and Mill Hill fire stations.

The cause of the blaze has not yet been identified.

Andy Brown of London Ambulance Service added: 'We sent a number of resources including our Hazardous Area Response Team, ambulance crews and single responders in cars.

'The first of our medics arrived on scene in four minutes and have been working with officers from London Fire Brigade to care for patients at the scene.

'We have treated a total of 15 people for smoke inhalation. They have been taken to local hospitals. Haztola - a voluntary Jewish ambulance service - have taken a number of patients on our behalf.

'There is still quite a lot of smoke at the scene and we would advise local residents to keep their windows and doors shut where possible.'

The Metropolitan Police was forced to close several roads in the area while the fire was tackled.
Downing Street repeatedly refused to confirm today that Donald Trump's State Visit will go ahead this Autumn - amid claims he has cancelled to avoid protests,

No10 insisted the invitation to the US president still stood, but refused to give any timings.

US officials have denied that Mr Trump told Theresa May during a phone call that he no longer wanted to come to Britain.

However, the White House has been stressing that few discussions over the trip have taken place.

They also pointed to the commander-in-chief's busy schedule, saying he is already expected to travel to Poland and Germany next month, as well as attending summits in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Concerns about large-scale protests around the visit to the UK have been fuelled by the backlash over Mr Trump's criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the London Bridge attacks.

Earlier this year more than 300,000 people signed a petition urging Parliament to ban Trump from entering the UK.

Donald Trump has refused to make a state visit to the UK while there are likely to be large-scale protests against him, a source close to the British prime minister has revealed

The source, who was in the room when PM Theresa May (pictured) took the call said she was 'shocked' by the remarks. May was the first foreign leader to invite Trump to visit

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said Trump's decision to pull out of visiting the UK was 'welcome' after Trump mocked the London mayor on Twitter after the recent terrorist attack

A source told The Guardian that the President called Mrs May at some point in recent weeks and informed her of the decision,

The source said they were present in Downing Street when the call came through.

The PM's official spokesman refused to comment today on whether President Trump's state visit - which had been expected in September - would feature in the Queens Speech.

He said: 'We issued a statement yesterday in relation to the story in the Guardian.

'We don't comment on speculation or about private conversations.

'The Queen has issued the invitation to the President.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the news that Mr Trump might not visit.

'Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor and withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal,' he wrote.

Corbyn was referencing Trump's Twitter attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan shortly after the London Bridge terror attacks, which claimed eight innocent lives.

Trump mocked Khan for telling people 'not to be alarmed' in the wake of the attacks - but the London Mayor hit back and said the remarks were taken out of context.

Mr Khan said he was talking about the increased police presence on London streets, not the attacks themselves.

But Trump continued his attack, saying Khan had to 'think fast' to come up with his 'pathetic excuse' of a response.

The response from the British public was strong, with UK politicians and even Harry Potter author JK Rowling criticising the President on social media.

Downing Street said that it would not comment on the insider's remarks, but said the Queen's invitation to Donald Trump remains open

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas joined jibes at Mr Trump in the wake of the apparent postponement.

Comparing the situation to Mrs May's decision to shun TV debates during the election campaign, she tweeted: 'Looks like there's another leader who's too scared to show up.'

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump in the White House when she made an appearance in Washington DC just seven days after his inauguration.

She extended a formal invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to Trump during that visit, and told the press she was 'delighted that the President has accepted that invitation'.

Some of May's advisors had told her that the offer was premature and should have been 'put back a bit' in the wake of his controversial Muslim travel ban, but could not be rescinded once made.

Trump's relationship with the British public has been highly strained for years - particularly in Scotland, where his golf developments have upset locals.

Last week Theresa May told Trump she was 'disappointed' at his decision to take the US out of the Paris climate change agreement, although she did not join other European leaders in signing a joint statement condemning the action.

His presidency and potential state visit sparked mass protests in London in February when he was accused of racism over his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, introduced in late January.

In the same month a petition calling for the President to be 'barred from the UK' signed by more than 312,000 was delivered to Parliament, triggering a debate on whether Trump should be allowed to enter the country.

The petition read in part: 'Donald Trumps well-documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by the Queen or the Prince of Wales.

'Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official state visit.'

In February anti-Trump protesters surrounded the British Parliament while politicians - spurred by a 312,000-strong petition - discussed whether he should be banned from visiting the UK

Trump (seen last June at his Trump Turnburry Resort in Scotland) is an Anglophile who boasts of his half-Scottish lineage; the British public's reaction to him is likely a thorn in his side

Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the parliament building calling for him to be banned, while inside politicians likened him to a 'petulant child' - though both May and her supporters were adamant that a visit should go ahead.

The animosity felt towards Trump by the British people is likely to be a thorn in the president's side.

An Anglophile who has long boasted of his British heritage - his mother, Mary-Anne Trump, was born in Tong, Scotland - Trump longs for acceptance from the country.

At the start of the year he sent the UK government a list of demands for his then-expected visit.

They included having the Queen join him for a game of golf on the nine-hole course at her castle in Balmoral, Scotland, The Telegraph reported.

His PR team had hoped to replicate a photograph similar to the 1982 image of Ronald Reagan and the Queen riding horses together.

President George W Bush faced between 100,000 and 200,000 protesters for his state visit to London in 2003 - but he went ahead and flew to the UK anyway

He also wanted dinner at Blenheim Palace - Winston Churchill's birthplace - in Oxfordshire, England, and tea at Buckingham Palace in London, according to The Express.

Trump is not the only US president to face opposition from the British public; in 2003, George W Bush faced thousands of protesters angry at the then-recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 people descended on London to protest while he was in the capital, culminating in the toppling of a statue of Bush in Trafalgar Square.

His visit went ahead anyway.
Dylan Voller has revealed he would rather have died than spend another minute at the hands of his abusers in shocking revelations regarding his brutal treatment.

After gaining world-wide attention over shocking images of himself strapped to a chair in a juvenile detention centre in 2013, Voller, 19, has opened up on the treatment he faced.

Airing on Sunday night's 60 Minute programme, Voller revealed his distressing insight into the footage that was made public of him being tear-gassed and made to wear a spit-hood as he was strapped to a restraint chair.

The hood was placed on him as a result of his constant urge to spit at guards, as Voller revealed he 'couldn't help it' as it was the only thing left in his power he could do.

'I felt like I was in a situation where I was trapped and I had nothing else to do but spit on them because I had fully trained and fully grown men attacking me and stuff like and I felt intimidated, Voller revealed.

'I guess it was the only thing I could do.'

Scroll down for video

Dylan Voller (pictured right) who was at the centre of juvenile detention mistreatment has spoken out on Channel 9's 60 Minutes show

Reporter Liz Hayes questioned Voller on how it was to be at the centre of the horrific footage and how being restrained in the chair made him feel.

'It makes you more angrier, think more about suicide and to be honest it made me want to be dead even more being in there because I just didn't want to be in that chair and would have rather died than sit in that chair for an extra minute,' Voller said.

His harrowing ordeal forced the Prime Minister order a Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.

Yet the Northern Territory government passed legislation for the practice to become legal, which at the time baffled Voller's lawyer, Peter O'Brien, who revealed his initial thoughts when watching the graphic footage for the first time.

'[I thought] Guantanamo Bay, it was so shocking. It defied logic for it to allow it to occur to a child,' Mr O'Brien told Hayes.

'The response by the government, to me, is abhorrent. To legalise it, it's mind-numbingly bizarre.'

He was shackled in 2013 with a 'spit hood' after threatening self harm and left bound in the chair by his hands and feet for two hours (pictured)

Voller's lawyer Peter O'Brien has spoken of the disgust he felt when first viewing the abuse his client received

Voller was subject to a barrage of physical abuse, and revealed his despair at spending long periods of time locked away in isolation against his own will.

'[The longest period] was one and a half months. You feel lonely, no-ones there and no-one cares,' Hayes revealed.

'You fell like you're going mad and start talking to yourself.

'I couldn't deal with it, most of the time I broke down.'

Following Voller's continued abuse he received at the detention centre, the 19-year-old turned to a life of crime, including most recently a robbery while high on ice.

When reminded there were victims to the crimes he committed, Voller gave a glimpse of the remorse he feels.

'I apologise, I know what I did was wrong. There's nothing I can do to take it back.'

The former Darwin Don Dale Detention Centre detainee spoke with 60 minutes interviewer Liz Hayes and revealed he'd rather to die than spend another minute in the restrained chair he was often placed in

Dylan Voller has since attended a rehabilitation centre where he looks to start a new chapter and turn his life around

The 19-year-old spent almost eight years in detention and now looks to get his life back on track

Yet Hayes did point out that there were some who felt he deserved what he got, something which Voller once agreed with.

'I thought that for a while, I thought that I did deserve it,' he admitted.

It took me a while to realise that no matter what, no young kid deserves to be assaulted.'

Now out on bail, Voller has since turned his life around by attending an Outback rehabilitation programme,

His mentor Will MacGregor, who has been transforming youths lives for over 20 years, believes his previous environment triggered his spells of bad behaviour.

'If you push someone hard enough, they'll come back with whatever they can do.'

Hayes, who was 'horrified' when she saw the images of him in the detention facility, believes Voller's admissions will further shock a nation already disturbed at the barbaric treatment he received as a child.

'I find it hard to believe anyone would be comfortable watching Dylan being treated in such a brutal manner. But clearly I'm wrong.

'I understand Dylan was a difficult and at times confronting child, but he was a child. If the treatment of Dylan depicted was considered a method of discipline, then at the very least it didn't seem to work,' Hayes said.
Australia's Muslim Grand Mufti asked dinner guests in Melbourne 'to make jihad' for him in an odd joke less than a week after a terror attack in the city.

Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed joked in Arabic about holy war at an Iftar dinner to commemorate the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, and complained about how Muslims are constantly called upon to condemn terrorism.

His English translator, Adel Salman, explained the Grand Mufti's humour at the Sunday night charity event, in inner-city Brunswick, organised by the Islamic Council of Victoria.

He did make a joke at the expense of all of us and he asked you all to make jihad,' he said.

The Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed jokingly asked his dinner guests 'to make jihad'

The Grand Mufti (pictured left with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten) joked he would condemn terrorist attacks that would never happen

'And if your jihad is to stop eating for a few minutes, while he gives his talk.'

Six days after a Somali-born terrorist, Yacqub Khayre, killed a man at a Melbourne serviced apartment, the Grand Mufti condemned all terrorist atrocities in the name of Islam.

He said there was no justification for killing innocent people after Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Monday night siege at Brighton by a meth addict who had links to banned Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

However, he used the occasion to draw laughter and applause from the crowd as he complained about how Muslim leaders are constantly asked to denounce terrorism.

'It is unfair and unreasonable that Muslims, whenever there is an incident, we are always expected and demanded ... to condemn and deny, condemn and deny, condemn and deny and he has said, for the record, are you all listening?,' the translator said.

The Grand Mufti made the jihad joke only days after Somali-born terrorist Yacqub Khayre killed a man at a Melbourne serviced apartment

'For the record: Muslims condemn all terrorist incidents that have happened, that are about to happen and they may never happen.

The Islamic Council of Victoria is at loggerheads with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who last week described their idea for a 'safe space' for young Muslims to rant as a 'hate space'.

Social media posts from the Muslim community suggest the Islamic Council of Victoria is boycotting the Premier's upcoming Iftar dinner.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Andrews' office and the Islamic Council of Victoria for confirmation.
Khuram Butt was able to mastermind the murder of eight and maiming of 48 others in plain sight last week

Khuram Butt applied for a job with a security company that provides stewards for the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, it has been revealed.

The ringleader behind the London Bridge terror attack last Saturday was trying to secure a role as a safety steward with the company - which also supplies staff to Premier League football clubs, it was ca

It has sparked fears the jihadi - who was 27 when he was gunned down by armed police responding to the atrocity - may have been plotting an attack at Wimbledon.

Now counter terrorism police are investigating his motives.

'The security firm would check his background but it does not have access to the police watch list or have knowledge of any MI5 investigation. There would have been no reason for him not to get the job,' a security source told The Sunday Telegraph.

They added: 'Butt could not only have caused serious damage but potentially helped other terrorists get into one of these events.'

It comes after Scotland Yard released photographs of the three London Bridge attackers' fake suicide belts, last night.

It is also known that security bosses had 30 MI5 and undercover police officers on the trail of the islamist - but they dropped their investigation because they did not suspect he was planning an attack.

Khuram Butt applied for a job with a security company that provides stewards for the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, it has been revealed

It comes after Scotland Yard released photographs of the three London Bridge attackers' fake suicide belts last night

Khuram Butt was being followed around the clock in 2015 while intelligence services were intercepting his communications under a warrant signed by the home secretary.

But the officers were pulled off the case amid fears that there was not enough evidence to convict the then-suspect and 'get him off the streets', sources told The Sunday Times.

The security insider continued: 'We knew Butt was up to no good. We got to know him intimately. We wanted to get him off the streets. But the view was that we may not have enough to convict.

In the months following the probe the father-of-two, 27, even secured a job working on the Tube and had access to tunnels under the Houses of Parliament while working at Westminster station.

The Pakistani-born Briton, who came to the UK as an asylum seeker, was able to mastermind the murder of eight and maiming of 48 others in plain sight last week.

There are growing calls for Scotland Yard and MI5 to explain why they failed to act on the repeated warnings about Butt's extremism.

Khuram Butt, 27, a married father of two, appeared on the Channel 4 documentary The Jihadi Next Door (left) and wore an Arsenal shirt (right) as he and two friends crashed their van into crowds on London Bridge before slashing at people with large knives murdering eight people and leaving 48 injured

Butt and his fellow murderers were shot dead inside Borough Market and wore fake suicide vests as they ran down people with a white van and then stabbed and slashed people

Police officers were pictured today at the scene of the London Bridge terror attack beside poignant tributes left on sticky notes

This woman left flowers among hundreds of bunches in memory of the victims

Police cars were also seen outside the entrance to Borough Market, which is still closed after the horrific attacks last week

They had considered Butt to be 'low priority' despite warnings from whistleblowers and his public abuse of moderate Muslims.

In 2015 he prepared to abandon his pregnant wife Zahrah to wage holy war in Syria, until relatives talked him out of it.

In the same year friends twice called the anti-terror hotline over his extremist behaviour and obsession with YouTube rants by hate preachers while another whistleblower warned he was trying to radicalise children in his local park.

He was also involved in a filmed altercation with police after an ISIS-type flag was unfurled in Regent's Park in the documentary where he was detained by police

Terrorist: Khuram Butt, 27, managed to get a job on the Tube four months after he appeared on a documentary about British jihadis and worked at an all-Muslim gym run by a terror suspect on a FBI watchlist

Armed police stormed 1,000-year-old cathedral Armed police stormed Southwark Cathedral during last week's attack on London Bridge - smashing through the glass of a building that has survived for 1,000 years. Officers rushed through the cathedral precinct and broke into locked rooms in the search for the missing terrorists, according to the Sunday Times. It took the dean of Southwark Andrew Nunn days to repair the damage. Advertisement

In 2016 he even appeared on the Channel 4 film The Jihadis Next Door and was filmed unfurling an ISIS-type flag in Regent's Park before rowing with police called by frightened members of the public.

Butt became close friends with Sajeel Shahid, who allegedly helped to set up weapons training in Pakistan for the 7/7 suicide bombers who killed 52 people in July 2005.

The London Bridge attacker himself became a supporter and trusted lieutenant of Choudary and he helped run high-octane mixed martial arts classes and he used the gym to approach young people for radicalisation, according to The Times.

He was also a friend of masked murderer Siddhartha Dhar, dubbed 'Jihadi Sid', who was dubbed the new Jihadi John when he appeared in an gruesome ISIS execution film after fleeing to Syria.
A 1782 fixer-upper with thick granite walls, 1950s decor, and armed 24-hour security provided by both Canada and the United States of America is up for sale.

The almost 7,000-square-foot house, cut into five currently vacant apartments, is on a lot of less than a quarter-acre that, along with the building itself, straddles the border between Beebe Plain, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec.

Selling a home in two countries is proving to be a challenge for the couple who owns it.

The structure, which has an estimated rebuild cost of about $600,000, is on the market for $109,000.

It's structurally sound but needs lots of work. And then there's that international border.

Brian and Joan Dumoulin pose on both sides of a marker showing the US-Canadian border in the front yard of their home they hope to sell for $109k. She is on the Canadian side while he is in the US

The house straddles the border between Beebe Plain, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec and is a source of constant annoyance for the border patrol of both countries

'In the day, it was a normal and natural thing,' Brian DuMoulin, who grew up in the house and was accustomed to life literally on the border at a time when no one thought twice about crossing from one country to the other.

'Now it stresses everyone out.'

The home, known locally as the Old Stone Store, was built by a merchant so he could sell to farmers in both Vermont and Quebec. Brian and his wife, Joan DuMoulin, inherited it about 40 years ago.

 Slide me  The home, known locally as the Old Stone Store, was built by a merchant so he could sell to farmers in both Vermont and Quebec. Brian and Joan inherited it about 40 years ago

They are hoping to sell it so they can move to Ontario to be closer to their children and grandchildren

Now the couple, in their 70s, who have dual US and Canadian citizenship and a home in nearby Morgan, Vermont, are hoping to sell it so they can move to Ontario to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Beebe Plain is a community in the Vermont town of Derby, which along with Stanstead, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Montpelier, or 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Montreal, have become the cliche of security changes on the US-Canadian border brought on by the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Beebe Plain is a community in the Vermont town of Derby, which along with Stanstead, have become the cliche of security changes on the US-Canadian border brought on by the 9/11 attacks on the United States

Residential streets that used to be open were blocked by gates. The back doors of an apartment building straddling the border in Derby Line village have been locked shut. The street next to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, deliberately built in both countries, is blocked by flower pots, although Canadians are still allowed to walk to the library's US entrance without going through a border post.

The DuMoulins' house is directly across Stanstead's Rue Principale from the port of entry staffed by agents of the Canada Border Services Agency and adjacent to a US Customs and Border Protection post.

Troy Rabideau, the US Customs and Border Protection assistant port director for the area that includes Beebe Plain, said the agents know who live there, but keeping track can be a challenge.

'It's always a fine line,' Rabideau said.

The DuMoulins' house is directly across Stanstead's Rue Principale from the port of entry staffed by agents of the Canada Border Services Agency and adjacent to a US Customs and Border Protection post

'We do the best we can to keep an eye on it. We do what we have to do, security first, but we also want the support of the locals.'

The DuMoulins' house has entrances from the United States and Canada. Agents have come to know the people who live in the house, currently vacant, and allow them to move back and forth freely as long as they stay in the house or the tiny front or backyard. There's a small granite border marker just outside the front door.

There is a gate hidden in a backyard hedge. DuMoulin said US agents wanted to be sure the gate was wired shut. It is.

Rosemary Lalime, their real estate agent, said that between the time the house was listed around the turn of the year and the end of May when a Canadian magazine noted its odd location she showed it 10 times. In the last two weeks she's shown it six times and has six more appointments

Rosemary Lalime, their real estate agent, said that between the time the house was listed around the turn of the year and the end of May when a Canadian magazine noted its odd location she showed it 10 times. In the last two weeks she's shown it six times and has six more appointments.

All but one person has come from the United States. One man called from Toronto.

'He was inquiring more about the border situation and if he bought it, what are his rights,' Lalime said.

'I put him in touch with the Border Patrol.'

All but one person has come from the United States. One man called from Toronto. 'He was inquiring more about the border situation and if he bought it, what are his rights,' Lalime said. 'I put him in touch with the Border Patrol'

Brian DuMoulin said that usually the agents from both countries know who they are, but he told of a time when a new Canadian border agent saw him, his wife and her sister standing in front of the house, 'a good 18 feet into the States.' He demanded they report to the Canadian border post.

'He simply didn't know,' DuMoulin said, noting it took about 45 minutes to resolve the situation after the agent called his superiors.

'That's the awkwardness,' he said.

'If there is an awkwardness, it's that you can't just go this way or this way, you've got to go through (the ports of entry) and then back through.'
A Florida police officer allegedly punched a handcuffed 17-year-old several times and was arrested on a charge of battery.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Timothy James, 38, was assisting an arrest of the 17-year-old and his 18-year-old brother at a gas station around 4am on Saturday.

James himself was arrested and booked in the Duval County Jail after the sergeant he was helping claims he saw James hit the 17-year-old multiple times.

The officer's arrest was announced by Undersheriff Pat Ivey on Saturday afternoon. James has been an officer with the JSO for more than three years.

James has been with JSO for 3 and a half years. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/23k6hacOBu  Kevin Clark (@KClark_News) June 10, 2017

The brothers he was arresting, Elias, 17, and Abel Campos, 18, were wanted on outstanding warrants from Orlando.

Elias was suspected of resisting without violence and Abel was named in a burglary warrant, according to WJXT.

A patrol sergeant had seen the brothers at the gas station, but called in backup. James is the officer who came to help.

The brothers were handcuffed and were sitting in the back of James' patrol car while the sergeant was verifying the brothers' outstanding warrants in his own car, according to WJAX.

After one of the teens initially claimed James hit him, the sergeant said nothing seemed wrong.

When he went back to his car a second time, the sergeant says he saw James remove Elias from the car and struggle with him, as Abel also got out of the car, according to WJAX.

The sergeant then separated the three and told James to return Elias to the back of the patrol car.

Then James began hitting the 17-year-old from the back of the car, leaving him with clear signs of injury and even drawing blood, First Coast News reported.

The incident was immediately reported and hours later James was arrested.

Law enforcement sources confirm this is Timothy James, JSO officer arrested for battery of a suspect this morning. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/dbeQ82fVOs  Kevin Clark (@KClark_News) June 10, 2017

Ivey said James claimed the teen spit at him, but the undersheriff said that is still an 'inappropriate response'.

James has been released on bail, but he has been suspended during the investigation.

If he does return to work, he will remain on desk duty until the end of the investigation, according to First Coast News.

James is the seventh employee from the JSO to be arrested this year. In 2016 there were 11 JSO employees arrested.

This is the third time James has been under investigation this year. He has been investigated for possibly spitting on and using force on a bi-polar man in April and in May he hit and killed a 62-year-old man while driving to a call.

There have also been 13 complaints against James since he joined the JSO in 2014, according to the New York Daily News.
Michael Gove made a dramatic return to the Cabinet today as he was appointed Environment Secretary by Theresa May

Michael Gove today made a spectacular comeback to the Cabinet as Theresa May fought to shore up her position in the wake of the Tory election catastrophe.

He was ruthlessly axed as Justice Secretary by the PM last year after she swept into the top job.

But today she appointed him Environment Secretary - as she demoted Andrea Leadsom to leader of the House of Commons.

The embattled Prime Minister will hope that bringing the big political beast back into the fold will help restore her authority in the party.

Mr Gove, who clashed bitterly with Mrs May over tackling extremism when they were in government under David Cameron, said that he had been taken by surprise when the invitation came through to visit No 10.

He said: 'I genuinely didn't expect this role.

'I am delighted to be part of the Government. I am delighted to be able to support Theresa May to ensure that we have a Government capable of delivering on the people's wishes.'

Mr Gove's exile to the backbenches came after he backed Boris Johnson for the Tory leadership before swiftly stabbing him in the back and throwing his own name into the ring.

Mrs Leadsom's demotion may be seen by some as revenge after she suggested in a newspaper interview that she would make a better PM than Mrs May because she has children.

Meanwhile, Mrs May installed Damian Green as her effective deputy today as she fights to shore up her position in the wake of the Tory election catastrophe.

The Prime Minister has made her long-time friend and close ally First Secretary of State - meaning he is the most senior government member behind her.

But Mr Green's could increase nerves among Brexiteer MPs about a softening of EU policy as Mr Green was a passionate Remainer.

Mrs May has been with friends with Mr Green since they were both at Oxford University together in the 1970s, and his promotion to the senior post shows the embattled PM wants a close ally by her side.

Mrs May's new chief of staff, Gavin Barwell also strongly opposed cutting ties with Brussels during the referendum branding it the 'politics of hate and division'.

Theresa May is reshuffling her team as she fights to cling on as Prime Minister

NEW DEPUTY DAMIAN TOLD TO MEND CONSERVATIVE FENCES Theresa May appointed her close friend Damian Green as her unofficial deputy as she sought to improve relations with Tory backbenchers. In a major promotion, Mr Green was made First Secretary of State with a brief to improve links between No 10 and Tory MPs. The move makes the 61-year-old Mrs Mays effective deputy. The First Secretary of State is a role previously held by William Hague when he was Foreign Secretary during the Coalition years and, afterwards, George Osborne. Under Labour, Peter Mandelson and John Prescott held the title. The promotion could see Mr Green standing in for Mrs May at Prime Ministers Questions when she is out of the country. Mrs May did not previously have anyone in the role but was under pressure from other ministers to appoint a deputy to reduce her reliance on advisers. The decision gives Mr Green seniority over other Cabinet ministers. Mr Green is one of the Prime Ministers closest political allies. He and his wife Alicia, who have two daughters, have been friends with Mrs May and her husband Philip since their university days at Oxford. He was the president of the prestigious Oxford Union and went on to work in 10 Downing Street as a member of John Majors policy unit from 1992-94. Mr Green tried to enter Parliament in the 1992 general election but went down to inevitable defeat at the hands of Ken Livingstone in the safe Labour seat of Brent East. In 1997 he became MP for Ashford in Kent and has represented the seat ever since. Mr Green served as Mrs Mays deputy at the Home Office at one time and was plucked from the backbenches to be work and pensions secretary when she took power last year. He was also one of the staunchest opponents of Brexit, serving as a board member on the campaign group Britain Stronger in Europe. He now insists, both in public and in private, that he accepts the referendum result, but he is likely to encourage Mrs May to take a softer line on the issue. Government sources last night said that Mr Green, who is a popular figure among Tory MPs, had been handed a liaison role, acting as a go-between for Mrs May and her backbenchers who have complained of being cut out of the previous No 10 regime. Mr Green, a former financial journalist, has written books and lists his recreations as cricket, football, opera and cinema. Advertisement

Meanwhile, Liz Truss has been demoted from Justice to Chief Secretary to the Treasury - going from a full Cabinet member to merely attending meetings of the elite group.

With the Conservatives on the verge of meltdown, Boris Johnson is being urged by allies to step in and oust Mrs May - although he has dismissed the idea as 'tripe'.

A series of former ministers have stuck the knife into the premier after the party dramatically lost seats in an election she did not have to call - with ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan among those insisting she must be replaced over the summer.

However, other senior figures are urging calm, cautioning that a knee-jerk reaction risks playing into the hands of Jeremy Corbyn.

Having been so weakened by last Thursday's result, Mrs May has limited leverage to move big beasts such as Mr Johnson and Chancellor Philip Hammond.

On Friday she confirmed Mr Johnson, Mr Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Brexit Secretary David Davis in their existing roles.

Damian Green has been moved from Work and Pensions to become Cabinet Office minister - and been handed the title of First Secretary of State. Liz Truss has also been demoted from the justice brief to Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Priti Patel kept his job as International development Secretary while Andrea Leadsom was demoted, losing her job as Environment Secretary and becoming leader of the House

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (chief whip) Gavin Williamson and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling both kept their jobs in the reshuffle

It was also announced this afternoon that Greg Clark is staying in position as Business Secretary, while Justine Greening keeps her job as Education Secretary, Jeremy Hunt holds on to health, and Gavin Williamson is still chief whip.

MAY'S RESHUFFLED TOP TEAM First Secretary of State and Cabinet Office minister: Damian Green Chancellor: Philip Hammond Home Secretary: Amber Rudd Foreign Secretary: Boris Johnson Brexit Secretary: David Davis Business Secretary: Greg Clark Education Secretary and minister for equalities: Justine Greening Work and Pensions Secretary: David Gauke Communities Secretary: Sajid Javid Environment Secretary: Michael Gove Leader of the House: Andrea Leadsom Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor: David Lidington International Development Secretary: Liam Fox Health Secretary: Jeremy Hunt Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Liz Truss Chief Whip: Gavin Williamson Transport Secretary: Chris Grayling International Development Secretary: Priti Patel Northern Ireland Secretary: James Brokenshire Minister of State for the Home Office: Brandon Lewis Leader of the House of Lords: Baroness Evans Tory Party chairman and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Patrick McLoughlin Advertisement

However, Mrs May has bowed to pressure from her Cabinet by appointing a deputy in all but name - shifting Mr Green from Work and Pensions to make him Cabinet Office minister.

She previously snubbed Mr Hammond by refusing to declare him First Secretary of State alongside his role in No11.

Liam Fox urged Tory MPs to rally round Mrs May after he visited Downing St to be told that he will keep his job as International Trade Secretary.

He said: 'It's now time for the whole of the Conservative Party to rally behind the Prime Minister and get a government in the national interest.'

He added: 'I have absolute faith in the Prime Minister.

'I believe she is the best person to lead this country forward.'

Bringing back senior figures such as Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Gove, and possibly even Lord Hague, could help restore her authority.

However, it is not clear whether Lord Hague - who resigned in 2014 saying he was tired of the pressures of ministerial office - would want to return.

Meanwhile, there are eight ministerial posts that need filling from MPs who were ejected from the Commons last Thursday.

As the vultures circled around Mrs May this morning, former Chancellor George Osborne branded her a 'dead woman walking'.

She was also embarrassed as No10 prematurely announced it had done a deal with the Democratic Unionists to prop her up in power - only for the Northern Ireland party to make clear there was no agreement yet. Mrs May will meet DUP leader Arlene Foster in London on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson played down the prospect of him mounting a challenge for the time being today, describing the idea as 'tripe'.

But an ally told the Mail on Sunday: 'We need Bojo. We need a Brexiteer. We need somebody who can talk and connect with people like Jeremy Corbyn does. We need someone who can make Britain believe in itself again.'

Despite speculation triggered by his absence during the election campaign, Liam Fox is remaining in post as International Trade Secretary

Boris Johnson arrives at his London home today amid speculation he could mount a leadership bid. Mr Johnson, who was told yesterday he will keep his job as Foreign Secretary, has sought to quash the rumours by sending a leaked WhatsApp message telling MPs to back the PM

Chancellor Philip Hammond (left) and Brexit Secretary David Davis (right) have already been confirmed as staying in their respective posts

Mrs May has already said Amber Rudd will stay as Home Secretary, while Mr Gove will be pleased to make a return to government

Sajid Javid and Justine Greening are staying a Communities Secretary and Education Secretary respectively. It is unclear if Theresa May will push ahead with her plans to usher in a new generation of grammar schools following her election defeat

The PM is hoping to strike a deal with the DUP for support from its 10 MPs - which would give her a majority in the Commons.

But there are fears about the impact on the Good Friday Agreement, and the party's attitude on gay rights is causing alarm among many Tories, who fear the deal to prop up the government could fatally undermine attempts to show the Conservatives are modern and inclusive.

Majority of Tory voters want Theresa May to resign, says poll Few Tory MPs believe Theresa May will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer A new poll has found that 49 per cent of all voters want Theresa May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put. And out of the contenders to replace her, Boris Johnson outscores his nearest rival, Chancellor Philip Hammond, by a margin of more than two to one. A separate survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted Mrs May to announce her resignation immediately. Few Tory MPs believe that Mrs May will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer after losing 13 Tory seats  squandering the party's previous working majority of 12. Advertisement

Mrs May will hold talks with DUP leader Arlene Foster in London when parliament returns on Tuesday.

Tomorrow evening she will face the powerful 1922 committee of Tory MPs, in what could be a decisive moment for her future.

After the PM was forced to jettison her closest aides Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon made clear she had been told she had to take a 'different approach'.

There will have to be 'more collective decision making in Cabinet... I and other senior colleagues have made that clear to her,' Sir Michael told the BBC's Andrew Marr show today.

Sir Michael was also confronted with comments from DUP's Ian Paisley Jr, who previously said he was 'pretty repulsed by gays and lesbian people'.

'Let's be very clear, just because they're going to support us, they're agreeing to support us on the economic issues, the big economic and security issues facing this country, it doesn't mean that we now agree with all of their views. We don't,' Sir Michael said.

Talk of a leadership bid came after Mrs May was rocked by the resignations of the two Downing Street advisers who have been blamed for the Election disaster  and a Mail on Sunday poll which found that half of voters want her to quit.

The MoS Survation poll found that 49 per cent of all voters want Mrs May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put. And out of the contenders to replace her, Mr Johnson outscores his nearest rival, Chancellor Philip Hammond, by a margin of more than two to one.

A separate survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted Mrs May to announce her resignation immediately.

Few Tory MPs believe that Mrs May will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer after losing 13 Tory seats  squandering the party's previous working majority of 12.

Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street. MPs had pointed the finger at Mr Timothy for including the so-called 'dementia tax' in the Tory manifesto, which was linked to a dramatic drop in the party's support.

The aides have also been blamed by MPs and aides for creating a 'toxic' Downing Street in which officials and Ministers are subject to bullying.

It is understood that senior party figures had warned Mrs May that she could face an immediate leadership challenge if her aides stayed in their jobs.

The five front runners for the Conservative leadership are Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Brexit Secretary David Davis, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Michael Gove

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he and senior colleagues had bluntly informed Mrs May that she must take a 'different approach' to cling on

Yesterday, Mr Timothy said he took responsibility for the failure of the campaign, but denied that the 'dementia tax' had been his 'personal pet policy'.

In a long parting statement he said: 'The simple truth is that Britain is a divided country: many are tired of austerity, many remain frustrated or angry about Brexit, and many younger people feel they lack the opportunities enjoyed by their parents' generation.'

The aides were replaced by a single chief of staff, former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat in the General Election.

Brexit is a 'cancer gnawing at the heart of the Conservatives', says Heseltine Tory grandee Lord Heseltine opened another flank by suggesting Mrs May would now have to ditch the idea of 'hard' Brexit. He described the Europe issue as a 'cancer gnawing at the heart of the Conservative Party'. Then on BBC's Radio 4, asked if the Government would last he said: 'No. It will not go immediately because there is no appetite for another general election and every party in the house will calculate in their own self-interest. 'They know the government is weak, they know the economy is going to deteriorate and they know public opinion is going to change from one where they don't want an election to one where they are calling out for change. 'So there will come a time when the opposition politicians will strike. In the meantime they will simply harry the government. ' Advertisement

Mrs May is expected to face a grilling by the party's powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers this week, where she is likely to face hard questions about the Election result.

Sources said there would have been a 'bloodbath' if Mr Timothy and Ms Hill were still in their jobs when the meeting started.

The devastated Prime Minister cobbled together an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party last night after sending her Chief Whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast.

But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson  whose success north of the border was crucial in preventing Labour from forming a Government  expressed public disquiet about the alliance with the anti-gay rights, anti-abortion party.

She said she had sought 'clear assurances' from Mrs May that any deal would not set back equality.

There were also public protests against the plan, which would be the only way Mrs May could ensure that her legislation got through the Commons. More than 500,000 people signed a petition against the Tories doing a deal.

The turmoil forced Mrs May to delay a planned reshuffle of her middle-ranking Ministers until today. She is being urged to appoint a formal Deputy Prime Minister to shore up her position, with Brexit Secretary David Davis the favourite for the job.

It would put Mr Davis in a difficult position, as he is widely believed to be considering a run at the leadership if there is a contest. Other possible candidates include Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The Mail on Sunday poll by Survation  the only company to accurately predict the result of the General Election  makes grim reading for Mrs May.

A total of 41 per cent of voters think that if she does resign, she should do so immediately.

If she does quit, Mr Johnson is the clear favourite to succeed her. He is backed by 26 per cent of voters, with Mr Hammond the next favourite with 10 per cent.

Mr Davis is on nine per cent, Ms Rudd on eight per cent and Mr Gove on four per cent.

His spokesman added: 'He is completely supporting the PM and working closely with her to get the best deal in our Brexit negotiations.'

Respondents in our poll were scathing about Mrs May's performance in the campaign, with only 16 per cent thinking she had put in the best performance, compared to 67 per cent arguing for Mr Corbyn. When asked why Mrs May failed, the most common answer, 27 per cent, was the dementia tax.

The 66 votes that sank Theresa The Tories were just 66 votes away from gaining a majority, experts say. The party lost three key constituencies  Kensington by a mere 20 votes, Perth and North Perthshire by 21 votes and Dudley North by 22 votes. Had they secured them, they would have finished with enough seats for a working majority. The maximum number of voting MPs is 639 because Sinn Fein's seven MPs do not take up their seats, and the Speaker and his three deputies do not vote. Advertisement

The political paralysis caused by the Election is widely believed to have strengthened the hand of pro-EU MPs who support a 'soft' Brexit, in which the UK retains access to the tariff-free single market and customs union. This approach is backed by 47 per cent of voters, compared with 36 per cent who want a 'hard' Brexit.

The resignations of her closest aides leaves Mrs May an even more isolated figure. The 'cabal' which took most decisions consisted of her, her husband Philip, Mr Timothy and Ms Hill  with her Cabinet left out in the cold.

Craig Oliver, who was David Cameron's director of communications, welcomed the departure of the aides. In an article for today's Mail on Sunday, he demands to know how 'the Conservative party allowed these two people with such questionable judgment to influence so much and get it so wrong?'

And Katie Perrior, who worked with Mr Timothy and Ms Hill as Theresa May's director of communications until the Election, said the two aides were the reason that No 10 'bloody well stank' of 'arrogance'.

Tory peer Lord Heseltine added to the chorus of criticism, using an article in The Mail on Sunday to describe the Election as 'an unusually poor campaign, crippled by the reverse over what has been branded the 'dementia tax' and some unwise sloganeering.'

Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street

Tory MP Nigel Evans was even more scathing, describing the Conservative manifesto as 'full of poison from beginning to end'.

He said: 'It was mean-spirited in trying to take school lunches off youngsters, it was irrelevant in trying to bring back fox-hunting and it was a full-frontal assault on our core support which was the elderly.

'The only thing that was missing from the manifesto was compulsory euthanasia for the over-70s.'

Tory grandee Lord Tebbit was withering too, saying: 'The idea of this Election had been conceived by Mr and Mrs May and two or three close advisers who know very little.

They then elected to have a campaign of well over seven weeks. Madness. Because if you are ahead at the beginning, as all the polls indicated, the only thing that can happen during those seven weeks is that things get worse.'

Lord Mandelson also enters the debate today by calling for MPs who backed staying in the EU to use Mrs May's political weakness as an opportunity to put pressure on her to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

The former Labour Minister uses an article in this newspaper to hint at an alliance between moderates, saying that 'new parliamentary arithmetic' should be used to out-manoeuvre the 'headbangers' who want to cut most ties with Brussels.

He says: 'I believe if [Mrs May] shows flexibility, most of the country will back her. It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing.

There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing.'

Last night, Mrs May praised new chief of staff Gavin Barwell as 'first-class' and 'widely respected', adding: 'I want to reflect on the Election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.'

Ruth Davidson hints Scottish Tory MPs could vote against hard Brexit Ruth Davidson is seen as a rising Tory star after increasing the party's number of Scottish seats by 12 Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has hinted that her 13 MPs could vote against a hard Brexit. The politician, who led the party to victory in Scotland, said she wants to 'put free trade at the heart' of Britain's negotiations with the EU. Theresa May could now be forced to get cross-party support for her approach to the forthcoming discussions after failing to achieve a majority in the snap election which she called. Ms Davidson has already hinted she will use her sway to influence the Brexit deal, and has insisted there needs to be wider consensus on the terms of leaving the EU. The 38-year-old, who is seen as a rising Tory star after increasing the party's Scottish seats by 12, said: 'I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit which we know we are now going to have to get cross-party support for. 'And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave.' In a hint at the approach she wanted, she added: 'It is about making sure that we put free trade at the heart of what it is we seek to achieve as we leave.' Advertisement
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after police found a missing schoolgirl, 14, who was seen getting into a Volkswagen van near a hospital.

An appeal was launched to find the girl after concerns were raised for her safety after the 14-year-old was spotted clambering into a grey coloured Volkswagen van near a hospital at about 9pm.

Police named her as Rosie Evans-Foster, from Paulsgrove near Portsmouth.

The man was also arrested on suspicion of drug driving and remains in custody being questioned by officers.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested after police found missing schoolgirl Rosie Evans-Foster (pictured) who was seen getting into a van near a hospital

The vehicle, which had tinted windows, drove off shortly after the schoolgirl was seen entering it on Friday.

The incident happened near the Queen Alexandra Hospital at Cosham, near Portsmouth, and police appealed for help from anyone who knew where the van or girl was to contact them.

It was not clear whether she got into the van willingly or whether she was abducted.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police said: 'Pleased to say Rosie has been located safe and well!

The incident happened near the Queen Alexandra Hospital (pictured) at Cosham, near Portsmouth

'Rosie Evans-Foster, aged 14 from Portsmouth was last see on Friday evening after getting in VW Van at the QA Hospital.

'A van matching the description was found in Petersfield this afternoon and Rosie was found inside.

'She is now speaking with police and a 19 year-old Surrey man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

'Thank you to everyone who shared our appeal.'
A New Jersey high school has censored out mentions of Donald Trump in their yearbook and now the school is investigating the 'possible violation of First Amendment rights'.

One student at Wall Township High School in New Jersey had submitted a Donald Trump quote that wasn't included with her picture.

Two others had Trump logos on their clothes either cropped or edited out of their pictures.

Now those students' parents are calling for the yearbooks to be re-issued and the school superintendent Cheryl Dyer has said she is looking into 'an allegation of censorship and the possible violation of First Amendment rights', according to NJ.com.

High school junior Grant Berardo, pictured, wore a navy blue Make America Great Again t-shirt to picture day. When he got his yearbook from Wall Township High School in New Jersey, the logo had been completely blacked out

Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago, pictured, also a junior, wore a black Trump sweater vest, but in the yearbook, his picture had been cropped in so that the logo wasn't visible

At first Wyatt thought it wasn't anything to worry about, but then he found out that his sister's Trump quote hadn't been included and that Grant's Trump shirt had been photoshopped

Montana Dobrovich-Fago, the freshman class president, had submitted a Donald Trump quote to go beneath her picture.

But when she got her yearbook on Wednesday, the quote wasn't there, even though the other class presidents were included, even the senior class president's quote by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

She told WABC her submitted quote was: 'I like thinking big, if you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. By Donald Trump.'

Montana says she submitted the quote on time, but it still didn't show up.

Her brother Wyatt, a junior, wore a sweater vest with a Trump logo to picture day, but when he got his yearbook, the small logo had been cropped out.

At first he thought it wasn't anything to worry about, but when he found out his sister's quote hadn't been included, he told WABC he thought: 'That's kind of crazy, two things against Trump in a way.'

Another junior, Grant Berardo wore a navy blue Make America Great Again t-shirt with a much larger logo to picture day.

When he got his yearbook, the logo had been completely blacked out, even though plenty of other students' logos were not.

Grant's father, Joseph Berardo, said they made sure there were no dress code restrictions before the junior wore his shirt.

'It was the first election he took an interest in, and it was an interesting way to memorialize it,' Berardo told the New York Post.

'I thought it was pretty cool that this guy was running for president,' Grant told NJ.com, speaking about Trump.

Montana Dobrovich-Fago, the freshman class president, had submitted a Donald Trump quote to go beneath her picture in the yearbook. She made sure to send it in on time

But when she got the yearbook, Montana's Trump quote wasn't included, left, even though the other class presidents had quotes below their pictures, even the senior class president's quote by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, right

Now Berardo is calling for an apology and for the yearbooks to be reissued.

'The fact that the committee found it OK to censor the president's name or anything that wasn't offensive is just wrong,' Berardo told the Post.

Janet Dobrovich-Fago, Wyatt and Montana's mother told NJ.com: 'We're very angry. When we saw that Montana's quote dropped out, we thought it was a mistake because all the other class presidents' quotes were still there.

'But when we saw that Wyatt's shirt was photoshopped and we heard about Grant, I knew this was not a coincidence. This was purposeful and it's wrong.'

After the parents reported the incidents to the school, Wall Township High School superintendent Cheryl Dyer said she is investigating the allegations.

'There is nothing in our student dress code that would prevent a student from expressing his or her political views and support for a candidate for political office via appropriate clothing,' she said in a letter.

'Rather, I applaud students for becoming involved in politics and for participation in our democratic society.

'The high school administration was not aware of and does not condone any censorship of political views on the part of our students ... The actions of the staff involved will be addressed as soon as the investigation is concluded.'

Grant's father, Joseph Berardo, pictured, is now calling for an apology from the school and for the yearbooks to be reissued
Donald Trump is yet to meet or speak with his top commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan almost nearly five months in office.

Military.com, a veteran membership organization, detailed Trump's lack of contact with arguably the two most important US officials in the region.

The president does not communicate directly with the commanders - Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend in Iraq and General John W. Nicholson Jr. in Afghanistan - because they are 'three or four echelons below' him, a White House official told the website.

'The president does respect the chain of command and he gets the vast majority of his information from the top echelons of his national security teams,' the official said.

Donald Trump is yet to meet or speak with his top commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan almost nearly five months in office. Trump is pictured at a swearing-in ceremony for Defense Secretary James Mattis

The website also highlighted the difference between Trump and his two immediate predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

'President George W. Bush spoke with his military commander in Iraq nearly every week,' the article stated.

'President Barack Obama was so deeply involved in military operations that his first three Defense secretaries all complained, sometimes bitterly, about what they considered White House micromanagement.'

The decision-making vacuum left by Trump has been filed by Secretary of Defense James Mattis - to whom the president has delegated large swaths of responsibility.

Mattis, a retired four star general, has even incredibly been given the power to up troop levels in the wars in Iraq and Syria, and it is expected he could do the same in regards to Afghanistan.

However, the comparative freedom with which the commanders have to wage their respective wars has proven problematic and potentially costly.

General John W. Nicholson Jr, who is commander in Afghanistan, has not met or spoke with the president since January

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander in Iraq, has also not had any face time with Trump

Jared Kushner is pictured with Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr (left), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Townsend (right) in Baghdad on April 4

Military.com reports Nicholson shocked the White House when he gave the go-ahead to drop the 'Mother of All Bombs' in Afghanistan in April.

That same month, the Pentagon's top commander in the Pacific, Admiral Harry Harris Jr, revealed he had personally ordered the ordered the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to take a detour to the north from Singapore so it could serve as an escort for ships during a time of rising tensions with North Korea.

Trump took his lead from the announced, and was quick to state an 'armada 'was racing toward the Korean peninsula.

However, unfortunately for the president and the Admiral, they were left with egg on their faces after it emerged the Vinson was not heading towards Korea, and was instead some 3,500 miles away conducting exercises in the Indian Ocean.

Harris ended up having to apologize to Congress for the confusion.

Another incident, according to Military.com, that saw Trump's approach questioned was when he refused to take any of the blame for the death of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens.

Owens was killed during a botched raid in Yemen on January 29 - along with more than a dozen civilians, including women and children.

'They came to me, they explained what they wanted to do - the generals - who are very respected, my generals are the most respected that we've had in many decades, I believe,' Trump told Fox News at the time.

'And they lost Ryan.'

Trump has left Defense Secretary James Mattis (pictured with the president on January 20) to handle most of the conversations

Mattis (pictured with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson) has even been given power to increase troop numbers in Iraq and Syria, with Afghanistan expected to follow

In the wake of the death, Bill Owens - the soldier's father - told The Miami Herald that he refused to meet with the president and his daughter Ivanka when they both came to Dover Air Force Base to receive the casket carrying his son.

'I'm sorry, I don't want to see him,' Owens recalled telling the chaplain of Trump. 'I told them I don't want to meet the President.'

He was sickened by the thought of shaking the hand of the man who approved his son's last mission.

'I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him,' the father said.

'I want an investigation...The government owes my son an investigation.

'Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration? Why?

'For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen  everything was missiles and drones  because there was not a target worth one American life.

'Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?'

The upset father, who is also a military veteran, shared that he was also troubled by the attack Trump leveled at Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, an American Muslim family whose Army officer son died in Iraq in 2004.

A former Pentagon intelligence official told Military.com the president needs to take on a more active role in crafting policy and objectives for the military to carry out.

'Military operations should not be micromanaged but they cannot go unmanaged either.' Anthony Cordesman said.

'A president has to take responsibility for his own policy and overarching strategic goals. That is not something that can be delegated.'
Friends and family members of 39-year-old Ignacio Echeverria gathered in Madrid on Sunday for a funeral for the Spaniard who died in the London Bridge terror attack earlier this month.

Echeverria died on June 3 as he tried to use his skateboard to protect a woman from terrorists in London.

The HSBC employee's family held a funeral service on Sunday in Las Rozas, Madrid. Madrid's archbishop Carlos Osoro was in attendance.

A funeral service was held for Ignacio Echeverria, 39, on Sunday, a week after he died in the London Bridge terror attack

The HSBC employee's family held a funeral service on Sunday in Las Rozas, Madrid. Madrid's archbishop Carlos Osoro (pictured) was in attendance

Echeverria's mother (center) and sister (right) arrive at the cemetery during the HSBC employee's funeral on Sunday

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (center) greets the family of Ignacio Echeverria, one of the victims of the London Bridge terror attack as his remains arrive in Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

Relatives watched as a flower-covered hearse carrying Echeverria's body was driven through the town.

The 39-year-old Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria who tried to protect a woman from the London Bridge terrorists with his skateboard died when he was stabbed in the back

On Saturday they held an event in Echeverria's honor in the village in which he used to study, As Pontes, Galicia, Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was at Trejon de Ardoz military airbase to receive Echeverria's remains when his body arrived on Spanish soil with his family members.

Spain's government has bestowed Echeverria with its highest honor for civilians, the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit.

A British autopsy concluded that Echeverria died after being stabbed in the back, Spain's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman, speaking anonymously in line with official policy, said that Echeverria's family shared the information with the ministry after the autopsy was performed on Friday.

Witnesses described seeing the 39-year-old Echeverria using a skateboard against attackers before he fell to the ground during last Saturday's attacks on and near London Bridge.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was at Trejon de Ardoz military airbase to receive Echeverria's remains when his body arrived on Spanish soil with his family members

Spain's government has bestowed Echeverria with its highest honor for civilians, the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit

People attend an event to honour, Ignacio Echeverria, in the village he use to study, in As Pontes, Galicia, Madrid, on Saturday

The body of Ignacio Echeverria is being flown back to Spain today, accompanied by his heart-broken family. Pictured, Mr Echeverria skateboarding at an earlier time

At the time of the attack, in which eight people died, Echeverria was returning from skating in a park with his friends when they saw the terrorist attack in the surroundings of Borough Market, next to the London Bridge.

His friends have confirmed he rushed to help her, using his skateboard to hit her assailants but was stabbed in the process.

He then fell to the floor, still clutching his skateboard.

Echeverria, who lived in London, worked as an analyst at HSBC and was a skateboarding fanatic.

He spoke four languages and was described as extremely gifted.

Members of the public in Madrid observe a three minute silence on Thursday ahead of a vigil to honour London Bridge terror attack hero Ignacio Echevarria

Ignacio died on May 3 when he confronted three of the terrorists who were attacking a woman during the London atrocity. Pictured, a condolence book next to a picture of Ignacio

The cause of death has been confirmed by the Spanish Ministry of Interior, says the Spanish press

At the time of the attack, in which eight people died, Ignacio was returning from skating in a park with his friends

His friends say he acted with great bravery, without thought for his own safety.

They have also revealed this was not the first time he had intervened to save someone.

On another occasion, he had protected a woman who was also being abused by a man in the street.

His father has paid public tribute to two of Echeverria's friends, Guillermo and Javi who were with him on London Bridge and tried everything within their power to help and save both him and the woman under attack.

Seven other people also died in the attack on June 3.
Boris Johnson has urged Tory MPs to 'calm down' - warning they are doing Jeremy Corbyn's job by calling for Theresa May to quit.

The Foreign Secretary urged his colleagues to 'get behind the PM' in a WhatsApp message that was then conveniently leaked.

The missive emerged after rumours started swirling that Mr Johnson was preparing to launch a fresh leadership bid in the wake of the election debacle.

A close ally of the Foreign Secretary said overnight that it was 'go-go-go' for Mr Johnson's leadership push in the wake of the election disaster.

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The Foreign Secretary urged his colleagues to 'get behind the PM' in a WhatsApp message that was then conveniently leaked (pictured right)

Boris Johnson, pictured in London today, said he backed Theresa May to be Prime Minister - despite rumours that he was considering mounting a leadership challenge

The Foreign Secretary, pictured in London today, said Theresa May is the right person to deliver on Brexit as he gave the embattled Prime Ministermr his backing

Boris Johnson said the public are fed up with elections and there is no appetite to send them to the polls to pick another PM. He said Tory MPs will rally round the PM

Meanwhile, five other Cabinet ministers were said to be pleading with him to unseat the Tory leader as the party threatens to go into meltdown after losing its overall majority.

But Mr Johnson acted to cool the speculation after some MPs vented anger at the possibility the turmoil could get out of control and open the door to Labour taking over in government.

And he told reporters that voters have had enough of elections and he is backing Mrs May.

MAY'S RESHUFFLED TOP TEAM First Secretary of State and Cabinet Office minister: Damian Green Chancellor: Philip Hammond Home Secretary: Amber Rudd Foreign Secretary: Boris Johnson Brexit Secretary: David Davis Business Secretary: Greg Clark Education Secretary and minister for equalities: Justine Greening Work and Pensions Secretary: David Gauke Communities Secretary: Sajid Javid Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor: David Lidington International Development Secretary: Liam Fox Health Secretary: Jeremy Hunt Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Liz Truss Chief Whip: Gavin Williamson Culture Secretary: Karen Bradley Advertisement

He said: 'Of course people are going to be wondering what's happening now there is a hung parliament and there is no absolute majority.

'But Theresa May got by far the biggest mandate anybody has got for my party for decades, she leads by far the biggest party in parliament.

'Jeremy Corbyn did not win this election.

'It is absolutely right she should go ahead for this government and it is absolutely right that she should go ahead and deliver on the priorities for the people and I am going to be backing her.

'Absolutely everybody I am talking to is going to be backing her as well.'

But he sidestepped questions about whether he would launch a leadership bid if the PM is ousted.

He said: 'I genuinely think the people of this country...this is the third year running that we have chivied them out to the polls.

'We have asked them to vote on a General Election then on a referendum then on another General Election.

'I think they have had enough of this stuff, I think what they want is for the politicians to get on, deliver Brexit and deliver on their priorities, and Theresa May is by far the best person, she is the best placed person, to deliver that.'

As the knives came out for Mrs May this morning, former Chancellor George Osborne branded her a 'dead woman walking'.

Theresa May and husband Philip went to church in Berkshire today as she endured the General Election backlash from senior Tories who have said she will have to eventually step down

The Foreign Secretary sent the message to try to quash rumours he is on 'manoeuvres' and plotting to mount a leadership challenge against the embattled Prime Minister

BORIS BRUSHES OFF RUMOURS HE IS PLOTTING TO OUST THERESA Boris Johnson has brushed off reports he is plotting to oust Theresa May Boris Johnson has brushed off reports he is plotting to oust Theresa May, insisting he fully supported her attempts to form a minority government. Writing in The Sun, the Foreign Secretary said Mrs May deserved the backing of the Conservative Party having secured the largest number of Tory votes since the days of Margaret Thatcher. He said there was no appetite among the public for a leadership contest which could plunge the party into a fresh general election. 'To those that say the PM should step down, or that we need another election or even - God help us - a second referendum, I say come off it. Get a grip, everyone,' he said. 'This is the third year running that we have forced the people out to the polls. This is the third year running that they have been accosted at stations and asked for their support, or had campaign literature thrust into their hands. 'My judgment is that they are fed up to the back teeth with all this. They are fed up with politics, politicians and the uncertainty and dislocation of the electoral process. They overwhelmingly want us to get on with the job.' 'Now is the time for delivery  and Theresa May is the right person to continue that vital work', he said. Advertisement

She was also embarrassed as No10 prematurely announced it had done a deal with the Democratic Unionists to prop her up in power - only for the Northern Ireland party to make clear there was no agreement yet. Mrs May will meet DUP leader Arlene Foster in London on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson played down the prospect of him mounting a challenge for the time being today, describing the idea as 'tripe'.

But an ally told the Mail on Sunday: 'We need Bojo. We need a Brexiteer. We need somebody who can talk and connect with people like Jeremy Corbyn does. We need someone who can make Britain believe in itself again.'

Mrs May reshuffled her top team this afternoon in a bid to restore her authority over the government.

In a sign that she might be leaning towards softening the Brexit process in recognition of her weaker position in parliament, she has appointed her close ally and strong Remainer Damian Green as an effective deputy.

The PM has also been calling some of the key Tory candidates who were defeated last week to express her personal sadness. She was heavily criticised for failing to show any contrition after the terrible results came in on Friday.

The PM has also been calling some of the key Tory candidates who were defeated last week to express her personal sadness

The five front runners for the Conservative leadership are Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Brexit Secretary David Davis, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Michael Gove

Talk of a leadership bid came after Mrs May was rocked by the resignations of the two Downing Street advisers who have been blamed for the Election disaster  and a Mail on Sunday poll which found that half of voters want her to quit.

The MoS Survation poll found that 49 per cent of all voters want Mrs May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put.

And out of the contenders to replace her, Mr Johnson outscores his nearest rival, Chancellor Philip Hammond, by a margin of more than two to one.

Divine intervention? Theresa May heads to church Theresa May sought solace in church today as her premiership hung by a thread. She was pictured arriving in Sonning, Berkshire with her husband Philip this morning following her disastrous election result. The Tory leader managed to crack a slight smile as she stepped out of the church despite numerous calls for her resignation. Advertisement

A separate survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted Mrs May to announce her resignation immediately.

Few Tory MPs believe that Mrs May will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer after losing 13 Tory seats  squandering the party's previous working majority of 12.

Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street. MPs had pointed the finger at Mr Timothy for including the so-called 'dementia tax' in the Tory manifesto, which was linked to a dramatic drop in the party's support.

The aides have also been blamed by MPs and aides for creating a 'toxic' Downing Street in which officials and Ministers are subject to bullying.

It is understood that senior party figures had warned Mrs May that she could face an immediate leadership challenge if her aides stayed in their jobs.

Yesterday, Mr Timothy said he took responsibility for the failure of the campaign, but denied that the 'dementia tax' had been his 'personal pet policy'.

In a long parting statement he said: 'The simple truth is that Britain is a divided country: many are tired of austerity, many remain frustrated or angry about Brexit, and many younger people feel they lack the opportunities enjoyed by their parents' generation.'

The aides were replaced by a single chief of staff, former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat in the General Election.

Mrs May is expected to face a grilling by the party's powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers this week, where she is likely to face hard questions about the Election result.

The 66 votes that sank Theresa The Tories were just 66 votes away from gaining a majority, experts say. The party lost three key constituencies  Kensington by a mere 20 votes, Perth and North Perthshire by 21 votes and Dudley North by 22 votes. Had they secured them, they would have finished with enough seats for a working majority. The maximum number of voting MPs is 639 because Sinn Fein's seven MPs do not take up their seats, and the Speaker and his three deputies do not vote. Advertisement

Sources said there would have been a 'bloodbath' if Mr Timothy and Ms Hill were still in their jobs when the meeting started. The devastated Prime Minister cobbled together an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party last night after sending her Chief Whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast.

But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson  whose success north of the border was crucial in preventing Labour from forming a Government  expressed public disquiet about the alliance with the anti-gay rights, anti-abortion party.

She said she had sought 'clear assurances' from Mrs May that any deal would not set back equality.

There were also public protests against the plan, which would be the only way Mrs May could ensure that her legislation got through the Commons. More than 500,000 people signed a petition against the Tories doing a deal.

Possible candidates include Chancellor Philip Hammond (left) and Brexit Secretary David Davis (right). Mrs May is expected to face a grilling by the party's powerful 1922 Committee of backbenchers this week, where she is likely to face hard questions about the Election result

The turmoil forced Mrs May to delay a planned reshuffle of her middle-ranking Ministers until today. She is being urged to appoint a formal Deputy Prime Minister to shore up her position, with Brexit Secretary David Davis the favourite for the job.

Theresa May's top aides step down amid row Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill are pictured the day after the election before resigning Theresa May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street. MPs had pointed the finger at Mr Timothy for including the so-called 'dementia tax' in the Tory manifesto, which was linked to a dramatic drop in the party's support. The aides have also been blamed by MPs and aides for creating a 'toxic' Downing Street in which officials and Ministers are subject to bullying. It is understood that senior party figures had warned Mrs May that she could face an immediate leadership challenge if her aides stayed in their jobs. Advertisement

It would put Mr Davis in a difficult position, as he is widely believed to be considering a run at the leadership if there is a contest. Other possible candidates include Chancellor Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The Mail on Sunday poll by Survation  the only company to accurately predict the result of the General Election  makes grim reading for Mrs May.

A total of 41 per cent of voters think that if she does resign, she should do so immediately.

If she does quit, Mr Johnson is the clear favourite to succeed her. He is backed by 26 per cent of voters, with Mr Hammond the next favourite with 10 per cent.

Mr Davis is on nine per cent, Ms Rudd on eight per cent and Mr Gove on four per cent.

His spokesman added: 'He is completely supporting the PM and working closely with her to get the best deal in our Brexit negotiations.'

Respondents in our poll were scathing about Mrs May's performance in the campaign, with only 16 per cent thinking she had put in the best performance, compared to 67 per cent arguing for Mr Corbyn. When asked why Mrs May failed, the most common answer, 27 per cent, was the dementia tax.

The political paralysis caused by the Election is widely believed to have strengthened the hand of pro-EU MPs who support a 'soft' Brexit, in which the UK retains access to the tariff-free single market and customs union. This approach is backed by 47 per cent of voters, compared with 36 per cent who want a 'hard' Brexit.

Amber Rudd and Michael Gove are also possible replacements for the Prime Minister. A spokesman for Mr Johnson last night insisted he was fully behind Mrs May

The resignations of her closest aides leaves Mrs May an even more isolated figure. The 'cabal' which took most decisions consisted of her, her husband Philip, Mr Timothy and Ms Hill  with her Cabinet left out in the cold.

Majority of Tory voters want Theresa May to resign, says poll Few Tory MPs believe that Theresa May, pictured, will still be in No 10 by the end of the summer after losing 13 Tory seats A new poll has found that 49 per cent of all voters want Theresa May to resign, with only 38 per cent wanting her to stay put. And out of the contenders to replace her, Boris Johnson outscores his nearest rival, Chancellor Philip Hammond, by a margin of more than two to one, according to the Mail on Sunday. A separate survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted Mrs May to announce her resignation immediately. Advertisement

Craig Oliver, who was David Cameron's director of communications, welcomed the departure of the aides. In an article for today's Mail on Sunday, he demands to know how 'the Conservative party allowed these two people with such questionable judgment to influence so much and get it so wrong?'

And Katie Perrior, who worked with Mr Timothy and Ms Hill as Theresa May's director of communications until the Election, said the two aides were the reason that No 10 'bloody well stank' of 'arrogance'.

Tory peer Lord Heseltine added to the chorus of criticism, using an article in The Mail on Sunday to describe the Election as 'an unusually poor campaign, crippled by the reverse over what has been branded the 'dementia tax' and some unwise sloganeering.'

Tory MP Nigel Evans was even more scathing, describing the Conservative manifesto as 'full of poison from beginning to end'. He said: 'It was mean-spirited in trying to take school lunches off youngsters, it was irrelevant in trying to bring back fox-hunting and it was a full-frontal assault on our core support which was the elderly. The only thing that was missing from the manifesto was compulsory euthanasia for the over-70s.'

Tory grandee Lord Tebbit was withering too, saying: 'The idea of this Election had been conceived by Mr and Mrs May and two or three close advisers who know very little. They then elected to have a campaign of well over seven weeks. Madness. Because if you are ahead at the beginning, as all the polls indicated, the only thing that can happen during those seven weeks is that things get worse.'

Bookies' favourites for new Prime Minister 5/2 Boris Johnson 9/2 David Davis 11/10 Jeremy Corbyn 10/1 Amber Rudd 10/1 Phillip Hammon 10/1 Yvette Cooper 16/1 Michael Gove 16/1 Ruth Davidson 20/1 Clive Lewis 20/1 Dan Jarvis Source: William Hill Advertisement

Lord Mandelson also enters the debate today by calling for MPs who backed staying in the EU to use Mrs May's political weakness as an opportunity to put pressure on her to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

The former Labour Minister uses an article in this newspaper to hint at an alliance between moderates, saying that 'new parliamentary arithmetic' should be used to out-manoeuvre the 'headbangers' who want to cut most ties with Brussels.

He says: 'I believe if [Mrs May] shows flexibility, most of the country will back her. It would be churlish for people like me and other Remainers not to give her political backing. There are Labour MPs who want to work in the national interest and will support her if she does the right thing.'

Last night, Mrs May praised new chief of staff Gavin Barwell as 'first-class' and 'widely respected', adding: 'I want to reflect on the Election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.'

Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, stepped down yesterday amid growing criticism of the power which they wielded in Downing Street

Theresa May appoints former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell as new Downing St chief of staff after 'toxic' top aides resign Former housing minister Gavin Barwell has been appointed as the new Downing Street chief of staff. Mr Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat in the snap election called by Mrs May, will bring 'considerable experience' to the post, the Prime Minister said. His appointment comes following the resignation of Mrs May's closest aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who had served as joint chiefs of staff. Gavin Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat in the snap election, has been appointed as the new Downing Street chief of staff Mr Barwell was a staunch Remainer during the referendum campaign, and his appointment could spark nerves about Brexit being watered down Mrs May said: 'I'm delighted that Gavin Barwell accepted the role as my chief of staff. 'He has been a first class minister and is widely respected. 'He will bring considerable experience of the party to the post. 'As I said yesterday, I want to reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for. 'Gavin will have an important role to play in that. 'I look forward to working with him.' Mr Barwell said: 'I voted for Theresa May to become Prime Minister. 'I believe she is the best person to heal the divisions in our country that last year's referendum and the General Election have laid bare, getting the best Brexit deal for the whole country and leading us towards a brighter future outside the EU. 'I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as her chief of staff.' Prior to Mr Barwell's appointment, he had written a book called How to Win a Marginal Seat, which was published last year. It came after he secured his seat in the 2015 election with a margin of just 165 seats. However, he lost out to Labour's Sarah Jones by 5,000 votes. Mr Barwell previously was Minister of State for Housing and Planning Prior to being elected, Mr Barwell's career consisted of working as a backroom man for the Conservatives. He was in CCHQ for nearly two decades before moving into Parliament. It is thought that Mr Barwell has been brought in to shake up Theresa May's No 10, make it work better and answer critics who say she doesn't play nicely with the wider party. Mr Barwell was a whip while David Cameron was in Government and then a minsiter. He was a keen Remainer, so his appointment may irritate the hard Eurosceptic fringe. Advertisement

He was stung before but waspish Boris still craves the top job, says Johnson's biographer ANDREW GIMSON Boris Johnson once said: 'All politicians are like crazed wasps in a jam jar, each individually convinced that they're going to make it.' And no one has been more convinced he is going to make it all the way to No 10 than Johnson himself. He has long considered himself a Prime-Minister-in-waiting, but has been obliged to wait far longer than he hoped. For 11 years, he watched as the Tory Party was led by David Cameron, whom at Eton and Oxford Boris had viewed as an obscure and junior figure. He has now had to wait another year while the party was led by Theresa May, who humiliated him during the race for the Conservative leadership by ridiculing his abilities as a negotiator: 'The last time he did a deal with the Germans he came back with three nearly new water cannon.' Boris Johnson once said: 'All politicians are like crazed wasps in a jam jar, each individually convinced that they're going to make it' Well, the waiting may finally be over. At last the longed-for role of leader lies within his grasp. May is fatally wounded. After her wooden performance throughout the Election campaign, the Tories will never again consent to fight an election under her leadership. And the parliamentary arithmetic now makes a return to the polls within the next year more or less certain. As today's poll for this paper shows, a majority of the public want May to go now, and Johnson is their preferred choice to succeed her. This, then, should be Johnson's moment. But, as he well knows, the assassin in these cases seldom goes on to wear the crown. Michael Heseltine brought down Margaret Thatcher, but in the subsequent leadership contest was trounced by the less glamorous John Major. For all his undoubted charisma and popularity, there is a danger Johnson could be thwarted once again, just as he was in the race to succeed Cameron. And no one has been more convinced he is going to make it all the way to No 10 than Johnson himself Johnson's worst weakness is that many Tory MPs do not trust him. The shambles of his last leadership campaign, when he was knifed by Michael Gove, did not inspire confidence. On that occasion, he was quick-witted enough to throw in the towel rather than fight on to inevitable defeat. May duly rewarded him for his surrender by putting him in the Foreign Office. Here he has had mixed success  on the one hand taking a strong moral stance over Syrian leader Bashar Assad's gassing of his people, on the other being humiliated when he was prevented from travelling to meet G7 leaders with a plan to impose greater sanctions on Assad's Russian ally. Johnson was reportedly so fearful of being 'toast' that he went to No 10 to beg for his job. The Election campaign brought him little succour. It contained no role for Johnson. It was all about Theresa May's 'strong and stable leadership', a concept he will have regarded with inward derision, and which many voters found unconvincing and dreary. Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn had a good campaign, and gained 32 seats by appearing relatively relaxed, humane and genuine. How Johnson will have longed to take on the man he branded a 'mutton-headed old mugwump'. Thursday's result has now opened up that opportunity. Could Johnson be the man to save the Tories in their hour of desperation? Certainly, he remains one of the few front-rank politicians who can change the atmosphere just by turning up to the local shopping centre. Corbyn, we must concede, appears to be another. But, his critics point out, there is far more to being leader than electioneering. There is Europe, the issue on which so many Tory leaders have impaled themselves. May made it her practice to decide her policy on everything, including Europe, with a tiny group of trusted advisers. For 11 years, he watched as the Tory Party was led by David Cameron, whom at Eton and Oxford Boris had viewed as an obscure and junior figure The next Tory leader, whoever he or she may be, will have to do things differently. On Brexit, there will have to be both consultation and listening, as well as, ultimately, leadership. There would be a kind of poetic justice in putting this most difficult of tasks in the hands of Boris, the man who did more than anyone else to swing the Leave vote. It would be more poetic still if, for this momentous task, he was able to secure the assistance of Michael Gove, whose appearances on the airwaves throughout the election reminded people just how brilliantly he can make the Tory case. Such a pact would be an astonshing act of forgiveness after Gove's betrayal last year. Not the least of Johnson's qualifications is his proven ability to take wider views about Brexit, rather than get imprisoned in some self-inflicted orthodoxy. Can he pull it off? The days ahead will prove whether his wait is finally at an end. Advertisement
They earn more than most people could ever dream of from the comfort of their couch.

Meet Australia's gamer girls, who pocket 'millions' of dollars streaming themselves playing video games from their homes.

The young women have lifted the lid on what it's like getting paid to stream themselves play in an eye-opening segment on 60 Minutes.

Chelsea - or XMINKS as she is known in the gaming world - draws a six-figure salary from live-streaming herself gaming

Chelsea amassed a whopping 350,000 followers who stream her games and watch them live

One woman, Chelsea - or XMINKS as she is known in the gaming world - draws a six-figure salary through online subscriptions, ad revenue and sponsorships.

She has amassed a whopping 350,000 followers who stream her games and watch them live on platform Twitch.tv.

'They enjoy watching you, your personality, how you interact with them. It's more hanging out with them rather than watching you play.'

Despite earning a university degree in pharmacy, she earns more after swapping her scrubs for headsets.

'People could make between $1000 ... There's people that earn millions,' Chelsea said.

She said her income fluctuates month-to-month, but it's always: 'a lot more than I was earning at the pharmacy.'

Chelsea said some online streaming girls can earn 'millions'

She has amassed a whopping 350,000 followers who stream her games and watch them live on platform Twitch.com

Despite earning a university degree in pharmacy, she makes more from the world of in e-gaming

You'd be forgiven for thinking it's a dream job.

But another gamer, Kathleen - known online as LOSERFRUIT - revealed she had been subject to some nightmarish treatment from her male viewers.

'I get a bit of heat sometimes,' Kathleen admitted.

'Stupid things like "you're not good, because you're a girl", "attention-seeking whore", "where do you live?", "you have a nice body", "I'd like to see you with your clothes off".

And that's not the worst of it - sometimes the harassment can spill over from the virtual world into real life.

'I've had friends that have been stalked at events,' Kathleen says. 'But it's the one percent, if that'.

Kathleen, known online as Loserfruit, revealed she has been subject to vile abuse at the hands of male gamers

Kathleen said she had received donations of $5000 from online admirers

She is paid not just from streaming, but donations from online admirers who 'just like her'.

She estimated the largest donations she had received somewhere in between $1000 and $5000.

'This is a very unique opportunity that we have that people before us did not necessarily have,' she says.

'This industry is booming and it's out of control.'


Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara answered in the affirmative when asked Sunday by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos if there's evidence against President Trump to begin a case for obstruction of justice.

'I think there's absolutely evidence to begin a case,' Bharara, who was fired by Trump in March, said on This Week.

He added, for all the 'armchair speculators,' that 'no one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction.'

'It's also true, I think, from based on what I see as a third-party and out of government that there's no basis to say there's no obstruction,' the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York told Stephanopoulos.

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Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Sunday that there's 'absolutely' enough evidence against President Trump to start an obstruction of justice case

Preet Bharara (right) sat down for his first televised interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos (left) since being fired from his post by the Trump administration in March

Stephanopoulos brought up comments made by Alan Dershowitz, who's defended the president and argued that it's in Trump's authority to direct the FBI to stop investigating any individual.

Bharara didn't buy Dershowitz's thinking, he said.

'And this point on whether or not the president has legal authority to fire or to direct an investigation, I don't really get it,' Bharara said. 'It's a little silly to me.'

'The fact that you have authority to remove someone from office doesn't automatically immunize that act from criminal responsibility,' Bharara said.

This marked Bharara's first television interview since getting the boot from the Trump administration.

He was also seen publicly on Thursday, attending the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, starring former FBI Director James Comey.

Bharara was seated second row.

Spotted on Capitol Hill Thursday, fired U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, who sat second row at the James Comey hearing on Thursday

Fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara sits second row behind former FBI Director James Comey at Thursday's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing

Mother Jones journalist David Corn spied Preet Bharara in the audience and asked him how he was able to attend

'I have great connections at StubHub,' Bharara joked to Mother Jones' David Corn, who was also seated nearby.

Corn had asked Bharara if Comey had requested he attend, as the two are friends and former colleagues.

In reality, Bharara's seat came courtesy of Sen. Chuck Schumer, the current Senate minority leader, according to CNN.

Before becoming a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara served as Schumer's chief counsel.

Schumer was among those who criticized the Trump administration when Bharara was fired in March.

'Preet Bharara was an excellent US attorney. Took on Wall St, public corruption & terrorists. Hell be sorely missed,' the New York Democrat tweeted at the time.

Bharara axing was newsworthy because it represented a flip-flop from the president.

Preet Bharara (second row, right) is seen peaking out from the audience as FBI Director James Comey begins his testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is photographed before the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey begins

In November 2016, shortly after Donald Trump was elected, Bharara met with his fellow New Yorker, the president-elect, in Trump Tower and was asked to stay on.

He agreed.

Then, in March, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered all the U.S. attorneys who were holdovers, 45 in all, from the Obama administration to resign.

Bharara refused and was fired the next day.

'To this day I have no idea why I was fired,' Bharara told Stephanopoulos Sunday.

In listening to Comey's testimony Thursday, Bharara said he felt a sense of 'deja vu,' as Trump called him multiple times before the president's swearing-in, and then once after taking office.

This was similar to Trump calling the FBI director and inviting him over to the White House for dinner, or meeting with him in the Oval Office alone.

'The number of times that President Obama called me in seven-and-a-half years was zero,' Bharara explained.

'The number of types I would have been expected to be called by the president of the United States would be zero because there has to be some kind of arm's length relationship given the jurisdiction that various people had,' he continued.

Bharara said when Trump called him in December it was to 'shoot the breeze.'

'It was a little bit uncomfortable, but he was not the president, he was only the president-elect,' Bharara said.

The former U.S. attorney said Trump called him one other time as president-elect and then again as president, but Bharara didn't take the final call.

'It appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship,' Bharara said, though wouldn't go as far as Comey and call it 'patronage.'

'And it may be hard for viewers of yours to understand if you're a layperson and not in the Justice Department, you know, what's wrong with that,' he continued. 'The CEO of a company wants to call a field manager somewhere in the country because he thinks he's an up-and-comer, what's wrong with that?'

'The problem is the Justice Department is different,' Bharara said.

As the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara's jurisdiction included Trump Tower and other Trump business interests.

So when Trump's final call came in, Bharara didn't call the president back.

'So the call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call,' he said. 'And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people.'

While he said he still doesn't know why he was asked to leave his post, he's moved on.

'You know, it doesn't bother me. I'm living a great good life, and very happily. But I have no idea,' he said.
Thousands of visitors flock to the event (Source: VOV)

The two-day event houses more than 120 pavilions, including food stalls.

Visitors could taste Vietnamese traditional dishes, buy handicraft products, and join an exhibition affirming Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong said he hopes the festival will contribute to strengthening the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries.



President of New Komeito Party Yamaguchi Natsuo took the occasion to highlight that the relations between Vietnam and Japan are growing in various fields such as politics, economics and culture.

The Vietnam Festival was first held in 2008 as part of the activities to celebrate the 35th founding anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties.

There are around 200,000 Vietnamese living in Japan, mostly students and trainees./.
John Spencer Moton, 33, was arrested Tuesday on Dallas on five counts of endangering a child and one count each of failure to identify and resisting arrest

A Texas man has been arrested after cops found five malnourished children living in squalor among cockroaches, feces and rotting food in his apartment.

John Spencer Moton, 33, was arrested Tuesday on Dallas on five counts of endangering a child and one count each of failure to identify and resisting arrest. Bail has been set at $9,750.

The children were girls ages five, four and three, as well as and boys ages two and one.

Police arrived at Moton's apartment around 2.20pm in response to a concerned neighbor's call about a baby that had been crying for a long time, according to an arrest warrant affidavit reported by the Dallas Morning News.

'What do you want?' yelled Moton through the door as officers knocked, according to police.

After opening the door, Moton told police that there were five children in the apartment and that everything was ok. But the cops noticed within seconds that a strong odor of filth and feces emanated from the apartment.

The apartment was located near this intersection in Dallas. Police called the conditions inside 'deplorable' including feces, cockroaches and rotten food

When questioned, Moton refused to identify himself and stepped outside and shut the door, leaving the children inside, cops say.

After returning into the residence several times, Moton returned outside carrying one of the children, according to the affidavit.

Moton refused to put the child down, and took an 'aggressive stance' while clenching his fist, cops say. One officer grabbed the man's wrist while another wrestled the child safely away.

When Moton continued to refuse police orders and surrender, officers used a stun gun on him and took him into custody, cops say.

Upon entering the residence, police found the overwhelming stench of rotten food and feces made it difficult to 'walk through without vomiting'.

In the living room a pit bull was tied to the fireplace, and three kids sat on a couch covered in feces, cops say.

The fifth child was in a crib wearing a soiled diaper.

Cops say the refrigerator was full of rotten food, with nothing edible. Rotten food was also found in rooms throughout the apartment.

Two closets appeared to have been converted into a makeshift playpen and a bed made from blankets covered with rotten food and insects, according to police.

Cockroaches and flies were throughout the property, said cops, who called the situation 'deplorable.'

The relationship between Moton and the children was not immediately clear.

Police found Moton had an outstanding warrant for speeding in Benbrook, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth.
Theresa May reportedly called her doomed snap election after being told to by Jean-Claude Juncker.

The European Commission chief pressed the Tory leader to go to the polls amid concerns her slim majority would hold up Brexit talks.

But the gamble backfired spectacularly and Mrs May is now barely holding on as Prime Minister after her majority was wiped out.

Although she appears determined to limp on in government anyway and is set to meet DUP leader Arlene Foster on Tuesday to thrash out a deal to get the all-important backing of her ten MPs.

Jean-Claude Juncker embraced Theresa May outside No 10 in April where the pair met for Brexit talks. He reportedly urged the PM to hold the General Election

The revelation is a fresh humiliation for the PM, who called the election to beef up her majority to 'strengthen her hand' in Brexit talks, but was punished by the electorate in the ballot box.

An EU source told The Observer reported: 'During bilaterals, in the margins of summits, Juncker repeatedly told her he thought she should do it.'

Another European diplomat added: 'People don't understand. We want a deal more than anyone.

'We are professionals, we have a mandate to get a deal and we want to be successful in that.'

The EU Commission President pictured in Brussels in March, urged the election because he feared Theresa May's small majority would hold up a Brexit settlement

Mr Juncker reportedly urged Mrs May to call the election because he was worried the the big issues around Brexit - like a possible divorce bill - would not get passed with her slender majority of 17 seats.

Announcing the surprise snap election on the steps of No 10 in April, Mrs May said she had called it because elements in Britain were trying to frustrate Brexit.

The 66 votes that sank Theresa The Tories were just 66 votes away from gaining a majority, experts say. The party lost three key constituencies  Kensington by a mere 20 votes, Perth and North Perthshire by 21 votes and Dudley North by 22 votes. Had they secured them, they would have finished with enough seats for a working majority. The maximum number of voting MPs is 639 because Sinn Feins seven MPs do not take up their seats, and the Speaker and his three deputies do not vote. Advertisement

She said: 'If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue as the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most pivotal stage in the run up to the next general election.

'Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.

'So we need a general election and we need one now.'

And during her ill-fated campaign she hammered the point that only she could be trusted to stand up to Brussels and get a good Brexit deal.

Mrs May and Mr Juncker were embroiled in a row after aides to the EU made damaging leaks about a No 10 dinner between the pair and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

The 90 minute dinner broke up with Mr Juncker insisting he was 'ten times more sceptical' about the prospects of a deal within two years, according to a highly partisan leak in the German press.

The new account, based entirely on Brussels sources, reveals Mrs May urged 'let us make Brexit a success' but Mr Juncker replied 'Brexit cannot be a success'.

The negative briefings sparked a furious reaction from the PM who accused Eurocrats of trying to skew the British election.
The US has carried out its first airstrike against Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, under new authorities granted by Donald Trump.

In March Trump ended Obama-era restrictions on drone strikes in Somalia, after the army said doing so would help protect US bases and interests in the reason.

On Sunday a US drone attacked an Al-Shabaab supply center in conjunction with Somali special forces, destroying the base and killing eight militants, the Pentagon said.

A joint US-Somali attack on the forces of Al-Qaeda allies Al-Shabaab in Somalia has killed eight militants and destroyed a key command and supply hub, sources in both governments said

In March Donald Trump repealed Obama-era restrictions on drone bombings in Somalia. The country's president, Mohamed Abdullahi (right), said the attack would disrupt the militants

The targeted base - located 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu - was one of the group's main training and command posts, the Pentagon said.

The attack came in response to attacks within the country by the militants.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the US attack was made using a drone.

The base was in the Middle Juba region in southern Somalia, said the office of Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi.

'Earlier today, I authorised our special forces with the support of our international partners to conduct a strike against an Al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow,' he said.

'This was a successful strike that destroyed a key Al-Shabaab command and supply hub.

'This will ultimately disrupt the enemy's ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.'

There was no immediate comment from al Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab (fighters pictured) want to overthrow Somalia's internationally backed government. On Thursday the group killed 59 people in an attack on a military base

On Thursday, Al-Shabaab killed 59 people in an attack on a military base in the semi-autonomous Puntland region in northern Somalia.

Since 2007 the group has aimed to topple Somalia's government, drive out African Union peacekeeping troops and impose its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

Since being pushed out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011, Al-Shabaab has lost control of most of Somalia's cities and towns.

But it still retains a strong presence in swathes of the south and center and still carries out major gun and bomb attacks.

In early May an American soldier was killed in a nighttime raid in Somalia.

It appeared to be the first US military death in combat there since the infamous events of 'Black Hawk Down' 24 years ago, when 18 American servicemen died in what is now called the Battle of Mogadishu.

US special forces have been deployed in Somalia for years. Drone and missile strikes have also been used against Shabaab commanders and foot soldiers.
Ivanka Trump was pictured leaving her New York home on Sunday morning, as she and husband Jared Kushner enjoy a weekend away from DC.

The First Daughter was pictured leaving the Trump Park Avenue building, where she and husband Jared Kushner own a penthouse apartment, on Sunday morning with packed bags as she was ushered by Secret Service into a waiting car.

Ivanka has been in her home state this weekend for a baby shower for her sister-in-law Lara.

They were joined at the party by her mother, Ivana Trump; Donald Trump Jr's wife, Vanessa; Lara's mother, Linda Ann Sykes; and others at upmarket Italian restaurant Altesi Ristorante in New York's Upper East Side - a few blocks from Ivanka and Jared's home.

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Ivanka Trump was pictured leaving Trump Park Avenue on Sunday as she was ushered into a waiting car by Secret Service members (pictured, left and right)

Packed bags were taken into the car (pictured) as Ivanka left the building where she and husband Jared Kushner own a penthouse apartment

Lara Trump (center), who is expecting her first child with Donald's second-oldest son Eric in September, posted a number of pictures on Instagram of her baby shower on Saturday, including one of her flanked by sisters-in-law Ivanka and Vanessa Trump

Ivanka attended her sister-in-law's shower along with her mother Ivana (left) and her daughter Arabella (right). The three generations are seen looking at one of the cakes before the shower

Ivanka wore a floral dress and nude lace-up heels both from her namesake brand when she stepped out of the Trump Park Avenue building in Lenox Hill.

Lara, dressed in a sleeveless turquoise blue gown, posted snaps with husband Eric, mother-in-law Ivana, and family friends such as Trump adviser and former The Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault and Fox News Channel's Jeanine Pirro.

The shower was full of 'baby boy themed' decorations from balloons to cakes - three of them, in fact - to party favors.

On several Instagram posts, Lara wrote: 'I'm so blessed' as smiling family members placed hands on the proud mom-to-be's belly.

Upon her return to the nation's capital, Ivanka will likely be preparing for an upcoming 'workforce development week' that she is spearheading.

The administration will hold a series of events from Tuesday to Thursday to highlight vocational training and professional apprenticeships - a concept that was inspired by Ivanka's tour of Siemens Technik Akademie in Berlin in April.

'The reality is that there are still Americans seeking employment despite low unemployment rates, and companies are struggling to fill vacancies for positions that require varied levels of skills and training,' she said.

'So the Trump administration is committed to working very closely to close the skills gap.'

Ivanka (picturd in New York on Saturday) wore a floral dress and nude lace-up heels both from her namesake brand when she stepped out of the Trump Park Avenue building in Lenox Hill

Both Ivanka's dress and her heels are from her namesake brand, which was controversially dropped by retailers like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus earlier this year (The Kushners are pictured in New York on Saturday)

Kushner, who headed out for a morning jog earlier on Saturday, traded in his workout clothes for a crisp button-down shirt and matched with his son Joseph

The initiative comes after 'infrastructure week', which was relentlessly mocked online after it was dramatically overshadowed by former FBI director James Comey's testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The leak-prone administration has continually to struggled with its communications and it's likely things will go off the rails next week as well with Attorney General Jeff Sessions due to appear before a Senate subcommittee.

While the hearing is supposed to focus on the Justice Department's budget request, Senator Patrick Leah, a Democrat from Vermont, says he will confront Sessions about his role in Comey's dismissal.

The White House announced an initiative to encourage businesses to create new apprenticeship programs and reorganize existing ones to maximize the efficiency of $16.7 billion in funding a year.

Ivanka (pictured in May 2017 in Washington, DC) will be spearheading an upcoming 'workforce development week'. The administration will hold a series of events from Tuesday to Thursday to highlight vocational training and professional apprenticeships

The initiative comes after 'infrastructure week', which was relentlessly mocked online after it was dramatically overshadowed by former FBI director James Comey's testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Comey's dramatic testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday drew about 19.5million people

Bars across the country opened early and crowds gathered for viewing parties (pictured, in Washington DC)

The administration's first attempt at policy themes was mocked online with trolls taking to Twitter to write: 'Infrastructure week seems to be going well for the Trump administration.'

Comey's dramatic testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday drew about 19.5million people as bars across the country opened early for viewing parties.

In riveting testimony, Comey disputed 'shifting explanations' that followed his firing, and specifically pointed to Trump's televised comment that he fired Comey because of the FBI's Russia investigation.

His remarks laid out the carefully constructed beginnings of a case that President Trump used his power and his relationship with Comey in a way that might have taken investigative pressure fired security advisor Mike Flynn - and remove a 'cloud' that was hanging over his young administration.
Black cab drivers have threatened to boycott Tesco over fears the supermarket giant is going into a partnership with Uber.

Cabbies are furious after reports claimed Britain's biggest grocery chain is set to broker a deal with Uber that will allow Clubcard holders to use points to pay for journeys.

Drivers say such a scheme would have a big impact on their trade in taking customers to and from the supermarkets.

Black cab drivers have threatened to boycott Tesco over fears the supermarket giant is going into a partnership with Uber

Trade magazine The Grocer broke news of the deal yesterday, but said Tesco refused to confirm or deny its plans.

However, the retailer said it would tell its customers first if such a link-up were to be agreed.

Angry cab drivers have slammed Tesco for the proposed partnership and have now called for people to stop shopping at their branches across the country.

Steve Kenton, editor of taxi drivers' online news resource TaxiPoint, told The Grocer: 'I have been reliably informed by the sources that the partnership will be linked to Tesco's Clubcard.

'I am led to believe that any points gleaned from using your Clubcard can be redeemed against future hotel bookings and Uber rides.

'Are Tesco also comfortable with Uber's questionable reputation and the allegations that a proportion of its drivers may not be fully insured for hire and reward, as well as having serious issues surrounding their topographical knowledge?

'This situation is not only worrying for the licensed taxi industry in London but should be concerning the taxi industry across the UK.

Cabbies are furious after reports claimed that Britain's biggest grocery chain is set to broker a deal with Uber that will allow Clubcard holders to use points to pay for journeys

'The taxi industry both London-wide and nationwide has to mobilise and lobby Tesco virulently to make sure Tesco's CEO is fully aware of both the situation and their responsibilities to the public. '

The magazine said on social media, drivers also expressed their concern.

One driver calling himself Ray tweeted: 'National Boycott of Tesco coming on, can now use points for Uber my wife has told me. Drivers please shop elsewhere. '

Another added: 'Tesco I'd advise you to remove any links with the toxic company Uber ASAP because taxi drivers up & down this land will boycott you.'

A Tesco spokeswoman told The Grocer: 'We partner with more than 400 Clubcard partners so that customers can get even more value back when shopping at Tesco.'
One year after the attack on the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, the 49 victims are being remembered, including one victim who was left unclaimed longer than anyone else.

After the attack on June 12, 2016, the families of 48 of the victims quickly claimed their deceased relatives, but one victim's father refused to take the body of his son because he was gay.

The victim was not identified when the Orlando Latino first reported the story last year, but the outlet did say the man was Puerto Rican.

The outlet said the father didn't claim the body 'because the son was gay. Because the father was ashamed'.

But eventually the body was claimed by the victim's sister, who lived in Orlando, according to the Advocate.

A friend of one of the shooting victims at Pulse Nightclub, kneels in front of a Puerto Rican flag at a memorial site near the Orlando Regional Medical Center on June 16, 2016 in Orlando

Visitors have a walk around the makeshift memorial outside the Pulse nightclub one year after the massacre in Orlando

All the victims were released to relatives by June 16, according to the Orange County Medical Examiners Office.

But the victim's story - whose father refused to even take his son from the morgue - is still relevant today.

'It was one of those things brought to light by what happened in Pulse, one of the things many people in the Orlando community didnt know was happening at all,' Orlando Latino reporter Maria Padilla told the Advocate.

Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan became the first openly gay elected official in central Florida in 2000.

After the attack on the nightclub last year, she found herself talking to many families and parents about their confusion over their loved ones' sexual orientation, she told the Advocate.

But when she found out that the father refused to take his son's remains from the morgue, even she was surprised.

She told the outlet that after looking into it, she found the father had not known his son was gay.

Flowers for the 49 victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting lie at the front of the nightclub last year. As people remember the victims one year after the attack, the story of one unclaimed victim remains especially poignant as it points to stigma against LGBT people in some communities

The Orlando Latino first reported the story of an unclaimed victim after the attack last year. The man's father refused to take his son's body from the morgue after he found out his son was gay, which he had not known before

In Padilla's article last year, she pointed to persistent homophobia in Puerto Rico, which could have led to the victim being left unclaimed by his family.

She wrote: 'The pain of being Puerto Rican and gay is real. In the islands macho culture (relative to the states), anti-gay bias is not subtle and has reached the highest levels of government.'

The story remains poignant as all the victims are remembered one year after the attack, the worst mass shooting in recent US history.

Starting in the early hours Monday, and continuing almost 24 hours later, survivors, victims' families, city officials and central Florida residents will remember the victims with four services in Orlando.

The first service is closed to the public, and it's being held at the nightclub for survivors, local officials and club employees.

It will overlap with the exact time that gunman Omar Mateen began firing shots - a little after 2am on June 12, 2016.

It is followed by another midday service at the nightclub, and an evening gathering in the heart of downtown Orlando.

A final, music-filled late-night service is being held at the nightclub.

The Orlando Latino pointed to persistent homophobia in Puerto Rico, which could have led to the victim being left unclaimed by his father
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Dramatic pictures have emerged showing government forces shelling civilian neighbourhoods in the Syrian city of Daraa as they attempt to win back control from rebel groups.

Fireballs and dense smoke was seen rising from buildings in the southern city as Bashar al-Assad and his allies carried out airstrikes there on Sunday, despite the area being included in a Russian-back 'de-escalation zone'

The dictator is attempting to wrest back control of the city's southern neighbourhoods and surrounding villages after a two-month assault by rebel and Islamist groups earlier this year.

Bashar al-Assad's forces launched 170 missile and barrel bomb attacks on the southern city of Daraa on Sunday as the dictator attempts to wrest back control from rebel groups and Islamists who seized control in an offensive earlier this year

Three commanders from Southern Front and two more from the Free Syrian Army, generally considered a moderate rebel group by western leaders, were killed in the city this weekend, according to local media

The British-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights reports that 90 missiles and 80 barrel bombs were dropped on the city on Sunday alone, though give no word of casualties.

Jets and helicopters flying from the Shayrat airbase in Homs, which Donald Trump bombed with cruise missiles earlier this year, have been carrying out the strikes.

On Saturday three commanders from Southern Front, an ally of the Free Syrian Army, one of the oldest rebel groups and considered moderate by western leaders, were killed in the city.

Two more leaders, this time from the Free Syrian Army itself, were also killed on Sunday, according to a report by pro-government news outlet Al-Masdar News.

More than 170 missiles and barrel bombs have been dropped on the city in the past 24 hours according to the Britian-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

The regime has been bombing Daraa almost continuously since the rebel offensive there ended in March, despite the city being included in a 'de-escalation' zone proposed by Russia, Iran and Turkey in a deal drawn up last month

Assad's forces have been relentlessly bombing Daraa since the end of the rebel offensive there in March.

There has been no let-up in the fighting despite the area being included in a so-called 'de-escalation zone' proposed by Russia, Iran and Turkey at a conference last month.

The Syrian government has agreed to abide by the zones, despite not being a signatory to the deal, but also reiterated its commitment to hunt terrorists 'wherever' they appear.

Assad's regime refers to all groups fighting the government as terrorists.

Daraa saw some of the earliest demonstrations against the Assad family's four-decade rule in 2011, which led to the bloody civil war which has yet to be resolved.
Members of a loyalist marching band have been filmed fighting outside an Irish bar in Liverpool city centre by shocked members of the public.

Members of the Apprentice Boys of Derry were filmed marching along Renshaw Street in Liverpool late yesterday evening.

Scuffles broke out as the parade passed the Liffey Irish bar.

Wintesses said members of a loyalist marching band were involved in scuffles outside the Liffey Irish Bar on Renshaw Street in LIverpool City Centre yesterday evening

Police confirmed they were called to an incident during the march last night in Liverpool

A number of loyalist bands took part in an impromptu march yesterday evening

Witnesses said the first they knew of the march is when they heard loud drumming

The band appeared to be playing loyalist song 'The Sash my Father Wore' when the violence erupted.

Merseyside police said they were contacted around 7.25pm with reports of a disturbance on Renshaw Street.

A spokesman said: 'A male was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and a second male was arrested for a public order offence.

'There were no reports of anyone being injured.'

It is understood the march was a response to Prime Minister Theresa May's request for the DUP to support her government.

A video of the incident was captured by Beth Redmond who posted a video, which has been viewed more than 350,000 times on Facebook.

A video of the violent scenes was viewed more than 350,000 times on Facebook

Witnesses said the atmosphere on the street at the time of the march was 'tense'

Merseyside Police said two men were arrested following the disturbances last night

Ms Redmond told the Liverpool Echo: 'It was about 7.30pm and we were in Renshaw Street when we heard all these drums.

'I turned and immediately saw the union flags and realised it must be a protestant march. I dont know who started the fighting but it happened outside the Liffey pub - there were people pouring drinks over peoples heads and fighting and there were glasses being smashed.

'They had to shut the pub and some of the marchers were banging on the windows and being threatening. The police came but the fighting seemed to move up the road. I didnt actually hear anything political being said - there was mainly just shouting and swearing.'

Ms Redmond described the atmosphere in the area during the confrontation as 'tense'.

Meanwhile, the Orange Order in Portadown wants the DUP to petition PM Theresa May to remove the ban on their march down the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road.

The organisation has been banned from marching through the nationalist area following repeated riots during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Police remain unsure whether killer Salman Abedi acted alone or with accomplices

Detectives investigating the Manchester Arena bombing still remain unsure whether killer Salman Abedi acted alone or with accomplices in a terror network.

The 22-year-old detonated a device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 March, killing 22 people, including seven children, and injuring more than 100 others.

A total of 21 people have been arrested suspicion of terrorism offences but the final two who were being held were today released from police custody.

Nobody has been charged in relation to the attack and police are searching a landfill site for a suitcase they believe Abedi may have used to store explosive materials used to make the bomb.

Police have today released new images of Abedi waking through Manchester with the blue suitcase, which could contain crucial evidence.

Last week, Abedi's brother Hashem, 20, told Libyan investigators working alongside British police in Tripoli that he had helped his brother buy components for the bomb in the UK, but claimed not to know the details of his plan.

It is believed that the device was put together at various addresses used by Abedi in Manchester before he targeted the pop concert.

Police have released new images of Abedi walking through Manchester with a blue suitcase, which they believe contained bomb materials he discarded after assembling the device

Police have released CCTV images of Salman Abedi as he made his way around Manchester

Pictures show the terrorist hauling the blue suitcase through the streets before the attack

Police have searched 29 houses and found evidence of explosive materials at several locations, each with links to Abedi.

Russ Jackson, head of counterterrorism policing for northwest England, said police believe Abedi assembled the bomb himself.

But he said it was unclear, 'whether he acted alone in obtaining the materials for the device ... and whether others knew or were complicit in the storage of materials knowing what was being planned.'

Jackson said some of those arrested had offered 'accounts which explain innocent contact with Abedi.'

He said risk to the public had been considered before suspects were released.

Barrels like this were stored in the car, which Abedi used to store bomb making materials

Key to the investigation is this white Nissa Micra, in which Abedi stored bomb-making items

Greater Manchester Police issued photos of the Nissan and a red and black holdall and appealed for anyone who recognised either to come forward

Suspects arrested under terrorism laws can be held for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.

He revealed that Abedi, who left the UK on 15 April and travelled to Libya before returning on May 18, had sought to transfer money out of the country before the attack.

Key to the investigation is a white Nissa Micra, in which Abedi stored bomb-making items.

Det Chief Supt Jackson said the bomber had been tracked buying nuts from a DIY store that were used for shrapnel as well as the tin which is thought to have contained the explosive.

Det Chief Supt Jackson said they wished to interview Abedi's younger brother, Hashim Abedi, 20, who also left the UK on 15 April.

He is been detained in Libya along with his father Ramadan, 51.

It has been reported that Hashim Abedi told the militia group holding him that he helped his brother buy the bomb-making equipment in Britain and he'd insisted the device was not smuggled into the country.
The family of a New York woman are suing the woman's son after he told doctors at her Bronx retirement home to let her die.

Leonie LaMont, 65, is being denied water and food by employees of Hebrew Home at the behest of her son, Donovan Johnson, who says she is brain-dead. But her family say that's a lie.

'The son wants her dead,' Sandra Prowley, a lawyer LaMont's relatives, told the New York Post. 'It's all about money.'

Leonie Lamont, 65, has had her feeding tube removed by Hebrew Home nursing home after her son said she was brain-dead. But her family say she can still recover

Johnson, 45, claims that his mother, a former nurse, is in a vegetative state; he had her feeding tube removed last week so that she can die.

But LaMont's aunt, Marian McPherson, 64, says that the woman tried to speak this month, and that a nurse told her she isn't brain-dead.

Instead, she says, this is an attempt by Johnson to kill his mother in order to get his hands on her money.

LaMont immigrated from Jamaica in 1967 and worked at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital to support her son, McPherson said.

'He kept pushing her around asking her for money, money, money,' McPherson said. 'She would say to me, 'I'm so fed up with my son. He don't want to work.'

She added: 'You can't just put this woman down like that.

'I hate to see her die. She can get better and live, I see that. She's not a vegetable.'

Last month McPherson and her family appealed to the state Supreme Court to ask them to send a representative to see LaMon before the tube was removed.

'My niece is not dead, and her life is in your hands,' she said.

That request was turned down. The family is now being taken to the Appellate Division.

The Hebrew Home says that it is following the law by allowing a person's next of kin to make decisions for those that are incapacitated, absent a living will.

Johnson did not return a request for comment by the New York Post.
Chairman of the Cuban National Assembly Esteban Lazo Hernandez (Source: VNA)

Since Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic ties in December 1960, the bilateral relations have been incessantly reinforced and developed.



Fidel Castro was the first and only foreign leader to visit the southern liberation area of Vietnam in 1973, when the war was still going on.



Cuba was also the first Latin American country and one of the first nations in the world to recognise the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.



After the wartime, Cuba still stood side by side with Vietnamese people in the cause of national reconstruction and development, helping the Southeast Asian country to build transport infrastructure, develop animal husbandry and train human resources in the fields of agriculture, construction, architecture, medicine, and social sciences.



Promoting that special tradition, Vietnamese and Cuban leaders and peoples have spared no efforts to deepen the bilateral relations via regular high-level visits and implementation of cooperation mechanisms such as the inter-governmental committee, the Parties theoretical workshop, the foreign ministries political consultation, and the defence-security dialogue.



Both nations have also maintained coordination and mutual support at international organizations and multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations.



Regarding the parliamentary relations, the Vietnamese National Assembly regularly sends delegations to Cuba.

Most recently were the visits to Cuba by NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong in February 2017 and a NA specialized group in March 2017.

A Vietnamese delegation led by NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attended the funeral of Cuban leader Fidel Castro in November 2016.

The two legislatures also established friendship parliamentarians groups.

Along with sound political relations, the bilateral economic-trade ties also received due attention. Two-way trade reached USD247.64 million in 2016. Currently, Vietnam is the second largest trade partner of Cuba in Asia. Vietnam mainly exports rice, coal, chemicals, garment-textile and computers to Cuba while importing pharmaceutical products from the market.



Vietnam helped Cuba implement a rice farming project in 2011-2015, which yielded good outcomes, as did some projects in cultivating maize, soybean and developing aquaculture. The two sides will consider more agriculture-fisheries joint projects in the coming time.

Over the past few years, the Vietnamese government has encouraged and created the most favourable conditions for the two countries businesses to expand cooperation.

More Vietnamese firms are keen to explore investment opportunities in Cuba. The Latin American country is calling for Vietnamese investment in food production, oil and gas exploration and mining, industry, tourism, bio-technology, and priority fields at the Mariel special economic zone.

Both nations also hope to boost cooperation in telecommunication, defence-security, education-training, culture-medicine, and science-technology.



During the trip to Vietnam, the Cuban parliamentary delegation wants to study the role, functions, apparatus and activities of the Vietnamese legislature, especially of the NA Standing Committee, as well as share experience in renovation and national development./.
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Supporters of LGBT rights mobilized for marches and rallies Sunday in Washington DC and other cities across the country, celebrating their gains but angered over threats to those advances.

The centerpiece event, the Equality March in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Leaders of those groups have been embittered by several actions of President Donald Trump's administration - including the rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

The activists also complain Trump has stocked his administration with many foes of LGBT-rights advances, including Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

A large rainbow flag is seen flying in front of the White House on Sunday as thousands march for LGBT rights in the nation's capital

Demonstrators hold up a rainbow flag as they march outside of the White House during the The Equality March for Unity & Pride parade on Sunday

Throngs of marchers, many thousands strong, paraded past the White House and toward the Capitol, trailing behind a giant rainbow flag near the head of the procession.

'We're here, we're queer, get that Cheeto out of here,' was among the chants directed at Trump.

For the LGBT community nationwide, it's an emotional time. Monday is the anniversary of the mass shooting a year ago in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people - mostly Latinos - at Pulse, a gay nightclub.

Among the marchers in Washington was Gil Mendez, a Puerto Rican native who traveled with his partner all the way from San Francisco to join the parade.

A demonstrator holds up a rainbow flag as people march outside of the White House during Sunday's event in Washington DC

LGBT members and their supporters take part of the Equality March for Unity & Pride parade outside of the White House on Sunday

Members of the Equality March hold a sign outside the White House on Sunday morning as another raises his fist in the air

LGBT members and their supporters take part of the Equality March for Unity & Pride parade outside of the White House

A man is seen carrying a sign with a picture of Donald Trump on it during the demonstration in Washington DC on Sunday morning

A demonstrator with his face painted is seen holding a pink wrap behind his shoulders during Sunday's march in DC

He carried a sign that included the names of all the Pulse victims.

'The arrack on Pulse really struck me hard,' he said. 'It made the connection between the physical violence of guns and the political attacks on our community.'

Also marching, and singing freedom songs along the way, was Gregory Elfers of Teaneck, New Jersey, who was with fellow members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.

'It's an opportunity to tell everyone we're still here, and we're not going away at all,' he said.

Roughly 100 marches and rallies were planned across the US, from Portland, Maine, and Boston to Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu.

There was another rally in Los Angeles on Sunday, and people are pictured marching in the streets downtown

People are seen during the Resist March in Los Angeles on Sunday morning. The event replaced the annual Pride Parade for 2017

Miguel Luevano of Pasadena holds a Donald Trump pinata during the Resist March on Sunday morning in Los Angeles

More than 100,000 people were expected to turn out in Los Angeles where the annual Pride Parade was renamed the ResistMarch.

Many people in LA were carrying LGBT-rights signs and flags, but other groups joined in on the march as well.

The Los Angeles Times reports women were seen wearing pink p**sy hats, others were motivated to march because of Trump's approach to immigration and climate change, while a young boy held a sign reading: 'Love Trumps Hate.'

Speakers at the Los Angeles event included Mayor Eric Garcetti, while Maxine Waters, Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi were also seen in the crowd.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti addresses the crowd before the Resist March on Sunday morning in the city

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is pictured walking among the crowd for the march in Los Angeles on Sunday June 11

Adam Schiff also took to the street in California to be part of the march, and tweeted out this message after doing so

Activists in Casper, Wyoming, planned that city's first-ever pride parade.

Among the activist leaders on hand in Washington was Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, which monitors media coverage of the LGBT community.

She noted that Trump, breaking from the practice of Barack Obama, has declined to issue a proclamation in honor of Pride Month, and that the Trump administration has deleted questions about sexual orientation from planned federal surveys.

'If you look at their prioritization, we're really low on it,' she said. 'There absolutely is a resistance aspect to this march.'

One of the marchers at Sunday's demonstration in Washington DC holds a sign in the air criticizing the president's daughter, Ivanka

Supporters are pictured waving a huge rainbow flag during Sunday's pro-LGBT rights march in Washington DC

Three protesters are pictured on Sunday morning during the march carrying signs that have 'Resist' written on them in DC

Marchers are seen during the demonstration on the streets of Washington DC for LGBT rights on Sunday morning

One of the protesters in Washington DC on Sunday is pictured carrying a sign during the march that reads: 'Not my Cheeto'

A crowd of marchers is pictured in Washington DC on Sunday morning while another man carries a sign during the event

A female protester during Sunday's demonstration holds a sign in the air that reads: 'I love my son and his husband'

LGBT members and their supporters take part of the Equality March for Unity & Pride parade downtown Washington DC on Sunday

A protester walks down the street during the march in Washington DC holding a sign that reads: 'My lady parts do not define me'
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A trade fair has put on display a selection of baby dolls, known as vinyl babies, that have been made with such precision it is incredibly hard to tell if they are real or not.

The 'Reborn' festival in Bilbao, Spain saw designers from Los Babyclon workshop showcase some of their best creations.

Attendees over the weekend were able to see a set of baby Avatar dolls, a trio of newborns with strange markings on their heads and even a baby chimpanzee wearing a hat.

There was also a selection of animatronic dolls that can move and make noises, albeit when they have been sufficiently charged.

The dolls come with a hefty price tag with the stars of the show, the Avatar types, costing around 2,100. The animatronic dolls fetch over 3,000 each, although the more basic creations are available for between 200 and 800.

Sleeping: Silicone models designed at babies from the Avatar feature film are displayed at the Bilbao Reborn Doll Show

Odd: One set showed the heads and limbs of babies, including an umbilical cord to the side

Alive: This design looked lke a real baby sleeping as oppose to an other worldly creation

The show was the first of its kind in the northern Spanish city and continues a craze started in Germany.

Some of the dolls were created by artists at Los babyclon in Leioa, a town close to Bilbao, who use platinum silicone to sculpt the babies, the same material used by cosmetic surgeons in their operations.

Cristina Iglesias, the director of the factory, told Vice that they are the only company in the world that specialises in making the babies made from silicon,

Touch: Babyclon owner Cristina Iglesias adjusts the hair of an Avatar baby that looks so realistic it could feature in the movies

Dummy: A fake baby gets its hair seen too by a woman at the show in the northern Spain

Animal: The Reborn showcase even had a infant chimpanzee donning a smart shirt and a hat on display

She told Vice: 'This business is practically the only of its kind in the world you could say. There are various doll designers but they are made in a more traditional way.

'At first I thought this was very strange, I didn't understand that babies dolls could be made from silicone. After I saw that the products are saleable I decided to pursue the business but make them in a distinctive and better way than what already existed in the market.'

Despite looking incredibly realistic Cristina says most who come across the designs do not confuse them with real babies as most of their key clients are collectors or those who wish to create their own with the starter kits they sell.

Cristina added: ''There are two branches in the sale of these dolls: one is the final collector who buys at a factory price and another is the reborn artist, who buy the babyclon directly from the mold, paint it and prepare it, and then they sell it to collectors.'

Asleep: Some of the dolls were created by artists at Los babyclon in Leioa, a town close to Bilbao, who use platinium silicone to sculpt the babies, the same material used by cosmetic surgeons in their operations

Eerie: A Babyclon animatronic baby has its batteries recharged during the event

Discuss: Two women talk over one of the dolls. Despite looking incredibly realistic Cristina says most who come across the designs do not confuse them with real babies
A reporter who cheekily called James Comey's father to chat about his son's testimony was shocked when the former FBI Director himself answered the phone.

CNN's MJ Lee put a number of calls in to J. Brien Comey at his home in suburban New Jersey in recent days, and was finally able to get him on the phone on Saturday.

Comey Sr, who is 86 years old and a former local councilman, told CNN he was happy to chat, but he had 'company' arriving and needed to schedule the interview for later in the day.

Lee happily obliged, preparing herself to speak to the ousted FBI Director's father later in the day.

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CNN's MJ Lee (pictured in September 2016) was surprised when she called James Comey's father on Saturday to wind up speaking to the former FBI Director himself

Comey (pictured in September 2014) answered the phone and said: 'His company is his son, Jim.' Comey Sr earlier told the CNN reporter he could not speak at the time because he was expecting company

But when she called back after a few hours, the 86-year-old didn't answer the phone - his son did.

'His company is his son, Jim,' the man on the other end of the line said, identifying himself as the former director.

Comey told CNN he had made the trip to Allendale to visit his father and was just about to leave, but he stopped to add his dad would not be speaking to the press.

Lee then attempted to seize on her opportunity to have Comey on the phone, and asked if he had any thoughts on his high-profile week.

Former FBI Director James Comey is sworn-in before testifing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8

'You can ask, but I'm not going to talk about that,' Comey replied.

The former FBI Director's father has spoke to the press about his son's feud with the president in the past, and just last month he accused Trump of lying about what has taken place.

He told CNN his son was a 'straightforward guy' who was fired for telling the truth, before going on to describe Trump as someone who: 'runs around lying most of the day'.
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after a young Colorado girl who went missing on Wednesday was found dead.

The boy, who has not been identified because he is a minor, was arrested late on Saturday night by Thornton Police after 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell's body was found in a grassy park area the night she went missing.

'Last night at 11:38 pm, Thornton Police Detectives arrested a 15-year-old juvenile male who was booked and transported to the Adams County Juvenile Detention facility. The juvenile male was arrested for investigation of first degree murder,' a statement read, according to KDVR.

Kiaya's father told police his daughter left home with his girlfriends 15-year-old son to walk to a nearby shopping center.

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell (left and right) was found dead on Wednesday night

The 15-year-old told police he lost Kiaya after they got separated when a rainstorm swept through the town, which is about 10 miles north of Denver.

The 10-year-old's body was later found about a mile from her home. Neighbors told 9News they do not remember it raining on Wednesday night.

A cause of death has not been determined, however the coroner stated it was: 'other than accidental'.

Kiaya was an avid YouTuber, frequently posting videos to her account that racked up thousands of views.

The 10-year-old was found in this area about a mile from her home in Thornton, Colorado, on Thursday night just hours after she went missing. Police are pictured at the scene on June 8

Brooklyn Mitchell, 7 and her brother Ethan (both sitting on the wall), 9, joined hundreds in searching for Kiaya after she went missing. Her body was found hours after she was reported missing

KDVR reports neighbors and those who knew the 10-year-old described her as a happy, loving, young girl.

Her mother, Chantel Campbell, has created a GoFundMe account to raise money for a memorial.

'This beautiful soul was stolen from us. We appreciate everything everyone has done in this situation. Now we just appreciate anything anyone can do to help out her to rest,' the page read.

It set a goal of $10,000, and has already smashed through that. As of 2:50pm on Sunday, more than $11,750 had been donated.
CCTV captured the shocking moment a callous thief swiped a cancer charity box from a restaurant counter.

The woman stole the donations from Spoon World Buffet in Basildon, Essex, at 2.30pm on Saturday, after posing as a customer.

Footage shows the brunette sitting down on a sofa, while waiters and waitresses busy themselves with serving diners.

She places a large bag on her lap, opens it and whisks the pot inside in a matter of seconds, without anyone noticing.

Afterwards she is seen leaving the establishment and allegedly later stole a tip jar from a neighbouring shop.

Employee Charlotte Worton had left the pot to raise money for the charity by doing an assault course run with colleague Shirri Lynn.

Shirri said: 'I can't believe some dirty scummy woman came into work and stole our Cancer Research pot that me and Charlotte got to raise money for Muddy Run.

This woman is alleged to have stolen the donations from the Spoon World Buffet in Basildon, Essex, at 2.30pm on Saturday, after posing as a customer

'She then had the audacity to go next door and steal their tip jar too.

'Thank god for CCTV.'

Ms Worton has reported the incident to Essex Police who are investigating.
This is the dramatic moment drug smugglers spotted from the air try to outrun the police in a high-speed chase on the choppy Adriatic Sea.

The narcos were heading for the Italian coast when a surveillance helicopter spotted it travelling at more than 40 miles per hour through the waves.

The tiny inflatable boat, manned by two men, had a stash of marijuana on board, believed to be worth around 250,000.

The boat was picked out by a Civil Guard helicopter as part of the ongoing operation code-named 'Triton'.

Dramatic video shows the moment a surveillance helicopter spotted drug smugglers desperately trying to escape authorities with 250,000 of cannabis on board their tiny boat

The boat was picked out by a Civil Guard helicopter as part of the ongoing operation codenamed 'Triton'

Efforts by the drug smugglers to outrun the helicopter proved unsuccessful and they were eventually intercepted by three police boats

Efforts by the drug smugglers to outrun the helicopter proved unsuccessful.

They were eventually stopped by three police boats called in after a call to the Rome operations centre.

Police found 1,413 kilos of marijuana on board wrapped in 77 packages and hidden under tarpaulin.

Officers then took control of the boat and piloted it back to the port of Bari, capital of the Apulia region in Italy.

Operation Triton is led by the Italian authorities but involves the help of 15 countries, including Spain, France, Ireland and Poland.

The border controls aim to nab drug smugglers as well as patrolling the waters for illegal immigrants.

Officers took control of the boat and piloted it back to the port of Bari, capital of the Apulia region in Italy

Operation Triton is led by the Italian authorities but involves the help of 15 countries, including Spain, France, Ireland and Poland

In addition to monitoring the seas for suspicious and illegal activity like drug smuggling, Frontex has also been involved in the battle against illegal immigration
A member of President Trump's legal team, attorney Jay Sekulow, wouldn't commit the president to keeping around Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is now handling the Russia probe.

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos had Sekulow on This Week Sunday morning and asked him if the president would promise not to order his Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Mueller.

'Look, the president of the United States, as we all know, is a unitary executive,' Sekulow said instead of answering the question definitively.

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Lawyer Jay Sekulow, a member of President Trump's legal team, wouldn't commit the president to a pledge to not fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow (left) hinted to George Stephanopoulos (right) that he found some of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's behavior troublesome

He added, 'I'm not going to speculate on what he will or will not do.'

Earlier in the program, Sekulow hinted that he found some of Mueller's actions to be troublesome, suggesting that Mueller was somehow in cahoots with former FBI Director James Comey.

Mueller was Comey's predecessor leading the FBI.

The special counsel, Sekulow pointed out, had allowed Comey to testify Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

'James Comey said he reviewed the testimony with the special counsel and you wonder if, it's unusual to me  and I've done a lot of cases for 40 years of practicing law almost, and at the highest levels of the Supreme Court  that you have a situation, I think this is unprecedented, where the testimony was reviewed,' Sekulow stated.

Turning his ire to Comey, Sekulow continued, 'and then it was  part of that testimony, a large part, was based on leaked information.'

During Thursday's Capitol Hill hearing, Comey confessed that he had handed his memos on meetings with President Trump over to a friend at Columbia University to then be passed along to the New York Times.

Trump's team has used this admission to try and color Comey and suggest he's an unreliable witness, even though he testified under oath.

'I mean, I want everyone to be thinking about this,' Trump's lawyer said on Stephanopoulos' program. 'So this was an unprecedented move,' he said of Comey's decision to leak the memos into the press.

Sekulow's questioning of coziness between Comey and Mueller prompted Stephanopoulos to ask if the president and his legal team 'don't have confidence in Robert Mueller to conduct a fair investigation?'

Sekulow pivoted.

'No, what we're saying is look, I mean Marc Kasowitz is the lead lawyer in this case and is in charge of the legal team, has said clearly that he is putting forward a legal team and a legal defense that will address all of the issues.

'But I think that the unusual situation here, this is unprecedented in our history, is that the former executive  the former FBI director was the source of a leak,' Sekulow continued.

'I mean, George, you know, we've all been concerned about leaks and here he was the source of that leak,' he added.

President Trump accused Comey of lying, though his lawyer said it would be up to Special Counsel Mueller to pursue perjury charges.

'I think that James Comey's credibility has been brought into question on multiple occasions during the Clinton investigation and here,' Sekulow said, reminding viewers that Comey has had to go back and change his testimony in the past.

Stephanopoulos pointed out that Trump could stop the he-said, he-said, by simply releasing the tapes.

Trump tweeted about the existence of recordings of his conversations with Comey, but the White House hasn't given a real answer on whether or not they exist.

'The president said he is going to address the issue of the tapes, whether the tapes exist or not, next week,' the attorney explained Sunday. 'That's a decision that the president will make in consultation with his chief lawyer Marc Kasowitz, and that the president said he'll address it next week.'

Stephanopoulos also wanted to know if Trump would testify under oath to Mueller.

'Well, the president made that very clear. He has made the statement of what he would do as far as testimony if that's necessary,' Sekulow said.

'I find it ironic that people are questioning the president when he said he would do that, yet Secretary Clinton, when she was under investigation by James Comey, was not put under oath,' he said. 'I find that ironic.'

Finally, they got to the topic of Mueller's longevity in his post.

Axios is reporting that Mueller hired Michael Dreeben, called the 'best criminal appellate lawyer in America,' to work on a part-time basis for his team.

Dreeban's hire, along with that of Andrew Weissmann, who headed the Department of Justice's Enron Task Force, show that Mueller is taking the task at hand seriously, and is 'amassing the talent arsenal you'd build to bring criminal charges,' Axios said.

As to whether Trump could ever fire Mueller, that would be an issue the president would discuss with his advisers, Sekulow said.

'But I can't imagine that that issue is going to arise,' the attorney added.

'I mean, George, if there was a basis upon which there was a question raised that raised the kind of issues that are serious, as in the situation with James Comey, the president has the authority to take action,' Sekulow continued.

'Whether he would do it is ultimately a decision the president makes,' the lawyer added.
Two inmates with tattoos over their left eyebrows have escaped from a prison in Washington State.

Richard Dale Harvell, 30, and Sage Cree Bear, 26, escaped from Ceder Creek Corrections Center near Littlerock, Washington, on Saturday night.

The two, who both arrived at the facility within the last month, were discovered missing after a 10pm count, approximately 20 minutes after they escaped.

Harvell was serving three and a half years for illegal possession of a firearm and Bear was serving 10 years for manslaughter.

Richard Dale Harvell, 30, left, and Sage Cree Bear, 26, right, escaped from Ceder Creek Corrections Center near Littlerock, Washington, on Saturday night. Officials do not believe the pair had a previous connection to each other, though both men have tattoos over their left eyebrows

Harvell, who began his sentence in March, was expected to be released in March 2019.

Bear, who has been in prison since 2009, was expected to be released in July 2018.

Officials believe the men escaped by climbing over the prison's 10-foot security fence, topped with razor wire, according to The Olympian.

The outlet reported that there were about 10 people searching on Sunday morning for the escapees, who they believe are on foot.

Corrections spokeswoman Pam Moore said the searchers are focusing on a forested area around the prison, which is about five miles from the nearest county road and seven miles from Littlerock, KUOW reported.

The Thurston County Sheriff's Office and the Washington State Patrol have also been notified and corrections staff are notifying hikers in the area, The Olympian reported.

Neither of the inmates had been off the grounds of the facility before, and officials do not believe the pair had a previous connection to each other, Moore said.

Officials are trying to figure out how and when the pair planned to escape.

'I can't figure out why they left,' she said. 'They have no idea where they're at.'
Police are on the hunt for a man nicknamed 'Dollar Store Grandpa Bandit' who has robbed at least seven dollar stores at gunpoint.

Investigators say the man is targeting discount variety stores nationwide with his latest spree spanning from upstate New York to Idaho.

Now, authorities are asking the public's help to identify the man after six months with no luck despite the FBI being on the case.

Police are on the hunt for a robber nicknamed 'Dollar Store Grandpa Bandit' (pictured) who has managed to rob eight dollar stores across the country

Officers suspect he is driving a newer model silver or gray Dodge Charger with a rear spoiler and no front license plate (pictured)

The suspect is described as white man between age 50 and 65 and is estimated to weigh 200 pounds. He is between 5'10" and 6'0" and has neatly-trimmed silver-colored hair and a mustache (Suspect in Dollar General in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania on June 7)

Officers say the bandit has developed a method in how he strikes stores.

He enters the store at closing time, displays a weapon - either a handgun, stun gun or pepper spray - and directs employees to remove cash from the registers and store safe.

Next, he forces employees into the back rooms and takes their cell phones to prevent them from calling 911.

Then, once he's made away with his loot, he discards the cell phones in neighboring towns or some distance away.

The suspect struck, in succession, Dollar Tree stores in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, and North Greenbush, New York; in Madison Township, Michigan; Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a Dollar General in Lincoln, Nebraska; American Fork, Utah; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Most recently, he hit a Dollar General in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, making away with an undisclosed amount of money, according to police.

A Dollar Tree in Fishkill, Dutchess County, was also robbed in December 2016, but it is unknown if the 'Grandpa Bandit' is responsible.

Given the robber's affinity for Dollar Tree stores - six of his eight robberies have been at the discount chain - authorities suspect he may be a former disgruntled employee.

North Greenbush Police Chief Robert Durivage said his investigators are working with the FBI and police agencies from each community where the crimes occurred.

The bandit's plan of attack is to enter the store during closing time, brandish a weapon and then direct employees to empty all register and safes. He then forces them into a backroom and take away their cellphones so they can't call police. After he's made his getaway, he ditches the phones in neighboring towns (Pictured left and right, suspect in Dollar Trees)

Given the robber's affinity for Dollar Tree stores - six of his eight robberies have been at the discount chain - authorities suspect he may be a former disgruntled employee and he is 'considered armed and dangerous' (getaway car, pictured)

The suspect struck, in succession, Dollar Tree stores in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, and North Greenbush, New York; in Madison Township, Michigan; Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a Dollar General in Lincoln, Nebraska; American Fork, Utah; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Cheyenne, Wyoming (pictured)

The suspect struck, in succession, Dollar Tree stores in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, and North Greenbush, New York; in Madison Township, Michigan; Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a Dollar General in Lincoln, Nebraska; American Fork, Utah; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

'From all the evidence thus far, we believe the same person has committed most if not all of these robberies,' the chief told the Albany Times Union. 'He should be considered armed and dangerous.'

The suspect is described as white man between ages 50 and 65 and is estimated to weigh 200 pounds

He is between 5-foot-10 and six feet tall and has neatly-trimmed silver-colored hair and a mustache.

Police suspect he is driving a newer model silver or gray Dodge Charger with a rear spoiler and no front license plate.
A China Eastern flight from Sydney to Shanghai has been forced to turn around after its flight crew noticed a hole in the plane's engine just moments after taking off.

Images show a gaping hole across the engine casing of the Airbus A330, which departed at 8.30pm on Sunday.

Flight MU736 reached Bulli, about 70km south of Sydney, before it made the emergency call to Sydney Airport.

Passengers told 9News the flight have said they heard a loud bang or explosion after take off.

'The moment that we took off the wing to my left just started making a massive amount of noise and they cleared all the seats,' one passenger said.

A China Eastern flight from Sydney to Shanghai has been forced to turn around after its flight crew noticed a hole in the plane's engine just moments after taking off

Images show a large hole in the engine casing of the Airbus A330, which departed at 8.30pm on Sunday

Airbus A330s can hold around 297 passengers on board

The damaged engine on a China Eastern Airlines plane is seen at the international airport on Monday afternoon (pictured)

Others said they felt the plane shaking.

'I didn't realise, I guess no-one behind the wing realised how big the engine issue was,' passenger Madeleine Frith said.

'It looks like a pretty big dent in the engine. Just the fact that we were close to it being worse. I didn't see any fire. There are stories of it being much worse than it was.'

Another relieved passenger told 7News she feared for her life.

'We went up in the air and all of a sudden we heard this noise it kind of smelt like burning,' a relieved passenger said from Sydney Airport.

'Oh, I was scared. Yeah, I was really scared. Our group was terrified.'

The plane travelled south to Bulli before calling the Sydney Airport and reporting the engine issue

Passengers are pictured after seeing an image of the hole in their plane's engine

Passengers said the flight have said they heard a loud bang or explosion after take off

The explosion was reportedly so loud residents in Sydney's west heard it from their homes.

The plane was forced to circle for about an hour to burn fuel before it safely landed.

NSW Emergency fire crews rushed to the scene.

The cause of the damage is unknown but the incident is being investigated.

No passengers were harmed.

Airbus A330s can hold around 297 passengers.

The cause of the damage is unknown but the incident is being investigated
A 74-year-old man who served 35 years in jail due to links to a militant Puerto Rican nationalist group received both cheers and boos from the crowd at New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday.

Oscar Lopez Rivera is a former member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, (FALN), which was linked to more than 100 bombings in the 1970s and '80s.

Rivera had turned down the organizers' plans to name him a 'National Freedom Hero' after the news kicked off a political firestorm. But his appearance on a float generated strong emotions on both sides regardless.

Oscar Lopez Rivera (pictured Sunday), 74, was in the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) in the 1970s and '80s, when it caused more than 100 bombings across the US

Rivera had been offered 'National Freedom Hero' status at the march, which he turned down after an outcry. Mayor Bill de Blasio (seen at the march) said that was the right thing to do

The event came the same day as citizens of the territory voted on whether Puerto Rico should become a US state, gain independence or remain a US territory.

Rivera was attending the parade as a citizen - in part, he said, because the focus on him was drawing attention away from the plight of his homeland.

Mayor Bill de Blasio - who has Puerto Rican ancestry and also marched - agreed, saying that 'it was entirely distracting from the issue at hand, which is Puerto Rico.

'That's the only thing this parade should have been about.'

Nevertheless, when Rivera stood atop a parade float on Sunday, waving a Puerto Rican flag, he became the center of attention.

His followers carried signs reading 'Oscar Lopez Rivera is our Mandela', while members of the crowd chanted 'Oscar!' and 'Rivera!'

Others were less pleased.

Rivera was jailed for 70 years for his links to the Puerto Rican nationalist bombers but was pardoned by President Obama. Rivera elicited cheers and boos from the crowd on Sunday

'He did not represent me,' said Nanchelle Rivera - no relation - a 28-year-old from Orlando, Florida, who booed Rivera as he passed.

She said she would not have come to watch the celebration if she'd known Rivera would be there.

A supporter in the parade heard her booing, and shouted back: 'This is your history!'

Others were troubled about Rivera's inclusion, including several police, one of whom told the New York Daily News: 'I wouldn't be here if I wasn't working. We gotta do our jobs, man.'

The NYPD has a particular grudge against the FALN, which bombed Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan in 1975, killing four and injuring dozens more.

No-one was charged in that bombing.

The group also planted bombs at four government offices on New Year's Eve in 1982, seriously wounding four officers.

Rivera's inclusion also repelled NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill, who declined to join the parade - in a break with tradition - and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Sponsors Coca-Cola and Goya were among several who also pulled out.

Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison plus a further 15 years for a failed escape plot in 1975, but was freed by Barack Obama in the final days of his term as President.

The Puerto Rico Day is held on the second Sunday of each June in New York.

The parade came during a vote for Puerto Rico's future: The territory is asking if it should become a state, gain independence or remain as it is. Congress still has the final say
The homeless man arrested on suspicion of stealing the belongings of a hero stabbed to death on a Portland train would likely have himself been one of the first to step in and help years ago, rather than looting from the dead, his ex-wife has said.

George Elwood Tschaggeny, 51, is accused of taking the ring off of Ricky Best's lifeless finger just moments after he was stabbed to death alongside 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, when they stepped in to defend two teenage girls on May 26.

But the man who became instantly reviled by the nation for the utterly callous alleged theft was himself a former Good Samaritan brought low by addiction, his family says.

'He always said, "It calls you, it calls you, it calls you." And every time something let him down or he let someone down, it led him back into this deep hole,' Tschaggeny's ex-wife told The Oregonian.

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Tschaggeny is seen in happier times. His ex-wife has spoken out about how drug addiction destroyed their marriage and led Tschaggeny to unemployment and homlessness

Then and Now: George Elwood Tschaggeny, 51, is seen in June 2015 (left) and June 2017 (right). His ex-wife has come forward to reveal how heroin addiction unraveled his once-happy life

Tschaggeny is accused of swiping a wedding ring and backpack belonging to Ricky Best, who died defending two teenage girls on a train in Portland

Rick Best, 53, (left and right) was murdered on the train after stepping in as the girls were abused, and an opportunistic thief stole his belongings as he lay dead

In 2010, before addition destroyed his life, Tschaggeny was awarded a civilian medal by the Portland Police Department for courageously apprehending an armed bank robber.

The robber led police on a car chase before crashing into a bus, and then fled on foot, Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson told the newspaper.

Tschaggeny and a friend were standing in his front yard when they saw a man with a knife in his hand fleeing from officers, and they didn't hesitate in tackling the crook and pinning him to the ground until police arrived.

Those actions were 'courageous and selfless', cops said at the ceremony honoring the men.

Tschaggeny, a military veteran, worked in construction and later in property development, according to his ex-wife, who divorced him in 2015 after 15 years of marriage.

DailyMail.com is not identifying the ex-wife for safety reasons, as she has a restraining order against him.

Unraveling: Mugshots of Tschaggeny show the apparent toll of drug addiction. He is seen (left to right) in September 2015, September 2016 and May 2017

The couple had five dogs, and Tschaggeny loved hiking, biking and Western films, the ex-wife said.

She first met him in 1997, and a year later he encountered motorcyclist injured in a crash and transported him to the hospital with his bike loaded in the back of his truck - the sort of selfless act that was once typical of him, she said.

Things began to fall apart when Tschaggeny, suffering from chronic knee pain, was prescribed prescription painkillers to help him cope.

The change came slowly, with Tschaggeny growing more angry and withdrawn, the ex-wife said.

At some point, he began using heroin, she said. After multiple rounds of rehab and relapses, the addiction became too much for the marriage to bear, and she filed for divorce in June 2015.

Portland Police announced on Twitter on Friday that they apprehended Tschaggeny after a tip of his whereabouts from a Domino's Pizza employee

Murder suspect Jeremy Joseph Christian shouted 'not guilty' at his arraignment on Wednesday

Micah Fletcher, who survived the brutal stabbing attack, appeared in court revealing a giant scar, as he watched suspect Christian's arraignment on Wednesday

Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23 (left and right), was also killed when he stepped in with Fletcher and Best to protect the young ladies on the train

The divorce was finalized in May 2016, and that's when Tschaggeny became homeless.

His sister, Camille Tschaggeny, told The Oregonian that she thinks her brother's natural reaction was to try and help the stabbing victims on the Portland MAX train, and he only stole from Best after realizing the man was beyond help.

'Elwood did a desperate act that desperate people do,' the sister said.

Police launched a massive manhunt for Tschaggeny after he was seen on surveillance camera apparently looting the victims of the May 26 train attack.

In that attack, Jeremy Joseph Christian is accused of slitting the throats of Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche when they stepped in to defend a 16-year-old girl and her Muslim friend from his racist verbal attack.

Christian shouted 'not guilty' at his arraignment on Wednesday as he faced charges for attempted murder and murder among others.

When officers located Tschaggeny on June 3 beneath a Portland overpass, he was wearing Best's wedding ring.

Detectives believe he physically removed the victim's ring from his finger after the attack.

Best's backpack was also recovered, although some items were missing, including Best's wallet that contained phone numbers of longtime friends.

Tschaggeny has been charged with first and second-degree theft, tampering with physical evidence, second-degree abuse of a corpse, and felony identity theft.

He is being held pending $100,000 bail.
Twelve people including six police have been injured after a Molotov cocktail exploded in a restaurant in Paris.

Three people suffered severe burns and had to be airlifted to hospital after the fire broke out in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers at 8.30pm on Sunday.

Six police officers suffered minor injuries while responding to the incident, which appears to be linked to a robbery, according to local media.

Three people have been airlifted to hospital and nine more injured after a blaze at a Paris restaurant which is thought to have been caused by a Molotov cocktail

50 firefighters and 15 fire engines were sent to the building around 8.30pm on Sunday evening as video showed smoke pouring from the building

Freelance journalist Clement Lanot wrote that the arson was linked to a 'robbery gone wrong'.

Police have not officially said whether the incident was an attack, or discussed a possible motive for the crime.

Fifty firefighters were sent to the scene, Le Parisien reported, with 15 vehicles tackling the blaze.

'The restaurant is part of a five-storey building,' an emergency services source added. 'Everything is being done to contain the blaze, and search for other victims'.

Six police officers responding to the blaze (scene pictured) suffered minor injuries in what appears to be a robbery gone wrong, local media reported

France is currently under a State of Emergency following a series of terrorist attacks carried out by bombers and gunman working for ISIS and al-Qaeda.

There was no immediate indication as to who was responsiblefor tonight's attack.

Seine-Saint-Denis has been the site of numerous disturbances in recent years, including terrorist incidents and rioting.

There is no indication that this incident is linked to terrorism.
Many children have such appalling knowledge of food sources they believe pasta comes from animals and cows produce eggs, according to new research.

More than a quarter of primary school children think cheese originates from plants while one in 10 teenagers say fruit pastels are healthy.

The findings have been revealed by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), which insists teachers need more support to widen childrens knowledge of nutrition beyond what they manage to glean online.

The BNF surveyed 5,040 children aged five to 16-year-old as part of its annual Healthy Eating Week.

More than a quarter of primary school children think cheese originates from plants while one in 10 teenagers say fruit pastels are healthy

Among the most worrying findings, over one in ten of the 1,120 eight to 11-year-olds questioned (13 per cent) claimed pasta comes from animals.

Twenty-two per cent of the 350 five to seven-year-olds surveyed believed the same.

Among this youngest age group, a fifth (18 per cent) said fish fingers are made of chicken and one sixth (14 per cent) believe bacon is the produce of cows, sheep or chickens.

Twenty-nine per cent of these primary school pupils claimed cheese comes from plants, with 22 per cent citing the same source for prawns.

Eight per cent said chicken came from plants and 15 per cent thought salmon did.

The findings have been revealed by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), which insists teachers need more support to widen childrens knowledge of nutrition beyond what they manage to glean online

A sixth (16 per cent) of this five to seven age group also believed that bread, yoghurt, chocolate and salmon belong in the fruit and vegetables food group.

Meanwhile one in ten of the 3,100 11 to 14-year-olds surveyed (ten per cent) did not know that carrots and potatoes grow underground. Some cited vines, bushes or trees as possible sources.

And six per cent of the 470 14 to 16-year-olds claimed that dairy cows produce eggs.

Despite knowing they should eat at least five-a-day, many children are unsure which fruit or vegetables should be consumed.

A quarter (26 per cent) of 14 to 16-year-olds believed strawberry jam contributed to their five-a-day, while 11 per cent cited fruit pastels and eight per cent, crisps.

The survey also quizzed children about where they gain reliable information about healthy eating.

Over half (54 per cent) of 11 to 14-year-olds use the Internet  increasing to two-thirds (64 per cent) among the 14 to 16 group.

Schools are the second biggest source of information for 14 to 16-year-olds (51 per cent), with 59 per cent of 11 to 14-year-olds also citing lessons.

Roy Ballam, managing director and head of education at the BNF, said: Assuming that information about food and health gathered from these sources has an impact on childrens nutrition knowledge, and ultimately their lifestyles and health, it is important that we ensure all information is evidence based.

We cant control what children access on the Internet and elsewhere but we can ensure that teachers are equipped with accurate information.

We cant control what children access on the Internet and elsewhere but we can ensure that teachers are equipped with accurate information'

'However, research we conducted last year amongst primary school teachers showed that seven in ten of participating teachers had not undertaken any professional development in food during the past two years.

He added: With no formal professional support provided to teachers centrally, schools and individual teachers take on the responsibility for interpreting and delivering the curriculum in their own way.

This approach means that there is a risk of conflicting or misleading messaging being disseminated through schools across the UK.

This, combined with the latest results of the survey showing that the Internet is one of the most popular sources of information for teenagers, means that it has never been more important for schools and teachers to be armed with the correct information so that children and young adults are able to decipher between fact and fake news.

Food is mainly taught in schools through Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education; science lessons as well as the cooking and nutrition element of design and technology.

Roy Ballam, managing director and head of education at the BNF, said: With no formal professional support provided to teachers centrally, schools and individual teachers take on the responsibility for interpreting and delivering the curriculum in their own way'

Last year, former government advisor, Liz Goodwin claimed that a failure to teach children to cook at school was one of the reasons to blame for UK householders throwing away 12billion of food each year.

Ms Goodwin, who was chief executive of the Waste and Resources Action Programme until last July, told The Guardian: Weve probably got a couple of generations who went through school without really getting taught how to do things (cooking skills and home economic lessons and then theyre terrified by use-by-dates: one minute to midnight its OK, a minute after midnight its not OK.

My view is that not teaching children how to cook will undoubtedly contribute (to food waste).'
Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle was hard at work today, putting in a rare appearance alongside her Suits co-stars at a television festival.

Dressed in a delicate cream dress with a red floral print, the 35-year-old smiled and waved to fans as she took to the stage for a script reading at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas.

And when asked if she hoped to marry boyfriend Prince Harry in Austin today, Markle smiled but said nothing.

Dressed in a delicate cream dress with a red floral print, the 35-year-old smiled and waved to fans as she took to the stage for a script reading at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas

When asked if she hoped to marry boyfriend Prince Harry in Austin today, Markle smiled but said nothing

The actress, seen in photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, also refused to comment on her plans for the future when approached by this website after the script reading.

Markle, 35, was back at the airport this afternoon just 24 hours after touching down in Texas for the ATX Television Festival.

Having stolen the show in a red and white floral Club Monaco dress during a panel discussion Sunday morning, the dainty actress changed into a pair of pink linen shorts with a trendy paper bag waist for her flight back to Toronto.

Markle, 35, was back at the airport this afternoon just 24 hours after touching down in Texas for the ATX Television Festival

Having stolen the show in a red and white floral Club Monaco dress during a panel discussion Sunday morning, the dainty actress changed into a pair of pink linen shorts with a trendy paper bag waist for her flight back to Toronto

Joining her on the plane was co-star Sarah Rafferty, 45, who also shared a stage with the stunner during their public appearance.

But the actress declined interviews as she made her way inside for the reading and panel discussion - sneaking into the venue via a back entrance shortly before call time.

She also arrived alone, having stayed in a different hotel to her colleagues, who all opted to stay in the city center.

By contrast, Harry's girl opted for a quiet $259-a-night boutique property called The Archer, located in the Austin suburbs.

The actress was in Austin to help promote Suits at the ATX Television Festival

The glamorous star did join her colleagues, including on-screen love interest Patrick J. Adams, 35, for lunch after the performance and was seen heading into La Condesa - a 'contemporary' Mexican restaurant that touts its 'vast tequila selection' and 'sophisticated setting'.

Flanked on stage by Gina Torres, 48, and Suits creator Aaron Korsch, 50, the pretty brunette spent much of her time looking down at her script.

But the actress blushed and laughed along with the cheering audience when co-star Rick Hoffman, 46, teased her by suggesting doing part of the script reading in a British accent, in an apparent reference to Prince Harry.

The red-headed royal's girlfriend of 11 months also smiled broadly when her character, paralegal Rachel Zane, got the biggest cheer of the day after being introduced during Act 2.

During the panel discussion that followed the script reading, the actress described her cast mates as being like 'family'.

'We were in a group email the other day and I was saying wed all lived in the same corporate housing so on top of working together we were living together which makes a whole different dynamic, I think. We just became this whole family right out the gate,' she said.

Flanked on stage by Gina Torres, 48, and Suits creator Aaron Korsch, 50, the pretty brunette spent much of her time looking down at her script during the read-through

The red-headed royal's girlfriend of 11 months also smiled broadly when her character, paralegal Rachel Zane, got the biggest cheer of the day

The stunner, who spoke less frequently than her fellow thespians, did answer one question that touched on her favorite theme of women's rights, describing her character as a 'role model' thanks to her career progress.

'I am so happy... shes worked so hard and I love that, as a role model, how shes been crafted to balance it all and now have this place at the firm where she really knows her standing and her office isnt just because shes a good researcher, its because shes an associate. Shes really earned that spot.'

Yesterday Meghan was photographed arriving in Austin, speeding through the airport in a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a simple white linen shirt by US label J Crew.

On Saturday Meghan was photographed arriving in Austin, speeding through the airport in a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a simple white linen shirt by US label J Crew

She was driven away alone in a black SUV, and headed straight for her hotel where she was joined by a female friend for drinks on the terrace.

The actress had been keeping a low profile - the airport sighting was the first time she has been spotted since returning from London following Pippa Middleton's May 20 wedding.

Although Meghan did not attend the ceremony, she was spotted being driven into the Middletons' $7m mansion in Bucklebury, Berkshire, by Prince Harry for the evening event.

The bash, which is thought to have cost an estimated $892,000, featured a glass marquee imported from Belgium for the occasion and a flyby by a fleet of vintage planes.

Meghan declined interviews as she made her way inside for the reading and panel discussion - sneaking into the venue via a back entrance shortly before call time

That engagement came hot on the heels of Harry and Meghan's first public appearance as a couple - at a polo match in Berkshire on May 8.

On that occasion, the pair were pictured sharing a kiss on the sidelines, with the dainty American later joined in the stands by actor Eddie Redmayne and former ballerina Darcey Bussell.

Harry, 32, and Meghan are understood to have met 11 months ago during the royal's visit to Toronto to launch this year's Invictus Games.

Since then, the duo have repeatedly traveled between London and Toronto to see each other - with Meghan thought to stay with Harry at his cottage on the Kensington Palace grounds while in the U.K.

Harry is now back in London following a double destination tour to Singapore and Australia - the latter for the launch of the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney.

On Monday, he will host a charity reception at Buckingham Palace, while on Thursday, the Prince is due to visit Chatham House.
Ed Miliband could return to frontline politics following Jeremy Corbyns extraordinary poll results, Labour sources said last night.

The former leader is the most senior of Mr Corbyns critics thought to have offered his services  despite having once described his successors leadership as untenable.

Yvette Cooper, who until the close of polls at 10pm on Thursday night was preparing a leadership challenge, has also said she would consider a return if she was offered the job of shadow home secretary.

Chuka Umunna, another moderate who abandoned a bid to replace Mr Corbyn, hinted he would like to come back, too.

Ed Miliband could return to frontline politics following Jeremy Corbyns extraordinary poll results

A confident Mr Corbyn insisted he could still become prime minister as he laid out plans to put forward an alternative Queens Speech

Yesterday, a confident Mr Corbyn insisted he could still become prime minister as he laid out plans to put forward an alternative Queens Speech.

Foreign spokesman Emily Thornberry even claimed Labour had won the election  despite clocking up dozens of seats fewer than the Tories  and accused Theresa May of squatting in No10.

Len McCluskey, the hard-Left leader of the Unite union, tore into treacherous moderates who tried to knife Mr Corbyn in the back.

But the Labour leaders language was conciliatory, and he insisted he was open to everyone.

With one poll yesterday putting Labour six points clear of the Conservatives, Mr Corbyn said he would welcome another election this year or early in 2018.

Mr Miliband decided to resign after losing the 2015 election, allowing Mr Corbyn to snatch the leadership that September.

For the first year, Mr Miliband kept his counsel  apart from telling a Labour MP: I bet you didnt think things would get worse.

Last year, however, he joined the attempted coup against the hard-Left leader, saying his position was untenable after the Brexit vote.

Foreign spokesman Emily Thornberry even claimed Labour had won the election  despite clocking up dozens of seats fewer than the Tories

Chuka Umunna, another moderate who abandoned a bid to replace Mr Corbyn, hinted he would like to come back, too

But he is now among other moderates admitting they were wrong after Mr Corbyn gained a 40 per cent share of the vote and denied Theresa May a majority.

Mr Miliband set the seal on his change of heart on Friday, when he tweeted: Congratulations to Jeremy Corbyn for his inspired campaign. He showed people a vision of a fairer society and millions voted for change.

Labour added 3.5million votes to his 2015 tally in the sharpest increase since the Second World War. Last night, a Labour source said a frontline return for Mr Miliband could not be ruled out.

Yesterday, Mr Corbyn told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show he had received text messages from party colleagues across the spectrum.

Its important to make that clear, he said. I never get involved in personal abuse. If people have political disagreements, thats fine. We can discuss those. Ill be appointing a shadow cabinet over the next couple of days and announcing it next week.

Mr Corbyn told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show he had received text messages from party colleagues across the spectrum

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said: The general view has always been an open-door policy, and weve wanted people to work with us all the way along.

My view is we want to draw upon all the talents  but our shadow cabinet at the moment was a winning team. Its just won, effectively, votes that no one predicted we would, so I dont want to break up that winning team.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Mr Corbyn said: I can still be prime minister. This is still on. Absolutely. We will obviously amend the Queens Speech. Theres a possibility of voting it down  were going to push that.

Mr McCluskey said Mr Corbyn would be in No10 now were it not for attacks from his own MPs.

He told BBC Radio 5 Lives Pienaars Politics: Instead of constantly having to be defending himself against treacherous individuals, hell be able to concentrate even more on what this nation needs. Many of the MPs who have been knifing him in the back owe their jobs to him.
Thousands of patients may be having unnecessary operations because any benefit they feel could be due to a placebo effect as much as the surgery, an expert has claimed.

Surgeon Andrew Carrs warning follows research showing procedures including keyhole knee surgery, arthritis operations and gastric balloons for the obese may all work largely because people expect them to.

Studies have shown that patients who have sham surgery, but believe they have been operated on, can recover almost  or completely  as well.

Professor Carr said surgeons need to discuss this with patients where there is evidence it is the placebo effect, and not the operation, which has taken away their pain.

Studies have shown that patients who have sham surgery, but believe they have been operated on, can recover almost  or completely  as well

Professor Carr said surgeons need to discuss this with patients where there is evidence it is the placebo effect, and not the operation, which has taken away their pain

The professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Oxford added: Having to stop work, having to change your life, coming into hospital, all of these people dressed in blue with hats on, youre anaesthetised ...

All of that, if we believe in placebo, is surely a set-up to create a phenomenal placebo effect.

The correct thing has got to be to do the trials, and not to continue doing operations where we dont know whether or not theres a strong placebo component or an entire placebo component, because that means that tens or hundreds of thousands of patients are having unnecessary operations.

The surgeon made his comments following a talk at Cheltenham Science Festival called Is Pain All In The Brain? He is working with the speaker, neuroscientist Professor Irene Tracey, on the first trial of the placebo effect in shoulder surgery, which will examine a common operation to shave a spur from the shoulder bone.

Surgeon Andrew Carrs warning follows research showing procedures including keyhole knee surgery, arthritis operations and gastric balloons for the obese may all work largely because people expect them to

In her talk, Professor Tracey said people wrongly dismiss placebos as deception and fakery, adding: Youre manipulating peoples expectations that this is going to produce some relief and so they expect it.

After the event Professor Carr said convincing surgeons of the placebo effect has been difficult. He said: Understanding that a procedure you have done all your life is simply a placebo is tough for surgeons to take.

The experts do not suggest that transplants or amputations could be replaced with sham surgery to produce a placebo effect, which they say is seen in a minority of operations. However a review published in the BMJ medical journal found half of trials reported a placebo effect in a range of procedures.

Professor Carr said convincing surgeons of the placebo effect has been difficult. He said: Understanding that a procedure you have done all your life is simply a placebo is tough for surgeons to take'

Surgery for endometriosis, which causes painful periods and infertility in women, appears to work in part because people think it will.

So does an implant for migraines, as well as removing damaged bone in people with osteoarthritis. Research suggests a false operation has the same impact on pain.

The placebo effect is also seen in vertebroplasty, injecting liquid bone cement into the spine to hold vertebrae together.

Clare Marx, from the Royal College of Surgeons, said: We know from studies in knee surgery that there are some procedures where a sham operation gives the same outcome at a year as the genuine operation.

The surgical profession take research studies on board and, on the whole, when there is significant evidence, respond by changing their practice so that patients are not subjected to procedures from which they are unlikely to benefit.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has top billing in the Queen's Birthday Honours, after turning around the flying kangaroo's fortunes and pocketing a tidy pay-packet for doing so.

The Irish-born Australian businessman is one of 900 Australians being recognised on Monday.

Joyce, who recently copped a pie in the face by a protester railing against corporate support for same-sex marriage, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his service to gender equity and diversity.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce (pictured) has top billing in the Queen's Birthday Honours

The Qantas boss recently copped a pie in the face by a protester railing against corporate support for same-sex marriage

Despite the attack, and pressure from senior federal government figures, the Irish-born businessman has refused to back down on Qantas' public support for gay marriage.

He's also been recognised for his services to the aviation and tourism industries, after turning around the flying kangaroo's fortunes from a record loss in 2013/14.

After a record $2.8 billion loss in 2013/14, Qantas quickly recovered due to falling fuel costs and a major operational overhaul overseen by Mr Joyce, which involved slashing thousands of jobs and freezing wages.

Tony Overheu (pictured), a devout Christian, said he was protesting against corporate support for same-sex marriage when he hit Joyce with the pie

Profit soared 85 per cent in 2015/16 to a record $1.03 billion, with Qantas paying its first dividend in seven years and achieving the best underlying pre-tax profit result in its 95-year history.

Mr Joyce has been handsomely rewarded for reversing the airline's fortunes, receiving almost $13 million in pay and perks for the year to June 2016.

After joining Qantas as chief executive officer and managing director in 2008 from budget airline Jetstar Airways, Mr Joyce guided the national carrier through a capacity war with Virgin Australia and international airlines.

He came under fire when he grounded the entire Qantas domestic and international fleet in 2011, saying he did so to prevent industrial action from killing Qantas.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 44 (pictured), had been held by rebel militias in eastern Libya since November 2011 when he was caught trying to flee into neighbouring Niger

Colonel Gaddafis son has been freed from captivity in Libya and now wants to bring peace to the war-torn country, his lawyer said yesterday.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 44, had been held by rebel militias in eastern Libya since November 2011 when he was caught trying to flee into neighbouring Niger after the death of his father and brother Mutassim.

The Western-educated playboy was a key player in attempts to broker deals between the despotic regime and the West before the 2011 uprising in which his father was killed, and is still wanted by the International Criminal Court to answer charges of crimes against humanity.

The militia forces, based in the town of Zintan, refused to hand him over for a war crimes trial in the capital Tripoli two years ago, over his role in his fathers brutal attempts to put down the rebellion, although he did appear by video link before he was handed the death sentence.

His lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi refused to reveal Saifs whereabouts after his release on Friday, but said he was still in Libya and hoped to work towards reconciliation in the region, which has been ravaged by civil war and the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group.

The Western-educated playboy was a key player in attempts to broker deals between the despotic regime and the West before the 2011 uprising in which his father was killed.

Mr al-Zaidi told CNN: His priority is to eradicate terrorism, to bring security then bring back life and economic prosperity. Any international organisations that want to combat terrorism will find Saif Gaddafi. He will have a major role in bringing peace to Libya.

He also said that Saif would not hand himself over to the ICC in The Hague.

Prosecutors at the ICC say that Saif was part of his fathers plans to quell, by all means, the civilian demonstrations against the Gaddafi regime. An ICC judge has already ruled that Saif was his fathers unspoken successor and the most influential person within his inner circle and had the powers of a de facto prime minister.

The North African country has fallen into chaos since Colonel Gaddafis regime was overthrown in 2011, as competing regional governments and rebel groups continue to battle for control

The North African country has fallen into chaos since Colonel Gaddafis regime was overthrown in 2011, as competing regional governments and rebel groups continue to battle for control.

The power vacuum allowed thousands of fighters from the so-called Islamic State to operate from camps in the country. Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi returned from Libya just days before he killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert last month.

Saif has not been seen by independent observers since June 2014 and a previous report that he had been freed turned out to be false.

Gaddafi loyalists in the east of the country had lobbied for Saifs release as part of a push from former regime figures to reassert influence in Libya. Mr al-Zaidi said he was released under an amnesty passed by a regional government in eastern Libya and that Saif expected to soon make a public statement to the Libyan people.

The power vacuum allowed thousands of fighters from the so-called Islamic State to operate from camps in the country. Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi (left and right) returned from Libya just days before he killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert last month

As the one-time heir apparent to the Gaddafi regime, Saif was a key figure in negotiations with Britain over the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

He became close to figures in the British Establishment after Tony Blair signed the notorious Deal in the Desert in 2004 to re-establish diplomatic links. Saif described Mr Blair as a personal family friend and said he had visited Libya many, many times after he left Downing Street. He also claimed Mr Blair had become an adviser to the Gaddafi family, which the former prime minister denied.

Prince Andrew was also accused of holding detailed discussions with Saif over al-Megrahis release during a Foreign Office-sponsored trip to Algeria. Buckingham Palace denied any meetings or discussions had taken place.
Theresa May will be asked to pour further billions into the Northern Ireland economy when she holds crunch talks with the DUP tomorrow.

The Prime Minister is to meet party leader Arlene Foster in Downing Street in a bid to stitch together a controversial Commons partnership.

The Democratic Unionist leaders hard-line views on issues including abortion and gay rights have horrified many Tories.

Theresa May will be asked to pour further billions into the Northern Ireland economy when she holds crunch talks with the DUP tomorrow

The price of a deal is expected to include support for a new economic package in the Province, the scrapping of Conservative plans to end the pension triple lock and winter fuel allowance  and a guarantee that there will be no referendum on Irish reunification.

No 10 suggested on Saturday that it had agreed a so-called confidence and supply deal with the DUP, which would see the partys ten MPs back the Tories on key votes on the Queens Speech, Brexit and the Budget.

But in an embarrassing setback, the DUP later said it had not yet agreed a deal. The mix-up was last night blamed on a communication error.

Sources said the details will be hammered out by Mrs May and Mrs Foster tomorrow.

An arrangement with the hard-line DUP is seen as the only way in which the Tories can guarantee a Commons majority in the wake of the disastrous election result.

Mrs Foster yesterday said the party had held very good discussions in Belfast on Saturday and insisted her party would act in the national interest.

The Prime Minister is to meet party leader Arlene Foster in Downing Street in a bid to stitch together a controversial Commons partnership

The arrangement is controversial, with fears over the potential impact of a deal on the Northern Ireland peace process, which commits the government to remaining neutral.

In a highly unusual move, Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday said he had told Mrs May that nothing should happen to put Good Friday Agreement at risk. He also raised concerns about the absence of a nationalist voice in Westminster.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon looked uncomfortable on the BBCs Andrew Marr show yesterday, when the views of DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr on gay rights were read out to him.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon looked uncomfortable on the BBCs Andrew Marr show yesterday, when the views of DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr on gay rights were read out to him

In 2007, Mr Paisley said: I am pretty repulsed by gays and lesbian people. Sir Michael said the views were irrelevant as ministers were not planning a formal coalition.

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said there were questions about the consequences for Brexit, where the DUP is committed to avoiding the reintroduction of a hard border with the south.

Conservative Heidi Allen said she was deeply unhappy about the idea of a formal deal with the DUP.

Former Labour cabinet minister Yvette Cooper sought to exploit controversy, saying it could put the Northern Ireland peace process in jeopardy. But party colleague Caroline Flint pointed out that Gordon Brown sought deals with the DUP after the 2010 election.

Tough talks won't faze the leader who survived IRA

by Ruth Dudley Edwards

While Theresa May takes centre stage this week, there are two women on whom her political future depends.

In Scotland, it is leader of the Scottish Tories Ruth Davidson.

In Northern Ireland, it is the far less familiar Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party  the party with which Mrs May must do a deal if she is to govern Britain.

While Theresa May takes centre stage this week, DUP leader Arlene Foster is one of the women on whom her political future depends

So who is Arlene Foster and what will an alliance with the DUP mean for the Tories?

Are criticisms of its attitude to gay rights and its anti-liberal stance on social issues justified?

Arlene Kelly  as she was then  grew up on a small farm in the village of Rosslea in beautiful County Fermanagh with two older sisters and a younger brother.

Born in July 1970, the year after the Troubles began, it was a happy childhood  at least until she was eight.

One evening she was in the kitchen with her mother while her father, a policeman who ran the farm as a sideline, had gone out to lock up the cattle.

There were gunshots.

Her mother froze, but Arlene didnt understand the significance of the sounds until her father came in crawling on all fours with blood streaming from his head. The IRAs war on Ulster Protestants had come to their home.

A former practicing solicitor, Foster joined the DUP in 2004 after serving as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Her father survived, but the family left Rosslea. The only member of her family to pass the 11+, Foster attended grammar school in Enniskillen. But the violence hadnt gone away.

She was 16 when the IRA bombed her school bus, aiming to kill the driver, a part-time soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment. The girl Arlene was sitting next to was badly injured.

The same year, the SAS shot dead Seamus McElwaine, who had tried to kill her father, as he was preparing to ambush an army patrol.

Martin McGuinness  with whom she would later work in the Northern Ireland Assembly  described him a freedom fighter murdered by British terrorists.

The following year, the IRA killed 12 on Remembrance Day in Enniskillen. These are the bitter experiences that marked Arlene Foster, now 46, and have given her that famous hard edge.

Arlene Foster went to Queens University Belfast to study law, joined the Young Unionist Association, practised as a solicitor and became a rising star in the Ulster Unionist Party. In 1995 she married Brian Foster, a policeman, and they have three children.

She was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2003, but in 2004 jumped ship to the Reverend Ian Paisleys hard-line DUP because she believed it to be tougher in defence of victims and the interests of the police.

Foster was a practising member of the Church of Ireland and by DUP standards socially liberal, and wholly opposed to paramilitaries of any kind.

She averted her eyes from the nastier side of her party and got on well with Paisley who in 2007 became respectable when he agreed to share power with Sinn Fein.

Under him and her mentor, Paisleys successor Peter Robinson, Arlene Foster rose rapidly, and was the obvious choice to follow Robinson in December 2015.

The DUP has come a long way since it was the creature of Ian Paisley at his worst, and Arlene Foster is set on rooting out bigotry in the party

It was therefore a blow when the BBC exposed a scandal over a green scheme known as the Renewable Heating Incentive which had been implemented so incompetently that it actually paid businesses enormous sums to waste energy  costing the taxpayer 490million.

She failed to take responsibility, own up and grovel, and she and her party suffered in the Assembly election the following year.

Foster endured months of humiliation, but she learned her lesson and led her party into the general election and came up trumps.

Now she has been made an offer by Theresa May that she cant refuse. Any deal will be strictly on a confidence and supply basis, and she will not be making unreasonable demands, although she is anxious to protect social care for the elderly.

The DUP has come a long way since it was the creature of Ian Paisley at his worst, and Arlene Foster is set on rooting out bigotry. She has gay friends and is no homophobe.

Her DUP is intensely patriotic and will drive a tough bargain  and a soft(er) Brexit is high on the agenda to do with border issues with the Republic.

As for concerns being expressed about the future of peace process if the DUP aligns itself with the Tory government, ignore them. Theres no appetite among the Northern Irish people for a return to violence.
Three teenagers are in hospital after a high-speed car accident on a northern Melbourne road.

Police say they attempted to intercept the vehicle, they believe to be stolen, around 2am Monday morning on Cooper Street in Epping.

The group tried to evade police, reaching speeds of up to 150km/h, before smashing into a pole before crossing three lanes of traffic and spinning into a tree, according to 9 News.

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Three teenagers are in hospital after a high-speed car accident in Melbourne

Police say they attempted to intercept the vehicle, they believe to be stolen

One of the group fled the scene after the car came to a stop and remains on the run.

A 16-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and another girl who is yet to be identified were trapped in the vehicle for some time before were taken to hospital in non-life threatening injuries.

Police said they had not been chasing the vehicle and told 9 News the car crashed shortly after officers tried to intercept it.

They say their investigations will continue and anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

The group tried to evade police, reaching speeds of up to 150km/h
Next has issued an urgent safety warning after discovering childrens sandals contained a possible choking hazard.

The High Street chain recalled pairs of the 18 stud sandals after realising small rivets attached to the straps could come loose and be swallowed by youngsters.

The sandals were marketed as part of their Younger Girls range targeting those aged three months to six-years-old.

The recall comes just a few weeks after they were forced to recall another model of childrens sandals after it emerged that one type of bead on it had failed testing.

The sandals, part of the Younger Girls range, cost 18

A statement on the company website about the stud sandals said: Unfortunately, its come to light that theres a potential problem with the star rivets, which could become detached, presenting a choking hazard to young children.

As the sandals dont meet our strict technical specifications, weve taken the decision of recalling them, and were requesting that you return them to us for a full refund.

It advised parents to call the store to arrange a collection or to return it to a branch of the store. It promised a full refund.

It added: If youve given this item as a gift, please ask the recipient to get in touch with Next.

Next said it was 'very sorry' for any disappointment or inconvenience the recall might cause

Were very sorry for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause, but we hope youll understand that customer safety is our highest priority.

Last month Next issued a recall for strappy summer sandals sold in the store after makers realised that an unsafe type of bead is included in the strap design.

The material failed testing and could possibly be a risk to children, the company said. It did not specify the risk.
A 59-year-old Victoria man has been shot by police after he allegedly threatened them with a gun.

Officers were responding to a domestic violence incident involving a gun and an axe around 8pm on Sunday at a rural property near Cornishtown, north-east of Melbourne.

The man allegedly threatened police officers before they shot him in the arm.

He was rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

No one else was injured.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

A 59-year-old Victoria man has been shot by police in the arm after he allegedly threatened them with a gun around 8pm on Sunday

Officers were responding to a domestic violence incident involving a gun and an axe at a rural property near Cornishtown, north-east of Melbourne, when the man reportedly approached them
A handheld device could soon help doctors in the battle against superbugs.

British scientists have developed a gadget that can test if a patient is infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria in less than two minutes.

The University of Birmingham teams invention, which is already being tested in UK hospitals, can screen urine, blood or saliva for the presence of harmful drug-resistant bacteria.

Clostridium difficile, more commonly referred to as difficile, the superbug

Experts think the device could be used by GPs and hospital doctors to slash the rate of antibiotics incorrectly prescribed for viruses - particularly coughs and colds.

And it will mean the top-shelf antibiotics of last resort, which are currently in short supply, are only used when they are really needed.

Experts fear that the overuse of antibiotics is driving a superbug epidemic that will kill more people than cancer by 2050.

GPs doling out too many drugs, particularly for complaints where they are not needed, means that bacteria are evolving to become resistant to the treatments.

Superbugs are already breeding at a rapid rate, with increasing numbers of germs evolving to become untreatable with what were previously effective drugs.

The Governments superbugs tsar, Lord Jim ONeill, last year called for GPs to be banned from prescribing any antibiotics at all by 2020 without a test proving they are needed.

His report, personally commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron, warned that too often doctors prescribe antibiotics based on a guess as to whether an infection is present, just in case.

Few instant tests for infections exist - with current procedures meaning a delay of several days before a laboratory can confirm that a patient has a bacterial infection which requires antibiotics.

That delay means patients are often wrongly diagnosed or given the incorrect antibiotic before the infection is confirmed.

Experts say the new test could be used in GP surgeries, retirement care homes and even pharmacies to quickly identify if a patient has a bacterial infection.

Dr Matt Hicks, chief technology officer of Linear Diagnostics, a spin-out company from the University of Birmingham that is developing the test, said the device was currently being trialled in the pathology laboratory at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham but he hopes it will be more widely available within a year.

Alcohol hand gel, aimed to prevent infection, at the entrance to a ward at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London (file photo)

He said: For something like a urinary tract infection, it normally takes a couple of days to get a result back.

In the meantime, the GP would prescribe the first-line antibiotic according to the guidelines. In a lot of cases, the bacteria will be resistant to that antibiotic or the antibiotic will be inappropriate for the type of infection the patient has got, which can mean the patient gets sicker.

Our device makes it possible to make sure the diagnosis is correct at an early stage by looking for bacteria and check that the antibiotic being prescribed is not one the bacteria is resistant to.

Antibiotic resistance often occurs when patients fail to complete the full course of the prescription, allowing bacteria to survive and develop ways of escaping the drugs.

In many cases they can then pass this on to other bacteria, allowing drug resistance to spread.

Experts think the device could be used by GPs and hospital doctors to slash the rate of antibiotics incorrectly prescribed for viruses - particularly coughs and colds. Above, a stock image of a doctor auscultating a patient

An estimated 5,000 people die each year in the UK from antibiotic resistant bacteria, although some experts believe the figure is much higher.

Dame Sally Davies, the Governments chief medical officer, has repeatedly warned that medicine will be taken back to the middle ages if we do not deal with the superbugs problem, comparing the scale of the issue to that of terrorism.

Linear Diagnostics device builds on research by Professor Tim Dafforn, a biophysicist at the University of Birmingham and chief entrepreneurial adviser at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

He said: Improving diagnostics is an essential part of combatting infection and with our instrument we feel we have taken a significant step forward to help clinicians and patients.

Samples taken from a patient are added to a see-through cartridge that contains a cocktail of antibodies, DNA and other molecules.

Bacteria in the sample bind to specific antibodies attached to long, coloured, filament-like molecules in the cartridge, altering how they are aligned and changing how they absorb a particular colour of light passing through it.

The cartridge is placed in the handheld device - roughly the size of two DVD cases stacked together - which shines light through it to detect the different colours and absorbance, before giving a reading on a digital display.

By using different coloured filament molecules this also allows the system to check at the same time if the bacteria carry genes for certain types of antibiotic resistance.

Each cartridge can be tuned to look for a set of bacteria and antibiotic resistance according to what illness the doctor suspects the patient has.

Initially, Linear Diagnostics plans to produce a rapid test that can identify bacteria in urinary tract infections, but the device can also be used to look for other antibiotic resistant bacteria in blood, saliva, and spinal fluid.

Dr Hicks said: The goal is to get it into primary care, so GPs surgeries and also high street pharmacies and retirement homes.

Currently samples have to be sent off for laboratory testing meaning patients may be wrongly diagnosed initially and given the inappropriate antibiotic whilst waiting two days for results.

We need a change of practice in the way we use these drugs and the only way to do that is to have really good information at an early stage.

Public health experts welcomed the development of the device as a step towards ensuring antibiotics are used more sparingly.

Neil Woodford, head of the antimicrobial resistance and healthcare associated infections reference unit at Public Health England, said: Drug resistant infections are causing growing problems to public health but better and more rapid tests for patients can help doctors prescribe the right antibiotics, reducing their inappropriate use and the threat of resistant bacterial infections.
This morning, an isolated Prime Minister is facing the loneliest and toughest week in her life.

Her many enemies scent blood in the fetid, feverish, shark-infested waters of Westminster and circle for the kill.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is reported to have the backing of five current Cabinet ministers to launch an opportunistic leadership challenge.

In Europe, senior politicians and officials openly mock the collapse of Mrs Mays authority. In Britain, polls say that plenty of British people want her to quit  and several hundred thousand people have signed an online petition calling for her to do just that.

This morning, an isolated Prime Minister is facing the loneliest and toughest week in her life

Embittered former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, sacked by Mrs May in her victory reshuffle last July, denounces Conservative plans for a life-saving deal with the Democratic Unionist Party, while former Chancellor George Osborne (also sacked by Mrs May) describes her as a dead woman walking. Michael Heseltine, a former Deputy Prime Minister, snipes from the sidelines.

To add to this tragicomedy, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says that he is ready to form a minority government, and his sidekick Emily Thornberry insists Labour won and describes Mrs May as a squatter in No 10.

What a pathetic and shameful spectacle! What a disgrace to British government and democracy. I regret to say that some parts of the media and political class have taken collective leave of their senses. Its time to calm down. Its time to take a long breath, and to coolly appraise the facts.

Yes, Mrs May did a great deal worse than expected in last Thursdays General Election. Yes, Jeremy Corbyn did put in a strong and confident performance. Yes, the Tory campaign was the worst in recent history. And yes, there must be an inquest into what went wrong.

But this setback is anything but the existential calamity claimed by excitable Westminster voices, anxious Tories and Mrs Mays sworn political enemies.

Lets not forget that the Conservatives polled 13.7 million votes compared to just over 11 million two years ago. Indeed, Mrs May secured no less than three million more votes for the Tories than David Cameron managed in 2010, when he ended 13 years of Labour government.

Former Chancellor George Osborne (who was sacked by Mrs May) described her as a dead woman walking

And she gained a staggering 42.2 per cent  repeat 42.2 per cent  of the national vote. That is not far off the 43.9 per cent achieved by Margaret Thatcher in the epoch-making 1979 General Election that changed the course of British political history.

Most important of all, Mrs May won the General Election and (though this important point has gone largely unnoticed, not least by Ms Thornberry and other deluded Labour enthusiasts) Jeremy Corbyn lost it. She may have sacrificed 13 seats, but Mrs May is still the leader of by far the largest party in Parliament.

This gives her the constitutional right  indeed duty  to form a government. With the support of the DUP, Mrs May has an overall majority in Parliament. That is, in truth, all that matters.

It means that she can run the country and enter confidently into negotiations on Brexit when they start on June 19.

With the support of the DUP, Mrs May has an overall majority in Parliament. Pictured, the Prime Minister with DUP leader Arlene Foster

I have to say that I greatly admire the brave way Mrs May has chosen to plough on. There has been a trend in recent years for Tory politicians to give up the ghost after a setback  think of David Cameron after the Brexit referendum result a year ago, or Michael Howards resignation as Tory leader in 2005.

Or, indeed, Osbornes decision to ditch his safe Tatton constituency after his Cabinet sacking last year. (It is hard to exaggerate the scale of Mr Osbornes persistent and calculated treachery to a party that gave him such opportunities. The Tories are well rid of him.)

I believe that Mrs May is staying on purely for patriotic reasons. She realises that to quit now would at once throw Britain into chaos. The Tory Party would be forced into another leadership election, which would eat up several months of the time and energy desperately needed for the Brexit negotiations.

(On this issue, I have some advice for Boris Johnson: if you are seriously thinking about a leadership coup at this moment in time, dont.)

Theresa May went to church in Sonning, Berkshire today in the wake of her disastrous election result last week

There is no reason why Mrs May should not continue as Prime Minister, and every reason why she should do so. Certainly, her authority has been damaged by the disappointing election results and her confidence is fractured. But I believe that over time  and if she listens to others  she can start to build it back.

Certainly, she needs to change her style. For her first nine months as leader she was much too isolated  a trait encouraged by her atrocious lieutenants, Nick Timothy, architect of the disastrous Tory manifesto, and Fiona Hill, who controlled access to Mrs May. Their resignations on Saturday were welcome.

Gavin Barwell, the former Housing Minister who takes over as Chief of Staff, will do a much better job.

He knows the Tory Party like the back of his hand. He is a man of business. And unlike the pair he replaces, he does not bear grudges.

News that Mrs May has appointed Damian Green as effective Deputy Prime Minister is also welcome.

News that Mrs May has appointed Damian Green (left) as effective Deputy PM and Gavin Barwell as Chief of Staff is a welcome sign that sanity has returned to the Tory high command

These appointments mark the return of sanity to the Tory high command, after a long period of hysterical turbulence.

The grown-ups are back in Downing Street  and, as long as Mrs May adopts a more collegiate way of working, of including and involving her Cabinet, the country can return to an even keel.

Crucially, Mrs May must mend her broken relations with Chancellor Philip Hammond after the personal abuse he suffered at the hands of Hill and Timothy. But that should be easily done.

There has been a great deal of talk of an early General Election. That is possible, but highly unlikely. History shows that minority governments can survive for a surprisingly long time. The Cameron/Clegg Coalition endured the full five years, from 2010 to 2015.

A better analogy is the minority Labour government that clung on from 1974 to 1979, first under Harold Wilson and then Jim Callaghan.

Crucially, Mrs May must mend her broken relations with Chancellor Philip Hammond

It was a tense, dramatic time of financial crises, late-night, knife-edge parliamentary votes, and confrontation with the trade unions. But it survived.

Mrs Mays administration  boosted by new appointments bringing energy and intellect  can survive, too: battered and bruised, but resilient.

Rebuilding relations with her Cabinet is one thing, but Theresa May needs to do more  to reach out to the country as a whole. Because this isnt just a tough week for Mrs May: seven days before the Brexit negotiations begin, its a period of incalculable consequence for Britain.

If the wrong decisions are made, then this country might be sucked into a political and economic vortex from which it could take decades to recover.

It is the time for deep moral seriousness and conviction. We have to stop playing politics as if it were an episode of the TV satire The Thick Of It.

Its time to govern. And if Mrs May truly has the stomach for the task  and I hope she does  then the Tory Party and the country as a whole need to offer her our support. As another female Prime Minister once said in another context: There is No Alternative.
Love, when it lasts, may just be the most universal triumph of all.

And these photos, shared from Britain and America, to Korea and beyond, prove it's worth striving for.

One elderly couple were spotted in a loving embrace while waiting for a New York subway; while another were snapped riding along a UK pavement, the wife on a mobility scooter towing her husband on a skateboard.

In another touching photo, a man with a walking stick is seen carefully browsing Valentine's Day cards in a shop - proof indeed that no matter how cheesy some traditions are, they still count.

One particularly tear-jerking snap sees a couple embrace on their 60th wedding anniversary, captioned: 'My grandfather has Alzheimer's. He didn't remember his children, his home or anything else, but as bad as it got, whenever he saw my grandmother, he would say, 'Look my beautiful wife!'

Read on for a selection of photos, rounded up from across the world by MailOnline, which embody the ultimate relationship goals.

Rolling through the years: This elderly couple, spotted in the UK, have come up with an ingenious way to get around using teamwork

Which one this time? As this gentleman demonstrates, some traditions - no matter how cheesy - should always be upheld

Hold on tight: Nor are you ever too old to grow out of the trolley ride system, beloved by children the world over

Game well played: Assuming this pair are still together, which seems likely, they've enjoyed 56 years and counting

Tear-jerker: This was captioned - 'My grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. My grandfather has Alzheimer's. He didn't remember his children, his home or anything else, but as bad as it got, whenever he saw my grandmother, he would say, 'Look my beautiful wife!'

Better together: Two is always better than one when it comes to sharing the load

Old school: This was captioned - 'I overheard this friendly old couple making conversation with all of the hospital staff while we sat in a waiting room. I like how he is holding her purse'

Welcome home: This gentleman was filmed waiting eagerly at an airport to surprise his wife with a bunch of flowers

PDA alert: This couple, spotted together on the New York subway, just couldn't resist a hug

Kindness costs nothing: The uploader wrote of this snap - 'Caught an old couple holding hands and wishing a good day to everyone in their path'

Nailed it: This was captioned - 'Adorable old couple getting their nails done together talking about being married for 66 years, I'm crying'

Cheers: This proud daughter shared a snap of her parents in Korea, writing - 'They're a constant reminder of what love should be! No matter what, my parents hold it down for each other'

In it together: A British couple who have traded in their car for a smaller model

Six legs: According to the uploader, this elderly couple's cat follows them on their daily morning walk

Whatever floats your boat: We're not entirely certain what's going on here, but it involves a skateboard and it might be raining

Happy New Year: This pair was seen in Germany watching fireworks in a heartfelt embrace

Still in love: This couple was spotted dancing to every single song on a cruise ship, with the uploader writing - 'I thought it was absolutely adorable #heartmelted'

Sharing is caring: A woman shared this snap from an American restaurant along with the declaration - 'My grandparents are so cute'
She plays super spy Black Widow in the Marvel universe.

And on Saturday Scarlett Johansson seemed to be channeling her black-clad alter-ego at the Rough Night photo call in New York.

The 32-year-old Golden-globe nominated actress chose an all black ensemble for the occasion.

Back in black! On Saturday Scarlett Johansson seemed to be channeling her black-clad alter-ego Black Widow at the Rough Night photo call in New York

She kept things sartorially simple with a black t-shirt and wide leg trouser combination.

Her distinctive short-cropped blonde tresses were parted on the left and she sported some mostly subtle make-up, save for a slick of crimson lipstick.

Of course the rest of her castmates were on hand for the PR day as well.

Comedienne Jillian Bell, 33, looked delightful in a black blouse with wide sleeves which also featured floral graphics.

Nothing fancy: She kept things sartorially simple with a black t-shirt and wide leg trouser combination

Smile! Her distinctive short-cropped blonde tresses were parted on the left and she sported some mostly subtle make-up, save for a slick of crimson lipstick

A pair of ripped white jeans and nude heels completed her casual look.

Ilana Glazer, 30, looked quite elegant in a white, short sleeve frock with a double hem.

Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon, 33, looked to be having an especially good time with the group.

The blonde beauty wore a classic black dress which accentuated her fit figure.

Fun with flowers: Comedienne Jillian Bell (left), 33, looked delightful in a black blouse with wide sleeves which also featured floral graphics

Classic: Ilana Glazer, 30, looked quite elegant in a white, short sleeve frock with a double hem

Enjoying herself! Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon (second from right), 33, looked to be having an especially good time with the group

Rock royalty: Zoe Kravitz, 28, looked ready for battle in an ensemble apparently inspired by military fatigues

Zoe Kravitz, 28, looked ready for battle in an ensemble apparently inspired by military fatigues.

The daughter of rocker Lenny paired an olive tank top with matching baggy trousers with an integrated belt.

Some delicate pink stilettos did provide an interesting contrast.

Rough night, which hits theaters on June 16th, follows bachelorette Jess, played by Johansson, whose celebration ignites a firestorm of events that get increasingly out of control as the evening continues.

Cheers! Rough night, which hits theaters on June 16th, follows bachelorette Jess, played by Johansson, whose celebration ignites a firestorm of events that get increasingly out of control as the evening continues
They're the PR queens with a long history of battling it out for the top spot.

And now after Roxy Jacenko rehired Sara Huegill in March to work for her company Sweaty Betty, the feud between the pair has resurfaced with Sara leaving the agency for a second time.

Sara, 32, worked for Roxy, 36, up until 2010 when her employment was terminated for 'disloyal conduct'.

Uh oh! Roxy Jacenko and her employee Sara Huegill are at it again as Sara has resigned from the company and they unfollowed each other on Instagram

Moving on: After their falling out over Sara's termination from Sweaty Betty, the pair seemingly rekindled things as Roxy rehired Sara as the senior publicist

After their falling out over Sara's termination from Sweaty Betty, the pair seemingly rekindled things as Roxy rehired Sara as the senior publicist.

But now, less then three months later, the two powerhouse women have parted ways.

Despite the mutual social media snub, Roxy said that they are not on bad terms.

No bad blood: Despite the mutual social media snub, Roxy said that they are not on bad terms yet again

She told Sydney Morning Herald: 'Sara was brought on in a short-term project basis, which has now finished.'

Sara said there were 'no issues with RJ' and made the decision herself to leave Sweaty Betty so she could focus on her own agency called Row A PR.

She also wanted to have the extra time to spend with her retired Olympic swimmer husband Geoff Huegill and their two daughters Gigi, five, and Mila, three.

Moving on up! Sara said there were 'no issues with RJ' and made the decision herself to leave Sweaty Betty so she could focus on her own agency called Row A PR

Sara said: 'I decided to refocus on dedicating time to my own family and PR business, which gives me greater personal satisfaction and rewards.'

'Being one's own boss is best, and also putting my young family first is what matters most in this day and age.'

The pair are also no longer following each other on Instagram.

The feud between Sara and Roxy began when Sara was dismissed for 'disloyal conduct' in 2010 when Sara gave out $1000 worth of goods without Roxy's consent.

Family matters! Sara said: 'I decided to refocus on dedicating time to my own family and PR business, which gives me greater personal satisfaction and rewards'
Karl Stefanovic, 42, announced his shock split with wife Cassandra Thorburn in September last year, after 21 years of marriage.

And according to The Sun Herald, Cassandra and the couple's three children, Jackson, 17, Ava, 12, and River, 10, have moved into the family's '$8 million waterfront Cremorne mansion' for the first time, following its complete renovation.

The news comes seven weeks after the 46-year-old and her brood moved into temporary accommodation following the highly-publicised divorce.

Fresh start: Karl Stefanovic's ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn, 46, has reportedly 'moved into an $8 million waterfront Cremorne mansion' with the couple's three children

'It is unknown for how long Thorburn and the children will call the house "home", but is believed to have brought some relief to the family,' The Sun Herald claimed.

'The outcome of the Cremorne property had been in limbo with building being put on hold after the pair sold their Lindfield property for $3.8 million in November,' the publication continued.

Karl, Cassandra and their three children had never lived in the Cremorne property as a family.

Relief: 'It is unknown for how long Thorburn and the children will call the house "home", but is believed to have brought some relief to the family,' The Sun Herald claimed

Contemporary: The luxurious abode in Sydney's lower north shore, is located right on the waterfront with uninterrupted views

Situated in Cremorne in Sydney's lower north shore, the abode offers uninterrupted waterfront views.

With entertaining in mind, the interior features a spacious living area with a pool looking out onto the balcony.

A kitchen with a marble island is large enough to boast state-of-the-art equipment.

Picture-perfect: The ultimate of entertaining in mind, the interior features a spacious living area with a pool looking out onto the balcony

On-trend: A kitchen with a marble island is large enough to boast state-of-the-art equipment

Luxurious: A separate dining area is perfect for guests with stunning views of the harbour

September last year saw Karl and Cassandra announce their separation after 21 years of marriage.

After news of the shock separation, Karl moved out of their family home in Lindfield, on Sydney's Upper North Shore, where Cassandra remained.

Since then, the father-of-three has been spotted on a number of occasions with former-model-turned footwear designer Jasmine Yarbrough, 33.

The couple debuted their new romance in May this year, at Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week.

New chapter: After news of the shock separation, Karl, 42, moved out of their family home in Lindfield, on Sydney's Upper North Shore, where Cassandra remained

New romance: Since then, the father-of-three has been spotted on a number of occasions with former-model-turned footwear designer Jasmine Yarbrough, 33

Meeting the parents: The blonde beauty was reported to have met Karl's mum earlier this year, with Woman's Day claiming that Jasmine caught up with Jenny Stefanovic during one of her visits to Sydney

The blonde beauty was reported to have met Karl's mum earlier this year, with Woman's Day claiming that Jasmine caught up with Jenny Stefanovic during one of her visits to Sydney.

'Jasmine had hoped this trip would be the perfect opportunity to get to know Karl's family,' a source told the publication.

The report went on to suggest that Karl's mother Jenny was pleased her son had found happiness after his public split from Cassandra.
She made an emotional speech at her 2015 Gold Logie win, after her late husband lost his battle with brain cancer.

And Carrie Bickmore, 36, has penned a heartfelt tribute to a young boy who lost his battle with brain cancer.

In her Stellar column, she shared the her life changing meeting with the Darch family and four-year-old Bede and from Perth, Western Australia.

'I was forever change by meeting this four-year-old boy': Carrie Bickmore, 36, has penned a heartfelt tribute to a young boy who lost his battle with brain cancer

At four-months-old he was diagnosed with aggressive terminal brain cancer and given only weeks to live.

But defied the odds undergoing intense chemotherapy sessions, taking 14 different drugs and spending most of his young life unwell at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.

Carrie said she first met Bede and his family at their home when he was three-years-old and saw first hand the confronting side of caring for a terminally ill child as his parents, Issy and Roy, did.

Fighter: Bede was four-months-old he was diagnosed with aggressive terminal brain cancer and given only weeks to live but defied the odds and undergoing intense chemotherapy sessions

'My heart is raw': Bede's mother Issy was heavily criticised after writing I want my son to die. I'm tired. He is tired. I want peace for him, rest'. Carrie came to her defence saying she needed support (Issy pictured with her youngest child)

Issy maintained a blog about her son's progress and came under fire and criticism when she wrote: 'My heart is raw. Because the truth is I want my son to die. I'm tired. He is tired. I want peace for him, rest.'

The Project host came to her defence saying she needed support and added that: 'Despite the trauma this family was living through, there was a positivity and joy that filled every room. A rich life being lived.'

Bede passed away in May this year and his life left an indelible mark on Carrie.

'I was forever changed by meeting Bede and his awe-inspiring family, and I truly believe their strength will save lives in the future,' she said.

Carrie has been a driving force in raising awareness and funding for brain cancer research after her late husband lost his battle in 2010 (pictured with Miguel Maestre)

'Bede led a peaceful yet defiant protest against brain cancer. Issy says he was the most incredible, generous, accommodating human being who lit up their familys life,' she added.

Carrie has been a driving force in raising awareness and funding for brain cancer research after her late husband lost his battle in 2010.

She has also set up Carries Beanies 4 Brain Cancer to help raise funds on for research at the The Olivia Newton John Foundation, The Walter and Eliza Hall of Medical Research and at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre.
Her eponymous cruelty-free fashion label is a huge success.

And Stella McCartney, 45, celebrated her latest sustainable fashion collection at the Ye Olde Mitre pub in London on Saturday.

Wearing a black pleather maxi skirt from her Autumn/Winter 2017 collection, the flame-haired designer looked gorgeous as she enjoyed the evening with friends.

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Eco-friendly: Stella McCartney, 45, celebrated her latest sustainable fashion collection at the Ye Olde Mitre pub in London on Saturday

Her trendy ensemble, which consisted of a loose-fitting white T-shirt tucked into the skirt, highlighted her tiny waist.

She added height to her petite 5"4 frame with a pair of black pointed court heels, and slung her hands in her pockets as she smiled at the cameras.

She styled her auburn tresses into her signature tousled centre-parting, and sported minimal make up for the occasion.

Pals: Her trendy ensemble, which consisted of a loose-fitting white T-shirt tucked into the skirt, highlighted her tiny waist as she posed with Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler

Edgy: Stella smiled for photos with Heloise Letissier aka Christine and the Queens

The daughter of Sir Paul McCartney defied her years as she showed off her ageless beauty and glowing complexion.

The star-studded guestlist included Casamigos Tequila owner Rande Gerber's son, Presley Gerber, and Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler.

Steven looked cool in his khaki green jumpsuit, and styled his long brunette hair with feathers.

Fashionista: She added height to her petite 5"4 frame with a pair of black pointed court heels, and slung her hands in her pockets (Pictured with Sean Ellis)

Three's a crowd! Stella cosied up between Steven and his girlfriend Aimee Ann Preston

Beautiful people: Presley Gerber - who's father Rande runs Casamigos Tequila with pal George Clooney - showed off his supermodel looks with Cayley King

Trendy: Actor Laurie Calvert opted for a funky mustard yellow and green look

Stella juggles her high-flying career as a fashionista with raising her four children in her personal life.

In 2003, the musician's daughter married British publisher Alasdhair Willis at the Mount Stuart House in Scotland.

The couple raise sons Miller Alasdhair, 12, and eight-year-old Beckett Robert Lee and daughters Bailey Linda, aged ten, and Reiley Dilys, six.

Squad: Stella posed with her pals, who all turned out to celebrate with her

Pizza party: She even had a custom made pizza box made, emblazoned with 'Stella's Pizza'

Speaking about raising her two daughters in a recent interview, she told W magazine: 'I take it for granted that my daughters are pretty solid, strong girls.

'They're fearless. They can have an opinion and a voice.

'We have moments of mindful awareness. And then we talk absolute cr*p.'

Suited and booted: British comedian Steve Coogan wore a satin finish purple suit

Great genes: Presley and Cayley showcased their model physiques

Funnyman: Ever the trickster, Steven posed with his leg up
He's the LA-based celebrity chef who who frequently pops up on hit Channel Ten reality show MasterChef Australia.

And Curtis Stone has revealed that he won't be vying for a more permanent role on the show, as the prospect makes him 'nervous.'

Speaking to Confidential, Curtis, 41, said he felt that the current hosts were doing to good of a job.

Butterflies: Curtis Stone has revealed that he won't be vying for a more permanent role on the show, as the prospect makes him 'nervous'

'I'd be nervous about doing it [more permanently],' Curtis, who will appear in a Mystery Box challenge on Sunday night's episode, said.

'The guys [Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris] do such a great job.'

Curtis added that he didn't want to involve himself more in the show as he believed it would mess with a winning formula.

Bit part: 'I'd be nervous about doing it [more permanently],' Curtis, who will appear in a Mystery Box challenge on Sunday's MasterChef, told Confidential

'I'd be very nervous to fit into something that has had so much longevity and success, I think,' he said.

'I'm more than happy being the sidekick, being the guy who shows up once in a while.'

Arguably one of Australia's most well known celebrity chefs, Curtis has two restaurants in Los Angeles - Maude and Gwen.

Content: 'I'm more than happy being the sidekick, being the guy who shows up once in a while,' the celebrity chef added

Working formula: 'The guys [Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris] do such a great job,' Curtis told the publication

He has also appeared on a slew of US cooking shows including America's Next Great Restaurant, Top Chef and Kitchen Inferno.

Curtis, who has been the face of Coles Supermarkets in Australia since 2010, also hosted the current season of My Kitchen Rules in the US and has made appearances on the Australian version of the show.

He is married to US actress Lindsay Price and they share two sons,Hudson, 5, and Emerson Spencer, 2.
She plays Tom Cruise's on screen love interest in The Mummy 2017 reboot.

But Annabelle Wallis is keeping her lips tightly sealed when it comes to her off screen romance.

The 32-year-old actress, who has been linked to Coldplay front man Chris Martin since 2015, did not to talk about her personal life preferring to keep it a mystery, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I have nothing to hide': Annabelle Wallis is keeping her lips tightly sealed when it comes to her off screen, and yet to be confirmed, romance with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin

Annabelle added that she it was important she kept that aspect of her life under wraps in order to maintain believability on screen.

'It becomes hard when you know about someone's personal life - it's just distracting. It's a whole other job in itself if you go down that road,' she said.

The Oxford-born, blonde beauty has been spotted out and about in Paris, Los Angeles and in New York with the Viva La Vida crooner, appearing very affectionate to each other.

Hush hush! Annabelle added that she it was important she kept that aspect of her life under wraps in order to maintain believability on screen

Blockbuster: Annabelle stars as Tom Cruise's fiesty on screen love interest Jenny Halsey in The Mummy 2017 reboot

However, the two have never officially confirmed their romance despite his divorce from actress Gwyneth Paltrow being finalised in 2015.

'I love the person I love, but it means so much to me that I like to keep it safe,' she told the publication.

'I have nothing to hide. It's just that when you have people in your life that you care about, you get very protective of them, and it's not about you any more, it's about other people, and the ones you love are the ones you protect like a lioness,' she added.

'I love the person I love': She said Annabelle and Chris have never officially confirmed their romance despite his divorce from actress Gwyneth Paltrow being finalised in 2015

Annabelle made the Hollywood big time after she was opposite of A-Lister Tom Cruise in The Mummy, which has been panned as a flop for Universal Studios.

Aside from the 2017 reboot, she has also starred in Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword as Maid Maggie.

She has also starred in horror film Annabelle, Sacha Baron Cohen's 2016 action comedy Grimsby and the Maddona directed film W.E.
He was enjoying spending some quality time at Taylor Swift's Nashville home.

But it was time for Joe Alwyn to head back home as the star was seen disembarking a private jet in London - courtesy of his superstar girlfriend.

Keeping his head down, the British actor, 26, donned a green hoodie that he wore beneath a denim jacket.

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Heading home: It was time for Joe Alwyn to head back home as the star was seen disembarking a private jet in London - courtesy of his superstar girlfriend.

The Keepers star kept the rest of his ensemble casual, wearing a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms and brown boots.

Walking briskly across the landing strip, Joe seemed eager to get home after the long flight.

Taylor was not seen with her beau, no doubt still at home in America as they continue with their long-distance relationship.

Gorgeous girlfriend: Joe was enjoying spending some quality time at Taylor Swift's Nashville home but it was time for him to come home

Taylor and Joe have been dating for several months after they met at a Kings of Leon concert in October 2016, but details of their romance only started coming out in May.

And while Taylor has been making undercover visits to London, she was also spotted introducing her new beau to her adopted hometown of Nashville.

An insider recently revealed that the couple are officially 'exclusive', according to E! News.

Low-key look: Keeping his head down, the British actor, 26, donned a green hoodie that he wore beneath a denim jacket

Flying with style: The Keepers star kept the rest of his ensemble casual, wearing a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms and brown boots

Off he goes: Taylor ensured her boyfriend would travel in style as he enjoyed a trip on her jet

Jet lag: Walking briskly across the landing strip, Joe seemed eager to get home after the long flight

And the The Favourite actor has even had the honor of meeting some of the starlet's VIP squad, including superstars Selena Gomez, Gigi Hadid and 'other close friends.'

Although happy to introduce her new love to her inner circle, Taylor was careful to keep their romance as far from the spotlight as possible.

A source told the site, 'The only people this has been a secret to is the media because all of usTaylor and Joe's closest friends and their familieswere aware they have been together for several months and have known each other for a long time.'

Flying solo: Taylor was not seen with her beau, no doubt still at home in America as they continue with their long-distance relationship

Coupled up: Taylor and Joe have been dating for several months after they met at a Kings of Leon concert in October 2016, but details of their romance only started coming out in May

Low-key: Joe managed to keep his romance with Taylor low-key until last month

Taylor's been protective of her privacy since very-public relationships with DJ Calvin Harris actor and Tom Hiddleston became target for media fodder.

Another insider told E!, 'She got buried in media being on top of her life during the last relationship, so she tried everything in her power to not have that happen again.

They added, 'She doesn't want the photos, the hysteria, the speculation. When she's ready, she'll talk about it. Don't expect this to play out like her other relationships.'

Loved-up: Joe had enjoyed a romantic trip to Nashville with his gorgeous girlfriend
He portrayed the lovable Harold Bishop on the hit Channel Ten soap Neighbours for 25 years.

And actor Ian Smith, 78, has revealed that he will be writing a memoir about his time on the show, admitting that he felt 'typecast' after playing the role for so long.

Speaking to News Corp, Ian said he recently admitted to fellow Neighbours alumnus Guy Pearce that all he had done for the past 25 years was play '50 shades of Harold.'

Tell all: Neighbours star Ian Smith, 78, has revealed that he will be writing a memoir about his time on the show, admitting that he felt 'typecast' after playing Harold Bishop for so long

'Guy rang me a year ago. I was dumbstruck,' he revealed to the publication. 'He invited me to his place for a meal. There was no bulls***. I said to him "I could have been an actor," and he laughed at me.'

'I said "what I've done for 25 years is a variation on one character - fifty shades of Harold, that's all."'

Despite feeling hemmed in by his iconic character, Ian added that he was proud of his work on the long-running soap.

Typecast: Speaking to News Corp, Ian said he recently admitted to fellow Neighbours alumnus Guy Pearce that all he had done for the past 25 years was play '50 shades of Harold'. Also pictured is actress Margot Robbie

'I love those old English characters that you want to pick up and cuddle,' he said. 'I had a sneaky visit to the writers and told them what I was going to try.

'I was very fortunate because they gave me carte blanche. They said "give us Harold". How many actors get that opportunity?'

Ian first appeared on Neighbours in 1987 and stayed with the show until 1991 when Harold was believed to be lost at sea.

He returned to the show in 1996 and stayed on as a regular cast member until 2009, returning for short stints in 2011 and 2015 for the show's 30th anniversary.

Aside from chronicling his time on Neighbours, Ian also revealed to the publication that his as-yet-untitled memoir, would focus on his struggles with depression which was sparked by his dying mother admitting to the actor that he was adopted.

Taken seriously: 'Guy Pearce rang me a year ago. I was dumbstruck,' he revealed to the publication. 'I said to him "I could have been an actor" and he laughed at me.' Also pictured are former cast-mates Kylie Minogue, Craig McLachlan and Anne Charleston
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Jessica Chastain made a stunning bride when she married Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo in Italy on Saturday.

The couple were married in the northern Italian city of Treviso, near Venice, at the Passi de Preposulo family estate, Villa Tiepolo Passi.

The newlyweds were spotted exiting the church following the ceremony, where they posed for photos on the steps alongside the groomsmen.

Just married... Actress Jessica Chastain (centre) made a stunning bride when she married Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo (third left) in Italy on Saturday

The 40-year-old actress looked gorgeous in a strapless white bridal gown, which featured a fitted bodice.

Jessica's vintage-inspired dress featured intricate lace detailing and a drop waistline.

Her trademark red locks were pulled back in a simple updo, and a tulle veil sat over her bun.

Jessica appeared to have opted for a clean, classic look for the nuptials, wearing only a simple pair of earrings.

Destination wedding: The couple were married in the northern Italian city of Treviso, near Venice, at the Passi de Preposulo family estate, Villa Tiepolo Passi

Keeping it simple... Jessica appeared to have opted for a clean, classic look for the nuptials, wearing only a simple pair of earrings

Wedding party: The newlyweds were spotted exiting the church following the ceremony, where they posed for photos on the steps alongside the groomsmen

Tied up: Her trademark red locks were pulled back in a simple updo, and a tulle veil sat over her bun

Meanwhile, her 34-year-old hubby looked handsome in a blue suit.

He wore a white shirt and grey tie, and donned a white flower boutonniere.

The gorgeous couple was seen chatting intimately in between photos, while surrounded by their groomsmen, all dressed in matching blue suits, but with black ties.

Dashing: Meanwhile, her 34-year-old hubby looked handsome in a blue suit. He wore a white shirt and grey tie, and donned a white flower boutonniere

Pedigree: Gian Luca hails from an aristocratic family, and their wedding brought together a mix of A-list Hollywood stars and Italian nobility

Star-studded: Anne Hathaway, 34, was a guest, linking arms with her husband, Adam Shulman, 36, and her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt, 34

Lace up: Italian model Bianca Brandolini dAdda, 29, was also in attendance, dressed in a maroon lace skirt and matching high-neck cropped top

Gian Luca hails from an aristocratic family, and their wedding brought together a mix of A-list Hollywood stars and Italian nobility.

Anne Hathaway, 34, was a guest, linking arms with her husband, Adam Shulman, 36, and her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Emily Blunt, 34, as they made their way into the ceremony.

Italian model Bianca Brandolini dAdda, 29, was also in attendance, dressed in a maroon lace skirt and matching high-neck cropped top.
Joe Jonas and his girlfriend of seven months, Sophie Turner, took yet another hand-in-hand hike together in Los Angeles on Saturday morning.

At 5ft9in, the British 21-year-old is two inches taller and five years younger than her Arizona-born beau, sporting a grey Under Armour sweatshirt and shorts.

The five-time SAG Award nominee opted for a fuss-free ponytail with her red Overthrow hooded sweatshirt and black Under Armour capri leggings.

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Fit couple: Joe Jonas and his girlfriend of seven months, Sophie Turner, took yet another hand-in-hand hike together in Los Angeles on Saturday morning

Still going strong: At 5ft9in, the British 21-year-old is two inches taller and five years younger than her Arizona-born beau

The five-time SAG Award nominee told InStyle: 'I found it easier to date someone who understands the industry or is in that world. You realize that you're not going to see each other all the time. And you don't feel like a jerk when youre like, "My publicist says I can't do this"'

'I found it easier to date someone who understands the industry or is in that world,' Sophie told InStyle on May 4.

'You realize that you're not going to see each other all the time. And you don't feel like a jerk when youre like, "My publicist says I can't do this."'

The fit couple were first romantically linked in early November after attending a pre-MTV Europe Music Awards Kings of Leon concert at the Oude Luxor Theater in the Netherlands.

Last week, Joe's father Kevin Jonas Sr. said his four sons 'were shaken' when he revealed his colon cancer diagnosis back in March.

'Joe flew directly from Japan': Last week, Joe's father Kevin Jonas Sr. (L) said his four sons 'were shaken' when he revealed his colon cancer diagnosis back in March

'My prognosis is looking good!' The 52-year-old patriarch has undergone two surgeries at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center but he still has to have chemotherapy

Touring: The DNCE frontman's four-piece dance-rock act will next perform at New York's Northwell Health At Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh next Friday

'Frankie came home from school, Nick came from L.A., Joe flew directly from Japan. They canceled their schedules, moved important things,' the 52-year-old patriarch told NBC Charlotte's WCNC.

'My prognosis is looking good.'

Kevin (born Paul) has undergone two surgeries at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center but he still has to have chemotherapy.

The DNCE frontman's four-piece dance-rock act will next perform at New York's Northwell Health At Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh next Friday.

'She's hungry for revenge': Meanwhile, the X-Men: Apocalypse starlet will resume her role as Sansa Stark in the seventh season of Game of Thrones, which premieres July 16 on HBO

Turner told Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore: 'I can totally see her becoming a Cersei [Lannister] and kind of driven mad by it, by the threats against her family. If that means becoming like a ruthless killer, leader, sadistic woman or evil lady, then so be it'

Meanwhile, the X-Men: Apocalypse starlet will resume her role as Sansa Stark in the seventh season of Game of Thrones, which premieres July 16 on HBO.

'[Sansa has changed] from being a naive, vulnerable innocent young woman and being such an underdog to being a leader, powerful, and hungry for revenge from the people who have done her family wrong,' Turner told Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore on May 31.

'[Sansa and Cersei Lannister] are both so family-obsessed and family-oriented, and will do anything for the people they love. I can totally see her becoming a Cersei and kind of driven mad by it, by the threats against her family. At the end of the day, that's why she does the things that she does, because she's terrified of losing the people she loves. And so she'll stop at nothing to protect them.'

Sophie continued: 'If that means becoming like a ruthless killer, leader, sadistic woman or evil lady, then so be it. I dont think it matters to her, and I can see Sansa swinging that way too.'
Victoria's Secret Angels Romee Strijd and Taylor Hill flashed their enviably chiseled legs as they blew through a string of outfits for a new photo-shoot in New York.

At one point, Romee was spotted in a sheer and sparkling silver and black top - apparently not wearing any bra underneath - as she posed next to a gold-clad Taylor.

Standing next to Romee, Taylor had zipped a gold sleeveless anorak over a camel-colored turtleneck, pulling on skintight black trousers and black stilettos.

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Hello, gorgeous: Victoria's Secret Angels Romee Strijd and Taylor Hill flashed their enviably chiseled legs as they blew through a couple of outfits for a new photo-shoot

The pair were spotted out in New York City, with 21-year-old Romee at one point having slid into a full-sleeved gleaming gold mini-dress hemmed at mid-thigh.

A matching glistening gold purse dangled at her left shoulder, and her black hose spilled into the pair of ankle-strap stilettos the Zoetermeer native had worn.

Meanwhile, Taylor had popped on a charcoal sweater speckled with silver floral patterns over a slightly sheer knee-length black skirt splattered with silver designs.

Glam: In one photo, Taylor appeared in a dazzling sleeveless top, she and Romee both visible through an open car door as Romee began step out

Sizzling: At one point, Romee was spotted in a sheer and sparkling silver and black top - apparently not wearing any bra underneath - as she posed next to a gold-clad Taylor

Taylor, also 21, had got a silver purse at her right shoulder herself, and she'd slung a black fur - whether it was real or faux was unclear - from the crook of her right arm.

Though there was a bit of precipitation that day, a besuited man was walking behind the two models holding an umbrella as they headed up the sidewalk.

In one photo, Taylor had flung off the sweater to reveal a sleeveless top, she and Romee both visible through an open car door as Romee began step out.

Smiling ear to ear: The pair were spotted out in New York City, with 21-year-old Romee at one point having slid into a full-sleeved gleaming gold mini-dress hemmed at mid-thigh

Coordinated: A matching glistening gold purse dangled ta her left shoulder, and her black hose spilled into the pair of ankle-strap stilettos the Zoetermeer native had worn

Romee was also seen on that sidewalk in a stylish black knee-length ensemble sprinkled with white polka-dots, and she'd got a black coat on, toting along a gold purse different from the one from the other outfit.

Ambling along beside her, Taylor was in a shining silver short-sleeved mini-dress and had a fur - again, it wasn't clear whether it was real or faux - draped at her shoulder.

E! News interviewed Romee alongside fellow Angel Jasmine Tookes this April, and the pair, who've long said they're workout buddies, dished culinary indulgences.

Touches of glitz: Meanwhile, Taylor had popped on a charcoal sweater speckled with silver floral patterns over a slightly sheer knee-length black skirt splattered with silver designs

On the go: Taylor, also 21, had got a silver purse at her right shoulder herself, and she'd slung a black fur - whether it was real or faux was unclear - from the crook of her right arm

Keeping warm: Romee was also seen on that sidewalk in a stylish black knee-length ensemble sprinkled with white polka-dots, and she'd got a black coat on

'My guilty pleasure food, 24/7, is pizza,' said Jasmine, whereas Romee's confessed to leaning toward 'sweets a lot. I like chocolate and, like, candies, ice cream.'

Being workout buddies, said Jasmine 'makes it more fun, to do it with your friends, and, like, we do a nice lunch or a brunch before, so, yeah.'

Romee had touched on exercising with Jasmine in an interview with Glamour last year as well, saying it 'Definitely!' helps to have a friend motivate her to work out.

Chic as ever: Ambling along beside her, Taylor was in a shining silver short-sleeved mini-dress and had a fur - again, it wasn't clear whether it was real or faux - draped at her shoulder

Protected: Though there was a bit of precipitation that day, a besuited man was walking behind the two models holding an umbrella as they headed up the sidewalk

'Sometimes, when I don't feel like working out, she'll push me to go, and the same can be said the other way around!' she confided.

Their meal dates had also come up, as Romee told the magazine: 'It also helps to plan a fun breakfast or lunch after a workout as something to look forward to.'

Taylor told Harper's Bazaar UK last year of her 'one-on-one workouts with my trainer that focus on slow, controlled movements and target specific parts of the body.'

Secrets to success: Taylor told Harper's Bazaar UK last year of her 'one-on-one workouts with my trainer that focus on slow, controlled movements and target specific parts of the body'

A little help from her friend: Romee had dished exercising with Jasmine Tookes in an interview with Glamour last year as well, saying it 'Definitely!' helps to have a friend motivate her
The private plane Jennifer Lawrence was travelling on was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Oscar-winning actress was flying from her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where she had been visiting family, when one of the plane's engines shut down, according to E! News.

Despite the drama, a rep for the actress told E! the star emerged unscathed from the incident.

Emergency: Jennifer Lawrence suffered a scare on Saturday, when the private jet she was travelling on was forced to make an emergency landing (pictured in New York in May)

The jet was flying at 31,000 feet when it suffered engine failure, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York.

But in the middle of the landing, the plane's other engine shut down, on what would have been an undoubtedly harrowing flight for The Hunger Games star.

After touching down in Buffalo, the jet was met by emergency vehicles.

Jennifer has often spoken about her humble beginnings growing up in Kentucky.

Unharmed: Despite the drama, a rep for the actress told E! the star emerged unscathed from the incident

Near miss: The 26-year-old Oscar-winning actress was flying from her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, when one of the plane's engines shut down

'In Louisville, when I was a child, I inherited clothes from my two older brothers [Ben and Blaine] that I put together with things that my mother unearthed out of yard sales. I was a tomboy,' she told ABC News in November 2014.

And even after her career took off, she's remained close with her family, visiting them as often as she can.

'She's talented and good at what she does but she's still just Jen who happens to be good at acting,' her mom, Karen Lawrence, said in an interview with WDRB.com in 2013.

Scary: The jet was flying at 31,000 feet when it suffered engine failure, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York

And according to her aunt, Cindy Miller, she heads home to Louisville whenever she needs to escape the spotlight.

'The last time she came home, I'll never forget, Jennifer called Karen from the airport and said, "Hi mom! All I want are Ramen noodles and sugar pops, or some sugary cereal - Cap 'N Crunch!"' she said.

'That's what she wanted.'
Since her release from a Bali prison less than a month ago, rumours have swirled as to Schapelle Corby's next move.

The latest involving a stint on UK Celebrity Big Brother, has left the 39-year-old convicted drug smuggler's family hitting back.

Schapelle's older sister Mercedes, took to Instagram on Sunday saying: 'What a load of crap this is'.

'What a load of crap': Mercedes Corby (right) lashed out as rumours swirled of sister Schapelle's (left) debut on UK celebrity Big Brother

Uploading a screen grab of a report by a news outlet, Mercedes began: 'Haha what a load of crap this is...'

'Apparently Schapelle has signed a deal and is applying for her visa to uk. It's just BS reporting again (sic).

'Who are these made up sources close to the family I wonder spinning all these quotes?? Mum makes the best hot tomato sauce lets call this sauce dumbmato! had to laugh,' she continued.

Schapelle was quick to comment underneath the post, writing: 'Weird hey@mercedescorby. First I've heard of it. Just googled it. False news'.

Vocal: Uploading a screen grab of a report by a news outlet, Mercedes began: 'Haha what a load of crap this is...' 'Apparently Schapelle has signed a deal and is applying for her visa to uk. It's just BS reporting again (sic)'

Having her say: Schapelle was quick to comment underneath the post, writing: 'Weird hey@mercedescorby. First I've heard of it. Just googled it. False news'

Reports: Sources close to Schapelle had insisted that one of Australia's most-well known drug smugglers was in serious talks to appear on reality series, UK Celebrity Big Brother

Sources close to Schapelle had insisted that one of Australia's most-well known drug smugglers was in serious talks to appear on reality series, UK Celebrity Big Brother.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the former jail bird had signed a deal with distributor Endemol Shine International, and had already applied for a network-sponsored working visa.

The publication also claimed that it was Endemol Shine who encouraged Schapelle to start her Instagram account that has already reached 196,000 followers.

Headlines: It was reported that the former jail bird had signed a deal with distributor Endemol Shine International, and had already applied for a network-sponsored working visa

Online chatter: Meanwhile it's not the first time speculation has surrounded Schapelle's possible reality star career

Meanwhile it's not the first time speculation has surrounded Schapelle's possible reality star career.

While gearing up for her arrival back into Australia two weeks ago, social media went into a frenzy with users supporting the idea that the former criminal replace Sophie Monk as the next Bachelorette.

Appearing on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show, Mercedes Corby denied the speculation.

'No that's not going to happen,' she told co-hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson.

Social media: While gearing up for her arrival back into Australia two weeks ago, social media went into a frenzy with users supporting the idea that the former criminal replace Sophie Monk as the next Bachelorette
She's the glamorous AFL WAG who loves to share pictures of her and her adorable children.

And Sunday was no different for Bec Judd as she again took to Instagram to show off one of her little cherubs.

The 34-year-old shared the tender moment in black and white of her having a snuggle with her nine-month-old son Tom.

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Mother son moment: On Sunday Bec Judd took to Instagram to show off one of her little cherubs

Bec looked fresh-faced as she held her baby in her arms and smiled adoringly for the loving snap.

Tom was sporting an adorable onesie as he pressed his cheek into his mother's.

While holding the bub, Bec flashed one of her many huge diamond rings as her hand grasped Tom's side.

Loving mum: Bec looked fresh-faced as she held her baby in her arms and smiled adoringly for the loving snap

Bec simply captioned the snap '#thisistom'.

She gave birth to Tom and his twin brother Darcy nine months ago to her husband ex-AFL star Chris Judd.

In just one hour, the snap has racked up over 7,000 likes.

Family affair: She gave birth to Tom and his twin brother Darcy nine months ago to her husband ex-AFL star Chris Judd

Bec is no stranger to sharing pics of her kids online as this black and white photo comes just days after she posted a video of her laying in bed with her kids.

'Good morning... hi Darcy and Tom,' she said.

She added to the pure moment by using the puppy Snapchat filer on her kids faces making them look even more adorable.
They've gotten under the skin of almost every contestant on House Rules.

And it wasn't just Fiona and Nicole's bad attitudes upset their rivals, as many of the teams were unimpressed with the Victorians' design skills too.

The contestants were given 24 hours and a budget of $5000 on Sunday's episode to overhaul their least favourite zones - and just one of the other teams didn't pick a space renovated by Fiona and Nicole.

Ouch! Zones renovated by Fiona (left) and Nicole (right) were the picked by almost every other team to re-do on Sunday night's 24-hour fix up on House Rules

South Australian couple Kate and Harry were keen to demolish Fiona and Nicole's wall in their lounge room, after the country girls had ignored their requests for open plan living earlier in the competition.

Harry realised the enormity of the challenge, remarking: 'It's going to be a pain... just like Fiona and Nicole are most of the time.'

Their decision was to their detriment later on though, as the short time period meant their main focus was the wall removal and not other design aspects, leading to a score of just 18 out of 30.

Out with wall! Kate and Harry were disappointed with the lounge room created by Fiona and Nicole

Living it up: The South Australian team opted to knock down the wall to create a more open living area

Tiles with a smile: Kate and Harry swapped black tiles for patterned ones, which impressed the judges

With Fiona and Nicole's take on a speakeasy looking like a 'brothel', Andrew and Jono wasted no time in trying to remove traces of the women's design skills.

Transforming the speakeasy area with a classy lounge and nice touches such as digi-print brick wallpaper, the judges were please with the overhaul.

'Fiona and Nicole have become the most abolished design team ever,' judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen noted.

Judge Wendy Moore also described all the choices as being considerably better than Fiona and Nicole's.

When it came time to be judged, Wendy, Laurence and Drew Heath awarded them accordingly with an impressive score of 28 out of 30.

Not happy: Andrew and Jono thought their speakeasy-style bar looked like a 'brothel'

Cheers to that: The boys switched the room up by adding a stylish couch and digi-print brick wallpaper, which were much better choices for the area

Back to basics: Andrew and Jono also changed the bright paint for a more muted option

While Fiona and Nicole had done a reasonable job on the Scandi-inspired lounge room in Sean and Ella's home, the Tasmanian couple still decided to make some tweaks.

They added a statement stacks-of-wood coffee table which the judges liked, but their hallway with an odd choice of pink paint for the ceiling fell flat.

Despite the difficult task of trying to improve areas that were scored well in the first place, Sean and Ella managed to pull in a score of 21 out of 30.

Hard task: Fiona and Nicole's Scandi space had impressed the judges, leaving Sean and Ella a difficult challenge to add value

Making a statement: Sean and Ella changed the coffee table and painted over the fireplace wall

Blessed with dreams: Aaron and Daniella, who chose to take on a zone originally done by Troy and Bec, added extra touches to the kids' bedroom

As one of the few teams to not choose a zone originally renovated by Fiona and Nicole, Aaron and Daniella had their work cut for them working on a space first fixed up by recently eliminated Troy and Bec.

Tradie Aaron added some extras to the child's bedroom, including a cubby house-like bedhead, which judge Laurence thought looked like a church confessional.

Aaron and Daniella also took out a wall but didn't have enough timber to complete the wall divider, which was reflected in their score of 20 out of 30.

Meanwhile, Fiona and Nicole struggled with their own 24-hour quick fix, with the judges telling them in some areas - like the paint jobs - they did a worse job than what was already there.

With a dismal score of just 17 out of 30, the House Rules villains of 2017 were sent packing.

Smashing boundaries: Aaron and Daniella also decided to pull down a wall
They're engaged, and still have yet to announce a wedding date.

But Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe don't seem too bothered, as the visibly affectionate duo linked arms for some shopping in West Hollywood on Saturday.

Cara, 33, looked quite happy as she pulled along her husband to be.

Loved up! Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe linked arms for some shopping in West Hollywood on Saturday

The Texas native looked quite stylish in a black spaghetti strap number that fell to just above her knees.

As she turned to survey a prospective purchase, a glimpse at her side confirmed that she opted to go braless for the outing.

She finished off her monochrome look with a pair of in vogue black slides.

A medium sized black tote and a pair of oversize shades completed the Reunion star's chic but simple ensemble.

Forget something? As she turned to survey a prospective purchase, a glimpse at her side confirmed that she opted to go braless for the outing

Her brunette tresses were pulled back into a messy bun, while she appeared mostly make-up free except for a dash of pale rose lipstick.

Jesse, 38, looked hunky as usual.

The Desperate Housewives stud looked cool and casual in a denim shirt and classic khakis.

Classic prep: The Desperate Housewives stud looked cool and casual in a denim shirt and classic khakis

Success! Cara was in such a good mood that she even flashed a peace sign for the cameras

White low-cut sneakers and some sunglasses of his own completed his laid back look.

It seemed the pair's shopping trip went well, as Cara carried a large black bag by the end of the afternoon.

Cara was in such a good mood that she even flashed a peace sign for the cameras.

While the couple did in fact seem quite carefree, they're both quite busy, with Jesse and Cara about to start shooting their addiction drama Steps, which they will both star in as well.
She's the busty Gold-Coast babe who rose to fame on the controversial dating series Married At First Sight.

And Cheryl Maitland appears to be capitalising on her celebrity status by drumming up business for a teeth whitening brand to her 166,000 Instagram followers.

The 25-year-old took to the photo sharing app to share a selfie with the Billionaire Teeth Whitening kit and spruiking the luxurious looking product.

Flaunting it! Married At First Sight Cheryl Maitland appears to be capitalising on her celebrity status by drumming up business for a teeth whitening brand to her 166,000 Instagram followers.

She showed off a classier side in a sophisticated black ribbed, long sleeve and a bejewelled chocker.

Cheryl captioned her post: 'I've only been using this product for 2 weeks and have noticed a massive difference. I love reddd reddd wine, who doesn't and this bad boy helps with my stains. (sic)'

Fans of the hairdresser loved her glamorous post, one wrote: 'Looking gorgeous here.'

Another said: 'Your smile looks beautiful here.'

'When they need to stay relevant': Photographer Jayden Seyfarth recently exposed a series of messages with the 26-year-old coordinating a staged paparazzi shoot

The reality TV star was recently outed by photographer Jayden Seyfarth, who exposed a series of text messages with the buxom brunette coordinating a staged paparazzi shoot.

Jayden, 20, captioned the exchange to his Instagram Story: 'When they need to stay relevant'.

The exchange began with Cheryl telling Jayden her movements: 'Hey I'll be in Melbourne this weekend'.

Exposed: Jayden's text message exchange with the reality star saw Cheryl coordinating her upcoming paparazzi shots

'Yo! Why Melb come to Sydney ahah! I can organise someone down there if you like,' Jayden responded.

'Would it be good for airport shots of me arriving as my partner will be there. Or dinner?' Cheryl continued.

Following the embarrassing incident, Cheryl told news.com.au: 'He (Jayden) messages me all the time to see where I am.

'I'm frankly getting annoyed with paps taking photos of me when I don't know and it makes me on edge every day.

Response: Following the embarrassing incident, Cheryl told news.com.au : 'He (Jayden) messages me all the time to see where I am'

'On edge': 'I'm frankly getting annoyed with paps taking photos of me when I don't know and it makes me on edge every day,' the buxom brunette continued

'I mentioned to him I would be in Melbourne and if he wanted to meet me there that was fine...The paps are going to take photos of me no matter what, so if I already know I won't be so stressed out and they won't be following me as much,' she continued.

The Married At First Sight star has been known for making headlines.

Shortly after the series premiere, details of her past life emerged - including her visits to the Playboy mansion and association with tobacco tycoon Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon.

Cheryl continued: 'I mentioned to him I would be in Melbourne and if he wanted to meet me there that was fine...The paps are going to take photos of me no matter what, so if I already know I won't be so stressed out and they won't be following me as much'

Notoriety: The Married At First Sight star has been known for making headlines. Shortly after the series premiere, details of her past life emerged - including her visits to the Playboy mansion and association with tobacco tycoon Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon

A video of Cheryl wearing a bikini and snorting white powder off her breast also resurfaced on social media, but she later dismissed the footage as a regrettable 'joke'.

After filming Married At First Sight, Cheryl began dating Melbourne-based plumber Dean Gibbs and within hours of debuting the relationship on Instagram, Dean's past life also made headlines as it emerged he was a convicted drug trafficker.

In 2014, Dean was handed a one-year suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to trafficking and using cocaine, as well as possessing steroids and ecstasy.
She's one of the hottest stars out there.

And Pamela Anderson wore a red hot Gauri & Nainika dress as she attended the Shepherd Conservation Society's 40th Anniversary Gala For The Oceans in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

The actress was joined by her son, Brandon Thomas Lee, who turned 21-years-old earlier this week.

Doing their part! Brandon Thomas Lee accompanied his famous mom, Pamela Anderson, to the Shepherd Conservation Society's 40th Anniversary Gala For The Oceans

Just one day earlier, Brandon had celebrated his milestone birthday in Las Vegas, with a wild party with his rockstar dad.

The 54-year-old Motley Crue drummer partied with his son at the Wynn hotel and casino.

Making sure he was back in LA in time to accompany his 49-year-old mom to the charity gala, Brandon looked cool in a pair of skinny black trousers with white stripes on the sides.

He also wore silver boots and a white T-shirt.

Party on: Just one day earlier, the social media star had celebrated his 21st birthday in Las Vegas, with a wild party with his rockstar dad, Tommy Lee

Family life: Brandon was seen placing a hand on his mom's back as they posed for photos together

Red hot: Pamela looked stunning in a red jumpsuit, which featured draping. The former Baywatch star wore her hair swept to one side and in loose waves

The rising star's hair was slicked back, reminiscent of bygone Hollywood icons like James Dean.

Meanwhile, Pamela looked stunning in a red jumpsuit, which featured draping.

The former Baywatch star wore her hair swept to one side and in loose waves.

Brandon was seen placing a protective hand on his mom's back as they posed for photos together.

Date night: Other stars in attendance at the charity gala included Maggie Q, who was accompanied by her fiance, Dylan McDermott

Making an appearance... Bones star Emily Deschanel (left) also attended, as did tattoo artist and reality star Kat Von D (right)

Lending their support: Actor Eric Balfour was in attendance, accompanied by his wife of two years, Erin Chiamulon

Suiting up: Musicians Moby (left) and Tony Kanal (right) also stepped out for the star-studded charity event

Other stars in attendance at the charity gala included Maggie Q, 38, who was accompanied by her fiance, Dylan McDermott, 55, and Eric Balfour, 40.

Bones star Emily Deschanel, 40, also attended, along with No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, 46.

Tattoo artist and reality star Kat Von D, 35, also turned out for the event, as did Martin Sheen, 76, and Moby, 51.

The gala was help raise money for ocean conservation.
As a mum-of-four, radio and TV host, blogger, activewear entrepreneur and brand ambassador, Rebecca Judd certainly has a busy schedule.

But luckily, the 34-year-old AFL WAG can always rely on her own mother Kerry Brown to help out with family duties.

Alongside Bec's husband Chris and a part-time nanny, Kerry is always on-hand to look after her adorable grandchildren.

And just like her famous daughter, Kerry can't resist sharing photos of Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy on her Instagram account.

Kerry to the rescue! As a busy mother-of-four, Bec Judd (left) is lucky to have the help of her mother Kerry Brown (right) who helps raise her grandchildren in the family home

A month after Bec's twin sons Tom and Darcy were born in September, Kerry moved into the family's home in Brighton, Victoria.

At the time, the KIIS FM host told Today: 'Sometimes I feel like I really don't have it all sorted... I've got my mum living with us now, so she's a big help!'

Since then, Kerry's Instagram has been filled with loving snaps of her grandchildren Oscar, five, Billie, three, and the eight-month-old twins.

In February, she shared a snap of Billie on her third birthday, as she sat on the floor at home enjoying her balloons and new unicorn toy.

Mummy's little helper! A month after Bec's twin sons Tom and Darcy were born in September, Kerry moved into the family's home in Brighton, Victoria

The New Zealand-born grandmother is perhaps even better at telling the twins apart, as Bec and Chris themselves admit to struggling sometimes.

This became clear in an Instagram photo she posted, which showed one of the twins looking much happier than the other, and was captioned: 'Tom is teething.'

Another snap of the twins looking delighted while playing their 'Nanny Kez' was accompanied by the comment: 'Adorable little men... bet they love their glam-ma.'

'I've got my mum living with us now, so she's a big help!' Rebecca previously told the Today show she was grateful to have her glamorous mother helping out in the family home

All four of Bec's children are no doubt thankful to always be surrounded by positive role models.

Born in New Zealand, Kerry and her husband Hugh followed the trend of Kiwis moving to Western Australia during the mining boom in the 80's.

They lived in a small cray-fishing town called Leeman, before moving to Perth a few years later.

She's a proud grandmother! And just like her famous daughter, Kerry can't resist sharing photos of Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy (pictured) on her Instagram account

How cute! In February, Kerry shared a snap of Billie on her third birthday, as she sat on the floor at home enjoying her balloons and new unicorn toy

Kerry and Hugh separated early in Bec's childhood, but remain close friends.

'When they moved, mum was 16 and Dad was 22... they were like two kids. I look back and think, "I can't believe they were ever together," Bec told the Herald Sun.

In addition to retired AFL star Chris, who is known for being a very hands-on father, the Judd family have a nanny who helps out three days a week.
She found her feet in the modelling world, before trying to make it in Hollywood.

But Suki Waterhouse proved she's a triple threat on Saturday, as she put on an energetic musical performance at Gay Pride weekend in Los Angeles, California.

Embracing her wild side, the British beauty, 25, showed off more than she intended, accidentally showing onlookers a cheeky flash of her peachy bum in a knitted dress.

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Fashion faux pas: Suki Waterhouse, 25, accidently showed off her peachy bum as she put on an energetic performance at Gay Pride weekend in Los Angeles, California on Saturday

As she threw her arms in the air, The Divergent Series: Insurgent star also suffered a small wardrobe mishap and flashed her matching knickers.

The actress left little to the imagination as she put on a very leggy display in a thigh-skimming frock.

Letting her hair down, the model's blonde curls fell in loose waves when she danced on stage.

Party girl! The actress left little to the imagination in the thigh-skimming knitted dress which showed off her long legs

While she kept her concert ensemble simple, she accessorised with a huge pair of specs which caught glimpses of the sunlight.

As for romance, rumours are swirling again that she is dating Mexican actor and director Diego Luna, 37, after they spent a few days together in New York.

Suki was first romantically linked with the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor in January when they were spotted looking cosy during a trip to Mexico.

Oops! The rising star flashed a hint of her knickers as she threw her arms around in the air on stage

The young starlet was reportedly dating Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden, however her recent appearances with Diego suggested she's already moved on.

Previously, Suki enjoyed a two-year romance with The Hangover star Bradley Cooper but the former flames parted ways in 2015.

At the time, a source told E! News: 'They both want different things right now.

Moved on: Suki is now reportedly dating Diego Luna after her two-year relationship with Bradley Cooper (pictured together in 2014) came to an end in 2015

'She loves Bradley and he loves her but she's so young and wants to concentrate on her acting career before becoming a mum.'

Meanwhile in her career, Suki shot to fame as the face of Burberry, she is now trying her hand as an actress.

To date she has made an appearance in Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Love, Rosie and Insurgent.

More recently the British star has been filming on the set of new thriller Assassination Nation.
They recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary.

And Amy Adams and her husband Darren Le Gallo looked very much in love as they exited the Lemonade restaurant in Westwood, California on Saturday.

The actress, 42, embraced summer chic in a sensational maxi dress and strappy high heels as she walked hand in hand with her artist other half.

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Stylish couple: Amy Adams, 42, and her husband Darren Le Gallo looked very much in love as they exited the Lemonade restaurant in Westwood, California on Saturday

Amy, who shares a six-year-old daughter Aviana with Darren, proved hard to miss in her stylish ensemble, which consisted of the monochrome dress.

The Oscar nominee teamed the garment with a black waterfall jacket and towering high heels - which boasted a gold buckle.

Her red locks were casually tousled and she hid her pretty features with a pair of cool shades.

Darren, who proposed to Amy in 2008, looked super casual for the outing in a plain black tee and blue denims.

Summer chic: The actress, who shares a six-year-old daughter Aviana with Darren, proved hard to miss in her stylish ensemble, which consisted of the ankle-grazing monochrome dress and strappy high heels

Amy is gearing up for her next big screen role - reprising Lois Lane in the first Justice League film.

On the small screen she is also taking on the lead role in HBO's upcoming series Sharp Objects, based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn.

In it she plays a reporter recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital, who returns to her hometown to try solve the murder of two young girls.

Romance: The lovebirds got engaged in 2008 and recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary

Movie star: Amy is gearing up for her next big screen role - reprising Lois Lane in the first Justice League film

Adding to Amy's run of good fortune it was announced in April she is to be honoured with the 2017 American Cinematheque Award at the ceremony.

Rick Nicita, American Cinematheque Chairman, said: 'The American Cinematheque is extremely pleased to honor Amy Adams as the 31st recipient of the American Cinematheque award at our celebration this year.

'Amy Adams is one of the most beloved, admired, and respected actresses in movies today.'
He's the LA-based chef known for his good looks and down-to-earth personality.

And on Sunday, Curtis Stone returned to Australia to serve as a guest judge in the MasterChef kitchen for a mystery box and invention challenge.

Although the stakes were high with elimination on the table, some contestants struggled to concentrate as they were a little flustered by the handsome star.

Top chef in the house! On Sunday, Curtis Stone returned to Australia to serve as a guest judge in the MasterChef kitchen for a mystery box and invention challenge

'I think the girls have gone weak at the knees at the sight of Curtis,' said Sam, 25.

With 60 minutes on the clock, the judges revealed they would only be tasting the top three most well-presented dishes.

The mystery box ingredients included beef, grapefruits, wombok and blue cheese, leaving contestants anxiously waiting for Curtis's thoughts as he came around the benches.

Well observed! 'I think the girls have gone weak at the knees at the sight of Curtis,' said Sam

What to make? The mystery box ingredients included beef, grapefruits, wombok and blue cheese

Tough odds: With 60 minutes on the clock, the judges revealed that they would only be tasting the top three most well-presented dishes

Besides being distracted by Curtis' good looks, Nicole experienced another obstacle as she burned her hand early in the challenge.

After the 60-minute timer went off, Curtis found the medical secretary crying in the corner and went over to comfort her.

'I'm just disappointed that I didn't get up to what I wanted to for you,' she wept.

Ouch! Besides being distracted by Curtis' good looks, Nicole experienced another obstacle as she burned her hand early in the challenge

Disaster! After the 60-minute timer went off, Curtis found the medical secretary crying in the corner and went over to comfort her

To the rescue: 'I'm just disappointed that I didn't get up to what I wanted to for you,' she wept

Creating a Yorkshire pudding, Eliza was also a little starstruck when Curtis praised her progress, with fans on Twitter reminding her to focus on her dish.

'I'm very excited to have Curtis in the kitchen, he's quite handsome, really!' she giggled.

Mystery Box winner Sam, who presented the judges with a blue cheese ice-cream, chose the three ingredients of king fish, capers and turnips for the invention test.

Twitter to the rescue! Fans on Twitter reminded the girls to focus on their cooking and not Curtis

Steady on! 'I'm very excited to have Curtis in the kitchen, he's quite handsome!' giggled Eliza

Important: The prize of the second challenge was a Power Pin, with the winner able to add 15minutes to their time in any future individual cooking test

The prize of the second challenge was a Power Pin, with the winner able to add 15-minutes to their time in any future individual cooking test.

With 19-year-old Michelle attempting a noodle-based dish, Curtis said she had a high chance of winning the challenge and that he was eager to taste her creation.

'To get my dish tasted by Curtis, and he loves it, I couldn't be happier. Like, I'm gonna blush now,' she said

Can't stop smiling! 'To get my dish tasted by Curtis, and he loves it, I couldn't be happier. Like, I'm gonna blush now,' said 19-year-old Michelle

Getting hot in the kitchen! Sweating profusely all over his meal, Matt and Curtis pulled out a paper towel to pat down the Ray's face

Does he have a crush? Taking to Twitter during the broadcast, Ray joked that he was just getting 'all hot and bothered around Curtis'

Heating up: Things were getting hot in the kitchen with Ray also blushing around Curtis

Contestant Ray came out second in the first challenge, but failed to impress the judges in the other round.

Sweating profusely all over his meal, Matt and Curtis pulled out a paper towel to pat down the doctor's face.

Taking to Twitter during the broadcast, Ray joked that he was just getting 'all hot and bothered around Curtis'.

Karlie eventually won the Power Pin for her deconstructed sushi roll - with Sam, Ray, Arum and Tamara facing elimination in tomorrow night's cook-off.
He had no less than eight female companions in Cannes before moving the party to Monaco, after a fortnight-long 34th birthday bender.

But Scott Disick was once again surrounded by scantily-clad women at a Las Vegas pool party on Sunday as he proved the party isn't quite over yet.

Living la vida loca, Kourtney Kardashian's playboy ex appears to have heeded no warning from the mother of his three children, who was reportedly 'furious' with his self-indulgent lifestyle and refusing to talk to him, last week.

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Party: Scott Disick, 34, partied the day away in Vegas despite rumours ex Kourtney remains furious at him for his selfish, playboy lifestyle

A laidback Scott was dressed casually in a classic white T-shirt blue jeans combo while women wearing barely-there swimwear lapped up his attention at the LIQUID pool party event.

One source said girls were leaning over railings to get as close as they could to Scott.

Naturally, Scott was more than happy to pose with a bunch of the girls as he walked with his security detail before retreating to another vip area where his close friends were invited in along with more girls.

The source added he even took his glasses off for a moment to catch a better look at all of his female guests.

Drama! Ex-beau Kourtney is 'furious' with him following his sex addict, self-indulgent lifestyle

Putting on a typically confident show, Scott seemed to turn a blind eye to reports that Kourtney is 'furious' with the self-confessed sex addict.

A source told E! Online : 'Kourtney is furious about Scott's recent actions and is taking time to figure out the next step for their family.

VIP: One source said girls were leaning over railings to get as close as they could to Scott

'Scott has gone off the deep end again... for a few weeks now... This is something that Scott has struggled with for years, and something Kourtney has dealt with since she has known Scott.'

They added that their children are getting older now and will be getting more aware of what is going on.

Another insider claimed that Scott, 34, has been 'hooking up with a lot of different girls' - but he is isn't dating anyone in particular.

Kourtney and Scott share seven-year-old son Mason, four-year-old daughter Penelope and second son Reign, two.

Socialising: Naturally, Scott was more than happy to pose with a bunch of the girls as he walked with his security detail before retreating to another vip area where his close friends were invited in along with more girls

The couple broke up in 2009 after Kourtney found text messages on Disick's phone addressed to 'my wife' but when she realized she was pregnant, they reunited and son Mason was born December of that year.

In 2010, Disick - worth an estimated $12 million - proposed but Kourtney allegedly turned him down.

Two years later, the couple's daughter, Penelope, was born on July 8, 2012 and their third child and second son, Reign, was born on December 14, 2014.

Scott referred to himself as a 'f***ed up, horrible sex addict' on a Keeping Up With The Kardashians episode that aired last month, as US Weekly reported.
He rose to fame last year on The Bachelorette, starring Georgia Love.

But while filming the TV dating series, Jake Ellis was hiding a secret heartbreak about his mother Robyn's 23-year battle with breast cancer.

He told the Gold Coast Bulletin on Sunday: 'I remember mum had to be away from us for a long time. The smell of the hospital has always stayed with me.'

Health problems: While filming The Bachelorette last year, Jake Ellis (pictured) was hiding a secret heartbreak about his mother Robyn's 23-year battle with breast cancer

While a mastectomy had helped to stall the 63-year-old's cancer for 15 years, it came back in 2011 and 'hasn't left since'.

Complications with Robyn's illness arose while Jake was filming The Bachelorette, but his family did not tell him about the severity of her condition until he returned.

Robyn explained that she didn't want to worry her son.

'I think mothers with cancer often do that sort of thing. They want to protect their families.'

Secret: Complications with Robyn's (R) illness arose while Jake was filming The Bachelorette, but his family did not tell him about the severity of her condition until he returned

With Georgia's late mother also battling cancer at the time, Jake was able to empathise and provide support to her during filming.

And like the former Bachelorette, the 31-year-old has chosen to use his public profile to raise awareness of the cancer affecting his mother.

He will be the ambassador for the Pink Ribbon Cup Raceday on the Gold Coast in September, which he said was an 'honour'.

What a guy! Jake will be the ambassador for the Pink Ribbon Cup Raceday on the Gold Coast in September, which he said was an 'honour'

Jake described his mother as his hero and said his family were 'lucky in so many ways' despite their situation.

The salesman spent four years working in WA before returning to live with his mother in her Benowa Water home on the Gold Coast.

Although she has battled the disease for more than two decades, the mother-of-two said her supportive family helps her get through each day.

Battle: While a mastectomy had helped to stall the 63-year-old's cancer for 15 years, it came back in 2011 and 'hasn't left since'




She is currently in the throes of a new romance with the Two And A Half Men star.

And it appears Julia Stambler, 26, is standing by her man, despite friends encouraging her not to pursue a relationship with Charlie Sheen, 51, because of his diagnosis.

According to TMZ, the blonde beauty has insisted she 'isn't scared' of her beau having HIV and has claimed those warning her away from him because of his illness are 'ignorant'.

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New romance: Model Julia Stambler, 26, has said she isn't living fear of her boyfriend Charlie Sheen's HIV diagnosis

A source close to the couple shared Julia's views on Charlie having HIV and told the publication she doesn't believe it is a 'relationship buzzkill'.

They added that the duo believe methods can be taken to avoid contracting the virus - such as using anti-viral medication and protection during intercourse - and that Julia is 'reassured' by Charlie explaining he has been told his HIV levels are 'undetectable'.

Despite her acceptance of his diagnosis, it's claimed Julia has been warned away by friends from the actor because of the virus.

Hurt: The model has branded those warning her away from Charlie - who is 25 years her senior - because of his illness 'ignorant'

'Terrible message': According to TMZ, she thinks those that are telling her to stay away are sending out the wrong message to HIV sufferers

Although, taking a defiant stance against those doing so, Julia is said to think their view is 'ignorant' and that such a statement is a 'terrible message' to send to those who are suffering with HIV.

Charlie first chose to go public with his diagnosis back in 2015 while appearing on Good Morning America, four years after first learning he is HIV positive.

'I'm here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive,' he told Matt Lauer.

'I have to put a stop on this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about the threatening the health of so many others, which couldn't be farther from the truth.'

Charlie admitted that his 'irresponsible lifestyle' had led to his diagnosis.

Going public: Charlie confirmed he is HIV positive during a live appearance on Good Morning America in 2015 - four years after learning of his diagnosis

At the beginning of this year, the Anger Management star had joked about his 'non-existent sex life' because of his HIV.

He had addressed his diagnosis during an interview on Australian radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show and joked about his dating struggles.

Charlie said: 'Here's the joke these days right, a friend of mine says, "Hey man how's your sex life?" and I'm like, 'Oh it's just f**king perfect because HIV is such a great pickup line!'"

He was asked whether he was sexually active and Charlie replied: 'Not anymore.'

Since then, however, he has confirmed his new relationship with Julia.

Back in the day: The Anger Management star was married to Denise Richards (pictured above in 2003) for four years and they share two daughters Sam, 13, and Lola, 12, together

Charlie went public with the model at the beginning of June and was pictured stepping out with Julia at his daughter Lola's 12th birthday party.

He shares Lola with his ex-wife Denise Richards - who he was married to for four years - as well as their eldest daughter Sam, 13.

While out with Julia to celebrate his daughter turning another year older, Charlie had referred to his new flame as his 'girlfriend'.

Following their split, he married actress Brooke Mueller, whom he also shares two children with; twin sons Bob and Max, eight.

It's reported Brooke had actually introduced Charlie to Julia - who he refers to as Jools - as she had previously been a nanny for the ex-couple's sons.

He and Julia have been dating for three months.
Coronation Street veteran Liz Dawn faces a major operation next week, as her incurable lung disease continues to plague her.

The star who plays much loved Vera Duckworth suffers from emphysema and was considered too ill to fly to her grandson's wedding in Italy.

Devasted Liz, 77, missed her grandson Thomas Borso, 29, marry Alice Coughlin, 27, the niece of Corrie's Debbie Rush, who plays Anna Windass, on Friday.

Legend: Corrie veteran Liz Dawn has been laid low through illness and faces a major operation next week. Devasted Liz, 77, missed her grandson's wedding in Italy because of the poor health

Doctors told the Rovers Return legend that she was too poorly to risk the flight to the Alpine town of Bassano del Grappa.

Instead Liz, is preparing to go under the knife for an op linked to an ongoing heart condition which, she hopes, will help transform her life.

In an interview with the Sunday People, Liz said: 'At the moment I've got no energy but once the operation is done I will be looking forward to being back to my normal self and getting my energy back.

Rovers Return: Doctors told the Rovers Return legend that she was too poorly to risk the flight to the Alpine town of Bassano del Grappa where her grandson was to be married

'Naturally I am very disappointed not to be there with them. They make such a lovely couple, it's every grandmother's dream and Bassano is such a lovely setting.

'But I was there with them in spirit and we will throw a big party for them when they return from their honeymoon.'

Liz's condition developed from her lifelong smoking habit - she began aged just 14 and smoked 24-a-day until her diagnosis.

Surgery: Liz, is preparing to go under the knife for an op linked to an ongoing heart condition which, she hopes, will help transform her life

She first appeared on Coronation Street in 1974 but it was with onscreen husband Jack, played by Bill Tarmey, that she delighted the soaps millions of fans.

Vera, the straight talking former landlady of the Rovers Return pub and lovably gloomy Jack - a pigeon-loving potman - captured the nations' heart with their constant bickering and games.

She left in 2008 but made a final appearance in the show in 2010 when her ghost visited Jack as he passed away in his chair.

Off-screen, Bill died in Tenerife in 2012, aged 71.

The onscreen couple had become the best of friends in real life as well as on TV.

It was reported after his death that Liz was devastated and had expected them both to die together such was their combined ill health.
She is one of the most in-demand models in the world.

And Bella Hadid certainly showcased why, as she stepped out in style from her of Four Seasons Hotel in Paris, France on Sunday.

The 20-year-old model commanded attention in a light grey plaid jumpsuit, which zeroed in on her impossibly slender midriff with the corset detailing.

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All eyes on her: Bella Hadid commanded attention in grey corseted jumpsuit as she stepped out from her of Four Seasons Hotel in Paris, France on Sunday

The Victoria's Secret model made quite the sartorial mark in the skin-tight one-piece which plunged down the middle to show off her spectacular decolletage.

The main focus of Bella's jumpsuit happened to be the corset, lace-up detailing which flaunted her tiny waist.

The catwalk queen looked sensational in the garment which went on to skim the rest of her curves and toned legs.

Bella paired the striking piece with a pair of comfortable white trainers and accessorised with a chic brown handbag which was effortlessly draped across one shoulder.

Dressed to impressed: The 20-year-old supermodel showcased her tiny waist in the corset detailed piece

Cheeky: The striking beauty displayed her perky posterior in the slinky grey one-piece

Walk this way: Bella - who is the younger sister of Gigi - stepped out in her white trainers

Style queen: The Victoria's Secret model made quite the sartorial mark in the skin-tight one-piece which plunged down the middle to show off her spectacular decolletage

Despite her hectic schedule, the sister of Gigi Hadid didn't seem to sport a hint of fatigue as she boasted a flawless complexion and scraped back brunette locks.

She looked in high spirits as she made her way out of her hotel and onto the next endeavour for the day.

Over the spring, Bella became the new spokesperson for Nike Cortez.

Sun-soaked: She draped her snakeskin handbag over her shoulder while she soaked up the Paris

No shade: Bella she sported a pair of circular shades which accentuated her features

Enviable frame: The main focus of Bella's jumpsuit happened to be the corset, lace-up detailing which flaunted her tiny waist

The star recently revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that modelling for the brand had been a lifelong dream of hers.

'It's crazy because my biggest dream was doing Chanel and having a Dior contract, I did a Fendi campaign  so I did a lot of the fashion stuff, and then being able to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was so crazy to me because it took me into that more commercial lingerie land.

'And now I'm able to work with Nike, which has always been my number one, its been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I don't even know if it was a dream because I didn't think it was a realistic thing to think about.'

Trendy: Bella paired the striking piece with a pair of comfortable white trainers and accessorised with a chic brown handbag which was effortlessly draped across one shoulder

Beauty: Despite her hectic schedule, the sister of Gigi Hadid didn't seem to sport a hint of fatigue as she boasted a flawless complexion and scraped back brunette locks

Arrival: Later that day, Bella arrived at JFK in NYC

New digs: Bella added a white coat to her ensemble that she wrapped around her neck

Support: A helpful employee helped the star make her way through the busy airport
He managed to survive the first re-coupling of the show, despite his late arrival.

But Chris Hughes has landed himself in hot water, after being accused of making a move on Amber Davies.

He is currently paired with blonde beauty Chloe Crowhurst and despite their initial chemistry, she is left feeling 'mugged off' when Chris confesses he is 'waiting for a brunette' to arrive at the villa.

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In hot water: Love Island's Chris Hughes comes under fire as he's accused of making a move on Amber Davies, despite being coupled up with Chloe Crowhurst

The Love Island star causes a stir on Sunday night's episode of the show, after Amber relays a conversation she had with the newcomer moments after the show's two new female contestants arrived.

Admitting the new girls had underwhelmed him, Chris told her: 'I'm just waiting for a powerful brunette. I need a worldie like, you know what I mean?'

Amber - who has been dubbed a lookalike for series two star Kady McDermott - remarked: 'Am I your type because I'm brunette?'

Chris had responded: 'You are a stunning girl.'

Stirring the pot: Amber claimed Chris had been 'staring deeply' into her eyes while admitting he had been left underwhelmed by the new girls and was waiting for a 'powerful brunette'

Oops: Word gets back to his current flame (blonde) Chloe who brands his comments as 'muggy'

Although, he may later come to regret his chosen words as Amber wastes no time in relaying them back to her beau of the villa Kem Cetinay.

Slightly sensationalising the duo's conversation, Amber says: 'So I was going to tell you, basically last night I went up to him and said, "Youve done so well, well done, youve earned it."

'And he looked at me and he went, "You know what Im saying, Im here." He was looking so deep into my eyes.'

Not surprisingly, Kem isn't happy to hear that Chris has taken a shining to his girl and is all too quick to confront his pal over his so called comments.

Awkward: Chris and Amber dispute over the conversation they both had, with the Gloucestershire lad strenuously denying he had been trying to crack on with his co-star

Irked: Kem isn't too pleased to hear about his pal's conversation with Amber

Jumping on the defence, Chris tells Kem: 'Mate, shes trying to keep you on your toes. I havent even spoken to her. Ask her when I said that?

'Why would she say that? Honestly go and grab her. I want her to tell me the exact spot. Ive not said that. If Id said that, Id tell you I said that. Shes said that to stir it.'

He then accuses Amber of 'using him' to stir things up between herself and Kem while mulling over the situation in the beach hut.

And in a game of 'he says, she says', Kem then goes back to Amber to tell her that Chris had disputed what she had to say.

With Amber not backing down and confronting Chris once more, that only winds the Gloucestershire lad up further.

Jumping on the defence, Chris tells Kem: 'Mate, shes trying to keep you on your toes. I havent even spoken to her. Ask her when I said that?

Torn: With Chris denying he had been flirting with Amber, Kem isn't sure who to believe

Annoyed: Chris is left frustrated after mulling over his awkward spat with Amber

He can't help but vent about the encounter to Montana and his flame of the villa, blonde beauty Chloe - awkwardly admitting that he did say he was on the hunt for a brunette.

'Don't get annoyed,' he told Chloe, 'But I said I'm waiting for a brunette to come in.

'I don't know why I said that, but just forget that - this is why this thing escalated... two minutes later, she made out I was coming onto her. It's mad.'

Chloe, however, couldn't forget Chris' remark and tells him: 'You have to understand how muggy it looks on me. That makes me look so stupid.'

With his chances of a blossoming romance with Chloe slightly scuppered, Chris may find himself turning his attentions elsewhere - especially as new girl Tyne-Lexy Clarson has set her sights on him.

'Muggy': He ends up venting to Chloe but accidentally upsets her by admitting he had his eye on a brunette joining the villa

She claims Chris is 'the main guy that I'm after' and that she 'doesn't care' about treading on another girl's toes to get to him.

Gushing about her co-star, she says: 'The first guy that caught my eye was Chris. Our babies would be absolutely beautiful.

'He's smart, he's beautiful, got a great body.'

While she has her eyes firmly on the prize, Chloe doesn't appear to back down when it comes to her man and making a dig at Tyne-Lexy, she claims: 'Fake people in here do not last. Their personality crumbles.'
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales star Kaya Scodelario has candidly revealed how she overcome bullying and anxiety as a child.

The British beauty admitted that her treatment at school affected her self-esteem but described how acting helped her conquer her demons.

Having gone on to secure top film roles alongside the likes of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Geoffry Rush, Kaya's confession comes after family spoke out to accuse her of letting money and fame 'get to her head'.

Trauma: Kaya Scodelario, 25, has revealed how acting helped her beat bullying and anxiety trauma. The British beauty (pictured here in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) admitted it left her with anxiety and affected her self-esteem

Kaya, 25 - who got her screen start 10 years ago through teen Channel 4 drama Skins - told The Mirror on Sunday: 'I was incredibly insecure as a child.

'I was bullied. Dyslexic. It really affected my self-esteem. I went through a year of hating myself.'

Such was the extent of her bullying, she eventually had to switch schools to evade the horrible atmosphere she experienced.

She added: 'I grew up in a very working class neighbourhood... A lot of my earnings went on bills and getting us a new sofa.'

Difficult life: Such was the extent of her bullying, Kaya (here on the red carpet in May) eventually had to switch schools to evade the horrible atmosphere she experienced

Filming alongside Johnny, Orlando and Geoffry who all brought their iconic characters back to the silver screen for the flick, Kaya admitted how 'awestruck' she was to be in the actors' presence.

But revealed Johnny and the cast were supremely kind to her and made her feel at home on set.

Kaya plays a brave scientist and astronomer who aids Captain Jack Sparrow in his search for the mythical Trident of Poseidon.

Now a part of one of the biggest film franchises, she was interestingly the only woman part of an otherwise all male casts of men in their 40s upwards when shooting the movie in 2015.

New day: Now strong enough to cope, Kaya (pictured here with her mother in 2010) succeeded with flying colours in film and is appear in the forthcoming Maze Runner movie

Kaya's insight into family life comes after she was reportedly blasted by the Brazilian side of her family for refusing to fund care for her sick grandmother Inez Rosemary.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean, 25, has come under fire from her relatives for allegedly not wanting to 'associate with poor people like themselves' - leaving the family to 'pull together' to pay for Inez's care after a series of heart attacks.

The UK born actress, who was reportedly paid 1.5 million for her role in the successful Pirates film franchise, has also had her refusal to pay up branded as 'unforgivable' by her great aunt Fabiana Moraes, as reported by The Sun On Sunday.

Kaya's mother Katia was born and raised in Brazil before moving to London and marrying her dad Roger Humphrey - a union which dissolved a year later and he moved to Vietnam.

Effy: Originally finding fame in Skins (pictured), Kaya has now filmed alongside Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Geoffry Rush

Happy families: Back in December, The Maze Runner star had taken to Instagram to share the happy news that she and husband Benjamin had welcomed a son into the world

Growing up, Kaya seemed to be close to the Latin American side of her family as she spent many holidays in Brazil - however that all changed after she 'froze them out' after finding fame.

Back in December, The Maze Runner started her own family with husband Benjamin Walker, when they welcomed a son into the world.

Benjamin and Kaya met on the set of The Moon and The Sun and got engaged in December 2014 after just a few months of dating.

The pair married the following year, before announcing they were expecting in June 2016 with a sweet social media snap of Ben cradling her blossoming bump.

Keira Knightley meanwhile confirmed she will be reprising her role as Elizabeth Swann, for the first time in ten years, in the new film by appearing in its international trailer.

In a very brief appearance, the actress is seen staring wistfully at the ocean as her character Elizabeth in the trailer - clad in a typical period floral gown and a smattering of jewellery.
It was previously reported that she kicked her toyboy lover Count Nikolai von Bismarck out and ordered him to go to 'rehab'.

Yet, Kate Moss, 43, and her 30-year-old beau proved they were stronger than ever as they stepped out together in North London for the first time since he returned from the states.

The supermodel and her younger other half appeared comfortable in each other's company as they exited their silver Rolls Royce in style on Sunday.

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Happy: Kate Moss, 43, and her 30-year-old beau proved they were stronger than ever as they stepped out together in North London for the first time since he returned from the states

Showcasing her enviable fashion flare, Kate worked a pair of skintight black jeans which highlighted her model frame which she teamed with her moto inspired leather boots.

She added to her off-duty look with a chic military khaki green jacket while her eye-catching silver studded back draped over her shoulder.

Wearing her trademark black shades, she let her signature blonde locks fall down her shoulders in a tousled style.

Looking happy and healthy, Nikolai appeared in jovial spirits as he walked his adorable canine companion whilst clad in a heavy navy wool coat, statement purple shirt and jeans.

Healthy: Looking happy and healthy, Nikolai appeared in jovial spirits as he walked his adorable canine companion whilst clad in a heavy navy wool coat, statement purple shirt and jeans

The appearance comes after she gave a rare insight into her relationship with the aristocrat, describing how she is allowed to borrow her boyfriend's jewellery, but he isn't given the same privilege.

Speaking in an interview with the Telegraph Magazine, the model said: 'I can steal his jewellery; he doesnt steal mine.'

She also described how her daughter Lila Grace, 14, also shares her taste for jewellery - but isn't allowed to wear any of her expensive antique pieces.

The insight into her home life comes after reports that Kate was finding it difficult being away from Nikolai.

Her boyfriend was previously believed to be detoxing in the US at the request of his parents Debonnaire and Leopold.

A source told The Sun at the time: 'Kate is gutted that he is away for so long but knows its for the best. She has been pining for Nik and has really missed having him by her side.

'She has been surrounded by friends but it has not been the same  and she has attended events like George Michaels wake on her own. She really wanted Nikolais support at that but understands why he has to be away.'

However, while it has been claimed that Nikolai's parents see the supermodel as a 'bad influence', it was reported late last year that she booted the handsome Count out of her home over his alleged refusal to tone down his wild partying ways.

Although Kate was said to have briefly split with Nikolai back in October, but the pair appeared to rekindle their romance shortly after.

The couple were last publicly seen together in January when Kate celebrated her 43rd birthday at China Tang restaurant at London's Dorchester Hotel.

Having known each other for a number of years with Kate being pals with his mother, they struck up a romance in 2015 after the supermodel split from her musician husband Jamie Hince.

The Croydon-born beauty tied the knot with the The Kills rocker in July 2011 at St Peter's Church, Southrop, Gloucestershire.

Kate raises daughter Lila-Grace with her ex Jefferson Hack.
She's currently based in New York filming Rough Night.

But Scarlett Johnasson looked like she'd had anything but as she headed out early on Sunday morning.

The fresh-faced actress smiled as she was seen climbing out of her car in the city.

Not such a Rough Night! Scarlett Johansson looks bright and breezy as she heads out on Sunday morning in New York

The mother-of-one was stylishly dressed for her day in the city in a sleeveless striped top with white wide legged cropped trousers, silver stiletto platform sandals, aviator sunglasses and black leather backpack.

Scarlett's outing came days after she spoke out about how it remains 'taboo' for women to talk about their sex lives.

The 32-year-old said: 'When women talk about enjoying sex, it's almost forbidden. Just having a healthy sexual attitude, you are labeled as loose, wild, a slut.

'You have no morals, and you're seen as some kind of sexual deviant or someone who can't be in a monogamous relationship. The minute you talk about enjoying yourself, being curious, that is still taboo.'

All white: The mother-of-one was stylishly dressed for her day in the city in a sleeveless striped top with white wide legged cropped trousers and silver stiletto platform sandals

Scarlett has a two-year-old daughter, Rose, with her estranged husband Romain Dauriac.

Speaking to the July issue of America's Cosmopolitan magazine, the Ghost in the Shell actress said she hopes thather daughter will one day admire her for speaking her mind.

Scarlett said: 'Whenever you speak publicly, it's always a risk, right? Maybe you'll lose some followers. But if you have something to say, it can be really impactful.

'I hope my daughter finds her voice and feels like she can engage anyone in any number of topics.'
She appears more smitten with boyfriend Chris Zylka every day.

So perhaps it's no surprise that Paris Hilton clutched her significant other's hand quite securely as they made their way back home to Los Angeles from Cleveland on Sunday.

The 36-year-old socialite clutched on tight to her actor boyfriend as they walked through LAX.

Homeward bound! Paris Hilton and boyfriend Chris Zylka jet home to Los Angeles after Cleveland trip

She clutched her favorite canine companion, Diamond Baby, in her arms as she walked.

The Chihuahua even appeared to be wearing its own stylish garment, a red striped number with a blue skirt element.

Reality star turned DJ Paris was dressed down for once for the flight, in black overalls and an LA Dodgers cap.

all mine: The 36-year-old socialite clutched on tight to her actor boyfriend

Chris, 32, chose an equally low key look for their excursion.

The Leftovers actor sported a baggy sweatshirt, black jeans and sneakers.

Back in March, Paris admitted to E! News that the actor a model seems to be 'the one.'

I've never been surer of anything in my life,' she told the outlet, 'he's so incredible in every way... I don't know what else I could ask for. He's perfect for me.'

Puppy love: She clutched her favorite canine companion, Diamond Baby, in her arms




She's one of the many Bachelor babes whose status has helped her earn extra cash by promoting detox tea, hair straighteners and tanning lotions.

But it seems Rachael Gouvignon has found a far more stable stream of income.

On Sunday, the 31-year-old took to Instagram to reveal to her legions of followers that she has started a new career as a real estate agent with Wright Real Estate.

From promoting tea to selling homes! Rachael Gouvignon has announced that she has become a real estate agent

Clearly past the heartbreak after season four of The Bachelor, she shared her professional photo of herself, smiling and looking confident with her arms folded.

She captioned her post: 'This has been a long time coming, and finally I can now reveal what I have been working hard these past few months.

The Perth-based beauty, who was previously a support worker, continued: 'To find out about my new adventures please check out and follow @rg.realestate.'

Bachelor babe: The former reality TV star said her post that she had been working hard towards the career change for the past few months

Announcement Alert: Fans of the Perth-based beauty congratulated Rachael on becoming a real estate agent

Her 'announcement alert' was met with plenty of praise and congratulatory messages from followers.

One said: 'Congratulations! All the best with the new venture.'

Another wrote: 'Congrats on your new chapter Rach. I wish you all the very best.'

In 2016, Rachael was one of the 25 women who was vying for the heart of bachelor Richie Strahan.

Looking for love: Rachael was one of the 25 women who was vying for the heart of Richie Strahan in season four of The Bachelor

Heartbreak: Unfortunately for Rachael, she came in fourth place behind Olena Khamula, Nikki Gogan and the eventual winner Alex Nation

The brunette stunner made it fourth place on the matching making show, losing out to Olena Khamula, Nikki Gogan and the eventual winner Alex Nation.

Earlier in the year, she came to the defence of her Bachelor bestie Keira Maguire slamming the contestants on I'm A Celebrity... for the bullying reality star.

'The bullying from Steve [Price] and Ash [Pollard] in particular is just like high school,' she told OK! Magazine.
Testimony on Thursday by former FBI director James Comey bolsters the case for obstruction of justice against President Donald Trump, experts say

Former FBI director James Comey's scathing testimony has boosted the case for obstruction of justice charges against President Donald Trump, legal experts say.

But more evidence is needed to prove that the president attempted to stymie the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which has several Trump campaign aides in its crosshairs.

With stronger evidence, Trump could face the same sort of criminal allegations that forced president Richard Nixon to resign in 1973, and saw Bill Clinton impeached by the House of Representatives but survive a Senate trial in 1998-99.

Legal analysts assume that former FBI director Robert Mueller, the independent special counsel in charge of the Russia probe, has now branched out to see whether Trump has interfered in any illegal way.

Comey's testimony Thursday to the Senate Intelligence Committee was "a pretty powerful statement" in support of an obstruction investigation, said Harvard University law professor Mark Tushnet, a legal history expert.

What Comey said about his private February meeting with Trump, and Trump's firing of him on May 9, "gives good reason for the special prosecutor to be pretty aggressive."

On Friday an angry Trump said Comey "lied" and that he was "100 percent" prepared to be interviewed by Mueller in any probe.

- Comey: Trump 'directed' him to ease up -

The first challenge is the word "hope." Comey said that in their February 14 meeting Trump expressed "hope" that the FBI would drop its probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn over Flynn's contacts with Russian officials.

Comey said he took that as a presidential command. "I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone," Comey said, noting Trump had sent all his staff out of the room before the discussion.

"When it comes from the president, I took it as a direction." Asked if he saw it as an "order," Comey replied "yes."

Comey said he believed he was fired because of the Russia probe, which has moved steadily closer to the White House, with investigators examining Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

"I take the president at his word, that I was fired because of the Russia investigation," he said, referring to a statement by Trump in an NBC interview. "Something about the way I was conducting it, the president felt, created pressure on him that he wanted to relieve."

- Damning testimony -

Given Comey's reputation as a methodical, ultra-cautious investigator, the testimony was damning, said a Washington lawyer who served in a top position in a prior administration.

"It's going to get investigated. If I'm Trump's lawyer, I now know that the obstruction file is open in the special counsel's office," he said, asking not to be identified.

"The question is going to be whether they find evidence of intent."

That could come from any of several corners. Mueller will likely seek to determine whether anyone on the White House staff discussed what Trump was going to say to, or do with, Comey.

Also crucial will be whether Trump recorded the meetings, as he seemed to suggest in a tweet after firing Comey.

In addition, news media have reported that Trump asked other officials to intervene.

Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, left, and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, testifying last week

A day before Comey's testimony, two top spy chiefs, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, both refused to answer when Intelligence Committee members inquired whether Trump had ever "asked" them to help ease the probe. Both men, though, said they never "felt pressured" to do so.

But how they felt matters less than if they were asked, the former administration lawyer said. "That would be additional evidence of intent."

- Only a 'political sin'? -

Celebrated criminal defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz has argued in a lengthy Twitter commentary that Trump was at worst guilty of "political sins"; he said there is "no plausible case" for obstruction charges.

"You can't have obstruction of justice when the president didn't commit a crime," he wrote. "The president has the authority to tell the director of the FBI to stop an investigation."

But former Republican congressman Bob Inglis summarized the gravity of the situation when he recalled his own role on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 for obstruction and perjury.

Clinton was tried in the Senate "for matters less serious than the ones before us now," Inglis said.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was a longtime senator before being tapped by US President Donald Trump as the nation's top law officer

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions will Tuesday testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee where he will face questions over his meetings with Russian officials during last year's presidential election campaign.

Sessions, a longtime senator before being tapped by US President Donald Trump as the nation's top law officer, announced the decision in a letter Saturday in which he referred to remarks made by fired FBI director James Comey in the same forum.

"In light of reports regarding Mr Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters," the letter stated.

"The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added.

Sessions had been due to appear Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the Justice Department's budget for 2018, but said the switch of hearing was necessary as it had become clear he would be questioned about Russia.

"Some members have publicly stated their intention to focus their questions on issues related to the investigation into Russian interference into Russian interference in the 2016 election," his letter said.

Comey delivered scathing testimony Thursday at the highly anticipated Senate hearing, saying Trump sought to derail a probe into onetime national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Comey branded the president a liar and said he believed he was fired over his handling of the FBI probe into Russian election meddling, allegations that Trump denied on Friday.

Sessions, among the earliest high-profile backers of Trump's election campaign, failed to disclose meetings with Russian officials during his January confirmation hearing.

On March 1, The Washington Post reported that he met twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, during the campaign.

Former FBI director James Comey delivered scathing testimony Thursday at the highly anticipated Senate hearing, saying Trump sought to derail a probe into onetime national security advisor Michael Flynn

The following day, Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe.

Comey -- who Trump sacked as FBI chief last month -- told the Senate panel he had thought Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia probe earlier than he did, for undisclosed reasons that are classified.

Pressed on the attorney general's "interactions with the Russians or his behavior with regard to the investigation," Comey said Sessions "was very close to and inevitably going to recuse himself for a variety of reasons."

"We also were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said.
The world's top pork consumer, China has started getting a serious taste for Spain's world-famous "jamon" which is sold there as a luxury product

The aroma is so extraordinary it's like "a punch in your mouth" says Luqi Wu, one of several Chinese businessmen standing in a cellar in southwestern Spain surrounded by thousands of hanging ham legs.

While he samples the product, three of his colleagues learn to cut the ham as finely as possible -- a crucial detail that they will put into practice back in Shanghai at tasting events for their own customers.

The world's top pork consumer, China has started getting a serious taste for Spain's world-famous "jamon" which is sold there as a luxury product and is getting one over on its French and Italian competitors.

"At the beginning, customers were just looking for elegant products because they're rich," says Wu, a sales manager at Jiarui Fine Foods, a Chinese company that specialises in importing luxury gastronomy products.

"But more and more they want to learn more and educate themselves... to know why it's so good and why it's got such a high price."

- 3,000 euros a ham leg -

The Italians got into the Chinese market early on with their Parma ham.

But Spain soon caught up and is now leading sales of dry-cured ham in the Asian powerhouse, making 1.8 million euros ($2 million) in sales last year excluding Hong Kong, according to the French Federation of Pork Industries (FICT).

By comparison, Italy made 1.4 million euros in 2016 and France tailed far behind with just 30,000 euros, as there is only one producer in the country equipped with the necessary authorisation to sell ham in China compared to 13 in Spain.

So it was that in March, several Jiarui Fine Foods employees travelled to the village of Jabugo in the southern hills of Andalusia, invited by the Cinco Jotas brand that specialises in high-quality ham.

In pasturelands covered in oak trees, herds of purebred black Iberian pigs gobble the last acorns of winter -- the very food product that gives the ham its unique hazelnut taste after a three-year maturing period.

Spain is now leading sales of dry-cured ham in China

There, Cinco Jotas workers give the Chinese sales managers a run-down of how the dry-cured ham is made.

They will use this knowledge to attract customers in China where classic dry-cured ham sells for 10 to 20 percent more than in Spain, and the highest quality ones command even fatter margins.

A leg of "pata negra" ham, the most sought-after, can go for up to 3,000 euros in Hong Kong.

- Forced to diversify -

Like 12 other Spanish ham makers, Cinco Jotas got authorisation to sell its ham in China at the beginning of the decade, and the world's most populous country has now become its number one market after Spain.

According to Jialin Shen, head of Jiarui Fine Foods, the overall market for high-quality ham in China is between 20,000 and 30,000 units a year.

Rene Lemee, head of Cinco Jotas's international department, travelled to China 16 times last year and has a dozen sales managers working there.

In his office hangs a world map with China at the centre, "to understand their point of view."

And the effort has paid off as sales of Spanish dry-cured ham in China have doubled between 2012 and 2016, says Jesus Perez Aguilar, spokesman for the Inter-professional Association of Iberian Pork.

"China has become the second foreign market for Spain's porcine sector, after France," he says.

He adds that sales abroad took off after Spain suffered a crippling economic crisis in 2008 when a domestic property bubble burst, compounding the global financial crisis, pushing the companies to seek new export markets.

- Risk of copycats -

But for Ibericos Torreon, a medium-sized company based in Salamanca in the northwest -- another major producing region -- success was not immediate.

Free range Iberian pigs graze on acorns and fruit in Spain

The firm was forced to patiently go from trade fair to trade fair to introduce their product to the Chinese, who were more used to adding pork in soups or fragrant dishes rather than eating it on its own.

But "in the last two years, sales have taken off," says Laura Garcia Hernandez who manages exports for the company, refusing to reveal specific figures.

The risk of being copied in a country infamous for creating counterfeits does not appear to worry Spanish producers who say their dry-cured ham is the fruit of a specific climate, vegetation and animal.

"What is made in Spain is very exclusive to the peninsula," says Santiago Martin, chief executive of Embutidos Fermin, another producer of dry-cured ham.

Still, the sector is working on creating a certification along the lines of Europe's protected designation of origin, to try and avoid any future problems.
US President Donald Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions, pictured right, faces a grilling from senators on Tuesday

Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator until President Donald Trump picked him as US attorney general, heads to Congress this coming week when he will face a grilling about his Russian interactions.

Sessions, among the earliest high-profile backers of Trump's election campaign, appears before his former colleagues Tuesday, days after explosive testimony by ousted FBI director James Comey, whose removal he recommended.

Concerns have been raised about whether Sessions helped otherwise subvert the ongoing Russia-related investigations.

"This is going to prompt a lot of questions for him," the panel's top Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy, told AFP of an appearance in which lawmakers will be eager to learn what role Sessions played in Comey's firing last month.

The Senate Appropriations Committee had called in the attorney general to testify about budget issues. But on Saturday, after senators made clear they would zero in on Sessions's connections to Russia, Sessions shifted his plan, opting to address the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"In light of reports regarding Mr Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters," Sessions said in a letter announcing the change.

The intelligence panel "is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added.

With reports circulating that Trump had been clashing with his attorney general, and that Sessions had offered to resign, the White House on Tuesday declined to say whether the president maintained confidence in Sessions.

And in a stunning moment of inside-the-Beltway intrigue, Comey dropped a bombshell about why he and other top FBI officials concluded that the attorney general was going to recuse himself from the probe.

"We also were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said.

- 'Something big' -

Although Sessions, a genteel 70-year-old from the southern state of Alabama who served 20 years in the Senate, backed Trump's campaign, he was also one of the first administration officials to fly into turbulence. During his January confirmation hearing he failed to disclose meetings he held with Russian officials.

On March 1, The Washington Post reported that he met twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, during the campaign.

The following day, Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe, and several top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, demanded he resign. Sessions refused.

Former FBI director James Comey expressed doubts about US Attorney General Jeff Sessions during testimony to senators

He may also be under a cloud of suspicion after Comey, in his devastating testimony, suggested the attorney general may have failed to take appropriate steps to protect the FBI chief.

At the conclusion of a February 14 meeting in the White House, Comey testified, Trump urged everyone else but Comey to leave the Oval Office, including Sessions.

"My impression was, something big is about to happen," Comey said, as he recalled the encounter.

"My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving," Comey added.

When the two men were alone, the ex-FBI director said, Trump urged Comey to stop the investigation into fired national security advisor Michael Flynn.

In written testimony Comey said he told Sessions it was "inappropriate" for him to leave the FBI director alone with the president, and that Sessions "did not reply."

With Sessions already under fire for failing to disclose the two meetings with Russians, CNN reported last week that investigators were looking into a possible third Sessions meeting with Kislyak, on the sidelines of an April 27, 2016 campaign event in Washington.

Despite his recusal, Sessions in May signed a letter to Trump recommending he remove Comey, the man overseeing the investigation into Russian election meddling and the possible Russia-Trump nexus.

Lawmakers and critics have expressed concern about any possible role by Sessions in either sacking Comey, or in subverting the ongoing investigation by the FBI.

"There remain a number of questions about his own interactions with the Russians," Republican Senator Susan Collins told CNN Friday.

"We on the Intelligence Committee want to know the answers to those questions, and we have begun to request information from the attorney general to allow us to get to the bottom of that."

With the Russia story spreading, the Justice Department in May appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller, widely respected within both parties, as a special counsel to head a separate Russia probe.
Tired and traumatised, Iraqi mothers who fled Mosul struggle to breastfeed or buy baby formula milk for their babies

Wazira rocks her tiny baby pleadingly but he is inconsolable, crying for the milk his mother can neither produce herself nor buy in a camp near the Iraqi battleground city of Mosul.

"He's been crying since the moment he was born. He only stops when he's so exhausted that he falls asleep," the 24-year-old Iraqi mother said, sheltering her baby Rakan from the scorching sun with a piece of white cloth.

"I cannot breastfeed him and I feel he's never satisfied. There's no good food to eat and no money to buy baby formula," she said, sitting outside one of the clinics in Khazir camp.

The camp southeast of Mosul, where Iraqi forces are deep into the eighth month of a massive operation against the Islamic State jihadist group, is crammed with around 32,000 people displaced from the war-torn city.

Conditions in Khazir, one of the largest -- but not the worst -- displacement camps around Mosul are difficult. Temperatures soaring past the 110-Fahrenheit (43-Celsius) mark add to Rakan's discomfort.

"Sometimes I pound the biscuits they give us at the camp into powder and mix them with water to try to feed him by force," said the young mother, her face partly covered by a black veil.

A few yards (metres) down the queue, Marwa is also waiting for her turn to take her eight-month-old daughter to a doctor.

The 25-year-old mother, who fled west Mosul with her family two weeks earlier, already had no maternal milk to give Maryam five months ago.

"These past few months made me very tired, we kept moving from house to house until we finally managed to get out," she said. "I was sick and couldn't feed her anymore."

As elite forces retake the city one neighbourhood at a time, civilians often used as human shields by the jihadists stay cooped up in their homes -- at risk from shelling and dwindling food supplies -- until their area is retaken.

The line of haggard-looking mothers holding their wailing babies curled around the clinic run by the International Medical Corps, a US-based charity.

- Stress -

Neshmeel Diller, one of the doctors at the clinic, said she examined up to 80 women in a single day.

"Seventy percent of them complain of their inability to breastfeed and of their children always being hungry and crying all the time," she said.

"The psychological condition of these mothers and the hormonal changes caused by anxiety and depression, the lack of privacy and physical comfort as well as of balanced nutrition... all these factors converge to affect their ability to breastfeed," Diller said.

Doctors working in displacement camps say hormonal changes caused by anxiety and depression, the lack of privacy and physical comfort as well as of balanced nutrition all affect a mother's ability to breastfeed

She added that the pressure of life in the camp often meant that mothers would lose the patience to repeat their attempts.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), another medical charity, said it was also monitoring the impact of high lactation failure rates on nutrition among the displaced child population.

More than 800,000 people have been forced from their homes since the start of the Mosul operation last October.

Most experienced traumatising living conditions under the ruthless rule of IS for close to three years, risked their lives trying to flee and now face a very uncertain future.

"Stress is a major factor affecting the mothers of our little patients. Stress affects breastfeeding more than a mother's own nutritional status or physical health," MSF's medical coordinator in Iraq, Evgenia Zelikova, told AFP.

"We do notice an increase in malnutrition among babies whose mothers are no longer able to breastfeed," she said.

"This is because formula milk is often hard to come by or extremely expensive in besieged areas of Mosul and in the camps."

The UN Children's Fund said it had noticed a spike in malnutrition among the most recently displaced children and had begun distributing a peanut-based supplement among affected populations.
In 2013 the city of Camden, New Jersey, dissolved its police force, replacing it with a new county-run department where they are turning around a city that had one of the highest crime rates in the country

Camden was once the murder capital of America, crime was on a par with Honduras and the police force was peppered with corrupt officers in league with drug dealers.

Then police reform and falling crime statistics turned it into a poster child for better policing as other US cities grappled with race riots and departments fended off allegations of racism over the deaths of unarmed black suspects.

But with the Trump administration pulling back federal support for similar reforms elsewhere, and Camden still the most dangerous city in New Jersey, activists say its problems run too deep for policing alone to be the answer.

"They do what they gotta do. I give them that," says Marylyn Santiago, a 32-year-old mom of three on disability benefit nodding in the direction of three uniformed police patrolling her trash-strewn block.

"It got better," she concedes. "Terrible" is how she still describes crime today.

Camden is a small city of less than 80,000 people, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Its crime statistics stood out on a per capita basis. Overwhelmingly African American and Hispanic, an estimated 40 percent live in poverty.

Camden is a small city of less than 80,000 people, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Its crime statistics stood out on a per capita basis. Overwhelmingly African American and Hispanic, an estimated 40 percent live in poverty

Today heroin and opioids are its biggest problem with 46 fatal overdoses so far in 2017 -- compared to 29 in all of 2014.

Change came four years ago, when the city force was disbanded and a new department organized. Officers were sacked, replacements hired and chief Scott Thomson flooded the southern New Jersey city with foot patrols.

Operating on an annual budget of $66 million, officers wear body cameras, street cameras were installed along with sensors that pinpoint gunshots in seconds.

- 'Professional at all times' -

The results were immediate. The number of homicides -- 67 in 2012 -- fell to 33 in 2014 and just six so far this year, although it rose in 2016 to 44.

Some believe there are still as many shootings, but that people die less often -- at least partly because police now "scoop and go" in rushing casualties straight to hospital themselves rather than waiting for ambulances to arrive.

The streets of Camden are covered by cameras that relay high definition images to police headquarters, from where they are monitored in an effort to catch problems as they develop

Complaints of excessive police force have also plummeted, down from 65 in 2014 to 31 in 2016 and just seven so far this year.

Patrol officers say they are welcomed by home owners and feared by drug dealers and criminals, many of whom have left or been thrown in jail.

"Obviously the one thing to stress here is being professional at all times, no matter what," says 47-year-old police officer Louis Sanchez.

Sanchez, whose mother lives in Camden, explains a philosophy in which police try to work more closely with the community, refrain from being overly aggressive but equally nothing is too small to be overlooked.

"You let things go and it starts to build up," says Sanchez, though giving a ticket is not necessarily the answer.

"The way we look at it, sometimes that person cannot buy that headlight, because guess what they live on a paycheck to paycheck."

Gwendolyn Cook, a law enforcement chaplain who runs a mentoring program for teenage girls and who calls Thomson a hero, says children as young as 12 are being seduced into a life of crime for lack of jobs, education and opportunity.

Tax breaks are encouraging businesses to invest in the area, but many complain that employment opportunities are few and far between.

- 'Can't get the help' -

"They can bring a thousand more officers, but if these African American and Hispanics in Camden don't have jobs... that's not going to change the crime," Cook said.

Police chief Scott Thomson flooded Camden with foot patrols when he took over four years ago

She recalls a 16-year-old girl who murdered a 14-year-old boy as part of a gang initiation, slapped with a 30-year prison sentence.

She and her husband tried to help a single mother worried her 14-year-old son was getting involved in drugs, but could not get a letter of recommendation for a program for boys with behavioral problems because he had yet to be arrested.

Then he was picked up with 10 bags of heroin in his pocket. Three weeks later he was arrested for armed robbery. "Now he's incarcerated," she told AFP. "You want to save them but you can't get the help you need to save them," she added.

Darnell Hardwick, president of the Camden County chapter of the NAACP rights group, complains that too many officers come from outlying suburbs and are whiter than the population, leading to a high attrition rate.

"Our issue is a lot of these people don't live in the city," he said. "They're leaving for places where there is less crime and they can make more money," he said.

"They cleaned up the streets, but the system is all messed up," says Santiago.

"We live in a piece of shit area."
Subsistence agriculture is a lifeline in northeast Nigeria but the eight-year Islamist insurgency has devastated activities, causing a desperate lack of food and sky-high prices

Farmers and fishermen displaced by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria want to return home, saying it will help ease chronic food shortages for the remote region's starving millions.

Subsistence agriculture is a lifeline in the northeast but the eight-year Islamist insurgency has devastated activities, causing a desperate lack of food and sky-high prices.

Many farmers and fishermen have either been killed or fled to camps for the displaced, where they are dependent on food aid, or to live with friends and distant relatives.

Aid agencies say a severe funding shortfall is affecting feeding programmes, despite high levels of severe acute malnutrition and repeated warnings that famine is a possibility.

The head of the Lake Chad fishermen's union, Labbo Tahir, said: "No amount of food aid can adequately feed us.

"The only way out of this unending starvation is for us to return home, grow our own food and rebuild our lives," he told AFP.

Ibrahim Mammadu used to grow rice and other crops but now works as a labourer on a tomato field near the Borno state capital Maiduguri for $13 (11.6 euros) a month.

The money is hardly enough to feed his family of five for a week.

"If only I can return to my farm my hardship would be over and within a year I can grow enough food for my family," said the 35-year-old.

"This is the only way I can end my dependency and poverty because farming is all I know."

- Food basket -

The freshwaters of Lake Chad and its fertile shores have made northern Borno the Nigerian state's food basket

The freshwaters of Lake Chad and its fertile shores have made northern Borno the state's food basket.

Government statistics say three districts on the Nigerian side of the lake -- Marte, Kukawa and Ngala -- provided a quarter of the country's annual wheat production of 90,000 tonnes in 2014.

The Fisheries Society of Nigeria says some 300,000 tonnes of fish caught in the region represents about 12 percent of fish consumed nationwide.

But Lake Chad is currently a Boko Haram hotspot and economic activity has ground to a halt. A sales ban has exacerbated losses, as the military fears profits are funding insurgent activities.

In recent weeks, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) donated 30 tonnes of early-maturing, pest-resistant seeds to Borno's farmers.

But IITA coordinator Kamai Nkike said three consecutive rainy seasons have been missed and the current season, which began two weeks ago, is also likely to pass without crops being planted.

"Farming in northern Borno at the moment is practically impossible," said Nkike. "The farmers want to be on their own. They are not happy with food aid."

- Funding crisis -

The United Nations says nearly two million people are on the brink of famine in northeast Nigeria and some 5.2 million could need life-saving food aid between now and August.

But only about a quarter of the $1.05 billion needed to fund programmes this year has been received.

WFP spokeswoman Elizabeth Bryant said the funding crisis was "coming at the very worst time, when the lean season will increase hunger and malnutrition".

Resources have been over-stretched by the recent return of some 12,000 refugees from Cameroon.

The WFP planned to deliver food and nutritional assistance to about 1.3 million people in May, scaling up to reach 1.8 million this month.

But lack of cash means targets have had to be revised.

"We've been forced to pare down those plans to reach the same 1.3 million target for June," Bryant wrote in an email.

"We're now targeting the most vulnerable groups -- the under twos, instead of the under-fives -- for nutritional assistance, and we are distributing half-rations."

- Security issues -

The United Nations says nearly two million people are on the brink of famine in northeast Nigeria

Greater security will ultimately determine whether farmers and fishermen can return home and start helping the local economy to recover.

Nigeria's government and military maintain that Boko Haram is a spent force but suicide bombings and deadly raids remain a constant threat.

On May 20, jihadists killed six farmers as they worked in Amarwa village near Maiduguri. Five days later, four more were killed and two others abducted, again on the outskirts of the city.

The attacks underlined the threat of violence even in areas supposedly liberated by a sustained counter-insurgency that has pushed out the jihadists from captured territory.

Mba Ali Kyari, who heads an association of herders of the Kuri cattle breed found around Lake Chad, said security was essential "so we can go back and continue our agricultural activities".

The IITA's Nkike said that was unlikely because of insurgent activity in northern Borno but other parts of the state should be looked at.

"For now focus on food production should be on southern Borno pending when enduring peace returns to the northern part and especially Lake Chad area," he said.
French-Vietnamese blogger Pham Minh Hoang, shown being led from Ho Chi Minh City People's Court after he was jailed for three years in 2011, has been stripped of his Vietnamese citizenship

Vietnam has stripped a French-Vietnamese former political prisoner and mathematics lecturer of his citizenship, according to an official letter seen by AFP.

Pham Minh Hoang, 62, who has dual nationality, was sentenced to three years in jail for attempted subversion in 2011, but was released after 17 months and ordered to serve three years' house arrest.

He was convicted for writing a series of articles under the pen name Phan Kien Quoc that prosecutors said tarnished the country's image and were aimed at overthrowing the government.

Hoang told AFP he had continued to publish "peaceful" articles on social media that were critical of the government since his release from prison.

He received a copy of the stamped letter from President Tran Dai Quang confirming the "removal of Vietnamese citizenship", according to the document dated May 17.

Revoking his citizenship effectively renders his status illegal in Vietnam.

According to the letter, the decision was based on article 88 of the criminal code, which criminalises propaganda against the state, and article 91, which outlaws moving abroad with a view to oppose the government.

"I am very upset and I'm waiting, I'm waiting to be expelled," an emotional Hoang told AFP over the phone Sunday.

He said he received a copy of the letter on Saturday, and was surprised not to find a clear explanation for the decision.

"I am living in a country that is very unlawful, they can do anything," he said.

Vietnamese officials did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.

Hoang vowed to appeal the decision, and has sent a letter to the French embassy in Vietnam expressing his wish to revoke his French nationality, which he hopes could force the Vietnamese government to reverse its decision.

The French embassy in Hanoi declined to comment.

Hoang said he must stay in Vietnam to care for his disabled older brother and his wife's elderly mother.

He went to France in 1973 but returned after 27 years to settle in Vietnam, where he worked as a mathematics lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Ho Chi Minh City.

He is the only dissident to have his citizenship revoked in modern memory.

Authoritarian Vietnam routinely jails bloggers, lawyers and activists accused of anti-government activity.

All media in the communist country are state-owned, but many dissidents have moved onto social media platforms in recent years to air criticism.
Construction projects, like this one in Shanghai, are mushrooming all over China, but the government has taken a number of measures to cool down red-hot real estate markets amid fears of a potential crash that could affect the broader economy

Chinese social media users on Sunday angrily criticised a Shanghai government crackdown on unauthorised real estate activity after images emerged online showing an apparent protest in the city over the restrictions.

Pictures and video have circulated showing hundreds of people engaged in a tense stand-off with police, said to have taken place late Saturday night in a busy central Shanghai shopping district.

AFP was not able to confirm the online accounts of the demonstration or obtain comment from the city government.

But authorities in the city, China's financial hub, have stoked anger among investors and homeowners with a new campaign launched last month to rein in the use of commercial-zoned real estate for residential purposes.

Videos posted online showed a noisy crowd in excess of 1,000 people confronted by police, who had erected cordons to block their march on busy Nanjing East Road.

At least two people were seen being roughly dragged away by police.

"An oppressive government drives the people to rebellion. The poor masses!" said one of many outraged postings on Weibo, China's tightly controlled answer to Twitter.

"Once again, the government is doing things without considering the stance of the masses," said another.

Others accused censors of deleting their posts about the incident to whitewash it.

"Weibo's staff are so efficient! The videos from Nanjing East Road have all been rendered harmonious," said a Weibo post in a dig at the ruling Communist Party, which frequently cites maintenance of social "harmony" as justification for snuffing out public protests.

The central government has taken a number of measures to cool down red-hot real estate markets amid fears of a potential crash that could affect the broader economy, which is already slowing.

There has been a wave of commercial land being developed for residential purposes, a strategy that has thrived due to ambiguities in regulations.

But authorities launched a sudden crackdown, imperilling real estate projects that had been allowed to proceed, angering homeowners, developers and investors.
Saudi Arabia and allies including the UAE and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, severing air, sea and land links

Qatar has said citizens of states that have cut ties with the emirate will be allowed to stay in the country despite measures against its own nationals.

A statement carried on state media said Doha would "not take any measures against residents of Qatar who hold the nationalities of countries that severed diplomatic ties or lowered diplomatic representations with the state of Qatar, on the back of hostile and tendentious campaigns against the country".

It said Qatar was acting in "accordance with its firm beliefs and principles".

The decision will affect more than 11,000 people from the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain alone, according to official figures.

Saudi Arabia and allies including the UAE and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting extremism.

As well as cutting air, sea and land links with Qatar, the countries ordered its citizens to leave within 14 days.

Amnesty International has said that the Gulf states opposed to Qatar were "toying" with people.

'For potentially thousands of people across the Gulf, the effect of the steps imposed in the wake of this political dispute is suffering, heartbreak and fear," said the human rights group has claimed.

Figures from Doha's National Human Rights Committee show that 8,254 Saudi residents live in Qatar.

There are 2,349 Bahrainis and 784 Emiratis in the country.
Gunman kills 4 in Moscow before fatally shot by police

At least four people were killed in a shooting incident on the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday night, TASS News Agency has reported.

A local resident had barricaded himself in his house in the village of Krotovo, southeast of the Russian capital, and opened fire at passersby and law enforcers who cordoned off the area.

"Four people have been killed, several others wounded," Moscow regional police spokeswoman Tatiana Petrova said.

The assailant was shot dead after an hour-long standoff with police and National Guard units.

For several hours he was shooting, throwing grenades. There were 14 explosions, four Special Forces were injured. Their injuries are light, nothing is threatening their lives, said Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

Media reports have identified the man as Igor citing his neighbors, although there has been no official confirmation yet.

An investigation is underway to explore the motives behind the shooting spree, Kolokoltsev added.
A protester waves a flag of the Amazigh, Morocco's Berber community, during a demonstration in downtown Rabat on June 11, 2017

Thousands of people took to the streets of Rabat Sunday demanding that authorities release the leaders of a protest movement that has rocked Morocco's neglected northern Rif region for months.

The demonstrators marched along Mohamed VI avenue in downtown Rabat in a procession nearly a kilometre (less than a mile) long, chanting "Free the prisoners!", an AFP correspondent said.

An interior ministry source said between 12,000 and 15,000 people took part in Sunday's protest which was organised by several organisations including Morocco's most popular Islamist group.

The tolerated but unrecognised Al-Adl Wal Ihsane (Justice and Charity) organisation put the number of demonstrators in what it hailed as "a historic march" at one million.

Over the past two weeks authorities in the North African country have arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi or "Popular Movement" protests in the Rif port of Al-Hoceima.

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in central Rabat on June 11, 2017, demanding the release of leaders of a protest movement in the neglected northern Rif region

Eighty-six people have been referred to the prosecution, among them 30 who have been charged with offences including "undermining internal security", and have been incarcerated.

Among them is Al-Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi, who was among the first to be arrested on May 29.

On Sunday, many marchers held up portraits of Zefzafi, and his father also briefly joined the protest alongside families of other arrested activists.

The demonstrators also waved the flags of the Amazigh, Morocco's Berber community.

The mainly Berber Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the gruesome death of a fishmonger in Al-Hoceima last October.

Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death in a rubbish truck as he tried to prevent the destruction of swordfish which had been confiscated after being caught out of season.

Calls for justice snowballed into a wider social movement led by Al-Hirak demanding development, an end to corruption and jobs for the Rif.

Protesters from the Rif movement Al-Hirak chant during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in the northern Moroccan town of Imouzren

On Sunday, the demonstrators also called for "freedom, dignity and social justice".

The Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.

King Mohamed VI relinquished some of his near-absolute control through constitutional reforms following the 2011 protests.

Sunday's demonstration in Rabat came after an official and an activist said police had detained four more people in the Rif at the weekend.

Demonstrators have rallied nightly in Al-Hoceima and the nearby town of Imzouren since Zefzafi's arrest.

The Moroccan press has reported families joining together to start a group to campaign for the release of detainees.

Protesters gathered at night after breaking their fast during the month of Ramadan when Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till sunset.

Protesters gathered in Al-Hoceima late Saturday without incident, although their numbers were lower than in previous days.

Around 500 people marched in Imzouren, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Al-Hoceima, an AFP photographer said.

"We are all Zefzafi," demonstrators shouted, demanding that detainees be freed.

The previous night, protesters had clashed with security forces in Imzouren.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a special cabinet meeting for Jerusalem Day, held in the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem's Old City on May 28, 2017

An Israeli court Sunday awarded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife $32,500 in a libel case over a journalist's claim she kicked him out of the car during a row.

Court documents said writer Igal Sarna was ordered to pay 60,000 shekels ($17,000, 15,000 euros) in damages to Netanyahu and 40,000 shekels to his wife Sara, as well as a further 15,000 shekels for the couple's court costs.

They had sued for 280,000 shekels.

The 50-page ruling said Sarna wrote in March 2016 on his Facebook page that the couple had been travelling at night in a four-vehicle convoy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv when it suddenly came to a halt.

"A man, no longer young, was cast out onto the highway amid shouting," the transcript quoted Sarna as writing.

"A certain woman did not wish him to remain with her in the car, and so made a mockery of all the security and in fact of the whole state."

Appearing in court with his wife in March 2017, surrounded by bodyguards, Netanyahu said the story was a fabrication, describing it as "so false, so absurd".

In Sunday's ruling, Judge Azaria Alkalai found Sarna's allegations were not substantiated by witnesses.

In March, Sarna said the sources for his account had refused to go public. He said his sources "do not want to come. I cannot force them to come."

The Netanyahus are a frequent topic of gossip and rumours among Israelis, and the premier said he wanted the truth to be known in this instance.

The couple are also the subject of ongoing police investigations into suspicions of corruption and misuse of public funds.
A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces guards a position in Raqa's Al-Meshleb district on June 7, 2017, as the US-backed force fights to retake the city from the Islamic State group

US-backed fighters battled on Sunday to dislodge jihadists from a key military base north of Raqa city, the heart of the Islamic State group's Syrian territory, a monitor said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have entered IS's bastion Raqa from the east and west, but have struggled to capture the Division 17 military base on the northern outskirts of the city.

The SDF launched a renewed attack on Division 17 overnight with backing from the US-led coalition bombing IS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Blasts could be heard throughout the night because of the exchange of fire between the two sides," the monitoring group said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said IS had "heavily fortified" the base in anticipation of a ferocious SDF assault on it.

Originally a Syrian army base, Division 17 was seized by IS in 2014 as it took control of swathes of the wider Raqa province.

After its capture by the jihadists the same year, Raqa city emerged as a key hub for IS's operations in Syria, neighbouring Iraq, and beyond.

The SDF -- an Arab-Kurdish alliance formed in 2015 -- spent seven months tightening the noose on Raqa city before before finally entering it this week.

It has since captured the district of Al-Meshleb in the city's east, as well as parts of the western neighbourhoods of Al-Sabahiya and Al-Romaniya.

"SDF fighters are still combing through Al-Meshleb to use it as a base for new operations towards the north and south," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Al-Meshleb is one of the more built-up residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, while most other districts nearby are made up of markets and small shops.

An estimated 300,000 civilians were believed to have been living under IS rule in Raqa, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria.

Thousands have fled in recent months, and the UN humanitarian office estimates about 160,000 people remain in the city.

Reports of civilian casualties among those still living inside have swelled in recent weeks.

The Observatory said Sunday that coalition air strikes the previous day killed 24 civilians inside the city, up from an earlier toll of 13 people.

Abdel Rahman said the increased toll brought civilian deaths in coalition raids to a total of 58 since the battle for Raqa city was launched on June 6.
A Pakistani police commando stands guard in Quetta, August 14, 2016

Gunmen riding a motorcycle killed three policemen at a checkpoint in southwest Pakistan on Sunday before fleeing the scene, authorities said, in an attack later claimed by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

The incident occurred on the main Saryab Road of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province which is wracked by separatist and Islamist violence, senior police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema told AFP.

Doctor Farid Sumalani, head of the Sandeman Provincial Hospital, confirmed the incident.

Quetta is the capital of Pakistan's mineral-rich Balochistan province which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Ali Bin Sufyan, a spokesman for the Al Alami branch of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant group, sent AFP a text message taking credit for the shooting.

IS has been making inroads in the country through alliances with local militant outfits such as LeJ and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban, though its presence is generally downplayed by the government.

LeJ has claimed joint responsibility along with IS for several major attacks in the region including one on lawyers in Quetta that killed more than 70 people.

Earlier this week IS said it had killed two Chinese citizens who were kidnapped last month by armed gunmen in Quetta.

The jihadist group made the claim in a brief Arabic message carried by its Amaq news agency on Thursday, though there was no immediate confirmation from Chinese or Pakistani officials.

Beijing is ramping up investment in its South Asian neighbour as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 that will link its far-western Xinjiang region to Gwadar port in Balochistan with a series of infrastructure, power and transport upgrades.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist and nationalist insurgencies in the province since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed in the fighting.
A Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion of Raqa after seizing the Al-Romaniya area on June 11, 2017

US-backed Syrian fighters seized a second district of Raqa on Sunday and launched a renewed assault on a base north of the city, as they pursued an offensive against the Islamic State group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) broke into Raqa earlier this week after announcing the start of a final assault on the IS-held city.

On Sunday, the Arab-Kurdish alliance said its fighters had "liberated the neighbourhood of Al-Romaniya on the western front of Raqa, after two days of continued clashes".

The SDF also holds the Al-Meshleb district, which it seized after announcing the final push for Raqa city on Tuesday.

On Sunday, fighters in Al-Meshleb were pushing deeper towards the city centre.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said they had also seized almost half the adjacent district of Al-Senaa from the jihadists.

"If they're able to take the whole neighbourhood, it would be their most important advance to date because it would put them at the gates of the Old City," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The western approach to the city was littered with mangled motorcycles and unexploded mortar rounds fired by IS, an AFP correspondent said.

Raqa

Three bodies of alleged IS fighters lay in the eerily empty streets of western Raqa, and SDF commanders took up positions on the rooftops of one-storey houses.

The SDF fighters appeared on edge, both over IS-planted mines and reconnaissance drones that the jihadists have weaponised.

"Daesh is shooting anyone who sticks their head out," one SDF fighter said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

Artillery, sniper fire and air strikes rang out throughout the day and thick black smoke billowed from the city skyline.

- Fortified northern approach -

Bombardment had taken chunks out of the white dome of a neighbourhood mosque, and the notorious black IS flag hung limply from a nearby roof.

A displaced Syrian child at a temporary camp in the northern Syrian village of Ain Issa on June 10, 2017, where many people who have fled Raqa are taking shelter

After its capture by IS in 2014, Raqa city emerged as a key hub for IS's operations in Syria, neighbouring Iraq and beyond.

The SDF -- an Arab-Kurdish alliance formed in 2015 -- spent seven months tightening the noose on Raqa city from the north, east and west.

The fighters have made less progress on the northern front, where jihadists are using a military base and an adjacent sugar factory to defend the approach into the city.

On Sunday they battled to dislodge the jihadists from the Division 17 base, with backing from the US-led coalition bombing IS, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Originally a Syrian army base, Division 17 was seized by IS in 2014 when it took control of swathes of the wider Raqa province.

Abdel Rahman said IS had "heavily fortified" the base in anticipation of a ferocious SDF assault.

- Bakeries closed -

An estimated 300,000 civilians were believed to have been living under IS rule in Raqa, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria.

Thousands have fled in recent months, and the UN humanitarian office estimates about 160,000 people remain in the city.

They have no electricity and were facing severe water shortages, according to the activist collective known as Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

"Most of the bakeries are closed because of the lack of flour," the group wrote on Sunday.

The Observatory said that coalition air strikes on Saturday killed 24 civilians inside Raqa, up from an earlier toll of 13.

A displaced Syrian girl carries a baby at a temporary camp in the northern Syrian village of Ain Issa on June 10, 2017, where many people who fled the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqa are taking shelter

Since the SDF first broke into Raqa on June 6, at least 67 IS fighters and 58 civilians had been killed, the Observatory said. There was no immediate toll for SDF fighters.

To back the assault, the US-led coalition has provided the SDF with air cover, special forces advisers, weapons and other equipment.

The alliance first began bombing IS positions in Iraq in August 2014, and expanded its operations to Syria the following month.

In addition to heavy raids on Raqa, the coalition also pounded the IS-held town of Al-Mayadeen in eastern Syria on Sunday, the Observatory said.

"Many of IS's second-tier leaders fled to Al-Mayadeen when the offensive for Raqa started months ago," said Abdel Rahman.

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters cross a bridge after entering the western Raqa on June 11, 2017

More than 320,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad.

It has since been transformed into a complex, multi-front conflict pitting jihadists, rebel groups, government forces and Kurdish fighters against each other.
Myanmar military family members cry for loved one during funerals in Dawei on June 9, 2017

Search crews in Myanmar have now recovered the bodies of nearly half of those who died in last week's military plane crash, the army said Sunday.

The Chinese-made Shaanxi Y8 aircraft was carrying 122 people -- soldiers, crew members and children and other relatives of servicemen -- when it plunged into the Andaman Sea on Wednesday.

Navy ships and fishing vessels have been battling strong monsoon swells to find victims, with the army saying they had recovered 59 by Sunday afternoon.

"The number of dead bodies found in total is now 59," the commander in chief's office said in a statement, adding 26 victims were pulled from the water on Sunday.

There has been no official explanation for the cause of the crash, one of several deadly incidents involving Myanmar military aircraft in recent years.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing was quoted in local media on Sunday as saying weather was more likely to be a factor that mechanical failure.

But while monsoon season brings annual bouts of rainy weather, there were no reports of major storms along the plane's flight path when it disappeared while flying from the southern city of Myeik to Yangon.

The four-engine turboprop aircraft was less than two years old and had only flown some 800 hours, according to Myanmar's military.

But the Y8 is a Chinese variant of the Soviet-era Antonov An12, which has something of a dubious safety record.

It is not clear whether Myanmar has the kind of resources needed to locate a flight recorder within an ocean.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said Sunday that authorities had rejected offers of help from overseas.

"Several nations, including China, have made offers to assist Myanmar's recovery effort, but none has been accepted to date," the paper said.

Myanmar's military for almost half a century ruled the country with an iron fist and remains hugely influential.

It has long been wary of accepting offers of outside help.

When Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar in 2008 and killed some 50,000 people, the military refused offers of international aid, sparking widespread anger and criticism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on June 11, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday for the United Nations to shut down its Palestinian refugee aid agency, saying it was responsible for incitement against the Jewish state.

Netanyahu said he raised the issue during the visit in recent days of Washington's UN envoy Nicky Haley, who has accused the United Nations of bias against Israel.

"I told her that the time had come for the United Nations to reconsider the continued existence of UNRWA," his office quoted him as saying, referring to the UN Relief and Welfare Agency.

He said that while millions of other refugees around the world were cared for by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), only the Palestinians have their own body.

"In UNRWA's institutions, there is a great deal of incitement against Israel," Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting.

He also said the agency's very existence "perpetuates and does not solve the Palestinian refugee problem".

"Therefore it is time to dismantle UNRWA and merge its parts into the UNHCR," he added.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the agency's future could not be decided unilaterally.

"UNRWA receives its mandate from the UN General Assembly and only the UN General Assembly, by a majority vote, can change our mandate," he told AFP, adding that in December the assembly extended the mandate for a further three years.

UNRWA runs hundreds of schools for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

It also distributes aid and provides teacher training centres, health clinics and social services.

Israel views the agency as biased against it and its Palestinian staff as frequently hostile.

In February, the Jewish state complained the head of the UNRWA staff union in Gaza was politically active in the militant Islamist group Hamas, which rules the coastal strip.

On June 1, UNRWA discovered a section of a Hamas tunnel running under two of its schools in the strip's Maghazi refugee camp, the agency has said.

Hamas has denied building the Maghazi tunnel, whose discovery drew condemnation from both UNRWA and Israel.

On Friday, Israel sent a letter of protest to the UN Security Council over the matter.

Over the years, Hamas has built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel in order to launch attacks.
In June last year, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed seven soldiers in a no-man's land near the Rukban crossing

Jordanian border guards have killed five people as they approached the country's border from war-torn Syria, the army said on Sunday.

An army statement said that in an incident in the previous 72 hours, nine cars had first approached the border from At-Tanaf, a Syrian town where US special forces are training Syrian rebels to fight jihadists.

The cars were forced to turn back but a short while later a pick-up truck and two motorcycles returned in the direction of the Jordanian border, the statement said.

The guards opened fire, killing five people and destroying their vehicles, it said.

In a separate incident, two other people were arrested for trying to cross the border from Syria illegally, the army said.

The statement provided no further details about the incident or the identities of those killed.

On June 3, border guards foiled an attack also on the frontier with Syria and killed gunmen riding motorcycles who tried to overrun their positions.

It said the armed men on motorcycles, who belonged to "terrorist groups and coming from Syria", tried to attack the border guards at the Rukban border crossing on the Jordanian side of the frontier.

In June last year, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed seven soldiers in a no-man's land near the Rukban crossing.

Soon after the attack, the army declared Jordan's desert regions that stretch northeast to Syria and east to Iraq "closed military zones".

Jordan is part of the US-led coalition fighting IS.
A Kuwaiti court sentenced a professed member of the Islamic State group to life in prison for an attack on US troops in the emirate last year

A Kuwaiti court on Sunday sentenced a professed member of the Islamic State group to life in prison for an attack on US troops in the emirate last year.

Egyptian Ibrahim Suleiman in October rammed his truck into a vehicle carrying three US soldiers, in what the US embassy described as a "terrorist attack".

The soldiers were unharmed but the driver was lightly wounded when his truck caught fire as a result of the collision.

Kuwaiti authorities said at the time that police found a handwritten note on Suleiman in which he pledged allegiance to IS. They also said that he was carrying suspected explosives.

Sunday's verdict against the 28-year-old is not final and will be reviewed by Kuwait's appeals and supreme courts.

The supreme court on Sunday also upheld a 20-year jail term against Fahad Farraj, reportedly the de facto head of IS in Kuwait and the ringleader of an eight-member convicted IS cell.

The court also upheld 15- and 10-year jail terms for the other seven members of the cell, five of whom are Kuwaiti citizens. The remaining three do not hold any citizenship.

The eight were convicted of fighting with IS in Syria and Iraq and of raising funds for the group.

Kuwaiti courts have given hefty jail terms to dozens of men charged with joining or sympathising with IS.

An IS-linked suicide bomber killed 26 worshippers in June 2015 when he blew himself up in a mosque of Kuwait's Shiite minority, in the worst such attack in the Gulf state's history.
A tourist smokes a cigarette during a desert trip outside the Saudi capital Riyadh in 2007. The price of a pack of cigarettes doubled for Saudi smokers on Sunday under first-time tax measures to help the kingdom cope with a drop in oil revenues

The price of a pack of cigarettes doubled for Saudi Arabian smokers on Sunday under first-time tax measures to help the kingdom cope with a drop in oil revenues.

Residents of the world's biggest oil exporter long enjoyed a tax-free and heavily subsidised existence but a collapse in crude prices since 2014 sparked cutbacks and a search for new revenue.

The "selective tax", effective from Sunday, raised the price of tobacco 100 percent, to between about 18 riyals ($4.80/4.30 euros) and 24 riyals ($6.40/5.70 euros) per pack.

The cost of energy drinks also doubled and the price of soft drinks rose 50 percent, according to the General Authority of Zakat and Income Tax.

Cigarettes and fizzy drinks are popular in Saudi Arabia, where alcohol is banned.

One smoker, Hamad al-Ishewan, 33, told AFP the new tax won't affect his habit "even if it was 100 riyals for a pack".

But at a shop in Riyadh's west, Naif al-Rashid, 25, said he has now sworn off energy drinks.

"Raising the price of energy drinks is a good thing, because most of those who consume them are youngsters and that affects their health," Rashid said.

Saudi Arabia's implementation of the new tax follows an agreement among the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations, and is line with International Monetary Fund recommendations.

GCC states also intend to introduce a value-added tax of five percent on certain goods in 2018.

Since last year Saudi Arabia has pursued a wide-ranging social and economic reform plan to develop its industrial and investment base while boosting small- and medium-sized businesses.

The effort aims to create more jobs for Saudis and reduce reliance on oil revenue.

After collapsed income from crude led to a record $98 billion (87.5 billion euros) deficit in 2015, the kingdom cut subsidies on fuel and other utilities, delayed major infrastructure projects, and temporarily halted public service benefits.

These and other measures led to a much-improved fiscal performance in the first quarter of 2017, the government said.

It reported a deficit in the first three months of 26 billion riyals ($6.93 billion/6.19 billion euros), which would put the budget shortfall on course to be substantially lower than the $53 billion (47.3 euros) initially projected.
Baku, Azerbijan, June 11

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Australia supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as the country's position on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Minister for International Development and the Pacific said June 11.

Concerta Fierravanti-Wells made this statement at the event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Australia.

The Minister noted that Australia supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the conflict.

"We urge all parties to observe the ceasefire regime and avoid escalating the situation", she added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Passengers wait to check-in at the Hamad International Airport in Doha on June 7, 2017 after a ban on Qatari flights imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies which cut ties with Doha and ordered Qataris out

Rashed al-Jalahma, 22, has lived almost his whole life in Qatar, but he now faces the decision of whether to stay or return "home" to Bahrain.

The aeronautical engineer student is one of thousands of "Khaleejis" -- Gulf citizens -- impacted by a diplomatic crisis which has split the region, and the human cost of which is just beginning to show.

"The people have nothing to do with this, it's irrational," Rashed told AFP.

"Home is where your heart is and I certainly believe Qatar is where my heart is. It's my home."

Rashed has only visited Bahrain four times in his life.

He was born to a mixed couple: his father is Bahraini and his mother a Qatari but the couple split up when Rashed was six.

The young Bahraini national has lived all of his life with his mother and two sisters in Doha.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other allies severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism, and imposed punitive measures.

These include banning Qatar Airways from airspace and closing the country's only land border with Saudi Arabia.

Gulf states also ordered Qataris out within 14 days as well as calling home their own citizens.

The decisions threaten to break families apart in ways unimaginable in the Gulf where previously residents had the right to live, work and travel in any of the six energy-rich country they chose.

Amnesty International, long a critic of Doha over its treatment of migrant workers, has warned of "heartbreak and fear" suffered by ordinary people caught in the diplomatic crossfire.

"Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are toying with the lives of thousands of Gulf residents as part of their dispute with Qatar, splitting up families and destroying people's livelihoods and education," the London-based rights group said.

- Fearing statelessness -

With the deep family, heritage and commercial links between the Gulf countries, tens of thousands of people are potentially affected.

People walk past the Fanar mosque at the popular Souq Waqif market in Doha, on June 7, 2017.

Many like Rashed are now facing tough choices.

Rashed said if he stays in Qatar he could potentially lose his Bahraini citizenship and become "stateless".

The law in Qatar does not allow mothers to grant nationality to their children "without exception, even if this would result in statelessness", according to the United Nations refugee agency.

In Qatar alone there are 11,382 residents from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, according to Doha's National Human Rights Committee.

Almost 6,500 Qatari men and women are married to partners from those three countries.

Committee chief Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri says the decision by the other countries represents an "unjust embargo which violates all international human rights" charters.

One Qatari mother who lives in Saudi Arabia is facing a particularly tough dilemma, according to Al-Marri's committee.

The woman has a child with special needs who holds Saudi nationality and the mother has been told the youngster will not be allowed to leave the Kingdom even though she must return to Qatar.

A Saudi awaiting kidney surgery in Qatar has also been ordered home, the rights group said.

Footage of a Saudi family being stopped at the border from attending a family funeral in Qatar has also been circulated widely on social media.

- Saudi hotline -

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain announced on June 5 they were cutting diplomatic ties and closing air, sea and land links with Doha

The humanitarian aspect of the row has caught the attention of those outside the Gulf.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease their "blockade" of Qatar and warned of the "humanitarian consequences" of the measure.

"We're seeing shortages of food, families are being forcibly separated, and children are being pulled out of school," he said.

Saudi and Bahrain on Sunday announced they have established hotlines for those affected.

Riyadh said it was ordering "suitable measures" to help families with mixed citizenships but provided few details.

Qatar has announced that residents from other Gulf countries, like Rashed and his sisters, can remain in Doha.

But the threat of statelessness remains should Rashed fail to return to his father's country of Bahrain.

"My mother... I have never seen her this worried and anxious," Rashed said. "She's a neurosurgeon. She does surgery for six to eight hours a day."
President Donald Trump has said Washington will not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris, and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change

The United States' partners in the G7 club of wealthy democracies vowed Sunday to press ahead with efforts to contain devastating climate change despite a rift caused by the American withdrawal from the Paris accord on cutting carbon emissions.

"Italy and the overwhelming majority of countries regard Paris as irreversible and non-negotiable," Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said after the first day of a two-day gathering of G7 environmental chiefs in Italy.

Erik Solheim, head of the UN Environment Programme, said Sunday's talks had underlined the "absolute determination" of the other six G7 countries to push ahead "whatever happens in the White House."

"The private sector, big business, including in the United States, tell us they back action. There are huge numbers of new jobs in renewables and the green economy, there is lots of money to be made, far more than in fossil fuels."

The pact to limit global warming

Scott Pruitt, Trump's choice to head the US Environmental Protection Agency and seen as a climate change sceptic, attended the meeting in the northern Italian city of Bologna but headed home at the end of the first day.

With Germany's environment minister, Barbara Hendricks, also departing early and France's Nicolas Hulot not arriving until Monday because of legislative elections, there was little prospect of substantial bridge building on an issue which has badly soured relations between Donald Trump's administration and key US allies.

Patricia Espinosa, the UN official in charge of implementing the Paris accord, stressed that Trump's pull-out would not make any difference in the short-term.

"We've all registered with regret the US decision, but at the same time the US remains a party to the agreement because it foresees a three-year period before any party can withdraw.

"So for us, it is really clear that what we need to do is to go forward with implementing the accord and helping countries translate their national programme into their development policies so we can get to 2018 and have a first assessment of where we stand," she said.

A demonstrator wearing a US president Donald Trump mask protests during a demonstration on June 11, 2017 in Bologna

More than 1,000 students marched through Bologna to protest the presence of the G7 ministers in the historic university city, a long-standing bastion of progressive activism.

Organiser Giacomo Cossu told AFP that Trump had given the radical environmentalist movement a shot in the arm, but said he would have been on the streets regardless.

"Trump has revealed the truth that lies behind the rhetoric of the G7 on the environment. They want changes that suit the interests of big business. That is not our model. Ecology for us means democracy and equality. They represent the one percent not the seven billion."

Chaperoned by hundreds of riot police, the demonstration passed off peacefully with protestors brandishing placards declaring: "There is no Planet B" and "They think the Kyoto protocol is a Japanese erotic film."

Trump announced at the start of this month that the US would not abide by the 2015 Paris agreement and would seek to renegotiate terms he denounced as unfairly damaging to the American economy and overly generous to India and China.

Trump said Washington would not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris, and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change.

- 'No change to the trend' -

But many analysts say Trump's rhetoric may make little difference.

United States Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt adjusts his headset during a meeting at the G7 Environment summit in Bologna on June 11, 2017

Important players in US industry and individual cities and states are already implementing changes aimed at meeting the targets laid down in Paris, where most of the world's countries agreed to try to cap global temperature rises at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Germany and California agreed Saturday to work together to keep the Paris accords on track and the most populous US state had its own representative at the Bologna talks.

Scientists warn that failing to contain climate change will have devastating consequences as sea levels rise and extreme storms, droughts and heatwaves becoming more common, endangering crops and fragile environments with knock-on effects in the form of new conflicts and mass fluxes of people escaping affected areas.
Venezuela has been locked in a political and economic crisis for months as thousands have marched for and against the government of leftist president Nicolas Maduro

Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski called for international arbitration in the Venezuelan crisis but only once political prisoners have been freed, according to an interview published Sunday in a Spanish newspaper.

"The fundamental issue is that all political prisoners be released," he told El Pais daily. "If that is not done there is no dialogue possible."

Once that condition was met then three nations friendly to the Venezuela regime could join three more critical countries to provide international arbitration on the crisis, he added.

The work of the group, which would be made up of respected elder statesmen, would need to take place on neutral territory, he added. He suggested the Dutch island of Curacao off the Venezuelan coast.

Venezuela has been locked in a political and economic crisis for months as thousands have marched for and against the government of leftist president Nicolas Maduro.

During that time more than 60 people have been killed and hundreds more arrested.

The NGO Foro Penal Venezolano, which provides legal aid to people it says have been arbitrarily detained, says the Maduro regime is currently holding 186 political prisoners.

Kuczynski, an outspoken critic of the Maduro regime, made his comments to the newspaper in an interview given two weeks ago, ahead of a visit to Spain starting Monday.

Talks under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Vatican broke down late last year.
Dozens of Tunisians demonstrated on Sunday to demand the right to eat and drink in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and to protest against non-fasters being arrested.

There is no law against eating or drinking in public during Ramadan, but every year the issue comes to the fore in the North African country.

Tunisia's constitution guarantees 'freedom of belief and conscience', but the state is also the 'guardian of religion'.

A protester in Tunis openly smokes a cigarette and holds a placard reading in French 'Why does it bother you if you fast and I eat?' during Ramadan on Sunday

Following a call by the 'Mouch Bessif' (Arabic for 'Not against our will') group, protesters in central Tunis shouted that 'Individual freedom is guaranteed by the constitution!'

One man openly smoking a cigarette - this is also deemed unacceptable during Ramadan daylight hours - held a placard in French that asked: 'Why does it bother you if you fast and I eat?'

Demonstrators also protested against the arrest of people who were not fasting.

At the beginning of June, four men were sentenced to a month in jail for 'public indecency' after eating outside during daylight.

'We're protesting about lawsuits against non-fasters... Whoever wants to fast can fast, but whoever doesn't want to shouldn't have to,' demonstrator Karim Chair told AFP.

Tunisian protesters hold placards during a demonstration for the right to eat and smoke in public during the Muslim dawn-to-dusk fasting month of Ramadan on Sunday

Since the 2011 revolution there have been calls for the right not to fast, but this was the first time such a demonstration has taken place in Tunisia.

'I fast but I came to join this protest and call with these people for respect for the freedom of belief and conscience,' said another demonstrator, Kamel Jalouli.

Most cafes and restaurants in Tunisia close during the day in Ramadan, and those that open do so discreetly.

As this year's fasting month began, a media-oriented preacher went round cafes open during the day to record footage of clients and shame them in a move that was heavily criticised on social networks.
Guinean President Alpha Conde, pictured on June 7, 2017, has offered to work with Qatar and other Gulf countries in order to reach a compromise for the ongoing Gulf crisis

African Union chairman Alpha Conde on Sunday put himself forward as a mediator in the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries, urging dialogue after several African nations also recalled their ambassadors to Doha.

Conde, who is president of Guinea which has close ties to Saudi Arabia, said in a letter to King Salman he had observed with "sadness" the feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, which he described as "brother countries" of his Muslim-majority country.

African nations including Chad, Niger and Senegal have recalled their ambassadors to Doha in recent days, while Mauritania has cut relations entirely.

Saudi Arabia finances the building of mosques, schools and development projects in several majority-Muslim African nations.

Conde offered as AU chairman to "mediate... in order to find a swift and peaceful solution to this crisis."

"Only dialogue will allow us to reach a real compromise," Conde added, while praising the "wisdom" and "know-how" of the Saudi king in battling extremism.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others accuse Qatar of supporting extremist groups, an assertion since backed by US President Donald Trump.

Qatar strongly rejects the allegations and has said it is open to talks on ending the dispute.

The crisis has raised deep concerns of instability in the region and on Sunday Kuwait's foreign minister said his country would continue efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.
"The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) by assailants whose identity is not yet known," Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, told reporters

Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates escaped Sunday after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in DR Congo's restive east, an official said.

"The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) by assailants whose identity is not yet known," Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, told reporters.

"In the exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers, authorities have (counted) 11 dead including eight members of the security forces," Paluku said, adding: "For the moment, out of 966 prisoners, there are only 30 left in the prison."

Paluku said the Beni area and the neighbouring town of Butembo had been put under curfew from 6:30 pm. "Only police officers and soldiers should be out from this time," he said.

Located in the north of the troubled North Kivu province, Beni has been the scene of a wave of violence since 2014 that has seen nearly 700 civilians killed, many of them hacked to death.

The killings have been blamed on a shadowy rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Secrecy shrouds the group, which is dominated by hardline Ugandan Muslims who were initially focused on overthrowing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.

Several dozen suspected ADF members were imprisoned at the Kangwayi jail.

The attack came a day after the ADF attacked a police station and a prosecutor's office in the capital Kinshasa, killing a police officer and seriously injuring four others after a series of similar strikes over the past three weeks.

It also comes after two jailbreaks in the vast, unstable central African nation in the past month.

On May 19, dozens of prisoners escaped from a dilapidated prison in Kasangulu, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Kinshasa.

Just two days earlier, rebels from Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) -- a secessionist rebel group that rejects Kinshasa's authority and wants to set up a parallel state in the west of the country -- had attacked Kinshasa's main prison, freeing their leader and 50 others.

The violence has erupted as the Democratic Republic of Congo is mired in a deep political crisis tied to President Joseph Kabila's hold on power.

Tension has been mounting across the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million people since December, when Kabila's second and final term officially ended.

Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Year's Eve, Kabila is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017.

However, Kabila earlier this month seemed to back away from the 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.
The Civilian Joint Task Force, like the member pictured here in April 2017, lost eight members in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen

Boko Haram gunmen killed eight members of a civilian militia force on Sunday, hiding in trees and opening fire as they waited for troops to go on a joint dawn offensive, their colleagues told AFP.

The members of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) were waiting for soldiers at Kayamla village, in the Konduga area of Borno state, northeast Nigeria, when the attack happened.

"We lost eight comrades in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT)," said CJTF member Ibrahim Liman in the state capital Maiduguri, which is 10 kilometres (six miles) away.

"The vigilantes had gone to Kaymala as an advance party that was to be joined later by troops to launch an attack on Boko Haram enclave.

"Unknown to them, Boko Haram terrorists, who by all indications had prior knowledge of the offensive, ambushed them by climbing into the trees.

"They opened fire on the team as soon as they pulled over."

Liman's account was supported by another militia member, Musa Ari, who helped to bury his fallen comrades.

"We buried the last of the eight victims this evening. The bodies were recovered from Kayamla by soldiers," he added.

Konduga district is a known hotbed of Boko Haram activity, despite government and military claims that the jihadists are a spent force, having been forced out of their Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state.

In May, four CJTF members hunting in the bush near a camp for those displaced by the Islamist insurgency had their throats slit on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Two of their colleagues were also killed when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives in Konduga town, some 35 km from Maiduguri by road.

The attacks came just days after Boko Haram gunmen on motorbikes killed six farmers working on their land in Amrawa village, also on the outskirts of the state capital.

In April, eight loggers were killed and their bodies burnt near Kayamla village.

In a new video published on Saturday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for its first raid inside Maiduguri in about 18 months, which left 11 people dead on Wednesday.

At least 20,000 have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009.
BERLIN (AP) - The chief executive of German automaker Opel reportedly plans to step down from his post once the General Motors subsidiary's sale to PSA Peugeot-Citroen has been completed.

German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports that Karl-Thomas Neumann intends to inform Opel's board of directors at its next meeting on June 22.

Opel spokesman Michael Goentgens declined Saturday to comment on what he called "speculation."

FILE - This April 10, 2013 shows Opel manager Karl-Thomas Neumann, in Rueselsheim, Germany. The chief executive of German automaker Opel reportedly plans to step down from his post once the General Motors subsidiary's sale to PSA Peugeot-Citroen has been completed. German weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports Saturday, June 10, 2017 that Karl-Thomas Neumann intends to inform Opel's board of directors at its next meeting on June 22.(Arne Dedert/dpa via AP)

General Motors announced in March that it would sell Opel and British brand Vauxhall to PSA of France in a deal worth 2.2 billion euros ($2.46 billion).
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) - Six people have been killed by armed men in a rural community on the outskirts of Acapulco, authorities in the Mexican state of Guerrero said Saturday.

State security spokesman Roberto Alvarez Heredia said the victims in San Pedro Cacahuatepec included three women, a 4-month-old baby and a 17-year-old boy. Three children were also wounded when the shooters opened fire Friday on their humble homes. It appeared the victims were part of a single family.

It is an area where the federal government wants to build a dam, but the territory is disputed between two community defense groups. The vigilante-style police groups armed themselves in 2013 and 2014 to fight drug cartels.

Bruno Placido, leader of one of the groups, said Saturday that his group had nothing to do with the incident. He said he would cooperate with authorities in their investigation but that it appeared to be a case of organized crime extorting a family and taking revenge when they didn't get paid.

"We responded to the criminals' aggression, but we didn't have anything to do with any type of massacre," Placido said.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown is seeking a new trial after a federal jury found her guilty of using a purported charity for poor children as a personal slush fund.

The Florida Times-Union reports (http://bit.ly/2soG3JC) attorneys for Brown filed a motion Thursday requesting a new trial. They argued the former congresswoman's chief aide was behind the scheme to use the charity's funds for lavish parties and other personal expenses.

Brown's attorney, James Smith III, also argues prosecutors failed to prove Brown was aware of misdeeds by her former chief of staff.

Jurors found Brown guilty last month of 18 counts associated with taking money raised for the One Door for Education Foundation and lying on her taxes and congressional financial disclosure forms.

Brown's sentencing has not been scheduled.

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Information from: The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Please accept my sincere congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of your state holiday  Russia Day, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter.

The Russian Federation has made great strides in public and political and socio-economic fields. Changes within your country as well as the steps taken in the field of foreign policy have contributed to ensuring stability, building a cohesive society and improving Russia`s image and strengthening its influence on the international arena.

Azerbaijan and Russia are bound together by centuries-old ties of friendship and mutual respect, reads the letter. Based on these traditions, Azerbaijani-Russian inter-governmental relations are comprehensively developing and being enriched with new content.

I am confident that we will continue to strengthen our strategic partnership in the best interests of our nations to ensure peace, good neighbourliness and stability in the region and expand our mutually beneficial cooperation in a variety of fields.

Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, on this remarkable day, I wish you robust health and success, and the friendly people of Russia peace and prosperity, said Ilham Aliyev in the letter.
LONDON (AP) - One of the first police officers on the scene of the London Bridge attack says he was met by pandemonium, as people fled in panic and the wounded lay on sidewalks.

But he also described how, within minutes, police had killed the attackers, ushered bystanders to safety and begun treating and evacuating the wounded.

Inspector Jim Cole, who was scrambled from his south London police station, said the response was "like something out of a Battle of Britain film" as officers piled into vehicles and raced to the scene.

Metropolitan Police Inspector Jim Cole poses for a photo at New Scotland Yard, London, where he described his role in the police response to the London Bridge attack, Friday, June 9, 2017. One of the first police officers on the scene of the London Bridge attack says he was met by pandemonium, as people fled in panic and the wounded lay on sidewalks. (David Mirzoeff/Pool via AP)

In an account of the June 3 attack released by the Metropolitan Police, Cole said he arrived at Borough Market to find "casualties on the pavements."

"I asked my officers to form a cordon to stop the public from going into the market, and that's when the shooting started just behind us," he said. "We had no idea what was going on. We didn't know if it was us shooting or if that bad guys had guns."

Armed officers fired almost 50 rounds, killing three attackers who had plowed a rented van into pedestrians on the bridge, killing three, then jumped out and stabbed Saturday night revelers in Borough Market, an area packed with bars and restaurants. Five people died of stab wounds, and almost 50 people were wounded in the attack.

Cole said he set up a triage area inside a pub to treat the wounded, including a man who had been stabbed in the stomach.

"I then heard more shouting and a stream of people came out of the market screaming and panicking. I got them into the pub's basement as a place of hard cover," he said.

He said that on his police radio "I could hear officers on London Bridge desperately calling for ambulances," and got a police cruiser to take the man who had been stabbed in the stomach to a hospital.

All of the 48 wounded people who were taken to hospitals survived.

Cole said that soon the situation "began to stabilize," with the attackers dead and the immediate threat contained.

"I felt that it had only been a few moments, but it had actually been about 10 or 15 minutes," he said.

Cole said that when he told the 200 people sheltering in the pub's basement that they were safe and would soon be evacuated, "I got a big round of applause."

"That was a really nice, unexpected moment," he said.

Cole, 41, said the attack was "the most challenging, most intense situation I've dealt with" in an 18-year police career.

"I've dealt with a lot of death and I've been to some pretty horrific scenes in my career, but nothing has ever been on that scale," he said. "It's going to stick with me for a long time."

Police are questioning seven suspects over suspected links to the attackers, Pakistani-born British citizen Khuram Butt, Moroccan Rachid Redouane, and Youssef Zaghba, an Italian national of Moroccan descent.

Metropolitan Police Inspector Jim Cole poses for a photo at New Scotland Yard, London, where he described his role in the police response to the London Bridge attack, Friday, June 9, 2017. One of the first police officers on the scene of the London Bridge attack says he was met by pandemonium, as people fled in panic and the wounded lay on sidewalks. (David Mirzoeff/Pool via AP)

People walk past a police sign on Borough High Street one week after the terrorist attack on nearby London Bridge and Borough Market, Saturday, June 10, 2017. People have been urged to show the world their "resilience, unity and defiance" a week on from the London Bridge terror attack by enjoying their Saturday night in the capital. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

People sit outside the George pub in Borough High Street, London, one week after the terrorist attack on nearby London Bridge and Borough Market, Saturday, June 10, 2017. People have been urged to show the world their "resilience, unity and defiance" a week on from the London Bridge terror attack by enjoying their Saturday night in the capital. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)
HARRISON, New Jersey (AP) - Ireland successfully debuted five players and scored nine tries in putting away the United States 55-19 in rugby on Saturday.

Winger Keith Earls was over within three minutes after flanker and first-time captain Rhys Ruddock took a lineout and fullback Tiernan O'Halloran beat a tackle and drew the last man. Earls had a pair before the end of the quarter and was named man of the match on the occasion of his 60th cap.

No. 8 Jack Conan, making his first test appearance in almost two years, got the second half rolling four minutes in, scoring his try after controlling the ball off the back of a dominant scrum. Ireland notched four tries in the first half and five in the second, and gave up three tries to the U.S., two off chargedowns.

Winger Jacob Stockdale and lock James Ryan scored tries on debut, and also making their first bows were front-rower Andrew Porter, the third of the world under-20 finalists of last year. Hooker Dave Heffernan, and back Rory Scannell, who joined his brother Niall on the field, also earned their first caps.

Ireland moves on to two tests with Japan, starting in Shizuoka next weekend.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.

Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7,600 for free association/independence and nearly 6,700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just 23 percent, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several political parties had urged their supporters to boycott.

And the U.S. Congress has final say in any changes to Puerto Rico's political status.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello celebrates the results of a referendum on the status of the island, next to Congresswoman representing Puerto Rico Jennifer Gonzalez, left, at the New Progressive Party headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a non-binding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland. Voter turnout was just 23 percent. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

But that didn't stop Gov. Ricardo Rossello from vowing to push ahead with his administration's quest to make the island the 51st U.S. state and declaring that "Puerto Rico voted for statehood." He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum's results.

"In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral processes always prevails," Rossello said. "It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico."

It was the lowest level of participation in any election in Puerto Rico since 1967, according to Carlos Vargas Ramos, an associate with the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. He also said that even among voters who supported statehood, turnout was lower this year compared with the last referendum in 2012.

"Supporters of statehood did not seem enthusiastic about this plebiscite as they were five years ago," he said.

Puerto Rico's main opposition party rejected the pro-statehood result.

"The scant participation ... sends a clear message," said Anibal Jose Torres, a party member. "The people rejected it by boycotting an inconsequential event."

The referendum coincides with the 100th anniversary of the United States granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, though they are barred from voting in presidential elections and have only one congressional representative with limited voting powers.

Among those hoping Puerto Rico will become a state is Jose Alvarez, a 61-year-old businessman.

"Now is the moment to do it," he said. "We've spent a lot of years working on a socioeconomic model that has not necessarily given us the answer."

Many believe the island's territorial status has contributed to its 10-year economic recession, which has prompted nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to flee to the U.S. mainland and was largely sparked by decades of heavy borrowing and the elimination of federal tax incentives.

Puerto Rico is exempt from the U.S. federal income tax, but it still pays Social Security and Medicare and local taxes and receives less federal funding than U.S. states.

Those inequalities and the ongoing crisis prompted 66-year-old Maria Quinones to vote for the first time in such a referendum, the fifth on Puerto Rico's status.

"We have to vote because things are not going well," she said. "If we were a state, we would have the same rights."

Quinones said many of her relatives are among the nearly half a million Puerto Ricans who have moved to the U.S. mainland in the past decade to find a more affordable cost of living or jobs as the island of 3.4 million people struggles with a 12 percent unemployment rate.

Those who remain behind have been hit with new taxes and higher utility bills on an island where food is 22 percent more expensive than the U.S. mainland and public services are 64 percent more expensive.

Those who oppose statehood worry the island will lose its cultural identity and warn that Puerto Rico will struggle even more financially because it will be forced to pay millions of dollars in federal taxes.

"The cost of statehood on the pocketbook of every citizen, every business, every industry will be devastating," Carlos Delegado, secretary of the opposition Popular Democratic Party, told The Associated Press. "Whatever we might receive in additional federal funds will be cancelled by the amount of taxes the island will have to pay."

His party also has noted that the U.S. Justice Department has not backed the referendum.

A department spokesman told the AP that the agency has not reviewed or approved the ballot's language. Federal officials in April rejected an original version, in part because it did not offer the territory's current status as an option. The Rossello administration added it and sent the ballot back for review, but the department said it needed more time and asked that the vote be postponed, which it wasn't.

No clear majority emerged in the first three referendums on status, with voters almost evenly divided between statehood and the status quo. During the last referendum in 2012, 54 percent said they wanted a status change. Sixty-one percent who answered a second question said they favored statehood, but nearly half a million voters left that question blank, leading many to claim the results weren't legitimate.

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Danica Coto on Twitter: www.twitter.com/danicacoto

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Corrects governor's name to Ricardo instead of Pedro

Gov. Ricardo Rossello shows his ballot at the San Jose Academy during the fifth referendum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. Puerto Ricans are getting the chance to tell U.S. Congress on Sunday which political status they believe best benefits the U.S. territory as it remains mired in a deep economic crisis that has triggered an exodus of islanders to the U.S mainland. Congress ultimately has to approve the outcome of Sunday's referendum that offers voters three choices: statehood, free association/independence or current territorial status. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Protesters in favor of Puerto Rico's independence protest after a referendum was held on the island's status by marching through the financial district, known as the golden mile, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a non-binding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland. Voter turnout was just 23 percent. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello celebrates the results of a referendum on the status of the island, at the New Progressive Party headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a non-binding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland. Voter turnout was just 23 percent. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Protesters in favor of Puerto Rico's independence protest after a referendum was held on the island's status by burning a U.S. flag in the financial district, known as the golden mile, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a non-binding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland. Voter turnout was just 23 percent. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

A masked protester in favor of Puerto Rico's independence demonstrates after a referendum was held on the island's status by marching through the financial district, known as the golden mile, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a non-binding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland. Voter turnout was just 23 percent. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rican resident Maria Quinones looks carefully at her ballot with a magnifying glass before voting during the fifth referendum on the island's status, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The U.S. Congress ultimately has to approve the outcome of Sunday's referendum that offers voters three choices: statehood, free association/independence or current territorial status. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rican citizens exercise their vote during the fifth referendum on the island's status, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, June 11, 2017. The U.S. Congress ultimately has to approve the outcome of Sunday's referendum that offers voters three choices: statehood, free association/independence or current territorial status. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Republicans urge Trump on tapes; Sessions to testify Tues

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fellow Republicans pressed President Donald Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does - or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate Intelligence committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

"I don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of that committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comey's testimony as "candid" and "thorough" and said she would support a subpoena if needed. Trump "should voluntarily turn them over," Collins said.

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A mix of pride and anger at LGBT rights marches across US

WASHINGTON (AP) - Supporters of LGBT rights marched and rallied in the nation's capital and dozens of other U.S. cities on Sunday, celebrating gains but angry over threats posed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The centerpiece event, the Equality March in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Activists have been embittered by the Trump administration's rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

They also complain that Trump, who campaigned as a potential ally of gays and lesbians, has stocked his administration with foes of LGBT rights, including Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Throngs of marchers, many thousands strong, paraded past the White House and toward the Capitol, trailing behind a giant rainbow flag near the head of the procession.

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Macron's takeover of French politics is all but complete

PARIS (AP) - Emmanuel Macron's takeover of French politics is all but complete. The newly elected French leader's gamble that voters wanted to throw out old faces and try something new is paying off in full - first by giving him the presidency and, on Sunday, the crucial first step toward securing the legislative power to deliver on his pledge of far-reaching change.

As when voters turned the previously unelected Macron into France's youngest president last month, Sunday's first round of voting in two-stage legislative elections again brought stinging black eyes to traditional parties that, having monopolized power for decades, are being utterly routed by Macron's political revolution.

His fledgling Republic on the Move! - contesting its first-ever election and fielding many candidates with no political experience at all - was on course to deliver him a legislative majority so crushing that Macron's rivals fretted that the 39-year-old president will be able to govern France almost unopposed for his full five-year term.

Record-low turnout, however, took some shine off the achievement. Less than 50 percent of the 47.5 million electors cast ballots - showing that Macron has limited appeal to many voters.

Macron intends to set his large and likely pliant cohort of legislators, all of them having pledged allegiance to his program, to work immediately. He wants, within weeks, to start reforming French labor laws to make hiring and firing easier, and legislate a greater degree of honesty into parliament, to staunch the steady flow of scandals that over decades have eroded voter trust in the political class.

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Services to mark 1 year since 49 killed in Orlando gay club

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Church bells will toll throughout the Orlando area as residents reflect on the 49 patrons killed during a massacre at the gay nightclub Pulse in the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

Starting in the early hours Monday, and continuing almost 24 hours later, survivors, victims' families, city officials and central Florida residents will remember the victims with four services.

The first service is closed to the public, and it's being held at the nightclub for survivors, local officials and club employees. It will overlap with the exact time that gunman Omar Mateen began firing shots - a little after 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016.

It is followed by another midday service at the nightclub, and an evening gathering in the heart of downtown Orlando. A final, music-filled late-night service is being held at the nightclub.

Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack and was eventually killed by police during a shootout after a three-hour standoff. His wife, Noor Salman, is facing charges of aiding and abetting and obstruction in federal court, and she has pleaded not guilty to helping her husband.

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AP Exclusive: Moonlighting police leave body cameras behind

When police officers in America's cities put on their uniforms and grab their weapons before moonlighting in security jobs at nightclubs, hospitals, and ballparks, there's one piece of equipment they often leave behind - their body camera.

That's because most police agencies that make the cameras mandatory for patrol shifts don't require or won't allow body cameras for off-duty officers even if they're working in uniform, leaving a hole in policies designed to increase oversight and restore confidence in law enforcement.

Police departments contend that they have only a limited number of body cameras or that there are too many logistical hurdles and costs involved. But that argument doesn't sit well with those who say it shouldn't matter whether an officer is on patrol or moonlighting at a shopping mall.

"As long as they have real bullets, they need to have the body cameras," said John Barnett, a civil rights leader in Charlotte, North Carolina, where shootings involving police have put use of the cameras under scrutiny.

An Associated Press survey of the 20 biggest U.S. cities found that nearly all have officers wearing or testing body cameras, but that only five - Houston; San Antonio; San Francisco; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Jose, California - have rules requiring them for uniformed officers working outside their regular hours.

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Tottering Theresa May names new UK Cabinet as critics circle

LONDON (AP) - Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed ministers to her shaky government Sunday, as some Conservative colleagues rallied to support her - and others said her days were numbered after last week's disastrous election.

May is seeking a deal with a Northern Irish party to prop up the Conservative minority administration, and lawmakers said the rebuff from voters meant the government will have to abandon planned policies and re-think its strategy for European Union exit talks.

A stream of senior lawmakers entered May's 10 Downing St. office Sunday afternoon, to learn what roles they had been given in government.

May's weakened position in the party ruled out big changes. All the most senior ministers - including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon and Home Secretary Amber Rudd - kept their jobs and there were few changes in the Cabinet lineup.

Damian Green, a lawmaker in the pro-EU wing of the party, was promoted to first secretary of state - effectively deputy prime minister.

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50 years after Loving, 1 in 6 new couples are racially mixed

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fifty years after Mildred and Richard Loving's landmark legal challenge shattered the laws against interracial marriage in the U.S., some couples of different races still talk of facing discrimination, disapproval and sometimes outright hostility from their fellow Americans.

Although the racist laws against mixed marriages are gone, several interracial couples said in interviews they still get nasty looks, insults and sometimes even violence when people find out about their relationships.

"I have not yet counseled an interracial wedding where someone didn't have a problem on the bride's or the groom's side," said the Rev. Kimberly D. Lucas of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

She often counsels engaged interracial couples through the prism of her own 20-year marriage - Lucas is black and her husband, Mark Retherford, is white.

"I think for a lot of people it's OK if it's 'out there' and it's other people but when it comes home and it's something that forces them to confront their own internal demons and their own prejudices and assumptions, it's still really hard for people," she said.

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Some hope California winner of $447M Powerball helps area

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A sole winning Powerball ticket worth $447.8 million and matching all six numbers was sold in Southern California, and whoever owns it will claim the 10th largest lottery prize in U.S. history, lottery officials said Sunday.

The winning ticket was sold at Marietta Liquor & Deli in the small city of Menifee, the California Lottery said in a statement. Lottery officials said the earliest the ticket could be redeemed is 8 a.m. Monday, and the winner has one year to claim the prize.

The store just off a highway caters to retirees who live in the part of Menifee known as Sun City, which was developed as a retirement community in the 1960s. It also is a common stop for motorists passing through the area about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Los Angeles.

Liquor store owner Matthew Alberre said he does not know which of his customers won the jackpot or what his family will do with the $1 million bonus set aside for the retailer that sells the winning ticket.

"We're so blessed for this to happen," said Alberre, who owns the store with his father.

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Puerto Rican voters back statehood in questioned referendum

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's governor announced that the U.S. territory overwhelmingly chose statehood on Sunday in a nonbinding referendum held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.

Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, about 7,600 for free association/independence and nearly 6,700 for the current territorial status, according to preliminary results. Voter turnout was just 23 percent, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several political parties had urged their supporters to boycott.

And the U.S. Congress has final say in any changes to Puerto Rico's political status.

But that didn't stop Gov. Ricardo Rossello from vowing to push ahead with his administration's quest to make the island the 51st U.S. state and declaring that "Puerto Rico voted for statehood." He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum's results.

"In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral processes always prevails," Rossello said. "It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico."

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Perfect 10: Nadal routs Wawrinka for record 10th French Open

PARIS (AP) - As he sat in front of a TV to watch last year's French Open final, sidelined by an injured left wrist, Rafael Nadal had no way to know for sure, of course, that he would return to the height of his powers.

For the second time in a row, the most important match at the most important clay-court tournament was being contested without him. As the 2017 edition at Roland Garros began, Nadal's drought without a Grand Slam title was stretching to three full years.

"It was difficult," said Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni. "We were asking ourselves whether he would be able achieve this one more time."

Turned out he could, and he did, as masterful as at any time. Overwhelmingly good from start to finish in Sunday's final, and for the entire two weeks, Nadal won his record 10th French Open title with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.

"A perfect Roland Garros for me," Nadal said.
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) - Fanendo Adi scored once in each half as Portland Timbers beat FC Dallas 2-0 on Saturday to move into second spot in the MLS Western Conference standings.

Western Conference leader Sporting Kansas City surrendered a late goal in a 1-1 draw by Montreal and has 26 points, two clear of Portland and three ahead of Dallas and Houston.

Chicago moved within a point of leading Toronto in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 win over Atlanta United in the other match on Saturday.

Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi celebrtes after scoring a goal against FC Dallas during the first half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, June 10, 2017, in Portland. (Pete Christopher/The Oregonian via AP)

Adi opened the scoring in the 32nd minute in Portland with an off-balance shot from inside the area. He doubled in the lead in the 72nd with a well-time shot from close range to finish off a long-range attack.

At Kansas City, Matteo Mancosu scored a late equalizer to help the short-handed Montreal Impact to a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

Mancuso chipped over the head of a charging Tim Melia and into the corner of the net in the 82nd minute, canceling out Gerso Fernandes' 24th-minute half-volley.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran says it has killed the alleged mastermind of twin attacks last week claimed by the Islamic State group.

The official IRNA news agency on Sunday quotes Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi as saying the suspect left Iran for a neighboring country following the attacks but "was sent to hell" by Iranian intelligence agents and " fellow intelligence services." Alavi did not provide further details or offer any evidence.

Five attackers stormed Iran's parliament and a shrine to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Wednesday, setting off clashes with security forces and killing at least 17 people.

Iran says the attackers, who were all killed, had fought for the IS group in Syria and neighboring Iraq. It says dozens of people have been detained.
MARAWI, Philippines (AP) - From the third-story window of a barren government office building where he now squats as a refugee, Nasir Abdul is watching his city being destroyed.

Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the fiercest urban combat this volatile region has seen in decades.

And on nearly every one of those days, Abdul has stood at the window and watched, unable to turn away from the deadly spectacle unfolding just a mile (a kilometer and a half) away.

In this June 9, 2017, photo, Nasir Abdul, second from right, and other evacuees look as a military helicopter passes by black smoke from burning houses outside a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

As plumes of thick, black smoke wafted above the city's minarets again Friday - a day of intense skirmishes in which the army lost 13 marines - Abdul stood transfixed with dozens of other displaced residents. Two helicopter gunships had just finished strafing the city, and now people were pointing toward a Vietnam-era attack aircraft circling overhead.

The plane, an OV-10 Bronco, turned and dove straight down on the city center, firing off two bombs before suddenly pulling up its nose and spiraling away. Moments later, blasts shook the city and more smoke billowed skyward.

"It feels impossible that this is happening," the 45-year-old Abdul said, as the sound of gunfire crackled in the distance. When "I see the bombings, I can't help but cry. I can't help but think what's happening to my relatives, my family, my business, my house."

Three weeks after a new alliance of Islamic militants tried to seize this town in their boldest attack yet, large chunks of downtown have been reduced to ruins. Militants remain holed up in several pockets scattered around the city center, along with at least 100 civilians, including hostages the army says are being used as human shields. There is no electricity, and most of the town's 200,000 inhabitants have fled.

The military says the death toll includes at least 138 militants, 58 government troops and 29 civilians - among them a teenager shot Friday as he sheltered inside a Marawi mosque.

But the fighting is so intense, it's impossible to fully recover bodies to get an accurate casualty toll.

"It hurts to watch because we know people are dying with every bomb," Abdul said. "We know a lot of people are buried under that rubble."

The conflict in Marawi has raised fears that the Islamic State group's violent ideology is gaining a foothold in this country's restive southern islands, where Muslim separatists have fought for greater autonomy for decades.

The military says militants are trying to establish a caliphate here, similar to one IS has attempted to create in the Middle East that stretches from the Syrian city of Raqqa to embattled Mosul, in Iraq. They believe 40 foreign fighters have participated in the fighting in Marawi, including Malaysians and Indonesians.

The government has asked the U.S. to provide intelligence and other technical support, and at least one American surveillance plane has flown in support of Philippine forces.

Abdul said that while people in Marawi support autonomy, few back the extremist militant groups who have carried out kidnappings and beheadings.

However, Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the army's 1st Infantry Division, said the insurgents likely have "a lot of sympathizers, a lot of supporters in this area."

The main group leading the siege, the Maute, has deep roots in the city - "in terms of relatives, in terms of connections, in terms of culture, heritage," he said.

The Maute, named after three militant brothers, staged a similar attack in November on nearby Butig, on the opposite side of Lake Lanao, which lasted six days. But the intensity of the latest assault, and the ability of the militants to hold out for so long, appears to have caught the government off guard. Herrera said insurgents had prepared for as much as a year, stocking basement caches with food, weapons and ammunition.

Rexson Tamano, who is sleeping on the floor of an outdoor hallway in the same provincial government building as Abdul, said he saw no suspicious activity and no sign an attack was imminent.

When gunfire heralded the start of the siege on May 23, he called his pregnant wife on the other side of town to check in on her and their four children.

"She said, 'Stay where you are, please don't come for us, it's too dangerous,'" Tamano recalled. He ran home anyway, but was stopped at a checkpoint manned by militants. They wore black ski masks, and each held a machine-gun.

"I tried to walk away but they called me over and asked whether I was Muslim or Christian," Tamano said. He told them the truth - he was Muslim, and they waved him through.

The city's minority Christians have been singled out for execution.

Mikee Rakim, a humanitarian volunteer, said one group of 10 Christians told him they had been taken hostage when the fighting started. Militants beheaded two of them and were preparing to kill the rest when an airstrike hit a neighboring house, enabling them to escape.

While most of the displaced have sheltered inland, Abdul and Tamano are among about 200 people who have chosen to remain close to the city, anxious to return when the fighting ends to homes they fear were either looted or destroyed.

The government has distributed food, water and sleeping mats to the families camped out here, who gather in small groups at the windows every time the fighting intensifies.

While explosions shook Marawi on Friday and fighter jets buzzed overhead, one boy pushed a baby on a stroller through a hallway. In a corner, several other children sat making toy tanks out of paper.

"ISIS! ISIS!" cried one boy, laughing as he pointed to a tiny black flag on one of the tanks.

Fahadda Camim, who was conducting an assessment for Community Family Services International, a Filipino humanitarian organization, said the children were "copying what they see outside" and were in need of counseling.

The adults, too, are traumatized, she said, and "some are still very afraid." The clashes are a constant reminder that their lives have been upended, and their fates remain uncertain.

Abdul said he did not want to watch the fighting. But he could not resist, either. "It's our city," he said. "It's so painful. It's impossible to turn away."

In this June 9, 2017 photo, evacuees look at the continuing military air strikes outside a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, an evacuee looks as black smoke rises from continuing military air strikes outside a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, evacuees stay at a crowded evacuation center on the outskirts of Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this June 9, 2017 photo, a mosque is silhouetted against a setting sun near military operations in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this June 9, 2017 photo, an evacuee waits inside an evacuation center on the outskirts of Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, a Muslim evacuee waits at a temporary evacuation center on the outskirts of Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this June 9, 2017 photo, a girl plays at an evacuation center on the outskirts of Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this June 9, 2017 photo, Filipino children play near their homes as black smoke from military air strikes continue to fill the sky in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this June 9, 2017 photo, Nasir Abdul, looks at air strike operations from the window of a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, a child plays with toy tanks made out of black and white election papers they found at a room in a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, an evacuee talking on a mobile phone reacts while watching the continuing military air strikes outside a temporary evacuation center at the provincial government capitol in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, black smoke from continuing military air strikes rises above a mosque in Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
ROME (AP) - First exit polls indicate candidates from a populist movement did poorly in the main Italian mayoral races, with the leading candidates coming from both the traditional center-right and center-left camps.

Right after voting ended late Sunday night, pollsters for both state TV and private TV said their samplings indicated the anti-euro 5-Star Movement would fail even to make runoffs in the four top races, including a big setback in Genoa, which is home to Movement founder, comic Beppe Grillo.

The local races "put the brakes on the Movement's" rise, headlined La Stampa, the daily in Turin, a major city where only a year earlier the triumph of the populists' candidate there for mayor fueled 5-Stars' national ambitions.

Five-Star Movement's leader Beppe Grillo casts his ballot for Italy's mayoral elections in Genoa, Italy, Sunday, June 11, 2017. Italy's populist 5-Star Movement was seeking to expand power in mayoral elections being held Sunday in some 1,000 towns and small cities across the country. (Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP)

Substantial actual results were not expected until sometime Monday morning.

But if exit samplings prove accurate, voters delivered stinging defeats to the populists, keen on gaining the premiership for the first time via national elections due in 2018.

The anti-euro party ran candidates in some 225 of 1,000 races.

In Genoa, as well as in the other main city up for grabs, Palermo, Sicily, the top two vote-getters, according to the exit polls, were shaping up to be candidates from center right and center left.

Runoffs will be held on June 25 in races where no one clinches more than 50 percent of the ballots.

Until Grillo's Movement started gaining ground in the last few years, Italy's political scene had been dominated for a quarter-century by center-right coalitions, led by media mogul and former premier Silvio Berlusconi, and center-left alliances, currently led by ex-premier and Democratic Party leader Matteo Renzi.

Only a year ago, the 5-Stars dealt the Democrats embarrassing losses in Rome and Turin mayoral races.

But a generally lackluster performance by 5-Star Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, leading an administration dogged by scandals, has had many analysts wondering if the shine was fading for the Movement.

Turin's 5-Star Mayor Chiara Appendino initially received high marks, but lately has faced criticism, especially about security when panicked soccer fans watching a match in a Turin square recently set off an injury-causing stampede.

Renzi resigned the premiership in December after miscalculating that Italians would back his government's constitutional reforms in a referendum.

Exit polls indicated the 5-Stars' hopes to make inroads in the south also would be dashed.

Leoluca Orlando, a center-left figure who made his name as an anti-Mafia maverick in the 1980s, appeared to be leading in his bid for a fifth mandate as mayor of Palermo, Sicily, exit polls indicated.

At least one town needing a mayor won't get one.

No one offered to be a candidate in San Luca, a remote town in the Calabrian mountains and dubbed the "mamma of the 'ndrangheta" crime syndicate for its notoriety as a stronghold of mobsters, Sky TG24 TV reported. Officials appointed by the Interior Ministry will continue to run the town of 3,900 residents until elections can eventually be held.

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Frances D'Emilio is on twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio

Five-Star Movement's leader Beppe Grillo waves after casting his ballot for Italy's mayoral elections in Genoa, Italy, Sunday, June 11, 2017. Italy's populist 5-Star Movement was seeking to expand power in mayoral elections being held Sunday in some 1,000 towns and small cities across the country. (Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The Latest on developments related to the diplomatic crisis engulfing energy-rich Qatar (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

Kuwait says Qatar is "willing to hold a dialogue" with Arab nations that have cut diplomatic ties.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, welcomes Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Sabah said in a statement carried by the state-run KUNA news agency Sunday that unity among Gulf Arab countries "was paramount to the people of the region."

Kuwait's ruling emir has traveled to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to try and mediate the crisis that began June 5.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have tried to isolate Qatar over its alleged support of militant groups and ties to Iran. Qatar long has denied funding extremists.

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12:45 p.m.

Iran's flag carrier is flying vegetables to Qatar after Arab nations cut land, sea and air routes to the energy-rich Gulf nation.

Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi told The Associated Press that a sixth planeload of vegetables will head to Qatar on Sunday. He said 90 tons of vegetables already have been sent. Noushabadi tells the AP the flights "will be continued based on demand."

Iranian media meanwhile reported Sunday that three traditional dhow boats carrying some 350 tons of fruit are to leave for Qatar from the small Iranian port of Dayyer.

Saudi Arabia has sealed Qatar's only land border, through which it had imported most of its food. Riyadh and its allies have severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and of being too close to Iran, charges denied by Doha.

Turkey has also stepped in to help Qatar, supplying the desert country with dairy products.

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8:15 a.m.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have signaled they may allow some Qataris to stay in their countries amid a diplomatic rift with the Gulf nation.

The three Gulf nations said early Sunday that officials would consider "humanitarian cases" as a deadline looms for Qataris to return home.

On June 5, the countries cut diplomatic ties to Qatar and ordered all Qataris out within 14 days.

For its part, Qatar issued an overnight statement saying residents living in the country from those nations that severed ties would have "complete freedom" to stay despite the "hostile and tendentious campaigns" now targeting it.

Arab nations have tried to isolate Qatar over its alleged support of militant groups and ties to Iran.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 54 migrants, including two babies, trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a smugglers' boat.

A spokesman for the service says that the group, which included 13 women, was spotted by a cargo ship in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar. The spokesman spoke anonymously in line with the policy of the rescue service.

The Red Cross says that seven of the migrants needed to be taken to a hospital upon arrival at the port in Malaga around midnight on Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees have attempted the dangerous crossing to Europe in recent years, with thousands perishing in the attempt.
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Republic of the Philippines - Independence Day, Ilham Aliyev said in the letter.

I believe that friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Philippines will constantly develop and enhance in the best interests of our nations.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health and success in your activities, and the friendly people of the Philippines peace and prosperity, reads the letter.
Charles Montgomery welcomed the challenge of hiking the steep terrain of the Connecticut River headwaters in remote northern New Hampshire, admiring the birds, the plants, the woods. He also loved the opportunity to pray.

For four days, the 82-year-old retired doctor was part of the first leg of a 40-day pilgrimage of canoeists and kayakers of all faiths along the 400-mile river, New England's longest. The group traded cellphones for paddles to partake in a spiritual journey, the first event of its size on the river, which flows from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound.

"You begin to let go of stuff," said Montgomery, of Walpole, New Hampshire.

In this June 3, 2017, Elizabeth Stevens paddles along the western edge of the First Connecticut Lake near the headwaters of the Connecticut River, northeast of Pittsburg, N.H. Episcopal dioceses in New England have organized a 40-day "River of Life" pilgrimage of canoeists and kayakers of all faiths along the 400-mile river, trading cellphones for paddles to partake in a spiritual journey. (Jo Books via AP)

The Episcopal dioceses of New England and a group called Kairos Earth organized the "River of Life" pilgrimage. The idea came from Robert Hirschfeld, New Hampshire's bishop. Hirschfeld, 56, an avid rower, sees the journey as a way for people to renew their relationship with God, connect with one another and with nature, and have fun.

"It's become something far greater than I had imagined," said Hirschfeld, who traveled the first leg and plans to get back on the river with his daughter next week in Hanover, New Hampshire. There are times, he said, when all you hear is the sound of loons and paddles hitting the canoes.

"It causes one to recalibrate one's soul. You don't use your cellphone; your laptops are nowhere to be seen," Hirschfeld said. "You're suddenly reconnecting on a totally different level with one's being."

Nine people started the first leg of the trip on May 31, hiking where it was too shallow to paddle at first, before venturing into bodies of water that eventually fill into the river. Participants can join in at any part of the trip, or follow a special prayer book at home with daily readings, reflections, and Scripture passages.

There also are events on land. In Vermont, some people are planning a mini-pilgrimage by car on June 17, following the Ottauquechee River from Killington to Hartford. A storyteller will share river tales, and a hydrologist will give a talk on the river's environment and its watershed that day at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont.

The trip coincides with multicultural fiesta at a church in Hartford, Connecticut; and a concluding celebration in Essex, Connecticut on July 8. The pilgrimage ends the next day at Long Island Sound.

Most paddlers are expected to join as the pilgrimage reaches Massachusetts and Connecticut, bringing the estimated participation overall to several hundred people.

It rained a lot during the first week of the trip, but Elizabeth Stevens recalled one day when the sun finally came out.

"It was such a fabulous, moving moment that I started praying out loud," she said. "I was just moved. ... That was what the pilgrimage was about, so that we could connect with nature and commit ourselves once again to doing a better job of taking care of this world that we've been given, and this river that we have been given."

Participants, led by several guides, average about 10 to 12 miles per day, rain or shine. They set up campsites and explore a different spiritual theme each week. The focus of the first part of the tour was people's connection to the wilderness and water.

For Stevens, 67, the river already is part of her everyday life in Springfield, Massachusetts. So it was special to her to participate in the first leg of the pilgrimage and see its origin. Stevens also plans to paddle again later, in Massachusetts and will be there on the last day of the journey near Long Island, where she was born.

"That has a personal meaning of going into the Long Island Sound, which has always been part of the story of my life," she said.
MILFORD, Va. (AP) - EDITOR'S NOTE: On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down as unconstitutional 16 state bans on interracial marriage. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and black woman who had been jailed for being married to each other.

After the court's decision, the Lovings lived quietly in their native Virginia with their three children until Richard Loving's death in a 1975 car crash. Mildred Loving, critically injured in that same crash, never remarried and largely shunned publicity. She granted a rare interview to The Associated Press in 2007, the 40th anniversary of her legal victory, and died the following year.

In observance of the 50th anniversary of the landmark Loving decision, The Associated Press is republishing its last interview with Mildred Loving, by reporter Dionne Walker.

The graves of Richard and Mildred Loving are seen in a rural cemetery near their former home in Caroline County, Virginia, Wednesday, June 7, 2017. Richard Loving, a white man, and his wife Mildred, a black woman, challenged Virginia's ban on interracial marriage and ultimately won their case at the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. Monday, June 12, 2017 marks 50 years since the Supreme Court issued that opinion, which overturned laws against interracial marriage in 16 states. (AP Photo/Jessica Gresko)

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Reporters no longer beat a path to the modest white house just over the Caroline County border - and that's fine with its owner, a soft-spoken 67-year-old who never wanted the fame that her marriage brought her.

Born Mildred Jeter, she's mostly known by the name she took when she - a black woman living in segregated Virginia - dared to break the rules by marrying a white man named Richard Loving.

The union landed the Lovings in jail, and then before the U.S. Supreme Court, and finally in the history books; 40 years ago Tuesday, the court ruled in favor of the couple, overturning laws prohibiting interracial unions and changing the face of America.

Mildred Loving is a matriarch to thousands of mixed couples now sprinkled in every city. But she hardly considers herself a hero - just a girl who once fell in love with a boy.

"It wasn't my doing," Loving told The Associated Press, in a rare interview. "It was God's work."

While the rest of the Jim Crow South struggled to divide the races in the early '50s, blacks and whites in tiny Central Point had long been intertwined. They worked together on farms, raising chickens and tobacco. And often, they were intimate, explained Edward Clarke, who grew up in the town an hour outside Richmond, today little more than vast fields, ragtag homes and weed-choked farm houses.

Standing in the hilly cemetery in which Richard Loving is buried, he swept his hand out over the markers reading Jeter, Byrd and Fortune - black folks, he explained, many so pale they could pass for white.

"The white people were just like the black people," said Clarke, a black man. "You lived and survived ... it was a sharing thing."

It was in this setting that a skinny 11-year-old nicknamed "Bean" met a 17-year-old boy who was a family friend, according to Phyl Newbeck, a Vermont author who detailed the case in the 2004 book, "Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers."

Over the years, friendship led to courtship - but their relationship took an abrupt turn when an 18-year-old Mildred became pregnant.

"We're talking the early '50s, when an illegitimate child was far more of a stigma," Newbeck said. "I don't think Richard wanted her to have to bear that."

And so, they drove some 80 miles to Washington, D.C., in 1958, married and returned to Central Point to start a new life.

"I think he thought (if) we were married, they couldn't bother us," Mildred said.

Within a month, they were in jail.

Now 84, then-Sheriff Garnett Brooks vividly recalls bursting into the Lovings' home at 2 a.m., rousing the couple out of their sleep and hauling them off to face the law. Word of their marriage - nobody's sure who complained - had reached the commonwealth's attorney.

"He told me to go and check on them and if they are (married), arrest them," said Brooks, who insists the case wasn't about race but about illegal cohabitation. "I told him I'd be glad to do it."

A 28-year-old Phil Hirschkop was just a few months out of law school when he overheard a professor discussing the Lovings with another lawyer, Bernard Cohen.

It was 1964, and the Lovings had spent the past few years living in exile in Washington after being convicted on charges of "cohabitating as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth," according to their indictments. Laws banning racially mixed marriages existed in at least 17 states.

The couple had avoided a year in jail by agreeing to a sentencing mandating, "both accused leave Caroline County and the state of Virginia at once, and do not return together or at the same time to said county and state for a period of 25 years."

They got around it, recalls University of Georgia professor and family friend Robert Pratt, by riding back in separate cars and meeting up.

The frustrated young wife had written to then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who referred her to the ACLU for help returning to their Virginia home permanently. Cohen filed a motion to vacate the 1959 sentence against the couple, but hit a dead end when the courts refused to respond.

American courts had proven tough on race-mixing in the past: A handful of cases similar to the Lovings' had come up before in other places, but were stuck in a thicket of state-sanctioned racism and red tape.

But lawmakers had just passed the Civil Rights Act, and across the South, blacks were defying Jim Crows' hold.

Hirschkop was convinced the Supreme Court was ready for change, too - but the right case had to come before the justices, free of any legal loopholes the state could seize upon. The Lovings presented such a case.

Hirschkop argued that the laws must treat each citizen equally, and that "when a law is based on race, it is immediately suspect and the burden is shifted to the state to show there is a compelling interest to have that sort of racial differentiation."

On June 12, 1967, the court agreed.

"The country was ready, the Supreme Court was ready ..." Hirschkop said. "They were going to do the right thing."

Richard, by all accounts a stoic, blue-collar man content to let Mildred do the talking, moved his family into a small house on Passing Road, and tried to live happily ever after.

That ended when a drunken driver struck their car in 1975, killing Richard and costing Mildred her right eye. The small cemetery where he is buried is a few minutes from their home.

Over the years, Mildred has granted few interviews, letting others tell her story through books, articles and a Showtime film, "Mr. and Mrs. Loving."

"Not much of it was very true," she said on a recent Thursday afternoon. "The only part of it right was I had three children."

Her hands are curled by arthritis and her right eye is just a lidded hollow now. Still, Mildred's face lights up as she talks about Richard. She thinks about him every day.

Each June 12, Loving Day events around the country mark the advances of mixed-race couples. Mildred doesn't pay much attention to the grassroots celebrations.

Mostly she spends time enjoying her family, two dogs, and the countryside she fought so fiercely to again call home.

She wishes her husband was there to enjoy it with her.

"He used to take care of me," said Mildred Loving. "He was my support, he was my rock."
WASHINGTON (AP) - Fellow Republicans pressed President Donald Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does - or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate Intelligence committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, June 9, 2017. Trump is scheduled to spend the weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

"I don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of that committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comey's testimony as "candid" and "thorough" and said she would support a subpoena if needed. Trump "should voluntarily turn them over," Collins said.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also a member of that committee, agreed the panel needed to hear any tapes that exist. "We've obviously pressed the White House," he said.

Trump's aides have dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russia investigation have been recorded, and so has the president. Pressed on the issue Friday, Trump said "I'll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future."

Lankford said Sessions' testimony Tuesday will help flesh out the truth of Comey's allegations, including Sessions' presence at the White House in February when Trump asked to speak to Comey alone. Comey alleges that Trump then privately asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia.

Comey also has said Sessions did not respond when he complained he didn't "want to get time alone with the president again." The Justice Department has denied that, saying Sessions stressed to Comey the need to be careful about following appropriate policies.

"We want to be able to get his side of it," Lankford said.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said "there's a real question of the propriety" of Sessions' involvement in Comey's dismissal, because Sessions had stepped aside from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. Comey was leading that probe.

Reed said he also wants to know if Sessions had more meetings with Russian officials as a Trump campaign adviser than have been disclosed.

Trump on Sunday accused Comey of "cowardly" leaks and predicted many more from him. "Totally illegal?" he asked in a tweet. "Very 'cowardly!'"

Several Republican lawmakers also criticized Comey for disclosing memos he had written in the aftermath of his private conversations with Trump, calling that action "inappropriate." But, added Lankford "releasing his memos is not damaging to national security."

The New York City federal prosecutor who expected to remain on the job when Trump took office but ended up being fired said he was made uncomfortable by one-on-one interactions with the president - just like Comey was. Preet Bharara told ABC's "This Week" that Trump was trying to "cultivate some kind of relationship" with him when he called him twice before the inauguration to "shoot the breeze."

He said Trump reached out to him again after the inauguration but he refused to call back, shortly before he was fired.

On Comey's accusations that Trump pressed him to drop the FBI investigation of Flynn, Bharara said "no one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction" of justice. But: "I think there's absolutely evidence to begin a case."

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the Intelligence committee, sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urging him to investigate possible obstruction of justice by Trump in Grassley's position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein is the top Democrat on that panel and a member of both.

She said Sessions should also testify before the Judiciary Committee, because it was better suited to explore legal questions of possible obstruction. Feinstein said she was especially concerned after National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers refused to answer questions from the intelligence committee about possible undue influence by Trump.

Feinstein said she did not necessarily believe Trump was unfit for office, as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has asserted, but said he has a "destabilizing effect" on government.

"There's an unpredictability. He projects an instability," Feinstein said. "Doing policy by tweets is really a shakeup for us, because there's no justification presented."

In other appearances Sunday:

-Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he would take Trump up on his offer to testify under oath about his conversations with Comey, inviting the president to testify before the Senate.

-Feinstein acknowledged she "would have a queasy feeling, too" if Comey's testimony was true that Loretta Lynch, as President Barack Obama's attorney general, had directed him to describe the FBI probe into Hillary Clinton's email practices as merely a "matter" and to avoid calling it an investigation. Feinstein said the Judiciary Committee should investigate.

Sessions stepped aside in March from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the campaign after acknowledging that had met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. He had told lawmakers at his January confirmation hearing that he had not met with Russians during the campaign.

Sessions has been dogged by questions about possible additional encounters with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

As for the timing of Sessions' recusal, Comey said the FBI expected the attorney general to take himself out of the matters under investigation weeks before he actually did.

Collins and Feinstein spoke on CNN's "State of the Union and Lankford and Schumer appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation." Reed was on "Fox News Sunday."
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - The U.S. military in Africa says it carried out an airstrike in southern Somalia that killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp, 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu, the capital.

A U.S. military statement said the attack happened Sunday morning. There was no immediate comment on the airstrike from Somalia's homegrown extremist group, al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida.

Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed confirmed the airstrike, saying that Somali and partner forces destroyed an al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region. He said such attacks would disrupt the group's ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.
DALLAS (AP) - A white Fort Worth police officer's appeal of his 10-day suspension for using excessive force in the arrest of a black woman and her daughters is set for this week.

Officer William Martin's suspension could be overturned, upheld or modified in the disciplinary hearing scheduled Tuesday, Fort Worth Civil Service Commission secretary Monique Schomp said.

Assistant City Manager Valerie Washington said an attorney for the city will argue Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald was within his authority to discipline Martin after the officer was seen on video wrestling Jacqueline Craig to the ground during a Dec. 21 confrontation.

Craig had called police to report that a neighbor choked her 7-year-old son for allegedly littering in his yard. One of Craig's daughters took a video of the interaction between her mother and the officer, and posted it to social media.

In the video, the conversation between Martin and Craig becomes heated and Martin is seen wrestling Craig and one of her daughters to the ground. He presses a stun gun into Craig's back before pointing it at her 15-year-old daughter, who later appears to be kicked into the police car.

Craig and her daughters were arrested on multiple charges, including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. All charges later were dropped. An internal police investigation determined Martin used excessive force and violated department policy by being discourteous to the public and displaying conduct prejudicial to good order.

Martin, who returned to work after serving his punishment, rejected a reduced seven-day suspension to pursue his right to appeal.

"Just as anyone who has an accusation leveled against them, Officer Martin is due his opportunity in court," said Charley Wilkison, executive director of the state's largest police officers' union, the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas. "That's what this hearing is about, his opportunity to clear his name and continue on with his profession."

Craig's attorney has called for Martin to be fired and charged with a crime.

Weeks after the incident, Martin's body camera footage and personal file were leaked to the media, and the resulting internal police investigation left two high-ranking police officials demoted.

Both officials, Abdul Pridgen and Vance Keyes, have denied involvement. Keyes has filed a formal appeal with the Civil Service Commission, while Pridgen has asked for a 60-day delay before continuing the appeal process with the commission, Schomp said.

Once the hearing is complete, attorneys may exchange written briefs for up to four weeks before submitting them to the hearing examiner. A decision on the appeal will follow within 30 days of the briefs' submission.
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Armed men attacked a prison in Congo's eastern city of Beni on Sunday, killing at least 11 and freeing more than 900 prisoners, a government official said.

Eight prison guards were among the 11 dead, said North Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku. About 30 prisoners remained in the Kangbayi prison following the afternoon attack, he said.

Paluku announced a curfew in Beni and nearby Butembo.

"Only the army and the police have the right to circulate in order to have control over the enemy," he said.

It was not immediately known who carried out the attack, although Allied Democratic Forces rebels are imprisoned there and the group has threatened attacks to free its members.

The ADF rebel group was founded in neighboring Uganda in the 1990s and is now based in Congo where it has intensified its attacks. The rebel group has killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Congo since October 2014.

A Congolese court in March sentenced to death nine ADF rebels prosecuted for crimes against humanity, terrorism and participation in a rebellion as part of increased efforts to hold the group accountable for attacks in Beni and surrounding towns and villages.

Scores of armed groups fight for control in Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

Sunday's attack follows others carried out on police or prison facilities within the past month. Congo's police on Saturday said a group of men attacked a police station in Kinshasa, killing at least two.

In May, Christian sect members stormed a prison in Kinshasa, freeing their leader and others. Witnesses say thousands escaped.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The political crisis engulfing Qatar stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties with Iran and embrace of various Islamist groups have brought intense scrutiny, made it a regional outlier and created enough smoke to suggest a fire. Last week, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar amid a slew of punitive measures. On Friday, the four Arab states upped the pressure by naming 59 people and several charities linked to Qatar on a terrorist list.

Governments across the region routinely cite terrorism as justification to clamp down on political opposition and rights activists. Some groups Qatar has backed - such as the Muslim Brotherhood - are seen by many as a legitimate political force. Others, including some hard-line Sunni rebel factions in Syria, are not that different ideologically from groups that Saudi Arabia backs there.

Here's a look at the various groups Qatar's accused of supporting and its relationship with them:

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2012 file photo, a Syrian boy shouts slogans against the Syrian government in front of a flag of the armed Islamic opposition group, the Nusra front, during a demonstration in Aleppo, Syria. Qatar's isolation and the political crisis engulfing the country stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. Qatar's Arab neighbors have accused it of backing al-Qaida and the IS group across the region, from Syria to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo, File)

AL-QAIDA AND ISLAMIC STATE GROUP

Qatar's Arab neighbors have accused it of backing al-Qaida and the Islamic State group's ideology across the region, from Syria to the Sinai Peninsula. Experts and groups in Syria say Qatari finances have indirectly propped up militant groups. Similar accusations were leveled at Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the early days of Syria's 2011 uprising, but experts say these governments amended their official stances and financing laws.

Some express concern that the row between Saudi Arabia and Qatar could undermine all finances to the Syrian opposition - where, on the ground, the lines are blurred over which groups cooperate with radicals. Hassan Hassan, a Syria expert, said Qatar has never supported al-Qaida or IS directly. However, he said Qatar has supported Ahrar al-Sham, whose founders are linked to al-Qaida. For its part, Saudi Arabia once hosted members of Ahrar al-Sham at a Syrian opposition conference in its capital.

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, A POLARIZING FORCE

The Islamist Sunni group remains one of the region's most polarizing. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt view it as a direct threat to their rule and deem it a destabilizing force. However, the Brotherhood's offshoots remain active in Jordan and Tunisia. The Brotherhood was elected to power in Egypt after protests toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Qatar aided the Brotherhood-led government in Cairo with billions of dollars. It was a key supporter of the group's offshoots in Syria and Libya.

Qatar argues it supported Egypt as a whole, and not one particular faction, when the Brotherhood was in power. Egypt's military ousted the Brotherhood and unleashed a lethal crackdown against its members amid mass protests in 2013. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt outlawed the group and branded it a terrorist organization, accusing it of plotting attacks. Brotherhood affiliates in the Gulf have been arrested.

Gulf monarchies also accuse Qatar of providing financial support, a safe haven and even citizenship to Islamist opposition figures from their countries.

HAMAS, THE RULER OF GAZA

The Palestinian group, an offshoot of Egypt's Brotherhood, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and its Western allies. The group, which rules the Gaza Strip, has fought three wars with Israel and is seen by some in the Arab world as an armed resistance force against Israeli occupation. Saudi Arabia says Qatar must sever ties with Hamas.

Qatar has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in roads, housing and a major hospital in the Gaza Strip offering a lifeline for jobs in the devastated area that is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Its support for the territory makes Qatar one of its few foreign backers. Qatar says its work in Gaza is "purely humanitarian" and its engagement with the group has been in the context of internationally backed peace talks.

GROUPS HOLDING HOSTAGES FOR RANSOM

A deal negotiated recently to release kidnapped members of Qatar's ruling family has been a source of anxiety for Gulf leaders, particularly in Saudi Arabia, which views Iran as its top adversary. Qatar reportedly paid hundreds of millions of dollars to an Iranian-backed Shiite militia that had kidnapped the 26 hostages on Dec. 16, 2015 from a desert camp for falcon hunters in southern Iraq.

Egypt has asked the U.N. Security Council to investigate reports that Qatar "paid up to $1 billion to a terrorist group active in Iraq" to free the hostages, which would violate U.N. sanctions. Qatar says it only supported the Iraqi government financially for its efforts in the release of hostages, and that it did not deal with armed groups there. The deal also allegedly resulted in the evacuation of residents of predominantly Shiite villages in Syria, where Iran's proxies hold sway. Several people close to the negotiations say Qatar also paid a hefty sum to Islamist groups in Syria, including one linked to al-Qaida, for the evacuation of the residents. They told The Associated Press that the talks were probably the region's most complex and sensitive hostage deal.

IRAN, THE SHIITE POWERHOUSE

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain accuse Qatar of supporting Shiite militant groups in both countries. Violence has increased in recent weeks between militants and Saudi security forces in a predominantly Shiite town in the country's east. In Bahrain, the Sunni-led monarchy crushed an uprising by majority Shiites there in 2011 and continues to crack down on peaceful dissent. Bahraini security forces have since been targeted by local Shiite militants.

Saudi Arabia has also accused Qatar of backing Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen, known as Houthis. However, Qatar was a member of a Saudi-led coalition bombing the Houthis in Yemen. Experts say there is no evidence to support the claims, but that the accusations appear to stem from negotiations for a transfer of power in Yemen in 2012. Qatar and Saudi Arabia were in disagreement over how to go about it, and Qatar was accused of trying to sabotage a Saudi-led initiative by working with Houthis. Qatar's ambassador in Washington Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani has said that while the country has ties with Iran and shares with it a vast underwater natural gas field its stance is similar to that of other Gulf Arab states.

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El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Washington and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.

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Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ayaelb and Sarah El Deeb at https://twitter.com/seldeeb

FILE -- In this May 21, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump, right, holds a bilateral meeting with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Qatar's isolation and the political crisis engulfing the country stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. Trump on Friday, June 9, 2017, firmly positioned himself with Arab states in their standoff against Qatar. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2011 file photo, senior Egyptian cleric Sheik Youssef el-Qardawi speaks to the crowd as he leads Friday prayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Qatar's isolation and the political crisis engulfing the country stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. On Friday, June 9, 2017, the major Arab states added al-Qaradawi to their list of so-called terrorists. He is widely seen as the Brotherhood's spiritual leader and has been based in Qatar's capital, Doha, for years. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

FILE -- In this Oct. 23, 2012 file photo, then-Emir of Qatar Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, center right, and then Gaza's Hamas Prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, third left, arrive for the corner-stone laying ceremony of a center providing artificial limbs, in Bait Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip. Qatar's isolation and the political crisis engulfing the country stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties with Iran and embrace of various Islamist groups have brought intense scrutiny, made it a regional outlier and created enough smoke to spark a fire. (AP Photo/Ali Ali, Pool, File)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A woman accused of not doing enough to prevent her injured and pregnant dog from suffering until it started chewing off one of its legs in 2015 has been sentenced to a suspended one-year jail sentence and a year of probation, officials said.

April Gutierrez, 49, will not be allowed to have animals or be near them without supervision following the incident two years ago, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (http://bit.ly/2reQxLH ) Saturday.

Gutierrez did not seek help for her 2-year-old female dachshund, Shebba, for a month after it was hit by a car - until the dog began to chew off part of its left rear leg, according to charging documents.

Veterinary clinic staff that treated the dog said there were maggots on the injured leg and bones and tendons were exposed. The dog's leg had to be amputated.

A radiographic exam showed that the dog's puppies had been dead inside of her for almost 48 hours, according to the complaints.

Gutierrez told police that she did not initially take the dog to a veterinarian because she could not afford it and thought the dog was OK, according to the charges.

A new law passed last year to reduce prison populations prevented prosecutors from asking for a harsher sentence for Gutierrez, said Assistant District Attorney Andrew Baldock in an email.

Shebba has been renamed Lucy and was adopted by Heather Douge's family.

"Missing that back leg hinders her getting over things," Douge said. "She's a dachshund mix and has short little legs anyway, but then you add missing a leg and being able to lift her one back leg over a shoe or something becomes very challenging."

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on the Tony Awards (all times local):

11:16 p.m.

"Dear Evan Hansen," the touching, heartfelt musical about young outsiders, has won the biggest theater popularity contest - winning the best new musical trophy at the Tony Awards.

Ben Platt and the cast of "Dear Evan Hansen" perform at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP)

The show centers on a profoundly lonely 17-year-old who fabricates a prior friendship with a classmate who has just committed suicide. The story charts his acceptance into the young man's grieving family and the heartbreaking truths that emerge as the deception becomes more elaborate, sped along by social media.

The acclaimed musical's story is by Steven Levenson, with songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (recent Oscar winners for "City of Stars" from the movie "La La Land"). It stars Ben Platt.

"Dear Evan Hansen" beat out "Come From Away," ''Groundhog Day the Musical" and "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812."

The musical won six Tonys, the most of any show.

"Hello, Dolly!" won the award for best revival of a musical.

The Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

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11:09 p.m.

The Divine Miss M has won her second Tony Award for a celebrated revival of "Hello, Dolly!"

Bette Midler won the best actress in a musical trophy for playing as matchmaker and schemer Dolly Levi, who receives her toughest challenge yet when a rich grump seeks a suitable wife.

The Grammy- and Emmy Award-winner has already won a Tony - the 1974 Special Tony Award - for "for adding luster to the Broadway season" during a concert stand at the Palace Theatre.

Midler has been wowing audiences in the show, which features the songs "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," ''Before the Parade Passes By" and "So Long Dearie." She stepped into the role previously performed by Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Barbra Streisand and, of course, Carol Channing.

Midler, the prohibitive favorite, beat out Eva Noblezada, Christine Ebersole, Patti LuPone and Denee Benton.

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10:58 p.m.

Ben Platt, a star of the "Pitch Perfect" films who recently made the list of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, has won the Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical.

Platt won for leading the cast of "Dear Evan Hansen," the touching, heartfelt musical about young outsiders.

The show centers on a profoundly lonely 17-year-old who fabricates a prior friendship with a classmate who has just committed suicide. The story charts his acceptance into the boy's grieving family and the heartbreaking truths that emerge as the deception becomes more elaborate, sped along by social media.

Platt has been on Broadway before - in "The Book of Mormon" - and toured with the show as well. He's also had roles in the films "Ricki and the Flash" and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk."

Platt beat out Andy Karl, Josh Groban, Christian Borle and David Hyde Pierce.

The musical also won Tony awards four other Tonys, including Rachel Bay Jones for best actress in a featured role.

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10:46 p.m.

"Hello, Dolly!" has been named best musical revival at the Tony Awards - an honor thanks in large part to Bette Midler.

Midler stars as matchmaker and schemer Dolly Levi, who receives her toughest challenge yet when a rich grump seeks a suitable wife. It's a musical version of Thornton Wilder's play "The Matchmaker."

Midler has been wowing audiences in the show, which features the songs "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," ''Before the Parade Passes By" and "So Long Dearie." The Divine Miss M, whose co-star is David Hyde Pierce, stepped into the role previously performed by Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Barbra Streisand and, of course, Carol Channing.

"Hello, Dolly!" beat out "Miss Saigon" and "Falsettos."

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10:32 p.m.

The play "Oslo," a three-hour meditation on diplomacy, has been crowned the best play of the season.

J.T. Rogers' explores the 1993 meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, which led to the breakthrough Oslo Accords and the handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards.

Rogers' other plays include "Blood and Gifts," the struggle for control of Afghanistan during the 1980s, "The Overwhelming," about the Rwanda genocide, and "Madagascar," set in Rome. "Oslo" was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater and played in its off-Broadway space before going upstairs to the Beaumont Theater.

"Oslo" beat out "Sweat," ''Indecent" and "A Doll's House, Part 2."

Michael Aronov, who plays an Israeli diplomat in the play, also won a Tony for best featured actor.

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10:13 p.m.

August Wilson's "Jitney" has driven away with the Tony Award for best play revival.

The ensemble story about gypsy cab drivers trying to make an honest living during the economic depression in the 1970s was the only one of Wilson's 10 plays that hadn't previously had a Broadway production until it landed early this year.

Set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, the revival starred John Douglas Thompson, Brandon J. Dirden and Andre Holland. It was directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who starred in Wilson's "Seven Guitars" and "Gem of the Ocean" on Broadway.

"Jitney" beat out "Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes," ''Present Laughter" and "Six Degrees of Separation." ''Jitney is the only nominee no longer running

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9:45 p.m.

Rachel Bay Jones has won her first Tony Award for her work in "Dear Evan Hansen," capping a long career onstage with plenty of zigs and zags.

Jones made her Broadway debut in the ensemble of "Meet Me in St. Louis" and returned 20 years later in "Hair." Other Broadway credits include "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "Pippin." In "Dear Evan Hansen," she plays the title character's hard-working mother, Heidi, a role she created off-Broadway.

Jones has performed in Texas, Hawaii, South Florida, and on tour both nationally and abroad, encountering such challenges as learning "Rent" in German and "Evita" in Spanish. She made appearances on ABC's "The Family" and on the FX series "Louie."

She beat out Kate Baldwin, Stephanie J. Block, Jenn Colella and Mary Beth Peil for the Tony.

The show also won awards for best book, score and orchestration.

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9:38 p.m.

Laurie Metcalf has won her first Tony Award, winning best actress honors in "A Doll's House, Part 2."

Metcalf, an original member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, plays Henrik Ibsen's famous heroine, Nora Helmer, 15 years after the original play ends with her walking out on her life and a slamming a door. Lucas Hnath wrote the sequel.

Metcalf's previous Broadway roles include "Brighton Beach Memoirs," ''The Other Place," ''Misery" and "November" opposite Nathan Lane. She has earned four Tony nominations. She won three Emmy Awards for her role as Jackie Harris on "Roseanne" and her films include "Internal Affairs" and "Uncle Buck."

She beat out Cate Blanchett, Sally Field, Laura Linney and Jennifer Ehle for the Tony.

Other winners in acting categories include Kevin Kline, Cynthia Nixon, Gavin Creel and Michael Aronov.

Kevin Spacey is hosting the show at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

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9:17 p.m.

Kevin Kline has won his third Tony Award playing an egomaniacal matinee idol in the midst of personal turmoil.

Kline, who won before in "The Pirates of Penzance" and "On the Twentieth Century," is starring in "Present Laughter," Noel Coward's 1939 farce about an aging star who can't answer the door without first checking his hair in a mirror.

The character is planning a trip to Africa but is interrupted by a love-struck ingenue, a producer, his estranged wife and crazed young playwright. The title comes from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" - "Present youth hath present laughter."

Kline's films include "In & Out" and "A Fish Called Wanda."

Kline beat out Denis Arndt, Chris Cooper, Corey Hawkins and Jefferson Mays.

The show at New York's Radio City Music Hall is being hosted by Kevin Spacey.

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8:46 p.m.

Cynthia Nixon won her second Tony Award, this time for her work in Lillian Hellman's "The Little Foxes."

Nixon, who played lawyer Miranda on TV in "Sex and the City" from 1998 to 2004, has also been a steady presence on Broadway, in plays like "Wit," ''The Real Thing" and "Indiscretions." She won a Tony in 2006 for "Rabbit Hole."

Nixon and Laura Linney alternate the lead role in the Broadway revival of the 1939 work, a blistering indictment of a rapacious southern family in post-Civil War America. Nixon won the Tony for best featured actress in the play.

Nixon has won two Emmys (for "Sex and the City" and a guest spot on "Law and Order: SVU") and a Grammy for reading Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

Nixon beat out Johanna Day, Jayne Houdyshell, Condola Rashad and Michelle Wilson.

The show at New York's Radio City Music Hall is hosted by Kevin Spacey.

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8:29 p.m.

Gavin Creel has won his first Tony Award in Bette Midler's big return to Broadway, the revival of Jerry Herman's "Hello, Dolly!" Creel won the award for actor in a featured role in a musical.

Creel, who with Rory O'Malley created the advocacy group Broadway Impact to raise money and lobby to support same-sex marriage.

After his Tony-nominated roles in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 2002 and "Hair" in 2009, he spent nearly three years starring in "The Book of Mormon," both in London and on Broadway. He recently co-starred in the Broadways revival of "She Loves Me."

He beat out Mike Faist, Andrew Rannells, Lucas Steele and Brandon Uranowitz.

Kevin Spacey is hosting the show at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

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8:15 p.m.

Michael Aronov, making just his second appearance on Broadway, has won his first Tony Award.

Aronov, who plays an Israeli diplomat in "Oslo," won the trophy for best featured actor in a play. "Oslo" explores the 1993 meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, which led to the breakthrough Oslo Accords and the handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat.

Aronov has had roles on TV in "The Americans," ''Madam Secretary," ''The Good Wife" and "The Closer." He made his Broadway debut in 2012 in "Golden Boy" and also appeared off-Broadway in "Blood and Gifts." His film credits include "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

He beat out Nathan Lane, Richard Thomas, John Douglas Thompson and Danny DeVito .

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8:06 p.m.

Stephen Colbert joined host Kevin Spacey to riff on "Groundhog Day: The Musical" and other Broadway shows during the opening of the Tony Awards.

Colbert popped out of a huge groundhog head before Spacey donned a beard ala "Fiddler on the Roof," followed by a cameo for Whoopi Goldberg after she stepped out of a closet to offer hosting advice.

"Oh, if I could only be Billy Crystal. He'd know the answer to all of it," Spacey bemoaned from a bed, talking with Crystal as he appeared on a screen.

"If all else fails, put on a dress," Crystal advised.

Spacey was not the first choice as host.

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7:50 p.m.

The Tony Awards telecast hasn't yet begun but there are already four people who have the prized statuettes.

Costume designer Jane Greenwood finally won one for her work on "Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes." She has been nominated 21 times and already taken home a lifetime achievement award. On the musical side, Santo Loquasto won for his designs for the revival of "Hello, Dolly!" starring Bette Midler.

Other winners included scenic designer Nigel Hook, for creating the complex and seemingly dangerous set for "The Play That Goes Wrong" and Mimi Lien for designing the set for "Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812."

The Tonys are Sunday night.

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4:20 p.m.

Kevin Spacey danced, sung and joked his way through a three-hour rehearsal of the Tony Awards with grace and self-depreciating wit.

Those who tune in Sunday will get to see Spacey do impersonations of Bill Clinton, Jack Lemmon and Johnny Carson. His Frank Underwood from "House of Cards" makes a late appearance. He and Patti LuPone close the show with a lovely duet of "The Curtain Falls."

Spacey emerged as Tony host after several other celebrities turned the job down. He laughs at himself in the 10-minute opening song, in which he grows comfortable with hosting duties as he connects all four best new musical nominees.

He sings he's "Broadway bound" before leading a line of high-kicking dancers in a top hat, a tuxedo and a cane.

The Tonys are Sunday night.

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3:35 p.m.

Theater fans who got up early to see Tony Award rehearsals at Radio City Music Hall got to see some real-life celebrities practicing their lines. Some stars like Glenn Close, Sally Field and Lin-Manuel Miranda even got extended bursts of applause from the sleepy crowd.

While many celeb presenters didn't show up some got there at 10 a.m. Sunday for the start of rehearsals. Those who had musical numbers, like David Hyde Pierce and Josh Groban, were required to show up and be in costume. Producers used stand-ins for presenters who didn't show up.

Anna Kendrick, David Oyelowo, James Earl Jones, Tommy Tune, Sutton Foster, Scott Bakula and Mark Hamill were some of the stars on hand, some skipping makeup or designer clothes.

The Tonys are Sunday night.

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12:15 a.m.

The Tony Awards kick off with Kevin Spacey as its first-time host hoping to shake the telecast's post-"Hamilton" hangover.

The leading musical nominees on Sunday are "Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812" with 12 nominations, "Dear Evan Hansen" with nine and "Hello, Dolly!" with 10. The top play nominees are "A Doll's House, Part 2," with eight, and "Oslo" with seven. Last year, all eyes were on how many statuettes "Hamilton" would capture.

The presenters are the regular mix of Broadway and Hollywood, including Orlando Bloom, Tina Fey, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Sara Bareilles, Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Mark Hamill, Allison Janney, John Legend, David Oyelowo and Sarah Paulson. But Bette Midler won't be singing anything after talks failed to land the "Hello, Dolly!" diva.

Bette Midler presents the award for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP)

James Earl Jones, right, walks on stage to accept the special Tony award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Michael Zorn/Invision/AP)

Rachel Bay Jones arrives at the 71st annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Phoebe Cates, left, and Kevin Kline arrive at the 71st annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Cynthia Nixon poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play for "Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes" at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Gavin Creel, winner of the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical for "Hello, Dolly!" poses in the press room at the 71st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Daniel Berger shot a 4-under 66 to erase a three-shot deficit and win the St. Jude Classic for a second straight year.

The 24-year-old is the fourth back-to-back winner at St. Jude and the first since David Toms did it in 2003 and '04.

Berger played a bogey-free round on Sunday, avoiding trouble on a fast, firm course at TPC Southwind. His 17-foot birdie putt on No. 15 put him ahead for good and he finished at 10-under 270.

Daniel Berger hits from the edge of the rough on the first hole during the final round of the St. Jude Classic golf tournament Sunday, June 11, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

South African Charl Schwartzel shot a 66 and South Korean Whee Kim shot a 67 to finish in second, one shot behind Berger. Amateur Braden Thornberry and Billy Horschel were among five players two shots back.

Stewart Cink, Ben Crane and Rafa Cabrera Bello started Sunday with a one-shot lead on a crowded leaderboard that included 12 players within three shots of the lead.

Daniel Berger, center, reacts after making a putt on the first hole during the final round of the St. Jude Classic golf tournament Sunday, June 11, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Ben Crane walks between the second and third holes during the final round of the St. Jude Classic golf tournament Sunday, June 11, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

SOCAR Methanol LLC, the methanol plant of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR, intends to double the sales of methanol in the Azerbaijani market starting from 2019, Elnur Mustafayev, the companys CEO, said in an interview with Consulting and Business magazine.

He said that China, countries of the Middle East and Latin America are the main producers of methanol in the world.

He noted that the countries importing methanol purchase it for the subsequent stages of processing natural gas, with the goal of manufacturing final demand goods.

We are strategically aimed at deepening the processing of natural gas, he said.

In the foreseeable future, the volume of sales of our methanol in the Azerbaijani market will increase by many times, Mustafayev said.

He noted that increasing efficiency and productivity is another strategic objective.

That is, we should produce as much methanol as possible from 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, Mustafayev said. We plan to produce 250,000 tons of methanol this year. In the nearest future, we plan to increase production to 500,000 tons per year. The maximum capacity of the plant is 650,000-700,000 tons per year.

The methanol plant was built by AzMeCo company and is one of the largest investments in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan. The plant, which is the only one in the South Caucasus and Central Asia region, started selling products in January 2014.

The annual capacity of the methanol plant is 720,000 tons.

AzMeCo for the debts was handed over to Aqrarkredit CJSC non-bank credit institution in accordance with a decision of Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers. (Aqrarkredit CJSC manages the distressed assets of the International Bank of Azerbaijan).

SOCAR acquired the plant from Aqrarkredit CJSC.

The need to transfer AzMeCo to SOCAR arose due to AzMeCos debts to the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

The cost of the plant was estimated at $520 million.
THORNTON, Colo. (AP) - A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of a 10-year-old Colorado girl.

Kiaya Campbell was reported missing in the city of Thornton on Wednesday, and her body was found the next day about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from her father's house. Investigators said her body had signs of severe trauma.

Kiaya was last seen with the 15-year-old son of her father's girlfriend.

Police wouldn't confirm if he was the boy arrested Saturday night. The girlfriend's son had reported that he and the girl had gotten separated during a thunderstorm.

Thornton police spokesman Victor Avila says that because the boy is a juvenile, his name will not be released.

Investigators didn't release other details, including a possible motive.
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario (AP) - Ariya Jutanugarn was seated by the scorer's tent after finishing her final round Sunday, snapping selfies with In Gee Chun and thinking there was little chance they would return to the course for a playoff at the Manulife LPGA Classic.

A short time later, Jutanugarn was posing for pictures as winner of the Manulife LPGA Classic.

Lexi Thompson buckled down the stretch and missed a four-foot putt to win in regulation, forcing her to return to the 18th tee with Jutanugarn and Chun for a playoff. Jutanugarn found the rough with her drive but her approach was pin-high and she made a 25-foot birdie putt for her first victory of the season.

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand holds the winner's trophy after winning a playoff to win the Manulife LPGA Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ontario on Sunday June 11, 2017. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

"I feel great, I feel like I broke through," she said. "I feel like I waited for my first win this year for a while."

The 21-year-old from Thailand is a virtual lock to move up one position Monday and knock Lydia Ko off her perch as the world's top-ranked women's player.

Jutanugarn earned $255,000 of the $1.7-million purse for the victory. She raised her hand to her mouth in shock after hitting the winning shot.

"I knew it was a good putt," she said. "I didn't know it was going to go in."

Jutanugarn is the 13th different winner on the LPGA Tour this season. Her last victory came at the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women's Open.

A five-time winner last year, she had three birdies over a four-hole stretch around the turn at Whistle Bear Golf Club. She closed with six straight pars for a 3-under-par 69 that left her at 17-under 271.

Thompson started the day with a one-shot lead and was up by four strokes after a birdie on No. 9. Four bogeys on the back nine did her in, with the final one coming when she three-putted on No. 18 to finish the round at 72.

"I had like a five-footer, six-footer, and about a four-footer and missed them all," Thompson said of her last three holes. "If I made those I would have won, but that's golf I guess."

Chun finished the final round with a 70.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff (69) was one shot back in fourth place. Mi Hyang Lee (68) and Laura Gonzalez Escallon (67) were at 14 under.

Brooke Henderson, of nearby Smiths Falls, was the top Canadian. She finished six strokes back in a tie for 11th after a 71. Her round included an eagle, six birdies and six bogeys.

"Obviously I'm a little bit disappointed, but (tied for) 11th, I can't complain too much," Henderson said. "I feel like my game is so close to being so great."

Alena Sharp, of Hamilton, started the day three shots behind Thompson but was unable to make a run. She had a double bogey on her final hole and finished seven strokes back after a 76.

Sharp, a co-leader after two rounds, was looking for her first victory in 246 career LPGA Tour starts.

"I played better today than yesterday," she said. "Just hit one bad shot on the last (hole) and didn't make any putts, so it's kind of not sitting well at this moment."

Manulife will not return as a sponsor next season. The LPGA Tour has said it hopes to return to the area and that is searching for a new title sponsor.

Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand is congratulated by In Gee Chun of South Korea after winning the three-way playoff to win the Manulife LPGA Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ontario on Sunday June 11, 2017. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Lexi Thompson of the USA reacts after bogeying the 18th hole to force a playoff during the final round of the LPGA Manulife Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ont., on Sunday, June 11, 2017. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Lexi Thompson of the USA watches her drive on the 18th tee during the final round of the LPGA Manulife Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ont., on Sunday, June 11, 2017. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
A round-of-the-day 65 from Rafa Cabrera Bello gave him a share of the lead going into the final day of the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis.

The Spaniard, winless on the PGA Tour, sank seven birdies to join Stewart Cink and Ben Crane at the top of the leaderboard on nine under.

Cabrera Bello could have been the sole leader but for an untimely bogey on the 17th.

Rafa Cabrera Bello leads the field. (John Walton/PA)

Back-to-back chip-ins helped Rafa Cabrera Bello grab a share of the lead @FESJCMemphis.



The Upshot: https://t.co/dc4HbxM1ub pic.twitter.com/NG7BDfbdU8  PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2017

Cink went round in 69 after a tricky back nine, where he bogeyed three holes, while Crane improved his overnight position with a 68.

But it was not a great day for the three men who held the overnight lead as Chez Reavie, Sebastian Munoz and Charl Schwartzel all fell off the pace.

Colombian Munoz had the most damaging day as he shot a five-over-par 75, mainly thanks to two double bogeys on the back nine, while a triple-bogey saw Schwartzel card a 74.

Luke List and Chad Campbell are both on eight under and will make a charge for victory on Sunday.
Nicky Smith is looking to put a disappointing Six Nations campaign behind him when he faces Tonga on Friday in the first of Wales two summer tour ties.

Young loosehead prop Smith started his countrys gritty Six Nations clash with Italy in February and helped Rob Howleys men to a 33-7 victory at the Stadio Olimpico.

It was not enough to stop Rob Evans from replacing Smith in the number one shirt for the rest of the tournament, but now the Ospreys forward is looking to the future.

Nicky Smith in action. (David Davies/PA)

First day of training at Takapuna RFC  We play Tonga at the famous Eden Park this Friday in the #PasifikaChallenge double-header.  pic.twitter.com/BT1XohDVry  Welsh Rugby Union  (@WelshRugbyUnion) June 11, 2017

With Evans nursing broken fingers, Smith is favourite to start for Wales at loosehead when they meet Tonga at Aucklands Eden Park.

He said: Im really excited to extend my season. At my age you want to play as much rugby as you can because youve got that desire to impress and keep working hard.

The Tests with Tonga and Samoa are a great opportunity for me to do just that. Everyone wants to start a game when youre in the squad - thats the reality.

Going from starting the first game in Italy to being on the bench for the rest of the Six Nations was disappointing, but looking back on it, it wasnt the worst thing in the world to happen to me. I was disappointed at the time, but it was my first full Six Nations campaign and I was still involved in every game. Thats not too bad, and it has made me more hungry moving forwards.

The locals at Takapuna Beach got a pleasant surprise when the Wales squad strolled down for some recovery in the sea  ( @ILoveTakapuna) pic.twitter.com/wlWsWUBFuG  Welsh Rugby Union  (@WelshRugbyUnion) June 10, 2017

Former Wales Under-20 star Smith has 12 senior international caps, but just three starts to his name. He faces a stern test of his scrum technique in the next few weeks. After facing Tonga, Wales travel to Apia to meet Samoa a week later. Smith knows he will have to be on the money at the set-piece.

Tonga and Samoa are big boys and one thing that has really improved in Pacific Island rugby in the last few years has been the set-piece, he said.

Theyve always had strong forwards, but now their technique is very good too and it means were going to be facing sides with a very strong scrum. As front-row forwards we want to give our team a strong platform and Ive been working hard on that in training.
Ryan Burnett had expected his world-title fight with Lee Haskins to be stopped in the opening rounds because of the cuts suffered by each fighter in the second.

An accidental clash of heads opened significant wounds over both fighters right eyes - new IBF bantamweight champion Burnetts bled heavily - and his trainer Adam Booth responded by telling him he only had two more rounds to fulfil his dream.

The 25-year-old then continued the sharp and exceptional performance he had threatened from the opening bell, outclassing and outpointing the proven champion at Belfasts Odyssey Arena and potentially ending the underrated Haskins career at world level.

Ryan Burnett celebrates victory. (Brian Lawless/PA)

Well done to new champ @ryanburnett01. Credit to @LeeHaskins118 for sticking it out while injured. Many others may have quit. Respect boys   Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) June 10, 2017

Burnett is unlikely to return until October or November to allow his cut to properly heal, and he said: This was the first time Id ever experienced that, but me and Adam have gone over this situation before.

When it happened, it was as if its happened before; I knew exactly how to deal with it. Thats why I didnt pay no attention to it, even when the blood was in my eyes and I couldnt see. It didnt faze me at all.

We knew my speed would give me a bit of an advantage: that was something wed worked on in camp.

Its something special. Im in a position now where I can go on and give myself and my family a good life if I keep doing what Im doing, and at the end of the day thats what its all about.

I havent been home in two-and-a-half months. I just want to go home to my family. Were in a great position now: we can make these good fights, and its all there for me. I turned 25 two weeks ago: Ive still got so much to learn.

Booth had said: I told Ryan after the (cuts in the) second round This fights not going 12 rounds, youre both cut too badly, win every moment of the next two rounds because its going to go to a technical decision. The referee (Marcus McDonnell) did an immaculate job.

The only other blemish on Burnetts evening came when one of the three judges scored Haskins a 118-108 winner despite Haskins also suffering knockdowns in the sixth and 11th rounds.

The nasty cut above Burnett's eye that'll keep him out until towards the end of the year #HaskinsBurnett pic.twitter.com/W0YOPdHOqZ  Declan Warrington (@decwarrington) June 11, 2017

His promoter Eddie Hearn later revealed Clark Sammartino, of America, had mistaken the two fighters identities, while Booth spoke of how Burnetts win had surpassed even those he had overseen for the world heavyweight title with David Haye.

He was magnificent, because Lee Haskins is not easy to out-trick and out-box, and thats exactly what he did for 12 rounds, said the trainer, who also led Irelands Andy Lee to the WBO middleweight title.

I havent had a world champion after only 17 pro fights whos performed like that.

Everything with David Haye, at cruiserweight, heavyweight, and Andy Lee at middleweight, its all special, but theres something about what Ryan has achieved: Im pretty sure Ill never see that again with a fighter after only 16 pro fights.
The life of James Bond star Sir Roger Moore was celebrated with a 'beautiful service' on Saturday, his manager has said.

Friends and family said their goodbyes to the longest-reigning 007, who died in Switzerland last month aged 89 after a 'short but brave battle with cancer', at a private service in Monte Carlo.

Sir Roger's manager and biographer, Gareth Owen, posted a photo of the order of service on the actor's official Twitter account on Sunday.

Family and friends came together for a memorial service in Monte Carlo for Sir Roger Moore, pictured, following his death from cancer last month

Sir Roger, pictured left in 2016 and right as James Bond in Octopussy, was remembered in a 'beautiful service'

He added the message: 'Yesterday we said our goodbyes in a beautiful service and celebrated a wonderful life. (Gareth).'

Actress and friend Dame Joan Collins said the funeral was a 'beautiful and loving service for one of the great Saints, Knights and Gents of our time' in a post on Twitter.

She added: 'One last drink. Goodbye, dear @sirrogermoore'.

The private service took place at 11am at Saint Paul's Church in Monte Carlo.

The actor's three children, Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian, announced his death via a statement on social media on May 23.

Pictured: Joan Collins holds a photo of the debonair Moore during his 007 days, while the Bond actor's wife Kristina Tholstrup arrives at his funeral service

Pictured: Mourners arrive for the private funeral of former James Bond star Roger Moore in Monaco

Pictured: Mourners dressed in black and white, make their way into the funeral service

They said a private funeral would be held in Monaco in 'accordance with our father's wishes'.

Following the news, Sir Roger's predecessors and successors as Bond offered tributes, with Pierce Brosnan lauding him as 'magnificent' as he shared a photograph on Instagram of the pair together.

Sir Sean Connery said he will 'miss' the actor, with whom he enjoyed a long friendship 'filled with jokes and laughter' while Daniel Craig simply wrote 'Nobody Does It Better', in reference to the theme song of The Spy Who Loved Me.
Irish premier Enda Kenny has told Theresa May the outworking of the General Election must not put the Good Friday Agreement at risk.

The Taoiseachs intervention comes amid concerns about the impact on the peace process of any DUP/Conservative link-up.

The 1998 peace accord, which provides the template for powersharing at Stormont, commits the UK and Irish governments to demonstrate rigorous impartiality when it comes to the differing political traditions in Northern Ireland.

Enda Kenny

The Conservatives ability to adhere to such a commitment if they are wedded to a parliamentary alliance with the DUP has been questioned.

The issue is particularly relevant at the moment, as talks to save the crisis-hit powersharing institutions at Stormont are due to resume on Monday.

Mr Kenny, who will formally retire as Taoiseach in the coming days to be replaced by new Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, said he spoke with Mrs May about protecting the Good Friday Agreement.

Spoke w PM May -indicated my concern that nothing should happen to put GoodFridayAgrmt at risk & absence of nationalist voice in Westminster  Enda Kenny (@EndaKennyTD) June 11, 2017

Earlier, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said a DUP/Tory agreement would not necessarily undermine the Northern Ireland peace process.

Charlie Flanagan said he has raised the matter with Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire.

Mr Flanagan was asked about suggestions that any Conservative deal with the DUP would undermine Westminsters impartiality as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement.

Irish Foreign Minister @CharlieFlanagan says the clock is ticking on Brexit with Ireland and the EU 27 ready to begin negotiations #Peston pic.twitter.com/BF1JicqyHu  Peston (@itvpeston) June 11, 2017

He told ITVs Peston on Sunday: Well, not necessarily the case. Of course, it remains to be seen what the nature of that deal is.

But this is an issue I did address the evening before last with Secretary of State James Brokenshire.

I look forward to meeting with him again tomorrow if his appointment is reaffirmed, but yes I think its an important issue that you raise  the objectivity of both governments, and both governments working strictly in accordance with our legal responsibilities under the Belfast Agreement, the Irish government as co-guarantor, indeed the British Government as co-guarantor.

Theresa May

A No10 spokeswoman said: Prime Minister Theresa May spoke on the phone to Taoiseach Enda Kenny today. The Prime Minister explained that she is working towards a confidence and supply deal with the DUP which would provide stability and certainty for the UK going forward.

They confirmed their joint commitment to restoring a Northern Ireland Executive as soon as possible and agreed that both countries would continue to engage closely to bring about political stability in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister reiterated that the Governments approach and objectives in the forthcoming talks to re-establish the Northern Ireland Executive remained unchanged.

The two leaders spoke about their willingness to continue close cooperation as the UK embarks on leaving the European Union, with no return to a hard border.

The Prime Minister thanked Mr Kenny for helping to make UK-Ireland relations stronger than ever, wished him well for the future and said she looked forward to continuing a close relationship with his successor.
Sri Lanka may have to bring replacement batsman Dhananjaya de Silva straight into their team for the must-win Champions Trophy Group B match against Pakistan in Cardiff.

Angelo Mathews team are scrambling around for frontline batsmen after injuries to Chamara Kapugedera and Kusal Perera, while vice-captain Upul Tharanga is completing his two-match suspension.

Tharanga was sanctioned for overseeing a slow over rate in Sri Lankas opening defeat against South Africa  when Mathews himself was out, still recovering from a calf injury.

Angelo Mathews' Sri Lanka may be forced to make another change against Pakistan (Nigel French/PA)

"Theres no room for complacency in this kind of tournament. We have to be on top to beat them" - Mathews #CT17

READ:https://t.co/mJmt0bDPMl pic.twitter.com/hVlUSVeqD6  Sri Lanka Cricket  (@OfficialSLC) June 11, 2017

Kapugedera was then ruled out with a knee problem, and replaced for Sri Lankas shock victory over India by Danushka Gunathilaka, only for Perera to be forced off mid-innings at The Oval on Thursday with a hamstring injury.

Mathews men are therefore left hoping De Silva can prove a second able deputy, after Gunathilaka made 76 at the top of the order in the seven-wicket romp against India.

Perera also made a telling contribution before having to retire hurt, and Mathews said: Its a shame to lose Kusal, he batted extremely well  but Dhananjaya de Silva is also a very good player.

We had to bring him into the squad because we are left with only seven batters at the moment. He has a good chance of playing, but we still havent decided.

KJP, who suffered a hamstring injury during side's win over India, will be replaced by @Dhananjaya7575. READ: https://t.co/J9OMEsK861 #CT17  Sri Lanka Cricket  (@OfficialSLC) June 10, 2017

The prize for Mondays winners will be a semi-final spot, almost certainly against England on Wednesday at the same venue rather than facing Bangladesh at Edgbaston 24 hours later.

Either way, Mathews will be wary of mercurial Pakistan. We all know theyre a very dangerous team. Theres no room for complacency in this kind of tournament, he said.

Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan recovered from a discouraging defeat in their first match to then triumph over an out-of-sorts South Africa in Birmingham four days ago.

That was a result which added to their long-held reputation as an unpredictable team  a label batsman Mohammad Hafeez enjoys, because it keeps opponents on their toes.

Im always a fan of that tag. We are always like that, and I love it, he said.
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Iran's intelligence minister said the mastermind behind Wednesday's attacks in Tehran, which killed 17 people, had himself been killed on Saturday by security forces.

"The mastermind and main commander of terrorist attacks on the parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed today by the security forces," Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

The jihadist group Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack, by suicide bombers and gunmen. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
By Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose

PARIS, June 11 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron's fledgling party is set to trounce France's traditional main parties in a parliamentary election and secure a huge majority to push through his pro-business reforms, projections after the first round showed on Sunday.

The vote delivered a further crushing blow to the Socialist and conservative parties that had alternated in power for decades until Macron's election in May blew apart the left-right divide.

With 90 percent of voters accounted for, Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) and Modem allies had won 31.9 percent support, Interior Ministry results showed.

The conservative party The Republicans and allied centre-right Union of Democrats and Independents held 18.9 percent, the National Front 13.8 percent and the Socialists 7.45 percent.

Pollsters project Macron's alliance could win as many as three-quarters of the seats in the lower house after next week's second round of voting.

That would give France's youngest leader since Napoleon a powerful mandate to make good on campaign pledges to revive France's fortunes by cleaning up politics and easing regulations that investors say hobble the euro zone's second-biggest economy.

"France is back," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on French TV. "Next Sunday, the National Assembly will embody the new face of our republic."

Voter turnout was a record low for parliamentary elections in the post-war Fifth Republic at 48.6 percent, taking the shine off Macron's margin of victory in the first round.

Both the Socialists and the conservative Republicans urged more voters to cast their ballots in the June 18 second round, warning them against allowing too much power to be concentrated in the hands of one party.

Macron professes to be of neither right nor left. His one-year-old LREM party fielded both seasoned veterans and political novices including a former bullfighter, a fighter pilot and a former armed police commander.

"It's a renewal of the political class," said Jose Jeffrey, a Health Ministry administrator who voted LREM.

"UNPRECEDENTED SETBACK"

Projections by three pollsters of LREM's tally after the second round ranged from 390 to 445 of the assembly's 577 seats - potentially the biggest majority since president Charles De Gaulle's conservatives won more than 80 percent of seats in 1968.

Macron, a former investment banker, wants what supporters describe as as a "big bang" of economic and social reforms, including an easing of stringent labour laws and reform of an unwieldy pension system.

The pro-European leader's programme enjoys strong support among liberal, well-educated voters in France's big cities, but he is less popular in poorer areas where industry is in decline.

Sunday's projections pointed to another torrid night for the two main traditional parties, which have suffered high-profile defections to Macrons government, as well as the far-right National Front.

The Socialist Party suffered in particular. Its chief, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, confirmed he had been eliminated from his long-held Paris seat, a symbol of his party's stunning demise after five years in power. Benoit Hamon, its failed presidential candidate, was also headed for the exit door.

Cambadelis acknowledged that the first round marked an "unprecedented" setback for the party, set to win a paltry 30-40 seats, and the broader left.

"It is neither healthy nor desirable for a president who gathered only 24 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidentials and who was elected in the second round only by the rejection of the extreme right should benefit from a monopoly of national representation," Cambadelis said.

Francois Baroin, who led the campaign of the conservative Republicans, projected to win 80-100 seats, echoed the sentiment.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who led the voting in her northern constituency, called the huge abstention rate "catastrophic" and urged supporters to turn out in a week's time.

Pollsters projected her party, which is still reeling from her disappointing showing in the presidential run-off vote against Macron, will next week win just a small handful of seats - perhaps as few as one.

Among the LREM political newcomers who went through to second round were his key ministers and a retired bullfighter.

(Additional reporting by Cecile Mantouani, Antoine Boddaert in Paris, and Gabriela Baczynska and Charlotte Steenackers in Brussels; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman)
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Several international energy companies including French Total have submitted their proposals for development of Azadegan oilfield, Noureddin Shahnazizadeh, the managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, said.

Malaysian Petronas and Japanese Inpex also have submitted the result of their surveys for the fields development, Shahnazizadeh said, SHANA news agency reported.

He further said that Iran has signed non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with eight companies for development of Azadegan oilfield, of them some have submitted their proposals.

International companies including Inpex, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Petronas, Italy's Eni and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) are interested in the tender for development of the oilfield, Shahnazizadeh said.

Last month Ali Kardor, the Islamic Republics deputy oil minister, said that Iran will send invitations for 29 international companies which approved a bid in the countrys oil and gas tenders to participate in a tender for developing Azadegan oilfield.

Some 29 companies, including Frances Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Italys Eni, Lukoil and Gazprom of Russia, Danish conglomerate Maersk, Chinas CNPC and Sinopec, Austrias OMV and Schlumberger, will receive the invitations and the tender documents will be sent to the firms which express readiness to take part in the tender, he added.

Tender for development of Azadegan oilfield, shared with Iraq, will be the first tender, based on newly designed oil and gas contracts, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

Iran introduced the legal generalities of IPC in November 2015, but the new contract model hasnt been approved by the Supreme National Security Council yet.
Taimoor Raza has been sentenced to death

A Pakistani man has been sentenced to death for making a derogatory remark about the Prophet Mohammad in a Facebook post.

A counter-terrorism court has sentenced Taimoor Raza, 30, to be executed after finding him guilty of committing blasphemy online.

It is the first time anybody has been handed the death penalty for blaspheming on social media and follows a high-profile crackdown by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where insulting the Prophet Mohammad is a capital crime for which dozens are sitting on death row.

Under Pakistan's harsh laws, anyone accused of insulting God, Islam or other religious personalities can be sentenced to death.

Pakistan last year arrested 15 people, 10 Muslims and five non-Muslims, on blasphemy charges, according to a report issued by the independent rights group Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The country has never executed anyone convicted of blasphemy, but the mere accusation is enough to ignite mob violence or lynching in the deeply conservative country.

Right groups say the harsh blasphemy laws are often used to settle personal scores.

Shafiq Qureshi, public prosecutor in Bahawalpur (pictured), about 300 miles (500km) south of provincial capital Lahore, said Raza was convicted for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad, his wives and companions

Shafiq Qureshi, public prosecutor in Bahawalpur, about 300 miles (500km) south of provincial capital Lahore, said Raza was convicted for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad, his wives and companions.

'An anti terrorism court of Bahawalpur has awarded him the death sentence,' Qureshi said.

'It is the first ever death sentence in a case that involves social media.'

It is rare for a counter-terrorism court to hear blasphemy cases but Raza's trial fell under this category because his charge sheet included counter-terrorism offences linked to hate speech.

Qureshi said Raza was arrested after playing blasphemous and hate speech material on his phone at a bus stop in Bahawalpur, where a counter-terrorism officer arrested him and confiscated his phone.

The material obtained from the phone led to Raza's conviction, he added.

'The trial was conducted in Bahawapur jail in tight security,' Qureshi said.

Qureshi added that Raza belongs to the minority Shia community and in court he accused of spreading 'hate speech' against the Deobani sect, which adheres to a strict school of Sunni Islam.

A Pakistani man has been sentenced to death for making a derogatory remark about the Prophet Mohammad in a Facebook post

Relations between Shia and majority Sunni communities have flared up at times in Pakistan, with some extremist Sunni groups such as Lashkhar-e-Janghvi trying to exploit sectarian tensions.

Several other violent incidents linked to blasphemy accusations have alarmed human rights groups and activists in recent months.

Police are currently investigating over 20 students and some faculty members in connection with the killing of Mashal Khan, a student who was beaten to death on April following a dorm debate about religion - an attack that shocked the country.

Since then, parliament has discussed adding safeguards to the blasphemy laws, a move seen as groundbreaking in Pakistan where political leaders have been assassinated for even discussing changes.

As Raza's blasphemy conviction was under the counter-terrorism court, he will be able to appeal his sentence in the High Court and later in the Supreme Court.

There have been at least 67 murders over unproven allegations since 1990, according to figures from a research centre and independent records.
CAIRO, June 11 (Reuters) - Egypt will keep administrative control over two Red Sea islands it plans to transfer to Saudi Arabia, according to a government report advising parliament on the terms of the agreement.

The report is the first indication Egypt intends to maintain some control over the uninhabited islands, whose transfer to Saudi Arabia sparked fury among many Egyptians and was declared illegal by an Egyptian court.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government announced last year a maritime demarcation accord with Saudi Arabia, which has given billions of dollars of aid to Egypt, ceding control of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to the Gulf kingdom.

Parliament on Sunday began discussions about the accord ahead of a vote, whose timing has not yet been announced.

The government submitted the report to parliament to answer questions from lawmakers who had objected to the transfer, with some arguing that ceding territory amounted to treason.

"The agreement only ends (Egyptian) sovereignty and does not end the necessity of Egypt protecting this area for reasons of Egyptian and Saudi Arabian national security," the report said.

It said Egyptians would not need visas to visit and Cairo would maintain administrative control but not sovereignty over the islands, which are situated in the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and Israel.

The transfer plan sparked rare street protests last year from many Egyptians, who say their country's sovereignty over the islands dates back to a treaty in 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.

The plan was referred to the courts - irritating Riyadh and raising tensions between two major Arab states and traditional allies. (Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA, June 11 (Reuters) - A coalition led by the ruling centre-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) came first in Kosovo's snap parliamentary election on Sunday, but it will have to find a coalition partner to form a stable government, results based on a partial vote count showed.

With 70 percent of votes counted, the PDK-led coalition had 34.3 percent of votes, the opposition Vetevendosje (VV) party 26.3 percent, and a coalition led by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) 25.8 percent, the Democracy in Action non-governmental organisation said

About 1.9 million Kosovars, nearly half a million of whom live abroad, were registered to vote in the third election since Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

The state election commission put the turnout at 41.5 percent, the lowest since 2008, with many Kosovars frustrated over the lack of economic progress and a deep level of corruption. In 2010 and 2014, it was 48 and 43 percent, respectively.

The biggest surprise was the opposition Vetevendosje party, which was poised to finish second.

"Vetevendosje won these votes because they want to punish the governing parties," said Ismet Kryeziu, the head of Democracy in Action.

"It has to do with the high level of corruption and how the state is run," he said.

The new government will have to tackle unemployment running at 30 percent and improve relations with Kosovo's neighbours, especially Serbia, a precondition for both countries to move forward in the European Union accession process.

The West sees the integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union as a way to stabilise a region still recovering from wars in the 1990s.

"Voters showed they trust our coalition," Ramush Haradinaj, the PDK-led coalition's candidate for prime minister, told a news conference. Haradinaj is a member of the small Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).

"With this vote now, we are obliged to form the government, and we will do that."

EUROPE'S YOUNGEST POPULATION

Early elections were called in May when the government of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa lost a no-confidence vote, accused by the opposition of failing to meet pledges to improve the lives of the youngest population in Europe.

"Those who were in power should not come again, they are incriminated too much. They want to stay because they have created a lot of privileges for themselves," said Hasan Visoka, 62, after voting in a school in the capital, Pristina.

"Nothing will change. It doesn't matter who comes to power, we'll continue to be poor, without a future," Arta Kelmendi, 28, said after voting.

But if Haradinaj does become prime minister, it will probably complicate relations with Serbia, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges.

The new government will also have to try to strike a border demarcation deal with Montenegro, which is the last condition for the European Union to grant visa-free travel for Kosovars.

Kosovo's neighbours Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have all already secured visa-free travel to EU member states.

Kosovo's economy has been growing steadily and is forecast to expand by about 4 percent in 2017, but the growth is mainly down to remittances from a million or so Kosovars living abroad.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, nine years after NATO bombing drove out Serbian forces accused of killing and expelling Kosovo Albanian civilians as Serbia tried to put down an ethnic Albanian insurgency. Serbia still refuses to recognise Kosovo's independence. (Editing by Ivana Sekularac, Kevin Liffey and Mary Milliken)
By Crispian Balmer

ROME, June 11 (Reuters) - Italy's maverick 5-Star Movement looked set to suffer a severe setback in local elections on Sunday, failing to make the run-off vote in almost all the main cities up for grabs, early results and exit polls said.

If confirmed, the result could undermine the group's hopes of winning national elections, which must be held by May 2018, and suggest that like other anti-establishment parties across the European Union, it is losing steam.

Initial counts showed 5-Star candidates coming third or fourth in Parma, Verona, Palermo, L'Aquila, Catanzaro, Lecce and Genoa, home of the movement's founder, Beppe Grillo.

Its only hope of making the second-round vote on June 25 was in the southern Italian city of Taranto, early results indicated.

"This is a huge defeat for 5-Star," said Matteo Ricci, head of local affairs for the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD). "Not only are they not making the run-offs, but they are polling disastrous numbers."

5-Star hoped to build on last year's election successes, when it took charge of Rome. But its rule in the capital has been mired in controversy, denting its image, and its grassroots operations elsewhere have been snarled by internal feuding.

"Today shows that a year after its victory in Rome, the verdict on its ability to govern at a local level is negative," Ricci said.

The centre-right had most to cheer about, leading the field in Lecce, Verona, Padova and the northern port city of Genoa, which has been run by the left for the last 50 years.

The centre-left was ahead in L'Aquila, while its veteran candidate in the Sicilian capital Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, looked poised to be re-elected at the first round.

GRASSROOT DISPUTES

Sunday's election called on some nine million voters in more than 1,000 towns and cities, spread throughout Italy, making them a useful gauge months before the parliamentary ballot.

The political climate ahead of the vote became febrile this week after a deal on electoral reform among the main parties broke down amid bitter recriminations.

The collapse of that accord seems to have reduced the chances of a snap election in the autumn but the broad coalition backing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is fragile and analysts say an early contest still cannot be ruled out.

5-Star is running neck-and-neck with the PD in opinion polls nationally, but Sunday's vote suggested the group was struggling to impose itself at a local level.

In the northern city of Parma its first ever mayor, elected in 2012, ran as an independent after falling out with the party leadership last year. He led the field on Sunday with the official 5-Star candidate trailing a distant fourth.

Unlike other non-traditional - so-called populist - parties that have flourished across Europe since the 2008 financial crisis, 5-Star straddles ideological divides.

But Sunday's election appeared to follow a similar decline for anti-establishment groups, with the National Front in France and the anti-EU group UKIP in Britain both suffering poll failures this past week. (Additional reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Mary Milliken)
As per the annual revisions, the fares of private buses and buses attached to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) would be increased up by 6.5% from July 01, 2017, Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) President Gemunu Wijeratne said at a media briefing held in Maradana today.

He said that Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva had also expressed his consent for the fare revision.

Explaining the need of a bus fare hike, he said that despite the unchanged prices of fuel, overhead costs for service and repair, salaries of the crew, tyres and tubes and other electrical work for the maintenance had become a heavy burden on bus owners.

However, the final decision on fare increase will be taken by the National Transport Commission (NTC) which is yet to be reached.

Last year bus fare hike percentage was 6%.

Meanwhile, LPBOA President Wijeratne criticised the NTC for failing to implement the recommendations given through the National Policy on annual bus fare amendment.

He described the NTC as a paradise for route permits smugglers.

The National Transport Commission is fully corrupted. It does not serve any purpose for the betterment of the public, he charged.

It has failed to carry out the re-tendering process of route permits for buses operating on the highways. The issuance of route permits has become a racket operated by a network of corrupt officials. It is a waste of public money to pay for those who are working in the Commission. Minister de Silva should leave his post because he had failed to handle the Commission properly, Wijeratne said.

He added that they were awaiting legal action against the Commission upon complaints lodged by them at Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. (Piyumi Fonseka)
Our services include psychiatric, medical and psycho-social approaches to treating these conditions

- Dr Mahesh Rajasuriya -

Alcohol is described as an easy way out and a solution to lifes problems. While these are a few of the many reasons why it is being consumed in huge quantities, those consuming alcohol are unaware of its repercussions on the long term. Alcohol doesnt just affect your internal organs but carries many psycho-social impacts as well. In an attempt to give an insight to its drawbacks, Consultant Psychiatrist, Senior lecturer in Psychiatry at University of Colombo and Director at Centre for Combating Tobacco (CCT), Dr. Mahesh Rajasuriya emphasized on the darker side of consuming alcohol.

Alcohol does quite a lot of harm to brain cells. Its known as a Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant as it hinders the functions of the brain. People will feel sleepy and complex body movements such as driving a vehicle would be difficult

Ethyl alcohol is one type of alcohol and also is ethanol says Dr. Mahesh. Hence theres a variety of them.When one says they had some alcohol, they have literally been consuming these chemical compounds. Ethyl alcohol is harmful to all organs in the body. There are immediate as well as long term effects. Alcohol does quite a lot of harm to brain cells and this is one of its immediate effects. Therefore its known as a Central Nervous System (CNS) depressant as it hinders the functions of the brain. As a result people will feel sleepy and complex body movements such as driving a vehicle would be difficult. Those with an excess of ethyl alcohol in their body would also find it difficult to breathe.

On the long term, many organs would be affected and one of the main concerns is that it would increase risks of developing cancer mainly in the liver. Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and other conditions would also be visible in people who consume a lot of alcohol. If a person already has these conditions, chances are that there will be more complexities than before. Gastritis is another condition that will be evident in people who take drinks more often. A persons appearance will also change and hence will look rather deformed, Dr. Mahesh said.

Organs would be affected and one of the main concerns is that it would increase risks of developing cancer mainly in the liver. Diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and other conditions would also be visible in people who consume a lot of alcohol

Alcohol doesnt only affect ones internal organs but it also brings about various psycho-social impacts. One of the main implications is that the person will be trapped in a particular lifestyle, Dr. Mahesh elaborates. Therefore he or she will need alcohol when going on a trip or when at a party. In turn their lifestyles are quite monotonous and they lack variety. Their personality will also deteriorate; therefore if a person was punctual, reliable and responsible; once they get addicted to alcohol, these qualities will fade away. This could lead to many other secondary effects such as loss of a job and loss of loved ones. Due to alcohol, there will be a financial impact as well since alcohol is quite expensive. This is mainly due to branding. When a person cannot carry out his responsibilities at their workplace, then he will not earn much either.

Dr. Mahesh further said due to the consumption of alcohol, your loved ones will be greatly affected. This includes your family, children, friends and colleagues. As I mentioned before, a person consuming alcohol would have a repetitive lifestyle. As a result, your loved ones would also have a tendency to have a similar lifestyle. For example, if the father always goes on trips and consumes alcohol, then the children will also follow his footsteps. Then due to the deterioration of the personality, the family will once again be affected. Therefore this person will bring shame to the family and will not be as disciplined as he was before. Also due to the financial impact the father may not be able to fund for childrens education or buy household amenities etc. Due to alcoholism this person may fall sick and then again he will have a poor income.

Alcohol dependence is another issue that arises due to excessive consumption of alcohol. But according to Dr. Mahesh, this is not seen in the majority of those who consume alcohol. Alcohol dependence happens when one person consumes a significant amount of alcohol daily for a long period of time. One of the main features in alcohol dependency is that people develop a tolerance towards it, Dr. Mahesh elaborates. Therefore it doesnt become a CNS depressant if consumed in small amounts. The second main characteristic is that this person would develop withdrawal effects. Therefore if these people stop taking alcohol for six, 12 or 24 hours, they will develop symptoms such as insomnia and shivering. If these symptoms are not treated on time, the person will become unconscious. A person might even die in such an instance.

As a result, your loved ones would also have a tendency to have a similar lifestyle. For example, if the father always goes on trips and consumes alcohol, then the children will also follow his footsteps

The attempt to reduce the consumption of alcohol among individuals should be a collective effort. This could also be done targeting those who have developed alcohol use disorders helping them to stay away from alcohol. But according to Dr. Mahesh it would be more effective if the entire population is being taken into consideration with a view to reduce overall alcohol consumption. As a means of treatment there are various ways in which people with alcohol use disorders could be treated. These include medical and psychosocial treatments among others. As a psychiatrist working at the University Psychiatry Unit at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, I have to mention the counselling and psychiatry services at the Colombo National Hospital. Here we conduct a clinic, which addresses alcohol related issues every Thursday from 2.00pm onwards at Room No. 36 in the OPD Section of the National Hospital. We are also conducting a world-class research at this clinic and anybody who wishes to obtain treatments for those with alcohol dependence and harmful use are more than welcome to participate. This research, titled ETAT-RCT, has three treatment groups, one of which patients are randomised into.

In his concluding remarks Dr. Mahesh said through this research and clinic they provide many kinds of treatment. These include psychiatric treatment where we introduce the patient to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Family therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy and certain types of medication. After a person visits this clinic, he and she would be examined after the end of six months and 12 months. During these assessments, we check the persons behaviour, attitudes and impact of alcohol use via certain blood tests. We will keep in touch with the family members and will remind them to follow up.
Canada's Immigration Department says a murder suspect who was set free after his trial exceeded the legal length limit is expected to be sent back to Sri Lanka in the next two weeks.

Ewa Staszewicz, a lawyer for the department, is confirming steps are being taken to obtain the necessary travel documents for Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingam.

Thanabalasingam, 31, told an Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada hearing today he doesn't believe he will be in danger in his home country and no longer needs to be protected as a refugee.

He was accused of murdering his wife in 2012 but the charges were stayed in April after the length of his legal proceedings were deemed to have violated a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that set time limits for trials to be completed.

He was detained by Canada Border Services Agency upon his release and a deportation order was issued against him.

Thanabalasingam, who came to Canada as a refugee, originally appealed the deportation order but later changed his mind and asked to be sent back to Sri Lanka.(CTV News)
Ravi Karunanayakes first foreign trip as Foreign Minister, not surprisingly to India, comes at a time when much is in the balance in Sri Lankas relations with key stakeholders in the development process. Sri Lankas decisions relating to ports and their development have suddenly become a high-stakes game of balancing the interests of foreign powers engaged in a race to advance their own strategic interests in the region, on the one hand, with Sri Lankas national interest, on the other.

After having put up a tough fight to safeguard Sri Lankan interests (and control) in negotiations with China over Hambantota port and related investments, former Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, as Minister of Petroleum Resources now faces the challenge of handling another political hot potato, the Oil Tank Farm in Trincomalee, where India seeks to extend its grip with projects that will (reportedly) include A Port, Petroleum Refinery and other industries. Again he will be dealing with strategic assets where the outcome of negotiations will have far reaching consequences.

Recent developments show that the Colombo Port too has now come into the mix. It may not have been immediately evident to the casual observer, but the Indian proposedLNG Terminal / Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in Kerawalapitiya/Colombo, referred to in the MoU signed during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes trip to Delhi in April, will actually translate into India having a stake in the Colombo Port. This is because of the nature of Liquefied Natural Gas-related operations, which require special docking and storage facilities. LNG as a energy source is new in Sri Lanka, and requires infrastructure that is not available at this point.

LNG is natural gas that has been converted to liquid form for ease of storage or transport according to Wikipedia. It takes up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state, making it cost efficient to transport over long distances where pipelines do not exist. It is shipped in specially constructed vessels and once it reaches its destined market it is converted back into the gaseous state and distributed in pipelines. According to the Indian proposal, it would be used to fuel a (Indian-built) LNG-fired power plant in Kerawalapitiya, 12 km north of Colombo.

About 70% of the Colombo Ports shipping consists of Indian trans-shipment cargo. a Chinese-built facility, operated by a Chinese company, handling 70% of Indian cargo

A Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) is the vital component required while transiting and transferring Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) through the oceanic channels according to Marineinsight.com.Thus, FSRU can be termed as a special type of ship which is used for LNG transfer.

Asked if the docking of special tankers carrying LNG would require a new port on the Sri Lankan coast off Kerawalapitiya, Power and Energy Ministry Secretary Dr. Suren Batagoda said that the tankers would dock within Colombo Port. The terminal will be in the Colombo Port; the port has agreed to that he said, adding that feasibility studies had to be carried out. The project will be a joint venture with one Indian company, one Japanese company and the Ceylon Electricity Board he said.

With Indias Petronet LNG Ltd showing interest in the project, PTI reported last month that India and Japan would join hands to set up a USD 250 million LNG import terminal in Sri Lanka, the first collaboration between the two to counter Chinas growing influence in the Island nation. PTI went on to quote Petronet Managing Director and CEO Prabhat Singh in Delhi asserting (somewhat prematurely) that ...An agreement has been reached among the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Japan to set up the LNG terminal as a 50:50 joint venture by Petronet and a Japanese company.

Petronet is a joint venture with the Government of India along with other players in the Indian oil and LNG industry, including Indian Oil Corporation, whose subsidiary Lanka IOC is already in the petroleum products retail business in Sri Lanka, with an oil terminal and other facilities in Trincomalee.

In Delhi, Minister Karunanayakes remarks to journalists at the end of his two-day visit indicated that India is being encouraged to extend its stake in Colombo Port (beyond the proposed LNG project) by bidding for building the Colombo East Container Terminal as well. The East Terminal is located near the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT)  now being operated as a joint venture with China Merchant Holdings International Company on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. Also just outside the port, is the Chinese-funded Port City project which has re-commenced.

Karunanayake said Colombo would welcome Indian investment in the East Terminal of the Colombo Port, one of two new container terminals to be built...The Hindu reported. It added that Five consortiums, including two with Indian companies, Container Corporation of India and Shapoorji Pallonji Limited, were reported to have filed bids for the project in 2016.

PTI reported last month that India and Japan would join hands to set up a USD 250 million LNG import terminal in Sri Lanka

About 70% of the Colombo Ports shipping consists of Indian trans-shipment cargo. We have a Chinese-built facility, operated by a Chinese company, handling 70% of Indian cargo as Sri Lankas former Navy Chief , Adm. Jayanath Colombage observed with some irony in an interview with Times of India last month.

It is interesting that Karunanayake was quoted in the Economic Times, telling Indian journalists that while Sri Lanka ... continue to promote use of its territory and waters for commercial purposes, movement of military assets in Lankan waters is prohibited. (He was perhaps referring to SLs rejection to a Chinese request to dock a submarine during Modis Vesak visit). But are the several US warships that called on the ports of Colombo, Trincomalee and Hambantota in the last couple of years, not military assets then? Here are their visit dates and some of their features:

The Foreign Minister would surely know that in encouraging Indian and Japanese investments in strategic assets such as ports, Sri Lanka helps achieve US objectives of indirectly policing the region through its allies. This in turn relates to the US efforts to counter the rise of China. It is no longer possible to disentangle infrastructure development from geopolitics, it seems.
Exactly a month after French Presidential election, the British election results surprised and sent shock waves across the globe. Theresa Mays Conservative Party went for an election to further strengthen its power base within the House of Commons to strengthen the Brexit negotiation process. Instead, the general elections weakened the Tories and effectively led to the creation of a government that has no real majority in the British Parliament. Theresa May joined her transatlantic peer Donald Trump as the leader who leads after losing the majority vote.

The implications of the election results are vast and have an array of consequences. The ability to gain some traction and garner a positive deal from Brexit negotiations are off the table. The British government lost both the material and ideational capacity to achieve such leverage in the aftermath of the general election of May 8. EU officials may have a problem in negotiating with a British PM from a minority government. There are already fears that Ms. May will face leadership challenges and the possibility of another general election within several months. The world renowned, British scholar on strategic studies, Lawrence Freedmans Tweet, EU might just be pleased to accept the UKs humiliation and pretend none of this ever happened sums up the mood among British academics and policy makers.

Qatari crisis is the clearest representation of a world that is going into a serious spin with the gradual recession of American leadership

Further delaying Brexit negotiations with just 22 months left for Britain to leave the European Union would mean significant challenges for businesses, governments across Europe where the most feasible outcome was for Britain to go into a series of free trade agreements post-Brexit. Thus such swift outcomes seem impossible since the election which also projects a total fragmentation of how much British politics is in disarray at the moment. Thus for European leaders who were looking for some solace once Britain left the Union to craft a path of further European integration with Britain hanging in limbo will become an obstacle and a political headache.

What this means for Britain in terms of economy and security are what worries analysts. Britain witnessed a brutal spate of terror attacks running up to the election. Ms. May was subjected to severe criticism by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who highlighted that in her previous term as Home Minister she had reduced the British police force and in his manifesto he has pledged to increase the police force by 10,000 new recruits.

The coordinated attacks and the frequency of them clearly signalled a strategic move by Islamic State (ISIS) affiliates to undermine British security. Thus to have a hung parliament may not be in the best security interests of Britain. Tories opting to forge an alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which has won ten seats from Northern Ireland would force it to revisit the British government position on Northern Ireland. It will certainly make the republican Sinn Fein and related parties and groups very uneasy. Thus the last thing Britain needs is a resumption of the troubles or tensions in Northern Ireland.

While Mays debacle was the June elections, Qatars diplomatic crisis came in the month of May, and since then, seems to be shaping a new political constellation in Middle East. News outlets have been discussing about possible causes of the Saudi-led diplomatic assault on Qatar. Many analysts seem to be focusing on the security dimension of the problem as the key allegation coming from Saudi Arabia towards Qatar is that it has sponsored terror organizations and sustained groups like the Muslim Brotherhood which has drawn ire from Egypt.

Qatars evolution into the category of small state with a large geo-political and geo-economic consolidation has drawn many researchers in International relations to explore the emergence of a new set of emerging influential states using new types of power resources. From Estonia, Seychelles, Djibouti, Singapore, to Qatar; these States represent a form of soft power that at times could be converted into hard power properties. Many Washington-based think tanks that provide policy input in the USA have maintained a deafening silence on Qatar. A major reason being most DC based think tanks are heavily funded by Qatar.

Qatar has seamlessly blended with the global capital circuit; it holds massive chucks of debt of North America and Western European States. Qatar has successfully diversified its economy; it is home to some key American University campuses and has tried to maintain a neutral position when it came to dealing with regional powers, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US relies heavily on the massive American Air base at Al Udeid in Qatar. It is home to both, the American Central Command and the British Royal Air Force (RAF), providing the RAF operational capability in many parts of the region.

Qatari crisis is the clearest representation of a world that is going into a serious spin with the gradual recession of American leadership and accelerated by comments and convulsions of the current US presidency. With no real geo-political centre of gravity the ME is accelerating towards a serious power struggle among three major entities. The Sunni Saudi Arabia, semi autocratic Turkey, and Shia Iran. The most recent conflicts in the region which includes the wars in Syria and Yemen and disturbances in Iraq and Egypt in the mineral-rich Sinai province are all products of this regional power struggles fought through proxies.

Yet the attempt by Saudi Arabia to isolate Qatar is a level up from these below-surface skirmishes, if the Saudi aim was for a quick subjugation of Qatar it may not be working. Qatar with its massive dependencies of imports, especially food through Saudi land links and the limited airspace it has eclipsed by the Bahrain air space still is far from capitulating as the Saudis expect. Qatar has been getting reassurances from countries like Turkey, Pakistan, and even the German administration has clearly taken the position that undermining Qatar or engineering a regime change is not in the best interest of regional stability or at a global level.

There is a global concern about the ongoing diplomatic row as escalations of tensions would be decisive in affecting global energy prices, disrupting global trade and finance. Securitywise it is creating a more conducive environment for terror activities of all sorts to flourish. The terror attacks in Tehran, Kabul heightened terror watches across Europe, and a bloody siege in Philippines have security experts worried. Qatar with its best soft power attribute Al Jazeera has been able to muster global support on its behalf and is undermining Saudi led efforts and has warmed up even to Iran.

Terror attacks shook multiple global locations in the last two weeks, a bitter battle is taking place in the southern Philippine township of Marawi, in the Island of Mindanao, where the Philippine security forces are battling Islamic State sympathizers to break a siege since May 23. While President Rodrigo Duterte attempted to defy America, American Special Forces have begun technical assistance to Philippine military to break the siege.

While the UK election and the Qatari Quagmire may seem totally different and unconnected set of events, the increasing global shocks in such forms are of a sign of a world in a rudderless status as a previous column in this series attempted to explain. Yet it seems that more chaotic and more frequent the chaos there will be a global need to r-establish institutions, frameworks, norms to stabilize the global systems, what maybe the positive outcome of such events is that it would also set in motion attempts to order the world in a more egalitarian form.
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade, BBC reported.

A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.

The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.

Qataris have been ordered to leave some of the blockading nations, but Qatar has said it will not follow suit.A spokesman for Iran Air, Shahrokh Noushabadi, told the Agence France-Presse news agency on Sunday: "So far five planes carrying perishable food items such as fruit and vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 tonnes of cargo, while another plane will be sent today."

It is unclear whether the food is an aid delivery or a commercial transaction.

Iran Air posted a tweet of a shipment being loaded at Shiraz airport.

Mr. Noushabadi said deliveries would continue "as long as there is demand".

AFP also quoted the Tasnim news agency as reporting that three ships with 350 tonnes of food were also set to leave for Qatar.

Iran has also opened its airspace to Qatari flights, following airspace closures by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Analysts say Qatar's positive relations with Shia-led Iran - Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia's arch-rival for influence in the region - were one of the causes of the latest rift, and the latest shipments are unlikely to ease the tension.

Meanwhile Qatar said it would not retaliate after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE last week ordered all Qatari citizens to leave within 14 days.

Some 11,000 people from the three nations are believed to be in Qatar.
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iran has started wheat export to Oman, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, head of Association for Iranian Food Industries Societies, said.

The first 35,000 tons consignment of wheat loaded in ship for destination of Oman, Mortazavi said, IRNA news agency reported.

Iran can export wheat to Persian Gulf states in high volumes, he added.

Mortazavi further said that the Islamic Republics wheat export capacity for current fiscal year (started March 20) is 2 million tons.

Iran can turn into a main wheat and flour exporter by planning, he added.

Mortazavi also said that Iran is exporting flour to Iraq in big and small consignments.

Last month Iranian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ali Akbar Mehrfard said that Tehran has started exporting its surplus wheat to Europe and regional countries in flour form.



He added that over 200,000 tons of flour has been exported so far to the target markets.



Irans wheat production reached 14 million tons during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017). It was earlier announced that the country will export its surplus wheat to Iraq and Afghanistan in flour form.



Almost 7.5 million tons of wheat is used by bakery units in Iran and the countrys food industry also needs 2.5 million tons of wheat every year.



Adding the amount considered as strategic reserves to the figure, the Islamic Republic needs over 13 million tons of wheat annually.
A group of UNP ministers and MPs were at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake to welcome the Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe who returned to the country yesterday after a private visit to the USA.
It is high time now for the people of Sri Lanka to challenge the authority of the Tamil National Alliance, to act and speak on their behalf, on various matters be they political or otherwise. The International Community that includes the UN agencies, European Union, Commonwealth, UNHCR and such others too should come out openly to back the peoples demand, to stop the TNA from functioning further. During these thirteen years from 2004 the TNA was shrewd enough, in not missing a single chance, that came on their way, to strengthen themselves with the support of the International Community, which gave full support on the belief, that the TNA had been functioning in the best interest of the people.

History is a countrys record of past events, Social Political and Economic, in order of time. Likewise the history of a country is the history of its great individuals. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to see that distorted facts are not introduced into the history of the country by ambitious and greedy persons for their personal gains.

I have a sacred duty to protect the history of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) which is obviously a part of the history of the Tamil people, founded by two great individuals G.G. Ponnambalam QC and S.J.V. Chelvanayagam QC. They merged their political parties, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) also known as Federal Party, respectively, to form the Tamil United Front (TUF) on May 14, 1972 and subsequently changed it as Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) at the next convention of the TULF, at which the President of the TULF S.J.V. Chelvanayagam got elected with G.G. Ponnambalam and Sowmiyamoorthy Thondaman, the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) to share the chair of the TULF with him.

The very purpose of doing so was to prevent the revival of these two parties which both leaders wanted to remain merged forever. They had similar ideas with regard to the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) also on a future date. They left behind the TULF as their legacy for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka to look after all their interests.

To strengthen and unite all, the TULF, on the advice of some leading Tamil citizens such as V. Kailayapillai, Kandiah Neelakandan, V.R. Vadivetkarasan, Nirmalan Karthikeyan, S. Thiyagarajah and K. Jeyabalasingam, the TULF agreed to form an alliance with three other parties, all of which were involved in an armed struggle, fighting for the liberation of the Tamils and agreed to contest on the TULF ticket with its symbol Rising Sun. The alliance partners comprised of the TULF, ACTC, TELO and the EPRLF contested the General Election in 2001 at which, the alliance won 15 seats.

I have now found solace in an interesting article I could trace in one of the bundles of interesting articles collected by me during the last so many years. The article referred to is captioned Tamil Parties cannot play coy in a corner, authored by one of our most courageous and honest journalist, the late Mr. Dharmaratnam Sivaram, popularly known as Taraki, gunned down 12 years back. A local English daily carried it on February 11, 2004 with a photograph of mine super-imposed in a larger photograph of the late S.J.V. Chelvanayagam. If Taraki had not been killed at that time, several thousand innocent lives could have been saved, based on this article alone. He was the only one who had the courage to write in that tone, while several others were mercilessly condemning me and even ordained me as a traitor. There were some who even asked as to why I was being kept alive. It was Taraki, who was not my friend but only known to me, in his article who had defended me, which I take as high complements paid to me and had also exonerated me of several unjustifiable accusations levelled against me, in a confused situation at that time, for which although belated, I wish to thank him not for anything else, but mainly for his courage. I hope that everyone, especially those who had been trading on his name and got many benefits including seats in Parliament, will drop their heads down in shame. The following, is an extract of the article referred to, clears a lot of doubts, some of which are still being used by some for their personal benefits.

Even the name TNA was imposed on the quarrelsome bunch by the Tamil media, much to the chagrin of the TULF and the ACTC, which preferred to call it the Alliance of Tamil Political Parties. The dominant image of the TNA as the political paw of the Tiger is deceptive

The Tamil National Alliance has been made out to be more than what it actually is. If not for a variety of external pressures, it would have imploded at inception. Contrary to the chief myth about the TNA that it is managed by the Liberation Tigers - some of its leading politicians have had no scruples in running with the hare and hunting with the hound. They have no scruples in smartly exploiting the LTTE for their own political advantage. If you ask me, some of them wouldnt even care two hoots for the struggles and aspirations of the Tamil people. If they do, then we would have seen images of Mr. M or Mr. S or Mr. V, fasting unto death in Tellipalai last week (their names are withheld to avoid any embarrassment).

The attempt to portray TULF President Anandasangaree as the villain of the peace, is very wrong. At least the man speaks his mind. Even the name TNA was imposed on the quarrelsome bunch by the Tamil media, much to the chagrin of the TULF and the ACTC, which preferred to call it the Alliance of Tamil Political Parties. The dominant image of the TNA as the political paw of the Tiger is deceptive.

All those who read these will agree atleast now, that all that was said about the TNA, the myth that the TNA was managed by the LTTE, that the TNA as the political paw of the LTTE, and that the TNA was formed by the LTTE were not true and highly exaggerated. Some leading politicians were running with the hare and hunting with the hound and exploiting the LTTE for their own political advantage were all very true.

According to Taraki the Several interest groups in the North East, particularly the Thamilar Marumalarchchi Kalaham in Batticaloa, began a campaign for Tamil political unity as soon as dates for the December 2001 General Elections were announced, and that these lobbies felt that all Tamil parties and groups in the North East should be brought under one Tamil national umbrella regardless of their deep divisions and regardless of their long association with the military and allegations of rights abuses, clearly show that the initial moves were taken by the TULF to start an alliance was, modified by Taraki and many other organizations interested in the unity of the Tamil people.

In reference to an unidentified TULF stalwart Taraki had said When the matter was discussed with a Tamil United Liberation Front stalwart who used to persistently claim during the war years that he had close links with the LTTE, he strongly objected to the TELO and the EPRLF joining the proposed alliance. He simply dismissed the matter, claiming that the Tigers were completely opposed to the two groups contesting the elections under the Tamil national umbrella. Also, at that time this TULF politician was in the habit of saying that he was constantly in touch with the LTTEs political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham. However, it transpired later the TULF politician was lying.

Taraki had refuted the claim of the said TULF stalwart that, Karikalan, a senior Tiger leader in the East, told a delegation of the Thamilar Marumalarchchi Kalaham in Batticaloa that the LTTE had no objection at all to the TELO and the EPRLF joining the alliance but was very keen that the two groups should be brought under the Tamil National umbrella as soon as possible. He was also eager that POLTE too should join the TNA. This was at a time when PLOTE, EPRLF and TELO were officially working with the Sri Lanka army in intelligence and counter insurgency operations in the North East.

Taraki further writes about the LTTEs strategic reasons, Balasingams request regarding two organizations, how after several rounds of talks in Colombo, the alliance was about to be cemented, the ACTC decided to throw the spanner in the works, how the ACTC insisted in contesting the Jaffna district on its own and that it would be part of the alliance in the other districts, how with only a few days left for nomination the TNA looked as though it was going to fall apart and how months of hard work by many organizations was about to become nought.

Referring to the ACTC Taraki said, It wants to preserve its individual historic identity and maintain its uniqueness, stronger and also that the party may have apprehensions about being subsumed under the TULFs Rising Sun symbol. The TULF itself is the result of the Political merger between the FP and ACTC. In 1976 Tamil parties were asked to surrender their individual identities for the sake of Tamil unity. The FP gave up its long established house symbol when the rising sun was adopted by the Tamil national unity that emerged at the Vaddukoddai Conference that year. The ACTC and the FP were supposed to have been subsumed by the new political identity of the TULF.

That is why one time ACTC stalwarts like M. Sivasithamparam and Anandasangaree continued their political careers with the new political identity that they accepted with the forging of the TULF. Federal Party leaders gave up their established political identity when the TULF was launched. Today the FP exists only on paper.

It was only at the eleventh hour that ACTC was persuaded to contest under the common rising sun symbol and also that the Tamil National Alliance should contest only on the basis of its common symbol and policy is the overwhelming opinion among Tamil nationalist interest groups this time. The sentiment was strongly echoed in the unanimous decision of the Trincomalee district branch of the Tamil National Alliance on Monday. Obviously this is the wish of the LTTE too (although Kilinochchi remains mum on the matter).

A close study of Tarakis article clearly reveals how foolishly the TNA leaders had handled the ethnic issue which is the main stumbling block for the progress of the country. We had several opportunities that came on our way, all of which failed on flimsy grounds. A very rare and a good opportunity was made available to us to reach a solution in 2004. Whether we succeeded in it or not is a different matter but the question is whether we tried it honestly.

Taraki did not announce with pleasure, to all those who had worked hard to find a solution for the ethnic problem that, Kilinochchi alone kept mum. No one can deny that Kilinochchi keeping mum, ultimately brought destruction to the LTTE, thousands of innocent lives lost and many such other pathetic and tragic incidents had taken place. Tarakis ultimate plea to all is that All Tamil parties must give up their identities and get united under one banner and on one policy.

I hope those who maintained mum in Kilinochchi would at least now open their mouths and speak out.
On the occasion of the opening of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) forum in Beijing, President Xi Jinping urged countries across the globe to join hands with China in pursuit of globalisation: We have no intention to form a small group detrimental to stability. What we hope to create is a big family of harmonious co-existence.

India has some doubts about the "big family". Take the example of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an OBOR offshoot; it crosses Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), considered by India an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir.

Not only has China pushed Islamabad to make GB a fifth province of Pakistan, but according to CNN-News18, Information and interviews exclusively accessed by CNN-News18 showed that the land was procured mostly by force by Pakistani generals for the CPEC and those resisting are either killed off or incarcerated without a trial.

Wajahat Hasan, chairman of the Gilgit-Baltistan Thinkers Forum, told the same channel: Thousands had their land snatched and occupied by the military authorities and their agencies. Under this black draconian rule, nobody can raise their voices against the CPEC.

Issue

Another worrying issue: when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited China to attend the forum, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to fund and build five mega hydroelectric power (HEP) projects. The Pakistani press spoke of an Indus cascade of dams, two of them costing $27 billion (Rs 17,000 crore), being located in GB.

The Pakistani newspaper, The Express Tribune had earlier claimed that Pakistan and China would develop the North Indus River Cascade with an investment of $50 billion (Rs 32,000 crore) to generate up to 40,000 MW hydro power.

According to Pakistans Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), the Indus cascade will start from GB to reach the existing Tarbela dam downstream, not far from Islamabad.

At the MoU-signing ceremony, Nawaz Sharif affirmed: Development of the North Indus Cascade is a major focus of my government and the construction of Diamer-Basha Dam is the single most important initiative in this regard. He added, Water and food security are of paramount importance for Pakistan keeping in view the challenges posed by climate change.

A 7,100 MW HEP project will be built at Bunji on the way to Skardu, the capital of Baltistan. Though described by WAPDA as a run-of-the-river (RoR) project, it is clearly not one, as it will have a 22-km-long reservoir which will inundate 12km of the road between Gilgit and Skardu.

The next dam is the Diamer-Basha HEP with a potential of 4,500 MW. The Diamer-Basha reservoir will submerge some 104km of the Karakoram Highway and displace about 30,000 people, admits the WAPDA. It will cost $15 billion (Rs 965 crore). Both projects follow the Karakoram Highway in GB.

Joydeep Gupta, a water expert, explained in a news portal: The Diamer-Basha dam is being promoted by WAPDA as a sediment trap and therefore good for downstream hydropower projects. But the same sediment  mainly silt  rejuvenates the soil downstream every year and has been the main reason why agriculture has been sustained in the Indus valley for millennia.

But this does not bother the Pakistan politicians.

Projects

The other projects (the 4,320 MW Dasu HEP, the 2,200 MW Patan HEP, the 4,000 MW Thakot HEP using four headrace tunnels to divert waters and generate electricity) are located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A "lost" Saraswati river in the making?

It has now been scientifically proved that big dams are not sustainable for several reasons; the first one being the amount of silt retained behind the dam, which stops nourishing downstream areas. Interestingly, there is a movement in the United States to progressively decommission all large dams which "kill" the river, with many species of fishes unable to migrate upstream.

Another important factor is the strong "dam lobby" in China which smells the billion dollars; it has been active since the time of Premier Li Peng and his mega Three Gorges dam. Nepal too seems to have fallen prey to this lobby. Nepals ministry of energy recently signed an MoU with China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) for the development of a 1,200 MW Budhigandaki HEP, which will be the biggest hydro project in Nepal.

The agreement was signed at the prime ministers residence, with the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal in attendance. The dam will be built under the "engineering, procurement, construction and finance" model. It means that CGGC will help arrange soft or commercial loans from China.

Warning

Already in August 2010, warning bells have been ringing in the corridors of South Block in Delhi.

The well-informed journalist, Selig Harrison, then wrote in The New York Times that according to a variety of foreign intelligence sources, Pakistani journalists and Pakistani human rights workers, two important new developments in Gilgit-Baltistan were taking place: a simmering rebellion against Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army.

Tomorrow, tens of thousands of Chinese workers (17,000 for the Daimer-Basha HEP only) will come to GB; a decade or so later, when the work is completed, many will "buy" land from Pakistan and settle for good in the area. Further, China is bound to develop GB as a "special" tourist destination (once the basic infrastructure is in place for the dams) and ultimately hordes of Chinese tourists will pour in to visit the "last paradise on earth".

How will India react? The time has perhaps come to think about this. Does New Delhi want a China Town in Skardu or Gilgit?

One of the solutions is to renegotiate the Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan. With the latest developments, it seems completely outdated today.
Alarmed by the violent farmer protests in Madhya Pradesh, where police firing claimed five lives, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has begun to take preventive measures to avert a similar situation at home.

What is being feared is the manifestation of anger against the failure of the UP government to fulfil its commitment to waive agricultural loans of as many as 86 lakh poor farmers.

Evidently, ever since Yogi made his first promise to waive the loans, his main worry has been to muster up resources to fulfil the promise. He was, however, left high and dry when the Union government clearly expressed its inability to extend any kind of help to the state in this regard. And no sooner than Union finance minister Arun Jaitley ruled out the possibility of providing any financial assistance to enable the state government to waive the loans of the order of about Rs 36,000 crore than Yogi found himself worrying. Now the trouble in Madhya Pradesh is understood to be giving him sleepless nights.

While his finance machinery has been trying to find ways and means to raise resources so that he does not have a loss of face, Yogi found it prudent to take certain pre-emptive measures to reassure the farmers that he actually meant business. And lest they start wondering whether they are being taken for a ride, the UP chief minister has urged the nationalised banks not to press for recovery of loans.

The trouble in Madhya Pradesh is understood to be giving him sleepless nights. Photo: PTI

Two days after the violence and arson in MP, where farmers accused the Shivraj Chouhan government of not fulfilling its promises, Yogi hurriedly convened a meeting of top finance and agriculture officials in Lucknow. He has asked them to hold state-level meetings with senior bank representatives to ensure that recovery notices are not issued to the farmers until the state government passes its budget for the current financial year in which he proposes to make a provision for offsetting farmers loans upto a limit of Rs 1 lakh.

District magistrates are now being told to ensure the order is followed up and reaches the villages. We must see to it that 86 lakh marginal farmers are given loan waiver certificates soon after our Budget for 2017-18 is passed with adequate provision for the amount by the state assembly, the chief minister told the meeting that was attended by the finance minister, chief secretary, principal finance secretary and principal agriculture secretary.

Yogi has also urged the farmers to complete the "Know Your Customer" formalities essential for their respective bank accounts.

Meanwhile, the states finance experts need to enhance resources in such a way that Uttar Pradesh is able to raise the humongous sum of Rs 36,000 crore so as to pay off the banks on behalf of the farmers.

We are confident of doing it by cutting down wasteful expenditure and by plugging loopholes that are a source of pilferage, a top official of the finance department said. While much brainstorming was underway to find ways to gather the amount, there was also some serious discussion on how to execute the loan waiver scheme in a phased manner.

But we must ensure that there are no loose ends and that the banks do not harass the farmers by initiating the recovery of the loans; that will send a wrong message and leave them confused, he added.
Speculation is rife that in an apparent bid to display anger over the killing of two Chinese nationals in Pakistan, president Xi Jinping avoided a customary meeting with Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the recently-held Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is also being interpreted as a clear snub to Pakistan.

Such an interpretation or observation by Pakistan and China watchers could possibly be an exaggeration but one thing is clear: China is not at all happy with the abduction of two of its nationals who were subsequently murdered in Balochistan. Chinese anger is compounded by another incident in which two of its nationals, both engineers, died in a claymore blast on June 6 in the Windar Kinang area of Hub district in Balochistan.

It has complicated matters, raising questions about the level and quality of security accorded to the Chinese nationals by the Pakistani establishment. Meanwhile, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on the engineers, who were working on the Dudher Zinc project.

BLA's Jeehand Baloch, in the meantime, averred that BLA had earlier warned China to refrain from working in the region as Balochis suspect that China is upto malicious expansionist designs to colonise Pakistan. It's further wary that China will exploit Balochistan by looting Baloch resources. In the same vein, the mining project in Dudher was described as a farce.

Recent events raise suspicion about a possible nexus between ISIS and the Balochis opposed to the CPEC. Photo: PTI

It also reiterated its stand of calling upon China to relinquish its partnership with Pakistan at the earliest, alleging it was gradually becoming an accomplice of Pakistan in its barbaric excesses against the Balochis by abusing Balochistan soil as a "bunker post" for its nefarious designs, dubbing it a trench warfare to destabilise South and Central Asia, with Afghanistan as the worst victim. Such powerful rhetoric demonstrates the extent of hate the Baluchis nurture against China.

It's pertinent to point out that China is pursuing its highly ambitious and exploitative project of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) worth $50 billion which is causing immense problems to the inhabitants in the corridor.

However, the problems are deliberately ignored, principally due to massive monetary investments made by Beijing and also due to geo political reasons aimed at bringing Pakistan and China closer. China has put several hundred workers to work with the CPEC project connecting Gwadar port in Balochistan to Xinjiang in China. The project is causing great resentment among the Kashmiris under Pakistani repression in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

It's evident that Balochis are resentful about the project and they have been articulating their ire by being very vocal. The recent murders of the two Chinese, claimed to have been carried out by the ISIS, raises suspicion about a possible nexus between ISIS and the Balochis opposed to the CPEC.

Hence the corridor remains volatile. In this context, Xi Jinping ignoring Nawaz Sharif by not meeting him at Astana ahead of the SCO summit remains highly suspicious. It's also intriguing that the news of the murder of the Chinese was disclosed in public just before the summit ( June 8-9). Was it a move to derail the Chinese plans?

A section of the diplomatic community in Islamabad holds the opinion that the disclosure and timing were deliberate by design, and on purpose. Yet, there are attempts by Pakistan and China to play the incident down lest the international community thinks there is a chill in Pakistan-China ties.

This was evident from Chinese spokesperson Hua Chunying's words when she asserted that ties between the two countries continue to be normal and Pakistan is likely to step up security and safety of the Chinese living or working in the turbulent region.

Diplomatic parlance can not cover up ground realities. And such realities can not be swept under the carpet.

It would augur well if China learns a lesson or two from the killing of its nationals seemingly perpetrated by the ISIS. It's a clear case of an act of terror. Pursuing an ostrich-like attitude will not help as it never has.

It's now common knowledge that ISIS is collaborating with dreaded terror outfits in Pakistan including Lashkar e Jhangvi and Jamaat ul Ahrar who are also facilitating ISIS making forays into Pakistan, especially in trouble-torn Balochistan.

This development looks perilous, and should ISIS returnees find this a fertile ground to practise terror misadventures, the corridor and the adjacent areas are likely to see a more combustible future.

China, therefore, should not support Pakistani terrorists at the UN. Any reluctance might prove costly.

It's worth reminding both China and Pakistan that in the Lal Masjid siege of 2007 in Lahore, Chinese Uighurs were directly involved and upon express intervention and demand by the Chinese, Pervez Musharraf had promptly handed over those Uighurs to China.
Tehran, Iran, June 11

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Irans annual export to Qatar stood at $103 million in Irans last fiscal year (which ended March 20).

According to record sheets from Irans Customs Administration, the exported goods included 50 agricultural and industrial products, Trend correspondent reported June 11.

Notable among the exported goods were floor mats, synthetic fabrics, clinger cement, iron ore, watermelon, pistachio, and saffron.

The export amounted in weight to 1.011 million tons.

Iran increased its export to Qatar in recent days after a political rift between Doha and some Arab states, which resulted in them sanctioning Qatar.

Iran sent the first food cargo to Qatar on June 8. Iranian Homa Airlines Boeing 747 plane delivered the cargo.

Earlier, Arab media outlets reported that the foodstuff available in Qatar will suffice for four weeks.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE announced about breaking their diplomatic relations with Qatar June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East.

Later, the authorities of Libya, Yemen as well as the Maldives and Mauritius also announced about severing diplomatic relations with Qatar.
Tehran, Iran, June 11

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran is in talks with Austria to buy metro wagons, Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh announced.

He said that the project is likely to amount to worth 1 billion euros, ISNA news agency reported June 11.

Also, the minister said, Iran and Austria are going to jointly produce a high-energy efficiency car in the course of two years.

He said the Austrian side of the cooperation is ABL company, adding a line of credit for the project has been opened.

Nematzadeh made the remarks in a meeting with a visiting Austrian delegation headed by Minister of Finance Hans Jorg Schelling.

In an meeting with Shelling earlier the day, Irans Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia said the two countries plan to boost their mutual trade from $400 million to $5 billion in three years.
Tehran, Iran, June 11

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said the US Senates move to impose new sanctions on Iran is contradicts the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

We believe such legislation is contradictory to the principle of good will and successful implementation of the JCPOA, he said, IRIB news agency reported June 11.

Araqchi censured the legislation as shameful and said it shows confusion and wrong policies.

He described the U.S. Senates status in condemning Iran for supporting terrorism is farcical and shameful.

The US Senate on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to advance a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran.

A senior Senate aide said the Iran sanctions measure could come up for a vote as soon as next week. The legislation would impose new sanctions on Iran over its defense missile program, support for resistance movements and claims of human rights violations against the country.

To become law, the measure would have to pass the Republican-led House of Representatives and be signed by President Donald Trump. So far, Washington has slapped two rounds of sanctions on Iran under the new US administration in breach of a nuclear accord.
Nationals of countries that cut diplomatic ties with Qatar this week are free to remain in the Gulf state in line with existing regulations, Reuters reported.

The statement, attributed to the Ministry of Interior, said there was no change in policy toward the nationals of "brotherly and friendly countries which cut or reduced diplomatic relations following the malicious and hostile campaigns against Qatar."

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in a coordinated move on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and arch-foe Iran in the Gulf's worst diplomatic stand-off in years.

The three Gulf states severed transit links and gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their countries. Most severely, the United Arab Emirates barred Qataris from catching connecting flights through its airports.

The rift has separated families and severed commercial links, prompting concerns among foreign workers - particularly Egyptians, who make up one of the largest expatriate contingents in Qatar - about their ability to stay.
Several UK senior cabinet members expressed their support to the countrys Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and wanted him to replace Theresa May as the country's prime minister, Sputnik reported.

The newspaper specified that five ministers wanted Johnson to be become the UK prime minister.

"A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at cabinet level," the source said as quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper late on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he still could become the UK prime minister following snap general election where the Conservative party lost parliamentary majority.

On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a snap general election, which resulted in a hung parliament as the Conservatives failed to secure an overall majority in the House of Commons and fell short of the required 326 seats.

Following the election, May faced backlash over the failure of the Conservative party, with a number of politicians - including Corbyn - suggesting that she has to resign.

On Friday, May announced her plans to form the coalition between Tories and the DUP. The move faced strong criticism of the general public with 502,446 people signing the online petition against the coalition.

On Saturday, hundreds of Britons came to the residence of the prime minister on London's Downing Stree, demanding that May resign after.
Fifty years ago, Scottsville High School graduated its last class of seniors. On Saturday, about 300 alumni and their guests held a celebration of their alma mater in the former schools gym, which now serves the Boys and Girls Club of James River.

The celebration, titled Cmon Home, was planned by a committee of former Scottsville High School attendees, lead by Tommy Stargell, who graduated in the last class in 1967, and Cenie Re Sturm, who was a sophomore the year the high school closed.

Stargell said hes always been bothered by the high school closing, and his classs 50-year reunion inspired him to put together the celebration

It just really hit me and hurt me that the class under me, you always had that big-brother little-brother relationship with those people, and it always bothered me that they werent going to get to do what I got to do, he said.

Scottsville School opened in 1871 and moved to the location at the end of West Main Street in the 1920s. In 1967, the school board decided to relocate grades 10 through 12 to Albemarle High School, citing Scottsville potentially losing accreditation. The building closed to elementary and junior high students in the 1970s. In 1994, the building was converted into the Scottsville School Apartments.

At the beginning of the celebration, attendees could walk the halls to remember their student days. During the program, former teachers and staff were recognized, some in attendance and others who had since passed away.

My class, were the babies of the ones who actually graduated, were 68 years old, so it doesnt leave you that many years to do what needed to be done, in my opinion, Stargell said.

Scottsville Mayor Nancy Gill welcomed everyone to the event, and Sturm and Stargell said she was very supportive of the celebration.

She was our star, Stargell said. Everything we could ask, she helped us do.

The class of 1967 also announced they were donating a plaque to the building that reads Scottsville High School, 1871-1967.

Were doing it for the respect and the honor of the teachers, the principals, the administrators and the employees, for what they stood for, and the foundation they gave us, Larry Shifflett, president of the class of 1967, said.

Every former student in attendance got a DVD copy of all the yearbooks, the Scotty, from 1948-1967, as well as copies of Ripples, the school magazine and programs from past reunions and other memories.

Marie Combs Lane, class of 1945, said being in the building brought back so many memories.

They didnt have air conditioning and the classes all faced the railroad  this was in 44, she said. The windows would be open and the troop trains would be going down the railroad and the servicemen would have their windows open on the train and we would all lean out the windows waving at the servicemen, wondering where they were heading. Everything was so different back then.

She said that because of World War II the school didnt produce a yearbook while she was in high school.

Unfortunately, this is a sad occasion because my husband passed away three weeks ago, Lane said. I was in the class of 45 and he was in the class of 46. He had planned on coming, but he passed, and I knew he would want me to come, which is why Im here.

Former school secretary Arlene Oslin was in attendance, and said she was having a great weekend and that she appreciated all the hard work that went into planning the event.

When I worked here, it was my pleasure because I really loved all of the children and everybody, she said. Its just been a wonderful day.

Liz Wright Jones, who came from Rocky Mountain, North Carolina for the celebration, said she really enjoyed growing up in Scottsville. She graduated from Albemarle High School in 1974.

Just being from Scottsville was a treat, she said. No traffic lights, no McDonalds, no Hardees  and its still like that. It was a really special childhood, really special.

But going from a small class in Scottsville to Albemarle High School wasnt the easiest transition, she said.

We were outcasts; we were shunned for the longest time, she said. The Albemarle people were mean.

Everyone took group class photos at the event, which will be available for viewing on the Scottsville Weekly website.

When you grow up in a small town and a small school, everybody knows everybody and everybody knows everybodys family, said Sturm. Im having a blast, Ive enjoyed doing this so much.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of President James Monroes tour of the country  the first such tour by an active president since George Washington. Monroes historic home, Highland, is commemorating the tour with its 1817 Tour of the Northern States program.

More than 50 sites across the country will participate by posting Monroe was here markers and incorporating information about his visit into their educational programs.

Most of the sites are local historical societies, but a few prominent attractions are also on the list, including New York City Hall, the New Hampshire State House Visitor Center, Boston Aethenaeum, Fort McHenry in Baltimore and Gateway National Recreation Area in Staten Island.

A complete list of sites is available at highland.org.
Part two in a three-part series

Yancey Elementary Schools closure fits a national trend of shuttering rural schools with low enrollment, and adds to a list of several dozen small schools that have closed across Virginia in the last decade.

Yancey, situated in the Esmont community in the southern portion of Albemarle County, closed Friday.

The School Board voted, 5-2, in May to close the tiny school, citing its loss of accreditation and significant impending cuts to the federal funding that bolstered Yanceys after-school activities and professional development and tutoring programs.

Compounding the accreditation of funding woes, Yancey suffered sliding enrollment numbers.

At the close of the school year, Yancey housed just over 100 students, well below school division projections.

Yancey was expected to have 191 students enrolled this year, and 201 next school year. The division updated its projections in the spring, reducing next years expected enrollment to 108.

A report from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia projected that only 99 students would be enrolled in Yancey by the 2021-22 school year.

According to data provided by the Virginia Department of Education, 49 schools statewide were closed between the 2007-08 and 2015-16 school years.

There have been few school closures in Charlottesville and Albemarle County in recent decades.

One of the most recent was Greenwood Elementary School in western Albemarle County. The building closed in 1984, according to Phil Giaramita, county schools spokesman.

In Charlottesville, the last school closure was Lane High School in 1974, when students were moved to Charlottesville High School, said Jim Henderson, associate superintendent of the Charlottesville City Schools. Lane High School now serves as the main county office building.

Ed Gillespie, assistant superintendent of the city schools, said there was discussion a few years ago in the city schools of closing one elementary school due to low enrollment numbers across the division. Since then, enrollment numbers have increased and those talks have ceased.

Bob Pianta, dean of the University of Virginias Curry School of Education, said the situation Yancey faced is not atypical.

I think the circumstances [that] surrounded Yancey are not dissimilar to the kinds of circumstances that you see around the country when schools are closing, he said. Its just really hard to provide the level of services that are appropriate in very, very, very small schools, and that typically happens in more rural areas.

Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the county school division, said there are other rural schools in the county that are facing declining enrollment numbers.

We dont have a prescriptive formula that says when the enrollment gets to this absolute number, we need to act, he said. Its not that precise, but clearly when Yancey was getting down to the low hundreds it was becoming increasingly urgent that we deal with it.

Broadus Wood and Stony Point elementary schools are both expected to see enrollment decreases in the coming years, according to the Weldon Cooper report. Broadus Wood could see a drop of nearly 50 students from its current enrollment by the 2021-22 school year, while Stony Point could drop by approximately 20 students.

Both Red Hill and Scottsville elementary schools  the schools to which Yancey students have been reassigned  were both expected to have declining numbers, but will be bolstered by the influx of students from Yancey.

Slow growth and declining enrollment in portions of the rural areas of the county is not a healthy situation, Tistadt said.

What that suggests should be done, Im not the person to say it, whether that is for the county to reexamine its development policies, for us to reexamine our boundaries, I dont know, he said. But there are some real challenges this community is facing in that regard over the coming decades.

I think wed be well advised for the people to start thinking about that very carefully going forward as they think about their long-term planning, he said.
RICHMOND  The three Democrats vying to succeed Ralph S. Northam as lieutenant governor head into Tuesdays primary following a largely respectful campaign in which they made appearances together and varied little on policy.

But the style and personality of the three  Justin Fairfax, Susan Platt and Gene Rossi  is as diverse as the candidates.

Fairfax would be the states first black lieutenant governor since L. Douglas Wilder held the post from 1986 to 1990. Platt would be the first woman in the role. Rossi doesnt come from a political background but, inspired by Barack Obama and his own health problems, decided to give it a shot after a long career as a federal prosecutor.

Fairfax nearly won the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2013. Mark Herring edged him for the nomination and then won the general election and is seeking re-election this year.

In Virginia, a lieutenant governor holds a part-time job presiding over the state Senate and breaks tie votes on most issues. But in a way, the vote for lieutenant governor can be seen as a party nominating a gubernatorial hopeful in waiting.

Fairfax, 38, spent two years in the U.S. Attorneys Office in Virginias Eastern District and now is a litigator at a Northern Virginia law firm. He leads Platt and Rossi in fundraising, raising more than $1 million. His biggest endorsements came from U.S. Reps. A. Donald McEachin, D-4th, and Gerald E. Connolly, D-11th, and state Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax.

A quote from Fairfax on his website summarizes his platform: Our top priority must be creating higher-paying jobs and economic security and opportunity. Working together, well expand access to capital for small businesses, restructure student loan debt to lower the burden on families, reform our juvenile justice system, expand access to health care, and defend our constitutional rights.

Platt, 62, a veteran Democratic operative, served as a chief of staff to then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and ran the 1994 re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, in which he Republican challenger Oliver North.

Platt was moved to run by the election of President Donald Trump. Her campaign received support from comedian and author Rosie ODonnell and locally from Mary Sue Terry, who was first elected attorney general in 1985 and remains the only woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.

With less money and a smaller staff headed by national Democratic consultants, Platt has used Twitter to take jabs at Trump, who she calls the bully-in-chief, and state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel  one of three Republicans running for lieutenant governor  who she calls transvaginal Jill because of ultrasound legislation Vogel sponsored in 2012.

Platt supports the removal of every Confederate monument in Virginia. She has called on the Congress to impeach Trump.

Just within the past few hours, the bully-in-chief doubled down on his unconstitutional plan to ban an entire religion, she said in a news release. He obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, profited from foreign governments, and even gave state secrets to foreign leaders. Its worse than Watergate, and weve seen enough.

Platt is vocal in opposing two controversial proposed natural gas pipelines in Virginia and embarked on a pipeline resistance tour. None of the three have taken money from Dominion Energy, which has been a lightning rod in Virginia politics in recent years over its influence with politicians.

Platt had a controversy on Friday. Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the Virginia ACLU, posted on Facebook that a Platt mailer using a picture of the two of them implied an endorsement  and Gastanaga wasnt endorsing anyone. She said Platt used the photo out of context in the campaign mailer.

Seth Bringman, a Platt campaign spokesman, said in an email the campaign apologized for the mistake.

Rossi, 60, like Fairfax, worked in the U.S. Attorneys Office but his career spanned nearly three decades and included high-level cases. He handled more than 110 federal trials.

Treating drug addiction and improving health care are among his priorities. As a prosecutor, Rossi handled the case of a doctor who was accused of prescription pill trafficking.

He decided to run for lieutenant governor in 2013 while hospitalized in Baltimore with amyloidosis, a rare disease. He had a 50 percent chance to live, and if he recovered, he decided, hed run. While in the hospital he was inspired by the inaugural address of President Barack Obama.

My daughter and I have something in common: we are both cancer survivors, Rossi says on his campaign website. Quite simply, were it not for my federal health insurance plan, we would not be alive. President Trumps and Speaker Ryans true health care objective is crystal clear: Repeal and destroy. We must do whatever it takes to stop them.
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 11

Trend:

Mass marches will be held in Turkey on the anniversary of the military coup attempt in the country, Turkish media outlets reported.

The marches will take place in all major Turkish cities.

It is expected that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials of the country will take part in the marches.

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.
Turkey's defense minister said Sunday over 10,000 terrorists have been neutralized in security operations since July 2015, Anadolu reported.

"This is a major success," the Minister of Defense Fikri Ishik addressed military personnel during the visit of border posts along the Syrian border.

He said Turkey had been struggling with different terror groups for 35 years, adding: "We are experiencing the most successful period."

"Now the terrorist organization [PKK] has become unable to act," Isik said.

"We will completely disband this terrorist organization and we will take all the necessary precautions to prevent further threats to the country," he added.

More than 1,200 people, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK resumed its armed terrorist campaign in July 2015.
Uber confirmed Alexander had left the company but declined to discuss the matter further.

San Francisco: Uber Technologies Inc's board will discuss Chief Executive Travis Kalanick temporarily stepping away from the embattled ride-hailing firm and consider sweeping changes to the company's management practices at a meeting on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The source said it is not clear that the board will make any decision to change Kalanicks role. The board is expected to adopt a number of internal policy and management changes recommended by outside attorneys hired to investigate sexual harassment and the firm's broader culture. The outside lawyers made no recommendation about Kalanick.

The meeting, which Uber has not publicized, could be a pivotal moment for the world's most valuable venture-backed private company, which has upended the tightly regulated taxi industry in many countries but has run into legal trouble with a rough-and-tumble approach to local regulations and the way it handles employees and drivers.

At the Sunday meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter, the seven voting members of Uber's board, including Kalanick, are expected to vote on recommendations made by the law firm of former US Attorney General Eric Holder, which conducted a review of the company's policies and culture.

The review was launched in February after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and the lack of a suitable response by senior managers. Fowler now works for digital payments company Stripe.

Uber's board will likely tell employees and the public of its decisions by Tuesday, one of the sources said.

An Uber spokesman had no comment. Neither Kalanick nor Holder's law firm, Covington & Burling, immediately responded to requests for comment late Saturday.

Kalanick has developed a reputation as an abrasive leader, and his approach has rubbed off on his company. The 40-year-old executive was captured on video in February berating an Uber driver.

Uber board member Arianna Huffington said in March that Kalanick needed to change his leadership style from that of a "scrappy entrepreneur" to be more like a "leader of a major global company." The board has been looking for a chief operating officer to help Kalanick run the company since March.

The report was prepared by Holder and partner Tammy Albarran at Covington & Burling. It comes shortly after another law firm, Perkins Coie, submitted a separate report on sexual harassment and other employee concerns at the company.

On Tuesday, Uber responded to that report's findings by saying it had fired 20 employees for a variety of reasons, and was increasing training and adopting new policies. Uber said that report considered 215 cases encompassing sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying and other employee complaints.

More oversight on CEO?

San Francisco-based Uber is valued at nearly $70 billion but has yet to turn a profit.

Some of the recommendations in Holder's firm's report would force greater controls on spending, human resources and other areas where executives led by Kalanick have had a surprising amount of autonomy for a company with more than 12,000 employees, one person familiar with the matter said. Uber's more than 1.5 million drivers worldwide are classified as independent contractors rather than employees.

Less clear is the fate of Kalanick, who with close allies has voting control of the company.

The person briefed on the matter said the board will discuss Kalanick taking time off from the company. The discussion involved the possibility that Kalanick might return in a role with less authority, this person said, either in a position other than CEO or as CEO with narrower responsibilities and subject to stronger oversight.

Kalanick is also facing a personal trauma: his mother died last month in a boating accident, in which his father was also badly injured.

Holders interviews

Employees and former employees interviewed by Holder's team complained about sexual and racial bias, bullying and retaliation, according to people familiar with their accounts.

They said that Kalanick and his lieutenants had favorites who played by different rules than other employees, and that even those favorites were nervous that they could fall from grace, which they sometimes did. Uber declined comment on that characterization.

One of the issues that came to Holders team's attention, according to two people familiar with the matter, was the companys handling of a crisis in India after one of its drivers was arrested for raping a customer.

Though the man was convicted in 2015, Kalanick and other executives became convinced that the crime was a set up by a local competitor, former employees said. Eric Alexander, the head of Asian business, shared medical records internally that he argued showed that the woman had been assaulted but not raped, people who spoke to him said. Alexander was fired this week; he did not return messages seeking comment. Uber confirmed Alexander had left the company but declined to discuss the matter further.
Mumbai: Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee has been conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Legion d'Honneur.

I am happy and it is a great honour. I got the letter from the French Embassy yesterday and they said they will be coming over here to give me the award. I communicated to them that we will decide on a mutually convenient date, Chatterjee told PTI.

The 82-year-old veteran actor, who is getting the honour 30 years after legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray had received the same, said, No comparisons can be drawn between me and Manikda (as Ray is fondly called by his followers). He is a titan and I am nowhere near him.

But yes it makes me happy that I am also getting the same honour which was given to Manikda, he added.

The actor first worked with Ray in Apur Sansar in 1959, the third part of the Apu trilogy.

He had also worked in Ray's Abhijan (1962), Charulata (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (1969), Ashani Sanket (1973), Sonar Kella (1974), Joi Baba Felunath (1978), Ghare Baire (1984) and Ganashatru (1989).

Congratulating the legend, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, From 'Apur Sansar' to Legion d Honour. The legendary Shri Soumitra Chattopadhyay, hallmark of Indian and Bengali cinema. A tribute and honour to the great actor of Bengali cinema by France. This makes us very proud. Congratulations. (sic).

Others from the Bengali film fraternity also congratulated Chatterjee.

Prosenjit Chatterjee tweeted, Kaku you are a true inspiration...Pronam for #Legion d'Honneur..second person from our industry after Ray to b honoured..Respect. (sic).

Director Atanu Ghosh, who directed Chatterjee in several films in the past, posted Privileged that we got to live and work with him. Hearty congratulations to the living legend on being bestowed with the Legion d'Honneur.

Members of Ray family expressed delight over the news.

We got the news yesterday. And it is a matter of pride that he is getting the honour 30 years after father," they said.

Chatterjee has previously been conferred with the Commandeur de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's highest award for artistes and is the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award which is India's highest award in cinema.
Watches are not rocket science. Or are they? Watches are not rocket...

Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well, thats a shame, because with some watches, youll need one to understand how to tell the time. Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well,...
Mumbai: Jennifer Lawrence has walked away sans any injury after her private plane suffered engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in New York.

According to a report by E! Online, the flight was coming from the 26-year-old actress' hometown Louisville, Kentucky.

One of its engines failed at 31,000 feet. In the middle of the resulting emergency landing, the other engine also failed. Despite operating without the engines, the pilots managed to land the plane safely in Buffalo, New York.

Multiple emergency vehicles greeted the plane upon landing, the outlet reported.

On the work front, Lawrence has been shooting Fox spy thriller 'Red Sparrow,' which reteams her with 'Hunger Games' director Francis Lawrence.
Mumbai: Leonardo DiCaprio, a dedicated environmental activist, has joined hands with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to protect marine ecosystems in the upper Gulf of California.

Pena Nieto signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oscar-winning actor's foundation to save the rare species of porpoise from imminent extinction, reported Los Angeles Times.

"Now more than ever, the world is looking for bold leadership at every level to tackle climate change and environmental conservation issues," DiCaprio said.

"I am honoured to work with President Pena Nieto, who has been a leader in ecosystem conservation, to ensure the future viability of marine life in the Gulf. This action is a critical step towards ensuring that the Gulf of California continues to be both vibrant and productive, especially for species like the critically endangered Vaquita, he added.

The MoU also sets out specific objectives to eliminate illegal fishing.
It is going to be a peaceful creative protest , bringing to the fore the importance of this lung space through various arts, said Ms Harini Raghavan, one of the core members of Knights for Queens, a citizen forum fighting to save it.

Bengaluru: Not so long ago Bengalureans formed a human chain to protest the steel flyover that was threatening more of their green cover and forced the government to drop it.

And now the citys artists, poets, writers , theatre personalities and even fashion gurus are coming together to orchestrate a unique protest against the axing of more trees, some of which are over a 100 years old, in the grounds of the Queens Veterinary Hospital to make way for a modern veterinary facility and the relocation of Sarvodaya, central Bengalurus only Animal Birth Control centre.

Celebrate, Create, Cry, as the Sunday protest is being called, will see popular artist, Bakula Nayak, express her protest through art, theatre personality, Deepti Sudhindra recite a poem on the cause and founder of childrens publishing house, Timbaktoo Publishing, Aparna Raman, mentor children writing letters to the trees.

Prominent fashion stylist and choreographer, Prasad Bidapa too plans to pitch in with his team of 15 top models doing a small photo shoot and ramp walk showcasing the different shades of green through eco-friendly garments in support of the cause. "The concept of this show is to highlight the fact that if we dont save trees, we may be left with only one green, the colour in garments, he explained.

It is going to be a peaceful creative protest , bringing to the fore the importance of this lung space through various arts, said Ms Harini Raghavan, one of the core members of Knights for Queens, a citizen forum fighting to save it.

We are trying to rope in as many prominent names as possible. Some old Bengalureans will come and speak about how much the city has changed and we will highlight the rich heritage of the Queens building and the 120- year- old trees in its campus. There will also be peaceful demonstrations in front of the hospital, she revealed, adding,

This day can be seen in two ways, depending on the fate of Queens. It could be us paying homage to the trees marked to be chopped down or it could be us celebrating their wonderful existence.

Meanwhile, things are getting worse for Sarvodaya, which has been forced to shut down services after its power supply was cut off abruptly on the orders of the Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department on Monday.

One of the ill dogs died while undergoing operation. The doctors tried to save him but there was no proper light and one cannot carry out treatment in candlelight, said Vinay Moray of Sarvodaya Sevabhavi Samstha, which runs the ABC centre.

We have stopped operations for six days now but the animal husbandry department just wont budge, he rued.

The centre is one of the only two functional ABC centres in the city that sterilise and vaccinates about 40 stray dogs every day.
Hyderabad: The Survey of India may start its mission to re-measure Mt. Everest in September, believed to be the most conducive time to scale the highest mountain on the planet.

According to Dr. Swarna Subba Rao, Surveyor General of India, the mission will be over in a months time. Climatic conditions to scale the highest peak are favourable in May, and then September-October. Since Mt. Everest is in Nepals territory, we proposed a joint scientific exercise along with Survey department of Nepal. We have written to the Nepal government and are awaiting for concurrence from them, he said.

Doubts have been raised that Mt. Everest -- 8,848 metres tall as measured by Indian surveyors in 1955 -- had shrunk following the deadly earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015. Mr. Rao explained that Survey of India wants to ascertain the claims being made.

Survey of India is celebrating the 250th year of its formation in 2017 and hence wants to take this up as a worthy task for the year. Asked what impact a delayed response from Nepal could have on the mission, since it has already been a few months since the proposal was sent to Kathmandu, Mr. Rao said there was still enough time on hand.

Survey of India is all geared up for this expedition and ready to embark as soon as Nepal gives its consent. Three members each from the Survey departments of India and Nepal will form the core team and they will be assisted by 20 Sherpas, he said.

The mountains height will be calculated using GPS receivers. Prior to the expedition, the team members will go through a three-week rigorous training on how to go about the task, he added.

Mr Rao, who is based at the Survey of India headquarters in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, told reporters that once the climbers team returns from its mission, data would be tabulated by experts and the new height of the worlds tallest peak would be announced by the Indian government.

Height of Curiosity
In the midst of the Israel-Palestine conflict, a heart warming photo has emerged of a Jewish nurse breastfeeding a Palestinian baby after his parents were in a deadly car accident.

Baby Yaman Abu Ramila's father had been killed in the crash and his mother was in critical condition at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Israel, reveals a report by Ynet News. Jewish nurse, Ula Ostrowski-Zak had attempted for hours to give the nine-month-old milk from a bottle, but he refused. The child's aunts requested the nurse if she could arrange someone to nurse him.

Ula, a mother of three, didn't think twice about what she was about to do and decided to breastfeed the infant herself. "I watched him settle comfortably in my arms," the nurse said in a press release by the hospital. Adding it felt natural and the baby feel off to sleep peacefully. Ula said the child had gone through a traumatic incident and nursing him felt no different from doing it for her own children.

Ula also revealed his aunts were surprised that a Jewish woman would agree to nurse a Palestinian baby and were extremely grateful. She fed little Yaman five times during her shift .

The babys aunts worried about what would happen after her shift ended. But, the nurse took care of that too. She posted on the La Leche League, a Facebook group for nursing mothers requesting if someone could take over when she wasn't there. The reactions were astonishing. Hundreds of people responded within just a few hours and were volunteering from far off if needed.

Ulas story is a true act of kindness that can only help restore one's faith in humanity.
New Delhi: An alleged aide of gangster Chhota Shakeel, arrested in Delhi on Friday, reportedly wanted to become a top gangster like underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted. 21-year-old Junaid Chaudhary was allegedly planning to kill Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah; he was arrested late on Wednesday night from Wazirabad in northeast Delhi.

According to police sources, Junaid thought that assassinating Mr Fatah would land him in Delhi's Tihar Jail where he could then kill Chhota Rajan - once Dawood Ibrahim's right-hand and now his arch rival - who is lodged there.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) PS Kushwah said Chaudhary was planning to target the writer, known for his controversial remarks criticising hardliners and strongly opposing terrorism. Chaudhary was enraged with Fatah's remarks and wanted to kill him, Mr Kushwah said.

"Mr Fatah was not in Delhi, Chaudhary was here to carry out a recce," he said.

Sources claimed that Chaudhary has said that he won't be deterred by the arrest and will continue with his mission after his release.

Chaudhary is the son of a milkman from Bhagirathi Vihar in Gokalpuri area in northeast Delhi.

Police say Chaudhary had allegedly received Rs. 1.5 lakh as the first installment from unknown sources and had arranged for weapons from western Uttar Pradesh to kill Chhota Rajan. He had also hired some men to carry out his plan. The police recovered a pistol and four live cartridges from him.

He was arrested in June last year along with Roger Robinson, Yunus and Manish with arms and hawala money sent by Shakeel, but was released on bail within four months. They had been planning to kill Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Chakrapani and Chhota Rajan at that time.
Farmers throwing vegetables on a road during a protest as part of the Maharashtra bandh over various demands in Nagpur, Maharashtra on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: The farmers agitation in Maharashtra turned violent on Monday with confrontations flaring up between cultivators and the police.

In one such incident, a milk tanker was set afire on the Nashik-Ahmednagar border. Also, activists and the authorities clashed in Kolhapur and protesters burned tires at various sites during protests.

Furthermore, various agricultural produce market committees downed their shutters on Monday and big dairies like Gokul, Krishna, Sonai and Rajhans in Ahmednagar failed to collect milk.

Also, 27 milk tankers travelling from Kolhapur to Mumbai had to be provided with Z security owing to the stir.

The bandh, which was called by farmers organisations, has received with a warm response in the northern and western parts of the state and certain areas in the Marathwada region.

Reacting to the state of affairs, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said, The government is ready to talk to farmers, but we wont hold discussions with political leaders.

Farmer groups have been on strike from June 1 over various demands, including a complete loan waiver. In a bid to intensify their protest, the farmers called for the organisation of a Maharashtra bandh on Monday, and received an overwhelming response across the state.
Mumbai: Maharashtra government, on Sunday, announced complete loan waiver to farmers and said that a committee will be formed to decide criteria to waive off loans.

Soon after the government announced loan waiver, farmers in Maharashtra decided to call off their planned protest starting on June 12.

"Govt promised loan waiver and fulfillment of other demands. If they fail, we will again agitate from July 25, farmer leader Raju Shetti told ANI.

According to a Times of India report, farmers in Maharashtra have been protesting for the last 11 days demanding free electricity, a complete waiver of farm loans, grants for irrigation, appropriate remunerative prices for produce, pension for farmers above the age of 60 years and implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee.

Last week, Chief Minster Devendra Fadnavis had said that the state will waive the loans of small farmers by Oct 31 which left the protesting farmers disappointed.

"CM had announced loan waiver for small and marginal farmers, today govt has accepted it based on certain criteria," Maharashtra Revenue minister C Patil said.

Scores of farmers have been agitating for farm loan waivers for the past few days which had turned violent in many places.
Lucknow: Asserting that maintaining law and order, and effective implementation of welfare schemes are among the top priorities of his government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday asked officials to work dedicatedly in realising these goals.

Directing police officials to act strictly against criminals, he told them to act promptly against those giving shelter to anti-social elements and take stern action against policemen conniving with them.

"The government is committed to providing sensitive, transparent and corruption-free administration to the people of the state and officials need to work dedicatedly in this direction," Adityanath said.

Attending a meeting to review the law-and-order situation and the development schemes of Lucknow division, he said, "Since Lucknow is the capital, work culture here should be developed in such a manner that it becomes the norm for other districts."

Batting for better avenues of dialogue between officials and peoples' representatives, Adityanath said the latter need not interfere in the functioning of the former but, at the same time, officials respect the elected representatives.

The chief ministers said patrolling on foot will help in curbing crime against women, dacoity, loot and murders to some extent.

He also directed police officials to invoke the Goonda Act, the Gangster Act and the National Security Act against mafias and criminals, besides confiscating properties acquired illegally.

All actions should be transparent and unbiased. Merely lodging an FIR is not sufficient and prompt action should be taken, the chief minister said.

"Those responsible for the incidents in Sitapur, Jewar and Mathura will definitely be taken to task," he said.
Baba Ramdev said that India should destroy all terrorists camps operating from PoK. (Photo: PTI)

Motihari: Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday said that India should immediately reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as it was the root cause of all the problems from Pakistan.

"All the problems emanating from Pakistan is because of PoK and hence India should immediately reclaim PoK," he said.

He said India should destroy all terrorists camps operating from PoK.

The Yoga guru was talking to reporters on the third and concluding day of a three-day yoga-cum-meditation camp organised by his Patanjali group as part of Champaran Satyagrah centenary celebrations at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Motihari.

Holding terrorists like Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim responsible for bloodshed at the India-Pakistan border, Ramdev said that these they should be handed over to India, dead or alive.

He, however, praised the people of Pakistan saying that they were good and peace-loving people except some bad elements who believe in bloodshed.

Replying to a query on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, Ramdev said that Indian army personnel too had their human rights.

In a reply to another question, he said that Patanjali Yogpeeth would set up a unit in Bihar to process products like jaggery, honey and litchi among others this year.

Besides, Ramdev said that Patanjali would also start work on 'cow research and promotion centre' in Bihar in the near future.

Ramdev praised the Nitish Kumar government's decision to implement prohibition in the state and said that 'yoga education' be included in government and private schools in the state.

Inclusion of yoga as part of education would help better the future of students, he said while making it clear that "Yoga is not a political agenda at all."
Sources said parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal himself will head the debate on the Egyptian-Saudi deal

The Egyptian parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee will begin discussing a maritime border demarcation deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The deal, which places the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi hands, was signed during Saudi King Salman bin Abdel-Aziz's visit to Cairo in April 2016.

The head of the committee Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa told reporters that the discussion of the deal will begin on Sunday and continue through Monday and Tuesday.

"The committee's discussions will proceed according to a fixed timetable and experts on maritime agreements will be invited to give their views so that we can reach a final and correct decision," said Abu Shoqa.

Abu Shoqa said "what is important is that the discussions of the deal, when they do take place, are open and transparent so the public can follow them."

He insisted that "it is also essential that everything is done in conformity with Egypt's 2014 constitution."

Mostafa Bakri, a member of the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told Ahram Online that the committee is now well-prepared to begin its review of the controversial agreement.

"We cannot wait for long without parliament opening this deal for discussion," said Bakri, adding that "the agreement was signed one year-and-a-half ago, and now is the right time for it to be discussed, before it is too late."

Bakri said that "professors of history, geography and international law will be invited to address the committee on all pertinent aspects of the deal, and committee members will take all points of view into account before reaching a judgment."

"I also told parliament speaker and head of the committee that the meetings should be aired live on television, or at least be freely covered by the media," said Bakri.

Bakri said that parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal will head the committee's preliminary debate on the deal.

Bakri says that the discussion of the deal comes after relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia have largely improved in recent weeks.

"Since the old points of disagreement between the two countries  especially on the civil war in Syria - have no longer become an issue, the two countries have now joined in one united front against terrorism," said Bakri.

Bakri said that good Egyptian-Saudi relations do not mean that MPs will rubber stamp the deal.

"All will depend on the debate and what experts will say on this issue," said Bakri.

The deal has faced a number of legal challenges since it was announced in April 2016.

In January, the High Administrative Court ruled that the deal was null and void.

In April, however, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruled that administrative courts had no jurisdiction over border deals.

On Thursday, parliament's 25-30 bloc said in a statement that "it is very bad that parliament chose to open discussion on the Egyptian-Saudi deal at this crucial time."

"Parliament should first respect court rulings, observe the principle of separation of powers, and uphold the rule of law," the bloc said, insisting that "the whole matter should first be referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) so that it can decide whether administrative courts have jurisdiction over these kinds of border deals."

The statement added that "if the SCC confirms that administrative courts have no jurisdiction, then we will accept that parliament begins discussing the deal. However, if the SCC rules that administrative courts have complete jurisdiction on this issue, then parliament should respect the ruling and stop discussion at once."

The 25-30 bloc also advised that a referendum should be held if parliament decides that Egypt cede the two islands.

"This goes in line with the constitution," said the bloc.

The group stressed that "all MPs should be keen to attend all meetings on the Egyptian Saudi deal."

"We should be available at all times and always keen to discuss all aspects of the agreement out of respect for our voters who lent us their trust," said the bloc.

The bloc added that all procedures should be in line with the constitution, with the final vote to be aired on live TV.

"The government should be ready to submit all documents on this deal, and parliament should invite all kinds of experts without discriminating between opponents and proponents of the deal."

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Mandsaur: Police have claimed that Kanhaiya Lal Patidar, one of the five farmers shot dead in the district, was booked for drug trafficking four times and was absconding in one case.

SP Manoj Singh told reporters on Saturday that Patidar had been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) several times.

According to Town Inspector Vinod Kushwaha, Patidar (38) was booked for drug trafficking four times between 2001 and 2011.

In the first three cases, registered under different police stations, he was granted bail, while he was absconding following the fourth FIR at Neemuch Cantt police station.

The first FIR was registered against him at Narayangarh police station in 1994 when he was caught allegedly trafficking opium.

In 2001, he was nabbed with smack worth Rs 4.5 crore and an FIR was registered against him at Mandsaur police station.

In 2011, two cases were registered in YD Nagar and Neemuch Cantt police stations when he was allegedly caught in possession of 11 quintal and 22 quintal poppy husk respectively.

He was absconding since then, police said.
Bhopal: As Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continues his fast for the second consecutive day, farmers on Sunday expressed hope for a 'pro-farmer' decision while lauding the former for his selfless effort to pacify the situation in violence-hit Mandsaur.

"We are thankful to the Chief Minister for what he is doing this for us. This violent protest will turn into peace talk with his effort. We are hopeful that we will get justice. We haven't seen any chief minister keeping a fast for poor farmers. This will surely benefit farmers as well as the Chief Minister," said a farmer.

Asserting that the Chief Minister would take decision in the interest of farmers, another farmer said that they haven't seen any chief minister making so much effort for them.

"We just want fair price for our produce. He is the chief minister who is taking so much effort just for farmers. Earlier also, he solved many issues. We are confident that the decision will be taken in the interest of farmers," the farmer said.

Earlier in the day, Chouhan said that despite falling asleep "intermittently", the farmers and their issues made a constant thorough in his dreams and thoughts and hence, vowed to solve the pertinent matters.

"I slept intermittently and all that while I kept thinking about what all topics - out of the ones we discussed with the farmers - can be worked upon as soon as possible," he said, adding, "kisaan khwaabon mein bhi thhe, haqeeqat mein bhi." (The farmers and their issues were in my thoughts and dreams.)

"I have always tried doing a lot for farmers, and their problem is ours. They are our own. I also thought upon how to increase the productivity and sustain it," he added.

Chouhan also entailed how the families of the deceased met him and asked him to discontinue the fast.

"One thing that made me emotional was the number of our children that we lost in these protests. Their parents came to meet me yesterday and despite such grief befalling upon them, asked me to put an end to the issue," he said.

Commenting about the amenities provided to him in the tent he has made a stay in for the fasting period, he said, "I was told that this was a five-star tent. They even asked me to put an AC, but I said that wasn't required. You don't go on a fast for the farmers by living in AC. We made a meeting room, because I had to meet officials and farmers."

On Saturday, the families of the four farmers, who were killed in the police firing in Mandsaur, met Chouhan and requested him to call off his fast.

"We requested the Chief Minister to call off his hunger strike. We don't think that he is doing any drama. He is genuinely concerned about us. We also asked for stern action against the culprits," said a deceased farmer's father.

The Chief Minister assured that justice would be done and the culprits would be punished.

Chouhan had asserted that he would not let the state engulf in violence and would ensure that peace returns.

"I discussed many problems and their solution. There are some issues which have already been addressed and there are some on which we have to take a decision. We are considering every issue seriously whether it is small or big. We will think about it and discuss it and thereafter, we will definitely take a decision in the interest of farmers," Chouhan said.

"My fast will continue till there is peace in the entire state. Madhya Pradesh is a temple to me and its people are my God. People's pain is my pain," he added.

Claiming that the majority of the population in Madhya Pradesh was dependent on farming, Chouhan said that the state cannot progress without farmers.

Chouhan's move comes in the wake of unrest in the state following farmers staging a protest demanding better prices for their produce as also a waiver on loan repayments.
Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday said that no Indian violation at the LoC should go without a befitting reply.

General Bajwa visited the troops deployed along the LoC where they assured him that no Indian misadventure shall go without a befitting response, said a military statement..

The Army chief was given detailed briefing about the ongoing operations, the Indian ceasefire violations and the Pakistani soldiers' response, the statement said.

He praised the Kashmiris fighting the Indian occupation and oppression for their right to self-determination.

The Army chief reiterated Pakistans resolve to support the Kashmiris in their struggle.
New Delhi: Sarvesh Mehtani from Panchkula in Haryana secured All India Rank - I in the IIT- Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2017 exam.

Mehtani secured the All India Rank of 1 in the JEE (Advanced), which is held for admission to all the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian School of Mines (ISM) in Jharkhand's Dhanbad.

IIT JEE Advanced 2017 results were declared on the official website of the engineering entrance exam jeeadv.ac.in. on Sunday at 10.00 a.m.

At least 1.7 lakh candidates had registered and appeared in the exams which were held on May 21.

Candidates, who cleared the JEE (Main) or the first phase of the two-phase exams, were eligible to sit for the JEE (Advanced).

Debaditya Pramanik from Kolkata emerged as the topper in the eastern region with an All India Rank of 38.

Suraj Yadav from Haryana's Mahendragarh is the All India 5th rank holder. Rachit Bansal of Chandigarh has secured 9th AIR in JEE Advanced.

On the basis of JEE (Advanced), IITs offer admission into undergraduate courses leading to a Bachelor's, Integrated Master's or Bachelor-Master Dual Degree in Engineering, Sciences, Architecture, or Pharmaceutics.
The injured fishermen had been admitted to various hospitals here and the condition of two of them was stated to be serious, police said. (Representational Image)

Kochi: Three Indian fishermen were killed and 11 others injured when a Panama registered cargo ship hit their fishing boat early on Sunday off Kochi coast, police said.

The ship "Amber" which left the scene after the incident has been detained along with its crew after a massive search by the Navy and Coast Guard, Inspector General of Police (Ernakulam Range) P Vijayan told PTI.

The injured fishermen had been admitted to various hospitals here and the condition of two of them was stated to be serious, police said.

Another occupant of the boat was missing and a search operation was on to rescue him.

The boat carrying 14 fishermen was hit by the ship at around 2 AM around 20 nautical miles off Kochi coast.

The 11 injured were rescued by fishermen in another boat, police said.

This is the second fatal incident involving a foreign ship in the sea off Kerala coast.

Earlier in February 2012, two fishermen were shot dead allegedly by Italian marines on-board an oil tanker Enrica Lexie.
Hyderabad: The Miyapur land scam gets murkier by the day. The suspension of Ibrahimpatnam in-charge sub-registrar Saleha Qadeer for registering 50 acres of government land in Hafeezpur on the citys outskirts, took a new twist with the names of family members of Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP K. Keshava Rao surfacing. Sources in the revenue department rubbished Mr Rao's claims.

Who will set up a solar power plant on the citys outskirts where land is worth crores of rupees per acre? In Hafeezpur, the current market rate is Rs 4 crore per acre. The 50-acre site is worth Rs 200 crore. Even the government rate is nearly Rs 50 lakh per acre, which amounts to Rs 25 crore. The site is suitable for real estate ventures. Prominent real estate firms have started construction of huge residential complexes near this site, the sources said.
New Delhi: India is now hoping that the Chinese snub to Pakistan at Astana, Kazakhstan, will lead to a re-think by Beijing on blocking UN sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar. This comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly snubbed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by not having a bilateral meeting with him after two Chinese nationals including a woman were abducted and killed by extremists in Pakistans restive Balochistan province.

New Delhi is now of the view that Beijing could now do a rethink on its dogged opposition to proposed UN sanctions against the chief of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar in view of the outcry in China after its two nations were mercilessly killed, sources said, adding that Pakistan has failed to act against all terrorists in its country while selectively aiding some.

It was China which had single-handedly ensured the entry of its iron brother Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). With New Delhi attaching enormous significance to Chinas snub to Pakistan, the reading in Government circles now is that the killing of the two Chinese nationals is ominous, coinciding as it did with Islamabads SCO entry at the just-concluded SCO meet in Astana.

After consistently blocking Indian moves for UN sanctions against Masood Azhar, Beijing, in February this year, had even blocked a move by the new Trump Administration in the US for UN sanctions on Azhar. But the killing of Chinese nationals has now come as a rude shock to Beijing. China is undertaking massive investment on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a land route going right down to Gwadar port in Balochistan. This Chinese exercise has meant that Chinese nationals are now living and working in Balochistan, which is witnessing insurgency and extremism. This has also brought home to Beijing the dangers of Chinese nationals working on the CPEC.

In addition, even state-run Chinese companies have been vocal about their concerns on the threat faced by their employees who are working on the CPEC.
Kochi: Two fishermen were killed and another went missing when a Panama-registered merchant vessel hit a fishing boat in the Arabian Sea, off Kochi coast in the wee hours of Sun-day.

The deceased were identified as Antony John alias Thambi Durai, 55, a native of Kolachal in Tamil Nadu and Rahul Das, 24, a native of Assam. The person missing is Motti Das, 26, of Assam.

Police said the vessel, Amber L which was proceeding at top speed rammed into the boat Carmel Matha after 2 am. The boat belongs to Nazar and Ernest of Fort Kochi. There were 14 fishermen in the boat including 12 Tamil Nadu natives and two Assam natives when the accident took place. The boat had left Fort Kochi for sea on June 9.

The fishermen said that after the collision the boat overturned and was split into two and sunk in the sea. The fishermen who were sleeping in the boat after fishing, woke up under the impact of the collision and were thrown off into the depths of the sea and most of them surfaced to cling to the broken wooden planks of the boat.

They alleged that the cargo vessel fled the scene, ignoring their pleas to rescue them. The fishermen who were able to survive the accident were Ernest, 35, Davis, 34, Merlyn, 26, Antony, 26, Nelson, 27, Pratheesh, 28, Andrew, 42, Britto, 24, Armstrong, 22, and Kurishu Michael, 45, from Vaniyakudi and Alto, 24, from Keezhmitalam in Kanyakumari.

They were rescued by the fishermen in the fishing boat St Antonys who heard their screams. We had to weather the sea in the waters for over two hours before those fishermen reached us, said Davis. The rescued fishermen are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Kochi.

The enforcement agencies including Coastal Police, Coast Guard and Navy zeroed in on the vessel after they were alerted by the rescuing fishermen. The ship had 28 crew members on board including its captain, a Greek national. Preliminary inferences suggested that it was heading to China from Israel.

The Coastal Police in Fort Kochi has registrered cases against the ships crew under IPC Sections 280 (rash navigation of vessel), 427 (mischief causing damage) , 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304 (causing death by negligence).

Coastal ADGP Tomin Thachankary also arrived at Fort Kochi to oversee the investigation. One of the focus of the investigation will be to find out the exact location of the collision and how it happened. The movement of the ship has been restricted, said a senior police official.
Puducherry: A team of University Grants Commission (UGC) would visit Pondicherry Central University from Monday for five days to probe complaints of financial, administrative and academic irregularities. UGC has recently ordered an audit of 10 central universities, including the Pondicherry Central University, at the behest of the HRD Ministry to enquire the alleged irregularities.

Pondicherry University will be inspected by a panel with IIT-Madras professor Shripad Karmalkar, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University VC Kailash Sodani, Guwahati University professor Mazhar Asif and Professor Sankarshan Basu of IIM Bangalore as members. The committee will be examining the results or marks secured by students, quality of research activities and corresponding outputs, placement trends and records frequency of review of courses, the introduction of new courses, relevance of current campus research among others, to submit the report.

The university administration maintained that the committee is assigned to assess the growth of the University and future plan for the next three years. The committee will be examining the existing facilities, visit departments, interact with different stakeholders and then submit a report to UGC for the financial support. An expert committee will also visit Pondicherry University campus at Karaikal, an official press release from the university said.

The UGC has cut its funding by Rs 2 crore for 2016-17 for not following the rules and regulations in appointments, promotions, fixing pay scales and other academic and administrative matters.

A major section of the academicians is of the opinion that positions like vice-chancellor, registrar, controller of examination, finance officer, 3 statutory posts of directors and deans for the last 2 years have led to the decline of academic standards.

From this prestigious University that receives huge funds, only 337 students got a placement through campus interviews in 2015-16 and 253 students were selected for higher studies. There are about 4,000 students pursuing postgraduate, postgraduate integrated and PhD programmes in the university. The university failed to introduce any innovative teaching methodologies and the project cell is almost defunct. All these will come in front of the committee, said a senior faculty member of the University.

Pondicherry University has planned to project for additional funds to the tune of 147 crores of rupees to sustain the present facilities and also for future plans. The university would submit a detailed report to the expert committee to highlight the need for more financial support to start these new courses and other facilities for overall development of the institution, said the official release.
Chennai: Water shortage looms large in Greater Chennai. Though the Chennai metro water claims to supply around 550 mld of drinking water to Chennai through various sources like desalination plants, borewells and quarries, piped water supply to parts of central and north Chennai has completely stopped since Friday. Cutting across party lines elected MLAs of both AIADMK and DMK told DC that they were unable to visit the constituency and answer the public on acute shortage of water.

Every morning I get at least five calls from public complaining that their locality is not supplied drinking water. Till mid May the situation was manageable but now it seems there is no supply of water to the sumps and this has created problems even in non congested areas, rued an AIADMK MLA wishing not to be quoted. Local administration minister S. P. Velumani claims that the state is attending the Chennai water scarcity and the authorities claim that they supply close to 600 mld water but I doubt the water supply claim as complaints are pouring in, the MLA added.

Metro officials say that they are attending the short supply, but the issue is not addressed and I agree that it is a really a bad situation for the metro water authorities also" said Egmore MLA K. S. Ravichandran.

We are hoping for the metro water to resume the water supply through pipelines at the earliest as water tankers reach public only once in three days. However all the complaints related to water shortage are forwarded to the metro water seeking action, the Thiru Vika Nagar constituency legislator Thayagam Kavi said. When contacted a senior metro water official said as of now metro water is providing water every alternate day through pipelines. Water tankers are supplying close to 7,000 trips a day.

"We have to hope for a good southwest monsoon. Veeranam should be filled to provide better water supply and water from Krishna river is another source the state is waiting for" the top official added.

According to Saidapet MLA Ma Subramanian metro water is positive in attending complaints but the state has failed to store adequate water and is not prepared to handle drought. "Drinking water shortage issue is looming across Chennai and the steps taken by the local administration ministry is not satisfactory", added the former mayor.

Min: Making all-out efforts to tackle water shortage

Local administration minister S.P. Velumani on Saturday visited the Sikkarayapuram quarry sites near Mangadu in Kancheepuram district where the water from the quarry is drawn to cater to the drinking needs of greater Chennai.

Addressing the media, Velumani said the state was undergoing the worst drought in 140 years. The Rs 13.63 crore project started last month has four kilometre long pipelines and has started yielding results.

Quarries will be used to collect rainwater and if required the water will be tapped in future also, the minister said adding that the state was taking all efforts to fight the drinking water shortage.

Rainwater collected in the quarry sites have been tested for drinking purpose by the King Institute, Guindy and Centre for Environmental Studies and Geological Department, Anna University.

Chennai Metro Water and Sewerage Board Managing Director V. Arun Roy said quarries contain a total of 3,000 million litres of water out of which 30 million litres per day will be pumped for treatment and supply and the process will carry on for 100 days.

The quarries were identified after a hydrographic survey on the rocks to measure the depth and bottom configuration of water bodies. He added that pipelines where laid for the interim period and if there is a need a channel will be drawn to connect the Chembarambakkam lake and other such quarries are also under study to tap water resources, he added.
On Sunday, parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee begins discussing the controversial deal ahead of a possible vote in parliament

An Egyptian association led by several authors of the nation's 2014 constitution has called upon parliament to "reconsider" its decision to debate and vote on the planned transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, citing legal and constitutional objections.

In a statement on Sunday, the Egyptian Association to Protect the Constitution said that the island-transfer deal is unconstitutional without a referendum and that parliament should at least wait for a final legal ruling before proceeding with a vote.

In April 2016, the Egyptian government signed a border-demarcation deal with Saudi Arabia, according to which the strategic islands of Tiran and Sanafir were placed under to Saudi control. The Egyptian government claimed that the islands had always been Saudi territory, despite Egyptian guardianship.

However, the move sparked vocal opposition in Egypt and has been the subject of ongoing legal battles, with courts issuing conflicting rulings amid disputes over which court has jurisdiction in the case.

On Sunday, parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee is set to discuss the agreement and decide whether to put it up for a general vote in parliament.

In its Sunday statement, the association said that the 2014 constitution stipulates the need for a referendum on peace agreements, coalitions, and matters of sovereignty, and that parliament should only ratify such deals after their approval by way of a referendum has been announced in parliament.

The current constitution contains conclusive texts that guarantee the unity of Egyptian territory, the statement read.

It cited an article in the constitution that states: In all cases, no treaty may be concluded... which results in ceding any part of state territories."

The association also said that no further decisions should be made on the deal without legal clarification.

"At the very minimum, the association calls for postponing [parliamentary] discussion on the deal until the Supreme Constitutional Court rules on the legal dispute.

The rejection of the islands-transfer deal is necessary to maintain the social fabric at a time that we need to join ranks to combat terrorism and overcome the economic crisis, said the association.

Legal dispute

The association also commented on the ongoing legal dispute over the islands deal, including the disagreement over which court has jurisdiction.

It said that, according to Article 190 of the constitution, the State Council has the exclusive jurisdiction to settle administrative disputes and disputes relevant to the execution of all its rulings.

However, the association said that this article was breached in April when the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters issued a ruling on the matter, overturning a January ruling from the High Administrative Court, which said the deal was null and void.

The court for urgent matters had ruled that aministrative courts have no jurisdiction over border deals, and are therefore not in a position to declare them null and void.

In November 2016, the government filed a case with the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), arguing that the High Administrative Court had no jurisdiction in matters related to sovereignty and that any verdicts it might issue should be anulled.

The SCC has not yet announce whether it will hear the case.

The Egyptian Association to Protect the Constitution was launched in March 2016 by a number of prominent Egyptian political and societal figures to create a constitutional culture in the country. The head of the institutions board is former head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.

Other members of the organization include former head of the journalists syndicate Yehia Qalash, political analyst Amr El-Shobaky, university professor Hoda El-Sada, prominent heart surgeon Magdy Yacoub, and novelist Bahaa Taher.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sangh Parivar outfits have begun to virtually own hartal as a way of protest in the state; of the 63 hartals that were enforced this year, the call for 25 of them was given by them. It seems fitting, too, because the noun hartal originated in Modi-land, in Gujarat. The CPM, despite being the ruling party, has given the call for 11 hartals. The UDF had made eight hartal calls. A number of regional outfits too had made calls. On June 9, the state witnessed a violent tango of sorts when both the BJP and the CPM declared hartal in Kozhikode on the same day after vandalising each others offices. The shutdown spilled over to the next day in Kozhikode after BMS, the labour wing of RSS, called for a hartal on Saturday alleging CPM violence.

There has been a spike in the number but the character of hartals have undergone a change this year. There was just a single statewide hartal this year, the one called by the opposition UDF on April 5 to protest against the police handling of Mahija, Jishnu Prannoys mother. The remaining 62 were local affairs. Even deaths of party workers, which even a year ago would have triggered a statewide hartal, provoked just district- or panchayat-level response. The altered design of a hartal has bamboozled the activists of Say NO to Harthal, which is mostly a city-based campaign. When we began the campaign in 2010, there were 10-12 statewide hartal calls. But over the years the calls dwindled to two or three. But this year, surprising us, the call to hartals were limited to local areas, said advocate Raju P Nair, a member of SNTH campaign. The campaign will now have to spread its activities locally.

The financial impact, too, has suddenly become vague. Three years before, in a written reply to the Assembly, the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that a day of hartal cost the state Rs 900 crore by way of lost productivity. No official assessment of a regional 'hartal' has yet been made. The estimated financial loss will perhaps be felt, but only at a later date. But the impact of a shutdown will be tough and immediate on the unorganised sector. A flash call for hartal, like the one called by the BJP on June 8 in Thiruvananthapuram district, would mean hundreds of self-employed men and women would lose their days investment. They would have borrowed money at high rates of interest to stock vegetables or fish or other perishable items for the next day. With no one to buy their goods, these poor people would end up with unsold goods and a higher debt burden, said Sonia George of Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA).

The seriously ill who have a prior appointment in a government hospital, too, would be worse off. What if the date they have been given for an MRI scan happens to be the date a political party has called for a hartal? They will have no choice but to get an appointment some two months later, Mr Raju said. If it was thought that hartals could not be wished away, SNTHs Raju seems to have zeroed in on a magic wand. A modern transportation system like Metro Rail could perhaps dampen the politicians hunger for hartal. These systems, which cannot be physically blocked, might perhaps embolden the public to come out into the city in large numbers defeating the hartal call, he said.
New Delhi: Opposition parties on Saturday hit out at BJP national president Amit Shah for his comments on Mahatma Gandhi.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also attacked the BJP chief over his comments. He should withdraw his comment and apologise for it. Gandhiji is the father of the nation and he is an icon of the world. No one should think that he can say anything only because he is in power, she said.

While the Left parties also took on the BJP chief, CPM politburo member Prakash Karat said that the comments of Mr Shah revealed the true opinion of the BJP about Gandhi.

Mr Surjewala said, Amit Shah, who himself is a trader of power, is today saying that the freedom movement was a business model.

Opposition parties plan to take up the issue in the upcoming Monsoon session of parliament by grouping all opposition members against the treasury benches.
New Delhi: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday withdrew his controversial statement made on Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and tendered an apology for the same.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said, "I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologize for it and withdraw my statement."

Dikshit had earlier in the day stirred a controversy when he asserted that the General Rawat shouldn't make statements like a 'sadak ka gunda' (a road-side goon).

He said, "It feels our Army chief speaks like a roadside thug. While this is expected from Pakistan who are like the mafia, why does our own chief make such pronouncements?"

Dikshit's comment drew flak from all the quarters.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter and expressed his angst.

"What's wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!!," tweeted Rijiju.

General Rawat had earlier said that the Indian Army is well prepared to face external as well as internal threats of the country.

"Indian Army is fully ready for a two and a half front war", General Rawat had said.
Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palanisamy on Saturday alleged that DMK working president MK Stalin had made attempts to bring down the AIADMK government but could not succeed.

He also claimed that the DMK had done nothing for the people of Tamil Nadu when it was part of the previous BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

"It (DMK) is changing colours like a chameleon and becoming opportunist. As his (Stalin's) attempts to bring down the government failed, he is now terming the government as benami of the BJP," he told reporters here tonight.

"AIADMK (Amma) is providing good governance and it has not given room to the Opposition to criticise or question it," Palanisamy said.

Informing the reporters that steps would be taken to solve woes of farmers in the state, the Chief Minister said efforts would be taken to get GST rate lowered to protect traders.

On factionalism in the ruling party, Palanisamy said, "We will discuss it among ourselves and solve it."

To a query on setting up of AIIMS in Tamil Nadu, he assured that it would be done as announced by former chief minister Jayalalithaa.

Similarly, work on the Avanashi-Athikadavu project would also soon start and adequate funds would be released for it. An additional Rs 300 crore would be allocated for 'Kudimaramathu' projects, he said.

'Kudimaramathu' is a practice where people contribute a percentage of their capital or physical labour in managing water resources and this has been in vogue for a long time ago.

The Chief Minister condemned the deportation of MDMK leader Vaiko from Malaysia and said his party's MPs would raise the issue in Parliament.
Chennai: The overhead tank is very clean in Delhi, Union information and broadcasting minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, said in his own inimitable style summing up the performance of the BJP-led government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The black money issue, which surfaced during the previous UPA regime, has been effectively curbed now, he added.

Many people had stashed their black money in foreign banks and after the BJP captured power, the generation of black money was effectively curbed.

If Lok Sabha elections are conducted today, Prime Minister Modi will surely come to power with majority. Our biggest achievement during the three-year rule is that there are no corruptions or scams, he said.

Compared to the scams and corruption witnessed during the previous Congress regime, the overhead tank is very clean in Delhi, Mr Venkaiah told reporters after inaugurating a seven-day exhibition as part of Modi-fest to mark the third anniversary of the Narendra Modi government. As a result of the good governance and clean administration, India is recognised and respected at the international level.

The entire world is focusing on India. World economy is slowing down. The US' growth rate is 3 per cent. In India, it is around seven plus per cent, he said. The Minister claimed that as per a survey, Mr Modi will again be elected as Prime Minister (if elections were to be held). That is the mood of the nation, he added.

They are not worried about freedom of press but are against Modi: Those who protested against CBI raids on the promoters of NDTV were in reality not concerned about freedom of the press, Mr Naidu said. They protested due to their opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. What were these people doing then, those who were shouting yesterday? What happened to them when the Congress was in power?....Why this propaganda against our government? Because they are not able to digest Modi....Modi is the most democratic Prime Minister of this country; most dynamic, he asserted.

CBI had said that the inquiry started in 2011-12, the minister who also holds the urban development, housing and urban poverty alleviation portfolios, said.

He said CBI did not enter the NDTV office. There were some questions about some diversion from promoters. They should respond to that, he said.
On June 3 2017, the Prime Minister during his recent visit to Paris described protection of environment as an article of faith for Indians, and a centuries-old tradition. He has reiterated Indias commitment to the Paris Agreement even after the US pull-out, which is a good sign for India.

India ratified the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on October 2 2016 and has submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC for the period 20212030. Specifically, India has indicated its intention to:

Reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level,

Achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance, including from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and

Create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

The Government of India (GOI) has launched the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), comprising eight missions in specific areas of solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, habitat, water, sustaining Himalayan ecosystems, forestry, agriculture and strategic knowledge for climate change to achieve climate goals. Further, 32 states/Union Territories have prepared State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) to focus on state-specific issues.

Currently, the GOI aims to achieve the pre-2020 voluntary pledge of reducing the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 per cent over 2005 levels by 2020. As per the Indias first Biennial Update Report 2015, the emissions intensity of Indian GDP has reduced by 12 per cent between 2005 and 2010, though its per capita emission of 1.9 t (CO2 equivalent) of Greenhouse Gases in 2015 was only one-fourth of that of China (7.7 t of CO2 equivalent) in 2015. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emission Gap Report 2015 has recognised India as one of the countries on track to achieve the voluntary pre-2020 pledge.

The GCF was set up under the UNFCCC as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention. India is eligible to access the GCF if needed, but no specific assistance has been received by India till 2016 for implementing the NDCs.

However, India has already made time-bound action plans and is making good-faith efforts to achieve its NDCs irrespective of any assistance from the US (or other countries). The most important of these efforts which is to increase the proportion of non-fossil fuel based electricity, is well underway, thanks to the steep fall in the Solar Photovoltaic Module (PV) module prices over the last three years. As a result, Indias power sector (which contributes about 50 per cent of total CO2 emissions in India) is well-positioned to reduce specific emissions of CO2 by 28.7 per cent well before 2030. This is planned to be achieved not only by increasing the installed capacity of non-fossil fuel-based energy from the FY 17 level of 31.7 per cent to the projected level of 56 per cent by 2027, but also by increasing the efficiency of coal-fired power plants by inter alia implementing its ongoing drive to enhance the utilisation of super-critical technology. If these action plans fructify (along with initiatives to curb emissions in the transport sector), by 2030, India has the potential to reduce its emissions intensity by about 50 per cent below 2005 levels, thereby exceeding its NDC target.

The UNFCCC clearly lays down that the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) should guide climate actions. Therefore, India has argued that developed countries (including the US) should take the lead in mitigation actions and provision of means of implementation in terms of finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity building support to developing countries. These principles have also been embedded in the Paris Agreement, wherein the developed countries have committed to mobilise US $100 billion per year with the intention to enhance it beyond US $100 billion per year by 2025.

The transformation of Indias power sector (the largest single source of CO2 emissions in India) requires an investment of at least `6 trillion simply to enhance the generation capacity of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) from the March 2017 level of 57 GW to 175 GW by 2022. This is in addition to the investment required to connect the incremental RES to the National Grid, which can continue to be supported by Indias National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), which is funded through a carbon tax of `400 per ton of coal used. This huge sum of `6 trillion required over the next five years will certainly require access to low-cost international funding, which India is trying to tie up from Germany, Japan, and other like-minded countries who wish to support Indias journey towards a greener economy

Since most large American companies with long-term business interest in India are supporting the growth of green energy even after President Trump decided to abandon US commitments to the Paris Agreement, the US withdrawal from the agreement will have only a negligible impact on the bilateral mechanisms on clean energy. In any case, the US government must follow the procedures laid down in the Paris Agreement even to withdraw from the same and this process itself may take a few years, by when India may already be well-positioned on a transition path to a greener economy.

Dr R. Srikanth is the professor and head of Energy and Environment Policy Programme in the National Institute of Advanced Studies on the Indian Institute of Science Campus in Bengaluru.
US-based consumer products maker Polaroid on Friday forayed into LED TVs and monitors segment in the Indian market.

The company has tied-up with Indian manufacturing company Powerful Technologies Pvt Ltd, an authorised Polaroid licensee, to assemble and manufacture LED TVs and monitors in their Noida factory, Polaroid said in a statement.

Initially six models have been launched - three Polaroid LED TV models and three monitor models. The products are currently available on e-commerce platform Amazon.

It will be available on other online retailers, besides distribution and retail channels.

The LED TVs are priced at between Rs. 7,999 and Rs. 13,999, while the LED monitors are priced at Rs. 3,499-Rs. 4,599.

"India is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide, and we are confident that local partnerships are the right way to tap into this growing market and further introduce the Polaroid brand to India," Polaroid President and CEO Scott W Hardy said.

Powerful Technologies is the Polaroid licensee for LED TVs and monitors in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Powerful Technologies Managing Director Aditya Gupta said: "With our strong online and offline sales channels and excellent after sales service we are confident Polaroid will be a huge success in India".

Polaroid is currently present in India in the segments such a cameras, sunglasses, mobile printer and headphones.

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Fake accounts are not permitted under Facebook, and in recent months the company has launched several initiatives against fake news.

The Philippines army said on Friday it had called on Facebook to shut down dozens of accounts that Islamist militants have been using to spread misinformation about their attack on a southern town and to coordinate their battle with security forces.

The military's social media-monitoring team identified 63 accounts under fake names that it believed were being used by the Islamic State-allied Maute group and its sympathisers.

"They are spreading lies, they are spreading misinformation and they are creating more problems in our fight against the terrorists," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera told a news conference in Marawi City, where at least 200 militants are still holed up 18 days after their attempt to capture the town.

Officials said an estimated 500-1,000 civilians were trapped in the built-up area occupied by the fighters, which came under heavy aerial bombardment on Friday.

Some civilians were being held as human shields, while others hiding in their homes fear capture by the militants and have no running water, electricity or food, said Zia Alonto Adiong, a politician involved in evacuation efforts.

Fake accounts are not permitted under Facebook, and in recent months the company has launched several initiatives against fake news.

"Our Community Standards do not allow groups or people that engage in terrorist activity, or posts that express support for terrorism," a Facebook representative said in an email response to a request for comment.

"Fake accounts are also prohibited. We will remove accounts and content that violate these policies when we are made aware of them."

One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao that analysts say is more sophisticated and media-savvy than more established groups.

"Part of what we are looking at is radicalisation in social media. This is used to radicalise the youth," Herrera said. "We see massive misinformation and use of social media to facilitate propaganda activities."

INDEPENDENCE DAY DEADLINE

The seizure of Marawi City has alarmed Southeast Asian nations which fear Islamic State, facing setbacks in Syria and Iraq, is establishing a stronghold in Mindanao that could threaten the whole region.

About 40 foreigners have fought alongside the Philippine militants in Marawi City, most of them from Indonesia and Malaysia though some came from the Middle East.

The Philippines is largely Christian, but Mindanao has a significant population of Muslims and Marawi City is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Islamic State as its Southeast Asia "emir". Military officials said they believed Hapilon and the two founding brothers of the Maute group were still in the town.

Officials said the army was chipping away at the territory held by the militants. The volume of fire coming from the rebel side had dropped and their sniper firing had become more selective.

However, the army had to proceed carefully because civilians were being held in mosques and madrasas, or religious schools, and the fighters had prepared for a long siege, stockpiling arms and food in tunnels and basements.

According to the latest official figures, 138 militants had been killed, with the death tolls for security personnel and civilians at 40 and 20, respectively.

Military spokesman Restituto Padilla said the aim was to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines' independence day.

"The chief of staff made an announcement, hoping, that by Monday we can freely wave our flags in every corner of Marawi and we are working feverishly to do that," he said.

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Samsung has integrated a technology called beacons which is used to track user activity when connected to the internet.

Samsung may be embroiled in another snooping scandal. A British newspaper has discovered that Korean manufacturer is operating technology to monitor online activity and to collect data of users who have purchased these devices.

According to a report from The Sun, Samsung has integrated a technology called beacons which is used to track user activity when connected to the internet. The technology also used to collect information regarding specific content on the phone or even email messages of the users.

Privacy watchdogs have explained that Samsung is using these technologies to promote its own devices, and has accused the company of tricking people into agreeing with the use of beacons without them knowing exactly what they are agreeing with.

Samsung has however denied the allegations.

Jim Killock, Executive Director of Open Rights Group, told the cited source that Samsung is becoming a peeping Tom and it is taking spying on their customers to a whole new level.

In its privacy policy, Samsung explains that its using beacons to collect information, and most users agree with it simply because only a few of them actually read the documents.

We, along with certain third parties, also may use technologies called beacons or pixels that communicate information from your device to a server, Samsung explains.

Beacons can be embedded in online content, videos and emails and allow a server to read certain types of information from your device and it knows when you have viewed particular content or a particular email message, determine the time and date on which you viewed the beacon and the IP address of your device.

Samsung has, in a separate statement, stated that its not using ultrasonic beacon technology, which is considered far worse and which could be used for more complex snooping on devices.

We would like to assure our customers that ultrasonic beacon technology is not embedded on Samsung mobile devices. Our privacy policy on beacons applies to the use of web beacons, a technology that is widely used across the industry and differs significantly to that of ultrasonic beacons. There is no relation between ultrasonic beacons and the functions embedded in our mobile products, Samsung says.

If youre not paying attention to the permissions you grant, you could be feeding marketers and other entities information about your online browsing, what stores you go to and your product preferences without realising it, Tristan Liverpool, Director of Systems Engineering, F5 Networks, said.

Now Samsung is not the only company which uses beacons to collect user data, as Apple has also turned to similar tech which it has integrated into its websites, online services, emails, and adverts. The Cupertino based company has however stated that the data is not shared with third party companies, and the IP address is kept secret, which means it does not create profiles for each user thats monitored.

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Washington: The US first couple has hardly gotten off to a conventional start. Now, after a period spent apart, it's in for a very public test life together in the Petri dish that is Washington.

President Donald Trump, for instance, all but ignored First Lady Melania left clambering out of a limo in a sumptuous, light blue designer dress and bearing a goodwill gift as he bounded up the White House steps in January to greet President Barack Obama and wife Michelle on Inauguration Day.

More recently the Slovenian former model appeared to swat away an outreached presidential hand as the couple walked along a red carpet upon arriving in Israel last month. The moment, captured on video during Trump's first and very high profile overseas visit as president, quickly went viral.

But now it seems it's time for the uber-wealthy Trumps separated for months by political triumph and a parenting choice to come together under another fancy roof.

After staying in New York in Trump Tower since the election so their young son Barron could finish the school year, 47-year-old Melania Trump and the boy are reportedly moving to Washington next week to take their place in the White House.

The Washington-news web site Politico, quoting people familiar with the family's plans, reports that Melania and 11-year-old Barron will move in on June 14, the day Trump turns 71. CNN also said the move will be next week, but did not specify a date.
The Egyptian president is due to attend the G20 Africa Partnership conference in Berlin on 12-13 June, with bilateral trade high on the agenda

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will fly to Germany on Monday for a visit intended to give a "fresh boost" to Egypt-German relations, according to Badr Abdel Atty, Egypt's ambassador to Berlin.

Speaking to MENA on Sunday, Abdel Atty said that the two-day conference on German investment in African countries comes against the backdrop of "unprecedented" coordination between to two nations over the past two-and-a-half years.

El-Sisi has met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel six times during that period, most recently in March, said the envoy.

The Egyptian president is one of several African heads of state attending the G20 Africa Partnership conference in Berlin on 12-13 June, which is being hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

Also attending will be the presidents of Tunisia, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria and Rwanda. The world's top financial officials, including the presidents of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank, will also attend the gathering.

The conference is intended to "provide backing for the G20 Africa Partnership and the Compact with Africa"  two initiatives that support private investment and infrastructure growth in African countries, according to the G20 website.

According to Abdel Atty, the ongoing coordination between Egypt and Germany reflects areas of mutual interest and cooperation.

"There is a mutual need between the two countries," he said.

Egypt needs German tourism and investment, as well as technology localization and help with technical education and training programs, he said. Around 400,000 German tourists visited Egypt from January to May 2017, with the figure expected to hit a million tourists by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, said Abdel Atty, Germany needs Cairo as "a major player in achieving stability in the region and a bulwark against terrorism ... illegal migration ... and human trafficking from Libya."

During the visit, El-Sisi is scheduled to deliver a speech about challenges facing African countries. He will also take part in a panel discussion hosted by Merkel on private investment in infrastructure and partnerships between the private and public sectors.

El-Sisi will be the first head of state to be received by Merkel at the conference. The two leaders are scheduled to hold bilateral talks on political and economic relations, security and regional issues and bilateral trade.

During the visit, a joint Egyptian-German economic committee, overseen by Egypt's trade minister and Germany's economy minister, is due to work on a strategy for boosting bilateral trade. The Egyptian president is expected to sign the deal once it has been finalised.

Bilateral trade amounted to approximately 5.6 billion euro in 2016, a 10 percent rise from 2015. German investment in Egypt up to January this year stood at nearly $620 million.

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New York: Son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has been released after five years of captivity.

Saif was released from the north-western Libyan city of Zintan under a "General Amnesty Law" passed by Libya's House of Representatives, the CNN quoted Abu Bakr al-Sideeq militia, that captured him during the civil war, as saying in a statement on Saturday.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. Libya has been divided since Muammar Gaddafi's fall nearly six years ago, with three governments, multiple parliaments and competing tribes and militia vying for power.

The House of Representatives based in the country's east is not internationally recognized. However, in its statement, the Abu Bakr al-Sideeq Brigade said Libya's House of Representatives was the country's legitimate authority and it was releasing Gaddafi as a result of that parliament's amnesty.

Saif, who is 44 and has a PhD from the London School of Economics, was once considered the heir apparent to his father, who ruled Libya for over 30 years.

Before the 2011 Libyan civil war, he was believed to be a moderate in comparison to his father. But in 2011 the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity during attempts to quash the revolution that led to his father's ouster.

However, Libyan authorities refused to hand him over, saying the court did not have authority to try the case.

A trial was held in Libya's capital, with Saif facing charges relating to attempts to suppress the revolution uprising, including the killing of protesters.
Washington: The government of Qatar has hired John Ashcroft, the former US Attorney General during the Sept 11 attacks, as it seeks to rebut accusations from US President Donald Trump and its Arab neighbours that it supports terrorism.

Qatar will pay the Ashcroft Law Firm $2.5 million for a 90-day period as the country seeks to confirm its efforts to fight global terrorism and comply with financial regulations including US Treasury rules, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filing on Friday with the Justice Department.

"The firm's work will include crisis response and management, program and system analysis, media outreach, education and advocacy regarding the client's historical, current and future efforts to combat global terror and its compliance goals and accomplishments," according to a letter by Ashcroft firm partner Michael Sullivan included in the filing.

Qatar faces isolation by fellow Arab countries after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt severed ties with Doha on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their adversary Iran. Qatar denies the allegations.

The crisis is a major diplomatic test for the United States, which is a close ally of countries on both sides but has given mixed signals on whether to isolate Qatar or bring it into talks with other Gulf countries.

Trump on Friday accused Qatar of being a high level sponsor of terrorism in remarks made shortly after his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, pushed Qatar's Arab neighbours to "immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation."

The Ashcroft firm was hired to do a compliance and regulatory view of Qatar's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework, Sullivan said in an email.

"Qatar is confident that the review and analysis will confirm that Qatar has significant measures in place to prevent and detect efforts to launder funds and/or to use its financial systems to finance terrorist organizations," he said.

Ashcroft was US attorney general under President George W Bush from February 2001 to February 2005, turbulent years in which US policies and laws were reshaped by the so-called war on terrorism that followed the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks.

Ashcroft's firm includes an array of former senior government officials including Sullivan, a former US attorney in Massachusetts appointed by Bush to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
London: British Prime Minister Theresa May reached an "outline agreement" on Saturday with the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party in order to be able to govern after a humiliating election that has left her authority in tatters.

She also confirmed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call that Britain was ready to begin Brexit negotiations "as planned in the next couple of weeks", reassuring EU leaders who had expressed doubts after May's electoral losses.

May's Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in Thursday's vote and need the support of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's DUP to have a majority.

"We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative government," a spokesman for May said.

The spokesman indicated this would not be a formal coalition but a minority government with looser DUP support on a "confidence and supply basis".

"We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond," he said. The details of the agreement "will be put forward for discussion and agreement" at a cabinet meeting on Monday, a day before the new parliament meets, the spokesman said.

There was no mention of what concessions the DUP may have asked for, amid growing concern about the influence of a party opposed to abortion and gay marriage, and which has proved hugely controversial in the past over the homophobic and sectarian views of some of its representatives.

May earlier on Saturday lost her two closest aides as she struggled to reassert her leadership after a crushing election setback. The Conservative leader has been warned that her days are numbered after calling Thursday's vote three years early hoping to strengthen her hand going into Brexit negotiations with Brussels, only to lose her majority.

Senior party figures have cautioned against any immediate leadership challenge, saying it would cause only further disruption as Britain prepares to start the Brexit talks as early as June 19.

But media reports suggest they had demanded the departure of May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, as the price for allowing the 60-year-old vicar's daughter to stay in office. They were replaced by Gavin Barwell, a former housing minister who lost his seat in the election.

May put on a brave face after Thursday's vote, expressing sorrow for the MPs who lost their seats but refusing to acknowledge how her election gamble backfired. "From hubris to humiliation," said the left-leaning Guardian, while the Times headline read: "May stares into the abyss".

The resignations of Timothy and Hill, on whom May had been heavily reliant since her previous job at the interior ministry, will be a personal blow. Timothy said he took responsibility for the Conservative manifesto, including a plan for elderly social care that caused a backlash among core voters.

A party spokesman confirmed the resignation of Hill, a combative character who one former colleague said had helped create a "toxic" atmosphere at the heart of the government. May is preparing to name the rest of her cabinet, after revealing Friday that her five most senior ministers would stay in their posts.

Several Conservative lawmakers have warned she cannot carry on indefinitely, after throwing away a 17-seat majority in the 650-seat House of Commons. But former party leader Iain Duncan Smith said a leadership contest now would be a "catastrophe".

The Conservatives won 318 seats, down from 331 in 2015 after the opposition Labour party under socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn scored hefty gains.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, was among the first to express disquiet over a deal with the ultra-conservative DUP. "I sought, and to be fair to the prime minister, received a categoric assurance that in talking to the DUP that there would be no suggestion of any rollback on LGBT rights in the rest of the UK," she told.

Several hundred people many Labour voters protested in central London against the potential alliance, with one organiser leading chants of "racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has got to go".

Joining forces with the hardline Protestant party also threatens London's neutrality in Northern Ireland, which is key to the delicate balance of power in a province once plagued by violence.

On Brexit, the DUP supports leaving the EU but opposes a return to a "hard" border with Ireland which could happen if May carries through her threat to walk away from the talks rather than accept a "bad deal".

The new parliament will be sworn in Tuesday, but the real test for May is likely to come when MPs vote on her programme after it is outlined in parliament by Queen Elizabeth II on June 19.

European Council President Donald Tusk has warned there is "no time to lose" in starting Brexit talks, after May on March 29 started the two-year countdown to ending Britain's four-decade membership.
The ISIS militants were planning to attack sensitive installations in Sialkot district, about 180 km from Lahore. (Photo: Representational/File)

Lahore: Five Islamic State terrorists planning a major terror attack in Pakistan have been arrested and a huge cache of explosives recovered from them in Punjab province, officials said on Sunday.

The militants were planning to attack sensitive installations in Sialkot district, about 180 km from Lahore. They have been booked under the anti-terrorism act.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police arrested them on Saturday during a raid in Sialkot. Abdul Wahab, Behzad Ali, Shahzaib Zafar, Waqas and Daniyal Arshad were said to be active members of the ISIS.

Some 3,400 grammes of explosives, 100-inch safety fuse, five non-electric detonators, three bags and maps have been recovered from them.

The ISIS terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing of two Chinese nationals, including a woman, who were abducted by armed gunmen from Pakistan's restive north-west Balochistan province recently.
Karachi: A Chinese navy fleet comprising of three warships the Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu arrived at Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Saturday for a four-day goodwill and training visit.

The convoy is being commanded by Rear Admiral Shen Hao, Deputy Commander East Sea Fleet. The visiting ships were accorded a warm welcome during an impressive reception ceremony and received by senior officials of the Pakistan Navy and the Chinese Embassy Staff.

Xinhua quoted Rear Admiral Shen as saying that the visit would further promote understanding and mutual trust between the two nations and boost the cooperation. Shen hoped that the cooperation and communication between the two navies would be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace.

Later, Chief of the Pakistan Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah also visited the Chinese Ships and met Shen. On his arrival on board, the Chinese Ship's smartly turned out contingent presented him the guard of honour. During his visit on board, the Pakistani naval chief interacted with the ship's crew and appreciated their operational competence, ISPR said in a statement.

The naval chief said that the Pakistan-China friendship was highly valued and the continued cooperation between them has proven to be a source of strength for both the countries. The admiral added that the visit of PLA (Navy) Task Group was expected to enhance interoperability and maritime collaboration between the two navies.

During their stay at Karachi, the officers and men of the ship will hold professional discussions and interaction with their counterparts from the Pakistan Navy on subjects of mutual interest.

Moreover, official calls on senior Pakistan Navy officers and civilian dignitaries, operational training activities, joint interactive sessions, and table top discussions on professional topics and social events are also planned.

At the end of the visit, a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) will be conducted at the sea between Pakistan Navy Flotilla and PLA (Navy) Task Group to enhance interoperability between the two Navies.
JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was today detained in south Kashmir's Shopian district due to apprehension of breach of peace, police said.



Malik, along with Noor Muhammad Kalwal, the zonal president of his outfit, was detained by the security forces at Reban in Shopian this morning, a police official said.



A JKLF spokesman, while condemning their detention, said the outfit's chief had gone to Reban to meet the family of jailed leader Sarjan Barkati.



The spokesman said the duo have been taken to some unknown location.
The Islamist group is now viewed with more suspicion in Germany, possibly linked to terror attacks, according to Ambassador Badr Abdelatty

German intelligence officials have detected "suspicious behaviour" by the Muslim Brotherhood in eastern Berlin, Egypts ambassador to Germany Badr Abdelatty told state-run news agency MENA on Sunday.

The ambassador made the comments on Sunday, one day ahead of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's planned visit to Berlin for a conference on investment in African nations.

Abdelatty, who was Egypts foreign ministry spokesman before taking his post in Berlin, said that a German security report has revealed recent suspicious actions on the part of the Brotherhood in Germany, including the construction of mosques in areas with few Muslims.

The ambassador did not release any more details regarding the claims made in the German intelligence report, although he did say that German officials have become more wary of the Muslim Brotherhood of late.

The German side became increasingly convinced that all extremist groups in the name of religion hail from the [Muslim] Brotherhood, MENA quoted Abdelatty as saying.

The ambassador added that German officials used to view the Brotherhood as a political group that should be integrated into political life and party politics.

However, the Germans now view the Brotherhood as an extremist group, he said.

This shift, according to Abdelatty, has resulted from groups related to the Brotherhood, such as Hasm, taking responsiblity for various terrorist attacks.

This provided compelling evidence of the Brotherhoods links with violence and terrorism, evidence that some Western capitals were requesting, he said.

In February, German security official Gordian Meyer-Plath was quoted in media reports as saying the Muslim Brotherhood still wants to apply Sharia law in Germany while gaining control of the nation's mosques.

As of Sunday afternoon, Germany had not made any public comment in response to Abdelatty's remarks.

In December 2013, following the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian government designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, blaming the group for a number of deadly attacks on security forces.

Since then, many Brotherhood members have been handed prison sentences on charges ranging from illegal protests to incitement against the government and carrying out terrorist attacks.

President El-Sisi is visiting Germany on Sunday for the G20 Africa Partnership conference, sponsored by the German presidency, part of efforts to promote investment in African countries.

During his visit, El-Sisi is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on political and economic relations, security and regional issues and bilateral trade.



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A journalist has been fined about USD 32,500 by an Israeli court for writing a "malicious and ugly" Facebook post that claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara kicked the Israeli leader out of their car during a fight on a major highway.





The Netanyahus last year filed a defamation suit against scribe Igal Sarna after he alleged that Sara had stopped the prime minister's convoy on a major artery connecting Jerusalem with Tel Aviv and kicked her husband out of their car.



Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Judge, Azaria Alcalay, in his order said that he agreed with the Netanyahus that "the publication was, at least partially, malicious and ugly".



The ruling awarded NIS 60,000 to Benjamin Netanyahu, NIS 40,000 to Sara Netanyahu and another NIS 15,000 in legal fees.



The couple had demanded NIS 279,243 (USD 72,813) from Sarna over his claims in the libel suit at the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court.



While the order said that the account had hurt the Netanyahus public standing, it awarded the couple less than damages asked for because it did not "reach the highest threshold of severity".



Alcalay ruled that the events as described by Sarna were not proven to have occurred. He also criticised the style of the Facebook posts, saying they were written in an "impassioned style meant to augment the tale and dramatise it, while expressing contempt for the plaintiffs."



An unrepentant Sarna in his response to the verdict said that he is going to appeal against it. "This kind of verdict is expected in these dark days. But it is only the beginning of the struggle against the attempt to silence," he wrote.



Sarna, a journalist for Israel's largest circulated daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, did not cite any source for his allegations, and his account never appeared in the paper known for being critical of Netanyahu.



He claimed that he was told about the incident by an acquaintance, who cited a security guard in Netanyahu's service. The reporter also said that he was told by a friend of the couple that similar incidents had happened before.



The judge rejected Sarna's claim that the posts were a legitimate expression of opinion and criticism, protected by freedom of speech.



"There's no disputing that as people in the public eye, the plaintiffs ought to have higher tolerance to criticism than others," the judge said, but added that Sarna's post was not an opinion but claimed to be a statement of fact.



The judge also rejected the defence's claim that the post was minor and inconsequential, and criticised Sarna for not seeking to verify the information he received before publishing it.



However, the judge ruled that Sarna's second post, an image of Netanyahu, was clearly a cartoon and therefore not libelous.



The prime minister himself appeared in the witness stand in March to tell the court that "anyone who knows anything about motorcade security knows that something like that cant happen".



He called the post a "vulgar lie that led me here (to testify)".



Sara, who also appeared with her husband in the court, dubbed Sarna's claim among the "very bad lies."
Battling water woes, a nondescript village in Rajasthan has scripted a success story from becoming parched to water sufficient, with tillers here expecting to double their income from summer crops.



Two years ago, Kolila Joga in the desert state's Alwar district was dependent on trickling government water supply and tankers to quench the thirst of its residents and livestock. However, this time, a water harvesting project has helped this hamlet of 1,500-odd families get its name struck out from the list of water-starved habitats of the state.



In early 2016, youngsters and abled men in three shifts, with spades and hoes, started digging everyday to a turn a tiny pond into a water body that could suffice their needs during the summers. The efforts were soon noticed, and the district administration decided to bring their project under a state scheme for rain water harvesting.



"Earth movers and excavators were deployed and just before the monsoon, the small pond was turned into a 26- hectare water catchment area with a capacity of 7,630 cubic metres," says Hiralal Singh, Superintending Engineer of Rajasthan Watershed Department.



Seeing the success of Kolila Joga, more villages have applied for the scheme, and these would be covered by this year-end, he said.



Kalila Joga was one of the first villages that was brought under state's water conservation scheme Mukhyamantri the Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan (MJSA), and since its launch in 2016, 7,740 villages have been covered and 2.3 lakh works have been completed, including restoration of 'baolis' - historic step-wells.



"The catchment has allowed double cropping. This was unthinkable before. Farming has increased by 30 per cent and we expect our earnings to grow by 60 to 80 per cent," says village sarpanch Bhup Singh.



"Not only is our village safe from drought, but it has also stopped the migration in the summers," he says, adding farmers and youngsters stayed back to grow bajra and wheat.



Helping recharge ground water and the villages 10 tube-wells throughout the year, the pond, Meena says, has saved her from walking miles everyday to get potable water. "There is enough water to last us till the monsoon arrives," she says.



Rajasthan by 2020, plans to built water conservation structures, tanks, catchment areas and check dams, and undertake de-silting of large water bodies in 21,000 villages under the MJSA.



Officials said none of the villages covered till now have reported "severe water crisis or drought situation". However, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje feels it will take a dedicated state machinery to achieve the target.



"Despite Rajasthan being dry and its geography posing multiple challenges to agriculture, the results have been good. But there is much more to be done," she said.



The scheme was launched the same year Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for water conservation in villages to thwart drought.



"Rajasthan has had its share of droughts and agrarian problems. But schemes like MJSA and summits like Rajasthan Global Agritech Meet has drawn more investments, public and private, into the agriculture sector," she said.


Meanwhile, police detained pro-independence JKLF chief Yasin Malik in Reban area of Shopian when they were coming out of the house of incarcerated Ummat-e-Islami leader Moulana Sarjan Barkati.



A spokesman of the JKLF said Malik had visited Barkatis home to meet his innocent children. The duo has been taken to some unknown police station, he said.

A policeman was shot at by unidentified militants in Imam Sahab area of south Kashmir Shopian district on Sunday.Sources said militants opened fire upon the policeman identified as Khurshid Ahmad outside a security forces camp at Imam Sahib, 52 km from here. He received bullet wound below abdomen and was rushed to Hospital, they said.


The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour. They also argued with the police and Ratlam administration officials to allow them to enter Mandsaur. Following this, the police arrested the 30 activists under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said. After the arrest, Yadav told mediapersons, "Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us."



"We wanted to meet the families of deceased farmers peacefully and honour them by giving them a letter and soil brought from different parts of the country but we were not allowed to go," he said. Yadav said the government should waive farmers' loans, and they should get the right price for their agricultural produce.



He also demanded a probe into the death of the six people who have died during the farmers' agitation so far. Patkar said, "We are being told that if we go to Mandsaur, peace may get disturbed. We are unable to understand how it will affect the peace."



"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers' family," she said. Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.



Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1. The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state. In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during the farmers' protest on June 6.

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were today arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district after they tried to enter neighbouring Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing during the farmers' stir. The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam district's Jaora town.The police told them that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted yesterday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district. After being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from various farmer outfits across the country, sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.
In an apparent damage control bid following attacks on the dalits by the dominant Thakur community members in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to resort to 'lunch diplomacy' to win their support.



Adityanath, would be taking part in community feast in his native district of Gorakhpur with the members of the dalit community on Wednesday.



According to the sources here the chief minister will be unveiling a statue of dalit ideologue B.R. Ambedkar at Campereganj locality in the district before taking part in the feast. Sources said that thousands of dalits were likely to attend the feast on this occasion.



Adityanath's participation in the feast with dalits assumes significance in the wake of thakur-dalit clashes in Saharanpur that has claimed three lives. Several houses of the dalits were set ablaze in the district also. The arrest of the 'Bheem Army', a dalit outfit, founder Chandrashekhar, has also not gone down well with the community members.



The 'lunch diplomacy' also comes within a few days of alleged distribution of soaps, shampoos and perfumes among the members of 'Mushar' (a dalit community) community at a village in Kushinagar district before their scheduled meeting with the chief minister.



The report of soap and shampoo distribution evoked sharp criticism from the opposition parties, which accused the BJP of practicing ''untouchability'' and sought an apology from Adityanath.



BJP leaders here rejected assertions that the participation in the feast was intended to win the support of the dalits and a damage control exercise. ''Dalits supported us in the recent assembly polls....they are with the party even now,'' said a state BJP leader.



BSP, however, said that the dalits would not now be ''misled'' by the BJP. ''Dalits have seen the true face of the BJP...they do not feel safe under the BJP regime,'' said a senior state BSP leader here on Sunday.


A government report also states that no public referendum will be held on the fate of Tiran and Sanafir because they have never been a part of Egypt

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Egypt MPs on Sunday that the government approved signing a maritime border demarcation deal with Saudi Arabia in 2016 only after a national committee working on the issue reached the conclusion that there was no legal foundation for Egypt's possession of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

Shoukri was addressing Egypt's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which began discussing the deal on Sunday. The agreement places the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi maritime waters, and was signed during the Saudi King Salman bin Abdel-Aziz's visit to Cairo in April 2016, prompting protests by some Egyptians.

The government has insisted that the islands have always belonged to Saudi Arabia, and were only placed under Egypt's control because Riyadh asked Cairo to protect them in the 1950s.

The deal has faced a number of legal challenges since it was announced in April 2016.

In January, the High Administrative Court ruled that the deal was null and void. In April, however, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters ruled that administrative courts had no jurisdiction over border deals.

In an official statement to the MPs, Shoukry said the maritime border deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia was signed by the two governments only after they had held eleven rounds of negotiations.

"An Egyptian national committeeincluding representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs and defence and from the intelligence apparatuswas formed in 2010 to take charge of negotiating this deal," said Shoukry.

"The national committee's conclusion was based on the fact that former president Hosni Mubarak had ratified the deal in January 1990 (decree 27 of 1990), stating that the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir are part of Saudi Arabia," he said.

"The national committee also took note of former Egyptian foreign minister Essmat Abdel-Meguid's letter to his Saudi counterpart in March 1990, informing him of the Egyptian cabinet's approval of this deal," Shoukry.

According to the minister, Egypt occupied these two Saudi islands in 1967 "in order to safeguard them against Israeli aggression."

Shoukry indicated that due to its international commitments, above all the peace treaty with Israel, Egypt asked the Israelis to respect the deal between Egypt and Saudi Arabia after it goes into effect.

"The Israelis said they would respect this deal and would honour all international commitments even after the two islands are handed to Saudi Arabia," he said.

Shoukry's statement echoed a government report which also concluded that the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir are part of Saudi Arabia. "They have always been a part of Saudi Arabia and that they have never been under Egyptian ownership," read the report.

The report was submitted to parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee before it began discussing the maritime border demarcation deal on Sunday.

The report argues that Egypt had informed the United Nations several times that it had no sovereignty over the two islands.

"In May 1967, for example, Egypt's envoy to UN said in an official letter that Egypt had never tried to impose control on these two islands or claim sovereignty over them," readthe report, adding that "the letter just indicated that all Egypt had wanted was to take charge of defending them against any Israeli aggression."

According to the report "the Saudis blessed Egypt's occupation of the two islands because they were aware of their strategic importance to Egypt's national security."

The report adds that Article 157 of Egypt's 2014 constitution is clear that a public referendum is necessary only if an agreement with a foreign country leads to Egypt ceding part of its territory.

"This stipulation does not apply here because the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir have never been a part of Egypt," reads the report.

The report, however, indicates that "while the deal with Saudi Arabia puts an end to Egypt's control of these two islands, it does not put an end to Egypt's interest in them because of their importance to Egyptian national security."

"As a result, the Saudi side said it fully understands that Egyptian administration on the two islands should remain in place in order to protect the islands and the Gulf of Aqaba," reads the report, adding that "the deal states that the Saudis agree that Egyptian existence on the two islands should remain in place because of Egypt's vital role in safeguarding navigation in the Gulf of Aqaba."

The report records that the deal was signed by prime minister Sherif Ismail and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

It warns that "Saudi Arabia would resort to international arbitration should parliament decided to reject the deal. And it is sure that Egypt would lose if Saudi Arabia decides to resort to this measure."

The report also says that the constitution does not stipulate that agreements with foreign countries should be referred to parliament within a certain period of time.

According to the government report, the deal took eight months to be submitted to parliament because it faced a number of legal challenges since it was made public in April 2016.

The report states that freedom of expression should not be observed to the extent of allowing street protests against the deal with Saudi Arabia. "There are no absolute freedoms as these only lead to chaos on the street," reads the report.

The speaker of parliament, Ali Abdel-Aal, who headed the first debate on the deal, told MPs that "we all love our country and we are all ready to defend our country, but we should refrain from exchanging accusations of treason."

Abdel-Aal said he was very happy that all MPs were keen to attend the first hearing session on the Egyptian-Saudi deal. "I, just like you, came here to listen to the debate and to what experts will say about this deal which has received a lot of media attention," said Abdel-Aal, adding that "we are all here to reach the truth and when we do this we should all accept the final result and so nobody should give himself the right to monopolise patriotism."

Abdel-Aal described parliament's first hearing session on the Egyptian-Saudi deal as "historic."

"I know that all Egyptians either at home or abroad will be keen to follow parliament's debate on the deal and so I hope that this debate will be held in a civilised way and in accordance with the constitution and parliament's internal bylaws," said Abdel-Aal.

Joining forces, the head of the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa said that "we all seek the truth and nothing but the truth and so all experts and MPs who would like to give their opinion on the deal will be allowed to take the floor."

"I also vow that we will reach a decision on this deal only after we listen to all views and I vow that the debate will be open and transparent," said Abu Shoqa.

Abu Shoqa said that the Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal was signed on 8 April 2016. "It was referred to parliament on 1 January 2017or eight months later and on 10 April 2017 the speaker of parliament decided to refer it to the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee for discussion."

Abu Shoqa said in accordance with the speaker's instructions, all members of the national committee who negotiated the deal with Saudi Arabia will be invited to respond to questions.

He added that in accordance with Article 162 of parliament's internal bylaws, government representatives will be given the priority in taking the floor.

"As a result and in this initial session, we will listen first to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marawan, next to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, and then to the head of the Egyptian Naval Maritime Survey Authority, Ashraf El-Assal."

Marawan said that "parliament has full rights to discuss the Egyptian-Saudi deal."

"This discussion is part of parliament's supervisory role in line with Article 151 of the constitution, not to mention that some courts have ruled that administrative courts have no jurisdiction over border deals," said Marawan.

For his part, El-Assal said the negotiations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia began on January 2010. "The eleven rounds of negotiations continued for six years, the last one of which was on March 2016--or one month before it was signed by the governments of the two countries," he said.

According to El-Assal, "some believe that the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir should remain in Egyptian hands because they are close to Egypt." "Let me indicate that the two islands are closer to Saudi Arabia than to Egypt in both geological and geographical terms," he told MPs, adding that "while they are 800 metres from Saudi Arabia, they are 4,500 metres from Egypt."

During the session, MP Khaled Youssef demanded a copy of all of the records of the national committee.

According to my knowledge during the talks, Egypt objected in 2010 to the methods to measure distances proposed by Saudi Arabia before things changed in 2015, therefore we must read those records as if they are official documents, said the leading member in the left-leaning 25-30 parliamentary bloc during a heated session.

There were several verbal altercations between Abdel-Aal and the members of the 25-30 parliamentary grouping following Youssef's demand.

The 25-30 group is insisting on sabotaging the session, said Abdel-Aal. Several MPs responded angrily.

We wont leave the session even if you bring in security, said Youssef in an animated exchange with the speaker.

Earlier the 25-30 bloc signed a petition declaring their complete rejection of any discussion of the bilateral agreement in parliament.

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Pakistani troops resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts along LoC and International Border in Rajouri and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, prompting Indian troops to retaliate.



Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, heavy automatics and mortars from 1240 hours along the Line of Control in Naushera sector in Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.



"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said. In another ceasefire violation, Pakistan Rangers started firing on forward BSF troops in Ramgarh Sector in Samba district along the IB, a senior BSF officer said adding that BSF also retaliated.



During exchanger of fire, Pak Rangers also fired a few small mortar shells. Intermittent fire continued till 1045 hours, he said adding there was no loss or damage so far. "Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 0920 hours this morning along the Line of Control (LC) in Bhimbher Gali sector in Rajouri," a senior army officer said.



The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on, he said. "It may be recalled that Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 2030 hours last evening along the LoC in Krishana Ghati sector," a senior army officer said.



Reports said Pak troops also targeted civilian population and hamlets along LoC in Krishnaghati and Balanar areas of Poonch district triggering panic among the area dwellers.



The Pakistan Army is targeting residential areas and hamlets with 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs triggering fear psychosis as shells are landing deep inside border civil hamlets.



Earlier this month, five Pakistani soldiers were killed and some others injured in the Indian Army's retaliatory action in LoC belt of the Nowshera and Krishnaghati sectors.


Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke by phone with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on Sunday, discussing the plans for an upcoming Nile Basin summit, the Egyptian presidency announced.

According to the statement, President Museveni shared with President El-Sisi the latest updates regarding his ongoing talks with Nile Basin country leaders to hold a new summit in Uganda soon.

The two presidents discussed bilateral relations and cooperation as well as recent regional developments in Africa, the statement added.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited Uganda in December.



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A 30-year-old woman, displaced after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, was allegedly raped by four persons, police said today.



The incident took place yesterday when the woman was picked up by a man and taken to a nearby jungle where three others joined him and raped her.



In a complaint filed with the police, the woman told that the accused had threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone.



Forced to flee home after the riots, the woman has been living in a village in Deoband police station area of Saharanpur district, along with her mother.



According to circle officer of police Sidharth Singh, a case has been registered under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) against Munir and three unidentified persons.



All the four accused were on the run, the police officer said.


Life may not be disrupted on Monday in view of the statewide bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits, seeking resolution of the Mahadayi water issue.



State transport corporations, including KSRTC and BMTC, said services will continue as normal, but a decision will be taken after assessing the ground situation.



Taxis and Namma Metro services are also unlikely to be affected. We will run the service. However, if there is any threat to the safety and security of the commuters and BMRCL property, we may stop the services, a BMRCL official said.



Shops and other business establishments are expected to operate as normal.



The bandh has been called by the Vatal Nagaraj-led Kannada Okkoota and Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president Sa Ra Govindu, demanding implementation of the Kalasa Banduri project and resolution of other water issues.



Several organisations issued statements expressing moral support to the bandh. In effect, nothing will change on the ground on Monday, except for sporadic protests.



Schools to remain open

Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban, V Shankar, said that schools and colleges would remain open. But some schools in the city have decided to declare a holiday keeping in mind students safety, Shankar said.





Shashi Kumar D, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) said though they have not announced a holiday, some institutions have decided to remain closed. The Kolar unit of the association and other sensitive areas in the state have announced a holiday, he said.



State Lorry Owners Association president G R Shanmugappa said lorry owners will participate in the bandh, and vehicles on local trips may be cancelled. The long-distance lorries will ply as we have deadlines to meet, he said.



Bengaluru Petroleum Dealers Association president B R Ravindranath said they have expressed moral support to the bandh, and petrol pumps will function as usual.



Echoing Ravindranaths views, H C Shivaramu, president of Advocates Association of Bengaluru, said, We have to give justice to the litigants and many of the litigants are farmers.



Radhakrishna Holla, president, Bengaluru Tourist Taxi Owners Association, said they support the cause, but cabs will run as normal. We are already losing out due to demonetisation, unfair practices of aggregators and rising fuel costs. We are tied to corporate houses and will lose out to competitors if we stay off the roads, Holla said.



Precautionary measures

Elaborating on the security arrangements, DCP (Central) Chandragupta said, We have not given permission to any outfit to protest on Monday. Adequate security measures have been made.



Sensitive areas in central Bengaluru will be continuously monitored. Police inspectors have been asked to be on patrol duty on Monday. Reserve police battalion from the City Armed Reserve (CAR), District Armed Reserve (DAR) and Karnataka State Reserve Police personnel will be deployed in the city.



An officer of the ADGP rank said, We have arranged for the deployment of three KSRP platoons each in all the districts. Depending on the security requirements, we will upgrade the capacity of the forces.



The city police has issued notices to those factions of the pro-Kannada organisations that have called the bandh, directing them not to hold protests on Monday. They will be taken into preventive custody if they go ahead with any agitation, they warned.



Exams postponed

Visvesvaraya Technological University postponed theory examinations scheduled for Monday. The fresh dates will be notified shortly, Registrar (Evaluation) Satish Annigeri said in a release.

Similarly, Bangalore University has postponed its fourth semester postgraduate exams, and the rescheduled dates would be announced soon.



The exams for Diploma in Education and Diploma in Elementary Education scheduled for Monday have been put off by a day, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board director said in a statement.






Three children, including two siblings, were buried alive and at least eight persons were injured in a landslide at Tandrakuli near Kumta on Sunday.



The dead have been identified as Bhavya Narayan Ambiga (10), Yatin Narayan Ambiga (8) and 10-month old Dhanush Manjunath Ambiga.



Bhavya and Yatin are the children of Rupa and Narayan Ambiga, who were injured in the mishap. Movement of vehicles on National Highway-66 was halted for more than eight hours due to the landslide.



Around 25 houses of fishermen are situated below a hillock adjoining the NH-66. The work on widening the National Highway is in progress. Local residents said that some four days ago, the company executing the work had blasted a part of the hillock using explosives. This had loosened the soil, resulting in the landslide. While the landslide occurred at 11 am, the bodies were extricated in the afternoon as incessant rain hampered the operation. At least eight houses collapsed due to mudslide and some residents were trapped under the debris.



Deputy Commissioner S S Nakul, who visited the spot, said that a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each would be paid to the family of the deceased and the government would bear the medical expenses of the injured.


Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar on Sunday demanded that the state government come out with a white paper on utilisation of grants provided by the NDA government.



Speaking after inaugurating a three-day Making of Developed India (MODI) fest at Munichinnappa playground in Adugodi in Bengaluru, Kumar said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 8,000 crore to Karnataka for different highway projects and Rs 4,500 crore for the railway sector.



Kumar charged that though the NDA government has provided Rs 4,600 crore during last three years for drought relief, the state has disbursed only Rs 500 crore to farmers. The white paper on utilisation of Central grants can be tabled in the ongoing session of the state legislature, he suggested.



The Union minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has emerged as a super power in frontier technologies including aerospace and IT and BT.



The NDA government had taken steps to make digital economy accessible to the common man. Around 28 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts had been opened and loans to 7.5 crore youths had been disbursed under Mudra scheme, he pointed out.


Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa has said that Sangolli Rayanna Brigade was now a closed chapter.



I have distanced myself from the Brigade on the strict instructions from BJP national president Amit Shah. The office-bearers of the Brigade have consented to join BJP. Shah has promised suitable position for Brigade leaders in the party, Eshwarappa told reporters here on Sunday.



He said that henceforth Dalits and backward classes would be organised under the banner of the OBC Morcha of the BJP.



Eshwarappa said that he would file a defamation case against Vinod, an advocate, who has lodged a complaint against him with the Enforcement Directorate, alleging benami assets. He accused Vinod of resorting to blackmailing tactics.



The state government has been enacting a drama on bringing an anti-superstition law, just to placate rationalists.



The Congress has not been extending cooperation for setting up of National Commission for Backward Classes, he alleged.
Iran has sent five planes of food exports to Qatar, Iran's national carrier told AFP on Sunday, days after Gulf countries cut off air and transport links to the emirate.

"So far five planes carrying perishable food items such as fruit and vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 tonnes of cargo, while another plane will be sent today," Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi said.

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By Chelsea Harvey

6 June 2017

(The Washington Post)  As melting Greenland glaciers continue to pour ice into the Arctic Ocean, we have more than the rising seas to worry about, scientists say. A new study suggests that if it gets large enough, the influx of freshwater from the melting ice sheet could disrupt the flow of a major ocean current system, which in turn could dry out Africas Sahel, a narrow region of land stretching from Mauritania in the west to Sudan in the east.The consequence could be devastating agricultural losses as the areas climate shifts. And in the most severe scenarios, tens of millions of people could be forced to migrate from the area.The implications, when expressed in terms of vulnerability of the population in the region are really dramatic and bring home just how sensitive livelihoods are in this region to climatic change, said Christopher Taylor, a meteorologist at the Center for Ecology and Hydrology in the United Kingdom and an expert on the West African climate, who was not involved with the new research.The study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a climate change model to investigate the influence of different amounts of ice loss from Greenland, corresponding to different amounts of global sea level rise, on the western Sahels climate system. Prior studies have suggested that this region may be particularly vulnerable to climatic changes produced by disruptions in the ocean.The idea is that large volumes of meltwater from Greenland have the potential to slow down a major system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC. Experts have described it as a kind of giant conveyor belt, which carries warm water from the equator to the Arctic and cooler water back down south. This transport of heat influences atmospheric processes and helps regulate climate and weather throughout the Atlantic region. [more]
"(Kuwait) affirms the readiness of the brothers in Qatar to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers and to heed the noble endeavors to enhance security and stability," KUNA quoted the Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah as saying.

"The state of Kuwait will not abandon its efforts and will continue its good will efforts to patch the rift and find a solution that will deal with the root cause of the causes of the dispute... in the brotherly relations," he added.

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The town has been a flashpoint in recent weeks as militias backed by Iran have tried to get near the U.S. garrison, prompting U.S. coalition jets to strike back.

Tanf lies near the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway that was once a major weapons supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria.

The Jordanian army said it destroyed a car and two motorbikes in the incident.

The army statement did not give any details of the identity of the men and whether they were smugglers or militants in the area where Jordan's northeastern borders meet both Iraq and Syria.

The statement however said that before the shooting, a convoy of nine cars had approached from the Tanf area but fled after the army fired warning shots.

Islamic State militants launched a suicide attack last April on the heavily defended base in which the Pentagon said an estimated 20-30 IS fighters were involved. U.S. jets bombed the militants in the hit and run attack.

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A major new exhibition on Donegals traditional dwellings was launched at the Donegal County Museum last week, featuring images from across the county.

In Search of the Donegal Vernacular Cottage runs at the county museum, on the High Road in Letterkenny, through September 2nd.

Donegal is home to one of the largest surviving concentrations of vernacular cottages in Ireland.

As the exhibition demonstrates, vernacular architecture can be thought of as an architecture without architects because these dwellings were not based on blueprints or measured drawings but on collective folk memory that was passed down from one generation to the next, Joseph Gallagher, county heritage officer, said.

He said traditional dwellings help to define our cultural landscape, refine our sense of place and reinforce our sense of identity The exhibit uses photographs, illustrations and drawings from local and national collections to detail the distinctive forms and features of the Donegal vernacular cottage.

There are images of dwellings from locations around the county, including Teelin, Crolly, Derryconor, Magheraroarty, Gaoth Dobhair, Gola, Roshine near Dunfanaghy, Ballyhoorisky, Portsalon, Letterkenny, Buncrana, Malin, Culdaff and Cloghan.

In his address at the launch, Cllr. Michael McBride, chairperson of the County Donegal Heritage Forum, said the decline in vernacular architecture is a serious cause of concern. He said the government and building and insurance industries need to address issues of the lack of craftsmen trained in traditional building skills, the difficulty in the availability of traditional building materials and the difficulty of homeowners to obtain thatch insurance or insurance for historic structures as a matter of urgency.

"Otherwise, many more of our traditional dwellings will be lost, undermining our built heritage and cultural landscape as well as missed economic, employment and tourism opportunities," Cllr. McBride said.

The exhibition "In Search of the Donegal Vernacular Cottage" was prepared by the County Heritage Office, County Museum, County Archives and Regional Cultural Centre.

The launch coincided with the Conservation without Frontiers Summer School, organised by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and Irish Georgian Society in association with the county council, Derry City and Strabane District Council and The Heritage Council, which ran from June 7th-June 10th.

In his address to the summer school last Friday, council Cathoirleach, Cllr. Terence Slowey, said, Our heritage buildings underpin our tourism industry and its important that investment in our built heritage precedes its promotion by the tourism sector.

"The Wild Atlantic Way is greatly enhanced by its built heritage and the stories it tells," the council cathoirleach said. "One of the challenges for the tourism and heritage sectors over the coming years will be to cooperate in order to best conserve and appropriately promote the built heritage of our county.
Qatar will pay the Ashcroft Law Firm $2.5 million for a 90-day period as the country seeks to confirm its efforts to fight global terrorism and comply with financial regulations including U.S. Treasury rules, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, filing on Friday with the Justice Department.

"The firm's work will include crisis response and management, program and system analysis, media outreach, education and advocacy regarding the client's historical, current and future efforts to combat global terror and its compliance goals and accomplishments," according to a letter by Ashcroft firm partner Michael Sullivan included in the filing.

Qatar faces isolation by fellow Arab countries after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt severed ties with Doha on Monday, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and their adversary Iran. Qatar denies the allegations.

Trump on Friday accused Qatar of being a "high level" sponsor of terrorism in remarks made shortly after his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, pushed Qatar's Arab neighbors to "immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation."

The Ashcroft firm was hired to do a compliance and regulatory view of Qatar's anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing framework, Sullivan said in an email.

"Qatar is confident that the review and analysis will confirm that Qatar has significant measures in place to prevent and detect efforts to launder funds and/or to use its financial systems to finance terrorist organizations," he said.

Ashcroft was U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush from February 2001 to February 2005, turbulent years in which U.S. policies and laws were reshaped by the so-called war on terrorism that followed the 2001 al Qaeda attacks.

Ashcroft's firm includes an array of former senior government officials including Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney in Massachusetts appointed by Bush to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Ginger Gibson;

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Turnout after nine hours of voting in France's parliamentary elections on Sunday was 40.75 percent, down around eight points from the same stage in the 2012 vote, the interior ministry said.

If the trend is confirmed it will be the lowest turnout for any first round of a French parliamentary poll in nearly six decades.

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Music in Architecture and Architecture in Music talk will be conducted by Egyptian composer Hany Shenouda

Egyptian composer Hany Shenouda will give a talk about the relationship between music and architecture at the House of Egyptian Architecture on 13 June.

The talk titled Music in Architecture and Architecture in Music probes the connection that many philosophers, musicians and architects have long been interested in exploring, including Christian theologian and philosopher St. Augustine, and the 18th century German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

Goethe is famously quoted Music is liquid architecture, Architecture is frozen music.

Shenouda finds this subject to be timelessly intriguing, and will lead the discussion at the House of Egyptian Architecture.

The event will also feature a performance of musical selections picked by Shenouda.

The composer is known for leading the 1970s ensemble El-Massreieen (The Egyptians). He composed the soundtracks for over 80 Egyptian films. At one point he was a keyboardist of the hit 1960s band Les Petits Chats.

Programme:

Tuesday 13 June, at 9pm

House of Egyptian Architecture, 4 Darb El-Labana, Midan El-Qalaa, Old Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The deterioration of the situation in Yemen has raised calls for the secession of southern Yemen, but that step is neither easy nor straightforward

I was not surprised by the development which took place last month in Yemen, or rather in its southern governorates, where Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, Aden's former governor, who was dismissed by President Mansour Hadi, formed a transitional council for the south of Yemen under the name the Southern Transitional Presidential Council.

This council comprises 26 members, and Al-Zubaidi considers himself the only representative of the southern people in home and abroad.

It is a development that embodies the desire of a significant section of the southern governorates inhabitants to secede and re-establish the old state known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Speaking by phone with one of the academics living in Aden, he told me that this is the best solution because the southerners cannot endure the repercussions of the conflict between the northern political forces which makes the unity state just an illusion, or rather a big burden destroying the wealth of the south for the sake of a war that has no end.

He said that secession is not just a solution for the south but could be one for the north, the Arab states managing the Yemeni affairs, and for the security of the Red Sea as well. Such a viewpoint has now become quite common among a section of the southern governorates' elite. They see that the existence of President Hadi at the top of the state, although he belongs to the south, does not mean a thing for the aspirations of the southerners.

Although 80 percent or more of the diplomatic corps high level positions are occupied by the southern Yemenis and 60 percent of ministers are from the south, southerners do not care much about these numbers and percentages; they are interested that peace and stability prevail.

Such political logic means that the south has not recovered from what the northerners describe as the aftermath of the Unity War in 1994 which took place during Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. This led to the violation of all the customs and sanctities of the south as a whole, caused an enormous number of individual and collective grievances, and entrenched a feeling of injustice and humiliation, the repercussions of which are found to this day in the psyches of many.

This situation facilitated the emergence of what's known as the Southern Movement in June 2007. The popular movement began spontaneously then developed into an organised movement seeking to right wrongs and end grievances while staying within the federal state.

With Saleh's regime deliberately overlooking their demands, the movement raised their demands to the level of returning to the pre-unity stage. Many began to view the northern Yemenis as an occupation force that one day will be made to leave the south.

After the Youth Revolution in March 2011, President Salehs rule was terminated and he officially exited the political equation while on a practical level continuing to play a role, as was obvious in his alliance with the Houthis and their rebellion against the legitimacy of President Hadi.

After all this, the Yemeni state acknowledged the grievances which befell the southerners and pledged--as was established during the National Dialogue that took the whole of 2013 and several months in 2014--to recompense them, restore their material and moral rights and allocate a suitable space for the southerners in governance and decision-making.

However, the feelings of injustice remained prevalent among southerners, or at least the feelings of doubt in the state's capacity to fulfill its promises.

I participated in a workshop held in Sanaa in the summer of 2013 to discuss conclusions related to the south with a number of southern intellectuals, who were representatives of groups that contributed to the national dialogue. There were also representatives of the UN Security Councils permanent members sponsoring the Yemeni national dialogue as well as representatives of European countries among the participants.

I noticed in the interventions of the intellectuals and academics from the southern governorates a kind of nostalgia for the Democratic Yemens experience and a feeling of that they bore much for the sake of unity before its establishment and bore much, much more after its establishment.

It is important to notice that the Houthi coup and its ally, the deposed President Saleh, has offered the southerners an opportunity they did not dream of, for the state with its official authority was entangled in confronting the Houthi coups repercussions; then the Operation Decisive Storm came and there was no Yemeni army in the south, for what remained of it was still loyal to President Hadi and was engaged in pursuing Houthis in northern governorates.

A widespread power vacuum occurred, which was exploited by extremist groups working freely and firmly to establish their existence in more than one southern city. Hence, this drove the southerners to return to their heritage in administering the state away from the influence of the capital Sanaa, which now has no impact whatsoever on Yemeni affairs.

Rumours began to circulate about Arab countries in the Arab alliance backing and supporting the independence of the south of Yemen as an exit from the Yemeni crisis.

In the light of both this environment and the limited presence of the legitimate presidents symbols and ministers in the capital, Aden, the call for secession became more and more reinforced based on southerners actual administration of their lives with their own hands, while at the same time they are excluded from controlling the resources and wealth lying in their lands. Thus, secession became bigger than a movement for demands that didnt achieve anything.

However, realising secession isnt an easy matter, for it isnt only a Yemeni decision, it is in the first place an international and regional decision one and the prevalent current is against secession. The priority is to end the Houthi coup and regain Sanaa as a capital for the whole of Yemen. It may take some time to materialise and in the meantime the southern secession demand will be further entrenched, especially in the light of President Hadis governments weak political and developmental performance.



The writer is a political commentator.

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(Photo: Peter Prove / WCC)WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and president of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in on May 30, 2017 in Seoul.

Citing "escalating confrontation and heightened risks of catastrophic conflict" on the Korean peninsula, the World Council of Churches has called for the lifting of sanctions against North Korea.

The council's executive committee in a statement on June 11 urged that "a paradigm shift in approaches to the resolution of the geopolitical challenges of the region is urgently needed."

The call comes at a time when UN sanctions have been increased on North Korea for its campaign of firing missiles that heighten tensions with its neighbor South Korea and Japan.

North Korea says it is "not far away" from test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the United States, The Hill reported on the same days as the WCC statement.

"U.S. President Donald Trump has said the world will never see North Korea reach the final stage of developing nuclear weapons that could reach the U.S.," the State-run (North) Korean Central News Agency said, citing a commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, according to Bloomberg News.

In its statement, the WCC's executive committee offered a range of bold ideas to further "the ecumenical movement's support for and engagement in new initiatives for dialogue and peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula."

These include a freeze on the annual joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, halting further missile or nuclear weapons tests by North Korea, suspension of international sanctions against North Korea.

The statement referred to the recent meeting of the WCC general secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, with newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul on 30 May 2017, "to offer the ecumenical movement's support for and engagement in new initiatives for dialogue and peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula."

They also include ecumenical efforts toward a peace treaty to replace the armistice agreement of 1953, continued efforts to address ongoing issues of human rights, and stepped up support for encounter, exchange, and dialogue among Christians North and South.

The 25-member WCC's executive committee that meets every six months gathered in Bossey, Switzerland, near Geneva, addressing a range of programmatic and public issues.

It meets every six months to guide the work of the council, which represents 560 million Christians worldwide, between biennial gatherings of the WCC central committee, the main governing body.

In its statement the WCC, "stresses the importance of the governments of both South and North Korea not obstructing but enabling encounter, exchange and dialogue between North and South Korean Christians, in the interests both of inter-church relations and of people-to-people encounter to help reduce tensions and as a contribution to opening new windows for dialogue."
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
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Ahead of Ramadan 2017, Canada Post issued its first ever Eid stamp honouring Islams important holidays: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

An explanation accompanied the ten-stamp booklet:

Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are two of the most important festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Ramadan fast. Eid al-Adha commemorates Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God and marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Both celebrations can include special ritual prayers, lavish meals, visits with friends and family, gift-giving and acts of charity.

To some it may seem like a token of tolerance and respect, but to many Muslim Canadians it exhibits how valued diversity and multiculturalism are in Canada.

Over a million Muslims live in Canada, accounting for 3.2 percent of the population and making Islam the second largest religion after Christianity. Over 90 mosques are spread over the vast country, mainly in urban hubs. And since Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion, belief and peaceful assembly, faithful Muslims practice the pillars of Islam undisturbed.

However, as brazen terrorist attacks occur worldwide by those who claim they are Muslims, it is important to see how concerned Muslim Canadians are about hate crimes stemming from a backlash after terrorist attacks: Islamophobia, discrimination, stereotyping, and fear for own safety.

The Islamophobic frenzy that swarms the US and Europe does not exist in Canada. Of course, Canada has not experienced a 9/11 or its aftermath. Only one case stands out: a series of shootings on Parliament Hill in 2014, by a deranged person of Libyan descent that left one soldier dead. The incident was not followed by any reported hate crimes.

As it does everywhere in the Western world, the hijab remains the most visible of Muslim traits, and the cause of much friction. One case was quite controversial in Canada.

In March, 2015, a Quebec judge refused to hear the case of a Muslim woman unless she removed her hijab. The judge compared the hijab to a hat and sunglasses, which are not allowed in court.

The judges comments were condemned by Canadians, including then prime-minister-to-be Justin Trudeau. A Quebec Superior Court justice later criticised the judges actions and considered the premise she adopted, comparing the hijab to a hat and sunglasses, to have no force of law in Canada.

Feeling safe, a Syrian refugee wears a headscarf in Downtown Vancouver despite the odd first glance by onlookers. Veiled Saudi students are treated similarly to others at universities. Muslim Iranian students, veiled and not, lead ordinary lives on Canadian campuses.

In Ontario, Muslim students pray as a group on Fridays. This has been going on for years. Lately, however, some have protested the 20-minute group prayer and called for the Jummahs" ban, calling it inappropriate exposure to religion in a secular school system.

Ultimately the Province of Ontario determined that the Friday prayer was in full compliance with human rights codes and guidelines for religious accommodation.

The niqab is a different matter altogether. Many non-Muslim Canadians see it as an infringement on rights, feeling uncomfortable with a woman covering her face in public. However, even the requirement for a woman to show her face has been ruled unconstitutional.

Zenera Ishaq, a Muslim of Pakistani origin, took the oath of Canadian citizenship while wearing a niqab. Originally, she was denied the opportunity to participate in a citizenship ceremony unless she uncovered her face. Ishaq took the issue to court and won the case.

Although hate crimes have increased in recent years, they remain minor and not deadly, with the exception of a tragedy that occurred in early 2017.

An assault on a Quebec City mosque took the lives of six Muslim worshippers and injured nineteen others. Unnerving the whole country, the assault left Canadians reeling in shock and was condemned as a terrorist attack by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Condemning the assault, Trudeau said More than one million Canadian Muslims coming to grips with a bloody terrorist attack at a Quebec City mosque must know they are loved and not alone in their pain. Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours.

Clearly Trudeau celebrates multiculturalism in all its forms. In June 2016, the prime minister spoke on multiculturalism as the long and proud tradition of inclusion and diversity.

"As the first country in the world to adopt a policy of multiculturalism 45 years ago, Canada has shown time and time again that a country can be stronger not in spite of its differences, but because of them.

"Our roots reach out to every corner of the globe. We are from far and wide, and speak over 200 languages. Our national fabric is vibrant and varied, woven together by many cultures and heritages, and underlined by a core value of respect.

"Multiculturalism is our strength, as synonymous with Canada as the Maple Leaf," Trudeau said.

Personally, I stand out only slightly in Canadian society. I have a dark complexion; I have a slight though some may say thick accent and I spend months out of the year in my birthplace: Egypt. However, I dont wear a headscarf; I am loud and outspoken; and my gender and age are not that of a stereotypical terrorist. In all fairness, I cannot represent the Muslim multitudes.

So how have I been treated in Canada? I have never been intimidated, harassed, or discriminated against verbally or physically. I enjoy the same freedoms bestowed on everyone else. While still teaching, I was often recognised as the Egyptian prof, if someone couldnt recall who I was exactly, but thats about it.

Among other ethnicities and spiritual diversities, such as Sikhs, Asians, Latinos, and Africans, everyone is an immigrant in Canada with equal rights and freedoms.

I dont know how non-Muslim Canadians would react if Canada was suddenly hit by a slew of horrendous, bloodthirsty attacks as seen elsewhere around the world. Will life in Canada as Muslims know it change?

I hope nothing of this sort happens, so that Canada may remain as inviting and as peaceful as it has always been.

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.

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Fifty years ago, our fathers' and mothers' generation engraved the feat of steadfastness on the land. Can our generation today engrave the feat of unity, in order to gain freedom?

Fifty years have passed since the Israeli army occupied the West Bank, including Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Almost 70 years have passed since more than two thirds of the Palestinian people were displaced at the hands of Zionist gangs.

During all these harsh years, the Palestinian people didn't succumb and didn't concede their national rights. They resisted with all means, everywhere, sacrificing tens of thousands of martyrs, as well as those injured and about one million male and female captives detained in occupation prisons.

Despite repression and abuse, seizing lands and properties and the incursion of the settlement monster, despite the imposition of inadequate and tragic agreements such as Oslo, despite repeated barbaric Israeli invasions and aggressions in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian people's cause not only remained alive but rather became the first issue of human conscience in our times.

Perhaps the greatest exploit made by our Palestinian people was during and after what the Arabs called Al-Naqsa or 'The Setback', what Israel named as the "Six-Day War" and what the Palestinians identified as the "Huzairan Aggression", that was the heroic steadfastness of the Palestinians on the territory of their homeland and refusal to leave or be displaced after what they learned from the bitter "Nakba" (the Catastrophe) experience in 1948.

Many of us remember their fathers, uncles and mothers determination, in those black days, to stay in their homeland even if it cost them their lives. For death, as they say, was easier to tolerate than the humiliation of being displaced once again. This spontaneous and legendary steadfastness, based on bitter historical experience, actually was the best achievement made by the Palestinian people in their struggle against the Zionist movement. For it resulted in destroying the core of the Zionist project based on seizing the land and displacing its Palestinian inhabitants, then claiming that it is a land without a people.

Today, the result of this struggle is that the number of Palestinians living on Palestine's historical land once again returned to exceed that of Israeli Jews. If not for this human steadfastness, Israel would have succeeded in annexing all the occupied lands and liquidating the Palestinian cause. Thanks to the diverse kinds of resistance since the first days of occupation, culminating in the first Intifada, the Palestinian presence became an effective and influential presence, not just a passive human mass.

He who has lived in Palestine over the past 50 years knows that every facet of life was an issue of resistance. For education became resistance, praying turned into resistance, having treatment became resistance, building a house, a school, a clinic, a mosque or a church became a form of resistance.

Generations after generations were engaged in struggle activities from the hardest form to the simplest one, but all of which were a struggle for freedom, dignity and getting rid of the occupation, persecution and forced displacement.

As magic turns on the magician, the new occupation turned to be a reminder and a revival of the memory of the older occupation and the first Nakba that befell the Palestinian people. Today, the Palestinian people are not only facing the repercussions of the Nakba and the longest occupation in modern history, but what turned out to be the worst form of racial discrimination (apartheid) in human history.

The experiences of failed, bitter negotiations, Oslo's horrible mistakes and what resulted in preoccupation with an authority that is entirely under occupation, proved that there is no way for the Palestinians except steadfastness and an honourable and dignified struggle in order to gain their freedom. It has become clear that the occupation will not go away, the refugees will not return and that the captives will not be freed unless the balance of powers is changed through wide scale popular resistance, the adoption of a total boycott against the occupation, strengthening the steadfastness of Palestinians in their homeland, integrating their constituents at home and abroad, working on ending all internal divisions, achieving national unity and setting up a unified national leadership.

Israel's rulers realise the huge impact of the Palestinian demographic presence, whether in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, or in the 1948 lands. Consequently, their plots always focus on partitioning, dividing Palestinians and sowing discord among their ranks. Even partitioning became a mechanism in itself for implementing discrimination and racial apartheid as a United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) report recently pointed out.

Thus, Israel's government is keen to separate Gaza from the rest of the Palestinian territories and strives to isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian milieu.

Most of its effort during the past 70 years has been directed to transform the Palestinian cause from a people's cause with all its constituents into problems of partitioned and divided human groups. It did not miss an opportunity to feed internal divisions.

Therefore, the road to victory and freedom passes first through having real faith in the Palestinian people's ability to resist and overcome injustice, and second through exerting sincere effort to unify Palestinian energies and constituents and their struggling, political and societal forces.

The writer is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

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"Long-term, we believe we are in the final stages of the cycle that started back in 2007 at 2.1160. What isnt clear yet is whether the flash-crash low of 1.1490 completed that move or whether we have another final move below there. What we are confident of is that the basing process will take a long-time." Lloyds 12 Jun

Currency Exchange Markets summary (13-06-2017 - 08:45):

The GBP to EUR rate today: +0.11% at 1.13273.

USD to GBP rate today: -0.08pct at 0.78869.

The GBP to USD rate today: +0.08% at 1.26792

Notable GBP/USD Weekly Risk Event in Forex Calendar: "The US Fed is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday" note Lloyds Bank

As FX markets enter Tuesday 13th June trading session, the British pound is seen a touch higher against the key majors.

Despite Fridays UK general election result being a big shock to Pound traders, the British currency opened the new trading week steady against the US dollar at 1.274 and 1.137 versus the euro.

The British currency saw one of its biggest one-day drops of the last year in reaction to the hung parliament news and could remain weak so long as uncertainty persists.

"After a final lurch down to 1.2636 on the confirmation of the election results, prices have recovered and are now back consolidating between 1.2700 and 1.2785" note Lloyds analysts in a brief to clients on Monday 12th June.

"More important resistance is above at 1.2850. A rally through these levels is needed to suggest the market can re-test the 1.3050-1.3100 resistance region."

"Until then our medium-term bias remains for a move back towards supports around 1.2550, with 1.2350 below there, within a 1.19801.3100 range."

Pound's Move Lower Justified Say Deutsche Bank Analysts

"We see the initial move lower in GBP on the election result as justified. The election has resulted in a weaker rather than a stronger UK government, which will make negotiations with the EU27 more difficult. The medium-term outlook will depend on the tone of the Prime Ministers stance on Brexit and fiscal policy over the next few hours and days. A course towards softer Brexit, and even a second referendum, has potentially been opened, albeit is highly path-dependent. But if the UK government sticks with existing Brexit plans in a much weaker domestic political position, significant sterling and/or economic weakness would again be required to shift the UK away from a crash Brexit."

GBP/USD Briefly Spikes to 1.2975, post-Brexit Best

The British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate briefly rose to high of 1.2975 last week before the UK election exit polls came in.

As a hung parliament became clearer however, GBP/USD plummeted and for most of Friday trended near its worst levels since April, 1.2652.

The biggest movements by far last week came when UK general election polls closed on Thursday evening.

An exit poll was promptly published indicating that Britain was headed for a hung parliament and the Pound plummeted.

Throughout the night the hung parliament became clear as the Conservative party failed to win a majority of seats. On Friday Sterling recovered slightly from its worst levels, but concerns about the capabilities of a minority Conservative government weighed heavily on the British currency.

With a minority government, its much easier for parliament opposition to prevent economic legislation from being passed. Analysts have said that Britains economic outlook has worsened as a result.

Perhaps even more vital is how the new, weaker government will affect the Brexit process, which begun earlier this year.

Analysts speculate Brexit negotiations will now see many more obstacles, regardless of how the Conservative party proceeds. This means the Pound could be in for an extended period of new uncertainty and weakness.

The US Dollar was easily able to benefit from Pound weakness last week, as June Federal Reserve interest rate hike bets remain above 95% and Trump jitters have subsided slightly.

Last Thursday saw ex-FBI director James Comey testify to US Congress about the circumstances of his firing by US President Donald Trump. No significant new information came from the testimony and concerns that Trump would face a drop in support from Congress faded slightly.

The coming week is unlikely to see a big improvement in Pound exchange rates, regardless of the weeks UK data. The lingering uncertainty of a minority government, especially with formal Brexit negotiations set to begin in the coming weeks, will make the Pound unappealing to investors.

There is also speculation that due to her misjudgement in calling a general election, UK Prime Minister Theresa May could be ousted as Conservative leader. If May does indeed lose her position, uncertainty will worsen and the Pound will fall further.

Next weeks UK data is still worth paying attention to however. Britains May inflation data will be published on Tuesday, followed by April employment stats on Wednesday and May retail sales on Thursday.

Thursday will also see the Bank of England (BoE) hold its June monetary policy decision. The bank is likely to maintain caution due to Britains political situation. In the event the BoE hints that monetary policy could be loosened even further, the Pound will drop.

As for the US Dollar, next week will be a big one. The Federal Reserve is set to hold its June monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and markets widely expect the bank will hike US interest rates. This would be the second US interest rate hike of 2017 so far.

As this is already largely priced into the US Dollar however, the Greenback is unlikely to strengthen much if the Fed does indeed hike rates. On the other hand if the Fed leaves rates frozen, GBP/USD could rise as the US Dollar plunges.

Wednesday will also see the publication of Mays US inflation results and retail sales stats. If inflation falls short of expectations, traders will become concerned about the outlook of further US interest rate hikes.
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The recent demise of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, after a 146-year run, diminishes opportunities for the public to see acrobatics.

But the Georgia-based Cirque de la Symphonie company is one organization keeping alive the spectacle of remarkable human abilities in its shows with symphony orchestras in concert halls.

The San Antonio Symphony, for its season-ending program, presented Cirque de la Symphonie for the third time Friday night, after previous shows in 2011 and 2015, before an audience of nearly 1,200 people at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

The cirque company of seven performers, nearly all of them with Russian backgrounds, continuously astonished the audience with feats from aerial flyers, jugglers, balancers and strongmen, drawing nearly continuous applause.

Janice Martin was the first to amaze by playing an electric violin while swinging above the stage on flowing nylon ropes while the orchestra played Camille Saint-Saens Danse macabre.

The comic juggler Vladimir Tsarkov was featured twice, once with hoops and then with illuminated bowling pins. Pavel Korshunov swung wide over the audience seating area as an aerialist to the orchestras Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner.

Elena Tsarkova drew gasps in a magic act in which she changed costumes numerous times in a blink.

Vitalii Buza did the unimaginable in a balancing act using a large hoop. He returned with Ekaterina Borzikova in an aerialist act that might best be described as ballet in the air while the orchestra performed Peter Tchaikovskys waltz from Eugene Onegin.

Cirque de la Symphonie traditionally ends its shows with its strongmen act. Korshunov and Vitaliy Prikhodko provided oohs and ahs with their mighty, slow-motion balancing and strength act to the orchestras performance of Jean Sibelius Finlandia.

The orchestra punctuated the acrobatic acts with its own virtuosity in four pieces without the cirque performers, especially with its exciting opening piece, Dmitri Shostakovichs Festive Overture. The musicians also crisply played Wolfgang Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro Overture, Mikhail Glinkas Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture and Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dance, No. 6.

Directing wonderfully was Associate Conductor Akiko Fujimoto in her final program before moving next season to the Minnesota Orchestra.

The program repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Tobin Center downtown.

dhendricks@express-news.net
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New City Council members were elected in runoffs Saturday to represent four districts in the northern half of San Antonio.

The four, Greg Brockhouse in District 6, Manny Pelaez in District 8, John Courage in District 9 and Clay Perry in District 10 join newcomers Ana Sandoval, who won District 7 in May, and William Cruz Shaw, who defeated incumbent Alan Warrick in his runoff for District 2 on Saturday.

Brockhouse, a former mortgage-bank executive and consultant, defeated attorney Melissa Cabello Havrda for the Northwest Side district.

He and his wife, Annalisa lingered among an ever-growing crowd at Violas Ventanas on the patio as they waited for results.

Anything we do tonight and for the next two years is going to come because we are going to do from the heart and for the neighborhoods, he said as it became apparent that he had won.

I'm just happy its over, Brockhouse said earlier in the evening. People can go on with their lives. I'm proud of my team and my family.

In District 8, Pelaez, a lawyer, defeated homemaker Cynthia Brehm to secure the council post currently occupied by Councilman Ron Nirenberg, who was elected mayor.

The North-Central Side race to represent whats believed to be the city's most diverse council district, with a large number of international migrants and foreign-born professionals, has been rocky and contentious, with the candidates exchanging jabs.

Pelaez, who was surrounded by nearly 100 supporters at his election watch party at the Flying Saucer, said he planned to rest Sunday, but to get to work Monday on serving the district.

I'm am so excited, Im ready to burst, he told a raucous room full of supporters at the tavern-restaurant.

Pelaez said he wants to focus right away on traffic, safety and economic development  three of the complex issues, along with urban growth, that he said San Antonio is grappling with in the 21st century.

Among his supporters were his grandmother and uncle, who surprised him by flying in from their home in Bogata, Colombia, the night before.

Thats the sweetest thing thats been done for me, said Pelaez, who cited a broad-based support in his district, including many of the estimated 30,000 practicing Muslims who he said live there.

In another hard-fought race in District 9, Courage, and educator, upset businessman Marco Barros to replace Councilman Joe Krier, who chose not to seek re-election in a race focused on traffic, property crime and integrity at City Hall.

The mood was especially lively at Courages campaign headquarters as supporters celebrated surrounding a projection showing he had scored an upset win over Barros.

As results came in showing Courages lead ever-so-slightly expanding, his supporters only grew more excited that they would finally have a progressive representing them at City Hall.

Thank you for being here for the last six months, said Courage, a technology and history teacher at Little Flower Catholic School and former trustee of the Alamo Colleges District board. I want to say that I really owe this victory to the voters in District 9 who turned out in large numbers for this campaign.

While just 18 votes separated retired Air Force engineer Perry and attorney Ezra Johnson in the May election, Perry emerged victorious in District 10.

About 90 minutes after polls closed, Perry addressed the crowd.

I dont consider myself to be a politician, he said. I want to be called your neighbor. He acknowledged Johnson, joking that he had yet to receive any phone calls but he said Johnson worked very, very hard.

People listened to my message, and they were supportive, Perry said, in between conversations with supporters in the middle of the banquet room. It's a conservative district and I'm going to keep it conservative. I'll represent the conservative values of District 10.

Perrys first priority as councilman will be to focus on rising crime rates, he said.

Express-News Staff Writers Forrest Milburn and Janelle Polcyn contributed to this report.
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In a decisive victory, Councilman Ron Nirenberg defeated incumbent Ivy Taylor on Saturday, winning the mayors seat after a divisive runoff election in which Nirenberg questioned Taylors leadership and the incumbents campaign painted Nirenberg as Liberal Ron.

Taylor served just one elected two-year term after she was appointed to the seat in 2014.

Speaking before hundreds of supporters at his campaign headquarters, Nirenberg said he and his campaign exceeded everyones expectations but their own.

Tonight, the voters got it right  on a lot of things. Tonight, the voters rejected the politics of division and false choices, he said before a raucous crowd of a few hundred supporters. And they said yes to a bigger and brighter vision of inclusion, of diversity, of fairness, or respecting each and every person in San Antonio, no matter if you live on the North Side, the South Side, the East Side, the West Side or any place in between. Tonight, the voters said yes to a mayor for all of San Antonio.

Nirenberg, 40, thanked Taylor for her service to the city and said he looked forward to meeting with the new City Council, which will be seated June 22. Nirenberg will preside over a mostly new council, with six incoming freshmen members on the 10-member panel.

Hell also likely find allies in council members Rey Saldana and Shirley Gonzales, who both attended his Saturday party, and Roberto Trevino, who won his runoff Saturday as well.

Though Nirenberg long has said hes a political independent who doesnt subscribe to any party, hes been seen as the progressive candidate, while Taylor, who generally votes in Democratic primaries, has been the conservative option.

Nirenberg dismissed the notion Saturday that voters have to make divisive choices.

The voters said we dont have to choose between Democrats and Republicans. We dont have to choose between the economy and the environment, he said. We dont have to choose between respecting our faith and giving dignity to all people.

At times during his 10-minute speech, Nirenberg appeared almost as a revival tent preacher, making powerful, visionary statements to energized supporters who continually responded with shouts of, Yes! and, Thats right!

Nirenberg introduced his wife, Erika Propser, and their son, Jonah, and thanked his parents and siblings, his friends and mentors and the staff and volunteers who worked countless hours to win the race.

Voters supporting Nirenberg did so in a significant way. In an era of razor-thin victories and losses, the mayor-elect jumped 10 points ahead of Taylor  a margin that surprised even the inner ranks of Nirenbergs campaign.

Taylor, 46, flanked by her husband, Rodney and daughter, Morgan, addressed her supporters just before 9 p.m., conceding the race.

It doesnt look like its going the way we anticipated this evening, she said. But you know what? I am so grateful to God.

Taylor quoted a lengthy Bible verse  which was recited in unison by many of those at the party.

I am at peace, Taylor said. I am so thankful to each and every person in this room for your support, for your prayers, for being there for me, for Morgan, for Rodney.

Taylor thanked her family, the faith community, and her council staff, proudly detailing her teams accomplishments in her three years as mayor.

Did yall know that we got a contract for our police officers? a confident, almost defiant, Taylor said, to loud applause. The cheers continued with each accomplishment she listed.

Did yall know that we have a plan to help guide the growth of our city? Did yall know we got all the homeless veterans off the street? Did yall know we passed an $850 million bond?

Taylor said she remains committed to doing community development work and to connect people to opportunity.

Saturdays results ended Taylors mayoral tenure after she first took the position in summer 2014, when she was appointed by her colleagues, partly because she promised she wouldnt run for a full term in 2015.

She ran a successful underfunded, dark-horse campaign then against former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and spent two years growing into the position. In the 2017 race, Taylor raised funds typical of an incumbent, and ran a frontrunners campaign.

Since 2016, Taylor raised nearly $1.1 million in campaign contributions and spent nearly $1 million. Nirenberg, who spent most of 2016 raising money as a council member rather than mayoral candidate  which meant he could accept no more than $500 from anyone while Taylor could receive up to $1,000 per donor  raised and spent a sizable amount on his mayoral campaign.

But he defeated Taylor with about 70 percent of the resources she had over the same time period.

Some of Taylors actions may have hurt her re-election campaign. Most recently, in the majority-Hispanic city, Taylor refused to support the push to sue the state over Senate Bill 4, the sanctuary-cities crackdown. Though she said she worried about the suits effect during a special legislative session, her move widely was seen as one taken to appease North Side conservative voters.

Taylor also took a beating from Nirenberg over a skyrocketing violent crime rate under her watch. He hammered her in a direct-mail piece saying she had a failed record on violent crime and that murders, assaults and other violence rose precipitously under the mayor.

And Taylors runoff campaign, managed by Democratic consultant Colin Strother, took a decidedly negative approach to Nirenberg  in print, on the airwaves and across social media.

The San Antonio Police Officers Association spent heavily on direct-mail pieces attacking Nirenberg as well.

Some of those attacks attempted to smear the mayor-elect because he was endorsed by former Mayors Julian Castro and Phil Hardberger  two leaders generally liked by San Antonio voters.

Castro said gone are the days of slandering San Antonians with the term liberal. He said Saturday nights results underscore that San Antonio is a progressive city. The Taylor campaign and its surrogates targeted Nirenberg because of his support from the Castros.

Their clunky attempts to attack Ron by calling him a liberal and linking him to Joaquin and me failed miserably, Castro said. People can see through those smokescreens.

jbaugh@express-news.net
KERRVILLE  A young mother brought her two daughters to Peterson Regional Medical Center here in grave condition Wednesday, claiming they had collapsed during an outing at Flat Rock Park.

But officials soon determined that the mother, 19-year-old Amanda Hawkins, had left the children in her SUV for 15 hours while she was visiting friends, leading to the girls deaths Thursday. She was arrested on charges of child endangerment.

This is by far the most horrific case of child endangerment that I have seen in the 37 years that I have been in law enforcement, Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said in a news release Friday announcing Hawkins arrest.

District Attorney Lucy Wilke said additional charges could be forthcoming after she reviews the case.

Hierholzer said 1-year-old Brynn Hawkins and 2-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy were transferred from Peterson to University Hospital on Thursday, where they died at 5 p.m. that day. Autopsies have been ordered.

The sheriff said investigators determined that the girls had been intentionally left overnight in the SUV starting about 9 p.m. Tuesday as Hawkins visited friends inside a residence, the news release stated.

Around noon Wednesday, the two girls were discovered unconscious in the vehicle, the release stated, and the mother attempted to (bathe) them and did not immediately want to take the girls to the hospital because she did not want to get into trouble.

The SUVs windows were partially down some of the time the children were in the vehicle, Hierholzer said. The temperature dipped to about 60 degrees overnight before climbing to about 85 at noon Wednesday, according to online weather data. But the humidity topped out at 96 percent, meaning 85 degrees could have felt like 105 degrees, according to a heat index chart.

Hawkins was arrested in San Antonio and was being held in Bexar County on $70,000 bail on two charges of abandoning or endangering a child. She was still awaiting transfer to Kerr County late Friday.

A joint investigation by deputies and Kerrville police is continuing, and Hierholzer did not rule out others being charged in connection with the deaths.

Hawkins and her husband, Isaac Hawkins, Brynns father, were investigated by Child Protective Services last year. Mary Walker, CPS spokeswoman, confirmed that the agency investigated the Hawkinses in September but said she couldnt discuss any details or the outcome of that investigation.

Isaac Hawkins, who is estranged from his wife, was not present when the children were left in the SUV.

Deaths in Texas

The girls deaths upset family and residents across the region.

Amanda Hawkins mother, Alisha Eddy of Kerrville, was sobbing so hard that she could barely speak during a brief phone conversation Friday.

I had the two most beautiful grandbabies, Eddy cried. I dont agree with what happened.  But I love my daughter. Im there for my daughter.

She then passed the phone to a woman who identified herself only as an aunt, who said, Were just bewildered and confused.

Texas leads the nation in children dying from overheating in vehicles, with at least 112 fatalities from 1991 to 2016, according to KidsAndCars.org.

Eleven children died of heat stroke this year nationwide from being left in cars, not counting those in recent days, according to noheatstroke.org, which tallied 39 deaths nationwide last year.

The last child to die after being left in car in the San Antonio area was 7-month-old Dillon Martinez, whose father forgot to drop him off at a day care center and left him in his car in the August heat from 6:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. while he went to work at a Walmart in Helotes.

That was the first area child to die in a hot car in six years.

Hard times

Court records show Amanda and Isaac Hawkins were evicted in May from a local duplex.

Amanda Hawkins, who worked as a stocker at Walmart, had sought $1,500 in financial assistance on a GoFundMe page set up online in December, but it failed to generate any donations.

Im trying to raise money to get us into a home. We are living with my grandparents. We are both working but its still hard. Any help is greatly appreciated. We will be buying this house, the posting read.

A woman who had been the Hawkinses neighbor when they lived in the duplex expressed shock Friday over the childrens deaths.

Its terrible. The poor little things, said the woman, who recalled dirty diapers littering the yard when the Hawkinses lived there and a large mess being left behind when they were evicted.

One of the little girls was always running around in a diaper. No shoes, no nothing, the neighbor said.

Neither Isaac Hawkins nor Austin J. Overgard, the father of Addyson R. Overgard-Eddy could be reached for comment.

News Researcher Misty Harris contributed to this report.
Hundreds of protesters, some of them armed, gathered at a park in Houston on Saturday to defend Sam Houston.

Carrying Texas and Confederate flags, participants seem concerned that the Sam Houston statue at Hermann Park might be removed because the historic figure owned slaves.

Antifa and Quanell X are dedicated to remove our heritage, one man said. Texas Antifa bills itself as an organization fighting fascism; Quanell X is an activist in Houston.

David Amad, one of the organizers of the demonstration, said the group wants others to understand San Houstons contribution to Texas history. The demonstration was organized after members heard that Texas Antifa was planning to show up to advocate removal of the statue.

Erasing history for the sake of political correctness or to make somebody feel better, its not just stupid  its dangerous, Amad said.

The guns werent meant for intimidation but for protection, he said.

Amad called slavery horrible and said he understands how some could have trouble dealing with the fact that Houston was a slave owner.

Sam Houston owned slaves, and that sucks, so say it sucks, but don't discount the fact that he led the army that freed this state from a dictator, Amad said.

During the demonstration, Amad said, people spoke about Houstons contribution to history and why its important to preserve his statue.

He said most people at the protest were from This is Texas, a recently formed group that advocates for the state and wants to preserve its history.

brooke.lewis@chron.com
At Ron Nirenbergs victory party there was plenty of elation but no surprise.

As the mayor-to-bes supporters gathered in a downtown parking lot outside his campaign headquarters, across the street from Maverick Park, the sound system blasted out a celebratory mix of his favorite classic-rock tunes, including Creedence Clearwater Revivals Fortunate Son and the Steve Miller Bands The Joker.

Nirenberg had pulled off the implausible, if not the impossible, by defeating incumbent Mayor Ivy Taylor. I wasnt surprised by the victory, but amazed by the commanding margin. But Nirenbergs supporters saw it coming, and I should have, too.

After all, it was obvious throughout this five-week runoff sprint that all the energy was on Nirenbergs side. His backers were invigorated by his surprisingly close showing in the general election and they could smell the finish line.

Nirenberg also succeeded in sweeping up voters who supported the insurgent mayoral candidacy of Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina in the general election. Many of Medinas loyalists would have gravitated to Nirenberg anyway, but he got a boost in the runoff with a full-throated endorsement from former Mayor Julian Castro.

Castros mother, Rosie, a longtime political activist, was at Nirenbergs victory party and described herself as ecstatic. She added: I think the city is ready to go back in a progressive direction.

I thought Julian Castros endorsement could be a double-edged sword for Nirenberg, solidifying his standing with progressive Democrats, but possibly alienating North Side conservatives. Taylors campaign made a similar assumption, launching a tacky, satiric website lampooning Nirenberg as Liberal Ron and branding him a flip-flopping opportunist.

That old political paradigm didnt apply in this election. Consider the fact that John Courage, a liberal Democrat who had tried and failed in repeated attempts at elective office, pulled off a stunning upset in District 9, the citys most traditionally conservative district, over chamber favorite Marco Barros.

With the benefit of Saturdays election numbers, its obvious that Taylors Liberal Ron gambit was a desperation move. It was an aggressive, strident attack from a low-key, self-effacing mayor, and it simply didnt suit her.

Taylor has a formidable background in urban planning, but on the political level, shes always been something of a blank slate on whom people can project what they choose to see.

Two years ago, conservatives aligned themselves with her because she had pulled the plug on a controversial downtown streetcar project. They ignored the fact that as a council member she had twice voted for it.

This time around, conservatives liked the fact that Taylor, unlike Nirenberg, opposed the citys decision to join a lawsuit against the state over SB 4, the recently enacted sanctuary cities ban. They ignored the fact that Taylor had repeatedly stated that she, like Nirenberg, disliked SB 4.

Over her three years in office, Taylor consistently touted herself as a basic-services mayor, focused on public safety, streets and sidewalks. Nirenberg succeeded in convincing voters that our challenges were too big for such a modest approach.

Our community will take on more than a million new residents over the next 25 years. Well have growing transportation problems. We already have rising housing costs that are threatening the stability of our neighborhoods. And we saw our citys homicide rate spike by 61 percent last year.

Truthfully, even running for mayor was a bold move from Nirenberg. It was the first time in 18 years that a sitting council member had challenged an incumbent San Antonio mayor.

In politics as in sports, if you want to dethrone the champion, you have to take it from them. They wont just give it up. Nirenberg did that, working with a zeal that was astounding. I cant count the number of anecdotal accounts I heard about him knocking on doors on the West and South Sides in the early morning hours.

As a council member, Nirenberg often struggled to build a consensus during his first four years, and didnt get a single vote from his colleagues when he sought the mayoral appointment in 2014. But hell have six new council members to work with as mayor, and it all adds up to the kind of sea-change election his supporters wanted  and expected.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Diane Keaton wants James Norton to be the next James Bond.

James Norton

The 71-year-old actress thinks her 'Hampstead' co-star - who plays her on-screen son in the upcoming movie - has exactly what it takes to take on the role of the suave British spy when Daniel Craig eventually steps down.

She gushed: "Don't you think he's going to be the next James Bond? We were all talking about it on the set of 'Hampstead'. He ticks every box - he's beautiful, he's a man, he's very sexy, he is smart and he even went to Cambridge."

The 31-year-old actor was left amazed but flattered by his co-star's comments, and admitted he was unsurprised by her plain speaking.

He told Event magazine: "I can't quite believe she said that. But then again I can. Diane is exactly what you want her to be like, which is basically like no one else but her.

"As soon as I met her it was like seeing Annie Hall; not just the way she dresses but the way she talks, the ways she behaves. She just constantly asks questions. She wanted to know all about my girlfriend, my family, how I'd renovated my flat."

But James insisted any talk linking him to the role is just speculation - and if he was offered the iconic part, he'd want Diane by his side on screen again.

He said: "Just to be mentioned in the same sentence as James Bond is a pretty big compliment as far as I'm concerned. But so far - even though people talk about it - it's just speculation.

"But if it ever comes to pass that there is in the future even the remotest conversation about Bond, there will only be one condition as far as I am concerned, which would be to have Diane Keaton as a Bond girl. I don't see why that couldn't happen. She's beautiful, she's as iconic as Bond himself. It's definitely a plan."
Fethiye Times News  our pick of whats been going on in Fethiye and around the region over the last week.

Cruise ships to receive $30 government support per passenger

The Turkish government will give financial support of $30 per passenger to A-group travel agencies bringing 750-plus capacity cruise ships to Turkey.

The number of cruise passengers to Turkey increased from 800,000 in early 2000 to over 2 million in 2015.

Last year, as a result of the events in Turkey, most cruise companies removed Turkey from their routes. The government hopes to increase the figure back to 2 million.

Despite the temporary downturn in the sector, cruise companies interest in Turkey is rising. Offers are coming from Russia and Ukraine for cruise tours around the Black Sea area. Tura Tourism Chairman, Erkunt Oner, said they have started work on cruise tours on the Black Sea for 2018. We plan to launch a one-week tour starting from Sochi, Russia to Trabzon, Samsun, Istanbul and back to Sochi, Oner said.

Royal Caribbean Marketing Director, Cihangir Canylmaz, also said that they would run cruises to Turkey in 2018. Our ships will be on the Aegean coast in 2018.

Babadag cable car project

It was announced this week that the tender for the contract to build the long-awaited cable car project, SkyWalk Fethiye, has been won by Krtur Company.

The project aims to build a cable car system that will take visitors to the top of the world famous Babadag mountain in just 7 minutes.

Companies were invited to tender for the project on 3 April this year and on Friday, Krtur Company, signed the contract at a ceremony at Fethiye Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FTSO).

FTSO president and Chairman of the Power Union Company, Akif Arcan, stated they wanted to start the project as soon as possible.

Fire Helicopter back in Fethiye ready for the summer season

The fire helicopter has returned to Fethiye to serve in the fire and rescue operations during the summer season.

The helicopter, which can store 2,500 liters of water at a time, will, once again, be stationed in Fethiye. It will work within the Mugla Forest District Directorate and, in addition, act as support for fires ranging from Izmir to Antalya.

Helicopter pilot Selim Guldere said; We had intervened in the forest fires in the Antalya region last year. This year we will intervene in all the fires within the Mugla Forest District Directorate. In addition, we are ready to intervene in the fires again from Izmir to Antalya. Our team of 10 will intervene in the air to extinguish the fires in our region.

Please be vigilant and if you see what you think may be a forest fire or are witness to suspicious behaviour call 177 immediately.

Click here to read our recent article about Fethiyes forest firefighters.

Who needs a truck when you have a Renault

This photograph was taken by the Knk News Agency on Friday.

Turkish Money

The British Pound bought 4.50 Turkish Lira (TL) by the close of business on Friday.

The week before it was selling for 4.52TL.

Weather Forecast

Heres your weather forecast for the week ahead.
A number of renowned international and domestic brands, such as DKNY, Embry, FILA, Initial, Nine West Group, and Peacebird will be at display at Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen being organised during July 6-8, 2017. The show will see a concurrent organisation of 17th China International Fashion Brand Fair and a fashion show in the same venue.The Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen is being organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK), the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, the China Textile Information Centre and the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association. The exhibition is expected to witness nearly 700 exhibitors.

A number of renowned international and domestic brands, such as DKNY, Embry, FILA, Initial, Nine West Group, and Peacebird will be at display at Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen being organised during July 6-8, 2017. The show will see a concurrent organisation of 17th China International Fashion Brand Fair and a fashion show in the same venue.#

Once again this edition we are putting significant effort into inviting VIP buyers and matching them with our exhibitors, so we know that many key brand buyers will source at the fair again, said Wendy Wen, senior general manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK).Last year the feedback from these buyers, such as Diesel, DKNY, KINJI and Marc OPolo, was that they are consistently seeking new materials to develop new products throughout the entire year, therefore, they find Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen increasingly beneficial to them, particularly because of its timing and high quality of products, Wen said.As the demand for ladieswear and menswear fabrics in the South China market matches the strengths of Asian suppliers, Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen is particularly favoured by industry players from the region. The Korea Pavilion, Taiwan Pavilion and the Fine Japan zone will feature their foremost suppliers showcasing a full spectrum of high-quality sourcing options.Hosting over 30 companies, the Korea Pavilion will showcase a variety of products, such as synthetic fibres, functional woven fabrics, cotton / rayon / nylon / poly mixed woven fabrics, jacquard, embroidery and spandex.Korea Fashion Textile Associations (KFTA) Vice Chairman, Mr Young Sang Yoon, andDaegu Gyeongbuk Textile Industry Associations (DGIA) director Geong Woo Lee, the two pavilion organisers, shared the potential they see in the South China market. Mr Lee explained:Daegu Gyeongbuk Textile Industry Associations (DGIA) director Geong Woo Lee said, This market boasts more than 3,000 garment factories, and many of them have their own fashion brands. This favourable business environment creates much potential, and we are looking forward to connecting with the fashion brands, trading companies and buying offices from China and Hong Kong in the fair.Korea Fashion Textile Associations (KFTA) vice chairman Young Sang Yoon added: Shenzhen is a rising market that contains abundant opportunities, and the buyers here are constantly buying new materials. Catering to this demand, many of our exhibitors will offer products that apply the latest fashion trends and functionality.The Taiwan Pavilion will have 19 companies, including returning Chung Rung Textile, Lipeng, Royal Maye Chie, FengXu Textile, Sina Textile and Q&S Co Ltd, to exhibit a series of products from raw materials to fabrics. The exhibits will include yarns for special fabric use, lace and embroidery, denim, knitted and functional fabrics.There would also be Fine Japan zone which will include 10 exhibitors including well-known companies Uni Textile, Sunwell and Stylem presenting an array of quality cotton and man-made fabrics for ladieswear as well as casual wear. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Ipeker Textile, based in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa, has produced world's first vegan fabric. The fabric has been subjected to detailed approval process in Switzerland and Germany, and has been granted the 'V-Label' from the European Vegetarian Union (EVU). The global brand will be sold with a certificate code starting with 'TR.'The certification process had been thorough since EVUs V-Label being the most acclaimed vegan/vegetarian certificate, Ihsan Ipeker, a member of the board of directors of the Ipeker Textile said, according to a Turkish daily.

Ipeker Textile, based in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa, has produced world's first vegan fabric. The fabric has been subjected to detailed approval process in Switzerland and Germany, and has been granted the 'V-Label' from the European Vegetarian Union (EVU). The global brand will be sold with a certificate code starting with 'TR.'#

"We have documented that there are no animal ingredients or proteins in the 146 different types of fabric we produce. In our production process, we provide continuity without harming nature and life," Ipeker was quoted as saying.Ipeker Textiles products are exported to more than 100 importers in 52 countries. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Mounting capacity constraints and rapid wage growth in Hungary suggest that the headline inflation will turn out to be much stronger next year than the central bank expects, Liam Carson, an economist at Capital Economics, said following the central bank's interest rate announcement this week.



The Magyar Nemzeti Bank cut the overnight central bank deposit rate by 10 basis points to -0.15 percent on September 19. The rate was cut to negative last year.



The lending rate was kept unchanged at 0.90 percent. Nonetheless, this plays a much smaller role in determining overall role in determining overall monetary conditions than the deposit rate, the economist noted.



Carson observed that the decision by the central bank to ease monetary conditions further looks like a policy misstep and unless policy makers reverse course soon, they will find themselves facing a more severe inflation problem further down the road.



The accompanying press statement revealed a further easing measure that the cap on three-month deposits will be lowered further, from HUF 300 billion by end-September to HUF 75 billion by end-December - a larger reduction than had been anticipated.



'These moves are likely to push down interbank rates further,' the economist noted.



Further, the bank said that the year-end upper limit on the stock of deposits would remain at EUR 75 billion and suggested that it may adjust its swap instruments with which to provide forint liquidity to commercial banks.



The central bank also lowered its inflation projections from 2.8 percent in 2018 and 3.0 percent in 2019 to 2.5 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.



Capital Economics pointed out that the latest forecasts fail to take account of the economy's mounting capacity constraints and rapid wage growth.



Wages in the private sector are expanding at 13.5 percent annually, which was the sharpest pace in over a decade.



This is likely to feed into a marked rise in consumer price pressures over the coming quarters and the firm's inflation forecast of 3.8 percent for 2018 sits well above that of the central bank, Carson said.



'We're increasingly concerned that policymakers will continue to underestimate inflation risks,' the economist said.



'If the MPC fails to reverse course soon, we could see a severe deterioration in the inflation outlook, prompting more aggressive rate hikes down the line.'



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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HONG KONG, CHINA and CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/04/17 -- The Board of Directors of Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. ("the Corporation" or "Sunshine") (HKSE: 2012) hereby announces the following:

INCREASE IN SHAREHOLDING IN THE COMPANY BY CHAIRMAN AND MAJOR SHAREHOLDER

The Corporation was informed by its major shareholder, Mr. Sun Kwok Ping ("Mr. Sun"), the executive director and Chairman of the board of directors (the "Board") of the Corporation, that on September 4, 2017, Mr. Sun acquired a total of 4,000,000 shares of the corporation through on-market purchases for an aggregate consideration of HK$952,000.

Mr. Sun is confident about the future prospects of Sunshine and the oil industry and believes that there will be continued growth and development of the Corporation. Mr. Sun does not rule out the possibility of further increasing his shareholding in Sunshine as he feels appropriate in the future, subject to compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. As a result of the acquisition, Mr. Sun holds 1,281,202,500 shares in the Company, representing approximately 23.05% of the issued share capital of the Company.

ABOUT SUNSHINE OILSANDS LTD.

The Corporation is a Calgary based public corporation listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since March 1, 2012. The Corporation is focused on the development of its significant holdings of oil sands leases in the Athabasca oil sands region. The Corporation owns interests in approximately one million acres of oil sands and petroleum and natural gas leases in the Athabasca region. The Corporation is currently focused on executing milestone undertakings in the West Ells project area. West Ells has an initial production target of 5,000 barrels per day.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This announcement contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the plans and expectations of the Corporation. Such forward-looking information is subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors. All statements other than statements and information of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of words such as "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "project", "plan", "target", "vision", "goal", "outlook", "may", "will", "should", "believe", "intend", "anticipate", "potential", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Corporation's experience, current beliefs, assumptions, information and perception of historical trends available to the Corporation, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to those associated with resource definition and expected reserves and contingent and prospective resources estimates, unanticipated costs and expenses, regulatory approval, fluctuating oil and gas prices, expected future production, the ability to access sufficient capital to finance future development and credit risks, changes in Alberta's regulatory framework, including changes to regulatory approval process and land-use designations, royalty, tax, environmental, greenhouse gas, carbon and other laws or regulations and the impact thereof and the costs associated with compliance. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions and factors discussed in this announcement are not exhaustive and readers are not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as the Corporation's actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subsequent to the date of this announcement, except as required under applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement and are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists are not exhaustive and are made as at the date hereof. For a full discussion of the Corporation's material risk factors, see the Corporation's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016 and risk factors described in other documents we file from time to time with securities regulatory authorities, all of which are available on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at www.hkexnews.hk, on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on the Corporation's website at www.sunshineoilsands.com.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

This announcement appears for information purpose only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities of Sunshine Oilsands Ltd.

(a corporation incorporated under the Business Corporations Act of the Province of Alberta, Canada with limited liability)

By Order of the Board of Sunshine Oilsands Ltd.

Sun Kwok Ping, Executive Chairman

Hong Kong, September 4, 2017

Calgary, September 4, 2017

As at the date of this announcement, the Board consists of Mr. Kwok Ping Sun, Mr. Hong Luo, Mr. Qiping Men and Ms. Gloria Pui Yun Ho as executive directors; Mr. Michael John Hibberd, Ms. Linna Liu and Ms. Xijuan Jiang as non-executive directors; and Mr. Raymond Shengti Fong, Mr. Jeff Jingfeng Liu, Ms. Joanne Yan and Mr. Yi He as independent non-executive directors.

(i)For identification purposes only

Contacts:

Sunshine Oilsands Ltd.

Mr. Qiping Men

Interim Chief Executive Officer

(1) 403 984-5142

investorrelations@sunshineoilsands.com

www.sunshineoilsands.com




Arsala Qureishi is best known as the co-writer and associate producer of the acclaimed 2015 film Angry Indian Goddesses. Not many know, however, that her first independent international film was The Unforgettable (2009), which she wrote, directed and produced. The film featured an ensemble cast from the UK, India and Mauritius, and starred Sofia Hayat and Raji James in the lead. Considered a seminal and trailblazing movie, it was also one of the first movies made in India to go to Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam and other major film festivals across the world.

Arsala spoke with Firstpost about her latest project, Scenario, what she thinks of the Central Board of Film Certifications take on the freedom of speech and expression, the recent trend of women-centric films in India, as well as her upcoming novella Separated by Ten Inches.

After Angry Indian Goddesses which was something of a cult film, your upcoming film Scenario is going to be another 'first of its kind'. Tell us more about it: When is it out and what's it about?

At this moment, I am almost done writing the second draft. It usually takes me five drafts to feel intrepid. I believe that the written word has to detonate on paper. Only then will it create an impact on the big screen. It would be too early for me to comment on the release date of the film. But were looking at commencing principal photography in November.

Scenario is a genre-breaking film in the true sense  I can explain why but it will be lost in translation! We begin casting in August and then go into a rigorous workshop. I dont write with actors in mind but characters, and then after the script is locked, I reverse-engineer.

Scenario is a visceral story about the power of choice in everyday life. Sometimes the choices we make land us where we arent able to make a choice. Thats just the impetus behind the film but the story is another dimension all together.

Apart from being India's 'first female buddy' film, Angry Indian Goddesses subtly dealt with several sensitive issues like gender inequality, women being objectified, gay-straight friendships, big business vs tribal rights, the rape problem, caste differences, skin-colour prejudice and lax justice. What are some of the issues that you plan to highlight this time round in Scenario?

Angry Indian Goddesses was a topical entertainer. Scenario is infinite in its trajectory. The main issue the film deals with is life. Its a taut entertainer asking an existential question. Scenario happened to me on a lark. I wrote it in the most feral way. Its a story so wild that it cant be a fantasy. With Scenario, Ive found a potent storytelling technique  its not a craft or a device but connection. The story itself plays like fermented madness waiting to blow up. But just like life, at times its tough to distinguish between a tragedy and an anti-tragedy. Which one does one choose from? Scenario is incomparable in its subject matter. It will be a hard film to compartmentalise, and I am sure it will evoke extreme reactions both ways. Its my constant endeavour to make films that appeal to a universal audience. Why restrict yourself to your backyard when the world can become your playground?

Angry Indian Goddesses reportedly got the CBFC a bit 'angry' when it ordered 16 cuts on your film. What do you think of the CBFC's moral policies and stand on the freedom of speech and expression? Are you expecting any fireworks with Scenario?

India is a country submerged in fantasy when it comes to cinema but primitive when it comes to the idea of freedom of speech. That tells us exactly what a chaotic scenario this ensues. We have to respect each others voice but that doesnt mean we clamour louder. To think we have to feel, to ask we have to hear, to see we have to observe, and to talk we have to listen. Even to negate a point you have to know the case the opposition has built.

Angry Indian Goddesses suffered immensely at the hands of the CBFC. Its sad but its history. With Scenario, I dont expect any major censor problems unless the board wants to censor life!

What do you think of the recent trend of women-centric films in India? Is there a silent women empowerment revolution of sorts going on? Do you think that it's a concept that's gradually becoming more acceptable perhaps?

Women-centric films in India have found a passionate voice because of conscientious men. Mostly men are engineering women-centric films and making this monumental change in re-defining the power of women in modern India. Men who are making this paradigm shift should be applauded. Of course, women-oriented films are becoming more acceptable. And in my opinion, the real victory is that these films are not mere tokenism but theyre being made with a conscious preamble to create an environment of equality and empowerment. These films seep through our consciousness and implore us to wake up. I am so glad I am a part of this historic movement in whatever limited capacity.

Having grown up in countries as varied as Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, India the US, what according to you have been your strongest creative influences that translate into the fresh and realistic perspective that one notices in your films?

The strongest creative influences that Ive had have been both, Bollywood and Hollywood. Bollywood was the reason my brother and I were packed to boarding school and sent to Switzerland when I was just five years old  the reason we watched Bollywood films all day. In Switzerland, I was seduced by Hollywood. I went to a private boarding school  my schoolmate was Christian Moore, son of the departed Roger Moore. The entire school had only 20 students and we usually spent our weekends in Roger Moores Gstaad house watching Hollywood films.

There came a time when my brother and I had forgotten how to speak Urdu. I became totally enmeshed in the western thought culture. I think thats when the shift happened  from becoming an Amitabh fan to a Bill Murray fan. A subliminal subtlety permeated my consciousness  from seeing things being over-dramatised to seeing things penetrating just right. I am so glad Ive been exposed to both and these counter influences that have created a tactile confluence in my work.

My favourite directors and who Id like to think have subconsciously influenced me are Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, David Lynch, Kathryn Bigelow, Woody Allen and Joel Coen. In Bollywood, I just adore Basu Chaterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee! Whenever theres a film by these two on television, I stop doing what I am doing and sit down in front of the TV with a plate of hot pakoras and garam chai. I would love to make garam chai and pakora films!

Tell us a little about your other upcoming projects related to diverse themes such as hate crimes and world peace.

We live in a world that can self-destruct in a minute. We dont need doomsday for that. Politicians spread the doctrine of hate like wild fire and this policy has been very successful in manifesting fatalistic chasms between communities. I want to make stories that reveal the human tragedy in such a scenario. Hate crimes and world peace are mutually exclusive and are very close subjects to my heart.

My upcoming project that immediately accentuates this issue is my recently completed novella Separated by Ten Inches (which I later want to adapt on screen) and an untitled satirical comedy. Dangerous and funny are two words that should never go together but were living in those times and my untitled comedy elicits that. We live in the times of Dr Strangelove. Stanley Kubrick should have been alive to see his work of art take life!

We'd like to hear more about Separated by Ten Inches...

Separated by Ten Inches is a brutal and contemporary story of unrequited love set against the dangerous times we inhabit. We live in a world where were all separated by 10 inches and history. Most often than not, we spend our entire lives trying to breach the 10 inches of separation that lie between us.
Three short films, including a 45-minute documentary on Dalit scholar and PhD student Rohit Vemula, who ended his life, have been denied permission by the Centre to participate in the International Documentary and Short Film festival, starting in Thiruvananthapuram from 16 June.

The Unbearable Being of Lightness, a documentary about Hyderabad Central University student Rohit Vemula, who allegedly committed suicide; In the Shade of Fallen Chinar, about the lives of a group of young Kashmiri artists who are also students; March March March on the JNU protests were not granted permission by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to be screened at the festival, the organisers said.

Expressing anguish over denial of permission, Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman and festival director Kamal said there is a 'cultural emergency' prevailing in the country. "We are going through an undeclared emergency in the country. What we should eat, what we should wear, what we should talk all this is being decided by the ruling dispensation," he told reporters.

Kamal said the process followed in this festival is that once the films are selected to be screened, then they look if the films have a censor certificate. "What we do as organisers is, then we apply for an exemption to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for all those films that do not have a censor certificate. In all, at the five-day festival which is starting on 16 June, there are 210 films, of which around 170 films did not have the censor certificate," said Kamal.

He said that he has been told that this is the first time in the history of this festival that films have been denied the exemption. "We were surprised that all but these three films got the exemption," added Kamal.

At least 262 short films and documentaries are expected to be screened at the five-day festival, vice-chairman and artistic director Bina Paul said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival at the Tagore Theatre on June 16.

"Now the only way out is for the director or the producer to approach the legal system," Kamal said.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
In an episode of The Big Bang Theory where he played himself, Adam West joined in on a conversation with Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) to decipher who was the best Batman. Listening to the boys argue endlessly, West breaks the impasse by saying that even his poodles knew that [Christian] Bale is overrated. West, who played Batman in 1960's television series, died at 88 after battling leukemia, was perhaps the first name that came into the hearts and minds of millions across the world the moment they heard the word Batman. The manner in which the late actor settled The Big Bang Theory fan boy argument is perhaps the best memory that the real Batman could have left behind. When Howard mocks him point-blank for thinking how could be ahead of Bale, the man who personified Im Batman, West just smirked and said, "I never had to say Im Batman, I showed up, people knew I was Batman."

In the era before the Christopher Nolan films transformed cinematic superheroes into long-standing sufferers of existential angst, superheroes would usually be interpreted in a very matter-of-fact way. They rarely grappled with anything that transcended the boundaries of obviousness and, on the rare occasion, even if they had to, it was only up until a certain point. You could be Superman  arriving on planet earth from a different world and had superhuman powers  but this did not confound you in any way. There was never an action philosophy or a survivors answer that guided them; they simply strapped it up. Saving the world was akin to a walk in the park. This state of mind reflected in not only in the way Wests Batman was portrayed, but also how the series that ran for over two years across 120 episodes interpreted the caped-crusader. Ostensibly a crime series, the show was in fact, campy, tongue-in-cheek and a true situation comedy".

As compared to Nolans films, Batman here looked absurd and played for the laughs. Cast by producer William Dozier, who also did the bombastic narrator voice-over, after he was seen in a James Bond-esque avatar in an advertisement, West became famous for keeping a straight face while delivering serious lines in hilarious situations. Even in the midst bright, onomatopoeic visual effects such as "POW!, "BAM!", "ZONK!", etc plastered over the action on screen, initially used as a money-saving device, or Burt Ward as Robin shouting his Holy **** Batman! catchphrase, West continued to be Batman in all seriousness.

By the time Burton got around to making Batman (1989) the concept of Batman/Bruce Wayne had undergone a sea of transformation. Following Frank Millers The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Alan Moores Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) Batman was no longer the eccentric Gotham City tycoon Bruce Wayne [who] dons tights to fight crime. In Millers four-issue comic-book miniseries Batman, at 50, has long given up fighting crime but returns to his old vigilante self and included a plot-line where the president, Ronald Reagan, is briefed about the events in Gotham by Superman and the former even suggests that Superman may have to arrest Batman. Burton was heavily influenced by the dark tone of both the comic books and keeping that in mind the Batman as Adam West knew was going to be a thing of the past. By the time the iconic Adam West television series debuted in India in the mid-1990s, there had already been the two Tim Burton Batman films that featured Michael Keaton and talks were on for Batman Forever (1995) that would feature Val Kilmer as Batman. Even though the memory of summer of Batman 89 where Keaton, Jack Nicholson as The Joker along and Princes original soundtrack album changed the way you saw Batman was still fresh, the series came as a respite for an entire generation of school kids who grew up on Batman comics. It was difficult for them to adjust to the level of darkness that Burtons Gotham City explored but Wests Batman that was neatly nestled between Keaton and the classic image of Batman from the DC Comics easily rekindled fond memories.

As expected with every actor who successfully portrays any popular fictional character, West was never able to shrug the Batman tag. Although post-Batman West featured in numerous television shows and films, and was also considered to play James Bond but refused on the grounds that Bond ought to be played by a British actor, West was Batman. He later even became the voice of Batman for the CGI-animated short Batman: New Times. The thought of playing Batman was so intrinsic to West that he considered himself to be an automatic choice to reprise the role in Tim Burtons film version. The fact that he was almost 60 at the time notwithstanding, West was reportedly disappointed when he wasnt offered the lead. Unlike the Burton or Nolans Batman films, Wests simplicity endeared him to fans across the globe. Almost a precursor to the manner in which Batman (Christian Bale) disappears at the end of the trilogy to lead a regular life, Wests while portraying Batman knew that in the end, like David Lehmans poem Existentialism suggests, Its same old hard earth, and heavens as remote as ever and never really bothered exploring the so-called greater themes. Much like the manner when Nolans Batman Begins hit the screens the memory of Burtons Batman made you feel like a little kid glued to the TV, Adam West will continue to be the archetypal Batman for millions after all, to quote Igor Stravinsky, one lives by memory and not by truth.
Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar's satirical comedy Toilet: Ek Prem Katha's trailer has been released on Twitter.

In it, Akshay plays a village bumpkin who gets married to the fiery Bhumi Pednekar, and she sets him off to fight for bathroom rights in the village. After facing much humiliation over what should be a natural right (people of the village travel far and wide to relieve themselves), she compels Kumar to take on a political battle over sanitation rights.

A comic-drama, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha has the typically engaging performances from veteran actors like Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma, and Bhumi Pednekar stands her own in what seems to be a heavy performance, but Akshay Kumar takes the centre stage.

While Kumar goes the predictable route of starting with funny one-liners, he sinks into a more serious role towards the end of the trailer. Impressive comic timing, as always, from Kumar, but this film will definitely be more interesting if it takes the non-preachy route.

It is, however, a story waiting to be told. Sanitation and personal hygiene is a seldom talked about issue in India.

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha been garnering attention for its unique choice of subjects  matrimony and toilets.

The film is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and brings to the forefront the issue of inadequate sanitation facilities that plague the country.

Kumar had earlier tweeted a promo where both he and Bhumi discussed how even after years of technological advancements, more than 50 percent of Indians do not have a functional toilet at their disposal.

The story of the film revolves around exactly this deficiency. Kumar and Pednekar's characters have been named Keshav and Jaya respectively.

Because of the social context of the film, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani also praised Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and said it should be made tax free. He also appreciated Kumar's diverse film choices, which in the recent past, have revolved around social messages.

The film will hit the screens on 11 august, 2017. Watch the trailer here:


Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): Anger is brewing among farmers in Aligarh district on multiple scores including the issue of non-remunerative prices for potato and the longstanding dispute with farmers in bordering Haryana over some farmlands.

The resentment has been simmering for several years but has flared up recently as Aligarh farmers feel that since both state governments belong to the BJP, there is no reason that it cannot be resolved by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

There were reports of protests in at least two different parts of the district including Tappal during past 24 four hours.

The national president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Harpal group) on Sunday said his organisation would be launching a sit-in in Gonda block on Monday.

Three main demands pertain to issue of land dispute with Haryana, procurement price for potato and also arrest of those policemen responsible for killing farmers in police firing in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.

He warned that if these issues are not resolved then the BKU would start a "Jail Bharo" agitation.

The dispute with Haryana started more than a decade back in Tappal Tehsil when the river Yamuna, which is the boundary between the two states, changed its course.

Divisional Commissioner of Aligarh Subhash Chandra Sharma told newspersons that a meeting of officials from both the states was being called shortly to resolve this issue at the earliest.

Other issues raised by the farmers are also being addressed, he added.
New Delhi: An integrated command of the defence forces must happen at some point of time and it must be looked at as an option, suggests Army chief General Bipin Rawat.

He is unfazed by theories of India getting caught in a two-front war with Pakistan and China. During an interaction with IANS, he smiled away a question, "Is India heading for a war?", which appeared on the cover of the latest edition of one of the English weeklies.

Similarly, he refused to be drawn into a discussion whether surgical strikes could be resorted to again to control terrorism and infiltration sponsored from across the border.

The army chief maintains that that government is ready with funds for army's modernisation and acquisition of equipment and dismissed any apprehensions about shortage of funds.

"If we are going to fight a war someday, the war is going to be fought by the three forces together. Integration has to be in a holistic manner. Can we have a joint forces mechanism? Is it better or not? We have to look at the option. It must happen at some point of time," General Rawat said.

"You also economise by integration of logistics. The integration has to be in the form of all services utilising their resources in a harmonised manner," he said.

Against the backdrop of the recent joint doctrine that has been put out, the army chief was asked whether an integrated command is going to be practically beneficial as neither the air force nor the navy seems to be enthusiastic.

He said the integration must happen at all costs but the method of integration has to be looked into it. "We have to look at how we integrate... It is not that today we can't fight a war if a joint mechanism is better, we need to look at it," he said.

A doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces released recently called for a joint approach among the forces. "The nature of future warfare requires harmonious and synergistic application of land, air and sea forces. Joint operations are the most essential requirement of future wars and have to focus on the seamless application of all available resources to shock, dislocate and overwhelm the belligerent," it said.

The doctrine also said the response to "terror provocations could be in the form of surgical strikes and these would be subsumed in the sub-conventional portion of the spectrum of armed conflict."

Asked if surgical strikes carried out by the special forces of the army last year on the terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-administered Kashmir would be resorted to again, the Army chief said a surgical strike is just "one of the methods" but refused to say what may be the other options.

When asked if India was ready for a two-front war, General Rawat said, "We have got a plan. We know. We have our own rules (to fight)."

Asked about a recent report from the Pentagon which said China may build ports in Pakistan, the army chief said: "Everyone is interested in getting access to the Indian Ocean Region. Pakistan is also building ports in Myanmar."

In this context, he referred to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) "being built crossing through parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir."

Talking about modernisation of the army, General Rawat said there was no problem of funds as the government was clearing procurements based on the priorities expressed by the forces.

"The government is giving required funds. I don't think there is any problem with procurement. Government is not denying procurement... guns are coming, aircraft are coming," he said.

"The government has said funds will be made available as per requirement. What I am getting as my budget is only for running the army," he said.

A parliamentary panel in its report tabled in Parliament in the budget session had said budgetary provisioning to army is critically short and is likely to affect adversely the modernisation process as well as the operational preparedness of the force.
As a small cavalcade of heavy-duty bulletproof vehicles with red flags abruptly halted in Lal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar city on Saturday morning, pedestrians and shopkeepers were taken aback by the sight of forces taking over the marketplace carrying rocket propelled grenade launchers, as if an encounter was about to break.

Haji Inayat, who owns a footwear shop, does not remember the last time when the army, police and CRPF came together to carry out cordon and search operations in Lal Chowk. When he saw troops moving from one corner to another in this historic place, he knew something was wrong. "I was frightened when I saw them running. They looked fierce, emotionless, as if militants were around the corner and an encounter was about to break out," Inayat told Firstpost, outside his shop in Lal Chowk.

Pedestrians were frisked and vehicles were randomly checked, not just in Lal Chowk but also in other parts of the city.

According to sources, the Jammu and Kashmir police has been tracking militant footprints in the city more frequently than earlier. Hizbul commander Sabzar Bhat was also tracked by the agencies from Srinagar and later killed. But what surprised many was the presence of such a large number of troops in the heart of the state's summer capital.

Residents and shopkeepers have all said that such an operation was taking place after a long time. Such operations were hitherto confined to north and south Kashmir, with the latter especially emerging as a militant stronghold.

"I don't remember the last time there was such a huge deployment of troops here, although a CRPF vehicle is always present near the clock tower. It reminds one of the old days when such operations were a common occurrence," Mir Imran Ali, another shopkeeper, told Firstpost.

Witnesses and army officials said the search operation continued for about an hour, during which security personnel searched houses and commercial buildings in the area, following a tip-off about the presence of militants there. "It was as if they were going to tell us  now shut your shops, gather in the main square, and get ready for an identification parade, as used to happen in the early 90s. The situation is no different today," said Shakeel Ahmad, who owns a hosiery shop in Lal Chowk.

Lal Chowk, named so by Leftist Sikh intellectual BPL Bedi after Moscow's famous Red Square, is the commercial hub of Srinagar city, and is constantly thronged by thousands of people from all parts of the Valley. And although paramilitary soldiers man different entry and exit points to the market and are omnipotent,

a name given to it by a leftist Sikh intellectual, BPL Bedi, after the Red Square of Moscow, is the commercial hub of the Srinagar city thronged by thousands of people from all parts of the valley. Although omnipotent paramilitary soldiers man different entry and exit points to the market, cordon and search operations were nearly forgotten.

However, Saturday's operation didn't yield any results and the forces had to leave without tasting success. It was still an ugly reminder to the people of the violence that has rocked the Valley since 9 April, leaving it on the edge.

Lal Chowk is not immune to such ugly manifestations of violence. On 1 April, the city centre descended into chaos following rumours that suspected militants had taken position inside a hotel here. As security was beefed up and forces took positions, the city stood on the edge.

Shopkeepers downed their shutters and shoppers ran for cover after the rumours gained currency and panic gripped the area. However, it later turned out that a mentally-challenged person created a scene inside a hotel which triggered the rumours.

CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav said they had information on Saturday that militants were present in Lal Chowk and around the Bund area. The operation was called off after no contact was established with the militants but the situation remained tense in the area for a long time.

"There was information about the presence of militants in the area, which is why we had launched 'cordon and search'," Yadav said. He said there could be more cordon and search operations in coming days.

On the ground, the usually crowded marketplace wore an eerie look. A shopkeeper, after noticing a large presence of troops, shouted towards policemen near the Yatri Niwas in Lal Chowk, "Have you come to kill Zakir Musa," referring to the Hizbul commander from south Kashmir.

Although the forces had to beat a hasty retreat, the scare and silence created by their sudden appearance prevailed, symbolising the political uncertainty and violence that has choked life in the Valley. "Memories of encounters breaking out in Lal Chowk had slowly faded away from my memory but it seems those days are making a comeback," Ahmed, the hosiery trader said.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi on Sunday said that he did not seek reappointment, and expressed his wish to pursue private practice.

I do not want to seek reappointment for the post (Attorney General): Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to ANI pic.twitter.com/Yqz4aQuVlT  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

Rohatgi has been serving as Attorney-General for the past three years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NDTV reported that Rohtagi wrote a letter to the government and informed them that he was not interested in continuing his term as the country's senior most law officer. His tenure was recently extended on 3 June by the Department of Personnel and Training.

"I want to return to my private practice. I have a good relationship with the government... That's why I wrote to the government not to extend my term," Rohatgi said, according to NDTV.

He was appointed as Attorney-General of India on 19 June, 2014 for a three-year term.

During the stint, he argued many contentious matters such as the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary. Recently, he assisted the apex court in 'triple talaq' matter in which the judgement is reserved.

He previously served as additional solicitor general for five years under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, the Hindustan Times reported.

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom and fake encounter death cases, the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Besides these high-profile cases, Rohatgi also appeared on behalf of corporations in the 2G scam case.

With inputs from PTI
Ever since the CBI raided the home of the NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy earlier this week, a concerted campaign has been launched by a section of the media, alleging that the freedom of the press is under severe threat from the Narendra Modi-led government.

This campaign got a serious boost when some of the prominent names in the Indian media  Kuldip Nayar, HK Dua and Arun Shourie  made a passionate plea to fight against the Modi government on 9 June at a special meeting organised by the Press Club of India on its premises in New Delhi.

Arun Shourie's speech went viral on social media. Comforting Roy on the dais, Shourie reminded the government that "anybody in India who has raised his hand against the press, against the media, has had that hand burnt and has had to withdraw it."

But that was not all. Shourie also gave a sermon why ever government minister must be boycotted, why anything positive about the governments work must not be published (he was particularly severe on Venkaiah Naidu, who, according to him, cannot write a single paragraph coherently but long pieces under his byline appear in all major newspapers) and stated that the media should concentrate on stories that will ensure the toppling of the Modi regime, which he described as the government of two-and-half-men."

Surprisingly, neither Shourie nor any other distinguished speaker at the Press Club cared about the basic fact that the raid was on Roys private properties following tax-related cases dating back to previous regimes. The raid was not on NDTV. The CBI did not enter NDTV's offices nor harass its journalists.

In fact, the Modi government, in its last three years, has not intervened in the functioning of any media house that has used reams of newsprint and countless hours of time on the hour to criticise the prime minister and his government's policies.

This is completely unlike the period during the Emergency and under the subsequent governments. One may quote here from in interview that Shourie, then editor of The Indian Express, gave to India Today, few months before the Rajiv Gandhi-government contemplated bringing out the controversial defamation bill to curb free speech : They (the government) have tried all their disinformation tricks, planting of documents, forging letters, extorting statements, accusing us of passing official secrets out of the country, calling dissenters CIA agents. Shourie was describing how during and after Operation Bluestar, 20 government cases were filed against the Express.

In contrast, what is happening in Roys case, pointed out brilliantly by Sandip Ghose in Firstpost, is that the distinction between the proprietor and his business activities and the news organisation is being blurred. In this case, the proprietor is using the journalists working for him to protect his other interests, which is a dangerous game.

If the logic of the eminent media personalities like Shourie is to be taken to its logical conclusion, then the time isn't far when journalists will be fighting political battles on behalf of their news organisations and their masters, many of whom are politicians.

According to a 2012 report by Business Standard, more than a third of news channels in India are owned by politicians or political affiliates, particularly in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Punjab. Similarly, some powerful print establishments are also owned by politicians.

The second problem with Shouries thesis is its lack of consistency. Shourie today defends Roy. By the same logic, he should have defended the owners of the Sakshi group (Jagan Reddy), Eenadu (Ramoji Rao), Deccan Chronicle (T Venkattram Reddy), and Sahara media (Subroto Roy), all of them were taken to task by various governments, some even landing in jail.

One may add here the example of Outlook magazine. When Shourie was a senior Cabinet minister in the Vajpayee government in 2001, the Income Tax authorities conducted raids on the R Raheja group. Vinod Mehta, the then editor of Outlook, cited political vendetta behind the raids. Where was Shourie then?

The third problem with the likes of Shourie is their selectivity. To them, an attack on a proprietor like Roy is a threat to freedom of the press. But has any of them  Shourie, Dua, Nayar or S Nihal Singh expressed any anguish for the journalists facing increasing job cuts in recent years by these very proprietors?

Leading news establishments are closing their offices all over the country. Those who hold on to their jobs have to make do with substantial pay cuts. That news establishments cannot, in this day and age, remain philanthropic organisations and that they have to make money or break even is an important matter in itself.

But at stake is the principle of press freedom itself: If we do not know what is happening in our states, small towns and the country side in the absence of professional journalists, what sort of media would the likes of Shourie like us to have? Will they advise Roy to take back hundreds of journalists he has fired in recent years?

But what's more serious is the silence of the eminent editors over the increasingly violent attacks that the journalists are facing. One is amazed that Shourie has not been outspoken on this phenomenon. Why did not we see a big gathering of eminent editors to express their concerns when on 8 June, 2015 Shahjahanpur-based journalist Jagendra Singh, who had been set ablaze on 1 June allegedly by goons of state minister Ram Murti Verma (under Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister), died of burns?

Singh had been writing extensively about Vermas alleged involvement in corruption, land grabs and illegal mining. Such attacks are aplenty in other states as well. This is the real threat to the the freedom of press. But Shourie and his ilk do not find these incidents disturbing enough or important enough to come to the Delhi Press Club and express their concerns or solidarity.

One remembers in this context the mob violence in Maharashtra against the prominent regional newspaper Lokmat about two years ago. Spearheaded by Congress legislator Shaikh Rashid, Muslim protestors attacked multiple offices of the paper, just because it had carried a cartoon showing various currency symbols pouring into a piggy bank whose snout carried an image from the jihadist group's flag: A white seal with black Arabic lettering that reads "Muhammad is the messenger of God."

The paper quickly apologised for the offence, but Rashid continued threatening and demanding an official inquiry into the newspaper's alleged transgression. What explains the studied silence of our eminent journalists like Shourie on this matter?

Which brings me back to my initial point: Those veterans who shared their tears for the loss of press freedom on Friday are elites fighting for elites in the media. They're hardly concerned with those least represented or the Indian media as a whole.

And when one talks of these elites like Shourie, one can even further narrow it down: They are associated with the so-called mainstream media operating out of Delhi. They are more concerned about the well-being or interests of the proprietors, particularly those who call themselves Editor-in-Chief, not the real journalists in the field.

One should not be misled by the campaigns launched by the likes of Shourie, particularly when their concerns for press freedom are only camouflage for their increasing irrelevance under the Modi government. The truth is that under previous regimes, they were given ministerships (Shourie), Padma awards, Rajya Sabha nominations, and other such prizes such as ambassadorships (Nayar and Dua), including jobs in government and myriad cultural and social organisations that come with low salaries but high perks such as houses in Delhi.

Modi has neglected them. Obviously, they are angry. This is particularly true of Shourie, who until 26 May, 2014 (the day Modi assumed office) was one of the biggest supporters and advisers of the prime minister. Shourie turned on Modi when he did not find a place, as widely anticipated, in the Cabinet.

All this is not to challenge the competence of eminent journalists like Shourie. They have, undoubtedly, been among our finest public servants. But their current battle against the Modi regime has nothing to do with journalism. It is purely political and personal. The more they try to make this about journalism, the more they raise questions about their credibility.
New Delhi: A Centre-appointed panel has drafted a bill, the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill 2017, which if passed into a law will also prescribe seven years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 100 crore for anyone who commits a range of offences on the river, including blocking its flow, quarrying its banks or constructing jetties without permission.

The Uttarakhand High Court recently declared the river a "living entity," and the panel's bill makes it clear that troubling it can be a costly affair if converted into the country's first ever act on a river.

Among others, the panel led by retired Justice Giridhar Malaviya, has also suggested declaring an area abutting within one kilometre from Ganga and its major tributaries as a "water saving zone".

The panel though has suggested that such zones may be defined after conducting scientific studies within six months after the bill is enacted.

The government has forwarded the draft, submitted to the water resources ministry in April, to another experts' committee to seek their suggestions on the bill, which will be further discussed with the basin states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar before the final draft is out.

"Since the issue relates to the basin states of Ganga and its tributaries, the Centre wants to discuss the draft with the state governments first. Such a meeting shall be convened in the near future," sources in the ministry said.

Advocate Arun Kumar Gupta, one of the four members of the experts' committee currently studying the draft bill, pitched for making stringent provisions to ensure people did not violate the law which aims to make the river pollution-free.

"Crores of rupees were spent on cleaning the river in the past, but all went down the drain. Hence, responsibility should be fixed now or else the current efforts too will not bear fruit," Gupta, an amicus curiae of the Allahabad High Court, said over the phone from the Uttar Pradesh city.

Some of the major punishments for various offences recommended by the panel are:

* Stone quarrying, crushing, cutting, finishing or processing sand mining illegally in bed/on banks of Ganga/its tributaries: Simple imprisonment up to five years or with fine which may extend up to Rs 50,000 or both.

In case the contravention continues, an additional fine extending up to Rs 20,000 per day. The offender concerned shall be punishable with imprisonment for the term which may extend up to seven years in case the failure continues for a year after a conviction.

* Causing discontinuity in flow of water in Ganga/tributaries without permission from competent authority: Offender shall be liable to imprisonment up to two years and monetary fine which may extend to Rs 100 crore.

* Constructing jetties/port/permanent hydraulic structure for storage/diversion/control/channelisation of water into/from Ganga/tributaries sans permission: One-year imprisonment and monetary fine which may extend up to Rs 50 crore.

* Contaminating water of Ganga/tributary by disposal of pesticide, non-degradable plastic, waste batteries, hazardous chemicals: Imprisonment for a term extending up to one year or with fine which may extend up to Rs 50,000 or with both and in case contravention continues, with an additional fine which may extend up to Rs 5,000.

* Withdrawing water by electric/diesel-operated tubewells from the land fronting Ganga/tributaries: simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to Rs 2,000, or with both.

The additional fine may extend up to Rs 2,000 per day in case of contravention. The imprisonment may be extended to five years in case the failure continues beyond a period of a year after conviction.
New Delhi: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday triggered a row after he likened Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to a "goon on the street" over the latter's public remarks, prompting the BJP to demand his expulsion and an apology from Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress was quick to distance itself from the remarks of Dikshit, who, following criticism, was forced to withdraw his remarks and apologise.

#WATCH: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit says it feels bad when our Army Chief gives statement like a "sadak ka gunda". pic.twitter.com/Kh1DdtLfbL  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

"Ours is not a mafia army like the Pakistani army which makes statements like the goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief gives a statement like a 'sadak ka goonda' (goon on the street)," the former Congress MP and son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said. He also said the Indian Army had depth and was gentlemanly and as it was a great institution, it brought along a particular culture with it. "I don't think our Army chief lived up to that...I believe this Army chief does not live up to my image of what the Indian Army should be. I believe, the Army chief should not make political statements," Dikshit said. He, however, later tweeted, "I have reservations on a comment of the Army chief, but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologise."

I have reservations on a comment of the Army Chief, but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologise  Sandeep Dikshit (@_SandeepDikshit) June 11, 2017

Dikshit's comments on the Army chief drew flak from Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju. On Twitter, Rijiju wrote, "What's wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!! (sic)."

What's wrong with Congress Party?

How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!!  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) June 11, 2017

Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said, "Our party respects the Army and so does the country. If some words have been used for its chief, it is unfortunate."

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was quick to demand an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the episode and Dikshit's expulsion from the party.

"This statement is absolutely shocking, it is appalling. Calling the respected Army chief of the country a 'sadak ka goonda', the Indian people will not accept it.

"Sonia Gandhi should expel such leaders and apologise," he said.

Patra alleged that the Congress had a "tradition" of making such remarks as its vice-president Rahul Gandhi had earlier used words such as "khoon ki dalali" and said, "We see a trend of Congress leaders speaking against the Indian Army and the Army chief."

He added that this will not be accepted by the people of the country and the democracy will reject the Congress party for this kind of language against the Army chief.

General Rawat, in a recent interview to PTI, had defended Army Major Leetul Gogoi's act of tying a Kashmiri man to his jeep and using him as a "human shield" against stone-pelters in the Valley.

"I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then, I would have been happy. Then, I could do what I (wanted to do)," he had said.

The Army chief's comments had come under criticism from various quarters, including mainstream political parties such as the Left parties and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).
KINSHASA At least 11 people were killed and 930 prisoners escaped on Sunday when unidentified assailants stormed a jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern town of Beni, the provincial governor said.

North Kivu's governor Julien Paluku said in a statement that the assailants used heavy weapons, killing eight prison guards in Beni, where several militia are known to operate. A curfew is now in place, he added.

(Reporting By Aaron Ross; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Bengaluru: Congress in Karnataka on Sunday demanded that the central government formulate a national policy on farm loans.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara said that if there was a national policy, all states which now have different policies, would follow it. There would be uniformity in approach by both central and state governments when they waive such loans, he said.

"We in Karnataka are committed to address farmers issues. Central government should formulate a national policy in this regard so that state's also follow it. I demand a national policy on these kinds of issues," Parameshwara said.

"When you (central government) can overnight formulate a law banning read beacons, why can't you formulate a national policy when farmers from across the country are demanding for loan waiver faced by drought?" he questioned.

Pointing out that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had waived farmers' loans amounting to about Rs 72,000 crore, he said the central government cannot just wash their hands off by leaving it to the states.

"As a national government it should come out with a national policy so that everyone agrees to it," he added.

Asked about Congress government in Karnataka not announcing a farm loan waiver for farmers when their leader Rahul Gandhi was demanding the same in Madhya Pradesh, he said, "we are holding discussions in this regard and our government is committed to address the issues faced by farmers."

Parameshwara reiterated Karnataka's demand that the Centre first waive loans availed by farmers through nationalised banks, adding that such loans got through state-run cooperative banks were very small compared to nationalised banks.

He was speaking to reporters while briefing them of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi's visit in Bengaluru on Monday to attend National Herald's event to celebrate 70 years of independence with the release of a commemorative publication.

Gandhi will also attend a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's extended general body meeting, where he will address about 1,500 party workers and office bearers about the preparations for the 2018 assembly polls in the state.

First launched in 1938 as a daily in the vanguard of the Freedom Movement, the Congress-owned newspaper National Herald had in November last year staged a comeback with a digital version, eight years after it had downed shutters.

The publication has come in the midst of a legal battle over its past, which has ensnared Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Parameshwara termed as 'deplorable,' BJP President Amit Shah's statement that Mahatma Gandhi was a "chatur baniya", a reference to the mercantile caste to which he was born and said it was not just an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, but to the entire nation.

He demanded an "unconditional apology" from Amit Shah.
Bhopal: A photo of an 80-year-old woman being beaten up by cops during the ongoing farmers' protest in Madhya Pradesh went viral on Twitter on Saturday. Its authenticity was initially questioned but media interviews of the woman confirmed that the woman had indeed been beaten up.

A report in NDTV identified the elderly woman as Kamlabai Mewade, who wanted to meet Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was holding a "peace fast" in response the agitation by Madhya Pradesh's farmers. The report also adds that the police beat up her 100-year-old husband, while her sons and four grandsons were arrested.

In the report, she said that the police blamed her for setting trucks on fire and causing violence. Despite telling them that she had a rod in her leg and had been sitting at home for one-and-a-half-years, the police beat her up.

DNA said that the police dragged her out of her home in Phanda Kala and also accused her of hiding stone pelters inside her house.

Another report by The Times of India states that she went to Dusshera Maiden on Saturday to meet the chief minister to complain about her ordeal, but she was turned away by police officials there. In an interview with The Times of India, Superintendent of Police (North) Arvind Saxena said that he will investigate into the matter.

Meanwhile, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi condemned the way the situation was handled. Gandhi tweeted a news-clipping of the incident, with a comment that read: "BJP spreading the love"

BJP spreading love pic.twitter.com/0EhOjom740  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) June 10, 2017

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have been on a strike since 1 June to demand better prices for their crops along with a loan waiver. On 7 June, six farmers had died after police opened fire at farmers protesting in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh. The incident caused outrage across the state with farmers as well as political parties demanding an immediate solution to the farmers' woes.

Though farmers in Maharashtra have called off the strike after the state government announced loan waiver to farmers owning land up to five acres, negotiations between the Madhya Pradesh government and the state's farmers have not been successful yet.

The Madhya Pradesh chief minister had initiated a fast on Saturday calling for peace in the state but called it off on Saturday.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.

"The government has, in principle, decided to waive farmers' loans with certain stipulations. The loans of farmers with small and medium land holdings stand waived from today (Sunday) itself," revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said.

Patil, who headed a high-power committee set up by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders in Mumbai on Sunday. Fadnavis said the state government had agreed to the loan waiver for farmers, adding that conditions and details will be finalised by a joint committee.

"Discussions between the government of Maharashtra and representatives of farmers have reached a consensus and farmers have called off the strike," Fadnavis said.

"The government has also accepted the demand of farmers to increase the milk prices," the CM tweeted after the meeting.

He said that the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry.

At the same time, the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry .  CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) June 11, 2017

The move is expected to benefit 1.07 crore farmers in the state, who have land holdings of less than five acres, a farmer leader said. He said the loans of such small and medium farmers, worth Rs 30,000 crore, have been waived.

Meanwhile, the revenue minister said cases against those who participated in the farmers stir will be withdrawn, except in certain matters.

MP Raju Shetti, the leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, said if the government fails to fulfil its commitments, they would restart their agitation from 25 July.

"Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) and day after (Tuesday). However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by 25 July, we will restart our stir," Shetti said.

Shiv Sena minister Diwakar Raote said "I was a representative of Sena in the talks. I said the Sena was with the agitators. Fadnavis, in today's (Sunday's) discussions, agreed in principle to the demands."

Dhanajya Dhorade, a farmer leader from Puntamba where the stir first began, said he was happy that the agitation was successful and demands of the farmers were met.

Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that "all loans" of farmers will be waived.

The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from Sunday, Raghunathdada said.

"We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and 13 June," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said.

Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

On 1 June, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.
Tura: Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Meghalaya organised a "bitchi-beef" fest on Saturday to protest against the Central government's new rules that aim to prevent sale of cattle for slaughter.

The three BJP leaders  Bernard Marak, Bachu Marak and Wilver Graham Danggo  resigned after senior party leaders opposed their plans to organise a "bitchi-beef party" to celebrate three years of Narendra Modi government. Bitchi is the Garo word for rice beer.

"By hosting the fest, we wanted to show to the world that there is no law that can prevent our way of life and food habits," Bernard Marak, the former district president of the BJP in West Garo Hills, told IANS.

Most of the people who participated in the bitchi-beef party were mostly former BJP members, who slammed the new cattle trade and slaughter rules.

"Our Bitchi-beef fest is a strong message to our leaders to not intrude into our areas and not try to violate our local laws. And us having beef is a freedom we enjoy which should be respected by all outsiders. We are Garos, we are Christians. We are proud of the law of the land, our culture, custom, faith and practices," he said.

"As a responsible leader, I cannot mislead the people and allow them (the BJP) to impose the non-secular ideology on us. They cannot impose the beef ban in our state," said Bachu Marak.

Over 5,000 BJP workers from Garo Hills region, which has 24 seats of Meghalaya Assembly's 60, had resigned from the party over the issue. Many more leaders have threatened to do if the rules are not rolled-back.

The BJP's state chief Shibun Lyngdoh said, "The issue of cow slaughter is a state subject. The matter has been clarified by our leaders. There is nothing more to say."
New Delhi: The government is working to set-up a toll free phone number 14442 for grievance redressal of customers related to digital payments.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT along with National Payments Corporation of India is working on a mechanism to provide a common number 14442, where customers of all digital payments platform, including mobile wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), will be able to register their complaint, according to official sources.

"The Department of Telecom has allocated 14442 to NPCI for setting up its grievance redressal mechanism for customers of all digital payments. The guidelines are in process," an official source said.

The government's efforts to curb black money in the country has pushed digital transaction on various platforms by up to 8,800 per cent.

Digital payments on UPI platform have grown from Rs 3,721 till November 8, 2016 to Rs 3.31 lakh as on May 17, 2017.

Similarly, transaction on mobile wallets have grown by 104 per cent, Aadhaar enabled payments system by 390 per cent and Rupay debit card transactions by 270 per cent during the same period.

BHIM launched on December 30, 2016 has been downloaded by over 2 crore people and total transaction value on it have crossed Rs 1,406 crore.

At present, digital wallet companies offer helpline numbers but customers on social media have expressed dissatisfaction with the existing facility.

There are no helpline or grievance redressal mechanism in case customer faces any issue on BHIM application.

"The draft grievances redressal rules will be placed before public for their views before guidelines are firmed up," the source said.

The government has been running a toll free number 14444 with IT industry body Nasscom but it is only limited to creating awareness about the digital payments and not for grievances redressal.
Ahmedabad: Seeking a CBI probe into the death of a Patidar man in Mehsana recently, Gujarat Congress on Sunday said it would hold state-wide protests on the issue on Monday, even as the state government alleged that the family of the deceased was being instigated by "some elements".

Ketan Patel, a 28-year-old man from Patidar community, died under mysterious circumstances in Mehsana last Monday during his judicial custody.

A resident of Balol village near Mehsana, Ketan was in judicial custody at Mehsana Sub-Jail since 4 June in a theft case. He died at the civil hospital on the night of 5 June within hours of admission. His family has alleged that he died due to custodial torture by police.

A Congress delegation led by state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki, leader of opposition in Gujarat Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela and state party in-charge Ashok Gehlot, on Sunday met Gujarat governor OP Kohli at Gandhinagar and handed over a memorandum demanding a CBI inquiry into Ketan's death.

In the memorandum, the Congress urged the Governor to direct the BJP government in the state to suspend the policemen responsible for the death and hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"We have urged the Governor to direct the state government to lodge an FIR in the case based on the post mortem report. We also want the government to arrest and suspend those policemen who were behind this cold-blooded murder," Solanki told media persons here.

"We have no trust in the local police, as they have not taken any action even after one week has passed since Ketan's death. Therefore, we demand that the probe must be handed over to the CBI, so that the truth comes out," he added.

He added that Congress workers will stage protests across the state on Monday to highlight the issue and to mount pressure on the state government.

Though police denied it was a case of custodial death, local Patel leaders and Ketan's family members alleged that he died due to police torture when he was in their custody before being sent to jail by the court on June 4.

While Gehlot visited Mehsana and met Ketan's kin yesterday, Vaghela met them on Sunday at Mehsana civil hospital.

In an apparent attack on Congress, Gujarat Government on Sunday published an advertisement in all the leading newspapers about the entire issue and alleged that "some elements" were instigating Ketan's family and politicising the issue.

Listing the chronology of the events related to Ketan's death in the ads, the government appealed to his family members to come forward and lodge an FIR.

Few days back, Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel had said that despite the government's assurance of fair probe, no one from Ketan's family has come forward to lodge an FIR yet.

In his response, Solanki alleged that Nitin Patel was deliberately trying to portray Ketan as a thief by publishing such ads.

"Despite the fact that Nitin Patel is an MLA from Mehsana, neither he nor any other minister has visited Mehsana to console Ketan's family. Instead, the government is trying to portray Ketan as a thief by giving such ads. This is done at the behest of Nitin Patel," alleged Solanki.

Apart from Ketan's death, Congress would also highlight BJP chief Amit Shah's recent remarks dubbing Mahatma Gandhi as a "bahut chatur baniya" as well as farmers' plight during their protests on Monday.

"Tomorrow, our workers would stage protests on these three issues. Since farmers in Gujarat are also suffering a lot due to the government apathy, Congress would hold road-blockades across the state on 16 June," he added.
Ahmedabad: In what could spell trouble for Gujarat Congress ahead of the assembly polls later this year, its senior MLA Raghavjee Patel has slammed the party's state leaders accusing them of ignoring the Patidar community, a decisive vote bank in the state.

Patel, who represents Jamnagar-Rural assembly constituency, claimed that though his community has voted for the Congress in the last year's panchayat polls in Gujarat, Patidars were not given important role in the state.

"If Congress wants to win the upcoming assembly polls, it must give importance to Patidars. But, despite the fact that Congress won the last district and taluka panchayat polls due to the Patel votes, the state leadership tried hard to create a rift between the Patel leaders of the party instead of giving importance to them," he told reporters in Jamnagar.

"I had told the party leaders that Patel voters can ensure our victory this time. I urged the leaders to promote Patidars within the party. From the two important posts- the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and state party president - one post must be given to a Patel leader," he said.

At present, two Kshatriya leaders  Shankersinh Vaghela and Bharatsinh Solanki  are holding these posts respectively. In the recent past, Vaghela had offered to step down as the LoP to make way for a Patidar leader.

Raghavjee Patel, a popular Patidar as well as farmer leader of Saurashtra region, is considered close to Vaghela.

Commenting on Patel's demand and the way he questioned the party leadership, state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki on Sunday said the party has a democratic set-up, wherein people can express views freely.

He added that the party in-charge Ashok Gehlot has taken note of Patel's views.

"Congress party has a democratic set up, where everyone is free to express their views. We are like a family and it is natural that each member has different views. Gehlotjee has taken note of what Raghavjee has said and we will discuss this matter," said Solanki.
The results of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advanced 2017, the entrance exam for admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), were declared today at 10 am. Students can check their results on the portal results.jeeadv.ac.in.

Students can check the answer keys in these links for Paper 1 and Paper 2 to assess their overall performance as well. Officials also declared that students will be given 11 bonus marks for three ambiguous questions that were asked in the paper. Media reports state that two questions from Mathematics and one question from Physics section were found to be ambiguous.

IIT Madras will also release category-wise All India Ranks (AIR) of successful candidates, which aspirants will receive via SMS on their registered mobile numbers.

According to NDTV, organisers said that aspirants will not receive individual rank cards. The report adds that qualifying in JEE Advanced 2017 exams and participating in the seat allocation process does not guarantee a candidate to get admission in the IITs. Hence, admission will depend on the availability of seats during various rounds of seat allocation.

Through JEE (Advanced), the IITs offer admission into undergraduate courses leading to a Bachelors, Integrated Masters or Bachelor-Master Dual Degree in Engineering, Sciences, Architecture, or Pharmaceuticals. There are over 11,000 seats available across the country.

Students can check their results on the official website using the following steps:

Log on to the official website: www.jeeadv.ac.in, results.nic.in or results.gov.in

Click on Result of JEE (ADV) 2017 or directly visit the portal results.jeeadv.ac.in

Enter your registration number and other details

Submit your details and your results will be displayed. Download the result and take a printout for future reference.

As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in.
The results of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advanced 2017, the entrance exam for admission into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), will be declared today at 10 am, reports said. Students will be able to check their results on results.jeeadv.ac.in.

Of the 2.2 lakh students who were eligible 1.7 lakh registered and appeared for the exam held on 21 May this year. Since the answer key for the paper has already been released, most students are already aware of their marks. Results will only give a confirmation on these scores, an official from the organising JEE team said to Hindustan Times.

Students can check the answer keys in these links for Paper 1 and Paper 2. Also, IIT Madras will release category-wise All India Ranks (AIR) of successful candidates, which aspirants will receive via a text message on their registered mobile numbers. According to NDTV, organisers will not send individual rank cards to candidates.

Through JEE (Advanced), the IITs offer admission into undergraduate courses leading to a Bachelors, Integrated Masters or Bachelor-Master Dual Degree in Engineering, Sciences, Architecture, or Pharmaceuticals. There are over 11,000 seats available across the country. According to Mint, the candidates get admissions into 22 IITs across the nation or into the Indian school of Mines, Dhanbad, for Bachelors, Integrated Masters and dual degree programmes.

Students can check their results through these steps:

Visit the official website: www.jeeadv.ac.in, results.nic.in or results.gov.in

Select Result of JEE (ADV) 2017 or directly visit the portal results.jeeadv.ac.in

Enter your registration number and other pertinent details

Submit your details. Download the result and take a printout for future reference.

As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in.
Srinagar: JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was today detained in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Sunday due to apprehension of breach of peace, police said.

Malik, along with Noor Muhammad Kalwal, the zonal president of his outfit, was detained by the security forces at Reban in Shopian this morning, a police official said.

A JKLF spokesman, while condemning their detention, said the outfit's chief had gone to Reban to meet the family of jailed leader Sarjan Barkati.

The spokesman said the duo have been taken to some unknown location.
Mandsaur: Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were detained on Sunday after they tried to enter Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing during the farmers' stir.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in the neighbouring Ratlam district.

The police told them that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted on Saturday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district.

After being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union president Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from various farmers' outfits across the country, sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.

Following this, the police detained the 30 activists under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), Jaora SDM RP Verma said.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on 1 June.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during the farmers' protest on 6 June.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continued his indefinite fast for peace in the state amid farmers' agitation for the second day on Sunday.

Chouhan began his indefinite fast on Saturday, asserting that he would lay down his life for farmers.

Chouahn, who is on a fast at Dussehra Maidan here, met several representatives of farmers' organisations and listened to their problems on Saturday.

However, as the chief minister and agriculture minister Gauri Shankar Bisen ruled out any loan waiver, a group of farmers started a counter-protest opposite him.

Chouhan would hold talks with farmers on Sunday as well.

The farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been on strike since 1 June to press their demand for loan waivers and fair price for their produce.

The farmers' agitation was marred by violence on 6 June when they pelted stones at the police.

In retaliation, the police opened fire at the farmers, leaving five dead, according to official count. However, farmer leaders claim eight were killed that day in police firing.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who continued his indefinite fast for peace in the state amid farmers' agitation for the second day on Sunday, has been urged by his ministers and the kin of deceased peasants to end the hunger strike.

On Saturday night, Chouhan met the family members of the farmers killed in a police firing. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said, "Everyone is concerned about the Chief Minister's health".

"The state is peaceful now. Hence, it's an appeal by everyone (to Chouhan) to end the fast," Bhupendra Singh said.

Chouhan began his indefinite fast on Saturday, asserting he would lay down his life for farmers.

Chouhan, who is on a fast at Dussehra Maidan here, also met several representatives of farmers' organisations and listened to their problems on Saturday.

However, as the Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen ruled out any loan waiver, a group of farmers started a counter-protest at the same site opposite him.

The Chief Minister will hold talks with farmers on Sunday as well. His wife Sadhna Singh, Higher Education Minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, Home Minister Bhupendra Singh, Women and Child Welfare Minister Archana Chitnis and senior BJP leader Raghunandan Sharma are present with him.

The farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been on strike since 1 June to press their demand for loan waivers and fair price for their produce.

The farmers' agitation was marred by violence on 6 June when they pelted stones at the police.

In retaliation, the police opened fire at the farmers, leaving five dead, according to official count. However, farmer leaders claim eight were killed that day in police firing.
Mandsaur: Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh, and JNUSU president Mohit Kumar Pandey were on Sunday stopped from entering Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in the neighbouring Ratlam district.

We have been detained by police at Ratlam Mandsaur boarder. Not served any orders. There is no curfew. We were ready to comply with 144. Yet  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

The police told them that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted on Saturday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district

Madhya Pradesh farmers' agitation: Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh arrested in Ratlam's Jaora under section 151. pic.twitter.com/MKs9qRPwp8  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

After being stopped, the activists sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on 1 June.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on 6 June.
New Delhi: The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, an umbrella body of 62 farmer unions, on Saturday passed a resolution seeking dismissal of the Madhya Pradesh government and imposition of President's rule in the state.

To express their anger against the "anti-farmer polices" of the Narendra Modi government, these unions have decided to block traffic for three hours on all national highways across the country on 16 June.

Deepak Sharma, spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union-Asli, said: "We have decided to hold nationwide agitation till 15 June as the BJP governments in the Centre and states have failed to solve farmers' problems. On 16 June, we will block national highways from 12 p.m to 3 p.m."

The Mahasangh has demanded 50 per cent profit over input cost, as promised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and loan waiver citing financial burden on farmers due to drought and poor returns to their produce.

Naresh Sirohi, General Secretary of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, said all farmers had been asked to shoot videos of protest marches.

"We have been doing protests peacefully. But the BJP government has used brutal ways to suppress our agitations. So, we have asked farmers to shoot videos of protest marches," he said.

Sirohi further said that all farmer unions would meet on 18 June to decide the next course of ongoing agitations.

Meanwhile, the All India Kisan Sabha - a wing of the Communist Party of India - has decided to observe 14 June as "Protest Day" across the country against the Mandsaur police firing on farmers by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
Abhishek Patidar, 17, and Chain Ram Patidar, 23  sons of small farmers from Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh  dreamt of different careers for themselves. While one aspired to be a doctor, the second wanted to join the army. But their lives were tragically cut short on 6 June, when bullets fired by the police shattered the dreams of the two youth and their families. The two, along with four others protesters, were killed in police firing. The rest, as they say, is history.

The farmers' agitation and resultant violence in Mandsaur has put this nondescript district of Madhya Pradesh on the national map.

Abhishek's father, Dinesh Kumar Patidar  a farmer from Barkheda Panth, about 25 km from Mandsaur  laments with tearful eyes over allowing his youngest son to attend the demonstration on 6 June at Pipaliya Mandi, where police fired openly at the mob.

"He asked me for permission to go and see the demonstration along with his friends and neighbours. I allowed him because the demonstration was for the farmers' rights. But after a few hours, instead of my son, his dead body was brought home," Dinesh told Firstpost, while sitting outside his house with other neighbourhood farmers.

Abhishek, said one of his neighbours, was sitting on the opposite end of Pipaliya Mandi police station and watching a gathering of nearly 5,000 farmers who were demonstrating by blocking the state highway.

"The gathering grew more aggressive when the police tried to disperse the mob. All of a sudden, police started firing at the mob, and one bullet hit Abhishek's stomach. He fell down, but we helped him get up, and he started running. A second bullet then pierced through his back and he fell flat," the neighbour said.

The Class XII biology student, who was aspiring to become the first doctor from the family, was rushed to a hospital in Indore along with two other farmers who were fired upon. But he died on the way.

In a bid to pacify the farmers and families of the deceased, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a Rs 1 crore compensation to their families. "First the government announced Rs 5 lakh, then Rs 10 lakh, and finally Rs 1 crore as compensation. Are they trying to auction dead bodies?" questioned Dinesh.

However, nobody from the political leadership or state administration has yet visited Abhishek's family  neither to console them, nor to inform them about the compensation.

"Abhishek used to assist me with farming, but wanted to be a doctor, since farming has become a loss-making proposition now. In the last three years, it has worsened further for farmers, and this agitation has taken place because of that," added Abhishek's father, who owns 28 bighas of land and grows soyabean, gram and onion.

"The farmers wouldn't have become aggressive had their appeal for a protest bandh been heard. The government didn't pay any heed to it. A few traders, backed by the ruling party, refused to budge and thrashed young farmers in the local market. Nobody is bothered about farmers' distress," remarked Lakshminarayan, Patidar's neighbour, and a carpenter by profession.

The story of Chain Ram Patidar is equally heart rending. The elder of two siblings, Chain Ram was the son of a poor farmer Ganpatlal Patidar. He wanted to join the Indian Army. A narrow serpentine road with fields on both sides in Nayakheda village, 20 km from Barkheda Panth, leads to Chain Ram's place.

"I have only two bighas of land. Seeing our poor condition, my son wanted to join the army. He was passionate about serving the nation. He cleared all the tests, except the last medical one due to his eyesight," a visibly shattered Ganpatlal Patidar told Firstpost, while sitting with other elders of the family outside his small 400 sq feet thatched roof house.

One could hear a constant sobbing from the inside room. The family elders said Chain Ram had only gotten married in April this year.

"My brother went with a few neighbours to Pipaliya Mandi. He was standing at a distance from the farmers' gathering. When the police opened firing, everybody started running away, and my brother fell down. He was shot in the head. The post-mortem report confirmed that he died as a result of a bullet piercing through the top of his skull. Eyewitnesses told us that policemen dragged my brother by pulling him by his leg," said Govind Patidar, a Class XII student, and Chain Ram's younger sibling.

"Nobody wants to pursue farming now, since we fail to get even our input cost. Things have become increasingly difficult. I have a very small land holding, which is less than half a hectare and I grow onions. You can see a stack of onions lying here unsold, as prices have crashed. Now my only hope is Govind, who may choose some other profession," Ganpatlal added.

Even his family has questioned the state administration, since nobody with the exception of the local patwari and the village sarpanch has yet visited them.

The villagers have questioned the "cold-blooded killing" of these two young people from their village, two youngsters who weren't even involved in the protests. The one question on their minds is not just about a bleak future in farming, but also about the lives that were inadvertently lost. They don't know whom to trust anymore.
The PDP-BJP coalition government in the state is caught in a piquant situation on the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) after Opposition parties accused it of trying to end the special status of the state. The Mehbooba Mufti-led government is in a quandary also because if GST is not implemented local traders wouldnt get any concession while exporting goods from outside the state and several commodities (in Jammu and Kashmir) will be priced higher than the rest of the country.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has called an all-party meeting on 13 June to find a solution out of this unique fix as well as resolve concerns of the Opposition parties. Incidentally, a delegation of opposition parties led by National Conference (NC) leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah had met Governor NN Vohra to raise their concerns about how the new tax regime would erode states special status. A special session of the Assembly has also been convened on 17 June to discuss the GST law.

Though the Jammu and Kashmir government recently approved a draft GST bill, and in a Cabinet meeting Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti maintained that GST would make prices of essential commodities cheaper and help the state generate additional tax revenue, GST's impact on the state's special status remain a concern. Jammu and Kashmir's finance minister Haseeb Drabu had earlier held that the GST Council will have over-riding powers than the state Assembly and this would be a matter of concern for the state of Jammu and Kashmir which has a special status and also its own Constitution. During a recent GST council meeting in Srinagar, Drabu, however, held that the new tax will help the common man and make the commodities and services cheaper.

Minister of state for finance Ajay Nanda, said that "the mode of implementation of the GST in the state will be worked out". "We are holding an all-party meeting to see as to how the law can be implemented," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir tax laws vs GST

According to an official at the state's commercial tax department, implementation of GST will make several state laws including the General Sales Tax Act, which taxes services, irrelevant. Some 30 services have been notified by the government from time to time, which are being taxed under the state act, the official said.

The task of implementing GST has also become difficult because of the business community, which fears that the new GST regime will weaken the special status of the state. President of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, said, We are strongly against any dilution of the stand on GST by the state government and would resist it forcefully."

The Jammu and Kashmir state imposes a number of other taxes on its own, for example, petroleum products are taxed as per the Jammu and Kashmir Motor Spirit and Diesel Tax Act, 1948. The tax law provides for levy of charges on the retail sale of motor spirit and diesel oil and has been promulgated as per the powers reserved to the state under Section 5 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. Similarly, the Jammu and Kashmir state has its own Value Added Tax (VAT) Act 2005, which was enacted by the state legislature. As per the VAT Act, "every dealer whose turnover of sales or purchases exceeded the taxable limit shall be liable to pay tax on his sales or purchases, as the case may be". Besides that, in Jammu and Kashmir, a tax is also imposed on "entry of scheduled goods into the state" from outside as per Entry Tax on Goods Act, 2000, which was enacted by the state legislature.

GST is the way ahead

According to officials, with the new GST regime all the indirect taxes will go, and only three taxes  the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Integrated Goods and Services (IGST) and State Goods and Services Tax (SGST)  would be implemented in the state.

Without GST, trade with rest of India will become difficult for Jammu and Kashmir traders and businessmen. In case the state opts out from the GST regime the traders and businessmen would not be able to conduct business with rest of India and cant get the benefit of input tax credit," a senior government official said, adding, GST is a self-assessment taxation model in which the interface with the officers is being done away with and the tax is paid online."

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has earlier argued that the different tax brackets of the GST have been worked out to ensure that the commodities which are of mass consumption are taxed in the lower bracket than the luxury goods. In a press conference in Srinagar, which was held after the GST council meeting, Jaitley had said that under the GST, "actual incidence of tax on customers will go down" and those "who are against GST in Jammu and Kashmir lack understanding". He also said that in case GST was not implemented in the state customers in the state would have to pay double tax, first on inputs and then on the final product. "If GST is not implemented the people will not be able to get the benefit of input credit," he had said.

The state government has, however, also maintained that the CGST is already applicable in the state in the form of Central Excise Tax on the manufacturing of goods, which would now be subsumed into the GST. Similarly, officials said that the J&K government will counter the opposition on the plea that the central sales tax act is also applicable in the state and would now replace the IGST.
Chennai: DMK working president and Tamil Nadu Opposition Leader MK Stalin Sunday sought the intervention of the United Nations Human Rights Council to "protect" the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils living in the island nation.

In his letter to Katy Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Stalin alleged "serious human rights violations" by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the peaking of hostilities in 2009.

"Lakhs of Tamils are still missing (since then) and the Sri Lankan government has not come up with any constructive mechanism to find them," he said.

Even after the UN intervention for independent and credible investigation into war crimes, Colombo has not done anything in this regard, he alleged.

He charged the Lankan army with having "encroached" a large part of land in Tamil dominated areas even as all "human rights covenants" have been violated by that government.

"Therefore, the personal intervention of the UN Human Rights Council is the need of the hour to protect the Tamils living in Sri Lanka," he added.

Pressing for a "reliable independent investigation" by international judges into the alleged war crimes on Tamils, he said they also required a "meaningful political solution," which was long "overdue."

"I am sure that it can only be ensured by a referendum among Ealam Tamils including Tamils living abroad."

"I hope that this (ensuing) session of the Human Rights Council will take earnest steps to uphold the values of human rights and also for meaningful political solution of the choice of Ealam Tamils," he added.
Muzaffarnagar: A 30-year-old woman, displaced after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, was allegedly raped by four persons, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday when the woman was picked up by a man and taken to a nearby jungle where three others joined him and raped her.

In a complaint filed with the police, the woman told that the accused had threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone.

Forced to flee home after the riots, the woman has been living in a village in Deoband police station area of Saharanpur district, along with her mother.

According to circle officer of police Sidharth Singh, a case has been registered under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) against a person named Munir and three unidentified persons.

All the four accused were on the run, the police officer said.
Kohima: Nagaland chief minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu has said NSCN(K) chairman SS Khaplang had passed away before any solution to the protracted Naga political problem could be reached.

"It was encouraging to learn that Khaplang had, a few months ago, conveyed his willingness to have a dialogue with the Centre, provided issues of substance were discussed," Liezietsu said. However, the Naga leader died before things could be taken forward to their logical conclusion, he said.

After NSCN(K) abrogated ceasefire with the government of India in 2015, the Nagaland government in consultation with the Centre had been sending delegations to meet the NSCN(K) leadership in Myanmar to convince the rebel outfit to re-enter the peace process and to find an early solution to the Naga political problem, Liezietsu said.

Khaplang died following a cardiac arrest at Takka in Myanmar on the night of 9 June. "It is tragic that an important Naga leader like Khaplang expired considering the fact that the protracted Naga political problem is on the verge of being resolved, and the need for all different Naga political groups to come together to air our views and aspirations to the government of India in one voice is absolutely imperative," Liezietsu had said in his condolence message.

The chief minister also urged the Nagas to "resolve and dedicate" themselves to work with renewed vigour and determination to find a solution to the Naga political problem, which is "honourable and acceptable to all stakeholders".
New Delhi: The Delhi State Consumer Redressal Commission has imposed a cost of Rs 30 lakh on a private hospital for its deficient service in a case in which a woman was left with a needle in her uterus after delivery.

The Commission, while dismissing the appeal of Shree Jeewan Hospital in north Delhi, upheld the district forum's order asking the hospital to give Rs three lakh to north-east Delhi resident Rubina.

It also noted that instead of employing a qualified doctor, the hospital got its job done by a pharmacist.

"Instead of employing a qualified doctor who draws a salary of around Rs two lakhs, the hospital is getting the job done by a pharmacist. How many such episiotomy wounds have been stitched by ... (pharmacist) is anybody's guess," the bench headed by member NP Kaushik said.

"The appeal preferred by the hospital is dismissed. The hospital is burdened with costs of Rs 30 lakh for being 'negligent' and 'deficient in service'. The said costs shall be deposited by the hospital in Consumer Welfare Fund of the State maintained by this Commission," it said.

It also noted that there was an attempt by hospital to manipulate the records to cover up the fact that the delivery was effected by a doctor who was not competent to do the surgery.

"Hospital has gone to the extent of manipulating the records to make believe that it was a doctor and nurse who conducted the delivery," the bench said.

According to the complaint, Rubina was admitted to the hospital on September 15, 2009 for delivery and she gave birth to a girl child.

The plea alleged that while conducting the delivery, the doctors left a needle in her uterus due to which she was bleeding profusely and suffered pain and trauma but the doctors did not pay heed to her problem.

After an X-ray was conducted, the needle was removed from the uterus in the same hospital, it said.

It also said when the woman underwent an ultrasound in November 2009, it was revealed that her uterus had retroflexed and she would not be able to conceive again. She then filed a complaint against the hospital before the police and consumer forum.

The hospital, which denied negligence, admitted the presence of needle in the woman's uterus.

However, the Delhi Medical Council had opined that there is no case of medical negligence.

The district forum had asked the hospital to pay the compensation to Rubina, which was challenged by it in the state commission.
South Africa has agreed to investigate an Indian citizen, Zahidmiya Saikh, an alleged aide of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, in the murders of a VHP activist and a BJP leader in Gujarat two years ago, according to media reports.

Saikh, alias Jao is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly conspiring to kill Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist Shirish Bengali and BJP leader Pragnesh Mistry at Bharuch, Gujarat, in November 2015.

The NIAs probe revealed that Saikh, based in South Africa, had hired killers in Gujarat on the directions of Javed Dawoodbhai Patel, alias Javed Chikna, a key member of the Dawood gang based in Pakistan, The Hindu reported.

The NIA had been in touch with South Africa since last year, requesting their cooperation. The NIA provided crucial details, including latest photographs and Saikh's phone number. Saikh is suspected to be in Pretoria.

Request for provisional arrest of Saikh has been sought under Article 12 of the India-South Africa extradition treaty, according to a report in India Today.

"An attempt to have a video conferencing between the officials of both the countries failed, with South Africa police stone-walling NIA's repeated request for a follow up. The matter was discussed at the highest level, with the agency even requesting the Indian High Commissioner in South Africa to plead their request with them. The repeated push finally yielded. NIA has been mulling to send a team to the country, but only after there is a positive development," according to the report.

South African officials responded a few days ago after the enormity of situation was brought to light. Initially, hesitation existed because the need to investigate a murder as a terrorist attack. Enough evidence was not provided to asses the situation, The Hindu reported.

Its a positive development that South Africa has agreed to open an investigation, based on our request. We will wait for the outcome. Earlier, they had asked why a murder was being investigated as a terror case. When we shared the details of the links to Pakistan, they agreed to act," a senior NIA official said, according to the report.

A charge sheet filed in 2016 reveals a darker plot. The murders seemed to be motivated by the Gujarat riots of 2002. The intentions were to target the anti-Muslim leaders present at the riots. "Saikh contacted young people in India and offered them handsome money to work for the D company and lured them with foreign jobs, according to the report.

According to India Today, the charge sheet read, Shirish Bengalis murder was part of a larger conspiracy to target people from the RSS, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the BJP. Twenty-six foreign conspirators, based in South Africa and Pakistan, formed a terrorist gang and hatched a conspiracy through voice call, SMS and WhatsApp calls and messages to kill persons belonging to a particular section of society with the intention of terrorising them and creating communal unrest.

Javed Chikna, now settled in Karachi, had sent the names of the people to be targeted to Saikh in October 2015, a month before the murders , according to the NIA. From these reports, the links between the Gujarat riots and the conspiracy become apparent.

The case was earlier investigated by the Gujarat Police and then transferred to the NIA. Twelve persons were arrested for the murders: Saiyed Mohammad Kadri, Zuheb Ansari, Inayat Patel, Mohammad Yunus, Haider Ali, Nissarbhai Sheikh, Moshin Khan, Mohammad Altaf, Abid Patel, Abdul Salim, Abdul Samad and Nasir Khan Pathan India Today reported.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday flagged off the first batch of pilgrims bound for the annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra for this year.

Swaraj told the pilgrims to take care to not "sully" the route leading up to Kailash Mansarovar during the holy journey.

"The reverence we have for Lord Shiva, we should have similar respect for his abode. Therefore, please do not sully the road that will lead you to Lord Shiva," she told the pilgrims at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in Delhi.

A total of 1,430 devotees will undertake the pilgrimage in 25 batches this year. Eighteen batches, each comprising around 60 pilgrims, will visit Kailash Mansoravar through the more arduous Lipulekh Pass route, while seven batches with 50 pilgrims each will take the newly-opened Nathu La route.

The yatra will continue for the next four months.

The MEA had received 4,442 applications this year compared to last year's 2,600. The pilgrims were shortlisted through a computerised draw of lots.

"In this first batch, we had selected 60 people but two of them couldn't clear their medical test and hence 58 people will go in the first batch," she said.

Swaraj said the Indian government was making constant efforts and improvements to make the journey more convenient for the pilgrims.

"But it is a gradual process and we are doing a bit more every year," she said.

Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant in December last year, asked the pilgrims to seek blessings on her behalf as well.

"I underwent the operation but by God's grace I could recuperate within months. Since you all are going to seek blessings of Lord Shiva, I'd request you to seek some blessings for me too as I myself haven't gone to Kailash Mansarovar, ever, and am not sure if I ever will," she said.
New Delhi: The UIDAI has refused to share information on cases of fake and duplicate Aadhaar cards, saying the disclosure might affect national security, or can lead to incitement of an offence.

Replying to an RTI query by a PTI correspondent, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues the card, also denied to give details of action it has taken in such cases.

It said that the UIDAI's Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) facilities, information assets, logistics and infrastructure and dependencies, have been classified as 'Protected System', under the Section 70(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

"Any disclosure of the UIDAI grievance database, which essentially forms a part of the UIDAI CIDR operations, therefore, would have an impact on national security, strategic, scientific and economic interest of the State etc.," the UIDAI said in response to the RTI application.

It was asked to provide details related to the cases of duplicate and fake Aadhaar cards received by the UIDAI, and action taken on them.

The information sought would fall under Section 8(a) of the RTI Act, and therefore, it is denied, the UIDAI said.

The section bars information "disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence".

Further, the format in which information is held by the UIDAI, contains identity details which, if divulged, maybe prone to identity theft etc, the authority said.

The Aadhaar card carries 12-digit unique identification number. The card acts as a proof of identity and address.

There have been a few complaints against certain unauthorised websites for promising Aadhaar-related services.

At least eight FIRs have been filed by police against as many unauthorised websites for promising such services.
London: At least five UK Cabinet ministers are pushing for Boris Johnson to topple Theresa May as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, one of his close allies said on Sunday but the foreign secretary denied any plans of a coup.

Pressure has been building up on May to step down after a disastrous election result for the Tories, which saw the ruling party's majority slashed and being forced to cobble together a minority government with the support of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

"A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at Cabinet level," a Johnson ally told The Sunday Times.

"He has been inundated with messages of support. We need a brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal," he added.

But Johnson reacted to media speculation on Twitter by dismissing any rebellion: "I am backing Theresa May. Let's get on with the job."

The latest leadership speculation comes a day after two of May's closest advisers, her joint chiefs-of-staff Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, resigned amid recriminations about their controlling management style.

May had been reportedly given an ultimatum to get rid of the duo or face a leadership challenge by Monday.

"Theresa May is a dead woman walking and the only question is how long she remains on death row," said George Osborne, who had been sacked as UK chancellor when May took over at 10 Downing Street after David Cameron resigned as PM after the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

The new editor of the Evening Standard newspaper and close ally of Cameron added: "Cameron took years getting back to office, winning in seats like Bath and Brighton and Oxford and I am angry when we go backwards and I am not afraid to say that."

The sense of uncertainty about a May-led minority government was made worse on Saturday night by conflicting messages from Downing Street.

An initial statement suggested a deal had been struck with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), but a later version said the talks were continuing.

"The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week. We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond," the final statement said.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster has said that talks were ongoing, indicating it may not be such a smooth process after all.

The Opposition Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has also said that his party is waiting in the wings to take charge after he defied pollsters predictions by gaining 30 seats in Thursday's election, leaving a hung Parliament.

He said that Labour under his leadership was "quite ready and able to put forward a serious programme of government", which he said "obviously has massive support in this country".

"We can't go on with a period of great instability," he said, adding that the Labour Party was ready to fight another election campaign.

A latest YouGov poll for The Sunday Times revealed that voters, by a margin of 48 percent to 38 percent, believe the prime minister should resign and for the first time Corbyn has drawn level with May on the question of who would be the best prime minister.
Lucknow: Under fire on the law and order front, the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday directed district police chiefs and local administration to increase patrolling, conduct surprise checks and other steps to curb crime.

"Crime and criminals should be tackled effectively.... district police and administration should be asked to identify criminals. For this, intelligence should be strengthened and patrolling and suprise checking should be enhanced," Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said.

Kumar along with DGP, Sulkhan Singh, reviewed the law and order in the state through video conferencing with district police chiefs and district magistrates.

Opposition SP, Congress and BSP have been attacking the state government on the law and order front, pointing to recent incidents including in Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Mathura and Sitapur etc.

At the meeting, the officers were asked to identify criminals and act against them.

Commissioner and Secretary Revenue, Leena Johari briefed about the action taken by anti-land mafia task force, which had been directed to ensure that "unbiased action" is taken "irrespective of the clout" of the offender.

"If the land of any poor person is being grabbed, police and administration should initiate strict action," the principal secretary said.

The officials were also directed to initiate strict action against the mining mafia.

Kumar said that in line with the zero tolerance policy of the state government on issues of corruption, the district administration and police should immediately act on complaints by people.

"A joint team of magistrate and deputy SP should act on such complaints," he said.

He directed officials to keep an eye on rumour mongers and effectively use social media for the purpose. He also suggested roping in volunteers.

The DGP in his address emphasised on foot patrolling of police force to generate confidence among people by increasing interaction with them.

He also suggested improving the functioning of 'UP 100' helpline.

Several incidents of violence and crime have taken place in the state over which opposition parties have attacked the government.

Saharanpur witnessed caste clashes, while in Bulandshahr, a Muslim man was beaten to death over the alleged kidnapping of Hindu girl.

In Mathura, two jewellers were shot dead inside their shop leading to state-wide protests, while in Sitapur three members of a businessman's family were shot dead recently.
My father was from Tibet, but had never been there. He lived much of his life in Darjeeling, Hong Kong, England and America but he died believing Sri Lanka was his true home. After he passed away in his sleep, my mother, brother and sister left to make arrangements for the cremation. I stayed alone with my fathers body, in deep contemplation, still unsure how I would overcome this great loss. The phone rang  I hate phone calls at the best of times, so almost did not answer but at that moment I thought speaking to someone may help comfort me.

Chhimi, is it true? Aunty Lakmini, one of my fathers friends asked. Is the bugger dead?

My father? I asked. Yes, he passed away.

Aiyo, I thought it was a joke. She took a deep breath and then laughed. Its a bloody joke, no? Please check again, putha.

Aunty, I am sorry, hes definitely dead.

Silence on the other end of the phone. Then sobbing. Aiyo, did he suffer terribly? She started thumping her chest, I think.

How can you go on without him?

We will celebrate his life, I said.

But he has no life. He is gone. You must be feeling terrible loss, knowing you will never see him again. When you need him in your darkest hour, he will not be there. He is gone, gone, gone. She took a deep breath. Unless you are joking.

This was 16 years ago, but I remember the phone call like it was yesterday because my own reaction surprised me  I laughed. The call was so blunt, so devoid of any semblance of what is PC, so utterly Sri Lankan that I was comforted by the familiarity of it. It was so much simpler than someone beating about the bush.

A few years later, when I started writing for a magazine, Aunty Lakmini wanted to meet for lunch to reminisce about my father. While she was telling me that I was eating too many sweets, Irasha, an old friend, approached our table.

I read your articles in Adoh! Irasha smiled and rubbed her belly. The first one was so funny, men, I tell you.

Thanks so much, I said, surprised to receive a compliment from the girl who told me I looked like a burnt pork chop after I had spent hours working on my tan.

I tell all my friends to read it, men. Your second one was also not bad, but after that you have become a bit crap, no?

Sorry, what was that?

You must not be trying, Irasha said. Just taking the pay cheque and writing drivel.

I have been trying.

Really? she said. Wow. Sorry, I didnt mean to offend. The articles are not badly written.

Thanks.

Theyre just a little boring.

In unrelated news, Irashas father died soon after. Funerals in Sri Lanka are enormous social gatherings. The rule here is, if in doubt, go to funeral. If your work colleagues mothers astrologers jogging partners cousins wife dies, go to the funeral. There, I bumped into Yohan, my best friend from junior school, now 220 pounds, grey-haired and constantly panting.

You didnt invite me to the wedding, you bugger, he said.

Im not married.

But then why have you let yourself go? He scratched one of his seven chins. You have really aged, and look at this. He grabbed my love handles. Disgusting.

You look amazing, I said.

I know youre joking, brother, but come on, I have always looked bad and yet, I have a wife. Youre single and you make no effort with the clothes you wear. Brush your bloody hair at least.

I have been in Sri Lanka long enough to get used to this bluntness. I find it charming and endearing because I know that it is meant with good intentions. Aunty Lakmini was simply sharing the burden of my fathers death with us, Irasha thought I needed to work harder at my writing, and Yohan was concerned that I had no wife, when he was already on his second.

If you drive here, it would be fair to assume that people have little or no awareness of others. They barge, beep and bully you. Yet, if you have an accident or get stuck in a drain, these same people will put their lives on hold to run to your assistance. After the recent floods, the authorities had to plead with people not to turn up just to watch. At the same time supermarket shelves in Colombo were empty because Sri Lankans, from all walks of life, used much of their money to buy rations for those affected. Our maid infuriates us by always busting her money so quickly and asking for advances, yet we had tears in our eyes when she gave my daughter a birthday gift that cost half her salary. I love her, no? she said.

Sri Lankans are the kings of offering unsolicited advice and of sticking their noses into your business when their noses have not been invited, but at the same time they are the gods of generosity, kindness, and friendliness. If you ever want a hand up when you are in trouble, dont get in touch with the Good Samaritans, the police, or social services. Dont signal for Batman. Call one Sri Lankan and a thousand will come to your assistance. In fact, you may not need to call because often people are so invested in your life anyway, they will automatically be there when you need them. They might tell you, Youve put on, or instruct you on how best to live your life, but they will drag you out of whatever hole you may be in. And you can be damn sure they will be smiling.

These are Sri Lankans. This is Sri Lanka. This is why expats like me find it impossible to leave.

In 2015, at Barefoot Cafe, when I did my first ever book signing, Irasha turned up and bought 10 copies of the Amazing Racist as gifts for her friends, even though she thought they were too intelligent to read my rubbish. No one else might buy, no men, she said lifting one copy up. Its just dumbed-down fluff, no?

When I wanted to propose to my wife (before she was my wife, of course), Yohan arranged everything from the venue, to the wine, to the flowers: Shes too good for you. If you dont get this right, she will say no for sure.

For two years after my father died, Aunty Lakmini called our house every day checking on us, sending us food, buying us presents. She was an absolute pain in the neck, to be honest, especially when she started badmouthing some of my friends. I lost touch with her, but still sent her a wedding invitation in March 2011. Soon after, she messaged saying it was unlikely she could come because she would be dead by then.

On our special day, as I was giving my speech, I noticed her at the back, smiling and crying her eyes out.

Was she dying? No, she was only joking.

Chhimi Tenduf-La lives with his wife and two children in Colombo, where he has based each of his three books. His latest, Loyal Stalkers, has just been released by Pan Macmillan India.
In his new book, The Gift of Anger, Arun Gandhi recounts 11 vital, extraordinary life lessons taught to him by his beloved grandfather, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A moving, often irreverent story of his years being raised at the iconic Sevagram ashram, Arun's charming memories of his grandfather  known to others as Mahatma Gandhi  make for engaging reading. The founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, Arun Gandhi spoke with Firstpost about his book, his grandfather, his own battles with anger  and how to handle it in the age of social media.

Is there more than one interpretation of Gandhi and his values today? We keep trying to decode him 70 years on... how he may apply to today's times. Are we enhancing his value(s) or is it all getting lost in a muddle? What might be a good way of knowing the man better?

Any philosophy will remain vibrant and relevant only if it is kept alive through constant search for a meaning. If we accept what was written a hundred or a thousand years ago literally then it becomes a dogma and ceases to be relevant. It is the same with Gandhi's philosophy which he described as the "search for Truth". Since Truth is ever changing, the search for meaning also has to change.

If we are still seeking and analysing Gandhi's philosophy of life 70 years after his death, it shows Truth is immortal.

What is certain to me at least is that nonviolence is not a weapon of choice. We cannot accept it one moment and discard it the next. This is the point I have tried to make in the book.

You lived with him at a very young age. We start to see the same things differently as we grow. What in particular changed in your view of him, or about some of the things he said, as you grew up?

With maturity of age comes the maturity of thought. The many lessons he taught me were little things with profound meaning. Certainly, I was not a genius at the age of 12 to understand everything that today forms the basis of my book. It is only while growing up, watching my parents demonstrate daily, the life of a satyagrahi, that I began to understand the relevance of the small lessons with big meanings. The conclusions are, therefore, mine.

For instance when he talked of simplicity and the importance of simple living I, as an adult, concluded that he was against the selfish and greedy lifestyle that modern society has accepted. Materialism has taken deep roots and that has spawned the need for a culture of violence. Over the years the combination of materialism and this culture of violence has brought civilisation to the brink of disaster. We spend more money on weapons of mass destruction than on improving the quality of life. It is always might over right!

So, my conclusion of what Gandhi was trying to teach us is to dismantle the culture of violence and replace it with a culture of nonviolence. This means purging our hearts of all the negativity like hate, greed, prejudice, selfishness etc and replacing it with love, respect, compassion, understanding and acceptance.

Gandhi's name was synonymous with peace, yet you mention how he battled his own demons, that were even violent at times. Is it perhaps problematic that we look at him as a clean slate and not human? Is that something you attempt to do through your writings?

In his writings, Gandhi was at pains to demonstrate to the people that he was an ordinary person with the same common failings. As a young boy he lied, he stole money to buy cigarettes and eat meat, and lately, some scholars have also painted him as a racist, by taking words like "kafir", describing the original Africans in South Africa. He had all the demons that each of us is susceptible to. The difference between him and us is that he decided to fight the demons and become a better person whilst most of us accept the demons as inevitable and learn to live with them.

Gandhi was not born a Mahatma, he became one over the years.

We made him a Mahatma because we do not want to change. "The people will follow me in life, worship me in death but not make my cause their cause"  these are words that can be expressed by all the people we worship today.

Is there a difference in the way Gandhi is read and studied within India and abroad? The nature of our conflict is largely based on religion. In the US it might be race. How is he interpreted in both contexts?

I am not a scholar and I must confess I have not made a deep study of how scholars in both countries approach the philosophy of nonviolence. My understanding is superficial and from what I see there is not much difference in approach. In both countries the approach is limited to a means to resolve conflicts. There is no attention paid to the aspect of avoiding conflicts. The two approaches differ radically. Resolving conflicts implies conflicts are going to happen and we must find a civilised way of resolving them. Yes, some conflicts are a part of life and we cannot avoid them. But conflicts like race, religion, economic disparities and many others wont be recurrent if we learn to eliminate them forever.

Let's take the race question in the US and the caste problem in India. In both cases, after much agitation we granted them civil and equal rights by law and thought the matter was resolved. But we still hate each other and still want nothing to do with "them". So the problem festers and erupts every now and then. Not all problems can be resolved by law. There are many problems  like race and religion  that are based in ignorance, engulfed in generations of hate and misunderstandings. The law has enabled the oppressed to enjoy rights but no law can force an individual to understand or respect someone they don't want to. The long term solution is to break down prejudices and hate through education and understanding. No one is paying any attention to that aspect of the solution. We are learning to tolerate diversity and differences but not to love and respect fellow human beings.

There is a never-ending debate on the peace vs violence approach to getting justice. Your grandfather is often criticised for staying loyal to the former. Is it possible for everyone to embody his calm and patience? How does anger help?

The world has fought violent wars for generations and none of them really solved the problem. Sometimes we have succeeded in "solving" the problem only by exhausting the enemy. Let's take the case of World War II. We sacrificed more than 60 million human lives and spent trillions of dollars in recovery and reconstruction. All that we succeeded in doing is killing Hitler and defeating his Nazi army but the philosophy of hate and prejudice that he spouted still survives  not only in Germany but all over the world. So one may ask what did the sacrifice of 60 million human lives really achieve? India has been fighting a war with Pakistan for over 70 years and there is still no sign of a settlement. The same with Israel and Palestine and many other places in the world. Violence seeks to control people through fear so we continue to build frightening weapons of mass destruction. Violence focuses on the human enemy and not the basic problem. Look at Syria today.

Nonviolence, on the other hand, helps us respect each other as human beings and focuses our attention to the problem and encourages us to talk it over and find an acceptable solution. If we stop dehumanising people and branding them as our enemies we can approach any problem we may have with mutual respect and understanding.

Extending the previous question a little further, we live in a world where spewing hate and anger has become easier through social media. It is more convenient, more immediate and perhaps even more vile and dangerous. How do we deal with times like these? Withdrawal is certainly not an option especially for people who have to remain out there. Do we lack role models or is it largely down to introspection?

We have had role models whom we either turn into saints and worship them or turn them into cranks and revile them. This is done because we don't want to change. We don't want to give up hate and prejudice. We remain complacent until the problem affects us. Then we want a quick solution, so we fight. Social media has made dissemination of messages  positive and negative  faster and reduced our attention span to sound bytes. Before we can even think about or digest one bit of news we have half a dozen other things coming at us through social media. Hate is easy to spread because it is already within us. It is quick and requires no effort. Love and respect on the other hand, requires understanding and a commitment and we don't have time for that. We have made material progress at the cost of moral degeneration. And we seem to be happy with that state of affairs.
For all you know Ravana was a Sinhala king, Vinosha, my friend who worked with Sri Lankas national television said, as we stood enjoying the evening breeze in Galle. The waves of the Indian ocean crashed below us on to the walls of the famous fort.

Up until then I hadnt paid too much attention to Sri Lankas links with the Ramayana. But that moment onwards I grew increasingly conscious that the island country was ground zero of the great battle of Ramayana. In many ways, contemporary Sri Lanka is like the prosperous and beautiful kingdom of the demon king Ravana. It is lush green, gifted with natures bounty and like the mythical kingdom  has seen a war fairly recently. It was only in 2009 that Sri Lankas three-decade-long ethnic war came to a brutal end.

My quest to visit the places linked with the great epic took me to deep into the heart of the island nation. It all started with Dolukanda Sanjeewani. This mountain seems like it has almost fallen out of nowhere, in what is otherwise a pretty flat surrounding. According to a legend in the Ramayana, it is one of the five splinters which fell while Lord Hanuman was flying with the Sanjivani mountain placed on his palm.

Most of you will remember that Sanjivani was a mountain where medicinal herbs and plants grew in abundance. Almost as if confirming the legend, Dolukanda is said to have many Ayurvedic herbs which grow on the mountain top. Not very far from Dolukanda is an Ayurveda institute and right at the foot of this mountain stands a Buddhist temple.

The old caretaker gentleman told us, This mountain is magic and only few people know their way to the top and back. But it has some miraculous plants and fruits. Most of us here believe this is the part of the Sanjivani mountain that was dropped by Lord Hanuman.

The reverence in his words made me almost forget that he was not a Hindu. But that is how blurred lines are between these two religions on the island. Almost every Buddhist temple in the country has reserved space for Hindu gods and they are regarded with deep respect.

If you try hard enough, it is possible to visit all the five spots where the splinters of the legendary mountain fell in Sri Lanka. I managed to visit one more of these spots. Located on the south-western coast is the popular weekend destination of Unawatuna. It is here that you will find an interesting statue, one that is rarely spotted in the island country. That is the statue of Lord Hanuman in Rumassala, which is located next to the international peace pagoda built by the Japanese. Both these sites of religious relevance were built as a prayer for peace on the island.

My travels also took me to Trincomalee, one of the natural harbours around the world. It was attacked by the Japanese during the second world war. But it is as important to Hindu mythology as it is to contemporary Sri Lankan history. I had fallen in love with the azure views of the Indian ocean that a hillock close to Trincomalees harbour had to offer. This hill also hosted a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as Koneswaran Kovil. It was after I returned that I realised  this was the same temple where Ravana and his mother prayed to the reclusive but benevolent Hindu god. And the story goes that when the kings mother was too ill to go to the temple, he decided to bring the temple closer to her.

It was only after the first blow to the hillock from Ravanas sword that Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and asked him not to move the temple. Perhaps, Lord Shiva loved the view as much as mere mortals like me do.

But it was Ella that truly fascinated the mythology enthusiast in me. Ella is situated on the southern edge of Sri Lankas hill country and is a bit of a backpacker haven. Most young travellers, however, are unaware of the regions mythological importance. I decided to brave a couple of back-breaking bus rides to get to hill town from Colombo.

The place is Ravana country and is considered central to his empire. Most attractions go by his name such as the waterfall which is called Ravana Falls. It is a nice spot to take a refreshing break from the heat. But the one place that captured my fascination was the Ravana cave. There are some interesting theories linked to this cave. Some say that it was possible to enter the cave in the past and it would lead to an underground lake and palace. I did not manage to find the cave entrance that would have led us down. But with the eerie silence and mysterious atmosphere, it was easy to convince myself that there was something demonic about the place.

A news channel reported in 2016 that some people who identified themselves as devotees of Ravana descended into the cave. It is said that they believe that Ravana will resurrect some day.

Though this sounds next to impossible, it might be a good idea. I have so many questions that it would be good to get answers from the horses mouth!

Some academics in Sri Lanka are presenting a theory that Ravana was a Sinhala king and should be revered as one. The answers to these questions will always be shrouded in mystery. But there is no denying that many Sri Lankans do identify with the Ramayana and its antagonist, Ravana.

In fact even our governments are collaborating to promote the tourist trail of this epic. The Sri Lankans in return are being given easy passage to Buddhist sites across India.

There is one place in Sri Lanka without visiting which, the Ramayana trail would have come to an unsatisfactory end. That is Talaimannar, on the north-easter island of Mannar. Every time I look at the map, this place reminds me of Michelangelos The Creation of Adam. The Mannar island, where Talaimannar is located, almost seems like Sri Lankas 'finger' trying to touch Indias Dhanushkodi.

Closer look at the map, and you will notice islands that dot the sea between Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi in India. According to the Ramayana these islands would be part of the Rama-setu, the bridge built by Rams army of monkeys. The legend itself can be debated, but many journalists and historians claim that even if the bridge was a not a man-made marvel, it was possible to walk on foot between our two countries up until the 15th century. A cyclone around that time meant that the ocean claimed much of the limestone shoals that connect Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar.

The interesting fact is that these islands (which appear like sand dunes) are still accessible. Local fishermen call them the dancing islands. They are known so because they appear and disappear with the tides of the ocean. A more recent story attached with the Rama-setu is that of people escaping the ethnic conflict. Many Tamils from northern Sri Lanka would pay boatmen a lot of money to get dropped off at points from where they could walk to Rameswaram in India. They would have had to wait for the tide to pass on these islands and then cross over when the waters would be shallow enough.

With or without the Ramayana, these limestone shoals are an important part of our geography, collective history and marine biology. Many environmentalists, historians and fishermen heaved a sigh of relief when India quietly abandoned the Sethu-samudram project which was to cut through these limestone shoals to create a passage for ships.

Standing on either side of the bridge, in Dhanushkodi or Talaimannar is a special feeling (and I have had the good fortune of visiting both these places). One can only wish that the ferry service between Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi is restored one day, so wading through these waters and accessing our closely linked countries becomes possible for a lot more people.

And yes, I have a selfish reason attached to that wish. Someday I want to visit those dancing islands and feel that I have stood on at least a part of Ramas bridge. For as long as mythology inspires us, brings us closer rather than setting us apart, indulging in it is a lot of fun!

The writer has travelled to 14 countries, where he took learning-based challenges. Follow his adventures on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or on Eccentrips.
New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah's planned meet with party's Delhi unit workers and leaders as part of his 95-day all-India tour, has been postponed, apparently in view of his enhanced focus on Kerala and West Bengal.

Party sources said that Shah was scheduled to interact with city units leaders in mid-June, but the programme was postponed, as he is paying more attention to politically crucial West Bengal and Kerala before the 2019 general elections.

No fresh date has been announced for a Delhi meet. "We had received Shah's programme on June 14-15. But he has now altered all his priorities focusing on Kerala and Bengal. The meet in Delhi has been postponed," said a senior party leader.

Shah had set off on an all-India tour on 29 April with an aim to strengthen the party-base ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has been trying to make inroads into the states, including Kerala and West Bengal, where it faired badly in 2014 elections, despite a Modi "wave".

The BJP had managed to win just 4 of the 102 Lok Sabha seats in four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana in the 2014 elections.
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has supported his Kerala counterpart over the Centre's new notification on a ban on sale and purchase of the cattle for slaughter in animal markets.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to his counterparts in other states, appealing to them to oppose the new rule on cattle trading, on the grounds that it violates the federal principles.

In his reply, Sarkar said he would consider attending the the proposed meeting of chief ministers who were against the Centre's new notification, a press release from Kerala CM's office said Sunday.

There were lot of states who think similarly and have concerns regarding the ban, he was quoted as saying in the release.

A meeting was necessary to discuss and tackle the Centre's "anti-democratic and anti-federal moves" and to evolve a consensus and a meeting of chief ministers was a good move, Sarkar said.
Kolkata: Countering the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) call for indefinite shutdown in the hills, the West Bengal government on Sunday issued an order that all its offices will remain open in Darjeeling and Kalimpong and also made it mandatory for employees to attend work.

"In view of the call given by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for indefinite bandh/strike on and from 12 June, 2017, it has been decided that all state government offices situated in the District of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, including those provided with grants-in-aid by the state government, would remain open and all the employees of those offices should report for duty on each day till the call for such bandh is not withdrawn."

"It has also been decided that no leave shall be granted to any employee on any of these bandh days," said a state government release.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, the statement said, has also decided that absence of employees on any of these days will be treated as 'dies non', which will constitute break in service and no salary will be admissible unless in emergency circumstances like hospitalisation of the concerned employee, death in the family among other things.

After the GJM's central committee meeting chaired by its president Bimal Gurung on Saturday, the party leaders threw a virtual challenge to the Mamata Banerjee-led state government to press for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

According to GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, all central and state government offices  including block development offices, sub-divisional offices and district magistrate offices, banks, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (the hill development body) offices  will be closed as part of the shutdown from Monday.

However, schools and colleges, transport and tourism  hotels, eateries, shops  will be outside the purview of the shutdown.

Giri said the state government's revenue sources like electricity, mines and boulders will also come under the purview of the GJM's shutdown.
New Delhi: With the AAP divided on whether to contest Gujarat Assembly election, the party leadership could choose a middle path and put up candidates in seats where it has good chance of winning.

A section of state leaders is opposed to the party contesting the polls, while some feel that it should contest on all seats.

A third section is of opinion that it should focus on selected few seats and put all its resources to ensure victory.

A constituency-wise report, by seeking inputs from party functionaries from the state, has been submitted to AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Party's Gujarat in-charge Gopal Rai held a two-day meeting with leaders of the state, where several aspects including political situation, prospects of the Congress, the principal opposition, issues related to farmers were discussed.

The recent Patidar and Dalit agitation and its impact on the state polls were discussed with greater detail.

Last week, the National Executive, the party's second highest decision making body, decided to intensify its protests in states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over the farmers issue.

Gujarat goes to poll this year end while elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh by 2018-end.

"No decision has been taken on Gujarat yet. At present there are several opinions, ranging from contesting all seats, to not entering the fray at all, to fighting on a selected seats," said an AAP leader.

The Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the party's apex decision making body of the AAP, will soon meet and debate on all these aspects and take a final call.

It is also unlikely that the party will not contest the polls.

After the party's victory in Delhi Assembly polls in 2015, the cadre's morale got a boost and several state leaders from the BJP and the Congress have joined the party. For instance, Kanu Kalasaria from the BJP joined the AAP in 2014.

Hardik Patel, the face of the Patidar agitation, and feisty Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, are believed to be in touch with the AAP.

For the last two years, Kejriwal has visited the state several times, launching vitriolic attacks on the BJP government over the Patidar unrest and alleged atrocities of Dalits in the state.

To strengthen the organisation, the party, over the last one year, has also deployed its Matiala MLA Gulab Singh to the state.

However, the morale of the party workers remains low due to AAP's poor performance in Punjab and Goa and its humiliating defeat in MCD polls on its home turf Delhi.

Following its lackluster results in Punjab and Goa, Kejriwal had also skipped an important volunteers meet.

Shortage of funds is also a major concern for the party and contesting a big state like Gujarat would also mean a larger monetary resources.

"We have built our organisation in the state over the last two years and we are stronger at several places. It would send a wrong message if we completely abandon the plan to contest elections.

"More importantly, the conditions are conducive for us to contest polls as there is a space for an alternative to BJP in the state. The middle path would be to contest on seats where we have strength. However, a decision on this will be taken by the PAC by assessing all the aspects," the AAP leader said.
Raipur: BJP chief Amit Shah said it is unfortunate that the Congress is trying to "instigate" farmers and "destabilise" peace in Madhya Pradesh where the ongoing stir by peasants has turned violent.

He also said the Modi government has launched a number of schemes for the betterment of farmers thereby boosting their

income. "It is unfortunate that Congress MLAs are trying to instigate the sentiments of farmers. It is highly condemnable that they are trying to destabilise peace in Madhya Pradesh," Shah told reporters here.

A video has surfaced purportedly showing a woman Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh inciting people to set a police station in Shivpuri ablaze. Development of farmers during the BJP's rule and that during the Congress dispensation can be compared. The difference is visible, he said.

It will come to fore that the current agriculture growth rates in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are way better than what it was during the Congress' rule, Shah said. The BJP-ruled states for the last eight to 10 years have maintained agriculture growth rate of over 10 per cent. When agriculture growth rate increases, it also hikes farmers' income, he said.

"When the NDA came to power, the growth rate was around minus 2 percent, which now has touched 4 percent. Be it irrigation or agriculture production, we are far ahead in all segments of agriculture," the BJP chief claimed.

To a query on high bonus to farmers as promised by the BJP during the last Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Shah said, "Every single grain of paddy is being procured from farmers in the state. As far as bonus on paddy is concerned, it is under consideration and a decision will be taken soon."

He claimed the Centre has been constantly increasing the minimum support price. "Availability of urea was ensured, prices of fertilisers were brought down. BJP governments in the states are procuring Rabi and Kharif crops," Shah said.

Meanwhile, asked about his party's candidate for upcoming presidential poll, he said, "We have not taken any decision yet."

The BJP national president, who concluded his three-day visit to Chhattisgarh today after chairing a series of meetings with party leaders and workers, asserted that his party will again form government in the state with a strong majority of 65 seats. Chhattisgarh has 90 Assembly seats.

Claiming that the Narendra Modi government has brought a major transformation in the politics of the country, he said, "BJP's victory in Uttar Pradesh has proved that the country will no more accept the politics of dynasty, casteism and appeasement. It will now witness politics of performance. Only those who will perform and work for development, will win elections again and again. When the BJP came to power the GDP was 4.4 percent, which has now touched over 7 percent," Shah claimed.
One of the things the Narendra Modi government is wrongly accused of is turning India into a sort of illiberal nation.

The word illiberal means intolerant and supporting restrictions on freedoms of speech and action. I say the government is wrongly accused of it because the facts show that Indias government has never been particularly liberal, even under the Congress.

Civil society groups and non-governmental organisations that have been working on some issues for decades will vouch for what I am saying. Issues like rights of Adivasis, Kashmiris and the people of the North East have not come into focus recently. They have been with us for decades and it is wrong to assume that it is this government, or this prime minister, that is the root cause of the problems.

The exploiting of Adivasi land, which is the richest in terms of mineral wealth, began even before Jawaharlal Nehru. Some of the nastiest and some of the most heavy-handed action against Adivasis came under the Congress government of Manmohan Singh. All Adivasis are punished for the alleged crimes of a few and the presence of tens of thousands of paramilitary personnel in the Indian heartland is proof of that.

In October, 2015, newspapers reported the headline Anti-Maoist operations: Chattisgarh, IAF to carry out retaliation attacks from air. The story was that the Indian Air Force would use its Russian made MI-17 helicopters to attack its own citizens from the air. The reports said that the air force had carried out successful exercises and that "three IAF helicopters flew over Bijapur and practised strafing.

The word strafing means to attack repeatedly with bombs or machine gun fire from low flying aircraft. Those who are familiar with India will know that there are no parts of it that are totally deserted or unpopulated and so it would be interesting to see what happened to that area that our air force was practicing bombing and machine gunning.

The point is that this level of violence is not new in that area and the State has suppressed its agitating citizens with guns from before British times. It is not only wrong to assume it began with Modi but it is also misleading because it ignores the real issue. Before Modi and unfortunately after him as well, this is how the State has behaved and will continue to behave with its citizens.

I was in conversation with P Chidambaram a few months ago and he was saying that India should lift Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) from Kashmir. He is one of our most intelligent politicians and I have great respect for him. However, I wish he had expressed the same sentiment when he was the home minister, because it would have been much more credible.

Those who are upset by the governments hard position against agitating Kashmiris should know also that it is exactly as rigid as the position of previous governments. Only the rhetoric is a little different. Congress also killed as many  more actually  it carried a big stick but spoke softly. The only difference is that the BJP uses harsher language.

The State has always operated on priorities that are at variance from the needs and rights of its population. We accuse British imperialists of looting India and sending our resources to serving their own purposes. The example of the Bengal famine of 1943 because of the war policy is often cited. This was an unconscionable conduct in a part of the world where people were starving and illiterate. However, I wonder how different this is from the way it is under democracy.

Last year we spent Rs 59,000 crore on 36 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. This year we are spending 50,000 crore on 57 fighter jets for the Indian Navy. This is happening in a nation whose Union health budget is Rs 33,000 crore a year (it was actually cut under Arun Jaitley). Ten thousand Indian children die every week of malnourishment but we cannot afford to spend more money on them and would rather buy more toys for our armed forces.

Is this not as immoral an act as that of the British Raj? Can anyone make the case that we absolutely need these new planes? No. And the point is, that there is not even a debate about this in our country and there has never been one.

All governments have followed similar pursuits and though one may disagree with this prime minister on many things, one must accept that he is only continuing what others before him did.
Shimla: Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday accused the Narendra Modi dispensation of making "boastful claims" about development and its achievements, saying the "arrogant and power drunk" government has nothing to celebrate in the three-year rule.

"The government failed on the economic front with sliding growth rate, the performance on employment front was dismal, capital formation was negative for the first time during past 70 years and growth of GDP was falling," he said.

The deputy leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha also demanded a white paper on the GDP growth rate during the past ten years, as per the old and new parameters, so that people could know the truth.

Claiming that the results of India's foreign policy were not visible and relations with neighbouring countries have soured, Sharma said that India must engage in dialogue with China, Russia and other countries to reduce the tension.

"The internal security situation was delicate, attacks by militants and others, within and across the border, have escalated and 238 soldiers and officers have lost their lives and the country was vulnerable to militant attacks," he said.

He also said that the agrarian distress was visible across the country and farmers unrest is spilling over from one state to another.

"Instead of wasting the public money on the celebrations (of completing three years in the power), the government should focus on governance and address the problems of farmers," he told reporters.

Taking exception to BJP chief Amit Shah's remark on Mahatma Gandhi, he said it was an insult to the Father of the nation, adding that the BJP and RSS have no respect for the Mahatma.

Sharma rued that the government did not celebrate the centenary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who conducted the biggest "surgical strike" and led to the creation of Bangladesh and capture of 90,000 Pakistani soldiers.

He said that the Congress party was aware of its historic responsibility to fight the communal and disruptive forces to keep India united, democratic and secular country.
Damascus: At least 79 people, including 16 children and nine women, were killed in the first five days of an offensive against the Islamic State terror group in the Syrian city of al-Raqqa, a UK-based war monitor reported on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) warned that the number of victims was increasing due to bombardments by the US-led international coalition, which killed 24 people, including five minors and three women, reports Efe news.

The SOHR said those who died on Saturday included 15 people who were inside an internet cafe, and among them was an NGO activist.

The ground offensive against al-Raqqa, the main IS stronghold in Syria, began last week, under the command of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The number of civilians remaining inside al-Raqqa, which before the beginning of the conflict in Syria had more than 2,00,000 inhabitants, is not known for certain, according to official statistics.
Sydney: Australia is to build its first prison aimed at isolating militants and stopping the spread of radical beliefs through the prison system as part of efforts to eliminate terrorism, the premier of New South Wales state said on Sunday.

The unit will be within a maximum-security prison and have capacity for 54 inmates, who will be isolated and intensely monitored, said the state's premier Gladys Berejiklian.

"We'll be giving $47 million over the next three years to have the extra capacity to isolate those prisoners who are likely to try a spread radicalisation through the prison network," Berejiklian told reporters.

There are 33 people within the New South Wales prison system who have been jailed for terrorist offences, the state government said.

Australia has seen a series of lone wolf Islamist-inspired attacks recently, prompting a review of police tactics and the powers of state and federal authorities.

"Were a government taking nothing to chance, we'll be making sure we continue to have the toughest position in the nation in relation to reducing and eliminating terrorism activity," Berejiklian said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week signalled a drive to reform parole laws, including a ban on parole for violent offenders with links to militancy, following a deadly siege claimed by the Islamic State group on Monday.

Police shot dead gunman Yacqub Khayre, who was on parole for a violent home invasion, in the city of Melbourne after he killed a man in an apartment block and held a woman hostage for several hours.

Turnbull and Attorney-General George Brandis both launched stinging criticism of state governments, which are responsible for parole laws, after the Melbourne attack.

Australia passed laws last year allowing the indefinite detention of anyone convicted of terror-related offences if authorities believed that person posed a threat after their release.

On Thursday, police in New South Wales were granted the authority to shoot suspects in terrorist-related incidents even if the attacker does not pose an imminent threat.

Currently, police have to wait until a suspect demonstrates an imminent threat to others.

The change comes after questions were raised about the police strategy of "contain and negotiate" in hostage situations.

A coroner said last month police had failed to act quickly enough to tackle a 2014 siege in a Sydney cafe. Three people including the hostage-taker were killed in the incident, Australia's most deadly violence inspired by Islamist militants.
SAO PAULO Brazil's Supreme Federal Court urged a thorough investigation into reports that the country's secret security service spied on Justice Edson Fachin, in the latest clash involving President Michel Temer's embattled administration.Court president Carmen Lucia said in a statement on Saturday that, if proved accurate, such reports show an inadmissible meddling into the court and an attack against democratic liberties in Latin America's biggest country.

Magazine Veja reported late on Friday that the agency known as Abin might have been used to spy on Fachin - the top court justice in charge of a massive corruption probe that has ensnared Temer. Temer's office denied the Veja report, saying the Abin "acts in accordance with the purpose for which it has been created".

If the report proves accurate, Lucia said in the statement, punishment of the alleged espionage should take into account the grave "legal, political and institutional consequences of such an act."

"Common in dictatorships, these practices ... are serious and, when carried out against a judge, are completely unacceptable in a democracy," Lucia said in the statement. "It has to be probed and repudiated, and any responsible parties properly punished."Her remarks add to tension between the executive and judiciary branches of power, which gained intensity in the wake of Fachin's decision to validate a plea deal involving Temer in a corruption probe. Prosecutors allege that Temer worked to obstruct justice and condoned efforts to pay for the silence of a potential witness. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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By Estelle Shirbon and Kylie MacLellan

| LONDON

LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May was on Sunday seeking a deal with a small Northern Irish party that she needs to stay in power after a disastrous election destroyed her authority days before Brexit talks are due to start.May's grip on power was tenuous after she gambled away a parliamentary majority in an election she did not need to call. Conservative Party loyalists urged her to change her leadership style, while critics talked about her days being numbered."Theresa May is a dead woman walking. It's just how long she's going to remain on death row," former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, who was sacked by May when she became prime minister last year, told the BBC.The Conservatives won 318 House of Commons seats in Thursday's election, eight short of an outright majority. Labour, the main opposition party, won 262.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he could still be prime minister, although his party has no obvious way to build a majority coalition. He said a new election might be necessary later this year or early in 2018.The political turmoil comes a week before Britain is due to start negotiating the terms of its exit from the European Union in talks of unprecedented complexity that are supposed to wrap up by the end of March 2019, when Britain actually leaves.That timeline now looks even more ambitious than before, not least because May's electoral debacle has emboldened those within her own party who object to her "hard Brexit" approach of leaving the European single market and customs union.CONCERNS ABOUT DUP

May's only hope of forming a government now is to win support from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which won 10 seats. She is seeking a so-called confidence and supply deal, which would involve the DUP supporting the Conservatives on key votes but not joining a formal coalition.DUP leader Arlene Foster told Sky News she would meet May on Tuesday.The prospect of being propped up by the socially conservative DUP, which is strongly focused on Northern Ireland's specific political complexities, was causing concerns in the Conservative party, senior lawmaker Graham Brady said."I think there is concern about the policies of the DUP, the domestic policies in Northern Ireland, but I think it's pretty clear that any arrangement that is reached is not going to be a full coalition," he told BBC Radio 4.The DUP is strongly opposed to single-sex marriage and abortion, which is at odds with Conservative policies.There are also concerns about the potential impact of the proposed arrangement on Northern Ireland's peace agreement, which relies in part on London being an impartial arbiter between those, such as the DUP, who want the province to remain in the United Kingdom and those who want it to be part of Ireland."There has been a lot of hyperbole about the DUP since Thursday," Foster said. "Just to be clear, we will act in the national interest. We want to do what is right for the whole of the UK."

Asked whether a Conservative-DUP deal would endanger the peace agreement, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan told ITV: "Not necessarily the case. It remains to be seen what the nature of that deal is."But he said Ireland was anxious for the Brexit talks to go ahead despite the turmoil in London, and for the deal that they produce not to damage peace in Northern Ireland.BREXIT UNCERTAINTY

After Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will be the only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union, raising concerns over the potential return of border checks that could stoke tensions.But lawmaker Brady said Britain had no alternative to a Conservative-DUP deal, other than a new election, which he said the public did not want.May's Downing Street office had announced on Saturday that the "principles of an outline agreement" had been agreed with the DUP, only for the smaller party to contradict that account hours later.Downing Street backtracked, saying she had "discussed finalising" a deal in the coming week.

Even if a deal is struck, May could struggle to get backing from parliament for her Brexit stance.Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC the government would be able to muster parliamentary support for its Brexit plans, adding: "Our view of Brexit I don't think has changed."But Anna Soubry, a Conservative member of parliament who campaigned ahead of last year's referendum for Britain to stay in the EU, disagreed."I don't think she does have a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the single market," she told Sky News.In a measure of the desperation in Conservative ranks, Brady, who is chairman of the influential 1922 committee of Conservative lawmakers, suggested the party could end up relying on support from pro-Brexit opposition members of parliament."We will happily have the support of members of the Labour Party as well on some of our policies," he said. "I'm sure many of them will want to vote for government measures needed to execute our departure from the EU."MAY'S FUTURE

With media asking whether May could remain in Downing Street after her electoral humiliation, ministers said now was not the time for the further uncertainty that a party leadership contest would bring.

"This is not the time for sharks to be circling. This is the time for us to come together as a party," culture minister Karen Bradley told Sky News.But Soubry said May's time in the top job would be limited."I just can't see how she can continue in any long-term way. I think she will have to go, unfortunately. But not for some time, let's get this clear. We need stability."Several newspapers said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was being urged by supporters to launch a leadership challenge, but he dismissed the reports as "tripe" in a tweet saying he was backing May.Even loyal supporters talked openly on Sunday about how May needed to change her leadership style, in particular her reliance on a tight-knit circle of advisers."We are going to see, I hope, more collective decision-making in the cabinet. I and other senior colleagues have made that clear to her," said Fallon.May's two closest advisers, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, both resigned on Saturday.A NEW ELECTION?

Meanwhile, a buoyant Corbyn was insisting he saw a route for Labour to form a government, despite the electoral arithmetic."I can still be prime minister. This is still on," Corbyn told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.A veteran leftist who unexpectedly became Labour leader in 2015 on a wave of grassroots enthusiasm, but was seen by most of his own party's lawmakers as an electoral no-hoper, Corbyn beat expectations with a well-run campaign of striking policies.He said his party would seek to vote down May's Queen's Speech, or programme for government, when she presented it to parliament on June 19, and another national election might be needed to break the deadlock."It is quite possible there will be an election later this year or early next year, and that might be a good thing because we cannot go on with a period of great instability," he told the BBC. (Additional reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Keith Weir and Kevin Liffey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Estelle Shirbon and Kylie MacLellan

| LONDON

LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May stuck by her top team of ministers on Sunday, forgoing what has become a traditional post-election reshuffle in a sign of her diminished authority days before Brexit talks are due to start.May is seeking a deal with a small Northern Irish party to stay in power after she gambled away a parliamentary majority in an election she did not need to call. Conservative Party loyalists urged her to change her leadership style, while critics talked about her days being numbered.The 60-year-old leader confirmed most of her ministers in her top team, or cabinet, an apparent reversal of earlier plans to turf out those who were considered as less than loyal, a day after accepting the resignations of her two closest aides."Theresa May is a dead woman walking. It's just how long she's going to remain on death row," former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, who was sacked by May when she became prime minister last year, told the BBC.The Conservatives won 318 House of Commons seats in Thursday's election, eight short of an outright majority. Labour, the main opposition party, won 262.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he could still be prime minister, although his party has no obvious way to build a majority coalition. He said a new election might be necessary later this year or early in 2018.The political turmoil comes a week before Britain is due to start negotiating the terms of its exit from the European Union in talks of unprecedented complexity that are supposed to wrap up by the end of March 2019, when Britain actually leaves.That timeline now looks even more ambitious than before, not least because May's electoral debacle has emboldened those within her own party who object to her "hard Brexit" approach of leaving the European single market and customs union.CONCERNS ABOUT DUP

May confirmed the appointments of many of her leading ministers, with only a few tweaks including the promotion of ally Damian Green to Cabinet Office minister, a senior role that administers the day-to-day running of the government.May's only hope of forming a government now is to win support from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which won 10 seats. She is seeking a so-called confidence and supply deal, which would involve the DUP supporting the Conservatives on key votes but not joining a formal coalition.It was unlikely that talks were continuing as the DUP does not work or negotiate on Sundays for religious reasons, but officials from both sides are due to meet on Monday. DUP leader Arlene Foster told Sky News she would meet May on Tuesday.

The prospect of being propped up by the socially conservative DUP, which is strongly focused on Northern Ireland's specific political complexities, was causing concerns in the Conservative party, senior lawmaker Graham Brady said."I think there is concern about the policies of the DUP, the domestic policies in Northern Ireland, but I think it's pretty clear that any arrangement that is reached is not going to be a full coalition," he told BBC Radio 4.The DUP is strongly opposed to single-sex marriage and abortion, at odds with Conservative policies.There are also concerns about the potential impact of the proposed arrangement on Northern Ireland's peace agreement, which relies in part on London being an impartial arbiter between those, such as the DUP, who want the province to remain in the United Kingdom and those who want it to be part of Ireland."There has been a lot of hyperbole about the DUP since Thursday," Foster said. "Just to be clear, we will act in the national interest. We want to do what is right for the whole of the UK."Asked whether a Conservative-DUP deal would endanger the peace agreement, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan told ITV: "Not necessarily the case. It remains to be seen what the nature of that deal is."But he said Ireland was anxious for the Brexit talks to go ahead despite the turmoil in London, and for the deal that they produce not to damage peace in Northern Ireland.

BREXIT UNCERTAINTY

After Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will be the only land border between the United Kingdom and the European Union, raising concerns over the potential return of border checks that could stoke tensions.But lawmaker Brady said Britain had no alternative to a Conservative-DUP deal, other than a new election, which he said the public did not want.May's Downing Street office had announced on Saturday that the "principles of an outline agreement" had been agreed with the DUP, only for the smaller party to contradict that account hours later.Downing Street backtracked, saying she had "discussed finalising" a deal in the coming week.Even if a deal is struck, May could struggle to get backing from parliament for her Brexit stance.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC the government would be able to muster parliamentary support for its Brexit plans, adding: "Our view of Brexit I don't think has changed."But Anna Soubry, a Conservative member of parliament who campaigned ahead of last year's referendum for Britain to stay in the EU, disagreed."I don't think she does have a majority in the House of Commons for leaving the single market," she told Sky News.In a measure of the desperation in Conservative ranks, Brady, who is chairman of the influential 1922 committee of Conservative lawmakers, suggested the party could end up relying on support from pro-Brexit opposition members of parliament."We will happily have the support of members of the Labour Party as well on some of our policies," he said. "I'm sure many of them will want to vote for government measures needed to execute our departure from the EU."MAY'S FUTURE

With media asking whether May could remain in Downing Street after her electoral humiliation, ministers said now was not the time for the further uncertainty that a party leadership contest would bring.Several newspapers said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was being urged by supporters to launch a leadership challenge, but he dismissed the reports as "tripe"."Folks we need to calm down and get behind the prime minister," Johnson said, according to a screenshot of a WhatsApp group text message to Conservative lawmakers posted by an ITV news reporter on Twitter.Even loyal supporters talked openly on Sunday about how May needed to change her leadership style, in particular her reliance on a tight-knit circle of advisers."We are going to see, I hope, more collective decision-making in the cabinet. I and other senior colleagues have made that clear to her," said Fallon. (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andy Bruce in London, Conor Humphries in Dublin; Writing by Estelle Shirbon and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Keith Weir, Kevin Liffey and David Evans)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Bologna: G7 environment chiefs met in Italy Sunday for talks set to be dominated by the rift caused by the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate change accord.

"G7 countries have crucial roles and responsibilities to our own public opinion, to developing countries and to the planet," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said at the start of the two-day meet. "The international community awaits our message."

Scott Pruitt, a friend of the oil industry who is sceptical about man-made climate change and was Trump's controversial choice to head the US Environmental Protection Agency, will represent Washington's interests at the two-day meeting.

Up against him will be the likes of Barbara Hendricks, the German environment minister who once tried to ban meat from her ministry's catering on the grounds it was bad for the planet.

And France is deploying prominent Green campaigner Nicolas Hulot, new President Emmanuel Macron's high-profile pick for the environment brief.

Italy's large environmentalist movement has also vowed to make its voice heard. A major demonstration against Trump's decision is planned for Sunday afternoon in Bologna, an ancient university city and bastion of progressive activism.

"We are expecting a good turnout. A lot of people are very upset about Trump's decision and it has started a new debate," Giacomo Cossu, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told AFP.

Trump announced at the start of this month that the US would not abide by the 2015 Paris Agreement and would seek to renegotiate terms he denounced as unfairly damaging to the American economy and overly generous to India and China.

A spokesman for Hendricks said Germany would be looking for "something more concrete" from Pruitt in terms of what the US was going to do.

Trump has said Washington will not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change.

'No change to the trend'

But many analysts say Trump's rhetoric may make little difference.

Important players in US industry and individual cities and states are already implementing changes aimed at meeting the targets laid down in Paris, where most of the world's countries agreed to try and cap global temperature rises at 2 C above pre-industrial levels.

Germany and California, the US's wealthiest state, agreed Saturday to work together to keep the Paris Accords on track.

"The G7 countries have to have a cohesive approach," on climate change, Japan's Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto told Sunday's opening session.

Yamamoto believes the US could still be persuaded to fall back into line with the international consensus.

"So far there's only been an announcement that the US is withdrawing, it has not yet materialised. So we're going to keep trying to persuade them," he said recently.

Scientists warn that failing to contain climate change will have devastating consequences as sea levels rise and extreme storms, droughts and heatwaves become more common, endangering crops and fragile environments with knock-on effects in the form of new conflicts and mass fluxes of people escaping affected areas.

Officials were unable to offer any guidance as to what kind of statement the meeting could produce.

When G7 leaders met in Sicily last month, they publicly recognised that the US was isolated on the climate issue, with the other six member countries vowing to continue their efforts to address global warming by curbing emissions while promoting green technology and renewable energy forms.

The G7 is made up Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, the world's seven biggest economies when the club was formed. The discussions in Bologna were also attended by Chile, the Maldives, Ethiopia and Rwanda, four developing countries with a particular interest in combatting climate change.
Paris: French voters on Sunday headed to polling stations for the first round of the nation's legislative elections, a month after electing political outsider Emmanuel Macron as the President.

Some 67,000 voting centres opened across the country at 8 am (local time) and will close at 8 pm, in larger cities. Voting will end two hours later in other areas, reports Efe news.

Overseas French territories voted on Saturday while French citizens living abroad cast their ballots last week.

Some 47.5 million eligible voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect 577 lawmakers to the lower house of Parliament or the National Assembly.

Polls pointed to President Macron's Republic on the Move party securing a majority of between 397-427 seats, and the Republicans were expected to come second with seats between 95-115.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Party, according to projections, was expected to take less than 40 seats, while the far-right National Front led by Marine Le Pen and left-wing France Unbowed looked toward an uncertain outcome.

The government has deployed some 50,000 police and security personnel.

The second and final round will be held on 18 June.
By Ayman Al Warfalli

| BENGHAZI, Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been freed by an armed group in western Libya where he had been held since shortly after the 2011 revolt against his late father, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, one of his lawyers and the brigade involved said.He was released in the town of Zintan under an amnesty law passed by a parliament based in eastern Libya, lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi said on Sunday, adding that Saif was headed to another Libyan city that he could not name for security reasons.Saif, 44, is the most prominent of the late leader's children, and was touted by some as a reformist successor before the uprising six years ago in which Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed.It is unclear what, if any, role the younger Gaddafi could play in Libya, where a complex array of armed groups and competing governments are vying for control. But Gaddafi loyalists outside Libya as well as some in the east of the country, where military commander Khalifa Haftar has been building power, have been pressing for Saif's release amid a push from former regime figures to reassert influence. Saif's lawyer Zaidi said Saif could play an important part in national reconciliation efforts because he was popular in Libya: "He will play a pivotal and detailed role in this stage."Zaidi told Reuters in an interview in Cairo that Saif would make a statement at some point and would not be turning himself in to the International Criminal Court, which is seeking his arrest.

Earlier reports that Saif had been freed from Zintan turned out to be false and there have long been conflicting rumours about his status. No physical evidence of his whereabouts has been offered. Saif was last seen by an independent international observer in June 2014.Zintan's Abubaker Sadiq brigade, which was responsible for guarding Saif, said it had chosen to release him following requests from the justice ministry of a government based in eastern Libya that is a rival to the U.N.-backed one in the capital, Tripoli."We decided to release Saif al-Islam Muammar Gaddafi, who is free, and we confirm that he left Zintan on the date of his release on the 14th of Ramadan (Friday)," the brigade said.

SENTENCED TO DEATH

A Tripoli court sentenced Saif to death in absentia in 2015 for war crimes, including killing protesters during the revolution. A statement posted by the attorney general's office in Tripoli on Sunday said he was still wanted under that conviction and that an investigation had been launched into his reported release. Libya slid into turmoil after Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow, with rival governments and armed alliances competing for power. A U.N.-backed government in Tripoli has struggled to impose its authority and has been rejected by factions in the east.Zintan, which gained military importance through its role in the 2011 uprising and has been at odds with authorities in Tripoli, had refused to hand Saif over. He is also sought by the International Criminal Court, which says his trial in Libya did not meet international standards.

It was unclear what terms Saif's captors might have set for his release, and why they would have freed a prisoner seen as a major bargaining chip.Zintan, about 145 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli, has its own divisions, but has been broadly aligned with the government and armed forces based in eastern Libya.However, a statement from Zintan's military and municipal councils strongly condemned the Abubaker Sadiq brigade's decision to release Saif.It said the move had "nothing to do with legal procedures, but is collusion and betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and the military institution that they claim to belong to".The defence and security committee of the eastern parliament criticised the move as well, showing that opinion among officials in the east is also split. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli and Ahmed Aboulenein in Cairo; writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Patrick Markey and Kevin Liffey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Doha: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have signaled they may allow some Qataris to stay in their countries amid a diplomatic rift with Doha.

The three Gulf nations said on early Sunday that officials would consider "humanitarian cases" as a deadline looms for Qataris to return home.

On 5 June, the countries cut diplomatic ties to Qatar and ordered all Qataris out within 14 days.

For its part, Qatar issued an overnight statement saying residents living in the country from those nations that severed ties would have "complete freedom" to stay despite the "hostile and tendentious campaigns" now targeting it.

Arab nations have tried to isolate Qatar over its alleged support of militant groups and ties to Iran.
Tehran: Iran has sent five planes of food to Qatar, Iran's national carrier told AFP on Sunday, days after Gulf countries cut off air and other transport links to the emirate.

"So far five planes carrying perishable food items such as fruit and vegetables have been sent to Qatar, each carrying around 90 tonnes of cargo, while another plane will be sent today(Sunday)," Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi said.

"We will continue deliveries as long as there is demand from Qatar, Noushabadi added, without mentioning if these deliveries were exports or aid.

Three ships loaded with 350 tonnes of food were also set to leave an Iranian port for Qatar, the Tasnim News Agency quoted a local official as saying.

The port of Dayyer is Iran's closest port to Qatar.

In the biggest diplomatic crisis in the region in years, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, plus Egypt and Yemen, on Monday announced they were cutting all ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism.

Iran has urged Qatar and neighbouring Gulf countries to engage in dialogue to resolve their dispute.

The Islamic republic has also opened its airspace to about 100 more Qatari flights a day, after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates banned Qatari planes from their airpace.

The new flights have increased Iranian air traffic by 17 percent, the official state news agency has reported.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Sunday rejected "fabricated and baseless" reports that it plans to deploy its troops in Qatar amid diplomatic tensions in the West Asia. In a statement, foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria rejected reports appearing in some foreign media regarding the deployment of Pakistani troops in Qatar.

He said these were "completely fabricated and baseless".

He stressed that "these false reports appear to be part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstanding between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have cut ties with Qatar, accusing their former Gulf Cooperation Council ally of supporting extremist groups.

Earlier, there were reports of Pakistan sending troops to Qatar after Turkey's decision to deploy troops in Qatar.

Pakistan has been in a fix as it enjoys good ties with both Doha and Riyadh. It so far has been staying neutral on the issue.
By Katie Paul

| RIYADH

RIYADH Gulf states traded public barbs on Saturday, showing little sign of resolving the region's deepest rift in years, five days after Arab nations severed diplomatic, trade and transport ties with the tiny Gulf kingdom of Qatar.Foreign leaders expressed growing concern over the dispute, which pits Qatar against Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt. With backing from U.S. President Donald Trump, they accuse Qatar of supporting their regional arch-rival Iran as well as Islamist militants.Kuwait has led a regional effort to mediate, but the four states intensified the pressure on Friday by placing dozens of people with alleged links to Qatar on terrorism blacklists.A senior UAE official followed on Saturday by calling Qatar "duplicitous", alleging in a series of tweets that its funding of militants had sown chaos and violence throughout the region."Qatar has been riding (the) tiger of extremism & terrorism. Cost to region & world too high," tweeted Anwar Gargash, the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs."Diplomacy only way forward. Process can only work following clear indication that Qatar will stop support & finance of extremism & terrorism.""CLEAR AND TRANSPARENT"

Qatar's foreign minister fired back that there was "no clarity" in such accusations, speaking in an interview with RT Arabic in Moscow after emerging from talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov."Qatar is accused of having a hidden relationship with Iran, but its relations with Iran are clear, transparent and time-tested," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, noting that the UAE does more trade with Iran than Qatar does.

He denied that Qatar supported Egypt's outlawed Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. He dismissed as "fantasy" a Saudi media report that he had met in Baghdad with the head of Iran's Quds Force, controlled by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards.He said Qatar remained committed to a Kuwaiti-led mediation effort, but that he had yet to receive a clear list of demands.As conciliation efforts in the Gulf appeared to stall, leaders in Russia, Turkey, Germany and the United States expressed increasing concern.After German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the situation "very unsettling" on Friday, her foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, cautioned on Saturday that it could lead to war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Sheikh al-Thani of Moscow's concern and called for talks. And Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan - who has pledged food and troops to Qatar in the face of a blockade from its neighbours - hosted Bahrain's foreign minister and urged that the dispute be resolved by the end of the holy month of Ramadan.MIXED MESSAGES

However, mixed messages from U.S. officials appeared to complicate the diplomacy, as Gulf media cited selectively from divergent statements to bolster their positions. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain issued statements welcoming U.S. President Donald Trump's demand the previous day for Qatar to stop supporting terrorism, while ignoring a U.S. State Department call for them to ease pressure.

Saudi Arabia said it was committed to "decisive and swift action to cut off all funding sources for terrorism" in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA, while Bahrain hailed U.S. efforts to ensure "international solidarity" on the issue.The United Arab Emirates praised Trump's "leadership in challenging Qatar's troubling support for extremism" in a separate statement released on Friday.Trump had accused Qatar of being a "high level" funder of terrorism on Friday, even as the Pentagon and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cautioned against the military, commercial and humanitarian effects of a blockade imposed by Arab states and others.A separate SPA report on Saturday acknowledged Tillerson's call for Qatar to curtail support for terrorism, without mentioning that he had also said the crisis was hurting ordinary Qataris, impairing business and harming the U.S. fight against the Islamic State militant group.Saudi Arabia said its action followed the conclusions of last month's Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, where Trump delivered a speech about Islamist extremism.Trump said he had helped to plan the move against Qatar, although a senior administration official told Reuters this week that Washington had had no indication from the Saudis or Emiratis during the visit that they would sever ties with Qatar.On Saturday, Niger announced it had recalled its ambassador to Qatar in solidarity with Arab countries. (Additional reporting by Mostafa Hashem; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: A journalist was shot dead on Sunday by unknown gunmen in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

Bakhshish Ahmad, Bureau Chief of The K2 Times, an Urdu daily, was attacked in Haripur district, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Islamabad-based Pashto-language Khyber TV, which owns the daily, said the gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at the journalist when he was headed to work in Haripur.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 117 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years in Pakistan. Of these, only three cases were taken up in judicial courts, Xinhua quoted official data as saying.
Tehran: Iranian security forces have killed the mastermind behind the 7 June twin attacks in Tehran which claimed the lives of 17 people, the media reported on Sunday.

"The mastermind and main commander of the attacks on Parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed," Iran's intelligence minister Mahmud Alavi said in a televised programme on Saturday night.

Alavi said the operation was carried out by security forces on Saturday in collaboration with the secret services of neighbouring countries, reports Efe news.

The minister said the terrorist had fled the country after the attacks claimed by the Islamic State but did not reveal his identity or the country where he was killed.

In May, the intelligence ministry identified and neutralised almost one terror cell every day, but did not make the figures public to avoid spreading panic, Alavi added.

On Saturday, the authorities also announced the arrests of eight people in Alborz province, north of Tehran, who allegedly provided logistical support to the attackers.

With the latest arrests, the number of people detained since 7 June in relation to the attacks in the capital or extremist cells has passed 50.

The ministry previously said it had arrested 41 alleged Islamic State members in the Kurdish provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan and also in Tehran.

During the operations, the police seized documents, arms, explosives and ammunition from various terrorist hideouts.

The intelligence ministry on 8 June revealed the identities of the five attackers and said they had fought for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

This is the first time the Sunni extremist group carried out attacks in Shia-majority Iran.
Washington: US president Donald Trump on Sunday accused James Comey of cowardice by leaking accounts of his meetings with the president, days after the ex-FBI director testified that Trump sought to derail the Russian probe.

"I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet. "Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'"

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

Sacked FBI chief Comey delivered his bombshell allegations at a Senate hearing on Thursday, saying in his sworn testimony that he had asked a "friend" identified as a Columbia University law professor to release a memo of his conversations with the president to the press.

Comey said he had hoped releasing the information via the media would prompt the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Russia probe, a ploy that ultimately proved successful.

He branded the president a liar and said Trump urged him to abandon the investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, an allegation Trump has denied.

On Friday, Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski criticized Comey as not "man enough" for having leaked the memo via his friend rather than doing it himself.

"He gave his notes to a Columbia law professor because he wasn't man enough to give the notes directly to the media when he wanted them out to the media," Lewandowski told NBC's morning show "Today."

Though Trump has lambasted Comey as a "leaker," he also claimed "total and complete vindication" following the ex-FBI chief's testimony, focusing on Comey's confirmation that Trump was not personally being probed.
Washington: In the nation's capital, and dozens of other cities across the US, supporters of LGBT rights mobilised for marches and rallies on Sunday, celebrating their gains but angered over threats to those advances.

The centrepiece event, the Equality March in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Leaders of those groups have been embittered by several actions of President Donald Trump's administration  including the rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

The activists also complain that Trump, although he campaigned as a potential ally of gays and lesbians, has stocked his administration with many foes of LGBT-rights advances, including Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Throngs of marchers, many thousands strong, paraded past the White House and toward the Capitol, trailing behind a giant rainbow flag near the head of the procession.

"We're here, we're queer, get that Cheeto out of here," was among the chants directed at Trump.

For the LGBT community nationwide, it's an emotional time. Monday is the anniversary of the mass shooting a year ago in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people  mostly Latinos  at Pulse, a gay nightclub.

Among the marchers in Washington was Gil Mendez, a Puerto Rican native who travelled with his partner all the way from San Francisco to join the parade. He carried a sign that included the names of all the Pulse victims.

"The arrack on Pulse really struck me hard," he said. "It made the connection between the physical violence of guns and the political attacks on our community."

Also marching, and singing freedom songs along the way, was Gregory Elfers of Teaneck, New Jersey, who was with fellow members of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.

"It's an opportunity to tell everyone we're still here, and we're not going away at all," he said.

Roughly 100 marches and rallies were planned across the US, from Portland, Maine, and Boston to Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu.

More than 1,00,000 people were expected to turn out in Los Angeles where the annual Pride Parade was renamed the ResistMarch. Activists in Casper, Wyoming, planned that city's first-ever pride parade.

Among the activist leaders on hand in Washington was Sarah Kate Ellis, president of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which monitors media coverage of the LGBT community.

She noted that Trump, breaking from the practice of Barack Obama, has declined to issue a proclamation in honour of Pride Month, and that the Trump administration has deleted questions about sexual orientation from planned federal surveys.

"If you look at their prioritisation, we're really low on it," she said. "There absolutely is a resistance aspect to this march."
London: Fake suicide vests worn by the assailants in the London Bridge attack were made with disposable water bottles attached to leather belts, police revealed on Sunday.

"I have not seen this tactic in the UK before where terrorists create maximum fear by strapping fake explosives to themselves," said police commander Dean Haydon, who is leading the investigation.

His force released photographs of the blood-smeared bottles covered in silver and black tape, through which the brown belts had been laced.

"Anyone who saw them on the night would have thought they were genuine. It is hard to speculate what the motive was for wearing the belts," Haydon said in a statement.

"It could be that they had plans to take the attack in to a siege situation or it might be that they saw it as protection from being shot themselves."

Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba killed eight people last Saturday night after driving into pedestrians and then embarking on a stabbing spree on the popular nightlife spot. They were shot dead by police.

It was the third terror attack in Britain in as many months, and was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Haydon praised the bravery of police officers and members of the public who tackled the men, saying the vests would have been clearly visible.

"If you are fighting back or aiming a shot at someone wearing the device you would clearly be very aware that you could be caught in an explosion," Haydon said.

Police arrested 20 people after the attack and seven remained in custody on Sunday.

It was earlier revealed that the assailants had prepared a stash of Molotov cocktails and initially tried to hire a truck rather than a van to mow down pedestrians.

Forensic officers examining their vehicle found "13 wine bottles with rags wrapped around them and believed to be filled with a flammable liquid," as well as two blowtorches, police said.
London: All the suspects arrested over last month's Manchester concert bombing have been released without charge, British police said today, acknowledging that detectives are still not sure whether the attacker had accomplices.

Salman Abedi, a Briton of Libyan heritage, detonated a knapsack bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May, killing 22 people and himself.

Shortly after the attack, police said they had rounded up members of Abedi's network. But Greater Manchester Police said today that all 22 people arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences have now been released without charge.

Russ Jackson, head of counterterrorism policing for northwest England, said police believe Abedi assembled the bomb himself, but it's unclear "whether he acted alone in obtaining the materials for the device ... and whether others knew or were complicit in the storage of materials knowing what was being planned."

Jackson said some of those arrested had offered "accounts which explain innocent contact with Abedi." He said the risk to the public had been considered before suspects were released.

Suspects arrested under terrorism laws can be held for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.

Jackson said police had traced Abedi's movements in the weeks before the attack in detail, and "understand how the chemicals and equipment were obtained and where the bomb was assembled."

He said the vast police investigation will continue "as we work to understand the full extent of the involvement of anyone else."

Police released new images today of Abedi walking through Manchester with a blue suitcase, which they believe contained bomb materials. Police are searching a landfill site for the case.

They also appealed for information from anyone who saw a white Nissan Micra police believe Abedi used to transport and store bomb components.

Police also say they want to speak to Abedi's younger brother Hashem, who has been detained in Libya.
Tripoli: Late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi has been released after six years in detention by a militia group in the city of Zintan.

In a statement to the media, the militia group Abu Bakr al-Siddiq on Saturday night said that Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, had been released on Friday and that he immediately left Zintan where he was captured in November 2011, a month after his father was killed in the city of Sirte, reports Efe news.

"We decided to release Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi. He is now completely free. We confirm that he abandoned Zintan at the time of his release," the group said.

Hours later, the online daily Libyan Express said Saif, who faces an arrest order issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was taken to the eastern city of Al-Bayda, reports Efe news.

"Saif is now among his uncles and relatives in Al-Bayda and will soon deliver a speech to the Libyan people," the daily said.

The ICC accuses Saif of crimes against humanity, saying he ordered the killing and torture of Libyans during the 2011 rebel uprising that overthrew his father.

On the basis of those accusations, a court in Tripoli in 2015 convicted Saif in absentia and sentenced him to death. The trial, however, has been criticised for alleged irregularities.

His captors, however, refused to turn him over to the different authorities in the Libyan capital or to the international tribunal.

Since last July, he had been under a regime of semi-liberty -- under the control of the militias in Zintan but free to receive visitors.

Libya remains politically divided after six years of conflicts with two competing parliaments and governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in the eastern port city of Tobruk.

With mediation efforts of the international community, political rivals signed a UN-sponsored peace agreement in December 2015 which led to the establishment of the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and based in Tripoli.

However, the Tobruk-based parliament, which is recognized by the international community, has refused to endorse the government.
Yangon: Search crews in Myanmar have now recovered the bodies of nearly half of those who died in last week's military plane crash, the army said on Sunday.

The Chinese-made Shaanxi Y8 aircraft was carrying 122 people  soldiers, crew members and children and other relatives of servicemen  when it plunged into the Andaman Sea on Wednesday.

Navy ships and fishing vessels have been battling strong monsoon swells to find victims, with the army saying they had recovered 59 by Sunday afternoon.

"The number of dead bodies found in total is now 59," the commander in chief's office said in a statement, adding 26 victims were pulled from the water on Sunday.

There has been no official explanation for the cause of the crash, one of several deadly incidents involving Myanmar military aircraft in recent years.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing was quoted in local media on Sunday as saying weather was more likely to be a factor than mechanical failure.

But while monsoon season brings annual bouts of rainy weather, there were no reports of major storms along the plane's flight path when it disappeared while flying from the southern city of Myeik to Yangon.

The four-engine turboprop aircraft was less than two years old and had only flown some 800 hours, according to Myanmar's military.

But the Y8 is a Chinese variant of the Soviet-era Antonov An12, which has something of a dubious safety record.

It is not clear whether Myanmar has the kind of resources needed to locate a flight recorder within an ocean.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said on Sunday that authorities had rejected offers of help from overseas.

"Several nations, including China, have made offers to assist Myanmar's recovery effort, but none has been accepted to date," the paper said.

Myanmar's military for almost half a century ruled the country with an iron fist and remains hugely influential.

It has long been wary of accepting offers of outside help.

When Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar in 2008 and killed some 50,000 people, the military refused offers of international aid, sparking widespread anger and criticism.
Kathmandu: A key Madhesi party in Nepal on Sunday announced fresh protests to disrupt the second phase of local polls after it failed to reach a consensus with the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba over an amendment to new Constitution.

A meeting was held at the Singha Durbar Secretariat between Nepal's ruling coalition and representatives of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) to bring all disgruntled parties on board for the second phase of local level elections.

During the meeting, the government expressed commitment to immediately amend necessary rules and regulations.

However, the party refused to participate in the polls slated for 28 June, saying the ruling parties did not address their key demands.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, senior leader of the Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Paudel said, "An understanding has been reached to amend some laws to create environment conducive to bring the RJP-N on board the elections".

Anil Jha, a leader of the RJP-N said that they would not participate in the elections until an amendment was made to the constitution.

The party also announced the third phase of agitation programmes aiming to disrupt the polls from Monday.

Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Deuba, Deputy Prime Ministers Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara also attended today's meeting.

Some Madhes-centric parties have opposed the elections until the Constitution is amended to accommodate their views: more representation in parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries.

The Nepal government has tabled a new Constitution amendment bill in the Parliament to address the demands of the agitating Madhesi parties ahead of the local elections.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a prolonged agitation between September 2015 and February last year against the implementation of the new Constitution which they felt marginalised the Terai community.
The meet will take place on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Indonesia.
Paris: An Algerian man who was shot after attacking a policeman with a hammer at the Notre Dame cathedral last week was charged by a French court with terrorism.

Judiciary sources told Efe news that Farid Ikken, 40, was charged on Saturday with attempted terrorist homicide of a person vested with public authority, and with criminal association for extremist purposes.

Prosecutor Francois Molins told the media that Ikken had been radicalized very quickly, alone and by means of the Internet.

The first elements of the investigation present Ikken as an individual influenced by propaganda from the Islamic State (IS) terror group, to which he vows his loyalty in a video.

At his home in Cergy on the outskirts of Paris, police found on his computer, his camera and his mobile phone, numerous propaganda documents of that terrorist organisation along with news about the attacks in the French capital in November 2015 and in Brussels in March 2016.

Among them is an "action manual for lone wolves", Molins said, adding that the man describes himself as a "soldier of the caliphate".

Ikken, who was born in 1977 and who wounded the policeman in the neck with a hammer purchased at a supermarket, had decided to take action a few days before doing so.

He was brought down by a colleague of the agent, who shot him in the side.
Lahore: Some people hiding behind "constitutional institutions" in Pakistan are hatching a "systematic conspiracy" to remove Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from mainstream politics using the high-profile Panama Papers case, the ruling PML-N party alleged on Sunday.

This is the second time in less than a week that Sharif's party has accused Pakistan's powerful establishment of conspiring to oust the civilian government amid strains in ties with the powerful military and the judiciary.

On 5 June, Sharif said that "some people" were hatching conspiracies against his government. His state information minister Maryam Aurangzeb then openly pointed finger at the establishment, saying it was behind the ongoing campaign to "humiliate" the Sharif family by leaking images of Sharif's son on social media showing him facing the joint investigation team (JIT) at the Federal Judicial Academy, triggering panic in the government circles.

Abid Sher Ali, a relative of Sharif and minister of state for water and power, said on Sunday that some people were hatching a plot to remove the prime minister from the political system.

"We will not accept any decision to remove Nawaz Sharif from the political system," Ali said, referring to the Panama Papers scandal in which an investigation is underway against Sharif and his children for their alleged offshore holdings.

"Some people are hiding behind constitutional institutions (like Supreme Court) and working on minus-Nawaz formula. We will not let this happen as millions of people will be on roads if this happens," Ali said.

A JIT formed by the Supreme Court on 20 April questioned Sharif's sons  Hussain and Hasan  in over the family's alleged improper business dealings.

Ali said the Sharif family has been facing accountability for the past 40 years. "A systematic conspiracy has being hatched to have face-off between the government and judiciary to send Sharif packing," he said.

Several other members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have previously flagged concerns about such conspiracy theories.

Parliamentarians Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry and Miaza Hamid have said the ruling party does not accept the JIT probe into the Panama Papers case and it will soon hit the streets against the controversial investigation.

The Supreme Court has directed the JIT to complete its probe by early July, based on which the apex court would decide the fate of Nawaz Sharif anbd his children in the case.

The Panama Papers case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in the 1990s when he twice served as Pakistan's prime minister to purchase assets in London.

In May, Pakistan's powerful army withdrew a controversial tweet that had rattled the Sharif government over a media leak about a rift brewing between the two power centres over combating militancy in the country.

Many believed the withdrawal of the tweet was a defeat for the army in the great power struggle with the civilian government. The army enjoys considerable influence over policy decisions in Pakistan.

The rift was a grim reminder of 1999 when the then army chief Pervez Musharraf had ousted the government of Sharif.

Pakistan's powerful army has ruled the country for much of its life since it gained independence 70 years ago.
Vatican City: Pope Francis has laid down an ultimatum to Nigerian priests: be fired if you don't obey me and your bishop.

On 8 June, Francis met at Vatican with a delegation from the Ahiara diocese, where priests have been refusing to accept the 2012 appointment by then pontiff, Benedict XVI, of the local bishop.

Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, reporting the pope's unusually harsh order, said today that Francis was acting "for the good of the people of God" by threatening to suspend the priests from the ministry if they didn't pledge in a letter, by 9 July, "total obedience" to Francis and accept Bishop Peter Okpaleke's appointment.

Francis told the visiting delegation he was "very sad" about the priests' refusal to obey and ruled out tribal loyalties as causing the refusal.
Harrisburg: Protesters held rallies across the United States on Saturday to denounce Sharia law, the Islamic legal and moral code that organizers say poses a threat to American freedom, but critics believe anti-Muslim hatred is behind the condemnation.

ACT for America, a self-described grassroots organization focusing on national security, staged rallies in New York, Chicago, Boston, Denver and Seattle, as well as many smaller cities. Hundreds of people pledged on social media to attend an event that ACT billed as "March against Sharia."

On the steps of the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg, barricades and a heavy police presence, including officers mounted on horses, separated about 60 anti-Sharia demonstrators from an equal number of counter-protesters. Many of the latter were dressed in black masks and hoods and chanting "No Trump, no KKK, no Fascist USA."

The atmosphere was tense but the protest went off with no violence and only one arrest, police said.

More than a dozen men belonging to the anti-government Oath Keepers were on hand, invited by ACT to provide security. Most of them carried handguns.

Chris Achey, 47, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he did not hate Muslims but believes that much of Islam is incompatible with Western culture.

"The Constitution is the law of the land," he said. "We have to be careful with who we let in the country." On its website, ACT described sharia, which covers many aspects of Muslim life including religious obligations and financial dealings, as incompatible with human rights. It said Sharia justifies the oppression of women and homosexuality, and advocates female genital mutilation.

But critics say the organization vilifies Muslims and has repeatedly equated Islam with extremism. In their view, the rallies are part of a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment fueled by President Donald Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims entering the country during his election campaign.

Molly Freiburg, 33, of Philadelphia, was one of the counter-protesters but not part of the larger group clad in black.

"America is not in danger from Sharia law," she said. "This manifestation at the Capitol is actually a way to make our Muslim neighbors feel uncomfortable."

A representative for ACT for America could not be reached for comment.

In Seattle, about 75 anti-Sharia protesters were outnumbered by counter-protesters at a rally that was moved from Portland, Oregon. Tensions are running high in Portland after a man yelling religious and racial slurs at two teenage girls on a commuter train fatally stabbed two men who tried to stop him.

Talbot Sleater, a 62-year-old construction foreman, said that the Seattle protest was the first of the kind that he had attended. A Briton who moved to the United States, he said he had decided to go after recent attacks in his home country.

"People are being run over in the street with trucks and little kids are being blown up," Sleater said, referring to recent attacks in London and Manchester. "I don't want that to happen here."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country's largest Muslim advocacy group, urged Americans to participate in one of several local educational events being organized in "a peaceful challenge to Saturday's hate rallies."

It also warned Muslims to take extra precautions against potential violence over the weekend.

Anti-Muslim incidents rose 57 percent last year, including a 44 percent jump in anti-Islamic hate crimes, CAIR said in a report released in early May.

Oath Keepers said on its website that it was "answering the call to defend free speech against those who would use terrorist violence or the threat of violence to shut it down."

The Southern Poverty Law Center says Oath Keepers is "one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the United States," organized around a "set of baseless conspiracy theories."

Refuse Fascism, a coalition of activists advocating confrontational tactics to oppose what it calls the Trump "regime," said it would show up at the rallies "to counter the xenophobic hatred and lies, defy intimidation and drown it out.
Beijing: In a rare show of public dissent, hundreds of people came out on the streets in China's biggest city and financial hub Shanghai on Sunday to protest against the recent changes in housing regulations by the city government.

Up to 300 demonstrators marched through Shaghai's busiest shopping street. Many of them held banners and encouraged onlookers to take photos, state-run Global Times reported.

It was not clear if any of the marchers were detained by the police during the protest that lasted for nearly an hour.

One protester, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the demonstrators were people living in commercial properties converted to residential apartments.

The government in Shanghai on 17 May announced that people were not allowed to convert commercial properties for residential use, and buildings that have been converted should be changed back to their previous situation, the report said.

The anonymous protester said people who have been living in commercial premises converted to residential use were forced to do so either because of the sky-high residential property prices, or they were unable to buy as they do not have a hukou (a household registration record required by law in China).

Converting commercial buildings for residential use can be costly and dangerous as they have different construction standards, urban development expert Niu Fengrui of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told the daily.

The government notice also said many developers misled property buyers, telling them they could convert commercial buildings into apartments.
Colombo: Police in Sri Lanka have arrested a key figure from an extremist Buddhist organisation blamed for a series of hate crimes against Muslims that has drawn international censure.

The 32-year-old man from the radical Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Force, is the first suspect to be arrested in connection with arson attacks against Muslims that have stoked religious tensions.

Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said investigations were continuing into 16 "major incidents" of arson since April that hit Muslim homes, businesses, mosques and a cemetery.

"We are taking a tough stand against such crimes," he told reporters.

Police were criticised for failing to bring the radical Buddhist group to heel by capturing its fugitive ringleader Galagodaatte Gnanasara, as the minority Muslim community endured attacks with stones and petrol bombs.

Jayakody said the detained suspect is a close associate of Gnanasara, an extremist monk who has gone underground since late May when police ordered he turn himself in for questioning. Four specialist teams were hunting the BBS mastermind, he added.

The militant Buddhist outfit says its leader is in hiding out of fear for his life. It has also denied orchestrating the latest violence against Muslims, who make up 10 percent of Sri Lanka's mainly Buddhist population.

The BBS was accused of instigating religious riots in mid-2014 that left four people dead but escaped prosecution under the then-strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse.

Rajapakse's brother Gotabhaya, a former defence secretary, was said to be close to the hardline Buddhist group.

The latest failure to arrest Gnanasara and stop a renewed outbreak of religious violence has seen the European Union and foreign envoys urge Sri Lanka to take action.

The European Union delegation chief in Colombo, Tung-Lai Margue, has said it was crucial there was "no impunity for hate crimes" and that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.
Raqqa: US-backed fighters battled on Sunday to dislodge jihadists from a key military base north of Raqqa city, the heart of the Islamic State group's Syrian territory, a monitor said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have entered Islamic State's bastion Raqqa from the east and west, but have struggled to capture the Division 17 military base on the northern outskirts of the city.

The SDF launched a renewed attack on Division 17 overnight with backing from the US-led coalition bombing Islamic State, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Blasts could be heard throughout the night because of the exchange of fire between the two sides," the monitoring group said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the Islamic State had "heavily fortified" the base in anticipation of a ferocious SDF assault on it.

Originally a Syrian army base, Division 17 was seized by Islamic State in 2014 as it took control of swathes of the wider Raqqa province.

After its capture by the jihadists the same year, Raqqa city emerged as a key hub for Islamic State's operations in Syria, neighbouring Iraq, and beyond.

The SDF  an Arab-Kurdish alliance formed in 2015  spent seven months tightening the noose on Raqqa city before finally entering it this week.

It has since captured the district of Al-Meshleb in the city's east, as well as parts of the western neighbourhoods of Al-Sabahiya and Al-Romaniya.

"SDF fighters are still combing through Al-Meshleb to use it as a base for new operations towards the north and south," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Al-Meshleb is one of the more built-up residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, while most other districts nearby are made up of markets and small shops.

An estimated 300,000 civilians were believed to have been living under Islamic State rule in Raqqa, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria.

Thousands have fled in recent months, and the UN humanitarian office estimates about 160,000 people remain in the city.

Reports of civilian casualties among those still living inside have swelled in recent weeks.

The Observatory said on Sunday that coalition air strikes the previous day killed 24 civilians inside the city, up from an earlier toll of 13 people.

Abdel Rahman said the increased toll brought civilian deaths in coalition raids to a total of 58 since the battle for Raqqa city was launched on 6 June.
Jalalabad (Afghanistan): Three US troops were killed and another wounded during a joint operation in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, the Pentagon said, in the latest so-called insider attack on international forces.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the deaths in the volatile district of Achin, which is also contested by Islamic State jihadists, saying it was carried out by an infiltrator.

The Pentagon said in a statement on Saturday that the wounded soldier had been evacuated for medical treatment. "This incident is under investigation," the statement added.

Earlier, provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP that an Afghan commando had opened fire on US troops and was killed in return fire. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that four US soldiers were killed in the attack.

The insurgents are known to exaggerate battlefield claims. In April, the US military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat on a complex of caves in Achin used by IS fighters.

The deployment of the so-called Mother Of All Bombs killed dozens of jihadists, but fighting in the area has continued.

American troops have partnered with Afghan soldiers in raids against IS Khorasan, claiming the local offshoot of the jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria is steadily losing ground in Afghanistan.

So-called "green-on-blue" attacks  when Afghan soldiers or police turn their guns on international troops  have been a major problem during NATO's long years fighting alongside Afghan forces.

Western officials say most insider attacks stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings rather than insurgent plots. Saturday's attack came just hours after an errant US air strike killed and wounded at least six Afghan policemen in southern Helmand province, in the latest "friendly fire" incident.

Such strikes have bred deep mistrust between local and foreign forces.

Three American troops were wounded in March when an Afghan soldier opened fire in southern Helmand province, in the first known insider attack on international forces this year.

Similar incidents have also plagued Afghan troops, depleting morale and causing mistrust within security ranks. The latest killings come at a time of intensified violence and when the United States is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan.

The Afghan conflict is the longest in American history, with US-led NATO troops at war there since 2001, after the ousting of the Taliban regime.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 presently, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who mainly serve in a training and advisory capacity.
By Roberta Rampton

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump, who became a reality television star with a show called "The Apprentice," will spend a lot of time next week promoting a plan to expand apprenticeships to help companies find more skilled workers to fill jobs, the White House said.It would be the second consecutive week in which the White House will make a push to show Trump is moving ahead on his top domestic priority - jobs - in spite of investigations into whether he had anything to do with possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Trump has refuted those allegations, which have overshadowed his efforts to boost economic growth.Last week was branded "infrastructure week" with a series of events dealing with fixing the nation's decrepit roads and bridges, another plank in Trump's jobs platform.But a congressional hearing on the Russia imbroglio featuring James Comey - the FBI director Trump fired - sucked up all the attention in Washington.Next week will be "workforce development week" where the White House highlights plans to combat the skills gap. U.S. job openings surged to a record high in April with government data showing employers struggling to find workers with the right skills.

Trump's plan has been in the works for months, led by his daughter Ivanka Trump, adviser Reed Cordish, and Trump's secretaries of labor, education and commerce.The White House was mum on the precise details of Trump's plan to expand apprenticeships ahead of his unveiling it in a speech at the Labor Department on Wednesday. A real estate developer who is familiar with the use ofapprenticeship programs in the building trades, Trump has

praised Germany's apprenticeship system as a model. Ivanka Trump discussed the issue with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House in March, and toured a Siemenstraining center in Berlin in April.

Trump will travel to Wisconsin on Tuesday to visit a training program at Waukesha County Technical College with Republican Governor Scott Walker, a former rival in the race to become the 2016 Republican presidential candidate.On Wednesday, Ivanka Trump will hold a roundtable on the issue with 15 CEOs at the White House. The president will then meet with eight governors on Thursday to discuss the topic at the White House. The White House declined to say which CEOs and governors would be there.One thing that likely will not be in Trump's plan: a surge in spending. The White House expects the private sector to take the lead. A senior White House official said the federal government had allocated $16.7 billion to 43 job training programs in 13 agencies in fiscal 2017."It's not a money question. There's a lot of money out there being thrown at this," the official said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Dublin: Irish prime minister Enda Kenny expressed concern Sunday that a proposed alliance between Britain's ruling Conservatives and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) could pose a "challenge" to peace in the province.

In a phone call with British prime minster Theresa May, Kenny warned that efforts to shore up her minority government with the hardline Protestant DUP should not put at risk the Good Friday peace accords.

"They discussed the outcome of the UK general election and the (British) prime minister outlined the proposed supply and confidence arrangement between her party and the DUP," a spokesman for the Irish government said.

"The taoiseach (Kenny) indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring."

Before the 1998 peace deal, Northern Ireland was plagued by violence over Britain's control of the province.

The Good Friday accords led to a power-sharing arrangement between nationalist, largely Catholic parties who want to join Ireland and the pro-British Protestant community.

Kenny also "noted the absence of any nationalist voice in Westminster", after Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) lost its three seats in Thursday's election.

Sinn Fein won seven seats but the party refuses to sit in the House of Commons, which requires swearing allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II.

May lost her parliamentary majority in Thursday's snap election, prompting her to seek the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to stay in power.

Kenny is due to hand over power this week to his successor as leader of the ruling Fine Gael party, Leo Varadkar.

"The taoiseach stated that there should be an early meeting between the prime minister and his successor Leo Varadkar and wished her well in the challenges that now lie ahead," the spokesman added.
London: A petition against British prime minister Theresa May's deal with the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) garnered nearly 6,00,000 signatures on Saturday as concern grew over her plan to govern with their support.

"This is a disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power," read the petition, which outlined some of the DUP's more controversial views including opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

The petition echoed some of the slogans at a leftist demonstration by a few hundred people outside Downing Street on Saturday who chanted: "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has go to go".

Some Conservative MPs also spoke out on Saturday as officials announced that Northern Ireland's DUP had signed up to "an outline agreement" to back a minority Conservative government.

May needs the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to be able to govern after losing her parliamentary majority in Thursday's general election.

The details of the agreement are not yet known but Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said it "simply won't work" if it includes any change to abortion laws or "dilution" of gay rights.

Wollaston also said she was opposed to the death penalty and creationism being taught in schools, policies that have been supported by some DUP politicians.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, said she had received "assurances" from May that there would be no change to gay rights for the rest of Britain.

Gay marriage is banned in Northern Ireland, as is abortion except for when the life of the mother is in danger.

The DUP was founded in 1971 by firebrand Protestant evangelical preacher Ian Paisley to defend Northern Ireland's union with Britain against demands for a united Ireland.

Early in his political career, the colourful cleric became a byword for bigotry and intolerance of Catholics.

The party is now more secular and attracts a wider demographic than when it was founded, shifting from fundamentalist outsiders to political pragmatists.

But some of its politicians have been criticised for homophobic comments and, although it has a female leader in Arlene Foster, it remains an overwhelmingly male, white bastion.
London: A woman in the UK was allegedly pushed to the ground and her hijab ripped off amid a spike in hate crime incidents following the two terror attacks by Islamists that claimed 30 lives in total.

The assault took place in Fengate, Peterborough, after the woman had just got out of her car and crossed the road with her three-year-old daughter when she was pushed from behind and knocked to the ground.

She had her hijab pulled off and thrown towards her.

No words were exchanged in the assault, but police have confirmed they are treating it as a racially or religiously aggravated hate crime, Peterborough Telegraph reported.

The offender was a man and was described as white, tall, of medium build and wearing a black hooded top with the head pulled up.

A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the victim was shaken by the attack but otherwise uninjured.

The assault comes amid a spike in hate crime incidents in the UK following a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and an attack in London by three terrorists, who drove a van into pedestrians and then went on a stabbing spree, killing eight persons before being shot dead.

Anti-Muslim crimes in the British capital increased fivefold since the London attack, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last week, warning that police would take a "zero-tolerance approach".

Following last month's bombing after an Ariana Grande concert, the number of hate crime incidents reported to police in Manchester had doubled.

The kind of incidents reported included a bomb threat received by a Muslim school, racist graffiti and a niqab-clad woman being told she should not be wearing the Islamic outfit.

Also, a Muslim woman was spat on while a teenaged Muslim girl taunted by a passer-by who said, "when are you going to stop bombing people."
Three American soldiers were killed and one wounded on Saturday when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in eastern Afghanistan, according to officials.

The shooting occurred in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, where U.S. special forces have been fighting alongside Afghan troops against Islamic State and Taliban militants, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor.

The Afghan soldier was killed in the incident, Khogyani said.

"The cause of the shooting is not clear. An investigation has already begun," he said.

A Pentagon statement confirmed that three U.S. soldiers had been killed in eastern Afghanistan and one wounded soldier had been evacuated for medical treatment. The statement provided no further details of the incident but said it was under investigation.

One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the incident was a "green-on-blue" attack by a member of the Afghan security forces in Nangarhar province.

So-called "green-on-blue" insider attacks by Afghan soldiers on international service members were a major problem several years ago, but now occur less frequently after security measures were improved and the number of foreign troops in the country fell sharply.

In March, three U.S. soldiers were wounded when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them.

The attack comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration weighs an increase in troops in the war-torn country.

Reuters reported in late April that Trump's administration was carrying out a review of Afghanistan and conversations are revolving around sending between 3,000 and 5,000 U.S. and coalition troops to Afghanistan.

Deliberations include giving more authority to forces on the ground and taking more aggressive action against Taliban fighters. This could allow U.S. advisers to work with Afghan troops below the corps level, potentially putting them closer to fighting, a U.S. official said.

Earlier this year, the top U.S. intelligence official said the security situation in Afghanistan will further deteriorate even if there is a modest increase in U.S. military support for Afghanistan.

In some cases Afghan troops have been forced to abandon more scattered and rural bases, and the government can claim to control or influence only 57 percent of the country, according to U.S. military estimates from earlier this year.

U.S. and Afghan troops have been battling militants in the Nangarhar province for months.

Islamic State, or Daesh as it is generally known in Afghanistan, has established a stronghold in the region, which borders Pakistan. U.S. military officials estimate there are about 600 to 800 Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan, mostly in Nangarhar, but also in the neighboring province of Kunar.

A White House spokesman said Trump was "following the emerging situation in Afghanistan" where the soldiers were killed.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the shooter was a member of the militant group and had killed four Americans and wounded several more.

(Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Kabul, and Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Lesley Wroughton in Washington.; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Rigby)
Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" is a political thriller and the version now being performed by The Public Theater in Central Park doesn't skimp on drama.

In this case, though, the drama isn't about the plot, which was written some 400 years ago, but about the way Julius Caesar, an ancient Roman dictator, is depicted: in a business suit with an American flag pin, a long tie, and reddish-blond hair.

In Shakespeare's story, Caesar is violently stabbed in the back by rival politicians, and the fact that this version's Caesar bears a striking resemblance to President Trump is raising eyebrows.

"I don't advocate violence on the president of the U.S. no matter what party they're in," said Pamela Sims, who was waiting in line for free tickets outside the Delacorte Theater.

"It's just concerning we're seeing more and more violent rhetoric towards our president in the form of the arts and Hollywood," said Chris Caulfield, who is visiting from Texas. "We all need to take a deep breath and remember most of us are somewhere in the middle."

Despite those opinions, the majority of people waiting in line for tickets to the play say they think the director should have creative license to tell the story as he pleases.

"If Trump is drawing parallels in history so be it," said Amy Cohen, in line for tickets. "But this was here long before, Shakespeare is often done in different time frames, so I don't find anything inappropriate about it."

Sam Franco, also waiting, agreed. "Art is provocative, theater is provocative," he said. "They're meant to make us reflect and make us think, they're not made to make us sit comfortably."

Read more from FOX 5 New York.
An Alabama school district could be one bowl of banana pudding away from a federal lawsuit.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a threatening letter the other day to Opp City Schools regarding the high school's baccalaureate service.

For generations, public high schools have held baccalaureate services on the Sunday before graduation. Its a sacred rite of passage steeped in our nations rich Christian heritage  with prayers, Bible readings, religious music and a message from a preacher.

But it turns out atheists are not big fans of baccalaureate services or, for that matter, our Lord and Savior.

The schools role in sponsoring a baccalaureate on school property would cause any reasonable graduating senior or parent to conclude that the District endorses the religious messages espoused at the service, FFRF attorney Sam Grover wrote to the Alabama school district.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a perpetually-offended gang of atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers. They typically prey on small towns and communities that do not have the financial resources to fight back against their bogus threats.

Opp City Schools has a legal duty to remain neutral toward religion, Grover wrote. It makes no difference how many students want religious speeches or wouldnt be offended by them at their graduation.

Read more from ToddStarnes.com.
Last year, 2016, was a particularly dangerous year for our nations police officers: 145 officers were killed or died in the line of duty according to data from the Officer Down Memorial Page, the highest total in five years.

More disturbing, 21 officers lost their lives in ambush-style attacks last year, nearly quadrupling the six officers killed in similar attacks in 2015.

These numbers include the horrendous assassination of five police officers in Dallas, Texas, in July, 2016, and three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, only ten days later.

But are things getting better for our nations police officers? Has anti-police rhetoric become less heated and has that translated into fewer officers being deliberately targeted by societys criminal element?

So far, the jury is still out.

Sadly, 53 officers have already lost their lives in the line of duty this year, a staggering 33 percent jump from this point last year. Digging into the data provides a little more clarity into the numbers.

Twenty of the 53 officers killed so far in 2017 were felled by gunfire, a modest but still unacceptable increase of five percent over last year.

Where the jump was quite a bit more dramatic, however, was in the number of officers killed in auto-related accidents while on duty. Twenty-one of the 53 officers that have died in 2017 have been killed in auto-related incidents, a massive spike of 50 percent over this point last year.

But what about ambush-style attacks? The kind where individuals, whose motivations can range from simple animus to outright hatred of police, deliberately seek out and murder a police officer without provocation of any kind?

Again, the data isnt clear just yet but several incidents so far this year suggest a still tenuous environment in which our officers find themselves operating.

In Miami this past March, two officers found themselves the target of an ambush attack when the police vehicle in which they were sitting was struck by dozens of rounds of gunfire. The officers had been working surveillance  in plainclothes and in an unmarked police vehicle  in a gang-infested neighborhood when several assailants opened fire on them. Both officers suffered injuries but thankfully were not killed.

In early April, Assistant Chief Deputy Clint Greenwood of the Harris County Constables Office in Texas was assassinated while he walked into his office  struck by rifle fire from a cowardly assailant who fled the scene and committed suicide shortly thereafter.

And just a few weeks ago, two Chicago police officers were targeted by criminals in the citys Back of the Yards neighborhood. The officers, working in plainclothes but wearing clearly identifiable police vests and badges, were driving in the neighborhood when two vehicles pulled up alongside them and opened fire. Both officers were struck by gunfire but survived the incident. A high-powered rifle was recovered in one of the suspect vehicles a short time later.

And this Chicago incident came on the heels of another ambush attack on Detroit police only days earlier. In that incident, officers had responded to an apartment complex for a domestic violence call when a man, uninvolved with the call for service, opened fire on the officers.

One of the officers was struck in the back of the head and seriously injured but other officers were able to return fire and the suspect died on scene.

The aforementioned incidents paint a less-than-rosy picture of the current state of policing in America but only time will tell if we are trending away from the horrors experienced in 2016 or if our nations police officers will continue to find themselves targeted by the worst of society.

Make no mistake, police work will never be completely safe or without risk but it is within this reality that the men and women of law enforcement willfully operate and it is why we so aptly refer to them as heroes.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service states the purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. When Congress passed the ESA in 1973, it recognized that our right natural heritage is of esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation and its people. The laws ultimate goal is to recover species so they no longer need protection under the ESA.

Texans have accomplished this goal with the golden-cheeked warbler species. A 2015 study by the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources produced scientific evidence that the warbler population is 19 times larger than when the species was listed in 1990. Yet, the warbler species remains under federal regulation. A lawsuit filed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation on behalf of the Texas General Land Office seeks to delist the species because the warbler is no longer endangered or threatened.

The Institutes comprehensive study indicates there are five times more warbler breeding habitats (6,480 square miles) and that there are 19 times more warblers (263,339 males) than assumed at the time of the 1990 listing decision. In addition, molecular work suggests there is not genetic basis for managing warblers as separate population entities. Collectively, the Institute concluded that the warbler recovery criteria was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the existing abundance and population structure of the species, thus justifying reexamination of the warblers federal endangered listing status.

Whereas the successful recovery of the warbler species brought to light by this lawsuit represents a victory for conservation, the knee-jerk response in opposition from radical environmental groups calls into question whether these persons and groups actually support the ESAs purpose of recovery. Rather than refute the Institutes finding that breeding warblers inhabit a much wider range of habitat types than earlier identified, opponents have decried delisting out of loyalty to the warbler and due to its popularity with birdwatchers.

The successful recovery of the warbler species brought to light by this lawsuit represents a victory for conservation, yet the knee-jerk response in opposition from radical environmental groups calls into question whether these persons and groups actually support the ESAs purpose of recovery.

Through their blanket opposition to any reduction in federal ESA regulation, environmental groups have lost credibility on this issue. Instead, these groups advocate continuance of the burdensome protection regulations and associated costs to private property owners. For example, the current participation fee for take of golden-cheeked warbler habitat in Williamson County, Texas is $9,000 per acre for tracts smaller than 200 acres.

The basis for delisting the golden-cheeked warbler stands in sharp contrast to the circumstances first leading to its regulation. On May 4, 1990, the Service rushed to list the golden-cheeked warbler as endangered on an emergency basis, erroneously believing that the species was rare and only existed in spatially separated populations within Travis County, Texas. At that time, USFWS relied on the only available studies of the golden-cheeked warbler, satellite mapping data from 1980 and a 1970s study of the warbler that significantly underestimated the extent of warbler habitat and the size of the warbler population.

Todays science shows that the warbler does not meet the ESAs definition of endangered, that the golden-cheeked warbler today is not in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, nor is likely to become so in the foreseeable future.

Even following delisting of the warbler, adequate protections currently exist and will remain to ensure the future of this beautiful migratory songbird. Service delisting will not impact continuing protections, such as afforded by the Texas Endangered Species Act and Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (a 30,000 acre area in Travis County set aside in 1996 to provide habitat for the warbler, black-capped virio, and six invertebrates).

Federal regulations provide three circumstances under which the Service may delist a previously listed speciesextinction, recovery, and error. The best available science today shows that the species is not endangered: the warbler was either listed in error or has recovered since listing. Either way, the ESAs purpose in terms of the golden-cheeked warbler has been accomplished, and Texas private property owners should not longer be burdened by further, unwarranted federal regulation.

The Honorable Robert Henneke is the General Counsel and Director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The ObamaCare status quo is unacceptable.

Its become so obvious that politicians on both sides of the aisle are acknowledging it and proposing solutions to fix it.

The majority of House Republicans voted to pass the American Health Care Act in May, which currently awaits debate in the Senate.

In America, we value choice, competition, and access to care. In socialized medicine, those luxuries would be gone.

The majority of House Democrats have proposed an alternative fix called the Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act, otherwise known as "single payer." This should send shivers down the spine of any tax-paying, Constitution-loving American.

Socialized medicine in America is no longer a hypothetical. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won 12 million votes in the 2016 Democratic primaries with a single payer platform, and the DNC is encouraging Democrats to campaign on the issue in 2018.

But what would the single payer reality look like?

First, the cost. The nonpartisan Urban Institute studied Sanders plan, determining it would cost taxpayers an additional $32 trillion over the next decade. Essentially the federal government would have to double the $3.2 trillion in tax receipts it collected in 2016 each year to pay for it.

The Democrats' single payer dream would double the taxes of every American to pay Washington bureaucrats to manage government-run hospitals.

Doubling the size of the federal government would take massive tax increases. An across the board doubling of rates would drive the top bracket from 39.6 percent to a whopping 79.2 percent tax of their income. Individuals making $38,000 a year would see their marginal rate grow to 50 percent from the current 25 percent.

In return, every American would be forced onto a socialized health care system to receive insurance from central planners in Washington. Every single American who has a private health insurance policy - some 178 million Americans - would immediately be forced off of their current insurance.

In America, we value choice, competition, and access to care. In socialized medicine, those luxuries would be gone.

For a real world example, look to Great Britain, where think tanks, universities, and government officials say its National Health Service (NHS) is at its breaking point. Financial strain, staff shortages, and unprecedented demand are leading to rationing of care.

Under a similar system, our wait times for routine surgeries like knee replacements would surpass 14 weeks, far longer than the 11 days it is now.

Long wait times would worsen our already existing emergency room overcrowding because Medicaid patients cant find primary care doctors who will accept their insurance.

Eventually, our emergency rooms could face a 50 percent doctor shortage.

In addition to the overcrowding, severe doctor shortages would be exacerbated as doctors would flee the system rather than be forced to take inadequate reimbursements for their services as set by the government.

Eventually, a two-tiered system based on wealth status would emerge here as it has in other socialized systems.

Private doctors would allow wealthy patients to jump the line for same-day appointments for a price. The rest of us would be forced to wait months for a visit with the government.

The Democrats' single payer dream would double the taxes of every American to pay Washington bureaucrats to manage government-run hospitals. Wait times would increase exponentially and access to life-saving care would shrink. It would be a nightmare for the American people.

Thankfully, its not too late.

To stop socialized medicine from becoming reality, Congress must continue its rescue mission. We must bring insurers back to the marketplace so we can lower costs and increase access to care.

The House has laid out one pathway to save American health care. As the Senate appears poised to vote on a bill soon, one thing remains true: our country must unite in our opposition to the nightmare of socialized medicine.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has encouraged onetime GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for the Senate in Utah if longtime Republican incumbent Orrin Hatch decides to retire next year.

Biden made the recommendation to Romney on Friday evening at the Utah resort where Romney was hosting an annual invitation-only business and politics summit.

The Biden-Romney event, like most of the discussions and speeches at the gathering, was closed to reporters. But people who were there confirmed the conversation and described it as a warm, bipartisan talk.

Romney did not give any indication he was considering a run, should Hatch, 83, decide not to run again next year, said one person in attendance, Maryland videographer Dean Dykema.

"Mitt didn't have a chance to ask many questions because Joe pretty much took over the show," Dykema said.

Hatch, who has been in office since 1977, has said he hasn't decided if he'll seek another term but he might step aside if Romney ran.

The 70-year-old former Massachusetts governor now lives in Utah, where he's remained popular as the man who led a turnaround of the scandal-plagued 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and as a prominent Mormon businessman and politician in a state that's home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In April, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he reached out to Romney about running for Hatch's seat, but said he'd support the longtime senator if he decided to run again.

Hatch has said that he hopes everyone in Utah could get behind Romney and avoid a divisive primary contest like the one in 2010 that ousted his close friend, the late Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett. Bennett was defeated by a tea party-backed Republican, Mike Lee.

On Friday in Utah, Romney and Biden did not discuss the 2012 election where they ran on opposing tickets, but Biden did discuss the 2016 election.

He made some comments critical of President Donald Trump, but said he felt his own party and its candidate Hillary Clinton failed to connect with some key voting blocs, including millennials and those in working-class states where Biden was sent as a surrogate for the campaign.

Biden also discussed a need for bipartisanship in Congress, lamenting how Republicans and Democrats don't sit together anymore in the Capitol dining room, and spoke of his efforts to improve cancer research, a cause he has focused on since his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died in 2015 of brain cancer.
Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch should testify before the Senate, top Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday, in the wake of fired FBI Director James Comey calling into question her handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe.

I want to hear from Loretta Lynch, Graham said.

The call follows Comeys claim during a Senate committee hearing that Lynch once directed him to describe the email probe as a "matter" and not an "investigation -- an alleged intervention Comey said made him queasy. He also said that directive, combined with Lynch's unusual Arizona tarmac meeting with former President Bill Clinton, led him to make his independent announcement regarding the Clinton email probe last July.

Asked Sunday on CBS News Face the Nation whether he wants Lynch to appear before the judiciary committee on which he sits, Graham, R-S.C., said: Absolutely.

Several GOP lawmakers have shown interest in learning more about Lynchs actions following Comeys testimony.

COMEY SAYS LYNCH ACTIONS PROMPTED HIM TO GO ROGUE

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he wants to see whether Comey kept any notes regarding conversations with Lynch.

I want to see if he had any memos on Loretta Lynch, King said on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.

The intelligence committee has asked Comey for any notes or memos he took. Comey has made clear he took extensive notes regarding his conversations with Trump, which detailed the presidents alleged attempt to seek his loyalty during a late January meeting, among other conversations -- a claim Trump adamantly denies.

But Comeys allegations about Lynch drew widespread attention.

He said Lynchs tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton was a "deciding factor" in his decision to act alone to update the public on the Clinton probe -- and protect the bureau's reputation.

"There were other things, significant items," he added, citing how "the attorney general directed me not to call it an investigation and call it a matter -- which confused me."

That was one of the bricks in the load that I needed to step away from the department, Comey said, later adding he was concerned Lynch was trying to align the DOJs comments with the way the campaign was talking about the probe. That gave me a queasy feeling, he said.

Lynch and former President Clinton met on a tarmac in Phoenix, Ariz., on June 27, 2016, which immediately raised questions about whether she -- or the Justice Department -- could be impartial in the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Days later, Comey called Hillary Clintons actions extremely careless but declined to recommend charges.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union that she would have had a queasy feeling, too. She said lawmakers need to know more about that, and the judiciary committee should take a look at it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., though, said he hasnt heard Lynchs side of the story and cannot say whether it rises to the level that she should come and testify.

All Im saying with Loretta Lynch is before anyone jumps to any conclusions, we ought to hear what she has to say, he said on Face the Nation. And let her state something privately and see if it makes much of a difference. I dont know that it will.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand dropped several F-bombs Friday during a speech at an event held at New York University.

Gillibrand, a Democrat, lashed out at President Trump, saying that he has not followed through with promises to improve health care and the tax system for working families.

"Has he kept any of his promises?" she asked. "No. F--- no."

Gillibrand, 50, who is the mother of two young children, expressed her growing frustration with Washington politics at the Personal Democracy Forum conference.

"If we are not helping people, we should go the f--- home," she said in the speech, spoken to activists at NYUs Skirball Center in Manhattan.

"And that should be our North Star," she added. "That should be our framing principle of what we are doing in public service."

It's rare for members of Congress to swear in public, but it's not the first time Gillibrand has shown shes no Girl Scout.

In an April 3, 2017, New York magazine article, Gillibrand recalled having constant anxiety dreams. She described how she was distressed over a friends daughter who tried to sell her Girl Scout cookies. Oh my God, Ive got to f------ order those cookies! she said, referring to the dream.

Gillibrand faces re-election for her Senate seat next year. She's also among several Democrats who could run for president in 2020.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney fired earlier this year by President Trump, held nothing back in his first TV interview since his ouster -- claiming Sunday theres absolutely evidence to launch an obstruction case against Trumps team with regard to the Russia probe.

Former FBI Director James Comey stopped short of alleging obstruction of justice in his Senate testimony last week, deferring to the special counsel probe led by Robert Mueller.

Bharara, however, said on ABC News This Week that theres enough evidence to at least start a case.

No one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction, he said, adding: Theres no basis to say theres no obstruction.

Trumps allies, in downplaying the obstruction angle, have seized on Comeys sworn statement last Thursday that Trump did not try to get him to end the Russia probe as a whole.

To me, thats no obstruction, Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Sunday.

She also called the issue a fishing expedition and said congressional probes looking at collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia should end, considering the lack of evidence.

She did not call for Muellers probe to end.

Bharara said its reasonable to assume Mueller is looking at the obstruction issue among others as part of his investigation.

Bharara has been critical of the president ever since he was let go in March along with dozens of other U.S. attorneys held over from the last administration. The former federal prosecutor in Manhattan attended Comeys hearing on Thursday.

While Comey said Trump did not try to end the Russia probe, the fired FBI boss did say Trump had pressured him to lay off former national security adviser Michael Flynn and said he thinks he was fired because of the Russia investigation.
The head of the Republican National Committee called Sunday for an end to congressional investigations looking at possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, speaking with Fox News Sunday, did not call for an end to the separate special counsel probe or the component of the congressional probes looking at Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. She did say, however, that the Senate and House intelligence committees should stop looking at collusion.

This is a fishing expedition, she said. Im calling for an end to the investigations about  President Trumps campaign colluding with the Russians. Theres been no evidence of it; I dont think that should continue.

TRUMP SAYS COMEY LEAKS THE REAL ISSUE

The head of the Republican Party made the call in the wake of testimony from former FBI Director James Comey, which McDaniel said backed up the president on key points.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., however, told Fox News Sunday that cutting the collusion probes short would not be appropriate.

We have a separate obligation, said Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Serves Committee and an ex officio member of the intelligence committee which heard testimony from Comey.

Reed defended the Senate intelligence panel investigation as truly bipartisan.

Asked about the existence of evidence of collusion, he said: There are questions that have been raised about the involvement of his campaign.

McDaniel, though, said lawmakers have discovered no such evidence.

Not yet do you have a single senator saying theres definitive evidence that theres been any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, she said.

McDaniel also picked apart Comeys explosive testimony, saying his admission that he leaked notes from his conversations with Trump shows how questionable his character is.

Trump also tweeted Sunday that Comey's leaking is the real issue.

I think it proves that the president made the right choice in firing Director Comey, McDaniel said, while calling his recollection nothing more than his version of events.

At the same time, she said Comey made clear Trump did not seek to impede the broader Russia probe.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has said that even the special counsel probe led by Robert Mueller should end, calling it a witch hunt on Fox News Sunday.

McDaniel, however, would not go so far.

Thats going to run its course, well see what happens. I think it should end quickly, she said.

After Trump said at a press conference hed be 100 percent willing to testify under oath, Reed said Sunday he indeed wants to see a deposition with Trump covering multiple issues.

The president should answer truthfully, under oath, he said, referring to the special counsel probe.
Saudi Arabia is taking initials steps to ease the growing humanitarian crisis caused by the blockade it is leading against Qatar, in what a senior State Department official described to Fox News as an encouraging sign.

Because of new restrictions imposed by the blockade on both residence and travel, as many as 10,000 families have been split up over demands Qatari citizens leave the neighboring countries where they had been living, with many leaving spouses and families behind.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman is now directing his Kingdom's Interior Ministry to address such cases of forced repatriation.

In the first of a pair of tweets posted on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the Qataris are referred to as "brotherly people." The tweet says King Salman wants to take care of the humanitarian cases of the Saudi-Qatari joint families.

A second tweet provides a phone number for affected families to call and ends with the hashtag #PeopleOfQatarInHeartOfSalman.

The blockade, launched over Qatars alleged ties to terrorism, has brought the United States into the diplomatic fray.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to ease the blockade, citing the humanitarian crisis.

"We are seeing shortages of food, families are being forcibly separated, and children pulled put of school. We believe these are unintended consequences, especially during the Holy Month of Ramadan, but they can be addressed immediately," he said.

While State Department officials are encouraged by the latest steps, it appears Russia also could be getting a foothold in the crisis.

Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was in Moscow for talks on the blockade earlier Saturday.
Senate Democrats are looking to intensify the Russia-related investigations on Capitol Hill despite a call from Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to abandon the collusion track for lack of evidence  with plans to grill Attorney General Jeff Sessions and even a bid to get President Trump under oath.

While Trump has not responded to the invitation, Sessions already has agreed to answer questions Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race. Presuming that hearing goes forward, the big question is whether Sessions will testify in public  and in doing so, drive the same kind of media frenzy that surrounded fired FBI Director James Comeys testimony this past Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday he wants Sessions speaking in public and under oath.

There are some questions about Sessions that have to be asked, Schumer said on CBS News Face the Nation.

Schumer, in the same interview, invited Trump to testify before the Senate, responding to the presidents Friday claim that hed be 100 percent willing to speak under oath. Regardless of whether Trump agrees, the pursuit of Sessions and several Trump campaign figures for questioning on Capitol Hill virtually ensures the Russia investigation will continue to play out in public and cast a continued cloud over the administrations agenda  even as special counsel Robert Mueller pursues his investigation behind closed doors.

LYNCH SHOULD TESTIFY, GRAHAM SAYS

In the near-term, Schumer and fellow Democratic senators made clear they have several tough questions they want the attorney general to be asked Tuesday  preferably, before the glare of TV cameras.

On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said he has questions about Sessions participation in Comeys firing  considering the firing came after Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe.

He had already recused himself and then, suddenly, he's the one apparently recommending to the president that Comey be fired and the president has  declared it was all about the Russian investigation, Reed said.

The Trump administration has given numerous reasons for Comeys firing, including his handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. But Comey testified last week that he thinks the Russia probe was the driving force.

Reed, further, said he has questions about Sessions past meetings with Russian officials beyond those hes already declared.

That will come up, he vowed.

Schumer said Sessions should be asked whether he interfered in the Russia investigation before his recusal; what safeguards are in place now; and whether he discussed the Russia issue in the search for a new FBI director.

During his testimony last week, Comey suggested there might be more to Sessions' recusal from the Russia probe, telling lawmakers he believed it was inevitable that Sessions would recuse himself and there were facts he could not discuss in an open hearing.

The Department of Justice, however, issued a statement standing by the original explanation that Sessions recused himself due to his participation in Trumps campaign.

[I]t was for that reason, and that reason alone, spokesman Ian Prior said.

Sessions had been set to testify before a budget-related subcommittee on Tuesday but, in letters to key lawmakers, said the intelligence committee that heard from Comey would be the more appropriate venue considering the Russia-related questions.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., a member of that committee, said on Face the Nation that they have not yet finalized whether the attorney generals testimony will be public or private.

I assume that this will be public, but we are still in that final conversation time with Jeff Sessions, Lankford said.

He said its important to hear Sessions side of the story regarding some of Comeys claims last week as well as these accusations that are flying out there about conversations that he might or might not have had with Russians prior to the election.

On Fox News Sunday, McDaniel appealed to lawmakers to drop their line of investigation regarding the question of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

This is a fishing expedition, she said. Im calling for an end to the investigations about  President Trumps campaign colluding with the Russians. Theres been no evidence of it; I dont think that should continue.

Democrats made clear they have no such plans.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on CNNs State of the Union that it should be all hands on deck for lawmakers examining the case.

Feinstein, who also sits on the intelligence panel, could not say whether the Sessions hearing would be public or whether it would even go forward. She also raised the possibility of yet another hearing, saying the judiciary committee would be the fitting venue for the attorney generals testimony.

As for what lawmakers should be exploring, Feinstein did not mince words, saying they should examine the technical legal aspects of obstruction of justice.

Trumps allies have downplayed the obstruction angle, noting Comey stopped short of alleging obstruction of justice in his testimony and said Trump did not try to push him to end the Russia probe as a whole.

To me, thats no obstruction, McDaniel told Fox News Sunday.

Fox News Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
Three UFO hunters snapped a photo of a mysterious object while they were lost in the Blue Hills near Boston last week, according to reports.

Ramona DiFrancesco and her friends were lost for several hours Thursday night and had to be rescued by state police, WHDH-TV reported.

DiFrancesco, 18, of Plymouth, told the station she and her friends spotted UFOs they had never seen before Thursday night.

Well, we saw these two ships that had these like bright spotlights and then we saw this like weird orb that was like a spotlight, sort of, she told the station.

She showed a WHDH reporter a photo of the mysterious object she said had been taken with a Nikon camera.

They got lost on Buck Hill, The Boston Globe reported.

Our phones were dying, the paper quoted DiFrancesco as saying. We didnt have any flashlights. We were a little unprepared."

A state police helicopter spotted them and officers led them down a trail on foot.

They were not hurt.
Summer is almost here, and millions of Americans are raring to take a trip. But where should they go? And how much should they budget?

Ive been an avid traveler since I was a kid, when I would hop planes with my father, who worked for the airlines. Though Dad was particularly skilled at finding bargains, booking a ticket wasnt nearly as easy as it is today on the internet. Gone are the days of dusty travel agencies and dog-eared brochures.

Tip in a Tip: There are a ton of theories out there about the best time of day and the best day of the week to buy airline tickets. Some people say Tuesday at 3 p.m.; others say Wednesday at 1 a.m. or the weekend. So, which is it? I've done the research. Click here for the best time to book a ticket and to fly.

But doing everything yourself can be stressful. What airline should you fly? Where should you stay? How will you find the best deal?

For that matter, with so many online companies vying for your credit card, where do you even start?

These are the brands that I recommend. They all have their pros and cons, but they are comprehensive and easy to use, and they cater to a variety of needs and interests. And while most customers will be searching for flights, hotels and rental cars, remember that many of these services can book cruises and activities as well.

Here are my top five:

5. Travelocity

Though it is similar in many ways to sites like Priceline and Expedia, I am consistently impressed with Travelocitys travel packages. Instead of just booking a flight and a room, you can combine airfare, hotels, rental cars and more.

I'm often surprised how many people book these elements separately or just wait until they arrive at their destination to figure out the details. If you're not using rewards points, Travelocity is one of the best services for saving money on the cost of your trip. According to the company, people who combine just their flight and hotel save $525 on average. Thats a lot of cocktail money.

Like many of the best travel sites, Travelocity has a free app for Apple and Android users. Its primary service, Farewatcher, monitors deals on desired locations. Once you tell it that you want to travel to Cancun, for example, you will receive notifications as prices drop. Click here to learn the insider secrets about using Travelocity.

4. Airfarewatchdog

Some travelers are more spontaneous than others. If you like to hop planes on a whim, Airfarewatchdog, which monitors airline sites for sales and discounts, will quickly become your best friend.

The best part is that it employs flesh-and-blood people who spend their days seeking out the best fares. It's kind of like having a personal travel shopper. Airfarewatchdog does the research while you sit back and wait for the deals to rush in.

The company specializes in last-minute fares, particularly the blooper and mea culpa ones that result when an airline messes up. Unlike a lot of companies, these folks also incorporate smaller airlines, such as Southwest and Allegiant, which are known for great prices but are often skipped over. If you're not tied to a particular brand, this is a great way to save money. Click here for tips on using Airfarewatchdog.

3. Travelzoo

About 27 million members can't be wrong: Travelzoo has partnered with over 2,000 companies to become a popular venue for great savings.

Travelzoo has won a lot of accolades for its quality, especially when it comes to international flights. Want to backpack through Europe, and you're not picky about where you start? You can even search for deals by continent. Click here to learn more about Travelzoo.

2. Kayak

For years, Kayak was the reigning champion of travel sites, aggregating data from hundreds of services, including booking companies, airlines and travel agencies.

The site is particularly suited for people with open-ended travel plans, enabling them to find recommendations within their budget. Kayaks Explore tool shows a world map that highlights each destination and a conspicuously cheap fare. For example, you might scroll over Asia and find a flight to Tokyo for $650. The dates might not be ideal, but the information will help you figure out the best times to book.

While a lot of services track airfares and notify you when they rise or drop, Kayak boasts a Price Predictor that anticipates the fluctuation in price before booking. Remember, nothing on the internet can prognosticate perfectly, but Kayaks metrics are a helpful gauge. Click here to learn all about Kayak.

1. Google Flights

Few will be surprised that Google Flights ranks No. 1 on my list, but it's not just because Google has so much data at its fingertips. The reason Google excels is that it can tell the difference between a cheap flight and a good one.

Many of us have made the mistake of booking a flight for a song, only to end up in a cramped seat, with no meal and hidden baggage fees. Even if you like to rough it, there is nothing wise or convenient about a 3 a.m. departure from Guatemala City. Click here to learn more about how to avoid this situation.

Google Flights allows you to set certain parameters when you search. Although many services let you modify your search options, Google Flights is particularly good at it.

For fly-by-night tourists, its most impressive feature is searching within a date range. Suppose you want to travel somewhere in Africa in October. You can select the dates you're available, and Google will figure out the best days and destinations for you.

But if that's all you do with it, you're missing out. Google Flights has some amazing features that make planning that vacation so much easier. Click here for five secrets to using Google Flights for the best deals.

What are other ways you can take advantage of online savings? Be sure to listen to or download my podcasts, or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen to the Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet or computer. From buying advice to digital life issues, click here for my free podcasts.
Ricardo Negron never kissed his boyfriend in front of conservative relatives. Carlos Guillermo Smith was once attacked by anti-gay students at a college party. After coming out in high school, Marco Quiroga left his mother's home and became temporarily homeless.

Many gay Latinos in Orlando have endured indignities, rejection or violence because of their sexual orientation. But in the year since a gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub, these men and others have sought to strengthen their wounded community, forming support groups and community organizations, seeking seats at the tables of power, and creating a foundation to champion gays and Latinos.

"There's no question that the tragedy at Pulse has created an entire new generation of grassroots leaders who are young, who are queer, people of color, who want to make a difference and affect change," said Smith, who was elected to Florida's Legislature last fall.

Most of the dead at Pulse were gay Latinos, and the attack on June 12, 2016, highlighted the gulf between gay people of color and other gays.

Though Orlando's gay institutions are open to anyone, some gay Latinos did not use them, either because of language barriers or because Orlando's Latino communities are scattered throughout the metro area and much of Orlando's gay life is concentrated downtown. There were other obstacles too, including cultural issues of "machismo," deep Latino connections to the Roman Catholic Church and, for some, concerns about immigration status.

Before Pulse, many gay Latinos felt they could only meet each other in gay bars on Latin or hip-hop nights.

"In our community, there was an absence of spaces for people who were queer and people of color," said Christopher Cuevas, who founded the support group QLatinx after the Pulse shooting.

Still, many regarded Orlando as a haven, both for its visible gay community and for its thriving Latino population. Of metro Orlando's 2.3 million people, more than a quarter are Hispanic, with Puerto Ricans making up about half of the Latino population. Smith describes Orlando "as one of the gayest cities in America."

"Which makes what happened here so shocking because this is already such an inclusive community," said Smith, who grew up in South Florida and moved to Orlando for college. "This is a city that is very supportive of the LGBTQ community."

To Javier Nava, Orlando seemed like a gay Magic Kingdom when he visited during a pride weekend three years ago from small-town North Carolina, where he worked in the restaurant business without legal permission to be in the United States.

"When I came here, and I see the gay pride, I just fell in love with Orlando, so full of Latinos," said Nava, who is originally from Mexico City and moved to Orlando shortly after his visit. He recently became eligible to stay in the U.S. legally. "It just seemed free and open here," he said.

When the gunshots began at Pulse, Negron at first thought they were coming from the beats of the thumping reggaeton music. Then the music stopped and everyone dropped to the floor.

He managed to run out of an exit as gunman Omar Mateen kept firing. Mateen, a New York-born son of Afghan immigrants who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed hours later in a shootout with police.

Nava was on the dance floor when he heard what sounded like a fight. That's when everybody got on the floor. A moment later, he felt something hit his abdomen and realized he had been shot.

Debating in his head whether to play dead or try to escape, he stood up, ran through a door behind the bar and found stairs leading up to a second-story office. Five other people followed him and hid under the desks. They called 911, and dispatchers gave them instructions on how to stanch Nava's bleeding.

They tried to be quiet until police found them about half an hour later. As the officers escorted them out, Nava saw the lifeless body of a friend on the floor.

Smith was in bed at home when his smartphone started beeping furiously before dawn with news about Pulse. Before long, he was standing shoulder to shoulder at a news conference with leaders of Orlando's Muslim community to show that Orlando "respects inclusivity and diversity."

In the aftermath of the attack, a joint venture between local governments and nonprofits offered mental health services and other assistance to Pulse victims and their families. But because of language barriers, immigration fears or previous feelings of disconnection, some of the victims and their families did not feel like they could use the services, Cuevas said.

The community had to "create our own because these spaces never catered to us before. They didn't understand us, and they still don't," he said.

Thus was born QLatinx, a community group for Latino gay and lesbians. The Q stands for "queer," and "Latinx" is a gender-neutral form of "Latino." The organization holds support-group meetings every week and is starting a storytelling project in which they hope to dismantle stereotypes of what it means to be gay and Latino through the personal stories of its members. They're also helping more mainstream gay organizations, like the local LGBTQ center, cater to the needs of gay Latinos.

Quiroga has undertaken a similar effort with the Contigo Fund, which was formed after the Pulse tragedy with $1.5 million in funding from several national foundations. The goal was to financially support LGBTQ and social-justice causes in central Florida, with a particular focus on Latino communities. The fund has given grants to QLatinx, as well as Proyecto Somos Orlando, a nonprofit community center run by Negron that offers bilingual mental health counseling, conversational English classes and immigration assistance for free.

Through the center, case managers check in with Pulse survivors at least once a month. Proyecto Somos Orlando soon will start a program helping newly arrived LGBTQ Puerto Ricans adjust to life in central Florida and hold regular seminars on topics like how to use the health care system.

The ultimate goal is to create a safe haven for LGBTQ people of color that can be a model for other cities, said Quiroga, who moved to Orlando as a 2-year-old from Peru. He is part of a program that allows immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children to stay.

Many of the Pulse survivors are in demand to talk to politicians, celebrities and activists about gun violence and gay rights. Nava met Hillary Clinton and talked in Spanish about immigration policy with vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine.

For Nava, the Pulse tragedy forced him to engage with the wider world in ways he never expected. He and his husband, Adrian Lopez, who escaped the nightclub unhurt, have shared their stories about the Pulse massacre with Clinton, Kaine and former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot six years ago during a public appearance, among others.

"At that level, it's a big step for our community," Nava said, explaining that his discussion with Kaine about immigration reform represented more than just one person talking with "one of the people who might run this country."

"It's me, as a gay Latino, talking to one of those people. In Spanish."
An arrest warrant has been issued for Bikram Choudhury, the hot-yoga guru who allegedly fled the U.S. rather than pay millions following a harassment lawsuit filed by his former lawyer, authorities say, People reported.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Edward Moreton issued the warrant in May for Bikram Choudhury and set bail at $8 million.

Authorities believe Choudhury has hidden his financial assets and fled the country.

Choudhury, 73, is accused of not paying any of the $6.8 million judgment awarded to Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, who accused the hot-yoga creator of sexually harassing her. Jafa-Bodden also claimed Choudhury fired her after she refused to help him cover up a rape allegation.

Jafa-Bodden was general counsel for Bikrams Yoga College of India, People reported.

In the 2016 case, jurors unanimously found that Choudhury also acted with oppression, fraud and malice.

Carla Minnard, Jafa-Boddens attorney, says shes tracked luxury vehicles and other property that Choudhury moved out of state and have court orders in Nevada and Florida preventing him from moving property from warehouses.

Jafa-Bodden worked as head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury's Los Angeles yoga school from spring 2011 until March 2013, when she said she was abruptly fired from her six-figure position.

Jafa-Bodden also said Choudhury sexually harassed and inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite.

She called it a "great day for women" when she was awarded a victory over Choudhury.

Choudhury has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100 degrees. The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn devoted followers.

He faces sexual assault lawsuits filed by six other women, five of whom accuse Choudhury of raping them. One of those lawsuits is in the process of being settled while the rest are set for trial later this year.

His attorneys have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him, pointing out that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in the cases.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Bay Area father says his son was not allowed to walk in his high school graduation because he wanted to wear his Army Service Uniform.

PFC Harland J Fletcher is a student at Liberty Union High School in Brentwood. Fletcher says he was told he was not allowed to walk in his high school graduation on Friday unless he was wearing his graduation robe, not his Army Service uniform.

PFC Fletcher, a US Army Reserve Medic attended BCT or Basic Combat Training between his junior and senior year of high school, enlisting on his 17th birthday, the earliest day possible. This option is known as a "Split Option."

Fletcher says his counselor approved him wearing his Army Service Uniform during the graduation ceremony on Friday. When he arrived to the ceremony, Fletcher says he was told by the principal and vice principal that he must wear the robe in place of his uniform.

Fletcher says he told school administrators that wearing his "blues" was within his rights as long as he fulfilled all school requirements and completed basic training.

Fletcher says he was then told that he "can pick up the diploma in the office on Monday."

Fletcher's father, Bill Fletcher, stated he is "tired of service members and vets being quietly and systematically denied rights by establishments that should know, respect and abide by the laws enacted on all of our behalves."

Read more from KTVU.
Mississippi police are investigating the discovery of a young mans severed head and a burned headless body in separate locations, according to reports.

Kids found the head Saturday morning in Jackson, Fox affiliate MS News Now reported. It had been left on the front steps of a home on a quiet street.

The body was found hours later in a wooded area 1 mile away from where the severed head was found, the station reported.

Jackson police are assuming the head belongs to the body.

"Due to the type of crime and close proximity of the body parts we can assume, that perhaps this is the remains that was attached to the head this morning," Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance said, according to WAPT-TV.

Vance said whoever committed the crime may have been sending a message.

He acknowledged that the homicide was unlike any he had ever encountered, according to MS News Now.

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that the body had been badly burned.

The paper interviewed a man who said he lived in the home where the head was found.

He declined to say if he knew who the victim might be.

I think its another funeral to go to, he said. Every Saturday we have another funeral. Its every week.

Cops wouldnt speculate if they believed the murder may be gang-related.

Its senseless and its tragic and its sad, Jackson police spokesman Tyree Jones told the paper.
The Ocean City Council and mayor held a special session Saturday to pass emergency legislation banning public nudity.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said the ordinances clarify that "we will not allow women to be topless on our beach or on any public property within city limits," in the wake of controversy after the Ocean City beach patrol was told not to address topless bathers.

The city later clarified that police can still enforce public nudity and affirmed that Ocean City would not "become a topless beach."

"The Ocean City Council has passed local legislation after a woman expressed her desire to be bare-chested on Ocean Citys beach. The woman, an advocate to 'normalize bare-chestedness,' believes it is her constitutional right under equal protection to be bare-chested in public," said Ocean City government in a statement after Saturday's vote.

The ordinance states there is no constitutional right for an individual to appear in public nude or in a state of nudity. Whatever personal right one has to be nude or in a state of nudity that right becomes subject to government interest and regulation when one seeks to exercise it in public.

The legislation also says that the equal protection clause does not demand that things that are different in fact be treated the same in law, nor that a government pretend there are no physiological differences between men and women.

Read more from FOX Baltimore.
A Puerto Rican nationalist who served 35 years in prison for his ties to the FALN terror group stepped off at the head of New York City's Puerto Rican Day Parade Sunday, with a top city official by his side.

Oscar Lopez Rivera drew cheers and boos as he stood on the first float of the parade, which moved up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Organizers had offered to honor Lopez Rivera with the parade's "National Freedom Award," but he declined after a backlash that saw sponsors, including AT&T and Jet Blue, and politicians like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pull out.

"I feel good about being here," Lopez Rivera told the New York Post as he pounded his chest and chanting "Que viva Puerto Rico!" "This parade is for the Puerto Rican public."

New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito joined Lopez Rivera's float approximately halfway along the parade route.

"I'm here to celebrate," she said. "This is a day of unity and celebration."

As for those who chose to stay away because of Lopez Rivera, she said "that's their decision."

Lopez Rivera's supporters followed, carrying signs that read, "Oscar Lopez Rivera is our Mandela."

Nanchelle Rivera  no relation  was not among them. From the sidelines, the 28-year-old spectator said she refuses to back the man who was convicted for his involvement with the FALN, responsible for bombings that killed and maimed dozens in the 1970s and 1980s.

"He did not represent me," said the young woman visiting from Orlando told the Associated Press.

She said she would not have come to watch the celebration if she'd known Lopez Rivera would be there.

A supporter in the parade heard her booing, and shouted back, "This is your history!"

"This really pisses me off," spectator Mark Rivera told the Post. "This is a day for honoring the republic of Puerto Rico, not honoring a terrorist. This man has no place in our parade. He makes me ashamed to be a Puerto Rican."

Most of the tens of thousands of revelers turned out simply to celebrate Puerto Rico, happily salsa dancing and waving Puerto Rican flags. Some wrapped their bodies in it, others adorned their heads with the red, white and blue colors.

"We don't care that he is here," said Rosa Rosario, a 68-year-old New Yorker.

"I don't support a political movement," she said, explaining that she was at the parade to support "my hometown, Hormigueros"  a municipality in the western region of the island.

The parade has often been a venue to showcase the complicated history of the U.S. territory, now mired in a recession. This year, it comes on the same day Puerto Ricans vote among three choices: independence, statehood or their current territorial status.

Decades ago, FALN claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including a lunchtime blast in 1975 that killed four people at New York's historic Fraunces Tavern.

Lopez Rivera was convicted of seditious conspiracy though he was never charged with any specific bombings and has denied participating in attacks that injured anyone. He was released last month following the commutation of his sentence by then-President Barack Obama.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who for weeks defended his own decision to march, said last week that he was uncomfortable with the idea of honoring Lopez Rivera all along. He showed up for the march, making no comments but shaking hands with people across police barricades.

New York held its first Puerto Rican parade in 1958, when it was barely legal to display the Puerto Rican flag on the island and Puerto Ricans on the mainland faced harsh discrimination.

Congress will ultimately have to approve the outcome of Sunday's referendum. Some Puerto Ricans blame the current recession on the U.S. government, partly because of the elimination of tax credits that many say led to the collapse of the island's manufacturing sector.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A sinkhole in Marion County swallowed a car, according to the Ocala Fire Department.

It opened up at around 6 p.m., on Saturday, in the parking lot of a Checkers restaurant in the Gateway Plaza, off of State Road 200.

Fire officials say the driver was still inside the car when the hole started opening up, but was able to get out safely.

Investigators say the hole ruptured a gas line, but it was quickly repaired.

Read more from FOX 35 Orlando.
A Florida high school student elected class president was disqualified and given detention after the principal accused him of harassing an opponent in a pre-election speech that invoked President Trumps proposed border wall.

Vero Beach High School junior J.P. Krause told "Fox & Friends" Sunday that the disqualification and punishment were completely outrageous.

He said he got in trouble for an off-the-cuff speech he gave to an AP History class the day before the election in April.

In the 90-second speech, J.P. accused another candidate of representing a rival school and proposed that we build a wall between the two schools and have the other school pay for it. He also accused the rival of representing "Communist ideas."

A classmate recorded it and posted it online. In the video students are heard laughing.

J.P. was disqualified after the election by Vero High Principal Shawn OKeefe.

Speeches must focus on reality and pertinent issues, OKeefe said in a statement. The insulting language in this speech was of a nature that created a situation of public humiliation and therefore violated school district rules pertaining to harassment.

J.P. says he wasnt trying to harass anyone.

I never thought the speech would ever evolve in what it has become, really, he said on "Fox & Friends." It was completely a joke from the beginning and completely satirical.

He shrugged when asked if the reason he got in trouble was because he sounded too much like Trump.

Honestly, I couldnt tell you, but its there, he replied.

His mom told WPTV she wishes the situation could have been handled better.

Angela Krause said she worries the harassment charge could affect him when he applies to college.

I dont think there was anything wrong, she said. He was being silly. Hes 17.

The station reported that J.P.'s plight caught the attention of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is now providing legal counsel for free.

The foundation sent a letter to the school district stating that the disqualification violated JPs constitutional rights and requesting that he be declared class president, according to the station.
The U.S. military in Africa says it carried out an airstrike in southern Somalia that killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp, 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu, the capital.

A U.S. military statement said the attack happened Sunday morning. There was no immediate comment on the airstrike from Somalia's homegrown extremist group, al-Shabab, which is allied to Al Qaeda.

Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed confirmed the airstrike, saying that Somali and partner forces destroyed an al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region. He said such attacks would disrupt the group's ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.
The political crisis engulfing Qatar stems from accusations by its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties with Iran and embrace of various Islamist groups have brought intense scrutiny, made it a regional outlier and created enough smoke to suggest a fire. Last week, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar amid a slew of punitive measures. On Friday, the four Arab states upped the pressure by naming 59 people and several charities linked to Qatar on a terrorist list.

Governments across the region routinely cite terrorism as justification to clamp down on political opposition and rights activists. Some groups Qatar has backed  such as the Muslim Brotherhood  are seen by many as a legitimate political force. Others, including some hard-line Sunni rebel factions in Syria, are not that different ideologically from groups that Saudi Arabia backs there.

Here's a look at the various groups Qatar's accused of supporting and its relationship with them:

AL-QAIDA AND ISLAMIC STATE GROUP

Qatar's Arab neighbors have accused it of backing al-Qaida and the Islamic State group's ideology across the region, from Syria to the Sinai Peninsula. Experts and groups in Syria say Qatari finances have indirectly propped up militant groups. Similar accusations were leveled at Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the early days of Syria's 2011 uprising, but experts say these governments amended their official stances and financing laws.

Some express concern that the row between Saudi Arabia and Qatar could undermine all finances to the Syrian opposition  where, on the ground, the lines are blurred over which groups cooperate with radicals. Hassan Hassan, a Syria expert, said Qatar has never supported al-Qaida or IS directly. However, he said Qatar has supported Ahrar al-Sham, whose founders are linked to al-Qaida. For its part, Saudi Arabia once hosted members of Ahrar al-Sham at a Syrian opposition conference in its capital.

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, A POLARIZING FORCE

The Islamist Sunni group remains one of the region's most polarizing. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt view it as a direct threat to their rule and deem it a destabilizing force. However, the Brotherhood's offshoots remain active in Jordan and Tunisia. The Brotherhood was elected to power in Egypt after protests toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Qatar aided the Brotherhood-led government in Cairo with billions of dollars. It was a key supporter of the group's offshoots in Syria and Libya.

Qatar argues it supported Egypt as a whole, and not one particular faction, when the Brotherhood was in power. Egypt's military ousted the Brotherhood and unleashed a lethal crackdown against its members amid mass protests in 2013. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt outlawed the group and branded it a terrorist organization, accusing it of plotting attacks. Brotherhood affiliates in the Gulf have been arrested.

Gulf monarchies also accuse Qatar of providing financial support, a safe haven and even citizenship to Islamist opposition figures from their countries.

HAMAS, THE RULER OF GAZA

The Palestinian group, an offshoot of Egypt's Brotherhood, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and its Western allies. The group, which rules the Gaza Strip, has fought three wars with Israel and is seen by some in the Arab world as an armed resistance force against Israeli occupation. Saudi Arabia says Qatar must sever ties with Hamas.

Qatar has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in roads, housing and a major hospital in the Gaza Strip offering a lifeline for jobs in the devastated area that is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Its support for the territory makes Qatar one of its few foreign backers. Qatar says its work in Gaza is "purely humanitarian" and its engagement with the group has been in the context of internationally backed peace talks.

GROUPS HOLDING HOSTAGES FOR RANSOM

A deal negotiated recently to release kidnapped members of Qatar's ruling family has been a source of anxiety for Gulf leaders, particularly in Saudi Arabia, which views Iran as its top adversary. Qatar reportedly paid hundreds of millions of dollars to an Iranian-backed Shiite militia that had kidnapped the 26 hostages on Dec. 16, 2015 from a desert camp for falcon hunters in southern Iraq.

Egypt has asked the U.N. Security Council to investigate reports that Qatar "paid up to $1 billion to a terrorist group active in Iraq" to free the hostages, which would violate U.N. sanctions.

Qatar says it only supported the Iraqi government financially for its efforts in the release of hostages, and that it did not deal with armed groups there. The deal also allegedly resulted in the evacuation of residents of predominantly Shiite villages in Syria, where Iran's proxies hold sway. Several people close to the negotiations say Qatar also paid a hefty sum to Islamist groups in Syria, including one linked to al-Qaida, for the evacuation of the residents. They told The Associated Press that the talks were probably the region's most complex and sensitive hostage deal.

IRAN, THE SHIITE POWERHOUSE

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain accuse Qatar of supporting Shiite militant groups in both countries. Violence has increased in recent weeks between militants and Saudi security forces in a predominantly Shiite town in the country's east. In Bahrain, the Sunni-led monarchy crushed an uprising by majority Shiites there in 2011 and continues to crack down on peaceful dissent. Bahraini security forces have since been targeted by local Shiite militants.

Saudi Arabia has also accused Qatar of backing Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen, known as Houthis. However, Qatar was a member of a Saudi-led coalition bombing the Houthis in Yemen. Experts say there is no evidence to support the claims, but that the accusations appear to stem from negotiations for a transfer of power in Yemen in 2012. Qatar and Saudi Arabia were in disagreement over how to go about it, and Qatar was accused of trying to sabotage a Saudi-led initiative by working with Houthis. Qatar's ambassador in Washington Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani has said that while the country has ties with Iran and shares with it a vast underwater natural gas field its stance is similar to that of other Gulf Arab states.

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El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Washington and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.

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Follow Aya Batrawy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ayaelb and Sarah El Deeb at https://twitter.com/seldeeb
A 30-year-old Pakistani man has been sentenced to death by a counterterrorism court, following the conviction on charges he insulted the Prophet Muhammed and his wives on Facebook, officials said Sunday.

Taimoor Raza, who belongs to the minority Shia sect in the Sunni-dominant country, was arrested last year following an online argument about Islam with someone who turned out to be a counterterrorism agent.

Razas defense lawyer, Fida Hussain Rana, stated that his client was initially charged only for insulting remarks about other religious personalities, which carries a maximum two-year punishment, but charges of derogatory acts against Prophet Muhammad were later added to ensure the ultimate penalty during the trial in Bahawalpur, 300 miles south of Lahore.

It marks the countrys first ever death sentence in a case pertaining to social media, but as Razas trial was handled by the counterterrorism court, he is eligible to appeal the ruling in the High Court and then the Supreme Court.

However, human rights activists have expressed deep concerns that Razas case is the beginning of a wider social media crackdown that will continue, particularly because nobody is ever held accountable for making fictitious accusations.

Razas verdict comes at a time when officials are increasingly pounding down on blasphemy claims across the country. At least 15 Pakistanis are said to have been arrested by the counterterrorism department under the umbrella of blasphemy, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Four other people were sentenced to death for the crime in 2016 alone.

CHRISTIAN MOM SENTENCED TO HANG FOR 'INSULTING ISLAM' IN PAKISTAN MAY FACE FINAL HEARING

US PRESSED TO HOLD PAKISTAN RESPONSIBLE FOR RISING RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

SHARIA COURT IN INDONESIA SENTENCES GAY COUPLE TO CANING

Scores of others in Pakistan remain on death row for alleged blasphemy, including Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who remains in solitary confinement after being convicted in 2010 following a debate with two Muslim women in a Punjab village.

The notion of blasphemy is especially sensitive in Pakistan, often igniting violence and outcry even before cases have had the chance to be heard in the house of law. In April, 23-year-old student Mashal Khan was accosted by an angry mob accusing him of such a felony at the Abdul Wali Khan University in northwest Mardan. He was then stripped, beaten, shot and tossed to his death from the second floor.

Weeks later, a crowd attacked a mentally ill man vowing to be the prophet at a local mosque, and in May a 10-year-old boy was killed and five others injured after an upset clan launched an assault on a police station in a quest to lynch a Hindu man accused of posting a blasphemous image on social media.
Dozens of villagers in northwestern Greece have evacuated their homes after a lignite mine nearby collapsed.

All 182 inhabitants of the village of Anargyroi have been housed in hotels after leaving their homes, some of which are already collapsing in the unstable soil, a village official told The Associated Press.

"Some houses have been split in half," said Giorgos Pinopoulos, the village's deputy mayor.

The government had warned six years ago that the mine posed a threat and the village should be relocated. It had passed legislation that would allow the village to relocate on expropriated land, with the cost of relocation split in half between the Greek state and state-owned electricity company PPC, which operates the mine.

But nothing had been done to implement the legislation since, with the state alleging it was short of funds because of the financial crisis that hit Greece in 2008 and has resulted in severe budget cuts.

Finally, after the villagers were forced to evacuate Saturday night, environment and energy minister George Stathakis announced Sunday, after conferring with PPC managers, that the land expropriation necessary to move the village to safer ground would proceed immediately, through a legislative decree.

"If what the minister announced is implemented, we are satisfied," said Costas Theodoridis, mayor of the nearby town of Amyntaio, where the mine is located.

PPC said Saturday the mine had been in operation until June 3, when it was shut down for safety reasons. The company added that the collapse began Saturday morning and was much larger than anticipated, with about 80 million cubic meters (2.8 billion cubic feet) of soil having been displaced at the time of the announcement.

The landslide continues. "PPC told us that (the landslide) will continue for four to five more days. It is only then that we will fully assess the damage," Theodoridis said.

Some residents were allowed to go to the village Sunday to get their belongings, but police are otherwise keeping the approaching road closed and will do so until July 24, local police said.

The village had up to 700 inhabitants a few years ago, but many had left, fearing the mine would eventually engulf their homes. The remaining villagers were mostly shepherds, tending to sheep flocks, with some also involved in beekeeping and meat and agricultural product packaging.

Lignite remains a major source of electricity in Greece, despite being its highly polluting nature. Half-hearted state attempts to replace lignite with renewable sources have met with heavy resistance, especially in the province of western Macedonia, where most lignite mines and lignite-fed power plants are and thousands of jobs depend on them.

The PPC employees' union has also opposed the change. Earlier this month, it came out in support of President Donald Trump's decision to leave the Paris climate accord, saying that climate change is a "myth" propagated by business interests that stand to profit from "green growth" at "the expense of the less powerful."

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Demetris Nellas contributed to this report from Athens, Greece.

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Follow Costas Kantouris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CostasKantouris
Photos of the fake suicide belts worn by the London Bridge attackers have been released, showing disposable water bottles wrapped in masking tape.

Police said they were designed to create "maximum fear".

"It could be that they had plans to take the attack into a siege situation or it might be that they saw it as protection from being shot themselves," said Commander Dean Haydon.

"It makes the bravery of those police officers and members of the public who tackled the terrorists even more remarkable," he added.

"The belt would have been visible to them and if you are fighting back or aiming a shot at someone wearing the device, you would clearly be very aware that you could be caught in an explosion."

It comes after detectives gave new details about how Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba prepared their atrocity.

Police say the trio used a bedsit in east London as a safe house and rented a van after unsuccessfully attempting to hire a 7.5 ton lorry.

In a raid of the address, investigators found an English-language copy of the Koran opened at a page describing martyrdom, pieces of cloth on the floor that appeared to have been cut from grey jogging bottoms and two five-litre water bottles smelling of petrol.

Read more from Sky News.
Armed men attacked a prison in Congo's eastern city of Beni on Sunday, killing at least 11 and freeing more than 900 prisoners, a government official said.

Eight prison guards were among the 11 dead, said North Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku. About 30 prisoners remained in the Kangbayi prison following the afternoon attack, he said.

Paluku announced a curfew in Beni and nearby Butembo.

"Only the army and the police have the right to circulate in order to have control over the enemy," he said.

It was not immediately known who carried out the attack, although Allied Democratic Forces rebels are imprisoned there and the group has threatened attacks to free its members.

The ADF rebel group was founded in neighboring Uganda in the 1990s and is now based in Congo where it has intensified its attacks. The rebel group has killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Congo since October 2014.

A Congolese court in March sentenced to death nine ADF rebels prosecuted for crimes against humanity, terrorism and participation in a rebellion as part of increased efforts to hold the group accountable for attacks in Beni and surrounding towns and villages.

Scores of armed groups fight for control in Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

Sunday's attack follows others carried out on police or prison facilities within the past month. Congo's police on Saturday said a group of men attacked a police station in Kinshasa, killing at least two.

In May, Christian sect members stormed a prison in Kinshasa, freeing their leader and others. Witnesses say thousands escaped.
Puerto Rico's governor announced that the U.S. territory has overwhelmingly chosen statehood in a nonbinding referendum Sunday held amid a deep economic crisis that has sparked an exodus of islanders to the U.S. mainland.



Nearly half a million votes were cast for statehood, more than 7,600 for free association/independence and nearly 6,700 for independence, according to preliminary results. The participation rate was just 23 percent with roughly 2.26 million registered voters, leading opponents to question the validity of a vote that several parties had boycotted.



"From today going forward, the federal government will no longer be able to ignore the voice of the majority of the American citizens in Puerto Rico," Gov. Ricardo Rossello said, announcing the victory. "It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico."

The U.S. Congress, however, has final say in any changes to the island's political status.



It was the lowest level of participation in any election in Puerto Rico since 1967, according to Carlos Vargas Ramos, an associate with the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. He also said that even among voters who supported statehood, turnout was lower this year compared with the last referendum in 2012.



"Supporters of statehood did not seem enthusiastic about this plebiscite as they were five years ago," he said.



Puerto Rico's main opposition party rejected the pro-statehood result.



"The scant participation ... sends a clear message," said Anibal Jose Torres, a party member. "The people rejected it by boycotting an inconsequential event."



Rossello, however, vowed to push ahead with his administration's quest for statehood, which was his top campaign promise. He said he would create a commission to ensure that Congress validate the referendum's results.



"In any democracy, the expressed will of the majority that participates in the electoral processes always prevails," he said. "Puerto Rico voted for statehood."



The referendum coincides with the 100th anniversary of the United States granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, though they are barred from voting in presidential elections and have only one congressional representative with limited voting powers.



Among those hoping Puerto Rico will become a state is Jose Alvarez, a 61-year-old businessman.



"Now is the moment to do it," he said. "We've spent a lot of years working on a socioeconomic model that has not necessarily given us the answer."



Many believe the island's territorial status has contributed to its 10-year economic recession, which has prompted nearly half a million Puerto Ricans to flee to the U.S. mainland and was largely sparked by decades of heavy borrowing and the elimination of federal tax incentives.



Puerto Rico is exempt from the U.S. federal income tax, but it still pays Social Security and Medicare and local taxes and receives less federal funding than U.S. states.



Those inequalities and the ongoing crisis prompted 66-year-old Maria Quinones to vote for the first time in such a referendum, the fifth on Puerto Rico's status.



"We have to vote because things are not going well," she said. "If we were a state, we would have the same rights."



Quinones said many of her relatives are among the nearly half a million Puerto Ricans who have moved to the U.S. mainland in the past decade to find a more affordable cost of living or jobs as the island of 3.4 million people struggles with a 12 percent unemployment rate.



Those who remain behind have been hit with new taxes and higher utility bills on an island where food is 22 percent more expensive than the U.S. mainland and public services are 64 percent more expensive.



Those who oppose statehood worry the island will lose its cultural identity and warn that Puerto Rico will struggle even more financially because it will be forced to pay millions of dollars in federal taxes.



"The cost of statehood on the pocketbook of every citizen, every business, every industry will be devastating," Carlos Delegado, secretary of the opposition Popular Democratic Party, told The Associated Press. "Whatever we might receive in additional federal funds will be cancelled by the amount of taxes the island will have to pay."



His party also has noted that the U.S. Justice Department has not backed the referendum.



A department spokesman told the AP that the agency has not reviewed or approved the ballot's language. Federal officials in April rejected an original version, in part because it did not offer the territory's current status as an option. The Rossello administration added it and sent the ballot back for review, but the department said it needed more time and asked that the vote be postponed, which it wasn't.



No clear majority emerged in the first three referendums on status, with voters almost evenly divided between statehood and the status quo. During the last referendum in 2012, 54 percent said they wanted a status change. Sixty-one percent who answered a second question said they favored statehood, but nearly half a million voters left that question blank, leading many to claim the results weren't legitimate.
Races for governor and lieutenant governor headline Tuesdays Republican and Democratic primaries in Virginia, but several House seats from the Fredericksburg region are also on the ballot.

Perhaps the most closely watched GOP primary contest locally is the three-way race for the 28th District seat on the House of Delegates. Stafford County Supervisors Paul Milde and Bob Thomas and former Stafford Supervisor Susan Stimpson are vying for the seat representing parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford.

House Speaker Bill Howell, RStafford, will step down from the seat in January after 30 years in public office.

All of the candidates have identified keeping taxes low and improving transportation as key issues in the campaign. Stimpson has billed herself as the anti-establishment candidate and says she is a proven tax cutter with a record of improving roads, schools and expanding commuter parking.

Milde notes his work to improve roads, preserve the Crows Nest peninsula and rural land. He says Virginia is long overdue for serious tax reform, while pointing to his involvement in repealing Staffords Business, Professional and Occupational License tax.

Thomas also favors tax reform to help families and businesses, says he will work to provide dedicated funding for the Virginia Rail Express and adds that he has the temperament and reputation to get things done in Richmond.

The winner will face Democrat Joshua Cole in Novembers general election.

University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth called the Republican candidates credible, noting they have all won elections before. The challenge is getting their supporters to turn out, he said.

Primary races to choose party nominees traditionally generate a much smaller turnout than general elections. Farnsworth said he expects about 10 percent of registered voters to cast ballots, or about 3 percentage points more than the average turnout for primaries.

This will probably be a larger turnout than average because you have two governors races on the primary ballot and, across the state, you have a lot more competitive nomination primaries for the House of Delegates, he said.

On the Republican side, Ed Gillespie, who narrowly lost to U.S. Sen. Mark Warner two years ago, squares off against Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart and state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach for governor, while state Sen. Bryce Reeves of Spotsylvania County is battling state Sen. Jill Vogel of Fauquier County and Del. Glenn Davis of Virginia Beach for the partys nod for lieutenant governor. The Democratic primary for governor features Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former Congressman Tom Perriello, and the partys voters will choose between Justin Fairfax, Susan Platt and Gene Rossi for lieutenant governor.

In the local 28th District race, two candidates have had past arrests that could raise concerns with some voters seeing them on a ballot for the first time, Farnsworth said.

Before declaring her candidacy, Stimpson addressed a misdemeanor trespassing arrest at the Fredericksburg Wegmans last year. The charge was ultimately dismissed, and she blamed her erratic behavior on side effects of a prescription appetite suppressant.

Milde was convicted of felony possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute at age 18 in 1986. He told The Free LanceStar this spring that he already had addressed the issue in previous campaigns. His three victories in supervisor races show voters are not consumed with the person I was, but the person I am and strive to be, he said.

Farnsworth said the candidates arent particularly well known in the city and that a little knowledge may be enough for some voters to decide not to support a candidate with a history of brushes with the law. Howell has endorsed Thomas, which Farnsworth said could help the candidate in the city.

Thomas faced criticism recently because his business, Capriccio Software, had its corporate status revoked by the State Corporation Commission in September after the company failed to pay its $1,700 annual fee and submit a corporate report. He said he did not realize that until recently because the SCC notice was mailed to a previous address for his company; he paid the fee and a penalty, and the SCC lifted the companys revoked status Friday.

In another race that has drawn attention, Del. Bobby Orrock, RCaroline County, faces a GOP primary challenge from political newcomer Nick Ignacio of Spotsylvania County in the 54th District. Orrock easily defeated primary opponents in 2005 and 2013. The winner will go up against Democrat Al Durante.

Two Prince William County Democrats are seeking their partys nomination for the areas most competitive district, which includes parts of Stafford and Prince William. Del. Mark Dudenhefer, RStafford, who is not seeking re-election, narrowly regained the 2nd District seat two years ago after losing his first re-election bid in a close race. Democratic contender Jennifer Carroll Foy is a public defender while her primary opponent, Josh King, is a Fairfax County deputy. The winner will face Republican Laquan Austion.

Two Democrats, former QVC Germany CEO Francis Edwards of Lancaster County and Colonial Beach resident Vivian Messner, will also compete for the chance to unseat Del. Margaret Ransone, RWestmoreland County. Ransone has run unopposed in the 99th District since 2011, when she defeated her Democratic opponent with 69 percent of the vote. The district includes King George County and parts of Caroline.

Lastly, Republicans Jason Pelt and Cindy Shelton are vying for the Republican nomination for the Aquia District Board of Supervisors seat, which Milde is vacating. Pelt is an attorney, and Shelton is a retired a program manager.
Lawyers for state Sens. Bryce E. Reeves and Jill Holtzman Vogel appeared in a Stafford County courtroom Friday to argue over whether Reeves should be allowed to depose Vogel and others about an email last year alleging he had an affair.

A judge denied Reeves request.

The ruling by retired Judge Charles E. Poston of Norfolk came four days before GOP primary voters choose between Reeves, Vogel or Del. Glenn R. Davis Jr. of Virginia Beach as the partys nominee for lieutenant governor in November.

Reeves, through counsel, sought to depose Vogel and her husband, Alexander, their two neighbors, and two Vogel campaign supporters over an email last year that was sent to some of Reeves supporters alleging he had an affair with a campaign aide. Reeves has denied the allegation and filed papers in court saying he believes the Vogels are behind the email.

The pending defamation lawsuit in Stafford does not name the Vogels as defendants, but Reeves wanted to depose all six people in an attempt to find out who should be named as a defendant.

Lawyers argued over whether the discovery process could be used to identify a proper defendant in a defamation claim. The judge, saying he has long been concerned about invasion of privacy in the discovery process, sided with the Vogels attorneys, who argued that Reeves issued subpoenas for depositions and records without permission from the court.

And he told Reeves lawyers they have other ways of identifying a defendant.

The lawsuit remains pending, but if Reeves wants to move forward he would need to name Vogel as a defendant or take other action. His campaign manager, Jordan Wiggins, sat in the courtroom and declined to comment afterward.

The email was sent last fall to several of Reeves supporters from a sender listed as Martha McDaniel.

Reeves has supplied the email to reporters and has said it is false and defamatory. Reeves filed his defamation lawsuit in October against Martha McDaniel, and said in court records he believes that person may be fictitious.

Through the lawsuit, he issued subpoenas to communications companies to find out who sent the email.

The email address was registered to a cellular phone number belonging to Alexander Vogel, according to a court filing by Reeves. The two IP addresses that accessed the email account belong to the Vogels and their next-door neighbors, the filing said.

The Vogels have denied any involvement, and Jill Vogel has said she believes she was the target of a political stunt.

An attorney for the Vogels Fauquier County neighbors said they were out of town when the email account was accessed. Frederick J. Getty, an attorney for the two Vogel supporters Reeves attempted to depose, said his clients may have made vague statements about Reeves having adulterous relationships but they said nothing about the email in question, or Martha McDaniel.

Thomas A. Schultz Jr., an attorney for the Vogels, noted that Reeves himself took the information to The Washington Post for publication and was quoted in a Jan. 1 story saying that the Vogels were responsible.

If they think they have a case against the Vogels, sue us and well properly defend it, Schultz said.

Reeves attorney, Libby Locke, argued that the depositions were necessary for Reeves to name the proper defendants in a defamation lawsuit. She said Vogel has publicly said she may have been hacked. Vogels statementcoming from an ethics attorney and a member of the Virginia State Barshould be taken seriously, Locke said.

Its a political case, Locke said. Not because we want it to be, but because were following the facts.
THE FCCs proposed rollback of its 2015 Open Internet Order has put the term net neutrality back in the political zeitgeist.

The phrase itself is more strategic marketing than precise meaning, but understanding that all it really means is heavy-handed government regulation of the internet makes it clear that net neutrality policy is bad for broadband consumers.

The net neutrality debate has little to do with making the internet open for users to go where they wish online. Americans have always enjoyed that liberty, even before the Open Internet Order was passed. Internet service providers have every incentive to provide that freedom to their customers.

The net neutrality debate is actually about who will influence the future of the internet. The orders reclassification of the internet as a telecommunications service put it under utility-style Title II regulation. And just like that, the internet became regulated like Ma Bell circa 1934.

That means Washington lawyers and unelected bureaucrats are now influential in how this industry proceeds. Instead of engineers and investors freely innovating to give consumers what they want, the new authority will be the same folks who brought you the Internal Revenue Service. Suffice it to say that federal agencies have a less than sterling record for customer service.

Broadband consumers want faster service, they want it available more widely and they want better value from their ISPs. Those innovations are the product of huge investment. However, regulations drive up the cost of doing business, which forces ISPs to divert money away from innovations and/or charge customers higher prices. In this way, the FCCs net neutrality regulations harm consumers.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has cited a decrease in domestic broadband capital expenditures among the nations 12 largest ISPs between 2014 and 2016. Smaller ISPs have reported that the Title II regulations are preventing them from offering new services and deepening their networks. It seems that consumers are already feeling the harmful, unintended consequences of the 2015 order.

The order also banned the prioritization of one type of data over another on broadband networks. Specifically, it banned fast lanes by forbidding ISPs from entering into agreements that offer paid priority to certain applications, services or companies.

This is akin to the federal government telling a grocery store it cant make business arrangements with food or distribution companies for prominent shelf placement or special end-of-aisle displays because the grocery store could favor its own generic brands and shake down Kraft and Nestle.

Net neutrality advocates seek to protect consumers from future, theoretical harms at the expense of todays real losses in innovation and money-saving efficiencies. The market will provide consumers with ample choices among ISPs to ensure customer preferences are the reality of the internet, if government will simply get out of the way.

If more competition in the broadband marketplace empowers consumers by giving them more ISPs to choose from, then increasing the regulatory burden and cost of doing business means a bigger barrier to entry for future ISPs and less leverage for consumers. A vibrant broadband industry will address the potential concerns of net neutrality advocates without the downside of oppressive regulation.

So what should the FCC be doing for consumers? Its not, as net neutrality advocates argue, protecting them from online fast lanes, guarding against hypothetical problems that have yet to materialize, or prohibiting service plans with free perks like unlimited music streaming. Instead of regulating under the vague notion of net neutrality, the FCC should be busy instituting a regulatory environment that maximizes incentives for ISPs to give consumers the fastest broadband, the largest service area, and the most value through varied service plans. Rolling back the 2015 Open Internet Order is a good start.

Jessica Melugin is an adjunct fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
THE POLITICAL EYES of the nation will be on Virginia Tuesday when voters go to the polls to select Republican and Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor and a surprising number of House of Delegates seats.

Because Virginia is one of only two states with governors elections this fall, cable news and talk radio pundits will probably draw overarching conclusions about messages that voters here will send about the current state of affairs in Washington. They will analyze the Trump effect on the political establishment of both parties and what this very early primary vote in one states elections portends about the 2018 congressional races.

But really, Tuesdays primaries are about the future of our commonwealth and voters having a say in it. Thats why its important to make plans to get to the polls between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on primary day with an identification card. The best form of ID is a Virginia drivers license, but other forms are acceptable.

Its incumbent on voters to do some homework before showing up at their assigned voting precinct on this two-party primary day. Virginians dont register by party, so all registered voters are free to cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican primary. But you do have to choose one. And you cant split your ballot between statewide offices and House races.

Governors of Virginia serve a single four-year term, and a sizable field is vying to succeed Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

Republicans have three candidates running for the gubernatorial nomination: Ed Gillespie, a veteran Virginia political consultant who ran for U.S. Senate in 2016; Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of Supervisors; and state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach.

On the Democratic ballot for governor, Ralph Northam, the current lieutenant governor, is running against Tom Perriello, a former congressman who served a term from 2009 to 2011 representing Virginias 5th District.

For lieutenant governor, the three Republicans running are state Sen. Bryce Reeves of Spotsylvania County, Del. Glenn Davis of Virginia Beach and state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel of Fauquier County. The three Democratic candidates are Justin Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor; Gene Rossi, an assistant U.S. attorney; and Susan Platt, a political consultant.

There is no primary for attorney general for either party.

There are six House of Delegates primary races in the Fredericksburg region. Two of them have produced some intense campaigning in the last few weeks.

The marquee race is for the 28th District seat, currently held by retiring House Speaker Bill Howell. Republicans Bob Thomas, Paul Milde and Susan Stimpson are vying for the GOP nod in the district, which covers parts of Stafford and Fredericksburg. Thomas and Milde are current Stafford supervisors; Stimpson is a former supervisor.

In the 54th, which includes parts of Spotsylvania and Caroline, longtime Del. Bobby Orrock is being challenged by Nick Ignacio in the GOP primary.

In the 2nd District, which includes North Stafford and part of Prince William County, Democrats John King and Jennifer Carroll Foy are seeking their partys nomination for the seat held by Republican Mark Dudenhefer, who is not seeking re-election.

In the 56th District, which includes parts of Spotsylvania and Louisa and extends to the Richmond area, no fewer than six Republicans are running for the seat held by retiring Republican Del. Peter Farrell. They include: Matt Pinsler, Graven Craig, George Goodwin, Surya Dhakar, Rusty McGuire and Jay Prendergast.

Two Democrats are seeking the partys nomination in the 56th: Lizzie DruckerBasch and Melissa Dart.

And in the 99th District, Democrats Viv Messner and Francis Nicholas Edwards are seeking their partys nomination to take on Republican Del. Margaret Ransone this fall in the Northern Neck district.

There is one local primary in the area. In Staffords Aquia District, Jason Pelt and Cindy Shelton are seeking the Republican nomination for the Board of Supervisors.

So pick your ballot and help set the stage for this falls general election. The full slate of candidates for the Nov. 7 election wont be set until some independents file petitions and are qualified to run later this month. On Tuesday, do your part for Virginia and the region: Vote.
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A Pinch of Salt: The election is over, I think, so what now?
Cologne-Bonn airport paralysed : Emergency landing after terror scare in Cologne-Bonn

Cologne/Bonn A plane made an emergency landing at Cologne-Bonn airport yesterday after passengers overheard a suspicious on-board conversation. Three Britons were arrested but no explosive materials were found.

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Shortly after 6pm on Saturday, a plane operated by the budget airline Easyjet was en route from Ljubljana in Slovenia to London when several passengers overheard a conversation between three other travellers that frightened them. The three men allegedly used the words bomb and explosives in the conversation. The Federal police later reported that witnesses said the Britons, aged 31, 38 and 48, were having a conversation with terrorist content. A worried passenger told the crew about the conversation. They immediately informed the captain.

At that point it was uncertain whether the three men were planning an attack on the plane. As a precaution, the pilot decided to head for the nearest airport and directed the plane towards Cologne-Bonn.

After the pilot had informed the authorities, the security machinery went into action: rescue vehicles, the fire services and police were put in position to receive the Easyjet plane. The Airbus A319 finally touched down at Cologne-Bonn airport at around 6.30pm. It was led to a secure area on the airport grounds.

Although it landed without incident, the 151 passengers had to exit the plane using the emergency slides. Buses then took them to a transit gate. The three suspects were detained by Federal police and handed over to Cologne police. They were questioned into the night. All of the other passengers were also questioned. Did they notice anything suspicious? Could they provide any further information on the three men? The passengers were initially not able to continue their journey.

Suspicious rucksack blown up

As the passengers were being questioned, the Federal police searched the plane using sniffer dogs. They secured a rucksack belonging to one of the men. It is not yet known what was in it. The luggage item was examined by a bomb technician and then, as a precaution, destroyed in a controlled explosion. The plane was then searched further as there could have been other suspicious items.

In the meantime, the airport reacted by grounding all flights and from 7pm, no flights took off or landed at Cologne-Bonn. Hundreds of passengers were affected. The first machine was allowed to take off again at 9.50pm. However, flights heading to Cologne-Bonn continued to be unable to land and landings first restarted at 12.30am. Flight operations are now slowly normalising, said the airport in the early hours of Sunday.

Airport operations suspended for hours

A total of 17 incoming flights were diverted to other airports because of the disruption to operations on Saturday evening. An airport spokesman said 20 flights were delayed, some severely, and two flights were cancelled.

The all clear was given on Sunday. There were no explosives in the suspect rucksack. The police had thoroughly searched the entire plane, including the hold, using sniffer dogs. They had not found any explosives. Police said the plane had been released.

Britons were not known to police

The three Britons who had caused the alert were still in police custody on Sunday. The Bild Zeitung reported they were employees of a London company and were on their way back to London following a business trip to Slovenia. It said there were no known connections to Islamism. The men were not otherwise known to police. All three were fingerprinted and photographed and their baggage was secured.
nametalkam at 11-06-2017 10:16 PM (5 years ago) (m)

Nigerias richest kidnapper, Evans, who was arrested by police in Lagos yesterday has said that he chose to collect ransoms from his kidnap victims in dollars to be different from other kidnappers.

Nigerias richest kidnapper, Evans, who was arrested by police in Lagos yesterday has said that he chose to collect ransoms from his kidnap victims in dollars to be different from other kidnappers.

The suspect, while being paraded at the States Police Command in Ikeja, told newsmen that he started the business of kidnapping in 2015, after he left his spare parts business.



He claimed that he lost N20 million to customs officers, which made him to leave his trade.



The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspect was arrested in his mansion in Magodo area of the state on Saturday.



Evans, who wasnt sure of how many people he had kidnapped, said the highest he had collected as ransom was one million dollars.



The suspect, while being paraded at the States Police Command in Ikeja, told newsmen that he started the business of kidnapping in 2015, after he left his spare parts business.He claimed that he lost N20 million to customs officers, which made him to leave his trade.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspect was arrested in his mansion in Magodo area of the state on Saturday.Evans, who wasnt sure of how many people he had kidnapped, said the highest he had collected as ransom was one million dollars. Quote I cant figure out how much I have collected so far or how many people I have kidnapped, but I have kidnapped up to 10 since 2015.

I choose to collect ransom in dollars to be different, and the maximum I have collected as ransom so far is 1 million dollars.

I work in two groups, a team moves with me to kidnap victims while we hand over to the other team that takes the victim to the hide out.

Kinsley introduced me to kidnap, but I usually get my ammunition from one Chinedu and Ehis whom I met at Ago-Iwoye.

I also do drug business that enabled me to buy my property, the suspect said.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crPdDK8y32w



The Force PPRO, Jimoh Moshood said that the suspect had collected billions of naira from his victims and had property in and outside the country.



He said that Evans was declared wanted in 2013, following a kidnap attempt that was foiled by the police.



The Force PPRO, Jimoh Moshood said that the suspect had collected billions of naira from his victims and had property in and outside the country.He said that Evans was declared wanted in 2013, following a kidnap attempt that was foiled by the police. Quote He is said to have masterminded several kidnap cases in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and South-South states, the police said.



Moshood said further investigation into his activities were ongoing.





VIDEO: @PoliceNG officer CSP Abba Kyari carried shoulder high by colleagues after the capture of kidnapper Chukwudi Onuamadike aka "Evans" pic.twitter.com/CmbzSbYNLB  Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) June 11, 2017 Moshood said further investigation into his activities were ongoing.

Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 11-06-2017 10:16 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 India price leaks once again News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Nokia Android smartphones price has been leaked for the second time.

Earlier this month, HMD sent out media invites for an event to be held in India on June 13. A few days later, the company confirmed that it will release the Nokia 6. Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 at this event.

Following the confirmation, here comes another set of leaked Nokia Android smartphones' pricing details. Back in the last week, it was reported that the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 will be priced somewhere between Rs. 9,000 and Rs. 15,000. Now, a relatively higher price range has been tipped, thanks to the report by BSU. Notably, the new pricing seems to be relatively more expensive than the previously leaked pricing.

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Siemens signs MOU to establish Centers of Excellence across Karnataka News oi -Priyanka The partnership paves the way for a world-class integrated skill development infrastructure and benchmarked technical education curriculum with the core focus on Industry 4.0, Automation

Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd, 100 percent owned subsidiary of Siemens PLM Software, USA, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Karnataka Government Tool Room and Training Center and DesignTech Systems Limited to establish four Centers of Excellence across the state.

"With Indian industry increasingly adopting automation and digitalization, it also requires a highly-skilled workforce trained in future-ready technologies and processes. Siemens is committed to supporting the Indian economy to enable it to gain the competitive advantage by improving its efficiency, productivity, quality, and speed. The MoU is yet another step in this journey of modernization," said Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited.

The partnership paves the way for a world-class integrated skill development infrastructure and benchmarked technical education curriculum with the core focus on Industry 4.0, Automation, Mechatronics and Internet of Things (IOT) infrastructure. The four COEs will address diverse industry segments like Automotive, Industrial Machinery, Industrial automation, Renewable Energy and Aerospace and Defense.

DesignTech Systems Limited is the execution partner for the four Centers of Excellence and will run the centers for the first two years and continue to provide support for the third year.

Suman Bose, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd, present on the day of agreement signing, said, "We aim to build sustainable communities by leveraging Siemens' competencies and solutions. The collaboration aims to train students on relevant industry processes and help create industry-ready trained personnel. This industry-readiness and relevance of skills are expected to foster further industrial development in the state of Karnataka."

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Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers arrive in UK

By Maj. Jeffrey M. Bishop, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Public Affairs / Published June 09, 2017

ROYAL AIR FORCE FAIRFORD, United Kingdom (AFNS) -- Two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers joined B-1B Lancers and B-52H Stratofortresses June 9, 2017, to participate in theater bomber assurance and deterrence operations.

Three B-52Hs from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and three B-1Bs from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, along with approximately 800 Airmen, are currently supporting exercises Saber Strike and Baltic Operations in the U.S. European Theater.

While not actively participating in ongoing regional exercises, the B-2s join the other Air Force Global Strike Command assets in support of recurring bomber assurance and deterrence operations. Bomber deployments enhance the readiness and training necessary to respond to any contingency or challenge across the globe.

"The bomber assurance and deterrence missions these three aircraft are supporting are key to reinforcing our commitment to our allies in NATO--in a very visible, very tangible way--that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them, no matter what," said Col. Jared Kennish, the 322nd Air Expeditionary Group commander.

U.S. Strategic Command routinely conducts bomber operations across the globe as a demonstration of commitment to collective defense and to integrate with geographic combatant commands operations and activities. This is the first time that all three bomber platforms have been located together in the European theater, and only the second time total in AFGSC history; the first was in Guam in August 2016.

"This short-term deployment demonstrates the flexible global strike capabilities of the U.S. bomber force, and ensures bomber crews maintain a high state of readiness," said Kennish. "The training will provide opportunities to integrate capabilities with regional partners, and is part of the United States' commitment to supporting global security."

A number of total force Airmen from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are supporting the B-2 operation. Many, including Kennish, are members of the Missouri Air National Guard's 131st Bomb Wing. The Guard wing has cleared a number of operational performance evaluations and readiness assessments to obtain full operational capability to perform the strategic bomber mission of the B-2 alongside the active duty 509th Bomb Wing, at home and at Royal Air Force Fairford.

Members of the 131st BW have been a part of every previous bomber assurance and deterrence operation; however, this is the first time that the operations of all three strategic bombers has been led by a guardsman, further signaling the full arrival of the total force construct in AFGSC.

"There may have been a time early in our transition when people wondered if our two wings could make (total force integration) work in the B-2 operations, maintenance and support missions, but we've long since proved the concept at Whiteman (AFB)," said Kennish. "Operations like the ones we're supporting this month just put an exclamation point on our record of total force team success."

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USNS City of Bismarck (EPF 9) Launched

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170609-21

Release Date: 6/9/2017 2:28:00 PM

From Team Ships Public Affairs

MOBILE, Ala. (NNS) -- The launching of a ship represents a multi-step process. The ship is constructed in a Modular Manufacturing Facility and is moved to a docking barge and then transported to a dry dock where it can be submerged into the water. All of this takes place over the course of two days.

"Launching the ninth ship in the EPF production line is a great achievement for the Navy and Austal," said Capt. Henry Stevens, Strategic Theater and Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office, Ships. "Launching is a significant achievement in the production process. We'll now focus our efforts to final outfitting in preparation for trials."

EPF 9 is designed for the fast intra-theater transportation of troops, military vehicles and equipment. Capable of transporting 600 short tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots, the ship will provide U.S. forces with added mobility and flexibility.

EPFs are equipped with a flight deck and an off-load ramp which allow for vehicles and helicopters to quickly access ports and quays. Littoral operations and port access are further enhanced by the ship's 15-foot shallow draft, ability to interface with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities, and ease of access to austere and deteriorated piers. This makes EPF 9 an extremely flexible asset, capable of supporting a wide range of operations including non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.

The Navy and industry partner Austal USA have already marked major milestones on the EPF program this year. USNS Yuma (EPF 8) delivered in April and the Navy christened USNS City of Bismarck (EPF 9) the following month. Austal is also under contract for the construction of EPF 11 and EPF 12.

As one of the Defense Department's largest acquisition organizations, Program Executive Office Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and boats and craft.

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 10, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 27 strikes consisting of 70 engagements], Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS oil refinery.

-- Near Raqqah, 20 strikes engaged 12 ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions, four vehicles, three ISIS headquarters, a car bomb, and an ISIS-held building; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Al Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three ISIS-held buildings, a supply cache and an ISIS headquarters.

-- Near Bayji, a strike destroyed three car bombs, two car-bomb staging areas and a tactical vehicle.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed five fighting positions and a car bomb, and damaged two fighting positions.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed seven fighting positions, three ISIS-held buildings, a command and control node, a car bomb, and a car-bomb staging area; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and a mortar system.

Previously Unreported

Additionally, seven previously unreported strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on June 7-8.

-- On June 7, near Raqqah, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS minefield.

-- On June 8, near Raqqah, Syria, three strikes destroyed four fighting positions and a car bomb.

-- On June 8, near Mosul, Iraq, two strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units; destroyed three front-end loaders, a car-bomb facility, a fighting position, a rocket-propelled grenade system, an excavator, and a command and control node; damaged 12 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

-- On June 8, near Rawah, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS-held buildings.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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US special forces join Filipino troops in Marawi

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:53PM

US special forces have joined an ongoing battle against Daesh militants in the southern Philippines town of Marawi, following months of tension between Washington and Manila.

The Philippines military said in a statement on Saturday that US forces are not fighting, but providing technical assistance to end the siege of Marawi City, which is now in its third week.

According to US embassy, Washington offered support at the request of the Philippines government; it has however refused to provide further details.

Media reports said a US P3 Orion surveillance plane was seen flying over Marawi on Friday.

Philippine troops are struggling to dislodge at least 200 militants, who are holed up in the city of Marawi since last month. An estimated of 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped in the town, some of them are being used as human shields.The US so-called technical support to the Philippines military is now happening despite strained ties between Washington and Manila and former calls by President Rodrigo Duterte that he wanted US troops out of his country.

The US that has had a logistical military presence in the Philippines, however, has pledged to remain "committed to our pursuit of shared objectives" in keeping with the "seven-decade alliance between our two countries."

Duterte repeatedly clashed with Washington over his anti-drug campaign, which was criticized by the US and rights groups.

US President Donald Trump, however, invited Duterte to the White House in April saying, "The Philippines is very important to me strategically and militarily."

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Saudi Arabia, UAE welcome US criticism of Qatar

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:26AM

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have both cut their ties with Qatar in an unprecedented move, have welcomed the US criticism of Doha, as a diplomatic rift between Persian Gulf Arab countries deepens.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates broke off relations with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region. They also suspended all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar, ejected its diplomats and ordered Qatari citizens to leave their countries.

They further tightened their squeeze on Qatar on Friday and released a list of 59 Qatari and Doha-based people and entities allegedly linked to "terrorism."

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made comments that signaled the US support for Qatar's rivals regarding the regional rift.

He called on Doha "to be responsive to the concerns of its neighbors. Qatar has a history of supporting groups that have spanned the spectrum of political expression, from activism to violence."

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) published his brickbats against Qatar in a report on Saturday.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump made comments similar to those of Tillerson and accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism at the highest levels.

Trump said he had decided "the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding and its extremist ideology."

The UAE's Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba also hailed the US stance, noting that Qatar must acknowledge concerns about its "troubling support for extremism" and re-examine its regional policies."

"The UAE welcomes President Trump's leadership in challenging Qatar's troubling support for extremism. The next step is for Qatar to acknowledge these concerns and commit to reexamine its regional policies," he said in a statement seen by Reuters on Friday.

Merkel weighs in

Separately on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concerns about the situation in Qatar and urged all Persian Gulf nations and Iran and Turkey to work together to settle the regional crisis.

It would be impossible to sort out the "very unsettling" situation unless all regional actors were involved, Merkel said in a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City.

"We have to see that the political solution of conflicts... such as the situation in Syria, such as the situation in Libya or the situation in Iraq, won't happen if certain players are no longer even included in the conversation, and that includes Qatar, it includes Turkey, it includes Iran," she said.

Merkel further emphasized that she wanted the balance of power to be maintained "sensibly" in the region.

The dispute between the Persian Gulf Arab countries is said to be an extension of a 2014 row, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain temporarily recalled their ambassadors from Doha over what they said to be Qatar's support for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

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Turkey to continue to support Qatar: President Erdogan

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 5:3AM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will continue to support Qatar in a dispute between Doha and several other Arab countries.

"We will not abandon our Qatari brothers," Erdogan said at the Turkish parliament on Friday, state Anadolu news agency reported.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, the Maldives, and Egypt broke off ties to Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. They also suspended all land, air, and sea traffic with Qatar, ejected its diplomats, and ordered Qatari citizens to leave their respective countries.

The move is widely believed to have been spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, which often manages to have its vassal states fall into line. Saudi Arabia itself is known as the main sponsor of the violent Wahhabi terrorists that it has accused Qatar of supporting. Some analysts believe the Saudi anger is rather because Qatar acts more independently of Riyadh, including partially in its relations with Iran.

Saudi Arabia also claims that it is unnerved by Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which Ankara also backs.

Erdogan also dismissed a "blacklist" drawn up by the Arab countries opposed to Qatar and targeting certain Qatari-backed organizations as sponsors of terrorism.

"There is no such thing. I know those foundations," Erdogan said.

Turkey "will continue to give all kinds of support to Qatar," the Turkish president stressed.

Turkey had initially stayed neutral in the dispute involving Qatar but soon became more assertive in its support for Doha.

On Wednesday, the Turkish parliament ratified a bill to allow the deployment of Turkish troops to a Turkish base in Qatar in what has been interpreted as a sign of support for Doha. Erdogan later approved the legislation, turning it into law.

UN not to heed Saudi 'terror list'

Also on Friday, Stephane Dujarric, who is a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the world body was not bound by the "terror list" affecting Qatar Charity, the country's biggest humanitarian body, and two other relief organizations.

"The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has over the years built strong partnerships with these organizations based on shared humanitarian principles, which are strictly non-political," he said.

Amnesty denounces bans on Qatar

Separately, Amnesty International lamented the adverse effects of the bans imposed by the group of Arab countries on Arab people in separate countries in the region who may have familial ties.

The sanctioning countries were "toying with the lives of thousands of [Persian] Gulf residents as part of their dispute with Qatar, splitting up families and destroying peoples' livelihoods and education," the UK-based rights body said in a report.

"These drastic measures are already having a brutal effect, splitting children from parents and husbands from wives," it said.

It also referred to the other negative effects of the restrictions, including economic ones. "People from across the region  not only from Qatar, but also from the states implementing these measures  risk losing jobs and having their education disrupted."

Amnesty called on all the states involved in the dispute to "ensure their actions do not lead to human rights violations."

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Afghan Forces Retake Villages In Northern Province

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan June 10, 2017

Afghan security forces have recaptured several villages in a key district in northern Kunduz Province after a week of fierce fighting with Taliban militants, local officials say.

At least four villages in Kunduz's Imam Saheb district have been cleared from the militants, provincial police chief Abdul Hamid Hamidi said on June 10.

Hamidi said that "foreign militants, including Pakistani nationals, Chechens, Tajiks, and Uzbeks are fighting alongside the Taliban in Kunduz."

Hamidi said that security raids still continue in the district.

Meanwhile, local residents in Imam Saheb say their homes have been severely damaged during the fighting and and are demanding that the government help them to rebuild their houses. Many villagers had fled to nearby areas during the intense clashes.

Kunduz has been the main battlefield for the Taliban in northern Afghanistan since the NATO combat mission ended in 2014.The capital of the province was briefly captured by militants in 2015.

Mosque Attack

In a separate development in Afghanistan, police say that at least three civilians have been shot and killed by gunmen inside a mosque in eastern Paktia Province.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement on June 10 that nine others were wounded in the attack, which took place in the provincial capital, Gardez, late on June 9.

There was no immediate claim of responsibly for the assault, but the Taliban and Haqqani network are active in the region and often target government officials as well as Afghan security forces.

The latest attack comes as Afghanistan observes a day of national mourning for more than 200 victims of recent terrorist attacks across the country.

With reporting by dpa, AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-forces-recapture- kunduz-taliban/28539545.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Lavrov, Tillerson Agree Qatar Crisis Should Be Resolved Through Negotiations

Sputnik News

22:26 10.06.2017(updated 22:47 10.06.2017)

The Qatar diplomatic crisis can be resolved only through negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson concluded on Saturday after a conversation, adding that they were ready to promote such efforts.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday stressed the need to settle Qatar crisis through negotiations, the parties expressed readiness to contribute to the settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The consequences of the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar by a number of Arab states were discussed. Sergey Lavrov and Rex Tillerson stressed the need to resolve the differences through negotiations and expressed their readiness to promote such efforts," the ministry said.

The sides also discussed topical issues of Russian-US relations, including a schedule of forthcoming bilateral contacts.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and embargoed all sea, air and land traffic to the country. Other nations have followed suit, accusing Qatar of supporting terrorists and destabilizing the Middle East.

On Wednesday, media reported that Riyadh set out several conditions for Qatar to normalize the bilateral relations including the expulsion of all the members of the Muslim Brotherhood terror group (outlawed in Russia) and the Palestinian Hamas movement from the country, as well as the immediate break of the diplomatic ties with Iran.

 Sputnik

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Germany, NATO to Keep Troops in Afghanistan for Long Period

Sputnik News

19:00 10.06.2017(updated 19:24 10.06.2017)

Germany, as well as other NATO allies, will keep troops in Afghanistan for a while to prevent terrorists from getting an advantage over government forces, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The defense minister expressed hope that Afghanistan would be able to tackle the pressing domestic issues.

"The presence of German and allied forces in Afghanistan will remain for a while and the importance of Afghan security forces' training has not become less. We will not allow the terrorists to get an advantage," von der Leyen told the Funke Mediengruppe media company in an interview.

"It is difficult to stabilize Afghanistan. But I am convinced that this long-suffering land will cope with it," the minister added.

Afghanistan has been experiencing significant political, social and security-related instability for decades, as terrorist organizations, including the Taliban radical movement and Daesh terrorist group continue to stage attacks against civilian and military targets.

In 2001, the United States and its NATO allies launched a mission in Afghanistan following 9/11 attacks. The mission ended on December 28, 2014. However, on January 1, 2015, NATO announced its new mission in the country, called Resolute Support, to train and assist the Afghan security forces. The German troops have been stationed in Afghanistan since 2002.

 Sputnik

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Indian Army Kills Five Terrorists at Border With Pakistan

Sputnik News

10:38 10.06.2017

The Indian Army killed as many as five terrorists on Friday along the Line of Control (the de facto border between India & Pakistan) at Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Army informs that counter-terror operation is underway to take take down others terrorists hiding nearby.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  In the last few weeks, the Indian Army has launched all-out offensive against terrorists in Kashmir and along the border.

"Soldiers deployed along Line of Control in Uri detected a movement of terrorists trying to sneak into this side from across border this afternoon, Army men fired on terrorists, who returned the fire from automatic weapons," Rajesh Kalia, the Srinagar-based Army spokesperson, said.

"In the last 48 hours, infiltration attempts have been foiled at the Gurez, Machhil, Naugam and Uri sectors. Seven armed intruders have been eliminated so far," the Army said in a statement. Indian Army said 38 armed terrorists have been killed during 22 infiltration bid attempted across the border this year. In comparison to this, 28 infiltration attempts took place in 2015 and 88 such attempts in 2016.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Army once again claimed that India troops are targeting civilians with heavy weapons. "Indian troops resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along LOC in Nikial and Kayani Sectors with heavy weapons and mortars. Pakistan army responded effectively on Indian posts to silent guns targeting civilians," Pakistan Army statement read.

Earlier this week, Pakistan had asked Indian Army to stop firing in retaliation while the Pakistan Army is said to have beheaded two Indian troops last month.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, the unfinished part of the under-duress Partition of British India in 1947.

 Sputnik

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Pentagon's T-45C Jets Continue to Cause Hypoxia Despite Safety Assurances

Sputnik News

02:33 10.06.2017(updated 03:47 10.06.2017)

Despite the US Navy's assurance to pilots that it was safe to fly its T-45C aircraft carrier trainer jets, the rate of adverse physiological responses to flying the planes has quadrupled to 47 negative events per 100,000 flight hours since 2012, US Naval Institute News reported Wednesday.

Vice Admiral Paul Grosklags explained to the House Armed Services Committee that two tactics had been deployed to deal with the jets' problem of oxygen shortages mid-flight. The Marines' and Navy's short-term plan is to equip T-45 Goshawks with "alerting and protective measures" to ensure pilots can continue their training programs on schedule, the commander said. Secondly, they will try to pin down the exact issue with the On-Board Oxygen Generation Systems (OBOGS).

In March, pilot instructors in the service said the planes weren't suitable for flying because of the problems with the OBOGS. Suddenly losing oxygen is, after all, less than optimal for an inexperienced airman learning how to fly at multiple Gs. Nevertheless, the US Navy chose to put the jets back in the air in April after applying some quick fixes, Sputnik reported.

Finding and addressing the root of the problem has proven difficult, however. Insufficient oxygen supply aboard the planes "has plagued the service's fleet of T-45s for years now," Sputnik reported. A top Navy official said the service had taken an "unconstrained resources" approach to fixing the jets, but even that hasn't worked.

Mechanics from Boeing and the OBOGS manufacturer have been hard at work on fixing the issue. They've also had the full power and expertise of NASA engineers and scientists to contribute to their efforts. To date, the armed forces don't have anything to show for it.

What mystifies military personnel is that OBOGS has been used on their Harrier jets without issue. Lt. Gen. Jon Davis remarked in wonder, "It's the same box in the Harrier. It's the same OBOGS box and we don't have a problem in Harriers. So what's different? What is different in the T-45s?"

Even more confusing for military leaders is that negative physiological responses are on the rise in the Navy's fleet of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, as well as in their EA-18 Growlers, too.

"The system has worked for 20-plus years," Davis noted. "Something happened."

Meanwhile, on Friday, a 55-plane strong fleet of fifth-generation F-35 combat aircraft was grounded after five pilots endured oxygen deprivation incidents.

 Sputnik

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Irking Turkey, Israel and Cyprus Begin Mountain Military Drills

Sputnik News

00:59 11.06.2017(updated 01:32 11.06.2017)

Hundreds of Israeli commandos are headed to Cyprus as the two countries prepare to start a large-scale, week-long military drill Sunday.

About 400 Israeli commandos are on their way to the divided island to take part in what local media are calling the largest military exercise ever to be undertaken between the Israelis and the Greek Cypriots. This will be the first time this many Israeli soldiers have traveled to Cyprus.

Neither the Israeli Defense Forces nor the adviser to Cyprus Defense Minister Maro Theodotou have commented on the exercises, but according to Cyprus Mail, the local daily, the military exercise will start Sunday and will focus mainly on occupying and liberating villages in the mountainous region of the island, the Troodos Mountains. Some of the mountains rise up to 2,000 meters above sea level.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz also learned that the exercise is going to involve "sqaudrons of Black Hawk helicopters." The Israeli newspaper speculates that the Troodos Mountains were chosen because they have similarities with mountainous regions around Israel.

It is probably safe to speculate that it is the high mountains of Israel's northern neighbor, Lebanon, that Israel wants to master. Rumblings of a coming conflict with Hezbollah have been in the air for weeks now.

The exercise has already caused a sharp negative reaction from Turkey, according to the Jerusalem Post. Turkey, which used to conduct joint military exercises with Israel before 2011, when relations between the two countries deteriorated following an Israeli attack on a Turkish aid convoy, announced that it would be holding its own military exercise within Northern Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) southwest of the town of Paphos. The self-declared state of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey.

Cyprus's government has already filed a formal complaint regarding Turkish military exercise to the United Nations, according to the Cyprus Mail.

The upcoming Israeli-Cypriot exercises come in the wake of the earlier three-day military exercise, 'Onisilos-Gideon,' which took place this March and focused mainly on air forces and air defense, the newspaper reports.

 Sputnik

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North Korea slams delivery of four extra THAAD launchers to South

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 5:13PM

North Korea has slammed the clandestine delivery of four extra launchers of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system to South Korea in May.

On Saturday, the spokesman for the Pan-Korean Emergency Measure Committee for Opposing Nuclear War Drills against DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] said that the move aimed to "pacify the angry South Korean public remaining strongly averse to the deployment of THAAD, evade rebukes of neighboring countries, and curry favor with the US administration to prolong their remaining days."

"It is another heavy crime and unpardonable pro-US act of treachery," the spokesman added.

On Wednesday, the office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that Seoul had suspended any further deployment of the controversial US missile system until an environmental impact assessment is completed.

The office also said that the environmental impact assessment could take a year to complete.

The statement, however, noted that Seoul saw "no need to withdraw" the two launchers that have already been deployed.

South Korea decided to host the missile system last year under ousted president Park Geun-hye to deter any potential threats from North Korea. The first pieces of the missile system started arriving at the Osan Air Base in South Korea in March with the approval of Seoul's then-caretaker administration.

The new president ordered a "proper" investigation into the potential environmental impact of the missile system on Monday.

A battery of the THAAD is capable of firing up to 48 interceptor missiles and consists of six truck-mounted launchers, fire control and communication equipment as well as a powerful X-band radar.

Moon earlier ordered an investigation into an unauthorized deployment of four launchers that have recently arrived in the South and are being stored at a US army base in the country. According to Moon's office, top military officials had deliberately withheld information from the president. Moon suspended Deputy Minister for Defense Policy Wee Seung Ho on Monday over the matter.

The Defense Ministry cited a confidentiality deal with the US military as the reason to withhold the information from South Korea's new commander-in-chief, who seems not to be in agreement with Washington over the deployment. But it was not clear why the country's highest authority could be kept in the dark by lower-ranking officials based on a deal with a foreign country.

The US opposes North Korea's missile and military nuclear activities, which Pyongyang says act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

China, which has long opposed the deployment of the missile system so close to its borders, has called on Washington and Seoul to remove the system. But Beijing has also expressed concern about the North Korean's nuclear activities and has banned imports of North Korean coal over the issue.

China has, however, repeatedly promoted dialog to resolve the issue and urged all sides to exercise restraint.

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Trump Readies New US Policy Toward Cuba

By VOA News June 10, 2017

President Donald Trump is preparing to announce new policies toward Cuba that most likely will roll back parts of former President Barack Obama's efforts to normalize relations with the island nation, according to a senior administration official and other sources.

The official said presidential aides were finalizing their review of U.S.-Cuba relations and were expected to send recommendations to Trump and his national security team in the coming days.

Plans are under way for Trump to announce the new Cuba policy on Friday in Miami. The city in southern Florida has a large and influential population of Cuban-Americans and Cuban emigres.

However, administration sources said the announcement could be delayed if Trump needs more time to make a final decision.

Trump is expected to announce a partial rollback of Obama's policies, which lifted many restrictions on Americans' travel to Cuba and their conduct of business there.

The president is expected to leave diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana intact. Diplomatic ties were re-established under Obama more than two years ago, after more than five decades of hostility between the U.S. and the communist government that Fidel Castro led to power in Cuba after a bloody revolution.

Florida lawmakers

Although specific details of Trump's Cuba policy are not yet clear, sources familiar with the administration's discussions said they expected the policy to have been influenced by two Cuban-American Republican lawmakers from Florida, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart. Both are staunch opponents of Cuba's communist government.

Obama re-established normal diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba in December 2014, then visited Cuba months later, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.

Fidel Castro, viewed in many parts of Cuba as a revolutionary hero and national patron, stepped down as president in 2008 and died last November at age 90. His brother Raul, now 86, succeeded Fidel as president.

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Indian Army Issues Purchase Plan Of 200,000 Close Quarter Battle Carbine

Sputnik News

10:33 10.06.2017

After repeated failures to purchase critical small arms for 1.3 million soldiers, the Indian Army has once again begun the process to purchase 200,000 close quarter battle carbines to add powers for fights in the 200-meter range.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  The Indian Army seeks a CQB Carbine with 5.56 mm caliber having minimum range of 200 meters and a hit target with accuracy better than four minutes of angle. Carbines are rifles with short-range barrels and are suitable for close quarter combat.

Last year, Indian government cancelled a six-year-old tender for obtaining 44,618 close quarter battle carbines and 33.6 million rounds of ammunition. That bid was won by the Galil Ace of Israeli Weapon Industry (IWI) but the Indian Law Ministry did not give a final go-ahead for the "single vendor situation" deal as only one firm passed the trials conducted by the Indian Army.

Four other global firms, including Italy's Beretta, participated in the bid but failed to meet the tough specifications laid down by the Indian Army. This led to a "single vendor situation" which attracted the attention of competitors who suspected foul play.

As current trends suggest, the Indian government may prioritize suppliers who can provide Make in India component in the deal. Israeli IWI & India's Punj Lloyd has set up a JV named Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems aimed to supply small arms, including Galil ACE carbines to Indian armed forces. "This is a joint venture with technology transfer arrangement to manufacture IWI's small arms in India," Ashok Wadhawan, President  Manufacturing Business (Defense and Aerospace) at Punj Lloyd Limited, told Sputnik.

Punj Lloyd Raksha System may face tough competition from joint venture protective carbine (JVPC) developed by state-owned DRDO and the trials are underway with Army. JVPC has developed in the 5.56x30mm caliber and has a weight of 3.05 kilogram which is very close to the requirement sought by the Indian Army for this tender (3 kilogram). It can fire upto 850-900 round per minute.

 Sputnik

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Deputy FM: JCPOA achievement of all Iranian nation

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, June 10, IRNA -- Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said that achievements of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) belong to the whole Iranian nation and as long as the public power is maintained, the country will continue its path strongly and honorably.

Addressing activists of virtual environment in President Rouhani Campaigning Headquarters on Saturday, he referred to terrorist attacks on the Parliament building on Wednesday, saying that Daesh resorts to barbaric terrorism which is too much worse than terrorism itself.

Adopting terrorism signifies abjection, failure, fear and cowardice, he said, noting that shooting randomly at innocent people reveals that they have not reached their objectives.

Blind terrorism sees no way, but killing innocent people and this is a catastrophe which is repeated in Iraq and Syria every day, Araqchi said.

If it was not for Iran's powerful presence in Syria and Iraq, terrorist groups such as Daesh should be fought at home, he said.

"We thank God JCPOA have had achievements for the country in various fields such as health sector," he said, noting that in times of sanctions western companies refused to provide Iran with medicine although it was not included in the list of banned goods.

But in the wake of JCPOA, medicines are bought from the main companies, eliminating middlemen as well as avoiding buying fake medicines, he said.

Araqchi, also head of Headquarters for Pursuing Implementation of JCPOA, noted that the nuclear deal ensured Iran's indisputable right to nuclear energy and removed all nuclear-related sanctions.

JCPOA is the achievement of the Iranian nation which tolerated all sanctions and shortcomings and got the enemies disappointed with their sanctions, he said, noting that that was resistance of the people that brought the six world powers to the negotiating table.

8072**2050

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Mastermind behind Tehran twin attacks killed: Intelligence Ministry

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 7:28PM

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has announced that the mastermind behind the Tehran terrorist attacks has been killed.

During a televised interview on Saturday, Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said that the terrorist commander was killed earlier in the day by intelligence forces.

He noted that the terrorist had fled the country following the ensuing security operations after the attack, but was killed with the cooperation of friendly foreign intelligence services.

At least 17 people were killed and 52 others injured in Tehran on Wednesday when gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on Iran's Parliament and the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini. The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

After offering condolences to the families of the attacks victims, Alavi stressed that over the past few months the country's intelligence forces had neutralized over 25 terrorist cells.

He added that the large number of terrorist operations thwarted by Iran had pushed the terrorists into engaging in the Wednesday attacks.

Alavi also noted that in a recent intelligence raid a large amount of automatic weapons and grenade launchers were obtained from a terrorist group.

Meanwhile, Iran's Police chief Hossein Ashtari has announced that a group of some 60 suspects has also been detained near Tehran in relation to the terrorist attacks.

Earlier, authorities reported the arrest of eight suspects in the country's Alborz province, all of whom with ties to the recent attacks.

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Daesh terrorists kill 30, injure 40 in Iraqi Sunni town near Mosul

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 5:59PM

Daesh Takfiri terrorists have killed over 30 people, mostly civilians, and injured 40 others during a failed offensive on Iraq's Sunni town of Shirqat, south of Mosul.

Daesh terrorists attacked Shirqat on Saturday, but Iraqi forces repelled the offensive, killing a dozen of the extremists.

In 2016, Iraqi forces along with tribal fighters liberated Shirqat from Daesh, paving the way for the launch of the major offensive to fully liberate Mosul 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.

On Friday, Iraqi forces announced that they have accomplished their goals in the battle against Daesh in the western flank of the city.

Daesh terrorists still continue to control pockets south and west of Mosul, as well as swathes of territory near the border with Syria and inside Syria.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, fell to Daesh in 2014, when the terrorist group began its campaign of death and destruction in Iraq, making the city its de facto capital in the Arab country.

The terrorists have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

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Iran opposes 'unilateral' Kurdish independence plan in Iraq: Qassemi

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 1:49PM

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has expressed Tehran's opposition to a "unilateral" plan by Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to hold an independence referendum, stressing the importance of maintaining integrity and stability in the Arab country.

"The principal and clear position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to support Iraq's territorial integrity and solidarity," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Saturday.

"The Kurdistan region is part of the Republic of Iraq," he added.

The Iranian spokesperson emphasized that "unilateral" decisions outside the national and legal framework and principles, particularly the Iraqi Constitution, would "only create new problems."

This is particularly important at a time when Iraq and the Middle East region are faced with "complicated conditions" and ill-wishers are hatching plots to prolong instability in the country, Qassemi added.

The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, announced on Twitter on Wednesday that the northern territory would hold an independence referendum on September 25 not only in the three provinces that make up the Kurdish region but in the areas that are disputed by the Kurdish and the central Iraqi governments. However, the Iraqi government said in a statement on Friday that it would reject any unilateral move by Kurdish regional authorities to press for independence.

Qassemi urged Iraqis to maintain their unity and said, "An integrated, stable and democratic Iraq guarantees the interests of all the country's people from any ethnicity or religion."

"Today, Iraq more than ever needs peace and national consensus and differences between Erbil (capital of the Kurdistan region) and Baghdad must be settled within the framework of dialogue and national understanding and in compliance with the Iraq Constitution," the Iranian spokesman pointed out.

Back in April, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned against Iraq's disintegration, saying a potential separation of the country's Kurds would harm them.

"That is totally objectionable. We are serious about Iraq's territorial integrity," Abadi said.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry also censured the independence plan on Friday, warning that the decision would be a "grave mistake."

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Iraqi fighters finish west Mosul operation successfully: Deputy commander

Iran Press TV

Sat Jun 10, 2017 12:41AM

Iraq's pro-government Popular Mobilization Units say they have accomplished their goals in the battle against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the western flank of the flashpoint city of Mosul.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of the forces commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, broke the news at a press conference on Friday, adding that the fighters had already "liberated 14,000 square kilometers and 360 villages," Arabic-language al-Sumeria TV network reported.

He went on to say that the pro-government fighters "have also managed to kill 2,000 Daesh terrorists west of the northern province of Nineveh," of which Mosul is the capital.

Mohandis added that the units "are ready to liberate Tal Afar town," situated 63 kilometers west of Mosul, from the grips of Daesh, and "are now waiting for the orders of Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief Haider al-Abadi."

He also said the units had so far liberated between 50 and 60 kilometers of the Iraqi-Syrian borderline.

Late last month, the paramilitary units, consisting of some 40 mainly Shia Muslim groups, reached the Syrian border in the north in an attempt to block Daesh from crossing the common border.

Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, fell to Daesh in 2014, when the terrorist group began its campaign of death and destruction in Iraq, making the city its de facto capital in the Arab country. However, Iraqi forces took control of its eastern part in January and the push for the western side, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began in February.

The terror group currently holds less than nine percent of western Mosul and is on the brink of total defeat in the city. The full liberation of Mosul would likely spell the end for the Iraqi half of Daesh's so-called caliphate.

Earlier this week, the popular forces liberated the strategic district of Ba'aj, located some 30 kilometers from the Syrian border.

On Tuesday, Abadi vowed to block the border with Syria to Daesh. Blocking the Syrian border means terrorists would no longer receive reinforcement and ammunition from Raqqah, the terror group's de facto capital in Syria, which is also waiting to be totally liberated by the advancing Syrian troops.

Separately, the media bureau of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement on Friday that dozens of Daesh terrorists had been killed after Iraqi warplanes carried several airstrikes against terror group's positions in Tal al-Qasab village in Qairawan region west of Mosul.

Qairawan, a main Daesh stronghold connecting Tal Afar town to the Syrian border, was largely liberated late last month following a major offensive by Hashd al-Sha'abi forces some three weeks earlier.

Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive there in the summer of 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory.

The terrorists have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

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Iran Criticizes Independence Vote In Iraq's Kurdistan Region

June 10, 2017

Iran has voiced its opposition to a decision by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to hold a referendum on independence, saying the vote would lead to "new problems."

"The Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi republic and unilateral decisions outside the national and legal framework, especially the Iraqi constitution... can only lead to new problems," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on June 10.

Iraqi Kurdish officials said on June 7 that the region would hold a referendum on September 25, a move unlikely to be welcomed by the federal government in Baghdad.

Iran fears separatism among its own Kurds, most of whom live in areas along the border with Iraq.

Iran is home to an estimated eight million Kurds, who like other ethnic minorities in the country, do not enjoy equal rights, such as the right to the use of their languages in schools.

Rebels of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) launch sporadic attacks into Iran from rear-bases in Iraq, triggering sometimes deadly clashes with Iranian security forces.

Iraqi Kurds' planned referendum has also been criticized by Turkey, which called it a "grave mistake."

Washington also said it was opposed to the vote, saying it would be a distraction from more urgent priorities, including the fight against the extremist group Islamic State.

Based on reporting by AFP and farsnews.com

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-criticizes-iraq- kurdish-independence-vote/28539802.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Clear Skies: Russia Upgrading State-of-the-Art Nebo-M Anti-Missile Radar

Sputnik News

17:58 10.06.2017

The Radio-Technical Troops (RTT) of the Russian Aerospace Forces will modernize their one-of-a-kind Nebo-M anti-missile radar system, the RTT commander, General Andrei Koban, announced on Saturday.

The Nebo-M complex is a mobile multimulti-range programmable radar system capable of providing information on small-sized aerodynamic and hypersonic targets in difficult jamming backgrounds.

"We would certainty like to have a multipurpose unit capable of tracking down all types of aerial targets. The unique Nebo-M multiband radar complex, which is now being upgraded in Nizhny Novgorod, is the prototype of such a radar system," Koban told Echo Moskvy radio.

He added that while the upgraded multirole radar system that will also be able to track targets in space was going to be "pretty expensive," the RTT needs cheaper means of airspace control.

"We are paying a great deal of attention to modernizing the weapons we already have now. After using the equipment for three or five years we realize what has to be done to make it work better, and this is exactly what we are working on now," the General added.

The new Nebo-M radar system features a programmable multiband design. The complex includes central data fusion and a command post module, as well as three radars, all mounted on separate high-mobility trucks.

The radar is designed to automatically detect and track airborne targets such as ballistic missiles, stealth aircraft or drones, as well as hypersonic targets. The complex is able to track up to 200 aerodynamic targets at a distance and at altitudes of up to 600 kilometers (372 miles).

In sector scan mode, Nebo-M can track up to 20 ballistic targets at ranges of up to 1,800 kilometers (about 1,120 miles) and at an altitude of up to 1,200 km (745 miles).

The Radio-Technical Troops (RTT) are designed to conduct radar reconnaissance of aerial enemies and to give radar information on the air situation within the radar field to monitor bodies of the Russian Air Force and other services and arms of the armed forces.

The main direction of development of the Radio-Technical Troops of the Air Force includes improving the technical equipment of military units and subdivisions by carrying out activities on life extension and modernization of existing weapons and equipment, as well as the, development of the weapons of the new park: Nebo-M, Protivnik-G1M and Sopka-2 medium and high-altitude radars, Podlyot-K1 and the Podlyot-M and Kasta-2 low-altitude radar systems.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Army Announces Major Breakthrough Near al-Tanf After Coalition Strikes

Sputnik News

14:53 10.06.2017(updated 17:29 10.06.2017)

The Syrian government forces have reached the border with Iraq after fighting against Daesh terrorists near al-Tanf in the country's south after Damascus' allies had been bombed by the US-led coalition for the third time in the area, the Syrian Army's command announced.

The news comes after on June 8, the US-led coalition bombed pro-Damascus forces near al-Tanf in the area of a deconfliction zone following an alleged attack by a combat drone resulting in no coalition forces' casualties. This was the third attack by the coalition on Damascus' allies in the area. The coalition targeted a drone and trucks with weapons.

"Units of our [Syrian] armed forces with the support of allied forces were able to reach the border with brotherly Iraq northeast of al-Tanf and establish control over a large number of strategic positions in the Syrian steppe," SANA news agency reported citing the Syrian army.

The Syrian military noted that the fact that it has reached the Iraqi-Syrian border is "a strategic turn in the war on terrorism and a base for expanding military operations in the steppe and along the border with Iraq."

According to the command, the success in this region "tightens the stranglehold over what remains of Daesh formations" and cuts their supply routes in several directions.

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry slammed the move, saying that it seems that the US-led coalition is more interested in bombing the Syrian army instead of fighting terrorists. It also accused the coalition and Syrian rebels it supports of "conspiring" with Daesh leaders by letting them leave encirlement and move to other areas.

On May 18, the US-led coalition struck pro-Assad fighters near the town of al-Tanf in the area of an established deconfliction zone with Russia. The coalition strikes occurred near al-Tanf, where US' and British special operations forces have been training Syrian rebel fighters near the border with Iraq and Jordan. Russia slammed the move as a violation of international law.

On June 6, the Pentagon announced the coalition conducted a new strike on pro-Syrian government forces as they entered the de-confliction zone with Russia and posed threat to its personnel. The force comprised of a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers. A Syrian source told Sputnik on Tuesday that at least two Syrian servicemen were killed and more than 15 injured as a result of the coalition attack.

 Sputnik

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A new art exhibit at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History displays the works of three family members who all paint and have strong ties to Southside.

Philip Ramsey and his sons, Curt and Wyatt, have paintings displayed in several areas of the museum  some are portraits, some are impressionistic and a dozen of them are Philips oil paintings of familiar street scenes in Danville.

Philip has been painting professionally since 1991 and has had his work commissioned by collectors around the world.

One of the most familiar things he has done in Danville is the painting of 631 Main St. The former Danville Printing Company building is recognizable because it is different from surrounding buildings, with its trompe loeil effect that adds windows, a balcony, a bench and greenery to the facade of the building.

The family spent 30 years in South Boston, but Philip said he spent so much time working in Danville  doing commissioned painting of buildings, interiors and furniture in those days, before he trained under the internationally-known Argentinean painter John de la Vega  he came to love the city and its residents.

Danville is very special to me, Philip said.

Philip describes his painting styles as impressionistic, and while his sons have also become artists, their styles are different.

Curt is what Philip calls very photographic in style, while Wyatts work is more avant garde and interpretive, but is also drawn to portraiture.

He currently lives in Blackburg and is accepting commissions.

One of the family ties to Danville is that Wyatt attended Galileo Magnet High School, commuting to Danville daily to attend school.

We wanted him to have the education Galileo provides, Philip said.

During his time at Galileo, Wyatt began his art career with an exhibit held at the North Theatre, where he first sold some of his paintings, and taught an informal art class at the school through a project called Art with a Heart.

Philip said Wyatt plans to make art his full-time career, and will soon be moving to Texas to get his Master of Fine Art degree at the University of Texas, where he also will be an assistant teacher.

The paintings will be on display through July 30. Admission to the museum is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and $4 for students. Members are admitted for free.

The museum is located at 925 Main St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Zak Brown has played down rumours McLaren could launch a full-time Indycar team.

Fernando Alonso was recently competitive as he skipped Monaco to do the Indy 500, with a McLaren-Honda entry supported by the top Andretti team.

"Yes, I would like to see McLaren at the Indy 500 regularly," executive Brown is quoted by Speed Week.

"But that decision has not been taken. At the earliest we will decide in a few months but if it was just up to me, we will return," he said.

However, he said rumours McLaren could enter a team in the full Indycar series are wide of the mark, at least for the "next few years".

"If we wanted to do it as well as we would want to, then Indycar is not a topic at the moment," said Brown.

(GMM)
Fernando Alonso says there is nothing wrong with the McLaren car or his own driving.

The Spaniard was happy with his qualifying lap in Montreal, saying it equated to pole when the Honda power deficit was factored in.

Amid rumours Honda is 90-100 horse power down, Alonso told Auto Motor und Sport: "I don't want to say numbers because I cannot prove them.

"But if you look at the time we lose on the straights, we would be very competitive."

The German report said McLaren has calculated with GPS that it is losing 1.3 seconds around Montreal due to Honda.

"With a top engine, we could have done Bottas' time," an unnamed team member said. "Only Vettel and Hamilton would have been out of reach."

McLaren's new, highly critical tone is reportedly the result of Honda having promised and then failed to deliver a key engine upgrade for Canada.

"It's wrong to talk about a delay," boss Yusuke Hasegawa said. "We would have liked to have it in Canada, and now we hope to have it in Baku, but I cannot promise."

Some suspect McLaren has already decided to dump Honda, but boss Eric Boullier said: "We have a long term contract with Honda and are connected on many levels.

"I hope there is still a McLaren-Honda next year, as we want to believe in this project. But at the moment our patience is put to the test."

Indeed, there are now clear signs of strain even in the personal relationships. McLaren executive Zak Brown said this week Honda is "lost".

"It was an unfortunate word," said Hasegawa, according to Spain's AS newspaper.

And Brown replied: "I do not think I said unfair or unfortunate things, and I get along well with Hasegawa-san.

So for now, McLaren is not ruling out splitting with Honda and entering talks with McLaren, Renault or even Ferrari.

"We value all our options, and the whole situation is very complex with sporting but also commercial aspects, so it is not something simple.

"But we will have an engine in the car next year," Brown said.

(GMM)
GREENSBORO  As they walked out of exams at Dudley High School on Wednesday, Larry Weeks-Jones wore a camouflage-print visor and Yaliz Pedraza sported a sparkling tiara.

At Sundays graduation both the student government leader and birthday girl wore at least one thing in common besides their caps and gowns  a dark green cord symbolizing service.

Twenty-two Dudley graduates received service-learning diplomas, the top service honor from Guilford County Schools Character Education Department. Those diplomas signify 250 hours or more of service learning and allow seniors to wear the green cords on their graduation caps.

Another 202 Dudley graduates earned service learning certificates for 100 hours of service.

At Dudley, then, 224 of 326 graduates  more than two-thirds  received service-learning honors to give Dudley more service-learning honorees than any other high school in the district for the third straight year. Dudley has been recognized as both a state and national School of Character.

A lot of our kids have benefited from someone elses kindness or compassion or their helping hand, English teacher Estella Petteway said. They actually realize that at some point, Im going to have to do this for someone else, and once they do I think they really enjoy it, and they feel like they have accomplished something by helping other people.

Districtwide, Guilford County Schools Class of 2017 performed more than 371,000 hours of community service. Thats more than $8.5 million in economic impact, according to The Independent Sector, a leadership network for nonprofits, foundations and corporations.

Since 2010, Guilford students have performed more than 1.7 million service-learning hours. Thats an economic impact to the community of more than $41 million.

Petteway, counselor Drennan Paylor and teachers Kayte Farkas and Ashley Ekwem-Thorpe make up the service-learning team at Dudley. They said that getting service hours is not as simple as just doing the work. Students must fill out a detailed worksheet that explains what theyve learned. Not everyones service hours get approved. The learning and reflecting part is key.

There are many different ways to serve.

For example, Pedraza has helped out at book fairs and similar events at her younger brothers elementary school. She also has traveled to South Africa to do a service project there after raising $1,000 for her trip and getting a scholarship for the rest.

Weeks-Jones has done many projects with Dudleys student government. He got most of his junior year service hours from his nursing fundamentals class at Dudley where he helped feed and talk with nursing home residents, some of whom rarely had visitors. Working with them, he said, felt like the most meaningful of all his volunteer experiences.

We are trying to make good people, not just good students, Ekwem-Thorpe, the Dudley teacher, said. Thats going to take you places that grades cant.
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The hospital where a terminally ill toddler is being treated has said it is "highly likely" doctors will soon be able to treat the boy with a drug which will help keep him alive.

Sheffield Children's Hospital are "hopeful" that in the near future, two-year-old William Storr will be administered a drug that could drastically change his life in the short term, and allow him to spend yet more precious time with his family.

William, from Immingham, is trapped in his own body because of a cruel condition similar to adult motor neurone disease.

The drug Spinraza could dramatically improve William's life and is available for free - but only at some hospitals in the country and not currently including Sheffield's specialist children's treatment clinic.

(Image: John Gladwin)

As reported on Sunday by the Grimsby Telegraph online, many NHS hospitals are struggling to administer it because of shortages in staff and beds.

But thankfully, to the relief of William's parents, Kerry and husband Jason, the hospital has confirmed that bosses have applied for permission from Nice, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, to start offering the drug to all children treated at its south Yorkshire campus.

Tragically, 95 per cent of children with the condition don't live past their second birthday.

The new drug which has a dramatic effect on the condition costs 280,000-a-year and was offered free by the manufacturer Biogen.

William has a twin brother Matthew who is not affected by the condition, type one spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic muscle-wasting disease that has left him unable to move anything but his hands and toes.

The condition affects William's breathing and he is unable to swallow. He also needs regular suction to stop secretions from going into his lungs, risking pneumonia or fatal complications.

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Last year the Grimsby Telegraph highlighted how the community had raised funds to help Kerry's campaign to help the SMA charity which supports youngsters with the condition.

But it requires support from NHS staff to administer, and the Sheffield Children's Hospital where William is a patient is not currently using the drug, even though it is freely available in England, subject to Nice approval.

As reported, after discovering the drug was now free in Britain, Kerry and husband Jason, 47, asked Sheffield Children's Hospital, where William is treated, to give it to their son.

(Image: John Gladwin)

But they claim their pleas  backed up by six other families in the same position  were declined. The hospital has now agreed to meet the families to discuss the treatment and says it hopes to start its use soon.

Clinicians, charities and patient groups are calling on the NHS to make Spinraza available to all victims.

They claim it is not being administered due to a lack of NHS staff and beds.

Prof Derek Burke said: We understand the frustration for families waiting for Nusinersen (Spinraza) to receive approval. Until NICE approves it, the drug can only be supplied through an Expanded Access Programme run by the drugs manufacturer Biogen.

Sheffield Childrens has made an application through this programme and hopes to offer the treatment to children as soon as possible.

Our Consultants have also been involved in supporting an appeal for wider access to the drug, working with other hospitals and various national support groups including SMA Support UK.

We have invited families to meet with us to discuss the situation further and to reassure them that we are taking active steps to secure this treatment for their children.
You may remember Symbian as an OS for old-school smartphones, but it had touch-centric branches as well. Who here has used a phone with Symbian UIQ? It's a dinosaur now, extinct and replaced by better adapted species, but like those Jurassic reptiles, UIQ still draws interest from gawking visitors to the museum.

UIQ's story begins at Symbian Ltd. - a collaboration between Nokia, Sony, Ericsson, Motorola and Psion - in the distant 1998. In 2002, the newly formed Sony Ericsson started using UIQ for its touch-enabled phones.

The company had some prior experience, courtesy of the Ericsson R380. Launched in 2000, it was the first device marketed as a "smartphone" and the first phone to run Symbian (only Psion-made PDAs came before). It had a black and white touchscreen, part of which was covered by a flip out keypad. Ericsson developed an in-house interface, which predates UIQ.



Ericsson R380

The R380 had Nokia's Communicators to contend with, which had their own branch of touch-flavored Symbian (Series 80 and Series 90). Sony Ericsson became the main user UIQ.

Version 1.0 seems lost to history, but the Sony Ericsson P800 was the first to use version 2.0. It followed the R380 design with a flip out keypad (which could also be detached). This allowed for seamless transition between "phone" and "PDA" style of operation.



Sony Ericsson P800

P900 would move to UIQ 2.1 in 2003, followed a year later by the P910. This marked the first major innovation since that old Ericsson - the flip now held a full hardware QWERTY keyboard. Note the vertical orientation of this setup, it runs counter to landscape orientation of the Nokia 9500 (a Series 80 competitor from the same year).



Sony Ericsson P900  Sony Ericsson P910

In 2005, the Sony Ericsson P990 would change the form factor again - the screen was cut short, to make room for a permanent QWERTY below it. The flip maintained the phone keypad, but SE was transitioning away from the large touchscreen and towards a more traditional setup. By the way, this was the first Symbian UIQ 3.0 phone.

The M600 did away with the flip and made the hardware keys bigger with a half QWERTY arrangement. The W950 was similar, but had a keypad below its screen instead.



Sony Ericsson P990  Sony Ericsson M600  Sony Ericsson W950

Then in 2007 came the last of the line, the Sony Ericsson P1. The touchscreen was again augmented by a fixed half QWERTY. It wasn't the last Sony Ericsson with UIQ (that honor goes to 2008's G700 and G900), but the P-series had come to an end, 7 years after the R380.



Sony Ericsson P1

In late 2006, around the time that the M600 and W950 were launched, Sony Ericsson bought out Symbian UIQ. You could call it a sign of faith in the touchscreen experience, but the coincidence with the reduced role of the touchscreen in SE's lineup is obvious.

A year later, SE agreed to split UIQ equally with Motorola, which was already using it for devices such as 2003's A920 and 2004's A1000. Notice how these are all about the touchscreen with only a few hardware keys. But Moto had its moment of doubt too, releasing the RIZR Z8 and RIZR Z10 with odd, angled slide-out mechanisms that revealed hardware keys.



Motorola A920  Motorola A1000  Motorola RIZR Z8  Motorola RIZR Z10

Nothing much happened with Symbian UIQ since then. Multiple factors lead to this. The most important one was of course the launch of the iPhone in 2007. Also, Sony Ericsson's 2008 touch flagship was the Xperia X1. Yes, the much loved Xperia line was born, except this phone was based on Windows Mobile 6.1. Later that year, Nokia transitioned the hugely successful Symbian Series 60 to touch with the 5800.

2009 saw two Xperias - the Windows Mobile-powered X2 and (finally) the Android-running X10. Touchscreen phones had clearly won at this point, but it was not Symbian UIQ that that was at the helm.



Sony Ericsson Xperia X1  Nokia 5800 XpressMusic  Sony Ericsson Xperia X2  Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

(Sony) Ericsson has been building up touch-enabled Symbian since 2000, it had a massive head start on the iPhone (even more so on Android). Perhaps the stylus-based roots of UIQ held it back, compared to the finger-first iPhone. Perhaps it was Nokia and Sony Ericsson pulling in two different directions (UIQ apps did not run on S60 and vice versa). Or perhaps it was something else altogether.




Haiti - Environment : Nature Reserve in Haiti to the UNESCO agenda





New biosphere reserves will be designated at the next session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme, which will meet at the headquarters of the Organization from 12 to 15 June.



Let's recall that the biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems. Managed in concertation with local communities, they test ways to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with economic development and the sustainable use of resources.



During this session, the International Coordinating Council will decide on new biosphere reserves and existing reserves extensions.



A total of 28 new proposals were received from 22 countries : Benin, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Germany, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sudan, South Africa and Togo.



The World Network of Biosphere Reserves numbers 669 sites in 120 countries and 16 that straddle national borders.



Learn more about the Man and the Biosphere Programme :

The Man and the Biosphere Programme was created by UNESCO in the early 1970s as an intergovernmental scientific endeavour to improve relations between people around the world and their natural environment. Biosphere reserves are places for learning about sustainable development aiming to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with the sustainable use of natural resources. New reserves are designated each year by the International Co-ordinating Council of the Programme, which brings together elected representatives of 34 UNESCO Member States.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16923-haiti-environment-the-natural-reserve-of-la-hotte-selected-by-unesco.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4182-haiti-environment-haiti-elected-to-the-committee-man-and-the-biosphere-of-the-unesco.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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Published on 2017/06/11 | Source

The words teenagers hated hearing the most are, "What is there in your life right now that can possibly give you stress?" according to a poll.

Advertisement

School uniform maker Smart polled 8,748 schoolkids across the nation, and 67 percent said they experience a lot of stress in their lives, and 11 percent tremendous stress. Only 4.6 percent said they are not stressed.

Some 36 percent of those who experience stress said they hate hearing other people ask what kinds of stress they could possibly be under in their adolescent lives.

The second least favorite comment cited by 24 percent was, "The stress you're experiencing is nothing compared to what others suffer", followed by "You're not the only one getting stressed out" (22 percent), "You're too young to be stressed " (11 percent), and "You're stressed because your mind is weak" (seven percent).

Lee Shin-dong, a professor of education at Soonchunhyang University said, "Rather than saying things that hurt their pride, it is better to console them by telling them what a tough time they must be having".

Around half of the respondents said the most stress comes from their studies. Next were friends (15 percent) and family (11 percent).

Asked what changes they hope for to reduce stress, around 42 percent said not to be compared with other people all the time.
A WOMAN has collected more than 500 bras to donate to needy young women in Africa  but still wants more.

Heidi Leigh, of Ridgeway, Wargrave, is supporting a charity called Smalls for All and has asked friends, family and neighbours to help by donating their unwanted bras. She hopes to reach a total of 1,000.

The bras will be delivered to the charitys base in Scotland before being taken overseas.

Mrs Leigh, a 51, a registrar at Claires Court School in Maidenhead, began collecting in February after seeing an article about the initiative on Facebook.

She said: The article had been shared by one of my friends. It said they wanted old, unwanted bras for the charity.

You donate bras and if they are of a good size and standard they are sent to Africa to the girls in villages there.

If they are no good they strip the metal and material and sell them both to raise money to buy sanitary wear and pants.

Mrs Leigh said she was moved by the article.

She said: I dont have daughters but what really grabbed me is that when a lot of young girls start their periods they dont own a pair of knickers, let alone sanitary products. How degrading that must be for them.

Girls without underwear can be seen as being in poverty, which makes them more likely to be a target for rape.

The fact that they are just wearing a bra can make attackers stop and think they have got a bit of money so it protects them. This is something so basic.

Mrs Leigh began stockpiling her old bras and appealed for others to give her theirs.

Now she regularly has bags of bras left on her doorstep by people she doesnt even know.

Ive been overwhelmed by the support, she said. Some young girls have given me bags full of bras and usually the right size.

I mentioned it to my colleagues at work and they all chipped in.

The deputy head of the sixth form had a chat with the girls and they had a collection box. I didnt think it was going to be like this but now I just dont know where they are going to come from.

One lady brought a big bag full of bras from her three daughters, who at their age buy lots of cheap bras.

I even messaged some men, saying theres probably one bra you hate in your wifes underwear drawer so go and pinch it and give it to me!

I had an email from one man who had lost his wife a year ago and hadnt been able to remove her clothes and send them off to charity, so they were still in the closet. He said I had spurred him on and given him a reason to recycle his wifes clothes.

Its amazing the people you touch with something a little bit different.

Among the bras she has collected are several with bright colours and striking patterns but Mrs Leigh says the standout item was one with a Union flag design.

She has now received so many bras that she has had to store them in her attic at home where she lives with husband Bernie, 55, and sons Alex, 17, and Mike, 21.

She said: Bernie and the boys will get home before me and there will be another bag on the doorstep. Some people also leave nice notes which are really appreciated because I dont know who lots of the bags are from.

The boys dont mind talking about bras and personal stuff. They think its hilarious and just go with the flow.

I need to keep them clean so I put them in tissue paper in old suitcases but they are so heavy  Ive got two-and-a-half cases full now.

Mrs Leigh has received an offer from a friend to pay for the bras to be transported up to Scotland.

She said: I didnt realise that we would have to pay for the carriage to Scotland. Bernie said we would drive up with a carload as a road trip.

Soon afterwards a friend of mine came to dinner and his wife brought some bras. He offered to cover the carriage to get them to Scotland so thats quite a costly thing hes saved me from.

Mrs Leigh is appealing for more bra donations.

She said: You know some of them have cost a fortune and they are gorgeous colours.

Id like to see if I can get to 1,000 by spreading the word.

For information on how to donate, send an email to Mrs Leigh at

fourleighs@btinternet.com
U.S. supports helping N. Korean people, but Pyongyang ultimately responsible: State Dept. The United States supports and is taking steps to help the people of North Korea despite differences with the North Korean regime, a state department spokesperson said Thursday. ...

#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...
The banner known as the Confederate flag is ubiquitous in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.

Travelers coming to Bristol on Interstate 81 from Tennessee can spot a large version of the flag atop a massive hill on the north side of the highway.

The image of blue stripes criss-crossing a red backdrop emblazons license plates, cigarette lighters and swimming trunks. It can be seen waving from front porches, pickup truck beds and tailgates at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Confederate flag is as commonplace in the South as it is controversial across the country. Supporters say the flag preserves history and acts as an emblem of southern pride. Opponents call it a racist symbol that represents a legacy of southern white supremacy.

Tensions about Confederate symbols have flared in recent weeks as cities across the country have called for the removal of Confederate monuments. Virginia has been among the most recent headlines.

In a 3-2 vote in April, the Charlottesville, Virginia City Council voted to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee in a downtown park. Some of the council members said the statue represents a legacy of racial oppression, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

In May, a group of torch-wielding protesters in support of the statue gathered in the park. Their demonstration was met with a counter-protest the next night. The fate of the statue is in limbo.

In the wake of national conversations about Confederate symbols, the Herald Courier spoke to historians and those who fly the flag to examine its various interpretations in Bristol, a town that largely supported the Confederate States of America.

One flag, different views

The flag that Guy Gentry flies in his yard in Bristol, Tennessee, is unique.

It is a hybrid: two-thirds of it consists of the Confederate flag; the rest is the Tennessee state flag.

Gentry said he sees the Confederate flag on par with the American flag.

I dont understand the people who are trying to condemn it, Gentry said. That makes me so mad to think about that. The flag is part of our history, and that is the bottom line.

Gentry said he doesnt have family history in the Civil War, although he is an Army veteran.

Buckey Boone said hes old enough to remember when the modern Confederate flag became popular.

Boone, 67, said he was about 12 when the civil rights movement was in full swing. At the time, those against the civil rights movement used the flag.

It became popular as a symbol against people of color who were asking to attend decent schools and wanting to have the same rights as other people, Boone said.

Boone is the chairman of the board of the Appalachian Peace Education Center in Abingdon. The center promotes peace and justice in the community, focusing on issues such as racial harmony, health and the environment.

When asked his view about Confederate monuments being taken down, Boone said there are many honorable people that deserve statues that did not support slavery  people like his grandfather, who helped support local colleges in Tennessee, or his sister, mother and grandmother, all music teachers.

I would like to see more monuments for people who are honorable and right, he said.

Raised in Southwest Virginia, Boone said he grew up being taught to respect Confederate generals like Robert E. Lee. His views changed as he learned about the full scope of the war.

Lee was an honorable person, but he made a bad choice  he decided to fight on behalf of states that wanted to be slave states, he said.

The Anti-Defamation League lists the Confederate flag as an official symbol of hate. The leagues website calls the flag a potent symbol of slavery and white supremacy, which has caused it to be very popular among white supremacists in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Hate groups in the US The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified 917 hate groups currently operating in the United States. Four such groups are not far from Bristol:  National Alliance: Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee  Sacred Truth Publishing & Ministries: Mountain City, Tennessee  Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Butler, Tennessee  Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan: Church Hill, Tennessee

Hate groups by state:  Kentucky: 23  North Carolina: 31  Tennessee: 38  Virginia: 39 SOURCE: The Southern Poverty Law Center

A complicated past

The flags that would have flown over Confederate camps during the Civil War looked very different than the flag that everyone has come to associate with the Confederate States of America, said Brian S. Wills, director of The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

The first national flag of the Confederate States of America looked like a simplified version of the modern U.S. flag, with two thick red stripes, a white strip in the middle and a circle of white stars in a blue box in the upper left-hand corner.

The design seen on modern Confederate flags was originally the Army of Northern Virginias battle flag, although at the time its shape was square.

Wills, who used to teach at the University of Virginias College at Wise, said that even after the Civil War, the prominence and purpose of various Confederate flags shifted.

Many of the photographs of the second wave of the Ku Klux Klan, which formed in the early 1900s, feature the American flag, Wills said. That was purposeful.

They were trying to stress Americanism, nativism  nativism meaning that America was for Americans,  Wills said.

The modern Confederate flag was appropriated by opponents of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Wills said.

That was one of the symbols that gets brought into that period and gets associated with that kind of position, he said.

The flag, Wills said, is a lot more complicated than people think.

The flag today

In 2015, after Dylann Roof shot and killed nine black parishioners at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Bristol held a Confederate flag rally.

Following the shooting, the national discussion turned to taking down Confederate flags and memorials. But a group of 30 people traveled from Bristol, Virginia, to Johnson City, Tennessee, to show their support of the flag.

Confederate flags are just a fraction of the many Civil War remnants in Bristol. A symbol of Bristols Civil War heritage, a Confederate soldier statue, stands near Cumberland Square Park in Bristol, Virginia.

Streets, highways and schools are named after Southern generals like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. East Hill Cemetery holds Confederate grave markers. The students at Sullivan South High School and Patrick Henry High School call themselves the Rebels.

Up until the mid-20th century, a number of high schools in Virginia were named after Confederate generals, according to Bristol historian Tim Buchanan. The number has dwindled as schools have opted for name changes.

As of 2015, nearly 200 schools in the U.S. were named after Confederate generals, according to an analysis by Vocativ, a news, science and technology site.

Bristol, Virginia, has two schools named for such generals: Stonewall Jackson Elementary School and Washington Lee Elementary School.

A request for Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, to change its name in 2015 did not succeed. Stonewall Jackson High School in Quicksburg, Virginia, still remains, which uses the image of Jackson holding the Confederate flag on a horse.

As images of Dylann Roof with a Confederate flag circulated the internet in 2015, debate about the flag entered mainstream politics.

Corey Stewart, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, has been vocal about his support of such monuments.

In April, when the demonstrations erupted in Charlottesville, Stewart tweeted: Nothing is worse than a Yankee telling a Southerner that his monuments dont matter.

A court has barred Charlottesville from removing the statue while it weighs a lawsuit opposing the action, according to the Daily Progress.

What disturbs me is the left is using political correctness to shame people because they want to celebrate their history and their heritage and I think thats wrong, Stewart told the Herald Courier in a recent interview.

On the topic of Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Susan Platts calls for removing all Confederate monuments in Virginia and renaming all highways and buildings named for Confederates, Stewart said: Im going to fight like hell to make sure that doesnt happen.

Thats part of our history, and look  our history isnt always pretty. There are blotches in everybodys heritage and everybodys history, but you cant try to erase it, you cant try to, as Condoleezza Rice said the other day, you cant try to sanitize it. It is what it is and we have to protect it.

This past week, two parks in Charlottesville that were previously named after Confederate generals have been renamed, according to the Associated Press. Lee Park is now Emancipation Park and Jackson Park became Justice Park after the City Councils decision.

Wills, the director of The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era, said that as a historian, he doesnt believe such historical markers should be erased from the public sphere.

I think its better to learn from history than to feel comfortable with history, Wills said. History is not a particularly comfortable thing.

The Civil War and Bristol

The Bristol area was primarily Confederate territory during the Civil War.

The newspaper was Confederate, three hospitals in the region were Confederate and five Confederate generals came from either Bristol or Washington County, according to Buchanan.

Buchanan, president of the Bristol Historical Association, said despite the primary narrative of the war, the farther south into Tennessee you traveled, the more you would find Union sympathizers or people who didnt take sides.

A lot of the mountain people, in Carter County [for example], wanted to stay out of the war, he said.

Kingsport and Sullivan County were Confederate lands while Jonesborough and Greeneville leaned toward the Union.

After the war, its believed that Jefferson Davis, ex-president of the Confederate States of America, spent a night in Pleasant Hill, which was completed in 1873 and was the third house built on Solar Hill in Bristol, Virginia, according to the Bristol Historical Associations website.

Davis delivered an address to a large crowd of Bristolians who had gathered in the front yard and on the lot across the street.

The family that owned the home, the Wood family, tried to stay out of the dividing lines of the war, Buchanan said. Andrew Johnson stayed at the home on his way to Washington after Abraham Lincoln was shot.

Buchanan noted that to this day, some of Bristols families have roots that go back to the Confederacy.

The flag did not mean slavery to a lot of these folks, Buchanan said. It has become politically incorrect, which I think is sad.
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Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has expressed she would love star in a Marathi film. She was present at the music launch of Vikram Phadniss debut Marathi film Hrudayantar on Saturday.

Aishwarya Rai during the music launch of a Marathi film, in Mumbai on Saturday. (PTI)

Asked if shes interested in playing in a Marathi film, Aishwarya said: I would love to. Thanks for asking me this question in front of public and media.

The 43-year-old actress made her acting debut with a Tamil film titled Iruvar in 1997. She also said she is an actor and it doesnt matter where and in what language a film is being made.

The actress who made her comeback with Jazbaa in 2015 said that she has carved her own path and never bothered to stick to the expected norms of choosing films.

I have never been one to cater to all these expected norms. I have carved my own journey and I think my career is proof enough for that. So, of course I would love to work in Marathi as well as in any other language the film is being presented to me, she said.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (C), Marathi film actress (R) Mukta Barve and designer/director Vikram Phadnis attend the music launch of the upcoming Marathi-language film Hrudyantar in Mumbai on June 10. (AFP)

For Aishwarya the script matters. As long as the script excites me and I am happy to work with the team, then of course I would love to, she said.

Hrudayantar was launched by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who also gave the first clap for shooting of the film to commence. The trailer launch was done by actor Hrithik Roshan.

Phadnis is grateful to the entire Bollywood industry for giving him support for his first film. I think the marketing and promotion has already begun, but I cannot thank my Hindi film industry enough in this life time. Ever since my muhurat the way this industry has supported me for my 25 years of work, I owe them for a life time, Phadnis said.

Supporting the director, Aishwarya said: Promotion is the core of the day and it is happening at every platform. But you (media) should appreciate Vikrams ability to keep it true and bring magic to every platform he has chosen, be it muhurat or trailer launch or music launch or any forthcoming events.

And the fact is, yes, he has forged amazing friendship over all these years which you (media) are getting to witness over all these platforms, she added.

Hrudayantar stars Subodh Bhave, Mukta Barve, Trushnika Shinde and Nishtha Vaidya. It will hit the screen on July 7.

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Bhumi Pednekar, who has featured in a short film themed love and lust helmed by Zoya Akhtar, says that working with the filmmaker has been empowering for her.

Talking about the short film, Bhumi told IANS over phone from Mumbai: The theme of the film is love and lust. I think I am very privileged to get a chance to work with her (Akhtar). She is so brilliant to work with. It is empowering to work with a woman this strong and clear.

Bhumi says this was the first time she shot with a woman director and that it was very refreshing and easy.

Her thinking is so different... I think Zoya is a genius and its an honour and privilege for me to work with her, she added.

This is the first time Bhumi has worked in a short film and she describes the experience as different.

Because I think when you do a film like this, you can experiment a lot with yourself. You can break boundaries and sort of break a lot of stereotypes, technical and creative cliches that happen to be in our films. It is complete freedom of creativity in a format like this. It was a great experience. I have had such blast shooting for this film, she said.

After her debut film Dum Laga Ke Haisha, the 27-year-old made a list of filmmakers she wanted to work with and Akhtar was one of them.

She has always been on my wish list. I did it because she was making it, and then I read the script and then I thought There is no way I am letting go of this, Bhumi added.

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General Motors, which has decided to stop selling vehicles in the Indian market from year-end, has given its employees here less than a month to opt for a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) as it starts winding down operations in the country.

After announcing its decision to stop retailing vehicles on May 18, the company sent mails to employees the very next day about the VSS that will close on June 15, 2017.

General Motors India President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem had stated around 400 employees engaged in domestic sales and after sales activities would be impacted.

According to the internal communication accessed by PTI, the company offered compensation of 45 days salary for every year of completed year of service or part thereof in excess of six months in normal cases.

On the other hand, for those who are nearing retirement, GM offered employees compensation of monthly salary multiplied by the remaining months of service till normal age of retirement.

The minimum compensation payable eligible shall be three months salary, it added.

According to sources, nearly 250 people in marketing, sales, finance and administration are likely to be given golden handshakes by September itself.

Kazem had, however, stated at the time of announcing the companys decision to exit from domestic operations that only half of 400 affected employees are expected to move on by the end of 2017.

Employees in after sales department have, however, been issued letters for continuation of service till further notice, the sources added.

When contacted, a GM India spokesperson said: GM understands this is a difficult decision that impacts a number of our hard working and professional employees, and we are providing counselling, financial advice and outplacement support, as well as a separation package in excess of the statutory requirements.

In case of Halol plant, where the company has ceased production since April this year, GM India had come out with a fresh voluntary retirement scheme last month for a short period citing request from workers.

The company had reportedly increased VRS offer to workers at the plant to 100 days of salary per year of work from an earlier 40 days of every year of completed service.

Already, dealers of GM India are gearing up to drag the auto major to court while also exploring possibility of a class action suit in the US over inadequate compensation.

A majority of 96 dealers, which operate around 140 showrooms across India, are unhappy with the companys offer of just around 12 per cent of total investments they have made as compensation.

Moreover, they also said there would be job losses of around 9,500 due to closure of showrooms and service outlets.

In 2015, the company had announced to invest USD 1 billion (Rs 6,400 crore) in India to enhance manufacturing operations and roll out 10 locally produced models in the country over the next five years.

In January this year, the American firm put on hold its investments on new models for the country as it undertook a full review of its future product portfolio in India.

On May 18, General Motors suddenly decided to stop selling its vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here after struggling for over two decades to make a mark.

The company will now focus on exporting vehicles from its manufacturing plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra after it stopped production at its first plant at Halol in Gujarat last month.

GM India sells models like Beat, Sail and Cruze in India.
The GST Council lowered tax rates on 66 items such as pickles, incense sticks, some movie tickets and printers after industries and states complained that the goods will become too expensive when the new indirect taxation system kicks in from July 1.

The panel, chaired by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and consisting of his counterparts from all states, had divided almost all goods and services into four tax brackets when it last met in Srinagar in May.

But a number of industries opposed the tax classification, and Jaitley said that the panel had received a request to review the levies.

The 133 representations received were considered at length and the officers committee made their recommendations... the council has reduced tax in 66 out of the 133 cases, Jaitley, who heads the council, told reporters here following the meeting, according to IANS.

Movie tickets costing Rs 100 and below will now attract 18%, against 28% proposed earlier, while those above Rs 100 will continue to attract 28% GST.

Packaged food like pickles, mustard sauce and morabba will attract 12% GST, against 18% proposed earlier. Also, tax rates on cashew nuts have been cut to 5% from 12%.

On being asked about the tax rates on sanitary napkins, the finance minister said, What has been decided earlier remains. No further rates for this category. Sanitary napkins have been classified under the 12% bracket.

The Council also lowered GST rates on childrens drawing books to nil from 12%. Computer printers will attract 18% tax as against 28% earlier.

The council also relaxed the Rs 50 lakh per annum turnover ceiling to Rs 75 lakh for businesses to take part in the GST Composition Scheme. The scheme allows traders, manufacturers and restaurant owners to pay taxes at the rate of 1, 2, and 5% respectively.

Jaitley added that reducing the tax rate meant a revenue impact for the government, but lower tax incidence could help improve tax buoyancy and keep inflation low.

Sundays meeting also saw discussions on transitional rules and decided the next meeting will be on June 18.

The GST Council fit almost all goods and services in slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28% tax during the Srinagar meeting in May.

(with inputs from agencies)
The Irrfan Khan-starrer Hindi Medium captures a Hindi- speaking familys struggle to get their child in an upmarket English medium school. But there are many who believe that Hindi has never been so cool. Take for example Manish Gupta, a film-maker, who works to promote Hindi. Hindi is the new cool, English is the new normal, he says.

And he is not exaggerating. Hindi now has a cool quotient, thanks to a whole new breed of writers, publishers and entrepreneurs who have been relentlessly working to promote Hindi for the past few years. Technology, especially the social media, has proved to be a catalyst of change in the fortunes of the language.

After Gupta returned to India from the US three years back, he started a YouTube Channel called Hindi Kavita with the objective of getting Hindi the respect it deserves. The channel has had top celebrities from Naseeruddin Shah to Imtiaz Ali to Manoj Bajpayee reciting works of famous Hindi poets.

I realised that Hindi is an orphaned language and wanted to change that. Whether we accept it or not, the fact is most people in India are not good at the English language and their obsession with it is hampering their self-actualisation, something which is not possible in a foreign language. The limits of the language are the limits of the mind, says Gupta. And we need to understand that a deep, emotional relation with words is possible only in your mother tongue.

Read: Swachh warriors: Delhis unique spot-fixers fight to keep Capital clean

Hindi Kavita has now become a volunteer-driven movement to popularize Hindi with chapters in many cities across the country, including Delhi. Most of those associated with the growing Hindi Kavita community are doctors and engineers, who are now practising what they are preaching. All of them are upwardly mobile, English-speaking individuals who now prefer to use Hindi as much as and wherever they can, says Gupta.

The Hindi language has also got a boost from new kind of publishers and writers. There are new publishers such as Hind Yugm, whose catchphrase is Nai Wali Hindi (A whole new kind of Hindi).

Its founder Shailesh Bharatwasi, an engineer by education, says the idea behind the publishing house was to find new, young Hindi writers who wish to experiment with themes, plots and language.  The old publishers were only reprinting classics and not willing to take risks with new writers, says Bharatwasi, who has so far published over 150 titles, both fiction and non-fiction written in simple, conversational Hindi. We have removed the impression that Hindi is a difficult language and the books have appealed to a whole new kind of readers in Hindi, he says.

Majority of writers whose works Bharatwasi has published are engineering and management graduates who can write in English, but chose Hindi. These writers, he says, are becoming the agents of a new revolution in Hindi literature.

Divya Prakash Dubey is one such writer. An engineering and management graduate, he is the author of three novels and is quite a celebrity: he gives TedX talks and gets invited to speak at lit fests and institutions such as IITs. When I was first invited to speak at a TedX event, I was asked to speak in English, but I said I would speak in Hindi, says Dubey.

The subject of the talk was Hindi is Cool Yaar where he narrated what it means to be growing in a small town where everyone thought success in life was not possible without learning English. Hindi was taught to me on my mothers lap, but English was taught in school through constant fear and chastising, he said to a wide applause at the TedX talk. His recent talk at IIT Delhi was titled Hindi Medium Type.

Manish Gupta started a YouTube Channel called Hindi Kavita with the objective of getting Hindi the respect it deserves. (Pramod Thakur/HT PHOTO)

Talking about a change in attitude in the past few years , he says, People no longer judge you if you speak Hindi, and there are people who flaunt speaking in Hindi, says Prakash who is also popularising what he calls Storybazzi a stand-up act where he narrates stories in Hindi in an informal way.

Many of these new generation writers are winning literary accolades too. Last year, Shubham Shree, 26, won the prestigious Bharat Bhushan Agarwal Prize much to the chagrin of the Hindi literary establishment. The prize is awarded annually to a single poem by a young writer. The jury included well-known Hindi Writer Uday Prakash. Her poem Poetry Management was written in Hinglish-- a hybrid mix of Hindi and English.

Most people have a certain notion of pure Hindi, but the fact is most use Hinglish on a daily basis and I do not think there is anything wrong in that, says Shubham Sree. A lot of young writers are now choosing to write in Hinglish and they have created a whole new readership for Hindi books. People who cannot write or speak in English are considered disabled, but thankfully things are changing slowly.

Satyanand Nirupam, editorial director, Rajkamal Prakashan, says that technology has given a new life to Hindi. It has made Hindi glamorous. So many well-heeled people are writing in Hindi on Facebook and Twitter, he says. And publishers are finding so many Hindi writers on Facebook.

Smartphones with Hindi keyboards, many believe, have helped Hindi a lot. They have enabled budding writers to write a small poem and instantly get reactions and invite discussions on blogs and Facebook.

Read: Decoding the mystery behind handwriting: How experts are coping in digital age

Then, there are platforms such as Kavitakosh, an online repository of Hindi verses, which has over a lakh pages of Hindi poetry, with two million page views a month.

The founder Lalit Kumar, an IT professional, says people contributing poems for the website are English-speaking professionals such as doctors, management professionals, engineers, and architects.

They have discovered the poet in them and have chosen to write in Hindi because they feel that feelings and emotions can be best expressed in their mother tongue. The fact is that English is just your functional language, nothing more, says Lalit Kumar. The real change will happen when corporates adopt Hindi, when it becomes a language of white collar jobs.

Nirupam says the market is now beginning to adopt Hindi. It is not unusual to see Hindi signages and billboards in posh markets in metros. Corporates are increasingly putting out advertisements in Hindi and willing to sponsor Hindi literary events, he says.

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The Delhi State Consumer Redressal Commission has imposed a cost of Rs 30 lakh on a private hospital for its deficient service in a case in which a woman was left with a needle in her uterus after delivery.

The Commission, while dismissing the appeal of Shree Jeewan Hospital in north Delhi, upheld the district forums order asking the hospital to pay the compensation to north-east Delhi resident Rubina.

It also noted that instead of employing a qualified doctor, the hospital got its job done by a pharmacist.

Instead of employing a qualified doctor who draws a salary of around Rs two lakhs, the hospital is getting the job done by a pharmacist. How many such episiotomy wounds have been stitched by ... (pharmacist) is anybodys guess, the bench headed by member N P Kaushik said.

The appeal preferred by the hospital is dismissed. The hospital is burdened with costs of Rs 30 lakh for being negligent and deficient in service. The said costs shall be deposited by the hospital in Consumer Welfare Fund of the State maintained by this Commission, it said.

It also noted that there was an attempt by hospital to manipulate the records to cover up the fact that the delivery was effected by a doctor who was not competent to do the surgery.

Hospital has gone to the extent of manipulating the records to make believe that it was a doctor and nurse who conducted the delivery, the bench said.

According to the complaint, Rubina was admitted to the hospital on September 15, 2009 for delivery and she gave birth to a girl child.

The plea alleged that while conducting the delivery, the doctors left a needle in her uterus due to which she was bleeding profusely and suffered pain and trauma but the doctors did not pay heed to her problem.

After an X-ray was conducted, the needle was removed from the uterus in the same hospital, it said.

It also said when the woman underwent an ultrasound in November 2009, it was revealed that her uterus had retroflexed and she would not be able to conceive again. She then filed a complaint against the hospital before the police and consumer forum.

The hospital, which denied negligence, admitted the presence of needle in the womans uterus.

However, the Delhi Medical Council had opined that there is no case of medical negligence.

The district forum had asked the hospital to pay the compensation to Rubina, which was challenged by it in the state commission.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government will be working on a plan to achieve 100% literacy in the national capital.

Addressing party volunteers as part of Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) monthly interaction programme, the AAP national convener said that his government is aspiring to take reforms to the next level in education sector after turning around decades-long narrative of promoting public schools over the government school education.

When people talk of education and literacy, they name states like Kerala for achieving high literacy rates. Now, we need to take Delhi towards 100% literacy. We will make a plan for it, Kejriwal said, even as he underlined the partys vision of putting in place an education system that provides free quality school education to every Delhi child, besides providing funds to complete higher education.

As per the 2011 census, Delhi ranks fourth among the seven union territories with literacy rate of 86.2%, with male literacy at 90.9% and female literacy at 80.8%.

Labour minister and AAP (Delhi) convener Gopal Rai also advised the party workers to contribute their part in achieving the partys model of education, which will prove crucial in nation-building.

It will be great if each party worker adopts a school student and dedicates one or two hours every weekend in teaching them, it will help in achieving the vision, Rai said.

In an effort to strengthen the leaderships connect with the party volunteers, AAP has decided to hold an informal monthly interaction with volunteers in each of the 70 assembly segments. All party volunteers, alongwith their family members, are expected to gather at a venue organised by the areas legislator, which, at the end, will be addressed by national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

With the Delhi University admissions just round the corner, Kejriwal also reiterated the partys stand of fixing a quota for city students in the 28 DU colleges that get financial aid from the Delhi government.

I would request Manish (Sisodia) to explore reserving 80-85% seats in these colleges for Delhi students, Kejriwal said, adding that the government was making plans to take education to the next level by promoting value education after bringing the Delhi government schools at par with the private schools.

INFORM PEOPLE ABOUT HEALTH SCHEMES

The Chief Minister also urged the party volunteers to inform people about the welfare schemes launched by the AAP government and help the needy in getting treatment in Delhi government hospitals providing free medicines and diagnostic tests.

During a surprise inspection in two government hospitals, I was surprised to learn that neither doctors nor patients were aware about the schemes of Delhi government to provide free healthcare. While the government is making all efforts to popularise the scheme, volunteers should also inform people and help the needy in getting treatment, Kejriwal said.
Two years after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation formally began the process, India has finally joined as a full-fledged member. The Astana summit in Kazakhstan also saw the parallel entry of Pakistan into the SCO, effectively spreading the boundaries of this Eurasian multilateral body all the way to the Indian Ocean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it a point to speak about the importance of countering terrorism in what amounted to Indias inaugural address as an SCO member. This partly harks back to the original 1996 charter of the so-called Shanghai Five that went under the title Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions. The SCO is a direct descendant of that nascent body and the then threat was the ethnic and political instability caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Today, it is the collapse of the Islamic State, the forever war in Afghanistan and Pakistans sponsorship of terrorism that pose security challenges for the SCO membership. Which highlights another reason why Indias mention of terrorism was appropriate  it implicitly reminded all the SCO members that Pakistan is as much part of the problem as it is part of the solution. The SCO has undergone several avatars as the fortunes of its members and regional geopolitics have changed. By the mid-2000s, for example, its two dominant members, China and Russia, were more nervous about the United States and its penchant for overseas military intervention, promotion of democratic revolutions and its widening military footprint in Central Asia. That phase has since passed and the SCO is now an organisation that is, to some degree, in search of a mission.

Indias has a broad interest in being at the table of any multilateral security and political body that is in its wider neighbourhood. The world is now afloat with an alphabet soup of new multilateral bodies, reflecting the decline of a US-dominated world order and the rise of new regional powers and threats. Sensibly, most governments want to be part of as many of them as possible if only because they are uncertain if one of these bodies becomes vitally important in the future. If so, they want to be part of the decision-making and agenda-deciding process. The SCO is one of these bodies that is both potentially significant but also amorphous in its present state.

New Delhi should give thought to how it can help add to the SCOs future agenda, especially if it can be used to channel Chinas preponderant influence in the region in constructive and non-threatening ways. One utility of multilateral fora is the constraints they place on major powers.
Believe it or not, Panchkula boy Sarvesh Mehtani, who topped JEE (Advanced) 2015, made it a point to watch animation films on TV ( Japanese manga series Doraemon was a favourite) to control stress while studying for the tough exams.

In fact, Mehtani included cartoon films (TV) in his daily routine after joining Class 11 in the non-medical stream and making IIT JEE his number one goal.

On why Doraemon was a favourite, Mehtani, who turned 18 last month, said that it was better to watch cartoons than other worthless serials on television and It worked well for me.

A student of Panchkula-based Bhavan Vidyalaya School, who planned to pursue computer science in IIT Bombay, Mehtani said it took serious effort to keep distractions at bay and study for seven to eight hours daily in spite of attending school.

His father Parvesh, 48, an income tax officer posted in Chandigarh, said Mehtani willingly gave up his smart phone used a basic phone just for making calls. Mother Raj Bala, also 48, who works with the Haryana governments industrial training department, said her son did not consider studies to be a burden and made sure he revised what was taught in class every day before going to bed.

Swanky phones and Whatsapp chats had to be sacrificed to remain organised and focused as I found these to be a diversion from my main goal. The friends who used smart phones for studies had a lot of self-control in using the gadgets which I did not, that is why I had to give it up, he said.

Mehtani also gave credit to his teachers for his achievement and said most of what they taught was from NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) textbooks. A majority of JEE questions are based on NCERT publications.

In his message to budding engineers, Mehtani says he refused to give up hope even when his motivation levels were down. Hard work is the key. Whenever I had doubts in any of the subjects, I cleared them and then and never left it for other day. Being organised is what is required to be a topper, he said

Mehtani scored 95.4% in Class 12 and a perfect CGPA 10 in Class 10.

He was also all praise for his teachers who encouraged him to take the non-medical stream to try for admission to Indias finest institutions.

He secured AIR with 339 marks out of 366.

Mehtanis parents, who live in Sector 17, Panchkula, and belong to Hisar in Haryana, say today is the happiest day of their life. Sunday cant be better than this, they added, smiling.

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PARIS: Euronext wheat futures ended flat to higher on Friday, with front-month prices buoyed by larger-than-expected US export sales, while further out positions were more subdued.



May milling wheat, the most active contract on Paris-based Euronext, settled unchanged on the day at 194.50 euros ($220.62) a tonne.



Front-month March futures ended 1.00 euro higher at 196.00 euros after reaching a one-week top at 197.50 euros.



A bigger than anticipated volume of US wheat export sales - as the US Department of Agriculture released figures for six weeks up to Feb. 14 to clear a backlog caused by a government shutdown - sparked a rally in spot prices as it suggested strong short-term demand.



There were decent US export sales for the past month so people thought there could be a short-term squeeze in export supply, a futures dealer said.



There was an idea that traders may need to take delivery of March futures to get physical supply.



Traders have long anticipated an upturn in demand for US and EU wheat as supply dwindles in top exporter Russia.



But concern that US and EU shipments were lagging too far behind contributed to a price slide that pushed Chicago and Paris futures to seven-month lows earlier this week.



Chicago wheat also rallied after Fridays USDA export data. But it later pared gains as the US grain market focused on developments in ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing that could bring fresh demand for US crops. Reuters




Mathematician Anand Kumars Super 30 has done it again as all its 30 students on Sunday cleared the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2017 for admission to Indias premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

This is the fourth time - 2008, 2009, and 2010 - that all the 30 students from the pioneering initiative cracked the JEE (Advanced). Last year, 28 out of the 30 students made it.

This year, it is again 30/30, Kumar said.

Globally acclaimed for mentoring talented students mostly from the underprivileged sections of the society and with indifferent schooling, Super 30 has so far sent 396 students to the IITs in its 15-year journey that started in 2002.

Much before the results came out, all the Super 30 students were huddled in a room, with their parents waiting outside, as Kumars brother Pranav checked roll numbers on the portal, which was slow to load in the beginning.

One, two, three and it ended only at 30 and every successful result was followed by congratulations for the students and distribution of sweets.

For the parents - from a landless farm labourer to a vendor and a shopkeeper to a yoga teacher - it was a moment to cherish and as many were overwhelmed to know that their children have realised their dreams.

Kumar attributed the success story of Super 30 to the hard work and unwavering devotion of its students and told reporters that its time for Super 30 to expand, though it would be a challenge.

But now I think I will have to strive more to bring smiles to a higher number of students, he said.

Most of the successful Super 30 candidates are from schools under state-run Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) that is grappling with huge embarrassment and uproar over the performance of students in the intermediate exams in which an unprecedented 70% from science stream failed to clear it.

One of the inspiring stories is that of Aditya Anand, the son of a factory labourer Gautam Narayan Pandey. Aditya is now going to IIT, something unthinkable for his family till a couple of years ago. His father did not earn enough to provide proper education to his son but he did not lose heart.

The story of cloth vendor Manoj Kumar Verma is no different. He got emotional as he talked about his sons journey to Super 30. Though Verma still confuses between IIT and ITI, he was all praise for his son Kundan for making most of the God-sent opportunity in the form of free mentoring under Kumar.

Dhirendra Kumar, who runs a hardware shop in Punpun area on the outskirts of Patna, was on cloud nine as he got the news about his twins Sumit Raj and Subham Raj clearing the exam. Both will now study in one of the 23 IITs.

It is the biggest blessing for me after a life of pain and deprivation. I wanted to educate my sons but did not know how and never imagined it would happen this way. I cannot ask for more. Long live Anand Sir for making it happen for the likes of me, Dhirendra said.

Another successful candidate, Abhishek Kumar, is happy that his admission in IIT will take some load off the shoulders of his father, who is a priest and ekes out a living by performing puja in households. Abhishek knows what his father had to undergo to see him succeed.

A boy, who lives close to Kumars house since his childhood, has also made it to IIT this year. Waqar Ahmad grew up seeing Kumar teach Super 30 students and gradually he developed a desire to be part of the success story. He got into Super 30 and today he is among the successful lot.

Kumar mentors 30 students free of cost at his home and provides them food and lodging for around a year. His entire family is involved with Super 30 as his mother takes care of the cooking and his brother Pranav plans the logistics.

Though offered donation from big industrial houses of the country as well help from the government, Kumar said he does not accept any financial assistance from any quarter as a matter of principle and manages it with his earnings from evening tuition classes for Class 12 students.

Every year, a number of inspiring stories of grit and determination emerge from Super 30.

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Sarvesh Mehtani from Haryanas Panchkula secured the All India Rank (AIR) 1 in Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2017, the results of which were declared on Sunday.

A student of Bhavan Vidyalaya School, Mehtani secured an AIR rank of 55 in JEE (Main) this year. Mehtani said he was motivated to take the exam as he wanted to study in one of the top engineering colleges in the country.

He now wants to go to IIT-Bombay to pursue a course in computer science.

Sarvesh Mehtani with his parents. (HT photo)

Another city boy gets 9th AIR

Rachit Bansal of Chandigarh secured the AIR 9 in JEE Advanced and did his schooling from Patiala. Like Mehtani, Bansal too wants to join IIT- Bombay to pursue computer science.

The IIT-Madras, which was the organiser of the exam, declared the results on jeeadv.ac.in.

The performance of a candidate in JEE (Advanced) forms the basis for admission to the bachelors, integrated masters and dual degree programs (entry at the 10+2 level) in all the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad.

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Indias premier engineering and technology institutes will include courses on governments flagship programmes such as Swachh Bharat and Digital India, a move that could potentially intensify criticism over alleged attempts to push the ruling BJPs agenda in education.

The recommendation, made by a committee formed by the Council of National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research, is likely to be adopted by the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), sources said.

The council is the highest decision making body for NITs and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research.

Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar chaired the meeting of the council on May 26 where a decision was taken to adopt the recommendations as model guidelines.

Opposition parties accuse the government of trying to saffronise education by including Hindutva icons and ideology in textbooks, a charge it denies.

Courses related to national flagship programme can be introduced. The objective of this course should be to make students ready to contribute to the nation building programmes by unearthing engineering aspects involved in national flagship programme, the panels recommendations said.

These courses are mandatory for betterment of human resource, the committee added.

Other disciplines that can be used for developing a course include smart cities, Jan Dhan, Skill India and Make in India.

This is perhaps the first time courses will have government programmes. There are 32 NITs in the country, which are funded by the HRD ministry and are almost at par with the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Sources said no uniform policy exists in NITs on curriculum revision but it has now been made mandatory as an annual exercise.

The quality of engineering institutes, which produces over seven lakh students annually, has become a major concern for the HRD ministry as only 40% of those who pass out get jobs.

The low employability is attributed to lack of requisite skills and falling demand from the industry.

Revision of curriculum is being seen as an attempt to address that problem. The committee has also suggested introducing a new course, sustainable engineering, in all the branches. Besides, the panel has suggested taking industry inputs for curricula revision.

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As medical science is taking one giant stride after another and breaking new grounds, the city medical representatives are also learning to take the load off their backs, quite literally, and adapt to modern methods.

Gone are the days when the medical representatives would do the rounds of health care facilities, clinics and drugstores carrying bulging leather bags stuffed with drugs, promising a certified cure for myriad ailments and reams of medical literature to help them pitch it right to prospective clients.

Considered old school, those bags have been replaced by high definition, 360 degree 3D Virtual Reality (VR) content, iPad and innovative digital content as they enable them to be more in tune with the modern methods and meet the needs of a growing clientele.

The video clips along with 3D animation help the medical representatives explain the dosage and efficacy of a particular drug to their customers.

Vipin Kumar, a thirty-five-year-old medical representative who has been working in this field for the last five years, said that the transition from the traditional to digital has been smooth and rewarding.

Earlier, it was difficult to make doctors understand the quality and efficacy of our products, as they could barely afford us enough time between surgeries and patient visits. Now, with the 3D VR content, they just have to play it on their smartphones and laptops and get all the required information from a one-minute-long video. I even get calls curious calls from doctors asking me to take them through the new technique, Kumar said.

Medical representatives have always been a critical and integral part of the field, as they are the crucial link between medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies. They said that adapting to the new technology has helped them convey their message more easily and clearly to doctors.

They no longer carry heavy leather bags stuffed with sample medicines and medical literature, but are equipped with modern gadgets such iPad, Android tabs or virtual reality headsets to communicate. It takes less time and also help us get more clarity on the products, Puneeta Menon, a dentist, said.

Another dentist, Garima Jain, said, We welcome the digital leap that the medical representatives have taken, as it serves the purpose of getting all information about their products more easily.

Echoing the sentiment, officials of the citys top health care facilities, too, said that the modern gadgets and new technology have gone long way in narrowing the communication gap between doctors and medical representatives.

In this day and age, time is of the essence for everyone, including doctors, and it is important to adapt to new technology as it helps us in our everyday lives. Over 80 medical representatives have managed to reach out to around 20,000 doctors across the country by using high definition, 3D VR content, a spokesperson for GSK consumer health care said.

Our traditional method of carrying big cutouts, diagrams and medicine samples never quite worked with regard to drawing the attention of doctors, Manik Chadha, who has been a medical representative for the last four-and-a-half years, told HT.

Romi Jacob, another medical representative, said, The 3D VR technology and iPad applications are easy to source all the information that we need to pitch products to our clients. They make our lives a lot easier.

However, there still remains a yawning gap between the number of medical representatives that there are currently across the country and the number needed. While country needs 24 lakh medical representatives, it only has around 6 lakh. This is a big concern, SK Singh, director, Indian Institute of Medical Representative, Delhi, said.

Read I Gurgaon: Six doctors of Artemis hospital booked for medical negligence

The salary structure has been revamped and there is also a sense of security among professionals in the medicine industry. This explains why more and more people from humanities and commerce backgrounds are choosing to pursue a career in this field. New technology and modern methods have added a dash of glamour to the job of a medical representative. Earlier, the starting salary (for medical representatives) was 9,000. Now, it has gone up to 18,000, Singh said.

Sanjay Narula, secretary, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Gurgaon, said that the shift to digital is a welcome development, but more needs to be done for medical representatives to help them feel secure in their jobs. Only a fraction of people employed as medical representatives are deriving the benefits of the modern methods. A large number of professionals still subscribe to the old-school ways.

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A sudden fire in a high-transmission power line of 11 kilovolt (kV) early on Sunday caused a three-hour power outage in sectors 21, 22, 23, Palam Vihar, New Palam Vihar, Ashok Nagar and nearby areas. The latest case of fire again led residents to complain of the failure of the power discom Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) to check technical faults.

The electricity department replaced several transformers and cables in our area three to four years ago. However, they are of poor quality and cause frequent outages due to fire. Five to six transformers caught fire in the past two to three months itself, badly affecting power supply. Tripping due to technical fault is a major concern for us, but our complaints fall on deaf ears. In fact, the DHBVN has started scheduled power cuts in our area, citing power theft, said Raj Kumar, a resident of New Palam Vihar.

Fire and short circuits are two prominent reasons for power outages in summer when the demand for electricity rises.

Read more: No end to Gurgaons power pain as utilities blame each other

The DHBVN has not replaced old, outdated transformers and cables, which often catch fire. They are the main reasons for tripping, which causes power outages for three to four hours, said SN Yadav, a resident of Sector 21.

Getting through to DHBVNs toll-free number (to complain) is also a tough task, he added.

A month ago, a major cable at the Sector 72 power house caught fire, causing a major shortfall of electricity. A week ago, a feeder that supplies electricity to Basai water treatment plant was damaged due to fire, which resulted in a seven-hour outage.

Gurgaon: City continues to reel under 4-5 hour power cuts

The power discom had claimed to have taken steps to check frequent tripping before summer started, but it has not been able to improve its infrastructure yet.

Sanjiv Chopra, chief engineer (CE), DHBVN Smart Grid Gurgaon, said, Power consumption this year has risen 15 to 20% from last year. That is one of the reasons for frequent power tripping. However, we are trying our best to minimise the faults by replacing old transformers and cables.

According to the discom, on an average, the city has been consuming 1,500 megawatt (MW) of power daily for the last couple of weeks. The figure stood at 1,150 MW for the same period last year.

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City residents have accused the Gurgaon district administration of not doing enough to control dust pollution.

There are four major locations on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway which are dug up for the past several weeks and mounds of earth are lying unattended. They are neither covered with green plastic sheets and nor do the contractor deployed to oversee the digging work do the needful to ensure theres no loose dust in the air abetting pollution.

This is gross violation of guidelines laid down by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The administration is not serious about the issue and even the contractor is least bothered about implementing the NGT guidelines. Air pollution in terms of PM 2.5 per cubic gram in Gurgaon is five times higher than the permissible limit. The administration is playing with our health. I will soon file a contempt petition on the issue at NGT, Vivek Kamboj, an environmentalist, said.

The PM 2.5 in Gurgaon was recorded at 230 per cubic metre on Monday.

Breathing difficulties is a rising concern in Gurgaon. I am victim of it as I have been battling asthma over the last ten years. I have been advised by my doctor to limit my exposure to dust as much as possible, said Yashpal, a resident Sushant Lok.

Signature Tower, Iffco Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk and Maharana Pratap Chowk are some major locations where massive digging has taken place for construction of flyovers and underpasses.

Lokesh Abrol, a doctor and resident Sector 15, 2, said, Patients with breathing complaints are a serious concern these days due to their exposure to the polluted air. The administration should ensure regular sprinkling of water on earth mounds, especially where construction work is underway, so that dust settles down and do not fly in wind.

Read I Gurgaon construction sites to be monitored for dust pollution

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Haryana urban development authority (Huda) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) are mostly in charge of construction activities in these areas.

The Haryana state pollution control board (HSPCB) is the nodal authority to ensure that the NGT guidelines are followed.

JB Sharma, regional officer, HSPCB, said, I have asked inspectors to inspect all these sites and submit a report. We will take action accordingly.
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), the Haryana urban development authority (Huda) and the Gurgaon police will collaborate and take action against illegal liquor vends during their anti-encroachment drives, MCG officials said. There has been a reported increase in the number of such illegal outlets being set up across the city.

The decision comes two months after the Supreme Court (SC) enforced a ban on the sale of liquor within 500 metres of state and national highways in a bid to curb drink driving and resultant road accidents.

According to a senior MCG official, residents have approached them and the Gurgaon police several times informing them of illegal vends being set up in their localities.

Read more: Gurgaon: HUDA issues notice to 11 liquor vends for operating without permits

The official added that the matter was discussed in the road safety committee meeting held in the last week of May. Officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) attended the meeting. They decided that such establishments would be sealed after cross-checking their proximity from the highways with the excise department.

During our drives, we will take action only against illegal vends falling within the 500-metre red zone, following confirmation from the excise department. However, we will not act against any liquor shop situated in residential areas or near educational institutions, a senior MCG official said.

Gurgaon: Residents demand removal of liquor vends outside 500-metre zone

The official added that representatives of various public bodies will assemble for anothser road safety meeting on Monday to identify locations across the city where illegal liquor vends are operating. They will also discuss the progress of the measures being taken to prevent waterlogging during the monsoon.

Following the SCs April 1 directions, 115 bars and pubs in the city faced the prospect of shutting down as they were within 500 metres of state or national highways. These outlets included popular joints at CyberHub, Sector 29 and Sohna Road.

Read more: Gurgaon: Possible liquor ban relief gets smiles back at CyberHub pubs

However, barring a few outlets on Sohna Road, the pubs and bars were able to escape the ban after changing their points of entry, thus keeping themselves out of the 500-metre range.

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The crime branch of Mewat police said it rescued 14 cows and 11 calves, in the early hours of Sunday, from a canter that the police claimed was carrying the animals to Rajasthan for slaughter.

However, four persons, including the canter driver, managed to flee, the crime branch said.

Police said that acting on a tip-off, they had formed a team of four and barricaded the Mahun Chowk around 3am on Sunday. On seeing the barricades, the driver sped up the vehicle, but the police personnel had surrounded them by then. While the police stopped the canter and rescued the cattle, the four men  identified as Imran, Rahul, Zuber and Gaudhala  fled in different directions and managed to escape, the police said.

Read more: Road leading to Mewat on radar of cow protection force, team moved to Sohna

The in-charge of Mewat crime investigation agency (CIA), inspector Ratan Lal, said the police had received information that four persons had smuggled the animals and were taking them to Rajasthan for slaughtering.

When we stopped the canter and were rescuing the cattle, the men took advantage of the crowd and the traffic at the barricade and fled. We seized the canter and have sent the 14 cows and 11 calves to the Mewat gaushala, Ratan Lal said.

He said that the police has a lot of information about the four men involved and will arrest them soon.

Read more: Report on Mewat biryani samples cant be used as legal document

A case under the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, has been registered against all four. The act invites imprisonment of up to 10 years for cow slaughter.

There have been instances in the past when cattle was rescued either in Mewat or nearby districts. In January alone, 25 cows being taken towards Mewat were rescued at Rewari from alleged slaughter. On August 29, Gurgaon police claimed to have seized around 300 cattle hides near Sohna from a canter travelling towards Mewat from Gurgaon. On August 3, Mewat police had recovered 17 cow hides from a house at Baded village under Punhana police station.

Mewat has also seen cases of cow vigilantism. In September last year, a case of gang-rape was reported from Mewat where a woman was allegedly raped for eating beef. Earlier, government officials had also collected samples from biryani sellers in the district to check for the presence of beef in the dish.
Identifying secluded spots, more patrolling near such vacant or abandoned areas, well-lit streets and more CCTV cameras. These are a few proposals or suggestions that the city police came up with during a meeting with officers of all police stations within the ambit of Gurgaon district on Sunday.

The meeting took place nearly two weeks after the gang-rape of a woman and murder of her infant daughter in the industrial township of Manesar. The incident led to calls for beefing the citys security apparatus and improve law and order.

Sandeep Khirwar, Gurgaon commissioner of police, said although it was a regular meeting and wasnt specifically related to the Manesar incident, the rape case in particular and womens safety in general was prominently discussed.

We identified certain problem areas. For instance, secluded spots. We will identify all such vacant or secluded areas in the region and ensure that they are well-lit and patrolled well, Khirwar said.

He added that it could only be done with a joint effort.

This cant be done by the police alone. We will be communicating with the municipal authorities, agencies such as the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and even residents welfare association and seek their help for better policing, he said.

Khirwar also said that the police will be hold a meeting with Manesar industrialists on Monday, after a few of them approached the police, seeking better security in the light of the gang-rape incident.

Dharamvir Singh, AC, Manesar, said that the proposals that were mooted at the meeting will be implemented soon.

We have asked village heads, industrialists and locals to help us identify the abandoned spots such as the one in Sector 8 where the incident took place. We will then ensure that all such areas are well-lit and more police personnel are deployed to ensure security, Singh said.

Read I Manesar gang rape, murder: Two held after one accused confesses to sarpanch

Singh also said that the industrialists have agreed on deploying more watchmen near their industrial units. Earlier, the police announced that every auto-rickshaw driver in the area would be verified and list of all drivers along with their photographs will be drawn up.

A union of auto drivers which is helping us in this effort . All new drivers would be allowed to ply their vehicles after necessary verification, he said.

All three arrested accused in the gang-rape case  Yogender, Amit and Jaikesh  will be produced before a magistrate on Monday.

The 19-year-old victim, on Friday, identified all the three accused who raped her and killed her eight-month-old daughter on the night of May 29. The police also arrested the canter driver on Saturday, who offered her a lift from Bas Kusla village on that fateful night and molested her.
Kapil Kohli, 50, a Delhi-based practicing homoeopath, has had to get a root canal done in several of his teeth in the past 15 years. Now, he can get one done in a single sitting, where it used to take him at least two or three earlier.

Dental science has advanced a great deal over the years, and now there are newer equipment that are digitally driven and help a dentist perform the procedure as common as a root canal far more precisely and efficiently.

Root canal treatment is a procedure to remove the infected dental pulp to stop infection from spreading.

Root canal used to be a manual process, where the doctor would remove the tooth pulp according to their judgment. Since it used to be a blind procedure, repeated x-rays were also needed during multiple sittings to judge whether the infection has been removed completely and whether the filling has happened properly, says Dr Ajay Sharma, head of dental sciences at New Delhis Max Smart Superspecialty Hospital.

Now we can complete a root-canal and even the capping in just a day. This will also go a long way in promoting dental tourism as people can just fly in and out the same day, said Dr Sharma.

For capping  the metal or ceramic covering used to close a tooth after root canal therapy  an intra-oral scanner can help in developing a digital impression that can be used to make the cap.

The crowns created digitally are more precise, so, it does not have to be filed while putting it on the tooth, said Dr Sharma.

Shirin Khan, 19, was riding a two-wheeler to college on the outskirts of Mumbai when a truck hit her. She fell off her bike, lost two teeth and chipped a third.

After a five-hour computer-guided surgery where the doctors grafted bone from her chin to her upper jaw, she was waiting for life to get back to normal.

Shirin Khan, 19, lost her two teeth in an accident. After a five-hour computer-guided surgery, doctors grafted bone from her chin to her upper jaw.

Khan lost a lot of bone in her upper jaw. In the past her dentist would have opened up the lower jaw for a bone graft. With computer-aided surgery, he could instead plan exactly which part of the lower jaw to take the graft from and prevent damage to nerve tissue and neighbouring teeth.

Her healing process was much quicker, she bled less, and the damage was controlled, says cosmetic dentist and implant surgeon Dr Rajesh Shetty.

Digital advances in dentistry have made such treatments more accessible.

More precise procedures, less cuts, less recovery time, less pain medicines and antibiotics  new digital equipment promise better outcomes for dental procedures.

3D printing in dentistry is also becoming popular in India.

An operator can now scan a tooth, send the image to a laboratory and gets an artificial tooth that is a perfect match, within 24 hours.

Since human error is no longer an issue, the fit is perfect, says Dr Shrikant Wakankar, a dentist in Pune.

A 3D print of a patients jawbone can also be created and used to simulate an entire surgery, improving the eventual outcome.

Laser technology has gained popularity, as it puts the patient at ease since there is no sound of the drill. It also creates a much cleaner working field for the dentist, as there is less bleeding, says periodontist and oral implantologist, Dr Leisha Watsa.

It saves you the squirms that you got when the drill touched your tooth and made the noise during the root canal

procedure.

People complained of discomfort when the drilling happened during root canal. Lasers can do it without sound, says Sharma.

The cost, too, does not go up too much, the doctors say.

The new digital scanning equipment exposes patients to 10 times less radiation, Dr Ajay Sharma. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo)

The price for most procedures using the new digital equipment goes up by only 20  30 percent, but if we look at the time that is saved during and after the procedure for recovery, it is hardly anything, says Sharma.

Getting a root canal will cost you around 8,000 plus another 15,000 for the cap, marginally higher than a total of 19  20,000 it would cost for a traditional procedure.

Digital scanning also exposes you to less radiation. The radiation from digital scanners expose patients to 10 times less radiation. The image generated is 3 dimensional, which means we are able to see the bone width, height density, everything before a dental procedure, says Sharma.

The images generated can also be saved for years, unlike x-ray films.

When it comes to getting dental implants, digital imaging has helped massively. Earlier, the bone density, size, volume etc could be visualised only in a proper CT scan, which would expose the person to a lot of radiation and was not recommended for an elective procedure. So, it could be seen only after making an incision, drilling the bone and feeling it, said Professor Saranjit S Bhasin, Dean of faculty of dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia.

Digital imaging also helps in reducing the inventory of implants. Through digital imaging, we already know which implant would fit in the persons jaw, so we do not need to maintain a big inventory of implants of different sizes, he said.

The surgery too can be planned completely on the equipment. Using the scans, a planning machine can create a guide  which is basically like a stensil that can guide the surgeon as to exactly where the drilling has to be done and till what depth, this means less cutting and quicker healing, said Dr Sharma.

As a result, more people are willing to undergo the procedure.
Angelina Jolie has added a 100 ft slide to her mansion here to ensure her children could enjoy the outdoors in summer.

The slide runs all the way up the lawn, promising for a fast ride into the rectangular pool, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Jolie and Pitt are engaged in a bitter custody battle over their six kids. (YouTube)

The 42-year-old Oscar-winning actorappears to have primary custody of the six children with actor Brad Pitt. The couple went public with their split back in September 2016.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Lawrences private plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. She is fine and came out unhurt, according to her representative.

The incident took place on Saturday when the 26-year-old was flying from her hometown in Louisville, Kentucky, where she had been visiting family, when one of the planes engines malfunctioned, reports eonline.com.

According to her representative, Lawrence emerged unscathed from the incident.

So Jens plane suffered double engine failure :o holy shit thats scary, the plane landed just fine thankfully but yeah... that happened ! @valesbookshelf #jlaw #jenniferlawrence A post shared by Jennifer Lawrence (@jenniferlawrence.daily) on Jun 10, 2017 at 5:21pm PDT

The jet was flying at 31,000 feet when it suffered engine failure, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Buffalo.

But in the middle of the landing, the planes other engine shut down. After touching down in Buffalo, the jet was met by emergency vehicles.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Eight persons were injured in a clash between members of two communities over an alleged eve-teasing incident at Ladwa village here, police on Sunday said.

The incident took place last evening under Titali police station area. Two youths allegedly eve-teased a 15-year-old girl, who had gone to draw water from a hand pump.

The girl told his family members about the incident. They confronted the youths and their relatives, leading to a heated argument which snowballed into a clash.

Read more | Woman displaced after Muzaffarnagar riots gang raped: Police

The two groups wielded lathis and threw stones at each other in which at least eight persons were injured, Circle Officer Hariram said.

The police rushed to the scene upon receiving information about the clash and brought the situation under control, he said.

The injured were taken to a hospital. Security has been ramped up in the village and additional police personnel have been deployed as a precautionary measure.

In another incident, a 35-year-old woman was allegedly sexually harassed by two motorcycle-borne men.

The woman told the police that the accused beat her up and tore her clothes when she resisted their harassment bid in Kumar village in the district last evening.

Some locals later caught and thrashed one of the accused before handing him over to the police.
PATNA Sharing space at an official function after taking separate positions on a variety of issues and occasions, in recent months, chief minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U) and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, on Sunday, used the occasion to send across a message that all was well within the grand alliance.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Ara-Chapra and Digha (Patna)-Sonepur bridges across the Ganga, by press a remote control button at his media centre, called Samwad, Kumar also slammed the BJP for creating doubts in the mind of the people about a possible rift in the grand alliance.

The RJD chief, too, was unsparing in his attack on the BJP, saying those casting doubts about the grand alliances future would be proved wrong just as they were when the alliance chose Nitish as CM, after its November 2015 landslide victory, even though the RJD had won more seats than the JD (U).

The reiteration of the unity of the grand alliance by its top two leaders came after months of bickering between the allies.

Kumar had been very upset with Prasads inability to curtail outbursts against him (Kumar) by senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Prasad Singh, just as Prasad has been unhappy with Kumar for not defending him and his family on BJP leader Sushil Modis allegations suggesting they held dubiously sourced properties.

The relations soured to such an extent that when the income tax authorities last month raided 22 properties allegedly associated with Prasad, the RJD chief made a cryptic remark suggesting the BJP led NDA had found another ally, which was read by many as a reference to Kumar.

Again, while Prasad attended Congress chief Sonia Gandhis luncheon in Delhi on May 27, Kumar skipped it, only to join the Prime Ministers luncheon on May 28, in honour of the visiting Mauritius Prime Minister, suggesting they were treading separate political paths.

But at the function here on Sunday, the buzzword was the unity of the grand alliance.

The CM, who had by his side Lalu Prasad, his son and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and education minister Ashok Choudhary, accused the BJP of raising an unnecessary controversy over naming the Digha-Sonepur bridge JP Setu and why it was being inaugurated on the RJD chiefs 70th birthday, celebrated on Sunday.

The name of the bridge had been decided long ago. Also, fixing the date of inauguration was a government prerogative, he said.

Kumar also accused the BJP of taking undue credit for the construction of the Digha-Sonepur rail bridge, commissioned in 2016, and not inviting him to the event despite the fact that he and the RJD chief were instrumental in paving the way for the construction of both, rail and road bridges.

 I want to remind them that as railway minister (in the Vajpayee government), I had initiated the construction work of the Sonepur rail bridge while Laluji as railway minister (in UPA-1), had mooted the proposal for road bridge, he said.

Those who do their work quietly always win the race, Prasad said, asserting that the GA government was running smoothly. Those who are salivating for power would never get the taste of it. They had tasted power only as an ally of Nitish Kumar. It wont happen again, he said, in a reference to the BJP.

In the November 2015 assembly poll, the RJD-JD (U)-Congress alliance secured 178 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly, to the BJP-led NDAs tally of 58 seats. Within the GA, the RJD got the highest number of 80 seats, JD (U) 71 and the Congress 27 seats..

The RJD chief said Nitishs silence on matters related to the RJD should not be seen as a sign of rift within GA. Kumar reciprocated to this by saying he did not comment on trivial matters. On the BJPs leaderships charges against Prasad and his government, the CM said: We have sympathy for those who have not got the mandate.

Kumar said his governments focus was on improving the infrastructure of the state by constructing new bridges and roads. The target of cutting travel time from Patna to states farthest corner to five hours will soon become a reality, he said.

The CM also spoke about the essence of the two bridges and how they would cut travel time between south and north Bihar and congratulated the engineers of the Bihar Rajya Pul NirmanNigam Limited for their endeavour to complete the bridges on time. The corporation celebrated its foundation day on Sunday.

Kumar also attacked the BJP led NDA government at the centre for not fulfilling its poll promise of giving a special package and special status to Bihar. He also claimed national highways in Bihar were now in worse shape than the state highways.

The CM also talked of prohibition in Bihar and the states achievement in shoring up internal revenue despite loss of excise revenue owing to the liquor ban.  Out internal revenue has not declined much compared to last year. The difference is only of Rs 1,000 crore, showing people are spending more on health and other sectors, he said.

Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who, as road construction minister, had been pushing hard for the bridges to be commissioned on the birthday of his father, Lalu Prasad, on Sunday, chose to dedicate the bridges to the people of the state.

Education minister Ashok Choudhary, however, said it was indeed a proud moment for Tejashwi to have attained a position wherein he could dedicate a bridge to his father on his birthday. There is no need to feel shy about it, he said.

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The five militants who were killed in north Kashmirs Uri sector on Line of Control on Friday had unique body-fitted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) indicating they were Fidayeens (suicide squad), army said on Sunday.

The army said that they found a huge quantity of arms and ammunition in search operations after the initial gun fight on June 9.

In these search operations huge quantities of arms and ammunition have been recovered which includes five AK 47, two under barrel grenade launchers, large quantity of explosives, combat dresses, incendiary material, eatables with Pakistan markings and uniquely body fitted IEDs with timer mechanisms, all indicating that this was a Fidayeen group which was infiltration with the sinister plans to carry out gruesome attacks on an army camp or a civil installation in and around Uri, said Brigadier YS Ahlawat in a media interaction at Uri Base, about 100 km from Srinagar.

He said that the alertness of army not only resulted in the elimination of this group but also ensured peace and tranquility in the valley which this group wanted to vitiate in the holy month of Ramadan.

This is the fifth infiltration attempt that has been successfully eliminated by the army in last three days. The army continues to resolve to keep a strict vigil on LoC and foil all such nefarious designs of Pakistan abetted terrorists, he said.

The Army on Friday had claimed it foiled an infiltration bid killing five militants in the Uri sector.

Read more: Army foils infiltration bid in Kashmirs Uri, 5 militants killed

The Armys northern command on Thursday had said that it has been tackling multiple infiltration bids along the LoC in north Kashmir in four sectors  Machhil, Naugam, Gurez and Uri. A total of 13 militants were killed in the four sectors since Wednesday morning.

Giving details of the Uri operation, Brigadier Ahlawat said the militants tried to infiltrate into Uri by exploiting the thick jungles on the LoC during the night.

Alert army troops detected their movement and immediately engaged them in a firefight. After the initial fire fight, in a prolonged search operation which has lasted for two days in thick jungles and difficult terrain under inclement weather conditions, he said.

He said that the group was from Lashkar-e-Taiba and was the second major operation after two members of Pakistans Border Action Team (BAT) were killed in Uri on May 26.

We have seen in the recent days there has been a surge in the infiltration and with the abetment it is likely to continue, Ahlawal said.
Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi has told the government that he wants to step down as the countrys top law official.

Rohatgi said he has completed three years as the countrys top law official and wants to return to private practice.

The National Democratic Alliance government gave an extension to Rohatgi earlier this month but the order did not specify a time frame.

Rohatgi was appointed the AG in June 2014 after the BJP government swept to power in the previous month.

I want to return to my private practice. I have a good relationship with the government... Thats why I wrote to the government not to extend my term, Rohatgi told HT.

During his stint, he argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the Supreme Court in the triple talaq matter in which the court has reserved judgement.

He had served five years as the additional soliciter general during the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Son of former Delhi high court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, Rohatgi has represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

(With agency inputs)

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After every round of violence, newspaper offices in Kerala are often flooded with a question: Is there a hartal (bandh) tomorrow or not? For Keralites, hartal has become a part of their life.

But the politics of bandh is hitting business hard in Gods Own Country  the tourism tagline that describes the state.

Kerala has witnessed 63 shutdowns this year, both statewide and regional. The Sangh Parivar, desperately trying to get a foothold in the state, topped the list with 25 bandh calls. The ruling CPI (M) came second with 11 calls.

The state capital had witnessed one last week and north Kerala district Kozhikkode was shut for two consecutive days. Seemingly, there is a competition among rival parties to call for a bandh first. The frenzy of a shut down mode makes them oblivious financial losses. Or so it seems.

On June 9, both CPI(M) and BJP had called a shutdown in Kozhikkode after their workers vandalised each others office. But the bandh spilled over to the next day after the BMS, the trade union wing of the RSS, thought it was not proper to call a joint shutdown with the arch rival. So it called a bandh next day alleging attack on its offices.

Privately, leaders across parties sheepishly admit they are against shutdown but in the same breath they add that they are forced to do it. You ask them: What did you achieve by disrupting a days work you get a stock reply: Our protests were heard in the higher ups. Leftists go a step further saying the state achieved everything through such struggles.

Things have come to such a pass that even a minor party can call a bandh. Last week an unknown entity called Muslim Ekopana Samiti called a bandh in Kochi to protest the Kerala high court verdict annulling an inter-faith marriage.

Traders say they are forced to close down their outlets out of fear and not to show any solidarity with the party calling bandh.

In Kozhikkode traders took a march against frequent hartal saying they suffered huge losses during the festive season. We are fed up. We are forced to stand up against frequent shutdowns, said K Sethumadhava, spokesman of the Kerala Traders Association.

According to a recent study a days shutdown costs the state Rs 900 crore in the organised sector alone.

Tourism mandarins are also sore saying frequent shutdowns pinch them badly. Earlier there was a proposal to avoid tourism sector from the purview of bandhs but it failed to yield any result.

Recently a foreigner who starved a whole day in Munnar due to a strike said the state will remain her last choice, a tour operator complained.

We dont fancy calling hartals. But we dont have any choice either. Our workers are being hounded by both, CPI(M) workers and police. They are not even safe in their houses, said BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan justifying the frequent shutdowns. He said violence in Kerala can be stopped in a day if the Marxists allowed functional freedom to others.

After every hartal there is a heated discussion but it ends in a whimper till another party calls the next shutdown.

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BJP chief Amit shah called off his two day visit to Arunachal Pradesh starting Monday, as deliberations gather pace within the ruling party to pick up a candidate for the July 17 presidential election. The party has also postponed its national executive meeting in Vishakapatnam slated for July 14 and 15.

Shah will be in the national capital on Monday and is expected to meet Prime Minister narendra Modi over presidential election strategy.

A meeting of the partys national executive is also expected this week to discuss names if candidates. Shah will tour Arunachal Pradesh after the election, a BJp office bearer said. Shahs trip to Arunachal is part of his 95-day long nationalise campaign to increase BJPs footprints ahead of the 2019 general election.

The notification for the presidential election will be issued on June 15 and the polling will take place on July 17. Counting, if needed, will take place on July 20.
Taking cognisance of a couple being beaten up for opposing the harassing of their daughter in Mansa district, the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission has issued a notice to the SSP asking him to submit a probe report within 15 days.

The incident in Manssa district is against humanity. The panel has taken cognisance of the incident and has asked the Senior Superintendent of Police to submit a probe report within 15 days, chairman of the state SC panel Rajesh Bagha said.

He said no case has been registered following the incident and alleged that the police are trying to suppress the case.

A few days back, the couple were beaten up in their home by miscreants for allegedly opposing the teasing of their daughter.

Following this the girls father was admitted to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh in an injured state.
Unable to implement the plan for an all-India judicial service for lower courts in the country, the Centre has now suggested to the Supreme Court an examination on the lines of the National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical courses to select judicial officers at that level.

Currently, nearly 5000 posts of judicial officers are vacant  nearly a fourth of the total 21000 positions  in the subordinate judiciary. Many of those who are recruited as magistrates go on to serve in high courts.

There have been concerns over the quality of judicial officers in the district courts as well as about the lack of uniformity in their recruitment. The Centre has absolutely no say in these recruitments which are made by the state services commissions and the 24 high courts.

Adoption of the model followed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for conducting the for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses could also be explored, law ministry secretary (justice) Snehalata Srivastava recently wrote to the Supreme Court.

As per the process followed by NEET, the CBSE is responsible for conducting the entrance test, declaration of result and preparation of an all-India rank, Srivastava wrote to the secretary general, SC.

Among the other suggestions in the communication, the government has proposed that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) hold the entrance test. The commission conducts the recruitment exams for the all India services for the bureaucracy as well as for the military academies.

The SC had set up a committee of judges in January to bring about uniformity in the process of recruitment of judges to lower courts. On April 8, government and the judiciary representatives held a meeting on the issue. The meeting was chaired by Justice Adarsh Goel, who heads the Arrears Committee, in which alternative methods of recruitment were discussed.

Seven states, including BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh, have opposed the formation of an all-India judicial service either in totality or in the form proposed by the centre.

The all-India judicial service plan was first proposed in the 1960s but has been left hanging due to lack of convergence between the states, the Centre and the higher judiciary.

The Centre has used the issue vacancies in the lower judiciary to point out that the current system of recruitment is lacking and needs reform.

Law ministry sources point out that a bulk of the pending three crore cases in the country is in the lower courts. Poorer litigants are directly affected by this pendency, it is necessary to fill these vacancies at the earliest, a top official remarked. The letter has been sent to the states for their response, sources said.

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Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday dared Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to hold fresh assembly polls by dissolving the state assembly, if he has faith in the development work done by his government.

They think that the alliance government of Congress, JD(U) and RJD is very powerful one. If it is so, then Nitish Kumar should not wait for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, rather he should dissolve assembly and hold elections afresh. Lotus will blossom here too like in UP, Maurya told a meeting held in Patna to showcase the achievements of Narendra Modi government.

Nitish Kumar has a lust for power. He cant live without power...If he has faith in the work (developmental) done by him in the state, then he should hold fresh assembly polls and test his strength, the senior BJP leader said. There is a complete panic in the grand alliance which is evident from the fact that a host of big leaders from JD(U), RJD and Congress have joined BJP today and this is not going to stop.

Ex-chief minister Satish Kumar, former ministers Samrat Choudhary, Basawan Bhagat, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, ex-MLAs Ganesh Paswan, Dinesh Yadav (RJD) joined the BJP in the presence of Maurya on Sunday.

Maurya, who is on a two-day Bihar visit to showcase Modi governments achievements of past three years, alleged that development had taken a back seat in Bihar as funds released by the Central government were not being spent by the state government.

Growth will pick up momentum if there will be government of one party both at the Centre and state, he said adding that on the pattern of making country Congress mukt, Bihar will be made RJD-JD(U) mukt as the state government believes in Kuch Ka Sath, Kuch Ka Vikas referring to Lalu Prasad and his family embroiled in amassing benami assets.

Maurya, who is also UP BJP chief, said that after registering impressive win in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the party has geared up for grabbing all the 80 seats and 40 seats in UP and Bihar respectively in order to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again in 2019.

Stating that BJP will form government in 2019 by winning over 400 Lok Sabha seats, he claimed that all opposition parties, which have ganged up together against the PM, are preparing for the 2024 LS polls.

Speaking on the occasion, senior party leader Sushil Kumar Modi also appealed people to uproot the Nitish government and asserted that there was no vacancy for Prime Ministers post in 2019.

He said that opposition parties have not cobbled up together to save country, rather they have come together to save their benami properties on which the Narendra Modi government has launched a drive since September 2016.

We will give 40 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in 2019 polls to strengthen the hands of Narendra Modi, he said.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai, Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, Leader of opposition in the state assembly Prem Kumar, former Bihar BJP chief Nand Kishore Yadav and Rajya Sabha member RK Sinha.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) might soon set a time-frame for the detailed hearing of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

However, New Delhi is yet to hear from Pakistan as to whether the former naval officer will be allowed domestic legal recourse, which had been mentioned during the hearing of the case at ICJ.

Jadhav was sentenced by a military court on charges of sabotage and espionage. India moved the ICJ citing violation of the Vienna Convention on consular access by the neighbour as well as immediate danger to his life.

Gautam Bambawale, the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, handed over two appeals from Jadhavs mother  one to the Pakistan Armys court of appeal against the death sentence, and another asking the Pakistan government to free her son -- to Pakistans foreign secretary, Tehmina Janjua, in Islamabad on April 26.

But Indian officials maintain Pakistan hasnt responded to either of these appeals.

We have received no response from Pakistan government on the two appeals, said an official.

Jadhav was sentenced to death on April 10 for alleged involvement in terrorism and espionage. A statement from Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharifs adviser on foreign affairs, said Jadhav had the right to appeal to an army appellate court within 40 days. Pakistans lawyer talked about the legal recourse available to Jadhav when the matter was heard at ICJ.

This was pointed out during the hearing at the ICJ when the Pakistan side was opposing the argument that Jadhavs life was in imminent danger, said an official.

One of the reasons for the immediacy Indian side argued for was the unusual precedence of a military court sentencing Jadhav to death and Islamabad turning down the request for consular access 16 times.

But Pakistan said the case involved national security and charges of terrorism, which is why Jadhav was tried by a military court. Should a Pakistani appellate court reject his appeal, he has two more opportunities to challenge the sentence.

He can file a mercy petition to the Pakistan Army chief within 60 days of the courts decision, and then he can file another mercy petition with the president within 90 days of the army chiefs decision.

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The death of NSCN-K chief SS Khaplang may pave the way for peace talks with the hardline Naga rebel group, bringing about a possible change in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast.

Seventy-seven-year-old Khaplang, who had also led the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW), a conglomerate of several insurgent groups, was instrumental in the recent step up in the attacks against security forces, besides running an arms racket.

He was opposed to a peace dialogue with the Centre.

While opinion is divided on how the insurgency situation will evolve in the Northeast, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said a peace dialogue with the NSCN-K is possible if the organisation gives up violence and secessionist activity.

Khaplang was the main person who was supporting and facilitating insurgency in the Northeast and had a clout. He was a Myanmarese citizen and hence there was a problem. His death will definitely have impact in the region, he told PTI.

Rijiju said the central government will rehabilitate all Indian citizens in the Naga group if they abjure violence.

We appeal to all the Indian Nagas in the NSCN-K to surrender and return to the mainstream. We will rehabilitate them, he said.

Rijiju, however, said he cannot talk about Myanmarese citizens, who are part of the NSCN-K.

Khaplang was a Hemi Naga from Myanmar.

Executive director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies, Wasbir Hussain, said Khaplang was the most important player in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast and he abrogated the peace talks with the central government two years ago.

His death raises questions whether his successors are more belligerent than him, he said.

Hussain said the Nagaland government had some time ago claimed that it was in touch with Khaplang to bring him back to the peace process and the rebel leader had apparently agreed to it provided the talks centered around substantive issues.

Now the question is whether Khaplangs successors will keep that apparent commitment or whether the group will step up attack on the Indian state, he said.

Hussain said it will be also significant to see whether Khaplangs departure from the scene will impact the activities of the rebel umbrella United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia.

This is because Khaplang and the anti-talks faction of ULFA leader Paresh Baruah were the two main movers and shakers of this potent rebel platform, he said.

Editor of the Dimapur-based English daily Nagaland Page, Monalisa Changkija, said it was too early to say whether peace will return to the Northeast following the death of Khaplang.

Changkija said if the NSCN-K leadership goes into the hands of Nagas belonging to Nagaland, there is a possibility of holding peace talks.

Why would Government of India talk to someone from Myanmar. It will take time some time to get a clear picture. It is difficult to predict just a day after Khaplangs death as to how the situation will evolve, she said.

Khaplang, who had engineered many attacks on the security forces including the killing of 18 Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015, died on Friday at Takka in Kachin province of Myanmar.

Khaplang, along with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, had formed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 1980.

However, Khaplang split and formed his own group NSCN-K in 1988 following differences with Swu and Muivah. Swu died in June 2016 in a Delhi hospital.

The faction headed by Swu and Muivah has been carrying on a peace dialogue with the central government since 1997.

Khaplang had also entered into a ceasefire agreement with the central government in 1997, but abrogated it on March 28, 2015.

The NSCN-K was involved in the killing of 18 Army soldiers in an ambush in Manipur on June 4, 2015.

Following the Manipur ambush, the Indian Army had carried out cross-border raids on NSCN-K camps located inside Myanmar killing several militants.

Subsequently in September 2015, the government declared the NSCN-K an unlawful organisation for five years.
PATNA Though looking a little tired, RJD chief Lalu Prasad presented himself at his 10, Circular road western Patna residence here on Sunday to meet hundreds of his supporters jostling to greet their leader with bouquet in hand, on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

It was an eventful day for Prasad, who, in the morning, attended the inauguration of two mega bridges of the state in the company of chief minister Nitish Kumar and younger son cum deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. But by noon, he was heading for home for the celebrations.

I am 70 now. I have come a long way. I will now dedicate myself to the service of the nation for rest of my life, Prasad said at the event.

With exhaustion writ large on Prasads face, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, referred in terms of the longstanding relations between the two leaders as chote bhai, had a heart-warming compliment for bade bhai Lalu. You dont look 70. You look as enthusiastic and passionate as you were in your student days, he said.

This was recall of the time when the two had started their political careers as student leaders and took part in the Jaya Prakash Narayan-led movement in 1974. Kumar was among the first to call on the RJD chief in the morning to extend his greetings on his birthday .

Insiders said the RJD chief was tired after having stayed at Ranchi for the last few days due to his court appearance related to re-opening of fodder scam cases of the 1990s against him, following a recent supreme court verdict.

Prasad and his family members have also been under attack from BJP leader Sushil Modi, who accused them of amassing unexplained property worth Rs 1,000 crore.

However, a highlight of the celebration was the cake cutting ceremony. At 12.30 pm, a bunch of party supporters brought in a big cake, weighing seventy pounds to match Prasads age and layers of cream in green in tune with colour of the RJD flag.

Prasads wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi also came out to greet the RJD chief and accept the greetings from the visitors, including ministers.

I have wished Laluji and may he live for long, said Rabri, adding, no special food preparation had been made for the day. Whatever Laluji would want to eat, we will prepare instantly, she said, with a chuckle.

Prasads elder son and health minister Tej Pratap  who had gone on short trip to Vrindavan for some religious rituals - was also seen extending greetings to his father. Senior leaders like West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress top leaders had also sent their birthday greetings to the RJD chief, source said.

Earlier, there was a small family event at mid night on Saturday, when Prasad cut a cake with his children, younger son Tejashwi and daughter Ragini. Incidentally, his eldest daughter Misa Bharti was conspicuous by her absence as she was out of station.

QUOTE

I am 70 now. I have come a long way. I will now dedicate myself to the service of the nation for rest of my life

Lalu Prasad, RJD president

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Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called off his indefinite fast on Sunday, and announced that buying agricultural produce below the minimum support price (MSP) from farmers will henceforth be treated as a crime.

Chouhan, who had launched his fast on Saturday to seek restoration of peace in the state, decided to break it because no further cases of violence were reported in the last two days. His government had come under widespread criticism in the wake of a farmers agitation that took root in the Malwa region on June 1, and spread to other parts of the state in the days that followed.

Six farmers were killed in the course of the agitation. While five died in police firing on Tuesday, the sixth succumbed on Friday to injuries suffered during a baton charge in Mandsaur.

The MSP directive was part of a slew of welfare measures announced for the states farming community. Though no loan waivers were granted, Chouhan said funds would be lent at zero per cent interest to help farmers repay their debts.

Reiterating his commitment to farmers, the chief minister announced that a land-use advisory service will be launched soon for their benefit. Besides this, he promised a scientific system to evaluate milk prices, agriculturist markets in civic body zones, and kisan upbhokta kendras (farmer-consumer centres) at every panchayat.

Farmers were also assured that their land would never be acquired (for development work) without their consent.

Breaking his fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former chief minister Kailash Joshi, Chouhan said: Peace has been restored in Madhya Pradesh, and no case of violence has been reported yesterday or today.

Besides promising to severely punish the policemen who had opened fire at farmers in Mandsaur, the chief minister assured compensation to those who suffered property loss as the agitation turned unruly. I will not allow violence in Madhya Pradesh at any rate. Such cases will be investigated thoroughly, and guilty parties will be punished. I have dedicated my life to the people of my state. I live for them, and I can also die for them, Chouhan said.

The chief minister had reached out to cultivators on Saturday, meeting 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 panels of big farmers. They reportedly pressed for loan waivers and satisfactory prices for their farm produce.

BJP state president Nandkumar Singh said the relatives of those killed in the Mandsaur firing had asked the chief minister to call off the fast when they met him on Saturday.

The indefinite fast, launched from the BHEL Dussehra Maidan in the state capital, was taken up amid violent protests in western Madhya Pradesh  especially Dewas and Mandsaur districts  over the last 10 days. I wont sit in my office at Mantralaya (secretariat)... I will sit in Dussehra Maidan and do all my (official) work from there, Chouhan had said.

The state government has accused the Congress of making an otherwise peaceful farmers agitation descend into lawlessness. The Opposition party, however, dismissed the charge and dubbed Chouhans fast as nautanki.

The flames of protest had even singed the state capital during the later stages of the 10-day stir, with protesters torching a truck and a few other vehicles on the Bhopal-Indore highway. On Wednesday, they set fire to four passenger buses and 12 other vehicles at Newri Phata in Dewas district.

(With PTI inputs)
Civil activists Swami Agnivesh, Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and scores of other activists were arrested on Sunday in Ratlam on the way to Mandsaur, where they were going to meet members of the aggrieved families of five members who were killed in a police firing.

According to sources, the police arrested the civil activists at a toll plaza late in the afternoon. They were being taken to Jaora in Ratlam by the police.

When contacted, DIG police Ratlam range Avinash Sharma said that in all about 35-40 people had been arrested because they did not listen to the polices request to not to visit Mandsaur as prohibitory orders were issued under section 144 of CrPC.

The arrested activists also include ex-MLAs Sunilam, Kalpana Parulekar and Paras Saklecha, all from Madhya Pradesh.

While talking to media persons immediately after being arrested, Swami Agnivesh criticised the police action and said, We came here for building an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood, not to breach the peace but the police dont want to allow us to meet the families as it didnt want to get its wrongdoings exposed before the world outside.

Yogendra Yadav later tweeted that false news was being spread that the group violated prohibitory orders. Section 144 stops assembly of more than 4. We agreed to go in batches of 4, he tweeted.

We didn't do anything unlawful. Were happy to abide by sec 144. Yet prevented. Served no written orders but detained. https://t.co/VaevcgBDeJ  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

Paras Saklecha said representatives of different parts of India had come with the soil from their respective regions to show their solidarity with the farmers in Malwa region, where the agitating farmers were raising their demands, but the government showed highhandedness and killed six of the farmers during their agitation.

However, DIG Avinash Sharma said, We cannot allow anybody to enter the district as their single word or action can lead to a law and order problem. Things are getting better by the day as far as law and order situation is concerned.

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Attention, attentionWe have not struck any compromise with the government, read a WhatsApp message circulating among Madhya Pradeshs farmers in the first week of June. There is nothing to compromise on...our demands are clear.

Days later, on June 6, western MP exploded. Five farmers were killed in Mandsaur district in police firing while one of the injured died on Friday. Violent protests have erupted in other districts of the state.

The ruling Bharatiya Janta Party and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have accused the opposition of orchestrating the violence. But the unrest roiling the region is the work of young, tech-savvy farmers coordinating their actions over WhatsApp groups.

We have no leaders. Leaders can be intimidated or compromised, said a farmer who participated in the unrest. No one tells us, do this. Our friends only say We are doing this, and we decide if we want to participate.

The implications of this were evident in MP where farmers separated by thousands of kms received messages announcing a protest from June 1.

For the government, the farmer must always wear a muddy, tattered kurta, said Harsh Patidar, a 25-year old farmer. Why cant we live like everyone else?

Several unions joined once the agitation began, but when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs Bharat Kisan Sangh, and a smaller group called the Kisan Sena, struck a compromise deal with the government, the movement gathered steam.

Who is the Kisan Sena to strike a compromise on behalf of MPs farmers? asked another WhatsApp message. On June 10, leave your villages and crowd the citiesBring food and a big stick.

The protestors continued to coordinate their actions even after the agitation turned violent.

They would message each other whenever someone was arrested, said a senior police officer. Then a big crowd would show up at the thana (police station) and pressurise the police to release them.

The administration switched off the internet in west MP on June 6.

National connection

Meenakshi Natrajan, a former Congress MP from Mandsaur, said the movement began a year ago in Kuntamba village in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra when farmers demanded the implementation of the Swaminathan report, which proposes a minimum support price that ensures a 50 percent return on farm inputs.

Message of this resolution spread, mainly through social media, and travelled to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Natarajan said.

This message also moved along traditional farmer networks.

In May 2016, for example, Vijay Jhanvandiya and Vivekanand Mathne, activists in Maharasthras cotton-growing Vidarbha region organised an all-India meeting of farmer associations in Wardha, near Nagpur, where they listed the implementation of the Swaminathan report as a key farmer issue.

The meeting was just one of hundreds of similar meetings organised across India.

Many small farmers associations attended the meeting and made connections with each other, in person and on social media, said Kedar Sirohi, who runs the Aam Kisan Union out of Indore. Each group by itself is small, but together we can now command upwards of 25,000 members.

For the young farmers of Suwasra village, which witnessed some of the worst clashes between police and protesters, membership means inclusion in a particular WhatsApp group.

We are members of the Bharat Kisan Union WhatsApp group, said Gauri Shankar Patidar, referring to a union having a long and storied history in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, but has no presence in MP.

It isnt even clear if the BKU on Patidars WhatsApp group is the same group popularised in the 1980s by UP farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait. The leaders of the WhatsApp faction represent a curious caste mix -- Yadavs, Vermas, Rajputs and Patidars, completely at odds with the way electoral politics in India is traditionally understood.

Farmers wearing jeans

MPs politicians and policemen are yet to understand that the Indian farmer has changed.

The protesters were not farmers, they were wearing jeans and t-shirts, said a senior policemen. This is not how farmers dress. They may be the sons of farmers, but they arent farmers.

In Suwasra village, farmers laughed at this suggestion.

For the government, the farmer must always wear a muddy, tattered kurta, said Harsh Patidar, a 25-year old farmer. Why cant we live like everyone else?
Indian Navy chief Sunil Lanba would leave for a four-day visit to Israel on Monday to further consolidate armed forces cooperation between the two countries, a defence statement said.

During his visit, Admiral Lanba would hold bilateral discussions with Lt. General Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of the General Staff of Israeli Defence Forces, to explore avenues for greater cooperation.

He is also scheduled to meet the Commander-in-Chief of Israeli Navy, Commander of Israeli Air Force and Commander of Israeli Ground Forces, said the Defence Ministry statement.

In addition, the Admiral would visit Haifa Naval Base and other Israeli air force and army establishments.

The Defence Ministry said this visit would further consolidate the armed forces cooperation.

Since the renewal of formal diplomatic relations in 1992, defence cooperation has been one of the main pillars of bilateral engagement between the two nations.

India has been importing critical defence technologies from Israel. In addition, both the armed forces and the Defence Ministry have been cooperating through the medium of staff talks, Joint Working Group and exchange of high-level visits, it said.
AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) camp leader O Panneerselvam on Sunday announced dissolving a seven-member panel set up to hold merger talks with the Amma faction led by chief minister K Palaniswami.

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister made the announcement at a meeting of party functionaries in Chennai. It was received by cheers from supporters, with his senior colleagues rushing to congratulate him.

He said he was being forced to come up with such an announcement as he had been tolerating all kinds of irresponsible statements from the opposition camp.

People from all walks of life, especially women, students and the youth, were now opposing the idea of the merger, he said.

In this situation, the panel that was formed on behalf of our team (to hold merger talks) is being dissolved, he said amid loud cheers from supporters.

Panneerselvams announcement came as no visible progress was made in the proposed talks. Former ministers KP Munusamy (PT) and R Vaithilingam (Amma) led the respective panels, which were formed in April.

Though both sides publicly announced their willingness to hold talks, the Panneerselvam faction remained firm on its demand for a CBI probe into the death of Jayalalithaa and the removal of AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her family members, including deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, from the party as a precondition for talks.

None of the demands had been met, though a section of ministers revolted against Dhinakaran in April, asking him to stay away from party affairs. He had also announced then that he was stepping aside.

However, he had recently, upon release on bail in the Election Commission bribery case, said he would continue with party work.

At the meeting, Panneerselvam took a dig at the Palaniswami camp, saying MLAs were gifted gold, diamond and cash during their stay at a resort at Koovathur near Chennai, prior to the February 18 trust vote faced and won by Palaniswami.

Amma asked for votes for us and people voted. All should remember that, he said.

Panneerselvam had revolted against Sasikala in February, alleging he was forced to make way for her elevation as chief minister.

He later led the breakaway faction of some MPs and MLAs besides senior functionaries.

The faction has since challenged the election of Sasikala as AIADMK general secretary before the Election Commission, while also staking claim for the partys two leaves symbol.
Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhis famous remark in 1985 that only 15 paise of every rupee meant for welfare of downtrodden reaches them has found mention in the judgement of the Supreme Court which said this malaise can be taken care of by Aadhaar scheme.

A former prime minister of this country has gone on record to say that out of one rupee spent by the government for welfare of the downtrodden, only 15 paise thereof actually reaches those persons for whom it is meant. It cannot be doubted that with UID/Aadhaar much of the malaise in this field can be taken care of, a bench of justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said.

Rajiv Gandhi, the youngest prime minister of India, had during a visit in 1985 to drought-affected Kalahandi district in Odisha, had said of every rupee spent by the government, only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary.

In its 157-page judgement, the apex court said Aadhaar can take care of malaise of duplicate beneficiaries reaping the fruits of welfare schemes meant for the genuine deprived class.

The bench said a major hurdle in transfer of the benefits to the genuine needy is the lack of means to correctly identify such persons. Resultantly, lots of ghosts and duplicate beneficiaries are able to take undue and impermissible benefits, it said.

The judges said it is the duty of a welfare state to come out with schemes to take care of needs of the deprived class and ensure adequate opportunities are provided to them.

It noted that due to various reasons including corruption, the benefit of welfare schemes does not reach those who are supposed to receive them.

India has achieved significant economic growth since Independence. In particular, rapid economic growth has been achieved in the last 25 years, after the country adopted the policy of liberalisation and entered the era of, what is known as, globalisation. Economic growth in the last decade has been phenomenal and for many years, the Indian economy grew at highest rate in the world, the bench said.

At the same time, it is also a fact that in spite of significant political and economic success which has proved to be sound and sustainable, the benefits thereof have not percolated down to the poor and the poorest. In fact, such benefits are reaped primarily by the rich and upper middle classes, resulting into widening the gap between the rich and the poor, the apex court said.
Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel will arrive in Udaipur on Monday and is likely to leave for Mandsaur, the epicentre of the farmers stir in Madhya Pradesh, with his supporters the following day.

Patel will be reaching Udaipur via road from Ahmedabad on Monday evening and will take part in a community feast in Namri panchayat. We had asked the police to allow him to address a gathering but it was not permitted, said Gehrilal Dangi, district president of Patel Navnirman Sena.

He has plans to leave for Mandsaur, but whether the administration allows it is uncertain, Dangi added.

He said that the Patidar community in Gujarat and Rajasthan stands in support of the Madhya Pradesh farmers.

Patel desires to meet the agitating cultivators during his visit, Dangi said.

Additional SP Brijesh Kumar Soni said: We have information that Hardik Patel will be in Udaipur on June 12 and take part in a community gathering.

Hardik, who had spent six months of exile in Udaipur after a Gujarat high court order, had returned to his hometown in January this year. He was staying at a former Congress MLAs house during this period

He was released from jail in Gujarat after nine months in confinement in July last year.
The state government has blamed Dalit outfit Bhim Army, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal as well as Muslim leaders associated with the SP and the Congress for the caste conflict and violence in Saharanapur.

In its report sent to the central government on the violence in Saharanpur, in which two persons were killed and over two dozen injured, the state government also blamed the laxity on part of district administration officers for the clash between upper caste and Dalits in Shabbirpur village and other areas.

A home department officer said the central government has sought a report over the month-long tension and violence in Saharanpur. The report was dispatched on Saturday; it blames Lakhanpal for taking out a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar though the route was not approved by the district administration. Members of Muslim community objected to the procession that resulted in the clash between Muslims and Dalit community.

Later, Lakhanpals supporters vandalised the residence of the superintendent of police; the MP was also present.

In a separate incident on May 5, members of the Thakur community clashed with Dalits over a procession to mark the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap. This route was not approved by the district administration as well. During probe, it was found that the SDM had given permission for the procession but he did not inform senior officers. One person was killed in the clash between the members of the Thakur and the Dalit communities in Shabbirpur village.

The report said Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar mobilised members of the Dalit community and instigated them to assemble in Gandhi park despite prohibitory orders. Later he organised a rally at Jantar Mantra in Delhi.

Violence again erupted on May 23 after the visit of BSP chief to Shabbirpur village. One person was killed in the clash.
Chanting of Bharat Mata ki jai reverberated the pandal erected for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to observe his indefinite fast until peace is restored in Madhya Pradesh, as he came out of his make-shift room to occupy the dais on Saturday night.

Utmost care has been taken to ensure that the showpiece event organised to restore beleaguered Chouhans reputation, which got a beating following the death of five farmers in police firing in Mandsaur on June 6, does not go amiss.

Shivraj Singh is serving the state as chief minister since 2005.

Framed pictures of Mahatma Gandhi-- who turned fasting into a potent weapon to achieve a goal-- and BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay occupied prominent place in the background not without a reason.

Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Thaver Chand Gehlot, BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Chouhans ministerial colleagues and several senior party leaders flanked the chief minister, befitting the occasion.

State BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan took to microphone to announce how concerned the chief minister is about the farmers agitation turning violent in the state. Its precisely why he is continuing the fast though there was no violence in the state throughout the day on Saturday, Singh told the gathering.

State BJP office-bearers, including Vijesh Lunawat and BD Shrma, were specifically tasked to see that arrangements at the fasting arena at BHELs Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal dont look grandiose.

No vendor with eatables allowed in the vicinity by police personnel and BJP workers. Heavy police presence to regulate the traffic and ensure security arrangements at par with that of the CMs house was the only giveaway about the significance of the event.

The pandal has two makeshift rooms at the rear end. One bedroom, and the other opening to a drawing room for meeting people.

It is there, earlier in the day, the CM had law-and-order review meetings with chief secretary BP Singh, director general of police Rishi Kumar Shukla and his ministerial colleagues.

State BJP president also announced that the family members of the slain farmers came all the way from Mandsaur (about 375 kilometers north west of Bhopal) to request the CM to end his fast.

He also did not forget to remind the gathering how concerned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah were about chief ministers health.

The fast has its impact, BJP worker Praveen Napit said, There was no violence in the state on Saturday.

Not everyone, though, was convinced. Script has been written. It appears that the CM will end his fast on Sunday, said a party worker.

Some even questioned the need for the wasteful expenditure, when the CM should actually be discharging his administrative duties to alleviate farmers plight from the state secretariat.

Will this fast help Shivraj Singh Chouhan regain his lost ground? was another question doing the rounds, as the CM retired for the night.

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While three organisations of farmers have warned the state government of agitation, there is little the government can do to meet their main demand of implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report as many of its recommendations come under the union governments domain.

One of the main demands of the farmer unions is fixing the minimum support price (MSP) for procurement of crops at 50% above the cost price as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. However, the MSP for crops is fixed by the union government.

While some other recommendations such as improvement in irrigation facilities come under the state governments domain, others such as the import duty issue is also a union government subject. Ours is a sensitive government and we are open to the proposals of farmers, but the MSP is fixed by the union government, said Prabhulal Saini, the state agriculture minister.

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, an organisation of farmers, has announced a statewide dharna from June 15 if the government does not meet its demands. Other farmer bodies including Kisan Mahapanchayat and All India Kisan Sabha have also warned of major agitation in the coming days. Our agitation will be peaceful. We have written to both the prime minister and the state chief minister, but are yet to get any response, said Kisan Mahapanchayat president Ramlal Jat.

The main demands of the farmers are hike in MSP by 50%, pension for farmers aged 60 years or above, loan waiver, hike in milk prices and cash payment for their produce at mandis.

Meanwhile, the Krishi Upaj Mandi in Pratapgarh, which borders Madhya Pradesh, is expected to open on Monday after remaining shut for a week. However, farmers have threatened to shut down the mandi and disrupt the supply of vegetables and milk if their demands are not met by June 15. Pratapgarh is 30 km from Mandsaur, where five farmers were killed in the police firing last Tuesday.

Farmers in Jodhpur are also upset with the state government as the government agencies have not purchased mustard and groundnut crop at the MSP this season.

The Swaminathan Commission report submitted in 2006 states that the major causes of the agrarian crisis are unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of water, technology fatigue, access and adequacy of institutional credit, and opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing apart from adverse meteorological factors. It has also recommended formulation of a National Food Guarantee Act continuing the useful features of the Food for Work and Employment Guarantee programmes.

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The stand-off between the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) over an indefinite strike called by the regional party from Monday is showing no signs of abatement, with both sides refusing to back down.

The Mamata Banerjee government on Sunday issued an order mandating all government offices across Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts to remain open, making it clear that there should be no disruption of life on account of the strike. It also stipulated that every state government employee must report to duty until the strike is withdrawn, and leaves without prior approval or a genuine reason should not be granted.

The GJM leadership challenged the order, stating that any repressive tactic employed by the state government would be met with more intense agitations.

To further tighten its grip on the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the West Bengal government removed the full-time principal secretary of GTA, Ravi Inder Singh, replacing him with North Bengal Development Department principal secretary Barun Roy. Roy will hold additional charge of GTA.

It is feared that this display of political upmanship will be at the cost of the regions law-and-order situation in the days to come. The situation worsened on Sunday morning, when police arrested five GJM activists on charges of sparking violence in the hills a couple of days ago. The Morcha leadership shot back by asking tourists to immediately leave the hills ahead of the indefinite strike.

GJM president Bimal Gurung told HT that the arrest of party activists has only spurred them to intensify their movement for a separate Gorkhaland state. In the coming days, police might arrest many more activists  aggravating an already tense situation. This is why we have asked tourists to leave, he said. The regional party had earlier kept the hospitality and tourism sectors out of the purview of the indefinite strike in view of the ongoing tourist season.

The government, however, is determined to foil the bandh at any cost. The order signed by West Bengal secretary PA Siddiqui clearly states that any leave of absence taken by a government employee without prior approval from higher authorities or documentary proof of incapacitation during this period will be treated as dies mon  which means break of service with no pay for that day. The employee will also receive a show cause notice from the state government, and those failing to respond will be subject to disciplinary action.

The Trinamool Congress, which managed to win the May 14 election in the Mirik municipality, hopes to make a mark in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) polls later this year. The GJM, on the other hand, is desperate to retain its hold over all the 45 GTA seats it won in 2012.

Asok Bhattacharya, CPI(M) legislator and mayor of the Siliguri municipal corporation, said the situation in the hills has worsened due to Banerjees lack of understanding of the Gorkha identity. Though the chief minister was successful in establishing peace in the hills immediately after she came to power in 2011, she then went on to make one blunder after another, he added.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday probably became the first CM to hold a meeting at the district magistrates office that was all decked up for the occasion.

Generally, chief ministers hold review meetings at their office, but Yogis decision to convene the meeting at the DMs office shows his seriousness to tackle issues, sources said.

During the nearly five-hour review meeting Yogi had with police and administrative officials of districts in Lucknow division, law and order was the dominant issue. Other issues discussed at the meeting included scarce water and electricity supply.

Highlights Law and order was the dominant issue in the meeting. Other issues included scarce water and electricity supply. The CM also directed the administrative officials to maintain transparency in the system and asked them to hold weekly or bi-weekly meetings with public representatives of their districts . The CM said by October 2, more than 30 villages should be declared ODF. The chief minister, in a tweet, said he has directed the Lucknow district administration to install LED bulbs at all public places and remove illegal hoardings.

The chief minister also lent an ear to public representatives of various parties, who were present at the meeting, and directed district administration officials to maintain transparency in the system.

He also instructed officials to develop Lucknow in such a way that it becomes a model for other districts in areas of law and order and civic facilities.

Those present at the meeting included SSPs, DMs, CDOs and municipal commissioners from Lucknow, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rae Bareli, Sitapur and Unnao. ADG law and order was also present.

Reviewing law and order, the CM first zeroed in on Sitapur  the district that witnessed a triple murder on June 7, when armed robbers shot dead a 55-year-old grain trader, his wife and son outside the familys home.

Irked over the increasing lawlessness in the district, Yogi pulled up SSP, Sitapur and asked him the reason why the crime graph was high in his district. Not convinced with the SSPs reply, an angry CM sought to know what action he had initiated in the triple murder case. The SSP, however, couldnt give a satisfactory reply to the CM, who said, Law offenders should not be spared.

Read more: Yogi Adityanath govt sets up 339 crime prevention sectors to check sale of illicit liquor

Reviewing water and electricity supply issues, Yogi directed that village pradhans should maintain the hand pumps in good condition in their respective areas.

Yogi also directed the administrative officials to maintain transparency in the system and asked them to hold weekly or bi-weekly meetings with public representatives of their respective districts to redress genuine issues of locals.

He also reviewed the status of development schemes and the open defecation free (ODF) programme.

The chief minister said by October 2, he wanted more than 30 villages to be declared ODF.

The meet that began at 11.30 am concluded at around 4:30 pm and was perhaps the longest review meet Yogi has held so far after taking charge of UP CM.
The cries of amorous swiftlets echo around the dark room, an unlikely gold mine for traders in southern Myanmar who are cashing in on rising demand for the edible nests from Chinas growing middle class.

Dozens of buildings dedicated to the tiny birds have sprung up around Bokpyin in recent years, their grey concrete structures towering over the humbler wooden and brick homes of the towns human inhabitants.

Every morning and evening the air is filled with high-pitched twitterings blasted from loudspeakers that draw thousands of the swallow-like birds home to roost.

A woman riding a motorcycle as swiftlets fly in Bokpyin township, Tanintharyi Region in southeastern Myanmar. (AFP)

Edible birds nests have become one of the main industries in the town, traditionally known for producing the chewable stimulant betel nut as well as rubber and palm oil.

Traders can charge around $2,000 a viss (equivalent to 1.63 kilogrammes) for the tiny nests  more than the average person in Myanmar earns in a year.

We started making man-made bird nests (houses) 10 years ago, said Paing Set Aung, who owns one of the buildings where hundreds of swiftlets make their homes in the rafters.

Initially there was a house where the birds came to roost by themselves. After that, people started to construct man-made bird houses.

Swiftlets make nests in the roof of a building in Myeik city. (AFP)

Most of the tiny white nests, which are made from solidified bird spit, are sold to neighbouring China. Long considered the reserve of the countrys wealthy elite, who ate them during lavish banquets, they are in increasing demand from middle-class consumers.

Today the global edible birds nest industry is estimated to be worth $5 billion, most of it produced in Southeast Asia.

Myanmars exports have surged since 2011  the year the former junta handed over power to a quasi-civilian government. Bird nests are one of the main businesses in Bokpyin, said local Lin Aung, who built his first house five years ago and is now on his third. China is the top buyer of bird nests here.

Caviar of the East

Once across the border, the nests are transformed into one of the most expensive foods in the world. When boiled in water they dissolve into a gelatinous gloop which is then made into desserts or drunk as a soup or a tonic that is said to prolong life and improve strength.

There is little peer-reviewed scientific data showing that nests have proven medicinal properties. Nutritional studies have shown the saliva to be mainly made up of protein, followed by carbohydrates.

In Shanghai restaurants sell the the caviar of the East, as it is known, for hundreds of dollars a bowl.

Many of them cater specifically to women, who believe the nests can help smooth the complexion and make them look younger. The tonic is also said to help during pregnancy  one of Shanghais high-end spas solely for mothers-to-be even has its own restaurant and sells gift bags for as much as $566.

Shoppers can also order the products online, including candied birds nests from Myanmar to be eaten as sweets.

In China, the bird nest has been a really famous and much-loved traditional tonic since ancient times, Zhang Yi told AFP inside her NestCha restaurant. It is mild and a little sweet. It is good for women, the elderly, children and men.

A man displaying a birds nest harvested from swiftlets in Bokpyin township, Tanintharyi Region in southeastern Myanmar. (Ye Aung Thu / AFP)

Growing industry

These luxury products are a far cry from the nests humble beginnings on the islands of Myanmars southern archipelago. To begin with they were harvested on the regions many islands by daring climbers who risked life and limb scaling treacherous cliffs without any safety equipment.

For years the industry was dominated by the Union of Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), a sprawling conglomerate controlled by the military elites that ran Myanmar for half a century.

But, as in much of Southeast Asia, production has increasingly moved into urban centres. Locals in the southern city of Myeik started building houses to attract the birds decades ago, then later production spread to Bokpyin and nearby Kawthaung.

There are now more than 130 houses devoted to the swiftlets dotted around the region, according to the states media. Competition for space in Bokpyin between bird nest producers and tourism developers has seen land prices surge to as high as $75,000 a plot in downtown  on a par with parts of the commercial capital Yangon.

Nests are normally harvested three or four times a year, but traders can collect them often as once a month if they are in need of cash. Producer Aung Kyaw Moe said that, because the swiftlet populations naturally increase as the birds become accustomed to their homes, the industry will only grow in the coming years.

They are like humans because they come and live here after they get to know the place, he told AFP, standing next to his tall wooden bird-house in Myeik.

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Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that the government had brought around 12.5 lakh hectares of erstwhile parched land under irrigation by spending Rs5,500 crore under the Jalyukta Shivar scheme.

Had it not been for various micro initiatives under the Jalyukta Shivar, the irrigation plan would have required Rs30,000 crore, said Fadnavis.

He revealed this during his fifth monthly programme Mee Mukhyamantri Boltoy (Chief Minister Speaking) telecast on three Marathi channels. The programme received more than 18,000 questions through emails, SMSes and social media platforms.

The CM lauded NGOs for contributing Rs560 crore towards micro irrigation projects at the village level under the scheme. The government could free 11,000 villages from the clutches of drought by implementing the programme, he said,appealing farmers to use water judiciously.

We have also chalked out a plan to ensure villages grappling water scarcity do not face problems. Villages should plan and diversify their cropping pattern at least for three years, the CM said, replying to a question by a farmer.

Fadnavis added that farmer should not blindly opt for water-intensive cash crops such as sugarcane.

The government planned to bring 50% of the sugarcane crop under drip irrigation in next few years, Fadnavis said.

We have created 37,000 of the targeted 1 lakh farm ponds. Every eligible farmer will be given a subsidy of Rs50,000 per pond. Farmers can apply online to avail the scheme, Fadnavis told a farmer during the telecast, stressing on water conservation.

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Mumbai

Your wait for respite from surge pricing just got longer  by at least two months. Reason: The state government has extended the deadline of a four-member committee to submit its report by June 30, according to a government notification issued last week. The Khatua Committee has been tasked to review the fares of app-based aggregators, taxis and autorickshaws.

The state government appointed the panel led by BC Khatua in 2016, asking it to set maximum and minimum fares of taxis and autos. Later, the government extended the scope of the report and asked for fare suggestions for cabs and electric taxis which were recently introduced in Nagpur.

Although Khatua, a former IAS officer, did not respond to HTs calls or messages, a source said that the panel had sought more time to finalise report in the wake of extended scope of work. The panel might need another couple of months to complete the report, said the source. The panel has already conducted meetings with various stakeholders, including passengers and drivers in different cities.

The state government approved the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017 to regulate app-based cabs, which included controlling surge pricing. The effective implementation of the new rules would not be possible until the government capped the fare.

READ

Surge pricing: Heres how Maharashtra will regulate Ola and Uber cabs

Ola, Uber strike: Surge pricing returns, passengers pay extra for app-based cab rides

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A Colombian national was arrested with cocaine worth Rs36 crore by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officers from a South Mumbai hotel on Saturday. Freedy Trujillo Renteria, 32, stuffed the contraband in 12 packets and hid them inside two laptop bags. He had come to the Mumbai from Panama via Addis Ababa.

Renterias arrest comes just three days after a Bolivian national, Melger Claudia, 38, was arrested with cocaine worth Rs21 crore at the international airport. She too had arrived from Addis Ababa. The NCB suspects two work as carriers for the same handler. Renteria is a trainee commercial pilot.

Renteria was paid handsomely for the job. His tickets and accommodation were arranged by the handlers, Kumar Sanjay Jha, NCB zonal director for Mumbai and Goa region, who headed the operation, said.

Both the carriers were unaware of the person who was supposed to collect their consignments and were waiting for further instructions.

The carriers were kept in different hotels and worked discreetly. They never booked pre-paid cabs and the hotels were booked online by their handlers, said Jha.

Investigations revealed that Renteria had visited the country three times in the past and the agency is probing whether he smuggled drugs during his pervious visits. The NCB is using a translator to communicate with Renteria, as he speaks only Spanish. Probe is on to trace involvement of local drug dealers as well. He was booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Last week, the Bombay high court, which is hearing petitions by south Mumbai residents against cutting of trees for the SEEPZ-Colaba underground Metro, asked the complainants to be pragmatic. Mumbai should have developed a metro network 30 years ago, the court said, adding that the opposition to the project was further delaying the work.

In February, when residents of Cuffe Parade complained about the extra trees that would be felled because of changes in the construction plans for the Metro, this column had debated the issue.

Mumbais existing suburban railway lines and roads are saturated and cannot transport more passengers; the city needs the Metro.

The latest order from the courts does not end the stalemate. An environment tribunal is hearing complaints that the Metros car yard in Aarey Milk Colony is being built on 33 hectares of forests. Stalin Dayanand of Vanashakti, the group which has objected to the car yard inside Aarey, said there were other options available.

The car shed can be built at Back Bay (at the southern terminus of the Metro), but Coastal Regulation Zone rules will allow only a public utility project. The Aarey site can also be used for commercial purpose, said Dayanand.

Tree cutting is tolerable if they are replaced. One theory says that cutting trees helps the environment  if the axed trees are replaced by new saplings. Plants absorb carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis which uses sunlight to convert the gas into carbon that is stored in the wood. This process is called carbon sequestration where the heat-trapping gas is permanently taken out of the air, remaining there till the wood rots or is burnt. A growing plant absorbs more carbon than a mature tree.

The high court has said that the agency building the project  the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL)  and the municipal corporation  which gives permits to cut trees  should plant trees to compensate for the loss of green cover. Environment groups are sceptical whether this will be done.

In the Metro dispute, the petitioners have said permissions to cut trees were given in a reckless manner, with fully-grown giants falsely shown as young trees. The government agencies have also modified construction plans which will need the felling of more trees. MMRCL plans to compensate for the lost trees by planting saplings in Wadala though residents of south Mumbai would like the replanting or relocation in the same area.

Trees are allowed to be cut at every building site by the municipal corporation after the construction company gives an undertaking to plant saplings at another site. This is a scam; the companies rarely plant new trees, said a south Mumbai resident.

Biju Augustine of Aarey Conservation Group, which has been campaigning to preserve the 1,200 hectare Aarey as a forest, said that government agencies were yet to fulfill their commitments in infrastructure projects that have been completed.

Augustine said that about 500 trees were to be planted along the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road  a 10 km route connecting Mumbai western and eastern suburbs  to make up for those cut for the project. The road was completed in 2012, but most of the trees are yet to be planted. Most of the (tree) boxes are empty even today; that is our experience, said Augustine.

Even when trees are planted as compensation, it is not done in the right way. Saplings planted in 2009 for the (Chembur-Wadala) monorail have only reached a height of three feet today because they were placed under the canopies of large trees, said Augustine.

Godfrey Pimenta of the NGO Watchdog Foundation, which filed objections to the cutting of over 500 trees for four Metro stations around SEEPZ, Marol and the airport, said that the municipal tree authority asked MMRCL to use technology that did not require the removal of too many trees. But there has been no response from MMRCL, said Pimenta.

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The Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister for labour, employment exchanges, urban employment and poverty alleviation Swami Prasad Maurya on Sunday promised generation of 70-80 lakh jobs for the youth.

Maurya held a meeting with Noidas labour department officials and labour union representatives in a guest house in Sector 39 around 10am on Sunday. He assured daily wagers that the UP government will ensure that the Central governments social security schemes benefit them.

After the meeting, Maurya addressed a gathering of UP traders community in a banquet hall in Sector 110 located along the Noida expressway.

As per our promise before the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, our government will work to generate around 70-80 lakh jobs so that youth can get employment. As there are not enough government jobs to employ a large educated or uneducated population, we will focus on industrial development with an aim to create jobs, Maurya said.

The minister said that the UP government will encourage industrialisation to create jobs in the state.

Our government is creating a conducive environment for industrialists or entrepreneurs to easily set up industries and contribute to the economy. Our focus is on industries because it has huge a potential for creating jobs, Maurya said.

The minister also assured the trader community that the UP government will provide better law and order conditions so that trade and industry can flourish.

Maurya is a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader who quit former UP chief minister Mayawatis party before the 2017 assembly polls. During his visit, he did not speak a word about the BSP but alleged that the Samajwadi Party nurtured criminals in the state.

Providing safety to women is our priority and our government has taken tough action against the guilty. The last government sheltered criminals but we will send criminals to jails so that proper law and order can be maintained, said Maurya.

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A businessman has been allegedly cheated of Rs 60 lakh by a trading company in Kimberley, South Africa.

Rahul Anand, 29, is a resident of Preet Vihar in Delhi and works with his father Raj Kumar Anand who owns a garments export business in Noida Sector 63.

Rahul, a fashion and technology graduate from Amity University, said that after listening to the speech of Narendra Modi on July 8 last year, he made up his mind to invest money in agriculture products in South Africa.

Rahul spoke to his father and planned to import pulses from South Africa. He put a demand for 2,000 metric tonnes of red lentils, black gram and chickpea on an e-commerce site.

Police said a trading company based in Kimberley offered him supply at lowest rates. Rahul said he contacted its officials and he was told 1 metric tonne would be supplied for 150 dollars.

The process was initiated in middle of January this year and he was told to make advance payment. He immediately transferred money to their account with a bank in Johannesburg, police said.

After a few days, they sent Rahul samples of pulses through courier from Johannesburg. Rahul and his father were given documents of the shipment, which were later found fake. Rahul started inquiring about the delivery of shipment but they kept asking for money, said superintendent of police (city), Arun Kumar Singh.

Police said that from January end to March 22, Rahul allegedly transferred Rs 60 lakh to the trading company on the demand of its co-director, identified as one Raymond.

But Rahuls order never reached him. He contacted them again on April 30 and they told him his shipment will reach by May 3. The delay made him suspicious and he searched the phone number on Google, which showed it was spam.

On April 30, I called them again and inquired about the shipment. I was told on May 3, the shipment will reach a port in Mumbai. The man identified as Oliver told me that I have to pay Rs8 lakh to their man in Mumbai for its release from the port. I did not make any payment and told my father about it, said Rahul.

Rahuls father Raj Kumar Anand took up the matter with the Uttar Pradesh police on its official Twitter handle on May 3. Within 20 minutes, Raj Kumar Anand was contacted by the officials of Cyber Cell Noida and he went to them and explained the sequence of events.

We received all details and sent him to Phase-3 police station where a case was registered. Subsequently, a team started working on it. A team traced the location of the man who was told to take Rs8 lakh from Rahul. His location was Nala Sopara in Maharashtra and he was arrested on May 8, Arun Kumar Singh said.

The man was identified as Charles Naemeka alias Devon, 37, a Nigerian national. He was brought on transit remand to Noida on Sunday for the investigation of the case.

Police said Naemeka had come to Mumbai in November 2008 on a 30-day tourist visa. Phones, laptops and SIM cards were recovered from his possession.

Singh said, The process has been initiated to freeze the amount in the bank. This matter will be taken up with the embassy for redressal. The complainant is also planning to take up the matter with home ministry and external affairs ministry so that investigations are initiated by Interpol.

Rahul told cyber cell officials that Naemeka was not ready to meet him face to face and had a chat with him on Skype for the payment. Cyber cell officials said Naemeka had given him two bank accounts for the transfer of Rs 8 lakh.

The details of chats had been taken by the cyber cell and investigations are going on into the matter.

Raymond was my friend on Facebook for two years and I do not know him personally. We have two mutual friends and he texted me on Facebook to take money from a client. I do not know that he was doing an illegal business, Naemeka said.

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The district police is going to take suggestions from the Delhi Police on measures taken by them to control crime against women following the December 16 gang-rape incident. The move follows recent incidents of gang-rape, including the Jewar robbery and alleged rape incident.

Delhi Police had taken several measures and implemented strategies to ensure womens safety in the capital, including the formation of women and youth groups at the grassroots level to address the issue and support distressed women.

A womens helpline was also launched.

We are planning to approach the Delhi Police to get their suggestions on womens safety. After the December 16 gang-rape incident, they had taken a number of steps to ensure womens safety. These suggestions may help us in maintaining law and order in our area, Suniti, superintendent of police (SP), rural, said.

Also, the police are waiting for schools and colleges to reopen in order to hold meetings with teachers and students to boost the comfort level of citizens with the police. The police will also spread awareness on the safety concerns.

We have a number of strategies to address concerns regarding womens safety, Suniti said.

We want to develop a connect with women residents and visitors so that they dont feel hesitant in registering a complaint or getting in touch with the police. We are waiting for educational institutes to open to spread awareness on womens issues, the SP said.

On Sunday, the SP and other police officers met the security guards of various residential societies to involve them in the fight against crime.

The police personnel directed the guards to inform them about the public places where alcohol consumption is prevalent in the area.

One problem we are dealing with consumption of alcohol in public places, which is a possible threat to womens safety, she said.

Incidents of drunk men harassing women who are passing by have been reported several times. We want to stop such incidents and will be keeping a tab on people who drink in public places such as parks or on roads in cars, Suniti said,

Senior police officers are also asking police stations to take womens complaints seriously, on priority, and not make them wait.

Soft skills are needed to deal with women in trouble. We are asking our personnel to ensure that no woman faces any trouble while approaching the police. We have sent such circulars to police stations earlier as well but will circulate it again, the officer said.
Residents of Sector 51 have claimed that they have been receiving muddy and black water supply for the last one month and the problem is yet to be fixed despite repeated complaints to the Noida authority.

For the last one month, we have been receiving a pale, muddy, and at times, black water during the supply hours. Even the pressure of the water supply in the given time slot has been extremely low over the last few weeks, Sanjeev Kumar, the general secretary of Sector 51 residents welfare association, said.

The official water supply hours to sectors of Noida by the authoritys Jal Department, in two shifts, is from 6am to 9am and 6pm to 8pm. However, residents say that they receive water only from 7am to 8am and from 7pm to 8pm, for one hour, every day.

After half an hour of water supply, we have been noticing that muddy water flows through our taps and the bucket looks pitch black. After some time, the mud settles down and then the colour turns to muddy yellow. We have never received clean, transparent water over the last week, said Srinivasulu, a resident of F block in Sector 51.

The RWA members claimed that they had complained to the authority officials a month ago after which prompt action was taken. However, the condition has not changed even after repair work by the authority.

In March, the authority had stopped the supply for two days claiming that they were scrubbing and cleaning our water tank. Nearly 20 days ago, they had cut the line claiming that they intended to flush the impurities present in the pipeline. However, there was no improvement in the water quality, said Kumar.

Residents have demanded a permanent solution to the problem of muddy water supply, as they are concerned about ill effects on their health. The Noida authority should not compromise on our health as toxic muddy water can be dangerous in the long run. We demand a permanent solution, Kumar said.

However, MD Pandey, the project engineer of Jal Department has refuted the allegations saying that the water supply has been muddy only for two to three days.

We have been providing groundwater to the residents of Sector 51 for the past two-three days and that is the reason behind the muddy supply. From today (Sunday) evening, we will start supplying Gangajal from the Ganga canal in Masuri, Dasna (Ghaziabad), to the sector. We will also flush out all impurities, again, this (Sunday) evening, Pandey said.

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Just a month after India said it will consider medical visas for Pakistani patients only if the application is backed by a recommendation from Pakistan Prime Ministers foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj cut the red tape to help a Pakistani infant get medical treatment.

The parents of four-month-old Rohaan, a congenital heart patient, were facing difficulty in procuring a medical visa for his treatment in India due to the strained relationship between two countries. The family lives in Lahore.

However, Rohaan will be visiting India on Monday Sushma Swaraj intervened in the case and arranged visa for the Pakistani family.

He will be treated first by a paediatric cardiologist for a hole in his heart and will later undergo a heart surgery at Noida-based Jaypee Hospital. The doctors at Jaypee confirmed that the family will arrive on Monday.

We are thankful to the minister for ensuring that the family gets the visa at the earliest. Keeping aside the tensions between the two countries, the minister did a noble act of thinking about the childs health. We, at Jaypee Hospital welcome the baby and family, said Dr Manoj Luthra, CEO, Jaypee Hospital.

It was a tweet of a distressed father which caught the attention of Swaraj who promptly assured him of help to treat his son. Rohaans father Kanwal Saadik took to twitter on May 24 after trying all possible help to procure visas for the family.

Why my bud suffers for medical treatment!! Any answers Sir Sartaaj Azeez or Ma'am Sushma?? pic.twitter.com/p0MGk0xYBJ  Ken Sid (@KenSid2) May 24, 2017

On May 31, Swaraj replied to the request, assuring that Rohaan wont be a victim to the strained relationship between two countries.

No. The child will not suffer. Pls contact Indian High Commission in Pakistan. We will give the medical visa , said Swaraj on Twitter.

No. The child will not suffer. Pls contact Indian High Commission in Pakistan. We will give the medical visa. pic.twitter.com/4ADWkFV6Ht https://t.co/OLVO3OiYMB  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 31, 2017

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The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has extended the date of paying land dues for builders and allottees to July 31 from the earlier deadline of June 15, after which defaulters can get their remaining dues rescheduled.

YEIDA will process the application for rescheduling due payment on payment of 5% of the total land due by the party concerned. Till now, the authority used to reschedule payments without any down payment from defaulters.

For example, a builder with a Rs100 crore due will have to deposit Rs5 crore along with the application for rescheduling due payment.

The rescheduling, under the project settlement policy, was started to give builders an opportunity to settle their dues between January and June. However, officials said that a majority of the defaulters did not opt for the scheme due to which the authority has extended the deadline and given defaulters the last chance to settle their dues.

We have extended the June 15 deadline so that the builders and land owners can take benefit of this scheme and we can also recover our land dues. We need to recover Rs3,300 crore in land dues from defaulters, including builders, said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, YEIDA.

The list of defaulters mostly comprises of builders, industrial plot owners and institutional plot allottees.

Jaypee Group alone has a land due of Rs1,990 crore. Apart from this, other builders need to clear Rs600 crore. Remaining defaulted amount needs to be cleared by allottees of smaller plots, the CEO said.

YEIDA has a debt of around Rs3,200 crore, in loans from banks and government agencies. Officials said that they want to improve the financial condition of the authority by clearing the loans.

As per the existing policy until now, the land was allotted to builders on payment of 10% of the total land cost. The builders and allottees were supposed to pay the remaining due in instalments over eight years. However, the authority has now changed this policy.

We have changed this 10% policy. Now a builder or other allottees will have to pay 40% (of the total land cost) at the time of allotment of the land and the rest in instalments over the next eight years, the CEO said.

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More than two-and-a-half months after the crime, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the Lonavala double murders of two engineering college students, claims to have cracked the case after the arrest of one person on Sunday.

Sarthak Wakchoure, 22, and Shruti Dumbre, 21, students of Sinhgad Institute, Lonavla, were murdered on April 3 with their hands tied behind their back at an isolated spot in Lonavla.

According to senior officers, the police arrested Asif Shaikh, a criminal on record, and are looking for another suspect. Shaikh has confessed to killing the two students, the police said.

Shaikh has some minor cases of theft against him, Vishwas Nagre Patil, special inspector general (IGP), Kolhapur range, told Hindustan Times .

Patil said teams have been dispatched to catch the other suspect.

The police has arrested one suspect, Asif Shaikh and is on the look out for another suspect. (HT PHOTO)

Senior officers said the intention behind the murders was robbery. with Shaikh confessing to having killed the two students. Another officer said the suspects also tried to sexually assault Dumbre. When she raised an alarm, the suspects murdered both of them, the police said.

The police claimed to have cracked the case based on call record details.

The police found both the victims mobile phones had been stolen.

They tracked the suspects using the mobile tower location.

A student of mechanical engineering at the Sinhgad engineering college, Lonavala campus, Wakchoure was a resident of Rahuri in Ahmednagar. Dumbre, from Otur in Pune, was pursuing a course in computer engineering at the same institution. They were both final year students.

According to his friends, Wakchoure was an artist aspired to serve the country by joining the defence forces.

He always wanted to join the Indian Army and had recently appeared for an exam. At the core though, he was artist, who made two documentary films, said his friend.

With classes coming to an end and college gathering just ending, the two had planned an outing. Dumbre, who used to stay on the college campus hostel, had told her friends that she was going out with a friend and would return late.
An 8-year-old with 150 stitches and a pet dog owner booked in case that could land him in six months in jail. This is the when your pet dog  a Pit Bull Terrier that is named Panther  goes out of control and attacks children.

A day after the Panther attacked the child Shiv Kumar near his house in Nayagaon on Friday evening, life has stopped at his house as his family comes to terms with the trauma. The Class-4 student of Government Model School, Sector 10, Chandigarh, kept screaming for help for five minutes as the dog kept dragging and biting him on the body. The boy tried to save himself taking shelter under a four-wheeler, but the dog followed him.

Nearby shopkeepers attacked the Panther with sticks, to no avail. The attack ended only when the dog owner, Jaswinder Singh, 42, a local kabaddi player, reached the spot and controlled his pet. On Friday, he was booked under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals). If convicted, he could face jail of up to six months or fined up to Rs 1,000 or both. Shiv was left with deep wounds on his thighs and left side of the chest.

Familys life stops, residents traumatised

My son has not slept since last night. He kept shivering in fear. He has high fever, said Subhash Chander, father who kept hugging the child to comfort him. The child is so traumatised that he cannot even speak. He now shivers even at a bark.

The dog is threat to the residents around, so action should be taken against the owner. The dog should be taken by the government authorities concerned, Kumars mother Reena Devi said. It is frightening. My child could be next, said Sarita, a vegetable seller in the area.

The Pit Bull Terrier that attacked the child. (HT Photo)

Same dog involved in earlier incidents

Even as nobody was willing to come on record, area residents claimed that the Panther had attacked three people  two shopkeepers and a ragpicker  over the past year and Shiv was the fourth victim. No complaint was lodged.

The dog owner Jaswinder Singh has been booked under Section 289 of the IPC, said Alam Vijay Singh, DSP SAS Nagar.

Denying that his dog had previously attacked anybody, Jaswinder Singh, said, I was not at home at the time of the incident. I am ready to bear the treatment expenditure of the boy. He added that he wanted to dispose of the dog, but his children insisted that they wanted to keep the pet.

If found guilty, owner could be jailed for six months

The dog owner, a kabaddi player, has been booked under Section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals). If found guilty, he could face jail of up to six months or fined up to Rs 1,000 or both.

Where to go if this happens with you

In case of dog bite, treatment is available at civil dispensaries, in Sector 19 and Sector 38 from 8am to 2pm. One can also start treatment from Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16 and the civil hospitals in Sector 22, Manimajra and Sector 45. PGI and GMCH-32 also offer treatment. In Panchkula and SAS Nagar, civil hospitals start treatment.

Cost of treatment

The injections that contain the antidote are of two kinds. The animal serum costs about Rs 50, whereas the human serum is priced at Rs 20,000. The vaccination that costs Rs 150 at the dispensary, including injections of tetanus, anti-rabies vaccine and immune globulin serum, cost up to Rs 3,000 at private clinics.
Punjab governor and UT administrator VP Singh Badnore with city MP Kirron Kher unveiled a plaque of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage site at the Capitol Complex on Saturday. It was on July 17, 2016, that the complex, a masterpiece of Le Corbusier, was included on the World heritage site list. The UT administration had vying for the status since 2007.

The buildings at the Capitol Complex include the Open Hand monument, Punjab and Haryana high court, Tower of Shadows, Geometric Hill, the legislative assembly and the secretariat. The Capitol Complex, also designed by Le Corbusier, represented India for the heritage status.

The Capitol Complex, spread over more than 100 acres in Sector 1, is the prime manifestation of Chandigarhs architecture designed by Le Corbusier, with the Shivalik hills in the backdrop. Those who want to see the Capitol Complex can visit the tourist information centre in Sector 1 to register for a tour. One needs to carry an identity proof such as a licence or a PAN card.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan performing at the event. (Anil Dayal/HT)

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, sons perform

Padma Vibhushan Ustad Amjad Ali Khan along with his sons Amaan and Ayaan presented an electrifying recital at Capitol Complex on Saturday. His performance marked the celebrations on inclusion of Capitol Complex as UNESCOS World Heritage site in July 2016. Born in Gwalior, Khan belongs to the sixth generation of Bangash lineage of musicians.
Be it the journey of a bored small town girl in the Estonian film, Cherry Tobacco, the bizarre truth of the life of Polish painter Zdzisaw Beksinski in The Last Family, or the story of how a father yearns for a sons forgiveness in The Judgement youre in for a cinematic treat. Gear up for the 22nd edition of the European Union Film Festival, and take your pick from a bouquet of 22 films, which represent the best of European cinema.

A still from The Judgement, from Bulgaria.

To connect across geographies and cultures with ordinary people in extraordinary situations, and to realise that in some way we are all one family, has been the exhilarating effect of all great art, and film is no exception, says Tomasz Kozlowski, ambassador of the European Union (EU).

A scene from the film, Kollektivet (The Commune), from Denmark.

The festival is curated to allow Indian movie viewers to have a taste of European cinema. And for the first-time, EU has collaborated with Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is part of our effort to promote cultural ties between India and the EU countries through the medium of films. We are also organising a masterclass with two European film directors, which will help inspiring Indian filmmakers, says C Senthil Rajan, director, DFF.

A poster of the French movie Three Hearts.

The workshop will be conducted by two young film directors from Estonia  Katrin Maimik and Andres Maimik  whose film Cherry Tobacco will open the festival in the Capital, this year. The workshop is scheduled at 11am on June 10.

The festival willstart in Delhi and travel to Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata, Ranchi, Coimbatore and Puducherry till 3 August 2017.

CATCH IT LIVE What: European Union Film Festival 2017 Where: Siri Fort Auditorium Complex, August Kranti Marg When: June 9 to 14 Timings: 11am to 6pm Nearest Metro Station: Green Park on Yellow Line

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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The US first couple has hardly gotten off to a conventional start. Now, after a period spent apart, its in for a very public test: life together in the Petri dish that is Washington.

President Donald Trump, for instance, all but ignored First Lady Melania -- left clambering out of a limo in a sumptuous, light blue designer dress and bearing a goodwill gift -- as he bounded up the White House steps in January to greet President Barack Obama and wife Michelle on Inauguration Day.

More recently the Slovenian former model appeared to swat away an outreached presidential hand as the couple walked along a red carpet upon arriving in Israel last month. The moment, captured on video during Trumps first and very high profile overseas visit as president, quickly went viral.

But now it seems its time for the uber-wealthy Trumps -- separated for months by political triumph and a parenting choice -- to come together under another fancy roof.

After staying in New York in Trump Tower since the election so their young son Barron could finish the school year, 47-year-old Melania Trump and the boy are reportedly moving to Washington next week to take their place in the White House.

The Washington-news web site Politico, quoting people familiar with the familys plans, reports that Melania and 11-year-old Barron will move in on June 14, the day Trump turns 71. CNN also said the move will be next week, but did not specify a date.

The reported move comes amid the seemingly endless barrage of self-inflicted wounds, damaging Russia-related news leaks, vicious White House infighting and other turmoil that have hobbled and distracted the Trump presidency since it set up shop in the executive mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20.

Normally, when a new US president takes over, his family is an automatic component of the transition.

Michelle Obama and the then young presidential daughters Malia and Sasha were instantly, albeit discreetly in the case of the girls, a part of the new US presidential hearth.

But Melania is the first First Lady in modern history to delay her arrival in Washington after an election win.

During the week at least, Trump has been living alone in the vast, private quarters of the White House as he fends off the flood of reporting over Russia having allegedly meddled in the 2016 US election with the aim of helping him defeat Hillary Clinton.

His familys arrival is not going to change much other than to give his marriage an air of stability, Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who specializes in first lady studies, told Politico.

The move helps to give the impression that the president is currently in a stable, solid marriage and that his home life is under control, she was quoted as saying.

Melania low key so far

Michelle Obama was very active politically on issues such as education and womens empowerment during her husbands two terms in office.

Articulate and personable, she became wildly popular and even generated talk that she might make a good presidential candidate someday. She has said she is not interested.

But Melania Trump has mostly kept a low profile since her real estate mogul husband became president.

Arguably, her biggest public outing came last month when she and Trump visited the Middle East and Europe on a trip that the White House later praised as a resounding success for the political and diplomatic neophyte president.

Trump has said that among other achievements he rallied Arab support for fighting the Islamic State group.

Critics say the high point of the trip was that the presidential couple did not commit any major diplomatic gaffes as they visited the centers of the Islamic, Judaic and Roman Catholic worlds, then NATO.

Trumps wife did stumble badly during the presidential campaign when, in a speech to the Republican National Convention in July, she made remarks that at times mimicked the wording and themes of a speech Michelle Obama gave in 2008 at the Democratic convention.
Beijing has linked last weeks Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit with the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying President Xi Jinpings visit to Astana will give impetus to the ambitious connectivity project that aims to link China with Europe and Africa.

The attempt to link the SCO to BRI  in a post-summit speech by foreign minister Wang Yi and in state media articles  could make new member India uneasy.

New Delhi became a member of the Beijing-led SCO at the end of the summit last week but that was preceded by the high-profile boycott of the Belt and Road Forum just last month. India cited sovereignty issues over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)  a key component of the BRI  passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as the reason behind the boycott.

India was easily the most notable absentee at the forum, attended by nearly 30 heads of state and hundreds of international delegates, where Jinping pledged billions of dollars for projects under the BRI.

But the attempt by China seems to be to link all major mechanisms and initiatives under the BRI, including the SCO, a security bloc launched by Beijing in 2001.

Foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that Xis trip to Kazakhstan added impetus to the building of the Belt and Road besides strengthening the community of shared future and opens up broad prospects for peace and prosperity in the region

This is Xis first foreign visit after he presided over the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and also a major diplomatic activity of China in the Eurasia region, Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

This tour embodies the Silk Road Spirit, which features peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, Wang said, referring to two components of the BRI  the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road.

Xi first talked about the Silk Road Economic Road in Kazakhstan in 2013.

Four years later, when Xi returned to Astana, the initiative has been translated from a proposal into actions, and from a concept into practice, Xinhua wrote.

The state media also quoted scholars linking the two.

It is necessary for the SCO to further strengthen economic cooperation, and Central Asian countries welcomed the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which gives more impetus to the economic cooperation among SCO member states, Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua.

While China holds the rotating chair of the SCO, it needs to make more efforts in promoting and implementing the concept of common economic development, which is the core of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Alexey Maslov, head of the Oriental Studies Department at the Russian Higher School of Economics Research University.
Priti Patel, the only Indian-origin cabinet minister in the Theresa May government, was on Sunday retained in her role as international development secretary in the minority government as last Thursdays elections continued to create waves in Brexit-bound Britain.

Patel, who won from Witham with more votes than in the 2015 election, has been a leading figure in the Brexit camp, controversially promising relaxing of immigration controls for India and Commonwealth countries after leaving the European Union.

May made the new appointments in the context of continuing reverberations inside and outside her party over the election outcome that saw her party losing majority, forcing her to look for support from the Democratic Unionist Party based in Northern Ireland.

May was called a dead woman walking as she continued to face anger from inside and outside her Conservative Party, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn saw another election coming soon to sort out the political situation in Brexit-bound Britain.

Sunday morning television saw leading lights across the political spectrum expound on the difficult political situation in the country, with former chancellor and Tory leader George Osborne calling May a dead woman walking.

There was much speculation about a leadership challenge to May from foreign secretary Boris Johnson, but he dismissed it as tripe. That, however, did not stop Westminster chatter about how long May will continue as the party leader and prime minister, with some giving her time until the annual party conference in September.

Now a newspaper editor, Osborne said: She is a dead woman walking and the only question is how long she remains on death row(David Cameron) and I spent years getting back to office, winning in seats like Bath and Brighton and Oxford and I am angry when we go backwards and I am not afraid to say that.

Corbyn said it was quite possible that there will be another election this year or early next year: We cannot continue like this, he said, while his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said another election was inevitable.

There were already signs of problems for the Conservatives in reaching an agreement with Democratic Unionist Party to keep the minority government of May in power. There were differing versions on the ongoing talks in Belfast from 10 Downing Street and the DUP office.

A key issue is rooted in the history of trouble-torn Northern Ireland politics: the British government in London has been neutral in the conflict between the nationalists and unionists there.

DUP is one of the unionist parties, and the Conservative Party joining hands with it to remain in power in London disturbs the historic neutrality of London, most evident in the signing of the Good Friday agreement of 1998, which ushered in a period of peace.

If Mrs May depends on the DUP  Ian Paisleys party, not the old Official Unionists, who used in the past to work with the Tories  to form a government, it will be impossible for it to be even-handed, Jonathan Powell, chief negotiator of the Good Friday agreement, wrote in The Observer.

The other parties in Northern Ireland will know that the unionists can pull the plug at any stage and hold the government hostage, he added.

The uneasiness within Tory ranks over the yet-to-be-reached deal with DUP was evident when defence secretary was at pains to explain on live television that their support would be relied upon only on major issued such as defence and economy; the Conservative Party did not agree with DUPs stand on issues such as gay marriage, climate change and Brexit, he added.

May continued to be the target of attacks not only of pro-Labour newspapers but also of those who supported her and her party during the election campaign. Sunday headlines were no different from the trenchant ones a day after the election results were declared.

The Observer said in an editorial: Discredited, humiliated, diminished: May has lost credibility and leverage in her party, her country and across Europe. Where there was respect, there is ridicule; where there was strength, there is weakness; where there was self-assurance, there is doubt.

She looks too weak to deliver her manifesto, too vulnerable to tackle dissent and too enfeebled to lead Britain. It is impossible to see her having the influence, authority or credibility to serve her country, it added.

A cabinet meeting of the minority government is expected to be held on Monday. After retaining five incumbents in major cabinet level positions on Friday, May is likely to make further appointments in her new government early next week.

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Pakistan's civil society reacted with horror over the decision of an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to sentence a man to death for sharing blasphemous content about Islam on social media.

On Saturday, ATC Judge Shabir Ahmed announced the sentence for the 30-year-old accused in Bahawalpur.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had arrested the accused, who belongs to the Shia community, last year in Bahawalpur.

The accused, who hails from Okara, had allegedly posted derogatory content on Facebook about prominent Sunni religious figures as well as Prophet Muhammad and his wives.

A case was registered against him on behalf of the State at CTD Multan police station under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks etc, in respect of the Holy Prophet) and Sections 9 and 11w of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which deals with whipping up sectarian hatred.

The sentence is the harshest among cybercrime related penalties handed down so far in the country.

Lets hope the case is overturned in a higher court, remarked journalist Omar Quarishi.

Most observers say the decision to award a death sentence on posts on the social media will have far reaching implications for Pakistan's media freedom.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused James Comey of cowardice by leaking accounts of his meetings with the President, days after the ex-FBI director testified that Trump sought to derail the Russian probe.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible, Trump wrote in an early morning tweet. Totally illegal? Very cowardly!

Sacked FBI chief Comey delivered his bombshell allegations at a Senate hearing Thursday, saying in his sworn testimony that he had asked a friend identified as a Columbia University law professor to release a memo of his conversations with the President to the press.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

Comey said he had hoped releasing the information via the media would prompt the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Russia probe, a ploy that ultimately proved successful.

He branded the president a liar and said Trump urged him to abandon the investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, an allegation Trump has denied.

On Friday, Trumps former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski criticised Comey as not man enough for having leaked the memo via his friend rather than doing it himself.

Former FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo)

He gave his notes to a Columbia law professor because he wasnt man enough to give the notes directly to the media when he wanted them out to the media, Lewandowski told NBCs morning show Today.

Though Trump has lambasted Comey as a leaker, he also claimed total and complete vindication following the ex-FBI chiefs testimony, focusing on Comeys confirmation that Trump was not personally being probed.
As Donald Trump continued to attack sacked FBI director James Comey on Sunday, former US attorney Preet Bharara came to the defence of his friend, saying he had himself felt a sense of deja vu listening to latters testimony at a Senate hearing on Thursday.

In a tweet, Trump called Comey cowardly for releasing notes of their conversations, which the president and his legal team have described as leaks which they intend to challenge legally. Others, such as Bharara, have disputed that characterisation, arguing they were not classified documents.

Though Bharara conceded Comey might have not have chosen the best way to release his notes, he had felt a little bit like deja vu about Comeys interactions with Trump and how his firing played out, tracking closely with his own just a few weeks before.

Bharara was asked by the Trump administration to put in his papers along with 45 other US attorneys on March 10. He refused and was fired the next day, which he had himself announced on Twitter.

In his first interview since then, the high-profile Indian-American told ABC there had been a series of unusual phone calls to him from Trump  two of them from him as president-elect and the third as president  in which it appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship.

The calls in December and January were, as Bharara described them, to shoot the breeze and check in. He went on to say they seemed similar to a call Comey has said he got from the president once when he was about to board a helicopter  to check in with him.

The third and the most consequential of them was on March 9. The call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call. And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people, Bharara said, who had looped in the office of the attorney general.

In reporting the phone call to the chief of staff to the attorney general I said it appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship, Bharara said, adding, Its a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president.

Comey has said Trump had asked him to drop the investigation into his then NSA Michael Flynns Russia links in a similar one-on-one conversation after the attorney general, the chief of staff and the vice-president had left the Oval Office at end of a meeting.

Attorney general Jeff Sessions is likely to be asked about it when he testifies this week before the Senate intelligence committee, which is conducting one of the multiple investigations currently on in Russian meddling in US elections in 2016 and alleged collusion by Trump campaign aides.
French President Emmanuel Macrons party and its allies have won the biggest share of the vote in the first round of legislative elections on Sunday, according to official figures published by the interior ministry and based on a partial count of votes.

Macrons Republic on the Move party (LREM) and its allies were set to win over 30% of the vote, the ministry said shortly after voting stations closed.

The figures did not include votes from Frances biggest cities and such early counts tend to be less precise than pollsters estimates, which put Macrons party close to 33%.

Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) and its small centrist ally MoDem are set to garner 390 to 445 seats in the 577-member National Assembly.

The emergence of LREM little as a start-up movement just over a year ago has triggered a major shift in the political landscape in France. The ministry said the abstention rate on Sunday was a high 51.4%.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is lamenting catastrophic low turnout in the first round of parliamentary elections dominated by Macrons new centrist party.

Runner-up in Frances presidential election, Le Pen urged patriotic voters to turn out en masse in the second round June 18 and boost her partys small presence in the National Assembly. She hopes to be a strong opposition force, but her party is only projected to hold about a dozen seats.

She also slammed the electoral system as unfavourable to smaller parties like hers.

The head of the conservative Republicans party, Francois Baroin, also urged voters to turn out in larger numbers next week to help ensure that Macrons party faces a robust opposition.

A French government junior minister said voters want to give a large majority to newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron, following partial results showing his new centrist party is clearly leading the first round of Frances parliamentary elections.

Mounir Mahjoubi, junior minister in charge of digital affairs, said on BFM television that voters have acknowledged that the first weeks of Macrons presidency have been exemplary and have allowed the French to see there is a path that suits them.

Mahjoubi himself is running for a seat in Paris as a candidate with Macrons Republic on the Move party.

Polling agencies project that Macrons party will win a large majority in the second round June 18.
A woman in the UK was allegedly pushed to the ground and her hijab ripped off amid a spike in hate crime incidents following the two terror attacks by Islamists that claimed 30 lives.

The assault took place in Fengate, Peterborough, after the woman got out of her car and crossed the road with her three-year-old daughter when she was pushed from behind and knocked to the ground.

She had her hijab pulled off and thrown towards her. No words were exchanged in the assault, but police have confirmed they are treating it as a racially or religiously aggravated hate crime, Peterborough Telegraph reported.

The male offender was described as white, tall, of medium build and wearing a black hooded top with the head pulled up.

A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the victim was shaken by the attack but otherwise uninjured.

The assault comes amid a spike in hate crime incidents in the UK following a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and an attack in London by three terrorists, who drove a van into pedestrians and then went on a stabbing spree, killing eight persons before being shot dead.

Anti-Muslim crimes in the British capital increased fivefold since the London attack, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last week, warning that police would take a zero-tolerance approach.

Following last months concert bombing as well, the number of hate crime incidents reported to police in Manchester had doubled.

The kind of incidents reported included a bomb threat received by a Muslim school, racist graffiti and a niqab-clad woman being told she should not be wearing the Islamic outfit.

Also, a Muslim woman was spat on while a teenaged Muslim girl taunted by a passer-by who said, when are you going to stop bombing people.
British foreign secretary Boris Johnson has denied plotting to topple Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been weakened by the Conservative Partys disastrous election result.

But Mays hold on power remained tenuous Sunday as she tried to finalise a deal with a small Northern Irish party to prop up her minority government.

Former treasury chief George Osborne  who was fired by May last year  called her a dead woman walking, and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was ready to contest another election at any time.

Johnson, one of the Conservatives most popular politicians, tweeted that an article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper headlined Boris set to launch bid to be PM as May clings on was tripe.

I am backing Theresa May. Lets get on with the job, he said.

The Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in Thursdays election. May called the snap vote in a bid to strengthen her mandate ahead of exit talks with the European Union. Instead, she has left Britains government ranks in disarray, days before the divorce negotiations are due to start on June 19.

Mays party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before the snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. Labour surpassed expectations by winning 262.

Many senior Conservatives say May should stay, for now, to provide stability. But few believe she can hang on for more than a few months.

I think her position is, in the long term, untenable, Conservative lawmaker Anna Soubry told Sky News. I just dont see how she can continue in any long-term way.

To stay in power, the Conservatives are seeking support from Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party. Mays office said Saturday principles of an agreement had been reached, but the two sides later clarified that they are still talking.

We have made good progress but the discussions continue, said DUP leader Arlene Foster.

Downing Street said it hopes to finalise the deal next week, after Parliament resumes sitting.

The two sides are looking to form a confidence and supply arrangement. That means the DUP would back the government on confidence motions and budget votes, but its not a coalition government or a broader pact.

The alliance makes some modernising Conservatives uneasy. The DUP is a socially conservative group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and had links to Protestant paramilitary groups during Irelands sectarian Troubles.

Conservative lawmaker Nicky Morgan told ITV that she could support a confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP, but any closer deal would be a step too far.

The government does not have long to ink a deal. It is due to present its platform for the next session in the Queens Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on June 19. The speech will be followed by several days of debate and a vote  and defeat would almost certainly topple the government.

Corbyn said Labour would try to amend the Queens Speech to include its own commitments to end austerity and boost public spending. Without the amendments, he said Labour would try to vote down the speech.

I dont think Theresa May and this government have any credibility, Corbyn said, predicting that there could be another election within months.

Im ready for another general election, Corbyn said. This is just the first step.
Iran said its security forces on Saturday killed the mastermind of a twin attack on Tehran that left 17 people dead this week, as security was tightened around the country to prevent other possible plots.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings and gun attacks on parliament and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republics founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on Wednesday.

The mastermind and main commander of terrorist attacks on the parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed today by the security forces, intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Alavi said that in the last month the intelligence ministry had identified and crushed a terrorist team almost every day but had not publicised it to avoiding spreading fear among the public.

Iranian authorities have also arrested seven people it suspects of helping militants involved in attacks, a judiciary official said on Saturday.

Ahmad Fazelian, a provincial judiciary official, said the seven, suspected of providing support for the terrorist team, were detained in Fardis, about 50km (31 miles) west of Tehran, the judiciarys online news agency Mizan reported.

On Friday, authorities announced the arrests of 41 suspects in connection with the twin Tehran attacks.

Separately, the head of the judiciary in Fars province said seven people were detained in the southern Larestan area for possible ties to Islamic State, Irans ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.

Tehran police said the car the attackers used on Wednesday was discovered on Saturday in the city centre.

The terrorists first went by car to the mausoleum and after dropping two of them off, went to the city centre to attack parliament, the police said in a statement published on state media.
Iraqi forces repelled an offensive launched in the early hours of Saturday by Islamic State on the Sunni town of Shirqat, south of Mosul, during which 38 military and civilians were killed and about 40 more wounded, security sources said.

Islamic State lost 24 fighters in the attack, which ended around midday, the sources said.

About half the dead in the city and its surroundings were civilians and the rest members of the Iraqi armed forces and Sunni tribal fighters.

Authorities declared a curfew in the region between Mosul and the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Islamic State lost Shirqat to U.-backed Iraqi government forces and tribal fighters last year. Its fall paved the way for the offensive on Mosul, the militants de-facto capital in Iraq.

Eight months into the US-backed offensive to take back Mosul, all of the city has been retaken by Iraqi government forces except an enclave by the western bank of the Tigris river.

The militants continue to control pockets south and west of Mosul, as well as swathes of territory near the border with Syria and inside Syria.
Facebook has introduced a rainbow emoji to honour the LGBT Pride Month -- celebrated every year in June -- and show support to their community and cause.

As Pride celebrations begin around the world, Facebook is proud to support our diverse community, including those that have identified themselves on Facebook as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender or gender non-conforming, the company said in a press release.

Over 12 million people across the globe are part of one of the 76,000 Facebook Groups in support of the LGBTQ community.

The social networking giant noted that more than 1.5 million people plan to participate in one of the more than 7,500 Pride events on Facebook this year.

Facebook has also added Pride-themed frames to its camera, and wished users Happy Pride on their News Feeds.

Users might also see a special animation on top of their News Feed if they happen to react to Facebooks message.

Facebook is also letting users in the US to raise money for a non-profit or people who support the LGBT cause.
A Pakistani journalist who wrote extensively on the plight of the countrys religious minorities was hit by a car in Lahore.

Rana Tanveer, chief reporter of The Express Tribune, was hit by an unidentified vehicle on Friday, with the accident occurring days after his house was vandalised and he was warned of dire consequences for writing about the Ahmadi community in Pakistan.

Tanveer underwent surgery for a fracture in his pelvic bone on Saturday. His recovery may take months and he has expressed fears for his safety as well as that of his family.

Last week, when he and his family returned to their home in Lahore, they found their house vandalised, with graffiti threatening him. He had moved to his current home one and a half years ago so that his daughter could attend a local school. Three months ago, his landlord began receiving calls from an unknown number advising him to evict Tanveer.

After the vandalism, Rana went to the police to report the threat but his complaint was not formally registered. On Friday, coming back from a meeting of the Punjab Union of Journalists where the attack on his home had been condemned by all present, Rana Tanveer was riding his motorcycle when a car came and hit him from the back.

Tanveer says that his work on exposing the poor treatment meted out to the countrys religious minorities like the Ahmadis and the Christians has made him a target of extremists. Talking to the media on Sunday, he said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said some months back that the rights of religious minorities would be secured under his administration in a speech to members of the Hindu community.

Rana Tanveer says that his case is a perfect opportunity for the prime minister to demonstrate his governments commitment to safeguarding the rights of both journalists and religious minorities by taking immediate action.
A prominent faction of Madhes-based parties in Nepal on Sunday decided to boycott the local polls and announced a general strike ahead of the elections scheduled for June 28.

The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, a coalition of seven parties led by Mahanta Thakur, announced fresh protests saying all doors have been shut for meaningful talks with the government on amending the Constitution to meet demands of the Madhesis.

Local general strikes will be held in Madhes, Tharuhat and Limbuwan focusing on the nomination days--June 13 to 16--and a national indefinite general strike will be organised from June 24.

Another faction of Madhes-based parties led by Upendra Yadav and Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar have already decided to take part in the elections.

A meeting held by the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) with RJP-N earlier on Sunday ended inconclusively, leading to the latter's decision to go for protests.

The ruling alliance called it unfortunate and urged the RJP-N not to resort to protests.

This election is going to be an illegitimate one, said Thakur, claiming his coalition was forced to announce protests after the government failed to fulfil their concerns. Since the dialogues also failed to yield any positive results, we have decided to begin struggle from Monday.

Thakur said the government failed to fulfil the commitments such as declaring those who died in the Madhesi agitation as martyrs, withdrawing fake cases, releasing those languishing in prisons and compensating those injured during the anti-Constitution protests.

Cabinet has taken initiative to fulfil some demands but they were not implemented yet, he said, adding the government also failed to endorse the amendment proposal registered in the Parliament and to increase the number of local administrative units in the plains on the basis of population.

The protests would begin from Monday with torch rallies at different parts of the country including district headquarters.

The RJP-N will padlock all elections offices throughout the four provinces on June 16 on the nomination day and hold rallies in districts across Tarai region.

On June 19, rallies would be organised at all the district headquarters of four provinces and from June 20 to 28, the coalition of Madhesi and ethnic groups would disturb all election-related activities.
Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed efforts to counter terrorism and extremism in a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, state news agency SPA said.

The two also reviewed bilateral efforts to fight financing of terrorist organisations as part of efforts to achieve security and stability in the region, the agency said.

Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies cut ties with Qatar last week, accusing it of support for Islamist militants and over its ties to Iran.
At least three policemen were killed on Sunday in Pakistans restive Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan allegedly by the Islamic State militant group.

The motorcycle-borne attackers targeted a police check post in the provincial capital of Quetta.

Unidentified motorcyclists opened fired at a police check post in Gen area of Chakki Shahwani on Saryab Road of the provincial capital, resulting in the death of three police personnel, police said.

One policeman died on the spot while the other two succumbed to the bullet wounds in the hospital, an official said.

Police launched a manhunt to nab the culprits who fled after the incident.

A local affiliate of Islamic State militant group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred after security forces killed 12 militants in a three-day operation at the start of this month in Balochistans Mastung area.
Wazira rocks her tiny baby pleadingly but he is inconsolable, crying for the milk his mother can neither produce herself nor buy in a camp near the Iraqi battleground city of Mosul.

Hes been crying since the moment he was born. He only stops when hes so exhausted that he falls asleep, the 24-year-old Iraqi mother said, sheltering her baby Rakan from the scorching sun with a piece of white cloth.

I cannot breastfeed him and I feel hes never satisfied. Theres no good food to eat and no money to buy baby formula, she said, sitting outside one of the clinics in Khazir camp.

The camp southeast of Mosul, where Iraqi forces are deep into the eighth month of a massive operation against the Islamic State jihadist group, is crammed with around 32,000 people displaced from the war-torn city.

Conditions in Khazir, one of the largest -- but not the worst -- displacement camps around Mosul are difficult. Temperatures soaring past the 110-Fahrenheit (43-Celsius) mark add to Rakans discomfort.

Sometimes I pound the biscuits they give us at the camp into powder and mix them with water to try to feed him by force, said the young mother, her face partly covered by a black veil.

A displaced Iraqi child sits at the Hasan Sham camp for internally displaced people on June 10, 2017. (AFP)

A few yards (metres) down the queue, Marwa is also waiting for her turn to take her eight-month-old daughter to a doctor.

The 25-year-old mother, who fled west Mosul with her family two weeks earlier, already had no maternal milk to give Maryam five months ago.

These past few months made me very tired, we kept moving from house to house until we finally managed to get out, she said. I was sick and couldnt feed her anymore.

As elite forces retake the city one neighbourhood at a time, civilians often used as human shields by the jihadists stay cooped up in their homes -- at risk from shelling and dwindling food supplies -- until their area is retaken.

The line of haggard-looking mothers holding their wailing babies curled around the clinic run by the International Medical Corps, a US-based charity.

Stress

Neshmeel Diller, one of the doctors at the clinic, said she examined up to 80 women in a single day.

Seventy percent of them complain of their inability to breastfeed and of their children always being hungry and crying all the time, she said.

The psychological condition of these mothers and the hormonal changes caused by anxiety and depression, the lack of privacy and physical comfort as well as of balanced nutrition... all these factors converge to affect their ability to breastfeed, Diller said.

She added that the pressure of life in the camp often meant that mothers would lose the patience to repeat their attempts.

A displaced Iraqi woman carries a child at the Hasan Sham camp for internally displaced people on June 10, 2017. (AFP Photo)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), another medical charity, said it was also monitoring the impact of high lactation failure rates on nutrition among the displaced child population.

More than 800,000 people have been forced from their homes since the start of the Mosul operation last October.

Most experienced traumatising living conditions under the ruthless rule of IS for close to three years, risked their lives trying to flee and now face a very uncertain future.

Stress is a major factor affecting the mothers of our little patients. Stress affects breastfeeding more than a mothers own nutritional status or physical health, MSFs medical coordinator in Iraq, Evgenia Zelikova, told AFP.

We do notice an increase in malnutrition among babies whose mothers are no longer able to breastfeed, she said.

This is because formula milk is often hard to come by or extremely expensive in besieged areas of Mosul and in the camps.

The UN Childrens Fund said it had noticed a spike in malnutrition among the most recently displaced children and had begun distributing a peanut-based supplement among affected populations.
A US-backed Syrian opposition force said Sunday it has captured a northwestern neighbourhood of the Islamic State groups de-facto capital of Raqqa the second district to fall in their hands in days after the group launched a wide offensive to gain control of the extremists de facto capital.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said its fighters captured the neighbourhood of Romaniah after two days of fighting that left 12 IS gunmen dead, including a commander known as Abu Khattab al-Tunsi.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters now control Romaniah and the eastern neighbourhood of Mashlab. The fighters have also entered Raqqas western neighborhood of Sabahiya and the industrial district in the east.

Raqqa was among the first cities captured by IS, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the groups most prominent leaders. The battle for the city is expected to be extended and bloody, and could mark a major turning point in the war against the extremists.

IS has been fortifying its positions in Raqqa for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from warplanes. A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circle the city.

SDF fighters began their offensive on the city of Raqqa on June 6 under the cover of airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the city was subjected to intense airstrikes and shelling by the SDF and the US-led coalition releasing a video that showed wide destruction in one of the neighbourhoods. The video also showed severely wounded men and children being rushed to hospitals.

In southern Syria, Jordan said its border guards have killed five suspected infiltrators approaching the kingdoms border from Syria in a pickup truck and two motorcycles.

The military said in a statement that the incident took place near the spot where Jordan, Syria and Iraq meet.

Jordan has been on alert for possible infiltrations by IS extremists who seized territories in Syria and Iraq in 2014. In recent months, Jordan expressed concern that US-backed offensives against IS will push some of the militants closer to the kingdoms border.

The army said nine vehicles approached Jordan from Syria in the past three days, and border guards opened fire to hold them back. The army says that in the latest incident, troops fired on a pickup truck and two motorcycles, killing five.
In bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 8th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and 2nd Mission Innovation (MI) the Indian delegation and US delegation found some common ground on coal and water issues.

There is a lot of progress in clean coal technology in India and the U.S. Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, who led the US delegation, seemed keen to tap into that.

The high-level meetings at CEM and MI bring together 24 member countries and the European Union that account for 80% of the worlds energy consumption, about 90% of global energy investments and 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, to share knowledge and finances to accelerate the transformation to clean energy.

The U.S. was the one that pushed for the formation of the CEM that was launched in 2010 and hosted the last CEM in San Francisco. Despite some apprehensions about the role US would play after Donald Trumps announcement that the country would withdraw from the Paris agreement, the presence of Perry indicated that US is still keen to take advantage of the changing energy scenario and to try and push its agenda.

There was hardly any mention of the issue, climate change, Indias Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is leading the Indian delegation, said. They are pushing for clean coal.

Clean coal, natural gas and nuclear energy seemed to be the preferred sources for the US which tried to highlight their role in transforming the energy sector in closed-door meetings with other countries.

Earlier there was not so much of interest, Harsh Vardhan said of the US and said that in his interaction with Perry he told the US energy secretary, now since you have taken interest we can collaborate on the development of clean coal technology.

Clean coal technology is used in supercritical thermal plants are the next generation of coal power plants that are low on emissions and highly efficient in power production.

The other area of interest that emerged in the bilateral talks was: water assessment and quality management.

We talked about how to promote more research collaboration on the availability of water and its potability, Harsh Vardhan said. We already have significant collaboration with the European Union.

The CEM works as a multilateral body through initiatives and campaigns that member countries can join. There were four new campaigns launched at CEM 8 and India has decided to join two of them: Electric Vehicles and Advanced Power Plant Flexibility.

These areas will be the focus of activities in the coming year.

These areas are very important for us, a highly ranked official from the power ministry said. We need to integrate renewables into the grid, but for that thermal power plants have to be flexible.

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) also met on the sidelines of the summit. We talked about exploring the possibility of data sharing on energy at the BRICS meeting. Russia was pushing that. It is not agreed we are still talking about it, the power ministry official added. We are also exploring the possibility of working together in the gas sector.

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For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration has asked a drug making company to stop its sale of painkillers due to its opioid content. This decision was made following reports suggesting that the drug was responsible for causing opioid epidemic and after health experts suggested that its adverse effects are more than its benefits.

The Food and Drug Administration has asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to stop the sales of its painkiller, Opana ER. The narcotic painkiller has been an element that led to the opioid epidemic and reports suggest that people continue to abuse it as it has been found that people crush the tablets and snort it to get high, Washington Post reported. Moreover, the risk associated with the consumption of the medicine is much higher than the benefits that it provides.

This move comes after the March hearing where the safety of the drug was weighed and a majority of health advisors suggested that it should be moved off the shelves. The United States regulatory body, FDA is worried as Opana ER has been a reason of the HIV and hepatitis C epidemic in Indiana.

In a statement, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the FDA Commissioner further stated, "We are facing an opioid epidemic - a public health crisis, and we must take all necessary steps to reduce the scope of opioid misuse and abuse. We will continue to take regulatory steps when we see situations where an opioid product's risks outweigh its benefits."

It must be mentioned here that this is the first time that the FDA has issued such directives to a drug maker due to the opioid content of its medicine. Endo Pharmaceuticals has also issued a statement stating that the company is reviewing and evaluating the options.

Notably, according to reports, more than 2 million Americans are addicted to prescription opioids. These prescription painkillers are much cheaper options of getting high and more than 91 deaths are reported due to overdose on these painkillers every day.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Kate Middleton is said to be one lucky princess when she married Prince William most especially when the media revealed her relationship with the prince last 2003. But unknown to everyone, Kate is not actually called Kate behind palace doors and her family doesn't call her like that.

Ever since she attended St. Andrews with Prince William, her friends and classmates don't call her Kate but Catherine. Even with the "Kate Middleton effect" because of her influence in fashion, Prince William's wife is being called as Catherine.

According to Mail Online, people across the globe call the Duchess of Cambridge as Kate but to her close friends and family, she is Catherine. Despite her grand royal wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey last 2011, Kate Middleton is still very much known as Kate most especially the public and the press.

Obviously, for those who do not know Kate Middleton very well, they call her that. With this, some even wondered if the Duchess of Cambridge even likes to be called Kate or she prefers Catherine. Some reports also claimed that people in the palace call her Catherine.

The Duchess of Cambridge was born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton to an upper-middle-class family. The Kate Middleton is known by her friends and family in Buckleberry as Catherine even if the people and the media call her Kate.

When Kate attended St. Andrews to study art history, UK News reported that her friends called her Kate which then became her nickname. The press and the media also took advantage of this and started to call and address her as Kate until now.

Moreover, it was also reported that Kate Middleton is being called "Cath" by her brother-in-law Prince Harry. When she was asked if this confused her, she just said that she answers to most things though. It was even speculated if the name "Cath" was just a thing in the royal family.

Lastly, it was also revealed that Kate Middleton will only be called Catherine, Princess of Wales once William will become the Prince of Wales if his father takes the throne. Then the moment William becomes the king, Kate will be addressed as Her Majesty Queen Consort Catherine VI.

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Pearland mayor Tom Reid handily defeated opponent Quentin Wiltz to continue to lead a city that has experienced significant growth and changes during a tenure totalling 22 years.

Reid walked away with the election after garnering 59.37 percent of the vote - a trend that proved to be a continuation of Reid's early voting totals, during which the mayor secured 62 percent of the vote.

Voter turnout was at a record high for Pearland, bringing in nearly 8,000 residents for the runoff alone and Reid, 91, remains one of the oldest and longest-term city elected official in the region.

Reid could not be reached for comment.

Reid and Wiltz, a 36-year old project manager for Stupp Coatings Inc, had rallied supporters heading into the runoff as the city faces issues that include mobility improvements and the Blue Ridge Landfill, from which residents in the Shadow Creek Ranch subdivision have reported strong odors attributed to the site.

Wiltz maintained that the city had not done enough to address the issue while Reid, who retired after a career at NASA, asked residents to write letters to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality demanding faster results.

Wiltz was one of two young challengers to Reid going into the May 6 election, where more than 11 percent of registered voters went to the polls, a significant increase from the 2016 May election, where only 4.32 percent of voters turned out.

Saturday's runoff election culminated what had been a sometimes contentious race that some characterized as a challenge to an entrenched older guard in a city that has not only tripled its population since 2000, but which continues to experience growing diversity.

Reid, who is a former city council member, served as a planning and zoning commissioner and has been chairman of the Brazoria County Drainage District No. 4, concentrated his campaign on issues that meet the demands of continuing growth.

Reid is a member of the Houston-Galveston Area Council, an organization which coordinates the planning of mobility and transportation issues in the region. He says his membership has been instrumental in at least 10 Pearland roadway projects.

Reid said he believes his experience at Johnson Space Center from 1965-97, where he was part of a team that supervised and managed missions including Gemini, Apollo

Space Shuttle program, helped shape his vision for the city.

Reid has said he embraces the city's diversity.

In Pearland, the mayor is the city's spokesperson and presides at City Council meetings and votes only in cases of a tie on a council.

Reid has been mayor since 1995 and also served in the position from 1978-80.
Other than perhaps jabbing a sibling with a sharp object, the worst thing a kid could do in our house growing up was tell a lie. I can still hear my father explaining, as I sobbed uncontrollably, that the really bad thing I just did to my little sister wasn't nearly as bad as the lie I told to cover it up.

Eventually, it sunk in. Hitting, yelling, refusing to share - all of that could be forgiven. But lies are more powerful, more dangerous, because they erode trust.

That lesson has stayed with me. It was with me when I left a note a couple of months ago after I scratched a car outside my daughters' school. And it was with me Thursday, as I tuned in to watch fired FBI Director James Comey testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Like many Americans, I was lured by the political theater, the historic significance, the train wreck appeal.

And also by truth.

I wanted to see somebody tell the truth. I wanted the ceremony and the spectacle of it, too. The raising of the right hand. The chorus of clicking cameras. The nationally televised vigil. The bumping of the regularly scheduled episode of "The Price is Right."

I wanted to see a bunch of powerful people in their Sunday best gathered in a crowded room under the auspices of seeking truth. I wanted to see a tall man with an expertly dimpled tie speak in complete sentences, look people in the eye, and answer the majority of questions without obfuscation, pivoting or an insupportable load of bull.

In this "post-truth" era of American politics, as it's been called both in jest and in despair, I needed to see at least the appearance of somebody in Washington giving a damn about truth. I needed to know that regular Americans - at home, on cell phones, playing hooky from work at a bar serving cocktails called "Paid Protester" and "Frozen Covfefe" - were paying attention to their government. And this week, for three hours, we did.

What Comey said is well known by now, and I won't rehash it here. But one moment that struck me came near the beginning, when he responded to President Donald Trump's disparaging comments of him and the FBI - that the organization was in disarray, poorly led and lacked confidence in leadership.

"Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey said. He later cited a conflicting reason Trump gave in a TV interview for firing Comey: the FBI investigation into the ties of Trump associates to Russia.

Everybody lies

It occurred to me that this is what sets Trump apart from other presidents. The nonchalance of his lying. Most of the time, his falsehoods aren't woven carefully, or woven at all. They are random shreds, casually strewn as he moves along.

Not that intricate lies are morally acceptable. But at least the liar shows enough concern for truth, and for his audience, that he's taken the care to craft them.

I imagine Richard Nixon put a lot of thought into his deceptive Watergate narrative that he was not "a crook." Bill Clinton went above and beyond, even parsing the word "is" in denying an affair with a White House intern.

The point is, lying - for most of us - takes a good reason. It's more complicated than I understood as a child. Everybody lies, good folks and bad. We do it on purpose, and without thinking. We do it to protect people we love and to avoid awkwardness. We do it to make the holidays magical and to avoid exercising.

But most people draw a line somewhere - somewhere short of lying about the big stuff, short of hurting somebody, short of eroding sacred trust.

Where is the line with Trump? Indeed, where is the rhyme or reason? His lies aren't told out of cover-your-butt desperation. Many seem absurdly pointless.

Why, why, why?

If you win an election fairly, as Trump did through the electoral college, why concoct a story about "illegal" voters depriving you of the popular vote? Why claim thousands in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks when they didn't? Why say there's no system to vet refugees when there is? Why repeat that America is the highest taxed nation in the world when anybody with a smartphone can just Google it?

And why call an intelligent, well-respected man with lots of intel on you and your associates a "nut job?"

Then, after he testifies under oath that you tried to thwart a criminal investigation, where do you get off tweeting that you've been "vindicated?"

We may never know the answer. The emerging theory, based on the earlier work of philosopher Harry Frankfurt, now a professor emeritus at Princeton, is that Trump is not so much a classic liar as a bullshitter. Frankfurt wrote that BS was a greater enemy of truth than lies are.

While honest people respect truth and liars acknowledge its authority, in as much as they're trying to persuade others into accepting their creative version of it, Trump appears not to care about truth at all. He'll use it, if it serves his purpose, and drown it out with more noise - alternative facts - if it doesn't.

Look, I understand why people voted for Trump, at least part of his appeal. It was a desert-parched thirst for authenticity that drew them to a mirage of straight talk. All they got was talk.

Corrosive style

Whatever Trump's motivations, his style is corrosive in a country built on handshake deals, and to the kid in me who grew up with the adage about honesty being the best policy.

We disagree on every other policy today. But Americans must hold tight to this one. It comes before immigration, the environment, health care or anything else. We can't allow a bedrock of our culture to be attacked and disregarded to the point of irrelevance.

Truth matters. And at least for one glorious morning last week, it was center stage.
School leaders will have more discretion in deciding how to punish some students after the Houston ISD board unanimously approved sweeping changes to the district's Student Code of Conduct.

Some students accused of first-time drug or alcohol infractions or other offenses will be offered alternatives to the district's Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, or DAEP. Previously, students with any drug- or alcohol-related offenses were automatically sent to an alternative school program.

The decision comes as school districts across the country reconsider how they apply discipline amid concerns that kicking kids out of their regular classrooms has far-reaching effects both on their academic performance and on their lives after school. A 2011 Texas A&M University study found that students who were either suspended or expelled were nearly three times more likely to be referred or sent to a juvenile justice facility within a year of their original discipline.

Houston ISD Trustee Anne Sung, who used to teach in the district and in the Rio Grande Valley, said the changes strike a good balance between protecting student safety and helping teachers keep order without having an overly punitive system. She said some changes came from students, who proposed an incentive system that would see students sent to DAEP returned to their regular schools earlier if they maintained good attendance and grades. Others came from teachers who insisted that some offenses that could compromise safety remain cause for sending students to the DAEP.

"When a student is found with drugs for the first time, many students under the previous system were forced into the DAEP. Often they were good kids just doing what teenagers often do unfortunately, and those unlucky enough to be caught lost 45 days of instruction," Sung said. "Now they will be treated and referred to addiction treatment if necessary. It addresses root cause of the problem and makes sure students can still learn."

In the 2015-2016 school year, 2,700 students in Houston ISD were sent to the DAEP, according to the Texas Education Agency. That's a little more than the average number of students sent to DAEPs between 2010 and 2015, about 2,600 each year. Data for the 2016-2017 school year is not yet available.

Under the newly approved student code of conduct, students accused of first-time drug or alcohol offenses would be offered substance abuse and awareness classes, as well as community-based interventions, as alternatives to being sent to a disciplinary alternative school.

Reclassifying infractions

Those currently in DAEP for a variety of reasons could be offered summer-school courses, weekend activities, community projects and summer jobs on a case-by-case basis. Such programs would allow them to complete their required discipline over the summer and return to their regular campus in the fall rather than go back to a disciplinary alternative school.

The changes also reclassify some infractions, moving them from a more serious discipline level, Level IV, to a somewhat less serious level, Level III. Students accused of Level IV offenses are sent to the DAEP by default. By lessening the number of offenses categorized as Level IV primarily to those required by the Texas Education Code and those that could affect student safety, students accused of misconduct could receive targeted intervention, restitution, suspension or an optional DAEP placement instead.

Tina Reyes, a professor with the University of Houston's College of Education who has been studying school discipline since 2003, praised the changes.

"It's really a great step they've taken," Reyes said. "If you notice in the discipline referrals in the state, the majority of the referrals come from the district discipline handbooks. For the board to look at that handbook and to take the action they've taken shows great foresight."

Thursday's vote was the latest step the district has taken to soften its approach on exclusionary discipline, or discipline that removes students from the regular classroom through out-of-school suspension, expulsion or alternative school placement.

Earlier this year, the district banned suspensions for students in pre-K through second grade - the first school district in Texas to ban the punishment for young students.

HISD's board voted in March to begin providing DAEP services within the district instead of continuing to rely on a third-party company to run the district's alternative school. The district said that change will help align academic and behavioral interventions among campuses, improve transitional support for students between schools and allow the district to deploy DAEP staff to middle and high schools when the alternative school is not at capacity.

Forming relationships

In April, Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza announced his "Achieve 180" plan that would target 32 struggling schools. One of the main pillars of the program would address social-emotional learning and would have schools partner with community agencies to provide wrap-around services to students who may worry where their next meal will come from and whether their family will be able to pay rent in coming months.

Still, Reyes said there remains work to be done, including training principals and teachers on how better to manage troublesome students and relate to them. She said one of the keys to keeping students out of trouble is forming relationships between them and teachers.

"Some of these kids are very difficult to deal with, it takes special people to step back and say, 'I want a relationship with this student,'" Reyes said. "But research shows the way to really cut down the school-to-prison pipeline is through teacher-student relationships."
Beyond the bubble Baby born without an immune system benefits from lessons learned decades ago

Beyond the bubble Baby born without an immune system benefits from lessons learned decades ago

The doctor's call came in late February, a week after Blanca Romero and her husband brought their third child home from the hospital. She was busy changing newborn Sebastian's diaper and didn't notice the phone ringing a room away.

She heard it a few minutes later, but this time it was her husband, Emil, calling from work. He'd just spoken with the pediatrician, he told her, his voice shaky, then added: "You should sit down."

Sebastian had been born around Valentine's Day, a hearty 8 pounds, 9 ounces, with a head of thick black hair and chubby cheeks. Now her husband was saying something about the results of his newborn blood screening.

In the coming days, doctors would explain that Sebastian had a rare genetic disorder known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disorder, or SCID. That the baby's immune system was so impaired, a common cold or even a diaper rash could kill him. That without swift medical attention, Sebastian likely would be dead before his first birthday.

For now, though, as Blanca collapsed onto a sofa and sobbed, she knew only that her baby needed her to be strong. After she hung up with her husband, she scooped the boy into her arms. Then she grabbed her phone and made an emergency appointment with an immunologist at Texas Children's Hospital.

She didn't know it then, but it was at that same hospital, on that very week 33 years earlier, that a 12-year-old named David Vetter had emerged from a plastic bubble and taken his final breaths. The death of Houston's famed "Bubble Boy"  the boy without an immune system  made headlines around the world.

And it helped pave the way for a treatment that could save Sebastian's life.

HOW TO HELP How to help A fundraising page has been created to help the Romero family pay for Sebastian's medical care. Visit www.gofundme.com/SIRstrong to contribute.

As they awaited the appointment at Texas Children's, Blanca and Emil tried to keep Sebastian isolated from his school-aged siblings while she searched the internet for answers.

She learned that SCID is more common than doctors once thought but still affects only about 60 babies born in the U.S. each year.

She learned that, with stem cell transplants or gene therapy, doctors now can save most kids, but only if they begin treatment within the first three months of life.

And she learned that the condition is more commonly known as Bubble Boy Disease, a nod to the most famous child ever born with it.

Blanca clicked through news stories and black-and-white photos of David Vetter, who'd lived nearly his entire life separated from the world behind a wall of clear plastic. In 1971, with knowledge that he'd likely be born with the same inherited immune disorder that had killed an older sibling, doctors had placed him into a sterile bubble within seconds of his birth.

They'd hoped to keep David alive long enough for his immune system to fully develop or for a cure to be discovered.

Neither happened, however, and months inside the room-sized bubble stretched into years, drawing national media attention and raising new ethical questions:

Was it right to keep a child alive if it meant he might never leave his hospital room?

At Texas Children's, two days after the doctor's call, Dr. Sarah Nicholas confirmed Blanca and Emil's fears: A follow-up blood test had come back positive for SCID.

A child with a healthy immune system should have at least 2,000 infection-fighting T-cells in every microliter of blood, Nicholas said. Sebastian had 50.

But there was good news, too. Over the past few years, Texas Children's had treated several SCID babies, and most had been cured through bone marrow or stem cell transplants.

Nicholas, an assistant professor of immunology at Baylor College of Medicine, spoke calmly while conveying the urgency of the situation: Both of Sebastian's siblings would need to be tested to see if they were suitable donors, as would each parent. The hospital also would search national donor registries for a potential match.

In the meantime, it was crucial that Sebastian be shielded from illness. That didn't mean confining him to a sterile plastic bubble at the hospital  doctors have learned much about infections over the past five decades  but it did mean keeping him isolated from potential dangers at home.

Blanca left the appointment feeling terrified but determined.

She and Emil scrubbed the house with disinfectants. They set up strict rules for handling Sebastian: No one but Mom and Dad would hold the baby. His older siblings would strip off their clothes and shower as soon as they arrived home from school. And absolutely no kissing Sebastian on the lips.

"We try to hug him as much as we can to make up for it," Blanca said after several weeks holed up in her bedroom alone with him. She left the room only for doctor appointments or to use the bathroom; Emil cared for the other children, 7-year-old Abraham and 5-year-old Kayla.

Days of isolation left time for dark thoughts to creep in, Blanca said. What if they couldn't save this baby?

She prayed, read her Bible and forced herself to think of reasons to be thankful. Among the first to enter her mind:

Thank God we have health insurance.

Blanca and Emil soon had another reason to be thankful: Doctors found a likely match for Sebastian in the national cord blood registry, welcome news since none of the family members had proven a perfect match.

It sounded incredible to them: Stem cells, sometimes called "the body's building blocks," are now routinely harvested from umbilical cords at birth and kept in cold storage across the country, available for transplants.

Sebastian would have to endure a week of chemotherapy to wipe out the defective stem cells in his bone marrow. Then he would receive an infusion of healthy cells from a stranger, effectively curing him.

It was too good to be true. Days before they were scheduled to check Sebastian into the hospital for the treatment, Dr. Cary Martinez, his transplant doctor, asked Blanca and Emil to come for an unplanned appointment.

After further tests, Martinez explained, the cord blood donor turned out not to be a match. It was the first time in two decades, Martinez said, that she hadn't been able to find one through the registry.

Dr. Sarah Nicholas examines Sebastian a week before his transplant. Everyone who enters his isolation room is required to wear a mask and gloves: "He only knows blue people," his mother says. Dr. Sarah Nicholas examines Sebastian a week before his transplant. Everyone who enters his isolation room is required to wear a mask and gloves: "He only knows blue people," his mother says. Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Beyond the bubble 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Martinez presented them with two options: They could travel to Boston for an experimental gene therapy that had worked for a small number of patients. Or Texas Children's physicians could attempt a less-common transplant with one of the parents  each of them 50 percent matches serving as the donor.

A haploidentical stem cell transplant: That's what it's called when doctors harvest and select specific cells from a half-matching donor, eliminating those that might cause problems.

Three decades ago, a different set of Texas Children's doctors attempted a similar procedure on 12-year-old David Vetter, who by then had grown eager to leave his protective bubble.

His sister served as the half-matching donor, and at first, the experimental treatment seemed to work. But dormant and unnoticed in her donated bone marrow was a virus, Epstein-Barr, that soon began spreading inside David.

Within months, it had triggered tumors that overwhelmed his body, forcing him out of the bubble for emergency treatment and offering the first direct proof that a virus could cause cancer.

An important scientific discovery, uncovered at a great cost.

Boston seemed so far away. And Martinez had assured them that a stem cell transplant from a half-matching donor was now much safer and more effective than even a couple of years ago.

Blanca, it was decided after a night of prayer, would be her baby's donor.

Days before the treatment was supposed to begin, the family received another setback: Emil was fired from his job as a customer service representative after his employer complained about his work performance; Blanca suspects he was being punished for spending too much time away following Sebastian's diagnosis.

The dismissal left them without money to pay the mortgage and without insurance to cover the mounting medical bills, which are expected to exceed $1 million.

Blanca tried to push the financial stress out of her mind as she and Sebastian checked in to the hospital on May 14.

The baby would begin chemotherapy; Mom would receive daily injections to draw stem cells out of her bone marrow, preparing them to be harvested.

Together, they would spend the next several weeks in a specially ventilated reverse-isolation room, protecting the boy from infections and giving Blanca too much time to think  a different sort of bubble.

"It's hard," Blanca said in a phone interview after nearly a week in the room. "I'm a people person, so it's hard being cooped up in there. But at least it's not forever."

***

It was never the plan to keep David Vetter in the bubble for so long, either.

"But what choice was there?" said Dr. William Shearer, the boy's doctor during his last five years of life. "To take him out would have been to kill him."

Shearer, now 79, administered the ill-fated transplant procedure and later announced the boy's

death in front of TV cameras, calling it one of the most difficult moments of his life.

He remains on staff at Texas Children's and Baylor College of Medicine, toiling in an office a short walk from Sebastian's hospital room, still conducting research on immune system disorders.

"What we learned from David is a textbook," Shearer said. "A textbook that he wrote with his life, and that we are still learning from."

That legacy, Shearer said, is captured in the words etched on David's gravestone in Conroe.

"He never touched the world," it says, "but the world was touched by him."

***

Finally, the day came. May 25. Sebastian's "rebirth day."

Blanca sat with her baby, her husband at her side, and prayed. Sebastian wore a custom-made onesie emblazoned with the words, "Welcome T-cells. Get ready to multiply."

A day earlier, blood had been drawn from Mom and sent to a hospital lab, where technicians selected and eliminated specific cells, creating a perfect cocktail:

Sebastian's cure.

The plastic bag arrived in the room around 9 p.m.; a nurse connected it to a tube running into the baby's chest, then let gravity do the rest.

The fluid began flowing, pumping into his heart and throughout his tiny body, until, after about an hour, the bag was empty.

He looked no different, dozing there on the hospital bed. But inside, 80 million new stem cells had begun to circulate.

"Now," Blanca said, "we just have to wait for them to grow."

Nothing is guaranteed. In 10 percent of patients, the donated cells don't fully graft, and the transplant fails.

But if all goes well, Martinez said, the stem cells will take root and begin to multiply within weeks, filling his body with cells to fight infections. After a couple of months, Sebastian could be healthy enough to leave the hospital room.

In a trick of medicine unimaginable when David Vetter was born a half century ago, his mother's immune system will have become his own  a blanket of protection that will follow him wherever he goes.

___

UPDATE: Weeks after transplant, baby Sebastian goes home

___

Mike Hixenbaugh writes about health care and medicine for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Send him tips at mike.hixenbaugh@chron.com.
CPS runaways often are caught in a troubling cycle Investigators chase after CPS runaways, hoping to avert tragedy

CPS runaways often are caught in a troubling cycle Investigators chase after CPS runaways, hoping to avert tragedy

She sat hunched like a shivering puppy, by a sign with arrows pointed in opposite directions and the warning: "My way. The highway." Oversized glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose, stopped by a small stud piercing. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose bun, her expression rueful.

The round-faced 17-year-old waited alone in a corner, steeling herself for a scolding from an adult.

Angel had recently run away from an emergency shelter at a Child Protective Services office in Houston, where she had been placed because the state had nowhere else to put her.

She didn't want to be there, bunking in a room with old board games and mismatched blankets, a security guard in the lobby, and slogans like "Believe" and "Dream" stenciled on the walls - exhortations that seem like taunts.

So she took off, like dozens of foster kids who would rather risk the dangers of the street than stay in state custody.

As the teenager nibbled on a Pop-Tart, Shitonda Johnson hustled down the hallway on the second floor of the CPS building. She hovered over Angel, her voice suddenly softening from the crisp just-business-ma'am diction honed by her years in law enforcement.

"How are you? Is that your lunch?" Johnson asked in a maternal tone. "Come on, sweetie."

She led Angel to a conference room.

Johnson's assignment: Find out why Angel had taken off, what happened while she was missing, and, if she could, persuade her not to run again.

As a special investigator with the Department of Family and Protective Services, she had seen what happens to runaway foster kids. Pimps eager to lure them into prostitution. Men who offer help but deliver sexual assault. A swift descent into homelessness and hunger.

Johnson braced herself for Angel's story.

Shitonda Johnson, right, an investigator with CPS, talks to a 13-year-old boy Thursday, May 4, 2017 after he was recovered after running away. Shitonda Johnson, right, an investigator with CPS, talks to a 13-year-old boy Thursday, May 4, 2017 after he was recovered after running away. Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close CPS runaways often are caught in a troubling cycle 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

---

They run because they are angry, because they miss their families, because they chafe at rules, because they are in bad foster homes. Because years of trauma can carve indelible scars.

Last year, 972 children ran away from CPS care in Texas. Of those, 112 ran multiple times. One-third of the runaways were never found.

In CPS' Region 6, an area that includes Harris and 11 surrounding counties, 81 children in state custody were reported as runaways in April alone.

One was Angel. Another was 15-year-old Daphne Jackson.

Daphne and another girl ran away from a CPS office in north Harris County. Less than 12 hours later, Daphne was dead and the other girl injured, struck by a van as they walked along a busy thoroughfare.

Like many repeat runaways, both girls had ended up as "children without placement" - youth who stay in CPS offices under the supervision of caseworkers because a foster home cannot immediately be found.

The practice has been sharply criticized by child welfare advocates. Gov. Greg Abbott has called it "unacceptable." In May, the state agency was ordered to spend $3.5 million to ease the problem.

Yet, at any give time, dozens of children in CPS custody are in such last-resort placements - housed in state office buildings, in makeshift dorms with linoleum tile floors, fluorescent lights and bare walls.

It creates a troubling cycle. Kids in these emergency shelters are most likely to run away, and foster homes and residential treatment facilities often refuse to accept habitual runaways.

About 10 percent of foster care runaways who were recovered say they were victimized - forced into prostitution, sexually abused or physically assaulted. Other repeat runaways return to recruit foster kids as sex workers.

The number of runaways and the connection to human trafficking have alarmed state officials, leading to the creation of the state's first Missing Children/Human Trafficking Task Force, which started operating in early April. The new unit, which has 10 special investigators with law enforcement experience and training, tracks down missing foster care children, interviews runaways, and looks for patterns and leads on human traffickers across Southeast Texas.

In May, 50 runaways were reported in Region 6; the task force recovered 35.

Until now, the work of finding runaways fell to any available CPS caseworker, who already faced grueling caseloads and resistance from kids resentful of the foster care system.

The task force is not part of CPS, which can give the special investigators like Shitonda Johnson an advantage in building a rapport with runaways.

"They are so against CPS," said task force director Catherine Giannaris. "They end up hating their caseworker because they put them in placement. When we find them, we have to build trust. We want to find out what's wrong. We want them to be safe."

---

Inside the conference room, at a long table that swallowed most of the space, Johnson pulled a chair next to Angel. Close, but not crowding.

"Any time you guys run away, someone's going to have to come out and interview you, OK?" Johnson said, easing into the conversation.

Johnson, a former sheriff's deputy, Houston Independent School District gang officer and jail guard, wanted the girl to know that she was not there to chastise or judge. Just to listen.

Angel, who has been in state custody for a year, nodded.

These interviews are delicate dances. The investigator has to run through a list of questions asking for intimate, sometimes humiliating, information from teenagers who pride themselves on being tough and street-smart but still blush when talking about sex.

They have to dig for details about the men who prey on young kids, excavate clues about hangouts and social media profiles, fill in a timeline of jumbled days and nights.

At the same time, they have to establish a connection - one that might be strong enough to dissuade the teens from taking flight again. Or at the very least, forge a lifeline if they do.

Angel is the classic profile for a foster runaway. She falls in the right age range - 81 percent of CPS runaways last year were ages 15 to 17. The right gender - 60 percent were girls, who were most likely to run away again.

And the right circumstances - six months from aging out of foster care, unhappy with her placement, searching for somewhere to belong.

She had already gone missing several times before, including the previous week - a pattern that landed her in the shelter at the CPS office on Chimney Rock. There, kids sleep on roll-away beds and share a communal shower where a handwritten sign implores: "Don't leave clothes on the ground. No socks, shirts, pants, shoes. Nothing."

At Chimney Rock, she met another girl - a 17-year-old who "convinced her of stuff."

"She convinced you?" asked Johnson. "What did she tell you?"

"Money. Alcohol. Weed. Party."

Johnson prodded. What exactly did the other girl mean?

"How to make money," Angel said.

So how were you going to make money?

"She prostitutes or whatever."

The other girl prostitutes herself?

"Yeah."

Did she prostitute herself while you two were together?

"Yeah."

This other teen had targeted Angel and two other girls, including one who is just 13. She "acted all friendly," brought them pizza, bragged about the money she made.

The crew took off Saturday evening but was picked up by police and returned to the shelter. A short time later, they left again - bouncing back and forth over the next three days between the Chimney Rock office and the streets.

Their first stop was a park adjacent to the office, where men were waiting, along with another CPS runaway - a boy Angel has a crush on.

"I guess they were recruiting girls or whatever," Angel said with a shrug.

Johnson's voice etched up a notch. "Where did you go?"

The boy, who was driving a car without a license, ferried the girls to a street in Sunnyside.

"It's, like, where the prostitutes are," Angel explained.

Johnson's eyebrows arched slightly. Over her notebook, her pen paused in midair.

"So what happened?"

---

Johnson begins each case by scouring the missing child's CPS file. She collects names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, recent photos. Any nugget of information that could narrow down where the runaway might hide, in which direction he or she might head.

Once in a while, she turns up a family member's current location and that, in turn, leads to the runaway. In most cases, there are disconnected numbers and obsolete addresses.

There is also the jagged history of a childhood in foster care. Parental abuse and neglect. Disrupted adoptions. Mental health evaluations. Police reports. Temporary placements, group homes, residential treatment facilities, emergency shelters.

"It breaks my heart," says Johnson, 44, who had worked as a CPS investigator for six years before joining the task force. "They've been put through enough in life."

After combing through the computer record, Johnson queries caseworkers about the child's favorite stomping grounds. She checks with law enforcement for updates.

Then Johnson hits the road in her Toyota Prius, covering 200 to 300 miles a day and armed with an orange file folder for each runaway. Inside the folder: printouts of pages from the case file and a sheaf of flyers topped by the message: "MISSING. Help bring me home."

She visits spots where the child was last seen, where relatives might live, where CPS runaways congregate, where prostitutes are known to cluster. Fast-food joints. Former foster homes. Seedy motels. Convenience stores.

One week in May, as Johnson chased a 17-year-old girl missing since February, her route zigzagged from an apartment in Pasadena to a neighborhood on the northside, from a Burger King off Tidwell to the runaway's last foster home, a brick two-story in a manicured suburb. The house, gleaming on the outside, was piled with trash and debris inside.

At each stop, she left behind flyers. One taped to the front door of her grandfather's house, a crooked clapboard with peeling paint and a weathered doghouse in the shape of a hamburger in the front yard. A few posted at a battered Pasadena apartment complex with murky water in the kidney-shaped swimming pool and a yellow sign boasting "Bueno. Bonito. Barato" (Good. Attractive. Cheap).

Another dropped off at the last known address for the teen's parents, a bedraggled trailer park littered with empty beer cans and worn children's toys. The road was rutted and bumpy. The units - "probably old FEMA trailers," guessed Johnson - were dented and sagging.

So sad, Johnson murmured as she walked away. It is her refrain throughout the day, as she retraces the children's steps and absorbs their story.

She repeated it after catching up with a whip-smart 16-year-old with a sly smile who keeps turning up on runaway reports. The girl, placed with her grandmother in northeast Houston, was later sent to a psychiatric facility after an altercation at the house.

She muttered the words after she interviewed a wide-eyed 13-year-old with a history of mental illness and violent episodes. The boy, who ran away from a group home in Baytown, boasted that he could protect himself on the streets with a makeshift "fireball" - an aerosol can and a lighter.

So sad, Johnson said about the girl who had been raped after running back to the mother suspected of prostituting her, about the 14-year-old boy who had been sexually abused and asked, "Why would a person do this to me?"

About all the faces on the flyers, missing children wearing tight grins for the camera.

Her fiance thinks she invests too much of herself in the kids. But Johnson, who has no children of her own, can't give up.

As Angel continued her story, she fidgeted in the swivel chair and avoided Johnson's eyes.

The boy she liked, the runaway with a car, had tried to persuade her to prostitute herself. He instructed her in what to do, what streets to walk.

"He was a pimp, I guess," she said, "whatever you want to call it."

Angel needed the money, but she was scared.

"I didn't want to do it," she admitted.

Instead, Angel stayed with one of the other girls, while the first teen - the runaway who recruited her - went with a man in a red car.

That's when she was prostituting herself, Johnson asked.

"Yeah."

The rest of the details emerged in a tangle, as Angel raced randomly through the events of the weekend.

After the first girl returned, they napped in a gold Chevy Impala in an apartment parking lot off Bissonnet. They hooked up with some "college guys" at a party where they "jugged" Hennessy cognac and Ciroc vodka. They smoked "reggie" and "gas" - street slang for marijuana. The 13-year-old began to hallucinate so they dumped her at the door of the CPS Chimney Rock office. They stopped at Taco Bell to eat. Angel had sex with one of the older boys, whose name she did not know. She didn't use protection.

Johnson interrupted with a sharp "Excuse me? You trying to get pregnant?"

"Nope," Angel replied sheepishly.

Are you trying to get an STD?

"Nope."

Johnson tried to chip through the teenage veneer of invincibility. "I know you're a smart girl," Johnson said. "So you make better decisions, all right? So what happened after that?"

That's when the CPS teen with the car came back. He took Angel to a friend's apartment, where they smoked weed and chilled.

"So what does chill mean?" Johnson questioned, anticipating the response.

Angel's answer came in an embarrassed whisper.

"Sex."

No condoms again. But this time, Angel's reasons were different.

The two had talked for hours about relationships, her first time doing that with a boy, she told Johnson. He wanted to have a baby with her. He wanted to introduce her to his family.

Or, at least that was what he had claimed. She found out later that it was just a line. After the sex, after his cousin made a pass at her, after the boy got mad and grabbed her arm, leaving a dark bruise, after he deposited her back at the Chimney Rock office and drove away.

"So are you going to stop believing what these boys tell you?" Johnson asked gingerly.

She understood why Angel fell for the lies, why she was an easy mark for predators.

Angel's mother had booted her out of the house, furious that the teen had blabbed about the older woman's crack habit. "My mom doesn't want me," Angel said matter-of-factly.

She just wanted someone to care about her.

Johnson knows what that feels like. She, too, had grown up without her mother, who left their Louisiana hometown to find a job in Texas. Raised by her grandmother, she struck out on her own at age 16, moving to Houston to live with a distant relative. She got a job at Church's Fried Chicken, finished high school, went on to college and graduate school.

Johnson remembers straining against the odds, being envious of kids who had parents, craving a relationship with her mother.

Maybe that's why she cares so much about the kids.

"This is your truth, your story," she reassured Angel. "I'm not here to judge you."

---

As the interview ended, Johnson handed over her business card. The number, she emphasized, is on 24/7. Call me. Text me. Leave a message. Check in.

OK, Angel promised.

Johnson looked skeptical. "So what's my name?"

"Ummm "

"I thought you were going to remember it by heart," she teased.

Angel's caseworker would take over from here. The girl wanted CPS to let her stay with a family friend. If that happened, she swore, "I'll act good because that's somewhere I want to be at."

Johnson just hoped the teenager could stick it out a few more months, until she ages out of the foster system.

Please don't run away again, Johnson begged before saying goodbye. Please don't prostitute yourself.

Angel stood up, then hesitated, unsure of which door to take. She turned to Johnson and asked: "Where do I go?"
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Despite racial tensions and a federal lawsuit over access to the ballot box in Pasadena, the establishment won Saturday in an election that garnered national attention as a voting rights battleground.

City Councilman Jeff Wagner defeated businessman John "JR" Moon late Saturday in the heated election to replace outgoing Mayor Johnny Isbell. Wagner is closely aligned with Isbell, who has tightly controlled city politics for decades but was term-limited.

"Voters in Pasadena don't seem to be ready for change," said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus. "It's hard to persuade voters about change in a local election."

Incumbents, including a 91-year-old mayor, also held on to their seats in a runoff in Pearland.

The runoff caps the first election cycle to be held since a federal judge ruled that Pasadena intentionally discriminated against Hispanic voters with a now-defunct redistricting scheme that was championed by the departing mayor.

The city of Pasadena is appealing the judge's ruling, but until it is settled Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal has ordered the city to revert to a 2013 election map that uses eight single-member districts, instead of relying on the six single-member and two at-large districts ruled unconstitutional. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice sent two observers to monitor the May election.

In that election, all eight city council seats and the mayor's office were up for grabs, leading to two run-offs.

Besides the race for mayor, Daniel Vela lost to Felipe Villarreal for the open City Council seat representing District A.

More Information Pasadena mayoral candidates: John Moon Jr., 58, is a commercial real estate agent and former banker Jeff Wagner, 53, is a Pasadena city councilman and retired Houston police officer Pearland mayoral candidates Tom Reid, 91, is retired from Johnson Space Center. Quentin Wiltz, 36, works in pipeline coating industry. See More Collapse

Four races were decided last month: incumbent and Isbell ally Bruce Leamon over challenger Steve Halvorson; Phil Cayten beat Larry Peacock for Wagner's District F seat; incumbent and Isbell ally Cary Bass beat out challengers Oscar Del Toro and Allen Munz for District G; and Thomas Schoenbein, who supported Wagner, beat Keith Sargent, April Lance and Brad Hance for District H.

Incumbents District E Councilman Cody Ray Wheeler and District D Councilman Sammy Casados won re-election unopposed. Don Harrison won the District C seat unopposed.

In Saturday's mayoral runoff, Wagner had not responded to questions from the Houston Chronicle. In campaign literature, he touts his experience as a former Houston police officer and as a city councilman.

Moon is a commercial real estate agent and banker who campaigned as the candidate of change, a break from Isbell's legacy.

Moon campaigned heavily on his credentials as chief financial officer of Moody Bank, based in Galveston, saying he has the experience and knowledge to make smarter financial decisions for the city.

The runoff took place in the shadow of a federal lawsuit, brought by a handful of Pasadena residents, that shows the tension between a white population in the south of this industrial port city of 150,000 and an increasing Hispanic population on the north side.

Nearly two-thirds of city residents are Hispanic, up from less than one-third in 1990.

The federal judge ruled in January that the city intentionally violated the rights of Hispanic voters with a redistricting scheme pushed through three years ago by Isbell.

In Pearland's mayoral runoff, incumbent Tom Reid, 91, was ahead of challenger Quentin Wiltz, a 36-year-old who works in the pipeline industry, in early returns over who will lead the fast-growing south Houston suburb.

And in the race for a newly created City Council position, Woody Owens was leading Dalia Kasseb as ballots continued to be counted late Saturday.

The elections reflected a suburb grappling with significant growth in recent decades as new and diverse residents moving to master-planned communities built on the west side of town. City officials estimate Pearland has 120,000 residents. It encompasses parts of three counties - Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria - and covers 48 square miles.

Campaign rhetoric highlighted the challenges the city faces, including transportation, infrastructure, a landfill and city finances. Race and religion also became talking points, with two older, white, conservative men who had held office before facing two younger, minority newcomers.

In the council race, businessman and former City Council member Woody Owens, 69, ran against 30-year-old pharmacist Kasseb, the first openly Muslim candidate for public office in Brazoria County history.

Rottinghaus, the political scientist, said Pearland's election was similar to Pasadena in that change comes slowly, and in modest measures, and lags significantly behind demographic change.

"If voters can't be convinced that change is needed after what happened in Pasadena, it's hard to believe they can be convinced statewide," he said. "If rallying racial minorities, younger voters and Democrats didn't work in Pasadena, it's hard to believe it's going to work on a more broad scale."
Imagine this scenario unfolding in the hours after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

As New Yorkers pull corpses from the smoldering wreckage of the World Trade Center, as dazed relatives of terror victims wander Manhattan streets circulating photographs of their missing loved ones, and as smoke and fire rise from the charred corridors of the burning Pentagon, British Prime Minister Tony Blair appears on television from London with a message for the American people.

Watching the live broadcast, we expect the leader of our closest international ally to say his country stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States in this hour of crisis. Instead, he shocks the world by insulting New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he twists the grieving mayor's words out of context, and he calls Giuliani "pathetic."

Of course, that's not at all what happened. On that painful day in our country's history, Britain's prime minister resolutely vowed to join the United States in an international battle against terrorism, and he offered "President Bush and the American people our solidarity, our profound sympathy and our prayers."

Americans who watched the British prime minister that day will never forget his heartfelt affirmation of unity and support. All of which makes us more deeply angry and ashamed about the insults President Donald Trump hurled at the mayor of London in the wake of last weekend's terrorist attack in Great Britain.

As the people of London prepared for a vigil honoring those who died in the Saturday night slaughter, Trump launched his own unjustified attack through his increasingly bizarre Twitter feed. On a day when even children graciously used their social media accounts to offer the people of Britain words of support and solidarity, the president of the United States chose to fire off messages slapping London's mayor in the face.

Trump, apparently addled and angry at 3:30 in the morning, expressed outrage that London's mayor told his city there was "no reason to be alarmed" when people saw more police on the streets. When the president's insolent remark drew justifiable criticism, Trump doubled down by jeering at what he called a "Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan."

Our president's boorish words about a mayor leading his city on a day of mourning for terror victims were beneath contempt. His sneering proclamations would've been inappropriate at any time, but it's especially troubling they were issued on the eve of the anniversary of D-Day. Even the acting U.S. ambassador to Great Britain felt compelled to come to Khan's defense with a series of sympathetic messages delivered via Twitter. Trump has a long-running feud with Khan, a Muslim who has criticized the president's travel ban targeting people of his faith. The mayor has also called for his country to cancel the president's scheduled state visit to Great Britain. That doesn't matter and that doesn't justify Trump's behavior in the hours after a terror attack. Contrast the president's insults with the message Khan posted after last year's Orlando nightclub massacre, when he wrote, "I stand with the City of Orlando against hate and bigotry."

Just to clarify, in case our president has created any doubt, we stand with the city of London. Trump's behavior has made it clear that he doesn't believe in apologizing or admitting he ever does anything wrong, but these inappropriate remarks deserve words of contrition. Since he won't offer them, we will.

We hope our friends in London will pardon our president's insulting behavior in their hour of crisis. And we hope they will accept our apology.
Real fantasy

Regarding "Comey says Trump tried to sink inquiry" (Page A1, Friday), while under oath, NSA director Mike Rogers, Director of Intelligence Dan Coats, and former FBI director Jim Comey all testified that President Trump did not obstruct their investigations of collusion or interference by Russia in last year's presidential election.

Quite to the contrary, Comey testified that Trump was never under investigation and also that the president supported investigations into any wrong someone in his administration might have committed.

This testimony has blown "obstruction of justice" conspiracy theories out of the water and any fantasy of impeachment is completely without basis.

Johnnie Rutledge, Brenham

Clear meddling

One of the most important questions put to fired FBI Director James Comey was asked by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., when he asked if President Trump had inquired what Comey, the intelligence community or the government in general was doing to protect America against Russian interference in future elections. Comey's answer that he had no conversations with Trump on this matter and no recollection of Trump expressing any interest in the subject of Russian hacking should be alarming to all Americans, regardless of party affiliation. Comey also pointed out that he had many conversations with President Obama regarding this subject.

Our own Texas senator, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, embarrassed his constituents by wasting his allotted time with an attempt to divert attention to last year's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server. Cornyn seems to be obsessed with a closed investigation instead of trying to get to the bottom of Russia's interference in our election and the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.

We deserve to know the truth and expect our representatives to do the job for which they were elected, not waste time with partisan grandstanding.

Patty Justice, Montgomery

Taking notes

Regarding "Comey to detail demand of loyalty by president," (Page A11, Thursday), I agree with the author that "Comey writes with almost novelistic detail about his interactions with the president." As a retired English teacher I couldn't help notice the past participle "he had called me at lunchtime that day" which is a clue that it was not written directly after the meeting, which Comey alleges but from a much later standpoint.

Parts of the statement seemed written almost as fiction and from looking back which would give him time to stage the scene rather than report it. Something does not ring true with Comey in not only his written statement, but also in the ways in which he handled the so-called difficult situations he says he found himself in with the president.

Only time will tell whose version of that relationship was the correct one, but in the meantime, this feud is certainly derailing this administration's policy endeavors.

Julia Purtill, Richmond

No excuses

Donald Trump has taken an unconventional approach to the presidency. He initially shunned security briefings, disparaged his own intelligence community and judges, tweeted against opponents and at times has chosen to ignore critical advice from his own staff.

Now House Speaker Paul Ryan says in regards to a possible obstruction of justice charge in the Comey interaction that President Trump is new to the political scene and possibly did not understand the independence agencies like the FBI should have under our current system.

Could the deciding point in whether charges are brought against the president come down to something as simple as this: For the highest office in our land, is ignorance of the law an excuse?

Ron Curtis, Houston

No surprise

Regarding "Cornyn: GOP circles the wagons in defense of embattled president" (Page A1, Friday), Texans should not be surprised that instead of wanting to uphold the Constitution and have a thorough investigation of fired FBI Director James Comey's situation and Russian influence on the election, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn defended President Trump.

Cornyn has a history of serving himself and the Republican Party with no regard for the voters of Texas.

J.H. Tolbert, Houston
"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO and the military. Very bad for U.S. This will change." So tweeted President Donald Trump after meeting with allied leaders at NATO headquarters. Trump's tweets and foreign policy moves have made him a laughingstock, but the damage they have done to our standing in the world and to our own interests is no laughing matter.

Trump is not the first American leader to lecture the Europeans about military spending, just the least informed. It is a fundamentally flawed position. Europeans don't spend for defense the way we do, but not because they lack seriousness or political will, or because they are free riders who refuse to shoulder their share of the defense burden. They spend less on defense because they do not agree with the over-militarized approach to foreign policy that they see from the United States, whose military spending is already larger than that of the next eight highest-spending countries combined.

We would do well to study rather than condemn the European approach to foreign policy. And the American public needs to understand that more spending for defense does not mean more security. As the Afghanistan and Iraq misadventures have demonstrated, the exercise of military power can make us less secure. I made this point more than a decade ago when I was chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, warning (all too accurately) that Iraq under U.S. occupation would prove to be the breeding ground for the next generation of terrorists.

I take Trump's crude remarks on Germany personally. In 1989-92, I was part of the diplomatic team under President George H.W. Bush that helped negotiate German unification and the collapse of the Soviet empire. We and the Germans forged the closest possible partnership, and our successful management of the end of the Cold War enabled the U.S. to draw down its huge military presence in Europe, leaving it to our allies, led by Germany, to take the lead in Europe. These were triumphs not of American military power but of U.S.-European diplomacy, led on our side by two extraordinary Texans: President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of States James Baker.

The Germans stepped up to the task, even while maintaining the historic partnership with the U.S. Trump is throwing this away. He seems to think there is another "deal" out there and that this one can be discarded. No, President Trump: There is only one NATO, only one trans-Atlantic partnership, the work of more than a dozen U.S. administrations before you. If you throw these achievements away, we are left with nothing.

What is needed is not America-first bluster or infantile tweets but a sustained effort to reinvigorate and modernize the alliance. Here's a start: We should restore and then increase the budgets for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development, and signal our readiness to re-enter the Paris agreement. In return, the Europeans should step up their timetable for meeting the agreed commitment to increased defense spending.

The trans-Atlantic alliance, the strongest and most enduring in history, is much more than a defense pact. It has endured despite periodic disputes because it is built on the solid foundation of shared values and common interests. Alliances, like marriages, prosper when both sides respect that their partners have different priorities and when they understand that compromise and adjustment are keys to a successful relationship.

The alliance is also more than an arena for economic competition. The global trading system, with U.S.-European trade relations its driving force, has been an enormous benefit to America's prosperity and well-being. This should be obvious to anyone living in Texas, which is already the top U.S. state exporting to Europe and would reap huge additional benefits from lowered transatlantic trade barriers.

Of course, we, like Germany, will defend our own economic interests and protect our citizens, and we have ample means of doing so - most of them domestic measures that have little to do with trade imbalances. Instead, Trump is focusing on things he can do with the stroke of a pen - like backing out of the Paris agreement and the Pacific trade pact - with disregard for the consequences. This is not leadership. This is not strength.

We are at a turning point in our nation's history. There are few signs that Trump will change, so one must place our hope in America's institutions and look to the "enablers" - his foreign policy team, which has gone along with too much already, and Republicans in Congress - to show some political courage by putting America first.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is a particular disappointment, having endorsed a whopping 31 percent reduction in his own budget and leaving all the top jobs in the Department of State unfilled as America stumbles from one foreign policy blunder to another. So is U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who as Majority Whip wields considerable power but has been missing in action as President Trump undermines America's standing in the world and the very foundations of our democracy at home.

History is watching. Texans should be, too.

Hutchings is the Walt and Elspeth Rostow Chair in National Security at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He was dean of the school from 2010 to 2015.
President Donald Trump's foreign policy has been taking a shellacking lately. With his insensitive tweets after the terrible June 3 attacks in London, ongoing allegations of improper ties between his presidential campaign and the Russians, and ill-advised intelligence disclosures, the new president's second 100 days in office are not going any easier than the first 100.

Of course, much of the brouhaha is Trump-induced.

And there is perhaps an element of poetic justice in seeing a man who insulted his way to the presidency paid back in kind. But the nation's politics will be further dragged down - and Trump's critics will be less likely to influence his future policies - if things become so poisoned that every debate ends up in a zero-sum shouting match between the White House and its critics.

Although there is certainly a lot to worry about in Trump's approach to the world (leaving aside his domestic policies, a separate and equally serious subject), there are several hopeful signs. His critics (including us) need to remember these facts and support his good decisions, even as we continue our strong critiques when he goes astray.

First is the quality of his national security team - which Trump handpicked, to his credit. The top advisers appear collectively as good as any in modern U.S. history. But the widespread sighs of relief that were almost audible when Jim Mattis, Nikki Haley, H.R. McMaster, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson joined the administration have stopped. Indeed, some critics have even called for their resignations (which would be deeply counterproductive). An inner circle of White House advisers with extreme views complicates things, of course. But national security adviser McMaster has successfully persuaded the president not to include the firebrand Stephen Bannon on the National Security Council, among other encouraging steps.

Trump's national security team has already walked back many of candidate Trump's controversial, even dangerous, ideas. In his first week in office, Defense Secretary Mattis reassured the Asian region about the United States' continued commitment to its allies and interests there - a message that he and Secretary of State Tillerson reiterated this week and that Vice President Mike Pence has conveyed as well.

The cruise missile strike in Syria in April was a proportionate response to an abominable action by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. In Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, Trump has built on President Barack Obama's policies, gradually and modestly escalating U.S. involvement in most of those places.

Trump has wisely chosen not to use military force in response to North Korean provocations, attempting instead to work with China to apply economic pressure. And he dropped his campaign promise to designate China a currency manipulator and has not pushed his proposed 45 percent tariffs on all trade with China - actions that would have risked a trade war and recession.

Yet Trump has not turned a blind eye to China's behavior when it has been troublesome. Notably, the U.S. Navy recently conducted freedom-of-navigation exercises in the South China Sea, designed to push back against China's assertive claims there. These were done in matter-of-fact style, without tweets or other histrionics.

Then there is the NATO Article 5 question. To be sure, Trump insults allies in ways we find off-putting at best, and often disturbing. But the recent outcry over his supposed abandonment of NATO has been badly overdone. In his speech in Brussels in May, Trump explicitly said that the United States would not leave allies in the lurch, even if he failed to voice commitment to the alliance's formal mutual-defense pledge as codified in Article 5 of the 1949 treaty.

Paying lip service to that article would not have settled any issue over European security. Its language is intentionally ambiguous: The way NATO should respond to one scenario is necessarily different from how it should respond to another.

Also, in this business, actions speak at least as loudly as words - and we still have thousands of U.S. troops undergirding our commitment to Poland and the Baltic States. Trump hasn't suggested pulling these forces back. Nor has he unconditionally lifted sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, as some feared he might.

This president is not exactly our cup of tea when it comes to foreign policy. But he has shown some openness to advice, rationality and dialogue - and his critics should be careful about closing off all avenues of communication with an administration that is still feeling its way.

Gordon was director of policy planning at the State Department and is a senior adviser to the Eurasia Group. O'Hanlon is a senior fellow and director of research for the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution. This commentary was first published by the Washington Post.
The Republican Party wants us to grade Donald Trump on a curve.

No other conclusion is possible after a week of high drama and reality avoidance that would have wrecked the president's good name, if he had one.

The highlight, of course, was former FBI Director James Comey testifying under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee and accusing Trump of "lies, plain and simple." But before we get to that, let's parse some of the weaselly evasions that preceded it.

The day before Comey's appearance, for instance, national security chiefs Mike Rogers and Dan Coats, testifying before the same committee, refused to answer directly when asked whether Trump ever asked them to intervene in an FBI investigation. Two days before that, Trump surrogates Sebastian Gorka and Kellyanne Conway insisted with straight faces that Trump's often-damning tweets - statements by the president in his own words - were not to be taken seriously.

Next to them, Comey was some combination of Captain America and Pope Francis for plain moral rectitude - sometimes even at his own expense, as when he admitted failing to push back forcefully enough against the president's misbehavior. But it was Trump's character and actions that were squarely in the bull's eye.

Comey explained that he committed his meetings with Trump to contemporaneous memos because of "the nature of the person" he was dealing with - a precaution he never felt the need for with Presidents Obama and Bush. He confirmed that Trump asked him to stop investigating Mike Flynn, the former national security adviser, who lied about his contacts with Russian officials.

And he described an Oval Office meeting where Trump asked everyone but him to clear the room, then said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let him go." That would seem clearly inappropriate if not illegal, especially since Trump fired Comey after he refused that request and cited the investigation as the reason. But Trump's Republican defenders kept looking for loopholes.

Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, seized upon Trump's use of the word "hope" to suggest the president never actually ordered Comey to let Flynn off the hook. Apparently, English is not Risch's first language and he is unschooled in its nuances. Suffice it to say, when Tony Soprano says, "Nice place you got here; hope nothing happens to it," buy fire insurance.

Meantime, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., meandered incoherently through a confusing thicket of questions and misstatements that seemed designed to suggest a double standard in the fact that the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails ended last year, while the Russia probe is ongoing. Or, he could have been asking who stole his Metamucil. It was hard to tell.

Even House Speaker Paul Ryan got into the act, noting that Trump "is just new to this." By "this," he probably meant governing, although he could have meant accountability. Either way, his point was apparently that the man who said "I alone can fix" America should be given time to learn how to do his job.

But that presupposes Trump's willingness to learn. Or his ability. No evidence exists to support either idea.

Bottom line: this attempted defense of the indefensible is threadbare and outrageous. The GOP asks us to put their party above our country, to grade this presidency on a curve like you would a poor student who was trying real hard. But there's no curve that can save Donald Trump.

This president has failed.

Pitts, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald. Write to him via email at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
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Donald Trump recently embarked on the first foreign trip of his presidency, visiting Europe and the Middle East. According to a new poll, he might not want to add Canada to his future travel itinerary.

A poll released Saturday by Abacus Data found 39 per cent of Canadians think Trump is the worst president in U.S. history.

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Another 29 per cent say Trump is just "one of the worst," while just 10 per cent think he's an average president. Two per cent answered that he's the best president ever.

Abacus asked Canadians to assess Trump's impact on the environment, America's image and Canada's economy. On every item, upwards of two-thirds of those surveyed said he had a negative impact.

Its common for Canadians to have tepid feelings for Republican presidents. But these numbers go far beyond any norms I can recall," said Abacus chairman Bruce Anderson in a news release. "They reveal profound dismay about the character and personal attributes of Mr. Trump as well as fear that he is causing harm to the world, to the interests of Canadians, and to the very people who elected him,"

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Canadians were also asked how they thought Trump performed at the G7 meeting in Italy. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents said the president represented America poorly, and one in two respondents felt that his approach reflected "very poorly."

When given a series of different words, both positive and negative, to describe Trump, Canadians were pretty harsh, with a majority describing him as rude, mean, unethical, thoughtless, and ignorant. Only 14 per cent said they think he is ethical.

Canadians were not divided by party lines when it came to their views of the U.S. commander-in-chief, either. Liberals supporters were more critical, and more than two-thirds of Conservative voters say Trump is rude, mean, unethical and thoughtless.

There were also only slight differences between how women and men viewed Trump, and baby boomers and millennials had almost the same opinion of Trump  a negative one.

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Trump isn't faring that well in the U.S., either. Statistics and polling website FiveThirtyEight said as of Saturday, 55.9 per cent of Americans disapprove of Trump, and only 38.1 per cent approve  a rating lower than any president since 1945 at this date in their presidency.
OTTAWA  NDP leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh wants to tax the rich and give to the poor.

In one of his first major policy announcements, HuffPost Canada has learned the Ontario MPP is proposing a huge transfer of wealth designed to lift millions out of poverty.

When our neighbours do better, we all do better, Singh says about his plan to help Canadians with disabilities, seniors, and those struggling to make ends meet.

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Inspired by the Liberals successful 2015 campaign when they promised to increase taxes on the top one per cent to support more generous tax-free child benefits, the charismatic New Democrat is hoping to steal Justin Trudeaus playbook with bigger and bolder change.

RELATED: Jagmeet Singh Attacked From All Fronts During NDP Leadership Debate

Singh proposes new federal tax brackets for high income earners: Canadians taking home between $350,000 and $499,999 would be taxed at 35 per cent (instead of 33 per cent), and income over $500,000 would be taxed at 37 per cent.

Singh would increase taxes on capital gains, hiking the inclusion rate from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. He would also implement an estate tax of 40 per cent on assets above $4 million.

Corporations would also see a huge tax increase from the current 15 per cent to 19.5 per cent  reversing decades of corporate tax cuts.

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Corporate tax write-offs would also be on the chopping block. Box seat tickets and expensive meals will end, Singh states in what he calls his income security agenda. Corporations will be asked to pay their fair share.

He adds: A Jagmeet Singh-led government will build an inclusive and more progressive tax system that will ask Canadians to invest in one another.

With all that money, Singh seeks to introduce three new programs designed to help the working poor, and to eliminate the number of seniors and people with severe disabilities living in poverty.

The NDP leadership candidate proposes a wage subsidy called the working Canadian guarantee.

Singh would triple the amount currently offered by the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB), a refundable tax credit for low-income individuals to encourage them to stay in the workforce, and others to start working.

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"A Jagmeet Singh-led government will build an inclusive and more progressive tax system that will ask Canadians to invest in one another."

Singhs guarantee would come in monthly or quarterly payments rather than the current annual lump sum, so that individuals can more easily access cash.

To pay for the program, Singh would scrap the Canada Employment Credit. Worth approximately $2.3 billion, its mostly used by wealthy Canadians, said the candidates policy director Jonathan Sas.

Like many of those boutique tax credit, it skews heavily towards the wealthy, who know to file for it, who have accountants to do it, and the people who it was supposed to help, it has not helped at all, Sas said.

At a time of exploding part-time work, automation and globalization, the wage subsidy would serve as a safety net: [The WITB] has been successful already and we want to improve it and expand it.

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For seniors, Singh proposes to combine a number of existing programs (Old Age Security, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the age credit, and the pension income credit) into one income-tested Canada seniors guarantee. The benefit would be phased out at an income level that will be disclosed once Singhs campaign can access government figures, said Sas.

This would allow low- and middle-income seniors a boost in their benefits, said Singh.

We think that the wealthiest seniors, those with a lot of investments, with secure pensions, dont need the same kind of benefits that those at the low end do, Sas said. There are 28 per cent of single female seniors living in poverty. They deserve a richer benefit.

A big part of Singh's tax increases would help fund a new Canadians with disabilities guarantee. This $8 billion to $10 billion program would offer an income-tested, non-taxable benefit designed to complement provincial allowances to some approximately 500,000 individuals.

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There is no excuse that in a country as rich as ours that so many Canadians with disabilities are forced to live in poverty, Singh said in a promotion video.

Sas told HuffPost Canada that while social assistance rates differ across the provinces, most are below the poverty line.

What we are committing to is a new federal benefit, with a commitment to lift every senior with a severe disability out of poverty, he said.

Singh also plans to establish a tax fairness commission that will be tasked with recommending ways to make the tax system more progressive and balanced.

Five candidates are running for the NDP leadership: Singh, and MPs Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton, Guy Caron and Peter Julian.

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The party selects a new leader this fall.

Also on HuffPost
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There has been a political eruption of historic proportions in British politics. Few commentators saw it coming; many predicted that if Corbyn faced the electorate, Labour surely would be heading for a crushing defeat. They were wrong. Instead, the British people have endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's vision and his movement for a new kind of politics.

Labour defied the odds without resorting to the politics of cynicism that has defined our politics. Despite all the vicious personal attacks, smears, and distortions, Corbyn and his team have brought Labour back to life. Without bending to politics of fear and division, Labour has won seats it has not held for decades -- and upped its vote share by 10%. For the past two years, we were told that the Labour under Corbyn was unelectable. That logic can't hold anymore. Labour's politics of hope is a blueprint for a new kind of politics-- and one that goes beyond our borders.

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There is no parallel for such a dramatic democratic upending of the official rules in British electoral politics. The Tories may have won, but the perception of their electoral invincibility has taken a mortal blow. Their extravagant fantasies of unchallenged power lie buried beneath a pile of rubble. Inspired by Corbyn's message of hope, young people and previous non-voters came out in astonishing numbers, challenging the vested interests that held them back for so long. Corbyn's authenticity made Labour the only choice to say enough is enough.

One thing is clear: There will be no going back. Corbyn's manifesto will be the basis of Labour's future. The radical manifesto, which was promised to bring terrible defeat, turns out have the support of millions of voters. And today, the argument that a radical platform could lead to electoral catastrophe has been decisively proven wrong.

Meanwhile, the Tory party that depicted Corbyn as a deranged terrorist sympathizer will join a coalition with a party that has previously been endorsed by the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Resistance, jeopardizing the delicate balance that preserves peace in Northern Ireland. How's that for security and stability? Theresa May's dangerous deal with the DUP is doomed to fail. In a naked power grab, she will be remembered as a prime mister who destroyed herself in an election she didn't need to call.

Whichever way you slice it, Theresa May is finished. The Labour victory in this election is the fact that we now know that there is a viable alternative to Tory austerity. Nine years after the global financial crisis, Corbyn has pushed an anti-austerity agenda into the heart of British politics. He has recharged democracy with offering a genuine choice that ignites the hope that has made Labour electable again. He has opened the political space for a debate about a range of progressive platforms that will transform this country.

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Whatever happens, such a fundamental shift cannot be reversed. The Labour has laid the foundation for the path to power. The British elite and media onslaught will continue. But this election demonstrated the resounding rejection of such bankrupt politics of the past.
Chris J Ratcliffe via Getty Images

In the wake of the 2017 General Election, there is a consensus emerging. As the Labour Party celebrate their third consecutive defeat, and the Tories lick the wounds of their second catastrophic miscalculation in two years, the press are harping on about the return of two-party politics.

Looking at the popular vote, it's hard to argue with that conclusion. The big two parties accumulated 82.3% between them, the highest for 47 years. The post-mortems for both Labour and the Conservatives, who have both simultaneously lost and won, are on-going, but what should we make of the performance of my party, the Liberal Democrats?

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The results were somewhat of a mixed-bag for the Britain's third party, whilst our vote share fell by half a percentage point, the party did improve its seat tally by 50%, resulting in the welcome returns of former Equalities Minister Jo Swinson, and Vince Cable among eight new Liberal MPs in the Commons.

Whilst our performance in key seats resulted in us increasing our parliamentary presence, and coming agonisingly close to at least three other seats, nationally the campaign was dismal. In seats where we didn't already have a foothold, we were brutally squeezed and have now limited our scope for future gains in the next few elections.

It seems an age ago but when the snap election was first called by the Prime Minister just over six weeks ago, the Liberal Democrats were being enthusiastically talked up by commentators. There was a genuine expectation that the Lib Dems could capitalise on the gaping chasm in the centre-ground of British politics, and coupled with their uniquely pro-EU stance, rocket back to relevance - but it never materialised.

Quite simply, during any period where the Conservative Party are pandering to the right-wing populists who used to populate Ukip and the Labour Party are imitating the TUSC, the Lib Dems should be hoovering up the gap in the centre, and be closer to 20% in the polls not 5%.

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Frankly, the national campaign and more pertinently, Tim Farron's leadership has failed to restore the party to its former position. Of course, following the decimation in 2015, few would have thought a Lib Dem revival would be a quick and easy process but just two years later, the two large parties left the door wide open for us - and Farron failed to lead us through it.

Depressingly, the polling numbers from Lord Ashcroft's demographic exit poll tell the story for the Lib Dems better than I ever could. Just 50% of our 2015 vote was retained; just 14% of Remainers backed the party, 18% of "Brexit resisters" voted Lib Dem, whilst 57% of them backed a pro-Brexit Labour Party, and in our traditional stronghold, Cornwall, we are now the third party having been supplanted by Labour, and are a distant third behind two pro-Brexit parties with Remain voters.

The Liberal Democrats position is precarious still, before the campaign Tim Farron pledged to play the long game where the Liberal Democrats would seek to become the official opposition before forming a government of our own - this is still a long way off. But what is clear to me, in the wake of this election, it will be longer still if we don't appoint a leader who the public can legitimately view as an alternative Prime Minister.

I will give Tim Farron credit for his tenacity in the wake of the lowest ebb for the party, he worked tirelessly to get us back in the political picture, but fundamentally his own unpopularity means he cannot sustain his position as leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Anecdotally speaking, many voters I know, were perturbed by Farron as a leader, he didn't inspire confidence in voters that he could lead the official opposition let alone a government. There is a reason he was the only elected Lib Dem MP to lose votes on Thursday. As well, his inability to quickly and effectively deal with the character assassination he faced at the start of the campaign meant he had been stuck with reputation of being a homophobe. Despite it not being true, perception is all that matters in elections.

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She was one of the legendary Headscarf Revolutionaries.

But to Terence Layden, she was simply his grandma.

And Mr Layden has now told how he was surprised to see his grandmother Doris Layden's face had been painted on a giant mural in Hessle Road.

He was heading down the street on his mobility scooter last week when he realised his grandma had been painted on the wall.

Watch Mr Layden describe seeing the mural

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Miss Layden was painted repairing fish nets in 1933 with her sister Maud Morgan but Mr Layden wasn't told about his grandmother's inclusion on the mural which was officially unveiled last month.

He said: "I usually go on the other side of the road so I'm right up next to the mural and don't get a good view it.

"But last week I crossed the road because my scooter needed looking at when I went to the other side and I looked properly at the mural and I thought, that's my grandma.

"All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I was just overcome with pride. I had a massive smile on my face that just couldn't be wiped off."

The colourful murals were inspired by the depiction of Lilian Bilocca and the Headscarf Revolutionaries in Anlaby Road last year, with the Hessle Road illustrations paying homage to the area's fishing heritage.

Miss Layden was 33 when the picture that inspired the painting was taken and her grandson has fond memories of spending time with his grandma when he was a young boy.

"She always used to make us feel welcome," he said. "I remember we used to go on holiday every year and she used to save up her ha'pennies and give them to us.

"She was very old fashioned but I know she still loved me."

Miss Layden died in 1970 but after discovering the mural, Mr Layden has once again been filled with pride at the role his grandmother played in Hull's history.

The volunteer teacher, who lives in St Barnabus Court, said: "It has made me feel so humbled. It's just so nice.

"We weren't the closest of families but every time now when I see it I just can't believe that that is my grandma on that wall.

"All my family were fishermen, all the fishermen's wives used to mend the nets and make new ones for them for when they went out to sea.

"I'm just delighted and maybe a bit big headed. It's hard to put into words but every time I look at it now, I just think that is my grandma and I will never forget her."

The murals, which were created after Hull Bullnose Heritage Group secured City of Culture funding for the idea last year, can be found on the side of Turbo Systems, on the corner Gillet Street and on the Halfway pub opposite Asda.

They were designed by local artists Andy Pea, Sharon Darley and Lydia Caprani who teamed up with Belfast pair Mark Ervine and Kev Largey for the ambitious project.
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iciHaiti - Security : DR and Haiti seek to strengthen their disaster response system





Friday, the Dominican Civil Defense Director, Brigadier General Rafael Antonio Carrasco Paulino, received in Santo Domingo his new Haitian counterpart, Jerry Chandler, the new Director of the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC), in order to exchange on good practices in the event of disaster between the two countries "Haiti and the Dominican Republic are vulnerable to the same natural phenomena, so it is necessary to create synergies to improve the response to disasters," recalled Carrasco Paulino.



Were also present : Joseph Felix, the intervention coordinator in case of disaster for Haiti civil protection, Enzo di Taranto, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Haiti, Martin Acosta, National Intervention Counselor disaster for OCHA in the Dominican Republic and Belgica Miguelina Tactuk, Director of the National School of Risk Management.



At the end of the meeting, Haiti and the Dominican Republic agreed to strengthen risk management.



SL/ iciHaiti


















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This Isnt Our Last Love Letter



Dear Don Don,

Way back in 92



I walked into the room and knew



Never felt this way before



I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes



And the feeling grew



As I took a seat I knew



A love that would have my heart



Forever



I knew



Way back in 92





They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true



We were the exception to that rule



Our love had no where to hide



A spark set fire



As if this is how the universe started





I never doubted our love or what we could do



Together we grew



Forming a bond everlasting



That became our glue



My euphoria was YOU



Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared



For how fortunate we were :



to have and to hold

through sickness and in health

Til death do us part



Until we are together again



This isnt our last love letter



I love you with all my heart and soul



Yours forever,



Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow)





Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus.









A True American Hero

I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus.



I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years.



I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years.

But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us.

In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about.



Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle.

I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life.

I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life.

No one will ever do what he did.

I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO





David Jurist

IMUS IN THE MORNING

FIRST DAY BACK!
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Gorillaz's one-day festival at Margate's Dreamland, Demon Dayz, took place at a weird juncture for the British public.

An incredible, shocking result at the general election which saw young people come out in full force to help decimate the Conservative majority and boost Labour's standing under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn; only to see the Conservatives now seeking the cooperation of the anti-LGBTQ, climate change denying DUP.

During their Demon Dayz set, NME reports frontman Damon Albarn paused after the band's rendition of 'Tomorrow Comes Today', from their self-titled 2001 debut, and breached the subject of the election to the crowd.

"It's been a weird week in this country," he stated. "A real surprise and then an inevitable bullshit outcome. But this is only the beginning cos theres some of you out there who werent able to vote this time, but next time youll be able to vote. Its going to grow."

The political disenfranchisement of the young is something Albarn has spoken about previously, telling Channel 4: "Were going down a route that doesnt really listen to the voices of the young and it seems to be dictated by the more comfortable, older, English voter, Conservative voter essentially."

"Im not talking about the person whod voted Labour. Im talking about your classic, Conservative middle England voter, and theyre the difference between 48 [% that voted to remain] and 52 [% that voted to leave], to my mind. And I just dont understand why the country is allowing that nostalgic, somewhat distant idea about what this country should be dictate to the rest of us who feel very strongly that, you know, there are huge problems that need to be addressed."



"My daughters nearly 18 but she cant vote in this election," he continued. "Shes hugely frustrated by that and Im sure she represents a huge amount of people who just dont feel like they can change anything now. And this is a point when we need to change stuff. We need to keep talking."

"Im not trying to kind of, sorry, belittle the importance of people in middle [England], that specific king of person, whos comfortable, doesnt have necessarily a lot of financial problems anymore. You know, theyve worked hard all their life, but theyre nostalgic. They want to go back. They dont want to go forward. We need politics that moves, politicians that look forward and not nostalgic. Isolationism, to my mind, is going back. We need to go forward, we need to keep our minds open."

Demon Dayz was held at the Margate theme park Dreamland, seeing the Gorillaz supported by the likes of De La Soul, Little Simz, Kano, and Kilo Kish.
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The tiger paces back and forth in its cage, groaning mournfully. A second big cat sleeps soundly in the corner, while a third stares blankly at the bars. Next to this cage is another containing three more tigers, and after that three more cages: a line of small pens, each holding at least one cat. Most likely, none has long to live.

The tigers are property of the Kings Romans Group, which operates a casino here, along with hotels, a shooting range, a cockfighting and bullfighting ring, a Chinatown-themed shopping center, and this shabby zoo. Ten years ago, the Hong Kong-based company signed a lease with the Laotian government to develop this 12-square-mile plot in northwestern Bokeo province, just across the Mekong river from Thailand. Its called the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

Most businesses in the duty-free complex are owned and staffed by Chinese citizens and patronised by a predominantly Chinese clientele. Many are drawn here by the promise of vices not as easily found back home, including products made from exotic animals like tigers.

Conservationists maintain that this zoo is actually a farm raising animals for slaughter, and that it plays a significant role in perpetuating the illegal wildlife trade, swapping tigers with similar operations in Thailand and illegally butchering animals for their bones, meat and parts.

Stuffed tigers for sale at the Golden Triangle have been smuggled in from China and are marketed to Chinese tourists and gamblers

Tigers, bears, snakes and countless other species, many endangered, are held on farms throughout South-east Asia. Operators illegally capture animals in the wild and then pass them off as captive-bred, or breed the animals on site and illegally sell them into the trade. These facilities are part of a contraband industry whose profitability by some estimates is surpassed only by the global trade in drugs and arms, and by human trafficking.

Few tourists are present at Kings Romans during a recent visit. The ghost-town feel is reinforced by boarded-up shops, half-finished construction sites and posters advertising events that had long since come and gone. But restaurants at Kings Romans still offer expensive plates of bear paw, pangolin (an endangered scaly mammal) and sauteed tiger meat, which can be paired with tiger wine, a grain-based concoction in which tiger penises, bones or entire skeletons are soaked for months.

When a group of foreigners show up at the God of Wealth, Kings Romans fanciest restaurant, the suspicious proprietor tells their translator, You can eat here, but do not ask for the special jungle menu  the menu offering wildlife options.

Nevertheless, the staff offer tiger wine for $20 (16) a shot glass, and serve a bears paw to patrons at a nearby table. In May, a photographer for The New York Times who visited the restaurant was offered plates of tiger meat for $45.

Skins from wild and farmed tigers alike are sold openly in the Golden Triangle

Nearby, half a dozen jewelry and pharmaceutical shops display exorbitantly priced tiger teeth and claws, as well as rhino-horn carvings and shavings, elephant skin and ivory.

The place is just a mess, says Debbie Banks, of the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency in London. Pretty much anything goes.

In 2015, Banks and her colleagues, along with the nonprofit group Education for Nature-Vietnam, reported that meals, medicine and jewelry made from numerous protected species  including tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, bears and elephants  were openly sold in the special economic zone. Their documentation spurred the Laotian government to raid some businesses here and to burn a few tiger skins on television. But Banks said little had changed since that cosmetic effort.

Like the rest of the complex, the Kings Romans zoo is largely deserted save for animals kept in cages. A woman and her young daughter wander in to look at the bears. Many show signs of captivity-induced stress, including uncontrolled headbanging. Staff members are nowhere to be found.

Approximately 700 tigers live on farms in Laos. Thousands more are believed to be kept throughout South-east Asia, and an additional 5,000 to 6,000 are housed in over 200 breeding centres in China. Fewer than 4,000 of the big cats remain in the wild; farmed tigers now far outnumber total wild populations.

At an international conference on the endangered species trade last autumn, Laotian government officials acknowledged a growing problem with wildlife farms and committed themselves to closing down the countrys tiger farms. So far, little has changed.

One source who works closely with the government, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said that some Laotian politicians remained deeply involved in the farms and that the countrys forestry department lacked the authority to shut them down.

Republican Representative Ed Royce of California, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has singled out Laos as an international hub for illegal wildlife trafficking, saying in 2015 it was quite clear officials are profiting.

Laotian government officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Treaty limits breeding

According to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, a treaty to which China and all South-east Asian nations are signers, tigers are to be bred only for conservation  not for their parts, and not on a commercial scale that does not benefit wild tigers. In Laos and several other Asian countries, however, conservationists have compiled ample evidence that many zoos and farms serve as fronts for commercial breeding.

There are believed to be 200 breeding centres in China holding 6,000 animals

Farming tigers for trade confuses consumers and stimulates demand, says Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

In 2016, Tiger Temple in Thailand made headlines when monks there were accused of abusing tigers and selling them into the illegal wildlife trade. Eventually, 40 dead cubs were discovered in a freezer, along with pelts and other wildlife products. Thailand has some 1,450 tigers in captivity, the majority of which are kept at popular attractions like Tiger Temple, where tourists pay to take photographs and play with cubs and young adults.

When the tigers reach sexual maturity and can no longer be handled safely, they often disappear, sold on the black market for up to $50,000 (39,000), according to Karl Ammann, a Kenya-based investigative filmmaker who is making a documentary about the tiger farming industry.

Conservationists also have accused tiger farms in China  two of which are supported by government investment  of illegal activity. Chinese law permits some tiger skins to be traded legally, although tiger bone has been banned since 1993. But in 2013 Banks and her colleagues found that farms were stockpiling tiger bones to make wine and that skins from wild tigers were sold as being from captive-bred tigers.

After inquiries from the Times, Meng Xianlin, executive director-general of the Chinese Cites management authority, declined to be interviewed. Several other Chinese officials did not respond to repeated interview requests.

Menus outside the restaurants in the Chinatown area of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone openly advertise exotic meat, including saute tiger

Past violators often re-enter the wildlife farming business. Construction has already begun on a zoo next door to Tiger Temple. Officials in Vietnam recently granted permission for the wife of Pham Van Tuan, a twice-convicted tiger trafficker, to import 24 tigers from the Czech Republic for conservation purposes.

Vuong Tien Manh, deputy director of Vietnams Cites management authority, says that Vietnam had seized a number of frozen tigers and tiger bones over the past five years, most of which were suspected to have originated from Laos. He adds that Vietnams policies did not permit commercial breeding of tigers, but the country has some 130 tigers in captivity. All tiger farms are strictly monitored, Manh says, no matter who the owners are.

Bear bile collected

Though tigers are the most contentious of Asias farmed wildlife, they are by no means the only species caught up in the industry. An estimated 10,000 bears are legally kept on Chinese farms for their bile, an ingredient in traditional medicine that is collected through a tube permanently implanted in the animals gall bladder, or through a hole in their abdomens.

Countless other species  crocodiles, porcupines, pythons, deer and more  are also farmed throughout China and South-east Asia. Some proponents, including government officials, believe that such facilities should be legal and encouraged, arguing that they relieve pressure to hunt wild animals by satiating demand with captive-bred animals.

Others say there is no evidence to back this assertion. I cant think of any species in South-east Asia that benefits from commercial captive breeding, says Chris Shepherd, the South-east Asia regional director for Traffic, a nonprofit wildlife trade-monitoring group. Scott Roberton, the director of counter-wildlife trafficking at the Wildlife Conservation Societys Asia program, adds that the risks associated with legalising trade in farmed tigers and other endangered species are the same as those associated for decades with the ivory trade.

Kings Romans Chinese casino in Laos also hosts cockfighting and bullfighting (AFP/Getty)

Legal trade stimulates demand, confuses law enforcement efforts, and opens a huge opportunity for laundering illegal products, which is why ivory markets are now being closed globally, he says.

There just isnt the capacity within these countries to manage a legal trade in a watertight way, Roberton says.

Laundering of animals as farmed that were actually caught in the wild is a frequent practice. In Chengdu, China, a third of 285 bears rescued from bile farms and now living at a rehabilitation centre run by Animals Asia, a nonprofit group, are missing limbs, a sign that they were caught in the wild by snares.

A 2008 investigation by Vietnamese officials and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that about half of 78 wildlife farms surveyed regularly launder animals caught in the wild. In 2016, a study of 26 Vietnamese wildlife farms found that all engaged in laundering. The pet trade is also a problem. Indonesia annually exports over four million reptiles and small mammals labeled captive-bred  including thousands shipped weekly to the US. But virtually all are caught in the wild, according to Shepherd. Ive been to almost every reptile farm in Indonesia, and none have breeding facilities, he says. Wildlife dealers are running circles around everyone. Its a joke.

Though modern wildlife farming emerged in the 1990s and has only grown in popularity, wild populations of farmed species have continued to plummet, Shepherd says. Tigers are effectively extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, while just seven to 50 remain in the wild in China.

No matter how many tigers are farmed, we still have wild tigers getting killed, he says.

What becomes of the tigers?

Heeding these arguments, Laotian government representatives attending a major Cites meeting last September announced their intention to end tiger farming in their country. International nongovernmental organisations are advising Laotian authorities on how to carry through with that announcement, but there has been no progress to date.

There are some countries in South-east Asia that are equipped to combat criminal networks, and some that are still struggling, says Giovanni Broussard, South-east Asia regional coordinator for the Global Program for Combating Wildlife and Forest Crime of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime. Laos, he says, is in the category of those that are still struggling.

Though most tiger farms in Laos do not allow visitors, conservationists fear that owners will simply shift to a model embraced in Thailand, in which petting zoos serve as a front for illegal trade.

Even if the authorities move forward with shutting down the farms, what to do with the countrys 700-plus captive tigers is a challenge. Euthanising them would bring unwanted media attention, but releasing them into the wild is not an option. Theres not much prey, and the tigers lack survival skills and have no fear of humans.

Yet keeping them is a burden; it costs thousands of dollars a year to feed a single tiger, Banks says, and tigers can live up to 20 years.

In 2002, Vietnam faced a similar dilemma when it made bear farming and bile sales illegal. Fifteen years later, around 1,200 bears still live with their original owners. Many are kept in horrific conditions  in cages scarcely larger than their bodies, suffering from rampant disease and lacking adequate food and water  and their bile continues to be collected illegally.

Animals Asia runs a rehabilitation centre near Hanoi that houses 160 bears rescued from the trade, but the centre has permission to keep only 200 animals. Even if that cap were eliminated, however, the group lacks the funds and space to care for all of Vietnams remaining captive bears.

Obviously, we cant do this all ourselves, says Tuan Bendixsen, Animals Asias Vietnam director. The government must take responsibility for their wildlife.

As Laos ponders how to responsibly close its tiger farms, China is moving in the opposite direction. Since 1992, it has been petitioning Cites to permit trade in farmed tiger products. When Chinese representatives lobbied for this change once again at the most recent Cites meeting, the proposal was turned down.

Conservationists believe that international pressure may be crucial to persuading Asian governments to close tiger, bear and other wildlife farms, but that strategys effectiveness is compromised by an awkward fact: An estimated 5,000 tigers are held in backyards, petting zoos and even truck stops across the United States.

 New York Times
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Rose started off as a wine you might sample when you were in the South of France. It went with the blue skies and endless sun. Back in the rain-lashed UK the only rose you were likely to encounter came from Portugal in a funny-shaped bottle and tended to be slightly sweet and slightly sparkling.

But things have changed. Britains now experiencing the sort of weather most of us went to the Mediterranean to find and sales of rose wines have risen as consumers discover that its the ideal accompaniment to an al fresco meal or a long summers day.

And now its not only Provence where you can find excellent roses. Europe, Spain, Italy, Germany and even the UK produce some first-class wines, while further afield, South Africa, Chile, Australia and New Zealand have all got in on the act.

So, put your feet up, say hello to Mr Blue Sky and pour yourself a glass of liquid sunshine.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.

Lalomba de Ramon Bilbao rosado 2018, 75cl, 13%: 23.50, Great Western Wine

From mature garnacha (grenache) vines planted on the Lalomba hillside, 700 metres above sea level on stony clay and limestone soils in the Rioja Alta region of Spain comes what Ramon Bilbao consider to be the jewel in their crown. Roses should just be as expressive of their provenance as reds and whites, says chief winemaker Rodolfo Bastida and this pale blush rose made from only perfect, hand-picked berries is exactly that. Orchard and red fruit flavours are tempered by mineral notes and an elegant acidity in a wine thats as perfect as a sunny Spanish evening.

Buy now

Miguel Torres Las Mulas cabernet sauvignon organic rose 2018, 75cl, 13%: 9.39, Waitrose

A certified organic and vegan rose from the Torres family of Chile, who make wine using traditional methods without herbicides or pesticides. Produced from cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in the Rapel region of the countrys Central Valley, its a dry wine for those who like big flavours. Lots of intense cherry and red berries on the palate with a pleasing but not too overwhelming acidity.

Buy now

Barone Ricasoli Albia rose toscano 2017, 75cl, 13.5%: 14.99, Flagship

From a Tuscan family famous for its chianti, whose links to the wine trade date back to the 12th century comes a beautifully pale and fragrant rose made from a blend of sangiovese and merlot. An initial sip brings strawberries, cherry and red fruits to the tongue, balanced with a pleasing minerality and a lasting finish. One to be enjoyed lightly chilled with any classic Italian dish.

Buy now

Rustenberg stellenbosch petit rerdot rose 2018, 75cl, 13.5%: 8.99, Waitrose

The Rustenberg Estate in the valley of the Simonsberg Mountain in South Africas premium Stellenbosch wine region was established in 1682. But it was in the 1940s that the Barlow family took it over and established an outstanding portfolio of wines. One of the newer additions is this rose made from the small-berried and thick-skinned petit verdot grape. Bright pink in colour with strawberry and cherry flavours come to the fore, making it the ideal accompaniment to a summer barbecue.

Buy now

Simpsons Railway Hill rose 2018, 75cl, 12.5%: 19, Roberson

Before you do anything else, just admire the bottle. A beautiful club-shaped vision of blushing rose loveliness with an exquisite glass stopper. And, happily after that build up the wine doesnt disappoint. An English rose from the North Downs of Kent, its crisp, bright and fruity with notes of peach and stone fruits and a balanced but delicate allure. Summer was made for wines like this.

Buy now

Proudly Vegan Chile Valle Central rose 2018, 75cl, 12%: 6.99 Ocado

From the UK-based Broadland Wineries comes a Chilean wine thats not afraid to boast about its main selling point  a rose so vegan that even the printing ink and the label glue have no animal-related products in them. What you get is a soft and well-balanced wine with plenty of fruity flavour  all plum and red berries  which could partner baked vegetables, a quinoa salad or a simple olive crostini.

Buy now

Waitrose Cotes de Provence rose 2018, 75cl, 12.5%: 9.99, Waitrose

From their Blueprint range of wines, heres a Waitrose product that does exactly what it says on the tin, or in this case, label  ie, delivers an impressive rose from the French region thats the established and spiritual home of this summer staple. Chock-a-block with cherry and red fruit flavours, its a blend of cinsault and grenache grapes and was made to enjoy with a salad nicoise.

Buy now

Bird in Hand pinot noir rose 2018, 75cl, 12%: 14.25, Frontier

One of a range of limited release wines from an Australian winery built by the Nugent family on the site of an old gold mine in South Australias Adelaide Hills. The pinot noir grapes were picked during the coolest part of the day. They were then destemmed and spent up four hours on skins, before being tank fermented, giving the wine its delicate blush hue. Strawberry and soft fruit flavours along with floral notes make it an ideal outdoor aperitif or an accompaniment to a picnic lunch.

Buy now

Adnams marlborough rose 2016, 75cl: 9.5%, 8.99, Adnams

The grapes for this blush rose, produced for Adnams in New Zealand by WineWorks, were picked slightly earlier than usual, so that wine has a more modest 9.5% ABV compared with similar wines. That doesnt detract from the taste, though, as winemaker John Forrest has made sure that the red fruit and elderflower flavour, balanced by a pleasant acidity, is as potent as ever. Fine to drink on its own or with light salads.

Buy now

El Coto rosado 2018, 75cl, 13%: 4.39, Vinissimus

This wont break the bank and for under a fiver you get a good everyday Spanish rose made from grenache and tempranillo grapes grown in Spains Rioja Alavesa region. Pink and colourful in the glass, it has plenty of upfront red fruit and red berry flavours and a fresh acidity. Enjoy it on its own as a summer aperitif or as an accompaniment to light fish or rice dishes.

Buy now

Coteaux Varois en Provence rose 2017, 75cl, 12.5%: 9 (54 for a case of six), Marks & Spencers

From the Provencal region of Var, this is a light but fruity rose made from grenache, cinsault and syrah grapes, with a dash of mourvedre and carignan added to the blend too. There are red fruit and strawberries on the palate with floral hints and an acidity thats balanced without being overpowering. Like many roses its not a wine to be kept for too long and needs to be consumed within 12 months.

Buy now

London Cru Rosaville Rd pinot noir rose 2018, 75cl, 12%: 15, Roberson

From Londons first ever winery, launched six years ago by Cliff Roberson, comes a succulent pinot noir rose made from grapes grown in a Surrey vineyard. Some 90 per cent of the wine was fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks while the rest was put in oak barrels resulting in a creamy yet delicate wine with a citrus aroma and notes of red fruit and strawberries. Best enjoyed young as a superb aperitif or to complement light salad dishes.

Buy now

Mas de Cadenet Cotes de Provence Sainte Victoire rose 2018, 75cl, 12% : 16.20, Tannico

One for art lovers, since the grapes for this very more-ish rose were picked in a vineyard at the base of Sainte Victoire, the mountain that famously features in many of Cezannes landscapes. Now a recognised sub-appellation of the Cotes de Provence AOC, its home to some of the regions finest roses. Made from 45 per cent grenache, 45 per cent cinsault and 10 per cent syrah, it had a slightly more balanced texture and a lengthier fruit-filled finish than other Provencal roses, thanks to the mountains micro climate and notable terroir.

Buy now

Villa Wolf pinot noir rose 2017, 75cl, 12%: 9.90, The Bottle Club

A German rose from the well-established Villa Wolf winery in Pfalz, Germanys second largest wine-growing area, where the sunny and equable conditions resemble Tuscany. As a result, its an ideal location for all varieties of pinot grapes and this lovely pink-hued rose is light, crisp, full of red fruit flavour and an ideal accompaniment to al fresco lunches or meals. Its great value, too, at under 10.

Buy now

Chateau des Muraires Seduction Cotes de Provence rose 2018, 75cl, 13%: 16.99, Laithwaites

This is a seduction that starts with the colour  the most wonderful pale rose  and continues with that sniff of perfumed Provencal promise thats released as its poured into the glass. Winemaker Bernard Magrezs Provencal estate, mid-way between Nice and Aix-en-Provence may be small - only 1.3 hectares  but it produces some outstanding wines including this blend of grenache, cinsault, syrah and the local rolle grape. There are strawberries and red berries in each sip plus a deft acidity that makes the wine an ideal partner for any Mediterranean fish dish.

Buy now

The verdict: Rose wines

Wines such as Simpsons Railway Hill rose from the UK or the Bird in Hand pinot noir rose from Australia are worthy contenders. But if you really want to splash out, go for the best buy, Lalomba de Ramon Bilbao Rosado, a Spanish wine that's everything a magnificent rose should be  fruity, mouth-watering, refreshing and satisfying. Summer wouldn't be the same without it.
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Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has advocated for the cancellation of US President Donald Trump's visit to the UK, citing disagreements over the Paris climate accord and the President's criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

"Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal," Mr Corbyn tweeted.

Mr Trump's visit to the UK has not been formally cancelled, but is reported to have been put on hold for fear of public protest.

Mr Corbyn and several other MPs suggested the visit be cancelled outright, following Mr Trump's comments on the recent London Bridge terrorist attack.

"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!" Mr Trump tweeted at the time.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the President's comments were "wrong", and Mr Khan said his state visit should not go ahead.

Ms May invited Mr Trump to visit the UK days after his inauguration, but the date for an official visit has yet to be announced.

The Sun reported in February that the President's visit had been pushed back to October. A senior government source told the publication that Mr Trump "wants the heat to die down a bit first".

That prospect appears increasingly unlikely after the President's incendiary comments. A spokesperson for Ms May, however, told Reuters that "the Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans".

In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP

Mr Corbyn  whose party gained an astonishing 30 seats in a recent snap election  has been a frequent critic of the American president.

The Labour party leader hinted at his desire to delay Mr Trump's state visit in a recent interview with The Independent, saying he was very concerned at the speed with which Ms May extended her invitation.

Asked whether the President should have to wait until a second term in office to visit the UK, however, Mr Corbyn demurred.

Its not up to me as the invitation has already been issued," he replied.

Mr Trump has not commented on Mr Corbyn specifically, but called the results of the recent UK election "surprising".

The President has yet to formally nominate an ambassador to the UK, and has not visited the country during his time in office. In his first foreign trip as president, Mr Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican, and attended summits in Belgium and Italy.

The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
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A hedgehog suffering from balloon syndrome was rescued after it had swollen to twice its normal size.

The animal was diagnosed after a member of the public saw it wandering round in circles in Toll Bar, Doncaster.

RSPCA inspector Sandra Dransfield said it was clear the animal was suffering from the syndrome, which is caused by gas collecting under the skin.

Its the worst case of balloon syndrome Ive seen, she told BBC News.

This poor chap was almost twice its natural size, literally blown up like a beach ball with incredibly taut skin.

I took the stricken animal straight to Peak Vets in Sheffield, where he was X-rayed and they released some of the air from under his skin.

The vet then started him on a course of antibiotics and pain relief. We found him in the nick of time, and I really do hope he pulls through.

X-ray shows skin inflated to twice normal size (RSPCA)

The animal is being treated at an RSPCA centre in the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Nantwich, Cheshire.

The most controversial animal killings Show all 6 1 /6 The most controversial animal killings The most controversial animal killings Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden The most controversial animal killings Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer The most controversial animal killings Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus The most controversial animal killings Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey The most controversial animal killings The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down The most controversial animal killings Swiss Dahlholzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Berns Dahlholzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook

If the animal had continued to swell, its skin could have ruptured.

Pressure from the gas on internal organs could also eventually cause it to suffocate or starve to death.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society said there was no single cause for the syndrome.

It can be triggered by an injury or infection, which releases gas underneath the skin. Treatment involves puncturing the skins underlying cavity to release the gas, and a course of medication.

The male hedgehog in Cheshire will be thoroughly examined under general anaesthetic. It will be cared for until it is ready to return to the wild.
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Footage has emerged appearing to show a fight break out during a Protestant march through Liverpool City Centre.

An eyewitness told The Independent they saw marchers fighting with members of the public drinking in The Liffey Irish bar on Renshaw Street.

The fight "got quite violent" before being broken up by police, the witness said.

It comes after the Prime Minister, Theresa May, sought a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to support her in Parliament.

It is unclear whether the march on Saturday was related to the potential "confidence and supply" agreement or whether it had been planned to go ahead anyway.

 Theresa May reaches 'confidence and supply' deal with DUP

Beth Redmond was in Liverpool with her friend when she heard the drums of the marching bands and saw "loads of Union Jack flags. Obviously after what's happened, we said we hope it's not the Orange lodge," she told The Independent:

"Then we saw orange sashes and realised it was.

"Just as we got round the corner they walked past an Irish bar called the Liffey and I'm not sure who it was who initiated it, whether people came out of the pub or they went into the pub, but they started fighting each other.

"People were throwing beers all over each other, it got quite violent.

"The police came, but the fight moved up the road a little bit. I think eventually it must have dispersed but it was very tense."

She described seeing around 20 people fighting.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 10 November 2022 A grey heron lands on the river Dodder in Dublin on a sunny autumn morning PA UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every 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"The pub got locked eventually so people couldn't go in, the people who were on the march were banging on the windows and doors trying to get in," she said.

"I think the people on both sides of the fight were holding people back."

Merseyside Police said they were contacted following reports of a disturbance on Renshaw Street at 7.25pm.

One man was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and another was arrested for a public order offence.

There were no reports of anyone being injured, the police said.

The Liffey Irish bar refused to comment.

Liverpool Provincial Grand Orange Lodge said: "We would like to emphasiss that the Orange Institution were neither the organisers or participants in this event.

"We do not condone violence in any form in support of any religion or cause,whilst always supporting the rights of legitimate groups to walk the streets of our city."
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A minutes silence at the scene of the London Bridge terror attack has raised more than 700,000.

Market traders, staff, police and members of the public gathered in Borough Market where eight people were killed and 48 injured last week by three radical extremists.

The British Red Crosss Saturday Night for London, supported by Borough Market, raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for those who were affected by the attack and their families.

Recommended Saudi footballers apologise for not observing tribute to London attack

The minutes silence was followed by spontaneous applause, and people laid flowers, candles and tributes for the victims.

Donald Hyslop, chair of trustees at Borough Market, said it was important for the strong community to come together after the attack.

It is a very close-knit community and in a way people can draw strength and resolve from this to move forward, and I hope you see that and you will see that when we re-open and as we move forward, he said.

He said the market should open again this week.

 London Bridge: One week after the terror attack

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he admired how the people in London pull together in the face of adversity.

London is open. Our resilience, unity and defiance of those evil individuals who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life will never change.

In another tribute to victims, people of Christian, Muslim and other faiths took part in a sunset walk from St Pauls Cathedral to East London Mosque.

Muslim Aid chief executive Jehangir Malik said people must not let others cause division.

London Attack victims Show all 8 1 /8 London Attack victims London Attack victims Christine Archibald, a Canadian woman who was killed in the latest London attack PA London Attack victims James McMullan, 32, who is believed to be one of victims who died in the London Bridge terror attack after his bank card was found on a body at the scene PA London Attack victims Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, aged 28. a staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London, England, who died in the 03 June 2017 terror attack on London Bridge and Borough Market EPA London Attack victims Darren Mole Twitter / DarrenMole London Attack victims Oliver Dowling and his girlfriend Marie Bondeville were injured in the london terror attacks Facebook London Attack victims Candice Hedge London Attack victims Alexandre Pigeard, from Normandy, was knifed to death at Boro Bistro after three terrorists went on the rampage on Saturday night DoyouBuzz London Attack victims Geoff Ho Facebook

But standing here today with all of those around us demonstrates one week on that that's not going to happen.

Three men  Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba  ploughed a rental van into pedestrians before exiting the vehicle, wearing fake gas canisters and carrying 12-inch blades, randomly stabbing people in bars and restaurants.

Police said the death toll could have been higher if Butt had managed to rent the larger 7.5 tonne lorry, but his payment details failed to go through.

The three men were shot dead by police within eight minutes of the call to emergency services just after 10pm on 3 June.

Southwark Council said this weekend that the last cordon had been lifted and police have now left the crime scene.

Agencies contributed to this report.
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Boris Johnson has called on Conservative MPs to get behind Theresa May as speculation grows that he could be planning to challenge her for the party leadership.

Leaked screenshots of WhatsApp messages sent by the Foreign Secretary to a Tory MP group chat show him telling the MPs to calm down following the general election result, ITV News reports.

The timing of the message, its media-friendly content, and its subsequent public release, however, led to speculation on social media that it was specifically written to be leaked.

This has done little to quash speculation Mr Johnson is setting the scene for a potential leadership bid.

Mr Johnsons eight-point message added Tory MPs must stop the narrative that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn somehow won this thing noting he barely did better than Gordon Brown in 2010.

Former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, now London Evening Standard editor, mocked Mr Johnson as he discussed the Sunday newspaper headlines on The Andrew Marr Show.

He told the BBC programme: Ive been reading stories about Boris Johnson running a leadership campaign for years. Hes in a permanent leadership campaign so Im not sure it qualifies as news.

Theresa May is under fire (PA)

Sources close to the Foreign Secretary had earlier dismissed reports he was plotting a leadership bid as complete bollocks and suggested someone is trying to make mischief.

In the messages obtained by ITV, Mr Johnson is said to have written: Folks we need to calm down and get behind the Prime Minister.

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She won more votes than anyone since Margaret Thatcher. I cant remember us having anything like 43 per cent of the vote.

He also said the public do not want another election and labelled Mrs May a woman of extraordinary qualities.

Additional reporting by PA
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Boris Johnson has dismissed claims he is preparing a leadership bid as "tripe," as Theresa May's position is looking increasingly perilous.

A close ally of the Foreign Secretary said it was "go-go-go" for Mr Johnson's push to become Prime Minister.

"We need Bojo. We need a Brexiteer," they told the Mail on Sunday.

 General Election 2017: The biggest shocks

"We need somebody who can talk and connect with people like Jeremy Corbyn does. We need someone who can make Britain believe in itself again."

But a spokesman for Mr Johnson dismissed the report as "simply wrong" and the Foreign Secretary tweeted to say he was backing Ms May.

"Mail on Sunday tripe," he wrote. "I am backing Theresa May. Let's get on with the job."

It comes amid a report in The Sunday Times of five cabinet ministers urging the Foreign Secretary to topple the prime minister.

The ministers reportedly contacted Mr Johnson on Friday morning to tell him they would support him if he launched a leadership bid against Ms May.

A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at cabinet level, a source told the paper.

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They added: He has been inundated with messages of support. We are facing a populist and they have realised we need someone who can talk to the people.

"We need a Brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: "The Foreign Secretary is 100 per cent supporting the PM and working with her to get the best deal for Britain."

Ms May's grip on power appears far from secure, despite a proposed deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to support her in Parliament.

Downing Street said an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached with the DUP which will be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

But the strength of that deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets next week, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Ms May in Parliament and insisting: "I can still be prime minister."
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Theresa May faces a crunch meeting on Monday with Conservative MPs whose support she desperately needs to avoid the imminent collapse of her premiership.

Tories furious at the election fiasco will demand changes to her leadership style and concessions on key policy areas, including Brexit.

In a sign of the impossible task ahead, the weakened leader must appease both those who believe voters have rejected a hard Brexit, and others demanding she plough on with a tough approach.

Ms May appears to have avoided an immediate coup, with Boris Johnson telling unsettled MPs to calm down, but Conservatives from all wings of the party are still openly speculating that the Prime Ministers days are numbered. The former chancellor George Osborne yesterday branded her a dead woman walking.

The Prime Minister sought to shore up her extremely vulnerable position with a reshuffle that confirmed most key figures in their existing jobs, although there were a couple of unexpected moves that saw the return of Brexiteer Michael Gove as Environment Secretary, well as key promotions for Tories who backed remaining in the EU  including Damian Green, who was made First Secretary of State.

Her survival also depends on the Northern Irish DUP committing to a deal to prop up the Government in the Commons, with the partys leader now due in Downing Street on Tuesday for talks.

The chairman of the influential Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, confirmed Ms May would be attending a meeting of the group on Monday, brought forward a day to address the the partys crisis.

He insisted there was no immediate leadership challenge which could plunge them into another general election, but acknowledged policies set out in the Tory manifesto would have to be abandoned.

 George Osborne calls Theresa May a 'dead woman walking' two days after election

The Monday afternoon meeting is likely to see Ms May face further demands to transform the way she operates, similar to the ones already made by senior ministers.

One Brexit-backing MP Andrew Bridgen said: We owe it to the country to really get behind the PM and deliver stability, but she knows what she has to do. She needs to be strong and stable, but contrite  about the way the campaign went and whats got to change.

There needs to be a much more extensive group of people around Number 10 to hold the party together.

But she also needs to commit to a clean Brexit, that was in our and Labours manifesto, and she must not bow to Remainers who are trying to tie everything they want to the election result.

Others like Philip Hammond saw things differently, with the Chancellor reported to have told Ms May she must put jobs first in negotiating a new deal with Brussels, a veiled swipe at her focus on immigration.

A senior Tory MP said: If we fail to deliver stable government now, theres a serious risk Jeremy Corbyn could be elected with a majority. So the key thing is not doing anything that would mean him ending up in Downing Street now.

But beyond that, Brexit and its economic consequences are still massively de-stabilising. It needs to be dealt with swiftly, but in a way that recognises where we are at the moment.

Another ex-Tory minister explained: Her Brexit strategy has been completely blown out of the water.

Some people dont understand that. The penny hasnt dropped. Maybe it will drop when she speaks at the '22.

Ex-business minister Anna Soubry told The Independent: Shes got to be more inclusive, yes with the party, but in the cabinet too.

The Chancellor and the Business Secretary, Greg Clark, have got to be at the front. They have got to be at the heart and soul of the Brexit deal.

At the same time she has to stop the rhetoric of hard Brexit, and all of the no deal, better than a bad deal. The British people have rejected that, and she needs to reflect it.

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Stating that nothing should be off the table, she indicated that she wanted a different approach to the single market and immigration.

She moved off the centre ground and she lost, said Ms Soubry.

I want to see her move back towards it and that would mean its necessary to work with the sensible people in the Labour party to reach a consensus on Brexit and what getting a good deal means.

But another former Tory minister told The Independent: Can a leopard change its spots? She is at the mercy of events, principally how the EU negotiations go.

While the threat of the coup appears to have momentarily receded, senior Conservatives warned she will never lead the party into another election after last week's humiliation at the ballot box.

Mr Osborne, sacked by Ms May when she became Prime Minister, said it was clear her days in Downing Street were numbered after seeing her Commons majority wiped out in the election she had so confidently called.

The ex-chancellor, who now edits the London Evening Standard, said: Theresa May is a dead woman walking. It is just how long she is going to remain on death row.

I think we will know very shortly. We could easily get to the middle of next week and it all collapses for her.

Former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan, who was also sacked by Ms May, predicted that there could be a leadership challenge over the summer.

I think it's fairly clear Theresa May cannot lead us into another election  of course, we don't know when that's going to happen, and I don't think we should rush that. But I do think if we're going to have a leadership contest in the Conservative Party, what we cannot do is have another coronation like last summer.

Michael Gove, who has been appointed Environment Secretary, leaves 10 Downing Street (PA)

One Brexiteer Tory MP, who said Ms May staying for now was crucial to keeping Brexit on track, said: Its unlikely that this parliament will go on five years and unlikely that Theresa May will lead us into another general election.

Everyone thinks that, but we need her to be strong and stable and tough it out for a while.

The talks with Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist leader, will not start until Tuesday  after Ms Mays perilous post-election meetings with her Cabinet and backbenchers.

In a Saturday night of farce, No 10 first announced that an agreement had been reached  only to release a second statement, just five hours later, admitting it had not.

The DUP issued its own statement, dismissing the claim of an agreed deal, apparently angry at the attempt to bounce the party into signing up before it was ready.

Mr Gove's return as Environment Secretary sees the lead Brexiteer repaid for loyalty since his demise in the last Tory leadership contest.

The reshuffle saw other key Cabinet ministers remain in post, including Jeremy Hunt (Health), Justine Greening (Education), Chris Grayling (Transport), Greg Clark (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). Sajid Javid (Local Government) and Priti Patel (International Development).

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn predicted Theresa May will be forced into another general election within months, insisting: We are ready any time.

It would require 15 per cent of Conservative MPs  a total of 48  to write to Mr Brady to trigger a vote of no-confidence in her leadership.

But Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, dismissed suggestions that Ms May was fighting for her political life, insisting Tory MPs would rally behind her and give her their support.

Asked if she was a dead woman walking, he said: I dont agree with that. She won the biggest share of the vote since the 1987 election, for over 30 years.

The Prime Minister is reported to have been in floods of tears as her election disaster unfolded, but Sir Michael said: I dont know about that.
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Theresa Mays plan to open new grammar schools across the UK is unlikely to be implemented after she failed to secure a parliamentary majority, a senior Conservative backbencher has suggested.

Graham Brady, who chairs the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers and is a prominent campaigner for more grammar schools, said his party could be forced to settle for introducing a rather modest pilot in place of its manifesto pledge to lift the ban on the establishment of selective schools.

It follows a general election result that saw Ms May fall eight seats short of a House of Commons majority, meaning she will be forced to rely on the support of the DUPs ten MPs in order to pass legislation.

That raises the prospect of all proposed laws being carefully considered to ensure they will be acceptable to both the Northern Irish party and to Conservative backbenchers. Even a small rebellion could see the Government lose crucial votes.

Theres no point in sailing ahead with items that were in the manifesto which we wont get through Parliament, so were going to have to work very carefully, Mr Brady told the BBCs Sunday Politics. No doubt it will be a slimmed down Queens Speech and we should concentrate on the things that really have to be done.

I would be upset if we couldnt make any progress on allowing people to have the choice of grammar schools but reality asserts itself. If we cant get things through Parliament, we dont do them.

I hope we wont have to stop altogether but certainly we are going to have to trim our policies carefully according to what we think Parliament will support.

He said a rather modest pilot that would see a few grammar schools opened in inner-city areas could be all that is achievable on one of the Conservatives flagship education policies.

UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. 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Getty Images UK General Election 2017 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. 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Despite widespread criticism, Ms May has been vocal in expressing her desire to increase the number of grammar schools.

Nick Timothy, one of the Prime Ministers former chiefs of staff, had been reported to be the main architect of her grammar schools policy. Mr Timothy resigned after the election amid strong criticism of his role in the campaign. He had overseen the Conservatives policy programme, which included controversial plans to force elderly people to cover the cost of their social care.

In remarks that would have been unthinkable just days ago, Mr Brady also suggested the Prime Minister should seek to be more like Jeremy Corbyn, saying the Labour leader had presented himself in an avuncular way. The Prime Minister should follow his lead and relax into communicating with the electorate, the 1922 Committee chairman said.

Its something she does very well in person  increasingly so since she became Prime Minister  but that wasnt coming across in the campaign, he added.

We need to see a much more open and inclusive approach within government and within Parliament as well. Thats not just a desirable outcomeits an absolute necessity in these circumstances.
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The leader of Theresa Mays new hard right allies demanded that the Scottish Government introduce curbs on its same sex marriage laws, a former Scottish minister has said.

Marco Biagi, who served as the Scottish Governments minister for local government and community empowerment from 2014-16, said Arlene Foster had contacted him in 2015 to demand changes to Scotlands planned laws.

Ms Foster, acting in her capacity as a minister for the Northern Ireland Executive, had demanded that Scotland exclude same-sex couples from Northern Ireland from being able to get married in Scotland, the former minister said.

When I was a minister DUP's Arlene Foster wrote to me asking us to curtail access of Northern Irish citizens to Scottish same-sex marriages, he said on Twitter.

He added: I said no. Specifically this was couples with prior Northern Irish civil partnerships, who couldnt switch for marriages in NI (or England and Wales).

Mr Biagi said the exchange had happened in 2015 and that the Scottish Government was in the process of introducing the conversion procedure from civil partnership to marriages.

He added: England and Wales still only convert their own civil partnerships. Scotland converts anyones. We had to consult internationally with other governments first.

Ms Foster has been leader of the Democratic Unionist Party since December 2015 and Northern Ireland First Minister from January 2016.

Arlene Foster, DUP leader (Reuters)

The DUP takes a hard-right and ultra-religious view on gay rights and womens rights  opposing same-sex marriage and abortion even in instances where a woman is raped.

Same-sex marriage and abortion are both still effectively banned in Northern Ireland despite it being part of the United Kingdom. The DUP vetoed a recent vote by the other parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to legalise same sex marriage, using a mechanism under the power sharing arrangement meant to preserve the peace process.

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Theresa May stood on the steps of Downing Street this weekend and described the DUP as her friends  the Conservatives are currently in negotiations with the DUP to prop up a minority government with a supply and confidence arrangement.

The deal comes after voters unexpectedly rejected the Conservatives at the general election, denying Ms May a majority in the House of Commons and defying most pollsters expectations. The Conservatives will be reliant on DUP support to pass anything through Parliament, giving them an effective veto.

The Independent has contacted the DUP for comment on this story but received no response at the time of publication.
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Irelands Prime Minister has issued a warning to Theresa May over her plans to do a deal with the DUP to prop up a Tory minority government.

Enda Kenny, who has been Taoiseach since 2011, said he had indicated his concern to the Prime Minister over the plan.

Mr Kenny suggested that the arrangement, if poorly handled, could jeopardise the peace process in Northern Ireland.

He also raised concerns about the lack of a nationalist voice in favour of a united Ireland at Westminster  where the SDLP is now wiped out and Sinn Fein does not take its seats on principle.

He tweeted on Sunday: Spoke with Prime Minister May  indicated my concern that nothing should happen to put Good Friday agreement at risk, and [the] absence of nationalist voice in Westminster.

The DUP is the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and is currently engaged in a negotiations after the collapse of the power-sharing administration that runs the Northern Ireland Executive.

Mr Kenny is the outgoing Taoiseach and will soon be replaced by Irelands Taoiseach-elect Leo Varadkar, who won a Fine Gael internal party election earlier this month. Mr Varadkar is set to be confirmed by the Irish parliament, the Dail, in the coming week.

 Who are the DUP?

The Conservatives are currently in negotiations with the DUP to prop up a minority government with a supply-and-confidence arrangement.

Under such a deal the Tories would give the DUP concessions in exchange for them passing the Queens Speech and budgets.

The Conservatives will be reliant on DUP support to pass anything through Parliament, giving them an effective veto.

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There are concerns that such concessions could be related to the political crisis in Stormont, where the British government is supposed to be a neutral broker between the unionist and nationalist sides.

The deal comes after voters unexpectedly rejected the Conservatives at the general election, denying Ms May a majority in the House of Commons and defying most pollsters expectations.
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Theresa Mays premiership is hanging in the balance after the Conservatives failed to gain a House of Commons majority in Thursdays general election.

Shock election losses saw the Tories enter negotiations with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party in a bid to shore up the Prime Ministers weakened Government with a confidence and supply arrangement.

However the deal has sparked a furious backlash over the DUPs record on issues including LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and how the arrangement could jeopardise Northern Ireland's peace process.

The deal is set to be tested when the Commons meets, with Labours Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Ms May in Parliament.

But what is a confidence and supply arrangement? And what will it mean for the next Government?

A "confidence and supply" arrangement is a far looser deal than a formal coalition or pact. It is unlikely to involve the DUP taking up any ministerial roles, and does not commit either party to a set programme of policies.

It means the DUPs 10 elected MPs would back the Government on confidence votes and budget or supply votes, preventing the governing party from being brought down by motions of no confidence, but could potentially lead to other issues being decided on a vote-by-vote basis.

However unlike a coalition, the agreement is not binding and confidence could be withdrawn by the DUP if they so chose, making the deal much less stable than a formal agreement.

For the Tories, the deal means they will not face defeat at every turn, and are able to cling on to power. For the DUP, the arrangement puts them in a hugely advantageous position by giving them a bargaining chip to secure concessions on specific policies.

Concerns have been raised over the agreement for a number of reasons, including how it will impact on Northern Irelands peace process.

The Good Friday Agreement commits the UK government to demonstrate "rigorous impartiality" when dealing with competing political views in the region.

In subsequent agreements, the Government has cast itself as an independent arbitrator in negotiations between the local parties.

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However the Government's adherence to that position will clearly be brought into question if its control of Parliament is dependent on a deal with the DUP, endangering ongoing talks to try reach a power-sharing deal in the region.

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved administration for three months as a result of deep divisions between the DUP and Sinn Fein over Ms Foster's botched energy scheme set to cost the taxpayer 500m, known as the "cash for ash" scandal.

The DUPs opposition to gay marriage and LGBT+ rights record has also been called into question by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who sought reassurances from the Prime Minister that the party would not be forced to make concessions on social issues.

Womens rights groups also expressed concern after Tory former cabinet minister Owen Paterson said his party may have to enter "a debate I suppose on further reduction of abortion times as medical science advances" as part of the agreement with the DUP, who staunchly oppose abortion being legal.

However the DUP has said its social conservatism is a devolved issue and would be seeking to pursue an economic agenda in any arranged deal with Ms May.
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Theresa May has appointed an effective deputy prime minister as part of her fightback to stay in No 10 after her election disaster.

Long-time friend Damian Green was made First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office, as the delayed Cabinet reshuffle got underway.

Mr Green has been shifted from work and pensions to the new role at the Prime Ministers side, after she promised to work more openly with her party to rebuild her reputation.

Recommended May faces meeting with backbench Tory MPs tomorrow to decide her fate

Ms May and Mr Green  who backed Remain in the Brexit referendum  have known each other since they were Oxford students together in the 1970s and he is considered one of her few close allies.

Strikingly, his promotion comes hard-on-the-heels of the appointment of former MP Gavin Barwell, another ardent Remainer, as her new chief of staff.

Taken together, they will be seen as a strong signal that Ms May intends to reach out to the pro-Europe wing of her party  and even that she may step back from her planned hard Brexit.

However, the moves represent a gamble, because the Prime Minister has been strengthened since her election set-back by support from anti-EU MPs, who believe she is still the best bet to deliver full withdrawal on schedule.

Will Straw, the former Remain campaigner, tweeted: "Damian Green's a proper grown up who was a real asset to the Remain campaign board. Hope for a softer Brexit."

First Secretary of State is a title held by both William Hague and George Osborne under David Cameron, by Lord Mandelson when Gordon Brown was prime minister and by John Prescott under Tony Blair.

The move also marks a remarkable political recovery for Mr Green, who was once sacked by David Cameron as middle-ranking minister.

However, the last of three key Brexiteer Cabinet ministers, Liam Fox, will remain as Secretary of State for International Trade.

In a reshuffle of few changes, David Gauke was promoted from Treasury Chief Secretary to be the new Work and Pensions Secretary and David Lidington from Commons Leader to Justice Secretary.

But other key Cabinet ministers remain in post, including Jeremy Hunt (Health), Justine Greening (Education), Chris Grayling (Transport), Greg Clark (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy). Sajid Javid (Local Government), Priti Patel (international Development), James Brokenshire (Northern Ireland Secretary) and Alan Cairns (Wales).

Elizabeth Truss was moved from Justice Secretary to be Chief Secretary to the Treasury, seen by some as a demotion because it is not a Cabinet post  although she will attend its meetings.

The reshuffle comes before Ms Mays showdown meeting with her own backbenchers, brought forward to 5pm on Monday.

Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said he did not want MPs to have to wait until Tuesday for the crucial inquest with the Prime Minister.

Backbenchers will demand to know why Downing Street announced that a deal was done for the Democratic Unionists to prop up the Conservatives in government  only to be forced to retract the claim overnight.

And they will want their fears of being tarred by association with the anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion party eased.

One of the things I've said to the Prime Minister is it's very important that she speaks to colleagues as soon as possible, Mr Brady told the BBC.
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Labour has reportedly gained 150,000 new members after Jeremy Corbyns party made historic gains in the general election.

Membership soared following Fridays result, according to Labour MP Richard Burgon, which saw Theresa Mays Conservatives fail to win an outright Commons majority.

Labour had been expected to sustain heavy losses but the results vindicated Mr Corbyns heavily-maligned leadership after the party put in its best performance in years, winning a total of 262 seats.

Google searches for how to join the party surged following the shock result, which saw Labour gain 30 seats. The new membership applications have brought total membership numbers to 800,000. Conservative Party membership figures were just under 150,000 in December 2016.

Mr Corbyn said the election signified a rejection of the politics of fear and said "we are ready any time to govern, should Ms May's premiership collapse.

We have a chaotic situation with a government that sought reelection on the basis of wanting a bigger mandate and a bigger majority to bring stability to British politics, Mr Corbyn told the Andrew Marr Show.

We are quite ready and able to put forward a serious programme that obviously has massive support in this country.

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It comes after Mr Corbyn confirmed he would offer a substantial amendment to the Queens Speech that he will attempt to push through Parliament.

Ms May will be forced to rely on support from Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Partys (DUP) ten MPs to form a minority Government.

Downing Street initially said a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached with the DUP, which will be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

But no deal has yet been finalised and talks on the arrangement will continue during the week as Ms May desperately tries to shore up her position.

The strength of any deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Mrs May in Parliament and insisting: "I can still be prime minister.

The figure tweeted by Mr Burgon was later found to be false, and was linked potentially to an email Mr Corbyn's office sent to party members on 11 June that claimed "over 15,000 peoplehave joined Labour since polling day."
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Labour is now ahead of the Tories for the first time since Jeremy Corbyn became leader, a new poll has found.

Mr Corbyns party is now polling at 45 per cent, six points ahead of the Tories who are lagging behind on 39 per cent.

The Survation poll, conducted for the Mail on Sunday, shows a swing of eight points in Labours favour since the general election on 8 June.

Labour has now overtaken the Tories despite being more than 20 points behind when Theresa May first called for a general election.

The news comes as Ms May is expected to enter a confidence and supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in an attempt to shore up her position as Prime Minister.

The Tories fell short of a majority in the general election, losing 13 seats, and it is now expected they will now be running a minority government via a non-binding agreement with the DUP.

Under the confidence and supply deal, the DUP would not have any of its MPs become government or cabinet ministers but would support Conservative legislation on a case-by-case basis.

It potentially hands the party more leverage over the Conservatives than a formal coalition in which they would become part of the government.

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The move has been met with widespread criticism, as questions have been raised about the DUPs stance on homosexuality and abortion.

Anti-DUP protestors stood outside the Downing Street gates on 10 June and chanted Tories out, refugees in and Tories out, Corbyn in.
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Michael Gove has been appointed Environment Secretary by Prime Minister Theresa May in her cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Gove, a key figure in the campaign to leave the EU, stood against Ms May in the battle to become leader of the Conservatives during the fallout from the Brexit result.

The former Education and Justice Secretary has been brought back to the frontline of politics as Ms May attempts to form a minority government following the Conservatives' disastrous performance at the general election.

He replaces Andrea Leadsom at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as she becomes Leader of the House of Commons.

Mr Gove effectively scuppered the chances of fellow Leave campaigner Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister when he announced his own candidacy in the Conservative leadership election last year.

Ms May then left him out in the cold when she sacked him in one of her first acts as leader.

Mr Gove's appointment is likely to cause concern to environmentalists as his voting record reveals he has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change through a reduction in carbon emissions.

 Two of Theresa May's closest aides quit following General Election result

In the wake of the Brexit vote, Mr Gove suggested that EU rules governing the building of new homes in environmentally sensitive areas should be scrapped.

In a speech made to a London audience, Mr Gove said: "I am very, very keen  I may be odd in this respect as Conservative MP  on having more homes built in my constituency. Its a social and economic good. But homes built in my constituency are governed by the Habitats Directive."

He criticised the rationale for such rules and claimed the law "massively increases the cost and regulatory burden for housing development."

In 2016, he voted not to reduce the permitted carbon dioxide emission rate of new homes.

As Education Secretary, Mr Gove attempted to remove climate change from the geography national curriculum but was forced into a climbdown following an intervention from then Climate and Energy Secretary Ed Davy, a Liberal Democrat.

Some green campaigners quickly expressed reservations over Mr Gove's appointment.

Tom Burke, from the think tank e3g, told the BBC: "The environment is something young voters really care about.

"If the Tories really want to reconnect with the youth surge, this is about the worst option they could have chosen."

Mr Gove told Sky News he was "quite surprised" to be asked to join the Cabinet.

"Of course I knew that today was re-shuffle day, but I genuinely didn't expect this role although I am delighted to be part of the government, and delighted to be able to support Theresa."

UK Election Day 2017 Show all 38 1 /38 UK Election Day 2017 UK Election Day 2017 Door of Number 10 Downing Street is seen on the morning after Britain's election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north 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" PA UK Election Day 2017 Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell arrives at Labour Headquarters on June 9, 2017 in London, England. After a snap election was called by Prime Minister Theresa May the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday. The closely fought election has failed to return a clear overall majority winner and a hung parliament has been declared Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Caroline Lucas, co-leader of Britain's Green Party, speaks after retaining her seat in the general election, in Brighton REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Patrons watch the results for Britain's election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Leader of the Liberal democrats Tim Farron celebrates beating Conservative party candidate James Airey (R) following the announcement of the results at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Kendal, United Kingdom. After a snap election was called, the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday following a closely fought election. The results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Paul Nuttal, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party reacts after failing to win the seat of Boston and Skegness at the counting centre for Britain's general election in Boston REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election. PA UK Election Day 2017 Anna McMorrin hugs Jo Stevens MP after winning Cardiff North for Labour at the Sport Wales National Centre on June 9, 2017 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. After a snap election was called, the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday following a closely fought election. The results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Vince Cable wins the Twickenham election for the Liberal Democrats. Richmond and Twickenham election Rex Features UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn rubs his face after arriving for the declaration at his constituency in London AP UK Election Day 2017 Emily Thornberry speaks after holding her Islington South and Finsbury seat at the Sobell Leisure Centre in Islington, north London PA UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listens as the declaration at her constituency is made for in the general election in Maidenhead, England, Friday, June 9, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble in calling an early election appeared Friday to have backfired spectacularly, after an exit poll suggested her Conservative Party could lose its majority in Parliament AP UK Election Day 2017 Labour Party candidate Emily Thornberry smiles at a counting centre for BritainaAAs general election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 A picture shows the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 8, 2017, on the night of Britain's general election. Prime Minister Theresa May is poised to win Britain's snap election but lose her parliamentary majority, a shock exit poll suggested on June 8, in what would be a major blow for her leadership as Brexit talks loom AFP/Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 DUP candidate for Lagan Valley Jeffrey Donaldson celebrates following his election at the Eikon Exhibition Centre in Lisburn as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd attends the count for her seat at a counting centre for Britain's general election in Hastings REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Ballots are counted at a counting centre for BritainaAAs general election in London Reuters UK Election Day 2017 The London Eye is illuminated in blue, representing the Conservative Party, after the first exit polls announced in Britain's general election AP UK Election Day 2017 Election officials count votes in the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK Election Day 2017 The London Eye is illuminated in red, the color of the Labour Party, after first exit polls of Britain's national election announced in London AP UK Election Day 2017 BBC Television centre is illuminated with the exit poll results for Britains general election Eddie Keogh/Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Labours Bridget Phillipson (centre) smiles after being announced as the winner of the election for the constituency of Houghton and Sunderland South at a counting centre Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Members of the election staff prepare to count ballots, in Theresa Mays constituency in Maidenhead AP UK Election Day 2017 Ballot papers are checked ahead of the count at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre Getty UK Election Day 2017 Ballots are counted at a counting centre for Britains general election in Kendal Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Theresa May arrives to vote at a polling station in Maidenhead AP UK Election Day 2017 Jeremy Corbyn arrives to cast his ballot at a polling station in north London EPA UK Election Day 2017 Lib Dems leader Tim Farron outside a polling station at Stonecross Manor Hotel in Kendal, Cumbria PA UK Election Day 2017 The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) Paul Nuttall arrives to vote at a polling station in Congleton Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell (left) the CEO of the SNP after casting their votes at a polling station at Broomhouse Community Hall, Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK Election Day 2017 Caroline Lucas, co-leader of Britains Green Party, arrives with her husband Richard Savage, to vote in Brighton Reuters UK Election Day 2017 An advertising van showing caricatures of Tim Farron, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and Paul Nuttall with the message who will be looking for a new job as Britain goes to the polls to elect a new government Rex UK Election Day 2017 Performers pose with puppet caricatures of Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party Tim Farron and leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, in front of the Palace of Westminster Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Dogs wait for their owner outside a polling station in Penally, Wales Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Police officers speak with a Labour Party activist outside a polling station in London AP UK Election Day 2017 Benedictine nuns from Tyburn Convent leave after voting in Britain's general election at a polling station in St John's Parish Hall, London AP UK Election Day 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty

Ms May has made just a handful of changes in her reshuffle, which was expected to have been more radical had she managed to increase her majority instead of seeing it wiped out.

She is now scrambling to form a "confidence and supply" arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which would see the ten MPs from the Northern Irish party voting with the Conservatives on a case-by-case basis.
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Supporters of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are demanding Theresa May allow a banned loyalist march as part of an agreement by the Northern Irish party to prop up a minority Conservative government.

The Portadown Loyal Orange Lodge (LOL), who are currently prevented from marching in the flashpoint Gavaghy Road following a long history of sectarian violence, put out a statement amid speculation as to what concessions the DUP could demand in return for striking a deal with the Tories.

Orangemen were banned from marching through the nationalist area of the mainly loyalist town following repeated riots during the Troubles. Protests against the ban culminated in 1998 with the shocking murders of three young boys after their house was firebombed in a loyalist arson attack.

 General election 2017: Irish PM warns May about deal with the DUP

Recommended Clashes at Protestant march in Liverpool as May brokers DUP deal

The boys mother was Catholic and the family lived in a mainly Protestant area. The brothers  Richard, Mark and Jason Quinn, aged 11, 9 and 7  were asleep when a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of their house.

The statement on Twitter congratulates the Orange Orders fellow Brother David Simpson, the MP for Upper Bann, known for strident religious views including a belief in creationism, for his newfound place at the centre of mainstream British politics.

Portadown District LOL notes the outcome of the recent general election with interest. We would like to congratulate fellow Bro. David Simpson and all the other unionist representatives," it said.

We note the invitation from the Prime Minister to the DUP to support her government. We trust that the parading issue especially in Portadown will be high on the agenda for the new government.

It is clear that the endeavour of the orange family to maximise the unionist vote paid dividends and consequently the DUP has been given the opportunity and responsibility to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. We trust that they are successful in promoting the values of the Unionist People and the Orange fraternity. We wish them well in the weeks and months that lie ahead.

It concludes, in block capitals: HERE WE STAND WE CAN DO NO OTHER.

The Orange Order is in effect asking the DUP to use its sudden influence to allow their Protestant members to march from Drumcree church in Portadown through the mainly nationalist area, in spite of the widespread objection that the parade is intimidating.

Orange Order members have held protests at Drumcree every Sunday since July 1998 when the parade was banned, and the Portadown lodge has continued to ask permission to march down the Gavaghy Road every week. The march is said to celebrate the 1690 Battle of the Boyne.

At the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, the UK Government was forced to spend millions on security and draft in hundreds of extra troops to try and combat the tensions caused by inflammatory sectarian marches.

The Orange Order claims the restriction along the Gavaghy Road is a breach of their human rights. But the Parades Commission, which regulates the marches, said in a statement: The commission believes that the conditions it imposes strikes a fair balance between the needs of the community and the rights of the individual.

Following the murders of the three children, William Bingham, a member of the Orange Order negotiating team, said that walking down the Garvaghy Road would be a hollow victory, because it would be in the shadow of three coffins of little boys who wouldn't even know what the Orange Order is about. He said the order had lost control of the situation and that no road is worth a life  but later apologised for having implied the Orange Order rather than terrorism was to blame.

A deal between the Conservatives and the DUP has not yet been reached, with Downing Street forced to retract a statement suggesting an arrangement of "confidence and supply" had been outlined.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said the party had held good discussions with the Conservatives on how they could support them in the formation of a government after Theresa May fell short of the 326 seats she would need for a majority.

 Who are the DUP?

The DUP was founded in 1971 by rabble-rousing Protestant preacher Ian Paisley, who was known for his association with loyalist paramilitaries.

The party is known for its Christian fundamentalist views on gay marriage and abortion, although these are devolved issues so the Northern Irish MPs are unlikely to be able to influence such matters of social policy on the mainland.

But protests have been held in London and other cities by those concerned about the possible influence of the Northern Irish group on the Conservatives.

The DUPs list of demands in return for supporting the Conservatives could include a soft exit from the European Union rather than a hard Brexit. Although the party is pro-Leave, it is opposed to a hard border with the Irish Republic and to any new customs operations.

In spite of protesters fears, the price of the DUPs backing is likely to be economic rather than social. The party is pro-welfare and opposes Tory plans to means test pensioner benefits and other cuts.

The DUP is thought likely to demand funds of around 350m lost through the withdrawal of EU subsidies from farmers once Brexit is concluded.

Northern Ireland currently receives around 100m a year through a peace process dividend for community development and cross-border projects, and the protection of these funds is likely to be on the DUPs list of priorities.

UK Election Day 2017 Show all 38 1 /38 UK Election Day 2017 UK Election Day 2017 Door of Number 10 Downing Street is seen on the morning after Britain's election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north 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" PA UK Election Day 2017 Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell arrives at Labour Headquarters on June 9, 2017 in London, England. After a snap election was called by Prime Minister Theresa May the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday. The closely fought election has failed to return a clear overall majority winner and a hung parliament has been declared Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Caroline Lucas, co-leader of Britain's Green Party, speaks after retaining her seat in the general election, in Brighton REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Patrons watch the results for Britain's election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Leader of the Liberal democrats Tim Farron celebrates beating Conservative party candidate James Airey (R) following the announcement of the results at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre on June 9, 2017 in Kendal, United Kingdom. After a snap election was called, the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday following a closely fought election. The results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Paul Nuttal, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party reacts after failing to win the seat of Boston and Skegness at the counting centre for Britain's general election in Boston REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election. PA UK Election Day 2017 Anna McMorrin hugs Jo Stevens MP after winning Cardiff North for Labour at the Sport Wales National Centre on June 9, 2017 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. After a snap election was called, the United Kingdom went to the polls yesterday following a closely fought election. The results from across the country are being counted and an overall result is expected in the early hours Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 Vince Cable wins the Twickenham election for the Liberal Democrats. Richmond and Twickenham election Rex Features UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn rubs his face after arriving for the declaration at his constituency in London AP UK Election Day 2017 Emily Thornberry speaks after holding her Islington South and Finsbury seat at the Sobell Leisure Centre in Islington, north London PA UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listens as the declaration at her constituency is made for in the general election in Maidenhead, England, Friday, June 9, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble in calling an early election appeared Friday to have backfired spectacularly, after an exit poll suggested her Conservative Party could lose its majority in Parliament AP UK Election Day 2017 Labour Party candidate Emily Thornberry smiles at a counting centre for BritainaAAs general election in London REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 A picture shows the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament in central London on June 8, 2017, on the night of Britain's general election. Prime Minister Theresa May is poised to win Britain's snap election but lose her parliamentary majority, a shock exit poll suggested on June 8, in what would be a major blow for her leadership as Brexit talks loom AFP/Getty Images UK Election Day 2017 DUP candidate for Lagan Valley Jeffrey Donaldson celebrates following his election at the Eikon Exhibition Centre in Lisburn as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK Election Day 2017 Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd attends the count for her seat at a counting centre for Britain's general election in Hastings REUTERS UK Election Day 2017 Ballots are counted at a counting centre for BritainaAAs general election in London Reuters UK Election Day 2017 The London Eye is illuminated in blue, representing the Conservative Party, after the first exit polls announced in Britain's general election AP UK Election Day 2017 Election officials count votes in the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK Election Day 2017 The London Eye is illuminated in red, the color of the Labour Party, after first exit polls of Britain's national election announced in London AP UK Election Day 2017 BBC Television centre is illuminated with the exit poll results for Britains general election Eddie Keogh/Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Labours Bridget Phillipson (centre) smiles after being announced as the winner of the election for the constituency of Houghton and Sunderland South at a counting centre Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Members of the election staff prepare to count ballots, in Theresa Mays constituency in Maidenhead AP UK Election Day 2017 Ballot papers are checked ahead of the count at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre Getty UK Election Day 2017 Ballots are counted at a counting centre for Britains general election in Kendal Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Theresa May arrives to vote at a polling station in Maidenhead AP UK Election Day 2017 Jeremy Corbyn arrives to cast his ballot at a polling station in north London EPA UK Election Day 2017 Lib Dems leader Tim Farron outside a polling station at Stonecross Manor Hotel in Kendal, Cumbria PA UK Election Day 2017 The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip) Paul Nuttall arrives to vote at a polling station in Congleton Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell (left) the CEO of the SNP after casting their votes at a polling station at Broomhouse Community Hall, Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK Election Day 2017 Caroline Lucas, co-leader of Britains Green Party, arrives with her husband Richard Savage, to vote in Brighton Reuters UK Election Day 2017 An advertising van showing caricatures of Tim Farron, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and Paul Nuttall with the message who will be looking for a new job as Britain goes to the polls to elect a new government Rex UK Election Day 2017 Performers pose with puppet caricatures of Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party Tim Farron and leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, in front of the Palace of Westminster Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Dogs wait for their owner outside a polling station in Penally, Wales Reuters UK Election Day 2017 Police officers speak with a Labour Party activist outside a polling station in London AP UK Election Day 2017 Benedictine nuns from Tyburn Convent leave after voting in Britain's general election at a polling station in St John's Parish Hall, London AP UK Election Day 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty

Critics claim a deal between the Conservatives and the DUP could destabilise the peace process in Northern Ireland as the UK Government must maintain a position of neutrality between the nationalists and the unionists in accordance with the Good Friday agreement.

Many have pointed to the apparent contradiction between the Conservatives repeated criticism of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for having held talks with Republicans during the Troubles and the Tories' sudden willingness to forge an agreement with the DUP, a party endorsed by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)  a violent loyalist paramilitary group still active in Northern Ireland and responsible for two murders this year.

Irelands Prime Minister Enda Kenny has issued a warning to Ms May that any arrangement with the DUP must not compromise the Good Friday agreement.
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Ruth Davidson has vowed to scupper Theresa May's hard Brexit, warning the Prime Minister her blueprint needs to be reopened.

The Scottish Tory leader said she wanted to prioritise the economy and free trade in the upcoming EU negotiations, and that restricting immigration would not be a key focus.

Ms Davidson now wields considerable influence after the party in Scotland won 13 seats.

Former Tory Chancellor George Osborne described her as the heroine of the party who is now flexing her muscles.

She is the heroine of the party, if she had not won seats in Scotland ... there would not be a Conservative government, the Evening Standard editor told The Andrew Marr Show.

I dont think there is a majority now in the House of Commons for hard Brexit ... and if the Ruth Davidsons of this world are starting to flex their muscles, in my view that can only be a good thing.

Her increased power could put Ms Mays Brexit plans in jeopardy after the Prime Minister was significantly weakened when she failed to win a majority in the Commons in the general election.

The Scottish leader has already hinted she will use her sway to influence the Brexit deal, and has insisted there needs to be wider consensus on the terms of leaving the EU, including consultation with opposition parties.

General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Show all 7 1 /7 General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nick Clegg Darren O'Brien General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Gavin Barwell Getty General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Angus Robertson General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nicola Blackwood PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Alex Salmond PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Rob Wilson Rex Features General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Ben Gummer PA

She has also vowed her 13 MPs would vote entirely as they believe that they should.

I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit, which we know we are now going to have to get cross-party support for, she said.

And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave.

It comes after Downing Street said a confidence and supply arrangement had been reached with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party, which will be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

But no deal has yet been finalised and talks on the arrangement will continue during the week as Ms May desperately tries to shore up her position.

The strength of any deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Mrs May in Parliament and insisting: I can still be Prime Minister.
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Sinn Fein has accused the DUP of betraying the interests of Northern Ireland by agreeing to prop up Theresa May's minority government through a confidence and supply arrangement.

The republican party's leader at Stormont, Michelle O'Neill, predicted the deal between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party will end in tears.

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved administration for three months following the collapse of power sharing as a result of deep divisions between the DUP and Sinn Fein.

Highlighting Conservative austerity cuts and its stance on Brexit, Ms O'Neill claimed the DUP link-up with Mrs May would spell bad news for Northern Ireland, where a majority of people voted to remain.

It is no surprise that the DUP has agreed to prop up the pro-Brexit and pro-austerity Tory government of Theresa May, she said.

They have once again betrayed the interests of the people of the north by supporting a Tory party which has cut funding to our public services year on year to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.

Experience shows us that unionists have minimal influence on any British government.

They have achieved little propping up Tory governments in the past and put their own interests before those of the people.

 Theresa May reaches 'confidence and supply' deal with DUP

This new arrangement between the DUP and the Tories will be transitory and will end in tears.

But it will be the people of the north who will have to pay the price for the DUP's support for Brexit and for cuts.

Ms O'Neill claimed the Conservatives have an increasingly partisan approach to Northern Ireland and called on the Irish government to stand up for the rights of all citizens in the north.

She repeated her call for the region to secure special designated EU status when the rest of the UK leaves the 28-state block.

Developments at Westminster could derail talks to restore power sharing at Stormont, which were scheduled to resume on Monday.

Many observers believe the prospect of a deal between the main two parties is further diminished now the DUP has aligned itself with the Conservatives, a party Sinn Fein is historically vociferously opposed to.

General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Show all 7 1 /7 General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nick Clegg Darren O'Brien General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Gavin Barwell Getty General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Angus Robertson General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nicola Blackwood PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Alex Salmond PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Rob Wilson Rex Features General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Ben Gummer PA

Ms O'Neill said: Sinn Fein's focus remains on entering talks to re-establish an Executive which delivers for all on the basis of equality, respect and integrity, and this requires the full implementation of agreements on rights and legacy.

Sinn Fein won seven seats in Northern Ireland at the General Election, but the party has never taken up its seats in Parliament because of its fundamental opposition to the union and its belief in a united Ireland.

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein's leader, echoed the views of Ms O'Neill ahead of Downing Street's announcement of the confidence and supply arrangement.

"History will show, alliances between Ulster unionism and British unionism has always ended in tears," he said.

"It is far better to look to our own place, to all of the people here, to deal with the people of this island, this part of the island as one community."

The Press Association contributed to this report
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Theresa May was urged to call the general election by Jean-Claude Juncker, it has been reported.

The President of the European Commission apparently advised Ms May to call the election saying her 17-seat majority would not be enough during Brexit negotiations.

Mr Juncker allegedly said having a larger majority would help Ms May during pinch points, such as determining the UKs divorce bill.

During bilaterals, in the margins of summits, Juncker repeatedly told her he thought she should do it, an EU source told The Observer.

People dont understand. We want a deal more than anyone. We are professionals, we have a mandate to get a deal and we want to be successful in that, a second diplomat added.

Mr Juncker came to visit Ms May in May and their relationship was strained after a series of leaks to the German press.

It was reported that EU officials and Mr Juncker were surprised that Ms May did not appear to be fully briefed for the meeting and thought she had unrealistic expectations about the length and process of negotiations.

There were also claims that Mr Juncker called German Chancellor Angela Merkel and said Ms May lived in another galaxy and was deluding herself.

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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The leak led Ms May to accuse EU leaders of trying to directly influence the result of the UK general election.

She also dismissed the leak as Brussels gossip.
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All the frontrunners in the nascent Conservative leadership election would make voters less likely to back their party if they became leader, according to a new poll.

The finding comes as a survey by Survation, the most accurate pollster of the general election, gives Labour a six-point lead over the Tories in their first poll after the election.

But supplementary questions asked by the pollster in the same survey show that Boris Johnson, David Davis, Michael Gove, Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond would all make people less likely to vote Tory.

In the cases of all those MPs asked about more voters said they would be less likely than more likely if they became leader.

The revelation comes amid reports that Tories are circling Theresa Mays leadership and hoping to replace her  in revenge for failing to win a majority.

The findings of the poll should be taken with caution, however, as they ask the public to speculate about how they might react to future events.

Boris Johnson, who the Mail on Sunday reports is prepping a leadership challenge, would make 23 per cent of voters more likely to vote Tory but 31 per cent of voters less likely.

David Davis would make 14 per cent of people more likely to vote Tory and 21 per cent less likely. Michael Gove would make just 11 per cent of people more likely to vote Tory and 33 per cent of people less likely.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd would attract just 13 per cent and revile 26 per cent, while Philip Hammond attracts 15 per cent of voters and repulses 23 per cent.

Pollster YouGov, which also accurately predicted the general election result, found similar numbers when it asked whether any of those candidates were a good leader or bad leader.

All those asked about were considered bad leaders by the public by a margin of at least 10 per cent, some significantly more.

General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Show all 7 1 /7 General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nick Clegg Darren O'Brien General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Gavin Barwell Getty General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Angus Robertson General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Nicola Blackwood PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Alex Salmond PA General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Rob Wilson Rex Features General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats Ben Gummer PA

YouGov however also asked whether Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was a good or bad leader  it found that she was narrowly considered a good leader by a five per cent margin, 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

Ms Davidson is however not an MP and thus not currently in a position to challenge Theresa May for the leadership of the party. When asked on election night whether she wanted to become Tory leader she avoided directly answering the question.
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A man has been released from prison after 17 years when witnesses admitted they could not tell him apart from a lookalike.

Richard Anthony Jones, from Kansas City in Missouri, was convicted of aggravated robbery in 1999, based largely on eyewitness evidence.

But two witnesses  and even the alleged robbery victim  have now testified that they could not distinguish him from a local man known only as Ricky.

Johnson County District Judge Kevin Moriarty ordered Jones's release on Thursday, reported the Kansas City Star.

Mr Jones, who had unsuccessfully tried to appeal his case numerous times, learned of the existence of his look-alike from fellow inmates.

He brought the information to workers at the Midwest Innocence Project and the Paul E Wilson Defender Project, who helped file an appeal in his case.

Lawyers quickly discovered that Ricky lived close to the Walmart at which the robbery allegedly occurred.

At Mr Jones appeal hearing, they presented presented the plaintiff, two witnesses and the prosecutor in his case with photos of the two look-alikes. All four said they could not tell the two apart.

Judge Moriarty did not go as far as convicting his lookalike of the crime, but conceded that no reasonable juror would have convicted Mr Jones.

Mr Jones only became the focus of the police investigation after one man  who was admittedly on drugs during his only interaction with the suspect  picked a picture of him out of a police database, according to the defence. There was no DNA or physical evidence presented in the case.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr Jones, who maintained his innocence throughout his nearly two-decade sentence  said finding his doppelganger was like finding a needle in a haystack".

We were floored by how much they looked alike, his attorney, Alice Craig, added.

Mr Jones told the Kansas City Star he will return home to his wife and children. The stat of Kansas, however, does not offer compensation or services for the wrongfully convicted.

An intern from the KU Law Project for innocence has started a fundraising page to help Mr Jones' get back on his feet.

"It will be a process for him to reintegrate and find stable housing and work with a 17-year gap on his resume," Midwest Innocence Project Director Tricia Bushnell told The Independent. "We are working with him and other community groups to make sure he is successful."
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Donald Trump reportedly lambasted Nato allies at a dinner in Brussels, hours after he had already reproached them for not spending enough on defence.

The President has expressed scepticism of the 29-member alliance, and it wasnt until Friday that he reaffirmed the USs commitment to mutual defence of Nato members after weeks of uncertainty.

The US is currently one of five countries of the alliance that meets NATO members pledge to spend 2 per cer of GDP on defence.

In his speech in Brussels, Mr Trump had also reprimanded members, visibly unsettling heads of states, and demanded that they pay more toward Nato's costs. But according to Foreign Policy magazine, he took it a step further at a confidential dinner with leaders following his remarks, saying that 2 per cent wasnt enough and that allies should instead spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence.

The President also apparently threatened to cut US defence spending and have Europeans shell out back pay to make up for their low defence spending if they dont dole out money quickly enough.

One former senior US government official briefed on the dinner described the event to FP as a train wreck.

The dinner was far worse than the speech, the person said.

According to FP, Mr Trump had two versions of prepared remarks for the dinner, one that took a more traditional approach and another that was formulated by his more Nato-skeptic advisers, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon.

He dumped both of them and improvised, one person briefed on the dinner told the magazine.

Nato headquarters declined FPs request for comment on the dinner.

In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP

On Friday, Mr Trump finally endorsed Natos collective defence clause, Article 5, after not doing so in Brussels like some of his advisers anticipated.

While he has routinely disparaged his Nato allies for their defence spending, Mr Trump has openly praised Russia, the alliances top geopolitical foe.

During a White House press conference with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a reporter said that many of the countries on the eastern flank of Nato, including Romania, see Russia as a threat to the security and the peace in the region.

Do you share this vision? the reporter asked. And do you think that the United States should act under Article 5, if any of these countries would be under military aggression?

Mr Trump responded that he was committing the United States to Article 5.

And that's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force, the President added.

Mr Iohannis said he liked Mr Trumps speech in Brussels, and that being an alliance means everybody has to spend money.

This is called burden-sharing. And I fully agree, Mr President, to that, the Romanian leader said.
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Donald Trump has reportedly told Theresa May that he does not want to visit the UK soon for fear of large-scale protests against him.

Ms May invited Mr Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration. Now he apparently wants to wait until the British public supports him coming.

The US President made the admission in a recent phone call to the Prime Minister, a Downing Street adviser who was present for the call told The Guardian. The aide said Ms May seemed surprised.

Mr Trump  never a favourite among British voters  stoked outcry in recent weeks for attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of terrorist attacks in the city.

The President ridiculed Mr Khans calls for calm, and later condemned the Mayors pathetic excuse for his statements.

The comments drove even Ms May to say that Mr Trump was wrong. Some MPs  and Mr Khan himself  suggested she cancel Mr Trumps visit to the UK.

Show some bottle please PM, David Lammy, senior Labour MP, tweeted. Cancel the state visit and tell Trump where to get off.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has also expressed his support for cancelling the trip.

A spokesperson for Ms May, however, told Reuters that the Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans.

In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour Show all 39 1 /39 In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arriving for a reception ahead of a banquet at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being welcomed at Murabba Palace in Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump with King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a welcome ceremony with traditional sword dancers at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with US President Donald J. Trump and wife Melania during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 US President Donald Trump adjusts the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal, after it was bestowed upon him by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 20 May 2017 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presents U.S. President Donald Trump with the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud Medal at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 Palestinians print posters depicting US President Donald Trump in preparations for his planned visit, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, before delivering his remarks to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump looks on as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef exchange a memorandum of understanding Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump shares a laugh with a child during a visit to the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 21 May 2017 US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers rest during preparations ahead of President Trump's landing in Tel Aviv, Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 First Lady Melania Trump makes her way to board Air Force One in Riyadh as she heads with her husband the US President to Israel Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One for Israel, the next stop in Trump's international tour, at King Khalid International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Israeli soldiers wait for the arrival ceremony of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark Air Force One on arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump and his wife, US First Lady Melania Trump are welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, in Lod outside Tel Aviv, Israel EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sit during welcome ceremony in Tel Aviv AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump chats wife Sara Netanyahu as US President Donald Trump chats to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a welcoming ceremony to welcome Trump at Ben Gurion International Airport Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump delivers a speech upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference with Israel's President at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump watches as First Lady Melania Trump signs the guest book at the President's Residence in Jerusalem Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalems Old City Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US President Donald Trump stands next to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner leave notes at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 US First Lady Melania Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 Ivanka Trump, assistant and daughter of US President Donald J. Trump, touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 22 May 2017 President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald J. Trump arrives in a vehicle to Saint Damaso's Court for a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis walks past Ivanka Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the occasion of the private audience with President Donald Trump, at the Vatican AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis exchanges gifts with US President Donald Trump during a private audience at the Vatican Getty Images In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis meets US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during a private audience at the Vatican Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis with US President Donald J. Trump EPA In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 Pope Francis gets into is car after meeting with US President Donald Trump AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania look at the frescoed ceilings during their visit to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump security vehicles are seen in front of Air Force One before take off from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy Reuters In pictures: President Donald Trump on tour 24 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy including a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, at Rome's Fiumicino international airport AP

British police stopped sharing intelligence with the US about the Manchester terrorist attack after photos of the investigation were leaked to the media.

The Foreign Office was also reportedly upset with Mr Trumps decision to remove the US from the Paris climate agreement.

Mr Trump did not visit the UK on his first foreign trip as President, choosing instead to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. He also attended summits in Italy and Belgium. The White House recently announced that his next foreign trip will include a visit Poland.

Businessman Woody Johnson has been named as the new US ambassador to the UK, but the President has yet to formally nominate him.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
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President Rodrigo Duterte has said he was not aware US special forces had joined the battle to defeat Isis militants besieging a town in the southern Philippines.

Mr Duterte said he had never approached America for help and was not aware of that until they arrived, when he was asked about US support to fight the pro-Isis militants in Marawi City, on the island of Mindanao.

The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Mr Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject US military trainers and advisers from his country.

It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over his head in seeking US help.

 Martial law declared in South Philippines as government battles Isis-linked militants

The Philippines military had said US forces were providing technical assistance but had no boots on the ground, confirming a statement from the US embassy in Manila, which said the support had been requested by the government.

Mr Duterte, who declared martial law on Mindanao  an island the size of South Korea  after the Islamist fighters overran Marawi, said that under martial law he has authority over the defence department.

He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, our soldiers are pro-American, that I cannot deny.

The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Show all 9 1 /9 The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On killing drug addicts These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, dont go into that, even if youre a policeman, because I will really kill you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Message to China I will go there on my own with a Jet Ski, bringing along with me a [Phillipino] flag and a pole, and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, Kill me  AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Christmas message to law-breakers If you do not want to stop, and just continue committing crimes, then this would be your last Merry Christmas AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On sex life I was separated from my wife. Im not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On the drugs trade None of my children are into illegal drugs. But my order is, even if it is a member of my family, kill him'" AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting the Pope We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Joke about rape I saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first AFP/Getty The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting Barack Obama "Mr Obama should be respectful and refrain from throwing questions at me about the killings, or son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum" REUTERS The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants "If I have to face them, you know I can eat humans. I will really open up your body. Just give me vinegar and salt, and I will eat you. If you annoy me to the fullest... I will eat you alive. Raw" EPA

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement US forces were participating directly in combat operations, which is prohibited by Philippines law.

The fight against terrorism, however, is not only the concern of the Philippines or the United States but it is a concern of many nations around the world, he said.

The Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it.

Soldiers stand guard along the main street of Mapandi village (REUTERS)

Marawi was seized on 23 May by hundreds of local and foreign fighters.

The move has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear Isis is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.

The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.

It said in a statement on Saturday it was providing Philippines forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training.

A US P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday.

Government troops walk past a mosque before their assault with insurgents from the so-called Maute group, who have taken over large parts of Marawi, southern Philippines (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

As of Saturday, the number of security forces killed in the battle for Marawi stood at 58. The death toll for civilians was 20 and more than 100 had been killed overall.

At least 200 militants are holed up in a corner of the town. An estimated 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped there, some being held as human shields, while others are hiding in their homes with no access to running water, electricity or food.

One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer amid the throng of insurgents, separatists and bandits on Mindanao.

Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Isis as its Southeast Asia emir. Military officials believe Hapilon is still in the town.

The military has said it is aiming to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines' independence day.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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A 30-year-old Muslim man has been sentenced to death for posting blasphemous content on Facebook in Pakistan.

Taimoor Raza was sentenced in Bahawalpur in eastern Punjab province after being arrested in 2016 for posting offensive content about Sunni leaders and the wives of Prophet Mohammed on the popular social networking platform, the Associated Press reports.

A Shia Muslim, he had previously been arrested by the counter-terrorism force after a complaint was made that he was showing people offensive material on his phone at a bus terminal.

Recommended What the Quran actually says about blasphemy

Pakistan has strict anti-blasphemy laws, and anyone accused of insulting God, Islam or a religious leader can be sentenced to death.

This isnt the first time the harsh sentence has been handed out in the Sunni-majority country. In 2014, a Christian couple were found guilty of sending a text message insulting the Prophet to the imam of their local mosque.

Pakistans blasphemy laws are a violation of human rights, and are often used against religious minorities, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

Audrey Gaughran, the director of global issues and research at the charity, said: Once a person is accused, they become ensnared in a system that offers them few protections, presumes them guilty, and fails to safeguard them against people willing to use violence.

Police are able to arrest the accused without checking to see if the charge makes sense. In the case of the Christian couple this is an especially salient point. The duo were accused of sending the text in English, despite the reports they are illiterate.

As of yet, no one convicted of blasphemy has been executed, however the deeply conservative nature of the country means that even an accusation is enough to invite mob violence.

In 2014 distinguished human rights lawyer Rashid Rehman was shot dead in his office. A pamphlet distributed around his place of work said he was killed because he had tried to save a blasphemer.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has clamped down on Internet freedom of speech and ordered blasphemous content on social media to be removed or blocked, and warned posting such material will be strictly punished.
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In an effort to prevent the spread of radical Islamic ideology, Australia is to build a prison facility which will isolate militants from other inmates.

The unit, named Supermax II, will be a part of Goulburns high-security Supermax prison and would house 54 inmates, said the Premier of New South Wales State Gladys Berejiklian.

She told reporters: Well be giving $47m (36.8m) over the next three years to have the extra capacity to isolate those prisoners who are likely to try and spread radicalisation through the prison network.

"Were a government taking nothing to chance, we'll be making sure we continue to have the toughest position in the nation in relation to reducing and eliminating terrorism activity," Ms Berejiklian added.

Thus far there have been 33 people within the New South Wales prison system who have been jailed for terrorist offences, Reuters reports.

The decision follows a deadly siege in Melbourne, where 29-year-old Somali-born Australian Yacqub Khayre killed one man and took another hostage.

Local news stations claimed he told Channel Seven "This is for IS, this is for al Qaeda, despite both terror groups being fiercely opposed to each other.

He was shot dead by police, and Isis claimed the attack.

Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull intends to reform parole laws, such as banning parole for violent offenders linked to militancy, after it came to light that Khayre had been on parole for a violent home invasion at the time.

New South Wales police were recently granted permission to shoot suspects of terror-related incidents  even if the attacker was not an imminent threat.

In the past month, the UK has suffered two terror-related incidents claimed by Isis.
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A car has ploughed into pedestrians outside Amsterdam Centraal train station, police have said.

At least five people were injured in the incident, which happened around 9pm, according to local media reports.

The driver crashed into pedestrians and then into a wall, before being arrested.

There was immediate widespread speculation on social media as to whether the crash was deliberate, but police have said there is no indication the attack was terrorist-related.

A tweet from the Amsterdam Police account said: "Talked to the suspect. Doesn't appear to be intentional, rather getting sick."

Police spokesperson Marjolein Koek later said "there is no indication whatsoever that this is a terrorist attack".

The first images from the Amsterdam incident area showed a major police presence around the railway station with first aid responders treating one person.

A black car was shown to be slightly damaged against a low retaining wall close to the station.

Two of the wounded were transported to hospital and three people were treated on the spot, according to reports.

The station remained open following the incident, although the entrance near the site of the crash was closed. Tram traffic has now resumed.
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Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people, has changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen.

The move, confirmed by his lawyer, came after an appeal by the killer against the inhumane conditions in prison. The appeal was rejected by Norways Supreme Court.

His lawyer, Oeystein Storrvik, did not say why his client had chosen the common surname of Hansen, or the very rare first name of Fjotolf.

In a country of five million, more than 52,000 people are called Hansen.

Recommended Anders Breivik to take prison human rights appeal to European Court

He told me some reasons but I dont want to talk about what he told me, Mr Storrvik told Reuters.

Norwegians are allowed to change their names in the countrys official register as long as they do not cause offence or harm.

In 2011, Norway was rocked by two terror attacks that killed 77 people and injured close to 240.

The Norwegian agricultural company the killer created to obtain materials to make bombs, Breivik Geofarm, is now registered as Fjotolf Hansen.

 Anders Breivik returns to court with a Nazi salute

In July 2011, Breivik, now Hansen, parked a van outside the Parliament building in Oslo, and lit a fuse to a bomb which detonated and killed eight people.

He then shot dead 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer youth camp on the island of Utoya. He carried out the shooting over the course of an hour and a half before police arrived.

The white supremacist and anti-Muslim extremist posted racist material online and sent round a 1,500-page manifesto signed by Andrew Berwick, the Anglicised version of his name, containing staged pictures of him in uniform with weapons. He sent it to 1,000 email addresses on the day he committed the twin terror attacks.

He was convicted of terrorism and premeditated murder, and was given the maximum sentence of 21 years behind bars.

The sentence  he is being held at Telemark prison in Skien  can be extended indefinitely.

Breivik has not shown any remorse for his crimes and instead gave a fascist salute in court.
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An EasyJet flight to London has made an unscheduled stop in Germany after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board.

The plane coming from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana landed at Cologne-Bonn airport at about 6.30pm local time (4.30pm GMT) Saturday.

Airport authorities said in a statement that the 151 passengers on board disembarked the plane using emergency slides and were taken to a transit gate where they were checked by police.

German news agency dpa reports that police also destroyed a piece of baggage that couldn't be assigned to anybody on board.

Take-offs and landings were suspended for three hours, causing 10 flights to be diverted to other airports and delays to over a dozen more.

The flight was bound for Stansted Airport in Essex, around 40 miles from central London, according to Cambridge News.
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A man is believed to have locked himself in a house in a village near Moscow before opening fire at civilians, killing four people.

The suspects father had turned up at the scene and attempted to reason with him, to no avail.

Authorities surrounded the house, and after sustained gunfire, the suspect was shot dead by Russias National Guard.

Russia's Investigative Committee said one person died in hospital and three bodies were found at the scene, adding that a member of the National Guard had been injured.

Russian police have launched an investigation in order to determine the motivations of the 50-year-old man, who is said to be from the village of Kratovo.

Local Interior Ministry director Elena Fokina told RT: "The case is being brought in three parts  article 317 [threatening the life of a law enforcement officer], article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [illegal arms trafficking] and part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code [killing two or more persons]."

Neighbours told local news stations that the man may have been suffering from mental health issues.
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Iran sent four cargo planes of food to Qatar and plans to provide 100 tonnes of fruit and vegetables every day, Iranian officials have said, amid concerns of food shortages

Qatar has been in talks with Iran and Turkey to secure food and water supplies after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism.

Qatar said the allegations are based on lies.

Following the sanctions... on Qatar, IranAir has so far transported food and vegetables to this country by four flights, Shahrokh Noushabadi, head of public relations at Irans national airline, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

 Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Qatar over terror links

Every day we will export 100 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to Qatar, Ali Hemmati, the head of the industries, business and trade organisation in the Fars province was also quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency

An Iranian diplomat in Doha said three cargo planes from Iran were landing in Qatar each day, bringing mostly fruit and vegetables.

The diplomat also said small boats were bringing some less perishable produce.

Dozens of Iranian businesses are ready to help Qatar with more goods if they are needed, the diplomat told Reuters.

The head of Irans livestock exporters said they had exported 66 tonnes of meat to Qatar in the last two days.

We will also be sending 90 tonnes of meat in the coming week, Fars quoted Mansour Pourian as saying.

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. 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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

Qatar was importing 80 per cent of its food requirements from bigger Gulf Arab neighbours before they cut ties with the nation of 2.5 million people last week.

Iran, long at odds with Saudi Arabia, has called for the two sides to overcome their differences.

Qatar has defiantly vowed the country is not ready to surrender even if it would mean an end to the diplomatic row.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Saif al-Islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been released after more than five years in detention, his captors said.

A statement by his captors, the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, said Saif al-Islam was released on Friday, but gave no details on his whereabouts.

Battalion officials at Zintan, a town south of the capital Tripoli, confirmed his release. They declined to disclose his whereabouts, citing concerns over his safety.

They said his release was decided as part of a recent pardon issued by the Libyan parliament based in the country's eastern region.

The parliament in the city of Tobruk is part of one of three rival administrations in Libya, evidence of the chaos that has prevailed in the country since Gaddafi's ouster and death.

Gaddafi's son was captured by the battalion's fighters late in 2011, the year when a popular uprising toppled Gaddafi after more than 40 years in power.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The uprising later plunged the oil-rich North African nation into a ruinous civil war in which Mr al-Islam led Gaddafi's loyalist forces against the rebels.

Mr al-Islam, who is 44 and has a PhD from the London School of Economics, is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during his fathers regime.

Associated Press
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Its true that Labour did not win the general election. Its the Conservatives who got the most seats, and who might be able to form a Government  if they manage to pull off an immoral, desperate deal with the anti-LGBT rights, anti-abortion, terrorist backed Democratic Unionist Party.

The Tories jumped the gun and announced an arrangement yesterday, only for the DUP to immediately contradict them. Leader Arlene Foster is apparently meeting Theresa May to discuss matters on Tuesday. It makes sense that the extremely religious, Protestant, right-wing party might want to take a break from negotiations on Sunday, but its hard to interpret an extra days delay as anything other than a deliberate power play.

Any formal alliance between the two parties also contravenes the terms of the Good Friday agreement, which requires the UK Government to be a neutral broker. Sinn Fein have already issued a statement making this point, and it seems Theresa Mays planned course of action could represent a serious threat to stability in the region.

 Jeremy Corbyn says there may be another election later this year

Not that she has many other options. The one alternative route to a majority would be a supply and confidence agreement with the Liberal Democrats  but its not clear whether theyd actually agree to it. The party was punished by voters for going into coalition between 2010 and 2015. Supply and confidence might be subtly different but theres a strong chance it will be interpreted as a betrayal. If they did agree to prop up a Conservative minority Government, it would probably be on the promise of a second EU referendum. And making that vow would cause serious problems for the Tories.

What Im trying to say is: its quite likely there is no way this can work. Either the Conservatives will find it impossible to strike any sort of deal whatsoever, or the arrangement they come up with will be so flimsy it rapidly falls apart. Another election could be on the cards within the next few months. And the Tories will go into it looking broken, incompetent and in decline. Some of their strongest campaign lines  about the necessity of strong and stable Government to secure the best Brexit deal  now sound like jokes.

Labour might not have won the most seats this time, but its increase in vote share was still remarkable. A 9.6 per cent swing means that Corbyn has done more to improve the fortunes of his party than any leader since Attlee. Many seats that were considered unwinnable for Labour have become marginals with Conservative majorities in the hundreds or low thousands. Some Tory strongholds have already been taken: including affluent Kensington, and Canterbury, which has consistently returned Conservative MPs for over a century. A further swing of just 3.57 per cent will see Labour winning an outright majority, taking 64 seats.

A Corbyn near-kiss Show all 5 1 /5 A Corbyn near-kiss A Corbyn near-kiss Britain's Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn greets a supporter campaigning in Manchester, north west England EPA A Corbyn near-kiss PA A Corbyn near-kiss PA A Corbyn near-kiss Reuters A Corbyn near-kiss Reuters

Whats more, the partys popularity only continues to rise. Survation, one of the polling companies that most accurately predicted the election result, currently has it on 45 per cent  a full six points ahead of the Conservatives. Even more encouragingly: YouGov has Corbyn and May polling neck and neck when voters are asked which would make the best Prime Minister. No Labour leader has been level or ahead of a Conservative on this question since 2008.

People mocking Labour supporters for celebrating a loss simply dont understand the shift that has occurred. Last year, many were worried their party would be destroyed by factional infighting. Now theres a very realistic prospect it could be in Government within the year.

Its important those of us on the left dont treat such a result as a foregone conclusion, though. This election result was possible because Labour dared to offer a bold, hopeful vision for the future. But it also depended on the hard work and dedication of an army of activists, spreading this positive message as most of the mainstream media attacked Corbyn and other senior Labour figures in every conceivable way. We can win next time  but only if we fight just as hard again.
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With Brexit negotiations about to begin in the shadow of a hung parliament, the advice of the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, comes to mind. This spring he gave the stark advice: Britain should avoid negotiating with Brussels at all costs.

Varoufakis knows what he is talking about, as he was finance minister for the Syriza government in 2015 and in that role had to negotiate with the EU and the IMF over the extension of Greeces debts. The terms offered were so harsh that the Greek government campaigned successfully for a no vote in the July 2015 referendum on the terms of a further bailout. He resigned immediately after the vote when the Greek Prime Minister revealed to him that he intended to betray the referendum result.

Yanis Varoufakis is also an expert on game theory and its application to economic systems. If anyone knows how to conduct high-stakes negotiations, it should be him.

It is also worth reflecting on the dire state of Greek society and the Greek economy after three rounds of bailouts by the EU over the past eight years. Unemployment is still at 23 per cent, and since 2011 more than 300,000 young people have emigrated to find work out of a total population of 11 million.

That a man such as Varoufakis advises us that to negotiate with the EU is to fall into the trap should give us cause to stop and reconsider.

Otto Inglis

Edinburgh

DUP

So Theresa May has the opportunity to practice her negotiating skills with the DUP before she embarks on Brexit. Will she be able to convince the DUP that she will walk away if she does not get a good deal, or  by her own analysis  is her negotiating stance fatally flawed?

She will clearly need to demonstrate her strength of character since the 27 European countries will be watching closely for any sign of weakness in her negotiating skills.

Incidentally, are the skills needed for negotiating so very far removed from those needed for debating?

John Harrison

Guildford

Someone ought to tell Theresa May that the word Unionist in Conservative and Unionist Party has nothing to do with unity. It originated in 1886 when Joseph Chamberlain and the Liberal Unionists allied with the Conservatives in opposition to home rule for Ireland.

Rosemary Morlin

Oxford

It has been intriguing to note Conservative proposals to form a government with DUP support on a confidence-and-supply basis, especially with its obvious implications for the peace process in Northern Ireland.

That process is already under considerable strain following the collapse of the power-sharing agreement earlier this year and UK and Irish governments are engaged in mediating between the DUP and Irish nationalists to restore the Northern Irish government.

However, it is scarcely credible that the UK government can continue to act as the mediator, an honest broker acting in a neutral capacity, when the DUP is going to have such a pivotal role in that very government. It should also be remembered that in 1992, when John Major found himself short of a parliamentary majority he did not resort to forming an alliance with the DUP as he wanted to continue to be seen as even-handed.

If May continues on this misguided path she will clearly make the current political crisis in Northern Ireland even worse, just so that her weak and wobbly administration can stagger on.

Alex Orr

Edinburgh

Youth rebellion

Nick Clegg betrayed young people in a massive way when, having been elected largely by them on his pledge to cut student fees, he did exactly the opposite when he got into power.

A huge number of young people voted in our recent election. Draw your own conclusions.

Patrick Wise

Cirencester

Scotland

Ruth Davidson has clarified that the Scottish Tories wont split from the main UK party  but does her EU position distance her from Theresa May?

The possibility of an autumn election means Davidson cant risk losing ground. If Nicola Sturgeon finds a face-saving way to retreat  temporarily  from indyref2, Davidson will need more than anti-independence on which to campaign.

Does Mays preference for a hard Brexit makes her increasingly toxic? Davidson apparently supports single-market access and doesnt share Mays anti-immigration stance. While the Scottish Tory leaders softer Brexit views chime well with many here, Davidson will have attracted many euro-sceptic votes last week.

Davidson must remain principled. However if she uses her 13 Westminster votes to pressurise Downing Street into pursuing a softer Brexit, she should tread carefully.

Without a special fisheries deal, such a stance will lose her support, particularly in north-east Scotland where she holds several seats which, with a resurgent Labour Party, may be difficult to replace elsewhere.

The Scottish Tory leader may well distance herself from a perhaps fatally wounded May  but Davidson holding an EU position deemed credible by the majority of Scots will be crucial to the Scottish Conservatives long-term survival.

Martin Redfern

Edinburgh
Enda Kenny said he spoke with Mrs May about protecting the Good Friday Agreement

Irish premier Enda Kenny has told Theresa May the outworking of the General Election must not put the Good Friday Agreement at risk.

The Taoiseach's intervention comes amid concerns about the impact on the peace process of any DUP/Conservative link-up.

The 1998 peace accord, which provides the template for powersharing at Stormont, commits the UK and Irish governments to demonstrate "rigorous impartiality" when it comes to the differing political traditions in Northern Ireland.

The Conservatives' ability to adhere to such a commitment if they are wedded to a parliamentary alliance with the DUP has been questioned.

The issue is particularly relevant at the moment, as talks to save the crisis-hit powersharing institutions at Stormont are due to resume on Monday.

Mr Kenny, who will formally retire as Taoiseach in the coming days to be replaced by new Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, said he spoke with Mrs May about protecting the Good Friday Agreement.

He also raised concern that there are no longer any Irish nationalist MPs in Westminster, after the SDLP lost all its three seats.

Mr Kenny tweeted: " Spoke w PM May - indicated my concern that nothing should happen to put GoodFridayAgrmt at risk & absence of nationalist voice in Westminster."

Earlier, Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said a DUP/Tory agreement would "not necessarily" undermine the Northern Ireland peace process.

Charlie Flanagan said he has raised the matter with Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire.

Mr Flanagan was asked about suggestions that any Conservative deal with the DUP would undermine Westminster's impartiality as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement.

He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "Well, not necessarily the case. Of course, it remains to be seen what the nature of that deal is.

"But this is an issue I did address the evening before last with Secretary of State James Brokenshire.

"I look forward to meeting with him again tomorrow if his appointment is reaffirmed, but yes I think it's an important issue that you raise - t he objectivity of both governments, and both governments working strictly in accordance with our legal responsibilities under the Belfast Agreement, t he Irish government as co-guarantor, indeed the British Government as co-guarantor."

Mr Flanagan added the EU member states are "ready to roll" when it comes to Brexit talks.

These are due to start within days although they could be delayed given the UK's political uncertainty.

Mr Flanagan said: "I 'm conscious of the fact that this clock is ticking. We're a year now since the referendum.

"We lost some time over the last seven weeks during the General Election campaign.

"Europe is ready to start these negotiations. Ireland is ready to sit with our 26 EU colleagues and commence the negotiations because uncertainty is the enemy of stability and uncertainty is the enemy of business."

Asked if he would be against a delay, Mr Flanagan said: "We're ready to roll. My understanding from all of my EU colleagues is that they're ready to roll.

"It's been said that Europe wishes to punish the UK, I see no evidence of that, I see no intention of that."

Labour's Yvette Cooper, appearing on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, suggested the Tories' deal with the DUP could put the Northern Ireland peace process in jeopardy.

"This DUP deal that they have done is really dodgy, it is unsustainable," the former shadow home secretary said.

"But it is not just bad in terms of the politics of the House of Commons, it is also really irresponsible for the Northern Ireland peace process.

"The idea that the British Government could be taking sides having been the guarantor of the Good Friday agreement and the subsequent peace agreements, I think is really troubling."

She said the Conservatives are "cobbling together" a Government and are putting party interest ahead of national interest and the Northern Ireland peace process.

"It is really, really worrying," she said.

A No10 spokeswoman said: "Prime Minister Theresa May spoke on the phone to Taoiseach Enda Kenny today. The Prime Minister explained that she is working towards a confidence and supply deal with the DUP which would provide stability and certainty for the UK going forward.

"They confirmed their joint commitment to restoring a Northern Ireland Executive as soon as possible and agreed that both countries would continue to engage closely to bring about political stability in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister reiterated that the Government's approach and objectives in the forthcoming talks to re-establish the Northern Ireland Executive remained unchanged.

"The two leaders spoke about their willingness to continue close cooperation as the UK embarks on leaving the European Union, with no return to a hard border.

"The Prime Minister thanked Mr Kenny for helping to make UK-Ireland relations stronger than ever, wished him well for the future and said she looked forward to continuing a close relationship with his successor."
Federal Judge

court

He should praise the Lord he's white.........Thomas McCoun granted bond for Russell Friday, writing there was no clear and convincing evidence "the defendant represents a threat to any person or community."Last month, cops found bomb-making material, weapons, and ammo in the garage of his Tampa Palms apartment.In federalThursday, we learned while cops were discovering all of this disturbing evidence, Brandon Russell went shopping to buy more guns and 500 rounds of ammo. This time he took a buddy along who shares the same neo-Nazi beliefs.Russell's dangerous plot came to light after his roommate, Devon Arthurs was arrested and charged with the murder of their two other roommates. Arthurs led police to the bodies and to Russell's bombs.Arthurs says all of the roommates, Jeremy Himmelman, Andrew Oneshuk, and Brandon Russell were neo-Nazi believers, but recently Arthurs converted to the Islamic faith and turned on his roommates. Especially, he says, they disrespected his new Muslim beliefs.Arthurs told cops Brandon Russell often threatened, on white supremacist websites, to blow up buildings and kill people.While federal prosecutors called Russell a real threat to the community, the judge didn't see it that way. Conditions of Russell's bond have not been released by Judge McCoun. Once they are, Russell will be released from the Pinellas County jail.
When the Ballydehob 'black and white' dairy herd was started more than 60 years ago by William Shannon, few could have envisaged the impact the new breed would have on Irish dairy production.

Back then there was a lot of scepticism among Irish dairy farmers about the Friesian breed and many questioned the merits of the new genes at a time when the traditional Irish dairy shorthorn dominated on the farms in this country.

Robert Shannon's 80-strong herd of Holstein-Friesians on a 26ha platform produces an average of 8,214kgs (1,809gls)of milk at 4.70pc fat and 3.67pc protein.

This would be well beyond the wildest dream of his father William who introduced the breed to his Cork homestead farm to found the Ballydehob pedigree Friesian herd.

"In those days there were about 25 cows kept in the herd and of course it was all Friesian at that time - the Holstein had not been introduced - and the breed was only starting to take off in this country," recalls Robert who took over the management of the herd 25 years ago.

"We were originally farming at Ballydehob and when we moved to Ballinascarthy we kept the name for the herd and merged with the herd of my wife Shirley's farm here," he says.

One of the top 20 EBI Holstein Friesian herds in the country, with herd average conformation score of VG 85, the Ballydehob dairy herd is the IHFA/RDS 'Champion of Champions' herd for 2017, a prestigious honour that recognises the achievements of over two generations of careful breeding.

The RDS Champion of Champions awards, presented annually by The Royal Dublin Society, are described as linking the current generation of cattle breeding with the RDS Spring Show of a bygone era which was the main agricultural focal point for farmers and the shop window for breed development up to a few decades ago.

"My father always bought a few good cows when he got the opportunity and there are about five cow families which make up most of the herd now and most of them are Cork bred," says Robert.

"Both the Patsy and Mary bloodlines came from John O'Sullivan's herd in Courtmacsherry and they have performed very well for us," he adds.

Ballydehob OMan Patsy 2 EX92 2E, with an EBI of 226, is in her seventh lactation having produced 60,700kgs milk to date.

Ballydehob OMan Mary EX92 2E, with an EBI of 214, is now in her fifth lactation with a projected lactation yield of 10,499kgs milk, 564kgs fat, 353kgs protein, 5.37pc fat, 3.37pc protein.

Ask Robert which cow family has contributed most to the development of his herd and he reckons "it is probably Trixie which has been very good" and still going strong within the herd.

Ballydehob OJ Trixie EX92 2E, has an EBI of 238.

She is now in her seventh lactation with a lifetime milk solids yield to date of 5,388 kgs fat and protein and 3.58pc protein.

The RDS award evaluation cited how the Ballydehob Holstein Friesians herd "demonstrates the balance of herd conformation and genetic merit" with all cows in the herd genomically tested and linear scored/classified.

The herd quality and desirable genetics has been recognised by AI companies over the years with many bulls selected to enter AI.

These include: Ballydehob Mag. Extasy (BHX), Ballydehob Justice (BYJ), Ballydehob Tucano 871 (BZM), Ballydehob Glen 681 (GZL), Ballydehob Pat 1356 (HZB), Ballydehob Albyn 687 (NYB), Ballydehob Tucano 975 (TUJ), Ballydehob Dan (YBD), Ballydehob Roy 765 (YOA).

On future plans for the herd, Robert says expansion beyond 80 cows on 26ha "may not be economic" and the emphasis is on getting the maximum production from grass.

The successful herd is managed by Robert and his wife, Shirley, with the helping hands of their three daughters, Diane, Claire and Sarah and son, Stephen.

Diane has just graduated in nursing, while Stephen is doing his Leaving Cert but "they are all interested in farming".

Robert and Shirley have no shortage of possible candidates for succession in dairy farming, and are adopting a "wait and see who is the most interested" policy in the knowledge that, as Robert adds, "the girls can milk cows with the best."
The expansion of dairying on a large scale in Connacht is set to be one of the big trends in agriculture over the next couple of decades, a leading agri economist has predicted.

With growing concerns over shortages in skilled farm labour and problems with land inequality set to increase, there will be significant structural changes in agriculture, says Dr Kevin Hanrahan, head of the Teagasc rural economy and development programme.

"Over the next 10-15 years, I think some of the Government and industry vision for the agricultural sector will be a change in the composition to be more dairy centred and somewhat less beef centred," he said.

"One of the things underlying that will be growth in the size of Irish dairy farms and that growth will come by dairy farms merging together, one dairy farm being taken over by another," he said.

Although most of the initial growth in dairy is occurring in traditional dairying pasturelands like Cork, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford, Dr Hanrahan believes larger scale dairy opportunities will eventually be focused on western counties in 20-30 years time.

"At some point, it will become very difficult for farms in east Cork and Kilkenny to expand their operations in terms of dairying, and it will be easier to expand in the west of Ireland where there are dairy farms.

"Those farms will be able to access land more readily because the person they are competing with won't be another dairy farmer, it might be a drystock farmer," Dr Hanrahan said. He highlights the expansion of milk production in non-traditional dairy areas of New Zealand as an example of what could unfold here.

There are just over 17,500 dairy farmers in Ireland milking an average of 80 cows as part of a national herd size of 1.14 million cows.

According to Teagasc's 'Road Map for Dairying' published last October, by 2025 dairy cow numbers are expected to increase to 1.7 million, while the average herd size will grow to over 100 cows. Average milk delivered per farm is predicted to increase to over 570,000 litres.

However, some analysts have warned that the sustainability of the family dairy farm will not be achieved exclusively through expansion and intensification of production.

Land inequality

A recent European Parliament study found that 3pc of farmers controlled 52pc of all farmland in the EU in 2013, with 76pc of farms having the use of only 11pc of land.

The report says this trend places the EU on a par with Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines for land inequality.

The EU report, though non-binding, recommends that governments give small and medium-sized local producers, new entrants and young farmers priority to buy and rent farmland.

It also recommends that land or rental contracts contain requirements for those buying it to engage in farming.

"As farms become larger, that inequality, in all likelihood, will increase," said Dr Hanrahan.

He says access to labour will be a constraint on the development of scale in dairy. "Some businesses will respond to those constraints by paying more for the labour, giving their employees better terms and conditions, in terms of hours worked and healthcare benefits.

"Others will respond by saying okay we'll invest in automated milking parlours so we'll substitute capital for labour," he said.

Environmental policy at a national and European level will also pose constraints on the future shape of the family farm.

James Kinsella, professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development at UCD, believes the future for the family farm can be safeguarded by policies which seek to create a large farm/global markets and smaller farms/local markets model.

"Ireland, with its existing profile of farm families, fits very well into a balance of these pathways but unfortunately our national policy and vision fails to reflect this.

"If we continue on our current single path of agricultural development exclusively through expansion in output and intensification, we run the danger of undermining our opportunity to maintain farm families as contributors to viable rural areas," he said.

Although farm diversification is expected to be adopted by some farms as a strategy to boost farm incomes, Dr Hanrahan says it's not necessarily the solution for everybody.

"I think there will be two trends - there will be farms that go down that route because it's in their interest, but there will also be many farms that become more specialised.

"Dairy farms, for example, are becoming increasingly specialised.

"Many of those farms may have had a beef enterprise in the past, and increasingly, they are shedding those enterprises to concentrate exclusively on milk production.

"Post quota, an extra litre of milk is going to make them some money over and above what extra beef is making them," he said.
Argo Tractors -manufacturer of the Landini and McCormick tractor brands - has appointed AgriArgo UK, its distributor in Britain, to also handle whole-goods and parts distribution throughout Ireland.

The appointment results from a mutual agreement between Argo Tractors, D&S Machinery in Dublin and H Fulton Tractors, Dungiven, Derry to bring the long standing former distribution arrangements to an end.

D&S Machinery Ltd became the Landini importer for all Ireland in 1991, and in 2001 was appointed to also handle the McCormick range shortly after Argo Tractors reintroduced the iconic brand. Speaking to the Farming Independent this week, Michael Devane, director at D&S Machinery, said the move had been a tough choice but was firmly a business-related one.

"We have come to a mutual agreement with Argo Tractors to change the distribution channel of the Landini and McCormick tractor brands across Ireland," explained Mr Devane.

"Over the past number of years it was evident that the distribution model based around an independent distributor like D&S machinery was no longer sustainable.

"It was a difficult decision, but a commercial one at the end of the day. I for one would love to see the Landini and McCormick brands go from strength to strength on the Irish market.

"Looking to the future, we have decided to concentrate on expanding our spare parts business into other tractor brands and on promoting the exciting Solis range of tractors that are new to Ireland."

AgriArgo UK is based at Harworth, northern England, close to Doncaster, the former home of the McCormick brand.

The company has appointed Will Doyle, who has an established track record in tractor sales and distribution, as area sales manager for Ireland. AgriArgo UK has begun supporting Irish dealers and end users by supplying parts from the approximately 3.5 million of stock held at its Harworth premises.

All new tractor orders for the Irish market are also now being handled by the company.

Ray Spinks, general manager and sales director at AgriArgo UK, acknowledged the support provided by the former distributors:

"Michael Devane and his fellow directors at D&S Machinery have done everything possible to ensure a smooth hand-over," he said. "That gave us time to put in the resources needed to ensure the professional support we give our dealers in Great Britain is available to dealerships in Ireland.

"This is a great opportunity for Irish dealers to get fully behind the Landini and McCormick products and capitalise on the business resources available from AgriArgo UK and our partners, such as stocking plans, retail finance and favourable terms for demonstrator tractors.

"We look forward to hearing from any and all dealers who see the potential for Landini and McCormick tractor sales in their area," added Mr Spinks.
Down through the years the small town of Fethard in Co Tipperary has become a popular tourist destination not only for its association with horses, but also its rich culture and heritage.

Now both interests have been brought together as the 400-year-old Town Hall, the Tholsel, has opened its doors for the Fethard Horse Country Experience Museum.

Having undergone a 1.6 million make-over, the 17th century building, which once served as an almshouse, is now home to this exciting new project which tells the story of the town's history and its strong association with the bloodstock industry down through the centuries.

Fethard boasts several medieval ruins and a good portion of its original 14th-century town walls remain intact.

Expand Close Minister Paul Kehoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber do the honours at the opening of the Fethard Horse Country Experience Museum / Facebook

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Along the walls, the North Gate is the last remaining of five original gates.

The town is also home to several fortified townhouses including Edmond's Castle and Court Castle dating from the 15th century.

Generously supported by Failte Ireland and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the project is also backed by Coolmore Stud which has been a key source of employment in the Fethard area for over 40 years.

Not surprisingly the story of this world-famous enterprise is one of the focal points of the Fethard Horse Country Experience, with the skeleton of the legendary stallion Sadler's Wells the main attraction.

Bred in Kentucky by the late Robert Sangster, this legendary son of Northern Dancer was a multiple champion on the track, but went on to be even more successful as a sire, with some his offspring - most notably Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral - also becoming important sires at Coolmore Stud.

The story of the stud itself is truly fascinating.

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Originally inherited by Tim Vigors in 1945, what was to become Coolmore Stud started out as a small agricultural farm.

Champions

John Magnier, in conjunction with his late father-in-law, the outstanding horse trainer Vincent O'Brien, and Robert Sangster took over the 350-acre existing farm from Vigors in 1975 with the objective of creating a world-class thoroughbred stallion operation.

Today, Coolmore has a long list of champions on its past and present rosters.

Many of these champions were trained nearby in the world-famous Ballydoyle Stables, established by Vincent O'Brien and from which Aidan O'Brien now trains.

Over 500 local residents and guests were in attendance on the opening night and many were delighted to meet Aidan O'Brien in person and also learn about his incredible success as a trainer.

For the past 20 years the Co Wexford native has brought Flat racing to a new level, with Rock of Gibaltar, Camelot, Galileo and Johannesburg among the dozens of horses to have passed through his hands before going on to stand as sires at Coolmore.

Fethard is also well-known for its strong association with hunting, and the kennels of the Tipperary Foxhounds are located at Tullamaine, just a few miles outside the town.

They were formed by the Barton Family of Grove Estate in the early 19th century.

The family were keen foxhunters and kept a private pack for several decades before William Barton officially founded the hunt, then known as The Grove Hunt, in 1820. Captain Jacob of Mobarnane bought the pack from William in the mid-1830s and renamed them The Tipperary Foxhounds.

Currently overseen by huntsman Gavin Shorten, they are the only pack in Ireland to hunt four days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Also among the well-known horsemen and women featured at the Fethard Horse Country Experience Museum is another famous local trainer, Mouse Morris.

His many accomplishments include winning the Aintree Grand National for the first time in 2016 with Rule The World. He also won the Irish version the same year with Rogue Angel.

The museum was officially opened by the world-famous composer Andrew Lloyd Webber who has lived at nearby Kiltinan Castle for the past 25 years.

"The museum is an extremely welcome addition to Fethard," he said.

"The town hall has been lovingly restored and it is the perfect canvas to showcase Fethard's rich history.

"Through Kiltinan Castle Stud, my wife and I feel a close affinity to the horse culture which is an intrinsic part of this area and we hope that the museum will play a key role in attracting more people to this beautiful and historically-rich part of Ireland."

The Fethard Horse Country Experience is open from Wednesday to Sunday inclusive from 10am to 4pm. For further information visit www.fhcexperience.ie
Attachment to land and property runs deep in Ireland. Taken to extremes, this fixation on property and inheritance can cause untold misery and misfortune as exemplified by the fate of Bull McCabe and his family in The Field.

And while that is an extreme example, many of us are familiar with cases where a disputed will has created lasting divisions within families.

The division of assets as valuable and 'sentimental' as the family farm is best resolved through a succession planning process that can identify and resolve any potential difficulties.

Remember that the costs of legal applications and actions in relation to wills could result in much of the estate's value being spent on legal fees.

This cost does not take account of the huge personal costs and relationship damage that they cause among nearest and dearest.

The question of property inheritance is in the headlines again due to the publication by the Law Reform Commission of recommendations that the law should be changed in this area.

If these proposals are enacted as legislation there could be significant changes in the inheritance rights of adult children and how the courts deal with disputes over wills.

Existing laws provide that a child, including an adult child, of a deceased parent who has made a will, can apply to court and claim that the parent failed in his or her "moral duty to make proper provision for the child" (in accordance with the parent's means) during the parent's lifetime.

If the court agrees that the parent failed to comply with the duty to make proper provision for the child, it can make an order that adjusts the amount left to the child in the will. It can order that a different amount should be made for the child out of the parent's estate. These type of cases, although rare, are very difficult for families and often very expensive.

New proposals

The Law Reform Commission recommendations, if implemented by the Government, will mean that the parents will no longer have a "moral duty" to leave an inheritance for their children under proposed changes to the law. The law would simply state that a deceased parent has a duty to make "proper provision" for a child.

If the law is changed, children who are unhappy with how they are provided for in a parent's will can still bring a challenge in the courts. However, it will be more difficult for them to argue that they have not been provided for by their parents.

Farm Families

The new proposals effectively limit the circumstances in which a child can bring an application to have the will amended. One exception is where an item in the estate is of sentimental value to an adult child.

This leaves the possibility of certain assets like a family farm, that may be owned by a family for numerous generations, being classified as of sentimental value. These assets would inevitably be the subject of legal challenges.

Another exception is where an adult child has a particular financial need arising from their health or decision-making capacity or where the adult child has provided care and support for the deceased.

'Proprietary Estoppel'

Another reason for challenges to wills, which arise quite often in the context of family farms, is when someone who works on a farm for a long period, often without pay, in the expectation that they will inherit the farm but ultimately does not inherit the farm.

The principle of 'proprietary estoppel' means that if you have relied on a promise made to you that you will gain a particular asset upon the death of a person and the person then makes a will effectively breaking the promise, the will can be challenged in the courts.

This is a long established principle in Ireland and it is unlikely that the proposed changes by the Law Reform Commission will affect the operation of the law in this area.

There is a time limit for bringing applications. Section 117 of the Succession Act 1965 specifies that an application to challenge a will must be brought within six months of taking out full probate or administration of the estate.

This is usually between nine to 15 months after death. The Law Reform Commission recommends that this should remain the case.

This article is intended as a general guide only and you should seek independent legal advice in relation to individual circumstances.

Theresa Murphy is a barrister based in Co Galway
Environmental groups have hit out at attempts to allow pesticide use on land set aside for nature conservation under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The Commission had proposed to ban the use of pesticides on so-called ecological focus areas, parcels of land for which farmers receive EU subsidies.

But agriculture MEPs voted against the ban last week, a move previously supported by Ireland and 17 other EU member states.

The decision will be put to all MEPs in a vote next week.

The news came the same week MEPs from Parliaments Green group filed a case with the EUs top court demanding access to studies used to assess the safety of the controversial herbicide, glyphosate.

The weedkiller, the main ingredient in Monsantos RoundUp, caused a rift in the scientific community when a World Health Organisation body found it to be probably carcinogenic in 2015.

The EUs food safety and chemicals agencies say it is not likely to cause cancer.

Meanwhile, new EU fertiliser rules are a step closer to being agreed, though farmers and MEPs are still concerned over what they see as stringent cadmium limits.

The rules, proposed by the European Commission last March, aim to boost the production of organic fertilisers and lower cadmium levels in phosphate fertilisers to 20mg/kg after 12 years.

But farmers lobby Copa-Cogeca has called for a maximum limit of 60mg, to be introduced over 15 years.

The issue is tied up in geopolitics, with Russia the only country where cadmium levels are low enough to comply with the new rules.
Gold explorer Conroy Gold & Natural Resources is facing board upheaval after its biggest shareholder moved to oust most of its directors.

Conroy's biggest shareholder Patrick O'Sullivan - who owns a 27pc stake - requested that the company hold an extraordinary general meeting so that six of the nine current board members can be replaced.

The company, founded by exploration industry veteran Professor Richard Conroy, is developing what would be Ireland's first commercial goldmine at Clontibret in Co Monaghan. It also owns prospects across the Border in Co Armagh and in Finland.

The Irish prospects are part of a 50km gold trend stretching along both sides of the Border. Conroy last year said it had found five new gold zones at Clontibret following a drilling programme and said that it believes it has a "multimillion ounce gold exploration target".

It has said that it is moving forward with an open pit gold mine at the Monaghan site after an independent study found it was technically and financially viable.

But some shareholders have grown impatient at what they believe is a very slow and cautious approach to developing the mine and bringing the gold to market, this newspaper understands.

The exploration company said in a statement that it had received a requisition for a general meeting to remove six directors, including the finance director. It had also been proposed to appoint three new directors to the board, including O'Sullivan.

Another proposed appointee is Gervaise Heddle, chief executive of Greatland Gold, which is part owned by Conroy Gold's third-biggest shareholder Metal Tiger.

It was not proposed that Richard Conroy, who is now chairman and who retains a 22pc stake in the company, would be replaced. Managing director Maureen Jones would also not be removed as part of the attempted board revamp, should it succeed. The board "is taking advice in relation to the requisition", it said in the statement.

In the six months to the end of last November the company posted a loss after tax of 176,680 and the working capital requirements were supported by ongoing loans from Professor Conroy, it said.

The company said that it was considering how best to fund its activities going forward "in light of the excellent exploration results" and said that it was considering a joint venture, a farm-out or equity funding.
'Fintech, as the financial technology sector is known, is rapidly disrupting the way all sorts of payments are made, from crypto-currencies like Bitcoin to tapping and going at your local newsagents.' Photo: Getty Stock

One of my clearest memories of moving to Ireland in 2005 was how odd it was to see people queuing up to do business at the bank. Being Swedish, I was already used to the idea of banking online. Today not only are most of us moving money around digitally, but we do so from our mobile phones.

For banks the big challenge is keeping up with this pace of technological change. But banks' adversity is fintech's opportunity.

Fintech, as the financial technology sector is known, is rapidly disrupting the way all sorts of payments are made, from crypto-currencies like Bitcoin to 'tapping and going' at your local newsagents.

The scale of this change is one of the reasons innovative Irish fintech companies, including Fexco, Rockall Technologies, Corvil and Touchtech payments are heading to Money 2020 Europe, in Copenhagen, this month.

The biggest international payments event outside of the US, it provides not just high-level networking opportunities but a chance to hear analysis from some of the world's most successful fintech companies, including Irish payments giant Stripe.

The event, which brings together more than 4,000 people, allows delegates to peep around the corner at what's coming for B2B payments, mobile payments and e-commerce.

As Enterprise Ireland's Fintech Adviser for the Nordic region, these are topics I hear about on a daily basis, often from large, 'legacy' banks, concerned in the face of so much disruption. Traditionally the middleman of and clearing house for the world's cash transactions, what kind of role banks will play in the future is now up for grabs.

What banks do know is that in order to sustain business and attract a new generation of customers they need a data-driven and digitalised organisation. The idea of going and queuing in a physical bank is not one that is attractive to the millions of young banking customers who do everything else on their smartphones.

But the challenge facing banks isn't just about providing a snazzy app. It's about figuring out how to manage - and capitalise on - the vast volumes of data that digital banking gives rise to.

It's about providing secure payments in an increasingly cashless market, indeed, the Nordics are on track to be the first region in the world that is completely cashless within 10 years.

Cyber security is another big cause for concern, with increasing incidences of malware, phishing, fraud, identity theft and money laundering. The challenge for the banks is to implement a security system that is easy to use but still secure enough to meet the current threat levels. Many of the large banks are looking for biometric solutions like fingerprint or retinal scanning and face recognition.

Equally, many do not have a seamless solution when it comes to "on boarding" new customers.

They struggle with cumbersome, inefficient and, ultimately, expensive processes. They don't yet have the systems in place to help them anticipate high-risk customers.

Most bankers that I talk to are looking to find solutions wherein it is possible to sign up new customers simply but securely, with a system that automatically monitors and reviews customer data as it changes constantly.

Overarching all of this is the fact that big name banks are struggling to keep up with technological change. Most are operating on old legacy IT systems. The large traditional banks didn't fully understand the value of technology until it was too late. To be fair, the global financial crisis didn't help.

But old legacy systems do not integrate well into the new world of smartphone and tablet banking, which means the traditional banking platform is simply no longer fit for purpose.

Come up with an innovative alternative and you'll find it's the banks that are queuing up to do business with you.

Tom Holgersson is Enterprise Ireland's Fintech adviser, Nordic countries, based in Stockholm.
Irish founder Aidan Heavey, pictured, announced earlier this year that he is to step down as chief executive of the London-listed company. Pic: Mark Condren

Tullow Oil is set to return to its "traditional strengths as a frontier explorer" following the sale of assets next year, according to analysts.

The Dublin and London-based oil and gas company has endured a tumultuous few years since huge African discoveries saw it grow from its Co Carlow roots to become one of the most successful independent companies in the sector.

Irish founder Aidan Heavey, pictured, announced earlier this year that he is to step down as chief executive of the London-listed company. Its share price has fallen more than 80pc since it peaked in 2012 but research from Barclays targets a 30pc rise to 220 pence sterling for the shares.

Tullow is close to concluding a two-year re-set of the business, with a debt refinancing the last item outstanding after an extensive cost efficiency programme, portfolio rationalisation and a $750m rights issue, said the research note.

"This journey has required many difficult decisions, but we believe the end result is a balanced E&P [exploration and production] business with a portfolio that can grow," said the note.

Barclays said that Tullow could "remain self-sufficient" if the price of oil stays around $50 a barrel but warned that "the stock remains highly geared to a rising oil price outlook."

With low oil prices dogging the exploration sector, Tullow two years ago launched a massive cost-cutting programme across its business. By the end of 2016, the company had achieved savings of $300m and is on target to generate savings of $600m, said the research note.

Cutbacks saw a 44pc reduction in employee numbers, with non-operational corporate and admin roles falling by three quarters. Job losses have impacted Tullow's Dublin office where it employs more than 100, many of them in highly skilled geologist and scientific roles.

The research note said that Tullow management has identified a partial sale of its producing Ghana business to accelerate debt reduction, and a farm down in Kenya to secure a development carry for the 750 million barrel project.

"The most likely timing for deals on both assets is 2018. We estimate the sale of a 20pc stake in Tullow Ghana could net $1bn, while a substantial farm down in Kenya should secure a full development carry through first oil in 2022," said the Barclays note. Tullow offers investors exposure to rising low-cost oil production in Ghana that is generating free cash flow, while a further phase of medium-term growth comes from Uganda and Kenya, it said.
'Brexit, Trump, terrorism and the potential for rising oil prices are all conspiring to ensure gathering storm clouds for the aviation sector in general' (stock image)

As any pilot will tell you, some of the worst turbulence can happen in a cloudless sky. Right now at DAA - Ireland's state airport company - the sun is shining brightly.

Yes, well-regarded chief executive Kevin Toland is stepping down to take up the top job at Aryzta, and, yes, Brexit, Trump, terrorism and the potential for rising oil prices are all conspiring to ensure gathering storm clouds for the aviation sector in general.

But Toland will leave a company that appears to be in fine fettle. Its recent financial results for 2016 showed profits-after-tax jumping 77pc to 108m, with 19 new routes launched last year at Dublin alone and positive performances at its Cork airport and international duty operations.

Nevertheless, massive challenges await the new chief executive - many of them, but not all, the problems of success.

For example, Toland's successor faces a serious headache around the development of a new 320m runway for the airport. Rapidly growing passenger numbers mean more planes and the main runway at the airport is operating close to capacity, particularly during the busy morning peak. DAA planned for its new runway to be operational in 2020 and work has been well underway for months in the north county Dublin countryside through which it will slice.

But there is one major problem: the planning permission for the runway severely limits night flights, which, in turn, means that the new runway would only provide limited relief in the early hours of the morning - just when it is needed most. Well-placed sources have told the Sunday Independent that work is likely to soon come to a halt and that the entire project faces a major delay because of this. For now, it is hoped that the delay will be not much more than a year but there is little certainty of that.

The runway project is already controversial with airlines. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have both raised fears that DAA will spend too much on the project and then look to drive up passenger charges to pay for it. Indeed, Aer Lingus recently wrote to the aviation regulator arguing that the runway was less important than the bottlenecks airlines faced with other key infrastructure such as taxiways and stands.

The booming passenger numbers are also bringing closer the time for another key decision: when to build a third terminal at Dublin Airport. Anyone who recalls the saga over the building of the second terminal as terminal one threatened to burst at the seams knows that such decision-making does not come easily.

Toland has said that a third terminal is not a priority for the company at the moment, but the planning permission granted for the second terminal capped the airport's capacity at 32 million. An analysis of just how rapidly traffic through Dublin Airport is rising suggests that it may soon become an issue of much greater importance to his successor.

Such an analysis also shows that the ability to predict passenger numbers has not improved from the Celtic Tiger days, when the company contemplated checking-in passengers in a marquee because of the failure to put in place infrastructure quickly enough. In 2014 the aviation regulator predicted passenger numbers would grow steadily from 21.5 million in 2014 to 24.8 million in 2019, an annual growth rate of 2.9pc. In reality the average growth rate in the last three years has been 10.4pc and just under 28 million passengers will pass through the airport this year.

If growth were to continue at 10pc for the next four years that would see the airport handle over 40 million passengers in 2020 - and even if rates halve to 5pc in each of the next four years that would see 34 million passengers use the airport by then, easily passing the maximum capacity.

Such an outcome might not immediately cause huge problems at most times of the day in Terminal 2 or in a refurbished Terminal 1, but morning time, when the airport is at its busiest, would once again become increasingly problematic.

Transport Minister Shane Ross has commissioned a review to look at these issues and businessman Ulick McEvaddy is reported to be contemplating another attempt at building his long-ago proposed private terminal at Dublin Airport.

McEvaddy owns a strategic site that sits right between the main runway and the line of the proposed new runway. He previously fought a determined but unsuccessful battle to build a privately-run terminal on the land and the return of congestion would undoubtedly help him make a renewed case.

Of course, there is another possibility. The worst fears around Brexit could come true and, as Michael O'Leary has warned, air travel between Britain and the EU, including Ireland, could be severely disrupted. That would likely have a massive negative impact on Dublin Airport. In such a scenario, a new runway and a new terminal would be relegated to the status of pipe dreams and Toland's successor would have a whole new set of problems to keep them busy as business shrank.

Either way, the new chief executive will face a much more immediate problem that is already festering in the break rooms at Dublin Airport. In recent months DAA attempted to deal with a growing clamour for increased pay and profit sharing for staff. The company had demanded a range of productivity measures in return for pay increases of up to 4pc. But, in a ballot, key groupings of staff rejected the process and relations have become increasingly adversarial. This newspaper understands that unions are preparing a much more ambitious pay claim that is likely to cause management a major headache.

"It will be a fairly serious pay claim. It could be as much as between 18pc and 20pc over a three-year period," said a well-informed trade union source. "Profits are healthy but morale is on the floor. It makes for tricky manoeuvring for management."

The pay claims are being driven by events elsewhere in the transport sector, it is understood.

"Dublin Bus workers, for example, have won similar pay awards as what was on offer to DAA staff. But Dublin Bus is paid a big subvention by government. By contrast, DAA is extremely profitable and paid the government a 29m dividend last year. Staff have taken enough austerity to get the company to where it is and now they want payback," said the source.

It all adds up to an interesting time ahead. Toland's successor will certainly need their seat belt safely fastened before take-off.
'Income taxes on ordinary workers are now 7bn a year higher than before the crash, to say nothing of other charges and levies, mainly to fund the bail-out of the banks. And customers of banks are being treated abysmally, while our regulators stand back and watch.' File photo: Bloomberg

Bankers must be delighted. For them, the taxpayers and consumers are the gift that keeps on giving. And what do they have to give in return? Not much, is the answer.

AIB is about to float a chunk of its shares on the Dublin and London stock markets. Thanks to taxpayers stuffing 21.8bn into rescuing it, the bank has gone from being a financial basket case to a hot investment proposition.

We learned in this newspaper last week that the bank will not have to pay corporate tax for 30 years, because its historical losses can be carried forward.

The bankers messed up and needed a 21.8bn bailout from ordinary taxpayers, but it will not have to pay corporate tax for decades. You could not make it up.

Income taxes on ordinary workers are now 7bn a year higher than before the crash, to say nothing of other charges and levies, mainly to fund the bail-out of the banks. And customers of banks are being treated abysmally, while our regulators stand back and watch.

The Irish banking market is dysfunctional. Some 70pc of the Irish mortgage market is controlled by just three banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. We have some of the highest variable mortgage rates in the eurozone.

Savers here get a raw deal, with the two big banks each paying 0.01pc in interest. That's 10c a year on a 1,000 of savings, before tax.

AIB, as the largest retail and commercial bank with 2.3m retail and SME customers, is the biggest culprit.

It controls 36pc of new mortgage lending, 37pc of personal current accounts, 22pc of personal loans and 35pc of credit cards.

The bank is equally dominant in the small business market with a 44pc share of business current accounts, 36pc of main business loans, 26pc of business leasing and a nearly half of all business credit cards.

AIB is the big beast in banking here, and so is the pacesetter.

Our regulators, such as the Central Bank and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, should hang their heads in shame for allowing a rescued bank to become so dominant.

Those who ran the bank into the ground exited with monstrously generous pensions and other payoffs. Not so for bank customers and taxpayers who have paid, and continue to pay, a huge price for saving AIB.

It is about to embark on a new chapter with the flotation. There will be millions made by banking advisers, retail investors with more than 10,000 to punt, hedge funds and big corporate investors. For the little guys who saved it, the message is thanks suckers.
The housing market is getting more confused than ever. Luminaries such as the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (FAC), the OECD and outgoing finance minister Michael Noonan all waded in on the debate this week about whether there is a bubble.

The FAC seems to think that when it comes to housing we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.

If we don't build a lot more houses, then house prices will continue to rise. This could lead to a bubble.

However, it also warned that building a lot more houses could spark a construction boom that could overheat the economy, prompt misspending of the Exchequer receipts from that boom and land us in trouble by repeating the mistakes of the past.

It seems the only purely rational economic response is to do nothing, presuming politicians, bankers, regulators, developers and punters will all simply repeat the same mistakes of the past.

This seems overly pessimistic. The OECD had a similar view this week, warning about the hazards of overheating the economy and a house price bubble.

Take a look at the evidence. The number of new mortgages drawn down in the first three months of this year was 6,939.

This was up 27pc on the same quarter a year earlier. However, Q1 2016 was particularly low and the figure is up just 14pc in the last two years.

The value of mortgages drawn down in the first three months of 2017 was 1.39bn. Ten years ago, at the height of the boom, there were 38,236 new mortgages in the first three months of 2007, with a total value of 7.8bn.

That puts a bit of context on it, but it may not be the best comparison. After all, you can't decide if you are going a little bit crazy by comparing yourself with the most insane person ever.

Last year, the average first-time buyer mortgage amounted to 173,000. This year it is 193,000.

So, the value of mortgages and the numbers being taken out are growing sharply. But it is from such a relatively low base, and the only way to deal with it, is to build more houses.

All you had to do was show up in front of a mortgage broker to land a mortgage 10 years ago.

Even with the recent relaxation of Central Bank rules, it isn't that easy to get into mortgage trouble.

There are strict controls in place on the multiple of salary being loaned and with the absence of 100pc mortgages, even if house prices level off or slid back in a couple of years from now, negative equity from new lending can still be avoided.

It may be spooking the FAC to hear Simon Coveney's target is to build 25,000 houses a year by the end of next year.

They are looking at the implications of such house-building activity on wages, jobs, influx of foreign workers and how the government of the day might recklessly rely on the proceeds to fund current expenditure.

The bigger question is whether these 25,000 houses per year will actually be built or not. Somehow, I doubt it.

Share buyback price must be right

Share buybacks are a handy way of giving money back to shareholders by supporting the value of their shares. Companies buy back their own stock in the market, which supports the price and thereby helps investors in the short term.

But it isn't always the best use of company money, especially if the company keeps buying into a falling market. This is all well and good where management is confident that profits will rise and the share price is ultimately undervalued.

Take Ryanair, for example, as a company that has used share buybacks very effectively. It spent 150m after the post-Brexit referendum slump. It announced a 550m share buyback in November having completed a 886m one programme in June.

Profits are growing. The share price is rising and the company is on the up.

Contrast this approach with drinks group C&C. During the week its annual report said the company spent 23.2m on share buybacks in the year to February. It spent roughly a further 18m on March 31 based on the average share price paid of 3.64. Bear in mind it reported a net loss last year. A challenge for C&C is what to do with cash if it cannot find suitable acquisitions. It returned 66m to shareholders last year between dividends and buybacks. But surely the price of the share purchases matters.

A year ago it was buying its own shares at 3.93 and 4.05. This month is it buying them at 3.39 and 3.40. The stock is trading at around 3.31 this week.

Its main markets of Ireland and the UK are stable, according to management, but the US has been hit by increased competition in flavoured beers and other drinks. C&C chief executive Stephen Glancey has predicted the US competition is a "fad" and it will pass.

Perhaps, but it is hard to see that competition simply evaporating and not be replaced by something else.

The obvious question for any company involved in regular share buybacks, is where might the share price be if the company wasn't buying its shares on a regular basis?

Wall St went completely mad on share buybacks in 2015 and 2016 but has eased somewhat this year. In 2015 and 2016, US firms spent $1.2trn buying their own shares.

Warren Buffett isn't overly keen on the idea. He suggests that the difference between whether share buybacks are value-enhancing or value-destroying depends on the price paid for the shares. He believes companies are not concerned enough about how much they are spending on their own stock.

Sage advice from the Sage!

IDA should revisit Airbnb tax call

IDA Ireland does a pretty good job at attracting foreign direct investment. It markets what Ireland has to offer to international firms and convinces them to set up here. But how far should it go in shaping government policies that will make Ireland an attractive investment destination?

You would expect it to have an informed view on policies that impact directly on attracting multinationals but it seems to have strayed a little off course when it called on the Government to introduce a tax break for Irish Airbnb providers. Surely that has very little to do with making Ireland more attractive for investment. The agency should be listened to when it comes to its views on our infrastructure, and even our taxation policy, especially if multinationals are saying they cannot attract highly skilled people when income taxes are too high.

The State agency is very well placed to pass on to government concerns that its potential client base might have. But encouraging the sharing economy? That seems a little too far especially when it could benefit the domestic operations of one multinational in particular - namely Airbnb.

Taken further, the popularity of Airbnb is playing its own part in taking rental properties out of the long-term rental market and into short-term letting for tourists.

So in fact, it may be contributing to the shortage of rental properties in places like Dublin which hikes rents and undermines the investment case for multinationals.

What goes around comes around.
Sean Gallagher with Stephen and Ruth Deasy at their popular Bear Market Coffee shop in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Having set up Bear Market Coffee in 2014, former architects and husband and wife team Stephen and Ruth Deasy have already established themselves as a recognised brand in what is a growing yet highly competitive coffee marketplace. With shops in Blackrock Village, the IFSC and George's Court on Townsend Street, they now employ 14 staff and have an annual turnover in excess of 1m.

"We're a speciality or artisan coffee retailer," says Stephen as he and Ruth welcome me to their flagship shop on the Main Street in Blackrock. "Our aim is to really connect and interact with our customers so that they can enjoy a unique coffee experience.

"We do this by providing the best quality artisan coffee, made by talented and trained baristas in a distinctively vibrant and positive environment."

As they show me around, it's easy to see that a lot of thought has been put into the shop's layout and decor.

With its stripped-back walls, reinforced steel bars, exposed ceilings and natural timbers, the couple have clearly drawn on their other shared love, architecture, to deliver what is a beautifully modern and inviting space.

It's early when I arrive and the morning rush is already in full swing. A steady stream of customers drop in to grab a coffee on their way to work.

Many too, are unable to resist the sight and smell of the freshly-baked scones and pastries that adorn the counter. "We also have a strong 11 o'clock trade as well as a busy lunchtime business while throughout the rest of the day we get a steady stream of families, local business owners and retirees dropping in," says Ruth.

In 2016, the couple opened their third shop - in the IFSC - which has also become a big hit with office staff and visitors.

"Atmosphere and customer service are paramount and we really do focus on brightening up people's day," says Stephen.

"We also believe that educating our customers is also important, something we do through a combination of impromptu coffee conversations over the counter as well as through our structured coffee classes. Increasing the knowledge of our customers also helps them appreciate what we do." Theirs has been an interesting if not unusual, journey into the world of coffee retail. Ruth grew up in Listowel in Co Kerry. After school, she studied architecture in Bolton Street College, now DIT, where she met Stephen. Qualifying in 2009, the pair found themselves looking for work in the middle of the country's toughest recession.

Reluctant to emigrate, Ruth managed to find work two or three days a week. In order to fill her time as well as to supplement her income, she turned to her other passion, baking. As a coeliac, she began creating all sorts of gluten-free breads, cakes and scones which she sold at local farmers markets.

In 2011, along with her mother, Mary, she set up the Pure Food Bakery in Blackrock, even managing to get her products into a number of Ireland's leading retail stores.

Stephen grew up in Blackrock. From as early as fifth class, he had set his sights on becoming an entrepreneur, spurred on by experiences such as setting up a small tuck shop in his school as well as summer jobs in his local sailing club.

Having qualified as an architect, he too was unable to find steady work and decided to set up his own business, Epi Hostels, along with his cousin, with the idea of creating high-quality boutique hostels to fill what he saw was a gap in the market between poor quality hostels and four-star hotels.

"Just as we were on the verge of securing a partnership with a large private equity firm, the Greek economy collapsed, casting all EU-wide investments in doubt at the time and putting paid to our plans," says Stephen.

From the success that Ruth and her mother were experiencing with their Pure Food Bakery, the couple noticed that people were increasingly interested in high-quality artisan products, so they decided to set up a business offering artisan coffee as well as products from the bakery. And having trained as barista, Bear Market Coffee was born.

Where did they come up with the name, Bear Market? I ask.

"Bear Market is a cheeky nod to the financial term to which our architecture career and hostel projects had fallen victim," says Stephen. "In the beginning, we didn't have a shop unit and so we used to wheel a trolley into place early in the morning here on the street in Blackrock," says Ruth.

"While a humble beginning, it helped prove to us that there was a demand for what we were offering. After that we were confident about signing a lease on our current shop."

Work was demanding and the couple put in 12-to-14 hours a day, seven days a week.

"In the beginning, we'd end up sitting on the couch after a long day doing the books and Vat returns. At the time, we got by on pure adrenaline," says Ruth. "Today, we have great staff in our shops and have outsourced the accounting which now allows us to concentrate on growing the business."

The couple are now planning on opening a further two shops to add to the three they already have in the coming year.

"We have the investment in place to grow the business to a 10 or 12 store operation within four years and are actively looking for appropriate locations in the city centre and surrounding areas," says Stephen.

Related: Use our calculator to estimate your small business loan repayments

"We are constantly developing within the specialty coffee industry and now have the controls, structure, ambition and profitability to really push forward with the business." adds Ruth.

The future definitely looks exciting - maybe the downturn in the economy that prevented them finding careers as architects might yet prove to be their greatest blessing.

For further information: www.bearmarket.ie
It is difficult to believe that the first ever mobile phone photograph was only taken 20 years ago.

The first photograph, like so many since, was taken by a proud father of his new-born baby daughter. Sophie Kahn was born on June 11, 1997. During her mother's labour, her father Philippe had been banished from the birthing suite for a period of time.

Like many expectant fathers, he had a small digital camera with him to record his new baby's arrival. Sitting in the waiting room, he wondered how he was going to show off his new baby when he had an idea. He rigged a makeshift connection from his camera to his mobile phone, wrote a couple of lines of simple code, and a short while later, a photograph of his beautiful baby daughter became the first image to be transmitted by a mobile phone.

The camera phone is probably the most important development in photography since the medium was developed in the 1830s.

Expand Close The first mobile phone picture, of newborn Sophie Kahn, in June, 1997 / Facebook

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The number of people with mobile phones is staggering. According to Comreg, the Commission for Communications Regulation, there are almost six million mobile subscriptions in Ireland, impressive for a country with a population of about 4.8 million.

Worldwide, it is estimated that there are about 4.6 billion mobile phones, almost half of which are smartphones. The numbers of photographs being taken are staggering also, some projections estimate that well over a trillion photographs will be taken in 2017, and that over 75pc of these will be taken with a camera phone. Image is the only truly global language.

The camera phone has changed the photography profession also. Citizen journalism now means that the immediate aftermath of an atrocity or a disaster is more likely to be recorded on a mobile phone by a bystander rather than by a photojournalist. Much of the imagery published following the recent horrific attacks in Manchester and London was taken on mobile phones.

This small project is to celebrate the camera phone's 20th birthday and it is pure street photography. Street photography is the most accessible and real form of photography there is. It relies totally on the photographer's eye for an image, and being there and being ready. These photographs were taken at events or tourist locations in Dublin and Limerick and are of people out and about. Most of the images taken were probably posted online, a visual record for loved ones and friends to see (but probably not printed).

The camera phone is now an important part of most family and social events. And because it is much easier to share photographs taken on a phone, perhaps the digital camera itself is ultimately heading for obsolescence.

Not only is image the global language, the camera phone has made the world a smaller place. Images taken now can be seen online within seconds. The camera phone is here to stay and it is hard to remember a time without camera phones. Twenty years ago, Philippe Kahn could scarcely have imagined the changes his new invention would bring.

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David O'Flynn is a Dublin-based photographer and he is the author of three books. His work can be viewed on www.clix.ie
Over the past couple of weeks I have been in Asia and Australia and have had lots of interesting meetings and conversations. Here are some issues raised which may be of relevance to an Irish business readership.

The relentless rise of China

China is becoming ever more relevant to everyone. Across the Asia-Australia-Pacific region which, with half of the planet's population, is increasingly the centre of the global economy, it is increasingly dominant.

A number of people noted that Beijing has become increasingly assertive in its dealings with other countries. If there was an inflection point, it was the elevation of Xi Jinping in 2012, widely seen as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

A centrepiece of China's efforts to extend its influence is its "One Belt One Road" initiative (you won't go far in Asia before the "OBOR" comes up in conversation). Nobody knows exactly what it entails - and that seems to be intentional - but the broad idea is to develop infrastructure along the ancient Silk Road through central Asia to Europe (the "one road" part) and via sea routes to western Eurasia (the maritime "one belt"), with the Indian Ocean Basin of particular interest to the Chinese.

This will involve vast amounts of investment. It will partly be funded by China's new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a development-financing institution similar to the World Bank. Ireland has only recently, and belatedly, signed up to it, having been one of only two of the long-established EU members not to have done so from its inception.

The OBOR, the growth of the Chinese economy and the increased role of Chinese companies in the region presents an opportunity for many individuals, companies and countries. But these developments are also causing some unease, to say the least. While some countries are trying to push back against a more assertive China, more see which way the wind is blowing. Many accept its hegemonic role and are moving closer to it.

Little Red Dot

From the Chinese superpower to the city-state of Singapore, or "the little red dot", as it has been disparagingly called by its neighbour Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous country.

Singapore is managed like a well-run business, thanks to its ultra-technocratic and (mildish) authoritarian regime. It's "an economist's dream", said one wag. But that is only partly true - people have needs beyond the material. The suppression of public debate about the issues the island-nation faces cannot be healthy. Among other things it may stifle the sort of critical thinking that drives creativity and innovation.

But perhaps even that problem has a solution. There is a huge foreign-born population on the island, many of whom are involved in setting up and running businesses. I met a number of them when giving a talk at an Irish chamber of commerce event. The diaspora there is thriving and involved in a diverse range of sectors. They show how the thrusting can get ahead in Singapore, and how the island is a good place to access the wider region.

At a big regional security conference held there last weekend, the rise of China was much in evidence. So was the decline of the US. Donald Trump's withdrawal from the painstakingly negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not only seen as a missed opportunity to boost economic integration, but, after the withdrawal from the Paris Accords, is the clearest sign of American isolationism and ceding of the leadership role that that country has played in the world for 70 years. I didn't speak to any Chinese officials, but from what others say, Beijing is the big beneficiary. A pull back by the US leaves a vacuum which China is only too happy to fill.

Free trade agreements and Brexit

The EU is negotiating free trade agreements, or planning to do so, with a number of countries in the region. If the US has left the pitch by its withdrawal from TPP, Europe done itself a serious (and self-inflicted) injury owing to the manner in which the EU-Canada deal almost came a cropper last year (a regional Belgian parliament threatened to block its ratification). This has raised questions in other countries about committing time and energy to deals with Europe when they may never come into force.

Brexit has also affected the calculus on free trade agreements with Europe. At a conference in Sydney last Monday I asked the Australian finance minister about the challenges of simultaneously negotiating free trade agreements with the EU (talks are due to start later this year) and the UK. As is the wont of politicians, he was breezily optimistic. Others are less so. Many people I spoke to from globalised companies and their representatives acknowledged the uncertainty about Brexit for their business links with Europe.

At the same event, there was no shortage of talk from Europeans who see an opportunity from Brexit. Far more Australian foreign direct investment in Europe is located in the UK than in any other country. Luring it into the EU27 is on the minds of many.

The Australian economy, Irish exports and the property obsession

Last Wednesday, Australian GDP data for the first quarter of 2017 showed an economy still in expansion mode after 26 years of uninterrupted growth. Fears of a recession were calmed by the figures. There is life in the long boom yet.

Ireland has benefited from the Aussie growth miracle. Last year Irish companies exported 1.5bn worth of goods to Australia, making it our 12th biggest market globally. But, as with Irish-foreign sales more generally, the long term growth action is coming from the services sector. As the accompanying chart shows, Irish services exports to the land down under have soared over the past decade and now far exceed goods exports.

We Irish share a certain interest in property with our Australian cousins. House prices in Sydney are now among the highest in the world. They have been rising strongly across Australia country since 2010.

A range of indicators related to the overheated property sector - price developments, housing output and employment, private sector debt developments and others - suggest that regionalised declines are possible, if not likely. Where prices have risen most rapidly, the reversals could easily be into double digits.

But even a worst-case scenario wouldn't be disastrous. The economy hasn't become overly dependent on construction. Credit growth has been high but not unusually so. And the government has lots of fiscal space to stimulate the economy in the event of a downturn. If there are bad times ahead for Australia, they are unlikely to be too bad.
Saudi Arabia dwarfs Qatar on almost any measure, yet there are plenty of ways the row between the Gulf neighbours could end up hurting the world's biggest oil exporter - even if it wins.

All week the Saudis and their allies have ratcheted up pressure on Qatar, cutting diplomatic ties and imposing a blockade by land, sea and air. The stated goal is to force Qatar to stop cosying up to Saudi Arabia's rival Iran and bankrolling Islamist groups across the region. Qatar says it's being punished for things it didn't do.

The disagreement is long-standing. The scale of the current crisis is new, and it's erupted into a Middle East already polarised by war. Saudi Arabia has struggled to impose its will in Syria and Yemen. Now discord has spread to the inner circle of Gulf monarchies, at a time when the Saudis and their young Prince Mohammed bin Salman are urgently seeking foreign investment to modernize an oil-dependent economy.

"Most worrying is that Saudi Arabia and the UAE may repeat the mistakes that were made when the Saudi leadership decided to launch a war in Yemen," said Yezid Sayigh, a Beirut-based senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "They had no clear political strategy, based their action on false assumptions, have incurred heavy financial costs and a growing human toll, and are probably now worse off in terms of their security."

From the Saudi viewpoint, Qatar has been stirring up trouble all over. That includes promoting the Muslim Brotherhood, whose advocacy of Islam through the ballot box is disliked by some Gulf monarchs. It includes cordial ties to Iran, with which Qatar shares a giant gas field. It includes sponsoring the Al-Jazeera television network, which has been critical of Saudi allies. Rounding up the charge-list: Support for Islamic State and al-Qa'ida - something the Saudis have also been accused of and, like Qatar, deny.

"Qatar for many years has taken steps to support certain organisations and intervened in situations," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said. "We view Qatar as a brother state," he said. "But you have to be able to tell your friend or your brother what is right or wrong."

The Saudis and UAE have hinted they'll take further steps, including curbs on bank lending to Qatar and transactions in its riyal currency. Gas-rich Qatar has financial resources of its own, though, to withstand a siege. Its $335bn sovereign wealth fund owns stakes in global companies from Volkswagen to Barclays.

Qatar will be motivated to resist by the perception that what the Saudis are really after is regime change, according to Sanam Vakil, associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House in London. Insisting "that Qatar capitulate on these demands is a challenge to its sovereignty," and therefore the legitimacy of the ruling family, Vakil said. "I find it hard to believe they will just roll over."

So far, they haven't. Week one of the standoff ended with Qatar defiant. Food imports that usually come across the Saudi border have been sourced elsewhere, Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani told reporters in Doha. "We can live forever like this," he said. "We aren't ready to discuss an intervention into our sovereignty."

That doesn't mean the pressure won't tell eventually. The Saudi economy is four times bigger than Qatar's. Its population is more than 10 times larger, and that internal market helps insulate the Saudis from any fallout, said James Reeve, the London-based senior economist at Samba Financial Group.

Bloomberg
Vogue Williams has apologised for her calling for internment for Muslim extremists, but condemns the online abuse she received in the wake of the comments.

The 31-year-old model and presenter faced massive backlash over her column in the Sunday World last week in which she discussed the Manchester and London terror attacks.

She referenced Muslim former police chief Tarique Ghaffur who suggested internment camps for radical extremists were the answer to the issue.

"This is something that should be decided by the people but I certainly agree with it," she wrote. "The only way to stop these senseless attacks is to put any potential threats away."

While she conceded it "didn't work" in Northern Ireland, she still advocated for internment today.

"I know it didn't work with the internment of IRA members in Northern Ireland when 2000 alleged paramilitaries were held without trial in makeshift camps," she continued.

"But in today's case the terrorists cannot be negotiated with. They want to ruin the western world and they will stop at nothing to do this, so we need to have the same approach with them."

Reaction to her column on social media was overwhelmingly negative, and in this week's column she apologises for her stance.

She says it was written "at a time when I was upset and shocked" and she felt "frightened and angry".

She says she stands by her belief that if the UK government had "insight into the individuals or network that carried out the attacks then the country should act on that with a zero tolerance approach".

However, she adds, "But after reflecting more deeply, I understand that suggesting internment camps - ie imprisonment without trial - was a misguided opinion.

"Everyone has the right to a fair trial and to be heard and I of course do not believe in a dictatorship type of government."

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While admitting she "made a mistake" and is "sorry for that" she condemns the reaction she received which included "death threats, hate, pure vilification" and said it "doesn't promote debate".

Vogue condemned the abuse which she says causes people to retreat into themselves and sticking with a "sometimes wrong opinion because they're afraid to even address issues in case they're wrong."

She concludes by saying that we should not be afraid to have a debate or discussion.
Stigma: Noelle was born in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in the 1960s and adopted when she was eight weeks old. Photo: Mark Condren

Noelle Brown didn't set out to write about being adopted. An actor since her early twenties, she started writing in her forties and her first play began as a piece about "house moves and stuff that you leave behind and what it does to you". But her own story kept surfacing and friend and collaborator Michele Forbes urged her to pursue it.

"But I said, 'no, I'm not standing on stage talking about my life. There's absolutely no way'," she recalls.

With some additional prompting, she wrote a letter to her birth mother. That one letter became a series of letters and grew into Postscript, an account of her 12-year search for her identity which opens on the Peacock stage at Dublin's Abbey next week.

Brown always knew she was adopted. "My parents were great about that," she tells me when we meet up in the Abbey's Peacock cafe, which, at 9.30am, is already buzzing, "because at the time, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was still a huge stigma around it. So I grew up with that status of bad blood will out; you will screw up your life because your mother did. From society, not from my family."

Her two older brothers are not adopted and while her family was nurturing, she was aware of being different. "I don't physically look like them," she says.

They lived in Cork, just 20 minutes from the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home where, unbeknownst to her parents, she had been born.

"I was told I was born in Dublin and shipped to Cork."

As a child, she was quite shy and introverted but loved to perform and Ashton, her secondary school, had its own theatre. She got involved in amateur dramatics and, when she was 20, was in a semi-professional show with Jim Bartley and Twink. They sat her down and told her she should consider acting professionally. Then they sat her parents down.

Noelle moved to Dublin at 21 and after a six-week course in the Gaiety School of Acting, learned her craft "the old way, doing tiny parts, then bigger parts, watching and listening and hanging out with older actors".

Being an actor is a crazy life, she says, the uncertainty can be "really tricky", but she considers herself very privileged to have spent 30 years doing exactly what she wants to do.

Though she was always conscious of having been adopted, Noelle didn't start trying to trace her birth mother until she was 35.

"If I'd had children, I probably would have done it sooner because you're wondering about medical history, who they look like."

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Her first contact was with a nun in Cork.

"I was going through a lot in my life at the time... I thought I could just pick up the phone and people would go, 'Of course, we'll help you'. But all I got was rudeness, coldness - a sense that I was trouble turning up at all."

Co-written with Forbes, Postscript is framed like a detective story. Brown is obsessed with detective novels but the framework also reflects how difficult it was to find the information she needed.

Following her conversation with the nun, she contacted Barnardos and slowly began to piece together the jigsaw of her birth.

"It's kind of still going on in a way," she says. "You never get all the answers."

The answers she did get are revealed in the play, which was initially staged as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2013.

When Neil Murray and Graham McLaren - the new joint directors of the Abbey - saw a subsequent play of hers, the three began a dialogue and she showed them Postscript.

At one point during the interview, McLaren bounds over and gives her a big hug. "This is good," he says. "This is such a good feeling."

It's clear he's talking about the imminent opening of the play, which is even timelier now than it was in 2013.

Brown's story is particularly poignant in light of what is now known about the mass grave at the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam. The Tuam revelations are horrific for any adopted person or birth mother in Ireland, Noelle says: "It really lashes you with grief and you feel like a bit of trash."

The site of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home has yet to be excavated.

"Bessborough was a place of horror and I'm still trying to find out whether I was the subject of vaccine trials because they were going on while I was there."

Her birth mother was 18 when she went into the institution. It was 1965.

"Ironically, I have a photograph of the day she went in. It's her and her sister and some neighbours nearby. But I'm in that photograph and I always feel there's something lovely about that."

Eight weeks after she was born, Noelle was separated from her mother. They never met again. By the time she traced her birth family, her mother had died.

"It's a terrible full stop when you don't get to meet and there's a lot of unanswered questions. I've no information on my birth father. No one seems to know who he was. So I have half the story essentially."

She has met uncles, an aunt and a half-sister, some of whom went to see Postscript during the Fringe.

"They've been very supportive and very welcoming to me," she says. "But it's a hard situation. It's a hard situation to turn up after X amount of years and try to be part of a family."

Now 51, Brown has realised that adoption is not something she can put away.

"You learn to live with it... but it does create difficulties," she says.

In Ireland, the difficulties have been compounded by secrecy and obfuscation. She is passionate when talking about historic injustices and the inequality adopted people still experience.

Over the last year she has become an activist, speaking out about what she feels are the shortcomings of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill which recently came before the Seanad.

Under the terms of the legislation, Tusla - the Child and Family Agency - would operate the new adoption information register. In certain circumstances, an adopted person could be asked to sign a statutory declaration that they will never search for their birth parents.

"They are the two things that further stigmatise us and say 'you are a second-class citizen, you are not equal to the rest of us'," she says. "We already have that when we go looking for our birth certs."

Noelle didn't expect to become an activist but says she feels a certain responsibility; she has a voice and now, with Postscript about to open in the national theatre, a platform.

In 2015, the actress and plawright also spoke at the first Waking the Feminists meeting - convened in response to the Abbey's centenary programme, which included just one play by a woman. While she says "there's still a ways to go", she thinks Waking the Feminists has "changed the shape of things for everybody across the board".

But, she emphasises, she doesn't want special treatment because she's a woman. Since 2013, she has been working to get Postscript to a wider audience - even though doing the play is an emotional challenge.

"It's very personal," she says. "But I have to get the message across. I have to tell the story... The more people who come and see it, the more people hear an adopted person's narrative."

Postscript is on the Peacock stage at Dublin's Abbey Theatre June 15 - 24
New intake figures obtained by the Sunday Independent show 480 Irish citizens joined the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy between 2011 and 2016. Stock picture

The British Army has seen an increase in recruitment from Ireland, latest figures reveal.

The prospect of global adventure and the possibility of promotion to higher ranks are among the key attractions.

New intake figures obtained by the Sunday Independent show 480 Irish citizens joined the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy between 2011 and 2016.

According to the Ministry of Defence, 60 recruits from Ireland joined the British ranks in 2013/2014.

This compares with 110 in 2015/2016.

As Irish soldiers are generally well educated - and want to make the military their long-term career - they are highly regarded by the British military. During the years of the Northern troubles, recruitment slowed to a trickle - but this is now expected to continue rising in the coming years.

PDForra, the organisation which represents enlisted Defence Forces members, has argued that poor pay and conditions have resulted in low morale and fading comradeship among the rank-and-file. It was claimed some were so financially stretched that they were using social welfare financial supports to make ends meet.
Police in India have filed a charge sheet against the suspect in the murder of Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin.

Vikat Bhagat (24) has been charged with the rape and murder of Ms McLaughlin, from Co Donegal, in the Indian resort of Canacona on March 14.

The Times of India is now reporting that police have filed a 374-page charge sheet with the local court on Friday.

A charge sheet is a formal document of accusation prepared by law-enforcement agencies in India, similar to a book of evidence.

Canacona PI Rajendra Prabhudessai told the newspaper that the document includes 58 exhibits as well as statements recorded from 68 witnesses in the case.

Bhagat was arrested around 24 hours after Ms McLaughlin's remains were discovered in the resort near Goa.

According to the chargesheet, Bhagat took advantage of his friendship with Ms McLaughlin and took her to an isolated field at Adpe-Devabag and after sexually assaulting her, hit her on the face with glass bottles before murdering her by strangling.

Bhagat, has been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 394 (robbery) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the India Penal Code (IPC).

Last month Bhagat claimed, in a 29-page letter to his sister, that his three friends murdered Ms McLaughlin.

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He claimed that he was in a relationship with the the Donegal woman (28) but on the night of the attack his friends attacked her.

Bhagat reportedly wrote: "I saw two bikes coming towards us switching off the headlights. They came to me, when I questioned why they were here, (friend) asked me to tell Danielle to have sex with them.

He claims Ms McLaughlin slapped one of the men who then stripped her and raped her.

Bhagat, who said that he was also attacked by the men, claimed: "I tried to save her, but since I had undergone shoulder surgery, I could not help her."

He said the men beat her to death with bottles and rocks.

However police told local reporters they have interrogated the three men and their role in the death "cannot be established".
THE FAMILY of a missing Irish man are set to take legal action against the Dutch police over their handling of the case.

James Patrick Grealis, who was known as JP, went missing in the Dutch town of Breda in 2008. His family want the Dutch authorities to re-open the case they believe was not properly investigated.

Helen Grealis, a sister of the missing man, said the family were in the process of taking a case against the police.

She added that they were willing to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.

"We're in talks to take legal action at the moment and we're consulting with our lawyer on what options are open to us," she said.

In October 23, 2008, the 24-year-old carpenter disappeared without a trace after leaving a guesthouse in the Dutch town of Breda to look for work.

Since then his family say they have fought a constant battle with Dutch authorities to get the case properly investigated.

Last April, the family succeeded in getting a case into their brother's disappearance reopened following appeals from the Irish Government and a demonstration held outside the Dutch embassy in Dublin.

However, police closed it once again just three months later in July. And the family were not told the case had been closed until October.

"It was only opened for a matter of months. They did nothing at all, it was all just going through the motions.

"I think they only reopened it because pressure was put on them by the Irish Government. A five-page report is not a proper investigation.

"They still haven't talked to the last guy my brother lived with.

Closure

"I've spoken to him myself and he was surprised not to have been contacted.

"They haven't followed up on bank records or phone records either," said Ms Grealis.

One option the family are considering is putting pressure on Dutch authorities to hand the investigation to police from another district.

Ms Grealis said she is determined to keep pressing authorities for a full investigation.

"It's tough and it doesn't get any easier. Christmas was not a nice time. My parents live on their own at home in Achill and it's very hard on them. We just want to bring him home," she said.

"We have no closure and it's difficult with the total lack of support we have been getting in this case.

"It's so frustrating when we should be concentrating on finding JP that we have to take a case against the police," said Ms Grealis.
Police have been contacted after convicted cocaine mule Michaella McCollum was sent death threats by a person claiming to be a member of an international drugs cartel.

The messages intended for the Northern Irish woman (24) were sent through an anonymous Instagram account to McCollums prison friend, Kaouthar Essafi.

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McCollum was jailed for three years after she and Scottish woman Melissa Reid were caught attempting to smuggle drugs worth more than than 1.7m from Limas Jorge Chavez International Airport in 2013.

According to the Sunday World the threats included demands for the cost of the 11kg of cocaine to be returned.

"I just want my money thats all, 11 kg of pure we are talking about here," the anonymous user wrote in one message.

"Im gonna kill her, I ain't fake and that's on my mother's life am gonna slice her throat, it read in another message.

The person behind the messages wrote that they believe "she is trying to make a media career" through her notorious drugs bust.

The messages were sent after McCollum was pictured on a Spanish beach earlier this year.

Dutch drug trafficker and prison pal, Essafi told the Sunday World that the police were made aware of the situation claimed they were "no help at all".

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Essafi served time with the former model and lived with her in Lima following her release. Essafi claimed the police "said its nothing serious".

The police in Peru were never able to identify those behind the large cocaine stash seized from McCollum at the airport.

Melissa Reid was working and living in Ibiza with McCollum in 2013. Both women, now nicknamed Peru Two carried cocaine worth 1.75 million between them. They had previously told the police that they had been kidnapped and forced to smuggle the drug.

Peruvian Drug Unit, chief Colonel Tito Perez revealed that Reid seemed to have more contact with the organisation as she was recruited first but that McCollum agreed to take part in the deal after being approached by a drug dealer in a San Antonio bar.

The now deactivated Instagram account the messages were sent through was following McCollums personal Instagram account and included a picture of a British soldier.
Caroline ODonnell (left) and Helen Grealis, whose brother JP went missing in Holland in 2008

The heartbroken mother of an Irish man who went missing in 2008 died without getting any answers about what happened to her only son, his sister has said.

James Patrick Grealis (24) vanished in Breda in the Netherlands in October 2008 and this week the Dutch Police launched a fresh appeal for information.

His sister Helen (35) says the heartbreak took over her life for a while and now the family just want to know what happened.

Helen, who is from Achill in Co Mayo, told Independent.ie: "JP went over to the Netherlands to work in April 2007, he was there for about 18 months before he went missing.

"When he went missing he'd just finished a job the previous Friday and he had moved back to Breda - an area he knew well - on the Sunday to look for work, he went missing that Thursday.

"He would ring home every day or two or one of us would be ringing him, so when we hadn't heard from him we tried to get in touch and then when we couldn't we contacted his friends out there and they hadn't heard from him.

"Thats when we raised the alarm with the police over there and we were there within 24 hours."

Helen, who works as a quality engineer, said her family did everything they could to try to trace JP but they never found anything.

She said: "We hired private detectives, we offered a reward of 20,000 in 2010, we had a cold case team out there.

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"We actually brought the Dutch police to court for not doing a thorough investigation but we lost that case.

"Mam passed away in October 2015 unfortunately, it was extremely difficult for her.

"I can only imagine how tough it was for her, he was her only son and the poor lady spent years not knowing what happened.

"We did everything we could to try and find out but she went without knowing."

She added: "It's extremely difficult but you have to keep going and remember that you have a life to live.

"It took over my life for a long time in the beginning, it consumed me.

"You get to a point where you have to keep trying to find him but you have to live your own life in parrallel."

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Dutch police have previously said they believe that Mr Grealis broke off contact with his loved ones to start a new life elsewhere, something Helen rejects.

She also admits she doesn't believe he is alive.

She said: "I would love to say that I still have hope he is alive but after all this time I feel that something has happened to him, maybe it's some sort of a crime because after all the investigating we did there has to be more to it.

"I know my brother and he wouldn't do this to his family, he wouldn't just disappear and not just get in touch."

She paid tribute to her brother, saying: "He was very outgoing and sociable, he didn't really worry much, he was very relaxed.

"He was a good worker and a real family man, he had good friends and he was just a happy-go-lucky Irish lad who was living life to the full."

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Dutch police held a missing person's month in May to raise awareness of a different cold case each day and after a plea by the Grealis family they issued a fresh appeal about JP's case on Wednesday.

Helen hopes this could finally lead to answers and the family may get some closure.

She said: "When JP went missing Facebook wasn't really up and running but we're hoping that this appeal may catch somebody's eye.

"We're hoping that somebody will remember something and can send us on the right path to find out what happened."

For more information please visit here.
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is looking forward to a close working relationship with Leo Varadkar.

During a phonecall with outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny today, the embattled PM also reaffirmed her public statements that there should be no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic in the wake of Brexit.

A spokesperson for Downing Street said Mrs May explained to the Taoiseach that she is working towards a confidence and supply deal with the DUP that should keep her in office and provide stability ahead of the Brexit negotiations.

They confirmed their joint commitment to restoring a Northern Ireland Executive as soon as possible and agreed that both countries would continue to engage closely to bring about political stability in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister reiterated that the Governments approach and objectives in the forthcoming talks to re-establish the Northern Ireland Executive remained unchanged, the spokesperson said.

In Dublin a spokesman for Mr Kenny said he indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring.

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Mr Kenny also noted the absence of any nationalist voice in Westminster as a result of Sinn Feins decision not to take up their seven seats in the London parliament.

Both leaders agreed that of immediate concern were efforts to establish an executive as soon as possible, with exploratory discussions with the NI parties to take place tomorrow.

They discussed the meeting between the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire which is scheduled for tomorrow, Mr Kennys office said.

In relation to Brexit they noted that negotiations between the UK and the EU should begin next week as previously planned. Mr Kenny reiterated the concerns of the Irish government ahead of those talks.

The Taoiseach stated that there should be an early meeting between the Prime Minister and his successor Leo Varadkar and wished her well in the challenges that now lie ahead, the spokesperson concluded.

According to Downing Street, in concluding the call Mrs May thanked Mr Kenny for helping to make UK-Ireland relations stronger than ever, wished him well for the future and said she looked forward to continuing a close relationship with his successor.
The party also wants to increase the height of Dublin's skyline Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Fianna Fail wants to introduce an NCT-style inspection system for landlords as part of an attempt to improve rental accommodation standards.

The party also wants to increase the height of Dublin's skyline by allowing developers to build new high-rise apartment complexes in the city centre.

The proposals are contained in a briefing document presented to Fianna Fail members by the party's housing spokesman Barry Cowen at a recent election preparation meeting in Dublin.

In the internal report, seen by the Sunday Independent, it is proposed that banks should be legally obliged to offer the mortgage-to-rent scheme to distressed homeowners.

New legislation aimed at protecting homeowners from vulture funds operating "above the law" is also proposed.

The party wants to set the maximum height for apartment complexes in the capital at 28 metres, which is four metres higher than the current restriction.

The proposal is aimed at addressing the worsening housing crisis in Dublin by creating more rental accommodation in the city.

Fianna Fail's NCT-style system for landlords would see all rental properties inspected before going on the market.

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The party's report said: "Only 10pc of rental units are inspected by local authorities. We believe that, with our proposed new NCT system, all newly registered tenancies can be inspected as well as a higher proportion of existing tenancies."

Mr Cowen also wants to create a one-stop shop in local authorities to streamline applications to convert vacant properties into residential housing.

In his report, the Offaly TD said fire safety, disability and building control regulations make it "virtually impossible" to convert older buildings into residential properties.

He also wants to remove barriers which are preventing social housing being constructed.
Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar will this week unveil what he is calling a 'Brexit Cabinet' aimed at effectively putting the Government on a war footing after the UK election result caused further uncertainty over Britain's decision to leave the EU.

The Sunday Independent also understands that leadership rival Simon Coveney is set to cause a major headache for Mr Varadkar by seeking to be appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs and to lead the charge on Brexit.

It can also be revealed that Mr Varadkar wants to create two new 'super junior' ministries to focus on the Brexit challenge, one based in the Taoiseach's office and the other in the Department of Finance.

Mr Varadkar is expected to be elected Taoiseach in the Dail this week.

Last night, a source close to the Taoiseach-in-waiting said Brexit was "the key challenge" for the new Government: "We are entering into a period of unparalleled complexity, risk and opportunity," the source said.

Mr Varadkar will tell his Cabinet ministers to build new relationships with their counterparts in EU member states while also ensuring government departments are prepared for the problems posed by Brexit.

"They will be required to minimise the downsides by adopting creative policy initiatives, for example developing new markets or expanding existing ones, as well as protecting the Common Travel Area," the source said.

Mr Varadkar's focus on 'Brexit Cabinet' appointments follows last week's UK election which saw the Conservative Party being forced to look for support to form a minority government. Yesterday, Theresa May's chief whip Gavin Williamson went to Belfast where he secured a "confidence and supply" deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.

That news comes as Fianna Fail Brexit spokesman Stephen Donnelly warns in today's Sunday Independent that a Conservative government in the UK supported by the DUP increases the likelihood of Britain failing to reach a deal with Brussels on leaving the EU.

This in turn would mean high trade tariffs and restrictions on travel between Ireland and the UK: "No deal would be a disaster for Ireland, and very damaging to the UK," Mr Donnelly writes.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar's advisers are currently exploring the constitutionality of creating two super juniors in the Taoiseach's office.

The Defence portfolio in the Taoiseach's office is currently a 'super junior' position held by Paul Kehoe, who sits but does not vote at Cabinet.

The European Affairs portfolio, currently held by Dara Murphy, is a junior ministry, but Mr Varadkar wants to also make this a 'super junior' position.

He is also exploring the possibility of increasing the powers of the junior ministry in the Department of Finance. This would involve moving some trade responsibilities from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to the junior finance ministry currently held by Eoghan Murphy.

Sources close to Mr Varadkar yesterday predicted there would be "many disappointments" among colleagues - even those who are appointed to ministerial roles - when he announces his Cabinet.

Last week, ministers continued to scramble for positions as the soon-to-be-elected Taoiseach prepared to name his new Cabinet.

Paschal Donohoe is widely expected to oversee the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

However, Education Minister Richard Bruton is understood to be anxious to be appointed to an economic portfolio. Mr Bruton is not interested in being appointed as Minister for Justice as has been proposed by Mr Varadkar's advisers.

Mr Coveney is understood to want to leave the Department of Housing for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Last week, his supporters said he was anxious to take on the responsibilities of Brexit. However, Mr Coveney's main demand is to be appointed Tanaiste.

Yesterday, both Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar refused to comment on speculation the Housing Minster would be appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. The current Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan also said he did not want to comment on "rumours" before appointments were announced.

However, Mr Flanagan called on DUP leader Arlene Foster to use her "position of great influence" to ensure there is no hard border in Northern Ireland during negotiations with UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

"Arlene Foster knows the significance of the border more than most - she represents a border constituency," Mr Flanagan told the Sunday Independent.

"She knows the level of trade between the North and South," he added.

Last night, it also emerged Mr Varadkar's victory in the Fine Gael leadership contest resulted in no significant opinion poll bounce for the party ahead of his appointment as Taoiseach next week.

The first poll since Mr Varadkar's election shows Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are neck-and-neck among voters with both parties at 29pc. In fact, Fianna Fail is up two points compared to Fine Gael which is up just one point in the Behaviour and Attitudes poll for the Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, Micheal Martin became embroiled in a war of words with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams after he attacked Sinn Fein's policy of refusing to take up their seats in Westminster. In a statement, Mr Adams said: "Instead of constantly sniping, he should allow his party to stand candidates in Northern elections and seek a mandate from the people."

A senior Fianna Fail source said every vote the Tories win by seven or fewer votes will have been "directly enabled by Sinn Fein" as they did not take their seats.

The Sunday Independent also understands that Fianna Fail intends to field candidates in the 2019 Northern Ireland local elections.

A Fianna Fail source said a "significant number" of candidates could contest the election should a decision to expand the party north of the border be ratified at an ard fheis.

It is understood Fianna Fail's foreign affairs spokesman Darragh O'Brien has held discussions with potential candidates in the North.
Gardai are to investigate claims made by an Irish Muslim convert that a second jihadi terrorist involved in the London Bridge atrocity visited Ireland on a number of occasions.

The woman, known as Sister Aaliya, was contacted by gardai last Friday within hours of telling a press conference that Khumar Butt (27), the suspected ringleader of the gang, visited Limerick and Dublin in the past two years.

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council, which organised the press conference for Sister Aaliya, confirmed yesterday that detectives were arranging to take a formal statement from her.

Security sources said gardai would try to corroborate the woman's claims but said that so far, detectives had no evidence that Butt was here.

Detectives are concentrating their inquiries on another member of the gang, Rachid Redouane, a Moroccan pastry chef who lived at two addresses in Dublin before he moved to London in September 2015.

Redouane was not known to the Garda's Counter Terrorism Unit. Security sources believe he was radicalised in London, adding that no evidence had yet surfaced to link him to extremism while he was in Dublin,

The Sunday Independent has learned that gardai have uncovered a wide-scale immigration scam involving identity cards, work permits and visas being traded on the black market for large sums.

A separate operation to identify and apprehend the suspects behind the scam is being carried out by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Sister Aaliya (26), who asked not to identified for security reasons, claimed she was radicalised in London and was drawn into a network of extremists. She said she was "de-radicalised" by an imam in the Barking area of London and returned to Ireland last October.
Devout members of the travelling community gathered at the Marian shrine at Knock yesterday in the hope of a vision of the Virgin Mary.

A 14-year-old boy from the travelling community had been at the shrine in Fatima, Portugal, last May with his family when it is said he saw visions of the Virgin Mary.

After the experience, the youngster asserted that the Virgin Mary would appear at Knock during which time she would bless everyone present.

Reports of his religious experience spread throughout the traveller community via social media, with many promising to make the trip to Mayo.

His father explained in an audio message posted via the internet what the youngster had experienced while still in Portugal.

"For two days our son saw Our Lady in Fatima," he said.

He said he had no doubt as to the miraculous nature of his son's experience.

He also passed on the message as given to his son: "On the 10th of June we will be going to Knock and whoever wants to come is welcome. Our Lady will appear there.

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"Our Lady will appear on the ground there and she will bless everyone on the ground. I know Our Lady will be there.

"It's out there for everybody out there who believes in it and who doesn't believe in it."

In the audio message he also admitted that it has deeply affected his family.

"At the moment I'm feeling stressed.

"It's a lot to take on what's happened in the last few days with my young fella - he's only 14 years of age," he said.

"I'm asking everybody out there to say a prayer for him as well, and us."
I've never been to Thailand, but last week I did the next best thing and had dinner at Nightmarket in Ranelagh, a new restaurant that's located in what was formerly Eatery 120. The interior may be nothing to write home about (although some upgrading is in the pipeline) but the food certainly is.

My experience of Thai food in Ireland to date has been less than inspiring, and I have had a sense that most of what passes for Thai cuisine here is dumbed down for an Irish palate that is wary of spicing and chilli heat. I also reckon that there's far too much creamy, coconut-heavy saucing. As we take our seats, the couple at the next table are coming to the end of their meal. "That," says the woman, "is the best food I've ever eaten. It's incredible."

Given our collective lack of knowledge, and a long menu full of unfamiliar language, we decide to put the ordering in the hands of Conor Sexton, who, with his partner, Jutarat Suwankeeree ('R' for short), owns Nightmarket. He explains that Thai food is eaten sharing style, and that the perfect meal should combine at least three of the five elements of taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy) and a harmonious balance of flavours. He enquires as to our appetite for chilli heat, and says that he will make sure that some of the dishes are not too fiery.

There's a selection of cocktails with a Thai twist developed by bartender Josko Babic. A Basil Smash features Dingle Gin, Thai basil, lemon, fish sauce and lychee, and is summery and sharp, while a Whiskey Sour - bourbon, single malt, tamarind, lime, betel bitters and anise - is smooth and complex.

First to the table is a bowl of proper prawn crackers, served with satay sauce and a sweet chilli dip that's a million miles away from the sticky gloop that we are used to.

What follows is a succession of dishes that has us struggling to come up with variations on the theme of "My God, that's good". Eventually we give up. Everything is fantastic. There's laab moo tod, crisp balls of pork laab (Lao meat salad) with red curry paste, chilli, peanuts, shallots, ginger, spring onion, fish sauce, lime juice, mint and rice - fried pork salad is how Conor Sexton describes it - and hoy shell yang, scallops with a chilli, coriander and lime sauce, served alongside a chilli and mango salad with peanut.

Miang kham are cha plu leaves topped with a finely chopped melange of chilli, ginger, shallots, dried shrimp, lime, peanut, roast coconut and palm sugar in a dried shrimp sauce - you roll the leaf around the filling and pop it whole into your mouth. Kanom jeeb are steamed Thai dumplings of minced pork and prawn with crisp garlic and a dipping sauce of soy and vinegar; yum makeua yao, a grilled aubergine salad topped with a soft-boiled egg. A soft-shell crab salad is texturally gorgeous, and ping moo, gai, nuea - skewers of chicken, beef and pork - come with a punchy nahm jim sauce for dipping.

We're losing track now, as the dishes just keep coming, but there's a lamb massaman curry that's light on potato (unlike the bulked-up versions that we're used to getting from the takeaway chains) and pad thai woon sen goong noodles that's the mildest dish of the evening. Pad kaprao nuea is stir-fried minced beef topped with a fried egg ("The Thais love their eggs," says Conor), and there are a couple of vibrant mango salads of different degrees of chilli heat. We finish with a lychee cheesecake of surprising deliciousness, and khao niew mamuang - sticky rice with mango, crisp yellow bean and coconut cream.

The next day, I ask Conor to give me some background. "R is the main lady behind our kitchen," he emails. "She has a team of four Thai chefs and they have been working on sourcing as many original ingredients as possible so that they can re-create the wonderful punchy flavours of regional Thai food here in Ranelagh. We will be keeping dishes as original as possible, bringing back memories of trips to Thailand for people, and satisfying the appetite of the expanding Thai community in Dublin for authentic Thai food.

"Unless our customers request their dishes to be toned down a little (or a lot), we will be serving dishes with authentic Thai spice, though not all our dishes have chillies in them.

"R is originally from Thailand, and she has been in Ireland for over 16 years now. The food is based around the food with which R grew up, the wonderful rustic flavours of Chiang Mai, where her grandparents had a stall in the food market, combined with the spicy seafood influences of the coastal town of Hua Hin. We also have some Isan-style dishes which are popular with the expanding Thai population in Dublin - dishes which have plenty of spice from fiery chillies, fermented fish sauces, sour elements from Thai vegetables and herbs, and sauces full of flavour."

The bill for five, including three cocktails and two bottles of a Geil Pinot Blanc that complements the food nicely, comes to 248 before service. This is labour- intensive, delicious food, full of heat and flavour that I have no doubt is utterly authentic. I plan to return very soon.

THE RATING

10/10 food

8/10 ambience

8/10 value for money

26/30

ON A BUDGET

There will be an early-bird offer over the summer months, and the brunch menu features modestly priced dishes such as kai jiew goong sup, a three-egg omelette with minced prawn, greens and spring onion for 9.

ON A BLOW-OUT

Scallops, hor mok talay (a red seafood curry) and lychee cheesecake for two would cost 90 before drinks.

THE HIGH POINT

Vibrant flavours, a zingy freshness to the food, and free sinus-clearing thanks to all that chilli heat.

THE LOW POINT

The seating on tall chairs.
How do you know a good bottle of wine? A shiny gold medal on the bottle may be a reasonable indication, but not all wine medals are created equal.

Among the big gongs are the Decanter World Wine Awards, the world's largest wine competition - and this year more than 17,000 wines were submitted. They were tasted blind by 219 of the world's top experts, including 65 Masters of Wine and 20 Master Sommeliers. While the judges know the region, style and price bracket of the wine they are judging, they have no knowledge of the vineyard or producers.

Among the gold-medal winners this year is Sensi Forziere 2013, a Chianti Classico Riserva, made by Sensi Vini in the vineyards of the rolling hills of Tuscany. I had visited one of their vineyards a few weeks earlier with a number of wine writers to get a sneak preview of the wines that will feature in the annual Lidl wine sale, which this year focuses on Italy.

We soon discovered that we were not the first Irish media to have visited the winery: the late and much-loved Weekend columnist Paolo Tullio had visited quite a few years before us and had spent an engaging afternoon with Massimo Sensi, who runs the estate.

Much has changed in the Chianti region. Whereas back in the 1960s, Chianti wine, which is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape, could include up to 30pc of local white grapes in the blend - making for a pretty boring tipple that focused more on quantity than quality. Over the years, the wine producers of the area have pushed back. Regulations no longer stipulate the need for the inclusion of white grapes in the blend, and the addition of Cabernet Sauvignon - a varietal not native to Italy - in some of the top blends known as Super Tuscans, is now accepted.

Massimo Sensi is at the forefront of this change. "We are experimenting a lot on old and new vineyards, and we just turned to organic because it is a big part of our project for the future," says Massimo. "It takes three years to be officially recognised as organic. During this period, you have to stop using pesticides, and the land is given time to purify itself from the pesticides.

"We had already been handling the land in an organic way but, to certify the land, we needed to start the process officially. Organic is important because, first of all, the wine has much less residual elements; it's more natural and it gives us the scope to elevate the philosophy of winemaking. We want to be more natural, more ethical, so that we can be trusted by the consumers."

Massimo has also started to make Appassimento wines, a style that is associated with wines like Amarone from the Veneto but is now becoming popular across Italy. These wines generally have a higher level of alcohol and a touch of raisin in their flavour. "Making Appassimento is a growing trend among Italian winemakers. It gives the wine more ripeness and fruitiness combined," he says. "The method involves drying 20pc of the Sangiovese grapes and when we add them to the wine, it starts a second fermentation. It improves the fruitiness in the wine a lot - it makes it a kind of young ancient wine. It's a unique taste."

To enhance the ancient tradition, Massimo ages the wine in clay jars called orcio, which were customarily used for olive oil but are similar to the amphorae used by the Romans.

"We want to revive ancient methods," he says. "We've made 5,000 bottles from last year's harvest and we're going to do it again this year because the taste is unique. It's going to be launched in September. Also, we're doing some low-sulphite Sangiovese which is also important for the market because a lot of people are allergic to sulphite. There a lot of new things that we're experimenting with."

While the award-winning Chianti Classico is not on the Lidl line-up, Sensi's Chianti Colli Senesi, which is made from vineyards in the Siena area, features in the Italian promotion. "The soil there is rockier than other parts of Tuscany, which adds good minerality to the wine," says Massimo.

"It is a powerful blend: we consider it to be a classic example of Chianti. Basically, it's the same area as Chianti Classico but it has a different structure. It's straight and is a powerful example from the region."

The Italian collection has 28 wines, ranging from an easy-drinking Falanghina for 7.99 and a Montepulciano for 8.99 to some more unusual grapes like the Nero di Troia from Puglia for 8.99, scaling up to a well-priced Barolo Riserva 2011 for 17.99. They're available from Monday, June 12, while stocks last.

4 to try...

Casal Thaulero Pecorino Terre di Chieti GP Abruzzo 2016, 7.99, 13pc, lidl

If youre a fan of crisp, white wines, this Pecorino is worth a try. Zesty with a touch of lime on the nose, on the palate its more firm and mineral, with good acidity and herbaceous notes. Perfect for pairing with fish or seafood on a sunny day.

Corte Aurelio Aglianico del Vulture DOP 2015, 9.99, 14pc, Lidl

Ripe, with savoury notes of black cherry, plum and a touch of white pepper spice, this full-bodied red wine, with its high tannin and acidity from the south of Italy, is great for barbecued beef, burgers and, if youre going retro, steak au poivre.

Medici Riccardi Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG 2015, 9.99, 13pc, lidl

With fragrant hints of violet on the nose, this nicely balanced Chianti has a fresh and youthful aroma with a good structure of acidity and tannin. A great wine to drink with food, but also suitable for drinking on its own.

La Cicogna Barbaresco DOCG Piedmont, 2014, 14pc, lidl

Cheaper than Barolo but made from the same grape, Nebbiolo, this light-coloured wine from the Piedmont region, in the north of Italy, has a perfumed nose of rose, raspberries and cherries, and is supported with good acidity and tannins, giving it a nice structure. Perfect with prosciutto and duck.
British imams and other religious leaders and other religious leaders hold up signs with hashtags to show the internet can be a force for good during another vigil in the UK capital. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA

A vigil beside Tower Bridge for the victims of the June 3 terror attacks

As Imam of the mosque in Blanchardstown, Dublin, Dr Umar Al-Qadri says he has been warning for years that hateful messages have been spread by jihadists in Ireland over the internet.

The violence of Islamist extremism came uncomfortably close to home this week when it emerged that Rachid Redouane, one of the attackers at London Bridge a week ago, had lived in Rathmines, Dublin.

The gang that perpetrated the attack which killed eight people and left 48 injured was linked with an online subculture of violent extremism. The second attacker was Youssef Zaghba, an Italian of Moroccan descent with no previously known links to Islamic State. The third man, Khuram Butt, had appeared in a Channel 4 documentary alongside a well-known extremist preacher Abu Haleema.

Haleema has built a huge following on social media with his inflammatory videos.

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In the past, the preacher has called for gay people to be executed and unbelievers to be killed by being thrown into a fire.

In the Channel 4 documentary, he is shown laughing at videos of prisoners being drowned in a swimming pool by Islamic State.

Although he is banned from Twitter, many of his videos are still available on YouTube.

It is not known to what extent Rachid Redouane was influenced by this type of online material or radicalised during his stay in Ireland.

An important responsibility

But Dr Al-Qadri of the Islamic centre in Blanchardstown says internet companies need to do more to clamp down on hate propaganda spread on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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Whatsapp British imams and other religious leaders and other religious leaders hold up signs with hashtags to show the internet can be a force for good during another vigil in the UK capital. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA

"The companies should be moving much faster to remove these posts. We should recognise that anyone who is propagating hatred is a potential terrorist threat.

"He may not commit an atrocity, but he may inspire others to do so. Social media companies have a very important responsibility. One of the problems is that supporters of terrorism put up videos and it often takes some time for them to be taken down. And sometimes they are not taken down at all," Dr Al-Qadri adds.

The Imam has highlighted Facebook posts by an Irish convert to Islam with extremist views, including one where he criticises those who condemn atrocities. In one post the extremist says: "May Allah give them what they deserve."

In another post, the same Dublin-based Islamist supporter paid tribute to Khalid Kelly, the Irish suicide bomber who died in an attack in Iraq last year. Since the posts were highlighted by Dr Al-Qadri this week they have been removed.

The Imam said his eyes were first opened to the problem of extremism two years ago.

"I came across a group of young men who were aggressive in their mentality.

"I met someone who I used to teach and he said he wanted to go to fight for ISIS. That was really a wake-up call for me."

A central part of training

Dr Al-Qadri says there are about 100 supporters of Islamist terrorism in Ireland who should be monitored closely.

Milo Comerford, analyst for the London-based Centre on Religion & Geopolitics, says: "Jihadis have been adept and innovative in using the internet to popularise their brand and channel their extremist ideology to new audiences.

"Although leaders around the world have rightly identified the scale of the online challenge, authorities have struggled to keep up with the volume and variety of online extremism."

Comerford says the current generations of jihadis see the internet as a central part of their strategy. He says Islamic State even has its own training manual for media operations. He says a senior figure within the group acts as 'media emir,' and he is focused on winning hearts and minds through a strategic propaganda campaign.

The volume challenge

Part of the difficulty for those policing the internet is the sheer volume of jihadist content online.

Even if the social media sites get around to banning users who spread violent propaganda, the phenomenon is like the many-headed hydra of mythology.

Once you cut off one head, metaphorically speaking, another one soon appears.

Dubliner Emma Kelly, a lecturer in security studies at Birmingham City University, has observed the spread of messages online, and their effect on local communities.

"The problem is that if someone tweets something that is objectionable, Twitter may shut them down pending an investigation.

"But there is nothing to stop them setting up another account by putting a number after their name. In terms of cybersecurity, it is hard to ban someone completely from Twitter."

Kelly, who acts as advisor to West Midlands Police, says that for most of the young men involved in violent incidents, the motivation is frequently not religious.

"These are often people who are not very religious. They lack identity. It is the terrorism aspect that they identify with.

"What motivates them is the feeling that they are going to make a difference and be a martyr."

"Often they don't attend mosques. They are being radicalised in their bedrooms over the internet, and often they are not engaged with any community."

"There is a lot in the news about Syria at the moment, and these people are jumping on the bandwagon.

"It's like the Columbine High School shootings (when 12 students and a teacher where murdered in a school). There was a spate of school shootings after that.

"Usually the people involved in these kinds of attacks have no jobs and no careers and their parents are not interested. They want to sign up for something."

The offline extremist link

The lecturer says a lot of people who commit the crimes hear information through a propagandist known as a disseminator.

"These disseminators may have no desire to commit a crime, but they have a grudge against society. They take messages from Syria or wherever and they make it accessible to young men who feed off it."

While the terrorists are receptive to online propaganda, they are usually spurred on to action by meeting other jihadists in person.

Milo Comerford says: "Few jihadis have carried out attacks or travelled abroad to fight based solely on online radicalisation, without some other facilitating network present in the real world.

"A parallel offline effort is almost always present in converting this into coherent operational networks. This is particularly clear in the UK, where the majority of foreign fighters travelling to Syria are alleged to have had direct links to ideologues such as Anjem Choudary [a preacher currently serving a prison sentence for inviting support for Islamic State].

"It is where the online extremism intersects with offline extremism which is of greatest concern to the authorities."

So could the big internet companies do more to police the content themselves by improving their technical tools to scan material posted online?

A key problem is the sheer volume of material online. YouTube viewers worldwide are now watching more than one billion hours of videos a day, and on Facebook the daily figure for videos is 100 million hours.

The technical tools to root out extremist content largely rely on "fingerprinting" existing videos and images that have been banned, and detecting when they are uploaded again.

A joint approach

This system has been used successfully to tackle pirated videos, and Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube announced recently they were setting up a joint database of terrorist images and videos, so that footage on one website would be available to the others.

But according to technical experts, these programs can still struggle to identify new material. While a human viewer can easily track whether video material has the potential to incite violence, it is harder for the online tools to understand the nuances.

To a great extent, the internet companies still rely on users to report violent content, but a video can go viral before it is taken down.

A live-streamed video of a man in Thailand murdering his daughter last month was viewed 370,000 times before being taken offline.

Social media companies have said they are employing more moderators to track content. Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg said recently that the company has around 4,500 moderators, and was hiring 3,000 more.

Google says it employs thousands of people and invests hundreds of millions of pounds in checking content.

Milo Comerford says encryption is increasingly a concern for law enforcement authorities trying to monitor internet accounts.

The public use of sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to disseminate propaganda may cause the most outrage, because they are visible.

The invisible content

But the terrorists themselves are increasingly using secret encrypted messaging sites such as WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate. Using encryption, messages are converted into a code, and this makes it harder for security authorities to monitor them.

WhatsApp commanded the headlines after killer Khalid Masood sent a message over the platform in March before killing five people in the Westminster attack.

Comerford says the encrypted messaging app Telegram is also very popular among jihadis.

Maura Conway, professor of international security at Dublin City University, says: "Encrypted messaging sites are often used by recruiters, who spot people in other online settings and reach out to them with encrypted messages.

"They may be used by networks of people who are already in contact - they might be groups of friends or relatives.

"Encrypted channels can also be used for direct communications in preparation for attacks." The use of these encrypted messaging services has been highlighted by the British government, and the Home Secretary was even reported to have called for an encryption ban.

Professor Conway warns that a ban would be impractical for a variety of reasons.

"The problem is that if you break encryption, you break the internet," says Prof Conway. "We are heavily reliant on encryption technologies all across the internet for day-to-day business."

If messages can be deciphered by law enforcement authorities, there is also a fear that they will be tracked by criminals and hackers.

Prof Conway says it may now be time to look at how intelligence services are organised in Ireland. At present, the threat from Islamist terrorism is monitored by the garda Crime and Security Branch (CSB), which is also involved investigating the major criminal gangs and dissident republican activity.

It is widely believed in security circles that the CSB is overstretched. Prof Conway says the Government should consider the introduction of a new intelligence service, separate from the garda and the Defence Forces.

"It would be a good time to have a rethink of what the national and international security situation now looks like - and whether we are as well prepared as we might be."

@KimBielenberg

What the internet companies say

Big internet companies have been urged to do more to take down Islamist content in recent months as the spate of terrorist attacks continues.

After the Westminster attack in London in March, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter promised to work together to create a forum to accelerate and strengthen efforts to block access to terrorist propaganda. Their aim was to create better tools to identify and remove terrorist propaganda and share those methods with smaller companies.

In December 2016, the big four said they were creating a joint database to help prevent the spread of terrorist content including videos and images online.

In a statement after the London Bridge attack, Facebook said it sought to be a hostile environment for terrorists.

Using a combination of technology and human review, we work aggressively to remove terrorist content from our platform as soon as we become aware of it  and if we become aware of an emergency involving imminent harm to someones safety, we notify law enforcement. We have long collaborated with policymakers, civil society and others in the tech industry, and we are committed to continuing this important work together.

A statement from Twitter said: Terrorist content has no place on Twitter. We continue to expand the use of technology as part of a systematic approach to removing this type of content.

Twitter has suspended more than 636,000 accounts for violations related to the promotion of terrorism.

We will never stop working to stay one step ahead and will continue to engage with our partners across industry, government, civil society and academia.

In a statement this week, Google said: We want to make sure that terrorists do not have a voice and cannot spread extremist material on our services. We are working urgently to improve and accelerate our ability to remove content which violates our policies and the law.
Want to escape the cruise crowds? Try a boutique line with just two ships, says Nicola Brady.

Just beyond my dining table, the fading sun is dappling on the ocean, bouncing off the waves as they part in our path. I'm two glasses into an excellent Sauvignon Blanc, have finished a quiveringly fresh tuna tartare, and a beast of a Chateaubriand steak awaits.

"How lucky are we?" my dining companion asks, as the steak is cut into thick, pink slices before us.

"A real man makes his own luck," I reply.

I wish I could get through a cruise without quoting from Titanic, but alas, I cannot. It happens when faced with multiple pieces of cutlery, when I descend a grand staircase, when I'm told the brand-new china has never been used.

It's not advisable to bring up Titanic whilst on a cruise (not least because most people have no idea what you're bleating on about). But on a ship as grand as Azamara Journey, it's a challenge.

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If you've always associated cruises with colossal ships and thousands of other guests, Azamara Club Cruises will make you think again. Pitched as 'boutique hotels at sea' the two ships in its fleet, Journey and Quest fit only 690 guests. The bonus here, as well as a less crowded vibe, is that the ships can fit into smaller ports that larger vessels cannot.

There's a luxurious, boutique feel to the decor too, which was brand new when I boarded Azamara Journey. Throughout the rooms, relaxation areas and restaurants, the furnishings are lavish, and the colour scheme muted and chic.

My accommodation is a Club Continent Suite, as spacious as it is stylish, with a gorgeous balcony. There are a few benefits to choosing a suite over a stateroom - besides the additional space, you get an afternoon platter of food delivered (think chocolate-dipped strawberries, cheese plates and so on), a fully stocked minibar and access to specialty dining (which costs $30 for stateroom guests). Considering this dining includes the Prime C (home of the aforementioned Chateaubriand) and Aqualina restaurants, it's a fair investment.

That's not to say the regular dining options are lacking. Dinner in Discoveries, the ship's main restaurant, is far from everyday - think snails to start and perfectly charred lamb chops to follow. During the day, you can grab lunch in Windows Cafe or at the poolside grill (where you can also visit the frozen-yoghurt stand for a DIY sundae).

It's a decent-sized pool, considering the size of the ship, and the lack of kids makes it feel all the calmer. Technically, this isn't an adult-only cruise, but children aren't particularly catered for, meaning families tend to opt for more kid-friendly ships and lines.

Things are even more serene over on the Sanctum spa deck, where you can unwind in a saltwater hot tub as you gaze out at the horizon. When you've soaked your cares away, there are some seriously cool day beds and hammock chairs ready for you to enjoy, gimlet in hand, as you saunter into your next city.

And Azamara is all about the destinations. The focus is on immersive experiences and excursions - ranging from mozzarella-making workshops in Campania to tours of private art collections in Palma de Mallorca. But those exploring on their own won't be short-changed - Azamara ships stay in port later than most others, meaning you won't be pelting back for an early departure.

Though, to be honest, you might be rushing back for different reasons. While mozzarella making is all well and good, it's hard to resist the lure of a dirty martini on the pool deck.

How to do it

Travel in style

A three-night Italian and French Riviera Voyage starts at 1,320pp in a Club Oceanview stateroom, departing and returning in Nice, sailing to Portofino and St Tropez. An 11-night Classic Mediterranean Voyage in a Club Continent Suite costs from 3,689pp. See more at azamaraclubcruises.com.

Who goes?

As you might expect, the passengers tend to be a little older (likely due to the lack of children on board). On my cruise, guests ranged from couples in their 50s to a few nudging triple figures (who were the best for gossip, in my opinion). There were a good few people setting sail solo, too.

Cruise tip

Unsure which cruise ship, or cruise line, to pick for your holiday? Read the reviews on cruisecritic.co.uk. It's a subsidiary of TripAdvisor but includes lots of editorial info and insights among the user reviews and feedback.

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Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash

We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus.
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Eoghan Harris Opinion Misery media fails to give due credit to the Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheal Martin must drive his advisers mad. Unlike Leo Varadkar or Donald Trump, he never bigs up success stories such as the effect of Level 3 Plus on Covid or his visionary Shared Island project. Last Friday, Tony Holohan and RTE cheerleaders seemed to imply Level 5 was responsible for the improved Covid situation. Not so.
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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Fr Sean Sheehy is the voice of Irelands dead and unmourned past

At first, it seemed a bit mad. A bishop and a priest squaring up for a bout of ecclesiastical fisticuffs. A turbulent priest in Listowel, Co Kerry, took to the altar and spouted out of him about gays, contraception, abortion and transgender matters. He left us in no doubt that he alone has the courage to denounce this sinful carry-on.
Not for nothing was Barbara Bush known as 'The Enforcer'

Barbara Bush, tougher than her husband and known to her family as 'The Enforcer', is probably the most popular of all ex-US first ladies of recent times. Jackie Kennedy is remembered across the globe for elegance and tragedy, but she was not loved. Rosalynn Carter worked hard and was a noted campaigner on issues of mental health, but she has suffered in retrospect because of her bitterness at his defeat by Ronald Reagan, who is widely perceived to have been as great a success as Carter was a failure. The brittle Nancy Reagan was an essential support to her husband, but was thought to care little for anyone else. Hillary Clinton was loathed by those who thought her a careerist. The likeable Laura Bush did a lot of useful work but lacked her mother-in-law's commanding personality. And although Michelle Obama had rock-star status, that has diminished as she and her husband embrace luxury and celebrity. Betty Ford is probably the closest rival, having been far more effective and formidable than her husband Gerald, the 38th president, and still having a posthumous reputation for her prowess as a campaigner on addiction, not least because so many of the famous troop to the Betty Ford Clinic.
And so it was that once more the people of the big island discovered that a sizeable lump of the smaller island next door might hold their destiny coiled among its dreary steeples. Many have taken fright. Mrs May's putative supporters in the DUP are being described as dinosaurs, anti-gay bigots, climate change deniers and much else.

I reported on the DUP up close for quite a few years. It thrived by presenting itself as the defender of protestantism at a time when the Provos gave Ulster protestants plenty to be afraid of. I also know well the anti-Catholic nastiness that motivated many of its prominent members in the past. For the greater part of its existence the DUP existed as a negative force in Ulster politics. It existed as the party of 'No Surrender' and helped mire the North in misery.

Its founder, Ian Paisley, began as a bigot - read the history, the words and you will see I state a fact and not an opinion - who fanned flames that helped lead to the outbreak violence in Northern Ireland. Like his former 'Chuckle Brother' Martin McGuinness he came to the point of compromise much too late. I remember too the Ulster Clubs of the mid 1980s with the implicit threat of thuggery supported by the DUP leadership. The image of Peter Robinson in his red beret was a deliberate declaration of solidarity with men who - like their forebears in 1912 - threatened anti-democratic upheaval against the British state.

But Paisley and Robinson did ultimately make peace. They sat in a powersharing government with their old enemies. The governments of Britain and Ireland deemed that to be perfectly legitimate as did most of the commentariat.

Now I read that one of the main negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement, Jonathan Powell, is throwing his hands to heaven in despair at the arrival of the DUP as kingmakers in Westminster. "Not even John Major resorted to relying on the DUP," he says. Not even John Major? Why 'not even'? Without Major it is hard to imagine the peace process proceeding as quickly as it ultimately did. He was brave and far-sighted.

The hullabaloo over the DUP reminds us of an eternal verity: what is good enough for the North is only good enough for the North.

While it is perfectly fine for the DUP to rule over the people of Northern Ireland it appears they have little right to interpose themselves on the larger narrative. "As British as Finchley," Margaret Thatcher once said. Not if you look deep enough into the heart of Westminster.

There are some practical reasons why the arrival of the DUP on the national scene does not represent the imminent destruction of all that is good, liberal and decent in British life. Firstly, the DUP is divided over Brexit with its rural basis scared by the loss of EU farm support - it is not in a position to demand a hard Brexit without alienating many of its own supporters; secondly it is a party well used to wheeling and dealing - too used to it one might argue - and will hopefully recognise the limits of the possible in any demands it makes of Theresa May; thirdly, the Good Friday Agreement imposes a legal obligation on the Government to act impartially in Northern Ireland.

Any move to placate the DUP at the expense of nationalists would lead quickly to the courts and the most damning of political obituaries. The peace in the North cannot be imperilled for short-term political benefit. At the moment it all looks very fragile. It would be a very brave man who would bet on a long parliament. The DUP's moment in the sun may be short-lived.

*****

It was the first test and, for me, the hardest. To go back to your own people and read aloud of the terrible things that happened in their town, of what brother did to brother, friend to friend, neighbour to neighbour... it was hard to anticipate how people might react.

I'm lucky to have the most warm-hearted family. Lucky too that they are as loyal to their own as the most faithful Sicilian clan. As my cousin Joanna frequently reminds me: "Your own's your own."

The ballroom in the Listowel Arms was packed. The audience ranged in age from early teens to mid-eighties. There were people with memories of the bad old days and those who knew only the modern Ireland that could, without fuss, elect the gay son of an Indian immigrant and Irish mother as Taoiseach.

I was reading from a draft manuscript, a work in progress to be published in the autumn, and this was the first encounter with an audience.

I read to them the story of James Keane, a retired RIC man shot dead as a suspected spy in the early summer of 1921. The account of his death given by one of the IRA executioners, Brian O'Grady, is one of the most extraordinary documents of any war. Close to the end the condemned man and his soon-to-be killers knelt and said the Rosary together, a picture that still haunted O'Grady decades later. In the Civil War that followed the Tan war O'Grady took the Free State side and later became bodyguard to Kevin O'Higgins, assassinated by the IRA in 1927. Blood followed blood in a traumatised nation.

I don't think I've ever read to an audience so still or silent. In questions afterwards there was a hunger for information and context, particularly about the Civil War. Not one person said it was a mistake to raise old bitterness into the light. There was no ideological ranting. On the contrary most bemoaned the silence that shrouded the awful events of 1922-23 for so long.

Is it too much to hope that we can remember the War of Independence and the Civil War in an atmosphere of fair mindedness? The anniversaries will be upon us soon. Now that Sinn Fein has done what Collins did and accept compromise, there cannot be any more of the rhetoric of "take it down from the mast Irish traitors". Equally the simplistic denunciation of the Republicans who fought on after the Treaty has no place in a balanced appreciation of the past. They were more than 'die-hards' and 'bitter enders'. I believe they were wrong but I acknowledge their idealism and understand how the failure to secure a Republic would have seemed a betrayal after the great sacrifices of the previous years.

The anniversary of 1916 was mostly commemorated in a spirit of reason. Yet that was the easier part of the long season of remembrance. The narrative had its complexities but the Civil War will demand far more of us. I believe we are ready. The Troubles in the North and the rocky progress of our Republic in the age of the crash have weaned the majority off addictive myths.

Fergal Keane is a BBC Special Correspondent
Brigitte Macron, wife of French President, arrives to take part in a visit to the Magritte Museum, on May 25, 2017 in Brussels on the sidelines of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit.

Brigitte Macron, wife of French President, leaves the Hotel San Domenico for an official visit in Catania on the sidelines of the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily

A picture shows the handbag of the wife of France's president Brigitte Macron durign a visit to the Magritte Museum, on May 25, 2017, in Brussels, on the sidelines of the NATO

Founder and president of the political movement "En Marche !", and former French Economy Minister, Emmanuel Macron (L from behind) and his wife Brigitte Trogneux leave the Saint-Sulpice church after attending a service for the funeral of French businessman Henry Hermand, on November 10, 2016 in Paris. / AFP / MARTIN BUREAU (Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)

French Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron (R) and wife Brigitte Trogneux arrive for the State Dinner Offered By French President Fran?ois Hollande at the Elysee Palace on June 2, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Brigitte Trogneux arrives to attend the handover ceremony between her husband, French President-elect Emmanuel Macron, and outgoing President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 14, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

French president's wife Brigitte Macron shakes hands with Princess Mary of Denmark after a meeting on climate change, on June 6, 2017 at the Elysee palace in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images)

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive for a concert of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina during the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Sicily. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI (Photo credit should read TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

Brigitte Macron, wife of French President, leaves the Hotel San Domenico for an official visit in Catania on the sidelines of the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily

French first lady Brigitte Macron is a style icon in the making.

The 64-year-old wife of French president Emmanuel Macron has a penchant for mini-skirts, leather trousers, tailored jackets and oozes the same je ne sais quoi that French women seem to possess.

Shes been scrutinised within an inch of her life largely due to the 25 year age gap between her and her husband and with every new photo opportunity, shes proving that just because youve reached a certain age doesnt mean you have to ditch your chic appearance.

Cathy OConnor, a stylist and personal shopper, said she is an inspiration by refusing to conform to societal norms expected of her: i.e., cover up.

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Whatsapp Brigitte Trogneux arrives to attend the handover ceremony between her husband, French President-elect Emmanuel Macron, and outgoing President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 14, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

She absolutely is a rule breaker and in some ways, a trailblazer. As you get older, there are more guidelines and rules on what you can and cant do, Cathy told independent.ie.

When women enter an older age, theyre uncertain about style choices. For most of their lives, theyre confident, whether its in their style or their careers; but theyve entered a time that fashion is telling them, youre longer really relevant, were not including you anymore, were attracting another audience.

The results of that are women asking themselves, Am I too old for that? Your best accessory is attitude. Wear things that say something about who you are, what works for your body and will feel really confident in your choices.

That Brigitte does: for her husbands inauguration, she sashayed up the red carpet of the Elysee Palacein a sky blue Louis Vuitton military jacket and mini skirt. For the G7 Summit in Italy, she opted for a white military skirt suit by the same designer for a concert in Taormina. During her downtime, she chose a pair of white skinny jeans, a red button detail top and white LV leather tote.

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Whatsapp French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive for a concert of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina during the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Sicily. / AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI (Photo credit should read TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

What Ive observed about her is that she has an ageless style, but theres always a detail that makes it pop: if its a black dress, shell have interesting heels; a tailored jacket will have some matte leather trousers or jeans; theres always some edge even though its classic and understated, in some way, theres a little addition, Cathy added.

Fashion is not about age, in a sense it doesnt matter how old you are, you dont think you are that age. We all feel younger the age we are. Its about attitude, saying, This is who I am and I have the confidence to wear these piece. Its about self-expression.

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There she is in her short skirt with her fantastic bare legs and it works for her  she has great legs, great texture of skin and she carries it off. If her legs are showing, shell never show her cleavage. I think shes really an inspiration in that way. When it comes to style, its never over.

While meeting Crown Princess Mary of Denmark earlier this month, she wore Louis Vuitton once again  but it was her shoes, the French labels metal toe capped Urban Twist that proved to be the true piece de resistanceof an otherwise conservative look.

Expand Close French president's wife Brigitte Macron shakes hands with Princess Mary of Denmark after a meeting on climate change, on June 6, 2017 at the Elysee palace in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp French president's wife Brigitte Macron shakes hands with Princess Mary of Denmark after a meeting on climate change, on June 6, 2017 at the Elysee palace in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images)

While on the campaign trail, she opted for button details  an emblazoned denim jacket, a grey coatigan or a slim-fitting bubble jacket with jeans and runners.

Irish style icon and former model agent Celia Holman Lee believes she has quite simply got it right and isnt afraid to experiment with her personal style.

I would say shes a practical dresser with a modern twist and she dresses exactly the way I adore to dress, Celia told us.

She goes along in a Louis Vuitton suit and skirt above the knee on one occasion and next thing, she has a pair of silver flats  shes not afraid to play with her clothes, she doesnt turn them into uniforms.

Expand Close Brigitte Macron, wife of French President, leaves the Hotel San Domenico for an official visit in Catania on the sidelines of the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily / Facebook

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Whatsapp Brigitte Macron, wife of French President, leaves the Hotel San Domenico for an official visit in Catania on the sidelines of the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit, on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Sicily

Her looks are age appropriate, on-trend and classy. Shes playing on one of her best features: she has beautiful legs, she keeps her necklines high and her sleeves long, but always shows off what she has, which is very clever in any woman.

I have a good waistline I like to think so I play on that. That is somebody who knows her style.

Brigittes legs and blonde bob are her two style staples and neither are stereotypical of a grandmother of seven.

When I first heard she was married with children when she met him [Emmanuel Macron], I was expecting to see someone totally different. When I looked at them together and saw her  shes a strong woman, he adores her, shes proud to be 64, hes proud shes the older woman, its a lovely mix and a nice role reversal.

I dont go through pictures of Camilla Parker Bowles, who is around the same age, but I would go straight through someone Brigitte is wearing  I love her style.

While her impeccable taste might have won over the fashion police, that iconic bob isnt for everyone and Jenni Crawford, Creative Director at Kazumi salon on Dublins Molesworth Street, said her striking hair style isnt best suited to her face shape.

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It is very striking but its not the best on her, Jenni explained. If you look at some photos with her hair off her face, its so much more suitable to her, adding its a very high maintenance look which would require near-daily professional blowdries.

As a hairstyle, theres a lot of colour in it, its quite high maintenance. At the moment, all the big hair around her face for me personally is youre hiding something.

I suggest her fringe could be a botox fringe  when women prefer to get their hair styled in a new way than visit their dermatologist for some botox  but Jenni believes its largely down to a convincing hairstylist.

Shes a striking woman, she has the same features as Raquel Welch - if you look at the transition, she went from the big beautiful head of hair to softer texture hair. Theres far too much colour in her hair, its causing a swelling on the cuticle of hair that would be adding to the bouffant, Crawford added.

When you look at the events shes been in, shes surrounded by male suits and dark, she wears darker tones herself so the blonde hair is going to pop anyway. Thats what you see first with her, when I see her in photographs, I just see hair.
The 39th president of the United States Jimmy Carter showed true class on a flight this week by shaking the hand of every single passenger on board.

In a video shared by Twitter user James Parker Sheffield, Carter can be seen approaching every row as he goes to his seat.

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In the heartwarming post, a happy woman can be heard saying: I love you Jimmy Carter as he moves down the aisle on the flight from Washington DC to Atlanta, accompanied by security.

This isnt the first time the classy former president has made this kind of gesture. From the looks of social media, hes shaken hands with a fair few air passengers.

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If people werent already in love with the man who founded the Carter Centre, an NGO which works for peace across the world, then this lovely video should seal the deal.
The Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom award of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), has been awarded to Turkish journalist Can Dundar, former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper.

The award was made in Durban, South Africa during the opening ceremony of the 69th World News Media Congress and 24th World Editors Forum.

"Journalists need courage because there is a cloud of fear hanging over them - fear is everywhere, and it is so powerful," said Mr Dundar in his acceptance speech, delivered in front of more than 700 publishers, CEOs and editors in chief. "I come from the biggest prison for journalists in the world: currently 150 of my colleagues are behind bars in Turkey, and imprisoning one member of the press intimidates hundreds of others."

Mr Dundar now lives in exile in Germany, having survived an assassination attempt outside an Istanbul court.
The confidence and supply deal struck by the Tories with the DUP yesterday was apparently the second choice for the under-fire Conservative Party.

Tory chief whip Gavin Williamson yesterday flew to Belfast to push for the 10 DUP MPs to enter into a formal coalition agreement, rather than simply propping up the Government on key votes - as in a confidence and supply deal.

May had decided she needed the strength of coalition to bolster her chances of keeping her Government alive, amid growing pressure from angry Tory MPs and members. Number 10 said the chief whip was exploring "how best they can provide support to the Government". A source last night confirmed that coalition was on the table.

However, it was thought the DUP was wary of coalition, given the miserable fate of the Liberal Democrats after entering government with the Conservatives. Later, Downing Street confirmed that the DUP agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservatives on a confidence and supply basis.

This will mean the DUP backing Theresa May on its budget and other key votes and - crucially - preventing it being brought down by motions of no confidence.

Neil Carmichael, a former select committee chairman who failed to keep his seat last week, said: "The DUP has the potential to push the Conservative Party out to the right. On Brexit, I have argued that we need to come back to the middle, including people who voted to Remain. This has to be about where Britain goes - not just a chunk of Britain.

"And then there's Northern Ireland itself. The government is apparently brokering a return to Stormont - but how can it if it has some of the politicians in its own camp?"

Former minister Ed Vaizey highlighted the danger of any DUP tie-up, saying: "I come from the liberal wing of the Conservative party. I'm not going to support any legislation that I would regard as socially illiberal, taking this country backwards."

Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the health select committee, insisted that any deal with the DUP must not be allowed to influence policies on the death penalty, gay rights, education or abortion.

"I will always support the right for women to choose and access safe termination of pregnancy and will oppose any change to the legislation," she tweeted. "I will never agree to any dilution of LGBT rights. Creationism in schools? Hell no. If any of that is a condition of confidence and supply it simply won't work."

Alex Maskey, a Sinn Fein member of the Belfast Assembly, said a deal could "prove to be reckless" for Northern Ireland, adding: "The British public should have full scrutiny of the DUP and what that party represents."

Earlier, Scottish Tory Ruth Davidson, who is gay, revealed she had demanded assurances from May over gay rights should the Tories do a deal with the DUP. She again challenged her leader when she refused to say that Britain should pull out of the EU single market, as May wants.

Instead, Davidson said: "There's an awful lot of issues surrounding Brexit that need to be discussed. Clearly, there is no majority government that's come through after this election. That means we do have to listen to the other parties and that means we have to listen to others actors and agents - and that is exactly what we will do."

It will be months before we get a reliable estimate of turnout among young people from high-quality surveys.

In the meantime, we can note that the average increase in turnout was just over a point higher in constituencies with more young voters than elsewhere.

Independent
Bloodied by an election gamble that backfired and triggered calls for her resignation, Prime Minister Theresa May stood by her vow to form Britain's next government and lead the country out of the European Union. Photo: Getty Images

British prime minister Theresa May was last night left isolated and undermined as the resignation of her two chiefs of staff failed to stop a furious Tory backlash.

The UK prime minister has been told by ministers she must overhaul her leadership style and change her economic policy if she wants to remain in power for the time being.

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Protecting business during Brexit talks and handing over more money to the Foreign Office have been named as the price for Cabinet support.

Mrs May has secured short-term backing from senior Tories due to fears that another election could let Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10. But an unofficial race to replace her was already under way as allies of Boris Johnson and David Davis talked up their credentials and briefed against the other.

Figures at the very top of the party now believe she cannot remain leader for long, with some calling for a replacement by the time of the party's conference in October. "This was utterly self-inflicted and completely unavoidable. Her credibility is completely shot at home and abroad," said a minister.

Yesterday's developments included:

A controversial "confidence and supply" deal with the DUP being struck after Tory chief whip Gavin Williamson flew to Belfast for talks;

DUP sources saying they would demand Mrs May abandon parts of her social care plan as their price for support;

The resignation of Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, May's joint-chiefs of staff, after ultimatums from senior Tories;

A promise from peers and pro-EU Tories to exploit Mrs May's weakness to water down Brexit plans outlined in the party's manifesto;

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, appearing to question whether her 13 MPs would vote for taking Britain out of the single market.

May is still reeling from the unexpected loss of seats at an election that she called to "strengthen her hand" for Brexit talks. Despite starting the campaign with a 20-point poll lead, the Tories ended up beating Labour by just two points.

After securing 318 seats - the largest of any party but 13 less than when she called the vote - it was last night confirmed that a deal had been struck with the DUP - which has 10 MPs. Details will be put to MPs on Monday.

A No 10 spokesman said: "We can confirm that the DUP have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a Confidence and Supply basis when parliament returns next week. We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond."

However there were growing concerns among some Conservatives that the party's image could be tarnished by entering a pact with the DUP given that party's criticism of gay marriage.

And there were also questions about whether May can push through her manifesto demands on Brexit, including leaving the single market and customs union.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who wields considerable influence after the Scottish Tories won 13 seats, said: "I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit - which we know we're going to have to get cross-party support for."

In a hint that curbing immigration could become a lower priority than safeguarding the economy she added: "It is about making sure that we put free trade at the heart of what it is we seek to achieve as we leave."

Mrs May was also working on a Cabinet reshuffle, although the election result makes it less likely she will risk alienating colleagues by making wholesale changes as she cannot afford to have disgruntled former ministers sniping at her from the backbenches.

Last night May attempted to bring stability to Number 10 announcing Gavin Barwell, the former housing minister who failed to win a seat in the election, as her new chief of staff. Mrs May is also considering appointing a deputy prime minister or a new party chairman in an attempt to reach out to seething Tory colleagues.

Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill announced their resignation after pressure from senior Tories. Chancellor Philip Hammond is understood to have expressed his frustration with the pair's attitude to government in a phone call to May on Friday morning.

The 1922 Committee of backbenchers is also understood to have made the pair's departure a "red line" for continuing to support May.

Nick Timothy, who co-wrote the Tory manifesto, issued a statement expressing his "sorrow" at MPs who had lost seats.

He also attempted to shift the blame over the party's social care policy, which was changed within days of the announcement after a backlash. "I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policy's inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project," he said.

Fiona Hill said it had been a privilege to serve and added: "I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as prime minister, and do it brilliantly."

However the resignations have not stopped speculation. Ministers have privately said they believe May cannot remain leader for long.

"Her going is completely unavoidable. She can't avoid resigning and triggering a leadership election, quite soon," said one minister.

Numerous ministers said that the prime minister would not "lead the party into the next election" and demanded that she become more "collegiate" in the future.

Allies of likely leadership contenders were also briefing journalists.

One Boris Johnson ally said: "Tons of people have reached out to him since the election... They are saying he is the only one who can lead now. David Davis is too old school and pushed for the early election."

A source close to David Davis said they believed he would stand for the leadership if it became vacant and questioned Boris Johnson's suitability for the job. However spokesmen for both men denied any suggestion that they were on manoeuvres and suggested they were "completely" behind Mrs May.

There was also speculation that some Tory MPs could consider signing letters formally demanding that May goes.

Almost two thirds of Tory Party members want Theresa May to resign, a survey found yesterday. The snap survey of 1,500 Tory party members revealed that 60pc believed Mrs May should resign and trigger a leadership contest.

Just 37pc said they thought Mrs May should remain in post as Tory MPs warned that the relationship between the party's leadership and its grassroots needed to be improved.

The survey has prompted Tory MPs to express concerns about the way in which the campaign was fought and at the centralised nature of decision-making under May.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Tory MP for the Cotswolds, said grassroots disquiet needed to be heeded as there was a "distinct feeling" Tory members are not consulted enough on the party's direction.

Telegraph

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The world's most wanted terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed in an airstrike, according to reports.

Unverified reports from Syrian state television say the leader of Islamic State was killed in Raqqa.

However the reports are unconfirmed and previous claims of Bakr al-Baghdadi's death have proven unfounded.

In 2014 Bakr al-Baghdadi took over the city of Raqqa and declared an Islamic caliphate.

Today IS has claimed responsibility for several terrorist incidents across the globe including recent attacks on Manchester and London Bridge.

Syrian activists, Raqqa24, did report an airstrike in Raqqa killed at least seven civilians on Saturday, although there was no mention made of al-Baghdadi.

Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has a $25million bounty on his head, had been believed to be hiding out in the desert outside the besieged city of Mosul in northern Iraq after fleeing Raqqa in March.

However, intelligence suggests he left the city recently.

Baghdadi himself has not released a recorded speech since early November, two weeks after the start of the Mosul battle, when he called on his followers to fight the "unbelievers" and "make their blood flow as rivers".

IRAN

Menwhile Iranian authorities claim they have killed the alleged mastermind of twin attacks last week claimed by the Islamic State group.

The official IRNA news agency on Sunday quoted intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi as saying the suspect left Iran for a neighbouring country after the attacks, but "was sent to hell" by Iranian intelligence agents and " fellow intelligence services".

Mr Alavi did not provide further details or offer any evidence.

Five attackers stormed Iran's parliament and a shrine to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday, setting off clashes with security forces and killing at least 17 people.

Iran says the attackers, who were all killed, had fought for the IS group in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. It says dozens of people have been detained.
Driving across post-war Sierra Leone several years ago, I was struck by the number of villages where there was one place of worship - typically a simple mud-walled building - used by both Christians and Muslims. This, locals told me, had been the case for some time, an example of multi-faith co-existence in a country that has long been religiously diverse (Sierra Leone's brutal civil war did not have a religious component).

But cropping up across the landscape were dazzling white mosques, all of them named after King Fahd, the leader of Saudi Arabia until his death in 2005, and clearly built with Saudi funding. The kind of mosque where you are more likely to find Saudi-printed literature denouncing your Christian neighbour. I have seen King Fahd mosques and schools across Africa but also in many other countries from Pakistan to Kosovo. In each case, I heard similar concerns from local Muslims that the interpretation of Islam peddled in such Saudi-funded establishments was undermining more tolerant indigenous Islamic traditions and encouraging extremism.

A 'sensitive' report

With Isil claiming responsibility for attacks across the world from Manchester to Kabul, London and Tehran to name just the most recent examples, a decades-long debate over Saudi influence on contemporary Islam has sharpened.

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Many are asking how much the kingdom's export of its particularly rigid strain of Islam - often referred to as Wahhabism, though the term is considered pejorative by Saudis - has contributed to terrorism in the form of Isil and other groups.

British prime minister Theresa May is under pressure to allow the publication of a government report into the funding of extremist groups operating in the UK which is understood to focus on the role of Saudi Arabia, criticised by other European leaders as a revenue source for such groups.

Commissioned by May's predecessor David Cameron in 2015, the report was supposed to be published by early 2016 - but a Home Office source admitted last month it may never see the light of day due to its "sensitive" content.

The weapons factor

A key element of the British-Saudi bilateral relationship is the business of weapons, with the kingdom long being one of the UK arms industry's biggest customers. Recent sales amount to over 3.5bn (4bn). On his trip to Saudi Arabia last month, US president Donald Trump claimed to have clinched billions worth of trade agreements, including a $100bn (89bn) arms deal.

But Trump's visit to Riyadh - and the regional summit he attended there - also highlighted concerns in Saudi Arabia that the question of what inspired and continues to inspire Isil increasingly points in the kingdom's own direction.

When the Saudis talked with Trump about countering violent extremism, trying to burnish their own credentials, many Muslims quipped that perhaps they should begin at home.

Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and its rulers take pride in their title of "custodians" of the two holiest mosques located in Mecca and Medina. But many Muslims resent that the kingdom's oil wealth has allowed it undue influence over Islam as it is practised across the world today, helping spread its austere expression of the faith through a network of thousands of mosques, schools and charities.

An undue influence?

This has been augmented by expatriate workers, many from South Asia but also from across the Middle East, who spend years in the kingdom only to return home with Saudi-inspired ultra-conservatism which then seeps into their own societies. During one visit I made to Saudi Arabia, my Pakistani driver told me how appalled he was to witness his first execution in Riyadh just after he arrived some years before. "This is not the Islam I grew up with but the problem is this Saudi mentality is spreading including in my home country," he said.

Holding ultra-conservative views is one thing, engaging in violent extremism is another. The factors that help feed Islamist terrorism in different parts of the world are complex and many, including localised grievances and injustices; the use of propaganda, particularly online, by groups like Isil; and the heavy hand of repressive regimes.

Saudi curbs on terrorism

Some of the most influential ideologues of modern-day jihadism have little or no connection with Saudi Arabia. In fact many detest its ruling family - particularly for their close relationship with the US - and encourage attacks on the kingdom while accepting funding from private Saudi donors.

Knocked sideways by a string of domestic al-Qaeda attacks that began in 2003, the Saudi authorities took measures to curb such terrorist financing and cooperate more with Western intelligence agencies. Thousands of homegrown militants have been rounded up since, including the al-Qaeda gunman who shot dead Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers when he was on assignment with the BBC in Riyadh in 2004. The killer was executed last year. When I visited the kingdom, I met officials who were overseeing a much vaunted de-radicalisation programme with mixed results: several participants later drifted back into militancy.

Though the Saudi authorities protest that they too have been victims of terrorism, many Muslims blame the harsh Saudi brand of Sunni Islam, which not only denigrates other faiths including Christianity and Judaism but also Shia Muslims and other Muslim sects, for creating a mindset that makes some more susceptible to the messaging of Isil and other jihadist groups.

The founder and leader of al-Qaeda - Osama bin Laden - was Saudi, as were 15 of the 19 hijackers that carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Of all the would-be suicide bombers that flocked to Iraq after the US invasion in 2003, more came from Saudi than any other country. Thousands of Saudis have joined Isil as it rampaged across northern Syria and Iraq in recent years. I recall hearing a Saudi official tell a regional conference that he was concerned about popular support for Isil in the kingdom, acknowledging that there were parallels between state-sanctioned orthodoxy and that embraced by the group. In fact, Isil used official Saudi textbooks in schools it controlled in Syria and Iraq until it was able to publish its own books in 2015. A former imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca has admitted, with regret, that Isil "draw their ideas from what is written in our own books, our own principles".

An old debate

In Libya, however, the forces that have driven Isil from its stronghold of Sirte and other redoubts include religious hardliners who follow a Saudi scholar who has denounced Isil as deviants and heretics. These ultra-conservatives cleave to the belief - key to Saudi orthodoxy - that one must obey the ruler, a tenet that is anathema to many militants.

The debate over how much Saudi Arabia is to blame for the rise of violent extremism in its many manifestations is not new. The prickly question of where ultra-conservatism such as that espoused - and exported - by Saudi Arabia ends and extremism that births violence begins will continue to prompt heated discussions among Muslims.

Farah Pandith, a former American official who visited 80 countries as the State Department's first special representative to Muslim communities, has called for the US to do more to curb Saudi influence.

"In each place I visited, the Wahhabi influence was an insidious presence," she wrote in the New York Times in 2015. She said Washington should "disrupt the training of extremist imams", "reject free Saudi textbooks and translations that are filled with hate," and "prevent the Saudis from demolishing local Muslim religious and cultural sites that are evidence of the diversity of Islam."

With Trump in the White House wanting to do more business with Saudi Arabia, there is little chance of that happening soon.
More than 1,000 migrants have been rescued from the Med over the weekend

Spain's maritime rescue service saved 54 migrants, including two babies, trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a smugglers' boat.

A spokesman for the service said that the group, which included 13 women, was spotted by a cargo ship in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar. The spokesman spoke anonymously in line with the policy of the rescue service.

The Red Cross said that seven of the migrants needed to be taken to a hospital when they arrived at the port in Malaga around midnight on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday in a separate rescue more than 1,000 migrants were found trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

PA
Washington, June 10 (IBNS): U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Friday, conducting 27 strikes consisting of 70 engagements], Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported on Saturday.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports, the US Department of Defence said in a statement.

The statement said in Syria, coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes consisting of 30 engagements against ISIS targets.

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of 40 engagements against ISIS targets
Keystone Realtors (Rustomjee) IPO to open on 14th November The IPO of Keystone Realtors will open on November 14th. It will close on November 16th. The issue size is of Rs 635 crore. Price band has been set at Rs 514 - 541 per share. Mi... November 10, 2022 | 10-11-2022 3:51 pm

GST officials detected Rs 55,575 crore worth of tax evasion, arrested over 700 people, in the past 2 Over the previous two years, the GST officials have discovered fraud totalling Rs55,575 crore and have detained over 700 people for defrauding the exchequer, an official told ET on Thursday. Th... November 10, 2022 | 10-11-2022 2:58 pm

Bharat Electronics inks agreement with Goa Shipyard for development of autonomous navigation Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has signed an MoU with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for joint development of products/solutions in the area of Autonomous Navigation an... November 10, 2022 | 10-11-2022 12:54 pm

PSP Projects secures work order worth Rs200 crore; Stock rises PSP Projects Limited has informed to the exchanges regarding receipt of work order. In a regulatory filing, the company said, "We are pleased to inform that we are in receipt of... November 10, 2022 | 10-11-2022 12:37 pm

Five Star Business Finance IPO receives .02 times subscription application at the end of day 1 Five Star Business Finance IPO has received .02 times subscription application at the end of day 1. Five Star Business Finance, a non-banking financial organization with headqu... November 10, 2022 | 10-11-2022 11:39 am
In the last episode of Mere Angne Mein, we had seen Riya and Shivam go to the college and Riya ask for her documents. The man neglects and says that he can't help them...
Popular celebrity figures have proved that apart from enjoying the fame and stardom that come as the perk of their job, giving it back to the society is also something that is important. All it takes is a few positive steps and a thoughtful mind to bring the change.

Celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Akshay Kumar, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nana Patekar and several others have contributed towards making this world a better place. Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio is a dedicated environmental activist.

Now, DiCaprio has joined hands with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to protect marine ecosystems in the upper Gulf of California. Pena Nieto signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oscar-winning actor's foundation to save the rare species of porpoise from imminent extinction.

(Also read: Watch: Leonardo DiCaprio Save The World In His Newly Released Documentary 'Before The Flood')

AFP

Talking to media, DiCaprio said, "Now more than ever, the world is looking for bold leadership at every level to tackle climate change and environmental conservation issues. I am honoured to work with President Pena Nieto, who has been a leader in ecosystem conservation, to ensure the future viability of marine life in the Gulf. This action is a critical step towards ensuring that the Gulf of California continues to be both vibrant and productive, especially for species like the critically endangered Vaquita."

This MoU also sets out specific objectives to eliminate illegal fishing.

DiCaprio's agreement with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto and telecoms magnate Slim focuses on ending the use of gill nets in the northern Gulf of California.

The critically endangered vaquita porpoise is not just a native to the Gulf of California but this small marine mammal has been reportedly threatened with extinction to an extent that there are just 30 individuals left in the whole world.

AFP

Several reports signify that since 1997, 80 percent of the worlds population of vaquitas have fallen victim to bycatch, as the animals are frequently caught in gill nets operated by illegal totoaba fishermen. But now DiCaprio is back in action and the actor's effort for sure will prove beneficial.
AFP

West's family also took to Facebook to break this news to the world. Their heartbreaking post read,

"It's with great sadness that we are sharing this news...Adam West passed away peacefully last night after a short but brave battle with leukemia. He was a beloved father, husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather. There are no words to describe how much we'll miss him. We know you'll miss him too and we want you to know how much your love and support meant to him throughout the years. Hug your loved ones today.

- The West Family"

If Mehta's claims are to be believed, Kangana was brought on board for his dream project titled Rani of Jhansi: The Warrior Queen. She even shot for the film but Kangana went on to replace Mehta with another director and going ahead with the shoot with a different title.

Happy Birthday Pappa...I Love You! A post shared by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on Jun 10, 2017 at 1:04pm PDT

Another thing that makes us admire DP is how she has always been down to earth and when it comes to fulfilling daughter duties, she has always been the perfect 10/10 daughter.

She said, "I don't get bothered with that, as I feel like it is not just social media, it's the reflection of life and moods and life. That's kind of the phase we are going through. I don't know if people agree, but it is generally a sort of negative phase. People think it is ok to judge or put down very easily and social media gives you the courage to do what you would have never done in person."

Now, DiCaprio has joined hands with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to protect marine ecosystems in the upper Gulf of California. Pena Nieto signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oscar-winning actor's foundation to save the rare species of porpoise from imminent extinction.
Earlier this year, catering scam in Indian Railways had made headlines where items as small as curd had been bought at inflated prices. Now, another malpractice going on in various trains have surfaced, where food is being served at an inflated price. Neelabh Khanikar, through social media, has brought another malpractice to the light.

Bareilly resident, Khanikar, was travelling from Duliajan to Dimapur on the New Tinsukia Rajendra Nagar Patna Express with his family, when he bought two plates of egg biryani.

Khanikar paid Rs 80 for each plate of biryani, but he grew suspicious and went to the pantry is asked for the menu. There, he found that actual price of one plate egg biriyani was Rs 63 instead of charged Rs 80.

Khanikar asked the person concerned why was he charged more than the given price. Since Khanikar was recording video of his conversation, no one spoke anything.

Khanikar was asked to stop recording and talk, but he refused, saying that he will bring the matter to the notice of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The officials say that they had overcharged by mistake, and didnt realise the actual price of the food, finally agreeing to return the extra money to him.
After two Chinese teachers were murdered in Balochistan by terrorists, Chinese President Xi Jinping snubbed Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif by skipping the customary meeting at the Shangai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Asthana.

Though Sharif met the president of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Russia, Jinping didnt give time to Sharif. Xi's unprecedented snub followed deep disappointment and grief among Chinese public over the slaying of the two Chinese citizens who were kidnapped last month from Quetta in Balochistan.

AFP

The two Chinese were reportedly murdered by ISIS terrorists. The news of their murder was made ahead of the SCO summit in which both India and Pakistan were admitted as members.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying explained that the murders were no way connected to the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which was opposed by the Baloch nationalists.

The CPEC is part of China's ambitious multi-billion Belt and Road intuitive (BRI). "This incident will not have any necessary connection with the BRI," nor with the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, meeting being held in Astana, Hua was quoted by PTI.

Hundreds of Chinese are working in Pakistan on CPEC and now China has asked Pakistan to pay great attention to the proection of Chinese in Pakistan.

AFP

"As per BRI we should be prepared for risks if want to go global. Since the three years after the BRI," she had said.
The intelligence and criminal investigation wing of the income tax (I-T) department in Kochi has unearthed unaccounted for wealth worth Rs 400 crore from a firm owned by a former additional superintendent of police in Nagaland who has also been awarded the President's police medal.

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I-T sleuths suspect MKR Pillai to be a front for politicians and top bureaucrats in Nagaland, and are investigating whether government funds, especially central funds for the state, were illegally diverted and later transferred through him.

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Simultaneous raids were conducted in Kerala, Karnataka, Nagaland and Delhi after doubts emerged that Pillai's Sreevalsam Group was involved in "suspicious financial dealings".

I-T sleuths began the investigation against Pillai after they discovered that he had declared assets worth Rs 50 crore following the demonetisation announcement in November, and his net worth was found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Pillai, who joined Nagaland Police as a constable in Mokokchung in 1971, retired as additional SP six years ago. He received the President's police medal for meritorious service in 2005. Called 'Pillai Sir' across Nagaland, he is known to have close links with top politicians and is influential at the state police headquarters.

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Sreevalsam Group has a variety of business interests, including jewellery, textiles, gold loan and schools, in Kerala and other states. "The group also has businesses in Nagaland, started in the name of benami owners," an I-T official said.

Nagaland DGP LL Doungel said he was surprised about the recovery of assets worth Rs 400 crore from the property of Pillai, who is currently employed with Nagaland police as a consultant.

"I am concerned. He is currently away on leave and will be back here next week. Let him come back and it will be better to gather from him whatever is there in the case," Doungel said.
Inside the archives section of the Vatican Secretariat in Rome sits Sister Lucy Britto. For seven hours every day, she sifts through the sea of mail that the charismatic Pope Francis gets. These include greetings, letters of appreciation, requests for prayers and even help to sort out family disputes.

It is a job Sister Lucy (in a picture with Pope Francis) - born and brought up in South Goa's Cuncolim - has been doing for 13 years, and for three pontiffs. She is the only Indian among the 300-odd staff rendering this service at the Secretariat - the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church.

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Sister Lucy, 69, has also had Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II as her bosses. It's a privileged position but also a lot of work. "There is no time to interact with others as work is pouring in," she tells TOI from Vatican City. Vatican Radio had earlier reported that Pope Francis gets a few thousand letters a week from across the world.

Her job is to make sure that details of all letters are fed into the system. "Nothing is thrown out. Every letter received is treated with secrecy and respect for the sender. Even little children write in and send drawings of the Pope with his skullcap," she says.

Not too long ago, she was pleasantly surprised to see a letter in Konkani that came in from Mapusa. A majority of the letters come from Italy, Portugal, France and Spain, she says, adding that most Indian mail is sent from Kerala.

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Besides being proficient in French (she worked as a lecturer in French at St Francis College for Women in Hyderabad), Sr Lucy is also able to decipher text in Polish and German, which she picked up on the job. While Hindi and Marathi come naturally to her, she also has a good command over Portuguese and Spanish.

Sr Lucy visits her family in Mumbai and Goa every three years. "Goa is my own land and it's only natural that I have so much nostalgia for it. I feel bad about the coconut trees being cut down because Goa is such a charming and beautiful state," she says.

Her younger brother Victor Britto and his family have just returned from Rome after having visited her and receiving special blessings from Pope Francis.

The Goan moved to Mumbai in the 1950s and joined the Sisters of Charity when she was 21. A graduate in English literature, political science and psychology, Sr Lucy went on to pursue a masters degree in French and an MPhil in the same subject from France. Before departing for Rome, she was posted as Mother Superior at Prabhadevi's Yuvathi Sharan hostel in Mumbai.

"It could have been anybody else," she says of her posting at the Vatican's Secretariat. "Perhaps they considered my certificates and experience."
In what surprised administration authorities have called a "noble gesture", residents of a village in Bijnor turned down Rs 17.5 lakh from the government and chose instead to collect money on their own to build their toilets as a good deed to mark the holy month of Ramadan. After inspection, the village, Mubarakpur Kala, was declared open defecation free (ODF) on Friday.

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Mubarakpur Kala falls under Haldaur block and has a total of 661 families, predominantly Muslim, making a population of over 3,500. Only 146 families had toilets in their houses. Others used the fields. The district administration had sought a proposal from the pradhan, Kishwar Janha, to make the village ODF. She prepared the proposal and sent it to the authorities.

Chief development officer (CDO) Indramani Tripathi and district panchayati raj officer Manish Kumar had then released Rs 17.5 lakh into the joint bank account of the pradhan and gram secretary to distribute among needy villagers to build the toilets.

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But the officers were in for a pleasant surprise. A few days ago, the villagers returned the money to them and said, "This is the month of Ramzan, when one should give but not take any monetary help, and do good work. To construct toilets in every house is good work and we will do it on our own."

CDO Tripathi said, "It may be the first village of the state whose residents refused to take a single paisa from the government to build toilets. It is a marvellous gesture. Residents of Mubarakpur Kala, and the pradhan, have set a noble and novel example for us."

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Pradhan Janha said, "Two months ago, we held a meeting at our village. Everyone, including a large number of women, participated. The women, in particular, urged us about the need for a toilet in each house.

Then officials came here and it was decided to release the money to our villagers. After we got the money, we held another meeting and asked the villagers whether we should take government aid or not. We unanimously agreed to do it on our own as it was our duty. For those too poor to afford it, we decided to collect money and help them."

With other villagers providing money and poor villagers pitching in with labour, the toilets were constructed. On Friday, officials visited the village and formally declared it ODF.
As the bloody war continue to uproot ISIS fighters from the Syrian city Of Raqqa, reports suggest that at least 79 people, including 16 children and nine women, were killed in the first five days.

AFP

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) warned that the number of victims was increasing due to bombardments by the US-led international coalition, which killed 24 people, including five minors and three women, reports EFE news.

The SOHR said those who died on Saturday included 15 people who were inside an internet cafe, and among them was an NGO activist.

AFP

The ground offensive against al-Raqqa, the main IS stronghold in Syria, began last week, under the command of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The number of civilians remaining inside al-Raqqa, which before the beginning of the conflict in Syria had more than 200,000 inhabitants, is not known for certain, according to official statistics.
Amid a hike in hate crimes in the United Kingdom, a woman was pushed to the ground and her hijab ripped off. This comes after two terror attacks by Islamists that claimed 30 lives.

The assault took place in Fengate, Peterborough, after the woman had just got out of her car and crossed the road with her three-year-old daughter when she was pushed from behind and knocked to the ground.

Reuters

Her hijab was pulled off and thrown towards her. No words were exchanged in the assault, but police have confirmed they are treating it as a racially or religiously aggravated hate crime, Peterborough Telegraph reported.



The male offender was described as white, tall, of medium build and wearing a black hooded top with the head pulled up.

A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the victim was shaken by the attack but otherwise uninjured.

The assault comes amid a spike in hate crime incidents in the UK following a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and an attack in London by three terrorists, who drove a van into pedestrians and then went on a stabbing spree, killing eight persons before being shot dead.

The kind of incidents reported included a bomb threat received by a Muslim school, racist graffiti and a niqab-clad woman being told she should not be wearing the Islamic outfit.
This Is The Real Story Behind The Crisis Unfolding In Qatar





Only Shakespeares plays could come close to describing such treachery  the comedies, that is



By Robert Fisk

June 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The Qatar crisis proves two things: the continued infantilisation of the Arab states, and the total collapse of the Sunni Muslim unity supposedly created by Donald Trumps preposterous attendance at the Saudi summit two weeks ago.

After promising to fight to the death against Shia Iranian terror, Saudi Arabia and its closest chums have now ganged up on one of the wealthiest of their neighbours, Qatar , for being a fountainhead of terror. Only Shakespeares plays could come close to describing such treachery. Shakespeares comedies, of course.

For, truly, there is something vastly fantastical about this charade. Qatars citizens have certainly contributed to Isis. But so have Saudi Arabias citizens.

No Qataris flew the 9/11 planes into New York and Washington. All but four of the 19 killers were Saudi. Bin Laden was not a Qatari. He was a Saudi.

But Bin Laden favoured Qatars al-Jazeera channel with his personal broadcasts, and it was al-Jazeera who tried to give spurious morality to the al-Qaeda/Jabhat al-Nusrah desperadoes of Syria by allowing their leader hours of free airtime to explain what a moderate, peace-loving group they all were.

Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Qatar over terror links

First, lets just get rid of the hysterically funny bits of this story. I see that Yemen is breaking air links with Qatar. Quite a shock for the poor Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, since Yemen  under constant bombardment by his former Saudi and Emirati chums  doesnt have a single serviceable airliner left with which to create, let alone break, an air link.

The Maldives have also broken relations with Qatar. To be sure, this has nothing to do with the recent promise of a Saudi five-year loan facility of $300m to the Maldives, the proposal of a Saudi property company to invest $100m in a family resort in the Maldives and a promise by Saudi Islamic scholars to spend $100,000 on 10 world class mosques in the Maldives.

And let us not mention the rather large number of Isis and other Islamist cultists who arrived to fight for Isis in Iraq and Syria from  well, the Maldives.

Now the Qatari Emir hasnt enough troops to defend his little country should the Saudis decide to request that he ask their army to enter Qatar to restore stability  as the Saudis persuaded the King of Bahrain to do back in 2011. But Sheikh Tamim no doubt hopes that the massive US military air base in Qatar will deter such Saudi generosity.

When I asked his father, Sheikh Hamad (later uncharitably deposed by Tamim) why he didnt kick the Americans out of Qatar, he replied: Because if I did, my Arab brothers would invade me.

Like father, like son, I suppose. God Bless America.

All this started  so we are supposed to believe  with an alleged hacking of the Qatar News Agency, which produced some uncomplimentary but distressingly truthful remarks by Qatars Emir about the need to maintain a relationship with Iran.

Qatar denied the veracity of the story. The Saudis decided it was true and broadcast the contents on their own normally staid (and immensely boring) state television network. The upstart Emir, so went the message, had gone too far this time. The Saudis decided policy in the Gulf, not miniscule Qatar. Wasnt that what Donald Trumps visit proved?

But the Saudis had other problems to worry about. Kuwait, far from cutting relations with Qatar, is now acting as a peacemaker between Qatar and the Saudis and Emiratis. The emirate of Dubai is quite close to Iran, has tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates, and is hardly following Abu Dhabis example of anti-Qatari wrath.

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Oman was even staging joint naval manoeuvres with Iran a couple of months ago. Pakistan long ago declined to send its army to help the Saudis in Yemen, because the Saudis asked for only Sunni and no Shia soldiers; the Pakistani army was understandably outraged to realise that Saudi Arabia was trying to sectarianise its military personnel.

Pakistans former army commander, General Raheel Sharif, is rumoured to be on the brink of resigning as head of the Saudi-sponsored Muslim alliance to fight terror.

Five things to know about Qatar's first 2022 World Cup stadium

President-Field Marshal al-Sissi of Egypt has been roaring against Qatar for its support of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood  and Qatar does indeed support the now-banned group which Sissi falsely claims is part of Isis  but significantly Egypt, though the recipient of Saudi millions, also does not intend to supply its own troops to bolster the Saudis in its catastrophic Yemen war.

Besides, Sissi needs his Egyptian soldiers at home to fight off Isis attacks and maintain, along with Israel, the siege of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

But if we look a bit further down the road, its not difficult to see what really worries the Saudis. Qatar also maintains quiet links with the Assad regime. It helped secure the release of Syrian Christian nuns in Jabhat al-Nusrah hands and has helped release Lebanese soldiers from Isis hands in western Syria. When the nuns emerged from captivity, they thanked both Bashar al-Assad and Qatar.

And there are growing suspicions in the Gulf that Qatar has much larger ambitions: to fund the rebuilding of post-war Syria. Even if Assad remained as president, Syrias debt to Qatar would place the nation under Qatari economic control.

And this would give tiny Qatar two golden rewards. It would give it a land empire to match its al-Jazeera media empire. And it would extend its largesse to the Syrian territories, which many oil companies would like to use as a pipeline route from the Gulf to Europe via Turkey, or via tankers from the Syrian port of Lattakia.

For Europeans, such a route would reduce the chances of Russian oil blackmail, and make sea-going oil routes less vulnerable if vessels did not have to move through the Gulf of Hormuz.

So rich pickings for Qatar  or for Saudi Arabia, of course, if the assumptions about US power of the two emirs, Hamad and Tamim, prove worthless. A Saudi military force in Qatar would allow Riyadh to gobble up all the liquid gas in the emirate.

But surely the peace-loving anti-terror Saudis  lets forget the head-chopping for a moment  would never contemplate such a fate for an Arab brother.

So lets hope that for the moment, the routes of Qatar Airways are the only parts of the Qatari body politics to get chopped off.

This article was first published by

The

Independent

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Israeli Chief Rabbis Endorse Ethnic Cleansing, Palestinian Servitude

By Richard Silverstein

June 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The Israeli chief Sephardic rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, told a gathering of followers that non-Jews should be expelled from Israel (Hebrew here ). The only exception, he said, would be in the cases of non-Jews who accepted the seven Noahide laws .

The rabbis intent is to expel the largest non-Jewish population in Israel, Palestinian Arabs. He also said that those non-Jews who did accept the Noahide laws and remained in the Israel, would primarily serve Jews. Their role would be akin to slaves and servants in colonial regimes.

The chief Rabbi acknowledged that Israel was currently not in a position to execute this plan; primarily because of the resistance to it from the non-Jewish world. However, he said that in the time of the messiah Israel would be in a position to implement this plan. And he looked forward to the Messianic era with great joy and anticipation.

Yosef also reminded his followers that any Palestinian armed with any weapon was worth killing without hesitation (he who seeks to kill you, rise up before and kill him first). He was tacitly criticizing the IDF chief of staff whod told an audience last week that Orthodox reasoning that killing any Palestinian no matter how small the threat posed was unacceptable. He did not want, he said, to see his soldiers emptying their bullet chambers on Palestinians wielding scissors. Rabbi Yosefs religious reasoning reverts back to the most primitive eye for an eye thinking which Jews havent used as their operative principle in thousands of years.

Expulsion of Palestinians accords with those of the former Chief Ashkenazi, Jonah Metzger, who said that non-Jews, meaning Palestinian Muslims, should be expelled from Israel to Egypt . He said that the Sinai would be a perfect place to send them, since it was underpopulated. He suggested that Palestinian genius would make the desert bloom like Arizona. He even generously offered Israeli assistance in resettling what would be Israeli Palestinian refugees.

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Yosef, is the son of the former Sephardi chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Before he died, the latter said that non-Jews in Israel served only one useful purpose. He likened them to donkeys who served their masters as beasts of burden.

Some may argue that these figures are marginal in Israeli society. However Rabbi Yosef is not just the chief Sephardic Rabbi, but also a spiritual leader of one of Israels major political parties, Shas. As such, he wields considerable power in Israeli society. Israel, which was once a largely secular society, has become increasingly theocratic.

We should also keep in mind that societies which were once liberal and humane one minute, turned into something quite different and uglier the next. As examples, we should look to our own country under Trump and Hungary under Viktor Orban. Civilization and tolerance can disappear in a heartbeat. Its especially troubling when religion is the champion of such brutalism.

There may be those encouraged by this to claim that these interpretations represent Judaism in full. Not so. They are not arbiters of Judaism for millions of the rest of us who do not ascribe to these views. But since there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions who do follow them, their views are worth portraying. [Originally published by Tikun Olam .]
Saudi Arabia is Destabilizing the World

By Stephen Kinzer

June 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Just a few months ago, the governor of Indonesias largest city, Jakarta, seemed headed for easy re-election despite the fact that he is a Christian in a mostly Muslim country. Suddenly everything went violently wrong. Using the pretext of an offhand remark the governor made about the Koran, masses of enraged Muslims took to the streets to denounce him. In short order he lost the election, was arrested, charged with blasphemy, and sentenced to two years in prison.

This episode is especially alarming because Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim country, has long been one of its most tolerant. Indonesian Islam, like most belief systems on that vast archipelago, is syncretic, gentle, and open-minded. The stunning fall of Jakartas governor reflects the opposite: intolerance, sectarian hatred, and contempt for democracy. Fundamentalism is surging in Indonesia. This did not happen naturally.

Saudi Arabia has been working for decades to pull Indonesia away from moderate Islam and toward the austere Wahhabi form that is state religion in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis campaign has been patient, multi-faceted, and lavishly financed. It mirrors others they have waged in Muslim countries across Asia and Africa.

Successive American presidents have assured us that Saudi Arabia is our friend and wishes us well. Yet we know that Osama bin Laden and most of his 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, and that, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote in a diplomatic cable eight years ago, Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.

Recent events in Indonesia shine a light on a Saudi project that is even more pernicious than financing terrorists. Saudi Arabia has used its wealth, much of which comes from the United States, to turn entire nations into hotbeds of radical Islam. By refusing to protest or even officially acknowledge this far-reaching project, we finance our own assassins  and global terror.

The center of Saudi Arabias campaign to convert Indonesians to Wahhabi Islam is a tuition-free university in Jakarta known by the acronym LIPIA. All instruction is in Arabic, given mainly by preachers from Saudi Arabia and nearby countries. Genders are kept apart; strict dress codes are enforced; and music, television, and loud laughter are forbidden. Students learn an ultra-conservative form of Islam that favors hand amputation for thieves, stoning for adulterers, and death for gays and blasphemers.

Many of the students come from the more than 100 boarding schools Saudi Arabia supports in Indonesia, or have attended one of the 150 mosques that Saudis have built there. The most promising are given scholarships to study in Saudi Arabia, from which they return fully prepared to wreak social, political, and religious havoc in their homeland. Some promote terror groups like Hamas Indonesia and the Islamic Defenders Front, which did not exist before the Saudis arrived.

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Eager to press his advantage, King Salman of Saudi Arabia made a nine-day trip to Indonesia in March, accompanied by an entourage of 1,500. The Saudis agreed to allow more than 200,000 Indonesians to make the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca each year  more than come from any other country  and sought permission to open new branches of their LIPIA university. Some Indonesians are pushing back against the Saudi assault on their traditional values, but it is difficult to deny permission for new religious schools when the state is not able to provide decent secular alternatives. In Indonesia, as in other countries where the Saudis are actively promoting Wahhabism  including Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia  the weakness and corruption of central governments create pools of rootless unemployed who are easily seduced by the promises of free food and a place in Gods army.

The surging fundamentalism that is transforming Indonesia teaches several lessons. First is one that we should already have learned, about the nature of the Saudi government. It is an absolute monarchy supported by one of the worlds most reactionary religious sects. It gives clerics large sums to promote their anti-Western, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic brand of religious militancy abroad. In exchange, the clerics refrain from criticizing the Saudi monarchy or its thousands of high-living princes. Saudis with close ties to the ruling family give crucial support to groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS. This fact should be at the front of our minds whenever we consider our policy toward the Middle East  including when we decide whether to side with the Saudis in their new dispute with neighboring Qatar .

Saudi Arabias success in reshaping Indonesia shows the importance of the global battle over ideas. Many in Washington consider spending for cultural and other soft power projects to be wasteful. The Saudis feel differently. They pour money and resources into promoting their world view. We should do the same.

The third lesson that todays Indonesia teaches is about the vulnerability of democracy. In 1998 Indonesias repressive military dictatorship gave way to a new system, based on free elections, that promised civil and political rights for all. Radical preachers who would previously have been imprisoned for whipping up religious hatred found themselves free spread their poison. Democracy enables them to forge giant mobs that demand death for apostates. Their political parties campaign in democratic elections for the right to come to power and crush democracy. This is a sobering reality for those who believe that one political system is best for all countries under all circumstances.

The Saudi campaign to radicalize global Islam also shows that earth-shaking events often happen slowly and quietly. The press, focused intently on reporting todays news, often misses deeper and more important stories. Historians of journalism sometimes point to the northward great migration of African-Americans after World War II as an epochal story that few journalists noticed because it was a slow process rather than one-day news event.

The same is true of Saudi Arabias long campaign to pull the worlds 1.8 billion Muslims back to the 7th century. We barely notice it, but every day, from Mumbai to Manchester, we feel its effects.

Stephen Kinzer is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Follow him on Twitter @stephenkinzer .
Britain's Real Terror Apologists

By Finian Cunningham

June 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Despite a vicious smear campaign to denigrate Britain's Labour leader as a "terrorist sympathizer," Jeremy Corbyn still pulled off an amazing achievement in the general election.

Hardly has a politician in any Western state been so vilified with character assassination, and yet he has proven to be most popular Labour leader in Britain since the Second World War.

After weeks of trailing his Conservative rival Theresa May in the polls, Corbyn's socialist manifesto appealed to a record number of voters  closing the gap between the parties to only two percentage points behind the Tories.

This was in spite of a concerted media campaign to destroy Corbyn in the eyes of the British public as a "terrorist stooge." The irony here is that the Conservative party is forming a governing coalition with a little-known Northern Ireland party whose history is steeped in British state terrorism. (More on that in a moment.)

For Corbyn, the election outcome was a stunning moral victory. For Prime Minister May it was a humiliating defeat. The Conservatives lost their overall majority in the British parliament and now they have to rely on this reactionary fringe party from Northern Ireland to form a government.

May called the snap election because she thought her party would increase its majority and also because she calculated that Corbyn's socialist direction of Labour would be wiped out. Many Blairite naysayers in his own party thought so too.

The opposite happened. The British public largely rejected May and her neoliberal capitalist, pro-austerity, pro-NATO policies. They instead rallied behind Corbyn. Granted, the Tories still won the election  only narrowly  but the surge in support for Labour under Corbyn means that he has galvanized a party that stands a strong chance of winning if another election is called. And that could be soon, perhaps in the coming months owing May's shaky ad hoc government collapsing.

Another riveting factor in all this is that Corbyn's success came amid a torrential Tory and right-wing media campaign to denigrate him as a terrorist sympathizer. The propaganda onslaught was conducted for months since May called the election back in April. And it grew to a frenzy as election day approached last Thursday, especially when the opinion polls showed Labour steadily whittling away the earlier Conservative support.

The day before the public went to the polling booths, the Daily Mail ran the front page headline : "Apologist for terror," with Jeremy Corbyn's photo below. It looked like a "wanted poster" from the Wild West. The only thing missing was the subhead with the words: "Wanted dead or alive."

The scurrilous allegation pounded over and over by the largely pro-Conservative British media that Corbyn is "soft on terrorism" stems from his otherwise principled history of campaigning on international justice and peace.

Over his 35 years as an MP, he has voiced consistent support for Palestinian rights under illegal Zionist occupation; he has supported Hezbollah resistance against Israeli and American aggression; and during the conflict in Northern Ireland, Corbyn gave a voice to Irish Republicans who were being assailed by British military violence.

Many other international causes could be mentioned, such as Corbyn opposing British government weapons dealing with the despotic Saudi regime which is propagating terrorism in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

He has also campaigned to abandon nuclear weapons and is critical of NATO's reckless expansion in Europe, which have earned him the jingoistic pillorying by the British establishment of "being soft on Russia."

Corbyn has never condoned terrorism. Rather he has always sought to properly put it in a wider context of other parties also, unaccountably, using terrorism and thus fueling conflict.

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This brings us to so-called Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from Northern Ireland whose 10 MPs Theresa May's Tories are now relying on to form a government. This party was formed in the early 1970s by the firebrand Protestant preacher Ian Paisley. While Paisley mellowed in later years before his death in 2014, he spent most of his career preaching vile hatred against Catholics and Irish Republicans, whom he saw as a threat to the political union between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain. In British-run Northern Ireland, it wasn't acceptable to have a democratic aspiration for an independent Ireland. You were either a pro-British unionist or a "threat." So much for British democracy.

Senior members of Paisley's pro-British party played a crucial role in smuggling massive caches of weapons into Northern Ireland during the 1980s to illegally arm unionist paramilitaries. These paramilitaries went on to murder hundreds of innocent people simply because they were Catholics, who tended to be Republican. A favored tactic of these paramilitaries was to storm into pubs and homes and indiscriminately mow people down with assault rifles.

One notorious pro-British killer was Gusty Spence who belonged to the Ulster Volunteer Force paramilitary. He later expressed remorse and deplored Ian Paisley, the DUP founder, as the person who incited him to murder innocent Catholics due to his sectarian hate speech.

The paramilitary murder gangs were not just supported covertly by members of the DUP. The British government of Margaret Thatcher  Theresa May's predecessor and political heroine  orchestrated these same death squads in a covert policy of "dirty war."

British military intelligence colluded with the pro-unionist militants to assassinate Republican politicians and ordinary Catholics alike in a covert policy of state-sponsored terrorism. The objective was to terrorize people in submitting to British rule over Northern Ireland, rather than allowing the island country to become united and independent.

The British government provided intelligence and cover for the death squads and the unionist politicians had helped supply the AK-47 assault rifles and Browning handguns smuggled from Apartheid South Africa.

This secret dirty war policy of the British government and their unionist proxies in Northern Ireland has been uncovered by investigative journalists such as Paul Larkin (see his groundbreaking book "A Very British Jihad: Collusion, Conspiracy and Cover-up in Northern Ireland"); as well as human rights campaign groups like Belfast-based Relatives for Justice and Pat Finucane Centre .

Not even the present government of Theresa May can deny this murderous legacy in Ireland, although there is a determined silence now as she fights for her political survival in the wake of the British election disaster.

It is a proven fact that May's Conservative party and the unionist politicians whom she is now partnering with to govern Britain were complicit in terrorism.

Northern Ireland has since gained a peace settlement in which unionist and republican politicians have been able to work together to form a local governing administration. The Irish peace process was possible partly because of the courageous and principled intervention by British politicians like Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn has never apologized for terrorism. He has sought to overcome it by making politics work. The same cannot be said for Theresa May's Conservative party. It was an accomplice and an apologist for a covert policy of state-sponsored terrorism during Northern Ireland's recent 30-year conflict.

The very party whom she is now allied with for governing Britain  the DUP  were also apologists for paramilitaries who routinely smashed their way into family homes and slaughtered victims in cold blood in front of their loved ones.

The ongoing muted policy of May's government and her unionist proxies about their murderous legacy in Ireland is a testimony to who the real apologists for terror are.
Home Going for Regime-Change in Doha By Abdel Bari Atwan June 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The strongly-worded warning issued to Qatar on Friday by US President Donald Trump  accusing it of being a funder of terrorism at a very high level and demanding that it  stop immediately supporting terrorism  suggests that the US has not only signed up fully to the Saudi-UAE-Egyptian-Bahraini alliance against Qatar, but assumed its leadership. It also confirms that the steps taken by the four countries to blockade Qatar and suffocate it economically had prior American approval. This amounts to a conditional American declaration of war. When Trump announces at a White House press conference,  Ive decided, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, our great generals, and military people, the time has come to call on Qatar to end its funding, the meaning cannot be clearer in this regard. Trump struck this hard-line stance just hours after Tillerson made statements about the crisis in the Gulf that were conciliatory and calming in tone. He urged Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain to ease their blockade of Qatar, arguing that it was damaging to US military operations against the Islamic State (IS) group in addition to causing humanitarian harm. In our view, this sudden toughening of the American position was a response to the way the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin-Hamad Al Khalifa, turned down Trumps invitation to him and the other principals in the crisis to travel to Washington to explore for solutions. He justified his refusal to attend on the grounds that he could not leave his country while it remained under blockade. This angered the US president, who has been behaving like an emperor and thinks his orders cannot be disobeyed. Emir Tamim does not trust the US administration, and fears the invitation could merely have been a trap to keep him in the US and prevent him from returning home, while Saudi and UAE forces invade in support of an internal coup that deposes him as ruler and installs a new emir from the other wing of the ruling Al Thani. The 10,000 US troops based at al-Udaid in Qatar also could conceivably play a supporting role in such a scheme. It was striking that during the three summits that were convened for him in Riyadh earlier this month (with Saudi, Gulf and Arab/Islamic leaders respectively), Trump adopted wholesale the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia and the UAE which deems Iran to be the spearhead of terrorism in the region. He supported their severing of ties with and closure of their borders and airspace to Qatar on the grounds that is an ally of Iran and supporter of terrorism, in the view of this new alliance. When Trump instructs his generals, as he did at the White House press conference, to take practical measures to oblige Qatar to stop funding terrorism, that leaves Doha with very few options. It can either accept the ten conditions to which Saudi Arabia and its allies demanded its immediate compliance, or it must face up to the consequences of refusing to do so. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter The summary expulsion, in a harsh manner, of Qatari citizens from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain and the three Gulf countries closure of their borders and severing of relations is a declaration of war that spells of the end of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as we have known it. Trumps adoption of these steps, meanwhile, aborts the so-called Arab/Islamic NATO as it was proposed at the Riyadh summits. Instead, this alliance will be reduced to one based solely on the members of the Gulf/Arab anti-Qatar coalition. When Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain enact laws that punish expressions of support for Qatar on social media with 15 years imprisonment or fines of up to one million dollars, this means that all the talk of brotherhood and common bonds between the Gulf states has evaporated forever  along with any remaining lip-service to respecting human rights. Qatar has announced that it will not submit to tutelage or surrender in the face of attempts to suffocate and blockade it, and will therefore not change its foreign policy. It has begun to seek support and protection from its friends in Ankara and Tehran. This could prompt its adversaries to take even harsher and more aggressive measures against it, such as Egypt preventing Qatari gas exports from transiting the Suez Canal. Qatar has cards of its own to play, such as shutting down the pipeline that supplies Qatari gas to the UAE, or expelling 200,000 resident Egyptian migrant workers. But it has insisted that it will not resort to such measures, and that Egyptian workers will not be harmed and Qatari gas will continue being pumped. It was evident from the outset of this crisis that it would becoming increasingly serious, and now it can be expected to escalate further  especially after the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad fell into a state of depression due to the failure of his mediation effort, to which not all sides were responsive. When Trump brings his generals  some of them based at al-Aideed  into the crisis and orders them to act to stop Qatar form supporting terrorism, we should expect the worst. The worst in this case could mean a military solution and enforced regime-change. And that would mean setting the region, in part or in whole, ablaze. This article was first published by Raialyoum - The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
Union Bank of Nigeria has gotten one of its customers identified as Emeka Chukwuma, 62, by the Ikoyi Division of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing the sum of N4,176,950.65 belonging to the bank which it erroneously transferred into his account.

The suspect was arrested on the order of the Divisional Police Officer, DPO of the police division, SP Tijani Mustapha following the complaint by the management of the bank.

The suspect was arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate Court on a two-count charge of stealing.

Police prosecutor, Jimoh Joseph, informed the court in charge No. A/17A/2017 that the accused committed the offence on 7 December, 2016 at the Union Bank of Nigeria, Lagos.

Joseph told the court that the management of the Union Bank, during their daily transactions, erroneously transferred the sum of N4,176,960.65 into the account of the accused.

He said immediately the bank management discovered the wrong transaction, they quickly informed the accused about the development, but that the accused still went ahead to withdraw all the money from different branches with ATM card and withdrawal slip before the money could be recalled.

Joseph said the offence committed by the accused was punishable under sections 411 and 287 of the criminal laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty and the Chief Magistrate, Mrs. O. O. Oshin admitted him on bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Oshin adjourned the case till 17 July, 2017 for mention while the defendant was taken to the Ikoyi Prison, pending when he would be able to fulfill his bail condition.

Source: ( PM News )
Boko Haram insurgents has raided Kuda-kaya village in Madagali, Adamawa State to steal food and medical supplies, residents and officials said.

The sources said scores of fighters stormed the village, two kilometres from Gulak, the administrative headquarters of Madagali, for the attack.

They came in numbers and just started shooting sporadically into the air with their guns; and there was pandemonium as people started fleeing for their lives, a fleeing resident said.

Our local hunters engaged them in a fierce battle. Presently we are hiding somewhere in a nearby village, the resident, who sought anonymity for security reasons, stated.

A local hunter in the area, who pleaded anonymity, added that, They (Boko Haram) came at about 8 p.m. and wanted to take over the village which is just a stone thrown to Gulak.

But we engaged them, he added; saying soldiers later arrived.

The Chairman of Madagali Local Government Area, Yusuf Muhammad, confirmed that the attack was repelled by the hunters and the soldiers who arrived promptly.

Mr. Muhammad lauded the efforts of security agencies and local vigilantes, and urged for more support to secure the area.

Boko Haram raided Kuda-kaya, in the latest rampage to steal food and medical supplies, but our gallant soldiers and hunters had engaged them to a fierce battle.

They were on rampage to steal food and medical supplies; even on Friday the raided my fathers village Humbli, he said.

He said calm had returned to the area with soldiers on permanent guard.

The Army is yet to react to the attack. Akintoye Badare, a major and spokesperson of the 28 Task-Force Battalion, Mubi, could not be reached as at the time of filing this report.

But an officer in the battalion confirmed the incident.

All I can confirm to you now is that there was an attack on Kuda-kaya and Humbli villages; but we successfully repelled; no casualty on our side, the source said.

The attack on Kuda-Kaya came less than 24 hours after a similar attack in Humbli, forcing residents to flee. The attack also occurs about two days after a daring Boko Haram onslaught on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The recent attacks indicate the group is still able to carry out major attacks and has not been defeated despite the successes achieved by Nigerian soldiers in the war.
In a recent video released by the Boko Haram sect, the leader of group Abubakar Shekau, has claimed victory in the Thursday attack on Maiduguri, Borno State, boasting to use the arms allegedly seized by his men from fleeing soldiers to carry out more attacks on the city.

The police and the Nigeria military had in separate statements issued on Friday said the attack on Maiduguri was effectively repelled and that three Boko Haram fighters were killed, while one was captured alive.

Mr. Shekau also boasted that his group was invincible saying the Nigerian government must accept Islam and repent from its evil ways, as a precondition for ceasefire.

The 23 minutes video released via YouTube was preluded by a man in military combat uniform walking over a large cache of live ammunition, boots, helmets of soldiers, mobile handsets, military ID cards, booklets and drugs which the character claimed were seized from Nigeria soldiers after the attack.

Speaking Hausa, the character narrated how the group successfully invaded Jiddari suburb of Maiduguri and overpowered soldiers, who he claimed fled.

He said the ongoing war will continue for a long time and would be inherited by the terrorists children and grandchildren just like the situation in some parts of the middle east.

The video showed a footage of the insurgents driving in Hilux vans into Maiduguri by manoeuvring the Sand hill and trenches built to surround the city. They created an emergency bridge over the trench to allow their vehicles pass through.

Afterwards, the video showed Mr. Shekau in a jungle environment, standing in front of the armoured vehicles and flanked by three armed men. He was dressed in a military khaki, with a turban around his head and an AK-47 gun hung across his chest. His right hand clutched a huge chewing stick, which he occasionally used to brush his teeth as he spoke; while his left hand held a spiral-bounded booklet from which he read out his message in Arabic and later translated into Kanuri and Hausa.

I am Abubakar Shekau, leader of the group known as Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Li Dawati wal Jihad. We give thanks to Allah the exalted for bringing us to this day.

We are happy and we are bringing glad tidings to our brothers who are spread all over the world that God has given us victory after He has safely taken us to the city of Maiduguri, where God has assisted us to chase the infidel soldiers and gave us victory over them.

The soldiers are out there searching for us in Sambisa forest, but here we are bringing war to them in the township. We came to the city of Maiduguri and got to Jiddari suburb of Maiduguri and the soldiers saw us and fled. They have lied once again to the world that they had killed us. But that was not true. Nothing happened to our fighters. We went there and God helped us to chase the infidels. It is not our doing; but Gods. We went to Maiduguri and killed all that deserved to die and God also helped us to kill them.

And here are the magnitude of arms and munitions that God has enriched us with. Here we have different bullets for Mark-4, Kalashnikov, hand grenades, and even ID Cards of senior military personnel which we have retrieved from the soldiers and we shall use them to fight them in this war. You shall all see us.

This is not our wisdom of prowess; it is the support of Allah.

So, let all our brethren know that the war is there ahead because it has just started.

We have looted their ammunitions, we have their phones and cellular devices. You all know that all we have and display in this video belongs to you because we did not go and buy them.

Be reminded once again that the war between us has just started. You should stop deceiving the world that you have finished us. You the defence minister must stop lying to the world that you have killed us all.

This is a war that our children and grandchildren will inherit from us and carry on with it. It is not a war that can be stopped or finished at once. So, stop lying to the world that you have killed us all when we went to Maiduguri. God took us there, and we fired all the shots into the city; the people of Maiduguri know the truth. Your soldiers fled upon seeing us; that was why God enriched us with the arms and munitions they had left behind.

You wait and be ready for us; we shall come to you again. We are going to bring the war to you in wherever you all are. God has instructed us to search for you and kill you all, just like you are searching for us in the bushes. We shall bring the war to the cities, so you all should get prepared. For the war has just begun.

Let the world know that we are alive and well in the bushes; nothing has happened to us; we are living our normal lives and observing our Ramadan fast just like the way every other person is doing.

Let General Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, know that he is not enough to deal with us. You need to know that there is no way you could end this war by killing us as you usually claimed. Our brethren in Chechnya and Somalia have been in this kind of war for over many years and it is still ongoing. The same applies to Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Syria as well as Libya. So, do you imagine that you could just come and defeat us at a time? It is not possible.

The only way out for you is to accept Islam in the proper way and repent your sins. The dispute between you and us is your lack of worship. If you come and do the proper worship of God in Islamic way, then the war would be no more.

We have no dialogue or truce between you and us. Dont lie to the world about it; there is never any peace deal between us. What we have between us is fire for fire; rife for rifle. If you repent and become true Muslims then we will lay down our rifles and then we will all come to do proper Sharia.

To the Civilian-JTF, you should stop wasting your time. You should know that if such kind of vigilante could help you, we would have ceased to exist by now. So, go and repent and come to worship because. Like the infidel soldiers are not sparing your lives so shall we not spare you.

To the people of Maiduguri, know that your fasting is in vain because God does not accept the deeds of a Muslim that has no true faith in God. As long as you are under constitution, you are an infidel; as long as you are under democracy and you go to western schools, you are an infidel. So, your fasting and prayers are waste of time.

Our interest is not in killing you, but to see that you accept true worship of God.

This is our brief message, we invaded Maiduguri and God has helped us to come out safely.

Source: ( Premium Times )
Details have been revealed about the lavish life of the notorious Nigerian kidnapper, Evans who was arrested in Lagos.

The lavish lifestyle of the billionaire kidnapper, Evans, are emerging, with his confession that he splashed his loot in buying a wristwatch for $170,000.

According to Premium Times, he also bought three phones for $6000 each and bought two houses in highbrow Magodo Estate in Lagos and another house in Ghana.

Evans was arrested in one of the houses in Lagos on Saturday, after eluding police radar for five years.

The Nation Newspaper in a report on Sunday said Evans real name is Chukwudubem Onwuamadike. He is from Umudim, Nnewi in Anambra state.

He was arrested at his Magodo residence around 1 p.m. by operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

It was gathered that the operatives got intelligence that Evans was hiding in his Magodo mansion where he was surrounded.

The suspect was said to have run to the roof of the house for emergency exit but the police officers caught up with him.

In the course of his arrest, he slammed the door against the operatives and injured a policeman.

It was gathered that four AK47 rifles and over 50 magazines were recovered from the house.

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had announced N30 million bounty for anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of Evans.

Evans, security forces said, has been responsible for many high-profile kidnapping in the south-west, south-south and south-eastern parts of the country.

Evans was said to be a brilliant criminal, who has given security forces sleepless nights.

He was said to have collected billions of naira as ransom from his victims, including expatriates, business moguls and public office holders.

A police source, who hinted on the arrest, said Mr. Idris deployed all resources at the Force disposal in the hunt for Evans.

He said their focus in the last one month had been to catch Evans alive so that Nigerians can have peace.

On how the suspect was arrested, the source: Someone called and gave information on his whereabouts. When we got there, he hid inside the roof of the house. He could not withstand the pressure on him from the police.

While Vampire was the most deadly kidnapper in the history of Nigeria and was caught some months ago during a gun battle, Evans remains the most brilliant, richest and crafty kidnapper in the countrys history.

When contacted, the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent (CSP) said the suspect would be paraded this afternoon.

The suspect told police investigators he had two houses in Magodo, which he brought for N130 million and N70 million.

Claiming to have been in the kidnapping business for 10 years, Evans also confessed to have two four bedroom houses in Ghana.

He claimed to have a wristwatch he bought for $170,000 and nine phones, three of which cost $6,000 each.

The kidnap kingpin said he sent his wife away when he realised the police were closing in on him.

He said he once relocated to Ghana and was planning to travel abroad before he was caught.

The suspect is currently being interrogated by the police.
The Peoples Democratic Party chairman in Niger State has been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Tanko Beji, the Niger State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, has been arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Punch Metro reports that Beji was invited to the Abuja office of the EFCC on Thursday, where he was detained after undergoing interrogation.

It was learnt that the PDP chairman would be arraigned alongside a former Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, and his former chief of staff, Umar Mohammed Nasko, on Monday (tomorrow).

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Niger Command, on Saturday, warned residents against unlawful assembly.

The NSCDC commandant in the state, Phillip Ayuba, gave this warning while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Minna.

Ayuba said organisers of any assembly meeting must seek permission from security agencies to provide security before and during the meeting.

He explained that any person or group of people, who flouted this order would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.

The commandant warned that the command would not tolerate any act capable of undermining the peaceful coexistence of residents in the state.

Ayuba also disclosed that the command and other security agencies had already taken concrete measures that would address or tackle any form of security threats or breaches in the state.

We have put in place sensitive security measures that will enable residents do their legitimate business without hindrance, he said.

Ayuba, however, called on residents to give the relevant intelligence to security agencies that could lead to the apprehension of criminals.
Self acclaimed investigative journalist, Kemi Olunloyo, who is the daughter of former governor of Oyo State, has revealed that she got married while in detention in Port Harcourt prison.

Nigerias controversial journalist and social media personality, Kemi Olunloyo, who was recently released from a Port Harcourt prison after spending 81 days in detention, has revealed that she got married in prison.

Recall that the daughter of former governor of Oyo State, Victor Omololu Olunloyo, was remanded in prison for purportedly publishing materials believed to have defamed an influential cleric, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, of the Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt.

Heres how she reported her marriage story on her Instagram page.

******************************

#BREAKING

I GOT MARRIED LIKE I PROMISED TO IN 2017. Yes I got MARRIED to someone in prison. This is my FIRST SUNDAY away from #PHMax prison. I lean towards Catholism and Islam which I grew up in and attended the Catholic church inside the prison.

There are up to 4 churches and a mosque in there plus the Pentecostal churches that visits inmates weekly and bring us the word of God and provisions. I became a bible reader. The same bible I ripped in 2016 as being a storybook of fiction may have been real. I studied what the prophets of old said. It seems unreal but these things likely happened.

But why are we commercializing religion and brainwashing the congregation? I will become a Woman of God very soon and use my prophetic abilities and bible story knowledge to apply wisdom to your lives. Prison always make all inmates spiritualright?.

Hell No! Jesus shows up in the most expected places. Unlike the enemies of the #freethesheeple movement who are so Christ obsessed? I did not find #Jesus. He found me! Jesus is my first and new HUSBAND! I have never been married or divorced in my entire life. This will be an everlasting relationship.

Say Alleluia! May God forgive your sins too! Dont be obsessed with religion. Minimize!

#HAPPYSUNDAY to all of you and my former inmates. My seat in the front row near our Catholic female leader and 76yo #MamaOwerri will be empty today as Father tells the church about my release last week.
Days after the threat by the Arewa Group on the Igbos to leave the North, the Eze Ndigbo (traditional rulers) and leaders of Igbo socio-cultural associations in the North have vowed to resist any attempt by the Coalition of Northern Groups to chase them out of the region.

The coalition groups are: Arewa Citizens Action for Change, led by Nastura Ashir Sharif; Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, led by Shettima Yerima; Arewa Youth Development Foundation, led by Aminu Adam; and the Arewa Students Forum, led by Alfred Solomon.

Others are, Northern Emancipation Network, led by Abdul-azeez Suleiman; Northern Youth Vanguard, led by Joshua Viashman; Northern Youth Stakeholders Forum, led by Mohammad Mohammad; North-East Assembly, led by Mohammed Tasiupantami; and North Central Peoples Front, led by Nathaniel Ajegenaadigizi.

Concerned by the outrage that greeted the declaration, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the arrest of the signatories to the declaration, but none of the youths has been apprehended as of Saturday.

The tension generated by the declaration of the northern youths worsened on Friday afternoon, when a prominent member of the Northern Elders Forum, and former Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, threw his weight behind the coalition.

The group of northern elders also expressed disappointment with the Northern Governors Forum for disowning the coalition, insisting that it was hypocritical for the Igbo to continue to live in other parts of the country while agitating for Nigerias breakup.

Speaking with one of our correspondents, the Eze Ndigbo of Kano, Boniface Ibekwe, said the over three million Igbo indigenes in Kano would not leave the city with all their investments acquired over several decades.

He said, We have advised our people to remain calm and that nobody should travel. The lives and property Igbo are secure. As far as I am concerned, no Igbo man has relocated with his family to the East. We are here and going about our normal business. The northern groups fanning the embers of war have never experienced the pains and after-effects of war because, if they had, they would always pray for the sustenance of peace, unity and stability.

Also, the Eze Ndigbo of Kaduna, Igwe Sylvanus Aneke, told one of our correspondents that his people were not afraid of the plans of the Arewa youths, especially when the Federal Government had stepped into the matter.

He said, The youths have asked us to leave, but their parents, the police, the state government and the Federal Government have asked us to ignore the threat. We will rather listen to the elders and the government.

Ango Abdullahi merely expressed his opinion. We are not taking him seriously because we are used to his antics. We are watching the events for now. We will take our decisions after we have watched, prayed and discovered that nothing has changed.

The President General of the Igbo Community Welfare Association in Kaduna State, Chris Nnoli, also urged Igbo in the North to stay still.

He said, It (the ultimatum) is a serious issue that should naturally be taken seriously. We are concerned, but since the Kaduna State Government has assured us of safety, we want to hold on to this assurance. I am greatly worried that up till this moment, nobody has been apprehended over the issue. We are watching events and we believe that government will intensify action and get the youths arrested. It is when we have seen that the government and the IGs assurances are not effective that we will start to think of other means of seeking protection.

The Eze Igbo III, Jos South in Plateau State, Lawrence Onwudinjo, who is also the President, Igbo Cultural Association, said no Igbo person would leave the North on account of any threat from any northern youth.

He said, Igbo people in Plateau State are going nowhere. There is no right-thinking human being that will ask people to leave where they are living. This is one Nigeria where we are living. Nigeria belongs to all of us. I believe that if any part of the country needs anything, they should sit down together to discuss it. Everybody should come to a roundtable to discuss it.

Another Igbo leader in Lantang, James Abraham, said no Igbo would relocate and that if they would have to move, northerners in the South-East should be waiting for their quit notice too.

He said, If the Arewa youths tell us to leave the North, their kinsmen in the South-East should also be ready to leave. Do the Arewa youths have representatives in Plateau State? They should not be taken seriously.

The President General of the Igbo community in Sokoto, Onyebuchi Uwaga, told SUNDAY PUNCH that, following the assurance from the government and the police, no Igbo would leave the North.

Also, the Ezeigbo I of Nasarawa State, Nathaniel Nduba, in calling for the immediate arrest of the Arewa youths in the interest of peace, pointed out that no Igbo person would leave the region, despite the threat given by the northern coalition.

A yam seller in Nasarawa, Mrs. Amaka Chukwudi, also said, The threat by the AYCF was an empty threat. They forget that they have their brothers and sisters spread across other states. Has anybody asked them to leave? Why should the northerners give such an ultimatum?

Igbo in Bauchi State, in reaction to the ultimatum, also stated that they would not leave the North.

One of them, Joshua Chukwu, said, For me, I will not take laws into my hands but will remain law-abiding, as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees everyone, irrespective of tribe or origin, the right to reside in whatever part of the country he deems fit to pursue his legitimate business.

Similarly, Igbo in Niger State told SUNDAY PUNCH that they would ignore the threat and carry on with their legitimate activities without exercising any fear.

A businessman, Tochukwu Chikwem, said he had no plans to send his family back to the East.

Another Igbo man in Minna, Felix Irojiogu, said, They are seeking recognition or attention which they dont deserve. They are wasting their time; government should arrest them for trying to cause problem in the country.

In Katsina State, the mood of defiance was also noticed when a businessman, Jude Eze, said, How can I listen to the rantings of those rascals? You should know they dont know the consequences of what they are saying. It took our leaders and elders years of sweat, and some even paid with their lives, to get Nigeria to this stage and some boys who have never gone beyond their villages are saying we should pack our belongings and go. We are not going anywhere.

Meanwhile, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has assured non-indigenes in the state of their safety.

But in Sokoto State, some Igbo men have made up their minds to leave, stressing that anyone who ignores the Arewa youths threat would do so at his peril.

One of them, Uchendu Sunday, a father of three, who operates a patent medicine store at Mabera, in Sokoto, said, I grew up in Kano. Sadly, my elder brother was killed there during a violent demonstration against the United States of America, when Osama bin Laden was declared wanted in 2001, after the bombing of the World Trade Centre.

It was this sad memory that haunted me out of Kano to Sokoto. This is why I have decided to end my sojourn in the North and return to the East with my wife and three children. One thing I can assure you is that there will be an exodus of Igbo from the North, based on this ultimatum.

In the East, various groups and associations said they had no intention of issuing a similar ultimatum to northerners living among them.

Speaking for Igbo youths, the President of Ohanaeze Youth Council, the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said, We will not ask northerners to leave. We will continue to show them love, as Igbo have done in the past.

Reacting to the ultimatum, the leader of the northern community in Enugu State, Sarkin Hausawa, Idris Ado Suleiman, stated that they exercised no fear of any tit-for-tat response by their eastern hosts.

Suleiman said, We have heard about the ultimatum. They said Igbo in the North should leave in three months. But we know it is not something that is possible.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Did Dammy Krane Followed Davido and Other Artiste?

Davido has really got the back of his music labels artiste, Dammy Krane, as a new photo of the music stars having a video chat just emerged.

This is coming after Dammy Krane was released from jail, following his arrest for credit card fraud in Miami, United States. Davido also supported him during his arrest.

Dont be misled by the Headline, Davido called him a Motherf*ucker during their Live chat after Dammy Krane was released from prison.

See the Screenshot below:-

God Bless OBO for his immense support on Dammys Case!
A notorious Kidnap identified as Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, has been arrested by the Operatives of the ACP Abba Kyari-led Intelligence Response Team, in conjunction with officers of the Lagos State Command aka Evans.

Evans, who was said to have coordinated several kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states, was nabbed in his Magodo mansion on Saturday.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, recently said apart from the two states, Evans was also wanted in Edo, Delta and Anambra states.

He was arrested around 1pm after continuous shootings in Magodo.

An officer said, Evans is the most notorious high profile kidnapper in the history of Nigeria. He has collected billions of naira as ransom over the last seven years as the kingpin of kidnappers. He was arrested today (Saturday) in his Magodo mansion, Lagos.

Evans, 36, is a native of Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State. He kept his victims for six to seven months in captivity until when the families paid about N400m ransoms in installments before the victims were released.

Several wealthy Nigerians living in Festac and Amuwo Odofin areas of Lagos relocated to Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island and left their mansions empty because of Evans. He also has kidnap gangs that operate in Port Harcourt (Rivers State), Bayelsa and Delta states.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Mashood Jimoh, who confirmed the arrest, stated that six gang members of the suspect were also apprehended, adding that they would be paraded soon.

He was arrested in a joint operation led by IRT under the supervision of the Lagos CP. He was the brains behind kidnappings in the South-West and other regions. Very soon the pupils will be freed. Six of his gang members were also arrested after an intense gun battle, Jimoh stated.

Meanwhile, barring a last-minute change in plan, the six abducted pupils of Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, will regain their freedom today.

Competent sources told SUNDAY PUNCHthat N13m ransom was paid to the kidnappers after two weeks of intense negotiation.

One of the sources said, The kidnappers have received N13m. All things being equal, the children should be released today (Sunday). That is the promise made by those people (the kidnappers). Let us hope they would not renege on their promise.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said the command was not aware of the payment of a ransom.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Following the Arewa youths declaration about Igbos leaving their zone, a young man has reportedly taken a bold step by moving out in order for peace to reign.

The unidentified man seen carrying his suitcase on his head is alleged to be the first Igbo man to leave Northern Nigeria. The photos have received over 1.6k shares and 700 likes on Facebook after it was shared by user, Chidubem Uchenna.

He wrote;

First Igbo Man to leave northern Nigeria after Kaduna declaration.. Start calling your people than here in the north to leave Ndi Ugwu Hausa.. Thunder Fire Arewa.. Biafra on my mind..

May Chukwu Abiama Grant Me Safe Journey back to Biafra Land. Isee






The Niger State Police Command has given advise to both State government and school owners to install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) to help curb any form of criminal activities.

This suggestion was made by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Bala Elkanah, during a sensitisation campaign by the states Child Rights Protection Agency in Minna.

Elkanah said that having surveillance cameras in schools would assist the authorities to detect crimes and abuses against children.

He added that if there are surveillance cameras, people would be afraid to commit crime and authorities could easily be informed even before a crime was committed.

The basic right of children is to live in a safe and peaceful environment and as a security agency, we will continue to protect children from all forms of abuses.

The police spokesman said 90 per cent of rape victims were children, adding that the sensitisation campaign would better inform the public about the various abuses perpetrated on children.

He urged students to be vigilant and report any suspicious person to the appropriate authority.

He disclosed that the command would soon embark on sensitisation campaign tagged Break The Silence to encourage children to report abuses meted on them.

Earlier, Mrs Mairam Kolo, the Director-General of Child Rights, had urged parents and caregivers to protect children against all forms of abuse as they were future leaders.

She gave the assurance that the organisation would give scholarship to best performing students in public schools to boost their morale.
A woman used as a s*x slave by a serial killer has finally been released by police officers who stormed his hideout.

Police have released video of the moment officers discovered a woman chained by her neck to a shipping container where she was repeatedly raped by her serial killer captor, Metro UK reports.

Kala Brown was kept chained inside the container for two months until she was rescued by armed officers.

In the rescue video, officers can be seen walking carefully with their hands on their guns as they find the 30-year-old sitting on the floor with the chain around her neck.

The videos also show Todd Kohlhepp, in cold and emotionless detail, confessing to killing seven people in South Carolina.

He pleaded guilty two weeks ago to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison.

On Friday, prosecutors released several videos, dozens of pictures and hundreds of pages of evidence against him.

Investigators found three bodies on the property after going in search of Ms Brown and her boyfriend Charles Carver, 32, last November.

The couple had gone missing two months previous and Kohlhepp later also pleaded guilty to raping Brown.

Brown waived her anonymity when she spoke publicly about her traumatic experiences to Dr Phil in February.

Authorities say on the way to the hospital, she told them about how Kohlhepp confessed to killing a married couple before she was captured, and about killing four people at a Spartanburg County motorcycle shop  murders that were unsolved for 13 years.

After authorities let Kohlhepp talk to his mother and promised to give her money from his accounts, he confessed in several other videos released by prosecutors.

Kohlhepp bragged in one video about wearing gloves when loading his gun to assure no fingerprints were on the casings.

He also told authorities he pulled the gun apart and threw the components into different trash bins, putting the barrel into a bag of used kitty litter.

Kohlhepp also killed 29-year-old Johnny Coxie and 26-year-old Leigh McCraw-Coxie in December 2015. They, like Carver and Brown, were lured to Kohlhepps land after he promised them work.

Kohlhepp killed Coxie immediately and tried to keep McCraw-Coxie locked away, but he said he killed her after several days because she tried to burn the container after he gave her cigarettes.

She wanted Little Caesars pizza. I hate that (expletive). It gives me heartburn, Kohlhepp said.

Dr. Pepper, cinnamon rolls and freaking Newports. If you go down to that building, youll find an unused package of Newports that I bought for her.

Kohlhepp denied killing anyone else. He did say he shot a man in Arizona when he was 14, but could give few details.

Authorities have not charged him with any additional crimes in other states.

Kohlhepp moved to South Carolina in 2001 after 14 years in prison for a kidnapping in Arizona.

Authorities there said the then 15-year-old Kohlhepp forced a 14-year-old neighbor back to his home at gunpoint, tied her up and raped her.
Most of the auto insurance industry has for several years been trying to convince North Carolinas lawmakers to eliminate the last vestiges of the once-common rate bureau system, under which the government ordains that companies must use rates set by a collusive cartel.

The current legislative session offered an opportunity to begin unwinding that system through a bill that would allow auto insurance companies to fashion their own definitions of safe driver and to treat them accordingly. Alas, it was yanked from the state House Insurance Committee earlier this month and sent to the Rules Committee, where the leadership can dispatch it for the rest of this session.

As written, it was not the bill the insurance industry had hoped to pass anyway, which ideally would have been one that allowed some flexibility in rating and in coverages offered. In the financial services world, insurers are generally not the companies prone to bet the farm or the business on an unproven strategy. But its fair to say that they are much more willing to experiment with rates that might attract good customers when they have more flexibility in rating.

By current law, the government decides who can be considered a safe driver in North Carolina, limiting the definition to a person with at least two years of driving experience and no moving violations for the last three years. Since the government-ordained rate for clean risk drivers doesnt actually cover their losses, there is a mandated surcharge added onto the rate that the companies recover to keep them from going out of business. The surcharge is not set out in the premium notice, so most drivers have no idea that they are paying into a fund that equalizes rates for these government-defined clean risk drivers with those who are actual safe drivers in the real world, as defined by their aggregate loss costs.

North Carolina maintains a state-backed reinsurance facility for its mandatory auto liability insurance, which serves as the states residual market. Auto insurers must provide required coverages to all eligible risks, but for policies they would not willingly take on, they can hand the risk off to the reinsurance facility and just provide administrative services to the policyholder. Between 20 and 25 percent of the liability policies sold in the state are handed over to the facility, which represents about 80 percent of all of the auto insurance residual market policies in the United States.

The companies who argue to change the North Carolina system cite the lack of transparency about the clean risk surcharge and the fact that North Carolina is the only state with a rate bureau that sets auto liability rates for the entire industry. They say that discounts and innovative products widely available in all other states are out of reach for North Carolina drivers because of the government system, and that both the hidden fees and the lack of competition cause rates to be higher for good drivers than they should be.

Opponents note that the surcharge currently is less than $20 per car and that it allows for market stabilization. They point out that North Carolina generally has average rates among the bottom 10 states and suggest this demonstrates that no change is needed. They also argue that the ability to compare policies is enhanced, since all companies are forced to offer the same coverages, and that a loosening of the mandated uniformity of forms would confuse customers.

Of course, all rates are guesses. The insurance industry is the only major business around that sets the price of a product before the cost is determined. The most sophisticated guesses are based on the ability to digest large amounts of information that can predict losses. If an insurer is limited in what data it can use to set rates, the smart thing to do, if one wants to stay in business, is to guess high.

We come down on the side of more competition. Since every auto liability rate charged in the state is built on the government-defined base, none of the permutations are able to deliver either what good drivers deserve or what lousy ones do. Insurers in the state continue to earn decent returns overall, because average rates are due to the legal climate, the weather and the states culture. But governments are not particularly good at assessing risk, and there are plenty of checks on excessive rates should a competitive system somehow fail. North Carolina has an elected insurance commissioner, for one thing.

Even though there does not seem to be the kind of crisis that ordinarily would move the Legislature to action, North Carolina should let the experts make rates. A hidden subsidy-rigged system that guarantees insurer profits and in which more than 20 percent of the states drivers cannot get an auto insurer to commit to them voluntarily needs to be modernized.

Topics Carriers Legislation Auto Market North Carolina
Outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny has raised concerns about the lack of nationalist voices in Westminster with embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

The pair spoke by phone this morning.

Amid growing concern and uncertainty over the proposed deal between Mrs May's party and the Democratic Unionist Party, the two leaders discussed at length the potential impact on the Peace Process of the UK General Election result.

Mr Kenny expressed concern that given the lack of any SDLP MP in the new House of Commons and Sinn Fein's policy of not taking their seats, that northern nationalists will have no voice in the British parliament.

According to a statement, the two leaders discussed the outcome of the election and the Prime Minister outlined the proposed supply and confidence arrangement between her party and the DUP.

The Taoiseach indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring, he said.

Both leaders agreed that of immediate concern were efforts to establish an executive as soon as possible, with exploratory discussions with the NI parties to take place tomorrow, the statement added.

They discussed the meeting between the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire which is scheduled for tomorrow.

On Brexit, Mr Kenny and Mrs May noted that negotiations were scheduled to begin, as previously planned, later this month, with the Taoiseach reiterating Irish concerns. The Taoiseach stated that there should be an early meeting between the Prime Minister and his successor Leo Varadkar and wished her well in the challenges that now lie ahead.

Meanwhile, former Downing Street Communications Director Alastair Campbell expressed his grave concern that the deal with the DUP will prevent from the UK Government from being neutral in the North.

He said Mrs May has "no idea what she is playing with" in seeking a deal with the DUP and that she is playing with fire.
A Briton suspected of encouraging holidaymakers to submit bogus food poisoning claims has been arrested in Majorca.

The Spanish Civil Guard said it had arrested one person and questioned another on Friday, according to reports.

The arrest is believed to be the first of its kind in Spain and comes a month after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) updated its travel advice for Britons visiting the country. It said there had been a rise in claims and warned tourists that anyone submitting false claims would face legal action.

The FCO has confirmed it is speaking to Spanish authorities following the arrest.

Investigations by the Mail on Sunday have found rogue firms in the UK are encouraging Britons to make fake claims for thousands of pounds.

The paper reported tour operators in Majorca have seen a 700% rise in complaints of stomach problems and that the Spanish hotel owners' association, the FEHR, estimates 90% of those are bogus.

The FCO advice said: "There have been reports of an increase in holidaymakers being encouraged to submit a claim for personal injury if they have experienced gastric illness during their stay."

It continues: "You should only consider pursuing a complaint or claim if you have genuinely suffered from injury or illness. If you make a false or fraudulent claim, you may face legal proceedings in the UK or Spain."

A spokeswoman for the FCO said: "We are in contact with local authorities following the arrest of a British national in Majorca."
Update 5.05pm: German police have released three British men without charge after their conversations forced a London-bound Easyjet flight to be diverted to Cologne.

Other passengers on the flight from Slovenia reported hearing them talking about "terrorist matters".

A backpack that belonged to one of the men was examined and destroyed in a controlled explosion, but nothing dangerous was found.

Update: 4.31pm German police say no explosives were found on a diverted London-bound Easyjet plane.

The pilot decided to make an unscheduled landing in Cologne over concerns about a suspicious conversation on board.

Three men arrested are still being questioned.

Earlier; Passengers on a London-bound easyJet flight which was forced to land and evacuate had reported a conversation including "terrorist content", police in Germany have said.

All 151 passengers on the flight from Ljubljana, in Slovenia, were evacuated down emergency chutes after the pilot took the decision to make an unscheduled landing at Cologne-Bonn airport, in Germany, at around 5pm on Saturday.

Three men were arrested after every passenger was made to leave the plane and undergo a security check.

A Cologne police statement said: "During the flight, other passengers had made the crew aware of the men.

"According to the witnesses, these had been the subject of terrorist content.

"Thereupon the flight captain had decided to carry out an evacuation in Cologne around 6pm (local time).

"There, the machine was cleared in a secure area via emergency slides.

"The three suspects were arrested. Officials of the federal police ensured a backpack in the passenger area to be assigned to the men.

"This was inspected outside the aircraft by a defiler and was blown up in a controlled manner."

The police statement added the three men were being interrogated and they were investigating "on the suspicion of the preparation of a serious state-threatening violence".

A spokesman for Cologne-Bonn airport said the pilot took the decision to land the plane.

"Prior to this, the pilot had been informed about a suspicious conversation on board, after which he decided to make an unscheduled landing in Cologne-Bonn.

"After the safe landing of the aircraft of the type A319, the 151 passengers left the machine via emergency slides and were taken to a transit gate.

"The police have been informed and have taken action.

"Thus, passengers had to undergo a check immediately after landing."

Flights were suspended at the airport for three hours.

An easyJet spokeswoman said: "easyJet can confirm that flight EZY3246 from Ljubljana to London Stansted diverted to Cologne on Saturday.

"The captain took the decision as a precaution to enable the aircraft to go through additional security checks in Cologne where the aircraft was met by the police.

"In compliance with the local authorities' guidance, passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed."

She added the passengers had been given a hotel stay for the night and would fly back on Sunday morning.

"We thank passengers for their understanding," she said.

"The safety of easyJet's passengers and crew is our highest priority."
Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster is set to hold talks with Theresa May in Downing Street to finalise an agreement on propping up her minority government.

The DUP confirmed that Mrs Foster would be going to No.10 on Tuesday after discussions in Belfast over the weekend were said to have made "good progress".

Mrs Foster told Sky News: "We had very good discussions yesterday with the Conservative Party in relation to how we could support them in forming a national government - one that would bring stability to the nation. Those discussions continue."

Downing Street initially said on Saturday that an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached with the DUP which would be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

"We will of course act in the National interest for the UK as whole and Northern Ireland in particular" says @DUPLeader #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/rD6VgiPBf7  Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) June 11, 2017

But it later disclosed that no deal had been finalised and talks on the arrangement will continue during the week as Mrs May desperately tries to shore up her position after losing her Commons majority in the election.

The strength of any deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Mrs May in Parliament and insisting: "I can still be prime minister."

In another sign of the dangers facing Mrs May, Sunday papers reported that Boris Johnson was either being encouraged to make a leadership bid in an effort to oust her, or actually preparing one - a claim dismissed as "tripe" by the Foreign Secretary.

The 10 DUP MPs could prove crucial in supporting the Conservatives on key votes after Thursday's election saw Mrs May lose control of the Commons.

A confidence and supply deal would mean them backing the Government on its Budget and confidence motions, but could potentially lead to other issues being decided on a vote-by-vote basis.

The talks were in line with Mrs Foster's "commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge", her party said in a statement.

It continued: "The talks so far have been positive. Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament."

Number 10 had earlier said: "We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week."

Following talks between Mrs May and the DUP on Saturday night, a second statement confirmed that no final deal had been reached.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

"We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

"As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward."

Mrs May needs support in Parliament because the Queen of England's Speech setting out the Government's programme is due on June 19, with a crucial vote on it expected after a few days' debate.

Appearing on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Conservative Karen Bradley said "conversations are ongoing" with the DUP when pressed on whether a deal has been struck.

"The DUP and us have voted together on many occasions in the past," the Culture Secretary told the show.

"We are two separate parties with different manifestos, but we do have common cause in some areas."

Quizzed on why the statement was sent out by Downing Street, suggesting an agreement, Ms Bradley would not be pinned down and said she did not want to "get into process points".

'I supported same-sex marriage and I will continue to do so despite coalition with DUP' says Culture Secretary Karen Bradley #Ridge pic.twitter.com/F9Dk0RtG8z  Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) June 11, 2017

She said it is important to have the discussions and negotiations so that a confidence and supply arrangement can be agreed, so that the Tories can "govern in the national interest".

Also appearing on the Sky show, former minister, Anna Soubry, when asked about how she felt towards the arrangement, said: "I have friends in the DUP that I get on well with.

"I don't agree with their policies on abortion or gay rights at all, in fact I absolutely detest those policies.

"But, I think we can come together for the national good - looking especially at the economy.

"There is nothing wrong with doing that."

She said the "national interest must be the primary interest", and that stability is needed as Brexit negotiations begin.

"If the DUP are prepared to vote for a Queen's Speech, that is a sensible Queen's Speech and a good budget, I don't have difficulty with that," she said.

"I don't have to sign up to all their other stuff, which I don't agree with, at all."















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It has been eight years since Joshua Fredrick Wetzler and Tommy Dean Welch were shot to death at 2749 Knob Hill Drive and three years since their remains were found buried in the backyard of that same house.

But Stacey Carter, Wetzlers former girlfriend and the mother of their son, still wonders whether the two mens bodies could have been found sooner. Search warrants unsealed last week show multiple people telling Forsyth County Sheriffs investigators that avowed Satanist Pazuzu Algarad, the man prosecutors said fatally shot Wetzler, admitted to killing someone and burying that person in the backyard.

Algarads mother, Cynthia James, even came to Forsyth County Sheriffs Office in 2011 and told a detective that she saw Algarads girlfriend, Amber Nicole Burch, with a rifle standing over a man she knew as Tommy who was slumped over on the couch. James told the detective she later saw Burch and another woman, later identified as Dixie Ross, bury that man, likely Tommy Dean Welch, in the backyard, according to search warrants.

Its just frustrating, Carter said last week. If he (Wetzler) was somebody they considered important, it wouldnt have gone that way. I dont think its right for the family.

Chief Deputy Brad Stanley said the sheriffs office did a thorough investigation, but most of the people that investigators interviewed were simply not credible. He also pointed out that James was interviewed in 2010 when the sheriffs office first executed a search warrant and found nothing. James never provided any information about Wetzler or Welch or that the two men might be buried in the backyard. She also talked to the sheriffs office on several unrelated matters and never volunteered any information about Wetzler and Welch, Stanley said.

In 2011, when James talked to the detective about Burch, she declined to consent to a search of the house, even though she is the listed owner, Stanley said.

The Sheriffs Office investigated and looked into all the information that was provided to us at the time, he said in an email. There were multiple reports, but most of those were anonymous Crime Stoppers reports, he said.

Three years since the remains of Welch and Wetzler were found, much has happened. Algarad committed suicide while he was in state prison on a safe-keeping order. He killed himself before Forsyth County prosecutors could try him for Wetzlers murder and helping to bury Welch. In March, Burch, 27, pleaded guilty in Forsyth Superior Court to second-degree murder, armed robbery and accessory after the fact in connection to Welchs death. She is serving about 30 to 40 years in prison.

Krystal Nicole Matlock, 30, the last co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to accessory after the fact to murder in Forsyth Superior Court on June 5. She was sentenced to about three to four years in prison.

Two men vanish in 2009

Wetzler was a peace-loving hippie and loved going to Grateful Dead concerts, Carter has said. He was known to hit the road for long periods of time, but he would never let too much time go by without getting in touch with either his mother, who lives in New York, or his son.

Carter and Wetzler met at a music festival in Olympia, Wash. They had similar interests, including horses. They moved to Davie County with dreams of owning a horse farm. They soon split after their son was born. In February 2009, he was convicted of a drug felony in Davie County and put on probation. He had a hard time finding work and at some point his landlord forced him to leave for failure to pay rent.

But he was always a good father, Carter said.

Thats why after he had not contacted their son and after she heard from a friend that he had been killed and buried in Algarads backyard, she filed a missing persons report with the Davie County Sheriffs Office.

Welch, the oldest of three boys who grew up in Arkansas, loved cars and upgrading the stereo systems. Rusty Welch, his brother, told the Winston-Salem Journal in 2014 that Tommy Welch was a great uncle to Rustys two oldest children. Family members had been planning to meet at Rustys apartment in Clemmons, but Tommy Welch never showed up. A missing persons report was filed on Oct. 4, 2009.

According to search warrants, the first person to tell detectives that Algarad had killed someone was Terina Billings. On Aug. 3, 2009, she said her father, Allen Billings, told her he had gone to 2749 Knob Hill Drive and saw a dead body under a tarp in the basement. Cat litter and chlorine were around the body to mask the odor. Algarad told Allen Billings that he had shot a man 10 times because he was a snitch, according to the search warrants.

Algarad told Billings that he had dismembered the body and Billings told his daughter that he helped bury the body parts throughout the backyard. When detectives later talked to the father, Allen Billings denied that he saw a body or helped Algarad bury a body. But he did say Algarad admitted to killing someone. The next day, Algarad called Billings up and told him that he had chopped the body up and buried the man. Billings told Algarad that he didnt want to hear anything else, the search warrants said.

Stanley said Billings admitted to drinking at least a 12-pack of beer and taking prescription medication the day he went over to Algarads house. The sheriffs office couldnt depend on Terina Billings information because it was hearsay, and Allen Billings denied that he saw a dead body. Allen Billings died of cancer in 2012.

Algarad was interviewed and gave consent to search the house, which didnt reveal any evidence of a crime, Stanley said. The sheriffs office also had no reports of any active missing persons at the time and no further information on which to follow up.

The detective that Algarad talked to was a Lt. Foster, who told Algarad that numerous individuals had said Algarad had admitted killing someone. Stanley said Foster was protecting the identity of Allen Billings.

The Winston-Salem Police Department also got an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip in September 2009 that Algarad had killed a big or tall guy who had been missing for a month. Stanley said at that time Welch and Wetzler had not been reported missing.

By mid-February 2010, Wetzler had been reported missing. On Feb. 23, 2010, Lt. Foster applied for a search warrant for 2749 Knob Hill Drive to further investigate Wetzlers disappearance. The sheriffs office consulted with the State Bureau of Investigation, the Davie County Sheriffs Office, Triad Bloodhounds and the state archaeological research center. The sheriffs office wanted to use the archaeological team and its equipment to help in the search, but the team was working on another project for two weeks.

Stanley said the sheriffs office couldnt wait.

Had we waited two plus weeks for the Archaeological Team and something happened to someone at the hands of Pazuzu and Amber during that time, we would have been asked why didnt we proceed earlier, Stanley said.

Algarad, Burch and James, Algarads mother, were all interviewed and they all denied any involvement or knowledge of a killing. Four cadaver dogs were taken to the backyard separately but didnt detect any graves or human remains. The sheriffs office didnt have any information about where bodies might be buried. A fire pit was on top of where Welch would be found four years later.

Algarads mother reports a crime

On Nov. 8, 2011, James came to the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office and told a detective that Burch had killed someone. Burch had been arrested the night before for domestic assault. Burch was eventually convicted of assaulting James.

She told the detective that Burch and Algarad had picked up a man they called Tommy and brought him back to the house to party. James said she heard a gunshot and went out into the living room to see Burch with a rifle standing over Tommy, who was slumped over a couch. She later saw Burch and Dixie Ross bury the body in the backyard, according to the search warrant. During Burchs plea hearing in March, Detective C.E. Meadows of the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office said Burch shot Welch in the back of the head twice with a .22-caliber rifle.

Cynthia thought the information she gave us would be enough to charge Amber with murder and became upset when we told her we still needed additional evidence, Stanley said.

He said the sheriffs office had interviewed James several times about Algarad and Burch, and she always denied knowing anything. She had five documented contacts with the sheriffs office on unrelated incidents between November 2010 and November 2011. She never mentioned the murders, Stanley said.

When she was at the Sheriffs Office on Nov. 8, 2011, her statement (was) without credibility, Stanley said.

Investigators asked for consent to search her house and she refused, he said. Investigators interviewed Burch, who was at the Forsyth County Jail on the assault charge, and she denied knowing anything.

Between 2011 and 2012, the sheriffs office maintained contact with Welchs family and asked the FBI for assistance. Welchs name was entered into several databases, including the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. The sheriffs office talked to Welchs friends and associates, but no one had any information about his disappearance, Stanley said.

It wasnt until 2014, according to the search warrants, that the sheriffs office tracked down Dixie Ross. The sheriffs office also interviewed Daniel Pilcher, who lived with Algarad for three months. Algarad told Pilcher that he killed someone and pointed out where the person, presumably Wetzler, was buried.

Ross provided a 13-page statement, which helped the sheriffs office obtain and execute a search warrant on Oct. 4, 2014.

Ross and James were never charged. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill declined to comment on Ross because her name was contained in search warrants that ONeills office was opposed to unsealing. He said it would be inappropriate to comment on the contents of the search warrants. ONeill said in March that the Rules of Professional Responsibility prohibit him from commenting about James. ONeill could not be reached for comment Friday.

Carter said she doesnt understand why it took so long to discover Wetzlers remains.

Wetzler was on probation for a drug felony, but people kept telling the sheriffs office that Algarad was killing people and burying them in the backyard.

It seems their priorities are a little off, she said.
In 1838 Ralph Waldo Emerson, part Plato, part Ichabod Crane, attacked the corpse cold rationalism of conservative and liberal alike in his classic Harvard Divinity School address, declaring, as any good Transcendentalist would, that: Truly speaking, it is not instruction, but provocation, that I can receive from another soul. What he announces, I must find true in me, or reject; and on his word, or as his second, be he who he may, I can accept nothing.

For Emerson, truth was discovered from deep within.

Not instruction, but provocation, lies at the heart of genuine education. From Socrates holding forth in the Athens marketplace to todays power-point-assisted-seminars, the classroom remains sacred space where opinions collide, interpretations vary, and learning prevails. When such intellectual provocation prevails, there is nothing like it.

Unless of course students and/or faculty are packing a piece, utilizing campus carry laws that usher guns into class, concealed in pockets, purses, or backpacks. When guns show up in school, provocation gains a whole new meaning. Learning is dangerous and transformative; it should never be life-threatening. After 42 years as professor, campus carry scares the Holy Socrates out of me.

When this century began, there were no laws permitting firearms on campus. As of 2017, eleven states offer such legal possibilities, including: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Tennessee lets faculty, but not students, arm themselves. (Hopefully, faculty meetings are firearm free!)

Sixteen states ban concealed weapons on campus: California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming. (NC legislators are moving toward admitting 18 year-olds to concealed carry.) Twenty-two states leave the decision of on-campus weapons to the discretion of specific institutions.

Campus carry options were significantly impacted by the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre when a student gunned down 32 students and wounded 17 in a horrendous killing spree. Many insisted that the gunman might have been stopped had students/faculty been armed. The shooting prompted schools to tighten lockdown policies, increase campus police, and expand use of electronic alert warnings.

American colleges/universities have long reflected the social realities of their national, regional cultures. Alcohol excesses and burgeoning opioid epidemics continue to wreak havoc, often with violent implications. Sexual abuses take heavy tolls on secular and church-related schools alike. Hostile ideologies and politics often foster physical danger at institutions left and right of center. Will concealed weapons save us or merely deepen the danger to life and limb? Is our society itself so ideologically segregated, and intellectual provocation so hazardous, that firearms are a necessary defense?

Advocates insist that the society is so violence-laden that citizens must arm themselves in every setting. Some suggest that increasing sexual violence is sufficient reason for females to take up arms. Others demand that Second Amendment rights be applied in every segment of society, colleges included. I fret over implied threats and symbolic implications. Should our syllabuses declare: Dont shoot! Youre all getting As?

What if campus carry is simply the most dangerous of an unceasing set of classroom distractions, including tweets, texts, Google, Wikipedia, and Face Book, diversions that thwart instruction and provocation, disengaging students from ideas that might form or re-form them? Whatever else the vulnerability of learning means perhaps it is this: try as we might to protect ourselves externally and internally, we can never insulate ourselves enough to escape the insolent idea, the banal diatribe, the suicidal bomber, or the AK47 sociopath.

For years, Ive thought (but never said aloud) that teaching means getting intellectually naked for the sake of ideas, and hoping that students gasp at the concepts, not the professors own conceptual weaknesses. Firearms that protect may become weapons that sidetrack from what learning must beour shared vulnerability to ideas and each other.

In Telling the Truth, the Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, & Fairy Tale, Frederick Buechner tells about a high-school class that had gone better than usual the day they studied King Lear. Buechner concludes: The word out of the play strips them for a moment naked and strips their teacher with them and to that extent Shakespeare turns preacher because stripping us naked is part of what preaching is all about, the tragic part. In my academic and ministerial experience, provocation and spirituality are intricately related.

So dont come to my classes or lectures armed for anything but learning. Leave your guns outside, please. Go ahead, make my day.

Bill Leonard is Dunn professor of Baptist studies and church history at Wake Forest University. Portions of this column were previously published by Baptist News Global.
For residents of Glendale Springs, the issue of clean air vs. industrial development isnt academic, but practical. With plans for an asphalt plant threatening a pristine setting and artistic treasures, we hope the presiding judge will side with Ashe Countys clean-air contingency and quash the proposal for the plant.

Glendale Springs is a small but appealing fork-in-the-road in beautiful Ashe County with relaxing amenities such as vacation rentals, craft shops and peace and quiet. Its in a county that draws about $50 million in tourism annually.

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, it also contains a leg of the lush and ancient New River and is the home of a church that displays the irreplaceable artistic vision of North Carolina painter Ben Long. Holy Trinity, part of the Episcopal Parish of the Holy Communion, better known as the church of the frescoes, features one of Longs four famous local fresco paintings, with the other three in a church in West Jefferson. The Glendale Springs church draws an estimated 60,000 a year, boosting the areas thriving tourism industry.

Glendale Springs is also the home of Camp New Hope, an oasis for special needs children and their families.

A rock quarry  a bit of an eyesore compared to everything around it  has operated about a mile from Glendale Springs for some time. And in 2015, a corporation proposed building an asphalt plant on the site that could produce as much as 150,000 tons of asphalt.

A local group formed and responded, claiming that the plant could put tens of thousands of pounds of airborne pollutants into the air annually and a chemical stew of a dozen or so known carcinogens could flow directly into a tributary of the New River, the Journals Scott Sexton reported.

Its just nasty, nasty stuff, Pat Considine, the groups director, told the Journal.

And the integrity of the fresco could be threatened by road noise and vibrations from an asphalt plant. Other works of art have been marred in similar situations.

After study, the countys planning department staff denied the corporations application. But the company appealed to the Board of Adjustment, which agreed to override the planning staff. So county commissioners have asked a Superior Court judge to settle the matter. No date has been set for the judges decision, so everyone waits.

Were not insensitive to the need for jobs, especially in more rural areas where theyre not plentiful. But theres too much at stake in Glendale Springs to risk on the possibility of environmental degredation that would damage the commerce and other amenities that already exist there.

As local shopkeeper Michael Bell told the Journal, People come to the mountains for clean water, clean air and tranquility. Those are our prime assets, especially in regards to the tourism industry.

We hope the judge will recognize the unique character of the area and rule to protect it.
Correspondent of the week

JESSICA RICHER, Walnut Cove

Cutting off vets

The proposed federal budget for 2018 has many cuts in it that are concerning, but one of the most concerning to me as the caretaker of a disabled veteran affects the Veterans Affairs section of the budget.

Under this new provision, the VA would stop paying disabled veterans their disability pension once they reach the minimum age for Social Security eligibility. There are roughly 4.26 million veterans who receive disability pay, with 7.1 million who served during the Vietnam era and would be at or approaching the Social Security eligibility age. These veterans made sacrifices for their country, and in doing so lost their ability to work and save for their retirement.

Switching disabled veterans over to Social Security is illogical, because most disabled veterans have not been able to pay into Social Security or retirement plans because of their disabilities, which make work impossible for most. Revoking their VA disability pay and putting them on Social Security would mean a drastic decrease in income, which would end up with most of these veterans unable to keep a roof over their heads. Even if the veteran has managed to work at least 35 years and pay into the Social Security system, the average monthly income for a retired worker is only $1,341. That amount is enough to make rent in North Carolina, but would have veterans in areas with higher living costs unable to find a place to live on that income.

BUDDY OSBORNE, Winston-Salem

Our friends

I thought the UK was our friend. I thought Germany and France were our friends. I thought we all worked together on projects of mutual interest for the betterment of the civilized Western world.

Why does President Trump talk about them as if theyre competitors on The Apprentice?

***

BARNEY HARPER, Winston-Salem

Ironic view

Its a little ironic that Cal Thomas suggests we should have a high-level debate on this issue [climate change] and settle it once and for all (Hysteria over the Paris pullout, June 7), when his livelihood as a professional opinionator depends on never settling anything.

His suggestion is clearly laughable, though, when one considers that a debate was had by the scientific community, which settled it as nearly as it ever settles anything  yet Thomas rejects the conclusion. In that light, its hard to trust his sincerity.

Also laughable is his suggestion that none of those participating should be academics or scientists who receive federal grants or have other connections to government, because it might give them a conflict of interest and reduce their credibility.

So no one who works for NASA, or the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey or the Environmental Protection Agency should be allowed to participate in Thomas debate. Nor anyone who works for even the best universities. In other words, no one who studies climate for a living; only amateurs should be allowed to debate the issue. Oh, and oil industry analysts, with whom Thomas somehow senses no conflict.

And he expects that to settle the matter? Apparently hell only consider it settled if its settled to his liking.

Im surprised Thomas isnt recommending we debate whether the earth is flat. Teach the controversy! Maybe next week.

***

EVAN FISHER, Winston-Salem

Unqualified for office

I take no pleasure from the accusations that President Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice because he tried to influence former FBI Director James Comeys Russia investigation.

The most generous take on the situation comes from former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, who has speculated that to Trump, his conversations with Comey were just typical New York City conversations, just the way he dealt with everyone. Trump simply didnt understand how inappropriate, if not illegal, such conversations were.

But that only demonstrates how unqualified Trump is for the office. He either didnt bother to ask those around him who certainly knew better or, if he was warned, he simply didnt have the temperament, the discipline, to control himself.

At worst, Trump was too arrogant to listen to anyone else. He thought he was a dictator and could do whatever he wanted.

America deserves better than this and were not likely to get it until 2020. I hope some worthy candidates will emerge between now and then.

Our political divisions are tearing the country apart, and having a loose cannon who constantly shoots himself in the foot in the White House doesnt help. We all need to work hard to get past our divisions and figure out how to work together  not for the gain of a party, but for the good of the country.

RANDELL JONES, Winston-Salem

A cooperative paradox

With the presidents decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, I am reminded of the paradox of the Country Bear Jamboree.

One of the original and continuously most popular attractions at Disney World is the display of audio-animatronics of singing, mechanical bears performing music of the mountain South, although overdone to the extreme. The technology, predating laser holograms, has entertained visitors from around the world for over four decades.

After standing a long time, the audience seats itself in the darkened theater and is collectively admonished, advised and encouraged in several languages not to take flash pictures. The program is to be enjoyed in the moment. The random flashes of light strobing in the dark would destroy the experience for everyone.

For 46 years, audiences have tried to cooperate for a few moments, but inevitably someone takes a picture and then a cacophony of flashes erupts from everywhere, although many protest No, which works in several languages. The intended experience is destroyed by the very people who came there to enjoy it because they could not cooperate. And, despite the willingness of those with a cooperative spirit, they all know one thing is true: The people who break the rules are the ones who will go home with a nice photo. With climate change, however, there just will not be any home left to which they can go.

And who would expect the bully who pushes his way to the front to cooperate anyway?

***

ANDY MILLER, Kernersville

Saddled with debt

When President Trump lectures allies about paying their fair share to fund NATO, one doesnt know whether to laugh or be sick.

After all, the ruthlessly self-interested, deadbeat wealthy, represented by Trump and Republicans, have sat here for 40 years and refused to pay for anything. Our national debt is north of $15 trillion (plus interest), our infrastructure needs $4.5 trillion in repairs, our college educated citizens are saddled with well over $1 trillion in student loan debt, our military needs rebuilding at a cost of God knows what, and the list goes on.

Never believing in Americas greatness, the strategy of Trump and neo-conservative Republicans, since at least the time of Ronald Reagan, is to get our country into so much debt that we would have to abandon Social Security, Medicare, VA benefits and other entitlements, they dishonestly call them. Their vision of government is a kleptocracy that can control the masses sure to be coming for them with pitch forks and torches.

Then theres Trumps love for Mother Russia. You can bet that at the top of Russian President Vladimir Putins annual Christmas list to Santa is top-secret information about the U.S. military, especially the Navy, and the destruction of NATO. Trumps NATO conference performance, and son-in-law Jared Kushners attempt to use secure telephone lines at the Russian embassy (thus evading the FBI and American intelligence agencies) to communicate secretly with Putin, should leave no doubt that Santa Trump is delivering.

And that is no laughing matter.

***

RANDAL WEISZ, Glendale Springs

This lovely area

Glendale Springs, located in Northwest North Carolina alongside the Blue Ridge Parkway and New River, is struggling to defend itself against the unwanted construction of an Asphalt plant in its midst (Proposed asphalt plant heats up Glendale Springs, June 4). Thousands of people each year visit this lovely area to boat, fish, hike, camp and choose a Christmas tree. The installation of a polluting Asphalt plant will compromise and undermine the enjoyment of these activities.

The plant is to be located within a few hundred yards of the New River. Storm water runoff of petroleum-based effluent could damage the river ecosystem. Noxious fumes from the plant could ruin the enjoyment of visitors as well as threaten the health of local people, including special needs children at Camp New Hope. Thundering trucks hauling asphalt each day will threaten the beautiful Last Supper fresco at Holy Trinity church.

It doesnt have to happen. Please raise your voice in opposition to this ill-conceived production by writing your government representatives and helping the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League oppose construction.

For more info, please see www.HelpGlendaleSprings.com, and Protect Our Fresh Air  Ashe County Facebook page.

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Please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. 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.
The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], Fatou Bensouda [official profile], on Thursday renewed her calls [statement] to the UN Security Council [official website] and the international community to support her offices efforts in tackling impunity and pursuing justice for human rights violations in the Darfur region of Sudan. Bensouda particularly urged all UN member states, specifically ones that are party to the Rome Statute [text, PDF], to arrest and surrender suspects of alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Included among the Darfur suspects are Sudan President Omar Al Bashir [BBC profile], Ahmad Harun, Abdel Raheem Hussein, Ali Kushayb and Abdallah Banda. Noting that there was sufficient evidence provided by witnesses that formed the basis for the issuance of multiple warrants for arrest, Bensouda stated that hopes for attaining justice for victims has increasingly been replaced by disappointment, frustration and even anger at the slow progress in the Darfur situation. Not one of the suspects for whom warrants have been issued has been arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court. Bensouda particularly noted Jordans failure to comply with its obligations to arrest and surrender Al Bashir, who traveled there in late March. Renewing her commitment to obtain justice for the victims and their families, Bensouda stated:

Accountability is a pre-requisite for sustainable peace in Darfur. My Office continues to seek this accountability. I ask this Council to fully assume its responsibilities arising from Resolution 1593 [text, PDF] and to support our efforts, in the interests of justice, stability and sustainable peace in Darfur  Lest we forget; the olive branch of peace is barren without the trunk of blind justice.

There has been significant criticism of the Sudan government in connection with the Darfur conflict, and some other countries have created controversy for their failure to comply with international laws in apprehending the suspects of the Darfur crimes. As mentioned above Jordan was noted for its failure to carry out its obligations to arrest and surrender Al Bashir in late March. In April ICC prosecutors called on judges to hold South Africa accountable [JURIST report] for failing to arrest Al Bashir when he visited the country in 2015. Since 2003 the Darfur region has faced civil unrest from conflict between the government and rebel groups. In February, UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nononsi, called for [JURIST report] the Sudan government to protect civilian rights in Darfur. In January the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and international sanctions Idriss Jazairy praised [JURIST report] former US president Barack Obamas [official website] decision to lift all US sanctions on Sudan. In September Amnesty International [advocacy website] reported that the Sudan government used [JURIST report] chemical weapons on civilians in a region of Darfur between January and September 9 2016
Japans House of Councillors [official website, in Japanese] passed a law on Friday permitting 83-year-old Tsugu Akihito [Britannica profile] to become the first emperor since Emperor Kokaku in 1817 to abdicate his throne, clearing the way for his son, the 57-year-old Crown Prince Hironomiya Naruhito [Britannica profile], to ascend to the throne. The upper house of parliament passed the bill [Reuters report] with a few lawmakers abstaining from the vote. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [official website] noted the importance of this abdication for Japans long history and future. The parliament will now have to work the details of the scheduling of Akihitos abdication and Naruhitos subsequent ascension to the throne, which is likely to take place in late 2018. The prime ministers cabinet approved the special bill last month, and it cleared [JURIST reports] the lower House of Representatives [official website, in Japanese], last week.

The law has created some controversy particularly since it makes no mention of potential female heirs to the throne in the future, despite strong public support for women [NYT report] ascending to the throne. But this is not the first time that the subject of female accession to the throne in Japan has been raised. More than ten years ago in November 2005, a government panel concluded [JURIST report] that Japans succession law should be changed to allow the first-born child, irrespective of gender, the right to ascend to the throne. But late Prince Tomohito, Akihitos cousin, disapproved of changing Japans unique tradition and history so easily. The following month the Japanese government set to prepare a legislative proposal [JURIST report] that would have amended the countrys the 1947 succession law, the Imperial Household Law [text; The Imperial Household Agency translation from Japanese], to allow female monarchs. In January 2006 then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi [Britannica profile] expressed his support [JURIST report] by promising to introduce the reform legislation. However, the following month over 1,000 protesters, primarily on the conservative side, gathered in Tokyo to rally against the proposed legislation [JURIST report]. The entire episode came to an abrupt halt ten days later, despite public support for the change, when Koizumi decided against submitting the bill [JURIST report] to parliament in the face of strong opposition from conservative members of his own party and partly in response to the news of Princess Kiko Kawashimas pregnancy becoming public [JURIST report].
June 11 (Reuters) - Average yields on Egypt's three-month and nine-month Treasury bills fell at an auction on Sunday, data from the central bank showed. The average yield on the 273-day bill dipped slightly to 20.317 percent from 20.366 percent at the last sale. The yield on the 91-day bill fell to 20.263 percent from 20.338 percent at the previous auction.

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla; editing by David Clarke)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
Park Ki-chool, fifth from left in the second row, chairman of World-OKTA, raises his fist with young entrepreneurs at a forum for next generation leaders at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on April 27. / Courtesy of World-OKTA



By Kim Jae-kyoung

The Korean economy faces mounting challenges as protectionism is set to change the dynamics of the global economy and business landscape.

At a time of uncertainty in the global environment, it is urgent for the country to find new growth engines and open new markets abroad.

The country needs to retool its economy by fostering globally-competitive small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a new growth driver to create a more sustainable business ecosystem.

Against this backdrop, the World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations (World-OKTA) has stepped up its efforts to support Korean SMEs' overseas expansion by launching the Global Marketers Program.

Consisting of 648 members, the program is an advisory panel aimed at providing one-on-one support to local SMEs to help them secure overseas deals. World-OKTA plans to increase the number to 1,000 this year.

"In the midst of the murky global economic outlook, we are seeking ways to contribute to growth of the Korean economy," a World-OKTA official said.

"The Global Marketers Program is the outcome of our seamless efforts to support SME' exports. Through the program, local SMEs can get professional consulting to find an export partner," he added.

The program was introduced at the organization's 19th annual convention held in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province in late April. Established in 1981, World-OKTA is the nation's oldest and biggest overseas Korean economic federation with 147 branches in 73 countries. It has over 25,500 members.

The conference was aimed at boosting local exports and nurturing business alliances between SMEs here and Korean businessmen based overseas.

During the three-day gathering, both overseas Korean entrepreneurs and heads of local SMEs inked a number of new deals. The event also offered consultation programs for overseas Korean buyers and local SMEs seeking business opportunities abroad.

"We are seeking to help local SMEs overcome economic and cultural challenges when they enter new markets abroad by capitalizing on our global networks," Park Ki-chool, president of World-OKTA said.

"We will strive to expand the boundaries of the Global Marketers Program and support globalization of Korean products through a more systematic alignment of the organization," he added.

In 2016, as many as 1,280 SMEs signed international deals worth a total $3.23 million with assistance from World-OKTA.

In cooperation with KOTRA, Small & Medium Business Corp. and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, World-OKTA has introduced a variety programs to support small exporters, including an exporter matching program.

In February, 2016, the organization set up the Global Business Center (GBC) at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to offer "more practical and comprehensive" help for both SMEs seeking expansion abroad and overseas Korean firms looking for opportunities in Korea.

"The GBC can provide a customized exports program by capitalizing on its extensive global network so that they can find a buyer abroad," Park said.

"The center has become a place where our members communicate to create new business opportunities," he added.

Emergence of next generations

Together with its efforts to systematize support for SMEs' overseas expansion, World-OKTA has pledged to take other steps to expand Korea's global footprint abroad in the coming years.

To that end, it plans to set up a platform based on its global network to help young Koreans overseas learn about entrepreneurship and successfully open businesses abroad.

Also, it plans to double its efforts to help Korea's college graduates to find opportunities to work abroad by offering internship programs through its members worldwide.

In addition, it is seeking to strengthen the capabilities of its overseas branches to help its export support programs produce more tangible outcomes. Finally, the organization will expand its alliance with export-related agencies to provide better services.

What sets World-OKTA apart from other organizations is that next generation leaders are driving new changes.

"A next generation group is the area where we have seen the biggest improvement. The number of our next generation members has reached 18,600, and they are emerging as new entrepreneurs catching up with the achievements of old members," another World-OKTA official said.

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the World-OKTA is also preparing to launch a new project to support overseas expansion of Korea's high-tech companies.

"The Fourth Industrial Revolution will disrupt the way we live, work and do business in an innovative way. Some of our members are already entering this area where products and services are connected via networks," the official said.

"Our new project is designed to support export of Korea's technologies by helping them find a new market abroad," he added. "We hope that this project will provide the impetus for Korea's network and artificial intelligence technologies to find ways for overseas expansion."
By Yi Whan-woo



U.S. President Donald Trump may attempt to exploit security concerns on the Korean Peninsula to divert attention from the political turmoil in his own country, an analyst warned Sunday.



In this regard, Trump may try to bill South Korea for a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here during his scheduled summit with President Moon Jae-in in late June, the analyst said.



In the case of U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia and NATO-member countries, Trump has been stepping up pressure on them pay more for the cost of stationing American forces there.



"The Trump government shows a pattern of attempting to cancel out domestic problems with what Trump sees as overseas achievements," said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University. "In that regard, it will be timely for Trump to bring up issues on THAAD costs after being cornered by former FBI Director James Comey's recent testimony against him."



Trump already has attempted to capitalize on thorny issues abroad to distract American citizens from domestic problems, such as by a U.S. air strike on Syria to "punish" the Syrian government's chemical attack on civilians after his failed health care legislation, according to Park.



However, he downplayed concerns over the U.S. using military options against North Korea for a political breakthrough after Comey's testimony over his firing by Trump and also possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.



"It is important to receive support from the international community as well as from the U.S. citizens when carrying out the military strikes abroad. And this was the case in the Syria attack." the professor said. "But Trump is very unlikely to convince South Korea and other Northeast Asian countries if he wants to strike North Korea, especially when such an attack is politically-motivated."



To prevent Trump from possibly linking THAAD with the Comey testimony, the experts said proposing a "massive" investment plan as seen from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's move during his summit with Trump in February.



Moon will be accompanied by business leaders from conglomerates as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises during his U.S. visit, according to Cheong Wa Dae.



"Trump has pledge to revive U.S. industries and satisfying his goal accordingly during the Seoul-Washington summit will be important," Park said. "The investment plan should be as specific as possible for Trump to tout it as his achievement. In my opinion, we should promise to invest at least $100 billion."




Swedish Ambassador Anne Hoglund speaks at a reception organized to celebrate "Sweden Day 2017" at Grand Hyatt Seoul on 1 June. / Courtesy of Embassy of Sweden





By Rachel Lee

Swedish Ambassador Anne Hoglund hosted a reception to celebrate "Sweden Day 2017" at Grand Hyatt Seoul on 1 June.

Since 2004, the embassy has celebrated the day when Sweden was united on June 6, 1523. This year, the theme was "Design by Sweden" with an exhibition of selected designs at the entrance.

"Swedish design and lifestyle are becoming more and more well known and appreciated in Korea," the ambassador said. "Design is very closely connected with innovation  therefore we have chosen Design by Sweden' as the theme for this year."

Swedish design reflected the country's values, being both smart and functional but also sustainable and environment friendly, she added.

Looking back the past year, Hoglund said 2016 was a "good" year in Sweden-Korea relations, especially in trade.

"For Sweden it meant that we increased our trade with Korea more than to any other country," she said. "Innovation has been a main theme for our activities here in Korea. Both Korea and Sweden rank among the most innovative in the world."

"As a result of a successful cooperation between the Swedish Nobel Foundation and Nobel Media and the Korean Academy for Science and Technology (KAST), a special Nobel Prize Dialogue with invited Nobel laureates will be held in Seoul in October."

She said she hoped this event would lead to further collaboration between Swedish and Korean researchers and inspire young people's interest in research and innovation.

The diplomat also talked about her country's welfare system.

"It's important to remember that Sweden would not be a welfare state without our very successful Swedish companies, ranging from our big global companies to the many new startups," she said.

"For companies to thrive in an environment that encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and risk-taking is needed."

"I am extremely proud that Swedish companies, also here in Korea, in addition to being successful in business, are such good examples of Swedish values, promoting good working conditions, gender equality and non-hierarchical systems as well as contributing to a better society and the achievement of globally sustainable development goals."

Hoglund also mentioned Sweden's role as a committed global player.

Having been elected as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council 2017-2018, Sweden wanted to strengthen its contribution to peace and security, not least on the Korean Peninsula, she said.

"We are one of the biggest donors to the U.N. system and strongly committed to Agenda 2030," she said.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Nguyen Vu Tu, right, attends the Investment Seminar on Vietnam's Mechanical, Electronics Industries at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Seoul on Friday. At the event, organized by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and KOTRA, Koreans and representatives from Vietnamese enterprises discussed cooperation in the fields of mechanics and electronics. /Yonhap
Police display meth confiscated from four Thai workers. / Courtesy of Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency



By Park Si-soo



Police have arrested four Thai workers on suspicion of selling illegal drugs to prostitutes.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, the four sold 13 grams of meth worth 13 million won ($11,500) to women at "massage parlors" they contacted through a chatting app in April.

The four are also suspected of taking the drugs. Police believe other people are involved.
By Lee Han-soo



Police have arrested a Korean-Chinese man, surnamed Kim, for allegedly scamming a construction contractor while posing as the nephew of ex-Chinese President Jiang Zemin.



Kim, 48, allegedly approached a Korean-Chinese construction contractor in Shenzhen, China, after receiving information about a large apartment project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in which the contractor wished to be involved.



Kim posed as the nephew of Jiang Zemin, who is managing director of the investment firm in charge of the project.



Kim allegedly scammed the contractor out of 1 billion won after promising him $65 million (73 billion won) credit from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for a small commission.



Kim then wired the billion won to his mistress in Korea, but she began using the money to buy an apartment and pay off debts. Kim then lodged a complaint about his mistress to police.



The police, who were aware of the alleged fraud, arrested Kim in Seoul on Sunday after receiving information that he would be at the station to make a statement about his mistress.




From left Kim Sang-kon; Ahn Kyong-wha; Song Young-moo; Kim Eun-kyung and Cho Dae-yop. / Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in on Sunday named five new ministers, including a new vice prime minister and minister for education, and a new defense minister.

Kim Sang-kon, a former school superintendent of Gyeonggi Province, has been tapped as the new education minister, who will double as a vice prime minister, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

Song Young-moo, a retired Navy admiral, has been named the new defense minister.

"Defense Minister nominee Song is the best person to spearhead a long, mid-term military reform, ensure balanced development of the three armed forces and enhance the country's defense against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.

Ahn Kyong-whan, a well-known scholar and professor from Seoul National University, has been tapped as the new justice minister, with Kim Eun-kyung, a former presidential secretary under the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, named to head the environment ministry.

Cho Dae-yop, a professor from Seoul's Korea University, has been nominated to lead the labor ministry.

The nominations for five new ministers brought to 12 the total number of ministers named so far by the new president, who came into office May 10.

However, only two new Cabinet members have actually been appointed out of the total 19.

The nominations for the new ministers also come amid a controversy over those named earlier.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party is currently refusing to endorse the president's pick for the new foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, over a number of her past wrongdoings that include false registration of residence for her daughter.

False registration of address is a crime punishable by up to three years in jail or a fine of less than 10 million won ($8,900), but more importantly, it is one of five unlawful activities the president has cited as reasons that would and should disqualify a person from a government post.

Cheong Wa Dae officials said Song, the defense minister nominee, had also committed a crime of false registration of residence.

They, however, insisted Song's case marked a simple mistake caused by his frequent relocation as a military officer, apparently asking the opposition to show leniency.

The officials noted the labor minister nominee, Cho, had also been convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), a crime that has often kept new officials from top government offices here in the past.

Cho's DUI did not lead to any serious accidents or injuries, they said, again apparently asking for the opposition parties' understanding. (Yonhap)
By Choi Ha-young





Kang Kyung-wha

Opposition parties are facing increasing calls to endorse foreign minister nominee Kang Kyung-wha.

Ten former foreign ministers threw their support behind her Saturday, dismissing the opposition bloc's attacks on her lack of expertise. The veteran United Nations official has become a "political scapegoat" for the opposition parties' attacks.

Parliamentary consent is not legally binding for Moon, but a unilateral move may hamper his reform drives.

"Through her longtime service at the U.N., where nations have conflicting interests, Kang had the ability to discover creative measures to cope with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," the former ministers said in a statement.

The ministers come from across the ideological spectrum  three from the Kim Young-sam government (Han Seung-joo, Gong Ro-myung, Yoo Chong-ha); three under Kim Dae-jung (Lee Jung-bin, Han Seung-soo, Choe Sung-hong), two under Roh Moo-hyun (Yoon Young-kwan, Song Min-sun) and two under Lee Myung-bak (Yu Myung-hwan, Kim Sung-hwan).

Earlier, 130 international aid groups announced their support for Kang, as did former sexual slavery victims, women's rights groups and the union of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During her confirmation hearing last week, three opposition parties  the Liberty Korea Party (LKP), People's Party and Bareun Party  pointed out that Kang lacked experience in diplomacy and negotiations with regard to North Korea's nuclear threats and a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system controversy.

"The opinions within the ministry were notable, showing the organization is willing to embrace the innovative designate. Through the former ministers' joint moves, she was endorsed," said political analyst Choi Young-il.

"The growing public support will put pressure on the opposition parties to endorse Kang. If Cheong Wa Dae pushes for her nomination, the opposition will fire back, but they will not gain popularity."

Sejong Institute senior research fellow Cheong Seong-chang said, "If she fails to get the National Assembly's endorsement, despite the veteran diplomats' support, citizens cannot help but ask why the Assembly exists."

The largest opposition LKP indicated it would interrupt the President's other plans if he refused to drop some nominees. Moon needs opposition cooperation to pass a supplementary budget bill designed to create jobs.

In addition, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea submitted another bill to re-organize administrative bodies, which also requires opposition bloc cooperation.

"I wonder whether Moon is able to explain the budget bill while his ministers-designates are stuck," LKP floor leader Chung Woo-taik said Saturday.

On Sunday, the People's Party also renewed its opposition to Kang.

"We can't authorize Kang, who failed to prove her capacity," party floor leader Kim Dong-cheol said. Instead, he called for Moon to designate someone else.

The opposition is also dragging its feet on other two nominees  Kim Sang-jo as head of the Fair Trade Commission and Kim Yi-su as Constitutional Court president. Because the presidential office is standing firm about Kang's appointment, the People's Party has seemingly withdrawn its endorsement for Kim Yi-su.

To break the deadlock, Moon is scheduled to address the Assembly. Before the speech, he plans to meet opposition leaders to seek their understanding of his nominations.
President Moon Jae-in gives a speech during an event at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul, Saturday, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1987 pro-democracy uprising. / Yonhap



President vows to carry on spirit of 1987 uprising

By Jung Min-ho

President Moon Jae-in called the country's growing economic inequality a "new challenge for democracy" Saturday and promised to fight it in a speech to mark the 30th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in 1987.

"The serious inequality of wealth and income is threatening the nation's democracy," Moon said during the speech at Seoul Plaza. "The government cannot solve this problem alone. Big and small companies, workers and civic groups have to make concessions and compromises. We need new standards for our vision of the future."

With ever-growing economic inequality, Moon is concerned that democracy may become "nothing but an idea" that people no longer believe can solve their problems.

"Democracy means bread for all, and bread for all means democracy," he said. "If someone works hard for eight hours a day, I think he or she should not be worried about their livelihood."

On June 10, 1987, people rallied across Korea against Chun Doo-hwan, who rose to power in 1979 through a coup that year following the assassination of his predecessor, Park Chung-hee.

The deaths of two college students  Park Jong-chul and Lee Han-yeol  brought more than a million people out onto the streets. After police lost control of the situation, Chun eventually agreed to revise the Constitution to guarantee the people's right to elect a president through direct voting.

As one of the protesters that day, President Moon said he will continue to carry on the spirit of the democratic movement.

"Our task today is to make our democracy stronger so that everyone can reap the benefits of it," he said.

"Under my government, democracy will flourish and human rights will be better protected. The government will ensure that it does not abuse power to suppress the people, the very source of its power."

Moon gave credit to the pro-democracy uprising for achieving much of the political progress here, saying his government could take power against the backdrop of such achievements.

Moon is the first sitting President to attend the ceremony since Roh Moo-hyun in 2007.

About 5,000 people attended the event, in which they shook hands and took pictures with the president after the speech.

Hundreds of people also marched through the center of Seoul and paid tribute to those who lost their lives for democracy.

Many of the people were in their 50s and 60s, who were college students when the protests took place. With megaphones, banners and bottles, they enacted the big event, which they believe changed not only the direction of their country but also the course of their lives.
From left Kim Sang-kon; Ahn Kyong-wha; Song Young-moo; Kim Eun-kyung and Cho Dae-yop. / Yonhap



Reformist tapped as education minister

President Moon Jae-in nominated Kim Sang-kon, a former educational superintendent of Gyeonggi Province, as deputy prime minister for social affairs and minister of education, Sunday.

Kim was among five new minister nominees announced.

Former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Song Young-moo was tapped as defense minister, and Seoul National University professor emeritus Ahn Kyong-whan as justice minister.

Moon designated Korea University Graduate School ofLabor Studies dean Cho Dae-yop as labor and employment minister.

Kim Eun-kyung, a former presidential secretary under the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, was chosen to lead the environment ministry.

"We expect Kim Sang-kon to push ahead with educational reform," Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.

Serving two consecutive terms as Gyeonggi Province's education chief (2009 to 2014), he helped expand free school meals for primary and secondary school students nationwide.

The nomination of Ahn, who also served as the head of the National Human Rights Commission in the 2000s, reflects Moon's commitment to reforming the prosecution.

The President has pushed to replace prosecutors who account for nine of the 10 senior posts at the ministry with lawyers, and to prevent the government from peddling influence on prosecution through the ministry.

Regarding Defense Minister-designate Song, Cheong Wa Dae said he is "well-qualified" to carry out military reform over the long term.

"He has expertise in defense strategy and security-related issues and has a good understanding of this government's goals for military reform," it said.

Serving as the chief of Naval Operations under the progressive leader Roh, Song was the key architect of Moon's defense and security strategies during the presidential election campaign.

Labor Minister-designate Cho, a liberal professor, was among some 1,000 members of a think-tank aimed at helping Moon lay the groundwork for creating more jobs and improving the people's living conditions

"He is considered the most suitable person to make a compromise among workers, government officials and entrepreneurs in the government's push to create more jobs," Cheong Wa Dae said.

Kim Eun-kyung is expected to restore the country's ecosystem amid a controversy over the "Four Rivers Refurbishment Project," the construction of dams on the country's four major rivers carried out under former conservative President Lee Myung-bak.

Cheong Wa Dae said when the five nominees begin their jobs will be determined at their National Assembly confirmation hearings.

The Moon administration has underscored a set of ethical criteria in selecting top-ranking officials.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said Cho, the labor minister-designate, was found guilty of driving while intoxicated but did not cause an accident at the time.

Also, Song, the defense minister nominee, falsely registered his residential address for work purposes.

However, his false registration was a simple mistake caused by his frequent relocations as a military officer, the official said.

Vice ministers

Meanwhile, Moon appointed Han Sung-hee, head of the Seoul regional tax office, as the new head of the National Tax Service.

Moon named Yi Sung-ki, a former labor ministry official, as new vice minister of labor.

He picked Ahn Byung-ok, an environmental activist, as new vice minister at the environment ministry.

Cho Kwang, a professor emeritus at Korea University, was named to head the National Institute of Korean History.
By Lee Han-soo

The Korea Seafarer's Welfare and Employment Center will operate a help desk hotline for foreign sailors starting on Friday.

The move aims to protect the interests and improve the human rights of the increasing number of foreign sailors here.

As of last year, 23,307 foreigners were working for South Korean marine companies

The center also provides mediators to help solve any cultural conflict between sailors and their company.

The center also provides interpreters in Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese and helped in 531 cases last year.

The hotline is 1566-3151 or +8251-911-3151 for international callers.

It will be open from Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

An audio response system (ARS) will be available after 6:00 p.m.
Corporate shareholders are using their voting power to influence greater transparency by companies about the financial consequences of climate change. Big investors could turn out to be the environmental movement's best friends in pressuring major corporations to address climate concerns.



A surprise vote last week by 62.3 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders highlights the power big money has over corporate behavior. Investors voted to instruct the petroleum giant to be more transparent about the cost of global measures designed to keep climate change to 2 degrees Celsius. The shareholder rebellion occurred at the company's annual meeting in Dallas. A year earlier, a similar proposal got only 38 percent support.



Top institutional shareholders could be behind this shift toward greater corporate environmental accountability. Their support came despite a company campaign that included calling, writing and lobbying shareholders in person to vote against climate-related proposals.



Institutional asset managers typically don't challenge management on social or political issues, but they can and should. Major asset management firms oversee trillions of investment dollars that can be used to reflect growing concerns among shareholders about important issues.



Besides, examined from a purely financial-benefit perspective, rising sea levels and global temperatures could hinder companies like ExxonMobil from operating in certain environments, which would translate into reduced financial performance and lower share values. Companies are required to declare such risks to shareholders if their investments could be affected.



New York Times columnist Gretchen Morgenson wrote recently that giant asset management firms BlackRock and Vanguard, which control a combined $9 trillion in assets, each voted in favor of management-sponsored proposals about 95 percent of the time. The days of automatically yielding to management could be ending.



Rubber-stamping sends a signal that corporations are operating perfectly and don't need to change, which Morgenson noted is an assessment clients would not agree with in some cases. She said they probably would support more transparent operations and better shareholder service overall.



Vanguard and BlackRock refused to disclose their Exxon votes, which came the same day President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate accord. That decision might have influenced their vote. Similar resolutions on climate change accountability won majority votes at Occidental Petroleum and Pennsylvania utility PPL, and hefty support at other companies, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch business columnist David Nicklaus.



Nicklaus said investor clout is also being felt in the St. Louis region, with 44 percent of Emerson shareholders supporting a 2016 proposal asking the company to produce a sustainability report. The same percentage of Ameren investors backed a resolution for a climate change report.



Corporations have responded to investor pressure in the past, such as during the boycott movement to end apartheid in South Africa. This is a welcome wake-up call for executives to make climate change a priority concern.





This editorial appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
By Doug Bandow



NATO leaders got acquainted with President Donald Trump during his recent visit. Their main objective was to reinforce his aides' efforts to turn him into a traditional American cheerleader for European dependence.



For those seeking to revive an alliance created almost 70 years ago, in a vastly different time, Russia has resumed its role as the "necessary" enemy. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said the U.S. was returning troops to the continent as part of the "transition from assurance to deterrence." Their "mission is to deter Russia," he added.



Since Russia's occupation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine there has been much fevered rhetoric about the Russian Threat. Shrill demands arose for allied, and especially American, deployments along NATO's border with Russia, as well as expanded alliance membership.



Yet the Europeans don't fear a Russian variant of Blitzkrieg. Ignore what they say. Look at what they do.



Moscow occupied Crimea in March 2014. That year NATO Europe reduced its real collective military spending by one percent. In 2015 the same countries increased real outlays by just .5 percent. Last year the hike, heralded as a grand turnaround and harbinger of future increases, was an anemic 3.8 percent.



Last year NATO Europe devoted 1.47 percent of GDP to the military, up slightly from 1.44 percent in 2015. Only Estonia, Great Britain, Greece, and Poland joined the U.S. above the NATO standard of two percent of GDP going to the military. However, Poland made it for the first time, and only through a bit of statistical legerdemain. Britain also tortured a few statistics to get over the two percent line.



Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Spain all came in at about one percent or less. Germany, with Europe's largest economy was 1.19 percent. Latvia and Lithuania, supposedly in mortal peril, came in at 1.46 and 1.49 percent, respectively.



We are moving in the right direction, alliance officials intone. In 2014 the members pledged to hit two percent by 2024.



Yet this is a curious policy if Moscow really is poised to commit murder and mayhem across Europe. A cynic might conclude that the latest promise was designed to satisfy Washington rather than deter Russia. Why spend money today when you can wait another seven years?



Does anyone really imagine that Belgium and Spain are going to more than double their military outlays? That Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands will almost do so?



Last year nine countries either reduced outlays or had increases below one percent. Eleven had single digit increases. Of the five nations with double digit hikes, only one, Italy, has a substantial military budget.



Yet even Europe's military laggards don't see much reason to spend on the military. After all, they already spend far more on the armed forces than does Russia. Last year NATO Europe devoted an estimated $265 billion to defense, almost four times Moscow's expenditures of $68 billion. The Russian Republic is not the Soviet Union reborn.



Russia can do great harm to its smaller neighbors, but Moscow's performance against Georgia in 2008 was hardly inspiring. Even with subsequent reforms the Putin government could not successfully swallow Ukraine. A revived Red Army certainly won't steamroller to the Atlantic.



Moreover, while economics is not destiny, it is the foundation for military strength. The European Union has roughly 13 times Russia's economic strength. Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy all have larger GDPs than that possessed by Russia. Europe's population is around three times as large.



Set aside capability. There is no indication that Putin is suicidal. What would he plausibly gain from starting a war that he could win only if the allies essentially chose not to fight, a wild gamble?



The actions he took against Georgia and Ukraine were rational and measured. That he was not justified in doing so doesn't change the fact that he believed he was responding to allied provocations. He's never shown any desire to assemble an empire and rule over non-Russians.



Of course, Putin's Russia poses even less threat to America. The former looks a lot like the pre-1914 Russian Empire, concerned about border security and international respect, but with few aggressive designs elsewhere. Nowhere does Moscow threaten fundamental U.S. security interests.



NATO succeeded brilliantly, allowing Europe to revive behind an American military shield. Now Europeans should take over responsibility for Europe's defense. Let them decide whether there are threats against which they must defend.





Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of "Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire."




Korea-US summit to test President on foreign affairs



Cheong Wa Dae's biggest priority in the coming weeks is the meeting between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump.



There has been a long vacuum in the country's summit diplomacy due to the ousted former President Park Geun-hye's political troubles. With no proper diplomatic leadership for months, many Koreans were worried about Korea being left out in international talks on North Korea. Such concerns were reflected in the term "Korea passing," which often appeared in the domestic press.



Moon has a heavy responsibility to put to rest concerns about Korea's diplomatic isolation. Many people became more concerned about "Korea passing" under the Trump administration. Trump has already met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The world will be eyeing the Moon-Trump meeting, because the main topic will undoubtedly be North Korea.



The summit serves several purposes. Success or otherwise will depend on how much Moon can achieve them. First, Moon should make it clear that the two countries are on the same page in dealing with North Korea, which has already conducted several missile tests since he took office. Moon should show a firm stance on not embarking on any kind of talks or exchanges with North Korea unless Pyongyang responds to international calls to terminate its missile and nuclear provocations. The U.S. will support such a stance because Trump has also professed he would talk with North Korea only under "the right circumstances."



Second, Moon should convince Trump that his administration is not reluctant about the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, which has emerged as a source of conflict between the two countries. Moon has ordered a proper environmental impact report on THAAD, which is expected to delay its deployment. This has triggered concern in Washington. Moon should reassure his counterpart that there is no disaccord on the need for THAAD deployment to defend Korea and U.S. troops against North Korea's increasing military provocations.



It is worrisome that domestic circumstances are not conducive to smooth preparations for the summit. Moon has been unable to appoint a foreign minister because of strong objections from the opposition parties to nominee Kang Kyung-wha.



After the Korea-U.S. summit, there are other diplomatic events awaiting President Moon, such as the G20 meeting in July. He is also likely to sit down soon with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders have already spoken twice on the phone. During a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun last week, Abe expressed a desire to hold an early Korea-Japan summit. Given these circumstances, it is crucial for a foreign minister to be appointed as soon as possible.




By Andrei Lankov





The fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump's off-hand statement that "Korea was once part of China," made after his first summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, is another reminder that all history in East Asia is political.

In many other parts of the world such an observation, irrespective of whether it is factually correct, would generate little public outcry. Indeed, it would be difficult to find an outraged Londoner harboring contempt for Italy when reminded that the United Kingdom used to be part of the Roman Empire ("part of Italy," if you like). Similarly, Russia once was part of the Mongolian Empire, and the United States is a former British colony. These are objective historical observations.

But East Asia is a region where people become enraged over whether a particular type of drum from the early Bronze Age was produced by the Chinese or Vietnamese (this "drum controversy" is hotly debated by patriotic Chinese and Vietnamese scholars). So, the remarks allegedly made by Xi during his Florida summit with Donald Trump prompted a rebuffing from South Korean officials, thousands of pages of op-eds and forum posts, and led to much conversation about the U.S.-Korea alliance among the Korean public. Predictably, however, such outrage fails to resonate with the Chinese, most of whom believe what President Xi said.

The supporting evidence for the Chinese is rooted in the peculiar international system that existed in East Asia for many centuries, often referred to as a "tributary system" by Western observers that often struggle with the conceptual framework. It is not incidental that the first attempt to describe in some detail traditional Sino-Korean relations, published in 1887, starts with the following statement: "The nature of Korea's relations with China has for the last thirty years been a puzzle for [the West]."

While a pillar of the international system of today (in operation since the 1600s) is the concept of sovereign state units and equal interaction and representation between states, the tributary system was, at least in the issues of protocol, firmly based on the assumption that states are not equal. It was accepted that the world and universe could have one and only one supreme ruler who alone could be called "emperor" and who, predictably, was ruling China.

The states surrounding China were seen as junior polities. Their rulers were expected to pay tribute  on various timelines  to the Chinese emperor, and, ideally, sought recognition from him when ascending to the throne. Theoretically, the system had no limit: the entire world was supposed to be within the "tributary system," though it was implied that distant rulers (like, say, the English monarchy) could not realistically communicate with the ruler of the Universe as frequently as desired. Moreover, some distant "barbarian" states were given a pass, so to speak, as their low level of development did allow them to comprehend the wisdom of the system, and hence they could be unaware of the existence of the world's supreme ruler, or, worse still, attempt to challenge him.

The tributary system has ancient (sometimes mystical) origins, but it took its classical shape about a millennia ago. Korea was its most active and eager participant. The Korean kings sought confirmations of validity from the Chinese capital when they inherited power, and the Korean tributary missions' visited China regularly and predictably. Even the title of Korean rulers implied that they were somehow inferior to the Chinese sovereign: they were merely kings', not emperors'.

Does this mean that President Xi was right when he said that Korea was once "part of China"? Not exactly. Like the modern system whose claims of all states' equality are rather shallow, the tributary system' concept is deceptive. The above-described formalities did not imply political or any other type of domestic control. For example, Chinese endorsement of a Korean king was effectively a rubber stamp. Kings were endorsed even when they took power in coups, with no questions asked, and "tributes" were reciprocated by the Chinese with "gifts" of roughly equal value, so all these exchanges were, essentially, thinly-veiled international trade. As illustrated in the abovementioned article published in 1887: "Korea, though a tributary state of China, was entirely independent so far as her government, religion and intercourse with foreign states were concerned."

Thus the roots of the controversy are clear: if one looks at the issues of protocol, it does appear as if Korea for centuries was an extension of China. If one looks at the execution of policy and dominion, however, Korea's independence is equally clear. As one imagines, the Chinese tend to emphasize protocol, while Koreans stress the actual practice. And, since this argument is essentially driven by nationalist emotions, so strong in East Asia, neither side is going to change its attitude.





Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. Reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
LG Chem officials test the water purification and desalination quality of its reverse osmosis (RO) filters at its plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. / Courtesy of LG Chem

By Lee Min-hyung

LG Chem has won an exclusive license to supply water treatment filters to a seawater desalination plant in Egypt, the company said Sunday.

Under the contract with Dubai-based water management company Metito, LG Chem will provide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for the plant, which once established, will be able to produce 300,000 tons of desalinated water for one million people, the Seoul-based chemical giant said.

RO filters are widely used for various purposes including seawater desalination and wastewater reuse.

LG Chem did not say what the deal is worth.

The deal is part of the company's aggressive revenue diversification strategy into water and bio technology. Last year, LG Chem won a contract to supply more than 20,000 RO filters to a seawater desalination plant in Oman.

Last year the company invested about 40 billion won ($35.55 million) to expand its RO filter manufacturing facilities in Cheonju, North Chungcheong Province. The company says its RO filters lead the way with a 99.85 percent desalination rate.

LG Chem aims to become the world's largest provider of desalination solutions next year by signing additional contracts in the Middle East and Africa.

The global RO filter market will be worth 2 trillion won in 2020 with an annual growth rate of 4.8 percent from last year's 1.5 trillion won, according to the company.

LG Chem also plans to move into new markets soon  including China and India.
MAN Truck & Bus Korea President Max Burger, second from right, poses in front of the MAN Truck & Bus Pre-Delivery Inspection center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. / Courtesy of MAN Truck & Bus Korea



By Jhoo Dong-chan

MAN Truck & Bus Korea has opened a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) center in Gyeonggi Province, and unveiled the MAN Lion Double Decker bus during an opening ceremony for the center, Friday.

According to the German commercial vehicle maker, the PDI center was built to satisfy customers' high standards. MAN Truck & Bus vehicle models are expected to undergo detailed inspections at the center before being delivered to customers.

"The Pyeongtaek PDI center will deliver a differentiated customer service with its modernized facilities operation," MAN Truck & Bus Korea President Max Burger said during the opening ceremony for the center.

"MAN Truck & Bus seeks to expand its business operation through investment in its distribution centers as well as introducing new vehicle models."

Sitting on a 28,969 square-meter site, the facility is six times larger than its existing PDI center in South Chungcheong Province.

It is made up of five sections, which includes two PDI assembly facilities, a mechanic training center and a warehouse. The PDI process is expected to be carried out in its 16 double work bays.

It also features a cafeteria and recreation area as well as a kid's zone accommodation for visitors and employees.

The PDI mechanic training center is where the world's top-class experts will provide engineer training for sales and service technicians.

MAN Truck & Bus invested 11.2 billion won ($10 million) to build the center in Pyeongtaek. This was the German commercial vehicle maker's second major investment in Korea after building its local headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in May last year.

During the opening ceremony for the center, MAN Truck & Bus also unveiled the MAN Lion Double Decker bus.

The bus features various safety assistance systems, including Auto Electric Brakes, Emergency Brake, Lane Departure Warning and Electronic Stability Program, and can carry up to 73 people. It also has USB ports for cell phone charging.

MAN Truck & Bus has concluded a deal to supply 52 MAN Lion Double Decker buses for Gyeonggi-to-Seoul metropolitan routes.
A woman was accused of letting her injured and pregnant dog suffer.

The Fairbanks Daily news miner reported 49 year old April Gutierrez will not be allowed to have or be around any animals without supervision.

Charging documents say 49 year old Gutierrez did not seek help for her dog after it was hit by a car two years ago.

The dog was treated after it started to chew its left foot off.

Veterinary staff said there were maggots on the injured leg and bones were exposed.

The dogs puppies were lost but according to the report the dog is now doing better after being adopted into a new family.
The owners of Crown Point Builders in Garner are in the business of building relationships, not just houses.

Every customer is different, says Jennifer Breister, who works with her parents Paul and Lynne Breister to design and construct new homes and renovations. They are all at different stages of their lives. And every person gets that tailored experience based on what they need.

Paul says, Its a relationship business, not just this many square feet for this many dollars. Its about taking the time to really know the customer and their needs and providing both the male and female perspective. Weve had a lot of couples come to us after going to a male contractor who ignored the wife.

Complementing skills

Crown Point Builders celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The three Breisters complement each others strengths on the job. Paul has a masters degree in structural engineering. His responsibilities at Crown Point include managing construction and the business. Lynne has a degree in housing, which covers not just elements of design but how people live in a home. She specializes in designing for aging homeowners, with attention to accessibility. Lynne works on space planning and the sociological aspect of using a home.

Jennifers degree is in business management, though shes also grown up in the business doing everything from sorting nails to roofing. She manages the projects and field crew for Crown Point.

Since Jennifer has come on board, theres no more swashbuckling, her mother jokes. We have procedures and standards.

They also use a custom design database for creating proposals, so six months from now, a customer can have a similar experience with a repeatable process.

Lynne and Paul started the business in 1997.

Home building was all we did, Lynne says. But as the markets and demands changed, we do a lot more remodeling now, sometimes extensive planning for large scale renovations, or a blend of both.

They had looked at buying an existing company, but decided to go out on their own. Paul had 15 years experience in construction management and large commercial design. Both had computer design skills, but Lynnes background was more suited to residential construction, so they went with that.

We had three young children, and it was easy, she says. My kids now say, I dont know how you did it!'"

When they started out, Paul took a class for new business owners at NIACCs John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. Formerly known as FastTrac, the program now is named Launch and Grow Your Business. Jennifer and Lynne went through the course together eight years ago, when they added North Iowa Kitchens to the family business.

Job market adjustments

North Iowa Kitchens offers a complete sample showroom of everything a customer might need for a construction project, including counters, cabinets, tile floors, backsplash tile, hardwood floors, and more.

Crown Point uses Amwood Homes as vendor for home framing packages. Lynne say Amwood builds panelized products for a custom design.

For instance, the floor panels are built at the factory in sections, the walls are built in sections with the windows and doors in place," she said. "So on the first day of framing, the home is under lock and key. By the end of the first week, the house is not subject to water, which gives a superior experience as far as exposure.

It also helps with the difficulty right now finding skilled construction workers.

Since 2008, a lot of people in the construction business have either left the business or died, Lynne says. The really skilled people are gone. There are no medium-skilled people with five to eight years of experience. We take newbies, but the skill set isnt quite up there. There are no lead carpenters left.

Thats all the way down the line, the same for electricians and plumbers, Jennifer adds. We all find it hard to get experienced people. But it looks very promising for the future. We partner with NIACCs trades program. Students seem interesting in the industry. and they have a lot of good skills to offer. But it takes time to develop.

Lynne says with a chuckle, You cant outsource this skill set. You cant call India and say your toilet is overflowing.

But the business compensates by being able to use different skills for different stages of construction.

There are two kinds of carpenters, she says. I lovingly call them poodles and hound dogs. Hound dogs are framers, but you cant let them in the house. You cant afford to. You cant let the finish carpenters do the framing, and you cant let the framers do finish work.

Crown Point employs 12 people including the Breisters.

There are also some subcontractors weve worked with for 20 years, Jennifer says. Theyre friends; we know about their kids, the graduations, their ups and downs.

Full schedule

On average, the company completes 50 projects a year, from small renovations under $10,000 to major construction costing as much as $500,000. Crown Point has built more than 130 houses in Hancock County and surrounding areas, including many in Clear Lake.

What we create, were talking about lasting value, Lynne points out. That also includes the tax base in the community. We might have sold a new house for $120,000, but its going for $360,000 now. Thats a huge boon to counties weve built in, but not only that, weve housed families for 20 years. And weve done remodeling on houses we originally built. We call them repeat offenders.'"

Paul remembers one customer for whom they did three projects and built a house:

After going through several changes to the design, the customer said, I want to make one more change. 'Whats that?,' we asked. He said, The address! They decided to build the house for their daughter instead.

In 20 years, theyve seen a lot of changes in the industry. Energy efficiency is one of the big developments. Lynne mentions the latest increase in the use of LED lighting in homes.

I think there will come a change in the size of circuits," she said. "We havent seen it yet, but I think there will be less need, and thats really positive.

About that TV show...

The phenomenon of home improvement television shows also is influencing the business.

Customers are not more knowledgeable, but they often think they are more knowledgeable, Lynne says of the television effect. We have to convince them that something theyve seen is not really a good practice.

Paul says they all enjoy the creative aspects of projects and the opportunity to explore new products and methods.

We spend a lot of time researching and staying up to date on codes and current methods. Not everything that comes along works well," he said. "Sometimes we stick with the tried-and-true because we know it works.

Jennifer has observed a change in styles.

What we used to do 20 years ago was pretty plain. People didn't ask for a lot of details," she said. "Ive found it fun now that people want to adhere to styles or add intricate embellishments we didnt used to do. But it can be hard because they dont always have a grasp on the budget.

Where were really finding a niche is working with legacy homes, says Lynne. People inherit the family homestead, and we help them decide if its worth putting money into the existing house or knocking it on its head and starting new.

Customers often try to design their forever home, but Lynne points out that a persons lifestyle and needs change over time.

What you need with a young family changes when the kids grow up, so you end up needing fewer bedrooms and more public space," she said. "So many people come to us and say they have to have 2,600 square feet, but Jennifer is an absolute star at designing efficient spaces. Weve done 1,200- to 1,400-square-foot houses that live significantly larger than that.

Family matters

Asked what its like to work with family, Lynne and Jennifer both burst out laughing.

Everything is more easyeverything is more difficult, Jennifer explains. Theres not a lot done without the three of us collaborating. We joke were one brain. We agree on damn near everything, but its easy to argue and go back and forth on decisions. I think the difference is you dont want to hurt peoples feelings with family, while if it were a co-worker you might just address the issue right away.

Lynne says each of them has a different thought process.

Some are quick, some need to mull it over. Everyone has a different style. Its a dance, but weve managed," she said. "Sometimes you have to say, I respectfully dissent. I think each of us has said it. And you cant be a dawdler. You have to be a decision-maker if you own your own business.

Paul says, The three of us together provide about 60 years of experience. It takes a lot of time to understand a clients needs. You dont just open the can.

Lynne says they start with asking a lot of questions: what the customers like or dislike about their current home, how they shop, how they entertain. The client often ends up saying, You really understand me. Just pick something. You know what I like.'"

We get personal sometimes, Paul says with a smile.

Working with couples as clients trying to make decisions can be tricky.

You watch a couple and you can sense tension, Lynne said. I try to break the ice with humor and get back to a place where both are feeling heard. Somebodys got to keep a sense of humor. I have teased people, joked with people. Once Paul went out to a job site and I didnt go along. Paul called up and said youd better come over. The husband was disappointed, because he wanted to razz me.

Recently a car with out-of-state license plates pulled into their lot, and they wondered who that could be. Lynne realized it was a woman for whom Crown Point had built a house on Clear Lake many years ago. She was back to sell the house, and she came just to give Lynne a hug.

I love it. Retiring? Not until they change the lock code on the door," she said. "I dont think Id want to be out of the business entirely. I really do enjoy meeting new people every day.

Paul agrees. Were proud to have reached 20 years and look forward to another 20. Besides, shes not going to let us retire, he says, nodding at his daughter. Our idea of retirement is going to be cutting back to 40 hours a week.
Ubers board of directors met in Los Angeles on Sunday to discuss potentially far-reaching changes to the ride-sharing company and the future of embattled Chief Executive Travis Kalanick.

The companys seven-person board was expected to vote Sunday on a series of recommendations from a report prepared by former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment.



For the record: An earlier version of this article misspelled attorney Stephen Hirschfelds first name as Steven.

The recommendations could include the firing of top managers at the San Francisco-based company, and the board was expected to discuss whether Kalanick should take a leave of absence.

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The Wall Street Journal and technology news site Recode first reported on the meeting, which was held in the L.A. offices of Holders law firm, Covington & Burling.

The Journal reported that Ubers chief business officer, Emil Michael, is expected to resign Monday.

Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The developments would represent a startling turn for a company that has long stood by its CEO and his right-hand man in spite of behavior that has repeatedly landed Uber in hot water.

Kalanick has been at the center of many of Ubers crises, including accepting (and later relinquishing) a role on President Trumps business advisory panel, being caught on video arguing with an Uber driver, and sending a recently surfaced company-wide email that advised employees to not have non-consensual sex with each other.

Michael, widely seen as Kalanicks closest confidant, was also at the center of an Uber scandal in 2014 when he told a BuzzFeed editor at a party that the company should spend millions of dollars to investigate journalists who were critical of the company.

Both executives, once seen as untouchable, are now more vulnerable because of a barrage of scandals. Their future could be determined by Holders recommendations.

Uber hired Holder and his law firm in February after former employee Susan Fowler published a blog post alleging she had experienced sexual harassment at the company that was covered up by the human resources department.

A separate investigation conducted by the law firm Perkins Coie examined 215 employee complaints, including allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and retaliation. Of those, 20 resulted in terminations announced last week, 31 resulted in employees being ordered to undergo training, seven received final warnings, and 57 are still under review.

Holders investigation looks more broadly at Ubers culture. The Journal reported that its findings could include evidence of harassment and bullying, and its recommendations could address new human resources processes and training.

Though recommendations are just that, one employment attorney said Ubers board should take them seriously.

Its clear that they have a significant employee relations and morale problem, said Stephen Hirschfeld, a partner at Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP who has not viewed the findings of Holders report. They need to send the message that this is not going to be business as usual.

Parts of the report are expected to be published Tuesday. People with knowledge of the matter told The Times that the report was delayed because Kalanick had to attend the funeral of his mother last week. She died in a boating accident in Fresno in late May.

Uber has spent the first half of the year dealing with a string of scandals. Those include a recent customer backlash over Kalanicks involvement with Trumps business advisory panel (he has since left the panel); a poorly timed tweet just after the presidents first ban on travel from a number of majority-Muslim countries that spurred the #DeleteUber movement, which resulted in some 200,000 customers deleting the Uber app from their phones; video footage of Kalanick berating an Uber driver; a lawsuit from a Google-owned self-driving car start-up alleging that Uber stole the companys trade secrets; and a string of high-profile executive departures.

After months of turbulence, Kalanick pledged to get leadership help by hiring a chief operating officer. Uber has not yet said whether it has filled the role, but the company announced two separate high-profile hires this week, including former Apple executive Bozoma Saint John, who will work on branding; and Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei, who will serve as Ubers senior vice president for leadership and strategy.

tracey.lien@latimes.com

Twitter: @traceylien

UPDATES:

12:15 p.m.: This post has been updated with comments from an employment attorney and additional details.

This article was originally published at 11:35 a.m.
Hello! Im Mark Olsen, and welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

The esteemed critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott at the New York Times published a list of the 25 best films of the century so far. It should be no surprise that the list is a sharp, eclectic collection of films from around the world that includes There Will Be Blood, Spirited Away, Million Dollar Baby, A Touch of Sin and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. (I was personally excited to see Olivier Assayas Summer Hours at No. 9.) Theres also a list of favorite films from directors such as Sofia Coppola and Alex Gibney.

As if to further prove the point of our recent article on the vibrancy of the repertory cinema scene in Los Angeles right now, the UCLA Film and Television Archive has launched an extensive survey of the films of gentleman adventurer John Huston. There are his better-known films, such as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Misfits and Prizzis Honor, but also exciting esoterica like Wise Blood and Under the Volcano. Pick any night in the series and you cant go wrong.

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We had a great screening event this past week with Beatriz at Dinner and director Miguel Arteta. (For more on the film, see below.) And this week, we are very excited to show the film The Big Sick followed by a very exciting Q&A with actor and co-writer Kumail Nanjiani, co-writer Emily V. Gordon and performers Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano.

Salma Hayek, Connie Britton and Chloe Sevigny appear in Beatriz at Dinner directed by Miguel Arteta. (Lacey Terrell / Sundance Institute)

Beatriz at Dinner

A movie that, whether on purpose or by odd timing and happenstance, strikes right to the heart of our contemporary cultural and political divides, Beatriz at Dinner is a deeply felt social satire and a lament for empathy and understanding. The film, directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Mike White, concerns a woman who works as a massage therapist and spiritual healer (Salma Hayek) who finds herself as an unexpected guest at an intimate, upscale dinner party with a ruthless real estate developer (Jonathan Lithgow) and their worldviews soon clash.

Reviewing the film for The Times, Justin Chang noted, What gives the movie its unsettling power is its ear for the rhythms and evasions of small talk  a polite, patrician language for which Beatriz has neither the aptitude nor the patience. Gently but with increasing purpose, she seizes hold of the dinner conversation and steers it in an unsettling new direction.

The Times Sonaiya Kelley spoke to Hayek and Arteta about the film. Hayek noted that she appreciated the films nonjudgmental point of view. Because both arguments are intelligent arguments and they make sense, she said. And theres even a moment where you see that we are more similar than we think. What determines who you are is the choices you make.

I spoke to Arteta and White ahead of the films premiere at Sundance in January. White noted the additional layers of meaning the movie has taken on because of current events, saying, I do think that it has a different resonance because of the world were in. But everyone is going to have their opinion. Its going to be as polarizing as the world is.

At the New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote about the uncomfortable feelings the movie leaves a viewer with, adding Beatriz at Dinner is about unresolvable contradictions, after all, which may mean that its failures are less specific than systemic. I dont blame Mr. White or Mr. Arteta. I blame capitalism. I blame America.

At Vulture, Emily Yoshida noted the enigmatic, elegiac performance by Hayek and added that the films central clash between healers and destroyers maintains its choke hold long after the credits have rolled.

It Comes at Night

The second feature from writer-director Trey Edward Shults, It Comes at Night is ingenious in its simplicity, as it conjures a post-apocalyptic nightmare world largely via a secluded house in the woods and a gnawing sense of unease. The films talented cast includes Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, Christopher Abbott and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

In his review for The Times, Justin Chang calls the film a beautiful bummer of a horror movie while adding, Shults avoids the conventional trap of exposition, relying instead on his striking command of the medium to evoke the inner life of a family under extraordinarily bleak circumstances.

For the AP, Lindsey Bahr added that the film has the title of a horror film and, at times, the mood of one, but it is far too restrained to get the juices of the genre crowd going, while noting its power: Even with the bare bones plot of It Comes at Night, somehow you find yourself suspicious of even the trees by the end. No zombies required.

At the L.A. Weekly, April Wolfe lauded the film as a soul-crushingly dark examination of human nature amid an invisible and unnatural threat.

Actor Sam Elliott and director Brett Haley promote their new film, The Hero, on the beach in Santa Monica. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

The Hero

In The Hero, Sam Elliott plays an aging actor who feels disillusioned by his lot in life. Directed and co-written by Brett Haley, the film plays with what audiences know of and expect from the actor, who has become a symbol of easy grace and cool sex appeal.

In his review for The Times, Justin Chang noted, Haleys movie is ultimately a feature-length valentine to his star, and as such, its something of a mixed blessing.  A role that fits an actor like a glove is one thing; a project that has been this painstakingly tailored to flatter him is quite another.

The Times Amy Kaufman interviewed Haley and Elliott. Haley explained the inspirations for the story, noting, To me, it was a love letter not only to Sam, but to a dying breed of actor and film in Hollywood. Its about how we as society tend to chew up people and then spit them out when were tired of them.

At Time, Stephanie Zacharek added, You could say The Hero looks like just another story about an older guy who gets one last chance to recharge his life, and youd almost be right. But director Brett Haley, who co-wrote the script with Marc Basch, brings enough understated sympathy to Lees character to make the picture work  it throws off a gentle, sweet-spirited energy.

My Cousin Rachel

An adaptation of a story by Daphne du Maurier, My Cousin Rachel is written and directed by Roger Michell into a story of deceptive gentility, a complex story of duplicity masked by polite behaviors. The film stars Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin.

In his review for The Times, Kenneth Turan noted the intelligence, zest and craft in Michells adaptation, adding that the film comes off as remarkably modern, dealing with personal issues and power dynamics between men and women that arguably echo at least as strongly now as they did back in the day.

At the New York Times, Manohla Dargis lauded Weisz for the way she fluently makes Rachel into a destabilizing force, a character whose mystery can make her gracious smiles seem etched in acid. Ms. Weisz consistently pushes the movie deeper.

Email me if you have questions, comments or suggestions, and follow me on Twitter @IndieFocus.

SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter 

Mark.Olsen@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus
Hes earned critical raves and the backing of the hottest upstart distributor in town, but lately Krisha filmmaker Trey Edward Shults has been plagued by nightmares over the release of his new film, It Comes at Night.

At night is when my brain gets active. Its when my insecurities and my fears come, and Im in my own head, says Shults, 28, sitting inside a Hollywood mixing studio days before A24 opens his sophomore feature. Night, an unflinching piece of postapocalyptic psychological horror, has garnered significantly better reviews than its opening weekend rival, Universals bland Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise.

I see people expecting a monster movie and hating it, he shrugs with a half-smile, quoting moviegoers who might come in expecting fanged creatures in the woods, a horde of zombies, or some terror-inducing killer in the shadows. What comes at night? Wheres the monster?

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The fear that drives It Comes at Night is far deeper and more insidious than mere monsters. On paper it reads as horror catnip, perhaps the antithesis of a domestic drama like Shults debut film, Krisha: After a mysterious viral outbreak turns humanity against itself, a trio of outbreak survivors (led by shotgun-toting papa Joel Edgerton) warily welcome strangers into their remote homestead in the woods.

Like Krisha, the award-winning $30,000 indie debut that starred Shults own aunt Krisha Fairchild as a black sheep home for the holidays, It Comes at Night is a terrifying take on family tensions pushed to the brink. Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, and newcomer Kelvin Harrison Jr. star in the claustrophobic thriller, a horror movie not about the evils that lurk outside, but those that lie within.

Shults films have more in common than you might think. Both share intensely personal ties to the filmmakers own life, a probing preoccupation with filial trauma and guilt, and the visceral sensibility he conveys using film to explore difficult emotional terrain.

He was so full of regret for everything that he did, and I was trying to help him find peace. It was the closest I had ever come to death.  It Comes At Night director Trey Edward Shults

Shults speaks in a low baritone, engaging and open, easy with a laugh despite the heavy subject matter. His mother and stepfather are both therapists, he explains. Its probably why the two films hes made so far feel like cinema as therapy.

It Comes at Night opens on Ejogos Sarah bidding tearful goodbye to her infected father, his body racked with symptoms of the sickness thats annihilated the outside world. Her husband Paul (Edgerton) and 17-year-old son Travis (Harrison) cart him away in a wheelbarrow and dump him in a grave before Paul puts a bullet in his brain and sets the body on fire.

The scene was inspired by a real moment Shults had with his biological dad, from whom he was estranged for a decade. A lot of our relationship went into Krisha, because he battled with addiction. His life was good for a while but then it went off the rails and I felt I had to cut off our relationship.

He visited his father as he succumbed to pancreatic cancer, a moment Shults calls one of his most traumatic experiences. He was so full of regret for everything that he did, and I was trying to help him find peace, he says. It was the closest I had ever come to death.

It Comes at Night was born of processing that trauma. It started with that opening scene where shes talking to her dad  thats what I was saying to mine. It came down to the word regret, the regret he felt. I think regret is a huge part of this movie.

He searches to explain the headspace he was in when he wrote It Comes at Night, going from his fathers death to reading books on genocide and human behavior, mulling humankinds disposition toward tribalism and violent self-defense.

Between being kicked out of flight attendant school and picking up a dream job working for filmmaker Terrence Malick, an auspicious start to his film career, hed also done work for a family member he describes as a survivalist prepper, helping them reinforce their home in the event of unforeseeable calamity.

Bits of all of this find their way into Night, in how teenager Travis, navigating his own burgeoning curiosities, hopes, and desires, quietly wrestles with the decisions his parents make in the name of protecting their own. Shults admits theres a lot of him in Travis and his own stepfather in Edgertons Paul.

There are worse things than death, he says. Worse is losing your humanity, and that is 100% the struggle I had with my stepdad. Hes told me, Im not wired like your mom; Ill do whatever I have to do, for my family. I battled with myself over if he was crazy or not. What Joel says in the movie  You cant trust anybody but family  hes said to me my whole life.

His first draft spilled out in three days. Shortly thereafter he rewrote and then finally shot the Krisha feature hed been trying to make for years, keeping the script for It Comes at Night in his back pocket. Krisha premiered at SXSW in the spring of 2015 and became an indie darling, nabbing the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award before playing the Cannes Film Festival. A24, the company behind Moonlight and Ex Machina, swept in to acquire the film for distribution and signed on to make what Shults had next.

After the microbudgeted debut he filmed in his family home, It Comes at Night marks a major leap to bona fide filmmaking for Shults, who found himself working with seasoned producers, a bigger crew, a budget just under $5 million, and actors hes not related to.

Edgerton had just finished Loving when he signed on to star and executive produce, enticed to the project after watching Krisha. Its masterful in that it was able to elicit such terror out of a kitchen-sink drama, Edgerton says by phone. The idea that he could turn family Thanksgiving into a terrifying day, where the threat of something looming underpins that whole film  that he could turn someone cooking a turkey into a sequence that is cinematically dreadful.

The sense of slow-building anxiety creeps through It Comes at Night in subtle moments between actors and haunting lensing by Krisha cinematographer Drew Daniels.

The camera floats, disembodied, down darkened hallways that loom with their own secrets, to the basement door ominously painted crimson. It dances around Edgerton and Abbott in the stark daylight of an interrogation scene, one of the films tricky one-take shots captured in the woods of New Yorks Hudson River Valley.

Shults knows what he wants, his producers say of the conviction of his vision. And they hope viewers find relevance in the films underlying parallels to todays increasingly fraught social climate.

Producers David Kaplan (It Follows) and Andrea Roa (Tramps) remember being struck by that relevance while watching an early cut the day after the presidential election. We both found it a bit cathartic, to watch the movie under those conditions, said Kaplan. It is about people making decisions under duress, and making decisions from a place of fear, and how that can spiral out of control.

Edgerton points to parallels between the characters desperate trajectory and Americas immigration policies.

It feels like this microcosm of a refugee story, he says. Here you have a house that could represent a country, and a family that could represent the people that live in that country, questioning whether to invite other people in. We are the family that holds the keys.

Shults cant deny theres an unintentional timeliness to the streak of isolationist paranoia that runs through the film, which he wrote before the election while living between Texas and Florida, when talk of Trumps proposed border wall dominated headlines.

I thought he was a joke, that he wasnt going to win, Shults shakes his head. It was weird to be working on the movie and editing the movie and see it reflect things that were happening in the world.

Hes worked almost nonstop since shooting wrapped last September, hurtling through the editing process. At an early test screening he broke down in tears, exhausted, and was comforted by his friend and now fellow standard bearer of new American indie horror, The Witch director Robert Eggers, with whom he grew close while hitting the film festival circuit with Krisha.

He was sitting by me and said, Whatever youre channeling, its OK, Shults recalls. Even the recent nightmare Shults had subconsciously tied his various career and life anxieties into one haunting vision.

In it, he remembers, he was told he had cancer and only one week to live. His dream self realized he didnt have enough time to finish the script hes working on and asked a friend to carry out his vision after hes gone: I said, Here  will you make this or share it or something?

As for the new script, its a story involving a family dealing with tragedy that has elements of Krisha and It Comes at Night. He wants it to flow like a piece of music, like Goodfellas or Boogie Nights or Dazed and Confused. And of course, it is a personal tale  one with a tragedy at its center and a spiral down to hate and upward into love that follows, he says. Its my baby. It means everything to me.

Relief will come soon, now that It Comes at Night is out. Maybe. All I wanted for months was for the movie to be done and to rest, laughs Shults, who lives in Orlando. And then Im home for four days and I start getting antsy that Im not doing enough.

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato

ALSO

Review: It Comes at Night finds terror in the shadows of a post-apocalyptic hideaway

Indie Focus: Politeness steps aside in Beatriz at Dinner and It Comes at Night

Review: The Thanksgiving drama Krisha masterfully captures the emotional horror show of a family
For die-hard fans of the Syfy drama Battlestar Galactica, the closing night reunion panel at the ATX Television Festival was a treat-filled trip down memory lane.

Seven key cast members  Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), James Callis (Gaius Baltar), Tricia Helfer (Number Six), Grace Park (Boomer/Number Eight) and Michael Trucco (Sam Anders)  and executive producer Ronald D. Moore came together to celebrate the groundbreaking series that was as much post-9/11 allegory as it was grand space adventure.

The BSG gang still clearly enjoy each others company and had both the audience and each other cracking up throughout the nearly two-hour Q&A session at Austins Paramount Theatre.

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From awkward sex scenes (Callis and Helfer) to uncontrollable giggles (McDonnell and Sackhoff) to Olmoss Adama-like leadership qualities, the cast mates and Moore fondly recalled funny and touching moments from their time on the series, which ran from 2004 to 2009.

Moderator James Hibberd, from left, Ronald D. Moore, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park and Michael Trucco attend the reunion panel of Battlestar Galactica at the ATX Television Festival. (Rick Kern / Getty Images)

Here are a few highlights from the lively reunion:

Local hospitals sometimes got a surprise

Callis recalled a scene in which he fell and hit his head requiring a trip to an emergency room. The injury itself, he said, wasnt too dreadful, but at the time I was covered in blood and stuff  fake blood and I looked like a total mess ... and they wheeled me in and when [the hospital staff] saw me they were like What the . is happening?

Helfer also recalled trying to explain one of her injuries via the shows elaborate story lines. You go to the emergency room and they ask What were you doing?

Well, I was dying, I was in an underground parking garage and I was killing somebody because she wanted me to kill myself and download but I didnt want to... How do you explain that?

The cast remains a tight-knit group

The bond of BSG extended off the set and across the years as the actors described hanging with each others families. Sackhoff joked, I live by the airport, so I get the stop-bys.

There was no plan

The shows opening pre-credit sequence describing the Cylon revolution stated that the humanoid robots had a plan. Moore said this was, essentially, just something co-executive producer David Eick thought sounded cool, that audiences would love and that they could figure out later. They never did and, said Moore, For the next 14 years of my life people have asked me What was the plan? In short, There was no  plan.

Blockbuster video stores played a helpful role at the start of the series

Although as a kid Moore had watched the original 1978 series from which the show was being rebooted, he rented the original pilot at the video chain to reacquaint himself.

I was very struck by the idea of doing that show at that moment in time, he said. Because when I watched that pilot three months after 9/11, it had completely different resonance.  an apocalyptic attack, out of the blue, that devastated these worlds  I immediately thought, if you did that show now, it was an opportunity to talk about things that were happening in the world.

After Sackhoff told her father she had been cast as wild card fighter pilot Starbuck, he advised her to check out the original show. So she trooped down to the video store and learned that her character had originally been played by a man (Dirk Benedict). She then went to an Internet cafe to hear what fans had to say. When she learned about the online uproar over the gender flip, she said, I learned in that moment  em.

The show may have featured snazzy technology, but in 2017, glitches still happen

As a surprise, Jamie Bamber (Lee Apollo Adama) put in a special appearance via Skype from France, where he was enjoying a beer at 3 a.m.

Although multiple technical difficulties made much of his contribution unintelligible, both the onstage cast and a game Bamber made the most of it, joking with one another while trying to communicate. (At one point Olmos tried to call him.) As the connection ended, each member ran over to the camera and blew Bamber a kiss.

At the panels conclusion, the cast stood and joined hands as Olmos intoned the shows famous phrase, to which the audience resoundingly responded So say we all!

sarah.rodman@latimes.com

Twitter: @SarahARodman
Balmeet Singh stepped outside a burger shop in a strip mall to wish his 13-year-old cousin a happy birthday when the stranger squared up against him.

So, youre going to blow up this country? the man said. Youre trying to blow up this country?

He threw a drink in Singhs face, his long beard and burgundy turban the intended target. Then the man threatened to kill him.

A dozen people sat in the nearby patio. Singh scanned their faces. No one said anything. Singh had never felt so alone.

The September attack left the 31-year-old real estate agent among the swelling ranks of Sikhs targeted, in many cases, after being mistaken for Muslim  a phenomenon that gained momentum after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Sikh community leaders say theyve seen another uptick since the 2016 presidential election and the Trump administrations proposed immigration and travel bans. Those proposals, they argue, are fueling an intensified xenophobia.

Sikhism, which has roots in the Punjab region of northern India and eastern Pakistan, is the worlds fifth-largest religion.

The FBI began collecting data on anti-Sikh, anti-Arab and anti-Hindu hate crimes for the first time in 2015, though the Sikh community has struggled for years to accurately track those crimes. Only six of the incidents in the most recent FBI report were anti-Sikh hate crimes, but the bureau has said it takes years to get an accurate accounting.

Sikh advocacy groups argue such incidents are under-reported and do not include other hate-filled attacks, such as discrimination or hate speech  a concern buoyed by law enforcement data. Many cities either did not report hate crimes or reported zero hate crimes, according to the FBI report.

The overwhelming motivation for these attacks or intimidation incidents are part and parcel of a growing wave of hostility based on perception that Sikhs are Muslim, said Suman Raghunathan, executive director of the advocacy group South Asian Americans Leading Together.

Advocacy groups use statistics on anti-Muslim hate crimes to help determine whether Sikhs are at higher risk, said Rajdeep Singh Jolly, interim managing director of programs at the Sikh Coalition.

At the moment, the risk of anti-Sikh hate crime is high, Jolly said. Any time there is a flare-up in anti-immigrant rhetoric, we see an uptick in even an apprehension about hate crimes.

While some of the violence against Sikhs stems from misconceptions about their background  attackers assume they are Muslim or Middle Eastern  experts say much of it is fueled by a prejudiced response to their darker skin, beards or turbans.

Earlier this year, two Sikhs and two other Indian men were shot in attacks in Kansas, Washington and South Carolina. In two of the incidents, authorities said the shooters expressed a variation of the same sentiment: Go back to your country.

Its very similar to how I felt after 9/11, Singh said. Its not enough to simply be who you are and exist. You have to go out of your way to prove youre not a threat.

Community members are working to strike a balance in its efforts to educate the public about Sikhism  aiming to differentiate themselves through awareness campaigns and local outreach without appearing to condone attacks on Muslims and other minorities.

Sikhs began migrating in large numbers with my parents generation, Jolly said. They just didnt have the time or resources or the know-how of how to do lobbying. To some extent, were catching up.

A disturbing trend

Maan Singh Khalsa was attacked and beaten, and his hair was cut off in Richmond, Calif., in 2016. (Sikh Coalition) (Sikh Coalition)

Maan Singh Khalsa thought nothing of the men in the white Ford F-150 who pulled up next to him at a red light in Richmond, Calif. Then they began throwing beer cans at him.

When the light turned green, Khalsa drove off and called 911. The truck followed.

At the next red light, two men got out of the pickup and ran up to Khalsas car. They reached into the open window, punched his face and yelled profanities. The attackers cut off bits of his hair. They stabbed his finger as he tried to shield himself. His finger was later amputated.

By cutting my hair, the attackers did not just attack my body; they attacked my dignity, my spirit, my faith, my religion and my entire community, Khalsa, 42, said later in a court statement.

Khalsa said he didnt even think about rolling up the window when the men approached him. Instead, he tried to reason with his assailants, saying, There is a misunderstanding; I am your brother.

The Texas men were sentenced to three years in prison for the September attack. When addressing his attackers in court, Khalsa again tried to get them to understand.

I hope that you will learn about me and my community and one day consider me your brother too, Khalsa said.

High profile attacks on Indian Americans September 2001: Balbir Singh Sodhi is killed in the aftermath of 9/11 in Mesa, Ariz.

March 2011: Two elderly Sikh men are killed while out for a walk in Elk Grove, Calif.

August 2012: A gunman opens fire in a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wis., during Sikh prayer services, killing six.

September 2015: A teenager calls a Sikh man terrorist and Bin Laden before repeatedly punching him in his car in Chicago. September 2016: A Sikh man is brutally beaten and his hair is cut off while stopped at a red light in Richmond, Calif.

February 2017: Two Indian men are shot, one of them fatally, at a bar in Olathe, Kan. The shooter reportedly told them to go back to their country.

March 2017: Two Sikh men are attacked in separate shootings, one in Washington and another in South Carolina. The man shot in South Carolina was killed.

On Sept. 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi was planting flowers with a landscaper outside his gas station in Mesa, Ariz. On his head rested a turban.

As he drove past in his pickup, Frank Roque, a 42-year-old machinist, opened fire with a .38-caliber handgun. Sodhi, 49, was shot multiple times. He crumbled to the ground, fatally wounded  the first Sikh killed after 9/11 by someone bent on killing a Muslim.

The next day, when police arrested him, Roque yelled, I stand for America!

Before the attack, Roque told a waiter at an Applebees that he was going to go out and shoot some towel heads. He said that all Arabs should be shot and that he wanted to slit some Iranian throats, according to media reports.

Sodhis brother, Rana, didnt learn of his brothers death until the next day, when a gas station employee called. He thought his brother must have been shot in a robbery. Then it sunk in that his brother was killed outside the shop. Sodhi had been shot because of what his beard and turban meant to his killer, his brother realized.

We didnt know there was so much ignorance, Rana Sodhi said.

A link between political rhetoric and crime

Gurcharan Singh, 63, celebrates a holiday parade at his gurdwara. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The FBI began tracking hate crimes against Sikhs in response to community advocacy following a mass shooting at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wis., in 2012. Six people were killed, and three were critically wounded. The gunman shot himself in the head.

Sikhs have been attacked at least a dozen times since, but it was a shooting in Kansas in February that again put the Indian community on edge. In that attack, two men were shot by a man who reportedly believed he was shooting Iranians.

Valarie Kaur, a Sikh civil rights advocate, said shes spent years pushing back against the mistaken identity narrative because xenophobia targets all of our communities at once, not just Sikhs.

It seems to make very little difference if the brown, bearded man with the turban calls himself a Sikh and not a Muslim, she said. They read us as un-American.

Sikh women prepare bread during Nagar Kirtan celebrations at Gurdwara Guru Angad Darbar in Bakersfield. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A correlation between President Trumps talk on immigration and an increase in hate crimes doesnt necessarily point to causation, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, but there could be a link between political rhetoric and crime.

When then-President George W. Bush called for tolerance after 9/11, anti-Muslim hate crimes dropped dramatically across the country, he said. Those crimes spiked when Trump, then a presidential candidate, first proposed his Muslim ban after the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015, Levin said.

The average for anti-Muslim hate crimes at the time was about 13 per month, he said, but there were 15 anti-Muslim crimes within five days after Trumps speech.

Sikhs are getting swept up in that, Levin said.

Carrying proof of citizenship

Sikh holy men walk in front of a procession carrying their holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, during a Nagar Kirtan parade. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In the days following Trumps first travel ban order, conversations in Balmeet Singhs family began to shift from asking about each others day to whether they would need to prove they are Americans. Over dinners, they discussed keeping copies of their passports in their car and scanned copies onto their phones.

They bought his youngest sister a panic button in case anyone harassed her.

Singh, who lives in Bakersfield with his parents, grandparents and sisters, said it was surreal for all three generations to sit down and talk about their identity.

Suddenly, all of us have to discuss that its not enough to be who we are, he said. We suddenly have to prove ourselves.

Sikh men play a card game in a neighborhood park in Bakersfield. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Sukhpreet Sandy Kaur, left, helps Emily Villarreal cover her head before entering the gurdwara. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

About 500,000 Sikhs live in the United States, with much of that population settled in California and New York, according to the Sikh Coalition.

Sikhs represent a small portion of the Indian population, but community estimates place more than 30,000 in the central San Joaquin Valley. They comprise the majority of the local Indian population.

In an effort to familiarize the rest of the community with Sikhs, Singhs father put up a billboard along the freeway with his photo and information about his medical clinic. His face is plastered on the left side of the sign, his hair wrapped in a black turban.

Forgiveness

A Sikh priest offer prayers during Nagar Kirtan services at Gurdwara Guru Angad Darbar in Bakersfield. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Just days after 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, his brother Rana and other members of their gurdwara planned a Sunday news conference to educate the community about Sikhs. The day before, Sodhi called his brother and asked him to bring an American flag for the gas station.

Sodhi was shot dead 30 minutes later.

A lot of us moved from India after 1984, when Sikhs were persecuted in New Delhi out in the open, Rana Sodhi said. We didnt expect those kind of things from America.

He spoke with his brothers killer for the first time last year after Kaur, the Sikh civil rights advocate and a family friend, set up a phone call.

The three spoke for more than 20 minutes. Roque, who still is in prison, told Rana Sodhi that he was seething over the terrorist attacks when he pulled the trigger. He said he wasnt a racist, and he did express remorse.

I want you to know from my heart, Im sorry for what I did to your brother, Roque said, according to a recording of the conversation. One day, when I go to heaven to be judged by God, I will ask to see your brother, and I will hug him, and I will ask him for forgiveness.

Sodhi nodded, then replied: We already forgave you.

Follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini

sarah.parvini@latimes.com
Joining #ResistMarch: 49 balloons in memory of the 49 people killed in last years Orlando nightclub shooting

Kassandra La Giusa-Riedeman & her mom Jacki Riedeman march with one of 49 purple balloons commemorating Orlando shooting victims #Pride2017 pic.twitter.com/4lHtKZSM8Z  Hailey Branson-Potts (@haileybranson) June 11, 2017

Kassandra La Giusa-Riedeman and her mom Jacki Riedeman marched with one of 49 giant purple balloons commemorating the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando last June, when a heavily armed gunman stormed into a packed gay nightclub and began rapidly firing into the crowd, killing 49 people.

Holding the balloon, La Giusa-Riedeman said she could feel the weight of the loss.

Riedeman agreed: It reminds us that we have so far to go, still, and that we can never give up.

Riedeman and her wife have been bringing La Giusa-Riedeman to Pride parades since she was a baby. Now 21 years old and a student at CSU Channel Islands, she proudly displayed a button that said I (Heart) My Moms.

Mothers and daughters continued to march toward Santa Monica Boulevard, standing alongside those who chanted Black Lives Matter and When womens rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back! When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back! When trans rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!

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More than 235 sheriffs deputies, firefighters, police officers and others scoured areas along 30 miles of road in Santa Barbara County on Saturday but failed to locate a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly two months.

Aramadz Andressian Jr. was last seen April 20 with his father, who was initially detained on suspicion of child endangerment and abduction but released for lack of evidence. Aramadz Andressian Sr. told investigators he took his son to the Lake Cachuma area in Santa Barbara County the day after the boys last sighting, but there have been no confirmed sightings of the child there.

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in a statement that they identified possible areas of interest in Saturdays search, which encompassed areas between Nojoqui Falls, Solvang and the Lake Cachuma area. They said the investigation was ongoing and authorities will resume the search later.

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Andressian Sr., who detectives have said has given inconsistent and misleading statements, has hired an attorney and refused to cooperate with investigators. He was found unconscious in a South Pasadena Park on April 22, the day he was supposed to return the boy to his ex-wife.

The missing child is described as a 55-pound white male with brown hair and brown eyes. Authorities have offered a $20,000 reward for information about his disappearance. Police have also searched South Pasadena Park and served search warrants at the boys grandmothers Montebello home.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 or provide tips anonymously at (800) 222-TIPS (8477) or www.lacrimestoppers.org.

victoria.kim@latimes.com

For more California news, follow me on Twitter @vicjkim

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Antonio Villaraigosa targets Gavin Newsom as he stumps on Eastside
The rivalry between Antonio Villaraigosa and Gavin Newsom intensified Saturday as the former Los Angeles mayor suggested his chief opponent in the governors race was a finger-in-the-wind politician unworthy of leading Californias resistance to President Trump.

His M.O. is to be for something, then be against it, then be for it again, depending on the polls or popular whim, Villaraigosa said after a speech on immigration at East Los Angeles College, alluding to Newsoms stands on high-speed rail and a single-payer healthcare system.

With the June 2018 primary still a full year away, Villaraigosas attacks on the lieutenant governor came remarkably early in the campaign. In a wide-ranging interview, Villaraigosa dropped any pretense that his veiled criticisms of unnamed Democrats in recent weeks were aimed at anyone other than Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor.

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I call them Davos Democrats who fly over the homes of people left behind, but never have been in their living rooms, he said, naming Newsom as one of those Democrats. I grew up in those living rooms.

Newsom campaign spokesman Dan Newman said he would not dignify Villaraigosas pile of inaccurate silliness with tit-for-tat responses.

I find it curious and a bit disappointing how early in the campaign Antonio has shrunk to juvenile name-calling and facile negativity, Newman said in an email. I really believe that voters  particularly in the Trump era  are eager for more positive, intelligent, and substantive discussions. Hopefully hell join us in that effort at some point.

A poll last month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found 22% of likely voters supporting Newsom and 17% backing Villaraigosa. A handful of other candidates were clustered in the single digits.

Newsom was the favorite of upscale white liberals, especially in the Bay Area, while Southern Californians, Latinos and voters with lower incomes preferred Villaraigosa. Both are Democrats.

Newsoms steady lead in recent polls makes him an inevitable target, but so far Villaraigosa is the only one to attack him. Their rivalry was spawned a dozen years ago when both were high-profile mayors aspiring to statewide and perhaps national office.

I think it was inevitable that we would end up where we are, on the same ballot, and that always made for an interesting political dance, to be candid, Newsom said in an April interview. You always felt that, and its unfortunate.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with participants in an Armenian march in Los Angeles on April 24. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Newsom said he had a much stronger relationship with Eric Garcetti, Villaraigosas successor as mayor.

On Saturday, Villaraigosa campaigned at a California Latino Congreso forum on immigration at East L.A. College in Monterey Park. He described Trumps anti-Mexican rhetoric as part of a long-standing tradition.

Villaraigosa told the audience that hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry were forced to repatriate to Mexico in the 1930s, and that more mass deportations occurred in the 50s under President Eisenhower.

Villaraigosa also paid tribute to Jose Luis Hernandez, a 30-year-old Honduran immigrant who told the crowd hed lost his right leg and right arm when he fell off a train crossing Mexico on his journey to the U.S.

You dont have to be Mexican, or Latino, or an immigrant to feel what he has gone through, Villaraigosa said. And as we all know, hes not the only one.

In the interview afterward, Villaraigosa shifted his focus to Newsom. Gavin, he tweets a lot, but I think people want more than tweets and talk, he said. Theyre looking for leadership.

Villaraigosa argued that his years as a president of the ACLUs Southern California chapter and speaker of the state Assembly gave him real-world experience that Newsom cant match.

I came out of the civil rights movement, he said. Ive stood up for justice and equality my whole life, for working people. Turning sarcastic, he added: So you know, resist with talk and tweets? Yeah. Thats not what people are looking for.

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

@finneganLAT

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Updates on California politics
ORCHARD | On Wednesday, May 31, eighth-graders from Charles City Middle School experienced conservation first-hand, when they conducted water tests and released rainbow trout into Spring Creek, northwest of Orchard.

Students participated as members of three extracurricular clubs offered at Charles City Middle School - Trout in the Classroom, Conservation and Society and Fly Fishing Club.

All three organizations meet during the school day and are led by middle school social studies teacher, Ryan Rahmiller, who seeks to give students a hands-on education about conservation awareness.

We talk about the conservation issues and the legislative issues, Rahmiller said. Today is the culminating event, where we released a little over 100 trout.

This is the sixth year students have participated in a trout release.

Students conducted water tests at Spring Creek, where they measured several factors including temperature, stream velocity and dissolved oxygen.

They used nets to catch and identify different organisms in order to determine the waters quality.

The students also had the opportunity to release the trout raised in their classroom for the last six months.

Weve been doing this in a tank we have at the school, said Logan Luft. We take daily tests and feed the trout.

"Basically, we raise them from eggs we got from Montana all the way to fingerlings. And today, we released them, so thats our end product.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Fisheries Supervisor, Chris Larson, spoke to students about the fish stocking process in Iowa and career opportunities with the IDNR.

Demonstrating the process, he released approximately 160 rainbow and brook trout into the creek.

We stock fish every week from April to October, Larson said. In November and January, we stock urban fishing in places like Mason City and Sioux City where [in January] well drill through the ice.

While students ate lunch, they had the opportunity to hear Mitchell County Conservation Director, Adam Shirley, speak on the countys conservation efforts.

This creek will always be available to the public, Shirley said. Youll be able to bring your children and grandchildren to this very same spot.

After lunch, the eighth-graders were able to fish for the remainder of the sunny day and reflect upon their contribution to the environment.

To me this is important because every little bit counts to give back to the environment, Luft said. This is our way of giving back to the environment by releasing trout.
President Trump is expected to roll back parts of the historic Obama-era opening with Cuba, siding with hawks who oppose detente and rejecting demands from U.S. businesses for whom the island is a ripe potential market.

The decision follows an inter-agency administration review of one of President Obamas signature initiatives and would represent a throwback to policies that date to the Cold War.

The review is believed to have been completed some time ago, with White House officials waiting for the best time to release it. Trump could make the announcement as early as this week.

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The move will be controversial. It could dull a boom in tourism by Americans to Cuba and hurt a burgeoning cottage industry of private enterprise on the socialist-ruled island. And it could allow Russia and China to more easily step in to fill the void.

Some Trump supporters argue however that President Raul Castro has failed to improve human rights or expand political freedoms and does not deserve better relations with the U.S.

Human rights is something thats very strong to him  Its one of the reasons that hes reviewing the Cuba policy, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said in a recent briefing with reporters. (More than most of his predecessors, however, Trump has had a selective attitude towards human rights, rarely raising the issue with some of the worlds most abusive strongmen.)

Lobbying Trump against Cuba ties are two Cuban American Republican lawmakers from Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. Proponents of continued dialogue and trade, including farm states, businesses, the tourism industry and even a group of retired military officers, have similarly lobbied Congress.

Normalization was never going to create democracy in Cuba overnight, said Tomas Bilbao, founder of a Washington, D.C., consulting firm who is active in promoting U.S.-Cuban rapprochement. The idea was to increase the flow of people, resources and ideas and make the Cuban people less reliant on the Cuban state.

Two years before he left office, Obama took the dramatic step of revealing the results of what had been a long series of secret negotiations: The United States and Cuba were renewing diplomatic ties after half a century of hostility.

In the months that followed, American entrepreneurs, tourists and even congressional delegations beat a path to the shores of the island that was for so long something of forbidden fruit, barely 100 miles from the tip of Florida.

U.S. hotel chains signed deals, and airlines and cruise ships scheduled dozens of tours to Havana and other Cuban cities. Chicken, grain and other agricultural producers in Louisiana, Kansas and other farm states exported tons of products to Cuba.

Cuba and the United States reopened embassies in each others capital, diplomatic missions that had been shuttered in 1961.

Ordinary Cubans, long denied access to the Internet, suddenly were able to go online. Castro allowed Cubans to travel out of the country more easily, and an estimated 20% of the economy is now in private hands for the first time since Fidel Castro consolidated control after the 1959 revolution.

Obama did not end the U.S. embargo imposed on Cuba in 1960. Only Congress can do that. Trumps actions would stop the momentum to repeal the embargo.

Obama argued that the policy of isolation of Cuba for more than 50 years had failed to oust the Castros, and although Cuba still had political shortcomings, engagement was more effective than hostility. He crowned the new era by becoming, in 2016, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Havana in 90 years.

Fidel Castro died last year at the age of 90, and his brother Raul, 86, has said he will step down next year after a decade as president.

But leading Cuban dissidents say the situation for human rights has not improved but worsened. Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, head of Cubas largest opposition group, said harassment and arrests of dissidents have spiked dramatically in the last year.

The United States must continue to be the first defender of those who lack rights and freedoms in the world, Ferrer wrote in an open letter to Trump. He called for sanctions against the Castro regime.

Trump is not expected to reverse all of the Cuba opening, according to people familiar with the review process. He is not likely to close the U.S. Embassy in Havana, nor would he reimpose restrictions on the remittances that Cuban Americans in the U.S. send to their families in Cuba, something that would anger a large Florida voter base.

He would probably also leave in place Obamas ending of the so-called wet foot, dry foot special immigration status only for Cubans. Under rules that were in force for two decades, Cubans who reached U.S. shores were automatically given visas and an easy path to permanent residency. Obama scrapped the policy in January, saying that normalized relations meant Cubans should follow the same rules as other migrants and refugees.

Trump would likely revert to pre-Obama restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba and on trade and commerce by U.S. companies by restoring onerous regulations that Obama had lifted. A U.S.-Cuban task force that was meeting regularly to work out additional bilateral agreements on issues such as property claims and cargo shipping would likely be discontinued. He could restore limits on the amount of rum and cigars that American travelers can bring home.

Rubio, one of the chief hard-liners on Cuba, said last week he was confident that Trump would keep his commitment by making changes on Cuba policy.

Although he spoke rarely of Cuba during the election campaign, Trump did say he could have made a better deal than Obama had. More recently, he said he and Rubio shared very similar views on Cuba.

Rubio has had a couple of intimate dinners with Trump, including one last Tuesday. Two days later, Rubio was among senators questioning fired FBI Director James B. Comey and seemed to be one of the most supportive of Trump.

Obamas decision to repair the relationship with Cuba greatly enhanced U.S. standing in the Americas, where Washington had been the lone hold-out refusing to recognize Havana. And that in turn has helped first Obama and now Trump to galvanize opposition to the repressive regime in Venezuela. Turning its back on Cuba now would hamper Washingtons attempts to apply pressure on Caracas, diplomats said.

Engage Cuba, a coalition of organizations supporting robust ties with Cuba, issued a report this month that warned rolling back the policy could cost U.S. businesses and taxpayers $6.6 billion and 12,295 jobs over the course of the presidential term.

And Cubans have benefited. Airbnb, for example, said it paid $40 million to Cubans renting out their homes in the last two years. But Rubio and others argue most money goes to the Cuban military, which is intricately intertwined in the Cuban economy.

One measure Trump might take is to condition future U.S. commercial deals on guarantees that no revenue is paid to the military or ruling Communist Party.

Retired Army Gen. David L. McGinnis, part of a group of former military officers who have also lobbied to retain the opening with Cuba, argued that undoing the relationship will pose a threat to national security.

He and others said joint U.S.-Cuba progress on busting human-trafficking rings and interdicting drug-running operations in the waters between the two countries would be badly impaired.

Moreover, McGinnis said, there are other powers, like Russia, China and Iran, battling for influence in Cuba as they perceive the U.S. withdrawing.

Russia just this month announced plans to invest $2 billion in repair of the deteriorated Cuban railway system. Last month, the largest Russian shipment of crude oil since the fall of the Soviet Union docked at a Cuban port, and Russias defense ministry said it is considering reopening military bases on the island for the first time in 15 years.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
President Trump will not unconditionally cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs recently opened investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with the Trump campaign, a defense lawyer for Trump signaled on Sunday.

The lawyer, Jay Sekulow, also asserted that former FBI Director James B. Comey submitted for Muellers advance review the prepared testimony that he delivered last week to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Comey denied doing so in an exchange during that hearing.



For the record: An earlier version of this article said James B. Comey acknowledged that he vetted his recent Senate testimony with the new special counsel. He has denied doing so.

Though noting that Trump said Friday he would answer Muellers questions under oath, Sekulow declined to rule out ordering at some later date the firing of the widely praised Mueller, who preceded Comey as FBI director.

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The president is going to seek the advice of his counsel and inside the government as well as outside, Sekulow told ABCs This Week, adding, Im not going to speculate on what he will or will not do.

Sekulows position points out the complexity created by the parallel congressional and criminal investigations into what happened during the campaign and its aftermath. Muellers inquiry may also now include questions about whether Trump tried to influence the FBI probe.

Comey and Mueller had worked together during the George W. Bush administration when Comey was deputy attorney general and Mueller was FBI director, a position he kept until late 2013, when Comey succeeded him.

Comey, in his appearance before the Senate panel Thursday, said Trump pressured him to end the FBIs investigation of Michael Flynn shortly after Flynn resigned as the presidents national security advisor. Flynn was forced out after the Washington Post reported that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynns flurry of contacts during the presidential transition with Russias ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

In comments to reporters on Friday, Trump disputed some of Comeys recollections and denied that he had in any way sought to obstruct the investigation.

The conflicting characterizations invite a contest between the credibility of the president and the man he had inherited as FBI director.

When asked Friday about the existence of any tape recordings of his conversations with Comey, Trump told reporters he would provide the answer within a fairly short period of time, adding, Oh, youre going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. Dont worry.

Sekulow declined Sunday to commit Trump to releasing any recordings. Thats a decision that the president will make in consultation with his chief lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, Sekulow said, adding that Trump would address it next week.

Three senators said Sunday that Trump should now divulge or acknowledge any such tapes.

If there are tapes  and the presidents equivocal on this  bring those tapes forward, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who serves on the Intelligence Committee, said on CNNs State of the Union.

He should give a straight yes or no answer to the  question of whether or not the tapes exist, said another committee member, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). I dont understand why the president doesnt clear the matter up.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said, He should make them public right away. If there arent tapes, he should let that be known. No more game playing. Schumer appeared on CBS Face the Nation.

Trump, for his part, did not entirely delegate Sundays advocacy duties to Sekulow and other surrogates.

At 5:29 a.m. EDT, the presidents Twitter account posted criticism of Comey  focusing on the former FBI directors acknowledgment to the Senate committee that he had used an intermediary to leak to the news media the existence of notes he had kept memorializing his private conversations with Trump.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible, said Trumps tweet. Totally illegal? Very cowardly!

david.willman@latimes.com

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Federal officials requested a 20-year extension involving the storage in Idaho of reactor core debris from the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

The U.S. Department of Energy, in a document made public Friday, asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew a license allowing storage until 2039 at an 890-square-mile site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory.

The debris from the 1979 nuclear accident was shipped from Pennsylvania to Idaho between 1986 and 1990. Research on the material was performed to improve nuclear fuel design and reactor safety.

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The material also includes intact fuel assemblies.

The license to store the material in Idaho expires in 2019. In a separate agreement with Idaho made in 1995, the agency is required to remove the waste from the state by 2035.

But federal officials have nowhere to send it.

DOE remains committed to meeting its obligations to the state of Idaho, the federal agency said in a March 9 letter to Idaho officials.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a letter dated March 6 from the Energy Department requesting the license renewal.

Anyone interested in requesting a hearing or who wants to intervene must file a petition with the commission within 60 days starting Friday.

Susan Burke, oversight coordinator of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said federal officials told her that an additional four years for removal will allow them to decommission the area after the debris is taken away.

They obviously cant close the facility a day after they remove the fuel, she said. Theres not an intent to not meet the 2035 deadline.

The Idaho attorneys general office declined to comment about the request for a license renewal. State Atty. Gen. Lawrence Wasden and the Energy Department have been at an impasse on another nuclear waste issue for more than a year.

Wasden is refusing to allow research quantities of spent nuclear fuel to be shipped to Idaho National Laboratory  considered the nations top nuclear research lab  until the Energy Department demonstrates it can process 900,000 gallons of high-level nuclear waste.

The Energy Department initially had a 2012 deadline to deal with the liquid waste thats stored in tanks above a giant aquifer that supplies water to cities and farms in the region.

That deadline has been extended multiple times and was most recently missed in September after the federal agency announced scientists couldnt achieve a stable operation at a $600-million facility to treat the waste.
The Navys newest combat ship, named after former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was put into active service after a commissioning ceremony Saturday.

Giffords, who was injured in a 2011 shooting, told a crowd at the ceremony in the Texas Gulf Coast city of Galveston that she was honored the 421-foot ship would carry her name, and that the vessel is strong and tough, just like her crew.

I thought of you in my darkest days, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States of America.... You make me proud. You make America proud, the Democrat said as she stood next to her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who also served in the Navy. Kelly lived in Galveston County when he was stationed at Johnson Space Center in suburban Houston during his NASA service.

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Speakers including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Giffords strength and courage made her worthy of being the namesake of the ship, the Gabrielle Giffords.

Nothing gives me greater joy and honor than seeing this great ship named for someone whose strength and resilience is a great lesson to us all, Clinton said.

Others who attended the ceremony included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, who served as the ships sponsor.

The Navy has said it named the ship after Giffords because of the perseverance she showed after the shooting.

Giffords was shot in the head at a meet-and-greet event outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011. Six people died and Giffords was among 13 injured. The killer, Jared Loughner, was sentenced to life in prison. Giffords suffers from a language disorder and is partially paralyzed as a result of the shooting.

Giffords helped christen the $475-million ship in 2015. Its the ninth in a series of high-speed vessels designed to navigate in shallow coastal regions known as littoral waters.

It is the 13th Navy ship named after a living person since 1850 and the 16th ship named for a woman.

The ship will be based in San Diego.

I will never forget this day or the crew of the USS Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman said. Fair winds and following seas.
The Americans With Disabilities Act produced tangible benefits. Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, the ADA banned employment discrimination against the disabled and eliminated unnecessary physical barriers to commercial and government buildings. But in the quarter-century since it was enacted, the law has also had countless unintended consequences  mutating definitions of what constitutes a physical or mental disability, senseless mandates, astronomical compliance costs for business owners and, perhaps most damaging of all, waves of abusive litigation.

Indeed, ADA lawsuits are now as common as sex-discrimination lawsuits, with more than 26,000 new claims filed against employers each year. The latest litigants have their sights on the most innovative segment of our domestic economy: e-commerce.

In this trend, people sue businesses because their websites arent sufficiently accessible to the disabled  because the websites lack assistive technologies for the blind or hearing-impaired, say. It began in 2000, when Bank of America became the first entity to settle a web-accessibility lawsuit. Safeway and Charles Schwab soon followed suit. In 2008, Target paid $6 million to settle a class-action suit brought by the National Federation of the Blind, and nearly $4 million more to cover the plaintiffs attorney fees and other costs. More than 240 businesses across the country have been sued in federal court over website accessibility since the beginning of 2015. Similar litigation has been brought against universities on the grounds that the free online courses they offer arent captioned for deaf users, and against ride-sharing services because their smartphone apps lack text-to-speech capability for blind users.

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Applying Title III to websites  and to online content in general  is highly problematic, because websites are connected to the global economy.

Though the ADA was enacted before websites were ubiquitous, many courts have interpreted the term public accommodation in the acts Title III to encompass Internet companies. But clear rules for applying the ADA to websites have yet to be established. For instance, the courts are divided about whether all commercial websites are subject to the ADA, or just those associated with brick-and-mortar businesses. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice took the broader position, but it didnt issue any actual regulations providing specific guidance to businesses. Those are now expected in 2018. In the meantime, millions of businesses with websites have the worst of both worlds: mandates without directions.

According to the demands of disabled users, in order for a website to be accessible, it must use fewer pictures, present text in a format that is compatible with text-reading software and employ design that allows for easy navigation. But the features that make a website more accessible for one disabled group are bound to be objectionable to another.

They may also conflict with other needs. Consider bank websites, which often employ timers that will shut down an online session for security reasons after a particular time period is exceeded. Such timeouts could present problems for some disabled users, but eliminating them in the interest of accessibility could impair security for all.

In the process of making a website accessible, questions invariably proliferate. Do certain color combinations violate the ADA because they confound the colorblind? Are certain layouts inaccessible if theyre confusing to users with a limited field of vision? Do the accessibility requirements apply only to the websites themselves, or do they also apply to Web content, such as advertising on a third partys website? Will website hosts be responsible for the compliance of third-party sites? Must archived Web content be revised to comply? What about mobile apps? Do temporary technical bugs in an otherwise compliant website constitute a violation? What physical and mental conditions will require accommodation? So far, Web accessibility lawsuits have concerned the vision- and hearing-impaired, but future cases could be brought on behalf of plaintiffs diagnosed with dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, narcolepsy, cognitive impairments, paralysis and many other conditions.

Whats more, guidelines that make sense for a Fortune 500 company arent necessarily appropriate for a small or medium-size business. The cost of having a knowledgeable consultant reconfigure or even audit a website could be prohibitively expensive. Merely reviewing a websites code and metadata to determine its compatibility with a blind users screen-reading software can cost $50,000.

In other words, applying Title III to websites  and to online content in general  is highly problematic, because websites are connected to the global economy. Making websites accessible to all is a far more complicated endeavor than modifying the premises of a business to accommodate disabled customers or disabled employees.

The litigation approach to enforcement that has developed under the ADA is a proven disaster, and one that should not be inflicted on the burgeoning digital economy. Lawmakers need to recognize that predatory litigation accomplishes nothing but the enrichment of a small number of opportunist lawyers and their clients. At a minimum, before bringing a lawsuit, accessibility claimants should be required to provide notice of alleged violations and give businesses a reasonable opportunity to comply. Advocates for the disabled may oppose such reforms, but responsible legislators must not cower before vocal special-interest groups.

Congress should either exempt websites and their related content from the requirements of the ADA, or enact detailed guidelines for the accommodations required by the law. If Congress wont act, the Department of Justice or another federal agency should issue reasonable regulations. In the interim, courts should hold in abeyance all lawsuits filed against allegedly noncompliant websites. Exposing businesses to potentially ruinous litigation in the absence of specific rules is an affront to the rule of law.

The ADA has produced endless lawsuits at astronomical cost. We cannot allow our most innovative form of technology, e-commerce, to be sacrificed on this altar of wishful thinking. In our digital age, the law needs to do some accommodating of its own.

Mark Pulliam is a contributing editor at the Library of Law and Liberty. He practiced law in California for 30 years. This piece has been adapted from the Manhattan Institutes City Journal.

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California is on the verge of creating a legal market for marijuana worth more than $5 billion that will help make the state a destination for pot-loving tourists, according to a new state-sponsored economic study.

But about 29% of all cannabis consumers may stay in the illegal market at first to avoid the cost of new regulations requiring the pot to be tested, tracked and taxed at 15% of its retail value, according to the study by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center.

State officials developing the regulations hope to gradually persuade the vast majority of cannabis users to go through the legal market, said Lori Ajax, director of the state Bureau of Marijuana Control, which hired the center to look at the economic impact of the new rules.

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Its going to take some time, Ajax said. While its unlikely that everyone will come into the regulated market on Day One, we plan to continue working with stakeholders as we move forward to increase participation over time.

The economic projections are both encouraging and daunting to state officials who hope to begin issuing licenses in January to thousands of businesses that will grow, transport, test and sell marijuana, following voter approval in November of an initiative legalizing recreational use.

The study indicates there will be economic benefits for the state from a regulated market.

The analysis estimated that as of November, aggregate annual sales in medical marijuana were $2 billion a year (about 25% of total marijuana sales) and sales in the illegal market were $5.7 billion (75%).

Voter approval of Proposition 64 has set in motion a system for fully legalized marijuana, which may bring state and local governments $1 billion in tax revenue, according to government estimates. The study estimated that more than 1,200 jobs will be created for testing and handling cannabis in the legal market.

New regulations allowing purchase of marijuana for recreational use are expected to shrink medical cannabis sales from $2 billion to $600 million as people are given an alternative to going through physicians to get medical pot cards for a fee, the study said.

Revenues for medical cannabis in Washington State, for instance, fell by one-third in the first year after the legal adult-use cannabis system took effect, and by more subsequently, the study said.

After the state adopts regulations, legal recreational use will make up 61.5% of the overall market, illegally purchased pot will make up about 29.5% of the market and legal medical marijuana use will be about 9% of the overall market, the analysis estimated.

We projected that when legally allowed, slightly more than half of the demand currently in the illegal adult-use segment will quickly move to the legal adult-use segment to avoid the inconvenience, stigma, and legal risks of buying from an unlicensed seller, the study says.

Californians should be concerned about the high rate of continued illegal activity, said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization of the drug.

We have seen this in other states too, that the legal market is easily undercut by the well-established underground market, Sabet said. This is unsurprising. It is just one more unrealized promise from the marijuana industry.

Updates from Sacramento 

The study also said the legalization and regulation should boost Californias tourism industry as visitors pour in from states and countries that do not allow the sale and use of marijuana.

Currently, there are more than 260 million visits to California from people from out of state each year, and the visitors spend more than $122 billion in California, much of it on leisure goods and services, the study noted.

For example, tourists have been estimated to spend $7.2 billion a year on wine in California, the report said.

Given that adult-use cannabis remains illegal in most other states, Californias legalized adult-use industry may attract some new visitors whose primary reason for visiting the state is cannabis tourism, as has been observed in Colorado, the study said.

The report cited a survey by Strategic Marketing and Research Insights, commissioned by the Colorado Tourism Office in 2015, a year after that state legalized recreational use.

The survey of 3,250 tourists from Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Diego and other cities found that 8% reported visiting a recreational-use cannabis store.

Of those, 85% said cannabis was a primary motivator of their visit to Colorado.

Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Assn., agrees with the economic forecast that a boost in tourism will be one of the side benefits of marijuana legalization.

Folks have been visiting California to enjoy the best cannabis in the world for many years, Allen said. It will be hugely beneficial to bring this existing commerce out of the shadows.

But Sabet, the opponent of legalization, noted that some cities have taken steps to ban marijuana sales. They include Pasadena and Laguna Beach.

I think youre going to see a lot of cities opposing marijuana stores in their community precisely because they do not want the pot tourism that comes with them, Sabet said. The backlash is starting to happen in California.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Twitter: @mcgreevy99

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Its unclear when the first funeral procession can enter Orange Countys state veterans cemetery, but a split Irvine City Council has begun a land swap that will move the site from a central part of the former El Toro Marine base to strawberry fields near the interchange of the 5 and 405 freeways.

This may be a good site, I have no idea  I have 10 pages (of information), no traffic study, no appraisal, Councilman Jeff Lalloway said in opposing the site switch at Tuesdays City Council meeting. This is absolutely ludicrous  Im concerned theres been a backroom deal.

Councilwoman Christina Shea countered Lalloways claims and defended the pending land swap.

That dramatic misrepresentation of whats going on here is pretty sad, but thats what we deal with regularly on the dais, Shea said. We need to move it forward, and then its going to move through all the proper processes.

There is no estimate for when the veterans cemetery would open. Strong feelings on both sides, sparked in part by an anonymous attack aimed at backers of the main former El Toro base site, intensified the council debate.

But following the City Councils decision, FivePoint Chairman and CEO Emile Haddad said in a statement:

The Irvine councils decision is a win-win-win for the city at large, or communities and, most importantly, the veterans who deserve a special place to honor their own, a cemetery that is worthy of the service they have given this country.

FivePoint stands ready to help the city and state expedite the building of the cemetery, he added. We are excited and proud to help deliver the promise made to the veterans.

Shea originally brought the land swap proposal to the council last year, but it failed to gain traction. She said Tuesday night that more than a year ago she approached FivePoint and the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation to begin talking about a potential land trade.

Since then, FivePoint offered to swap its strawberry field land for the original site by the Great Park, which has hangars and a runway on it.

FivePoint said it would fund the first phase of cemetery construction on the new site. In return, the developer wants its current entitlements transferred to the 125-acre runway site. Those entitlements include 812,000 square feet of commercial/office space and nearly 9,000 daily commuter trips allowed in and out of the site.

The developer will also contribute at least $10 million to the strawberry field site to fund Phase One of the cemetery construction, according to a transaction outline it sent to the city.

Mayor Donald Wagner, Shea and Councilwoman Melissa Fox voted for the swap while Lalloway and Mayor Pro Tem Lynn Schott opposed it.

Supporters said moving the site would expedite cemetery construction and be cheaper than if it stayed at the main part of the former military base because buildings and runways wouldnt have to be demolished, along with dealing with potential toxic clean up.

This should be something that we all are excited about, Shea said. To me, its a no-brainer.

I want to build this cemetery as fast as possible so those alive today will have peace of mind on where they will be interred.  Irvine Councilwoman Melissa Fox

I want to build this cemetery as fast as possible so those alive today will have peace of mind on where they will be interred, Fox said. This is not a last-minute motion. What were trying to do is get this done in a timely fashion for this years budget and not put it off once again.

But Lalloway, Schott and supporters of the runway site condemned the swap and said it will take longer to open the cemetery because the city is going to have to go back through the state approval process, like it did with the runway site. They also said there wasnt enough information about the proposed swap available at Tuesdays meeting.

Were just going to shove this down peoples throats without proper analysis, without proper study. Why dont we just rip up our master plan? said Lalloway, who then ripped up meeting documents.

Currently the runway site adjacent to the Great Park is zoned for park use and a 2014 appraisal valued the 125 acres at $9.4 million or $81,000 an acre. It was projected to handle about 200,000 veterans graves, most of them tombs for cremains.

Currently, the only veterans cemeteries in the region are in Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles Counties. Orange County has nearly 130,000 veterans, according to the OC Veterans Service Office.

Former Irvine Mayor Larry Agran previously said the runway site could be worth up to half a billion dollars if it were zoned for housing.

However, the developers lobbyist said the strawberry fields have a higher value than the runway site.

There was no requirement to submit  an appraisal as part of our term sheet, said Patrick Strader, FivePoints lobbyist, adding that land surrounding the strawberry fields sold at nearly $4 million an acre.

We can and will provide an appraisal if required. But the concept that a $9 million in total site is worth similar to the other site is preposterous, Strader said during public comment.

The runway site has the newly built Portola High School across the street and is adjacent to scores of new homes, as well as the Great Park.

It doesnt take much to understand the land in the north (the runway site) is very valuable for building houses. Lots of houses, Schott said during her opening remarks. Thatll be the next step.

What is the scope of the first phase? Is it a fence and a monument sign? Schott asked during council deliberations. What does that $10 million provide for us? These questions have yet to be answered. We owe it to the general public to get the answers to these questions.

Lalloway said the runway site is shovel ready and the strawberry fields would restart the process.

There has to be a bill (in the Legislature). There has to be this procedure of a swapwe have to do some due diligence, I imagine, at some level, Lalloway said.

Development of the runway site will cost nearly $80 million, according to a California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) report.

The site would have more than $30 million in demolition costs and require at least another $30 million to construct the first phase of the cemetery, which would have accommodated the remains of approximately 5,000 veterans, according to the report. Subsequent phases would have added more graves and cremation tombs over time until they reached a buildout of more than 200,000.

However, since there is no CalVet report on the strawberry fields, it is unknown how much the first phase there will cost or how many remains it will accommodate.

Meanwhile, Wagner said he isnt concerned about FivePoints profit. He said that land values are different based on what its zoned for.

Fivepoints is going to make some money off this. Yep, probably. I wouldnt expect them to be doing it otherwise. So what? Wagner said. We like them to come here and invest in our community, put people to work and make money. That improves the community.

Wagner said he couldnt justify spending millions of dollars of city money on the runway site when the cost at the runway site was an estimate.

It is unconscionable to spend millions and millions  when weve already dumped $200 million into the Great Park, Wagner said.

But Schott said her support of the runway site next to the Great Park made her the target of an anonymous website created specifically to attack her. The website claims Schott went door-to-door over the weekend to convince residents to stick to the runway site. The website, which has no names anywhere on it, doesnt say if its from a political action committee or run by an individual.

(Its) an outright lie, specifically about my whereabouts over this last weekend. I wasnt even in the state of California, Schott said.

The issue here is not about attacking each others characters, but its turned into that, Schott said. Its turned into robocalls. Its turned into fake websites about whereabouts and activities to try to sway public opinion.

Bill Cook, a former Marine who served in Vietnam and current president of the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, told the City Council he supports the move to the strawberry fields, where he feels it will get finished more quickly and for less cost.

We asked specifically that you put aside your politics  and vote unanimously, if you would, for the monument thats going to bring glory to the hallowed ground to honor our veterans, Cook told the council after reminding them that Tuesday marked the 99th anniversary of the Marines assault on Belleau Woods during World War I and the 73rd anniversary of D-Day in Europe during World War II.

Today in history, you have a very unique and rare opportunity to create hallowed ground, Cook said.

On the opposite side, Vietnam veteran Dennis Phelps asked the City Council, If you dont show some honor to the people who put their lives on the line to keep this place free  then what good are we? Were just a bunch of minions running around. A bunch of people enslaved to an economic situation where a corporation wants to trade a piece of land.

This story was reported by Voice of OC, a nonprofit investigative newsroom, as part of a publishing agreement with TimesOC. Spencer Custodio is a Voice of OC intern. He can be reached at spencercustodio@gmail.com.
Domestic fares this week were largely unchanged, including the $96 fare from LAX to San Francisco, just in case you want to head up to the Bay Area for Summer of Love events.

The biggest change this week was a decrease in fares to Tokyo; the lowest fare we found was $49 less than last week.

Airfares to Asia continue to entice; the Airfare Deal this week is a round-trip from LAX to Manila at just over $600. The ticket must be booked by June 22.

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travel@latimes.com

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RICEVILLE | In late May, close to 1,000 visitors had the opportunity to tour Iowa Select Farms newest farrowing facility, located northeast of Riceville.

The 270,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility, will house 7,500 sows.

We have a lot of bio-security, Jen Sorenson, Public Relations Director for Iowa Select Farms, said, as visitors viewed the entry point of the facility.

She added, when in operation, employees will be required to remove their street shoes, to avoid bringing in diseases, which could compromise animal health. The employees are also provided with an area to shower and change clothing before and after work. Employee lunches will even be passed through a UV light chamber so lunches can be disinfected.

In addition, supplies, which are taken out of boxes before entering the facility, are then placed on metal racks in a safe room, fogged with a disinfectant and left to dry before being used.

Another feature of the complex is its security cameras. These security cameras monitor the handling of the animals, Sorenson said. We can use them for retraining purposes if we find employees are handling animals improperly.

Precise records are kept on each sows pregnancy, with sows being moved into one of the many farrowing rooms about 112 days after being bred. Each of the rooms contains 102 farrowing crates, where pigs are farrowed and later weaned at three weeks of age, weighing from 12 to 15 pounds.

After birth, piglets are provided with rubber mates, which are warmed by overhead heat lamps. These coax piglets away from the sow, so they wont be stepped on or laid on. This years goal, for the new facility, is to wean 12 pigs per litter.

After they are weaned, pigs are moved into a transition room, where they are prepared for shipment to a nursery facility. After weaning, sows are moved and placed into individual stalls, where they will be artificially inseminated and kept for 45 days, to ensure they are bred. Once all animals are removed from a farrowing room, the room is thoroughly cleaned with a high pressure washer and disinfected, before the next group of sows enters.

After the 45-day period, bred sows are placed into groups of 12 and moved to open pens, where they will stay until their next farrowing cycle.

The building provides spacious alleys with steel fence dividers so animals can be moved in both directions at the same time. Company policy states no more than five sows can be moved at one time within the facility, to provide for the animals safety.

One feature the company has implemented for bio-safety and animal health is a Positive Pressure Filtration (PPF) System. The Riceville facility is only the second new Iowa Select Farms facility to have the system. Iowa Select Farms is currently retrofitting their older facilities with the new technology.

A dual bank of filters set at each end of the building. Fans first suck the outside air through preliminary filters, which are similar to heavy-duty furnace filters. Next, air then moves through heavier duty V-bank filters, which cost about $90 per unit.

The pressurized, filtrated air then moves into the open space between the roof of the building and the ceilings of the rooms, and later flows downward into the individual rooms through ceiling inlets. Air exits the building through side wall exhaust fans.

According to Sorenson, there are many advantages to the PPF system. She said filtering the air keeps dust out of the facility, which could cause pneumonia in the animals. It also keeps other pathogentics from entering the facility. She said some research seems to indicate it can also keep viruses out of a building.

With the air supply entering through the ceiling inlets there should be less odor, she said, because the airflow doesnt move over the manure pit.

PPF also provides a constant, positive air pressure in the building, (which is equivalent to a 15-mph wind when doors are opened), which prevents unfiltered, outside air from entering when doors are open for the loading or unloading of animals.

Iowa Select Farms technicians work with the air filtration system by periodically making site visits, where they weigh approximately five percent of the thousands of filters, to determine how much foreign matter has accumulated.

When the weight of the filters reaches a certain point, technicians then bring a mobile air testing chamber on site to determine if filters are clogged.

If the filters are determined to be clogged, the filters will be replaced. Its estimated the preliminary outer filters will be replaced about once a year, and the costly V-bank filters life span is from three to five years.

On site manager Kaci Pohlman, who will lead the 18 employees at the Riceville site, has managed other Iowa Select facilities.

She said the new facility will be cleaned and thoroughly disinfected before bred gilts, from one of Iowa Selects Gilt Development Units in southern Iowa, arrive later in May. Plans are for the first farrowing to take place by the end of June.
In ancient capitals and bustling provincial cities across Europe, whenever the first sketchy reports begin surfacing of a terror attack  a truck strike, a stabbing rampage, a bombing  the investigators who spend their days and nights sifting through tens of thousands of potential security threats feel a sense of dread beyond their horror over the immediate event.

Will a perpetrator turn out to be someone well known to them? Someone whose extremist views or suspicious travels or damning personal associations had been documented but fell short of grounds for arrest or other restrictions?

Could the latest atrocity, they ask themselves, have been averted?

That agonizing question is being asked in London, where a vehicle-and-knife attack June 3 in the heart of the capital killed eight people and cast a shadow on a consequential British election.

In the London Bridge attacks, authorities had previously been told that two of the three assailants had shown extremist tendencies  echoing a pattern in other terrorist strikes.

But tracking terrorism suspects and heading off attacks  even when someone has come under suspicion  has become increasingly difficult.

European nations have built massive watch lists of potential terrorists. But the lists are so extensive that it is often unclear who poses the most serious threats and thus merits close surveillance, which is both expensive and labor-intensive.

That is especially true because more and more terrorists are acting alone or in small groups, limiting opportunities for authorities to intercept communications, and are using low-tech methods that allow them to get close to their targets without attracting attention.

Further complicating counter-terrorism efforts are concerns about religious and civil liberties, which make it hard in a Western democracy to act against potential terrorists without evidence proving a crime or specific plans to commit one.

The fact is, the threat remains mostly unpredictable, said Jean-Charles Brisard, chairman of the Center for Analysis of Terrorism, a Paris-based think tank. We are dealing with individuals who are acting in an improvised way, using very unsophisticated weapons  cars, knives, whatever.

They are not in communication with foreign organizations or fighters abroad, he said. If there is such communication, he said, they do it at the last minute  through encrypted messaging services that are very difficult for intelligence services to penetrate and monitor.

Major attacks of recent years, including carefully choreographed large-scale strikes in Paris and Brussels, were orchestrated from outside those countries by Islamic State .

But several recent attacks  including last summers truck rampage in Nice, a knife attack in southern Germany and perhaps the June 3 assault in London  were carried out by terrorists acting alone or in small groups.

Wounded bystanders are evacuated after a truck crashed into the crowd during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France, on July 14, 2016. (Olivier Angrigo / European Pressphoto Agency) (OLIVIER ANRIGO / EPA)

Keeping track of even a single potentially dangerous person is an extraordinary drain on time and resources, as governments throughout Europe have found.

Of the 23,000 people deemed subjects of interest by British security services, fewer than 10 are reported to be considered dangerous enough to merit formal measures such as overnight curfews, electronic monitoring and restricted Internet use.

In France, about 17,000 people are on the Fiches S.  for security  watch list. Given that putting a single suspect under 24-hour surveillance can involve up to 30 agents, Brisard said, a couple hundred at best receive that kind of attention.

Italy, which draws on monitoring methods honed in its fight against the Mafia, keeps track of about 300 potential terrorism suspects. The Italian government has recently ramped up the expulsion of foreign nationals on its watch list, 49 so far this year.

Cross-border security cooperation, long a stumbling block, remains a significant weakness, analysts say. Intelligence agencies among various countries  and even within them  do not always share what might prove to be vital information, or act appropriately when such tips are provided.

One case in point: Italian intelligence officials had informed their British counterparts that Youssef Zaghba  a 22-year-old Italian national of Moroccan descent who had moved to London and was working as a waiter  had tried to travel to Syria via Turkey, apparently to join Islamic State, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

Authorities say Khuram Shazad Butt, from left, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba were the men shot dead by police following a terrorist attack that began on London Bridge. (London Metropolitan Police) (LONDON METROPOLITAN POLICE/ HAND / EPA)

But neither Scotland Yard nor MI5, the main domestic intelligence services in Britain, deemed him a subject of interest, police said in a statement.

Then Zaghba turned out to be one of the attackers at London Bridge.

That underscores another big problem: Nearly every European country is coping with large numbers of their citizens who have aspirations of joining the jihadists in Syria, Iraq or Libya  or who actually made it to the battlefield and back.

As Islamic State loses territory, those followers are increasingly turning their attention to targets at home.

In Germany, the BKA  its equivalent of the FBI  says that roughly 920 citizens went to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State, with about one-third returning home. Of the 840 French nationals thought to have headed off to join Islamic State or other jihadist groups, approximately 140 are believed to have come back to France.

Gauging threats requires the investigative calls that detectives of all stripes are used to making: when to trust your gut, how coincidences add up, when to give the benefit of the doubt, whose information to trust.

But those calls can also be influenced by larger concerns about civil liberties, social assimilation and democratic values.

In Britain, the London attack put Prime Minister Theresa May on the defensive in the final days of campaigning on behalf of her Conservative Party. Her opponents pointed out that as home secretary, the countrys top domestic security job, May oversaw the cutting of thousands of police jobs.

Seeking to establish her security bona fides, May has proposed what would once have been considered draconian measures, such as making it easier to deport foreign terrorism suspects and restrict the freedom and movement of those considered dangerous, even on the basis of evidence insufficient for a court prosecution.

And if human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change those laws so we can do it, she said Tuesday.

Terrorism was also a major issue in the recent French election, in which the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, advocated for harsh action against anybody on the countrys watch list: expulsion for foreigners, revocation of French citizenship for dual nationals and jail for French citizens.

The new French president, Emmanuel Macron, is setting up a special counter-terrorism task force that he said will report directly to the presidential palace rather than to individual ministries, in order to reduce delays in intelligence-sharing and decision-making.

Terrorism attacks in sleepy locales in France and elsewhere across Europe have also raised concerns about whether enough resources are being devoted to the hinterlands.

One of the two radicalized teenagers who murdered a Roman Catholic priest celebrating Mass in the provincial French city of Rouen last summer had been fitted with an electronic bracelet and was only allowed out of his home at certain times of the day. He carried out the attack during his unsupervised hours.

Every attack in which authorities realize in retrospect that an individual had slipped through the cracks is a source of immense frustration. In one of many such instances, the Kouachi brothers, Said and Cherif, who carried out a deadly attack in January 2015 at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12, were on Frances watch list.

Cherif Kouachi, left, and his brother Said Kouachi were behind the deadly attack at the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine in France. (AFP/Getty Images) (HANDOUT / AFP/Getty Images)

The pattern surfaced again June 3. One of the slain London Bridge attackers, Khuram Butt, was also known to authorities. He had been reported to an anti-terrorism hotline in 2015 and was even featured last year in a television documentary about homegrown jihadists.

Some would-be assailants, aware they are being monitored, know that if they avoid trouble for a year or two, they are likely to be removed from the watch lists.

In Germany, Anis Amri had been on a danger to the state list but was removed from the list in May 2016.

Germany rejected his application for asylum and moved to deport him to his native Tunisia. But the deportation was delayed because he hadnt yet been issued a Tunisian passport. Meanwhile, Moroccan intelligence service warnings that he dangerous went unheeded.

On Dec. 19, he plowed a stolen truck into one of Berlins famous Christmas markets and killed 12 people.

The documents that would have been needed to deport him came through two days later.

laura.king@latimes.com

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Special correspondents Christina Boyle and Kim Willsher in London and Tom Kington in Rome contributed to this report.

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Two-year terms just don't work.

It's been 11 years since Davenport voters last struck down a referendum to make the posts of mayor and City Council four-year terms. The 2006 vote was a sweeping rejection of the move, with 64 percent opposing it. That failure was only the most recent in a long string of defeats at the polls for proponents of extended terms.

But the question should again be posed in 2017.

There's no doubt that asking voters to extend terms is a tricky argument within a wider ecosystem where ideas such as term limits are flung about with abandon. Opponents will liken it to robbing voters of a voice. They'll call it a reinforcement of established power. They'll make it out to be an attack on the local democratic process.

Yet, there's a compelling counterargument for extending terms in Davenport. It's possible, even likely, that Davenport's elected class would better serve the voters if given a little room within which to work.

As it now stands, a new mayor or alderman spends a year learning the job. They then have a few short months to form and enact policy. They're in full-on re-election mode after just 18 months. That's why most local governments  Bettendorf, Rock Island and Moline  operate on four-year election cycles.

Some insects outlive the political time frame in which elected officials in Davenport have to work.

It becomes about fundraising and future plans  the latter directly because of the fact that getting much of anything done in one's first term, particularly for the mayor, is limited by such a narrow window of time.

Take, for instance, Mayor Frank Klipsch. He clearly has a lot of ideas. Enacting the policy is proving more difficult. But time itself, or a lack thereof, is a foe which has hamstrung many a Davenport mayor.

Given four years, any elected official wouldn't have to worry about placating his donors from the outset or worrying about the next election. They would have time to establish policy and make the proverbial sausage.

As it stands, Klipsch's most contentious political move  the reorganization of the Levee Commission  will bleed into campaign season. And, from 30,000 feet, that's little more than reshuffling the deck chairs at City Hall. It's what comes next that truly matters.

The City Council, too, would benefit from members focused solely on governing for a couple years between election cycles.

It's no wonder progress along Davenport's riverfront, for example, can be described only as glacial. The practical time frame for any elected official to get anything done disincentives meaningful action. It's just too short.

Contrary to the naysayers, four-year terms would empower voters. It would make their votes consequential because those whom they elect would actually be expected to accomplish what they set out to do. It would strip the expectation of relative inaction until after a term or two. It would, in very real terms, require Davenport's elected officials to establish a record on which to run.

Boiled down, four-year terms would strip away the excuses and make Davenport's elected officials more accountable to voters.

It's up to the City Council to again broach the issue. And council members should do it now, while there's plenty of time to get it on the November ballot. Waiting until after the election, in essence, kicks the can for four more years. Should voters finally approve it in November, it could be in place by the 2019 elections.

Two-year terms hamstring elected officials, even local ones. It breeds undue caution from the dais and an almost constant focus on campaigning over governing.

In short, four-year terms in Davenport would provide elected officials the time required to institute real, meaningful policy. And the change would offer voters meaningful records on which to judge incumbents.

This editorial appeared in the June 2 edition of the Quad-City Times, another Lee Enterprises publication.
Jun 11, 2017, 10:54am ET

Mitsubishi puts Evo badge on the backburner

The Evo badge might not return until the early 2020s.

Resurrecting the emblematic Evo nameplate isn't a priority, according to Mitsubishi.

The Japanese company sent the Lancer Evolution to the great junkyard in the sky last year. We've known for a while that its replacement might take the form of a high-riding crossover powered by a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, but Australian magazine Motoring has just learned the model could be much further away than we initially thought.

"I would say [a new performance model] is long-term rather than mid-term. It will be between three and six years," Mitsubishi global boss Trevor Mann told the publication.

His time frame suggests we might not see a new Evo until 2023, meaning it would arrive in American showrooms as a 2024 model. It also hints the model that will spawn the Evo isn't on the market yet, so it's too early to provide more concrete details such as how big it will be, and how much power it will pack.

The next Evo could signal the dawn of a new performance era for Mitsubishi. Mann revealed the brand is considering returning to racing after a decades-long hiatus.

"[Racing] goes with the brand and it's something that we've got the technology in, and our engineers know what to do. It's something we need to consider again," he said.

Note: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition pictured. Photo by Ben Hsu.
Jun 10, 2017, 4:56pm ET

Richard Hammond rushed to hospital following supercar crash

The Grand Tour emerged from a wrecked $1 million Rimac supercar.

The Grand Tour host Richard Hammond has been involved in a serious accident while filming for the second season of his Amazon Prime show.

The crash occurred as Hammond was driving in the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland behind the wheel of a Rimac Concept One, according to a post on the Grand Tour Facebook page. Hammond is said to have fractured his knee, but was able to climb out of the car before it burst into flames. He was airlifted to a hospital and is said to be showing no serious injuries otherwise.

The Rimac Concept One is an electric-powered supercar from Croatia that costs $1 million. Billed as the world's first electric supercar, makers Rimac Automobili have said that they intend to keep it exclusive by making only 88 units. Looks like there might be just 87 now. It has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 2.8 seconds, a top speed of 190 mph, and range of 372 miles.

This is the third serious accident Hammond has experienced while filming. The first two were from his days on Top Gear. In 2006, he was nearly killed in a crash that occurred at 288 mph in a British land speed record dragster. The second came just three months ago in March 2017, when he crashed his motorcycle while filming in Mozambique, an incident that left him unconscious in the road for a period.

After his 2006 crash, Hammond emerged from his hospitalization for brain injury with a newfound taste for celery. No report on which vegetable has piqued his appetite this time.
An Allentown man serving 14 years for a jewelry store robbery in York County, is now facing more time for a more sinister version of the crime in Connecticut.

Timothy Forbes was one of five men, four from the Lehigh Valley, charged in the April 2013 robbery of Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The four co-defendants in the Connecticut case were previously sentenced as follows:

Kasam Hennix, of Easton, was sentenced to 14 years and three months.

William Davis, of Allentown, was sentenced to 14 years and eight months.

Jeffrey Houston, of Allentown, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years.

Christopher Gay, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years.

The five men were ordered to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution, and have forfeited gemstones, jewelry, watches, a vehicle, and more than $127,000 in cash seized from them at the time of their arrests, prosecutors said in a news release.

Investigators said Forbes, Houston and Gay traveled from Pennsylvania to Connecticut several times prior to the robbery, in order to track the victims as they traveled from work to their home. Forbes and Gay placed a GPS unit on one ofg the victim's vehicles to make it easier to track him, prosecutors said.

The 35-year-old Forbes pleaded guilty in January to kidnapping, interference with commerce by robbery and use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

He was sentenced on Friday to 19 years in prison, 12 years of which will run concurrent to his sentence in a York County robbery. All told, Forbes faces 21 years in prison for the crimes.

Forbes was involved in three other similar jewelry store robberies, prosecutors said, including the December 2012 robbery of Bixler's Jewelers in Whitehall Township.

According to sentencing documents for Gay, he along with Forbes, Houston and Hennix were responsible for the Dec. 28, 2012, kidnapping of a Bixler's Jewelers gemologist at his West Bethlehem home.

Houston and Hennix allegedly held the employee and his wife at gunpoint, bound them with duct tape and placed pillowcases over their heads.

Forbes called Houston and Hennix once Bixler's closed, and the pair took the gemologist to the store in a stolen car, forcing him to unlock the door, disarm the alarm and open the safes while Gay kept watch over the wife, prosecutors say.

Houston and Hennis stole about 46 Rolex watches, loose diamonds and gold valued at about $500,000 wholesale in total, according to the court records.

Six months earlier, prosecutors said Forbes along with Jamell Smallwood and Jesse Brewer robbed a York County store of more than 50 Rolex watches valued at more than $500,000.

In July 2012, Smallwood, of Allentown, and Brewer entered White Jewelers and Brewer shot the owner three times, permanently disabling him, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

As Smallwood came out the back of the store, he was shot in the abdomen by Brewer, apparently with a pistol belonging to the owner, authorities said.

Forbes proceeded to break the jewelry cases and stash in a duffle bag 53 watches worth $380,149. Forbes was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the White Jewelers robbery.

Brewer was convicted at trial in September 2015 of robbery and firearms offenses. He was sentenced Feb. 24 to life imprisonment plus 20 years. Smallwood pleaded guilty previously and was sentenced to 17 years for his role in this robbery.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post was updated on June 13, 2017, to correct the terms of Timothy Forbes' prison sentence.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A group of people huddle in protest of their government and failing economy. Click. Someone yells "thief" as a man runs from the crowd. Click. The group catches up, surrounds him. Click. They begin beating him; he falls to the ground. Click. Click.

Through the lens of his camera, Carlos Becerra sees something being poured on the man, who is now just two meters away. Click. The camera focuses, a man flicks on his lighter, and drops it.

Click.

This is just one of the many horrific scenes Becerra has shot in his time photographing the protests in his home of Venezuela.

"You can see how badly people can act toward another human being," Becerra said as he lightly cradled his casted arm, which was recently hit with a tear gas canister thrown into a protesting crowd by police. "Even when they're on the same side."

It was the first time he had ever seen someone lit on fire, Becerra explained. It was the hardest piece he ever had to shoot, but as one of the only sources of news in his country, he felt compelled to give the story an ending.

"As sadistic as it sounds, I realized I had to take another picture to show the state that (the thief) ended in," Becerra said. The man was able to fight his way to his feet and began running, still on fire. As Becerra hustled after him, he was told he could not take pictures. Recognizing that he and his photos may be in danger, he retreated.

Weeklong training session

There have been countless instances where his life was put in danger while working as a freelance photojournalist. Some, he knew how to deal with. Others, he was unsure. Knowing that the risk associated with his job would not soon subside, Becerra flew to the Lehigh Valley to partake in Hostile Environment First Aid Training.

The four-day course is held at Hellertown Sportsman's Association and is designed to train journalists working in dangerous environments to keep themselves and others safe, emphasizing both security and medical training. Sixteen journalists came last week from all over the world -- Thailand, Iraq, Venezuela and more -- to learn tips that could be the difference between life and death.

After a morning of lectures, the journalists participate in hands-on training. They are provided with scenarios that are based on factual events and must think on their feet to get through them safely.

In one scenario, the group was told they were in a Third World country and were going to interview Michael Phillips, a man that trained locals how to navigate mine fields. Before even entering the car, they flooded their instructor with questions.

Can the driver be trusted? Who recommended him to us? Have we made a security plan?

When they got to the site, they made sure the path was clear and that their guide could be trusted before following him to their source. They walked in single file, directly following his footsteps to avoid any potential mines. The guide went far in front of the group, running carelessly through the woods.

Boom.

A mock explosion went off. Smoke filled the air. The guide was injured, covered in blood. The group had to think quick and respond.

Not knowing if there were other mines, they got down on the ground and stayed put. One yelled to their guide to keep him calm and assess the severity of his injuries while another immediately called for help. When told the area was cleared, they ran to his assistance and used their First Aid training to help treat his wounds.

Then, they were kidnapped. Even with bags over their heads, unable to see, they had to remain calm and remember the options for action that they had learned earlier: Run, negotiate, fight, accept.

As they were raised from the ground, one made a break for it. Guns fired. Others tried to negotiate. "We have money," said one, her voice muffled by the bag. "Just tell us what you want.

Special forces instructors

The training was sponsored by the New York Times and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and offered through Northampton Community College, which assisted in leading the courses along with former British Special Forces members Steve Cook and Alison Baskerville.

Cook, who joined the army at 16 and worked as a freelance bodyguard in Iraq and as a CNN safety consultant prior to teaching this course, explained that this training is important not only for conflict areas, but any other challenging environments as well.

"There's always an element of risk," Cook said. "Our job is to train (journalists) to help mitigate the risks. It's all about awareness."

Participants learned how to deal with ambushes, kidnappings, minefields, checkpoints and more. Many have already been faced with these situations, yet still feel that the stories they are telling are worth the risk.

Like Carlos Becerra.

He has only been working as a journalist for three years. He took courses in photography for five years as a hobby, but owned a company to earn a living. As the economy in his home country began to flounder, however, and the government restricted public access to mainstream media, he decided to put his talent to use.

He began shooting protests and posting them on his social media accounts. Soon, his work was picked up by the Associated Press and Agency France Press.

"I always loved photography, but didn't know how to use it until the protests started," Becerra said. "Then I got to contribute in a meaningful way."

Alyssa Mursch may be reached at amursch@lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.


Could we stop using the word "historic" to portray legislative efforts better described as overhyped, overdue and half-baked?

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf reached for their favorite adjective last week in praising a pension reform bill that will do little to reduce a $77 billion public pension debt over the next 30 years -- ensuring that school districts will keep passing along "automatic" property tax hikes in the foreseeable future.

This is reform?

This is historic?

Senate Bill 1 accomplishes something that should have been done two or three decades ago -- shift future state employees and teachers into more of a self-funded retirement plan. Those hired after Jan. 1, 2019 will have a choice between a hybrid system (part 401(k), part traditional defined-benefit) or a full 401(k)-type plan. Some employees, including state troopers and corrections workers, are exempt because the nature of their jobs. Wolf has promised to sign the bill.

Because all current employees will get the pension benefits they've been promised, the new retirement structure isn't projected to draw down the billions in accumulated pension debt until 2048.

It is progress in one sense, though. The Legislature and governor didn't make things worse -- as they did in 2001, when benefits were increased and the stock market was expected to pick up the slack. We know how that turned out. In 2010, the Legislature refinanced pension debt -- yet kept alive a tradition of not attacking a huge "unfunded liability" in the pension systems.

The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office says the pension bill will save $1.4 billion over 30 years -- far less than the predictions of Wolf and legislative leaders. More critically, it absolves the taxpayer of picking up $20 billion in pension investment losses, should the market tank.

The Pew Charitable Trust says the changes enacted last week should bump Pennsylvania's public pension systems -- rated fifth worst in the nation -- up to the middle of the pack.

Politically, this might have been the only deal possible between a Democratic governor and a GOP-controlled Legislature. Some Republicans wanted a complete switchover to a defined-contribution plan, but that has drawbacks, too -- such as narrowing the revenue stream of employee contributions to "frozen" defined-benefit systems. Also, the courts have held that benefits in existing public pension plans can't be scaled back unilaterally.

Avoiding the tough choices on pensions comes with a bigger price. It ratchets up the need for property tax reform, as school districts will continue to be billed $4 billion to $8 billion a year to pay a half-share of their employees' pensions costs.

Right now the Legislature is looking at borrowing $3 billion for operating expenses for the coming year, along with an expansion of legalized gambling. That follows a boost in tobacco taxes and alcohol sales licenses last year.

Sloughing off an increasing tax burden onto gamblers, smokers and drinkers inevitably becomes a zero-sum game.

A crisis for another day? It's already here.
It's about to get hot. Real hot.

Three straight days of highs topping 90 degrees are in the forecast starting Sunday. The temperature should hover in the low 90s, but that still puts the mercury fairly close to the daily record highs for this time of year.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dean Iovino said the most likely day for a new record is Monday, whose highest high of 92 was recorded in 2015. Sunday's record is 94, and Tuesday's is 95.

The last time it was this warm was mid-May.

"The surge in heat and humidity will hit like a sledgehammer when combined with intense June sunshine and relative to most days in the past several weeks," AccuWeather said in its forecast, cautioning that it may feel like it is 100 degrees in the coming afternoons.

With temperatures now in the 80s and a stretch of 90s in the forecast Sunday thru Tuesday, remember to look before you... Posted by US National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly on Saturday, June 10, 2017

That brings some risks. Strenuous physical activity should be limited to the early morning or evening hours, AccuWeather says. The National Weather Service has issued an air-quality alert for New Jersey and areas south of the Lehigh Valley, warning of potentially unhealthy conditions for children, the elderly and people with asthma or similar ailments.

Things are expected to cool down later in the week with temperatures returning to the 80s on Wednesday and the 70s on Thursday and Friday, according to the weather service.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
While Yankton residents may sometimes see themselves as living in a small-town setting far removed from more urban areas and problems, the fact is that some issues and problems can apply anywhere. As such, some solutions that are being used in metropolitan settings also have a value in places like this.

That would include having local law enforcement wearing body cameras when they are on the street, where unforeseen variables always lurk.

The City of Yankton is currently looking into the possibility.

The issue of body-worn cameras for police has risen in profile in recent years thanks in part to a number of officer-involved shootings with citizens. The decision to deploy such cameras in the wake of some of these incidents has been seen as a way of bringing more openness and factuality into the investigations of such episodes. Currently, several municipalities around the country are integrating the cameras into their police forces.

The cameras can offer a lot of benefits for everyone involved, including the officers who would be required to wear them. This would be true for more than just controversial incidents like police shootings. They could be used as video documentation during traffic stops, domestic incidents and general arrests.

Meanwhile, Yankton has seen two officer-involved shooting incidents in the last two years. While these incidents may have been outliers  we can't really recollect other officer-involved shootings locally prior to 2015  the fact is that they happened. In both instances, the officers involved were ruled to have been justified in firing at the suspects. In an incident last December, a South Dakota Highway patrolmen who shot a suspect after a high-speed chase that ended in a Yankton neighborhood was wearing a body microphone, and the recording did back up the trooper's account of the incident.

Also, recordings by body cameras could expedite investigations into incidents, as well as provide more evidence for any case that could be built in an arrest.

So, there is a lot of practicality tied to this issue.

However, the idea isn't universally endorsed. The presence of cameras offers no guarantee that it will capture all the pertinent details of an incident. Also, there have been cases in which municipal policies regarding body camera usage haven't been followed. In Houston, for instance, critics are charging that the city has failed to follow its own policies, which include three separate audits in regards to recordings. Thus, simply having body cameras does not guarantee more openness with the public.

And there is the financial cost involved with body cameras. Yankton has not currently budgeted for the purchase of body cameras, according to City Manager Amy Nelson. (A quick internet search suggested that body cameras for police use can cost several hundred dollars per unit; however, other variables impacting the pricing may be involved.)

While we can always hope the need for such a level of documentation wouldn't prevent itself often, one can never bank on it. That's why body cameras are a good idea and worth pursuing.

This editorial appeared in the May 30 edition of the Yankton (South Dakota) Daily Press & Dakotan.
Proposals have been put forward to develop a dog park in Monread Park in Naas.

The idea of developing a dedicated dog park first surfaced more than three years ago and local councillors felt that the ideal location would be Monread Park.

The area is already used by many people for dog walking purposes. However, walking with dogs in a dedicated dog park environment would mean that pedestrians, cyclists and runners would not be bothered by the animals.

The idea of a dog park was first mooted by former councillor Emer McDaid, who said it would create a more controlled environment for the dog owners.

However, despite the support and pressure in the form of a social media campaign, Kildare County Council indicated that no money would be available at that time and would have to be allocated for the purpose. Its not known how much this park will now cost, but according to Cllr Sorcha ONeill, dog parks have been opened in Lucan and Clondalkin for 5,000.

Dog parks  essentially off the leash areas  exist in many parts around the world. There are at least four in the Dublin area.

Now KCC is proposing to close an area of the Monread Park, near where the park borders a section of Kerdiff Close and Kerdiff Avenue and where a section of hedgerow already exists.

It will be bordered on the other side by a row of lime trees.

There will self closing gates at either end of the park in addition to two unleashing areas at both entrances.

Two small paths will be created at both entrances and a 1.2m high post and rail fence with mesh will surround it.
The National Transport Authority has said it will consider a Park and Ride for Clane for bus commuters.

Kildare North TD, Frank ORourke, said the NTA confirmed to him that it will consider a bus Park and Ride facility in Clane but Kildare County Council will have to put forward a proposal for that.

Deputy ORourke said he was hopeful that later this year, there will be an improved bus Service on Route 120, in particular servicing UCD.

Many people in Clane and surrounding areas work in Dublin and I believe that a modest Park and Ride facility be considered for Clane, he said.

He expects that since the inclusion of Kilcock and Naas rail stations in Iarnrod Eireann Short Hop zones more people will use these services which will also bring extra demand requirement for park and ride in Kilcock and Sallins.

Last November last, the NTA told the Leinster Leader that it would seek tenders for the Naas to Blanchardstown service, serving Clane, in the first quarter of 2017.

It planned start operating this new service in the third quarter of 2007, operating at a frequency of every 90 minutes.

It was also planning changes to Route 120 including services to and from Clane.

A Park and Ride for bus commuters planned for Kilcock, which may suit Clane based commuters is also planned.

A site was agreed for the 100 space Park in Kilcock and Ride.

It was felt that Clane would also benefit from a Park such a facility, even with a capacity for 50 cars.
Editors Note: Ed sent us this post on Thursday night but we were all out at our own counts so didnt get the chance to put it up. It is all the more poignant given that Mark Williams was defeated by a mere 104 votes, meaning that we no longer have an MP in Wales.

I talked to Ed and we agreed that his heartfelt post should still go up, so here it is.

As I arrived at the count, the ambition of our hopes crashed to the floor as what was hoped for and planned had slipped away. And so it was that I lost (third) in the closest result in mainland Britain in 2010: Hampstead and Kilburn.

Tonight I will return to the General Election fray and will go as a staffer: the Election Co-ordinator for Mid, North and West Wales for the Liberal Democrats. I will attend the Ceredigion count in far rural west Wales to support Mark Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Election counts are odd, grim and puzzling  you are enclosed in a tight space, the count changes little and it is the verification that matters. Few elections are knife edge close  its the campaign that has the drama and the frisson is the declaration at the end.

For my own part I now find I struggle at counts: you have a job to do scrutinising and getting the box count data, you need to co-ordinate the team and spot the gaps and potential problems and be in control of your emotions and all senses racing. Adrenaline is a real drug and you get no choice as it courses through your veins and the only antidote is calm and fixed smiles. For my own part I resist triumphalism and yet the venom often expressed at said occasions lingers in your mind, in your memory and in your heart. My own election count of 2010 is seared into me and will never leave. For several years after 2010 I lost all emotion and it has taken a long time to come round to understanding my own psyche since. Now I can cry at the smallest, simplest and most natural things  then I suppressed emotion and pressed on.

Yesterday I found myself yearning to be back on my little allotment, I have had weeks of wanting my own bed and today I found my mind drifting back over past elections. Just now I pulled out the phone and went to ring my best friend Neil Trafford  he has been lost for some years and yet tonight I remember I still need him.

So, alongside this rollercoaster of emotion and regret is a lot of fear on my part. But there is also gratitude to the legion of candidates of all parties and none. No-one who has not stood fully understands what you have done, what you are going through and how surgingly crushing the whole thing can be. As a liberal I know what it means to lose an election, but as a liberal I also know that the only causes worth fighting are lost causes.

As the results come through tonight spare a thought for those who stand, for those who lose and those who come back year after year to fight for what they believe and to give you the chance to cast a vote and make your choice.

Good luck fellow Liberal Democrats,thank-you candidates, and when you get the chance to reflect on what has happened  please take my thanks as heartfelt. I mean It. I know what you have been through. You deserve our thanks.

* Ed Fordham is a councillor on Chesterfield Borough Council and runs Brockwell Books of Chesterfield, selling many thanks, not least ephemera he bought from Liber Books over the last 25 years.
I could cheerfully have swung for Willie Rennie on Friday afternoon when he suggested an event on Sunday morning to celebrate our 4 Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs. I mean, its the first Sunday morning in 7 weeks most of us could have had a lie-in. I thought nobody would want to go and it would be a disaster.

I was wrong. It was well-attended, there were broadcast and print journalists there and the atmosphere was great. There are, however, two very important lessons to learn from the event, but more of that later. A huge crowd of people turned up at Jo Swinsons campaign office in Milngavie. One person brought his two gorgeous and friendly dogs, Caleb and Bella, who looked resplendent in their Jo Swinson rosettes.

Christine Jardine and Alex Cole-Hamilton came across from Edinburgh to join in the celebrations. Christine used to live in Bearsden and told how it was Jo who had inspired her to get involved in politics and stand for Parliament.

Now, back to those two lessons. The first is that Willie needs to learn that if hed doing a photocall that involves spraying cava around the place Formula 1 style, he really shouldnt wear light coloured trousers. The second lesson is for me. If youre using Facebook live, you need to hold your iPhone portrait, not landscape.

Dont let that stop you enjoying their words though. Just close your eyes.

Willie talked about Lib Dem plans to seek support across the Parliament from all parties for a motion that would rule out a referendum on independence for the rest of the Parliamentary term. He said:

The SNP suffered big losses on Thursday and their plan for another independence referendum was the big reason for that result. To lose 21 MPs including the former First Minister and Deputy Leader as well as facing a 13 percentage point drop in the vote was an event that requires a significant response. To respond appropriately we need a vote in the Scottish Parliament to push any independence referendum far into the future. That is why I have written to Alex Neil, Kenny Macaskill and Patrick Harvie to secure their support for such a vote. With their support I am sure others in the parliament would come on board too. We unanimity with Holyrood we could bring the country together after the divisions of the last few years. Scotland needs to come together and this is a big opportunity to do that.

Jo said she was delighted that we have a much more diverse group of MPs in Parliament. She says that is important given the nature of the Parliament  relying on the DUP with their reactionary views on climate change, womens rights and LGBT rights is not the right thing to do.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
MASS paper-shuffling and offsite storage for health-care files could continue to be a problem at University Hospital Limerick until 2027, as a modern electronic health record system may take 10 years to implement.

At a monthly patients council on April 11, UL Hospitals Groups chief clinical director, Prof Paul Burke said that the delivery of an electronic health record [EHR] may take 10 years, despite ongoing challenges with file storage.

The EHR is a proposed ICT system that will share key patient information efficiently within the local and national health services. Recently, the Limerick Leader received photos of large volumes of inappropriately stored healthcare records, impeding complete access to stairs leading to medical records department.

In response to these pictures, a spokesperson for the group said: Hard copy patient medical records are stored in the medical records department, UHL, and at an offsite storage facility. Over recent times the number of records being stored in the department has increased significantly and this has been compounded by an ongoing fault with the lift which has added to delays in the removal of records from the department.

Records that were stored inappropriately have now been removed and a new process put in place to ensure the situation does not reoccur.

According to minutes of the April meeting, received under Freedom of Information, Prof Burke said that there are challenges with storage of charts and all records must be stored for a period of time and may be stored off site due to space. Some files are very large and need updating. There is a plan for electronic health record but this may take 10 years.

Currently, the group delivers separate data-sharing services within a number of specialities, particularly in cardiology, endoscopy, medical oncology, geriatric medicine, dermatology.

The spokesperson told the Leader: We, like many of our counterparts throughout the country, are working to consolidate this information to allow us to deliver more effective patient care, provide insights into how we run our service, and ultimately incorporate it into an EHR.

However, it is understood that a 10-year programme for this digital infrastructure is awaiting approval from the Department of Health.

ULs founding president, Dr Ed Walsh, who has endorsed the concept of the EHR at public events, described the proposed delivery of the record system by 2027 as depressing.

He said Estonias health service has implemented an EHR and has received remarkable results.

And until that is done, unfortunately, thousands of people will spend a huge amount of time writing down notes, and paper being moved around. We have many, many computer systems in the health service, but they dont talk to each other. He opined that resources used for the some 20,000 health service staff who shuffle paper could be directed to frontline medical staff.

They [the health service] are consumed by the inefficient bureaucracy, which is based on a Victorian paper system. And until we move that, we wont be able to move the resources necessary to provide the healthcare that the patient requires.

The Group has rolled out an eReferral system and Healthlink data-sharing service for GPs and patients, and will soon roll out a single patient administration system for all acute hospitals in the Mid-West.
SIX young Limerick men who proved themselves to be perfect gentlemen have been selected to be among the 64 Rose Escorts at this years Rose of Tralee.

Running from August 16, those chosen to be on hand to cater to a Roses every whim are Paul Fitzgerald, 23, from Pallaskenry; Gerard Horan, 26, from Adare; Brian O'Doherty, 25, from Newcastle West; Briain Og O'Sullivan, 25, from Patrickswell and Seamus Richardson, 28, from Ahane, and Patrick ODonnell from Galbally.

Paddy Healy, a 23-year-old who works for a HR firm in Limerick, is the only Clare man travelling to the Dome as an escort this year.

After passing the interview process in April, they were put through their paces over the Bank Holiday weekend at the annual boot camp in Kerry.

They had to pass a number of endurance tests and team-building exercises before they could graduate as fully-fledged Rose escorts.

Around 200 men aged between 21 and 30 applied to become Rose escorts at this years Rose of Tralee International Festival and the final 64, the most ever, were selected to take part in a boot camp weekend to help them cope with the demands of a busy week in Tralee.

They undertook a number of gruelling, yet fun, tasks to prepare them for the festival in August. It was not because the ladies love Milk Tray but because the lads prefer Roses, joked the festivals communications manager, John Drummey.

This years Limerick Rose is Kayleigh Maher, from Kilcornan, a 23-year-old NUIG student. She is currently in her final year of a Masters of Education to become a secondary school English teacher.

She succeeds last years Limerick Rose, Marie Hennessy and has secured her place in the famous Dome in Tralee, alongside 64 national and international Roses.

Limerick has won the Rose of Tralee crown twice in its 58-year history - in 1984 and 1994 - with Dianne Hannagen and Muirne Hurley taking home the titles.

Clare Rose Aoife Murray, from Sixmilebridge, will celebrate her 25th birthday during the week of the festival. She is a graduate of economics and sociology from the University of Limerick.
FOUR men from North Cork who were caught hunting with dogs in a field outside Rathkeale were convicted and fined for hunting a wild animal without a licence.

The men, who appeared before Judge Mary Larkin at Newcastle West court, were also convicted of not having dog licences.

Inspector Alan Cullen told the court that at approximately 3.30pm on March 8 of last year, gardai were called to a scene outside the town of Rathkeale where they saw four men. The men didn't have permission from the landowner to be there, he explained, and while the gardai were en route the landowner observed two dogs chasing down a hare.

When the gardai arrived on the scene the four men started running away but they were caught. The men were given the opportunity to produce dog licences but failed to do so, the inspector explained.

Solicitor Michael O'Donnell appeared for all four men who had County Cork addresses: Patrick Cremin, 17 The Funshion, Rivervalley, Mallow; James O'Brien, Ballydineen Halting Site, Ballydineen, Doneraile; Richard O'Brien, Glenview, Doneraile and Patrick O'Brien, Ballydineen, Doneraile.

Pleading for his clients, Mr O'Donnell said, they were on their way to another location at the time but "came across a large extensive field".

"If they were involved in dogs, why didn't they have a dog licence?" Judge Mary Larkin asked. "Do they actually do coursing?"

"No, it is just messing around," Mr O'Donnell said. They were not trying to blood the dogs either, he explained but stressed his clients hadn't caused any difficulties for the gardai. "They won't be back. They are apologetic," he continued.

Judge Mary Larkin fined each of the men 250 for not having a dog licence and a fined them a further 250 for hunting a wild animal without a licence in breach of the Wildlife Act 1976 at Raheen, Croagh.
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The family of a terminally ill tot say they are heartbroken after NHS shortages mean he cannot get a vital free drug.

A lack of staff and beds means two-year-old William Storr, from Lincolnshire, has been denied drug Spinraza, which could help keep him alive and vastly improve his life.

He is trapped inside his own body with a condition similar to the adult version of motor neurone disease.

And now his mum and dad have joined calls from across the country pleading with health bosses to give their children the drug.

Mum Kerry, said: "It's heartbreaking knowing there is something out there that's doesn't cost a penny and could dramatically help William, yet he can't have it because of the state of the NHS."

William, who lives in Immingham, has a twin brother Matthew who is not affected by the condition, type one spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic muscle-wasting disease has left him unable to move anything but his hands and toes.

(Image: John Gladwin/Sunday People)

The condition affects William's breathing and he is unable to swallow. He also needs regular suction to stop secretions from going into his lungs, risking pneumonia or fatal complications.

But despite his challenges, Kerry and husband Jason, a support worker for adults with learning difficulties, say William is a bright and happy boy.

Kerry said: "It's so hard watching Matthew hit every milestone like sitting, then walking and talking when William can't. His achievements are a mirror of what William should also have been doing.

"We try to celebrate their different successes. While we are thrilled if Matthew speaks a new word but we're overjoyed on William's good days when he might rotate his hand.

"It's hard but we get lots of smiles from William. He's a very happy, laid back little boy and very intelligent."

Tragically, 95 per cent of children with the condition don't live past their second birthday.

The new drug which has a dramatic effect on the condition costs 280,000-a-year and was offered free by the manufacturer Biogen.

But it requires support from NHS staff to administer, and the Sheffield Children's Hospital where William is a patient is not currently using the drug event though it is freely available in England.

After discovering the drug was now free in Britain, Kerry and husband Jason, 47, asked Sheffield Children's Hospital, where William is treated, to give it to their son.

But they claim their pleas  backed up by six other families in the same position  were declined. The hospital has now agreed to meet the families to discuss the treatment and says it hopes to start its use soon.

Dad Jason told the Sunday People : "We know the drug won't be as successful with William as it's been with the children who have had it since birth, but it's had amazing results in helping sufferers respiratory problems and if he gets some more mobility he might be able to operate a wheelchair or reach for a toy. Just simple things that other parents take for granted."

(Image: John Gladwin/Sunday People)

While hospitals such as Leeds Children's and Great Ormond Street are administering the miracle medicine, the first few injections require a lumber puncture and overnight stay.

Clinicians, charities and patient groups are calling on the NHS to make Spinraza available to all victims.

They claim it is not being administered due to a lack of NHS staff and beds.

Robert Meadowcroft, Chief Executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: "This is an exceptional drug for a rare and devastating condition.

"It's delivery has been held up at local level by a range of issues including a shortage of bed space, theatre time and trained staff."

Charities say that just a third of children eligible for Spinraza are receiving it in UK hospitals due to financial constraints within the health service.

Sheffield Children's Hospital said they were working with the family and hoped to have the drug available for use soon after an application was made to use it to the NHS.

Medical director and consultant in paediatric emergency medicine, Prof Derek Burke said: "We hope to offer the treatment to children as soon as possible.

"Our consultants have also been involved in supporting an appeal for wider access to the drug, working with other hospitals and various national support groups.

"We have invited families to meet with us to discuss the situation further and to reassure them that we are taking active steps to secure this treatment for their children."
Hamilton, Bermuda, June 11, 2017

As communicated to the market June 5, 2017, a conference call for shareholders/investors will be held at 08:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Tuesday June 13, 2017.

Attached to this message is material related to NAT and NAO that will be discussed during the call. First NAT will be discussed after which NAO is on the agenda - two separate sessions.

Link to: NAT documents Link to: NAO documents

In order to attend the conference call you may do one of the following:

a. Conference Call

Participants dial-in telephone numbers:

UK +44(0)20 3427 1909 UK toll free 0800 279 4992 USA +1 646 254 3360 USA toll free +1 877 280 2342 Norway +47 23 16 27 87 Norway toll free 800 56 054 Passcode: 4260225

b. Via Internet

Webcast link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/xoyhtvu4

Participants will be asked for their full name & Conference ID. A Q&A session will be held after the teleconference.

Contacts:

Herbjrn Hansson, Chairman & CEO

Nordic American Tankers Limited

Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91

Cecilia Strandman, Manager, Corporate Services

Nordic American Tankers Limited

Tel: +47 33 42 73 00 or +47 97 65 43 32
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A rising Lincoln acting star is set to appear in living rooms across the country after landing a lead role in the popular BBC series, Poldark.

Harry Marcus, 13, has been cast as Geoffrey Charles Poldark  the on-screen nephew of main character, Ross Poldark, played Aidan Turner  and has a contract that will run for the duration of Series 3.

The young star has already generated an impressive portfolio and acting credits, much to the delight of dad, Jamie Marcus, 44, who was an actor himself and is immensely proud that his son is set to follow in his footsteps.

He started acting when he was 9 years-old. He was in Priscilla and he went on tour with Jason Donovan," said the father-of-two, who now works in theatre production.

Since then he has also been in the West Ends Made in Dagenham, Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast among other things.

He will also appear in feature film set to be released in the autumn which features Andrew Garfield at the same time as filming for that he was auditioning for Poldark."

Jamie continued: I was an actor and have produced several professional pantomimes, so I think he has always had it in his blood.

I think acting was the next step of his natural progression after singing and dancing.

Even with his acting pedigree, Mr Marcus admits that it is still strange seeing his flesh and blood on the box, and said that family and close friends would hold a small gathering to watch the first episode of the popular British-America drama which will be broadcast on BBC One, this Sunday (June 11) at 9pm.

It really is incredible to see his journey having started in musical theatre and then going into tv and film, he added. It really is surreal seeing your own son on the big screen.

Andrew Garfield was nominated for an Oscar which shows just how fantastic it really is that he can act alongside these people.

He has had an agent for the last 3-4 years. He is focussed on his acting career but, we as his parents will make sure he is still getting his education.

To be fair his school [Lincoln Minster] have been fantastic with the whole thing and are incredibly supportive.

It will be a wonderful experience for us a family. We are really excited about the first episode on Sunday.
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A Boston man who was found in possession of a knife and drugs hidden in a Kinder Egg has been given a suspended prison sentence after magistrates heard it was his second conviction in less than two years.

Piotr Prokopiuk, 34, of Norfolk Street, admitted possessing the lock knife in a public place without a reasonable excuse, and to possessing a small quantity of amphetamine, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates' Court .

Prosecuting, Dan Pietryka said police saw Prokopiuk in Lawrence Lane, Boston at 3.30am on May 23 and he ran away from them.

They stopped him and found a lock knife on the ground nearby which he admitted he had thrown away.

They also found he had a chocolate Kinder Egg in his possession which contained a small amount of amphetamine.

He said Prokopiuk had a similar drug possession conviction from March and in November 2015 had been convicted of possessing an offensive weapon.

The magistrates were told a second conviction for possession of an offensive weapon brought a mandatory six-month prison sentence but suspended the sentence for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work for the community and 20 days rehabilitation.

He was also ordered to pay 200 in costs and charges.
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An experiment partly ran in Lincolnshire has ruled that doctors can help increase the level of physical activity for the elderly by prescribing them a dog.

A senior researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University suggested the proposal after discovering that dog-owners get more exercise than those without.

Their results showed that people aged 65 and over get approximately 22 minutes more of exercise under their belts compared to non-dog-owners just by taking their canines out for a walk.

To put that into perspective, the figure generated from the analysis of the 43 pairs of pensioners who own a pooch, across Lincolnshire as well as Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire would be enough to meet the minimum quota of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week - as set out by the World Health Organisation.

Participants partaking in the study were asked to wear an activity monitor that was strapped to their thigh in order to count the number of steps they took.

Additionally, it was requested they keep a diary of their day.

As a result, researchers found that dog-owners took 10,030 steps a day compared to 7,260 for those without dogs.

In all the dog owners spent 119 minutes a day walking, 32 minutes at a moderate pace, compared to 96 minutes and 11 minutes for non-dog owners.

The results were then published , in the journal BMC Public Health, according to a national media outlet.

The findings suggested: 'Owning a dog, may therefore motivate older adults to engage in appropriate levels of PA [physical activity] for health.

'Health promotion professionals could consider encouraging appropriate dog ownership, or shared care of a dog to promote PA [physical activity] in older adults.'

Dr Philippa Dall, senior research fellow at Glasgow Caledonian University and lead author added: 'We found that dog owners aged 65 and over spent on average an additional 22 minutes walking, taking an extra 2,760 steps per day when compared to people who didn't own a dog.

'Over the course of a week this additional time spent walking may in itself be sufficient to meet WHO recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

The researchers also found that dog owners had fewer periods of sitting down - than non-dog owners, although the total time spent sitting down overall did not differ between the two groups.

Nancy Gee, of the WALTHAM centre for pet nutrition, a co-author of the study said: 'Our results indicate that dog ownership may play an important role in encouraging older adults to walk more.

'Ultimately, our research will provide insights into how pet ownership may help older people achieve higher levels of physical activity or maintain their physical activity levels for a longer period of time, which could improve their prospects for a better quality of life, improved or maintained cognition, and perhaps, even overall longevity.'

The 54 participants were all white British, including 54 women and 32 men, aged between 65 and 81.

Most of the dog owners had sole responsibility for care and walking the dog.

Some 69 per cent of the dogs were pedigree, and in a range of sizes  33 per cent toy and small, 38 per cent medium, and 30 per cent large and giant.
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Hundreds of thousands of people go missing across the UK every year.

A staggering 216,000 were reported missing in 2010 and 2011.

For the most part, worried families and friends are lucky enough to be reunited with their loved ones  but some remain in pieces hoping they will return someday.

It is said that about 90 per cent of missing people cases reported to the police are closed within 48 hours and up to 99 per cent are solved within one year.

But there are many cases that remain unsolved years later. In Lincolnshire there are at least eight missing people who have not been found. Here they are:

Samantha Blakey

Samantha Blakeys heartbroken family reported her missing on Christmas Day in 2016.

Missing People, a charity which reaches out to those who have disappeared, issued a desperate plea after the 45-year-old from Alford had been missing for 32 days.

It read: "Samantha, we are here for you whenever you are ready.

"We can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe."

Call. Text. Anytime. Free. Confidential.

This appealed was shared by Lincolnshire Police, but Samantha remains missing more than six months later.

Duy Nguyen

Duy Nguyen was reported missing from his home in Spalding last December at the tender age of 15.

The teenager was last seen at the Peacocks store in the Market Place, where he was shopping with his foster carer.

In an appeal launched by Lincolnshire Police, officers expressed concern he could be trying to make his way to London.

He is described as 5' 2" tall, of slim build, with short dark hair.

He was wearing light coloured blue tracksuit bottoms and a blue scarf.

He also has a scar over his right eye.

Joshua Davis

Joshua Davis has been missing for more three years after last being seen in December 2013.

The 19-year-old from Spalding in Lincolnshire remains unaccounted for.

The Missing People charity is asking anyone who spots the teenager to get in contact with them as soon as possible.

Glyn Taylor

Glyn Taylor disappeared from his home in Spalding almost 16 years ago.

Police have conducted multiple searches in the years since the 21-year-old Loughborough University student went missing on July 11, 2001.

His devastated mother issued an appeal for information, but 16 years later, Glyn has not returned home.

Anne Simpson



Anne Simpson, a devoted mother to four daughters, went missing on September 26, 2004.

She was aged 60 at the time of her disappearance and lived with her long-term partner Anthony Rogers, known locally as Tom Rogers, at Coastfields Caravan Park in Skegness.

The weekend she disappeared, Miss Simpson was visited by one of her daughters, Josie Hill, and her grandchildren.

After waving the family off back to their home in Leicester, she went for a drink by herself to the local pub, The Bell Inn.

It is reported that Mr Rogers heard Miss Simpson return to the caravan they shared at 8.30pm.

She went to her room, as the couple had separate bedrooms, and at about 11pm he heard her leave the caravan.

He awoke the next morning to find no sign of his partner, with her handbag and all her things still inside the caravan.

James Gower

James Frances Gower, 30, known as Jamie, of Grainthorpe, near Louth, was last seen on April 13, 2009.

His moped was recovered in Baysgarth Park, Barton-on-Humber, on April 21.

Numerous inquiries were carried out by Lincolnshire Police and colleagues in Humberside, including checking CCTV footage, house-to-house enquiries, hospital checks, financial inquiries, a national Missing Persons Bureau circulation and land and airborne searches.

Jamie is slim, white, around 6ft 1in tall and has short brown hair and blue eyes.

In 2010, Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Gibbon, said: "There have been no confirmed sightings of Jamie since last Easter and, although his family worry that he may have come to some harm, everybody remains hopeful."

Fazlur Rahman

Fazlur Rahman was last seen at around 2pm on October 30 at his home in Chestnut Street, 2014, when he went to work in uphill Lincoln.

However, the 36-year-old did not turn up at work and has not been seen since.

He is originally from Bangladesh and speaks English with an American twang.

He is around 5ft 8in tall, with short black hair, and was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black trousers and black shoes, with a black coat with fur lined hood.

Police say Mr Rahman's disappearance is out of character and his family would like to hear from him to know that he is okay, as would the force.

Dulcie Brewster

The last confirmed sighting of Dulcie Brewster was on London Road in Boston on Friday, April 12.

Police launched a public appeal to try and find the 76-year-old, saying they were gravely concerned for her welfare.

However, Dulcie has not been seen since her disappearance.

Two weeks after her disappearance, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Taylor said: We are relying on the public to help us build up a picture of where Dulcie went and who she saw in the days leading up to Monday, April 15, when she was reported missing.

"A number of active lines of enquiry are being followed which have included specialist searches of waterways near to her home.

"Our Underwater Search Unit will be returning to Boston on Wednesday, May 1 to conduct further searches.

"We are very worried about her and appeal to the whole community to contact us with any information they may have, however insignificant it may seem."

If you want to talk, you can contact Missing People by texting 116 000 or by sending an email to 116000@missingpeople.org.uk or visit their website for more information
May 1, 2021, 5 PM

The 1960 Nepal 5-rupee Crimson Horned Pheasant stamp (Scott 117) is in demand and a good buy in mint never-hinged condition at $75 to $100.

Tip of the Week  By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

The Himalayan nation of Nepal has long fascinated Westerners. Lying astride the worlds tallest mountain range, it boasts eight of the worlds 10 tallest mountains.

Nepal became a republic in 2008 as a result of a long simmering Maoist insurgency and the murder of nine members of the royal family, including the king, by a disaffected prince.

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Many collectors are attracted to Nepal by its very obscurity. During 1959-1960, Nepal issued a set of 14 stamps (Scott 104-117) to commemorate the countrys admission to the Universal Postal Union. The 2017 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue values the set in mint never-hinged condition at $150.30.

Most of the sets value is in the 5-rupee Crimson Horned Pheasant stamp (Scott 117), which is valued in mint never-hinged condition at $100. Short sets abound, but the high denominations, especially the 5r stamp, are often missing. Because of its subject, this stamp is also popular with bird topical stamp collectors. With its bright colors, this stamp has a great deal of eye appeal.

This stamp is in demand and is a good buy at $75 up to full Scott catalog value. Unused hinged examples are a good buy at 50 percent to 75 percent of catalog value.
LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westchester Eyecare Center is reminding everyone to take extra care of their eyes by protecting them from the increased UV radiation during summer. Even in areas with warm or hot winters, such as LA, UV radiation becomes more of a hazard once the days get longer. Therefore, people should be sure to wear sunglasses and otherwise protect their eyes by wearing a hat with a wide brim and avoid being outdoors during peak hours when the suns UV rays are most intense.



UV radiation affects humans in several ways. When it hits the skin, it spurs both tanning and the production of vitamin D. However, as many know, overexposure can also cause a variety of problems. What is often overlooked is that the skin isn't the only part of the body that is threatened by excessive UV light - the eyes are also subject to damage.

"UV light can cause a variety of eye problems. Studies have indicated that one of the culprits of cataracts is prolonged exposure to UV light without wearing eye protection. The corneas produce a cloudy material which interferes with vision since a cataract blocks all light instead of just the UV bands. Excessive sunlight can also burn the retina and threaten sight. Finally, as with the skin, prolonged UV exposure can cause cancer in the eyes," explained Dr. Jenn Tabiza of Westchester Eyecare Center.

Fortunately, it's easy to protect the eyes from UV exposure. Adults and children alike should wear sunglasses that offer 100% UV protection. These lenses are available in both prescription and non-prescription forms, so everyone can gain the benefits they offer. Although, consumers shouldnt assume that all dark or tinted lenses offer full UV protection, and they should always look for a sticker or other manufacturer information to be certain. All the sunglass options at Westchester Eyecare Center offer 100% UV protection.

Westchester Eyecare Center offers designer sunglasses to fit a wide variety of tastes and face sizes. Those who need prescriptions should have a Westchester eye exam before buying, while those who dont require a prescription can just drop in and select a stylish pair of sunglasses same-day.

About Westchester Eyecare Center

This clinic offers an optometrist in Westchester who can handle eye examinations, prescriptions for vision correction, ocular disease treatment and diagnosis, and more. It offers collections of designer sunglasses from a wide variety of well-known names. Optometry services are available in Spanish, Farsi, and English.

Visit them online at http://westchestereyecarecenter.com/ for more information on their eye care services and designer eyewear selections.
Can you kick it? Panorama returns to Randall's Island Park for its second installment this summer in July 28, 29, 30. The festival sits at the intersection of New York's unique creative community, bringing together music, immersive art and innovative technology as never before.

Nine Inch Nails, Frank Ocean, Tame Impala, A Tribe Called Quest, alt-J, Solange will be there. Will you?

Introducing the Point! An open-air club celebrating New York City's key role in the ongoing evolution of DJ culture and electronic music. The Point is a shaded, misted dance party with continuous house and techno all day and night embedded in the center of the festival

Building on the success of last years debut, THE LAB, powered by HP returns promising festival-goers an immersive multi-room exhibition merging visual art installations, music and cutting-edge technology. Curated exclusively by New York City-based artists, THE LAB puts the citys unparalleled creativity and innovation on display for a sensory adventure culminating in a massive 360 degree dome theater. Artists designing installations include Prism, SOFTlab, FutureWife, Ekene Ijeoma, Emilie Baltz, and The Windmill Factory. THE LAB is curated by META.IS.

For full line-up, additional information and to purchase passes, visit Panorama.NYC.

This post is brought to you by Panorama NYC.
Roxane Gay begins her new book - the hardest she's ever had to write - by describing what it isn't.

"The story of my body is not a story of triumph," Gay writes in the opening pages. "Mine is not a success story."

Instead, it's a searing account of the essayist's lifelong struggle with her weight, which once topped 500 pounds. "Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body" is no weight-loss memoir, she is quick to explain. There's no tidy resolution here, no willowy woman on the book jacket holding the waistband of her old pants an arm's reach from her new body.

"I wished I could write that book," says Gay, 42, a once-obscure academic and fiction writer whose tart takes on social issues and pop-culture built a loyal online audience and helped launch a best-selling 2014 collection of essays, "Bad Feminist."

"I'd wanted to write about fat for a while, and I didn't quite know how," she says. "And then I started to think, 'Well, what would it be like to write a memoir of my body?'"

The resulting book turned into a portrait of resilience in the aftermath of trauma: When Gay was 12, a boy she adored lured her to a cabin in the woods near her Nebraska home, and he and a group of his friends raped her.

"They did things I've never been able to talk about, and will never be able to talk about," she writes. "Those boys treated me like nothing so I became nothing."

For years, she told no one. Food became a vital source of comfort; her doting parents, both Haitian immigrants, were alarmed as their quiet daughter gained more and more weight. "They knew nothing of my determination to keep making my body into what I needed it to be - a safe harbor rather than a small, weak vessel that betrayed me," Gay writes.

Gay has long focused her work on matters such as sexuality, gender, race, body image, violence. Her most recent collection of short stories, "Difficult Women," is filled with quirky, surrealist tales of sisterhood, loss and toxic relationships. But of all her work so far, "Hunger" is certainly the most vulnerable. Which made it the most painful story to tell, Gay says.

Writing is usually a source of joy for her; she assumed the words would flow easily. But the prospect of revealing herself so completely proved terrifying. She procrastinated, and the book, originally scheduled for publication last year, was delayed. In April 2016, Gay explained to her 200,000 Twitter followers: "There is no mystery beyond I still haven't turned it in because the book is scary."

It was a surprising confession from a writer who has never shied from personal disclosure or controversy. Starting as a creative writing professor at Eastern Illinois University, she made her name with trenchant essays for online outlets such as Salon and the Rumpus. She wrote about the dark pull the saccharine "Sweet Valley High" books had over her childhood; she examined the troublesome ways that rape is represented in news coverage; she condemned the fixation on Trayvon Martin's hoodie as a way to shift the blame for his murder.

Gay, now on faculty at Purdue University, is the kind of writer who is usually game to jump into a Twitter battle or slap down a troll. In January, she pulled a forthcoming book from Simon & Schuster in protest, after the publishing house signed far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

But this was different. This was her own body.

"When you're fat, your body is not a secret, but you still hold on to secrets; you pretend, of course, that people don't see you the way you know they see you," Gay says. "And so to expose myself and this history of my body . . . it's not something I took any pleasure in."

Over "Hunger's" 88 short chapters, she explores the loneliness and pain of her body's constraints. There is the exhaustion of constant scrutiny, of unavoidable logistical challenges. (How sturdy is a chair? How high the step onto a stage?) She conveys the relentless anxieties that fuel a "constant, destructive refrain": I am the fattest person in this shopping mall. I am the fattest person on this panel. I am the fattest person in this casino. I am the fattest person.

But she also chronicles her perseverance, her formative relationships, and her ongoing quest for healing and peace. Though she turns a critical eye inward, she has much to say about a culture that glorifies television shows such as "The Biggest Loser" and "My 600-lb Life" but makes little effort to accommodate larger people or support their physical and mental health.

"I really just wanted to talk about what obesity - no, I hate that word - what fat looks like, beyond what people generally see, where you're talking about someone who is 60 or 100 pounds overweight," Gay says. "I wanted to wrest control of that narrative back from the people who have seized it."

The book offers a pointed retort to the smug strangers who shoot Gay sidelong glances at the gym or gawk as she settles into an airplane seat: Here is everything you could have possibly wanted to know about why and how someone comes to live in this body.

"We are human, these are our bodies, and it's nobody's business. You don't get to judge," Gay says. She hopes the book "increases the empathy that people have for others in different kinds of bodies. And maybe it will make people mind their business a little bit more."

As for what it means for her - she's still living her way into that answer.

"Writing the book has allowed me to just take a hard and necessary look at myself that I had been unwilling to take - at how I got from then to now," she says. "And to just be honest with myself."

And has that brought her closer to the peace she seeks?

"We'll see," she says. "It's too soon to know."
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Pearland's 91-year-old mayor held on to his seat in an election runoff to lead the fast-growing south Houston suburb.

Mayor Tom Reid beat challenger Quentin Wiltz Saturday, and, in the race for a newly created City Council Position No. 7, Woody Owens, 69, beat Dalia Kasseb, 30, Brazoria County's first Muslim candidate.

The elections reflected a suburb grappling with significant growth in recent decades as new and diverse residents moving to master-planned communities built on the west side of town. City officials estimate Pearland has 120,000 residents. It encompasses parts of three counties  Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria  and covers 48 square miles.

Campaign rhetoric highlighted the challenges the city faces, including transportation, infrastructure, a landfill and city finances. Race and religion also became talking points, with two older, white, conservative men who had held office before facing two younger, minority newcomers.

This difference was exacerbated by a contentious campaign period during which a Pearland real estate agent distributed a letter conveying "that the liberal gay rights Democrats have put their candidates in the Pearland election to try and take over City Council and the school board," in April.

This month, a flier credited to a political action committee called We Are Pearland was disseminated. It advocates support for Reid and Owens with the banner headline: "There's only one way to stop the Democrat slate from taking over City Hall." It was largely seen as partisan with candidates on both sides denouncing it.

"If some take it as an implication to go vote, that's one thing, but others can take it a different way and that's why we have to elect leadership that will not segregate and implement harm to different groups that have different beliefs," Kasseb said.

Additionally, a video from the Brazoria County Democratic Party showed anti-Islamic posts from Owens' Facebook page  he denies posting them.

This came after Pearland ISD school board member Rusty Deborde shared an article from The Atlantic titled "How American Muslims Are Trying to Take Back Their Government" on Facebook with the comment, "Please spread the word. This is happening this election cycle right here in Pearland."

Deborde found himself on the wrong side of national headlines when he was ousted by Mike Floyd, an 18-year-old high school senior and self-described liberal, last month.

Floyd insisted transgender students be able to use the restroom of their gender identity, a position at odds with Superintendent John Kelly, who has been outspoken in arguing that students use the restroom that corresponds to their birth certificates.

While it used to be a Republican stronghold, voting trends are beginning to shift, particularly on the city's east side.

Pearland ISD has gone from a predominately white, semi-rural area to an ethnically and economically diverse suburb on the edge of an ever-expanding urban core.

Jay Aiyer, an assistant professor of public policy at Texas Southern University, said the area's changing population has brought a fundamental shift to the left in Brazoria County, and in Pearland specifically.

"Often we think of that profile as an urban phenomenon," Aiyer said. "But now we're seeing places like Fort Bend County - and now in Brazoria County - with an increased diversity that has led to profound political changes."

The Platforms

A native of Central Texas, Reid moved to Pearland in 1965 when he began working at Johnson Space Center. During his three decades there, the city's population exploded from around 1,500 in 1960 to 37,600 in 2000. City officials estimate Pearland had around 120,000 residents at the beginning of this year.

Reid said his focus is on transportation; increasing road capacity through projects like new toll lanes on 288, additional lanes on the Sam Houston Tollway, and the possibility of light rail sometime in the distant future.

His platform also singled out public safety, quality of life and economic growth.

Wiltz previously made two unsuccessful bids for city council in 2013 and 2015, when he lost to Derrick Reed, who became the first African-American elected to Pearland's City Council. Wiltz would have been the city's first black mayor.

The mayor has no voting power, except in a tie.

In what was the most contested race of the election cycle with six total candidates, Owens initially trailed Kasseb following last month's voting.

He previously served for 12 years and retired from the council in 2013 due to term limits before an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2014.

Owens co-founded the Greater 288 Regional Partnership in 2010, which advocates for the development of the Hwy. 288 corridor, and is the organization's former vice chairman. He is also the vice president of Houston-based Aztec Engineering Group Inc.

A military veteran, he urged voters to support his platform focused on debt, taxes and roadway congestion.

Kasseb sold herself as an advocate for Pearland's new and diverse voices. Her platform includes mobility and environmental initiatives like creating more hike-and-bike trails and adding green space in the city, encouraging economic development through what she calls "smart growth," and exploring the environmental impacts of the Blue Ridge Landfill.

In May, Gary Moore, who won his re-election bid for council Position No. 3. This cycle marks Moore's second term on the council. J. David Little will succeed Greg Hill for City Council Position 5. Both candidates were sworn into office May 15.
An EasyJet passenger's suspicions about three plane mates prompted a midair security alert on Saturday - with an emergency landing in Germany, passengers injured and arrested, an airport shut down and luggage blown up by a bomb squad.

One day later, German police announced there was probably nothing to it.

It all started somewhere between Slovenia and London, as three British men flying home from their job passed the flight in conversation.

Whatever they said worried at least one passenger listening in, who informed the flight crew of what authorities would later describe as a possible "terrorist conversation."

Many have been on edge about terrorism in Europe, after threesuccessiveattacks on British soil killed dozens this year.

The EasyJet pilot was concerned enough to divert the flight, landing in in a remote corner of an airport in Cologne, where passengers were evacuated off the plane via slides. A few sustained minor injuries in the process, according to local police.

As authorities essentially shut down the airport, not allowing flights in or out, the three British men were arrested on suspicion of "state-threatening violence."

One of them had a been carrying a book, police said in a statement, on which appeared the word "kill" and a picture of a precision rifle.

Another was traveling with a backpack full of charging cables and power outlet adapters, which a bomb squad detonated as a precaution.

Meanwhile, the entire flight crew and another 17 passengers were questioned in a police station. One passenger told BBC News that fliers were quarantined for about nine hours.

But all the interviews, interrogations and "an extensive search of the plane" did not reveal anything suspicious, police said. On Sunday, investigators announced they were unable to confirm the alleged "terrorist conversation" even took place.

The United States issued a Europe-wide terrorism alert earlier this year, cautioning Americans against traveling in Europe after recent attacks in Britain, France, Russia and Sweden, as well as weakening stability in Middle Eastern countries.

Officials have also been especially concerned about reports of a plot to hide bombs inside electronics and sneak them onto planes, which has led to bans on laptops aboard U.S. flights from several countries.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told CNN in April that the prospect of a plane being blown out of the sky "keeps me up at night." Last month, fighter jets escorted an American Airlines plane to landing after a passenger with a computer began acting strangely on board, though no explosive were found.

But all ended well with the EasyJet flight, aside from some late flights, scuffed passengers and the detention of three men - who were released Sunday.

"At present, Cologne police authorities assume that a real threat situation did not exist," police said.
CARACAS, Venezuela - When your house is burning and smack in the path of a Category 5 hurricane, it's probably not the best time to tear down the frame and jackhammer the foundation.

But those are the home improvement plans of President Nicolas Maduro, who is moving forward with a provocative attempt to rewrite Venezuela's constitution despite the country's descent into political and economic catastrophe.

The government has set July 30 as the date when voters will elect delegates for a constitutional assembly that will have the power to remake Venezuela's laws. Maduro insists the goal is to "restore peace" to the country, but the effect so far has been quite the opposite, taking a fraught situation and giving it a fuse.

Maduro's opponents see his rewrite bid as a naked power grab, and they want nothing to do with it. The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), Venezuela's big-tent opposition movement, says it will boycott the assembly. This past week its supporters tried to march again to the headquarters of Venezuela's election authorities, carrying signs that read "The Constitutional Assembly is a Fraud."

But their abstention risks giving Maduro a free hand to make sweeping legal and political changes beneath a scrim of democratic legitimacy. If the end result is an extension of Maduro's rule, analysts say, the assembly could take the country into full-blown dictatorial rule.

Maduro appears to be thinking of a deadline of his own - next year's presidential election. With the economy collapsing and his approval ratings hovering around 20 percent, he has few prospects for staying in power. But changing Venezuela's constitution to postpone or cancel the election is one of them.

The July 30 vote has added new urgency to an already volatile standoff between Maduro and the swelling crowds of Venezuelans furious at his government. To his opponents, the event will be a firing squad taking aim at the remnants of Venezuelan democracy.

"They want to eliminate not only our democracy but any institution that still survives in Venezuela," opposition leader Julio Borges said recently.

Anti-government protests have left at least 67 dead and 1,300 injured over the past nine weeks, with demonstrators demanding an early presidential election, the release of political prisoners and a return to democratic rule. The protest movement has repeatedly shown that it can bring massive crowds into the streets, but demonstrators' near-daily attempts to march toward downtown government buildings have been turned back repeatedly by riot police. The country's security forces are sticking with Maduro, at least for now.

A survey published this week by the respected Datanalisis polling firm found that 85 percent of Venezuelan respondents were opposed to Maduro's plan for a constitutional assembly. The countdown to the event is intensifying anti-government anger, and it could boil over if opposition leaders' worst fears come true and it ends up throwing Venezuela's electoral calendar out the window.

Opposition lawmakers won a landslide victory in late 2015, taking control of the country's legislative branch amid widespread frustration at the country's breakdown. Since then Venezuela's humanitarian crisis has only gotten worse, but Maduro has used the country's judicial branch to stifle his opponents and their agenda.

Venezuela's finances are so wrecked that the government has been borrowing from Wall Street banks at rates typically offered by pawnshops. But Maduro says his goal for the constitutional assembly will be the fortification of what he calls "The Communal State," whose "communes" and "communal councils" will rival or replace Venezuela's traditional economic and political institutions.

In theory, it's a plan to channel resources directly to local communities. In practice, analysts say, it aims to sideline the country's elected lawmakers and redirect public funds to government loyalists.

Another sore subject is the constitution itself. It was rewritten in 1999 after Hugo Chavez became president. But Chavez convened his constitutional assembly through the ballot box, with more than 80 percent of voters agreeing to the overhaul.

No such vote will be held this time, but Maduro has responded to recent criticism by assuring Venezuelans they will get a chance to approve or reject the new constitution once it's finished. That's not much comfort to his opponents.

Of the 543 deputies who will have the chance to rewrite the constitution, about two-thirds will be elected at the municipal level, while the rest will be representatives of student organizations, farmers, indigenous groups, the disabled and other categories that include "fisherman" and "communal councils." The legal basis for this is highly controversial, and analysts say the system will give an advantage to rural districts where the government still enjoys some support. Still, given Maduro's lack of popularity, the assembly could include many government opponents - if they decide to take part.

Several prominent figures who still consider themselves loyal to Chavez have criticized Maduro for wanting to alter a document the late leader considered so "perfect" he ordered millions of tiny copies printed and distributed throughout the country.

Attorney General Luisa Ortega, a figure close to Chavez who has recently broken with Maduro, filed a motion with Venezuela's top court Thursday to block the assembly from going forward. She urged all Venezuelans to oppose it, calling Maduro's decree order unlawful. "Only the people have the power" to convene a constitutional assembly, she said.

"I think with this [assembly] we are destroying President Chavez's legacy," Ortega told reporters outside Venezuela's supreme court building.

Even the president of Venezuela's federation of communes has come out against it, questioning its legality and complaining that the government hasn't sought input from the group's members.

But just as the proposal has created divisions among members of the Chavista movement, it has also raised doubts among government opponents about the best strategy for defeating it.

Many are still haunted by the opposition's decision to boycott 2005 parliamentary elections, a move that ended up giving Chavez's party unchecked power.

Maduro appears to be baiting his opponents into doing that again, even though the political dynamics are far different this time. Unlike Chavez, who for years had the majority of Venezuelans on his side, Maduro has dwindling support.

"In the language of poker, we're looking at a bluff by the government," wrote Francisco Rodriguez, a prominent Venezuelan economist who argued this week that Maduro's opponents should hold their noses and join the assembly, because their advantage is so large they'll be able to dominate it.

"In order for the bluff to work, the opposition has to fold," he wrote. "In other words, the only way to win an election with 20 percent of the votes is to get the other side to sit out."
The lights of the high-end boutiques and bars of Tokyo's Ginza neighborhood may someday be powered by coal burned more than 1,700 miles away (2,700 kilometers) in Mongolia, electricity zipping over ultra-high voltage lines across deserts and under seas.

That's the idea behind plans in Asia for so-called super grids, sending power from countries with relatively few people but lots of wind, sun and fossil fuels to distant electricity-hungry population centers trying to keep up with demand.

Mongolia, desperate to make more of its abundant resources as it seeks to revive its flailing economy, aims to make that vision a reality through one of the world's most ambitious power projects.

The landlocked nation is considering a $7 billion plan to build coal, wind and solar plants that could send electricity across China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, according to Tamir Batsaikhan, a project director with the Shivee Energy Complex. It's just one concept of how to connect power markets across Asia, where demand is forecast by BMI Research to grow 3.5 percent annually through 2026.

"At a 30,000-foot level you'd be hard-pressed to argue against it," said Simon Powell, head of Asian utilities research at UBS Group in Hong Kong. "It's not technically impossible to build an Asian power grid, but there are difficulties."

While the region's biggest economies, led by China, throw their support behind the projects, the challenge of moving electricity from one country to another --- from the differences in voltages and price to worries about relying on neighbors for power -- may mean Mongolia's vision remains just a dream.

A feasibility study on Mongolia's proposed 5,280-megawatt Shivee project, which is backed by state-run investor Erdenes Mongol and the country's energy ministry, is expected by the end of this month, said Tamir. State Grid Corp. of China is carrying out the study and talks with potential buyers would only start after its completion, he said.

State Grid, one of the world's biggest power distributors, and Japan's SoftBank Group, as well as partners in South Korea and Russia, are a few of the main drivers behind the latest ideas to develop a power grid spanning northeast Asia. State Grid's former chairman, Liu Zhenya, floated an even grander plan almost two years ago for a global network to transmit electricity from continent to continent by 2050 at a cost of $50 trillion.

"The energy demands of the next three decades will be astronomical," Liu, now chairman of the Beijing-based Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, wrote in a Bloomberg View column in April. "We will need to power -- mainly cleanly -- at a scale and for a range of uses we cannot yet fully imagine."

While Liu has moved on to GEIDCO, where SoftBank's chief Masayoshi Son is vice-chairman, State Grid continues to promote super grid proposals. The company's chief engineer, Zhang Qiping, said in November that China can export surplus power to India and Southeast Asia. A global network also dovetails with China's One Belt, One Road program, President Xi Jinping's cornerstone trade initiative to connect Europe, Asia and Africa through infrastructure and investment.

"State Grid is definitely trying to think big with global energy interconnection," said Justin Wu, the Asia head of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "But in the meantime, we're likely to see projects that will take this on incrementally, building smaller pieces of the puzzle that will fit into this bigger picture of interconnection."

While State Grid has built 10 transnational power transmission lines that include links to Russia, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, those interconnects are less about transmitting large amounts of power and more about stabilizing the network, according to UBS' Powell.

State Grid didn't reply to emails seeking comment, while Korea Electric Power Co. declined to comment. Russia's Rosseti is in discussions with partners from China, South Korea and Japan about "establishing bilateral energy ties and developing major Asian energy ring," said Konstantin Petukhov, deputy director general for development. The company is also in talks with the Mongolian government about building a new power grid, which could be linked internationally, he said.

"SoftBank places importance on renewable energy, and a super grid that extends from Mongolia to Japan fixes the problem of security of supply, as the sun is always shining and the wind is always blowing somewhere," Spokesman Kenichi Yuasa said by email, adding that the company isn't involved in the Shivee Energy Complex.

Such a network faces multiple obstacles, including the challenge of linking different grids and infrastructure and deciding how the power would be priced, according to analysts at UBS and Wood Mackenzie. Some countries may also worry about becoming too reliant on imported power or technology from China, which has faced resistance in Australia and the U.K. over investments in their electricity infrastructure.

"Countries may become cautious about taking Chinese technology, worrying this could endanger their own power system security or even national security," said Frank Yu, principal consultant on China and North East Asia power at Wood Mackenzie.

GEIDCO's chief Liu has voiced support for moving electricity from Mongolia and northeast China to Japan and South Korea, according to a January statement sent by the organization in response to a request for comment.

Other potential transmission projects cited by GEIDCO include sending hydropower from China's Yunnan province and thermal power from the country's north to Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Bangladesh; hydropower from Tibet to India and Bangladesh; coal, wind and solar power from western China's Xinjiang region and coal-fired electricity from Kazakhstan to Pakistan.

While these projects help China solidify its relationships with neighbors, as well as other Belt and Road countries, the Shivee project in Mongolia is one way to aid an economy that's forecast by the World Bank to contract 0.2 percent this year. Constructing Shivee would create 25,000 jobs over five years and may increase gross domestic product by 4 percentage points annually during that period, according to an August GEIDCO statement.

"With abundant resources of cheap energy coal, which is not so much profitable to transport, it makes sense to export the final product, electricity,'' said Khashchuluun Chuluundorj, an economist at the National University of Mongolia.

---

Bloomberg's Sarah Chen, Peter Martin, Aibing Guo, Aaron Clark, Hannah Dormido and Heesu Lee contributed.
A Houston-area woman who was given a second chance at freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016 has been ordered to return to federal prison after violating the terms of her supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said Thursday.

Texas City resident Carol Denise Richardson, 49, was originally convicted in 2006 for "conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine as well as two counts of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base." At the time, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison sentenced her to life in federal prison, noting that she had an extensive criminal history.

Richardson had already served about a decade of her life sentence when she received a reprieve last year: She was being granted clemency by Obama under an agreement that her release would be supervised for 10 years.

For Richardson and hundreds of other nonviolent drug offenders granted clemency under Obama, the truncated prison sentence was a rare opportunity to reenter society. During his two terms in office, Obama commuted a total of 1,715 prison sentences, more than any other president in history.

Richardson was released from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on July 28, 2016.

However, on April 13, less than a year after her release, Richardson was arrested for theft in Pasadena, Texas, a Houston suburb.

According to acting U.S. attorney Abe Martinez, Richardson also violated four other terms of her release, including a failure to report any "law enforcement contact" to her probation officer within 72 hours.

"She has also failed to maintain regular contact with the U.S. Probation Office and failed to report that she had been terminated from her employment with Home Health Providers for abandoning her position," Martinez said in a statement. "She also failed to report a change in her residence. In fact, as of May 15, 2017, attempts to reach her were unsuccessful, and her whereabouts were unknown."

Richardson was finally located and arrested May 31, Martinez said. In a hearing Thursday, Ellison - the same judge who had sentenced Richardson to life in federal prison in 2006 - told her he was disappointed that she had wasted "the extremely rare opportunity she was given," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ellison ordered Richardson to return to federal prison for 14 months; afterward, she will be placed on supervised release for five years.

"This defendant was literally given a second chance to become a productive member of society and has wasted it," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Imperato said in a statement after the hearing. "She has clearly shown a willful disregard for the law and must face the consequences for her crimes and actions."

Mark Anthony Diaz, an attorney for Richardson, did not immediately return messages Saturday morning. Diaz told the Houston Chronicle that Richardson's theft was for $60 worth of laundry detergent that she was going to sell for drug money and that she cried at her hearing.

Diaz said Richardson's addiction to crack cocaine was why she relapsed and fell out of touch with her support system after her release, and he asked to know why she had not received drug treatment in prison, the Chronicle reported.

The CAN-DO Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for clemency for nonviolent drug offenders - including that of Richardson while she was imprisoned - echoed those concerns.

"We are very concerned to hear that Carol Richardson has been sent back to prison for various probation violations that appear to stem from her drug addiction that has gone untreated," the group said in a statement. "The system has failed Carol, yet again. It will be easy for some to point a finger at Carol and justify their support of harsh mandatory sentences as a necessity to keep people locked up, when we feel Carol's current situation is proof that we desperately need to overhaul our current drug policy that treats addiction as a criminal issue, rather than a medical issue."

While in prison, Richardson had been in contact with CAN-DO to make a case for her clemency. She detailed the circumstances that led to her life sentence, and said she had admitted herself into rehab in March 2005 and was getting treatment when she was indicted.

"I was a drug user and do not consider myself a drug dealer because I never profited from the sell of drugs," Richardson wrote in a letter to the group. "I was convicted on testimony alone - no proof."

She also noted that, among her four male co-defendants, including her husband, she received the harshest sentence for being present at two drug "buys," despite never receiving money.

CAN-DO supported and prioritized Richardson's case, placing her on its list of "Top 25 Women" seeking clemency, because the group felt she had been "tossed into the indictment, not because they profited from the drug trade, but because they were feeding a habit or in a relationship with a man involved in the drug trade."

"Often, when the major dealers are arrested, they are offered sentence reductions if they will provide 'substantial assistance' and provide more names that can be added to the indictment," the group says on its website. "Often, that will include anyone associated even slightly to the drug activity, including women who may have been a courier in exchange for drugs, or given very little money to feed their habit.

"Tragically, Carol fell into this category."

Amy Povah, the founder of CAN-DO, told The Washington Post that, unlike some others the group has worked with, Richardson fell out of touch after she was released from prison.

"Most people do," Povah said. "Carol was a little more introverted."

She said the group does not keep statistics on the recidivism rate of those who had been granted clemency - beyond trying to keep in touch with former prisoners - but said that Richardson's case was "extremely rare." Povah said she had only known of one other person, Robert Gill of San Antonio, who had been returned to prison after being granted a second chance under Obama.

Earlier this year, Gill was arrested after being caught with cocaine and trying to flee from officers, according to the San Antonio Express News. Povah told The Post she felt Gill's case was "more alarming . . . whereas it seems (Carol Richardson's) behavior and lack of success is related to probation violations, many of which stem from her addiction."

According to Povah, Richardson had always been forthcoming about her drug addiction, but was never able to take a 500-hour drug program in prison. She also likely had little assistance with medical issues, Povah said.

Like Carol, most people who get life sentences, upon release "literally have NO FUNDS, no home, no fruits from the drug trade that the feds wants the public to believe they were profiting from," Povah wrote in an email. "Carol is a self admitted drug addict who used 'daily,' and tried to get help but never completed the program due to her addiction. The actual drug dealers in her case cut deals and are were back on the street in a few short years - so why are we hyper focused on Carol's recidivism[?] Hopefully, her case can be used to understand what is wrong with our current drug war policy from start to finish."
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Watching his challenger maintaining a strong lead, District 2 City Councilman Alan Warrick sounded prepared to concede at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday

William Cruz Shaw was ahead, 57 percent to 43 percent, with all but four precincts reporting

It looks as though the people of District 2 have spoken, and there's going be a change of leadership, Warrick said in a phone interview.

Warrick pledged to support Shaw to keep the district moving in a positive direction.

At Tony G's Soul Food, where Shaw had gathered with about 150 supporters to await returns, the mood was raucous. The announcement that Cruz was leading with 95 percent of precincts reporting brought loud cheers and chants of Cruz for 2

The work starts now, Cruz told the crowd. This is a grassroots effort. This was a machine built by the community. From Day 1, we were broke, and we went out there and knocked on doors.

The results suggested that Warrick, who bested Shaw by 41 percent to 29 percent in the May 6 general election, may have been hurt by the controversy that embroiled his campaign in recent weeks.

The councilman was found passed out on a park bench outside City Hall May 26 following a night of drinking and initially hinted that someone might have drugged him. He later apologized for his actions, after watching video taken at the bar.

The episode prompted the 39-year-old Cruz, an attorney and former member of the Navy Reserves, to call for the councilmans resignation. The idea was rejected by Warrick, 36, the CEO of World Technical Services Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides employment and training for the disabled.

Saturday, Warrick speculated that the episode had affected the race's outcome.

My gut tells me it had to have had some impact, but I don't know how much, he said. Some people were willing to look past it, but others may not have been.

District 1

In District 1, where more than 6,800 early votes had been cast, incumbent Roberto Trevino was leading first-time candidate Michael Montano by 52 percent to 48 percent.

I think the more people understand the issues, the more they turn out for things like runoffs, so I would say that those who pay attention to my record on the council will turn out, and that will help us over those who are asked to believe in an ever-changing narrative from a challenger, Trevino said Saturday. The article in the Express-News about Montano's Connecticut arrest on voter fraud spoke volumes, and it opened the door for ethics being in the discussion, which is important to any voter.

Montano could not be reached for comment.

Trevino, 46, an architect by trade, outpolled Montano by 17 percentage points in the general election, failing to claim a 50 percent majority  and avert a runoff  by only 113 votes.

Montano, 36, has seen his campaign shadowed by his 2002 arrest on felony charges of voter fraud when he was a senior at Yale University.

City election officials said some 60,000 residents voted early, less than 9 percent of registered voters in San Antonio.

This story will be updated throughout the evening.
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More than 200 local businesses have registered their interest in landing a lucrative contract with Center Parcs in the lead up to its Longford Forest opening in 2019.

That was the estimated number of firms who attended two days of open meet and greet events in Mullingar and Longford last week.

PR Manager with the UK based leisure operator Simon Kay said the forums were part of the latest chapter in the broader Center Parcs story.

There has been a huge range of goods and services and different suppliers that have come to see us, said a visibly upbeat Mr Kay.

The purpose for us being here is for us to understand whats out there in the local and regional market, what kind of suppliers there are and what types of goods and services we will be able to procure locally.

It's also a chance for the local business community to understand the types of goods and services we are going to need.

A key indicator of just how strongly Center Parcs chiefs placed on the two day affair was evidenced by its decision to fly its entire procurement team in from the UK to speak to potential suppliers.

And while Mr Kay said he was optimistic the vast bulk of successful suitors would come from within the Longford-Westmeath catchmentarea, there was still a rigorous vetting process ahead.

We are really confident (majority of suppliers will come from within the local area).

We are not here to offer contracts here and there is a process that needs to be gone through but certainly the signs that we are seeing amongst the suppliers coming in is really positive and encouraging for us.

In terms of bodies on the ground, just two employees namely its general manager Daragh Feighery and a general services manager have so far been added to the Center Parcs payroll.

Efforts to start a more comprehensive recruitment campaign by filling around 1,000 full and part time positions are more aspirations than immediate targets at this stage however.

A large slice of that relaxed approach is manifest in the company's proven track record in not only building but sustaining five holiday villages in the UK and another 21 across mainland Europe.

The big chunk of employees will be operational working in housekeeping, food and beverage, shops, pool and what have you but until you have got the lodges, pool and everything else in place we dont want to recruit too early because we dont people and then have them standing around doing nothing.

The main chunk (of staff will be recruited in) late 2018 early 2019 because that then gives you time to train them in at the time when building work is completed.

Ongoing speculation over the prospect of the national gas pipeline coming to Longford is something Mr Kay admitted he remains none the wiser over.

His take on another ceaseless intricacy, namely Brexit is a topic which conjured a more forthright response however.

Brexit will be as it is, he said.

The message we want to get across is that we are a long term investment and yes it the currency fluctuations might put some increase in costing but we will budget for that and overall we dont see Brexit having any impact on this project.

It's a mantra that has, of course, been rhymed out before, but it's one he and his fellow Center Parcs chiefs clearly intend seeing through.
A hearing into the deaths of Longford student Dace Zarina and another female student, Sara Givadio from Galway, following an apartment fire in Belgium began yesterday morning (Tuesday, June 6).

Dace Zarina (22), a former student of Mean Scoil Mhuire in Longford, and Sara Gibaldo (19) died tragically when a blaze ripped through the student house they were living in in Leuven on January 31, 2014.

They were both students at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and were doing a work placement at the Leuven Institute, also known as the Irish College.

Ms Zarina was laid to rest in her native hometown of Limbazi, Latvia following a service held on Friday, February 7, 2014.

A book of condolence was opened locally, while the family of the late Ms Zarina, in a statement, thanked the people of Longford, the staff and students of Mean Scoil Mhuire, and the priests and congregation of St Mels Cathedral for their thoughts and prayers.

The Leuven Institute, its director Malachy Vallely and an Offaly student were all named as defendants and summoned to appear before Leuven Correctional Court.

The case is being heard by three judges who will listen to oral evidence from the prosecution and the defendants.
A man who appeared before Longford Circuit Court last week charged in connection with an aggravated burglary will receive a suspended prison sentence if the Probation Report ordered by the presiding judge is favourable.

Anthony McEnteggart (31), 4 Chapel Lane Apartments, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson charged with burglary at the home of a female at Abhainn Glas, Edgeworthstown on April 3, 2015.

He was further charged with assaulting the womans brother in Edgeworthstown two days later, on April 5, 2015.

Outlining the case to the court, Counsel for the State, Mr Desmond Dockery BL said that on the date in question a lady was alone in her house at 46 Abhainn Glas, Edgeworthstown when she was awoken by a man standing over her in her bedroom.

Mr McEnteggart had entered the house by breaking a window and the lady woke to find him in her room, said Counsel before pointing out that the accused subsequently left the room and made good his escape.

The next morning, gardai had occasion to search an address on the other side of the street in relation to an unconnected matter and there they discovered items of clothing in the washing machine.

There was a pair of runners, top and bottoms just after finishing a washing cycle and fragments of glass were discovered on the soles of the shoes, Mr Dockery BL continued.

The fragments of glass were sent for analysis and they matched the glass from the window that had been broken at the ladys home earlier.

The accused was arrested and questioned in relation to the matter and he denied that the fragments of glass had come from the window of the ladys house.

The court was then told that a day or two later the ladys brother Marius arrived in Ireland to stay with her for a time because she was afraid to be alone.

A number of people gathered at the womans home where her brother was visiting and during the course of the evening a row broke out between a group of individuals.

Marius, the court was told, decided to leave the house and bring the dog for a walk.

However, not long after he set out for the walk, Marius encountered the accused.

Mr McEnteggart accused the ladys brother of waking his baby and told him he was in trouble now as a result of that.

When a group of Mr McEnteggarts friends arrived soon after that, they assaulted the man with a bicycle, Counsel for the State added.

The man was seriously injured during the altercation and was firstly treated for an injured leg at the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar and then at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

The court was then told that gardai subsequently arrested the accused on suspicion of violent disorder on April 17.

During the course of his detention, an interview was conducted with him and he made no admissions, nor did he make any effort to answer the Gardai's questions, continued Counsel.

As the interview progressed, he did answer some questions.

The court then heard that the accused told the Gardai that Marius woke up his child and he subsequently went outside to him and told him to f**k off out of his driveway.

He said that Marius came out of his sisters house carrying a weapon and tripped.

When he fell, the accused told the Gardai Marius injured himself with whatever it was he had been carrying.

Meanwhile, a medical report in respect of the injured party was submitted to the court.

The court heard that Marius had sustained blunt trauma from a bicycle and from multiple kicks.

He was subsequently treated for soft tissue injuries and bruised ribs, confirmed Mr Dockery BL.

The court was then told that the accused had a significant history of previous convictions and held 45 in total.

Those convictions, the court heard, included burglary, unlawful possession of drugs, public order offences, road traffic matters, theft, handling stolen property and possession of a knife.

He was on station bail at the time of the offences before the court, Garda Wendy Courtney, Edgeworthstown Garda Station added.

He has two children aged six years and six months old and was resident in Edgeworthstown for a time.

He is now living in Drogheda.

A victim impact statement from the 27-year-old lady whose home the defendant burgled was then read into the court record.

She said that two years ago she resided at Abhainn Glas in Edgeworthstown and that in April 2015 her home was burgled by a man who came into her bedroom and woke her from her sleep.

I was terrified, she added.

I did not feel safe after that.

The lady went on to say that her brother subsequently came to stay with her because she was afraid, and then he got injured.

I had to move from my home and into another house nearby because I just did not feel safe anymore, she said.

I was worried and afraid and then I left Edgeworthstown altogether.

The court went on to hear that the woman also left her job shortly after the incident and is now afraid to stay on her own.

The accuseds girlfriend Catriona Smith then provided direct evidence to the court.

She told Judge Johnson that Mr McEnteggart was a great father and she had known him for the last four years.

When I first went out with him, he wasnt a nice person, she confirmed but then added that now he was a different man.

He takes no drink or drugs now and is a brilliant father to both his sons.

In mitigation, Counsel for the accused Mr Shane Geraghty BL said that his client was extremely apologetic over what had happened.

The only positive spin I can put on this is that when the lady grabbed Mr McEnteggarts hand when he was in her bedroom, he left the room and then the house, added Mr Geraghty.

He hasnt come to the attention of the courts recently and I really believe that he has turned a corner.

He is now drug and alcohol free and is not even smoking.

Meanwhile, the court heard that the accused had 900 in compensation with him for the injured parties.

The accused then provided direct evidence to the court.

He said he had no excuse for what he had done and he was sorry.

If I could turn back time, I would; if I hadnt been doing drink and drugs at the time I wouldnt be here in court, he added.

Im sorry and remorseful for what happened to Marius and I hope that the lady can move on with her life.

I am working now as well - three days a week as a blocklayer.

Judge Keenan Johnson then deliberated on the matter.

He said the accused had pleaded guilty to very serious charges which occurred when clearly it was obvious he was under the influence of drugs and drink.

Mr McEnteggarts life was very much out of control at the time and I think that he realises that now, added the Judge.

It is clear from the victim impact statement that the lady was traumatised to such an extent that she left her job and moved out of Edgeworthstown.

Burglary is a very serious offence and the fact that he went into the victims bedroom is most serious.

The Judge said that he wanted an up to date Probation Report furnished to him as soon as possible and he adjourned proceedings to Portlaoise Circuit Court on June 28 next.

Before concluding matters, Judge Johnson pointed out that if the Probation Report was positive, he would dispose of the matter by way of a suspended sentence - five years, suspended for five years - and 5,000 in compensation payable to the ladys brother.
The Taliban said one of its fighters who infiltrated the ranks of the Afghan National Army was responsible for killing US troops yesterday who were operating in the eastern province of Nangarhar against the Islamic State. The insider, or green-on-blue attack  where Afghan security personnel open fire on Coalition forces  is the second recorded in Afghanistan so far this year.

The US military confirmed that three soldiers were killed and another was wounded and evacuated for medical treatment. The statement did not identify the soldiers or their unit, nor did it indicate how they were killed.

The Taliban, in a statement released on its official website, Voice of Jihad, said that an infiltrator Mujahid in the ranks of enemy forces opened fire on US troops that were embedded with their hirelings in Lata Band area of Achin district, eastern Nangarhar province. The Taliban claimed that four US soldiers were killed and several more were wounded.

Afghan officials confirmed that three US soldiers were killed and another was wounded, and identified the shooter as an Afghan commando, according to the BBC. Both Afghan officials and the Taliban confirmed that the Afghan soldier who opened fire on his US counterparts was killed.

The combined US and Afghan forces were operating in Achin district, a stronghold of the Islamic States Khorasan province. Ironically, the Taliban and the Islamic State are enemies and routinely clash in Nangarhar, and the insider attack that killed the three soldiers will only benefit the Islamic State by temporarily halting offensive operations.

Three other US soldiers have been killed while battling the Islamic State in Achin district so far this year. All three soldiers were killed in April during two separate operations. Two of the soldiers were killed during the April 27 raid which also killed Abdul Wasib, the emir for Islamic States Khorasan province.

Just days after the first US soldier was killed in Achin in early April, the US military dropped the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB (better known as the Mother of all Bombs), on an Islamic State tunnel complex in the district. Scores of Islamic State fighters were reportedly killed, however the group remains entrenched in the district to this day.

Taliban views insider attacks as a key tactic to defeat US

Yesterdays insider attack was the second recorded by FDDs Long War Journal so far this year. Many insider attacks go unreported as they may not cause casualties.

The other attack this year, on March 19 at a base in Helmand province, resulted in three US troops being wounded. The attacker, an Afghan National Army officer from the 215th Maiwand Corps, was killed. The Taliban did not claim credit for the shooting, but did acknowledge it. Zabihullah Mujahid, an official Taliban spokesman described the Afghan solider as an Afghan with a sense of patriotism.

In the past, the Taliban has infiltrated Afghan security forces to carry out such strikes or convinced soldiers or policemen to turn their weapons on coalition personnel. In 2012, Mullah Omar, the founder and first emir of the Taliban, announced that he created the Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration department with branches  now operational all over the country, to encourage defections and strikes on coalition forces.

Since Omars announcement, the Taliban has said that insider attacks are a key part of its military strategy when announcing the commencement of its annual spring offensive.

These operations will involve conventional attacks, guerrilla warfare, complex martyrdom attacks, insider attacks, and use of IEDs to achieve their objectives, the Taliban said in its statement on Operation Mansouri, the 2017 offensive.

These incidents have decreased from 44 in 2012 to just two in 2016 and two more so far this year. This is due to a dramatic decrease in coalition forces after the end of the surge in 2012 as well as improved security measures. [For in-depth information, see Green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan: the data.]

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
While announcing an airstrike that targeted a Shabaab command and logistics node in southern Somalia, the US military warned of al Qaedas resurgence in the country and said it has taken advantage of safe haven. The strike is the first announced by the US military since the Trump administration declared that it would expand operations against al Qaedas branch in Somalia.

US Africa Command, or AFRICOM, announced that it targeted a command and logistics node at a camp located approximately 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu in a stronghold for the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab organization in an airstrike. AFRICOM assessed that eight Shabaab operatives were killed.

AFRICOMs worrying assessment of Shabaabs revival in Somalia is an admission that efforts by the US, African Union, and Somali government to contain and defeat the group over the past several years have failed. The US Department of Defense admitted as much in late March, when it announced that the Trump administration approved additional precision fires to target Shabaab throughout Somalia.

The Pentagons desire to actively target Shabaab reflects the growing concern that al Qaedas branch in East Africa is gaining strength despite the presence of both African Union and US forces, and it is plotting to attack the West. Shabaab used a sophisticated laptop bomb in an attempt to down a Somali airliner in 2016. This attack was cited by the US government as one of the reasons that electronics have been banned in the cabins of airplanes departing from 10 airports in the Middle East. [See Whats really behind Trumps laptop ban.]

Todays strike is part of an overarching effort to degrade the al-Qaeda affiliates ability to recruit, train and plot external terror attacks throughout the region and in America.

The AFRICOM statement also acknowledged that African Union and Somali forces have suffered significant losses at the hands of Shabaab:

In the last eight months, al-Shabaab has overrun three African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Forward Operating Bases by amassing large numbers of fighters and attacking in overwhelming numbers. Al-Shabaab has also increased its combat capability by seizing heavy weaponry, armored vehicles, explosives, small arms, ammunition, and other miscellaneous supplies during its operations overrunning Burundian National Defense Forces FOB Leego, Ugandan Peoples Defense Force FOB Janaale, and Kenyan Defense Force FOB Ceel Ad. The terror organization has taken advantage of safe haven. The group has cemented its control [sic] southern and central Somalia, they have used this area to plot and direct terror attacks, steal humanitarian aid, and to shelter other radical terrorists.

Shabaab has successfully overrun Somali and African Union bases in the past and inflicted a large number of casualties on troops based there. In Jan. 2016, Shabaab fighters assaulted a base in Al Ade in the south and killed at least 100 Kenyan soldiers. In June 2015, Shabaab killed an estimated 60 Ethiopian soldiers in the south. That same month, Shabaab fighters killed more than 50 Burundi soldiers in Leego.

Shabaab has been resurgent in Somalia since losing ground to a combined African Union and Somali offensive in 2011. The jihadist group has slowly but methodically retaken several towns and villages that it lost, including the coastal town of Marka.

However, Shabaabs efforts have not been confined to southern and central Somalia. Late last week, Shabaab fighters overran a base manned by Puntland forces in northern Somalia. Upwards of 60 troops were killed and Shabaab seized a large number of weapons and vehicles as well as a quantity of ammunition.

Todays strike is the first reported by the US military against Shabaab since the Department of Defense announced that it would expand military operations. AFRICOM released a statement on April 17 to refute press reports that US forces launched airstrikes in southwestern Somalia.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Lifestyle / Travel

For backpackers and luxury travellers alike, Sri Lanka is the destination for a getaway this year

Jun 11, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews

Adventure-seekers and intrepid globetrotters looking to blaze new trails in Southeast Asia will want to consider adding Sri Lanka to their travel bucket list, after the country claimed the title of leading destination and leading adventure tourism destination for Asia over the weekend. At the World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia 2017, which were held in Shanghai, Sri Lanka took the title of leading destination for the region, an award that reflects a countrys range of tourism products and services.

The country was also named the leading adventure tourism destination. Winners are based on an online voting process cast by industry leaders and travel professionals.

Sri Lanka has been emerging as an interesting travel alternative to Thailand, for its beaches, wildlife safaris and adventure tours. Along with its native land mammalselephants, leopards and wild buffalosthe islands marine surroundings make the destination one of the best for whale and dolphin watching.

Sri Lanka is also known among thrill-seekers for offering top-notch surfing and diving experiences, jungle treks, hikes and elephant-riding and rock-climbing adventures.

Other big winners of the night include The Oberoi Udaivilas in India, which took home the title of Asias leading hotel 2017 and The Peninsula Hong Kong, which was named Asias leading luxury hotel 2017.

For Australasia, the Pullman Sydney Hyde Park in Australia was named the leading hotel, and Yasawa Islands in Fiji Australasias leading destination.

Here are some of the big winners from the gala event:

Asia:

Leading airline: Hainan Airlines

Leading airline economy class: Cathay Pacific

Leading beach destination: Thailand

Leading boutique hotel: Casa Del Mar Langkawi, Malaysia

Leading city break destination: Hong Kong

Leading cruise line: Star Cruises

Leading fine dining and hotel restaurant: La Maison 1888 InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, Vietnam

Leading low-cost airline: AirAsia

Australasia:

Leading airline: Air New Zealand

Leading private island resort: Laucala Island, Fiji

Most romantic resort: The Remort Resort, Fiji Islands
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > There is More to it than Meets the Eye to Indias Boycott of the Recently (...)

by Aurobindo Ghose

This article was sent on May 25 but could not be used earlier due to unavoidable reasons.

It is ten days since the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Summit, called and hosted by China at Beijing from May 14 to 15, 2017, concluded. Significantly, India did not participate in OBOR. But the subject is so important for peace, development and stability or otherwise in the region and beyond that it has continued relevance and requires a fresh review and discussion. Yesterdays front page news of the Indian Armys punitive fire assaults on Pakistani posts and todays news of the US revival of two Public-Private infrastructure projects in South and South-East Asia in which Indian firms are to play a key role, are sufficiently indicative.

As he formally inaugurated the two-day Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping, while pledging to inject an additional $ 124 billion into the One Belt One Road initiative, assured the august gathering that the project of the century was not an attempt at forming a small group (of countries) detrimental to stability. In his opening address, Xi, without referring to India or the CPEC, said: All countries should respect each others sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity, each others development paths and social systems, and each others core interests and major concerns. Twentynine heads of state and government including Vladimir Putin (Russia), Xi Jinping (China), Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), Ranil Wickremesinghe (Sri Lanka), Rodrigo Duterte (the Phillipines), Joko Widodo (Indonesia), and the Presidents or Prime Ministers of such important nations as Argentina, Chile, Fiji, Greece, Italy, Spain, Kenya, Malaysia and high-level delegations from Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Myanamar, the USA, France, Germany and the UK participated.

While the prestigious US presence at the summit was a last-minute surprise due to the persistent efforts of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, to fructify a give-and-take trade plan, Indias non-participation was very much on the cards as Chinas offer and invitation to India, nearly three years back, right after Prime Minister Modi came to power, to jointly build new silk roads in inner Asia and the Indo-Pacific littoral, were literally spurned by the Indian side. On the other hand, the US participation came after the two sides clinched a lucrative trade agreement which will boost shipments of American liquefied natural gas, beef and other products to China. In turn, Chinese banks and poultry will get access to the US market.

Voicing sovereignty concerns on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, passing through Pak-occupied Kashmir, India, though cordially invited, chose to boycott this hi-fi summit concerning its immediate neighbourhood environment, security and attractive prospects of trade, commerce and development in the region and between the participating countries.

My immediate reaction and that of most commentators on the subject was: bad foreign policy not to participate in the Beijing Summit indicating Indias total isolation in the immediate as well as wider geo-political neighbourhood. On the face of it, it was not at all clear as to why India was choosing a path wherein it was leaving China free to surround, gherao and push India into a corner geo-politically as well as economically. Sovereignty questions are paramount no doubt. However, India could have participated without prejudice and under protest, having leverage to influence the future course of events and relations. Like the European Union which participated but chose not to endorse the Draft Trade Agreement proposed by China, on the grounds of transparency and co-ownership, India could have also raised its concerns that connectivity projects must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity and that the financing of mega projects must not be such as to lead to the ultimate economic and political dependence of the receiving (donee nations) as has happened in the case of Mynamar and Sri Lanka vis-a-vis China (donor nation). This was a totally missed opportunity for India, was my first impression. But first impression is not always the last impression.

When I expressed my reservations on Indias non-participation in the OBOR Summit over Facebook, a stimulating discussion emerged between well-known commentators.

Dr Noor Zaheer, iconic writer, academic and activist, said: I think the present government does not care. They are not interested in anything except fleecing their own countrymen and turning the tide towards more Hindutva as a buffer. If at all they are thinking then they would prefer isolation, to be able to do what they want to do within the country. What Dr Noor Zaheer was meaning by what they want to do was amply clear to anyone who had heard or read her talk at Caligary, Canada only last year in May, on India under Modi: Indian Struggle for Secularism, Womens Equality and Workers Rights.

Masroor Khan was forthright when he commented: By not participating in Belt and Road forum India has scored a self-goal. Staying away from an event that is going to have far-reaching effects on the world economy and to leave the playing field entirely open to two major adversaries, China and Pakistan, we have failed in our foreign and economic policies. India should have participated, under protest of course. Our participation would have given us the opportunity to put our point view before other participating nations. By boycotting we arent going to achieve anything; on the contrary China and Pakistan will go ahead caring two hoots about our absence. In fact theyll be happy.

Xavier Dias, Editor and human rights activist from Jharkhand, pointed out that India cannot endanger its own interests, when he remarked: A mistake India cannot afford. China can do without India in this project but India cannot afford to stay out. In the long run Indian economy and foreign policy will be jeopardised.

Haroon Zuberi said something interesting on the sovereignty issue: India, please learn from China. In 1997 to solve the Hongkong issue, China did not bring up the issue of sovereignty. India stands isolated.

John Dayal, well-known commentator, minority and human rights representative, was sharp and focussed and undeterred from calling a spade a spade. He begun by saying: China seems to be succeeding in its hegemonic ambitions. Then he came up with the strategic scoop that India will have to come up with its own comprehensive extra-regional land and sea economic and strategic plan to avoid being strangulated in the the silken cords of the Chinese masterplan. Though it cites the road through lands occupied by Pakistan, India has been caught napping by the support that Chinese Belt has received from its neighbours in South Asia, as well as the rest of Asia. India is currently painting itself in a corner. John Dayals views found echo a week later in former Foreign Secretary Shyam Sarans bold and robust piece on Looking China in the Eye in The Indian Express, dated May 22, 2017, which argues that what India needs is an alternative narrative which contests the inevitability of Chinese hegemony.

Ravinder Goel, Professor and economic consul-tant,says: Think that the project is essentially good but the way the Chinese Government is moving in the matter, the potential will not be realised. The Government of India, despite my strong differences with its politics and economics, is justified in having concerns about the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) which passes through the disputed territory of Kashmir. Such trans-national projects are best executed by concensus.

Shafi Patel, consultant and commentator, is blunt and to the point: The whole exercise is a Chinese game to pull in money and access.

What is the conclusion that can be drawn from this discussion? A difficult question. On the one hand, India boycotted the OBOR Summit, it seems, after ample consideration because China was after India for its joint sponsorship, shortly after Modi came to power three years earlier, which India rejected right then. On the other hand, the latest news in the papers indicates that India had alternative plans. One, to act as a spoilsport by keeping the Indo-Pak border hot as the recent Indian Armys punitive assaults on Pak posts along the J&K demonstrate. Chinas dreams of brisk business via the OBOR are unlikely to be realised in an environment of frequent armed clashes along the Indo-Pak border. The other plan rests on the strategic involvement of the Indian Government and Indian capital in any major initiative by Chinas major bete noire, the United States of America.

What are the possibilities? There is more to it than meets the eye about Indias non-partici-pation in last weeks Beijing OBOR Summit. That Indian capitalists did not want a public spat at the OBOR Summit, straining their new- found ties with Chinese capitalistsfor example, Chinese retail giant Alibaba-Jack-Mas participation in PayTM and collaboration with Mukesh Ambanis Reliance in Jio. Also, the multitude of India-China capital collaborations amounting to a total of about $ 800 million in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) which came into India in just 17 months between April 2014 and September 2015, more than double all previous Chinese FDI to India. There are also issues why Indian capital would like the Indian Government to avoid public confrontations with Pakistan as in OBOR in view of the ongoing discussions between lndian industrialists Gautam Adani and O.P. Jindal and their Pakistani counterparts regarding future capital collaborations. Further, if you have read Robert Kaplans Monsoon, India may align in the very near future with Trumps America to plan and resurrect the alternative route to the old Silk Roadthe Indian Ocean as a challenge to the new Chinese owned One Belt One Road. This is fully confirmed, as I have mentioned above, by todays front page news that the USA has revived two Public-Private infrastructure projects in South and South-East Asia to counter Chinas OBOR mega project, in which India (read Indian capitalists like Ambani and Adani and the like) is to play a vital role.

In a sense, the Indian Government is listening closely to the Indian big corporates and their aspirations and fears. Their aspiration is to both collaborate and compete with Chinese industry while clearly avoiding the ignominy of business projects in Mynamar and Sri Lanka (and now the target is Pakistan), where utter dependence of domestic industry on Chinese loans, capital and technology have allowed China to almost gobble up the local industries resulting in both economic and political dependence of the host (donee) countries on China. India and Indian capital are most wary of such an eventuality, to avoid which it is even willing to compromise with American ventures and interests in both the subcontinent as well as the Indian Ocean.

Dr Aurobindo Ghose is an economist, lawyer and human rights activist. He can be contacted by

e-mail at g_aurobindo[at]yahoo.com
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > These are Beefy Issues

The demolition of the Babri Masjid and the ban on cattle sale for slaughter are two sides of the same coin. They reflect the prejudice of the majority community. Both are fouling the air. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government, which completed three years in office just a week ago, is blessing the different expressions of Hindutva which is slowly but firmly engulfing the entire country.

It looks as if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started its preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The governance by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, shows that the RSS has taken over in more senses than one as the State Government has started appointing trusted men in key positions. New Delhi is no better. The Nehru Memorial Centre is one example where the Director has been removed and, in his place, an RSS ideologue has been installed. He is spoiling the very ethos of the organisation and supporting the Rightist forces instead of the liberal atmosphere which is attributed to the Nehru Centre. The ongoing scuffles in the Jawaharlal Nehru University have political parties behind them with the same purpose.

The present concentration of the Rightist forces seems to be on the beef. Their embedded arrogance is exhibited by the Hindutvavadi students wings in one campus or the other throughout the country. This time it happened at Chennais Indian Institute of Technology. What is different from the past is its frequency and the ferocity of violence. The thrashing of students who eat beef is to re-emphasise their self-righteousness. The liberal atmosphere of the campus is now dependent on the political party that dominates the State in which the educational institution is situated. Consequently, the BJP influences the Hindi-speaking States in the north. The writ of the Congress and other regional parties runs in the rest of India. This has divided the country mentally and idea-wise. Prime Minister Modi, when he resumed office, had given the slogan: sabka saath, sabka vikas, meaning thereby that we shall be all together and advance further hand-in-hand. But subsequently he and his party, the BJP, appear to have lost the way.

And today, whether they like it or not, their government has come to represent a particular way of thinkingan intolerant Indiawhich has the overtones of Hindutva. Probably, the partys think-tank has come to believe that they can win more votes by dividing the society, thanks to the Bajrang Dal and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad which have begun vitiating the atmosphere. They are holding more and more exercises in different cities where lathis and other weapons are brandished.

This is something similar to the fear of Islamic domination that is being exploited by the Right-wing parties in the West. We forget that in the democratic structure that we have, everyone is free to eat whatever he or she likes. Nothing can be enforced. In a vast country like India where food and dress change every 50 kilometres, diversity is inevitable. Indeed, this is Indias strength. Respecting diversity keeps our different units together in a federal structure which we follow.

The BJP hardliners, who believe that they have come to power because of a fundamental shift in national values, should think again. There is more than a grain of truth in the argument that voters gave them a chance because they had lost faith in the Congress and were looking for an alternative.

The Congress, on its part, will be failing them if it persists with dynastic politics. The party must realiseif it has not done so farthat Rahul Gandhi does not sell. Sonia Gandhi herself will be a far better bet than the other leaders so far available in the party. The disadvantage of being an Italian has disappeared over the years and she is considered as much an Indian as anyone by birth. But the problem is that she has very little chance to head the country because the Congress has lost its shine. No doubt, the BJP has Hinduised politics but that is the dominant thinking which has caught the public imagination at present, thanks to Modis leadership.

This thinking may not last long since the Indian nation is basically pluralistic. The BJP itself seems to be conscious of this because there is some evidence that it is moving from the Right-of-the-Centre to the Centre. The predicament that plagues the party is that its cadres come from the RSS. Maybe, that is the reason that there is no scam in the government. However one may dislike the RSS ideology, its emphasis on integrity cannot be doubted. Yet, there should be no misgiving on its interference in governance. Even top bureaucrats are judged by how close they are to the Hindutva philosophy.

Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao appointed several officers, who were known to be secular, at key places so that the government reflected a pluralistic way of thinking. He felt personally betrayed when the Babri Masjid was demolished because he never thought that things would reach the point of pulling it down. But the fact remains that he connived at the whole operation. Now the thread has been picked up by a CBI court which has charged L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi and Uma Bharati with criminal conspiracy.

It would be a great let down if what the judiciary is doing is undone by the dominant political parties. Advani and his associates can appeal to the higher court but if the ruling party does anything which favours the accused, it would amount to mocking at the law. The Congress has asked for the resignation of Uma Bharati who is a Minister in the Modi Cabinet. If she were to be dropped by Modi, it would send the right kind of message. This is the least that Prime Minister can do to assure the people that the government has no side to take except to support the court.

The author is a veteran journalist renowned not only in this country but also in our neighbouring states of Pakistan and Bangladesh where his columns are widely read. His website is www.kuldipnayar.com
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > DVC Still to Compensate its Displaced: Quest for Justice Kept (...)

by Krishna Jha

On May 5, 2014, a letter was received by the Home Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, stating that according to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the State was responsible for taking steps to prevent, detect, register and investigate crime and prosecute the criminals through law-enforcing agencies; hence, steps must be taken in the context of inordinate delay, in fact more than six decades, in granting compensation to the evacuees of the Damodar Valley Corporation, involving the States of Bihar and Bengal, and now Jharkhand. It was also said that the Union Government cannot suo motu entrust the CBI to investigate an offence that has taken place in a State, hence the State must approach the Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training under which comes the CBI, to investigate the grievances.

As a follow-up to the letter, since no action was taken in this context by the State, on June 6, 2015, a letter was sent from the Prime Ministers Office to the Chief Secretary, Govern-ment of Jharkhand, for action to be taken on the petition sent by Ramashreya Singh, the represen-tative of the Ghatwar tribals, uprooted during construction of the Damodar Valley Corporation. The letter from the Centre remains unanswered since then, even after almost two years. According to an RTI, asking information about what action was taken on the letter from the PMO to the Jharkhand State Government, the reply was that no such letter was ever received. Suffering for the afflicted, meanwhile, continues without any respite stretching for three generations, still without land, without shelter, and also without livelihood.

As the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was coming up in 1953, a dream-turned-reality for the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, it was to provide irrigation and electricity to the region. The peasants parted with their fertile land, were given promises of livelihood, land and a homestead for the family, in the regions of Dhanbad, Jamtara in Jharkhand. At least 250 villages in Purulia and Bardhaman districts of West Bengal were asked to part with their land and habitat with promises of due compensation and employment in the Corporation itself. It was for the extension of Panchet and Mython dams in Asansol and the years were between 1953 and 1956.

More than twelve thousand families were uprooted, forty thousand acres of land taken away and four thousand dwellings demolished. At least seventy thousand people and their descendants are still awaiting justice. By 1976, only 350 persons got employment and several more got part of the compensation. It was in clear violation of the agreement that had said that along with compensation, and a plot of land, one from each uprooted family was to get employment in the Corporation. It was a large- scale betrayal leaving hundreds and thousands of people stranded, with a bleak future staring at them.

To save face, the Corporation claimed to have employed 9500 of the victims. Out of that only five hundred oustees were given jobs. The rest of the nine thousand, thus employed, were not those among the victims as it was discovered that there was no mention in their service record of the land they could have possessed in the dam area and that it was taken away by the DVC or of their getting even uprooted. Obviously, the claim to employ them as victims of dam construction was not based on facts.

Today the third generation has taken up the struggle. The DVC had taken away their land, homes and left them uncompensated, but it does not end there. When the pressure was built up, they employed those who were not among the dam victims. The two-edged scam has to be investigated and the Ghatwar tribals have to be resettled with compensation, jobs and land. For this they have even demonstrated baring themselves, with not even a thread to cover them bodily as they have been left with nothing to lean upon. Today their demands are that each of those uprooted by the DVC dam must get compensation, land in lieu of land, and employment to at least one in each family. Also the landless and marginalised peasants must get employment. The panel that was made for offering employment to the DVC victims was unconstitutional since the basic agreement with the peasants whose land and habitat were taken away, promised employment, among other facilities, to them.

They also want termination of jobs for those who have replaced the real victims and demand that the employment thus created must be given to those who have sacrificed everything for the DVC, and hence their next generation too has the right to get employment. In fact against eleven of those who were given jobs, and were in reality only sham oustees, the court passed an order to terminate them, but no action has been taken against them till date.

Finally they have demanded only justice as against injustices meted out to them by the forces of vested interest. They want implemen-tation of Land Acquisition Act 2011, according to which all those uprooted from their land and home must get justice.

The Ghatwar tribals realised after struggling for long years that they have to organise themselves to march ahead; and that is why they formed an organisation, elected Ramashreya Singh as their leader in 2006. Since then they had launched many struggles, dharnas, hunger strikes and long-term agitations and huge rallies, but to no avail. They have appealed to the Chief Minister, Prime Minister, even the Supreme Court that unveiled the scam of appointment of sham victims of land acquisition by the DVC-Mython-Panchet project. But hardly any investi-gation has been made in these scams. The Jharkhand State is ruled by a BJP Government and at the Centre, there is again a BJP Government. The aggrieved tribals expected that the declared aim of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas would be followed, but it keeps deluding them, though they still prefer to wait, which has proved to be an endless wait. While the DVC project is under the Central Government, the Power Ministry is its nodal agency. In the last several years, tribals have written to the Prime Minister many a time demanding investi-gation in the scam, letters have been sent from the PMO, but no response has come from the State and the DVC office either in action or in letter. The directive to ask for a CBI enquiry has also been left unattended. The Ghatwar Sangh leader had also written to Raghuvar Das, the BJP Chief Minister of Jharkhand. In reply to the letter, the Chief Minister, on April 22, 2015, had expressed anguish over the delay in justice and promised to get a response from the concerned persons within 30 days; it is still awaited after more than a year. The President of India has written twice and the Vice-President five times; still no step has been taken.

The irony was that when the Santhal Pargana Commissioner wrote in his report to the Chief Secretary of the State that the DVC had been the trying to conceal certain facts that go against them, responding to the letter, the government handed over the investigation to the DVC itself. The accused has been asked to investigate the accusations against itself.

After giving employment to nine thousand sham victims, and suppressing and not responding to letters written and directed to the Jharkhand Government seven times from the PMO, shows the real worth of not only the States BJP Government, but also that at the Centre stands exposed. Meanwhile, the inheritors of pain and suffering continue to fight for justice. One such victim is Kanhai Manjhi, from the village of Seemapathar, a serene, peaceful settlement, home for 1670 families before the DVC came up, then at a distance of 15 km from the Damodar river. Fifty years back, 85 per cent of peasants in the village had ten to fifteen acres of fertile land. Every family had enough to eat and spend for their meagre needs. Hundreds of labourers used to come to the village in search of employment every year. Today the same village has been resettled two km away from the river, desolate, dusty, devastated. Only 110 families are left. They have in fact lost their roots.

Though Kanhai has no illusion about the DVC meeting any of the promises made during evacuation, he is still fighting along with others for justice, for which his father and grandfather kept waiting. Kanhai is the inheritor of the struggle that they fought all their lives.

Kanhai says his grandfather was asked to hand over his land and house to the DVC and in return, they would pay him compensation, give land and employment. The grandfather gave the DVC bureaucrats all that they had asked for, and got nothing in return. Land, that was the source of their livelihood, was sub-merged, and their house crumbled; they had been left without any resources to feed their kids, themselves starving, many migrated to other parts, but the rest remained keeping up the post. Kanhai is one of them. First his grandfather thought Kanhais father would get the job, and died with the hope kept alive by his son who believed Kanhai would manage to get justice. But Kanhai is disillusioned. The story is the same for Kameshwar Marandi, Lakhidas, and Pawan Murmu. They know their rights have been robbed, sold out to someone else. But it is not for them to come off the battlefield.

They resorted to a unique form of protest, the ultimate in ones lifetime. In Dhanbad, by the end of 2016, the uprooted families, men and women both, tore off their clothes, and demanded justice, from governments, at the State, and the Centre. Surprisingly, it fetched zero reaction. The media, both local and national, though stunned, kept their distance. The State kept its silence, the Centre refused to respond.

Was it just for a livelihood, and pittance as compensation? No. Kanhai and his comrades refuse to let down the great values for which they have been fighting for generations. They have decided to launch an agitation in the streets of Delhi if Dhanbad is too far for those sitting at the helm, that is, the government and the media. They are resolved to continue the struggle, without succumbing to defeat.

The author is a senior journalist and writer.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Brezhnev in India / Superpower with a Difference

From N.C.s Writings

Against the backdrop of PM Narendra Modis visit to Russia and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin the following two pieces that appeared in Mainstream in November-December 1973 on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnevs visit to India at that time are being reproduced for the benefit of our readers.

Brezhnev in India

Seven weeks ago, laying the foundation of the refinery at Mathura, Smt Indira Gandhi referred to the Soviet offer of two-million tonnes of foodgrains and said: On such occassions one knows who is a friend in the world, and who is not. Obviously, this is a long way from the political amateurishness of equating both the superpowers.

Early next week, as the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev comes to India, the meaning of this friendship will be spelt out without reserve. It is not a mere coincidence that the advance party of the Soviet officials who have reached New Delhi for the preparation of the Indo-Soviet Summit should be led by the head of the Soviet planning organisation at a time when Smt Gandhis Cabinet has been discussing the Draft of the Fifth Five Year Plan.

Moscow has a special significance for Indias struggle for economic independence which, in the final analysis, ensures the defence of this nations political independence from the onslaughts of neocolonialism. It was the Soviet offer of assistance which enabled this country in the early fifties to make a breakthrough from the stranglehold of Western private capital and laid the foundations of industrial development with the public sector providing the base for key industries. The Soviet readiness to build the Bhilai steel plant marked a watershed not only in the countrys economic but in political life as well. For, it pointed the road to independence growth defying the hegemony of the Wall Street. It is a matter of equal significance that in the midst of acute economic difficulties and industrial stagnation today, Bhilai stands as the shining example of maximised production, a record which few units, whether in the public or the private sector, can claim, while the giant steel complex at Bokaro holds out the promise for tomorrow.

There followed in rapid succession the Soviet assistance and cooperation in building Indias petroleum and heavy industries, electricals and pharmaceuticals, defence production including aeronautics, mineral exploration, to cooperation in science and technology, leading up to space research. The Americans claim to have given a larger amount of credit to this country, but Washington has never helped in the development of the industrial infrastructure which can enable this country to stand on its own legs. It is Moscow whose assistance has ensured the building of basic industries and today thirty per cent of Indias steel, eighty per cent of oil production and eightyfive per cent of heavy engineering products come from Indian projects built with Soviet assistance. All this is paid for in Indian rupee, which means that this arrangement provides ready market for Indian goods. Even the latest agreement on the Soviet loan of two million tonnes of foodgrainsat a time when India needed it badly to ward off Western blackmailprovides for terms which can by no means be regarded as a burden on the economy.

This way the Soviet economic cooperation contributes directly to the growth potential of the Indian economy. In the drafting of the Fifth Plan, our planners envisage a gap of about Rupees four thousand crores, out of which the net foreign assistance works out at about Rs 2400 crores. Those in the Yojana Bhavan and outside who are interested in slowing down the countrys growth rate, have been pressing for a smaller Plan, raising the pleas that since the World Bank and the USA in particular would not provide the credit, it would be better to go for the McNamara strategy of concentrating on primary necessities, and thereby ensure the continued dependence of this country on the West for the major requirements of her industrial activity. It was a variant of this strategy which was sold in the mid-sixties with disastrous consequences for our economy, and again sought to be revived two years ago by Sri Subra-maniams Approach Document for the Fifth Plan, which an awakened public opinion uncere-moniously rejected.

The foreign assistance requirement for the Fifth Plan can, to a very large measure, be paid back through export earnings. This involves not only the gearing up of or export machinery but working out new and unorthodox patterns of our export. In the world market today, our export potentials do not have to face a bleak prospect. With the worldwide scarcity of petrochemicals the markets for jute and Indian textiles have once again shown possibilities of expansion, provided out jute and textile manu-facturers can be compelled to take more interest in production than profit.

If the foreign aid burden has to be reduced, then obviously foreign trade has to be stepped up. And this cannot be done to any appreciable measure in a free market economy. All our aid from the USSR being paid for by Indian goods, it is the promotion of this trade that alone can enable us to come near our objective of doing without foreign aid in another five years. The pattern of Indo-Soviet trade has to be reshaped, and this can be done only if the trade plans between the two countries were linked up with the production plans. This implies that one has to look round for conversion deals and not confine only to the sale of primary products. The bungling that accompanied the cotton conversion deal is a warning that we have to guard against both neglect and sabotage.

Apart from this aspect of the Indo-Soviet coopertion, any informed observer in New Delhi can forecaste that during the important talks connected with the Brezhnev visit, there will be frank appraisal of this countrys short-term requirements and long-term economic objectives. However, the new pattern of economic relations between the two countries envisages not so much the setting up of turn-key proejcts but greater concentration on getting know-how and techno-logical expertise which one can get from the West only at a price that may endanger economic independence. Against the menace of the multinational corporations, the Soviet economic cooperation provides the surest bulwark.

The Indo-Soviet Summit next week will provide an important occasion for not only strengthening the understanding and coope-ration between the two countries, sanctified by the Treaty of 1971, but also an opportunity for a purposeful tour de horizon, in which the role of both the countries in this part of the world will naturally be evaluated. This is but natural for a country like ours whose national interests, whether in peace or in war, has been supported by the Soviet Union. The Brezhnev initiative four years ago for an Asian Collective Security has been a topic of continued discussion in many parts of Asia and the world. The idea of Asian entity has been a running theme for this nations contemporary history dating back to the days of the freedom struggle.

Although the Asian security is yet to take shape, it today serves, in the main, the same purpose as the idea of collective security in Europe in the late thirties as a rallying point against the menace of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis. Today, in place of Fascism, the menace of neocolonialism, whether by economic squeeze, subversion or outright military aggression, has to be warded off in unity. Moscow has made clear what its concept of Asian Collective Security is not: it is not a military alliance but a means for consolidating peace and under-standing and genuine friendly coexistence; secondly, it is not meant to be a cordon sanitaire against China, but an invitation to Peking to support it, since it was China which eighteen years ago had proposed an Asian Collective Peace Pact. In those days, of course, Mr Chou En-lai did not say that the Nato is preferable to the Warsaw Pact. What the Indo-Soviet Summit may be expected to take up is a frank discussion of the concept rather than its fromalisation. A concept of this character covering countries of uneven relationship and diverse alignments takes time to materialise, as New Delhi views the issue.

With Leonid Brezhnev on Indian soil, there is little doubt the distance between Moscow and New Delhi will be shortened by many thousands of miles of friendship and warmest understanding.

(Editors Notebook in Mainstream,

November 24, 1973)

Superpower with a Difference

Brezhev in Delhi has been an event of far-reaching significance. As these lines are being written, the historic visit of the Soviet leader is yet to be completed. And yet, the dimension of its importance is being realised by both friends and adversaries of this country.

The negotiations that have preceded and accompanied the Indo-Soviet Summit have been important by themselves, and as Mr Brezhnev himself gave out in his address before the citizens meeting in Delhi, the two sides have been thinking of imparting a stable and long-term nature to our cooperation in the field of economy, science and technology, and defining the main direction of its development for the next fifteen years at least. In his view, this could be useful for both the Soviet and the Indian people and could become one of the factors contributing to the upsurge of Indias economy and thus to the improvement of the life of its people.

More than fifty years ago, Lenin had exhorted the young Soviet state to look upon the peoples engaged in the struggle for freedom in the countries under colonial rule as its friend and ally. The peoples in the colonies had long been used as the reserves of imperialist powers, but with the national awakenning among the people of these countries under colonial rule, they ceased to be the reserves of imperialism and could very well be the friends and allies of the new-born Socialist state. The organic link between the Great October Revolution in Russia and our own freedom struggle can never be denied, and Smt Indira Gandhi in her welcome address to Mr Brezhnev at the banquet rightly recalled its profound impact.

It was, therefore, natural for India after Independence to look upon the Soviet Union as a close friend. In his very first broadcast to the world on assuming office in 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru made an interesting reference to the Soviet Union as carrying a vast responsibility for shaping world events and we shall have to undertake many common tasks and much to do with each other.

This true partnership in human progress has once again been stressed by Leonid Brezhnev, this time right in the heart of Indias Capital: Our relations are one of the most convincing manifestations of the great union between the world of socialism and the world that was born out of the national liberation movement. It is not merely a case of Hands-across-the-Himalyas, but helping hands for the building of a self-reliant economy.

Moscows stakes in it are clear: an independent India with an economy that is viable and ready to ward off renewed colonial intrusions of various types, economic, political and military, can form a safe bastion in whose growth the Socialist system itself stands to gain. From the reserve of imperialism, the new India with its developing economy becomes a friendly ally for the world of Socialism.

The enormous power of the Soviet Union can hardly be underestimated today. This was manifested last year when the champion of the Cold War, the President of the USA, had to knock at the door of Moscow. Instead of being able to roll back Communism, as Dulles dreamt, Washington had to roll out the red carpet for the Soviet leader.

It is not a case of change of heart for world imperialism. It is the sign of its impotence and degeneration. Not being able to contain Communism, the USA has had to make peace with it and promise it good behaviour.

Not that such promises can be taken at their face value. The events in West Asia as also in Indochina bear out the persistent attempt of the US Administration to prod on the warmongers, if it could. But the very same experience of both West Asia and Indochina demonstrates that any such mischievous moves in the overall context of the detente could be rebuffed with greater effect.

Between 1970 and 1973, the contours of the Arab world have changed to the disadvantage of the USA and its client states. Nearer home, Pakistan is still licking her wounds from the damage she has had to incur for over-relying on the Pentagon; and Mr Bhutto has yet to prove that he has the capacity to draw the correct lessons.

In our country, the pro-American elements can no longer talk in the language of classical servility that Sri Minoo Masani could use ten years ago, urging this country to join the US-sponsored military blocs with the shocking statement that our battle for freedom is being fought on the banks of the Mekongby, of all people, Thieus puppet troops in their ragamuffin crusade against Communism. It was the economic counterpart of this political plea that led Sri Asoka Mehta to offer Indias womb to the Wall Street penetration.

Against this neo-colonialist offensive, Indias capacity to stand up and ward it off could be traced, to a large measure, to the awakened anti-imperialist consciousness of her millions; and in equally large measure, it is due to the consistent and unremitting support this country has received in many fields of development, including national defence, from the Socialist world, particularly from the Soviet Union.

This contrast between the two systems, their respective approach and orientation towards this country and its problems and aspirations, marks out the difference between the two super- powers. The World Bank refused to build a steel plant in the public sector in the early fifties, but the Soviet Union set up Bhilai, in whose blast-furnace flames, in the words of Brezhnev, has been tempered the friendship between India and the Soviet Union.

Smt Gandhi has correctly pointed out that the scourge of grinding poverty in our country could not be eliminated by sole reliance on the free play of market forces, and hence the organs of state power should have decisive responsibility for economic development, and on this score comes the significance of the Soviet assistance in building the public sector, parti-cularly in the key industries on which the future growth of the economy so largely depends.

And with it all, there exists a total sense of equality. Smt Gandhi herself declared at the Red Fort rally: In so many years of friendship, not even once did they tell us to do this or not to do that. Here is no threat of blackmail by stopping dollar aid, no gunboat diplomacy by despatching the Seventh Fleet.

Here comes the basic difference with the assistance from the West. Public memory is not so short as is often made out. Prof Galbraith had persuaded President Kennedy to underwrite Bokaro, but the powers that be in Washington would have none of it. Instead came the Soviet offer which promises to make Bokaro the largest metallurgical giant in this part of the world. From coordination of planned development to collaboration in the realm of outer space, the spectrum of Indo-Soviet cooperation promises to be widened, from more to more, while the potentialities of the Wall Street intrusion into this countrys economy, despite Dr Moynihans heroic efforts, seem to be shrinking with every passing day.

The surreptitious forays of multinational corporations, here and there, have no doubt to be guarded against; but the fact is inescapable that the basic needs of our economic growth can be met by making the best possible use of the increasingly closer cooperation with the Soviet Union in the first place. The objective of doing away with foreign aid of the traditional form, as set out in the Fifth Plan Draft, can be realised to a large measure by exploring the potentialities of economic cooperation with the Soviet Union in the field of production, a collaboration which would be based on cooperative activities and a division of labour between our two countries, and on mutual complementing of our economic potentials.

Leonid Brezhnevs lucid words are relevant in this context: World capitalism endowed India with chains of colonial oppression. It is not surprising that your people do no want to pin their hopes for the future on that particular social system. Without underplaying the diffi-culties that beset the path towards a new social order, the Soviet Communist leaders pledge of strengthening the Indo-Soviet friendship both in sweep and in depth, holds out new vistas of growth coupled with social justice for this country. Against this, what Washington can offer can be seen in the ravaged landscape of Pakistans economy, if one does not want to go furtherin the wasteland of South Vietnam.

The dilettantish pastime indulged in by some of our intellectuals of both the Right and the Leftequating the two superpowers with a profession of holy concern for what they themselves choose to define as non-alignmenthas no place in reality. And this is being made clearer to the consciousness of the Indian people by the visit, brief though momentous, of Leonid Brezhnev.

(Editors Notebook in Mainstream,

December 1, 1973)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > St Petersburg Summit: Boosting Indo-Russian Economic Cooperation

The Indo-Russian annual summit, taking place alternatively in each others capital, was this time held in St Petersburg, the northern capital of Russia and President Vladimir Putins home town. This is the first time when an Indo-Russian annual summit was held in summer, as India for the first time was invited to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum as the guest of honour. The St Petersburg Economic Forum, Russias most prestigious business platform, widely regarded as the Davos of the East, was attended by entrepreneurs, captains of industry, experts and journalists from 143 countries, making it one of the most representative business forums of the year in the world. This years Forum was attended by a record number of more than 1400 foreign delegates and it witnessed the signing of 386 documents worth 2 trillion rubles.

India and Russia enjoy a robust and time-tested strategic partnership. India has many strategic partners, and so has Russia, but we are a special and privileged strategic partner for each other. There remains a national consensus in both countries regarding their abiding friendship. There is continuity in our strategic partnership and change of government in either country does not bring any change in this time-tested friendship. Though we enjoy excellent political cooperation, this is not reflected in our trade and economic relationship. Bilateral trade, standing at US $ 7.5 billion, indeed witnessed a downward trend, which is a matter of serious concern for both nations, and which is why the 18th Indo-Russian Summit was held at St Petersburg coinciding with the flagship Economic Forum.

The focus was clearly on bolstering economic cooperation between our two countries. Leaders of both countries at the Forum got a unique opportunity not only to attract attention of captains of global industry but to invite potential investors to invest in their respective countries. If all previous Indo-Russian summits were famous, first of all, for their political content, the St Petersburg summit would be famous for the impetus that it is expected to provide to the sagging trade and economic relations. All together 12 documents, including the St Petersburg Vision Declaration for 21st Century, would give a strong impetus to trade and investment between the two countries in the coming years.

These documents include intellectual pro-perty right protection, finalisation of the frame-work agreement to begin construction of 5th and 6th reactors at Kudankulam, Nagpur-Secunderabad train line modernisation, agree-ment between Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd and joint stock company CascadeTechno-logies for a special purpose, Memorandum of Understanding between SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited and State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) on Russian export support and participation in the development of India-Russia capital goods financing/leasing business, agreement on cooperation between JITF Urban Infrastructure Services Limited (Republic of India), Jindal Rail Infrastructure Limited (Republic of India), Joint Stock Company Russian Export Centre (Russian Federation), and Limited Liability Company Management Company RailTransHolding (Russian Federation), Memorandum of Under-standing between National Investment Pro-motion Agency Invest India and the Business Council for Cooperation with India concerning the promotion of investment in India, and Cooperation Agreement between National Investment Promotion Agency Invest India and the Roscongress Foundation.

Both nations are now talking about an Energy Bridge between our two countries, and expanding bilateral cooperation in all areas of energy cooperation including nuclear, hydro-carbon, hydel, renewable energy sources and in increasing energy efficiency. Implementation of the strategic vision in the nuclear energy sector and growing partnership in this vital area has opened up opportunities for developing and augmenting nuclear manufacturing capabilities in India, in line with the Government of Indias Make in India initiative. In 2013 the first nuclear power plant was put into operation. The second reactor was transferred to the Indian side in October 2016, and construction of the third and the fourth reactors have begun. All this contributes to the implementation of the plans to develop nuclear energy in India involving the construction of at least 12 power units in its territory by 2020. There is a plan to build 20 reactors with Russian technology in India. The Russians committed themselves to earnestly implement the action programme for locali-sation in India. There was some unpleasant uncertainty regarding the finalisation of the 5th and 6th reactors of Kudankulam until the eve of the 18th summit and their finalisation raises their confidence as strategic partners. Nuclear power generation is one of the four pillars of our strategic partnership. Our cooperation in this sector stands out clearly showing an advantage over other partner countries. While the US and France are still negotiating terms and conditions of the Liability Law, Russia has already completed construction of four reactors and the general agreement for construction of the fifth and sixth has been finalised at the last Indo-Russian summit. Two more advantages of cooperation with Russia are that Russia would manufacture nuclear energy equipments and Delhi and Moscow would launch strategic cooperation in nuke reactor construction in third countries, which would be in line with Indias Make in India programme.

Advancing the comprehensive development of India-Russian relations is an absolute priority of the foreign policy of both states. We will continue to widen our scope of cooperation by launching large-scale initiatives in different spheres and enhance and enrich our bilateral agenda so as to make it more result-oriented.

The economies of India and Russia complement each other in the energy sector. We will strive to build an Energy Bridge between our states and expand bilateral relations in all areas of energy cooperation, including nuclear, hydro-carbon, hydel and renewable energy sources and in improving energy efficiency.

India and Russia note that wider use of natural gas, an economically efficient and environmentally friendly fuel, which has become an integral part of the global energy market, is highly significant for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and will assist in fulfilling the provisions of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as achieving sustainable economic growth. Cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy has emerged as one of the hallmarks of the strategic partnership between the two countries, contributing to Indias energy security and energising broader scientific and technological cooperation. With concerted efforts on both sides, there has been a series of steady and demonstrable achieve-ments in our civil nuclear partnership, including advancing nuclear power projects at the Kudan-kulam site and transforming it into one of Indias largest energy hubs. Both countries have welcomed the conclusion of the General Framework Agreement and Credit Protocol for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Both sides have resolved to work towards the implementation of the Strategic Vision for Strengthening Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy signed between the two countries on December 11, 2014. The future of India-Russian cooperation holds great promise across a wide spectrum covering nuclear power, nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear science and technology.

The growing partnership in the nuclear power sector between India and Russia has opened opportunities for developing advanced nuclear manufacturing capabilities in India in line with Government of Indias Make in India initiative. India and Russia have commited themselves to earnestly implement the Pro-gramme of Action for Localisation in India, signed on December 24, 2015, and to encourage their nuclear industries to engage closely and foster concrete collaborations.

Both countries are interested in launching joint projects on exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Arctic shelf of the Russian Federation. Strategies are being developed to harness the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of deep sea exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources and other marine resources utilising the strengths in the area of maritime resources and training.

They have decided to develop joint strategies to harness the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of deep sea exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources, polymetallic nodules, and other marine resources utilising the strengths in the field of maritime research and training to develop mutually beneficial cooperation.

The two sides have welcomed cooperation among energy companies of both states in modernising the existing power stations and building new ones in the territory of India. They are determined to endeavour to develop joint projects in each others countries through sharing of technologies, experience of working in different terrains and climatic conditions, and use of energy efficient technologies for the creation and propagation of cleaner, climate-friendly and affordable energy resources.

The two states major economic objectives include expanding trade and investment and diversification of trade in goods and services, in particular increasing the share of high-technology products in bilateral trade, fostering industrial cooperation, improving the environ-ment for entrepreneurship and investments and developing cooperation in banking and financial matters between them. As the next stage of their strategic partnership, they are to extend bilateral technical, economic and scientific coope-ration to third countries by undertaking joint development projects in mutually agreed sectors.

The two countries coordinate their efforts to promote settlement of India-Russian trade in national currencies to reduce dependence of our bilateral trade on other currencies. They will jointly encourage their business communities to use the existing workable schemes and mecha-nisms for settlements in national currencies elaborated by the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Russia.

They have agreed to coordinate their positions in order to develop a credit rating industry that is transparent for the market participants and independent of the political conjuncture. In this sense they support the work aimed at exploring the opportunities of harmonisation of their legislations in the area of credit ratings as well as the recognition of ratings of their local credit rating agencies.

Acknowledging the importance of developing economic cooperation at the regional level, both countries will facilitate an early commencement of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Republic of India.

Both sides appreciated the compelling logic of regional connectivity for peace, progress and prosperity. They 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, reiterated their commitment to build an effective infrastructure for the International North South Transport Corridor and implementation of the Green Corridor, which will provide a clear advantage in terms of transit time and transport costs. The two countries take note of the fact that both states are committed to building knowledge-based economies, on the basis of latest scientific advances and innovation. They have decided to broaden cooperation in designing, developing, manufacturing and bringing to foreign markets high technology products and strengthen scientific collaboration in areas such as space technology, aviation, new materials, agriculture, information and communi-cation technologies, medicine, pharmaceuticals, robotics, nanotechnology, supercomputing technologies, artificial intelligence and material sciences. Establishment of the High Level Committee on Cooperation in High Technologies between the two countries is a highly welcome step.

They have agreed to work together to step up joint efforts aimed at modernising infrastructure, explore ways to jointly respond to urbanisation challenges, address issues related to ensuring food security, preserving water and forest resources, and share experience in carrying out economic reforms and national programmes for the development of small and medium enterprises and in skill development.

A decision has been taken to work together to further develop the potential for cooperation in the diamond industry with an objective to take full advantage of the existing strengths and resources of both the countries in this area. Both countries will also intensify joint efforts to counter undisclosed synthetic stones entering the diamond market and to support the development of generic marketing programmes for diamonds.

Recognising the strength of Russia in ship-building, river navigation and desalination technologies, they have decided to work together to develop joint projects through transfer of technology and experience-sharing for developing inland waterways, river embankments, ports and cargo containers towards effective utili-sation of the extensive river systems in India.

They have agreed to work together in the development of high speed railways, dedicated freight corridors, and application of newer technologies for efficient rail transport through joint development and sharing of technologies, and training of personnel to benefit from each others competences in the railroad sector.

They have also decided to work together to improve market access for agriculture and food commodities in each others country and develop joint strategies through research and develop-ment for utilisation of the existing potential in the agriculture and food processing sector covering an entire spectrum of activities from farming, harvesting, production, processing to marketing strategies. We will work together to explore joint projects for effective use of natural resources in each others country through application of existing technologies and develop-ment and sharing of newer technologies for search in the field of mining and metallurgy for affordable and climate friendly utilisation of natural resources.

They noted that India will become the third largest aviation market by 2020 and in this connection, recognised that the Regional Connecti-vity Scheme of the Government of India provided an opportunity for strengthening cooperation in joint production and setting up of joint ventures in India in the field of aviation manufacturing to serve the demand created and for export to third countries.

Indo-Russian bilateral defence cooperation is built on strong mutual trust and is based on a $ 20 billion programme covering the period up to 2020. BrahMos missile, MI226 helicopters, fifth generation military aircraft, T-90 tank up-gradation and a host of other items are in the pipeline under the make in india programme. India is opening its private sector for high tech military cooperation. But here the Indian private sectors close ties with Western private sector is an issue of serious Russian concern. Russia exports its modern military technologies to India. They have promised to upgrade and intensify this cooperation through joint manu-facture, 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 the obligations of the sides under the existing agreements on military-technical cooperation. The intellectual property right document would safequard the interests of both countries.

They have decided to work towards a quali-tatively higher level of military-to-military cooperation. Both sides will continue holding regular joint land and sea military exercises, and training in each others military institutions. This year will see the first ever Tri-services exercise INDRA-2017.

President Vladimir Putin offered concessions, tax benefits, long-term land lease etc. to Indian businessmen, which could be a game-changer in bilateral economic cooperation. We intend to enhance and actively promote greater coope-ration between our regions and states, with a particular emphasis on the Far East region of Russia, said President Putin.

There is convergence of views between India and Russia. As special and privileged strategic partners, both share identity of views practically on all regional and international issues of mutual concern. The St Petersburg Vision Declaration once again demonstrated that both countries have identical opinions in all international and regional subjects, and Modis quip that mi govorim na odnom yazike (we speak in one language) indeed displayed it vividly.

Prof Arun Mohanty, the Director of the Delhi-based Eurasian Foundation, belongs to the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Is Russian-Indian Relationship Really in Disrepair?

The discourses in the Indian media over Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Russia within the framework of the annual summit meetings between the two leaderships have taken a bizarre turn. Modi is being caricatured as something of a car mechanic travelling to St. Petersburg with his tool kit to repair the India-Russia relationship.

Even more bizarre is that the guys in Carnegie India and Brookings India have been in the forefront of the lamentations over the state of affairs in India-Russia relations. Carnegie is a Cold War relic and Brookings Institution has a reputation of having links to the Central Intelligence Agency. They may pretend they are giving expert opinion, but are in reality shaping the Indian narrative in foreign policies.

Why is the government tolerating these Trojan horses attempts to erode the foundations of India-Russia relations? It should ask these self-styled experts to focus on the defining partnership between India and the United States. At least, President Vladimir Putin is a caring friend of India. Can it be said about the current POTUS? The man hasnt even cared to extend an invitation to Modi to visit the White House. What is his problem with Modi? Why should he treat the Indian Prime Minister as if he is an outcaste?

The Prime Minister of Vietnam was feted by POTUS in the White House yesterday. Look at the Asian who have been hosted by POTUS President of China, Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister of Australia. Standing in the queue are the President of the Philippines, newly-elected President of South Korea and the Prime Ministers of Thailand and Singapore. The guys in Carnegie India and Brookings India have enough stuff on their plate to give expert opinion instead of raising dust over Indias relations with Russia and being opinion-makers on the Indian Prime Ministers visits abroad.

Now, putting things in perspective, is the India-Russia relationship in such a bad state of disrepair as is suggested through the motivated campaign by the US lobbyists in Delhi and their hangers-on in the Indian media? Let us look at the problem areas. They essentially narrow down to a single templateRussias relations with China and Pakistan.

What are the facts here? The bilateral Russia-China trade totalled $ 69.7 billion in 2016. The corresponding figure for US-China trade is $ 578.6 billion. Why should India worry if Russia has trade relations similar in volume to Indias with Chinaor, that the US has a flourishing relationship with China? Should India set pre-conditions that the US should roll back its ties with China (or Pakistan)?

At any rate, why should India bother about the new type of relationship between the US and China? Why should India lose sleep that the Americans are in such deep debt to the Chinese? Why should India worry about the US-Pakistan relations? Why should India take umbrage that the US or Russia would have foreign office consultations with Pakistanor hold military exercises? Hasnt India held exercises with the US in the waters near the Russian Far East?

India has dealt with dangerous situations in regional security in the past when the US beefed up Pakistan militarily or when Pakistan waged wars against India using weaponry that the Americans had provided as military aid. Fortunately, India is a much stronger power today and has no reason to fear foreign aggression.

Arguably, if a friendly country like Russia can use its influence with China and/or Pakistan, it can even be turned to Indias advantage. Unlike the Americans, Russia can be trusted. There is constancy in the Russian friendship. There is always willingness to share the best they have in military technology and to regard India as an equal partner. The Americans simply do not have any record of treating any country on equal terms, including even their Anglo-Saxon allies.

Similarly, why should India get agitated over Russias proactive role in Afghanistan? What is wrong if Russia has opened lines of communi-cation to the Taliban? Didnt the US and its Western allies have had dealings with the Taliban for the past several years? The Taliban opened a representative office in Qatar four-five years ago to deal with American operatives in secrecy.

Besides, Indias own antipathy toward the Afghan Taliban is past history. Today, India too accepts that a national reconciliation is needed in Afghanistan. The question is on what terms. India understands that the US has lost the war in Afghanistan and is desperately trying to stave off a Vietnam-like defeat. The Russians are doing the right thing to work on a peace process because if the Americans summarily run away from Afghanistan, which they are quite capable of, the debris will only fall on the entire region, including Russia.

It is entirely conceivable that during the periodic consultations of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Moscowtwice in the recent months alonethe Russian side took him into confidence about American intentions in Afghanistantheir hidden agenda to use the ISIS as its instrument of regional policy to destabilise Central Asia (on lines similar to what the US did in Syria). Why else did India take part in the Moscow conference on Afghanistan?

Russia does not panic about Indias defining partnership with the US. Nor is it prescriptive toward India. The Russian-Indian relations provide enough space for both sides to pursue their national interests and to develop their regional strategies optimally. The bottom-line is that it is not a transactional relationship like the one between the US and India.

What is happening is that an orchestrated campaign is afoot to debunk the India-Russia relationship. This is a familiar CIA ploy weakening the anchor-sheet of strategic autonomy of other countries so as to dispirit them and make them subservient to American strategies. The pivotal relationship with Russia has given Indian foreign policy much strategic depth and its platinum grade quality of mutual trust is what counts most, especially in the prevailing international situation characterised by great uncertainties. So long as things remain this way, India retains the capacity to pursue independent foreign policies. That is the crux of the matter.

Ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including Indias ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Start Dialogue in Kashmir

by S. Sudhakar Reddy

Kashmir is again in the news. Actually it is always in the news. Mainstream media is generally giving the official version, except in exceptional cases. Kashmir is really burning. The Kashmiri people are being branded as perma-nent agitators. Generations of Kashmiris are habituated to this situation. The Srinagar by-election exposed the hollowness of the adminis-trations claims that everything is normal except in some pockets. Only seven per cent of people voted in the election, 93 per cent boycotted it. People voted in large numbers earlier in local bodies elections, a reasonably good number in Assembly elections, and when separate Parlia-ment elections are held only a small percentage are voting. Can it be taken as a no-confidence on the Indian Parliament by Kashmiris as it failed to implement Article 370 of the Indian Consti-tution? Or is it because of the timing of the election. The by-election was caused with the resignation of the PDPs elected member, expressing anger at the PDP-BJP State Governments policy to solve the problems of Kashmir.

The situation in Kashmir dramatically changed after the killing of Burhan Wani, the local Kashmiri youth who allegedly had turned a militant. Now the second commander, who is also a local Kashmiri youth appointed in place of Burhan Wani, has also been killed and several thousands attended his funeral.

Earlier militants or armed terrorists used to be imported from Pakistan as intruders but it is a matter of serious concern that after seven decades maybe a few but the local youth are joining armed militancy and they are getting sympathy and support.

Kashmir has been a permanent problem with Pakistan from the day of its accession to India. Kashmirs Constituent Assembly passed a resolution that it will accede to India with Article 370 which gives a special status to Kashmir. It assures internal autonomy. This was accepted by the Indian Union and incorporated in the Indian Constitution. Once accepted, it was never implemented. A part of the beautiful Valley of Kashmir is under the occupation of Pakistan.

There was always a section, though small, which wanted to join Pakistan. A little bigger section was for independent Kashmir. Probably a larger section wanted to be part of secular India than theocratic Pakistan, with Article 370, and with special status and acceptance of Kashmirs identity. But why and when did the drift start? Who is responsible for it?

Undoubtedly implementation of Article 370 is having some problems. It may bring some such new demands from the North-East States etc. That is to be tackled separately. But we assured internal autonomy and that needs to be honoured. Before the Partition neither Mohammad Ali Jinnah nor the Muslim League could ever get the support of the Kashmiri people. The extraordinary leadership of Sheikh Abdullah could preserve the traditional secular values in the Valley. Many separatist leaders were targets of Pak terrorists and eliminated along with the integrationists. Over the years the separatists have been divided, united, redivided and become weak. Their credibility has also gone down. But in recent years, the miserable failure of consecutive J&K Governments, changed the situation. More and more people are turning to be separatists. The clashes between people and the security forces are increasing. The opportunist PDP-BJP alliance is a miserable failure and the situation has further deteriorated.

Several rounds of dialogue were earlier initiated but never was a concrete decision taken. Now another round of dialogue is necessary to save the situation.

The Union Government says it will not discuss with the separatists. If it wants to discuss with only the political parties that will be a futile exercise. It should discuss with all stakeholders with a promise to implement Article 370.

People versus Security Forces

The Army of a country is used to defend the borders and the nation from the enemy. It is not to be used against its own people. The police and other security forces are to be used to control the law and order in any part of the country. Due to the infiltration of militants and Pakistani terrorists, the Army was used along with the security forces. Now for decades the Army is continuing to maintain law and order and many a time the people and Army are at loggerheads. The use of excessive force, killings under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act have alienated the Army from the people. There are demands to withdraw the AFSPA and Army.

Recently on the day of the Srinagar polling, one citizen, who was coming back after voting, was caught and tied to a military jeep as a human shield from stone-pelters and this generated a huge controversy. An enquiry was ordered. But meanwhile Major Gogoi, the officer who tied the human being as a shield, was given a gallantry award and it was defended by General Rawat, the Chief of the Army. The Army is certainly facing a difficult situation but tying up a citizen as a human shield will not send good signals to the Kashmiris.

General Rawats Comments

General Rawat made some unfortunate comments on that occasion. He asserted that any country where the people are not afraid of the Army, will be doomed and in Kashmir it is a dirty war and different tactics are to be adopted etc.

The enemy should be afraid of the Army. People should respect the Army, love the Army and should not be afraid of the Army. People fearing the Army is a colonial concept. Fear will lead to anger. Why should it happen? The Army should gain respect and admiration through exemplary behaviour.

In Kashmir it is not a war on our own people. It is the question of maintenance of law and order. The stone-pelters belong to the angry mob but are not terrorists. They should be dealt with in a different way. A wedge between the angry masses and terrorists should be created. It can be done by winning the people by instilling confidence in them. If they are treated at par with the enemies, it will be driving them to the enemys camp. Hence a dialogue is necessary.

Pakistan is a failed state. It is unable to control the Islamic terrorists. A section of the Army supports them. An independent Kashmir will not survive.

But if it is to be an integral part of India, India should create the confidence that the state is secular. If it is Hindutva India, it will not convince the Kashmiri people. It should also create confidence on implementation of the constitu-tional guarantees to the people of Kashmir.

In a seminar at Delhi recently a university Professor commented: I prefer to be in secular India than Islamic Pakistan. But if the choice is between Hindutva India and Islamic Pakistan, I prefer the latter. This may be the feeling of the people of Kashmir as well.

Kashmir should be saved before it is too late. Only dialogue will help. We tried a military solution but it did not work. Strategically important Kashmir, beautiful Kashmir should be saved with honest efforts but not with any narrow-minded outlook. The solution should be political, not military.

India needs not only Kashmir as a territory but with its hard working and tested lovely people. Let wisdom prevail on the rulers to help save Kashmir.

The author is the General Secretry, CPI.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > The Barricades and Battlelines in Kashmir

Three years into the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, the battlelines between the partners seem now clearly drawn. A sort of Zionist discourse seems afloat, which cautions that the governments now in the saddle both at the Centre and in the State are different (Ram Madhav) and the Valley must learn to know its proper place. Indeed, parts of the Valley are coming to be conceived as a sort of West Bank and some downtown areas as Indias own Gaza Strip. Mehbooba Mufti seems cast in the role of a hapless Mehmood Abbas, full of goodwill and conciliatory intentions but visibly out on a limb that has little promise of spring.

To the extent that this assertive re-configu-ration of the relations of the different parts of the State one to another, and of the State to the Union seeks not too subtly to deny and obliterate past histories of negotiations between representatives of Kashmiris and the Constituent Assembly of India on the terms and conditions of Accession, it rejects the position that the troubles in the Valley have any legitimate antecedents and that therefore there is no contentious agenda that requires debate or attention. The agitators are thus seen as merely being the paid fifth columnists of a hostile foreign power that seeks to sever the Valley from the Republic on theocratic principles. That there are voices in the Valley which favour such a course is of course not to be denied, just as there are fringe elements in Palestine, propped up by Arab theocracies, that refute the overwhelming secular and democratic aspirations of the Palestinian people. In this official paradigm, it should be noted, the none-too-hidden Hinduisation of the Union and parts of the State are not to be seen in any theocratic light but as natural expressions of a healthy nationalism.

Among those Kashmiris who are enamoured neither of India nor of Pakistanin effect, the overwhelming majority of Kashmiri Muslimsa counter-narrative is widespread. This counter-narrative, I have been told by highly literate Kashmiris, draws its inspiration and hope from the experience of the erstwhile East Pakistan. It is speculated that just as the revolt in that part of the then undivided Pakistan began with student protests, so is it now happening in the Valley. Just as India helped forge the Mukti Bahini, Pakistan is helping forge its parallel, as they think, here. And just as the Indian armed forces moved in to liberate the oppressed eastern wing at an opportune moment, so will the armed forces of Pakistan strike in the disaffected Valley. The point of the analogy is not that it carries comparable political truth or historical basis; the point is that its arithmetic seems to many Kashmiri Muslims strikingly viable. It is another matter that, were this eventuality to fructify as Kashmiri freedom-seekers hope, the next gruesome battles might involve those Kashmiris who see freedom in secular-demo-cratic terms and others who, as in Bangladesh, might wish to carry forward the liberation into a Sharia-driven Islamic State.

The once dominant opinionthat the States best interests lie in a continued alliance with the Union of India but on the terms and conditions that were codified in the Instrument of Accessionmay now truly be a pathetically shrunken lobby, obliged not to shut the eye to the realities on the ground. Nothing in the thinking or the behaviour of the Central Government of course lends the least encouragement to the prospect of once again honouring the covenant that was willingly made by an overwhelmingly Muslim majority province with the promise of the Constitution of the Indian Republic. As stated earlier, the policy now seems to be to pulverise the Valley into swallowing the integrative draught of the irreproachable nationalist potion so that Kashmiri Muslims wake up the next morning as unquestioningly loyal Indians. That this policy seems everyday on the ground and along the borders refuted and scoffed by ever-increasing levels of violence and rejection appears for now to carry scant weight with those who admire the state of Israel as their role-model.

In the meanwhile, those who advocate dialogue and sagacious listening to all voices party to the imbroglio are thought to be doves, but dangerous ones because in speaking of dialogue and peace they are viewed to lend encouragement to those who wish to perpetuate the idea that there is anything wrong in Jammu and Kashmir. The doves may well return the compliment and remind the accusers of the ostrich but for now to little avail. Think that throughout the bloodshed in Columbia where the Farc rebels fought the state over five decades, back-channel talks never ceased, until both peace and integration had been achieved, leading to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the President of Columbia, or that similar things were accomplished in Ireland, or that even a Trump can publicly contemplate dialoguing with the dictator in North Korea. Think all that but never think that the Indian state may stoop to dialoguing with either the Kashmiris or the Maoists, or Pakistan.

Perhaps there is more than a surgical fix to the elegendary fiftysix that we know not of. Perhaps a renewed Kurukshetra is destined to happen in the springfields of the Valley. Perhaps some new god will materialise to set the Republic and its limbs once again in a genuinely democratic order.

Perhaps legions of distraught and angry little men and women will take matters into their own desperate hands through sustained democratic mobilisation and reclaim the Republic which was forged in their name.

The author, who taught English literature at the University of Delhi for over four decades and is now retired, is a prominent writer and poet. A well-known commentator on politics, culture and society, he wrote the much acclaimed Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth. His latest book, The Underside of ThingsIndia and the World: A Citizens Miscellany, 2006-2011, came out in August 2012.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Ominous Signals

EDITORIAL

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, returned from a trip to major countries of EuropeGermany, Spain, Russia and Francelast week and has left for Astana (Kazakhstan) today to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations summit.

The European visit was overdue and Modi did well to explore new avenues of cooperation with Germany while sustaining and cementing Indias strategic partnerships with Russia and France.

The Indian Express, while analysing Modis European visit, has underlined a basic point: ....to play the long game in these tumultuous times, the PM must get his domestic economic and security decision-making upto speed with the new global imperatives.

That is doubtless true. The latest developments on the agriculture front bring this out in bold relief. Five protesters have been shot dead in Madhya Pradeshs Mandsaur district, prohibitory orders have been clamped down and internet shutdowns enforced there. Rahul Gandhi rushed to Mandsaur today and was immediately arrested by the State administration; the police unnecessarily employed stern measures against Congress workers while seeking to defame one of its MLAs. Yet the farmers anger could not be suppressed.

In the wake of the deeprooted agrarian crisis staring us in the face what is imperative is to go for loan waivers in the short term and evolve long-term holistic solutionscreating non-farm jobs alongside enhancement of farm incomes. Rahuls apt queryWhy cant the government, which has waived the corporates massive loans left unpaid, waive the farmers loans?cannot be brushed aside as a populist gimmick to win public support.

Meanwhile, the vigilante groups continue their attacks on anyone suspected of consuming beef. This has boomeranged in the North-East where several BJP workers have resigned from the partys primary membership as they cannot countenance such assaults on their staple food.

The Kashmir scenario remains grim and the Army Chiefs commendation of the Major, who tied a Kashmiri to the bonnet of a jeep to prevent stone-pelters from attacking the vehicle, has disturbed the average Kashmiri who roundly opposes such actions. A distinguished academics article of the subject, describing this incident as Indias General Dyer moment, has caused a major controversy with the Hindutvavadis openly lashing out at the academic from the ultra-nationalist standpoint. But what is being overlooked is the Army Chiefs foray into politicshis statements with political overtones (clearly exceeding the limits set on him by the Constitution) carry an ominous signal.

Against this backdrop the CBI raids on the offices and residences of NDTV proprietors carry a similar ominous signal. These actions too have been unequivocally decried by press organisations as well as all those upholding the banner of media freedom. One can ignore such signals only at ones peril.

June 8 S.C.
A surprise rise in U.S. oil inventories sent the market tanking when the Department of Energy released its weekly update on Wednesday. Oil had its biggest one-day loss since March, falling to a one-month low near $45 per barrel.

U.S. stockpiles of crude oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel are at historically high levels, which is keeping a lid on fuel prices, even as other global producers are reducing oil output. OPEC nations and Russia have largely been holding to their promise to reduce production, but U.S. producers have been drilling more wells over the last 5 months, replacing foreign oil with domestic crude.

This has helped to keep energy prices relatively affordable for consumers, with retail gasoline under $2.50 per gallon for most Americans over past two years.

British Election Turmoil for Tories

In April, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap election to shore up support for her Conservative Party in Parliament. May has been leading Great Britain since the Brexit vote last June and had been expected to gain a mandate in this weeks election.

Instead, her party lost seats and control of Parliament, which may derail Mays bargaining position domestically and with the EU as Great Britain negotiates its exit from the EU.

Market watchers reacted swiftly to the election results, dumping the British pound as they feared a hard Brexit with harsher terms from the EU, knocking the pound near a two-month low at $1.27 early Friday morning.

USDA Projects Healthy Harvest

On Friday morning, the USDA updated its monthly Supply & Demand and Crop Production reports, showing continued projections for ample corn, wheat, and soybean crops this year.

The USDA raised its estimates of grain stockpiles as well, which could continue to put pressure on prices in the coming months, although weather concerns will continue to dominate these markets.

As of midday Friday, July Kansas City wheat was worth $4.55 per bushel, July soybeans stood at $9.40, and July corn carried a value of $3.88.
Editor's note: Just as we did with the candidates for governor, we reached out to every candidate for lieutenant governor and asked five questions. Out of those, we have responses from everyone but the campaign of Republican candidate Jill Vogel. We spoke with people from the Vogel campaign on multiple occasions, but by presstime, we hadn't gotten those answers returned. If we do receive the questions, we'll add them.

1. In every election, the economy comes up as a major concern, but when voters go through a candidate's economic plan, they often don't see how it will help them. Please give specific examples of how your plan would benefit places like Martinsville, Henry and Patrick counties.

Bryce Reeves (Republican)-As Lt. Governor, I plan on creating a Regulatory Oversight Commission run out of the Lieutenant Governors Office that would be a watchdog and citizens advocate over regulatory agencies. Right now, such over watch only resides in any substantive way in the legislature. That means that in the vast majority of cases when regulatory overreach, selective enforcement, or regulatory redundancy harms a citizen or business owner, they have to wait for the next legislative cycle to hopefully deal with the problem. That can be a yearlong wait. This commission would actually have the executive branch doing its job with respect to policing its agencies. By putting such a commission in the office of an elected official of the executive branch, citizens would finally have a place to go to address concerns and grievances that would have the power to deal with the problem quickly and constitutionally. The Lt. Governor can best serve not only the economy, but also all of their constituents by keeping government power in check and operating in accordance with the Constitution. Instead of focusing on a couple of economic gimmicks that dont actually help people and fall outside the appropriate scope of the office, I will focus on providing a service which constitutes a legitimate function of government. Namely holding government accountable and insisting that regulatory agencies work with citizens and businesses to help them achieve compliance as opposed to acting as obstructionists.

Glenn Davis (Republican)- The last thing you want is a bunch of politicians creating another government commission of political appointees who have never run a business in their lives. Im a career business owner and job creator, so I dont think the answer is more government, when government was usually the cause of the problem in the first place. Virginia double-taxes many small businesses and punishes those who want to expand and hire more people. States across our borders have reformed their tax codes and eliminated regulations that have outlived any usefulness. We just need people in office who will do that same thing in Virginia. Ive developed plans to bring more broadband internet access to all parts of Virginia. Ive met with MIT researchers who may be able to help make Virginia coal the next silicon in technology production. And Ive met with technology companies that would expand in Virginia if we fix our punishing tax code. These are the keys to economic success I will bring as your Lt. Governor.

Gene Rossi (Democrat)-I have two specific economic proposals that I believe will help workers, employers and families in Martinsville, Henry and Patrick counties.

The first is a strong expansion into broadband access in rural communities. When employers look at relocating, one of the key areas they focus on is infrastructure  the ability to get goods and services to markets. Increasingly, access to high-speed Internet is a public utility, like electricity or water  and Virginia needs to treat it like that. Particularly for employers that provide services of all kinds to consumers down the road or around the globe, broadband Internet access means the ability to quickly interact with markets, and for rural communities to be competitive and attract employers, we need to start there.

The second approach I have as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, with exceptions for small businesses, by 2021. The research is very clear  raising the minimum wage helps attract better employees, reduces employee turnover, raises the quality of life for workers and puts more into the economy that can be spent by consumers, which creates jobs. It seems counterintuitive, but time after time, its what happens in real life. As a kid, after my father passed away when I was 10, I had to pitch in at the family lumber business, and I saw this firsthand. Most importantly, it gives dignity to the work and the worker. It lets people take pride in their work, their employer, and their community.

Susan Platt (Democrat)-First, I support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which would immediately help workers in Martinsville, Patrick, and Henry counties. No one who works full-time should live in poverty.

Second, I support making two years of community college free for every Virginian, which would make Patrick Henry Community College an even stronger economic engine for the area. We must allow our young people to get a head start on a college degree without falling into a lifetime of debt.

Third, I will work with large companies and small businesses in the area to find out what changes state government can make to help them create more jobs and pay higher wages. The state must help companies expand, just like Eastman Chemical is doing.

Fourth, I will work to expand Medicaid, which would provide economic security to hundreds of people just over the poverty line in the Martinsville, Henry and Patrick county area. Medicaid expansion also creates local jobs. Fifth, I would work to incentivize the creation of clean energy jobs in every corner of the Commonwealth. We need more wind turbines, which we can build almost anywhere, but the state government needs to give these projects a boost to get off the ground.

Sixth, I would use my experience as a member of the Virginia Tourism Corporation Board to help communities like Martinsville, Patrick, and Henry counties attract more visitors, thus driving the local economy.

While the job of lieutenant governor is limited and technically a part-time position, I want to be a full-time, hands-on lieutenant governor. I want to travel to communities throughout the Commonwealth and meet with business leaders to collaborate on ways that the state government can help create jobs.

Justin Fairfax (Democrat)-My plan is to build an economy that works for all Virginians. First, we need to make sure that all Virginians have access to jobs that pay a decent, living wage. As Lieutenant Governor, I will actively pursue an increase in the state and federal minimum wage to ensure that all workers are compensated in a way that allows them to support themselves and their families. We will be bringing good jobs to every region of the Commonwealth; there are 175,000 middle skill jobs open today in Virginia, and whether in areas like biotechnology or renewable energy, I will pursue policies to place Virginia workers in these openings and continue to attract innovative businesses to every region of Virginia. To make sure that Virginia is ready to supply human capital to fill these 21st century jobs, we must ensure that our educational programs in high schools, trade schools, and community colleges are preparing our graduates for these jobs, which pay many times the minimum wage. Additionally, I will help lead the charge to invest in infrastructure for our more rural communities, including Martinsville, Henry, and Patrick counties. Whether supporting the construction of new roads, investing in high-speed broadband internet, or bolstering the electrical grid, investing in infrastructure is one of the best things that we can do to bolster economic growth. Finally, I will always be friendly to small businesses, which are the backbone of the Virginia economy. 97 percent of the businesses in Virginia are small businesses, and they employ millions across the Commonwealth. As a small business owner myself, along with my wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, I understand the challenges that small businesses face. We need to allow small business owners to access capital to pursue their economic goals, and to attract investment to our often-overlooked communities across Virginia.

2. When we see utility companies announcing investments and technology upgrades in different parts of the commonwealth, those often go in urban centers. Rural areas tend to be the last ones updated, creating problems both for residents and in the attempt to attract new business. Is that something that if elected, you could help address? If so, please explain how.

Bryce Reeves-Ive represented rural areas that face this problem for years. Our rural areas such as Martinsville have much to offer and should not be looked over for improvement projects such as expanding and upgrading Internet and wireless coverage that would help attract new businesses. Having up-to-date utilities is a very important economic development tool because it makes areas more attractive for potential companies to move into the area. As Lt. Governor, I would work with organizations such as the Virginia Chamber of Commerce to promote continued investment in expanding broadband coverage. Allowing for public-private partnerships could also lessen costs and create more opportunities for expansion of services.

Glenn Davis- My career is in technology. Ive started technology companies and I know what it takes. Ive already met with people who have beta-tested an economically viable way to solve the last mile connectivity problem in giving full broadband internet access which brings technology jobs and companies to this region. What it takes is electing people with the experience to create private-sector technology growth to unleash Virginias potential and get government out of the way. We private sector business owners can move much faster than government.

Gene Rossi-Broadband is such an important investment  thats why its central to my rural economic development platform. As the Lt. Governor, I will also sit on the board of the Center for Rural Virginia, where I will make sure to keep pushing forward on this infrastructure.

We cant keep leaving rural economies behind and then wonder why theyre not growing. An economy is like a seed  we have to take care of it for it to flourish. As Lt. Governor, whether pushing for broadband access or other investments, Ill make sure the voice of rural communities is heard.

Susan Platt-There is no doubt that rural Virginia has been given the short end of the stick when it comes to utility upgrades and investments. Its a tragedy that many rural areas in the Commonwealth lack access to broadband, holding communities back in terms of educational opportunities and economic development. The state government must step up its role in providing broadband access to all Virginians. If elected, I will make this one of the top objectives of my office.

Our utility companies need to change the way they do business, and our state government needs to play a role in driving that change. The state is able to regulate utilities, but too often the rules favor utility companies over the people who the government should represent.

I believe the root of the problem is the millions and millions of dollars that our utility companies spend buying elections in this state, giving them far too much influence in Richmond over public policy. Thats why I was the first candidate to sign a pledge stating that I will refuse contributions from Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power.

Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power need to change the way they do business and become more socially responsible, focusing on the common good instead of only their bottom line. That means making sure rural areas see the benefits of technology upgrades and it means stopping their plans to rip up Virginians land, farms, and rural landscapes to lay pipelines. I was also the first candidate in my race to oppose the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. Our energy companies should be making investments in clean energy jobs and rural infrastructure instead of ripping up our lands and threatening our water supply. If elected, I will work to make sure their priorities are in line.

Justin Fairfax-I have traveled 40,000 miles across the Commonwealth of Virginia in the past year. This is a statewide campaign and my focus as Lieutenant Governor will be to serve all Virginians. I have seen where our Commonwealth is thriving and where it needs improvement. As a small business owner, I know that what attracts investment and great jobs is infrastructure. Infrastructure is key because in order to attract business development, you need roads, bridges, hospitals, etc. so that employers know employees will be safe. We need to expand infrastructure in the rural areas in an effort to attract businesses.

Our campaign is about economic security and opportunity for all Virginians. In our rural communities, that looks like access to cell phone coverage and broadband internet statewide and ensuring access to capital to start a small business. With access to broadband, rural businesses will be able to attract new customers and people will be more likely to purchase homes further from the city if they know they will have internet access. Ensuring access to capital for small business loans will allow people to start businesses which creates jobs and brings in revenue to the community.

Businesses are also attracted to an educated labor force. Right now there are 175,000 vacant jobs available in Virginia because people dont have the certification for the jobs. One of the initiatives that I want to institute is allows people to get the training with low cost and opportunity cost. Education is the most consistent key to class mobility and people deserve the opportunity to move upwards.

3. In 2016, Virginias Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission reported that over the last decade, appropriations for Virginias Medicaid program grew by $3.7 billion, a 75 percent increase. The University of Virginia's Miller Center found that by 2024, Medicaid's share of the total state spending would be 14.3 percent, up from 11 percent in the 2013 fiscal year. It's clear that we have people in need. How do we as a state address those needs, while keeping the budget under control at the same time?

Bryce Reeves-As a state, we need to ensure that those individuals receiving benefits from programs such as Medicaid qualify for them. We should focus on helping give people a hand up, rather than a hand out. Through education, training, and having a viable economy that allows businesses to thrive, more good paying jobs will be available for people. When people are able to provide for themselves they will not have to rely on the government to take care of them. We must also stand up against Medicaid expansion. Medicaid is constantly growing bigger and bigger and it is a flawed systemthats why I have always voted against expanding it. We need to focus on fixing Medicaid before we allow it to eat up more of our budget and take away from other important programs such as K-12 education, salaries for Law Enforcement Officers, and much needed transportation projects around the Commonwealth.

Glenn Davis- Neither of my opponents have ever offered a bill to reform Medicaid. I have, because Medicaid will bankrupt the Commonwealth if it is not reformed. I created a plan that finally controlled Medicaid costs and resulted in fewer people trapped in the Medicaid system. Yes, I said trapped, because the current system gives every incentive for people to stay on Medicaid and little reason to transition to private insurance. Today under Medicaid, make one dollar too much and your health care coverage is gone. Dont try for that promotion. Dont accept a raise. It could cost your family their health care. Medicaid actually discourages you from climbing the economic ladder. My plan changed that and helped people improve their lives. It added work requirements and attacked fraud and waste in a real way. It was based on Governor George Allens welfare reform, which resulted in the real savings in welfare spending and helped people improve their lives.

Gene Rossi-The best way to keep the budget under control on this issue is by leveraging the millions of federal dollars that Republicans in Richmond continue to turn down out of spite. These Medicaid funds would allow us not only to provide health coverage to 400,000 Virginians, many of whom are in hard-hit rural areas, but also would allow us to create thousands of rural health care jobs  nurses, physical therapists and more. Finally, these funds are the same thing that help us keep rural hospitals open. In states like Oklahoma, rural hospitals are all but extinct because of their decision to reject Medicaid funding. We cant keep ignoring the needs of our communities any longer. Using these funds will help us buy smarter, invest better in our health care infrastructure, and deliver better care to Virginians.

Susan Platt-The state government has an important responsibility to take care of the most vulnerable among us. We must protect low-income families by safeguarding Medicaid in the Commonwealth.

A major reason why Medicaid costs have gone up in the state budget is that more eligible Virginians are enrolling in Medicaid after the passage of Obamacare, which required that Americans carry health insurance. This is a good thing, because while the state does have to cover much of the cost, fewer people are using emergency rooms as their primary care facilities and thus passing the bill along to everyone else.

Medicaid funding is also an essential part of addiction recovery programs in the Commonwealth, programs that have become increasingly more necessary in recent years with the opioid epidemic plaguing the Commonwealth. We must support these life-saving and life-changing programs for people in need.

Im a believer that the state government should make more of a commitment to Medicaid, not less. Unfortunately, Republican leaders in Richmond have refused to cover 400,000 Virginians through Medicaid expansion passed by President Obama, rejecting federal funding that belongs to us and sending it to neighboring states instead. Families in Martinsville, Henry, and Patrick counties could have health care coverage immediately if Republicans in Richmond would simply take the federal money that is ours. I will be a fierce advocate for Medicaid expansion in the Commonwealth if I am elected as lieutenant governor.

It is shameful that Donald Trump campaigned throughout Virginia promising to protect Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, and he is now breaking that promise. Trumpcare would be a disaster for Virginias families because it would leave hundreds of thousands more Virginians uninsured.

Justin Fairfax-As your question accurately states, we do have people in need in Virginiaand that is not only true regarding Medicaid but many others as well. We have to provide services to those who need them, while being fiscally responsible. The JLARC study that you cite actually suggests a number of ways that the executive and legislative branches can make Virginia more cost-effective in providing Medicaid services, and I support some of these--including such actions as tightening screening procedures to ensure only eligible applicants get benefits, and avoiding unnecessary overpayments. I will add that as Lieutenant Governor, I intend to secure additional funding for Virginias Medicaid program by bringing in the federal funds that would come through Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. As a question of fiscal policy, I believe the economic growthand resulting revenuethat we will bring to Virginia through expanding Medicaid will offset any negative budgetary impact. Investing in Medicaid will bring upwards of 30,000 new jobs to our Commonwealth, many of which will be in communities where economic investment has been overlooked in recent years. But another part of the answer to a growing population using Medicaid is that we need to do a better job helping Virginians achieve economic securitywe need to move toward an expectation that people who are willing to work can find good employment opportunities, and that a job comes with quality health insurance benefits. When this becomes true, fewer Virginians will need to apply for Medicaid in order to get health insurance coverage.

4. When it comes to education, it's hard to find a "one-size-fits-all" solution towards grading proficiency. Some students can demonstrate their knowledge in hands-on exercises, but struggle in test taking. For others, test taking comes easy, but when they have to show knowledge in a hands-on situation, they struggle. Is there a way to make sure both types of students are prepared for their lives post high school?

Bryce Reeves-Teachers should have the flexibility to determine what teaching methods and manners of assessment work best for their students. I believe that standards of Learning examinations should be eliminated so that there is less fixation on teaching to pass a test, and more emphasis on teaching to learn. Education should be student-focused and be centered on truly learning and absorbing knowledge rather than simply regurgitating information for a test. Giving students and parents options is necessary. I am an advocate for school choice because not all students learn the same way. The decision on what the best course of action is for a students education should be made by parents not by the state.

Glenn Davis This is why I helped create a charter school in my hometown of Virginia Beach. Students can excel if the educational system has the right goals and the right flexibility to teach for the 21st century. Its not the amount of money spent, since we spend more per capita on education than most countries in the world. Its how those dollars are spent and whether the school is able to focus on things that work rather than be forced to follow programs decided by politicians. This was my experience when I volunteered with an organization called Junior Achievement. Students can succeed in numerous ways, and we just need to provide the environment for them to reach their potential.

Gene Rossi-One size fits all education is a terrible way to build a commonwealth and an economy. The best way to make our classrooms more nimble, to respond to the different learning styles of each student, is to better prepare our teachers. That means more investments in teacher training, helping them have the freedom to teach to the student and not just to teach to a high-stakes test, and to ensure that were not forcing teachers to choose between preparing for class by buying supplies out of their own pockets and preparing for their futures.

My wife, Diane, was a speech therapist in public schools when we got married, and she went on to work for one of the greatest Secretaries of Education this country has ever seen  Richard Reilly. We sent all three of our children to public schools, and I myself would be considered today an at-risk kid: I nearly flunked out of school after my father died!

And thats the other key investment we need  we need to do better helping at-risk kids in rural communities. Too many students start to struggle and get left behind, forced to try an learn in a system they have trouble understanding. These arent bad kids. They might be gifted with their hands, but struggle to diagram a sentence. We need to make sure there are counselors and teachers in our schools that are equipped to help them. And these counselors and teachers cant just be in big cities and rich suburbs  they need to come here, too.

Susan Platt-There is no one-size-fits-all approach to education; each school district, each teacher, and each student is unique. I believe that the state government must provide support but that local control is paramount. We must empower teachers, parents, and administrators and not simply teach to the test.

Because students possess different strengths and challenges, a well-rounded education with vocational training choices is essential. Fine arts and extracurricular activities are also critical. Flexibility in teaching and options in programs are necessary to help our children grow. It should be our goal that every student graduates from high school prepared to live up to his or her full potential.

Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, and Don McEachin have a plan that would immediately inject funding into outdated school buildings by allowing school districts to take advantage of the same tax credits given to private business. I have urged Congress to act on their proposal.

I was alarmed that Betsy DeVos, Donald Trumps Secretary of Education, seemed to not even be aware of the proficiency vs. growth debate in public education, something with which she has no experience. I am also deeply concerned that public education could be turned into a for-profit system with the proliferation of unaccountable charter schools that treat our children as money-makers.

We also must recognize that if students are struggling from abuse, addiction, or mental health challenges, they wont be able to learn. Thats a big reason why I advocate a Cabinet-level position to focus on the Commonwealths children, providing them resources and support before they go off the rails. I lost my own daughter to addiction and took my grandchildren under my roof. We need to make sure our childrens basic needs are met in order to give them an opportunity to learn.

Justin Fairfax-The answer to this challenge is giving our public schools greater flexibility in dealing with diverse skills and abilities among students. I understand the desire for objective and consistent metrics in evaluating schools, and that this is what underlies the Standards of Learning (SOL) accountability framework. But as your question suggests, there are major drawbacks to a system in which teaching to the test is the primary goalit undervalues the potential of some students while failing to properly educate others. We have a fundamental responsibility to ensure that students of all stripes are prepared for life post-graduation. Among the options for students should be career and technical education (CTE) classes that offer a path to industry certifications for high-paying, 21st century jobs. We also need to ensure that our evaluation of students is informed not only by test results but by a broader view of the skills that they possess. Finally, one of the best ways to ensure that students are getting as much as they can from high school is to do a better job attracting good teachers to the classroomteachers who will get to know their students, draw out their strengths and challenge them on a personal level to succeed in life.

5. What made you decide to run for this position? Why pick this role?

Bryce Reeves-As a state Senator, I would carry a myriad number of bills on a wide variety of topics on any given year. Most of these bills would come from my constituents and would address problems they experienced. Helping my constituents is a matter of great pride to me, however, it makes it difficult to focus in on one particular issue and be able to give it the in depth time and effort thats needed. Examples of this would be tax reform or welfare reform. As Lt. Governor I would have four years to throw all of my time and effort into a few key issues and really tackle big problems that weve been talking about for years. As a member of the Senate, I understand how the Chamber works and have cultivated great working relationships with my colleagues that I feel will make me uniquely able to work on these important issues. I am proud to be a Virginian. This is where I started my business. Where I have raised my children. It is my desire to work on behalf of the Commonwealth to make it an even better place to live, work, and pursue your dreams. As your next Lt. Governor, I will work tirelessly to do just that. Id ask readers to please vote for me on June 13.

Glenn Davis-I chose to run for Lt. Governor because Im a business owner and I focus on results that improve our economy, lower the cost of government, help businesses create jobs and make Virginia #1 for jobs. We used to be #1. Now were #13 and slipping further. We have the 30th worst tax policies in the nation. Businesses no longer look to Virginia as where to expand their companies. Im running to fix that. Im the only candidate with the business experience to help improve our stagnant economy and bring jobs back.

Gene Rossi-As former governors aide who worked with Virginia Governors Robb and Baliles, I have 33 years of public service experience, and teach trial advocacy at Harvard Law School and constitutional law at George Mason University. I know how important the office of Lieutenant Governor can be.

As Lieutenant Governor, Ill be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves, just like I was as a Justice Department prosecutor for 27 years. I led the largest opioid investigation in U.S. history, taking out a dangerous pill-mill doctor in McLean.

Ill fight to resist Trumpcare, which will strip health care from hundreds of thousands of Virginians, and instead work to expand Medicaid. As a medical survivor, along with my daughter, I know how important it is to defend the Affordable Care Act  the signature accomplishment of President Barack Obama.

I will also fight for more funding for at-risk students and invest in pre-K, because I know from personal experience how important these investments can be. As a prosecutor, I saw how disadvantaged children can grow up to face real challenges in life. And as a former at-risk student who nearly failed out of high school, I believe we need to do everything we can to help kids like me and countless other Virginians succeed.

Finally, I will push reform the criminal justice system to stop punishing addiction, because he knows that addiction is a disease and mass incarceration is not the cure. Ill push to outlaw for-profit prisons, and believes that anyone who has served their debt to society and been released should have their voting rights fully restored.

Susan Platt-For years, I worked behind the scenes in politics and in business. I worked for good people like Chuck and Linda Robb, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden. I also advocated for small businesses and Fortune 500 companies in the Commonwealth, helping them create jobs and pay good wages. Tim Kaine, when he was governor, appointed me to the Virginia Tourism Corporation Board, where I promoted Virginia as a travel destination for people around the world, to help drive our economy and showcase our rich history. Meanwhile, I started two grassroots organizations focused on recruiting and training women candidates for office, although I never imagined running for public office myself.

After November 8, I decided it was time to take my own advice and run because I knew I could make a difference for women, children, and families in the Commonwealth.

I was devastated that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine did not win, but I was also determined to do something about it. No woman on the Democratic side was running for any of Virginias statewide offices. It was shocking that even after the mobilization of millions in the Womens March that no women were running statewide. I stepped up and decided to run for lieutenant governor because I knew that my business, political, and advocacy experience prepared me as the most qualified candidate in the race.

I believe that as lieutenant governor, I can make Virginia a better place to live, work, and raise a family, while resisting Donald Trumps dangerous and hateful agenda. We need leaders in Richmond who will boldly fight for Virginia families and for progressive values. I am the candidate in this race who can do that.

Justin Fairfax-I announced my campaign for Lieutenant Governor in May of 2016. I have spent the last 13 months making my case across the Commonwealth because I have a passion for public service. As a former federal prosecutor, I know just how fragile security and stability for hard-working Virginia families can be. As a small business owner with my wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, I understand how important it is that we continue to invest in infrastructure and invest in people to build an economy that works for all Virginians. And, most importantly, as a father, I know how important economic and stability and quality education is for the future of all of Virginias children. As Lieutenant Governor, I will be deeply involved in the policy discussions in the General Assembly and on policy task forces that will make a critical difference in the lives of Virginians. As a leader for all Virginians, will fight for all of Virginias families and will work every day to make sure that everyone across this Commonwealth has the same opportunities that I had to succeed.
A friend of mine mentioned that Stop & Shop has been promoting limoncello- inspired cookies, cakes and even ice cream for the past few weeks, and suggested I taste test the ice cream before you all go out and purchase it.

My only knowledge of limoncello comes from a scene in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun," where a hot Italian guy named Marcello seductively explains to Diane Lane's character Frances how limoncello is made. The ice cream in this treat has no real similarity to the Italian liqueur, but it was fun to re-watch the scene, you know, for research.

Here we have limoncello-inspired ice cream sandwiches featuring vanilla wafers and lemon ice cream minus the alcohol.

I tried this one with another friend of mine and our consensus was pretty much the same. On a 91 degrees, humid day in Springfield, the ice cream was pretty refreshing and the wafers have a nice texture.

After quickly eating the already melting ice cream we decided the ice cream, wafer combo is just a bit too sweet.

The wafers have a nice, slightly sticky texture, which I appreciate in an ice cream sandwich, but the ice cream was missing something.

When I think of lemon ice cream I always expect sweetness with a tart undertone, but here we just have a very sweet lemon taste with none of the zest.

I give this one three scoops. It's not bad and a nice novelty ice cream, but like most times, I go back to my traditional Hood ice cream sandwiches, as the ones to beat.
Growing up as a farm boy in northeast Texas in the 1940s, Morris Hall took a liking to a group of local domino players known as the spit and whittle club.

Back then, most in the group of old boys had a knife they used for whittling  that seemingly lost art of carving shapes out of wood, or of just cutting shavings off a piece of wood as a pastime. Thats where Hall first became intrigued by knives.

Ive had knives since I was 7 or 8 years old, he said. I always got in trouble for whittling in the house. My sisters would yell at me: What are you doing whittling in here!

Now 74 years old and retired from a lifetime of military service, Hall has gradually amassed a collection of knives so unusual that his inner child must be in a state of pure bliss.

Variety

Hall owns well-known brands like Old Timer, SOG, Case and Buck, but its the off-beat ones that draw a visitors eye.

The nearly 2-foot long Russian Kindjal sword is a replica of the double-bladed, slightly curved knives used by Cossack warriors. Theres a silver commando knife, the same as those used by the 1st Special Service Force, an American-Canadian commando unit known as the Devils Brigade that trained at Helenas Fort Harrison in World War II. The knifes sheath is made to be sewn into clothing for concealment.

I found this one in a pawn shop, Hall said, shaking his head in disbelief. I paid $100 for it, but I wouldnt take that for it now.

Two rows of about two dozen knives are laid out neatly on Halls black granite kitchen counter as he walks through their history: a replica Bowie knife, the large-blades reportedly used by the Texas revolutionary who died in 1836 at the Alamo; a fiberglass two-bladed knife known as the CIA letter opener; and Halls favorite, a one-handed folding pocket knife.

Choose wisely

Since Hall owns so many different kinds of knives, its natural to wonder what he is looking for when he decides to add to the collection.

Just the looks of them, the functionality, he said. Im a traditionalist.

His next target is a Kershaw Leek knife made by A.G. Russell Knives that has an Aztec gold handle.

In his opinion, A.G. Russell makes some of the best knives around, along with Randall Made Knives. They use quality steel, unlike the Damascus blades that look beautiful with their flowing texture but tend to rust, he said.

Everyone has their own formula for steel, Hall said.

The knives have become such a fascination for Hall that he said hes never sold one. The only way his collection dwindles is if he loses a knife, although he did confess to swapping a flint knife with a friend.

Im not much of a trader, Hall said. If I see something I want, I keep it.

No knife heir

Rummaging through drawers as he examined different knives and told their stories, Hall shook his head and recounted how far hes come in life.

I was just a stupid flatlander, he said. The Army was the first place I had good food and a flush toilet. When I was a kid we heated water on a kerosene cook stove for Saturday night baths, and if you were the last one to use the bath water it was pretty dirty.

So living in the jungles of Vietnam during his first stint in the Army wasnt such a big deal to the country boy from Texas. After three years of active duty, though, that had changed.

I had joined up right after high school because I was tired of farming, he said. Then when I got into the Army I wished I was back on the farm.

After leaving his tour in Vietnam he went on to college for an education in medicine and became a physicians assistant, finishing out his 35-year career at the Fort Harrison VA Hospital. Now divorced, he lives with his limping, loudly snoring rescue dog Maggie in a cool, spacious home overlooking sandstone Rimrocks baking in the spring heat and the green band of Alkali Creek below. Curiously, there are no knives on display in his home.

Whos going to want all of this crap? Hall asked no one in particular about his extensive knife collection.

Certainly not his daughter, who is an Army nurse, he confided. Yet hell probably add more knives to his already crowded drawers because perusing the knife magazines, looking at the photographs and reading about their history is a source of pleasure as well as a tie to simpler times on a Texas farm when bath water was heated on a kerosene stove and old-timers still whittled.
SALEM - The 11-year-old child who was struck and killed by a commuter rail train in Salem Friday night has been identified as Jaydon Dancy, a local boy who officials say had previously been honored for an incident in which he attempted to rescue a floundering kayaker.

Dancy was killed shortly after 8 p.m. in the area of 40 Lawrence Street; he had been with a group of boys at a park close to the Salem train station and was crossing the railroad tracks to retrieve his bicycle when he was struck and killed by a commuter train, according to Carrie Kimball Monahan, spokeswoman for the Essex District Attorney's office.

Dancy was a student at the Carlton Innovation School, a local elementary school, according to a statement posted on the Salem Public Schools Facebook page Saturday afternoon.

"We are heartsick over this tragic loss of life," reads the statement.

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll also posted a statement on the page, calling the fatal incident a tragedy and extending her prayers to the victim's family.

"There is no more profoundly sorrowful event than the accidental death of a child," said Driscoll, in the statement. Driscoll described the victim as a "bright and engaging young man" and called his death a "tragedy."

"We will pull together to support the family, the Carlton School community, the other students who were present, and all in Salem who are struggling with this terrible loss," Driscoll said.

The school system made it clear that grief counselors would be present in Salem schools starting Monday.

Dancy had previously been honored for attempting to save a floundering kayaker during an incident last August, according to The Boston Globe.

During the incident, a man suffered a medical episode while kayaking in Palmer's Cove and fell into the water.

Dancy, who was standing nearby and witnessed the episode, quickly swam out to the man and dragged him to shore.

Though the man did not ultimately survive, the boy's efforts to save him garnered community attention.

To honor the boy's efforts, Dancy was publicly recognized by a number of officials during a ceremony at Carlton; Mayor Driscoll, state Sen. Joan Lovely, and state Rep. Paul Tucker, as well as police and fire officials praised the child's efforts.

At the event, Salem Police Capt. Conrad Prosniewski said that the "fact that he went in, as small as he is, pulling in an adult with a kayak into shore knowing that this person was in distress deserves the recognition he got today."

Salem school officials stated over Facebook Saturday that a vigil to grieve for the loss of Dancy will take place Sunday, June 11 from 6-8 PM at the Carlton School. The school is located at 10 Skerry Street.
CANTON, Conn. - A local police officer fired one shot during a motor vehicle stop on Friday, leading to a Connecticut State Police investigation.

The Canton police officer stopped a car shortly after 8 p.m., Friday on Collins View Road and discharged his duty weapon at once before the motorist fled, state police officials said.

Police released little information about the incident and did not say why the driver was pulled over or why the officer discharged his gun. Police also did not say if the driver was injured.

"The Canton Police officer was not injured, however he was transported to the hospital for evaluation," state police said.

The Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime detectives responded to the scene after the shooting and assumed the investigation at the request of the Hartford State's Attorney Office.

State Police detectives are attempting to identify and locate the operator and vehicle. Anyone who may have seen the traffic stop or has any information is asked to contact the Central District Major Crime at 860-706-5652 or text TIP711 and the information to 274637. All calls will remain confidential.

Canton is located about 15 miles south of Southwick.
How sad that a manager from Market Basket in Chelsea Ma, would fight with his employee, while speaking to one of the cashier employees she said that the manager in question would treat his employees and customers badly and this kid received the worst of it, the employee was walking away from the floor manager to leave, he said I'm done here I'm leaving, the floor manager yells at the young employee to stop and to get over here and what happened next was uncalled for. The floor manager runs up to the young employee grabs him by the shirt and trows him down on the floor, instead of holding back the manager from fighting the employee all of the managers including floor manager jump on top off the boy pinning him down on the floor. Then Rene starts kicking him and grabs the employee by the pants and pulls them down to his knees all while the employee is pinned down on the floor unable to move or defend himself, the other workers move the fighting manager away but to a few seconds later let him go and then he takes off his coat insinuating he wants to fight more. One of the other managers asked Rene the manager to be quiet a few times and at the end tell him to shut up. I can only express what all of us customers witnessed. I can only imagine if this is something that a manager does to his employee he wouldn't think twice doing it to a customer. As a manager working there you don't disrespect yet alone fight with your employees or customers, I can't even imagine how the employee felt being stripped down off his pants in front of so many customers and children and being kicked while on the floor and then no one does anything about it only a slap on the hand and send him on his way back to work. Not knowing what lead to this interaction only they two know but whatever it was, this shouldn't have happened the way it did especially in front of customer's. This is why when employees get treated badly at a workplace they fear to speak up because either they're afraid that no one will believe them and by speaking out they might get fired or gained up against. #marketbasket #firehim #shameful *******Please share this video this is the way we can speak up for all those who can't*******
The family of 18-year-old Bryce Finn is asking the public for any information that could help find the person who killed him Tuesday night in Haverhill.

Finn was fatally shot in the chest when he answered the door at his 54 Rainbow Drive home in Haverhill around 9:30 p.m. Police do not believe the shooting was a random act.

"Our son, 18 year old Bryce Finn, passed Tuesday night following a senseless and tragic shooting," his family said in a statement. "Bryce was a gentle giant, a sweet and kind child who loved and was dearly loved by his family, friends and all who knew him. Bryce's passing leaves and enormous hole in our hearts, our family, and our lives."

Finn's family asked for anyone with information to contact investigators.
QUINCY - A motorcycle operator was killed in a two-vehicle crash Sunday morning on Route 93 South.

The victim, a 26-year-old Rockland man, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. His identity is being withheld until family members can be notified, Massachusetts State Police said.

The man was driving a 2007 Harley Davidson Street Glide southbound at about 9:20 a.m. when it collided with a 2010 Honda Pilot in the second lane of the highway near Exit 8, police said.

The car was being driven by a 54-year-old Milton resident whose name was not released. Police did not say if the driver was injured in the accident.

The crash is being investigated by Trooper Michelle Sutherland assisted by the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section, police said.

The Quincy Fire Department, Brewster Emergency Medical Services, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the state Department of Transportation assisted at the scene of the crash, police said.
As President Donald Trump has rolled out a series of moves he claims will increase the number of coal-mining jobs in the U.S., analysts have met each announcement with data showing employment in that industry has been declining for decades because of economic pressures  and that likely wont change because of the presidents actions.

But like many things in this state, talking about coal jobs in Montana is a little bit different. Since about 2000 here and up until a year ago, the Treasure State has bucked the trend, actually adding coal mining jobs at a 33 percent clip overall from 2001-2015.

In the past year, though, the numbers have declined, mirroring a drop in production that could be an indicator of whats to come.

The impacts are coming, but these other states have had tremendous impacts, thousands of jobs lost, said Jim Atchison, executive director of the Southeastern Montana Economic Development Corp.

The arguments against a resurgence in coal mining jobs are plentiful, even in the face of Trumps executive order to undo the Clean Power Plan, a lifting of restrictions on coal leasing and at the start of this month the announcement the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Trump's team has claimed an addition of 43,000 jobs, though the numbers they cite also count other mining jobs such as oil and gas. Some estimates show perhaps just 1,300 coal mining jobs have been added nationwide since Trump took office.

None of that changes the fact that utilities want the cheapest electricity. That generally comes from natural gas, and increasingly also solar and wind power.

Nationally coal mine employment dropped from 90,826 jobs in 2009 to 83,045 in 2015, according to numbers kept by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. In Montana, the MSHA numbers show an increase over the same period, from 1,158 to 1,329.

Bud Clinch, executive director of the Montana Coal Council, said those increases are explainable. In 2006, the underground Bull Mountain Mine opened in Roundup. Underground mining is more employee-intensive.

It takes twice as many people per ton of coal as the surface mines do, he said.

Recent decline

As to why Montana has gained when others have lost, Clinch said thats because of the open strip mines here. East Coast mines, which have been hit hardest by job losses, are typically underground operations that are more expensive to operate. All of Montana's mines except the one in Roundup are strip mines. Other mines are in Decker, Colstrip, Hardin and Savage.

Theyre kind of running out of reserves to mine, or at least those that are economical, Clinch said. We have seen over the last 20 years a slight shift of that market share to the western states of Montana and Wyoming. Because we have coal that can be surface-mined through strip mining, that becomes more economical than the more expensive deep underground mining on the East Coast.

Montana's production fluctuates year to year, but a drop last year concerned the industry and sparked the decrease in employment here. In 2016 the Montana number of coal jobs dropped from 1,329 to 1,196, according to MSHA, and the most recent numbers the agency has for this year shows a further drop, to 1,112.

(Differing sets of numbers from various sources make precisely counting coal jobs difficult. The numbers used for this story primarily come from the Mine Health and Safety Administration, which tracks employment numbers by mine, as well as the Montana Coal Council, which annually collects employment numbers and payroll information from Montana mines. Numbers compiled by the state Department of Labor and Industry are slightly different, but also show an increase in jobs during the 2000s and a decline over the last year.)

Production numbers show the state is on track for another low year. Through April, production has reached 9.8 million tons. Thats not what mining companies had hoped for, and represents production levels similar to last year, when output was just 32.37 million tons. Thats a 10-ton drop from the year prior and the lowest since 2000.

Its an economics game at this point, said Brian Fadie, clean energy program director with the Montana Environmental Information Center. Renewable and gas beats coal price-wise, and when you look at both utilities and regulators around the country, thats their big motivator and decision-maker. I think that will continue to go down.

Fadie pointed to a decline in contracts for coal from domestic and international power plants as another reason he believes mining numbers will decline.

Demands will not be going up. When you look internationally, both China and India have slammed on the brakes hard. And the price of natural gas is forced to stay low and renewables are only getting cheaper.

Natural gas has taken over coal as the most common source of electrical generation in the United States, making up 33.8 percent in 2016 of the market, but coal is still up there at 30.4 percent.

Atchison, whose job is to ensure the economic viability of a four-county area in the southeastern corner of Montana centered around Rosebud County and the town of Colstrip, which has a coal mine to feed its coal-fired electrical power plant, said that while he acknowledges the forces at play, he thinks coal will remain a key part of the country's energy future.

Coal mining jobs don't make up a huge segment of the Montana employment sector. Health care was the top employer in 2016, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry, with 66,427 jobs compared to coals 1,285 the same year. Coal mining doesnt even crack the top 22 industries in the state, but jobs are typically high-paying. Clinch said his internal numbers show an average annual salary of around $80,000.

Colstrip

In the counties with coal mines, those jobs are essential. When describing Colstrip, its hard not to be repetitive using the word "coal." Three hundred and seventy-three people work at the Rosebud Coal Mine, which feeds the coal-fired Colstrip Power Plant, which employs 388. For perspective, the next-largest employer is Rosebud County, with 128 employees. The 10th-largest employer in town is the local bank, which has 7.5 full-time positions.

The signs of the decline of coal have reached this community of about 2,300 residents. The housing market saw steady growth from 2009-2016, but has declined considerably since. It used to be that in a month, one or two homes sold in town, but since September 2016, only four homes have sold. Theres only one Realtor left in town. Most say that's because of the pending closure of two of the power plant's two older units. The closure is the result of a settlement between the plant's owners and several environmental groups, including the Montana Environmental Information Center, over pollution at the plant.

The discussion on what to do with out-of-work coal miners often mirrors the discussion on the type of power production that will replace the electricity generated by the mined product.

But its not fair to make that comparison  that as renewable energy replaces coal-fired electricity, so will renewable jobs will replace coal jobs, said Derf Johnson, with the Montana Environmental Information Center.

Its not going to be apples-to-apples in terms of jobs. People in Colstrip are not going to immediately pick up jobs in the renewable energy industry. There isnt the need for as many workers.

Diversifying

While there are opportunities in the building of new solar or wind plants  a proposed wind project outside Colstrip would need an estimated 100 jobs during the construction period  ongoing employment is less available. It would take only about 10 long-term full-time jobs to manage the same 300-megawatt project, according to estimates.

Thats why diversification is so critical for Atchison. A 66-page report on options for Colstrip going forward is organized around six goals and 17 strategies to complete the goals, only one of which is related to coal. The rest focus on renewable projects, light manufacturing and other factors that have nothing to do with mining or electrical generation.

There's potential for a hydrogen fuel production faculty, renewable energy projects, attracting technology-based companies, a tire pelletizing plant, a sugar beet processing facility and a municipal waste processing facility.

Because of the mine and plant, Colstrip has strong existing infrastructure. There's a rail spur straight into town, not to mention the 500-megawatt lines leaving the power plant that could carry energy produced from other sources.

At a public input meeting in March 2016, the public picked increasing broadband internet capacity as the top priority it wanted to see economic development entities focus on for the region. That indicates an openness to other diversification not seen in the past and an acknowledgement that technology is necessary to tap into the highly skilled workforce already in town.

In the fall of 2015, there were a lot of storm clouds on the horizon, Atchison said. The community is, were pretty much a one-horse town. So if its news and related to coal, the community's pretty aware of it. They were saying, Weve got to do something.' Weve been doing looks at diversifying the economy for a long time, but nothing as urgent and specialized and focused as now  nothing as urgent and focused as what the community was asking us to do."

That's not to say there's a lack of emphasis on preserving coal-related jobs for as long as possible, something made very clear by the success of the group Colstrip United, which has worked to promote coal-fired power and coal mining and the money it brings into the state. And in the same diversification study, the top goal and strategy is to continue to develop and promote a positive marketing campaign for coal mining and power generation.

As for what options laid out in the diversification report will come to fruition and what kind of jobs might take the place of any losses in the mining sector, that's about as unclear as anyone's best guess on the future of coal.

Thats a big question," Atchison said. "All I know is I want the movie rights to what happens. In just the last five years in Colstrip in the energy sector, in what's going on with coal, in whats going on with the environmental stuff, its such an interesting mix of different stories about what will happen. Its fascinating. Every day its kind of new. Where its going to go, I dont know. But at least were throwing it all at the wall and seeing what sticks.
"Cohousing made it easier to start a new life," Vander Plaats said. Two months after she and her girls moved in, they knew the neighbors in all the other 19 houses.

"I knew a little about each of them," she said. "I knew their family dynamics. It helped me feel like Grand Rapids was home a lot quicker."

What exactly is cohousing? Its a community-focused living arrangement, where residents share space, chores and fellowship. The idea started in Denmark in the 1960s and has spread across Europe and the U.S.

TRACEE HERBAUGH Associated Press

Full Story: http://chippewa.com/lifestyles/cohousing-puts-the-emphasis-on-neighborhood/article_f27db589-49ac-5563-bd4a-153935ce9d7e.html
A personal anecdote, if youll indulge me for a moment 

A couple years back, in October 2014, I was living up north in Great Falls. I was working as a crime reporter at that citys newspaper, the Tribune, part of newsroom that once won a Pulitzer Prize. Id just quit.

Id come to the city, Montanas third-largest, as a fresh-faced Montana State graduate looking for a start in the journalism business. Chasing ambulances and felony cases across much of central Montana, Id found it.

I hadnt quite made it a year in the job when the Chronicle came knocking, looking for a city hall reporter down here in Bozeman. I told my editor I was jumping ship.

As word of my impending departure filtered its way around the office one afternoon, I found myself chatting with one of the Tribunes veterans, one of those dying-breed types whove spent decades in newsrooms, in his case nearly all of it in Great Falls.

"Bozeman," he said. "Thats a fancy place."

It echoed, a little too true.

By Eric Dietrich Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/city/making-sense-of-modern-bozeman-montana-s-fancy-place/article_0f67566a-d6bb-534d-8215-924340eceed1.html
Adam*, is an engineer on Googles self-driving car project (now its own division, called Waymo). He says the daily pace of work borders on fanatical. When hes in the lab, the outside world disappearswe know this because he tells us so, and also because our text messages and emails to him almost always go unanswered.

Adam works full tilt, wholly immersing himself in the brains and guts of a car that, if Google gets it right, will be a total game-changer. Adam, however, would never say that. He knows that he and his team must first figure out, among many other things, how to teach an inanimate object moving at 70 miles per hour to differentiate between a stray plastic bag and a stray deer. Talk about a just-manageable challenge.

Stulberg and Steve Magness

Full Story: https://www.wired.com/story/googlers-avoid-burnout-secretly-boost-creativity/
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Dave Parker, political consultant, world traveler, storyteller, friend and seeker departed this world May 6, 2017 at St. Peters Hospital in Helena, Montana.

Dave was born April 10, 1963 in Newport Beach, California to Harbison and Helen (Rich) Parker. Growing up he lived in several communities on the west coast, graduating high school in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Looking to find a deeper understanding of this life, Dave attended Central Christian College of McPherson, Kansas, graduating in 1983 with an Associate Degree in Youth Ministry.

His early work career was marked by a number of vocations, most notably working in hotel management, starting in the auditing department at the Los Angeles Beverly Hills Hotel. Dave lived and worked in a variety of places and while working in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Dave met the love of his life, Alice Straub, of Plevna, Montana. They moved to Eugene, Oregon, where they were married in 1991.

Sharing a desire to live in Big Sky Country, Dave and Alice moved to Missoula in 1992, where Dave received a Bachelors Degree in Political Science. While studying at the University of Montana, Dave discovered his passionand aptitudefor progressive politics, which he pursued for the rest of his life. He began as a legislative consultant for the Montana Democratic Party in 1994, and in 1996 managed Nancy Keenans successful re-election for Montanas Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Dave wholeheartedly embraced the transient lifestyle that often accompanies a career in politics. He worked for a variety of races and causes all across the country. In 1998, he managed the primary campaign of Tom Vilsak, who would become the first democratic governor of Iowa in 30 years. He and Governor Vilsak, who later became Secretary of Agriculture under President Barak Obama, remained close friends.

Another passion of Daves was the need for equality for all and working for those who needed an advocate. To that end, he worked with Kalyn Free and INDNs List to help elect 60+ tribal citizens to public office across the country.

Besides his love of politics, Dave was a seeker of meaning and wisdom of the universe that surrounds us all. His intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm translated into traveling to more than 30 countries, where he immersed himself among the peoples and their cultures. From walking village to village in the Andes to journeying far off the beaten path in China, Dave Parker was anything but a typical tourist.

In 2014, Dave returned to Helena where his skill and reputation quickly translated into becoming Communications Director for Governor Steve Bullock. Back in Montana, Dave was welcomed by old friends, and through his wit and humor, made numerous new ones as well.

Daves other passions included a love of sport of all kinds. A skilled amateur athlete in his own right, he was a diehard Los Angeles Dodgers fan and a steadfast supporter of his alma mater, the University of Montana Grizzlies. Most of all, Dave was fervent (some would say fanatical) in his devotion to his beloved University of Oregon Ducks.

Dave is survived by parents Harbison & Gene Parker (Seattle) and Helen & Ernie Virgil (Cottage Grove, OR); sisters Ann Burke, Stephanie Mobley, Dawn Dodd, Angela Parker, Vivian Marsh; brothers Mike, Chris & Jessie; as well as his ex-wife (but still best friend) Alice Parker, his dog Magellan and friends too numerous to mention. Dave was preceded in death by his brother Scott Virgil.

The family would like to thank the many people who were there for Dave throughout his lifetime. A celebration of Daves life will be held at 5 PM Saturday, June 24th, 2017 in Helena, MT on the north lawn of the state capitol building. Memorials may be sent to Big Brothers and Big Sisters or the charity of your choice.

Goodbye, Dave. Those who believe in you and your spirit know you are still doing the same grand things you always did, but from another place. Your friends and loved ones hope this next chapter in your journey brings you to the place youve been seeking.

Peace.
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The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee's Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Subcommittee held its spring meeting in Kalispell on April 25. The committee is comprised of over 20 people who are mostly on the payroll of various government agencies, with some few exceptions from other organizations.

The gist of the meeting was to get all members on board to support the notion of deciding that the highly intelligent, mighty grizzly bear has been fully recovered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and is ready to be delisted from the endangered species list and then trophy-hunted for the cruel pleasure of those who enjoy killing animals for the pure lust and sport of it. First, I seriously dispute the overestimated population counts they use. Second, the buzzwords for this dialog were update and complete the NCDE conservation strategy. Outrageous as that must seem to all intelligent, compassionate, nature-loving, sensitive, human beings, this is not the case with these government-sponsored organizations. Some derive their budgets for their salaries from the issuance of hunting and trapping licenses. Can you say "conflict of interest"?

In fact, let me list the names of the NCDE members here so they can be contacted by the citizenry to account for their inhumane position on grizzly bears: Jim Williams (chair, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks); Jeff Mow (co-chair, Glacier National Park); Chip Weber (Flathead National Forest); Liz Roberts (Lolo National Forest); Mark Albers (Bureau of Land management); Paul Frame (Alberta Fish and Game Association); Scott Jackson (advisor, USFS); Randy Arnold (Montana FWP); Bill Avery (Lewis and Clark Forest); Gary Bertellotti (Montana FWP); Jodi Bush (FWS); Cecily Costello (advisor, Montana FWP); Deb Mucklow (FNF); Holger Bohm (British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations); et al. The committee members are all welcome to go on record and deny in writing that they should be included on this list if, in fact, they do not believe in delisting grizzly bears and wish to make declarative statements to continue protecting them. So please do so. I realize your very political jobs are at stake to go along to get along but this is serious business when deciding to kill grizzly bears for no other reason than that your career requires you to do so  or else.

At the conclusion of the general meeting, members of the audience seated at the rear of the room were allowed to speak against delisting and killing grizzly bears. The most moving testimony was given by Jimmy St. Goddard, who represented 125 Native American Indian Tribe treaties and the greatest stewards of the land, along with the world United Nations advocacy for the ESA, in his impassioned pleading for the life of the ceremonially sacred, culturally symbolic grizzly bear. Unfortunately, as I scanned the faces of the NCDE committee members, I read no compassion in their faces, only an egotistical arrogance of human superiority that was unconscionably dismissive of Indian culture and the plight of the grizzly bear, and wishing the pleading on behalf of the great bear would end soon. It reminded me of Republican blind political ideology of anything goes in this era of Donald Trump that infects Montanans and where politics trumps science.

I come down hard on the side of the tribes and the grizzly bear. My wish is that anyone reading this and sharing in my extreme desire to save the grizzly will become proactive and advocate in any and every way to join in this effort. The grizzlies are already reduced to only 2 percent of their former ranges, so how can they be recovered? Time is of the essence. Thank you.

Bill Baum is a retired aerospace engineer and current wildlife and wilderness advocate who lives near Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness Area, home of the grizzly bear.
Most of us love eating eating seafood, but a study has recently found that soft shelled turtles, zooplankton, fish, waterfowl, crab, lobster, shrimp are likely to spread the cholera in humans. Cholera is most frequently transmitted by water sources contaminated with the causative bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Cholera is a bacterial disease causing severe diarrhoea and dehydration, usually spread in water. Besides soft shelled turtles, aquatic hosts of V. cholerae include zooplankton, fish, shellfish, egg masses of midges, waterfowl, and crustaceans. Fish and shellfish are proven to spread this disease. According to researchers, the pathogen, Vibrio cholerae can colonise the surfaces, as well as the intestines of soft shelled turtles.

The main treatment for cholera is fluid and electrolyte replacement, both oral and IV. Antibiotics usually are used in severe infections in which dehydration has occurred.

Through surveillance of the disease in China, corresponding author Biao Kan said that cholera is a life-threatening diarrheal disease and consumption of cholera-carrying soft shelled turtles had caused outbreaks of the disease, He also noted that the O139 serogroup, the major strain spread by the turtles, is an emerging disease in China. A side benefit of the study is that the soft shelled turtle could serve as a new animal model for studying how V. cholerae interacts with aquatic hosts. The research is published in journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.



Source: ANI

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To infect the turtles, the investigators dipped them in a phosphate buffered saline solution containing the now bioluminescent bacteria, serogroup 0139. Over the next four days, they checked the turtles at 24 hour intervals. The findings indicated that initially light signals were detected at 24 hours and then after 96 hours, the entire dorsal side of the turtles' shells was emitting bioluminescence. The latter was also easily detected on the dorsal side of the turtles' limbs and necks and in the calipash, the gelatinous protoplasm, locally regarded as a delicacy that lies directly beneath the shells' surface. The turtles were inoculated intragastrically with the bioluminescent V. cholerae that the digestion takes roughly 34 to 56 hours in 150 gram turtles, the team euthanised and dissected the turtles at 72 hours and checked all their internal organs. Bioluminscence could be detected only in the intestines. They also identified the different colonisation factors--molecular machinery on the surface of V. cholerae--that enabled the bacteria to stick to the turtles' dorsal surfaces and intestines.
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In the study, the research team presented a novel pharmacologic candidate that alleviates age-related degenerative joint conditions, such as osteoarthritis (OA) by selectively destroying SnCs. Their findings, published April 24th in Nature Medicine (Impact Factor: 30.357), suggest that the selective removal of old cells from joints could reduce the development of post-traumatic OA and allow new cartilage to grow and repair joints.Senescent cells (SnCs) accumulate with age in many vertebrate tissues and are present at sites of age-related pathlogy. Although these cells play an essential role in wound healing and injury repair, they may also promote cancer incidence in tissues. For instance, in articular joints, such as the knee and cartilage tissue, SnCs often are not cleared from the area after injury, thereby contributing to OA development.To test the idea that SnCs might play a causative role in OA, the research team took both younger and older mice and cut their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) to minic injury. They, then, administered injections of an experimental drug, named UBX0101 to selectively remove SnCs after anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) surgery.Preclinical studies in mice and human cells suggested that the removal of SnCs significantly reduced the development of post-traumatic OA and related pain and created a prochondrogenic environment for new cartilage to grow and repair joints. Indeed, the research team reported that aged mice did not exhibit signs of cartilage regeneration after treatment with UBX0101 injections.According to the research team, the relevance of their findings to human disease was validated using chondrocytes isolated from arthritic patients. The research team notes that their findings provide new insights into therapies targeting SnCs for the treatment of trauma and age-related degenerative joint disease.Prior to this study, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) granted UNITY Biotechnology Inc. the right to use the intellectual property around the senescent cell technology. UNITY is a company aiming to develop therapeutics that address age-related diseases. Last October, the company announced $116 million in Series B funding from some of the big names in venture capital, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo's venture fund Bezos Expeditions, Mayo Clinic Ventures, Venrock, and ARCH Venture Partners. UNITY has completed a rigorous screening and preclinical testing process of candidate drugs, discovered in this study, and is launching a new clinical trial to assess its first drug, for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee this year.Source: Eurekalert
Tiffany Matthews didn't know she'd be able to go to college until the last month of her senior year in high school.

When she was just 4, her dad committed suicide. Her mom raised Matthews and her little sisters on her own in Missoula. Her mom cleaned houses, worked as a waitress, and did odd jobs.

Sometimes, back problems prevented her from working.

"She really struggled pretty hard," Matthews said. "We always had food and a roof over our heads, but we knew that if we wanted to go to school, we would have to do it ourselves."

Early on in high school, or maybe late middle school, Matthews and her friend saw some posters about Upward Bound, a college preparation program for low- income and first-generation students. The pair signed up.

The campus tours made college life feel like a possibility for Matthews, and the classes fueled her passion for education.

"I realized how much I really loved learning and spending my time gaining more knowledge," Matthews said.

She toured the University of Montana, where she visited the Davidson Honors College, and she saw Carroll College in Helena and Montana State University in Bozeman.

"It was mostly close because I couldn't really travel that far. We just didn't have the money and resources to travel," Matthews said.

In high school, Matthews had transferred to Big Sky High School specifically for its focus on science. She wanted to pursue a degree in science after graduation, but she wasn't sure how to make it a reality.

Having grown up in poverty, the idea of racking up $80,000 in debt  the cost of roughly four years of tuition and fees, books and living expenses at UM  wasn't going to fly with her.

She didn't want to work full time and go to school full time either, and she didn't want to postpone college.

"People would tell me, 'Oh, if you don't go right after high school, you probably won't go at all,'" Matthews said. "That was really terrifying because I'm really scared of getting into a lot of debt because of how I grew up."

So in her senior year of high school, she took an Upward Bound class dedicated to scholarship applications. Soon, the awards started piling up.

In the spring of her senior year, she learned she was the recipient of the Dell Scholars Scholarship, which gave her not only money but a laptop and textbook credits.

"I think at that point, with my Pell grant, it would be enough to where I wouldn't be too scared to take out loans if I had to," Matthews said.

Through Dell, she earned $20,000 over the course of four years, and all her scholarships combined to give her a full ride.

***

In the fall, Matthews will enter her junior year, and she's a double major in microbiology and laboratory sciences. She's enrolled in the Davidson Honors College and the Global Leadership Initiative.

Once she graduates, she may head to medical school or get a job as a medical technician at a hospital.

So far, she's been able to avoid taking out loans.

Matthews shops at thrift stores and garage sales for the things she needs. If she goes out to eat, she splits a meal with a friend. She's shared textbooks when she has friends in the same class.

"I managed to stretch that money pretty far," she said of her scholarships.

She sees her friends struggling with affordability and worrying about debt. In Montana, students graduate on average with $26,000 in loans, according to data from the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Matthews encounters many people just outside the poverty range, too. Their parents can't afford to pay, but financial aid won't, either.

"So they're stuck in the middle there," Matthews said.

Before she found out she had earned the scholarships to pay for school, Matthews was on the fence about going to college and falling into debt.

"If it wasn't for things like Upward Bound and all the educational things that I did, I probably wouldn't be debt-free for my college career," Matthews said.
They were strangers once.

On a recent morning, as they sipped coffee around Dan Seversons kitchen table, the four seated there shared a friendship driven by the need to preserve a lifestyle and the watershed thats the lifeblood of the wildlife refuge just downstream of the headwaters of the Burnt Fork.

It was almost six years ago when Paul Hayes received the blue envelope that changed the course for the Friends of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.

That envelope contained a letter that officially terminated the partnership between the Friends group and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

We were kind of blindsided by it, Hayes said. Weve made overtures, but theyve gone nowhere.

Years ago, the Friends organization designed a popular state license plate that celebrated National Wildlife Refuges. The license plate generated about $20,000 for the organization.

We didnt we couldnt just keep putting that money in the bank, Hayes said. We knew we had do something with it that would benefit the refuge.

Somewhere along the way, they met Bitterroot Land Trust Executive Director Gavin Ricklefs and they started talking about the conservation story unfolding in the Burnt Fork watershed east of Stevensville.

The journey to preserve working farms and ranches in the Burnt Fork began in 1997 for Severson when he was appointed to the countys Open Lands Board.

After taking a sip of coffee that recent morning, Severson looked around the table and admitted that he really wasnt committed to the idea of using conservation easements to preserve open lands owned by private landowners.

I kind of felt like a hypocrite back then, Severson said. I was going around and talking to people about conservation easements and felt like it was something that really didnt fit my family.

But, as often happens in a persons life, events occur that change perspectives.

For Severson, it was the shock of his fathers sudden death from an accident that occurred while he was working cattle on the land that had been part of their family for generations.

My son and grandson are working cattle right now as we speak, Severson said, as he looked in the direction of the old barn just on the other side of the road.

Seversons father grew up when most family farmers and ranchers didnt have many options when it came time to decide what would happen to the home place following a death.

The value was in the land.

Back then, they really didnt have much of a choice, Severson said. They only way they could get anything from their land was to subdivide even when they didnt want to.

That changed in 2006 when Ravalli County residents passed, by an overwhelming margin, a $10 million bond to protect open spaces in the Bitterroot Valley.

I can remember thinking, Wow. There are others in this valley too who dont want to see every acre filled with a house," Severson said. "They want to see some of this hay ground protected. They want to see habitat for wildlife remain. And they are actually willing to spend some of their own money to make that happen.

It changed the way I saw conservation easements too, he said. Before then, I didnt think anyone gave a damn on what happened to these family places. Suddenly, I saw that my neighbors and friends and others that lived in this valley saw the value in protecting this open space too.

The Friends of the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge were among who saw the value of preserving private lands to protect the public lands that people hold dear in the Bitterroot Valley.

Without a doubt, water is amongst the most precious resources to the refuge famous for its waterfowl.

The source of the water that fills the ponds and sloughs so important to the ducks, geese and shorebirds that spend time at the refuge is the Burnt Fork watershed.

When the Friends of the Lee Metcalf learned the funding they raised from the license plates sales could be used to leverage other funding to pay for conservation easements that would protect that water source forever, the decision was easy.

So far, nearly 2,000 acres of that watershed has been preserved through conservation easements on private lands in the Burnt Fork watershed since the open lands bond was passed. Other large conservations easement in the headwaters of the watershed were already in place before that time.

When a family decides to place a conservation easement on their property, they give up forever their rights to subdivide their land. In return, they receive tax benefits because their land is not as valuable for resale.

Often, the landowners are compensated for some of the decrease in land values. The funding to do that comes mainly through federal and state sources. Most of those sources require some kind of local match.

In Ravalli County, that comes from the open lands bond and, in the case of the Burnt Fork, from the proceeds of the sale of Friends of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge license plates.

To date, the Friends organization has donated about $85,000 to the effort.

Skip Kowalski of the Friends said the connection for that organization was obvious.

It was a logical way for us to make good use for that funding, Kowalski said. Preserving these lands that are the anchor to the water source for the refuge makes perfect sense. Beyond that, it helps natural system up and down the entire valley.

The fact that a good portion of the Burnt Fork watershed is now protected also provides wildlife with a corridor from one side of the valley to the other. People driving the East Side Highway often have a chance to see that in action in the form of a small herd of elk often visible during the morning commute.

We just knew that it was a good cause, Hayes said. It seemed like the perfect fit for us.

The benefits of the preservation work occurring in the Burnt Fork and throughout the Bitterroot Valley will outlive everyone alive today.

Were so fortunate to live in a place where people not only care about the landscape, but are also willing to invest in it now so it will be here for their kids and grandkids, Ricklefs said.

Only four counties in the state have passed bonds to pay for open lands.

The folks who are really going to notice the conservation work thats occurring right now in the Burnt Fork arent sitting around this table, Ricklefs said. Those people arent even born yet. They are the people who will be able to go out and see hay still being put up and wildlife moving freely on a landscape that remains the same. This really is an investment for future generations.


M. NIKOLTSIOU: Minister, good morning and thank you for being with us.



N. KOTZIAS: Good morning from Kozani. I hope yours is a beautiful Saturday.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: A summer's day, without rain. So, Minister, a lot has happened in recent days: we had Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, and immediately afterwards Qatar is isolated.



N. KOTZIAS: International politics is like the heart: it beats 24 hours a day and keeps us all correspondingly busy with our duties. To give you an indication, my last conversation with the Foreign Minister of a friendly country was at four in the morning  with a Minister of a Gulf country. In fact, I talked to everyone, but due to religious holidays, the talks take place after midnight and up until the morning hours.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Can I ask if there is anything to report from this conversation?



N. KOTZIAS: Look, first of all, we are a country that has good relations with the Arab world, and at the same time we try to preserve the right and fair balance, underscoring that our country was never a colonial power, that our interest is in there being stability and security in the region. All of the countries involved in this crisis were in Rhodes a few weeks ago and contributed to the success of the International Rhodes Conference, in the direction of our creating a special security and stability organization for the Eastern Mediterranean. Consequently, we are acting on this foundation. Of course, there are countries with which we have exceptional relations, and this is shown by the fact that Egypt asked us to represent its diplomatic, political and consular interests in Qatar, because there are over 250,000 Egyptian workers there. I think the same will happen with one more country, but it's too early for me to announce that with certainty.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: So we await a relevant announcement. Minister, what is your reading of these very rapid developments? Is the map of the region being redrawn?



N. KOTZIAS: I would say that these developments have a 15- to 20-year backstory. It is a discussion about the Arab world's relations with Iran, about terrorism's source and what the common stance of the Arab states can or cannot be. I remind you that there was a similar intervention in 2014  not of the same intensity  when there was a change in the head of the royal family in Qatar and three successors were passed over in the line of succession, and in the end the next in line, the current Emir, became Qatar's head of state. As you can see from the statements being made by the involved parties on the other side, they want a change in policy, not in leadership. That is, they want Qatar to align itself more closely with the common foreign policy of the other countries, which are basically the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt  but, as you have seen, many other countries have also taken a stance. The latest country to take a stance was Djibouti.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: What role might Turkey and Erdogan play? Because we are seeing an effort ...



N. KOTZIAS: Erdogan and Turkey want to appear as mediators  a role that we in fact have  but they can't, because the countries on the other side identify them with Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Will a Kurdish state be created? Because we see the statements from the U.S.  not if, but when, the Americans are now saying.



N. KOTZIAS: The Kurdish issue has two components right now. One is Kurdistan in northern Iraq, where the European Union wants to see the country's unity, but, as you know, the country's unity has to be desired by the citizens themselves, and not by third parties. We'll see. A referendum has been announced for September of this year in northern Kurdistan  that is, northern Iraq. This referendum, I remind you, was provided for from the outset by Iraq's constitutional agreement, but the right was never exercised in practice. There is also the issue of the Kurdish zone in northern Syria, which is a major problem for Turkey itself.



The western countries don't want to break Syria's unity, because right now we all favour the defeat of the reactionary Islamofascist forces and the defeat of authoritarianism within Syria. There is a draft constitution from certain Western powers, which has not been made public, and Russia has put forward a draft constitution that has been made public and that provides for Syria's becoming a federal state with a Kurdish state as one of its components. In general I want to say  because Turkey is opposed to all of this, as is its right and its foreign policy choice  in all of these countries, the Kurds should have the rights that the Republic of Cyprus intends to grant to the Turkish Cypriot community. Because at some point we have to compare what they are pursuing in Cyprus and what they are prepared to give to their own much larger communities within their country.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Before you leave us, Minister  and I thank you for your time  we would like a comment on the result of the elections in the UK.



N. KOTZIAS: Elections in recent years have played strange games with opinion polls. I remind you that the opinion polls gave a 20% lead to the Conservative party, but they were completely wrong. This should be borne in mind by those who believe that what the Greek opinion poll companies show as a big lead for the main opposition party is real and will be reflected in the next elections. They shouldn't be in such a hurry. The elections will happen on schedule and both they and the polling companies that support them will be surprised by the result.



The second and more important thing is that the British issue and the issue of Brexit will become more complex. Ms. May called elections seeking a stronger majority so that she could negotiate a 'hard' Brexit from a stronger position. As we saw, her position wasn't strengthened. The British voters did not give her what she wanted, and I think she will have to shift towards a softer Brexit. But we'll see. We need to see what coalition government is formed, because there is no absolute majority.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: It seems she will form a government with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.



N. KOTZIAS: They are negotiating, but the third thing has its significance: Britain's electoral system is the most extreme majority voting system. With 30%, you can take 70% of the seats. This shows that at points in history when we have major shifts and changes on the political stage, the international political stage, not even the most extreme majority voting laws can give a party a majority.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Might the result of the UK elections impact Greece in some way? I mean in terms of what we are pursuing with regard to the debt, the extent to which Britain's role...



N. KOTZIAS: Britain's role in the debt issue isn't as strong as its economy is within the European Union, because it isn't a member of the Euro Area. I believe that what's important is that a softer Brexit will be pursued  or at least it would be more realistic to pursue a softer Brexit, because no one knows for sure. And the British should always keep in mind what I say to them: that our handling of matters of major interest to them will also depend to a great extent on their stance on the Cyprus issue.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Since you gave me the opening, we have developments on this. Will we have new developments?



N. KOTZIAS: We will, but there is a great deal to discuss. Thank you very much.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Thank you very much, Minister.



N. KOTZIAS: Have a good weekend.



M. NIKOLTSIOU: Take care, and thank you.
MOIESE  The thumping of tubs and whipping of toadflax signaled the start of the National Bison Ranges great weevil roundup of 2017.

Within minutes, more than a thousand of the little black bugs had been knocked from their leafy hideouts and tucked into waiting coolers, not to be mixed up with the other coolers full of soda for the volunteer wrangler crew.

About 40 people gathered by the Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund spent Wednesday morning literally beating the bushes on the far western edge of the 18,000-acre range for Mecinus janthiniformis, which loves to eat and lay eggs in Dalmatian toadflax. It may be the only thing that appreciates toadflax.

This way the range staff can get a bunch of biocontrol done in one day, Melissa Maggio-Kassner told the volunteers at the start of the effort. We should be able to collect about 20,000 bugs," which will be deployed against other toadflax infestations on the refuge.

Dalmatian toadflax and its cousin, yellow toadflax, came to the United States from southern Europe and Asia hundreds of years ago. While they have pretty yellow flowers, they also grow and spread uncontrollably. They outcompete native plants for water and soil nutrients, and produce scads of seeds that can lie dormant for 10 years (most native seeds only remain viable for two years). Bison dont graze on it, while elk and antelope only nibble the tops off without slowing it down.

We feel that the toadflax just laughs and thumbs its nose at us, Revais Creek resident Sally Baskett said of her efforts to stop the weed from invading all of her property near the Bison Range. Weve even tried hard blasts of herbicide. Its very expensive and time-consuming. And this is a banner year.

And the problem may get worse. Dalmatian and yellow toadflax can cross-pollenate, creating a hybrid thats both hardier and harder to control. Colorado State University plant geneticist Sarah Ward explained that while the Dalmatian variety was common in Eastern Europe, the yellow species grew mainly in Great Britain.

Once they were introduced in North America, they met, fell in love and had babies, Ward joked. And they are not populations that come and go. If I may say so, these things kick ass. They outperform the parents.

The first hybrid toadflax was detected near Radersburg, Montana, in 2005. Since, its been reported in Colorado, Idaho, Washington and Wyoming. The new version can be hard to separate from the yellow version, unless you look at their seeds.

The Dalmatian seeds look like flying saucers, while the yellow toadflax seeds looks like Brazil nuts, Ward said. The hybrid seeds look like Brazil nuts with wings.

To control invasive toadflax without chemicals, you need an exotic bug that targets it while ignoring more popular or valuable plants. Montana State University Professor Robert Nowierski brought the first Mecinus weevils from Switzerland. Weve since discovered that while Mecinus janthiniformis likes Dalmatian toadflax, we need Mecinus janthinus weevils to fight yellow toadflax. And no ones sure which weevil might take on the hybrid toadflax.

Fortunately, the hybrids havent made an impact on the Bison Range yet. Wednesdays biggest challenge was keeping the captured weevils from blowing out of the tubs in the breezy morning. The volunteers fanned out on hillsides, gently whipping toadflax stems and knocking the weevils into their tubs. A couple hundred weevils would fill a whisky shot glass.

Its been a really amazing success story for biocontrol in Montana, said volunteer collector Tracy Sterling, who came over from Bozeman to help with the roundup. Growers know about it. High school kids know about it. It works.
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...
The U.S. Navy has called off the search for a sailor who fell overboard in the Philippine Sea off the coast of Japan.

The service around midnight Saturday suspended the search for a sailor who went overboard around 9:30 p.m. Friday from the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) during routine operations about 180 miles east of Okinawa, according to a press release.

The sailor wasn't identified. The Navy said the family is requesting privacy.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, and the crew of the USS Shiloh during this difficult time," Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, commander of U.S. 7th Fleet, said in the release. "I'm proud of the effort the crews of the Reagan Strike Group and our Japanese allies made to find our shipmate."

Related content:

Officials are investigating the incident, which was the second for the Navy in a matter of days. On Saturday, the sea service ended a search for another sailor, Fire Controlman 2nd Class Christopher W. Clavin, who went overboard June 6 from the guided-missile cruiser Normandy about 80 miles off the coast of Cherry Point, North Carolina.

The search off the coast of Japan involved helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from USS Shiloh, the destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85), and the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), as well as a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, according to the release. The Joint Personnel Recovery Center Hawaii and U.S. Coast Guard District 11 provided additional distance support, it stated.

Japan, meanwhile, deployed the destroyer Ashigara (DDG 178) and the coast guard ships Kudaka and Ryuku for the search -- which lasted more than two days and covered 5,500 square miles, according to the release.

"The decision to suspend the search was not arrived at lightly," Rear Adm. Charles Williams, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5 and Task Force 70, said in the release. "Our thoughts are with our lost shipmate, his family, and the officers and crew of USS Shiloh. I am thankful for the dedication and professionalism shown during this search by the U.S. Navy and our Japanese Allies."

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
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MUSKEGON, MI - Muskegon's local TV station, WMKG-TV, is about go from "Dark Ages to Star Wars," according to its new owner.

Muskegon's longstanding local television station WMKG-TV has been sold to a Florida-based investment company. Fenton "Bud" Kelley owned the station from 1990 to until early June 2017.

The Federal Communications Commission approved the sale in May. The station is now owned by WMKG-TV, LLC, a portfolio company of VRVC, LLC, a virtual reality venture capital fund.

"He has great plans for this station," said previous owner Fenton "Bud" Kelley, of the man behind VRVC, Steve Kanzer.

While viewers won't have noticed major changes yet, things are happening behind the scenes. Kanzer is investing in the station, taking it from "the Dark Ages to Star Wars." Renovations of the studio are currently underway. A return of local content is in the works.

"We have that opportunity now to update it," said Kanzer, managing member of WMKG-TV, LLC. "We're switching everything over to servers. ... The thing is a testament to one man's accomplishment of keeping it going."

The station will eventually move from channels 49.1, 49.2, 49.3 and 49.4 to four subchannels of 31. It will be known as TV31.

Kanzer lives in Delray Beach, Fla., with his family, and has maintained a part-time residence in Norton Shores for 14 years. He heard that the station was for sale while visiting Michigan around Christmastime in 2016.

Kelley first put the station up for sale during 2007 on eBay for a minimum bid of $700,000. During late 2016, the price was dropped to $225,000 with a $100,000 down payment.

"I thought it was worth it for Muskegon to keep its voice," Kanzer said, managing member of WMGK-TV, LLC. "The station is a cute place. It has a lot of great, great history."

Plus, his daughter was set on purchasing the station after a visit.

"My 7-year-old daughter fell in love with it," Kanzer said. "I made the mistake of asking her if I should buy it."

The station is located at 4237 Airline Road.

Kelley started in the broadcast business around 1969 when he was the chief engineer for Muskegon's first local channel, WMKG channel 54, according to Muskegon Chronicle archives. The station broadcast through 1971, showing news, high school sports, bingo and lively talk shows.

WMKG was revived by Kelley in 1990, according to past reports. During his tenure the station has been known for local news, high school sports, hunting and fishing programs, bingo, car shows, parades and more.
SAGINAW, MI - The final piece of the $4.7 million restoration of the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw is now in place -- a majestic pipe organ to fill the church with music.

The Cathedral purchased the 87-year-old pipe organ from St. Joseph's Church in Bay City and hired Otsego-based Lauck Pipe Organ Co. to restore it and install it.

James Lauck and his crew hauled in the heavy frame and pipes and assembled them like a puzzle on the balcony overlooking the renovated Cathedral on Washington Avenue.

The pipe organ, originally built by the Kilgen Pipe Organ Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, was installed at St. Joseph's in 1930. It went through two major renovations, the first in 1984 and again in 2002.

The Lauck Pipe Organ Co. added three ranks of pipes from the Saginaw Cathedral's old pipe organ to the original Kilgen organ, built new parts to accommodate the extra pipes, constructed a new console and upgraded the electronics to state-of-the-art.

The controls on the organ are all electronic but the sound is made by air passing through its pipes when played by the organist.

The restored pipe organ has 30 ranks of pipes, approximately 1,800 total, varying from the size of a writing pen to 16 feet tall and weighing almost 200 pounds. It has two consoles, each with three keyboards and a pedal board.

Lauck has been building pipe organs for 43 years. "I like (building pipe organs) because it involves woodwork, electronics, mechanical engineering, architecture, physics of sound and music. You don't have time to get bored because you're on to the next thing," he said.

Once he and his crew finish assembling the frame of the pipe organ, the pipes and all of the parts that make it work, Lauck has to tune each pipe individually by lengthening or shortening them. Big pipes may be adjusted several inches while small ones might be adjusted a fraction of an inch.

"I jokingly tell people they need two years of ballet or classical dance to work on these things," Lauck said, referring to the tight spaces he occupies while installing pipes and tuning them.

Once the pipe organ is tuned, it undergoes tonal finishing to make sure that its sound is majestic and appropriate for the size of the building. Lauck said, "It should be slightly overwhelming."

Bob Gubody, the parish sacristan, kept an eye on the progress of the pipe organ, stopping by often to watch Lauck and his crew build it. According to Gubody, "The organ is a treasure."
SVSU students

Saginaw Valley State University electrical engineering students and assistant professor L-R, Dr. Rajani Muraleedharan, Amen Al Abbas,Michael Papesh, Zwe Thiha and Jonathan Claus.

(Isis Simpson|MLive.com)

SAGINAW, MI ---- Four Saginaw Valley State University students are in the process of making surgery for animals a more comfortable experience.

Students Amen Al Abbas, of Saudi Arabia; Jonathan Claus, of Hawks; Michael Papesh, of Saginaw; and Zwe Thiha, of Myanmar; are in the development phase of creating an automated intensive care unit for Great Lakes Pet Emergencies in Carrollton Township.

According to the group of electrical engineering seniors, the ICU will be a three-pet, sealed cage with oxygen sensors, temperature and air filtering controls.

"This a sealed environment that needs to regulate oxygen, CO2 and temperature, we need sensors to be able to read each of those values as well as an onboard computer to be able to take the data from these and be able to make decisions as well as output that to whoever is using that apparatus," Claus said.

He said when small animals need oxygen there's usually a mask involved but for larger animals veterinarians have to suture in an oxygen tube, adding another step in the recovery process.

Rajani Muraleedharan is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and the faculty adviser for the ICU project.

She said electrical engineering seniors are required to do a capstone project and the idea for the project can either come from a client who has an idea they want to see executed or it could come from the student themselves.

Ryan Dowling, the operations manager at Great Lakes Pet Emergencies, proposed the project.

"The best solution in the industry is the ICU cage," Dowling said. "We needed some expertise on how to create an electronic control system, and the best way to do it is to reach out to people in that field. We thought it'd be a good opportunity for students to get a hands-on project."

"This client talked about the pet ICU project that he would like to work with Great Lakes Bay Pet Emergencies when we talked about this project," Muraleedharan said. "It would definitely be a community project. We would obviously be helping pets and giving them better care than what is in the Michigan area."

Muraleedharan said Dowling has been very involved in the stages of the project and will also be there during testing, but the students themselves will not do the animal testing. Instead, they leave the testing up to the client.

According to the engineers, the project shares similarities with existing units. But what makes this one unique is how it's being tailored for Dowling's needs.

Claus said in a statement that he felt a certain level of strain to make sure everything works properly.

"There is an issue where if we program something wrong, we do something wrong, the pet's health could possibly be at risk," Claus said. "So there's definitely a strain to ourselves of making sure that we do everything with the utmost care and reliability."

But Muraleedharan added if things didn't go as planned and for any reason the person operating the unit needed to stop using it, they would have the option to hit a manual override button which would completely shut it off.

Claus said he's proud of the project because it gets to be implemented for real-world use.

"With a lot of design projects you build them, you spend all this time researching, all this time working on them and they end up in display cabinets for a couple years and get disassembled for parts or just tossed in the trash," Claus said.

Muraleedharan said if it's a client's idea for the project, it'll most likely be implemented. But for ideas that students have, that isn't always the case.

Muraleedharan said another unique piece to this project is the opportunity it has opened up for international students.

"For international students such as Thiha and Al Abbas, who is from Saudi Arabia, to learn real-world skills and complete a project that they can feature on a resume," Muraleedharan said. "They both get to work with American kids and get to know the work ethic. Sometimes, international students don't get to be an intern anywhere. So this is their best choice to make."

Muraleedharan said the students will present their creation at SVSU during an electrical engineering symposium along with other groups of students who have dedicated their senior year to projects.

And shortly after the presentation, they'll prepare to cross the stage to graduate, leaving behind their masterpiece for Dowling to improve the surgery recovery process.
Michigan State football practice Aug. 12

Michigan State's defensive end Cassius Peat (32) runs a drill during their football practice at the team practice facility in East Lansing Wednesday, August 12, 2015.

(Danielle Duval | MLive.com)

EAST LANSING -- Cassius Peat won't be returning to Michigan State after all.

The former Spartans defensive end was instructed this week by the Michigan State staff not to re-enroll with the team later this month as he had planned to do, according to a Saturday report from Scout.com.

Peat told Scout.com that he received a call from Mark Dantonio on Wednesday, during which he was told he couldn't enroll as planned. He says he wasn't given a reason. Peat was set to move from Arizona to East Lansing this weekend.

Peat told the site that his grades are good and that he was admitted to the school by compliance.

A Michigan State spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

Peat first enrolled at Michigan State in 2015 and redshirted that fall. He remained with the team through spring workouts in 2016, was released from his scholarship that August.

Dantonio said at the time the release would give Peat "opportunity to work on his academics and get himself in order", but Peat cited a family situation at home as a reason for his departure.

Peat took an official visit to the school again in the winter, though, an announced in March that he planned to re-enroll for the 2017 season.

Michigan State has already lost three would-be returning scholarship defensive linemen for 2017. Malik McDowell left a year early for the NFL, while both Auston Robertson and Josh King were kicked off the team after being charged with sexual assault.
MILWAUKEE  Kids made fidget spinners wildly popular.

Now, adults are keeping them that way.

The spinners, hand-sized toys balanced with ceramic ball bearings weighted in the center and three rings on the outside, stay in motion between ones fingertips with little effort. The toys sell for $7 to $20.

Fidget spinners were invented in the 1990s in one of two ways, depending on which story one reads. Both stories credit Catherine Hettinger of Florida as the inventor.

One claims Hettinger heard about boys throwing rocks at police officers and wanted to give them something to do. The New York Times interviewed Hettinger and said she created the toy after her myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder that causes muscle weakness, made her unable to play with her elementary school daughter.

Either way, what are they doing in the gift shop at Lakefront Brewery?

I ordered samples from China, and everybody around here was compulsively playing with them, said Chris Ranson, director of tours and environmental programs for Lakefront.

Fidget spinners with the brewerys logo sell for $7.

People click pens or twirl them, Ranson said. Its the same thing. Theyre moving their hands.

Hasbro initially passed on the toy in the 1990s. But it eventually got marketed, and this year it took off. Theres enough hoopla that fidget spinners have been declared the new hula hoop. Or Slinky. Or yo-yo. You get the idea.

Amazon, which listed fidget spinners in each of its top 20 bestselling toy spots in May, features at least one fidget spinner geared directly to adults. It offers the HITASION Hand Spinner Fidget Toys for Adults, a high-speed spinner that costs $9.77.

The spinners have been touted as a remedy for students who have trouble focusing or paying attention. Adults might be using them for similar reasons but keep their use under the table  including the conference table.

Aubrey Scheopner Torres, assistant professor of education at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, looks at fidget spinners from the perspective of an educator  and a spouse. Her husband owns three.

The fidget spinner helps him focus, Scheopner Torres said. He explains his ADHD as having five TVs on at one time. The spinner drowns out four of the TVs.

You can have a stress ball in the office, she said. But with fidget spinners, you can literally put (them) in a pocket and take anywhere you go, she said.
The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG), comprising officials from ministries of communications and finance, is set to meet telecom operators this week to discuss the financial difficulties being faced by the industry and measures that can be taken to ease the situation.

The first of these meetings kick-off tomorrow, with the group slated to meet senior executives from Reliance Jio, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Aircel, sources told PTI.

Over the course of the week, the IMG will also meet other operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, as well as top officials of telecom PSUs Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limted and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited.

The operators will be asked to suggest measures which can be taken by the government to address financial woes of the industry that is reeling under revenue and profitability pressures as well as mounting debt.

On June 15, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is also scheduled to meet the operators to discuss their financial pain and seek views on a policy prescription.

Investors and analysts will be keenly watching out for cues from these meeting, as the parleys will set the tone for relief measures that could be in the offing.

The industrys key demands include reduction of the licence fee to 5 percent (from 8 percent) and flat 1 per cent spectrum levy.

The industry also wants the deferred payment liability of spectrum to be aligned to the life of the airwaves, that is, 20 years with a moratorium of five years and repayment of 15 years.

The telecom sector has a debt of Rs 4.6 lakh crore. A recent investor presentation by Reliance Communications warned that the sector could be starting at 30,000 to 40,000 job losses over the next 12-18 months.

Incidentally, India, with over 1.16 billion mobile users, is the second largest telecom market in the world after China. But telecom operators here lament they are facing pressure on income, profitability and other financial metrics on account of competition intensified by the entry of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio.

Last month, Idea Cellular reported a consolidated loss of Rs 325.6 crore in the three-month period ended March 2017, hurt by the severe tariff war.

Indias largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel too reported its lowest quarterly profit in four years as net earnings plunged 72 per cent in January-March, hit by "sustained predatory pricing" by Jio.

Debt-laden Reliance Communications, that has faced a slew of rating downgrades over the last few days, reported its first annual loss since its inception at Rs 1,283 crore for the fiscal ended March 2017.
The mining disruption at the Surda copper mine will affect the state-owned Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) in Jharkhand for sometime.

The India Resources Ltd (IRL), the mining contractor has terminated the contract to operate the mine with effect from June 2.

"We have identified working for an alternative contractor for operating the mine, but we are unable to give any time frame by when the new operator will be in place," a Hindustan Copper official told PTI.

Moreover, he added that the cost of production for Hindustan Copper was expected to rise. IPL claimed that the key reason for termination of mining contract was the inability to receive reimbursement of the 40 per cent increase in statutory wages, made effective by government since January 2017 as a result of Hindustan Copper triggering strikes by workers.

Hindustan Copper contested the claim under the terms of contract. They said that both had mutually agreed to extend the contract for nine months from April, 2017.

The company said measures to restore normal production from the mines by deploying a new contractor was likely to take sometime. The production activities of Surda mine are currently affected and the production in May dipped to just 25 MT which is one tenth of normal production, according to officials.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

The Maharashtra government on Sunday agreed to a farm loan waiver to the state's small and marginal farmers and also set up a panel to to decide the criteria of debt relief and implement the scheme, after which farmers called off their protests.

"The government has decided to waive farmers' loans. The loans of farmers with small land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.

The state government has been under immense pressure from farmers who were protesting for the past few of weeks. The farmers had threatened to intensify the protests from June 12 if their demands were not met.

Patil, who headed a high-powered committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, announced the news to media after holding discussions with farmer leaders.

Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met. "Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said.

The revenue minister, asked if his announcement on farmers getting new loans from today meant that the old ones would be restructured, said, "It is a simple banking question. Till the old loan is waived, one doesn't get new loan."

Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

The panel also comprises senior minister Diwakar Raote of the Shiv Sena, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Cooperatives Minister Subhash Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.

On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.

About 1 crore farmers with under 5-acre land holding will be eligible for the waiver which is expected to push up the Maharashtras fiscal deficit to 2.71 percent in FY18 of gross state domestic product (GSDP), according to an India Ratings report.

Fadnavis held talks with the farmers on June 3 and assured that loans of small land-owning farmers will be waived by October 31. Maharashtra government had also agreed to waive off penalty and interest on power dues.

With PTI inputs
The loan restructuring mechanism should be bolstered if the government were to get a firm grip on bad loans, said Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal.

"We need to strengthen the loan restructuring mechanism... it will, along with various other measures taken by both the government and the RBI, help in bringing NPA situation under control," he told PTI.

Most recently, he said, the government brought in the ordinance giving wide-ranging legislative powers to the Reserve Bank on the non-performing asset (NPA) front.

The ordinance authorises the Reserve Bank to issue directions to any bank to initiate insolvency resolution process in the event of a default under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

According to some estimates, banks are sitting on unrecognised stressed loans worth Rs 7.7 lakh crore in corporate and SME sectors and expect around 35 per cent of them to slip into the NPA category in the next 12-18 months.

There is a likelihood of Rs 2.6 lakh crore of corporate and SME loans, which are 3.2 percent of total bank credit to be recognised as stressed loans by 2019.

Stressed loans include restructured assets that carry the risk of turning into NPAs.

On the three-year achievements of the Modi government, Meghwal said: "Whenever the review takes place, 2017 will be known as the year of economic reforms."

The highlights so far this year are the advancement of the budget, the merger of the railway budget with the general, the budgetary passage before March 31 and the proposed GST rollout from July 1, the minister added.

Terming jobless growth criticism as a mere political statement, Meghwal dismissed it as something not based on facts as "political opponents have coined this as a terminology".

"The informal sector created a lot of job opportunities through various schemes of the government like Mudra, Stand Up India, Start Up India," he stressed.

More than 7.45 crore entrepreneurs have been given bank loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana as part of the government's effort to fund the unfunded. Easy loans have been provided to small businesses like barber shop owners, cobblers and cycle mechanics etc under the Mudra Yojana without any collateral, he said.

"More than 7.45 crore small entrepreneurs received loans worth more than Rs 3.17 lakh crore. Of this, 70 per cent of the beneficiaries are women," Meghwal pointed out.

About 18 per cent of the borrowers are from the scheduled caste category and 4.5 per cent scheduled tribe while other backward class accounted for almost 34 per cent.

Under the Mudra Yojana, a loan of up to Rs 50,000 is given under the 'Shishu' plan, between Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh under 'Kishore', and between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh under 'Tarun'.
Saudi Arabia and its allies welcomed an accusation by President Donald Trump that Qatar was bankrolling extremism but ignored a separate US call for them to ease their economic blockade.

Trump's comments came as Washington joins intensifying international efforts to heal the worsening rift between the key Western Gulf allies, which has escalated into the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

Qatar denies the allegations and has sent its top diplomat on a tour of European capitals in a bid to drum up support.

But its neighbours seized on Trump's remarks as vindication of their position and of the crippling sanctions they imposed on Monday.

The United Arab Emirates welcomed "President Trump's leadership in challenging Qatar's troubling support for extremism".

"The next step is for Qatar to acknowledge these concerns and commit to reexamine its regional policies," its ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba told the official WAM news agency.

"This will provide the necessary basis for any discussions," he added.

Saudi Arabia said an immediate change of policy by Qatar was essential.

"Fighting terrorism and extremism is no longer a choice, rather... a commitment requiring decisive and swift action to cut off all funding sources for terrorism regardless of its financier," the Saudi Press Agency cited an official source as saying.

Bahrain "stressed the necessity of Qatar's commitment to correct its policies and to engage in a transparent manner in counter-terrorism efforts", its official BNA news agency said.

The three governments made no comment on separate remarks by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging them to ease their land and sea blockade of Qatar, which he said was hindering the US-led campaign against the Islamic State group and having humanitarian consequences for ordinary people.

Qatar's neighbours have given its citizens 14 days to leave, banned Qatari flights from their airspace and closed its only land border.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani was in Moscow today after talks in Germany yesterday.

Qatar ally Turkey meanwhile hosted the Bahraini foreign minister for talks on the crisis.
Allowed | Farming operations (Image: PTI)

Mandsaur, the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, remained peaceful today with curfew lifted in three police station areas.

However, prohibitory orders under section Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 144, which bans assembly of more than four persons, will remain in force in the district.

The curfew was lifted from all the three police station areas of Mandsaur city yesterday.

The curfew will remain in Pipliamandi police station area which is 15 kilometres from Mandsaur district headquarters and where five farmers were killed in separate police firings during the agitation.

"The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far," Collector OP Srivastava and SP Manoj Singh said.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on June 6.
Source: www.kremlin.ru

Three warships of the Chinese navy have docked at Pakistan's southern port city Karachi on a four-day "goodwill and training" visit as the two all-weather allies step up their strategic ties.

The warships - Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu - of the People's Liberation Army Navy are part of a task group that will hold a Passage Exercise with the Pakistan Navy ships to enhance interoperability, officials here said.

The visit will promote understanding and mutual trust between the two nations and their peoples, the commander of the Chinese navy fleet, Rear Admiral Shen Hao, said.

Shen said pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will strengthen regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development.

A welcome ceremony was organised as the fleet reached here on a four-day goodwill and training visit yesterday.

Karachi is one of the two major ports in southern Pakistan; the other being the Gwadar Port in Balochistan province, which is being built with Chinese assistance.

Reports have previously suggested that China may potentially use the Gwadar Port as an overseas naval facility.

Experts believe that CPEC and the Gwadar Port would enhance military capabilities of both China and Pakistan, and increase the Chinese navy's access to the Arabian Sea. Having a naval base in Gwadar could also allow Chinese vessels to use the port for repair and maintenance of their fleet in the Indian Ocean region.

Also, the Karachi port lies on the route of the controversial USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that links the Gwadar Port to China's Xinjiang province.

India has objected to the CPEC - which is a part of China's ambitious Belt and Road initiative - as it runs through Gilgit and Baltistan region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Opposition parties' efforts to corner the BJP over the farmers' issue has received a fillip with a BJP ally, who has played a key role in the farmers' agitation in Maharashtra, saying that he will join them in building a nation-wide movement over the matter.

Looking to corner the BJP after two of its ruled states, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, have been hit by protests from the agrarian community, opposition leaders have held a series of meetings to develop a strategy on intensifying their agitation.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who has so far refrained from jumping on to the unity bandwagon of opposition parties, met senior Janata Dal(U) leader Sharad Yadav yesterday as they discussed the issue of building a larger agitation over the farmers' cause, sources said.

The JD(U) leader also wooed over Raju Shetti, a BJP ally and Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra, who will meet Yadav on June 14 in Delhi.

Asked about his move, Shetti, who enjoys influence among farmers in parts of Maharashtra, said he was "unhappy" at the way BJP governments in states and the Centre have handled the issue.

"I am reconsidering my tie-up (with BJP). I am unhappy over their shoddy handling of the issue. I will meet Sharad Yadav to plan a nation-wide agitation in support of farmers' demands," Shetti told PTI.

Loan-waiver and acceptance of the Swaminathan Committee report on farmers are amongst Shetti's key demands.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury held a meeting with Yadav today. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had also met Yadav last week following the death of five farmers in Mandsaur in police firing.

The anger among the farming community is an evidence of "anti-farmers" policies of the BJP, said an opposition leader, adding that it is an opportune moment for them to build a "counter-narrative" against the saffron party which has so far managed to dominate the political discourse due to its impressive electoral victories.

To give their alliance a wider appeal, opposition leaders are also in touch with activists like Medha Patkar, the sources said.

Leaders of various opposition parties, including the Congress, JD(U), the Left, had tried to visit violence-hit Mandsaur earlier this week but were prevented by the state police in fear of worsening the situation.

The BJP has accused opposition parties of doing politics over the death of farmers and said the Modi government has framed several pro-farmers policies and is working to double their income by 2022.
Reuters / Carl Recine Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2V79E

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar today said the Central Bureau of Investigation raided the residence of the NDTV founder recently as he had raised his voice against the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The CBI on June 5 carried out searches at the residence of New Delhi Television (NDTV) founder Prannoy Roy for allegedly concealing a share transaction from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and causing a loss to a private bank.

The action by CBI had drawn widespread criticism from political parties and press bodies.

"(Voice of) the media is being muzzled and raids are conducted on media houses. The CBI raided the chief of NDTV as he is raising his voice against the BJP government," Ajit, the nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, said while addressing a meeting of the NCP workers here.

He also hit out at the Shiv Sena accusing it of adopting "double standards" by being a part of the BJP-led state government and at the same time opposing its policies.

"Sena, which calls itself a tiger, has become a lamb in the state government," he said.

Pawar termed as a "drama" the Sena ministers boycotting a state Cabinet meeting recently over the farmers' issue.

Dubbing the BJP governments at the Centre and state a "failure on all fronts", he said, "Former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had given the slogan of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' whereas the slogan given by the current BJP government is 'Mar Jawan Mar kisan'".

Referring to killings of soldiers on borders and death of the five farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh recently, Pawar said the BJP government is "anti-farmer and anti-people".

He accused the state government of splurging money on advertisements while failing to do anything concrete on ground.

Later addressing a press conference, Pawar said the Devendra Fadnavis government is trying to break the farmers' stir and divide the opposition.

Responding to a query on reports that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) may summon him in connection with an alleged irrigation scam, Pawar said he was not afraid of any inquiry and is ready to face it.

When asked if the NCP will support the Sena in case it withdraws support of the BJP government in the state, he said," there is no question of supporting the Sena".
Pakistani troops resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border in Rajouri and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, prompting Indian troops to retaliate.

Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, heavy automatics and mortars from 1240 hours along the LoC in Naushera sector in Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.

"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

In another ceasefire violation, Pakistan Rangers started firing on forward Border Security Force (BSF) troops in Ramgarh Sector in Samba district along the IB, a senior BSF officer said adding that BSF also retaliated.

During exchanger of fire, Pak Rangers also fired a few small mortar shells. The intermittent fire continued till 1045 hours, he said adding there was no loss or damage so far.

"Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 0920 hours this morning along the Line of Control (LC) in Bhimbher Gali sector in Rajouri," a senior army officer said.

The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on, he said.

"It may be recalled that Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 2030 hours last evening along the LoC in the Krishana Ghati sector," a senior army officer said.

Reports said Pakistani troops also targeted the civilian population and hamlets along LoC in Krishnaghati and Balanar areas of Poonch district triggering panic among the area dwellers.

The Pakistan Army is targeting residential areas and hamlets with 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs triggering fear psychosis as shells are landing deep inside border civil hamlets.

Earlier this month, five Pakistani soldiers were killed and some others injured in the Indian Army's retaliatory action in LoC belt of the Naushera and Krishnaghati sectors.
DECATUR  Leon Pinson purchased a sailboat a year ago. During his maiden voyage on Lake Decatur, he raised the mainsail and immediately ran over a buoy.

But I kept on going, he said.

His determination to master his boat paid off.

After only a year of sailing experience on his 26-S MacGregor, Pinson will embark on a trip much bigger than Lake Decatur  the Atlantic Ocean.

On Thursday, June 15, Pinson will set sail from Newport, Rhode Island, as part of a 5-man crew on a 50-foot Jeanneau 509 boat built in 2012 and christened Isosceles. The boat is owned by Louisiana resident and retired Marine Corps Col. George Aucoin. He will be moving his boat to Europe for four years.

We should average 150 miles a day, Aucoin said.  We have the same duties and same shifts.

Their destination is Kinsale, Ireland. According to Pinson, the trip should take 21 days to cover the 3,000 miles.

But that is the best case scenario, with the proper winds and no adverse weather, he said.

Pinson, 26, gained hands-on experience getting his feet wet on sailing boats. When he started, he had no idea what to expect. He had studied sailing for years but never had the opportunity to sail.

Probably because of geographical issues, said Pinson, who lives in Tuscola.

He and his brother opened their business, Pinson Manufacturing Co., in Arthur last year, around the same time he bought his boat. He accepted the challenge of starting his own business and decided the time was right to buy his boat.

Just trying to live the dream, I guess, he said of his motivation.

Since he had never been sailing, he knew he would need help. He began researching boat clubs and found the Commodore Decatur Yacht Club. The club helped him with more than just knowledge of the water.

It's a good club with a tight-knit membership, Pinson said.

The boat club provides social events allowing new boaters opportunities to ask questions and learn from others.

Greg Ferguson, member of Commodore Decatur Yacht Club, has taught many new boat owners sailing techniques.

The club is a stepping stone, he said. That's what is neat about it. You can learn different types of sailing.

Ferguson remembered when Pinson joined the club.

He showed up with this boat and knew nothing, Ferguson said.

Many Commodore Decatur Yacht Club members have sailed in larger waters. Ferguson said it is not unusual for a boat owner and their boats to travel to Lake Michigan or coastal areas.

But the Atlantic is a different animal, he said.

Aucoin met Pinson online while discussing sailing opportunities.

I posted that I was interested in doing short-term crew opportunities, Pinson said.

Aucoin had experience sailing, having traveled 8,000 miles through the Panama canal and the Caribbean.

Their first sailing trip together was around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in March. Aucoin needed an extra crewman to get through the difficult shoreline.

We had a check-out ride, Aucoin said about their first trip. I wanted to know what he was like. Is he someone I would want to spend time with on a boat?

Pinson learned how to navigate the large boat during the trip. The cruise began in Beaufort, North Carolina, landing in Norfolk, Virginia.

That is pretty much the first place you can make landfall due to the shoals that are there, Pinson said. It's called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. There's been over 5,000 shipwrecks there.

Aucoin was comfortable with Pinson's sailing abilities.

But it's not rocket science, Aucoin said. To understand what needs to be done and maintaining a watch, he did great.

The transatlantic crew chose the ideal time of year for the excursion across the North Atlantic ocean. Although they may find themselves in difficult situations, they believe they should be safe.

We'll know if it's happening, but by then, we wouldn't have anywhere to make landfall, Pinson said.

Pinson said he is confident but knows he is taking a risk. On a lake or bay, the crew can predict wave height, the wind speed and direction and most extreme weather.

But on a three-week crossing like this, we don't have any of those luxuries, Pinson said. You have to go with your gut.
Results of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advanced 2017, was declared at 10 am on Sunday. Students can check their results by following this link: results jeeadv.ac.in.

Sarvesh Mehtani from Chandigarh topped the exam with All-India first rank. Pune's Akshat Chugh followed with a second rank.

Sarvesh who wrote the exam from IIT Roorkee zone scored 339 marks out of 366, in which he got 120 marks in Maths, 104 in Physics and 115 marks in Chemistry. He was ranked 55th in JEE Main entrance examination.

Students had to appear for two papers, paper 1 and paper 2, for the joint entrance exam on May 21 which was conducted by IIT Madras. As many as 1.7 lakh students and more are looking forward to JEE advanced results today.

JEE is one of the toughest examination which needs to be cleared for admissions into graduate level engineering courses in IITs and other centrally funded institutes.

After clearing the JEE (Advanced), students can enter IITs for undergraduate courses, Integrated Master's or Bachelor-Master Dual Degree in Engineering, Sciences, Architecture, or Pharmaceutics.



To access the results go to the official website jeeadv.ac.in

Click on the link given on the home page

Enter the details in the required fields

See your results and rank lists there

Take a printout of the results

Follow five steps to check results-
Indian army soldiers stand guard after suspected militants opened fire at a police convoy on the outskirts of Srinagar April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Ismail - RTX33UUG

Police has arrested a militant of the Kuki National Front (KNF) from Kangpokpi district and a militant of the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) from Imphal East district.

Director General of Police L M Khaute told reporters here today that a team of police commandos led by Additional Superintendent of Police S Ibomcha arrested the KNF militant suspected to be involved in the May 5 killing of two other militants of rival faction Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) from Saparmeina village in Kangpokpi district yesterday.

Khaute said a 0.22 pistol with six live rounds and two mobiles phones were also seized from the possession of the KNF cadre identified as 42-year-old Letkhosen.

The District General of Police also informed that one activist of the proscribed outfit Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), Koijam Warjit (47), was arrested from Thongju Pheija in Imphal East district on June 8 last.

Police also arrested Thoudam Hemchandra Singh, owner of a private company for his alleged involvement in transaction of money on behalf of the banned outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (Progressive) on June 8 last from Khurai Lairikyengbam Leikai in Imphal East district, the DGP added.
Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Movement to save the Narmada), speaks to villagers during a protest in New Delhi on November 11, 2000, against the construction of the Sardar Sarvover Dam. The activists were protesting against the Supreme Court's October 18 verdict to restart the construction work, which is India's biggest dam project. The activists say the project would submerge large areas of land displacing thousands of locals. JSG/CC - RTRAMLC

Social activists Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav were arrested today after they tried to enter Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing during the farmers' stir.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in the neighbouring Ratlam district.

The police told them that their visit could disturb the peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted yesterday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district.

After being stopped, the activists, including JNU students Union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from various farmers' outfits across the country, sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.

Following this, the police arrested the 30 activists under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1 2017.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during the farmers' protest on June 6.
The Dusty Miller that I grew in planters on this years patio garden was the clear champion of the season. Not only did the plants survive a huge deer incursion without suffering a nibble, but theyve also now held up...
Jarrett Coleman goes from school board to statehouse with win in 16th Senate District race
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
NORMAL  At the request of his family, the death of a Special Olympics Illinois athlete will not cast a shadow over the weekend summer games.

Out of respect for the individual, who would have wanted to carry on, thats what we will do, said Dave Breen, CEO of Special Olympics Illinois. We spoke with family members (of the deceased athlete). They felt it was appropriate to go on.

The athlete, a man, died after a medical emergency during a swimming competition Saturday at Normal Community West High School.

Special Olympics Illinois is hosting its state summer games this weekend at several sites in Bloomington-Normal. The agency would not immediately release the athlete's name or cause of death out of respect for the family.

A Special Olympics statement said lifeguards and emergency medical technicians were already at the aquatics center at Normal West as part of event protocol when the incident occurred around 2 p.m.

"After much medical effort by the first responders and medical team at the hospital, the athlete was not able to be resuscitated and passed away," Special Olympics said in the statement.

We have a medical committee that oversees events and EMTs on site at all sports, said Breen. In this case, for swimming and aquatics, we had two certified lifeguards and two EMTs on deck. There were also four police officers present because of their connection with the Torch Run.

He said full medical supplies also are available at all event stations.

A street dance for athletes Saturday evening in uptown Normal was still on, but was to include a moment of silence to honor the deceased athlete.

Our thoughts and prayers go to this family, said Breen.
June 11, 2017 E.J. Magnier - Why ISIS Will Persist Elijah J. Magnier has decades of experience as foreign policy and war correspondent in the Middle East. Here is an excerpt from his latest piece: The danger of ISIS will remain even after the liberation of Syria and Iraq: why? ISIS benefited from immeasurable experiences of sympathisers who chose to join the ranks; doctors, engineers, university degree holders and many from all walks of life, including experts with large competence in propaganda. Those served ISIS and managed to create a regular magazine, radios and short films in many languages. They integrate the widespread electronic games with pictures of battles and killing in real life. An abundance of informative materials emanates daily from ISIS through the Internet to deliver ideas and messages to every home and continent no group ever had access to before.

...

The way mainstream media is handling the war in Iraq and above all the war in Syria has had a devastating role and negative influence on various communities around the globe, mainly those previously considered as passive radicals but who never went into action. The media coverage has encouraged lone wolves and contributed to providing valid reasons for large convoys who joined in the exodus to Caliphate land. The media have helped mislead young people by adopting unverified and fake news related to the war in Syria, and in so doing, disregarded their responsibility towards the profession.

...

In all places, US soldiers were part of the events, on the ground or in the sky participating in regime changes, building military bases and occupying more territories but leaving behind a fertile ground for terrorist organisation to proliferate and grow, like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Still today the US and Europe have not learned from history and still want to occupy territory: they set up four new military bases in Syria and are prepared to plant roots in Bilad al-Sham under the excuse of recovering ISIS-occupied areas. But ISIS will not be totally annihilated and these new occupying forces will face stronger and more experienced insurgency: history will repeat itself.

... More here ... Posted by b on June 11, 2017 at 6:52 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
WTGS to discuss completions from geological POV

Members of the West Texas Geological Society will meet June 13 in the upstairs ballroom at Midland Country Club beginning at 11:30 a.m.

David Hume, president of Integrated Reservoir Solutions at Core Laboratories, will present Completion Planning from a Geological Prospective: Using Core, DFIT and Tracer Data to Improve Hydraulic Fracture Modelling.

Cost is $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Reservations may be made by calling 683-1573 or by email at wtgs@wtgs.org. Online registration is also available at www.wtgs.org and clicking on the Events tab.

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Online auction offers final assets of PPS Operators

BAKERSFIELD, California  A major auction by Tiger Group, in coordination with Network International, will offer the final opportunity to purchase the remaining well production and testing equipment of PPS Operators. Online bidding for the assets will commenced June 8 at www.SoldTiger.com and will close in rapid succession, live auction style on June 15, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

The equipment is located at 1801 E. Pearl St. in Odessa, at 2212 Dwyer Road in Houston, 7401 Rosedale Highway in Bakersfield, California, 195 Hatfield Road, Amity, Pennsylvania and 4710 Cameron St. in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Well production, test and measurement equipment available for sale include more than 110 pressure vessels and separators, many mounted on skids or trailers; five flowback tanks; a trailer-mounted portable production test laboratory; 11 line heaters, up to 1.5m BTU; and much more. A large quantity of temperature recorders, pin pressure recorders, manifold chokes, meters and other items are also available to support field fit-up of equipment.

Rolling stock, some as new as 2012, for sale includes 1/4, 1/2 and 1-ton gas and diesel pickup trucks and service vehicles manufactured by Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. Equipment trailers, cargo and other trailers are also available.

Support equipment up for sale includes a Nissan G9-43A telescopic forklift; a 350-psig refrigeration skid with electric motor; as well as generators, electrical equipment, pressure washing systems, and much more.

For a full catalog of the items offered, go to: www.SoldTiger.com or www.NetworkIntl.com,.

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Exxon subsidiary XTO cuts 67 jobs in Fort Worth

By David Hunn

Houston Chronicle

A subsidiary of Exxon Mobil is cutting 67 jobs at its Fort Worth offices.

XTO Energy, Exxons U.S. onshore exploration and production arm, told the state late last week that the positions were no longer needed at its Forth Worth headquarters, according to a letter from the company.

A spokesman said 40 of the jobs were outsourced custodial and mail service positions. The rest were posts that became redundant after Exxon bought the Bass family companies earlier this year.

The layoffs start Aug. 2 and end by Sept. 2.

Exxon bought XTO in 2010 for about $40 billion, a bet on natural gas and U.S. shale.

Exxon prides itself on having such a strong balance sheet that it does not need to layoff employees during downturns. Still, the company regularly culls its rosters, cutting from 82,000 in 2011 to 75,000 in 2013 to 71,000 last year, according to securities commission filings.

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SemGroup buys Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Co. for $2 billion

By David Hunn

Houston Chronicle

Tulsa oil and gas pipeline, storage and processing company SemGroup Corp. is buying Houston-based Fuel Oil Terminal Co., one of the largest oil terminals in the U.S., and its prime waterfront acreage on the Houston Ship Channel for more than $2 billion.

Investment funds managed by Houston-based Alinda Capital Partners now own the terminal company. The price includes $1.3 billion in stock and cash, plus the assumption of almost $800 million in debt.

The move buys SemGroup a position on the Ship Channel, one of the largest ports in the U.S. and a key oil and gas offloading and processing center. SemGroup lauded the deal as bringing the company a premier position on the Houston Ship Channel with pipelines connecting from all major oil and gas basins to the massive complex of Houston refineries.

The Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Co. assets include 330 acres on the Ship Channel, storage of up to 16.8 million barrels of product, and four existing deep-water marine ports, with potential for a fifth.

This is a transformational acquisition that adds tremendous stability to our business and provides a dynamic platform for growth, said SemGroup President and CEO Carlin Conner.

Conner called the purchase a premier location on the Ship Channel that positions the company to boost export volumes.

SemGroup, he said, will be uniquely positioned to capture the future trends in exporting crude oil and refined products resulting from the near and long-term anticipated growth in U.S. shale production.

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West Virginia top court upholds company's gas pooling

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia's top court has ruled that approval of those holding royalty rights to Marcellus Shale natural gas isn't required for pooling agreements when their leasing rights have been signed away.

The Supreme Court, reversing a lower court, says PPG Industries can pool the nearly 106 acres at issue with about 600 others into a single unit and lease them to Gastar Exploration Inc.

Gastar drilled eight wells in the unit, five of them horizontal and reaching the minerals under 106 acres.

Justice Menis Ketchum writes that the owners of those royalty rights in Marshall County refused to ratify the 2011 lease, asserting their interests were diluted.

However, he says the previous owners transferred leasing rights in 1946, which PPG later acquired.

The court ruling was unanimous by all five justices.
HOUSTON  Halcon Resources Corporation provided production data on its first operated well in the Delaware Basin and provided an update on other Company activities.

Halcons CRMWD 79 #1H well on the southern portion of its Ward County acreage was put online in early May. This well (100 percent working interest) was completed with an effective lateral length of about 5,167 feet targeting the Wolfcamp A interval. The wells current peak 10 day average rate is 1,235 barrels of oil equivalent per day despite flowing back on a restricted choke, with production comprised of about 84 percent oil (2 stream). The wells current 20 day average production rate is 1,038 boe/d. Both the 10 and 20 day peak rates are continuing to increase as the productivity of the well continues to be very strong. The wells latest 24 hour production rate was 1,519 boe/d (82 percent oil) on a 28/64" choke with wellhead pressure of 2,016 PSI. After adjusting for lateral length, this wells early performance is significantly exceeding Halcons type curve EUR estimates for its Ward County acreage of 1,258 Mboe for a 10,000 foot lateral.

Given the successful results of its initial well, the company will exercise its option to acquire 6,720 net acres in the southern tract of its Ward County acreage for $11,000 per acre, on or prior to the option expiration date of June 15, 2017. Halcon also plans to spud a vertical well on the northern tract (8,320 net acres) of its Ward County acreage in the third quarter, expected to be followed by a horizontal well shortly thereafter. As previously disclosed, the company currently expects to exercise its option to acquire this acreage position for $11,000/acre on or before the option expiration date of December 31, 2017.

Halcon also recently closed an acquisition of 3,634 net acres in Pecos County for $88 million. This acreage represents a partners interest in Halcon operated units. Current production associated with this acquisition is about 790 boe/d, and after adjusting for current production at an assumed value of $40,000 per flowing boe/d, this acquisition equates to an effective purchase price of $15,520 per net acre. Separately, the company continues to add additional acreage near its existing positions in Pecos and Ward Counties.

Halcon currently has approximately 41,555 net acres in the Delaware Basin either acquired or under contract at an average adjusted purchase price of $20,342 per acre (assuming a value of $40,000 per flowing boe/d for current production). Halcons Delaware Basin assets are currently producing about 4,500 boe/d net which is well above its forecast for the area. The company plans to continue to run two rigs on its Delaware Basin properties for the remainder of 2017 and will begin completion activities on its first Pecos County well in mid-June with a dedicated frac fleet that will operate for the remainder of the year in the Delaware Basin.

In the Williston Basin, Halcon is currently pursuing a sale of its non-operated assets. These properties currently produce about 2,350 boe/d (91 percent oil) and include 15,600 net acres and over 1,000 gross undeveloped locations across the Williston Basin. Halcon expects to complete this sale later this summer, subject to an acceptable offer.

The company plans to use the anticipated proceeds from the Williston Basin non-operated asset sale, as well as borrowings on its senior revolving credit facility, to fund the Ward County option acreage and other Pecos County acreage acquisitions mentioned herein.
Dear Dr. Roach: I have been tested for skin allergies twice in the past 30-plus years. I am a 71-year-old female in good health. One of the things I tested positive for both times was neomycin (the worst reaction I had was a rash on my foot when using a cream containing neomycin). This is an ingredient in the shingles shot. I've been told by my doctor and the pharmacist that I cannot have the shingles shot. What would happen if I did get the shot? Is it worse than getting the shingles? Are they working on a shingles shot that doesn't contain neomycin? What else can I do to avoid getting shingles?

I've been wondering about this for 10 years.

-- C.M.

A: The shingles vaccine, like several vaccines, should not be given to people with a history of severe reaction to neomycin (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses the term "life-threatening" allergic reaction). While neomycin is a common cause of contact dermatitis (the most likely explanation for the rash on your foot), it generally is not considered to be a contraindication to immunization with neomycin-containing vaccines; the amount of neomycin in the vaccine is very small.

As always, what I say in the column can't override what your doctor tells you. He or she may know more than I do about your particular situation. But I have researched this question and found two sources that have said there has never been a reported systemic contact dermatitis reaction to vaccines containing neomycin.

There is no other effective way of preventing shingles that I know.

Misdiagnosed?

Dear Dr. Roach: I read a recent article saying that many cases of schizophrenia might be misdiagnosed as anti-NMDA encephalitis. Wouldn't this be a good thing for people to know about?

-- M.M.

A: Anti-NMDA encephalitis was first described in 1997. The disease often starts with fever or headache, followed by symptoms that can look a lot like schizophrenia: anxiety, bizarre behavior, disorganized thinking and delusions. However, it is more sudden in onset than most cases of schizophrenia. Also, there are some other clues to the correct diagnosis in most people: seizures, abnormal muscle movements and changes in blood pressure or pulse. The diagnosis should be considered when observing abnormalities in an MRI scan, lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and EEG (brain wave) tests. It is confirmed by finding the specific antibody.

Because of the concern about potential misdiagnosis, a recent study looked at 50 people newly diagnosed with schizophrenia: None of them had the antibody specific for this condition, suggesting that misdiagnosis may not be as frequent as feared. However, it is worthwhile to know about it, because prompt treatment can completely (or nearly so) reverse the condition.

Gastrointestinal distress

Dr. Roach writes: A recent column on explosive bowel movements led to, well, a large number of letters. Despite the fact that the letter writer said she had had a thorough medical evaluation, many readers were concerned that a diagnosis was missed. By far, most advice-givers recommend testing for celiac disease. However, people identified many other causes of gastrointestinal distress, including nondigestible fats and lactose in dairy products. One person noted that her issue finally was diagnosed as pancreatic insufficiency. Several people said their condition was successfully treated with medication to bind bile, such as cholestyramine.

I was touched that so many people wrote in, asking me to contact the letter writer in hopes that their idea could bring some relief.
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 []
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Concho Resources this week hosted a Career Day for Midland students in grades 8 through 12 alongside Midland Independent School District.

The event was held at Conchos headquarters in downtown Midland and students were joined by their teachers and Concho employees who presented on a broad range of career paths, including Engineering, Geoscience, Finance and Field Operations, among others. Tim Leach, Conchos chairman of the board and chief executive officer, joined the students for lunch and discussion.

Career Day was designed to educate students about the unique opportunities that exist in Midland, and in particular in the oil and gas industry, given the unique nature and future growth potential of the Permian Basin.

Leach said, This was a great day for Concho to get together with local students to highlight many of the career paths in our growing industry. Improving the quality of education in our communities is a top priority for Concho, and we believe strongly that supporting our schools and their students is essential to our companys future. With the Permian Basin set to grow significantly over the next decade, we are situated atop one of the most prolific resources in the U.S., creating unique and expanding opportunities for the students in Midland. We look forward to engaging with many talented students about their future in our evolving and technologically-driven industry.
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In the beginning stages of a statewide campaign, Democrat Mike Collier thinks his business background gives him perspective to challenge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Collier said his experience allows him to develop ideas for the future of Texas.

Having a lieutenant governor who is an accountant isnt a bad way to start, Collier said. One of the biggest concerns in the state is where money is being spent.

Collier shared his plans for Texas with about 20 people gathered Saturday at Martinez Bakery. He focused on his public education stance, including his opposition to school vouchers.

We want great public education, Collier said. Has [Patrick] worked on that? Vouchers are not the answer.

Collier also hopes to reform tax policy, which he said currently benefits large companies at the expense of homeowners and small businesses.

The Democrat, who lives in the Houston area, has family ties to Midland. He also worked in the oil industry and hopes to increase funding to the Railroad Commission.

I consider the oil patch my home turf, Collier said. Ive been involved with it for  years. Its important we do it safely.

David Rosen, chairman of the Midland County Democratic Party, thinks Collier can combine his business experience with the duties of lieutenant governor.

Hes not someone whos anti-business or anti-oil, Rosen said. Hes in tune with it.

Collier has experience running a statewide campaign. He ran for Texas comptroller in 2014, a race he lost by more than 20 points, according to the Texas Tribune. He said as a businessman, he doesnt have to risk a political career to run against the lieutenant governor.

I dont have anything to lose and have everything to gain, Collier said. The only way to hold politicians accountable is to run against them.

Collier announced his intentions to run for lieutenant governor in March but plans to officially declare his candidacy this month. He hopes to seek the Democratic nomination and eventually run against Patrick in 2018. While campaigning, Collier said he will host issue-focused tours.

At Martinez Bakery, Collier answered questions about topics addressed in the most recent session of the Texas Legislature, including sanctuary cities and transgender bathroom guidelines.

Collier is the most recent Democrat to bring his message to Midland. U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke of El Paso hosted two events in the city this year to discuss his decision to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
NORTH HAVEN  The North Haven Fair Associations plan for a demolition derby at this years fair probably wont happen due to opposition from the police chief.



In a letter to Land Use Administrator Alan Fredricksen, Police Chief Thomas McLoughlin said he couldnt endorse the event.



Aside from listening to the Fair Associations proposal, reviewing their track design and locations, researching similar events where accidents and injuries have occurred, and being mindful of patron density and parked vehicles, I believe this is the wrong venue for a demolition derby, he wrote.



Jeanne Lewis, a member of the Fair Associations executive board, initially presented the proposal for a demolition derby during a May 1 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. She returned to the commission Tuesday with additional information, but ran into opposition from the board due to the police chiefs letter.



There is a reluctance of the commission to go against his advice, Commission Chairman Vern Carlson said. You can speak to the police chief, but at this point we have no choice but to say no.



During the May 1 meeting, Lewis presented information about vehicle specifications, derby participants and plans for two demolition derby locations. The documents included details about spectator protection, including concrete barriers and netting.



The Fair Association sought to hire Skyfire Productions in Leyden, Massachusetts to produce the demolition derby. Dan Galvis, the companys owner, attended the Tuesday meeting and said his company was very comfortable doing it.



He said videos of demolition derby accidents McLoughlin saw werent related to his events.



They were videos of truck demo rollovers, but theres nothing like that with cars, he said.



Lewis was invited to speak with McLoughlin and return to the next PZC meeting in July with his approval, but she said the derby may not be doable for this year, the clock has ticked pretty far along.



The fair takes place Sept. 7 to Sept. 10 and the demolition derby was planned for two nights, but Lewis said there may not be enough time to plan the event if it isnt approved until July.






Want to have a big career in music  in Madison?

Roy Elkins has some ideas for you.

Elkins  the founder of Madison-based Broadjam, one of the premier Internet-based music companies in the world  is behind Between the WavesMadison Music Festival and Conference happening Thursday through next Sunday near Downtown. Backed by the City of Madison, the conference is designed for people who want to make music their lifes work.

Between the Waves is geared toward performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, entrepreneurs and anyone else interested in the business, Elkins said. The goal: To help Madisons wealth of musical talent stay here, by giving creatives the tools they need to make a good living.

I think (Between the Waves) is going to be very empowering. I think thats one of the things Roy tried to do when he set this up, said Butch Vig, who formerly ran Smart Studios in Madison and is a member of the famed band Garbage, which got its start here. The festival is designed to be extremely educational.

For a $69 conference fee (Madison high school and college students are free), Between the Waves participants can hear talks such as Yes, Your Band is a Business (by Frank Productions CFO and business manager Marla Frank), A Job We Dont Hate: Making Music, Making A Living (by artist and producer DJ Pain 1), Top 12 Recording Tips (by independent producer/engineer Fett) or How to Make an Extra $100K a Year (by author/speaker Martin Atkins).

Madison-based jazz legend Ben Sidran also will talk on how he built a long career in the music business as a do-it-yourself guy.

Being removed from Los Angeles or New York or Nashville, the hubs of the music industry or television and film, I think theres a stigma that you really cant make it in the Midwest, said Vig, who will speak at the conference via Skype while on tour with Garbage.

I did  I ran a studio here for 30 years, and Im from Viroqua, Wisconsin, he said. I think to be involved in an educational conference like this empowers young artists and musicians so they can do it themselves. They can learn the ins and outs of publishing, how to do it the right way. How to get a manager, how to book a tour, how to incorporate your band legally so you can be safeguarded.

Participants can find and follow their own track through the conference, Elkins said.

If youre a songwriter, you can just focus on songwriting. If youre a producer, theres technology classes every hour on the hour for two days, he said.

So no matter what aspect of the music industry youre in, you can come to the conference and get educated by some of the best of the business.

Forty-five polished local bands also will perform Friday evening and through most of Saturday as part of a Between the Waves showcase. The public can attend a number of events, including the weekend shows plus admission to hear top guest speakers Friday and Sunday for a $35 ticket price.

Elkins made the conscious decision to feature only Madison-area bands in the Between the Waves shows this year. Theyll fill stages at the Brink Lounge, Brink Nightclub, Majestic Theatre and High Noon Saloon. The 2017 Madison Area Music Awards will follow the close of the conference Sunday night.

I think, long-term, we hope to have our own pin in the map. When national companies start thinking about where theyre going to market their products, when national acts may want to play here, or even up-and-coming acts, I think long-term, we would like to be a destination, Elkins said.

Ultimately, though, the purpose of this is to promote the Madison music scene. I think were so overlooked because of where we are. We have so much local talent, in every genre. We have a university, a very creative town  so I think we have a real opportunity to turn this into something.

Elkins has been working on the Between the Waves concept for about five years, he said. When he took his idea to the city, I was absolutely impressed how supportive the mayor and the alders were. They really want to create this creative economy in Madison, he said.

The city provided $25,000 in seed money for the event, said Madison arts administrator Karin Wolf.

Ive been in the music industry all of my life, in the technology side of the business. I came out here in 97 to work for Sonic Foundry and fell in love with Madison, said Elkins, who started his DIY (do it yourself) company Broadjam in 1999.

We have 180,000 musicians from 190 countries on our site. They upload their songs, post their music. And Ive been thinking of some kind of gathering (for musicians) for all those years. That was the impetus for it: Just wanting to do something for the local music scene.

The music industry has changed drastically over the past 20 years, mostly because of technology, Vig said.

But that technology has leveled the playing field. The digital revolution has changed the way we record, its changed the way we listen to music. It has changed the way people distribute music, he said.

A kid can make a song on their laptop on Sunday night, and post it at midnight and a million people can hear it in 24 hours. That did not happen 20 or 30 years ago. So it has in some ways taken the power away from the big distribution networks and put it in the hands of the artist. Thats one of the things were trying to talk about at the conference. How do you market yourself on the Internet?

The conference also will stress the huge market available in TV and film, Vig said.

Theres so much content now, not just regular TV channels but like on HBO, Showtime, NetFlix, FX and Bravo  everyone has original programming, and they all want music, he said. There are so many opportunities for bands to get their music out there.

Well over half the 300 spots for Between the Waves were sold by late May; registration is still open at btwmadison.com. Participants can also purchase admission at the door at the conference venue, Gordon Dining and Event Center at 770 W. Dayton St. near the Kohl Center.

I hope its very inspirational to all the attendees. That you can be just the average guy, and make it in the music business, said Elkins, who hopes the conference will become an annual event.

I hope people walk out of this feeling like I can make my living making music. I dont have to become a huge rock star. There are ways to do this. 
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle

A head-on collision early Sunday near Bissonnet and U.S. 59 left one person dead and another injured.

Around 1:20 a.m., a pickup truck was driving the wrong way on the Sam Houston Tollway when it crashed head-on into another car, a Mercedes, Precinct 5 Capt. Kevin Hubbard said. The Mercedes then spun into another lane, where it was hit by a vehicle going in the correct direction.
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GREENWICH -- Sara Lindh, 19, is wrapping up her years stint as an au pair with a family who lives off Greenwich Avenue.

After matching with her host family through Cultural Care, Lindh made plans to come to America last July after graduating from high school. As mid-summer circles back around, the weeks dwindle until her flight back to Vesteros, Sweden, where she lives with her family.

Lindh said in choosing to live in another country -- especially the New York City metropolitan area -- the course of her life has changed in ways she had never expected.

My brother is eight years older than me, Lindh said. Ive always been the little princess, and I felt like I had to leave my home to just prove to them and to myself that  I can do this ... now I'm completely independent. I don't need anyone else and I can do anything.

At home in Vesteros, Lindh said that kids take public transportation to go to school, and get discounted rates so few need to drive. Yellow schoolbuses, she said, are distinctly American.

She took a picture of a yellow schoolbus as soon as she landed in New York City.

For all of us European au pairs, she said, its like, when you see a yellow school bus, you know this is really it. Im here.

Erika Schweiver, 19, is from Germany and was finishing her time in Greenwich when Lindh arrived. Schweiver is now in Los Angeles experiencing the West Coast and working with another family. The two became fast friends, and spoke about how everything is different in America.

I think its very different than we are used to, Schweiver said, kind of like, here in America theres a lot of packages -- like mac-and-cheese. We never ate that stuff in Germany or Sweden. A lot of food is already ready. You just put it in the microwave.

The sizes and structures of houses reflect the differences in cultures as well, Lindh said. Her host familys kitchen has an island in the center with three stools, although there is a mother, father, daughter and son.

But the house is not a small one.

I am so, so grateful, Lindh said, that (my host familys) house is normal-sized. I love it. It still has two floors and a basement, which is still bigger than I'm used to, but I know au pairs, they could yell for the kids in another part of the house and the kids wouldnt hear them.

I wouldnt feel comfortable in a home where I could scream and no one would hear me, she said. And smaller houses seem to not be so common in Greenwich, so I consider myself lucky.

But the way families interact is also different, and the way kids fight for attention -- especially in Greenwich.

If you see a dad with his kid at the playground in Sweden, said Lindh, he wouldnt be on his phone all the time pushing the swing while he's on the phone. Here I see this all the time, and the kid is like, Oh dad! Look at me! Its kind of the same with my host parents and that's why I think my kids are so obsessed with their own technology -- and that's what they think theyre supposed to do.

And that's also, I think that's why kids act a different way here, Lindh said, because they have to make their parents pay attention to them.

After almost a year in the United States, visiting California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois and other states throughout her stay, she can pinpoint what she considers to be key American characteristics -- openness, confidence, extravagance, and being extremely lazy or ambitious.

But much of the cultural differences have now been a part of her life, she said.

Lindhs best friend from home, Madeleine Olofsson, 19, said Lindh has been telling her all about her American adventures since she left home last summer.

I remembered her telling me that the people in the U.S. are so openminded, said Olofsson in an email last week. A stranger on the street can talk to another without being seen as creepy  She told me about when she was walking and a person told her she looked beautiful. She was shocked.

Lindhs first car accident happened at an intersection in Greenwich when a woman pulled out of the BMW dealership with her brand new, white car. The collision left the new car with a cracked bumper.

Lindh also met people through dating websites including her current boyfriend, Olangy Felix, 19, who is Dominican and lives with his family in the Bronx. He plans on visiting her for her birthday in September; she wants to fly back to New York for Christmas.

The differences between Dominican food and Beef Stroganoff, the Swedish and Spanish languages, Felix said, just make their relationship stronger.

I think that because we are so different, this relationship could grow, said Felix. Because its not about how much you have in common but about how many experiences you can share with each other, you know.

I kind of want to spend my whole life with this girl, he said, and I have to find a way to do that.

E: jturiano@greenwichtime.com; T: @jturianoGT; IG: @greenwichgreen
Autumn Driscoll / Hearst Connecticut Media

Griffin Hospitals Community Health Resource Center, 130 Division St., Derby, will host a Read to Grow workshop from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Read to Grow Books for Babies Associate Diane Visconti, will present Family summer reading workshop  funny, sunny and not a lot of money! This workshop will explain how parents are their childs first and most important teachers and how to prevent the summer slide (losing reading skills over the summer). Participants will make books and will receive a free book as well. Parents and children of all ages welcomed.
1 Fugitive lawyer: Someone claiming to be a Kentucky lawyer who disappeared a month before sentencing has contacted a newspaper spelling out proposed terms of his surrender. Disability lawyer Eric Conn faces an outstanding FBI arrest warrant. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports terms received by email included that Conn not be charged with crimes related to fleeing. Conn pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge. His attorney, Scott White, said Sunday he received an email with some of the same details and is convinced it was from his client.

2 Excessive force: A white police officers appeal of his 10-day suspension for using excessive force in the arrest of a black woman and her daughters is set for this week in Fort Worth, Texas. Officer William Martins suspension could be overturned, upheld or modified in the disciplinary hearing scheduled to begin Tuesday. Martin was suspended without pay after the Dec. 21 arrest of Jacqueline Craig and her two daughters. Craig had called police to report a neighborhood dispute before her conversation with Martin became confrontational. A cell phone video showed Martin wrestling Craig and one daughter to the ground. Craig and her daughters were arrested on multiple charges, which were all later dropped.
A benefit is set to be held June 24 in the City of Shepherd to help a family during a father's battle against cancer.

Corey Fuller is a 22-year-old father with a wife and child. He previously worked at a machine shop before April 3 when he became ill.

"We took him in [to the hospital] thinking maybe he just had the flu," said Charla Fuller, Corey's mother.

The diagnosis turned out to not be the flu but instead Philadelphia Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

This form of cancer is known to attack the victim's brain. In Corey Fuller's case, he will also require a bone marrow transplant once he is in remission.

The disease has affected Fuller's family in other areas as well as he is currently not allowed to go to work until 2018.

"He's the only provider and he has a 2-year-old boy and a wife," said Charla.

Corey's wife, Kandace Fuller, is also the only member of his family able to act as his caregiver, which leaves the family without much in the way of income.

The family also has a lot of financial strain because they had just gotten their first home.

"Their very first payment was due April 15 and he was diagnosed April 3," said Charla Fuller. "They solely rely on donations. They have no income whatsoever."

Charla Fuller, along with Kandace Fuller's parents Cindy and Chris Ray, are hosting a benefit for Corey's family on June 24 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Shepherd Community Center.

Those who come to the benefit can enjoy barbecue sandwich plates with chips, a drink and a cookie for $10 each.

The benefit will also include a horseshoe tournament with a $5 entrance fee for each participant. The tournament begins at 1 p.m.

A live auction and a silent auction will also be included. A band is scheduled to perform from 12 to 2 p.m. with a DJ following from 2 to 6 p.m.

For more information, call Charla Fuller at 936-718-5386 or Cindy and Chris Ray at 936-933-7677.
CHICAGO - The groans began as soon as Hillary Clinton came on-screen.

It was the first day of the People's Summit, a progressive conference organized by groups connected to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and an organizer was showing hundreds of activists a video demonstrating right and wrong ways to "build a movement that will win."

The wrong way: Clinton's caught-on-video response at a 2016 fundraiser to a Black Lives Matter protester demanding she apologize for having used the term "super predators" a decade earlier, during her husband's push for tougher sentences for violent criminals. Groans turned to jeers as the video showed the protester being removed.

The right way: Sanders' tactic in an August 2015 appearance of standing back and letting activists who interrupted him at a Seattle rally take over the event. Cheers filled the McCormick Place meeting room, where the People's Summit had convened, as Sanders was shown on the screen talking to BLM organizers.

"That's one way to link different issues up to one movement," said Erin Evans, an organizer at one of Sanders's biggest backers, National Nurses United, who was giving the presentation. "There is a way to bond people through a common vision while at the same time acknowledging that forms of structural violence that some communities undergo are important."

Sanders was introduced by NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro as a politician who had "been rejected by those who control the party and their moneyed interests." Onstage, he congratulated the Labour Party for its gains in the British elections and recounted the wins of his campaign - 2.5 million individual donations, 46 percent of the primary vote, landslides with young voters.

"We may not have won the campaign in 2016, but there is no question that we have won the battle of ideas," Sanders said. "Brothers and sisters, that is no small thing."

Nearly one year after effectively conceding the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders was the star of this year's People's Summit, which has quickly become the country's largest progressive political conference. At least 4,000 people trekked to Chicago for a weekend of teach-ins, panels and dance parties. In a Saturday-night speech, Sanders planned to tell activists to charge ahead because "ideas that, just a few years ago, seemed radical and unattainable, are now part of Main Street discussion."

But as Sanders used his star power to unite activists behind the Democrats, some debated whether the Democratic Party could ever be fixed to their liking. Faced with unified Republican control of Washington, progressives were less interested in simple unity than in a purity that they believed could win.

Much of the discussion at the People's Summit focused on the need to leave "neoliberal" politics in the dust. But there was disagreement about how to do so. On Friday night, activists cheered at a clip of NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro telling California Democrats not to "assume the activists in California and around this country are going to stay with the Democratic Party."

When Clinton's campaign was mentioned at all, it was as a cautionary tale.

"A billion dollars, and they set it on fire!" said CNN commentator Van Jones in a passionate speech. "A billion dollars for consultants!"

There were also comparisons to the surprise surge of the Labour Party in Thursday's British election. Like Sanders, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did not win, keeping Prime Minister Theresa May in power. But May lost her majority, and Labour made gains that defied conventional wisdom.

"It didn't seem like [Corbyn] was talking about how bad Theresa May was, or how stupid those Brexit voters were," said Larry Stafford Jr., executive director of Progressive Maryland, at a panel on post-Sanders campaign organizing. "It seemed like there was a progressive Labour platform. They talked about their ideas; Democrats focus too much on personality."

Candidates for Congress and local offices walked the halls of the convention, signing up activists, who - post-Sanders - felt that any race was winnable if a candidate ran to the left.

"Before the 2016 election, people would show up to the ballot box and cast a vote," said Winnie Wong, a co-founder of People for Bernie, a group that grew out of the Occupy movement. "They wouldn't feel empowered. The agenda was always set by the media and the parties."

More hotly debated was what role Sanders himself would play in crafting the agenda - and whether the Democratic Party was worth saving at all, a topic that played out in common areas and after-parties.

Stephen Jaffe, a 71-year old Sanders supporter challenging House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi for the 2018 midterm elections, spent some of a Friday-night meet-and-greet debating the relevance of the party with would-be supporters.

"If the driver pulls the car into a ditch, you get a new driver," said Jaffe, sporting a campaign button and lapel pin that read "Gave My Last F---."

"What if the car's so banged up that no one wants it?" asked an organizer for a group that aimed to draft Sanders as an independent 2020 presidential candidate.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Sanders reiterated that he had become the Democrats' outreach chair in the Senate; third-party politics in the wrong places would only split the movement, he said.

"Look, as the longest serving independent member of Congress, I know something about that," Sanders said. "Where my energy is right now is in fundamentally transforming the Democratic Party into a grass-roots progressive party. And we'll see where it goes."

But the long hangover from the 2016 campaign has lingered. Melissa Byrne, a Sanders organizer who now serves on the Democratic National Committee's transition committee, said she continues to spend time and energy persuading people not to abandon the party over bitterness about the DNC's perceived slant toward Clinton.

"For the most part, people are past the primary [season]," she said. "There's not one person to coalesce around, so there's a lot of fighting against something, not fighting for one thing. And when you're fighting against something, like Occupy did, it gets messy."

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a freshman who has become the face of the Justice Democrats political action group, which was set up to beat "corporate" incumbents in primaries, said there was such a thing as too much negativity.

"There's a populism that goes after a villain, and there's a populism that's aspirational," Khanna said. "Aspirational populism cuts across the party. It means talking about single-payer health care. It means the bill I'm working on with [Sen.] Sherrod Brown [D-Ohio] to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. Six months ago, people said that was crazy. And now everyone who might run in 2020 is calling and asking if they can endorse it."

In Republican-controlled Washington, and in most states, the ideas are stalled. Sanders, who will turn 79 before the next election, was beseeching people not to wait on him to save them. In Chicago, they obliged.

Naomi Klein, an author promoting a book on how the anti-Trump resistance needs to advance, said at a Saturday panel that the collapse of "neoliberalism" and the unpopularity of the Trump administration has driven the political conversation.

"We're seeing that we were lied to - we're seeing that radical ideas are popular," Klein said. "What's next? Reparations for slavery and colonialism? Worker co-ops at the centerpiece of a democratic economy? Who knows?"
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London

British police have arrested two more suspects over the London Bridge attack, and revealed that the carnage could have been worse had the attackers succeeded in their goal of renting a larger truck, rather than a van, to mow down pedestrians.

The bloodthirsty gang was also shot dead before they could make their way back to the van where their petrol bombs were stored.

London's Metropolitan Police said Saturday that they arrested a 27-year-old man and a 28-year-old man overnight in east London on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. Police have seven people in custody over suspected links to the three attackers who killed eight people on and around London Bridge on June 3.

Police released details of their investigation Saturday as they appealed to the public for information, saying that Khuram Butt, believed to be the plot's ringleader, originally tried to rent a 71/2-ton box truck. The intended truck was smaller but similar to the one used in the Nice attack last year that killed 86 people and injured hundreds in the resort town in the south of France.

After his payment was declined, Butt and his two accomplices rented a smaller van that they used to plow into crowds before they leapt from the vehicle and went on a stabbing rampage in an attack that left eight people dead and nearly 50 injured. It was the third deadly attack in Britain in three months.

After leaving the small white van, the men used 12-inch knives with bright pink blades, according to Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command.

Police also disclosed that more than a dozen petrol bombs and two blowtorches were discovered in the van, and a copy of the Quran opened at a page "describing martyrdom" was found at one of the attackers' houses.

Investigators believe three victims were killed on the bridge, including one man who was thrown into the River Thames, before the attackers left the vehicle and stabbed five people to death around London's busy Borough Market, Haydon said. Police believe Butt was driving the van.

"When I come back to Butt trying to get hold of a 7.5 ton lorry  the effect could have been even worse," he said.

Haydon said the men may have been planning even more bloodshed if they made it back to the van.

Police also found a number of office chairs, gravel and a suitcase in the van.

Detectives believe the gravel may have been placed in the vehicle to make it heavier, or as part of a cover to justify hiring it, while the chairs may have been used to convince family and friends they were moving furniture.

Butt, a 27-year-old Pakistan-born British citizen, and his two accomplices, Rachid Redouane, 30, who claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan, and Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old Italian national of Moroccan descent, were shot dead by armed police eight minutes after the first emergency call.

The three attackers were wearing fake suicide belts consisting of plastic water bottles wrapped in gray duct tape.

Haydon described the pink knives as "pretty unusual" and appealed for anyone with information about where they came from to contact police.

Police raided Redouane's small residence on Tuesday and said he had been renting it since April. This was the safe house where the attack was planned, police said. In the residence, police said they found pieces of cloth which appeared to match material wrapped around the petrol bombs and water bottles similar to those used in the fake suicide vests.
Volunteers have helped to lay the flooring, stock the shelves of the make-believe grocery store and fashion curtains for the do-it-yourself play stage.

Its all coming together at the Black Earth Childrens Museum, a nonprofit founded by an area mom in this village of 1,363 people 30 miles west of Madison.

Its nice to have some positive things happening here, said Cathy Campbell, who along with her 12-year-old son, Casey, has volunteered many hours helping to prepare the museum for its grand opening Monday afternoon.

Hopefully it will spark a little more happening. We dont have a pool  Mazo(manie) has a pool, Cross Plains has a pool, she said. Except for a few parks, theres nothing for the kids to do here.

But soon there will be a bright, 5,000-square-foot indoor space made expressly for children to explore, learn and play in. At the center of the Black Earth Childrens Museum is a vast tree house for climbing, a wall to weave with yarn, a birch bark wigwam to crawl through, and an observation tower based on the real-life ones at nearby Blue Mound State Park.

Still, its largely with a development mission in mind that Karen Carlock is launching the museum, housed in a historic downtown building owned by her and her husband, Aaron.

Black Earth has no restaurant right now, said Carlock, who notes that currently the Shoe Box shoe store is the villages main commercial draw. Were really hopeful that, with families coming in, we can prompt some economic impact.

The museums opening celebration will be catered by the local bowling alley. There will be free museum entry from 4-7 p.m., music by childrens songwriter Ken Lonnquist and a Bubble Wonders show. There was so much interest in a special VIP entry from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday  it got more than 1,000 RSVPs via the museums Facebook page  that Carlock had to scale back that offering to museum sponsors only.

Starting Tuesday, the museum will charge a $6 entry fee for adults and children (free for under age 1; annual family memberships are $95). Carlock and the museums board are estimating at least 6,000 admissions a year.

Right now we have some day cares and school groups that are bringing 60 kids at a time, said Carlock, the mother of three children under age 5.

Interest has come from Richland Center, Baraboo, Sauk City, Dodgeville, even Monroe, Illinois, she said.

We havent had huge donors, and weve been able to get the space filled on a really low budget. I think with low overhead and the numbers that were expecting right now, we should be OK.

Miracle after miracle

The Carlocks have spent about $100,000 on the project, she said. That total includes a new roof and the cost of the building, which also is home to a food pantry and has basement office space for a possible future business.

Eventually, Carlock hopes the museum can add an elevator to allow public use of the buildings second floor; another goal is to offer programming for middle and high school students in the future.

Right now, most exhibits are geared toward children 10 and younger. Theyve been built largely with donated labor and materials, plus the help of more than 75 volunteers.

It will have been one year to get everything off the ground and going. Its been one miracle after miracle of people that have come at the right time to help, Carlock said. The whole community has been incredibly supportive.

Just a week ago, a large whiteboard in the museums front window at 1131 Mills Street listed materials the museum could use and chores that needed to be done, so passers-by knew how to lend a hand.

Helping rebuild

Shellie Benish, administrator/clerk/treasurer for the village of Black Earth, noted that one of the museums byproducts is to offer residents the chance to give back to our community.

Not only will the museum attract visitors to a new destination area for us, but its going to contribute to the local economy through museum admissions, building of new exhibits, daily operations including marketing efforts, wages to employees and through spending by visitors to our local establishments, Benish said.

With the recent recession and everything thats hit Black Earth, its really important for us to rebuild, she said.

And this museum is going to help us do that. Its already created stronger ties with families and individuals and area businesses, and we believe the success of the museum is going to be valuable as a recruiting tool to attract existing and future families. Were super excited to have them here.

The village has settled the lawsuit involving its contentious fight with organic meat processor Black Earth Meats and is also recovering from an embezzlement case involving its former village clerk-treasurer, Benish said.

A handful of small businesses have newly opened, including a hair salon and a karate and fitness studio. A Kwik Trip is being built along Highway 14.

Trip inspires museum

The Carlocks first met while working at Epic right out of college. After Aaron left to start up a health care consulting firm, Vonlay, Karen worked as clerk of the town of Vermont, located right outside Black Earth, so she had more time for their young children.

After the sale of Vonlay in 2014, the Carlocks bought the Mercantile Co-Op building  with no particular plan in place.

My husbands really interested in economic development, said Carlock, 35. So we wanted to do something in this space  maybe a new company. Ive always wanted to do a nonprofit of some kind.

It was on a family road trip to Michigans Upper Peninsula last June that they happened to stop at the childrens museum in Marquette, Michigan.

It was beautiful, because it was all homemade  kind of the way that ours feels, she said. Locally made, (with) input from the community. It felt like a community space.

We were sitting in one of their exhibits, and Aaron and I said at the same time, This is what we could do with the building, she said.

The rest of that road trip, they looked up case studies of how people start these things. In August, we put signs up on the building saying Coming June 2017: Black Earth Childrens Museum.

The Carlocks continued visiting childrens museums across the region  a task their children didnt mind at all, she noted  to see which features were the biggest hits with young visitors. They used that information, along with input from a community open house last October, to outfit the Black Earth Childrens Museum.

Along the way, Carlock met Kay Butcher, a former preschool teacher in Black Earth for 19 years. The two women will share a full-time position at the museum, which will be open daily through the summer.

The staff also will include three part-time employees.

I know the grandmas and the moms and the dads, and all the local kids here, said Butcher, who with her husband Jim helped build the museums birch bark wigwam. So I feel like Im coming back home.
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Front doors swing open across Virginia's picturesque Shenandoah Valley, and Jennifer Brown pops what should be an easy question: Do you plan to vote in the Republican primary for governor?

These are not just any front doors, but those belonging to reliable GOP primary voters, people fired up last year when Brown came 'round on behalf of Donald Trump.

But the response days before Tuesday's gubernatorial primary is often a blank stare - something Democratic door-knockers are also seeing in abundance.

"A lot of people are just not even aware," said Brown, a field director for Corey Stewart, the Prince William County Board chairman in a three-way contest with former Republican National Committee chief Ed Gillespie and state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach). "They're asleep at the wheel."

On June 13, Virginians will pick one Republican and one Democrat to go head-to-head in November's election for governor. The contest is shaping up to be the nation's first competitive statewide race of the Trump era. But it's more than that.

The outcome could point the way forward for two major political parties torn by populist establishment infighting. It will test whether the forces rocking Washington will consume state-level races. And it will show if Democratic fury at Trump materializes at the polls - something that could turn the 2018 midterms into a wave election.

But first comes the primary. And canvassers for the three Republicans and two Democrats competing for the nominations are finding an electorate that seems largely tuned out.

"I tend to think the worst possible place for a candidate to become known is in the middle of the Donald Trump presidency," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. "News out of Washington has become an extraordinary obsession these last six months, and that makes it virtually impossible even for candidates for governor to get all that much media and public attention."

About a month before the primary, fewer than 2 in 10 Democratic and Republican-leaning voters said they were paying "very close" attention to the governor's race and a significant number were undecided, a Washington Post-Schar School poll found.

Shantanu Sharma, of Sterling, has been so upset by the drama on the other side of the Potomac - from "the latest FBI stuff" to the push to ease Dodd-Frank banking rules - that he phones the office of Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., every day.

"I let her know I'm watching," said Sharma, 47, who works in software.

What he hasn't been watching very closely is the Virginia governor's race. Only recently did Sharma tear his gaze from Washington long enough to make a decision in the neck-and-neck Democratic contest between Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former congressman Tom Perriello.

"All these things at the national level have sucked all the local energy out of the room," said Sharma, who after a little research settled on Northam.

The outcome of the Democratic contest will hinge on turnout, political strategists say. Northam would benefit from a smaller electorate made up of longtime party stalwarts, who skew older. A surge of young people and progressives inflamed against Trump could help Perriello. Both campaigns are chasing the African American vote, which could make up as much as 25 percent of the electorate.

The Democratic race probably will turn on the voter-rich Washington suburbs, where neither Northam nor Perriello has a natural base. Northam is from the Eastern Shore; Perriello is from Charlottesville.

As volunteers for those campaigns stormed Northern Virginia last weekend, they encountered some Democrats revved up by Trump. Frank Higgins, a 73-year-old retiree, assured the Northam volunteer on his Dumfries doorstep that he needed no prodding to vote.

"Anyone but Trump," he said. "I don't care what office it is."

But even among fired-up Dems, door-knockers found some who knew little about their choices for governor - or even that a primary was looming.

"I will admit I have been preoccupied with what's going on in D.C., " said Ambrea Watts, 33. "It's surreal; I can't believe what's going on. Every day, it's something else."

Others were intentionally tuning out.

"When Trump won, I gave up watching," said Julianna Senkiyre, 56, who was doing yardwork in Woodbridge when a teachers group came by for Northam.

Voter participation always drops sharply in Virginia's off-year elections, especially for late-spring primaries. In 2008, nearly a million voters cast ballots in Virginia's Democratic presidential primary. The next year, just 319,168 Democrats, or 6.3 percent of registered voters, turned out for the party's hard-fought primary for governor.

This is the first time in Virginia history that both parties are holding contested primary elections for governor on the same day, said Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. (Some years, the parties opt for nominating conventions instead.) That could help boost turnout.

Skelley sees signs of life on the Democratic side, with requests for absentee ballots twice as high in that party's primary as in the Republican contest. Voters have requested nearly as many absentee ballots for Tuesday's Democratic primary as they did for their party's March 2016 presidential primary - 26,783 this year compared with 28,412, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Republicans have requested 13,882 ballots compared with 27,569 for the March 2016 presidential primary.

"That's kind of amazing to me," Skelley said. "Democratic interest seems to be higher at the moment."

The lopsidedness could reflect the relative competitiveness of the Democratic contest: Polls show Northam and Perriello in a tight race while Gillespie has enjoyed a double-digit lead over Stewart and Wagner.

In the homestretch, the candidates are trying to stay visible and get their voters to the polls. Each campaign takes a different approach, depending on financial resources, political ties - and the personalities of the candidates.

The contrast is most stark among the Republicans. Gillespie, the well-funded former Washington lobbyist, political consultant and adviser to President George W. Bush, is tapping into $2.4 million in cash on hand to air TV ads statewide. And he spent $45,000 recently on microtargeting to squeeze the most Republican-leaning eyeballs out of every ad buy. He has eight paid field staffers.

Chris Pierson, 17, knocked on doors for Gillespie last weekend on leafy cul-de-sacs just north of Richmond, but only hit houses that campaign data told him belonged to probable Republican voters. The high school junior was unfailingly polite and risk-averse - like Gillespie himself, who has opted out of some debates, favored controlled settings over public events and avoided weighing in on the Trump administration.

At their doorsteps, Pierson asked voters if they would consider Gillespie and handed them a palm card. He referred anyone with questions to the campaign website. When a woman told him she did not know who she would be voting for, he did not try to twist her arm.

"OKy, you can keep that [palm card], and I hope you have a great day, ma'am," he said.

Pierson found a promising prospect a few doors down. John Sjostrom, 58, was working in his garage and said he had supported Gillespie in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Mark Warner (D) in 2014. And he blasted Stewart for building his bid around the preservation of the state's Confederate monuments, which he thinks is a ridiculous distraction.

"Fix the potholes in Richmond, for God's sake," he said. "It's a false issue."

But when Sjostrom said he had to "check on a few things" before he making his decision, Pierson did not inquire. There was no hard sell. He just offered a palm card and bid the voter a good day.

It has been a different story for the Stewart campaign. With $186,000 on hand as of June 1, it cannot afford much TV and has only a lean staff. Stewart was Trump's Virginia campaign chairman for most of last year before he was ousted for being too outspoken even for that renegade outfit.

He has run as a provocateur, staging rallies for Confederate monuments, slamming Gillespie in harsh online ads and cheering Trump's most controversial moves on Twitter - a cheap but attention-getting approach that has inspired passionate staffers like Heather Mitchell, his Northern Virginia regional director.

"I was at a McDonald's the other day, and I saw a guy with a Trump sticker and a 'deplorable' sticker on his truck," said Mitchell, who started talking to him about Stewart. "By the time I finished our conversation, I handed him a stack of palm cards and he was gonna start handing them out to all of his friends and getting them to vote for Corey."

Wagner, a veteran legislator and former shipyard owner with just $59,000 on hand, has struggled to get noticed. The former Navy diver did attract two TV crews last weekend, when he donned a wet suit and swam five miles of the Potomac River to draw attention to suicides among military veterans.

On the Democratic side, the financial picture is also lopsided - Northam had $1.3 million available as of June 1, while Perriello had $734,000 - but both have enough to air TV ads.

Both also have big-name backing. Northam has a lock on Virginia's elected Democrats while Perriello has nationally prominent progressives.

Northam's team can count on canvassers from the state's gun control, abortion rights and gay rights groups as well as the state's Democratic heavy hitters: on Saturday, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., gathered with Warner and Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) to launch door-knockers for Northam across Northern Virginia.

Perriello has relied on more distant star power, rolling out a TV ad featuring Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a leader of the party's progressive wing. National progressive groups, including the Our Revolution group of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have made calls for him. A phone bank is set to operate for him Sunday, at an activists' gathering called the People's Summit - in Chicago.

As all five campaigns make their final push, some see an opportunity in those blank stares.

"There are people who are saying 'I don't even know about the candidates," said Brown, Stewart's Shenandoah Valley field director. "They can be persuaded. . . . You can rally some people into going and voting."

- - -

The Washington Post's Gregory S. Schneider contributed to this report.
LONDON - Prime Minister Theresa May reshuffled her cabinet a bit on Sunday and mostly kept out of the public eye as she worked to strike a deal with a small party of hard-right unionists in Northern Ireland to prop up her government, which lacks a majority in Parliament.

As May and her representatives wrangled with the Democratic Unionist Party, based in Belfast, her fellow Tories were grumbling that the Conservative prime minister had not only bungled the campaign but was performing poorly in the days after its surprising conclusion on Thursday.

On the Sunday talk shows in Britain, former Tory chancellor George Osborne, now editor of the Evening Standard and a sharp-tongued critic of the prime minister, called May "a dead woman walking" and suggested that she would soon be out of office by next year.

It's just a question, Osborne told Sky News, "how long she is going to remain on death row."

Anna Soubry, a Conservative member of Parliament, said she could not predict when May might go but called the prime minister's position "untenable."

Other Tories, while avoiding such brutal assessments, were more forthright in predicting that the prime minister is unlikely to lead the Conservative party in any future elections.

In the aftermath of a disastrous election for the Tories, it is too early to know what will happen in the coming days to May - and, more important to the global economy, how the Conservative government will approach negotiations over Britain's exit from the European Union, scheduled to begin in a week.

The disruption of recent weeks has not only created worries in Europe, already antsy on the eve of Brexit negotiations, but also appears to have crossed the Atlantic.

President Donald Trump's plans to visit Britain are now apparently on hold, though that may have more to do with his spat with London's mayor following the recent terrorist attack than with the results of the British election.

Trump recently told May in a phone call that he does not want to go forward with a state visit to Britain until the public here supports the trip, according to a report first published in the Guardian newspaper.

The White House call was made "in recent weeks," according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room, the Guardian reported.

Asked whether Trump had spoken to May about postponing his trip to London, which remains unscheduled, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Sunday, "The president has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May. That subject never came up on the call."

May's office said the Trump state visit was still on. "The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K., and there is no change to those plans," a spokeswoman for the prime minister said.

Formal Brexit talks are scheduled to start June 19, the same day as the Queen's Speech, to be delivered by the 91-year-old Queen Elizabeth II from the throne of the House of Lords. The speech, written by May's ministers, includes a list of the laws the government hopes to get approved by Parliament over the coming year.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who pushed for Britain to leave the E.U., but has been absent from the public stage since the election, denied news accounts that he was maneuvering to replace May.

In a tweet, Johnson called the idea "tripe."

Johnson said he is backing May. "Let's get on with the job," he tweeted.

Defense Secretary Michael Fallon disagreed Sunday that May was mortally wounded and said he expected the Tory members of Parliament to support her this week.

May's main opponent, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, appeared on the Sunday talk shows, too, looking either "serene" or "smug" - depending on the commentator's measure of the man. Labour came out of Thursday's election with a substantial growth spurt.

Corbyn said it is "quite possible" that there will be another election this year or early next year. "We cannot continue like this," he said, predicting that even a loose alliance between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland cannot endure.

Another top Labour leader, John McDonnell, said Sunday that May's partnership with the Irish unionists will be a "coalition of chaos."

On Saturday evening, the prime minister's office suggested a deal had been struck for a "confidence and supply" agreement with the DUP, a socially conservative and traditionalist movement. Downing Street said the deal would be revealed Monday to the cabinet.

But Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, said, "Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament."

One of the prime minister's representatives was then forced to put out another statement, explaining that no final deal had been struck and suggesting that talks will drag into this week.

"As and when details are finalized, both parties will put them forward," an official in May's office said.

Tories said the deal with DUP should be completed this week and will include an economic aid package for Northern Ireland and the promise that there would be no referendum on the question of unifying Northern Ireland - a part of the United Kingdom along with England, Scotland and Wales - with the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign nation and a member of the European Union.

Shake-ups - and plenty of finger-pointing - began soon after the election results came in.

On Sunday, May named her cabinet. Most of the ministers remained in their seats. A few were demoted; a few rose. "More reappointment than reshuffle, but it looks like business as usual for a prime minister and maybe that's partly the point," tweeted the BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins.

On Saturday, two top aides of May resigned and a former minister acknowledged that Tories were plotting possible replacements via the messaging service WhatsApp.

The aides who resigned, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, May's fiercely loyal co-chiefs of staff, had been widely blamed within the Conservative Party for the lackluster campaign that ended with the Tories losing their majority in Parliament.

Supporters of a hard exit from the European Union are watching May this weekend for any sign that she might be steering toward a softer departure from Europe's trade and governing bloc.

On Saturday evening, the prime minister's office announced a new chief of staff, former minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his seat in the election.

The choice did not go down well with Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party and a leading force behind Brexit.

Farage on Sunday called Barwell's selection the "worst possible start" for May, because her new chief of staff opposed leaving the European Union and is viewed as squishy on Brexit.

Worse, during last year's referendum on the measure, Barwell called Farage a "racist" who "hates modern Britain."

- - -

The Washington Post's Jenna Johnson in Washington contributed to this report.
Brandon Russell is capable of making a bomb - and he admitted doing so.

Officials believe he also participated in neo-Nazi chat rooms where he threatened to kill people and blow up places.

Investigators found guns, ammunition and white supremacist propaganda in his bedroom, court records say. A framed photograph of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was on his dresser.

Prosecutors believe those reasons should keep Russell behind bars while he awaits trial on federal charges. A judge, however, disagreed and decided that Russell can be released on bond.

In a ruling Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun III of a federal-district court in Tampa said he does not believe there's "clear and convincing evidence" that Russell is a threat to the community. Russell, 21, was charged last month with possession of unregistered destructive devices and unlawful storage of explosive material.

Federal officials found out about Russell after his roommate, a former neo-Nazi who is believed to have converted to Islam, admitted killing two other roommates. Devon Arthurs confessed that he shot his roommates for "disrespecting" his new faith. The 18-year-old also told police that all four of them, who lived in an apartment in Tampa, shared common neo-Nazi beliefs, until he reportedly converted to Islam.

Arthurs was arrested on May 19. Police found his roommates, 22-year-old Jeremy Himmelman and 18-year-old Andrew Oneschuk, with gunshot wounds in the head and upper body. They also found Russell, crying outside their apartment after finding his roommates dead.

Police discovered Russell's bomb-making devices, as well as an explosive known as HTMD (hexamethylene triperoxide diamine), in the garage after searching the apartment, court records say.

Russell admitted to detectives that he's a white nationalist, and that he's a member of a neo-Nazi group called Atom Waffen, German for "atomic weapon." The Southern Poverty Law Center lists it as a hate group.

Russell also told investigators that he used HTMD and the bomb-making devices when he was part of an engineering club at the University of South Florida in 2013, court records say. He said the explosive was used to boost homemade rockets and send balloons into the air for testing. But officials believe HTMD is too strong and volatile for those types of uses.

After he talked to detectives, Russell went to a gun store in Homestead, Fla., where he bought two hunting rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He was later arrested.

McCoun, the federal judge, said in the ruling that Russell's purchase of the rifles and ammunition is concerning, but he did not believe it was enough to deny his request for a bond. Russell, a member of the Florida National Guard, also does not have any arrests or criminal history, and relatives have agreed to allow him to stay with them as he waits for trial. There's also no evidence that Russell used or planned to use the explosive he created, the judge wrote.

It's unclear what the conditions of his release are.

Prosecutors on Friday requested Russell's release be postponed for 72 hours so they have time to submit a detailed motion asking McCoun to change his ruling.

Russell is being held in the Pinellas County Jail.

- - -

The Washington Post's Amy B Wang contributed to this story.
On Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said President Donald Trump should turn over tapes of conversations he had with fired FBI Director James Comey - if they exist.

"He should voluntarily turn them over not only to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but to the special counsel," Collins told Brianna Keilar on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I don't understand why the president just doesn't clear this matter up once and for all," she added.

Almost a month after suggesting that he recorded conversations with Comey in the White House, writing in an early-morning Twitter message that "Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations," the president has yet to definitely answer the question of whether any such tapes even exist.

"I'll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future," Trump told reporters Friday when asked about the existence of any tapes.

Collins, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joins Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee who, with their Democratic colleagues, sent a letter to the White House on Friday demanding the president turn over any recordings with Comey within two weeks.

In her interview on Sunday, Collins added that she would support a subpoena being issued if the White House stonewalled, though she said such an order would likely come from special counsel Robert Mueller and not from the Senate committee.

"I would be fine with issuing a subpoena," Collins said.

On Thursday, Comey testified to the Senate that, in a February 14 conversation in the Oval Office, Trump asked Comey to "see your way clear to letting" go of the FBI investigation into Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Collins said such a conversation was "clearly wrong on the president's part," stopping short of calling it obstruction of justice, a step few Republicans or Democrats in Congress were willing to make on the Sunday morning political shows following Comey's testimony.

"Look, when it comes to something like obstruction, there's a serious legal standard," Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said on CBS's "Face the Nation" when asked if Comey made a case for obstruction of justice. "A good prosecutor looks at the facts and sees if it meets that standard. I'm not going to speculate about that. That's in prosecutor Mueller's hands."

After calling Trump's conversations with Comey before firing him "very inappropriate," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., argued that the president's actions did not rise to the level of obstruction.

"The way that it was handled, with no follow-up, with no other press, with no other return to that topic, It looks like what I called a pretty light touch" Lankford also said on "Face the Nation" in reference to the Feb. 14 conversation. "If this is trying to interfere in a process of any investigation, it doesn't seem like it was, one, very effective and, two, it came up more than once in a conversation."
AUSTIN  Marijuana reform advocates say there was unprecedented, bipartisan support for their efforts in this years legislative session, but it still wasnt enough to change state law.

House Bill 2107, authored by state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, would have given safe access to medical cannabis for qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions under strict conditions listed in the bill. Although it earned 77 Democratic and Republican co-authors after its committee hearing, the bill never made it to the House floor for a vote.

We are going to see a lot more families leave the state of Texas over the next 18 months with children who have neurological disorders. They will move to other states where they can get treatment, said Rep. Jason Isaac, a Republican from Dripping Springs and one of the co-authors.

Amy Lou Fawell, a member of Texas Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, or MAMMA, said multiple parents across the state worked tirelessly to change hearts and minds at the Texas Capitol, and were disappointed that the bill wasnt scheduled for a House debate before the deadline.

A lot of the mothers were conservative mothers themselves. We all needed to change our hearts and minds, but when you have a sick kid, it goes a little faster, Fawell said. We were willing to be open about this. Were proud and crushed at the same time because we know historic progress was done at the Capitol.

The bills Senate companion, Senate Bill 269, authored by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, was never even scheduled for a committee hearing.

Current law limited

Texas passed the Compassionate Use Act in 2015, which allows epileptic patients to use cannabidiol with low amounts of THC, the plant component that gives marijuana users a high, only when federally approved drugs fail. But advocates say the program is too limited and that patients with cancer, autism and HIV, to name a few, would benefit from the program as well. The law in place is also flawed, advocates say, because it directs doctors to prescribe the strict CBD:THC ratio, which puts doctors at risk of losing their licenses since the drug is still illegal under federal law. Instead, doctors should recommend its use, not prescribe, say lawmakers who sponsored the legislation.

HB 2107 would have allowed the use of cannabidiol and other derivatives with higher levels of THC as well as marijuana, but only for seriously ill patients with specified illnesses registered with a compassionate-use registry and only when recommended by licensed physicians registered with the Department of Public Safety, as regulated by the proposed changes. Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana would have been legal for these patients; in some instances, more would have been allowed.

Isaac said the legislations failure shows there is still a lot of work to be done on educating lawmakers about cannabidiol. Because its derived from the marijuana plant, Isaac said, the medical derivative suffers from the same public stigma as the recreational drug.

Its not legalization, its not recreational, its for expanding the Texas Compassionate Use Program to help people with more neurological disorders beyond intractable epilepsy, Isaac said. To help children with autism, to help adults with autism that have found relief in their seizures and their brain activity by taking something thats got a higher level of cannabidiol.

Isaac said some of his constituents already use the drug illegally because the legal option  strong federally approved opioids  put their autistic and epileptic children in a vegetative state, they say.

Fawell said advocates shared with lawmakers the viral video published by Mark Zartler, showing how treatment with vaporized marijuana, while illegal, helped his 17-year-old daughter Kara Zartler, who previously had engaged in self-injurious behavior because of her severe autism.

While the bills didnt pass, Fawell noted that measures allowing for more cannabis use according to patient needs have never come this far and the momentum will be used as a jumping start for 2019.

Decriminalization efforts

Like the medical marijuana measure, a bill that would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana failed but went further than they had in previous sessions.

House Bill 81, authored by Criminal Jurisprudence Committee chairman Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, would have dramatically reduced criminal penalties for marijuana possession by eliminating any jail time or threat of arrest for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The offense would have been punishable with a fine of $250. The offense would not have generated a criminal record, but the drug would still be illegal and law enforcement would still have seized it.

Under the Texas Controlled Substances Act of the Health and Safety Code currently in effect, a person possessing 2 ounces or less of marijuana commits a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and up to six months in jail. In 2015, 61,748 people were arrested for marijuana possession, according to the most recent data from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

HB 81 made it through the committee process and was scheduled for a vote, but lawmakers did not get to it before the midnight deadline in the House.

Heather Fazio, political director for Marijuana Policy Project, said thousands of Texans will be arrested from today until the next legislative session, marked for life with criminal records while wasting resources in the criminal justice system. But, Fazio pointed out, the bill made it to the House calendar this time. Last session, it never made it out of committee.

The stakes are high, Fazio said. Were talking about peoples lives, good government policy and righting the wrong that has been on the books for way too long.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 21 states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. A total of 29 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico allow for comprehensive medical marijuana and cannabis programs.

Protecting parental rights

At later stages of the session, Isaac tried to amend language to House Bill 7, a Child Protective Services bill, to protect parental rights if they administered THC products to their child in the childs best interest. However, Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, author of the 2015 Compassionate Use Act, added an amendment to protect only those parents administering low-THC cannabis valid under current law. The amendment also said Isaacs language would be valid only if HB 2107 passed.

Members read the entire amendment and said, This is about cannabis, this is about legalization, Isaac said. There is still stigmatism by people that create fear and uncertainty when that shouldnt be the case.

In the meantime, Fawell said, supporters will continue to push research efforts during the interim to earn support from as many lawmakers as they can.

After seeing our kids and our families and seeing the Zartler video, how could they not vote for us? How could it not have happened? Fawell wondered.

elutz@express-news.net

@elenamejialutz
Four new City Council members were elected in runoffs Saturday to represent districts in the northern half of San Antonio.

In District 8, lawyer Manny Pelaez defeated homemaker Cynthia Brehm to secure the council post currently occupied by Councilman Ron Nirenberg, who was elected mayor. The North-Central Side race to represent what is believed to be the city's most diverse council district, with a large number of international refugees and foreign-born professionals, has been rocky and contentious, with the candidates exchanging jabs.
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Mayoral hopeful Ron Nirenberg, the outgoing District 8 councilman, has jumped significantly ahead of incumbent Ivy Taylor in early voting results as he fights to unseat the one-term mayor.

Nirenberg secured 53.8 percent of the early vote, while Taylor picked up 46.2 percent. She is trailing Nirenberg by more than 5,000 votes  a difficult gap to close in what likely is a small election day turnout today.

In Nirenberg holds on, it would be a surprising defeat for Taylor, who was elected to her first term two years ago after getting appointed to the seat a year earlier.

While the numbers dont bode well for Taylor, they appeared not to have dampened the evenings mood at the mayors election night event: loud music played and supporters posed for photos in front of a Re-elect Mayor Ivy Taylor sign at the front of the room.

But one person at the party called the mood somber.

Taylor unexpectedly walked into the watch party room at about 7:45 p.m., after huddling with advisers in a back room. Wearing a coral suit, she smiled and posed for photos, hugging well-wishers and thanking them for their support.

Asked by a reporter her thoughts on the early vote totals, Taylor answered, Nights still young. In response to another reporters question, the mayor said she would not be commenting at the moment.

In the two City Council runoffs pitting incumbents against challengers, one appears poised for victory.

In District 1, Roberto Trevino is leading challenger Michael Montano 52.8 to 47.2 percent.

In District 2, voters are favoring challenger William Cruz Shaw, who is leading with almost 56 percent of the vote over incumbent Alan Warrick, who recently admitted to being intoxicated when he was found sleeping on a bench early one morning in front of City Hall.

Across the northern half of the city, voters are electing four new faces to the council. There are no incumbents seeking re-election in Districts 6, 8, 9 or 10.

In District 6, Councilman Ray Lopez has served the limit of four full terms. In the runoff for his seat, Greg Brockhouse, who has previously served as a council aide and had consulted for the San Antonio Police Officers Association during its contract negotiations, secured 54.25 percent of the early vote. Melissa Cabello Havrda, a lawyer, garnered 45.75 percent.

In District 8, conservative homemaker Cynthia Brehm, who led the pack in the May 6 general election, is trailing lawyer Manny Palaez, 56 percent to 44 percent.

In District 9, teacher John Courage, a former Alamo Colleges trustee, led with 52 percent of the early vote, while establishment candidate Marco Barros garnered 48 percent.

In District 10 on the Northeast Side, conservative candidate Clayton Perry received almost 55 percent of the early vote while progressive candidate Ezra Johnson won 45 percent.

jbaugh@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh
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In a decisive victory, Councilman Ron Nirenberg defeated incumbent Ivy Taylor on Saturday, winning the mayor's seat after a divisive runoff election in which Nirenberg questioned Taylor's leadership and the incumbent's campaign painted Nirenberg as "Liberal Ron."

Taylor served just one elected two-year term after she was appointed to the seat in 2014.

Speaking before hundreds of supporters at his campaign headquarters, Nirenberg said he and his campaign exceeded everyone's expectations but their own.

"Tonight, the voters got it right  on a lot of things. Tonight, the voters rejected the politics of division and false choices," he said before a raucous crowd of a few hundred supporters. "And they said yes to a bigger and brighter vision of inclusion, of diversity, of fairness, or respecting each and every person in San Antonio, no matter if you live on the North Side, the South Side, the East Side, the West Side or any place in between. Tonight, the voters said yes to a mayor for all of San Antonio."

Nirenberg, 40, thanked Taylor for her service to the city and said he looked forward to meeting with the new City Council, which will be seated June 22. Nirenberg will preside over a mostly new council, with six incoming freshmen members on the 10-member council.

He'll also likely find allies in council members Rey Saldana and Shirley Gonzales, who both attended his Saturday party, and Roberto Trevino, who won his runoff Saturday as well.

Though Nirenberg has long said he's a political independent who doesn't subscribe to any party, he's been seen as the progressive candidate, while Taylor, who generally votes in Democratic primaries, has been the conservative option.

Nirenberg dismissed the notion Saturday that voters have to make divisive choices.

"(The voters) said we don't have to choose between Democrats and Republicans. We don't have to choose between the economy and the environment," he said. "We don't have to choose between respecting our faith and giving dignity to all people."

At times during his 10-minute speech, Nirenberg appeared almost as a revival tent preacher, making powerful, visionary statements to energized supporters who continually responded with shouts of "yes!" and "that's right!"

Nirenberg introduced his wife, Erika Propser, and their son, Jonah, and thanked his parents and siblings, his friends and mentors and the staff and volunteers who worked countless hours to win the race.

Voters supporting Nirenberg did so in a significant way. In an era of razor-thin victories and losses, the mayor-elect jumped 10 points ahead of Taylor  a margin that surprised even the inner ranks of Nirenberg's campaign.

Taylor, 46, flanked by her husband, Rodney and daughter, Morgan, addressed her supporters just before 9 p.m., conceding the race.

"It doesn't look like it's going the way we anticipated this evening," she said. "But you know what? I am so grateful to God."

Taylor told the crowd not to "be anxious about anything," and quoted a lengthy Bible verse  said in unison by many of those at the party.

"I am at peace," Taylor said. "I am so thankful to each and every person in this room for your support, for your prayers, for being there for me, for Morgan, for Rodney."

Taylor thanked her family, the faith community, and her council staff, proudly detailing her team's accomplishments in her three years as mayor.

"Did y'all know that we got a contract for our police officers?" a confident, almost defiant, Taylor said, to loud applause. The cheers continued with each accomplishment she listed.

"Did y'all know that we have a plan to help guide the growth of our city? Did y'all know we got all the homeless veterans off the street? Did y'all know we passed an $850 million bond?"

Taylor said she remains committed to doing community development work and to connect people to opportunity. Wrapping up her concession speech, Taylor said there was one last thing she wanted to do.

"Y'all know me," she said. "I'm ready to dance!"

Sporting a big smile. Taylor walked off the stage and danced with her daughter and supporters.

Saturday's results ended Taylor's mayoral tenure after she first took the position in the summer of 2014, when she was appointed by her colleagues, partially because she promised she wouldn't run for a full term in 2015.

She ran a successful underfunded, dark-horse campaign then against former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and spent two years growing into the position. In the 2017 race, Taylor raised funds typical of an incumbent, and ran a frontrunner's campaign.

Since 2016, Taylor raised nearly $1.1 million in campaign contributions and spent nearly $1 million. Nirenberg, who spent most of 2016 raising money as a council member rather than mayoral candidate  which meant he could accept no more than $500 from anyone while Taylor could receive up to $1,000 per donor  raised and spent a sizable amount on his mayoral campaign.

But he defeated Taylor with about 70 percent of the resources she had over the same time period.

Some of Taylor's actions may have hurt her re-election campaign. Most recently, in the majority-Hispanic city, Taylor refused to support the city's push to sue the state over Senate Bill 4, the divisive sanctuary-cities crackdown. Though she said she worried about the suit's effect during a special legislative session, her move was widely seen as one taken to appease North Side conservative voters who helped elect her in 2015.

Taylor also took a beating from Nirenberg over a skyrocketing violent crime rate under her watch. He hammered her in a direct-mail piece saying she had a "failed record on violent crime" and that murders, assaults and other violence rose precipitously under the mayor.

And Taylor's runoff campaign, managed by Democratic consultant Colin Strother, took a decidedly negative approach to Nirenberg  in print, on the airwaves and across social media.

Kelton Morgan, Nirenberg's campaign consultant, said he thought it was attempt to draw their campaign down into dirty, mudslinging politics  and they refused to take the bait.

The San Antonio Police Officers Association, which opposed Taylor two years ago, endorsed her runoff bid this year and spent heavily on direct-mail pieces attacking Nirenberg as well.

Some of those attacks attempted to smear the mayor-elect because he was endorsed by former mayors Julian Castro and Phil Hardberger  two leaders generally liked by San Antonio voters.

Castro said gone are the days of slandering San Antonians with the term "liberal." He said Saturday night's results underscore that San Antonio is a progressive city. The Taylor campaign and its surrogates targeted Nirenberg because of his support from the Castros.

"Their clunky attempts to attack Ron by calling him a liberal and linking him to Joaquin and me failed miserably," Castro said. "People can see through those smokescreens."

jbaugh@express-news.net

vdavila@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh

Twitter: @viannadavila
Matthew Busch, For The San Antonio Express-News / For The San Antonio Express-News

Matthew Busch, For The San Antonio Express-News / For The San Antonio Express-News

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Watching his challenger maintaining a strong lead, District 2 City Councilman Alan Warrick sounded prepared to concede at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday

William Cruz Shaw was ahead, 57 percent to 43 percent, with all but four precincts reporting

It looks as though the people of District 2 have spoken, and there's going be a change of leadership, Warrick said in a phone interview.

Warrick pledged to support Shaw to keep the district moving in a positive direction.

At Tony G's Soul Food, where Shaw had gathered with about 150 supporters to await returns, the mood was raucous. The announcement that Cruz was leading with 95 percent of precincts reporting brought loud cheers and chants of Cruz for 2

The work starts now, Cruz told the crowd. This is a grassroots effort. This was a machine built by the community. From Day 1, we were broke, and we went out there and knocked on doors.

The results suggested that Warrick, who bested Shaw by 41 percent to 29 percent in the May 6 general election, may have been hurt by the controversy that embroiled his campaign in recent weeks.

The councilman was found passed out on a park bench outside City Hall May 26 following a night of drinking and initially hinted that someone might have drugged him. He later apologized for his actions, after watching video taken at the bar.

The episode prompted the 39-year-old Cruz, an attorney and former member of the Navy Reserves, to call for the councilmans resignation. The idea was rejected by Warrick, 36, the CEO of World Technical Services Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides employment and training for the disabled.

Saturday, Warrick speculated that the episode had affected the race's outcome.

My gut tells me it had to have had some impact, but I don't know how much, he said. Some people were willing to look past it, but others may not have been.

District 1

In District 1, where more than 6,800 early votes had been cast, incumbent Roberto Trevino was leading first-time candidate Michael Montano by 52 percent to 48 percent.

I think the more people understand the issues, the more they turn out for things like runoffs, so I would say that those who pay attention to my record on the council will turn out, and that will help us over those who are asked to believe in an ever-changing narrative from a challenger, Trevino said Saturday. The article in the Express-News about Montano's Connecticut arrest on voter fraud spoke volumes, and it opened the door for ethics being in the discussion, which is important to any voter.

Montano could not be reached for comment.

Trevino, 46, an architect by trade, outpolled Montano by 17 percentage points in the general election, failing to claim a 50 percent majority  and avert a runoff  by only 113 votes.

Montano, 36, has seen his campaign shadowed by his 2002 arrest on felony charges of voter fraud when he was a senior at Yale University.

City election officials said some 60,000 residents voted early, less than 9 percent of registered voters in San Antonio.

This story will be updated throughout the evening.
San Antonio police officers are searching for two suspects they say shot two people at Northeast Side motel then fled Saturday afternoon.

At least 10 units responded to a call of a shooting in the 9500 block of Interstate 35 North about 5:30 p.m. where they discovered one man and one female had been shoot.
Hospitals in Madison and throughout Wisconsin have provided less charity care in recent years as more people have gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act, with some hospitals directing the savings to disease prevention.

That could change if Congress overturns the law, known as Obamacare, and increases the ranks of the uninsured. And if Medicare payment cuts that helped pay for the laws expanded coverage also remain, hospitals could end up shifting more costs to people with private insurance, officials say.

If you end up with the Medicare cuts and no coverage expansion, thats the worst-case scenario, said Brian Potter, senior vice president for finance at the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

UW Hospital has spent some of the money it saved from reduced charity care to expand nurse calls to patients to get mammograms or colonoscopies and prevent emergency room visits and hospital stays among the chronically ill, said Bob Flannery, chief financial officer for UW Health.

Shifting the burden of charity care  back to providers will really be a problem, Flannery said. Its going to be harder to get those (prevention efforts) done.

Hospitals in Madison and statewide appear to be financially healthy, with operating margins generally at or above the national average, according to a Wisconsin State Journal analysis of hospital data.

The State Journal assessed hospital charity care and other financial indicators as the Senate works on health care reform, following passage by the House last month of the American Health Care Act.

The bill would roll back the Affordable Care Act, which boosted insurance rates beginning in 2014 through subsidized insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion and a requirement that most people be insured.

It would leave 14 million more Americans uninsured next year and 23 million more uninsured in 2026  some of them willingly, freed from the insurance mandate  and some of the countrys sickest people would pay more for health care, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Hospitals costs rising from Medicare, Medicaid

Statewide, charity care  free or discounted care for patients with low incomes  decreased 46 percent from 2013 to 2015, falling from $328 million to $176 million, according to the hospital association.

Bad debt, which occurs when patients not approved for charity care dont pay their bills, went down 34 percent, from $285 million in 2013 to $188 million in 2015.

The main reason for the declines, Potter said, is a similar reduction in the number of residents without insurance. That figure went from 518,000 people in 2013 to 323,000 people in 2015, a 38 percent drop, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While hospitals have saved money from decreases in charity care and bad debt, they have absorbed Medicare cuts that helped pay for subsidies on the health laws exchanges, Potter said. For Wisconsin hospitals, the cuts are expected to amount to more than $2.6 billion over 10 years.

In addition, more people are on Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor. It pays hospitals 65 percent of costs, he said.

The Affordable Care Act moved the bucket from dollars in charity care to Medicare shortfalls and Medicaid shortfalls, Potter said.

Meanwhile, bad debt appears to be rising again, likely because people with private insurance are having to pay more for care through high deductibles and cost sharing, he said.

At Madison hospitals, varying impacts seen

At UnityPoint Health-Meriter, charity care fell from $5.6 million in 2013 to $1.7 million in 2016. But bad debt went up, unlike at most hospitals, and the portion of care provided through Medicaid increased from 13 percent to 15 percent, said Ron Schroeder, regional director of accounting.

Theres no extra money, Schroeder said.

Charity care at SSM Health St. Marys Hospital decreased from $9.6 million in 2013 to $3.6 million in 2016, with bad debt down in 2014 and relatively stable since then. That year, the hospital started an interest-free loan program, which has helped reduce the financial burden on patients with outstanding bills, spokeswoman Lisa Adams said.

At UW Hospital, charity care dropped from $26.2 million in 2013 to $14.9 million in 2016. Bad debt went down in 2015 but increased in 2016.

The charity care savings have been invested in enhancing medical records so nurses can better manage patients with complex needs and remind patients when tests are due, along with other efforts that fall under the umbrella of population health, Flannery said.

The Affordable Care Act reduced the impact of uncompensated care  (and) freed up resources for other uses, he said.

Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, said he hopes other hospitals will spend charity care savings on prevention programs if the number of patients with insurance continues to increase. But if insurance rates fall, as could happen under a repeal of Obamacare, hospitals might shift some of the cost of an increase in uncompensated care to people with insurance, he said.

Over the past five years, the average operating margin has been 4.8 percent at Meriter, 8.1 percent at St. Marys and 7.4 percent at UW Hospital.

Statewide, the average for 2012 to 2015 was 9.7 percent. Nationally, the comparable figure is 6.2 percent.

Experts traditionally have said nonprofit hospitals should have margins of 3 percent to 5 percent. But Potter said the rule of thumb is becoming outdated because hospitals are increasingly parts of larger health systems, which often lose money through other services, such as HMOs, doctor groups, nursing homes and home health.

For 19 Wisconsin health systems in 2015, the average operating margin was 6.3 percent. Thats a more accurate look at how health care is going, Potter said.
The Gospel compels Christians to speak for those without a voice and to advocate for societys most vulnerable members, including those with intellectual disability. For this reason, I feel compelled to speak out on behalf of Bobby James Moore, an individual with documented lifelong intellectual disability who has spent the past 37 years on Texas death row.

While Christians have varying views on the death penalty, hopefully we can all agree no person with intellectual disability should be executed. As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized more than 15 years ago, no legitimate penological purpose is served by executing a person with intellectual disability because such persons do not act with the level of moral culpability that characterizes the most serious adult criminal conduct.

While the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has been reticent to heed this message, it has both the legal and moral duty to do so now. And it should take an important first step here by reforming Moores death sentence to life imprisonment.

As a 13-year-old, Moore lacked a basic understanding of the days of the week, the months of the year, telling time and the concept that subtraction is the reverse of addition. He failed the first grade twice and every grade after that before dropping out of school in the ninth grade. At age 14, his father  after subjecting Moore to years of severe mental and physical abuse  threw him out of the house because Moore still did not know how to read. Moore lived on the streets, eating out of garbage cans and sleeping in a pool hall. He survived largely due to the kindness of strangers.

Then, at age 20, Moore was involved in a bungled grocery store robbery, in which he shot and killed a grocery store clerk. He has spent nearly 40 years on death row for that crime, which we all condemn.

In 2014, a Harris County district court judge held a two-day hearing. After carefully listening to experts and witnesses, Judge Susan Brown applied current medical standards and determined that Moore is intellectually disabled and therefore exempt from the death penalty. She noted that Moore has an average IQ score of 70.66, which is well within the range of intellectual disability. And she found in her lengthy fact-finding that Moores serious mental and social difficulties were very clear from early childhood.

The judges determination that Moore is intellectually disabled and exempt from the death penalty should have been the end of the matter. Instead, in 2015, the Court of Criminal Appeals said that the lower court erred in applying current medical standards in making its determination that Moore was intellectually disabled. Applying nonclinical and outdated medical standards, it decided that Moore was not intellectually disabled and could be executed.

In March, in Moore vs. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically reversed the appeals courts decision. The U.S. Supreme Court carefully reviewed the record. It emphasized that Moores IQ score is clearly within the range of intellectually disabled and that the evidence just as clearly supported that he had significant mental and social difficulties from an early age. The U.S. Supreme Court also strongly endorsed Browns application of current medical standards in concluding that Moore is intellectually disabled. Moores case is back before the Court of Criminal Appeals.

This case presents not only a legal issue but also a moral one. In Moores case, the U.S. Supreme Court questioned why Texas applies current medical standards for diagnosing intellectual disability in other contexts, yet clings to superseded standards when an individuals life is at stake. The appeals court now has the opportunity to chart a new course for how Texas handles intellectual disability claims and ensure that no person with intellectually disability is executed.

Moore is not the worst of the worst, but due to his significant intellectual deficits, he is certainly among the most vulnerable. He is worthy of Gods love and our fair and humane treatment. There is a path forward that affirms Moores innate dignity as a human being, while still ensuring that justice is done. The Court of Criminal Appeals should follow this path and reform Moores death sentence to life imprisonment.

Steve Wells is pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston.
As a policy analyst and atmospheric scientist, we felt the need to respond to Gilbert Garcias recent column attacking U.S. Rep. Lamar Smiths anti-science support for President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, or PCA.

Smith is right to oppose PCA, which has the dubious honor of simultaneously being environmentally worthless for the planet and economically punitive for the United States. In fact, PCA is really more about global wealth redistribution than it is about the climate. The 2016 analysis of PCA by Bjorn Lomborg of the Copenhagen Consensus Center found that even if every single signatory met its nonbinding commitments, global temperatures would be reduced by at most 0.2 degrees Celsius in 2100 relative to the baseline case of no PCA.

Simply put  any impact on the climate produced by this treaty over the next 80 years would be negligible.

Of course, that 0.2 degree reduction is the best-case scenario, possible only if every country meets its pledge. But France, Germany and Sweden are the only countries in Europe pursuing policies to meet their commitments, according to Transport & Environment and Carbon Market Watch. And Germanys emissions have actually increased over the past two years, thanks to the shortsighted decision to close the countrys nuclear power plants.

The American Geophysical Union is already warning that India, the worlds third-largest carbon emitter, has plans for its coal industry that are incompatible with its treaty pledge, which included no emissions commitment. And China, the worlds largest carbon emitter, does not have to begin reducing its emissions until 2030.

Meanwhile, the United States pledged to cut its carbon dioxide emissions 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Thats right  for the next 13 years, the United States would be competing with a self-imposed handicap while the worlds largest and third-largest emitters would be free to spew carbon dioxide with impunity.

According to a report issued in March by NERA Economic Consulting, meeting the pledge made in PCA would cost the U.S. economy about $4 trillion between 2022 and 2031. As our pledges mid-term deep carbonization target constrains the economy significantly, the study concludes, the U.S. economy could lose about 6 percent of its GDP on average between 2034 and 2040, amounting to a loss of greater than $2 trillion annually and a cumulative loss of $14 trillion.

The study also estimates 6.5 million jobs in the industrial sector would be lost by 2040, including 3.1 million manufacturing jobs.

A separate analysis of PCA by the Heritage Foundation concluded the regulations the Obama administration proposed to meet our commitments would result in at least $2.5 trillion in lost GDP and 400,000 fewer jobs by 2035  as well as a 13 percent increase in electricity prices annually and a $20,000 total reduction in income for a family of four.

To put this into perspective, losing $2.5 trillion in GDP is like losing the economic output of the entire state of California, which would mean losing the worlds sixth-largest economy.

President Trump was correct when he said that the PCA was a terrible deal for Americans. PCA was unconstitutional on its face, as it was never ratified by the Senate, and it would have caused this country serious economic pain with no corresponding improvement in the climate.

We are thankful President Trump saw the Paris climate accord for what it is, and we are not surprised Rep. Smith, who understands the science and economics of this issue well, came to the same conclusion.

Jeff Judson is a resident of San Antonio and a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Willie Soon is an atmospheric and solar scientist based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
President Donald Trump recently announced his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.

Unanimously adopted by nearly 200 countries in 2015, the Paris agreement was a historic step forward in the fight against climate change. Every signatory  nations big and small, developing and developed  volunteered to enact an individualized plan to cut their carbon emissions to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.

Trump, his administration and his allies in Congress are making a catastrophic choice out of ignorance and shortsightedness. This move will cause us to lose credibility and make it harder to forge progress on critical security and diplomatic issues ranging from terrorism to trade. And countries will no longer view the U.S. in our traditional leadership role of rallying nations to the common cause of solving big problems  indeed, China and the European Union are already announcing a new alliance for cleaner energy source.

Were starting to look like a country that goes it alone  specifically by turning tail when the going gets tough.

Speaking of tough, the highest price for pulling out of the Paris agreement may well be paid by our men and women in uniform. They are the ones on the front lines defending the very resources contributing to the adverse effects of climate change. In the Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, the U.S. Navy spends $84 billion each year protecting 20 percent of the worlds oil as it is shipped through the straits waters. Securing oil supply lines like these puts their lives at risk, to say nothing of the operational risks surrounding big containers of very flammable liquid and gas fuels in active war zones.

Climate change also causes more frequent extreme weather events, which means more requests for humanitarian aid across the globe; meanwhile, droughts and resource shortages end up strengthening the very extremist groups our troops face on the battlefield. In light of these dangers, the Department of Defense describes climate change as a threat multiplier because it makes the jobs of our troops harder and riskier.

If we choose not to take steps to move away from the fossil fuels of the past and toward the clean energy of the future, we will be condemning our allies, our children and our loved ones in uniform to an increasingly dangerous world  and a world in which the United States is a backward outsider.

As someone who was born and raised in San Antonio, I have tremendous respect for those who commit their lives to serving their country. There is no way to sufficiently express our gratitude to those willing to give their lives for the rest of us. The least we can do is help ensure that we are making their situation safer, not more dangerous. This is why I believe it is so important for all of us to speak against this decision.

So as President Trump tries to tear the United States away from the Paris agreement, we must stand strong alongside our allies, and our men and women in uniform while also demanding a safer, more secure future for our children who will have to live in the world we leave behind.

Simran Jeet Singh is an assistant professor of religion at Trinity University. He is also a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project. The views expressed here are his own.
Volunteers serve selflessly, giving their time and labor to build a better America. Their efforts should be encouraged. Yet President Donald Trumps budget recommends cutting $1 billion in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2018.

This would hurt highly effective programs that serve hundreds of thousands of people and impact tens of thousands of volunteers.

The belief that a cut in funding for the CNCS will provide a cost savings is shortsighted. The corporation backs thousands of volunteers who provide billions of dollars worth of services,

The programs that fall under the CNCS umbrella include AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. Those two agencies provide support for a wide range of service programs, including Teach for America, Foster Grandparents, Senior Companion and the Retried Senior Volunteer Program, or RSVP.

In 2016 alone, more than 1,300 members from the AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team were deployed to seven national declared disasters. The deployments included Texas.

The 2016 annual Volunteering and Civic Life America report by CNCS notes that more than 21 million senior volunteers, 55 and older, provided more than 3.3 billion hours of service in their communities with an economic value of roughly $78 billion. According to the CNCS website, volunteers help communities fill critical gaps in education, health care and other services.

Volunteering helps round out the education of young people, brings together people whose paths may have otherwise never crossed, and provides new challenges and the development of new skills.

Volunteers provide invaluable assistance to individuals and communities across the country.

This should not be a partisan issue. We need to foster growth of volunteer programs, not threaten their funding.
President Donald Trump has feted and praised  just to name a few international disregarders of human rights  the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, Turkish autocrat Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Now, consider: The president is considering reversing a thawing of relations with Cuba because of  you guessed it  that island nations human rights record.

Duterte is thought to be enabling the extrajudicial executions of hundreds of drug users and sellers. Erdogan is efficiently installing himself president of Turkey for as long as he likes while jailing opponents and stifling free expression. And Putin is thought to be behind the murders of opponents, otherwise stomping on dissent and helping Syria murder its own, not to mention meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

Moreover, our biggest trading partner is China, not renowned for its human rights record.

Nonetheless, in the name of human rights, Trump is reportedly considering steps to block transactions between U.S. businesses and Cuban firms with ties to that countrys military. The Cuban military is enmeshed in that economy. Working deals that dont involve it will be problematic.

Trump is also considering tightening restrictions on American travel to the island nation.

And Cuban-American hardliners are asking him to get even tougher  withdrawing diplomatic relations and reimposing all the sanctions lifted by the Obama administration.

Among those asking is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. They are reminding Trump of his campaign promise  made in Florida, among other places  to get a better deal from Cuba, implicitly tied to improvements in its human rights practices.

Mr. President: This is a promise that shouldnt be kept.

The opening up of the Cuban economy will do more to bring freedom to Cubans than any hard line. Moreover, consider the new market for U.S. goods dangling here. Texas, a major exporter among the states, stands to benefit bigly, particularly its agricultural sector. Cuba imports much of its food.

Make no mistake: If the president reverses the thaw, it will be purely for political  not human rights  reasons. It will be about looking ahead to a 2020 election and Floridas electoral votes.

There is too much at stake for the president to go there.
1 Britain bombing: All the suspects arrested in connection with last months Manchester concert bombing have been released without charge, police said Sunday, acknowledging that detectives are still not sure whether the attacker had accomplices. Salman Abedi, a Briton of Libyan heritage, detonated a bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, killing 22 people and himself. Shortly after the attack, police said they had rounded up members of Abedis network. But Greater Manchester Police said Sunday that all 22 people arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses have now been released without charge. Suspects arrested under terrorism laws can be held for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released.

2 Morocco protest: Thousands of demonstrators rallied Sunday in the capital of Rabat to protest corruption and abuse of power. The rally was one of the largest of its kind for several years. The march was also to support recent demonstrations in Moroccos impoverished northern Rif region. It has been shaken by protests since the death in October of a fish vendor who was crushed by a garbage compactor while trying to save fish that officials had confiscated.
Nobody was hurt in a Sun Prairie house fire that resulted in an estimated $250,000 in damage Saturday, the fire department said.

The house, on the 400 block of Robert Drive, caught fire at about 10 a.m. Saturday, said fire department Lt. Becky Gruber.

The house is believed to be a "complete loss," said Thane Westermeyer, assistant fire chief.

The residents and their pets weren't injured, Gruber said. No fire fighters were injured.

While the fire is still being investigated, Gruber said the cause is believed to be accidental.

The back side of the house was engulfed in flames when fire fighters arrived, the fire department said.

High winds cause the fire to spread through the home, Gruber said.

Madison, DeForest, Dane, Deerfield, Columbus, Waunakee and Marshall fire departments helped extinguish the fire, Westermeyer said.

The Salvation Army also provided support, Gruber said.
Lambert here: Of use despite the deceptive headline, which promises a review of health reform in the age of Trump, while the article discusses only the ACA and Republican efforts to reform it, erasing efforts to pass Medicare for All at both the state and Federal level. To be fair, perhaps one should not expect too much from professors of public policy (for some definition of public).

By Thomas Buchmueller, Waldo O. Hildebrand Professor of Risk Management and Insurance and Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan and Helen Levy, Research Professor, Institute for Social Research, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and School of Public Health, University of Michigan. Originally published at VoxEU.

Editors note: This column first appeared as a chapter in the Vox eBook, Economics and policy in the Age of Trump, available to download here.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, was intended to address long- standing problems with the American system of health care and health insurance. Chief among these were spiralling costs and a substantial number of individuals  roughly 50 million in 2010  without any insurance coverage. In addition, the exclusion of employer-paid health insurance premiums from income and payroll taxes raised the spectre of inefficiency along multiple dimensions, potentially reducing job mobility and entrepreneurship while bloating the benefits offered by employers, as well as raising equity concerns about an annual tax expenditure of over $250 billion that disproportionately benefits higher-income households.

In this column, we review the main provisions of the ACA related to insurance coverage and healthcare costs, including what is known so far about their impact. We also discuss the recent Republican attempt to repeal and replace the law, which would have reduced and restructured both the ACAs subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance and the Medicaid programme while eliminating many of the ACAs taxes, largely benefiting the highest-income taxpayers. Although this proposal failed, it is unlikely to be the Republicans last attempt to dismantle the ACA; it thus provides useful insight into the views of the ACAs opponents. We conclude by discussing ongoing challenges that face the US healthcare system.

ACA Coverage Provisions

The ACA took a three-pronged approach to expanding coverage: mandating increased access to employer-sponsored coverage for young adults, expanding Medicaid to all non-elderly adults with very low income, and reforming the non-group health insurance market for those without access to employer-sponsored or other coverage.

The ACA young adult coverage provisions, which took effect shortly after the law was enacted in 2010, require employers who offered dependent coverage to make that coverage available to workers children up to the age of 26.

The ACA Medicaid provisions were intended to expand the programme from one primarily benefiting children and parents in low-income families to one that would reach very low-income childless adults as well, beginning in 2014. Constitutional challenges from multiple states, however, led to a June 2012 Supreme Court decision rendering this expansion effectively optional. As of April 2017, 31 states have expanded Medicaid, while 19 have not.

The ACA nongroup market reforms, which took effect in 2014, are intended to pro- mote competition by establishing regulated competition in a market that had long been hobbled by adverse selection. Insurers can no longer deny coverage or charge consumers higher prices on the basis of health status; premiums charged to older beneficiaries may not be more than three times what younger beneficiaries pay; and policies must cover a specified set of essential benefits. Low- and middle-income beneficiaries without access to employer coverage are eligible for advanceable, refundable tax credits for purchasing coverage in newly established marketplaces. The tax credits are pegged to both family income and the cost of coverage in a local market. Finally, consumers without coverage face a tax penalty (the individual mandate) that provides an additional incentive for healthy consumers to sign up for coverage.

These coverage provisions have sharply reduced the fraction of the US population without coverage (Cantor et al. 2012, Somers et al. 2013, Antwi et al. 2013, Kaestner et al. 2015, Obama 2016, Frean et al. 2017, Zhao et al. 2017). Overall, the share of the non-elderly US population without insurance fell from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2016 (Martinez et al. 2017); see Figure 1.

These gains in coverage have reduced disparities in coverage and financial barriers to care (Sommers et al. 2013, Buchmueller et al. 2016, Courtemanche et al. 2017); increased utilisation of services (Busch et al. 2014, Meara et al. 2014, Wherry and Miller 2016, Miller and Wherry 2017); improved household financial security (Hu et al. 2016); and reduced hospital uncompensated care (Nikpay et al. 2015, Dranove et al. 2016, Blavin 2016). Moreover, despite some concern that the ACA would reduce labour supply or undermine the provision of employer-sponsored coverage, there is no evidence to date that this has been the case (Abraham et al. 2016; Gooptu et al. 2016; Kaestner et al. 2015; Leung and Mas 2016; Levy et al. 2016).

Figure 1 Trends in insurance coverage for non-elderly Americans, 1997-2016

Notes: Data are from the National Health Interview Survey as reported by Martinez and Cohen (2011) and Martinez et al. (2017). Figures represent the percentage of individuals with each type of coverage at the time of the survey. Public insurance includes Medicaid, CHIP, state- sponsored or other government-sponsored health plan, Medicare, and military plans. Private insurance includes plans obtained through an employer, purchased directly or purchased through local or community programmes. Because respondents can report multiple sources of coverage, the figures for a given year add up to more than 100%. The data for 2016 pertain to the period January to September. In all other years, the estimates are based on surveys conducted throughout the year

ACA Cost Control Provisions

The ACA was intended to control costs in two senses: first, by reducing (or at least not increasing) the deficit as projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which was critical to the ACAs political viability; and second, by introducing a variety of policies aimed at changing economic incentives in the healthcare system with the goal of bending the curve of health spending. The ACA succeeded in the first sense, more than paying for the increased spending associated with the ACAs new programmes through cuts to existing programmes (primarily Medicare payments to providers and insurers) and increases in taxes (primarily on very wealthy individuals) over the initial ten-year window scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO 2010).

At this early stage, it is less clear whether the ACA is succeeding in bending the curve of health spending. The ACA introduced a number of programmes to move the Medicare programme away from fee-for-service payments and toward reimbursement systems that better align provider incentives to provide high-value care, such as the shared savings/ accountable care organisation programme and bundled payments for certain services. It is also true that the implementation of the ACA coincided with a period of historically low growth in US health care spending (Council of Economic Advisers 2016); the jury is still out on whether the ACA programmes are, in fact, reducing spending (Doran et al. 2016, McWilliams et al. 2014, 2015, 2016, Nyweide et al. 2015).

One ACA provision that is of particular interest to economists is an excise tax on high- cost employer-sponsored health insurance plans. This Cadillac tax was designed not only to raise revenue, but also to give employers an incentive to consider more efficient benefit designs, and can be seen as a somewhat more politically feasible alternative to limiting the exclusion of employer-paid premiums. Nonetheless, the Cadillac tax remains in political limbo, having been postponed until at least 2020.

Repeal and Replace, Part I: The American Health Care Act of 2017

In March 2017, Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans moved quickly to make good on their promise to repeal and replace the ACA. House Republicans drafted the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA), which proposed major changes to the design of the ACAs tax credits and to Medicaid.

Like the ACA, the AHCA included advanceable, refundable tax credits for the purchase of private health insurance. But whereas the ACAs tax credits are based on income and the cost of coverage, so that most consumers are effectively insulated against large premium increases, the AHCAs tax credits varied only with age, with older consumers getting slightly larger credits.

At the same time, the AHCA would have relaxed the ACAs restriction on charging older consumers higher premiums, so the net impact would have been to raise premiums for older consumers, lower-income consumers, and those living in high-cost areas.

The AHCA would have made even larger changes to the Medicaid programme, changing it from an entitlement for which the financing is split between the Federal government and the states to essentially a block grant model.

The CBO projected that the AHCA would cause the number of Americans without health insurance to increase by 18 million in the first year the policy was in place. By 2026, after the elimination of the ACA Medicaid expansion and of subsidies for insurance purchased through the ACA marketplaces, that number would increase to 32 million (CBO 2017).

Editors note: This column first appeared as a chapter in the Vox eBook, Economics and policy in the Age of Trump, available to download here.

The AHCA can be seen as an attempt to find a middle ground between hard-line conservatives who wanted to repeal the ACA outright and more moderate Republicans who were uncomfortable returning to the pre-ACA status quo. At the time of this writing, the Republican leadership is working to find this middle ground. In March, they chose not to put the bill to a vote when it became clear that it would not pass. In May the bill was modified to make certain parts less objectionable to conservatives, and other parts less objectionable to moderates. Whether this compromise will attract sufficient support in the Senate remains to be seen.

Whats Next?

The Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress must now decide what chapter they will write in the ongoing book of health reform. They may interpret this assignment narrowly or broadly.

A narrow interpretation would lead them to focus on the question what should we do about the ACA? On this question, there are three paths they might take.

The first is to continue trying to craft major reforms to repeal and replace the ACA. The experience with the AHCA suggests that this will be a very challenging task politically.

A second path would be to eschew major legislation in favour of quietly starving the ACA, for example by refusing to actively encourage insurers and individuals to participate in the marketplaces and discouraging additional states from expanding Medicaid. Since Republicans took control of Congress in 2011 they have claimed to be pursuing the first path, introducing numerous bills to repeal or replace the ACA. However, since there was no chance of this legislation being enacted with President Obama in the White House, these bills were political statements rather than serious legislation. As a result, their actual strategy was more along the lines of the second path.

A third path would be to acknowledge that the ACA, from an economic perspective, already represents a moderate, market-based approach to providing coverage to tens of millions of Americans, and to assume a role of stewardship for making these programmes work. This would involve fully funding cost-sharing subsidies for low-income households in the marketplaces (currently under legal attack by House Republicans); enforcing the individual mandate; extending and funding a federal reinsurance programme in order to encourage private insurers to remain in the marketplaces; and working with the 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid to find approaches they can embrace, building on the success of Republican-led states like Michigan and Ohio that have expanded Medicaid coverage through waivers.

There is, however, a broader view that this Administration might take on health reform. This broader view would require them to move beyond the current focus on the ACA to consider the problems the ACA was intended to solve.

The Administration might, for example, try to do more to address the long-run cost problems facing the Medicare and Medicaid programmes. Ideally this would be achieved not simply by pushing costs onto beneficiaries or state governments, but would also include a search for solutions that yield higher value for the governments dollar. These solutions might involve the private provision of publicly-subsidised coverage  as in the ACAs health insurance marketplaces, Medicaid managed care, or the Medicare Advantage programme  or they might involve the design of better provider payment models for publicly provided coverage, as in the ACAs Medicare Shared Savings Program.

The broader view might also include an effort to impose some order on the complex tax treatment of private health insurance. The current patchwork system involves a regressive exclusion for employer-provided coverage, progressive refundable credits for marketplace coverage, and a politically unstable excise tax on high-cost employer plans to be implemented at some future date.

References available at the original post.
Physicists review three experiments that hint at a phenomenon beyond the Standard Model of particle physics Phys.org

Curiosity rover finds its crater was habitable for 700 million years Ars Technica

There are diseases hidden in ice, and they are waking up BBC

The 100 best solutions to reverse climate change, ranked Kottke.org

The Tribes of Climate Change The Paradox Project

Rethink 2% Brad DeLong, Grasping Reality

WTO Faults U.S. on Subsidies to Boeing WSJ

British Airways Flight Outage: Engineer Pulled Wrong Plug Bloomberg. Thats the headline. From the text: [T]he issue remains of how a single technician could cause so much disruption, and why the airlines backup systems failed. So why isnt the headline: British Airways Executives SIgn Off on Broken IT System?

Russian malware communicates by leaving comments in Britney Spearss Instagram account Boing Boing

Syraqistan

UK Election Aftermath

Brexit

Brussels takes a step ahead in Brexit negotiations Institute for Government

China?

Chinas plan to run the world The Week (kfathi).

New Cold War

Putin Pop: A Guide to Russias Most Patriotic Music Genre Eurasia.net (MT).

2016 Post Mortem

US senator Bernie Sanders on socialism and Donald Trump FT

Kill Me Now

Citizen Zuckerberg The Baffler (Re Silc).

Trump Transition

Democrats use Flint residents as props to push phony infrastructure plan WSWS (MT).. It would be nice if socialists understood MMT.

Health Care

Another bite mark exoneration: Alfred Swinton released after 19 years in prison WaPo

Class Warfare

America Made Me a Feminist NYT

Study of the Week: Trade Schools Are No Panacea the ANOVA

Can We Blame the Mafia on Lemons? Atlas Obscura

Antidote du jour:

Critter swimming up the Stillwater yesterday evening.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Two books of a personal and professional interest were presented to Clonmel-born Anne Anderson when she returned to her home town for a civic reception at the Town Hall.

Ms Anderson is Ireland's first female ambassador to the United States, a post from which she will retire next month.

She also had the distinction of serving as the country's first female ambassador to France, the United Nations in Geneva and New York and the European Union in Brussels.

She was born in Clonmel and lived on the Slievenamon Road in the town until she was eight, when her parents Tom and Margaret (Madge) moved first to Kilkenny and then Dublin.

The books- special hardback editions of the history of St. Luke's Hospital in Clonmel from 1834-1984 and a history of St. Joseph's Hospital (now the South Tipperary General Hospital) - were presented to her at the civic reception by Eamonn Lonergan, the former administrator of St. Luke's Hospital in Clonmel.

"The St. Luke's book will be of particular interest to Anne Anderson as Tom Anderson, her late father (who came from Roesboro, near Tipperary town) was on the nursing staff of the hospital for over 25 years", Mr. Lonergan told the gathering.

"Tom came to St. Luke's in April 1935 and held the posts of student nurse, staff nurse, deputy charge nurse and charge nurse.

"Tom resigned from his post in St. Luke's on August 31st 1960 on being appointed head night nurse in St. Canice's Hospital in Kilkenny. He worked for about three years in Kilkenny and moved on further promotion to Portrane Hospital in Dublin.

"When Tom Anderson came to St. Luke's in 1935 the hospital accommodated 837 patients, 383 male and 454 female. There was a small decline during the years of the Second World War.

However in the 1950s overcrowding got progressively worse and in 1958 the hospital accommodated a record high of 903 patients, 508 male and 395 female. The same year 21,075 patients were accommodated in all of Ireland's mental hospitals, which was again a record".

Mr. Lonergan went on to say that there was a direct connection between St. Joseph's Hospital and the Irish diplomatic service in the 1950s and early 1960s.

"In the 1800s, when the hospital was the Clonmel Workhouse, the longest-serving Master of the Workhouse was Michael Boland, from 1874 to 1897. One of his sons, Charles Boland, was a well-known poet and author. Charles joined the civil service and in due course became Commissioner of Valuation.

"Charles was uncle of Frederick H. Boland, who was a distinguished Irish diplomat. Frederick was assistant secretary and secretary of the Department of External Affairs in the 1940s. He served as first Irish ambassador to the Court of St. James in London from 1950-56.

"In 1956 he became ambassador to the United Nations and was President of the General Assembly when he had a well-publicised run-in with the Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev.

His daughter Eavan Boland is a leading Irish poet".

Mr. Lonergan reminded the gathering that Anne Anderson had also served as Irish ambassador to the United Nations.
The EI Regional Enterprise Fund can be key to help the south east make up g round.

That was the message from Frank ORegan, Chairman of the South East Action Plan for Jobs (SEAPJ) speaking after the launch of the 60Mn Enterprise Ireland (EI) Regional Enterprise Development Fund by Mary Mitchell OConnor, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation in Birr Castle last Monday. Mr ORegan, former Vice President of Global Operations with multi-national Baush & Lomb said:

We welcome the launch of the EI Regional Enterprise Development Fund. All of the stakeholders involved in the SEAPJ have been working very hard to develop strong regional projects that will help boost the economic recovery of the region. It is vital that these efforts are now supported with significant financial investment through the Fund.

Projects will be considered under the EI Regional Enterprise Development Fund through an open competitive call. The Fund is aimed at supporting step change projects that can significantly enhance enterprise and job creation across the regions. The Fund was launched against the backdrop of the latest Quarterly National Household Survey (NQHS) results for Quarter 1 2017, announced by the CSO last week, which reveal that while the national unemployment rate has fallen to 6.7 per cent, the South East still has the countrys highest rate of unemployment at 9.3 per cent. There is no other region in the country with an unemployment rate above 8 per cent.

Mr ORegan said: Most other regions are experiencing more of the benefits of the economic recovery, while the South East is lagging behind in terms of job creation. In preparation of the launch of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund, we have been busy preparing detailed business plans for co-operative projects that build on the strengths of the region to boost local job creation. We now need a significant share of the 60Mn to support these projects that in turn will help close the gap that exists between the South East and the rest of the country.

The latest CSO Quarterly National Household Survey results for Quarter 1 2017 show that while there are now over 13,000 more people at work and the unemployment rate for the South East has fallen by 3.5 per cent since the launch of the SEAPJ in 2015, the rate is still too high and running at over 2.5 per cent above the national average. The main objective of the SEAPJ is to create a total of 25,000 new jobs in the region by 2020 and to reduce the unemployment rate to within 1 per cent of the national average. Details of the EI Regional Enterprise Development Fund can be found at www.enterprise-ireland.com/REDF
Next Sunday, children young and old from across Tipperary will come together as a family to celebrate their dads for Fathers Day.

But for many it is also a day tinged with sadness as we remember our dads who are no longer with us.

And then, for some dads, this day is another tremendously difficult milestone as they live on without their precious son or daughter who has died.

Anam Cara, which runs a support group meeting in Thurles for bereaved parents, is asking us all to remember and celebrate our dads this year through their #Daddyandme campaign.

Anam Cara CEO Sharon Vard said. I think Fathers day does not get the same attention as Mothers day as an occasion. Sadly, very often its the same for bereaved Dads with people asking them how their wife and children are, not taking into account that they too are devastated after the death of their child.

Anam Cara are asking people to post pictures with their dads on social media (or if youre a dad, then pics with your children) and to nominate friends and family to post as well. By texting the word REMEMBER to 50300 as you do so, you can make a 2 donation to Anam Cara.

Ms Vard continued: Fathers hold a special place in our hearts, and children hold a special place in every Dads heart. This Fathers Day is an opportunity for extended family and friends to show they support and remember Dads who have experienced the loss of a precious son or daughter. For the general public #Daddyandme is also a great way to show our dads or our kids that were thinking of them.

Anam Cara is an all-island support organisation set up by bereaved parents to support bereaved parents throughout Ireland. There are currently nine Anam Cara groups which meet regularly across the country. Anam Cara is open to all bereaved parents, regardless of the age a child died or the circumstances of the death.

For Dads, Anam Cara has produced a video with testimonies from bereaved fathers (anamcara.ie/videos), as well as a booklet on A Dads Grief which forms part of Anam Caras Information Pack for Bereaved Parents. This can be ordered free by calling 085 2888 888 or by emailing info@anamcara.ie.
The 2016 winner of the Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year award is Shane Fitzgerald fromKilmagemogue, Portlaw, Co Waterford.

The awards were presented by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD in Dublin, on Thursday, June 1.

Shane Fitzgerald completed his Teagasc Green Cert programme at Kildalton Agricultural College. FBD Insurance has sponsored the awards since their inception.

There was a strong Tipperary presence in the final six with one student coming from the county and others studying here. Robert Horan, Foyle, Ballinbarry, Thurles was in the last six.

The First Runner-Up Award was presented to Gary Clarke, Glan, Tuam, Co Galway who studied at the Agricultural College in Mountbellew, County Galway.

The Second Runner-Up Award went to Shane Dolan, Avondale, Kilgarvan, Fardrum, Athlone, Co Westmeath. Shane Dolan attended Gurteen Agricultural College in County Tipperary.

Presenting the awards to the finalists, Minister Michael Creed said: I would like to congratulate the prize winners and all the other students involved. In achieving such high standards, you are well placed to make a strong contribution to the development of the largest indigenous sector in the country. This expanding export orientated sector will benefit greatly from the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm that these young people will bring. I would like to express my appreciation to Teagasc for their commitment to education and training in the agri-food sector and to FBD Insurance for their continuing sponsorship.

Director of Teagasc, Professor Gerry BoyIe said: I wish to congratulate all of the Teagasc Student of the Year finalists, all of whom are engaged in farming. I would also like to recognise the support for more than three decades of FBD in sponsoring the Student of the Year and many other Teagasc initiatives aimed at improving farm efficiency and profitability. Todays finalists, like most Teagasc graduates are, or will become, the owners of a farm. Essentially Teagasc are educating future business owners. How we educate people for the role of business owner will be critically important. From a Teagasc perspective there will be a greater focus on developing the capability of its learners to identify and pursue business opportunities, to look at the world in new ways and to have confidence to adapt to change and challenges. Teagasc education, like all education institutions, needs to reshape education approaches to meet 21st century needs.

The students receiving awards have all completed the Level 6 agricultural education programmes with Teagasc in 2016. The other finalists were:

 Martin Alexander, Ballinacor, The Cross Roads, Killygordon, Lifford, Co Donegal

 Eamonn Gallagher, Cooladurragh, Conna, Mallow, Co Cork

 Linda Hanbidge, Brockna, Kiltegan, Co Wicklow

 Robert Horan, Foyle, Ballinbarry, Thurles, Co Tipperary

 Melissa Jeuken, Green Road Farm, Kilnaboy, Co Clare

 John Kelly, Carrowgillpatrick, Dromard, Co Sligo

 Felicity O'Brien, Goulboy, Kiltimagh, Co Mayo

 Niall O'Sullivan, Upper Froe, Rosscarbery, Co Cork

 Ciaran Taaffe, Funshog, Collon, Co Louth

Tony Pettit, Head of Education in Teagasc said: The Teagasc / FBD Student of the Year award is a showcase of the potential of our young farmers. All of the finalists demonstrated their passion to improve and develop their farms, be they from a big farm, or small farm, or engaged in full time, or part time farming. This years winners represent the confidence and dynamism of the next generation of farmers.

While technical knowledge remains very important, young farmers are becoming much more conscious of the broader skillsets necessary to run and develop a modern farm business. Given the upswing in other areas of the economy we can expect that fewer school leavers will enrol in agricultural education. The challenge for both Teagasc and the farming sector will be to attract people of the calibre of todays winners.
(Natural News) Monsanto has become infamous for covering up the connection between glyphosate  which constitutes 50 percent of its Roundup weed killer product  and cancer, particularly non-Hodgkins lymphoma. When the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determined in 2015 that glyphosate was probably carcinogenic to humans, there was an immediate backlash against the company and multiple lawsuits have ensued. Unfortunately, distributing cancer-causing herbicides all over the world is far from this agricultural giants only sin. Monsanto and fellow Big Agri villains like Syngenta have quietly been destroying global crop diversity, placing themselves in a position where they are poised to control the entire planets food supply.

While the colonization of Africa is supposed to be nothing more than an unfortunate chapter in the history of the continent, the reality is that it has just taken on a different guise. The international aid programs upon which the continent has become reliant are forcing many African countries to become totally dependent on patented seeds supplied by Monsanto, Syngenta and others. In terms of these agreements, the people in these countries may no longer engage in the traditional seed exchanges which have been a part of their cultures for generations.

In Tanzania, for example, new laws have been passed which could mean that anybody selling or even giving patented seeds to friends or neighbors could be subject to fines of up to 205,300  more than most African people can earn in a lifetime. A simple seed exchange could even land someone in jail for up to 12 years, all to protect the intellectual property rights of agri giants thousands of miles away.

If you buy seeds from Syngenta or Monsanto under the new legislation, they will retain the intellectual property rights, explains Michael Farrelly of TOAM, a movement advocating for organic farming in Africa. If you save seeds from your first harvest, you can use them only on your own piece of land for non-commercial purposes. Youre not allowed to share them with your neighbors or with your sister-in-law in a different village, and you cannot sell them for sure. But thats the entire foundation of the seed system in Africa. [Related: For more stories like this visit Twisted.news.]

Though it would seem like African leaders are selling their own people down the river, they really dont have much choice but to pass legislation like this. Such laws are required in terms of a group of G8 agreements which promise aid only if these companies intellectual property rights are jealously guarded.

As a result, the farmers seed system will collapse, because they cant sell their own seeds, warns Janet Maro of Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT). Multinationals will provide our country with seeds and all the farmers will have to buy them from them. That means that we will lose biodiversity, because it is impossible for them to investigate and patent all the seeds we need. Were going to end up with fewer types of seeds.

Tanzania became the beneficiary of one of these G8 blackmail schemes in 2012, when it began receiving assistance under the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN) program. This initiative, which is backed by the E.U., U.K., U.S., World Bank and, of course, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, promised to lift 50 million people out of poverty in 10 different African countries by means of a public-private partnership.

While schemes like these appear brilliant on the surface, the reality is that they give a handful of globalist corporations control of an entire continent by making it wholly dependent on aid, and by moving its people further and further away from their traditional subsistence lifestyles.

Of course, the Tanzanian government insists the new law is there to protect the local farmers so that they can patent their own seeds. As if a nation of people living in poverty without money or access to legal resources would even think of doing that.

Sources for this article include:

WakingTimes.com

MO.be

IARC.fr[PDF]
LENOX, Massachusetts  The Paris accords fate was sealed a year prior to its negotiation, at the little-noticed Lima climate conference of 2014.

There, diplomats abandoned their decades-long pursuit of a binding agreement that would commit the world to substantial reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. A new process of pledge and review, they determined, would govern future talks.

Under this process, each country would submit an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, or INDC, and the sum of those pledges would constitute the agreement. No standards would govern these INDCs, which could promise great achievements or nothing at all. Countries could modify INDCs at will with no consequences for falling short.

So when negotiators reached Paris in December 2015, there was surprisingly little to talk about  and certainly no question if an agreement would be reached. Almost every country had submitted something, and the delegates lacked standing to scrutinize or challenge those submissions. Haggling centered on details of the requirement everyone return each year and evaluate progress.

The theory behind pledge and review was participants would each want to act provided all others acted too, and that peer pressure would lead to stronger pledges over time. But that logic relied on a misunderstanding of what really motivates developing nations. Their rapidly rising energy consumption will account for an overwhelming majority of greenhouse-gas emissions this century. They are pursuing economic growth as rapidly as possible, and in most cases, fossil-fuel infrastructure is the cheapest and easiest source of energy for such growth.

Significantly altering these nations emissions trajectories requires that they slow their growth. Arguments that renewable energy already makes economic sense are beside the point. Where that is the case, nations will adopt them without international treaties.

The premise of a negotiated agreement is to adopt policies that do conflict with economic imperatives for the sake of emissions cuts. Understandably, developing nations whose populations do not yet have access to reliable energy find this trade-off unappealing, and thats true regardless of whether the United States and Europe take bold action or ignore the climate problem.

This direct tension between expanding energy access and reducing emissions, which is unavoidable given the constraints of current technology, always has been central to climate policy  and to the failure of efforts at international cooperation. But Paris did not solve this problem. It simply ignored it by abandoning the expectation of substantive commitments.

Its breakthrough was not in lifting nations to higher levels of ambition, but rather in dropping expectations to the lowest common denominator.

What about peer pressure? Developing nations submitted uniformly meaningless commitments. China promised to reach peak emission around 2030, right when it was expected to anyway. India made no emissions commitment but pledged to improve its energy efficiency, less quickly than it already was improving. Many countries offered no meaningful baseline for comparison. Pakistan only committed to reduce its emissions after reaching peak levels to the extent possible. Yet no one complained.

To the contrary, the United States and the EU, U.N. leaders, climate activists and commentators all bent over backward to emphasize this unprecedented success in bringing the world together. Rather than face criticism for pledges to do nothing, countries received applause. A refusal to take climate action seriously earned the activists seal of approval. Getting the deal, any deal, became the entire point.

This expediency had several disastrous consequences. First, it left the world committed to a global climate accord that did not address climate change. Analysis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated that full compliance with all pledges would reduce temperatures in the year 2100 by only 0.2 degrees Celsius, and even that may have been generous.

Second, it left the United States exposed.

When nations reassembled each year to review commitments, what would they find? Those that had submitted the weakest pledges would appear to be on track or even ahead. But President Obama had promised progress from the American people beyond what even his own policies likely would bring about.

We would be the ones making real efforts and incurring real costs, yet we would be the ones chastised for failing to deliver.

This dynamic is already playing out. Pundits are lauding China for achieving peak emissions far sooner than they pledged, without interrogating whether this says more about the countrys progress or its pledge. Meanwhile, EU leaders look down their noses at the United States, even as their emissions rise and U.S. emissions fall.

Why would the United States remain party to such an agreement? We shouldnt have accepted its terms in the first place, and in an important sense, we didnt. The U.S. Constitution requires the Senate to approve any treaty by a two-thirds supermajority, in part to prevent a president from making rash, politically motivated promises on the international stage that lack consensus support back home. Obama, knowing he did not have the Senates consent, chose to push ahead anyway. If reversing that mistake enrages some foreign diplomats, they have only themselves and their former negotiating partners in the Obama administration to blame.
Bobbi Kristina Brown's ex-boyfriend Nick Gordon has been arrested on two charges, one for domestic violence battery and the other for kidnapping/false imprisonment of an adult in Florida.

The 28-year-old was taken into custody and booked in Sanford, Florida, on Saturday, according to the booking sheet.

TMZ reports that the adult victim is Gordon's girlfriend and that he allegedly beat her up on Friday night, which sent her to the hospital. The outlet also says that the victim filed a police report earlier this morning claiming that Gordon had battered her and not allowed her to leave the house.

Gordon is still under criminal investigation for Brown's death.

Mug Shot Mania



The outlet has also obtained photos of alleged injuries.

In November 2016, a judge ordered Gordon to pay more than $36 million to the family of Brown, two months after he was found legally responsible for her death.

The daughter of Bobbi Brown and the late Whitney Houston died in July 2015, at age 22, after being in a coma for months. She was found face down and unconscious in a bathtub in a Georgia home she shared with Gordon, who she often called her "husband" and who her mother had helped raise.

He denied any wrongdoing and was never charged with a crime. Her estate later filed a $50 million wrongful death civil lawsuit against him.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford said in September 2016 that because Gordon failed to appear on two scheduled court dates, anything alleged by the plaintiff was admitted through omission, 11alive.com reported.
A year after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, the road to recovery continues for many victims - including one Massachusetts native.

Angel Colon, originally from Framingham, Mass., has had four surgeries since being shot six times in the June 12, 2016 massacre. He now walks with the help of a cane.

Colon said it is by the grace of God that he is alive.

"I didn't think I was gonna make it out. Just seeing blood everywhere ... the bodies not moving. (I) had to put my head down," Colon recalled on NBC's Sunday Today. "I don't know how I had the strength to not scream, not move when he shot me again."

Colon said his focus right now is advocating for gun violence prevention. In September, he was on Capitol Hill working with New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey trying to lobby for legislation that would set new standards for who would be able to buy a gun or have access to one.
A passenger jet heading toward England was diverted to Germany on Saturday after three men on board were heard talking about terrorism, NBC News reported.

Authorities conducted the controlled detonation of a backpack as a precaution, police said.

Three men were detained after the easyJet flight from Slovenias capital Ljubljana to London Stansted Airport made an unscheduled stop in Cologne, a spokesman for the German Nordrhein-Westfalen police said.

Passengers told staff they heard men were talking about terrorism, which lead to the stop in Germany. The exact wording of what was said was not immediately available.

Authorities are awaiting more analysis about what was inside the backpack they exploded. It has not been determined that it contained explosives, police said.


A sole winning Powerball ticket worth $447.8 million and matching all six numbers was sold in southern California and will claim the 10th largest lottery prize in U.S. history, lottery officials said Sunday.

The winning ticket was sold at Marietta Liquor & Deli in southern California's Riverside County, about 80 miles south of Los Angeles, according to a release posted on the California Lottery's website. Lottery officials said the earliest the ticket could be redeemed is 8 a.m. Monday. The winner has one year to claim the prize.

The lucky numbers drawn Saturday night were 20-26-32-38-58, and the Powerball number was 3.

Powerball spokesman Randy Miller said the estimated jackpot prize is based on a winner choosing an annuity, which pays off over 29 years. The cash prize would be $279.1 million. Both prize amounts would be before taxes are deducted.

Before the drawing Saturday night the jackpot was estimated at $435 million. The jackpot had grown because no one had matched all the numbers since April 1.

The odds of winning Saturday's drawing were only one in 292.2 million.

California Lottery officials said the retailer where the winning ticket was sold will receive a $1 million "retailer bonus."

Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The search is over for a 17-year-old Meriden boy who had been missing since being swept into the Connecticut River Sunday. His body was found Tuesday morning.

Jay Agli was swept into the Connecticut River in Haddam when he jumped in to save his 19-year-old sister, according to officials from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Police said state troopers responded to the Haddam Meadows boat launch a little after 5 p.m. Sunday to find the teen.

DEEP officials said Agli and another family member jumped into the river to save his sister and all three were swept away by the current. Authorities said it is likely that a wake swept the sister off a sandbar.

A boater picker up the sister and the other family member, but there was no no sign of the 17-year-old until 11:45 a.m. Tuesday when the state police dive team found him south of Haddam Island, off Haddam Meadows State Park, near where he went into the water Sunday.

Coast Guard said Monday that they believe the teen probably could not have survived based on the cold water temperature and the time thats passed.



"All of them were taken by the current. A passerby in a vessel came and rescued the 19-year-old sister and another family member. The 17-year-old victim we're searching for was not recovered," Colonel Kyle Overturf, of DEEP Environmental Conservation Police, said.

Firefighters said this can be an especially dangerous time of the year to be in the river, with its strong currents and steep drop-offs, and they recommend that people swim in pools rather than in the Connecticut River.

"What may seem tranquil on the surface may not be what's happening underneath," Chief Robert Kronenberger, of Middletown Fire, said.

Officials were also trying to contact the boater who helped, asking the person to call 860-424-3333.

The State Police Dive Team, along with the state police helicopter, Trooper One, EnCon Police, U.S. Coast Guard, Haddam Fire Department, and Middletown Fire Department and Dive Team were all involved in the search.

People around the park Sunday said it was busy with people boating and cooling off in the water and regulars said the river can be tricky in the area.

There's a very strong current on the outside of the sandbar, so you have to be very cautious when deciding to swim off the sandbar," said Amanda Katie Santos, of New York.

EnCon police continue to investigate and the state medical examiner will determine the cause of the teen's death.
Just as they do every week, the Baitul Ikram Mosque in Allen opened their doors to curious non-Muslims, wanting to ask questions about Islam.

We wanted to show support to the Muslim community, said Betheny Reid of Dallas.

Reid and her husband spent time speaking with Suhail Kausar, the president of the Dallas Muslim community chapter. She did not know that earlier in the day, protesters and counter-protesters squared off at the Mosque in Richardson.

We say: love for all, hatred for none, said Kausar.

Kaurar said protests against Sharia, Islam or Muslims makes their weekly outreach programs all the more important.

People when they are protesting probably do not know what the real Islamic teaching is, he said.

Rick Loessberg people often fear the unknown.

As we discovered we have far more in common than we give ourselves credit for and we seem to concentrate with the differences rather than the similarities, he said.

The other thing I took away from it was something very simple about treat others how you want to be treated, said Reid. Theyre very much a part of the community. They love being part of this community. They love being Americans.

The Baitul Ikram Mosque in Allen is hosting an inter-faith event next weekend and welcomes the public to attend.
Election results for some of the key runoff races in North Texas, June 11, 2017.

Arlington City Council - District 3

Marvin Sutton and Roxanne Thalman edged out two opponents in the May General Election to square off in Saturday's runoff. The pair are trying to fill the seat vacated by six-term councilmember Robert Rivera who announced last November he would not seek a seventh two-year term. In the general election, Sutton secured 44 percent of the vote to Thalman's 35 percent.

Arlington City Council - District 5

Incumbent Lana Wolff is going for her eighth two-year term on the Arlington City Council. First elected in 2003, Wolff served as Mayor Pro Tem frsom 2008-2011. In the May General Election Wolff failed to secure more than 50 percent of the vote, leading to the runoff against challenger Dakota Loupe.

Carrollton Mayor

Kevin Falconer and Steve Babick are fighting to replace Carrollton Mayor Matthew Marchant, who is leaving the office after hitting a term limit. Marchant was first elected mayor of the city in 2011 and was reelected again in 2014. Falconer had an 18 point lead in the May General Election, but didn't reach the necessary 51 percent to avoid a runoff.



Dallas City Council - District 6

In the fight to represent West Dallas, incumbent Monica Alonzo, who is also the current Mayor Pro Tem, is in a runoff with challenger Omar Narvaez. Alonzo and Narvaez were the top two finishers in the May General Election where there was a field of six candidates vying for District 6. Should Alonzo win, it'll be her fourth term on the Dallas City Council.

Dallas City Council - District 7

Six candidates challenged incumbent District 7 Councilwoman Tiffinni Young for the District 7 seat. With only 37 percent of the vote in the General Election, Young failed to avoid a runoff and now has to once again earn more votes than Kevin Felder if she hopes to win her second term.

Dallas City Council - District 8

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson is in a runoff with Tennell Atkins. Atkins edged Wilson in the General Election by five percentage points, but failed to get the more than 50 percent needed for an outright win.



Dallas ISD - District 2

Challenger Lori Kirkpatrick was one percentage point shy of defeating incumbent Dustin Marshall in the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees Place 2 race in the May General Election. Kirkpatrick earned 50 percent of the vote to Marshall's 47 percent. Marshall has served on the Board of Trustees since June 2016.

Farmers Branch Mayor

Longtime Farmers Branch Mayor Bob Phelps is ending his second run as mayor. Phelps served 12 years as mayor during his first run and then another two terms during his second. Harold Froehlich and Robert Dye are in the runoff for the open seat. In the May general, Froehlich secured 9 percent more of the vote than Dye, but needed another 8 percent to avoid the runoff. Dye, 33, responded to the Dallas Voice this week and apologized for a racial slur used 13 yeas ago during a DUI arrest. Meanwhile, Froehlich has been accused by a current Farmers Branch City Councilmember of taking bribes, according to a report in The Dallas Morning News.

Fort Worth City Council - District 2

After six terms, Sal Espino is retiring from the Fort Worth City Council. Four challengers looked to fill his seat in the May General Election, but none earned more than 50 percent of the vote. That means Carlos Flores and Steve Thornton are facing of Saturday in a runoff.



Keller Mayor

In Keller, Mark Mathews is stepping down after one three-year term as mayor. In the May General Election, Pat McGrail earned 50 percent of the vote, but needed 51 percent to avoid a runoff with Rick Barnes.
Protesters of Islamic law and counter-demonstrators expressing support for Muslims clashed verbally Saturday, prompting police to step between them, as dozens of anti-Shariah rallies took place around the country.

The dueling demonstrations unfolded across the street from each other in lower Manhattan on a day as heated as both sides' views. A man collapsed under the piercing midday sun while watching a speech at the anti-Shariah ACT for America rally. He was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition later Saturday, rally organizer Pax Hart said.

The anti-Shariah demonstrators yelled "commie scum!" and counter-protesters shouted "Nazis!" as the two sides squared off, after some of the counter-protesters crossed the street and approached the rally. Officers quickly positioned themselves between the two groups. There were no immediate reports of any arrests.

While many Muslims liken Shariah to other religions' laws that guide the faithful but don't supercede the rules of secular societies in which they may live, some states have been concerned enough to pass legislation prohibiting the use of foreign law in state courts.

"This is not an anti-Muslim event," Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice Media and founder of a group called the "Proud Boys," told the rally audience. "It's an anti-Shariah event."

Participants worried that Islamic law could influence U.S. courts and harm women, among other concerns.

"We don't want it imposed in this country," said Merav Levi, an Israeli immigrant.

She said she doesn't hate Muslims but was concerned about domestic violence and "honor" killings of women deemed to disgrace their families; such killings occur in parts of the Muslim world.

Counter-protesters said the rally was stoking unfounded fears and stirring racism.

"No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here," they chanted, accompanied by horns, pots and pans.

"The theme of today is drowning out racism," Tony Murphy said. "The more racists get a platform, the more people get attacked."

While people came and went from both groups, at noontime dozens of anti-Shariah protesters faced scores of counter-demonstrators across the street.

There were many similar demonstrations across the country Saturday.
A San Diego woman wounded in a shark attack in late April says shes focused on healing and reuniting with her children who want to be back with their "mommy."

My kids have visited me a few times and cant wait for their mommy to be back home. For now, I need to focus on healing so I can get back to my family as soon as possible, Leeanne Ericson wrote in an online post on a fundraising page established by her family to help cover her medical expenses.

As of Saturday afternoon, her GoFundMe page had raised just shy of $90,000.

Ericson said in her online post that she was grateful for the generous donations toward her recovery and for the "kind, heartfelt comments" from the community.

"Im still currently in the hospital recovering the best I can considering the nature of my injuries. Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla has done an amazing job at helping me get my life back," she continued.

Ericson said she's not sure how much longer she will be hospitalized but she's on the path to a "successful recovery." She said she'd like to tell her story once she's in rehabilitation.

A few days ago, Ericson's mother, Christine McKnerney-Leidle, said in an online update that her daughter had started walking, taking 40 steps in the hospital.

A woman seriously injured in a shark attack is still in critical condition but is able to nod her head in response, a doctor said. NBC 7's Artie Ojeda has more on the story.

We hope she will be in rehab soon and then home after that, McKnerney-Leidle's post read. She is staying strong, and positive she wants to thank all of you for your support and prayers. God bless you all.

On April 29, Ericson was airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla after being attacked by a shark in the waters off San Onofre State Beach, near Camp Pendleton, in San Diego's North County.

The shark attack took place at San Onofre State Beach, located off Interstate 5 at Basilone Road, about 3 miles south of San Clemente, California, and 58 miles north of downtown San Diego.

A trauma surgeon with Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla gives an update on the recovery of Leeanne Ericson, a woman attacked by a shark at San Onofre State Beach last weekend.

The beach was closed to the public for several days following the shark attack. It reopened, but throughout May authorities issued warnings at the beach after reported shark sightings near the same area where Ericson had been attacked.

According to investigators, Ericson was camping with her boyfriend when the couple decided to go in the water on the evening of April 29. Ericson swam while her boyfriend surfed next to her at a favorite spot at the beach.

The victims mother, Christine McKnerney-Leidle, said the couple saw a seal in the water and Ericsons boyfriend turned to swim out to a wave. Just then, Ericson disappeared from the waters surface.

San Onofre State Beach -- where a woman was attacked by a shark over the weekend -- will reopen to the public on Wednesday. In the early morning, there were already cars lining up to park at the beach and surfers itching to get back into the water. NBC 7's Gaby Rodriguez reports.

The woman was attacked by a shark approximately 10 feet in length who ripped through the back of Ericsons leg, tearing out all the muscle from her knee to her hip. The shark just missed the victims major arteries, McKnerney-Leidle said on Facebook.

As Ericson was dragged into the water, her lungs filled with foam and debris. She was airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla just before 6:30 p.m. that evening.

Ericson survived the shark attack, but her road to a full recovery will be painful and lengthy.

In early May, a trauma surgeon treating Ericson gave an update on the woman's condition, saying she was awake and able to answer questions by nodding or shaking her head. At that point, Ericson was still on a breathing tube.

The young mother suffered a significant injury to her right buttocks and upper right leg and significant blood loss, doctors said.

Leeanne Ericson was in a medically induced coma Sunday night at Scripps Memorial Hospital, her mother Christine McKnerney Leidle said. She and Ericsons step-father spoke with NBC 7 about the moments after their daughter survived a shark attack on San Onofre State Beach.

She has had surgeries to clean up the wounds and to control bleeding; in early May, doctors said more operations would be needed.

Doctors had also started the process of reconstructing the victims leg.

Ericson works for a local credit union, Pacific Marine Credit Union. The company has opened an account to collect donations to help the victim in her recovery. Donations can be made at any Pacific Marine Credit Union branch, or by mail. Checks can be made payable to:

Support Leeanne

C/O Pacific Marine Credit Union

1278 Rocky Point Drive

Oceanside, CA 92056

Her family also continues to run this GoFundMe page, which as of Thursday, had raised nearly $89,000.

Last year, there were an estimated 59 shark attacks across the U.S., according to data collected by scientists at the University of Florida.

On Thursday morning, authorities issued a 24-hour shark advisory at Coronado's Silver Strand State Beach after two surfers spotted a shark, possibly a great white. The shark was said to be non-aggressive and the surfers were not hurt in the encounter.
A San Diego County man was arrested Saturday in Oxnard after allegedly kidnapping and smuggling a woman into the country from Mexico and demanding money from the victim's husband.

Cesar Solis, 36, was arrested for several felony charges including extortion, criminal threats and kidnapping.

At approximately 4:19 a.m. on Saturday, authorities received a call about a kidnapping. Solis allegedly called the victim and stated that the victims wife had been kidnapped and smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, according to the Oxnard Police Department.

The suspect then told the victim he would release his wife in Oxnard in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash.

As the husband was being interviewed by officers, he received several updates from the suspect regarding his wife's location. The suspect ultimately gave the victim a vehicle description and a location to meet.

Officers responded to the location and found a vehicle that matched the description. Officers located the woman and the suspect. She was not injured, but she said the suspect threatened to kill her if her husband did not arrive with the money.

Solis was arrested and also charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. He has a prior robbery conviction out of San Diego County, police said.
A Lynwood man who spent 20 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murder has announced his campaign to represent California's 51st Assembly District.

Francisco "Franky" Carrillo said in a statement Thursday that he aims to fill the seat formerly occupied by Jimmy Gomez, who was elected to Congress Tuesday. California Governor Jerry Brown has yet to set a date for the special election, NBC4's media partner KPCC reports.

"Im running because I believe that every family deserves an advocate who is dedicated to helping them triumph over the challenges and unfairness in their lives," Carrillo told KPCC reporter Matt Bloom. "I believe I will serve as a beacon of hope and optimism, but even more importantly, I will serve as a fighter for fairness and justice."



Carrillo's decision to run for office comes nearly a year after receiving a $10.1 million payout from L.A. County for his wrongful conviction for the 1991 drive-by shooting of Donald Sarpy.

In 2011, Carillo's conviction for Sarpy's murder was reversed by a judge after he had served 20 years in state prison, according to Carrillo's spokesperson Roy Behr.

Behr added that after a five-year investigation, witnesses of the 1991 murder admitted that they had been coerced to falsely accuse Carrillo.

After the new evidence was presented in court, a judge dismissed all charges against Carrillo and released him at the request of the prosecutors, Behr said.

Carrillo was initially arrested at the young age of 16 and later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the Lynwood murder.

While incarcerated, Carrillo taught himself law and maintained his innocence, Behr said.

According to Carrillo's statement, after coming home, he earned a college degree, started a family and became an advocate for justice and equal opportunity.

"Because of my experience, I am uniquely positioned to represent families who are struggling to earn a living, find good schools for their children, and maintain faith in the face of adversity," Carrillo told Bloom. "I know firsthand what it means to face hardship, and how important it is to know you have an advocate in your corner.

Read more at KPCC
Federal agents seized $570 million worth of chemical used to manufacture the powerful opioid fentanyl from a storage facility in Massachusetts, they announced Friday.

The 50 kilograms uncovered is potent enough to make up to 19 million fentanyl pills, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by Worcester, Northborough and Westborough police, seized the fentanyl precursor, N-Phenethyl-4-piperidinone, from a Northborough storage center on May 25.

N-Phenethyl-4-piperidinone is commonly used in the illegal manufacture of fentanyl.

The DEA said this is the agency's largest seizure of a fentanyl precursor in New England in recent years.

No further information about the seizure was immediately available.
President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans to undo Obama-era Cuba policies in Miami next Friday, a source with knowledge of the visit told NBC 6/Telemundo 51.

Trump will travel to Miami to detail the plan, which has been in the works for weeks. The location of the announcement has not been made public.

Several sources told NBC News last week the White House's plan to reverse U.S.-Cuba policies. Trump would announce the rollback in an executive order, citing human rights abuses on the communist-run island, according to NBC News.

The rollback is unlikely to completely sever diplomatic ties or shutter the U.S. Embassy in Havana, but it would prohibit business with the Cuban military, according to a Trump administration official and a person involved in the ongoing policy review.

Towards the end of former President Barack Obama's term, policies were changed to allow travel from the U.S. to the isolated country, and reauthorized U.S. businesses to operate in Cuba. Obama's approach to Cuba was one of engagement, his administration arguing that isolationist tactics would not fix Cuba's communist government.

In January, the Obama administration ended the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which allowed any Cuban who made it to U.S. soil to stay and become a legal resident. He did this in an effort to treat the citizens of Cuba like every other country.
While President Donald Trump's beliefs about global warming remain something of a mystery, his actions make one thing clear: He doesn't consider it a problem for the federal government to solve.

Trump's recent decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal was just his latest rapid-fire move to weaken or dismantle federal initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, which scientists say are heating the planet to levels that could have disastrous consequences.

Trump is waging war against efforts to curb U.S. dependence on fossil fuels. He's done that through executive orders targeting climate change programs and regulations, massive proposed spending cuts and key appointments such as Scott Pruitt as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency.

To what degree Trump will succeed remains to be seen. Despite the fanfare of his Paris announcement, including a pledge that his administration will halt all work on it, formally removing the U.S. from the accord could take more than three years. Rescinding the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama's signature measure to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants, likely would require three years. Trump's budget, which would slash funding for climate research and assistance to cities preparing for weather-related calamities, needs approval from Congress, where resistance is strong.

Still, the sharp change in course is being felt in ways large and small, down to the scrubbing of climate change information from federal agency websites. Environmentalists are predictably outraged. Even some Republicans are taken aback.

"This is a repudiation of 45 years of steady improvement in the enforcement and rigor of laws to protect the environment in the U.S.," said William K. Reilly, who led the EPA under President George H.W. Bush and is chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund.

Trump's administration reversed Obama's moratorium on leasing federal lands for coal mining, joined with Congress to kill protections of streams from coal mining waste, stopped tracking the federal government's carbon emissions and withdrew a requirement for more emissions data from oil and gas facilities. A rollback of automobile fuel-economy standards is under consideration. His proposed 2018 budget would cut climate and energy research spending in numerous agencies, including a two-thirds reduction at EPA.

Trump is hardly the first president accused of favoring businesses over the environment. His belief in easing the regulatory burden on them is firmly in the Republican mainstream.

What sets him apart is his zealousness and public dismissiveness of the scientific evidence showing the Earth is warming and man-made carbon emissions are largely to blame.

"This is more extreme than any previous Republican president  this is their old set of sentiments on steroids," said David Doniger, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "There's no orderly, reasonable inquiry into whether something makes sense and should be left in place."

At one point, Trump labeled global warming a "hoax" concocted by the Chinese to gain an economic edge over the U.S. Aides recently have sidestepped questions about whether he accepts the widely held scientific view about climate change.

A White House statement issued this past week in response to questions from The Associated Press did not specify whether Trump believes the planet has been steadily warming, or say to what extent human activity such as burning of fossil fuels is responsible.

"The president believes that the climate is always changing  sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Pollutants are part of that equation," the statement said.

"The Trump administration is laser focused on clean water and clean air but also on better jobs for more and more Americans ...," it added. "America cannot stand by and have the rest of the world take our wealth and tax dollars to clean up their own environment while American businesses and American families suffer the consequences in the form of lost jobs and a diminished quality of life."

Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who led the administration's EPA transition team, said Trump and key advisers don't necessarily reject climate science but don't believe the threat "should be placed in the list of the top 50 things we should be worried about."

Frustrated climate researchers say the opposite is true. They point to record-setting high temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and increasingly violent storms  trends that models suggest will only worsen.

But attacks on such findings from climate change doubters have taken their toll. Public trust in mainstream science and other institutions has eroded, and lines between fact and ideology have blurred, said David Victor, a Brookings Institution specialist on energy security and climate.

Trump could encounter trouble if his retreat from the climate fight doesn't restore lost jobs in coal mining and energy production, Victor said.

The president has made reversing the decades-long decline in coal mining the central tenet of his environmental policy, blaming federal regulations for job losses. Federal statistics show coal mining accounted for only 51,000 jobs nationally at the end of May, up just 400 jobs from the prior month.

Many economists say technology and cheap natural gas are the biggest causes of the coal industry's slump. But Trump's focus on regulations remains popular in coal country.

"We support the direction the administration is going," said Betsy Monseau, CEO of the American Coal Council. "It's very important to us over the longer term to preserve a path for coal and coal utilization in this country."
Authorities have arrested six people and are searching for a seventh in connection to a prostitution ring operating out of Asian massage parlors across Florida.

The 13 parlors spanned from as south as Naples and as north as Tallahassee.

The seven will be charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, money laundering and deriving proceeds from the support of prostitution.

We are focused on conducting interviews to determine whether human trafficking is part of this criminal enterprise, said FDLE Ft. Myers Special Agent in Charge Shane Pollard. The arrests are just the beginning of this investigation.

The investigation originated in Sarasota County, where three parlors were located.

Women offered sex acts in exchange for extra money after completing the massage.

Officials say an additional 10 women were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit RICO violations, which is a first-degree felony. The case will be prosecuted by Attorney General Pam Bondi's Office of Statewide Prosecution and authorities are investigating whether human trafficking was involved.
The Department of Environmental Conversation issued an air quality alert in effect until 10 p.m. Sunday.

All five New York boroughs, as well as Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and Rockland are under the advisory.

Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Union, and Hudson counties in New Jersey are also affected, with an alert lasting until 12 a.m. Tuesday.

Outdoor air is currently greater than an air quality index value of 100 out of 500 for ground ozone pollutant. The elevated levels are due to the very warm and humid conditions.

Gound ozone is commonly caused by pollutants from car and power plant emissions chemically reacting to sunlight.

The health department recommends that those who may be sensitive to elevated levels of pollutants take special precaution. Individuals should limit heavy exertion outdoors.
A man under investigation after his daughter's body was found in an Illinois garage said in a jailhouse interview that she choked to death accidentally, and his wife found the place to hide the body.

Jason Quate made the stunning comments during an interview that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. Quate, who is jailed in Las Vegas on prostitution-related charges, declined multiple interview requests from The Associated Press.

Authorities found the girl's body Tuesday in a garage behind a dilapidated and vacant home in Centreville, Illinois, near St. Louis, after Quate's wife alerted police in Las Vegas, where she, Quate and two other daughters now live. The woman also accused Quate of forcing her into sex trafficking and abusing their other two daughters.

Police believe the child was killed about four years ago, when she was 6.

Quate, 34, faces a court hearing Friday on charges of felony sex trafficking and living from the earnings of a prostitute. No charges have been filed in his daughter's death.

Quate told the Post-Dispatch that the girl choked to death when he spanked her, unaware that she still had Salisbury steak in her mouth. A day earlier, he told KSNV-TV in Las Vegas that his wife had told him she had put the girl up for adoption. He told the Post-Dispatch that he had lied to the TV station and that his wife had come up with the adoption story after their daughter died.

In his interview with the newspaper, he repeatedly referred to what happened with his daughter as "horrible."

"I'm not the monster she's making me out to be," he said of his wife.

Quate said he and his wife were afraid to call police out of fear their other children would be taken from them. He said they kept the girl's body in their home in Belleville, Illinois, for some time. Eventually, Quate said, his wife came up with the idea to work as a prostitute in Las Vegas. Before they left, she found a garage in Centreville, where the body was dumped, he said.

The family moved to Las Vegas two years ago. Their two teenage daughters are now in protective custody. Police said the girls were never allowed outside, even to attend school. A police lieutenant said the girls lacked socialization skills and showed signs of abuse.

A separate child abuse charge against Quate is pending, said Audrie Locke, an aide to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson in Las Vegas.

A judge is expected to appoint a lawyer to represent Quate at Friday's court hearing.

Jail records showed that the mother was also jailed in Las Vegas pending a Monday court appearance as a fugitive on an out-of-state warrant. St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly didn't immediately respond to messages about the warrant.

The Associated Press is withholding the woman's name to avoid identifying the children and because authorities said she is considered a victim in the sex trafficking and prostitution case. She has not been charged with a crime in Las Vegas.

Any charges related to the girl's death would be filed in Illinois, where investigators found the remains. Centreville is an impoverished community just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The coroner in St. Clair County said an autopsy was planned.
A Philadelphia company is recalling its ready-to-eat chicken salad due to misbranding and undeclared allergens, according to the US Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

Packer Avenue Foods, Inc. announced they were recalling 9,690 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken salad with white meat chicken after they discovered the products contain milk, a known allergen, on June 6. The company said they were given notification from an ingredient supplier that the cracker meal the company received and used in the products potentially contained undeclared milk.

The RTE chicken salad was produced on several dates between May 17, 2017 through May 26, 2017. The following products were recalled:

5-lb. plastic tubs of MAIN STREET BRAND CHICKEN SALAD WITH WHITE MEAT CHICKEN with Use By dates of 6 10; 6 11; 6 12; 6 13; 6 14; 6 15; 6 16; 6 17; 6 18 and; 6 19.

5-lb. plastic tubs of PACKER AVENUE FOODS CHICKEN SALAD WITH WHITE MEAT CHICKEN with Use By dates of 6 10; 6 11; 6 12; 6 13; 6 14; 6 15; 6 16; 6 17; 6 18 and; 6 19.

The recalled products have the establishment number P-19977 inside the USDA mark of inspection. The items were shipped to wholesale locations in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Officials say they havent received any reports of bad reactions from people who ate the products. Those concerned about an injury or illness should call a doctor immediately. Officials also advise people who have the products to throw them away or return them to where they purchased it.

If you have any questions about the recall, call company president Robert Rubin at 215-271-0300.

Correction: This story initially had an incorrect amount of total pounds impacted by this recall.
Puerto Rico residents head to the polls Sunday to vote on whether the island should become the 51st U.S. state, a prospect that the islands pro-statehood governor has been promoting as a solution to the islands debt crisis.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello from the New Progressive Party and his government have been pushing for statehood on the non-binding referendum, NBC News reported.

But the endeavor faces an uphill battle. The U.S. territory has been shuttering schools and cutting pensions, while its residents flee to the U.S. in search of work.

The Puerto Rican government is wrestling with a formidable $73 billion debt and is currently in the courts under a U.S. federal district judge trying to negotiate a form of bankruptcy process. As a U.S. territory and not a state, the island cannot file for bankruptcy like other states and municipalities.
A Whittier native whose efforts to honor Vietnam War veterans spread coast-to-coast was presented with his own high school diploma on Friday.

Jose G. Ramos, founder of Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, attended Garfield High School's graduation ceremony and received the long-awaited honor.

Ramos was a medic with the 101st Airborne Division and served in Phan Tiet, Vietnam from October 1967 to October 1968.

"Veterans never forget those who helped," said Alfred Lugo, a spokesman with the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Committee, in a news release. "Medics put themselves in harm's way to save their fellow soldiers' lives. A medic will never leave a man behind."

When Ramos returned from service, he suffered from PTSD, alcoholism, depression and he was suicidal, Lugo said. Ramos believed veterans were treated unfairly post service and wanted to do something to properly honor them.

That's when Ramos formed the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Organization and advocated for a day that would officially honor the servicemen with a well-deserved thank you. He rode his bicycle from Irwindale, California to Washington, D.C. and even stood in front of the White House to demonstrate.

Now, most states celebrate March 29 or 30 as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

"Jose G. Ramos, as energetic in giving Vietnam veterans their due reception and appreciation, never thought of himself," Lugo said.

"He will now be able to enjoy receiving his Garfield High School diploma. In my opinion, he will be a Ph.D -- 'A Person Having a Diploma.'"


Two protests, in opposition to each other, were held near the Oceanside Pier on Saturday.

An anti-Sharia law protest organized by ACT for America, in conjunction with Latinas for Trump and Republican Women of Oceanside, was met in equal measure with an anti-Islamophobia counter-protest.

ACT for America, the largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in the U.S., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized similar rallies across the country.

Protesters shouted at each other from opposite sides of the street while police stood in between to keep the peace.

This is a movement that opposes Sharia Law and oppression and is for human rights, said Ximena Barreto. Barreto said she organized the march in conjunction with Latinas for Trump and ACT for America and Republican Woman of Oceanside.

Now San Diego Unified in conjunction with CARE is putting a Sharia-compliant curriculum in our schools, so were opposing that. There is a separation of church and state, so I think no religions should be involved in our schools, Berreto tells NBC 7.

The school board described the initiative as an anti-bullying effort aimed at teaching kids about Islam to create understanding. The school board said they are hoping for a safe environment for all students.

Berreto has a six-year-old daughter and says she wont let her be oppressed.

I refuse to let my country go the way Europe is going," she said.

They call it an anti-Sharia rally but its actually disguised as  an anti-Muslim rally, Mustafa Nizam, who took part in the counter protest says. Theyre against Islam. Theyre against Muslims. They dont want us in their country. So when they say theyre standing up for their constitution theyre actually infringing on our First Amendment rights of freedom of religion.

He says the counter protests stand together against hate, injustice, and bigotry.

Sharia Law has nothing to do with the country. Its not trying to infringe on the Constitution, Nizam tells NBC 7. Were not a threat.

One person was taken into custody.
A Metropolitan Police Department officer remains in the hospital after he, a fellow officer and a D.C. Department of Transportation traffic aide were struck by a truck on Thursday night.

The officer in the hospital, who has not been identified, is in critical but stable condition, according to a police spokesperson. The other officer and the DDOT worker were treated and released.

Police said all three were in the Adams Morgan neighborhood when a pickup truck plowed into them and then hit a dump truck. Two men inside the truck, Brandon Figures-Mormon, 22, of Disputanta, Virginia, and Dwayne Nicholas Taylor, 23, of Prince George, Virginia, were arrested.

Figures-Mormon was charged with assault with intent to kill and possession of an unregistered firearm.

The officers were riding their bikes near 18th Street and Columbia Road, Northwest, when the white pickup truck crashed into them. Witnesses told News4 the pickup truck swerved around a WMATA bus and struck the officers.
The Ocean City Council passed an emergency ordinance to prohibit public nudity or states of nudity in response to a womans desire to be bare-chested on the citys beach.

The council met on Saturday to pass the legislation, which stated, There is no constitutional right for an individual to appear in public nude or in a state of nudity."

"Whatever personal right one has to be nude or in a state of nudity that right becomes subject to government interest and regulation when one seeks to exercise it in public.

The council vote on the ordinance was unanimous.

The clash came about after a legal challenge from a woman who argued that Maryland law allows women to go bare-chested in public. The city previously issues a memo directing the lifeguards not to confront bare-chested women or ask them to cover up.

On its Facebook page on Friday, the city said police will deal with complaints about toplessness. The post added officials will do "whatever is necessary" to prevent toplessness from happening on the beach or any public area in Ocean City.

Mayor Rick Meehan wrote on the citys Facebook page on Saturday, This ordinance provides clarity as to the position of the Town of Ocean City that we will not allow women to be topless on our beach or on any public property within city limits.

The Worcester County states attorney is waiting an opinion from the Maryland Attorney Generals Office about the legality of toplessness in Maryland.
A suspected drunk driver struck and injured a Maryland State Police trooper while he was in his cruiser and a pedestrian early Sunday morning, police said.

The crash happened about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in Prince Georges County, Maryland, along Route 4 (Pennsylvania Avenue) just west of Presidential Parkway, state police said in a release.

Maryland State Police Trooper Solomon Flash was parked at the scene of a crash with his emergency lights on, when a Hyundai rear-ended his cruiser, state police said.

After hitting the patrol car, the Hyundai skidded off the roadway and struck a pedestrian who was standing near the guardrail. The pedestrian, Anthony Owelle, 28, of Laurel, was one of the drivers involved in the original collision.

Police said the driver, 37-year-old Chris M. Dent, of Upper Marlboro, showed signs of being under the influence. Officers arrested Dent. He was not injured in the crash and has been charged with driving under the influence. Police said more traffic charges will also be filed against Dent.

Flash was taken to the hospital with a possible concussion, according to police. He has since been released from the hospital and is OK, police said.

Owelle remains in the hospital. His condition is not known at this time.

According to the News4 I-Team, at least 37 Maryland State Police troopers have been hit by vehicles since January 2016.
Supporters of LGBT rights marched and rallied in the nation's capital and dozens of other U.S. cities on Sunday, celebrating gains but angry over threats posed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The centerpiece event, the Equality March in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Activists have been embittered by the Trump administration's rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

They also complain that Trump, who campaigned as a potential ally of gays and lesbians, has stocked his administration with foes of LGBT rights, including Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Throngs of marchers, many thousands strong, paraded past the White House and toward the Capitol, trailing behind a giant rainbow flag near the head of the procession.

"We're here, we're queer, get that Cheeto out of here," was among the chants directed at Trump.

For the LGBT community nationwide, it's an emotional time. Monday is the anniversary of the mass shooting a year ago in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people  mostly Latinos  at Pulse, a gay nightclub.

Among the marchers in Washington was Gil Mendez, a Puerto Rican native who traveled with his partner all the way from San Francisco to join the parade. He carried a sign that included the names of all the Pulse victims.

"The attack on Pulse really struck me hard," he said. "It made the connection between the physical violence of guns and the political attacks on our community."

Also marching, and singing freedom songs and patriotic songs along the way, were scores of members of gay choruses from various cities.

"It's an opportunity to tell everyone we're still here, and we're not going away at all," said Gregory Elfers of Teaneck, New Jersey, who was with a contingent from the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.

"We have to be heard  we have to be sure we're not trampled on," said L. Owen Taggart of Washington's Gay Men's Chorus.

The roughly 100 marches and rallies across the U.S. included the first-ever gay pride parade in Grosse Pointe, a prosperous Detroit suburb. It began at Grosse Pointe South High School to emphasize support for teens who are gay or transgender.

Two 15-year-old marchers, Jessica Dodge and Shekinah Aho, held hands and wore shirts that said, "Make America Gay Again."

The Los Angeles pride parade was renamed the ResistMarch, and tens of thousands turned out in Hollywood, some carrying rainbow flags or signs reading "Love Trumps Hate." Speakers included Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi, and RuPaul, the host of "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Waters led the crowd in a chant of "Impeach 45."

"We're going to take our country back from him," she said. "I know that you have the strength. I know that you have the courage. And I know that each of you understand you have the power."

Back in Washington, the activist leaders on hand included Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, which monitors media coverage of the LGBT community.

She noted that Trump, breaking from the practice of Barack Obama, has declined to issue a proclamation in honor of Pride Month, and that the Trump administration has deleted questions about sexual orientation from planned federal surveys.

"If you look at their prioritization, we're really low on it," she said. "There absolutely is a resistance aspect to this march."
Lawmakers wrestled Friday with a proposal to sharply limit cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement agencies.

While some say the bill would make Massachusetts a so-called sanctuary state, backers including the American Civil Liberties Union argue the measure dubbed the Safe Communities Act would not violate federal law nor prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from doing their jobs.

Hundreds of supporters and opponents of the measure crowded a public hearing, amid heightened concerns in some immigrant communities about Republican President Donald Trump's deportation policies.

An executive order issued by Trump to cut funding to sanctuary cities has been blocked, at least temporarily, by a federal judge.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker called for lawmakers to defeat the bill and not make Massachusetts a sanctuary state.

The legislation would "prevent the Massachusetts State Police from upholding our policy to detain individuals for federal authorities that have been convicted of heinous crimes, like murder and rape," Baker said in a written statement.

Supporters of the bill said it would improve public safety by reassuring those in the state illegally that they can communicate to local police  either as victims of crime or as witnesses  without fearing deportation.

"We know that when police act as immigration agents, immigrant victims and witnesses become afraid to talk to them," Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said during the hearing.

Ronnie Millar, head of the Irish International Immigrant Center, said some Irish immigrants are also particularly concerned about calls for a Muslim registry, given the long, and sometimes troubled, history of Irish immigration in Boston.

"As Catholic immigrants since the late 1800's, we remember well that the 'No Irish Need Apply' signs hung in the windows of Boston businesses," he said. "We Irish know what it's like to be treated as a threat and to be dehumanized and to be kept under special surveillance."

Opponents say the bill could harm public safety.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who has offered to send inmates to the U.S.-Mexico border to help Trump fulfill his Republican campaign promise to build a wall, said it makes no sense to restrict the ability of Massachusetts to work with federal law enforcement agencies.

"Why should we share less information?" he asked. "Why is ICE cherry-picked as the one law enforcement agency that we can't partner with particularly given the escalating terrorist attacks, human and sex trafficking, gang violence and drug smuggling that's going on?"

Maureen Maloney, whose son Matthew Denice was killed in 2011 after being struck and dragged by a driver in the country illegally, also testified against the measure.

Maloney said her 23-year-old son survived an initial crash.

"Tragically, the unlicensed drunk criminal alien made the fatal decision to flee. He ran over Matthew and knowingly dragged him a quarter mile to his death," she said. "My son is dead because our lawmakers have put illegal aliens ahead of Americans."

Although dozens of legislators signed on as cosponsors of the bill, passage is far from assured. Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo, like Baker, has indicated a preference to leave sanctuary status up to individual cities and towns.

The proposed law would also bar creation of a Muslim registry; prohibit state and local agencies from entering into agreements with the federal government that call for "deputizing" employees to act as immigration officers; and require that anyone in detention be informed of their right to decline an interview with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The House recently put off action on a more narrowly-focused bill that would prevent state funds from being used to implement agreements between ICE and county sheriffs to provide training for correctional officers in immigration law enforcement. Bristol and Plymouth counties have entered into such partnerships.
An Enfield, Connecticut man was found dead in a pond in Southwick, Massachusetts on Saturday morning, according to local authorities.

The body of Michael Chace, 33, was recovered from 30 feet of water in Middle Pond, part of Southwick's Congamond Lakes, around 10:30 a.m.

While the pond was closed to the public while the search for Chace was underway over Thursday and Friday, it was re-opened Saturday morning after the body was recovered.

According to Southwick Police Chief David Ricardi, the last time there was a drowning death at the Congamond Lakes was in September of 2011. There were three drownings that year, but none after until now.
A Rhode Island man is facing multiple charges for leading police on a pursuit through New Hampshire and Massachusetts early Sunday morning.

New Hampshire State Police first attempted to stop a reported stolen grey Nissan sedan on Interstate 89 in Warner at 2:15 a.m.

The driver, later identified as Gregory Coffey, 33, of Providence, refused to stop and led troopers south on the highway, south on Interstate 93, and south on the Everett Turnpike towards Nashua.

With the assistance of Nashua Police, spike strips were successfully deployed near exit 3, but authorities said Coffey kept fleeing and continued south onto the Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua.

Another set of spike strips were deployed on the Daniel Webster Highway in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, where Coffey continued to drive on a rim.

He eventually came to a stop and was taken into custody without incident just over the Chelmsford line.

Coffey is being held on fugitive from justice charges by the Chelmsford Police Department. He is facing multiple charges out of Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Following a hearing, Coffey will be taken back to New Hampshire to answer multiple charges from the Nashua Police Department and the New Hampshire State Police.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government today announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.

"The government has decided to waive farmers' loans. The loans of farmers with small land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.

Patil, who headed a high-powered committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders here today.

Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met.

"Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said.

Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that "all loans" of farmers will be waived.

"The atmosphere now is like Diwali celebrations. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted," he said.

The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said.

"We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said.

"However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation," Kadu said.

The revenue minister, asked if his announcement on farmers getting new loans from today meant that the old ones would be restructured, said, "It is a simple banking question. Till the old loan is waived, one doesn't get new loan."

Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

The panel also comprises senior minister Diwakar Raote of the Shiv Sena, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Cooperatives Minister Subhash Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.

On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.

Fadnavis had held a late night meeting and ensured withdrawal of the strike, but it emerged that some of the farmers' leaders who were part of the talks with him in Mumbai, were close to BJP and RSS. This outraged the farmers and their agitation intensified in the following days.

Last week, a farmer in Solapur district, before ending his life due to debt, wrote that unless the chief minister visits his farm, his body should not be cremated.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government today announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests. "The government has decided to waive farmers' loans. The loans of farmers with small land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said. Patil, who headed a high-powered committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders here today. Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met. "Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said. Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that "all loans" of farmers will be waived. "The atmosphere now is like Diwali celebrations. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted," he said. The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said. "We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said. "However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation," Kadu said. The revenue minister, asked if his announcement on farmers getting new loans from today meant that the old ones would be restructured, said, "It is a simple banking question. Till the old loan is waived, one doesn't get new loan." Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver. The panel also comprises senior minister Diwakar Raote of the Shiv Sena, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Cooperatives Minister Subhash Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan. On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai. Fadnavis had held a late night meeting and ensured withdrawal of the strike, but it emerged that some of the farmers' leaders who were part of the talks with him in Mumbai, were close to BJP and RSS. This outraged the farmers and their agitation intensified in the following days. Last week, a farmer in Solapur district, before ending his life due to debt, wrote that unless the chief minister visits his farm, his body should not be cremated.
By AFP

KANO: Boko Haram gunmen killed eight members of a civilian militia force, hiding in trees and opening fire as they waited for troops to go on a joint dawn offensive.

The members of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) were waiting for soldiers at Kayamla village, in the Konduga area of Borno state, northeast Nigeria, when the attack happened.

"We lost eight comrades in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT)," CJTF member Ibrahim Liman told AFP yesterday in the state capital Maiduguri, which is 10 kilometres away.

"The vigilantes had gone to Kaymala as an advance party that was to be joined later by troops to launch an attack on Boko Haram enclave.

"Unknown to them, Boko Haram terrorists, who by all indications had prior knowledge of the offensive, ambushed them by climbing into the trees.

"They opened fire on the team as soon as they pulled over."

Liman's account was supported by another militia member, Musa Ari, who helped to bury his fallen comrades.

"We buried the last of the eight victims this evening.

The bodies were recovered from Kayamla by soldiers," he added.

Konduga district is a known hotbed of Boko Haram activity, despite government and military claims that the jihadists are a spent force, having been forced out of their Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state.

In May, four CJTF members hunting in the bush near a camp for those displaced by the Islamist insurgency had their throats slit on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Two of their colleagues were also killed when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives in Konduga town, some 35 km from Maiduguri by road.

The attacks came just days after Boko Haram gunmen on motorbikes killed six farmers working on their land in Amrawa village, also on the outskirts of the state capital.

In April, eight loggers were killed and their bodies burnt near Kayamla village.

In a new video published on Saturday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for its first raid inside Maiduguri in about 18 months, which left 11 people dead on Wednesday.

At least 20,000 have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009.

KANO: Boko Haram gunmen killed eight members of a civilian militia force, hiding in trees and opening fire as they waited for troops to go on a joint dawn offensive. The members of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) were waiting for soldiers at Kayamla village, in the Konduga area of Borno state, northeast Nigeria, when the attack happened. "We lost eight comrades in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen at about 5:30 am (0430 GMT)," CJTF member Ibrahim Liman told AFP yesterday in the state capital Maiduguri, which is 10 kilometres away. "The vigilantes had gone to Kaymala as an advance party that was to be joined later by troops to launch an attack on Boko Haram enclave. "Unknown to them, Boko Haram terrorists, who by all indications had prior knowledge of the offensive, ambushed them by climbing into the trees. "They opened fire on the team as soon as they pulled over." Liman's account was supported by another militia member, Musa Ari, who helped to bury his fallen comrades. "We buried the last of the eight victims this evening. The bodies were recovered from Kayamla by soldiers," he added. Konduga district is a known hotbed of Boko Haram activity, despite government and military claims that the jihadists are a spent force, having been forced out of their Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno state. In May, four CJTF members hunting in the bush near a camp for those displaced by the Islamist insurgency had their throats slit on the outskirts of Maiduguri. Two of their colleagues were also killed when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives in Konduga town, some 35 km from Maiduguri by road. The attacks came just days after Boko Haram gunmen on motorbikes killed six farmers working on their land in Amrawa village, also on the outskirts of the state capital. In April, eight loggers were killed and their bodies burnt near Kayamla village. In a new video published on Saturday, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for its first raid inside Maiduguri in about 18 months, which left 11 people dead on Wednesday. At least 20,000 have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009.
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New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet heads of PSU banks on Monday to discuss the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) and the steps being taken by them to expedite the recovery of bad loans which have crossed Rs 6 lakh crore.



Besides, the minister will review the financial performance of all the public sector banks (PSBs) at the meeting, the first between Jaitley and them in the current fiscal.



The meeting also assumes significance as it will be the first after last month's promulgation of the ordinance amending the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.



The government had through this ordinance empowered the Reserve Bank to ask banks to initiate insolvency proceedings to recover bad loans and promised more measures to resolve the NPA crisis.



Apart from the financial performance review, the meeting will take stock of the status of stressed assets and various measures taken to clean up the balance sheets of banks so that they can start lending.



"Major issues on the agenda of the meeting, the first during this fiscal, include issues and solutions relating to Non Performing Assets (NPAs) of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs), status of MSE Credit, Stand-up India and Mudra Yojana among others," the finance ministry said in a statement.



Other issues on agenda include discussion on financial inclusion and literacy, review of performance of Social Security Schemes including Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) etc, it said.



The day-long meeting will also cover areas like cybersecurity, digitalisation of the banking transactions, rural development, agriculture credit and education loans. Role and preparedness of banks in the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is also likely to be discussed in the one day Meeting of PSBs, it said. GST is going to be rolled-out from July 1.



As for the recovery of bad loans, the RBI has also made substantial changes in the related norms and warned banks of monetary penalty for missing NPA resolution timelines. Jaitley had said the ordinance empowered the Reserve Bankto issue "directions to any banking company or banking companies to initiate insolvency resolution process in respect of a default under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016".



Toxic loans of PSBs rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 6.06 lakh crore during April-December 2016-17. Gross NPAs of PSBs nearly doubled to Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016, from Rs 2.67 lakh crore at the end of March 2015.
New Delhi: On the day his three-year tenure was set to end, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi wrote to the central government saying that he doesn't want an extension as the countrys top law officer.



Rohatgi's letter has come nearly a week after the government notified extension to his tenure as the Attorney General and four other law officers till further orders.



Declining an extension to his term, Rohatgi, in his letter, cited personal reasons and expressed satisfaction over his term. Speaking to the CNN-News18, Rohatgi confirmed his willingness to quit and said he wants to return to private practice.



Sources said that Harish Salve, who had represented India at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar are the front runners to be the next AG if Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepts Rohatgis resignation.



While Kumar was appointed as the SG in June 2014, Salve could come at the top, given the fact that the PM was interested in having him as the AG in 2014 itself but Salve had expressed his inability due to offshore assignments.



Talking about his tenure, Rohatgi said the only regret was about quashing of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) by the Supreme Court in 2015 when he had led from the front for the government.



But the government lost this battle and the apex court revived the power of the collegium to appoint judges. I hope the court reviews the NJAC verdict, he added.



Rohatgi says that he had a fantastic relation with the Prime Minister, law minister and bureaucracy during the three-year tenure as AG. Even if I return to private practice, my services will be available to NDA government, BJP and its leaders as and when needed, he said.



Rohatgi was drafted in as additional solicitor general for Supreme Court by Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999. He said he has served as a law officer for five years for the Vajpayee government and now three years under the Modi government and now wants to return to his private practice.



Rohatgi had written to the government about his desire not to continue as AG in the last week of May, shortly after arguing for Centre in triple talaq case.



Son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, he represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.



A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also represented industrialist Anil Ambani in the apex court in the gas dispute case between the Ambani brothers.



He had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two Italian marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.



Besides some of these high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi had also appeared on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial.



(With inputs from Debayan Roy)
Bengaluru: Congress on Sunday demanded that the central government formulate a national policy on farm loans.



Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara said that if there was a national policy, all states that now have different polices, would follow a uniform rule.



There would be uniformity in approach by both central and state governments when they waive such loans, he said.



We in Karnataka are committed to address farmers issues. Central government should formulate a national policy in this regard, so that states also follow it. I demand a national policy on these kinds of issues, Parameshwara said.



"When you (central government) can overnight formulate a law banning read beacons, why can't you formulate a national policy when farmers from across the country are demanding for loan waiver faced by drought?" he questioned.



Pointing out that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led UPA government had waived farmers' loans amounting to about Rs 72,000 crore, he said the central government cannot just wash their hands off by leaving it to the states.



"As a national government it should come out with a national policy so that everyone agrees to it," he added.



Asked about Congress government in Karnataka not announcing a farm loan waiver for farmers when their leader Rahul Gandhi was demanding the same in Madhya Pradesh, he said, "We are holding discussions in this regard and our government is committed to address the issues faced by farmers."



Parameshwara reiterated Karnataka's demand that the Centre first waive loans availed by farmers through nationalized banks, adding that such loans got through state run cooperative banks was very small compared to nationalised banks.



He was speaking to reporters while briefing them of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's visit here on Monday to attend National Herald's event to celebrate 70 years of independence with release of a commemorative publication.



Gandhi will also attend a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's extended general body meeting, where he will address about 1,500 party workers and office bearers about the preparations for the 2018 assembly polls in the state.



First launched in 1938 as a daily in the vanguard of the Freedom Movement, the Congress-owned newspaper National Herald had in November last year staged a comeback with a digital version, eight years after it had downed shutters.



The publication has come in the midst of a legal battle over its past, which has ensnared Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.
New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has denied censor exemption certificates to three documentaries, which were based on recent national controversies, for screening at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala.



The three films with a socio-political theme that were denied certification by the ministry are The Unbearable Being of Lightness, which is directed by Ramachandra PN and was based on the Rohith Vemula suicide; In the shade of Fallen Chinar, which is directed by Fazil NC and is based on the unrest in Kashmir, and March, March, March, a film directed by Kathu Lukose based on the student agitation at JNU.



This is the first time that a film has been refused censor exemption by the central government for the film festival, which is organized by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy for the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the government of Kerala. It will be the 20th edition of the festival this year.



Films that are shown at the festival do not need certification from the Censor Board, but require a censor exemption certificate from I&B Ministry. Only the three out of 200 films sent to the ministry were not cleared. News18 tried to contact officials for clarification but the calls were not answered.



Calling this a state of cultural emergency, the chairman of the academy, Kamal, said that there was no logical reason for the three movies to be denied exemption.



Speaking to News18, the academys vice-chairperson Bina Paul Venugopal said, We are in our 20th edition and this is the first time that the ministry has denied a film censor exemption certificate. The films were not blindly chosen. We set up a committee that sees the films and recommends."



The academy has written to the ministry again and is hoping the films will be given permission. "I am told by the director of the film that is based on Vemula that it was screened at a documentary festival in Kolkata. I am surprised that it has been restricted in Kerala," Paul added.



Last year, Iranian director Majid Majidis film, Muhammad - The messenger of God faced the same fate during the International Film Festival of Kerala, organized by the Academy. Sources at the ministry said that Majidi's film was a threat to law and order in Goa, the host city, which is why the film didn't get exemption.



The censor exemption is subject to fulfilment of the following conditions: In exceptional cases, the Ministry of I&B will have the powers to reject, for reasons to be recorded in writing, the request for exemption to any film if, in its opinion, it would impinge on the security or integrity of the country or affect law and order or affect relations with other countries.



In order to consider the request for exemption for a film to be screened at a festival, the Director of the Festival has to submit documents to Joint Secretary (Films) along with the request for exemption. The documents include a list of films to be screened at the festival, synopsis of each of the films and composition of the Preview Committee.



According to the synopsis, The Unbearable Being of Lightness focuses on the epicenter of struggle for social justice right after Vemulas death and weaves in it the suicide note and press coverage at the time of his suicide.



In the Shade of the Fallen Chinar shoots the life of young Kashmiris before the current unrest began and what inspires their art and how it takes the form of resistance in conflict ridden Valley, while March March March looks extensively into what happened in Jawaharlal Nehru University on February 9, 2016 and its aftermath. The film profoundly engages into the aspects that led to the massive student uprising.
Jerusalem: An Israeli court Sunday awarded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife $32,500 in a libel case over a journalist's claim she kicked him out of the car during a row.



Court documents said writer Igal Sarna was ordered to pay 60,000 shekels ($17,000, 15,000 euros) in damages to Netanyahu and 40,000 shekels to his wife Sara, as well as a further 15,000 shekels for the couple's court costs.



They had sued for 280,000 shekels.



The 50-page ruling said Sarna wrote in March 2016 on his Facebook page that the couple had been travelling at night in a four-vehicle convoy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv when it suddenly came to a halt.



"A man, no longer young, was cast out onto the highway amid shouting," the transcript quoted Sarna as writing.



"A certain woman did not wish him to remain with her in the car, and so made a mockery of all the security and in fact of the whole state."



Appearing in court with his wife in March 2017, surrounded by bodyguards, Netanyahu said the story was a fabrication, describing it as "so false, so absurd".



In Sunday's ruling, Judge Azaria Alkalai found Sarna's allegations were not substantiated by witnesses.



In March, Sarna, of popular Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, said the sources for his account had refused to go public.



He said his sources "do not want to come. I cannot force them to come."



Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that "truth and justice prevailed".



"If we were to sue all of those who libel us, we would have to go to court every day," he said.



The Netanyahus are a frequent topic of gossip and rumours among Israelis, and the premier has said he wanted the truth to be known in this instance.



The couple are also the subject of ongoing police investigations into suspicions of corruption and misuse of public funds.




Srinagar: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was on Sunday detained in south Kashmir's Shopian district due to apprehension of breach of peace.



Malik, along with Noor Muhammad Kalwal, the zonal president of his outfit, was detained by the security forces at Reban in Shopian this morning, a police official said.



A JKLF spokesman, while condemning their detention, said the outfit's chief had gone to Reban to meet the family of jailed leader Sarjan Barkati.



The spokesman said the duo have been taken to some unknown location.
Shivprasad Joshi, the president of Shiv Senas Goa unit, has said that many people in neighbouring Karnataka cannot sing the national anthem  remarks that could trigger a political controversy."People in Goa are patriots. I know many students who can sing complete 'Vande Mataram' unlike Karnataka where many people do not even know how to sing the national anthem and they also do not know our national fathers," Joshi told reporters.Goa and Karnataka are locking horns over the sharing of Mahadayi or Mandovi river water, PTI reported.Praising Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, whose entry is banned in Goa, he said Muthalik has done a commendable job in Karnataka and he is a protector of women."When Sri Ram Sene workers went to the Mangalore pub (in 2009) to make our sisters understand that it is not fair to indulge in pub culture, parents of a girl who was alleged to have been assaulted by the Sene workers, thanked Muthalik. The parents said Muthalik was doing the right job of protecting women," the Sena leader said.He said though the Sena did not demand a ban on "pub culture", it is against the "late night affairs outside these places"."You visit a pub in the night at 12 and you find girls and boys sitting outside and drinking. Is this fair? We don't mind what tourists do here, but when it comes to local boys and girls, it is our duty to educate them," Joshi said.Responding to a question on the ban imposed on Muthalik's entry, he said the Sena would support the Sri Ram Sene if they want to do good work for Goa."Even any Muslim organisation wants to come to Goa and do some good work, we will back them," he said.
New Delhi: Farmers in Maharashtra have called off their protest after the state government promised to waive off all loans on Sunday.



A committee will be formed by the state government to decide the criteria of debt relief.



The Maharashtra governments decision came after the farmers agitation for a loan waiver entered its 11th day.



The decision to end the agitation was made in a core committee meeting of farmer representatives who have been leading the protest. However, key members of the committee boycotted the meeting, exposing a rift.



The decision to end the agitation was made in a core committee meeting of farmer representatives who have been leading the protest. However, key members of the committee boycotted the meeting, exposing a rift.



Maharashtra revenue minister C Patil said, The CM had announced loan waiver for small and marginal farmers. Today, the government has accepted it based on certain criteria.



Earlier in the week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a loan waiver plan, but the specifics had not been made public. In response, the Reserve Bank of India issued a warning against any such move with RBI Governor Urjit Patel saying that going down the "slippery path" of loan waivers could dissipate gains made by states over the last few years and asked governments to tread very carefully.



According to the plan, the scheme for marginal farmers will come to effect from Monday with loans for families which depend only on farming being waived off. Farmer groups have said that if all the demands are not met by July 25, then they will continue with their protest..



Meanwhile, key members of farmers' core committee who stayed away from stay away from the meeting in Mumbai alleged that farmers' protest has been taken over by vested political interests. Maharashtra governments deal was claimed to be the biggest success for farmers in the country by the committee as they called off the agitation.



Fadnavis had held a late night meeting and ensured withdrawal of the strike, but it emerged that some of the farmers' leaders who were part of the talks with him in Mumbai, were close to BJP and RSS. This outraged the farmers and their agitation intensified in the following days.



Last week, a farmer in Solapur district, before ending his life due to debt, wrote that unless the chief minister visits his farm, his body should not be cremated.



(With PTI inputs)
Farmers from across the state gather at Dussehra Ground to meet Chief Minister @ChouhanShivraj. #Shivraj4Peace pic.twitter.com/n1bV06VBhf  CMO Madhya Pradesh (@CMMadhyaPradesh) June 11, 2017

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today, who is on a fast for the second day today, is likely to meet farmers of the state witnessing agrarian unrest.Chouhan, with wife Sadhana on his side and a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi behind him, sat on fast at a pandal in BHEL's Dusshera ground, with an appeal for peace.He is expected to meet farmers today and also chair a meeting of government officials at the makeshift room in the pandal where he is sitting on fast.In the last 10 days, farmers resorted to violence during their stir for various demands, including a complete loan waiver.The chief minister on Saturday began his indefinite fast and met a large number of farmers along with the kin of four of the five farmers killed in police firing on Tuesday in Mandsaur. They had come from Mandsaur to meet him and seek justice.Chouhan on Saturday met some farmer leaders, but failed to reach a compromise.The opposition Congress has, however, dubbed Chouhan's fast as "drama".An organisation of farmers yesterday said they will continue the agitation till their demands, including loan waiver and better price of their produce, are met.Earlier, the farmers had said that the stir, which started on June 1 and saw the death of five persons in police firing, will last till June 10.Chouhan, under attack over the agitation during which five farmers were killed in a police firing, earlier said the government stood firm with the farmers."I will not end my fast till peace is restored in the state," Chouhan said last evening.The chief minister also that he met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 panels of big farmers yesterday. The delegations pressed for loan waiver and "satisfactory" prices for their produce.
Ahmedabad:Ahmedabad: Two Gujarat ministers attended a function where exorcists were present in Bhavnagar and one of them actually felicitated them.



Exorcists are known as bhuvas in Gujarat. The function took place on Saturday.



Social activists have reacted angrily to this, alleging that exorcists who dupe villagers regularly are being sheltered by the government.



Rationalists say this amounts to encouraging superstition and evil practices in society.



The event that was held in Gadhada town of Bhavnagar district. It was hosted by cabinet minister Atmaram Parmar, who is also MLA from the locality. The invite for read that MLA Parmar will welcome and felicitate worshippers of the Goddess Shakti.



State education and revenue minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama shared the dais along with Parmar. At the function, about 350 exorcists were felicitated.



Dalit activists burnt an effigy of Parmar at Wadhwan in Surendranagar district on Sunday, and were detained by the police.



Martin Macwan, head of Navsarjan Trust that has been working for Dalit rights told CNN-News18, This is horrific. More so because a minister of the government has felicitated these quacks and exorcists in full public view. The worst victims of these bhuvas are dalits, who get fleeced by these unscrupulous elements.



Macwan said that his organisation will soon launch an agitation against the ministers. The host, Parmar, is Gujarats social justice minister in the Vijay Rupani cabinet.



Jayant Padya, founder of Bharat Vigyan Jatha, a rationalist organisation said, On one hand, the government is promoting digital technology and on the other hand, a minister is the host of a function to felicitate witch doctors and exorcists. We have written to the chief minister and sought his appointment to lodge a protest, Pandya told News18. He added that a memorandum will be submitted to the CM, asking him to instruct his ministers to verify what kind of functions they attend.



While Chudasama could not be reached despite several attempts, Parmar was unapologetic. I have done nothing wrong and neither am I the first minister to attend such a programme. These `bhuvas are also involved in reforming our society and felicitating them is not wrong, he told CNN-News18.



Parmar added that some NGOs who were protesting against this have their own agenda.
Bhopal: BJP ally Shiv Sena on Saturday hit out at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the farmers' unrest in the state, saying instead of sitting on a fast here, the CM should have visited Mandsaur to comfort the farmers.



Congress also dubbed Chouhan's fast as mere "nautanki" (drama). As the farmers' protests entered its tenth day in the state, Chouhan launched his indefinite fast at the Dusshera Maidan in the city, promising profitable prices to farmers for their produce.



Sena's media in-charge Apoorva Dubey, who reached the Dusshera Maidan, told reporters, "Instead of sitting here, he should have gone to Mandsaur to comfort and help the farmers.



Chouhan should sit indefinitely on the fast till the farmers' woes are mitigated, or we else will launch an indefinite fast in support of the farmers," he added.



"Those farmers who have come to the Dussehra Maiden had been brought by the ruling BJP. Farmers' stir is the result of the failure of Chouhan, the state bureaucracy and the police," he alleged.



Later, a delegation of Shiv Sena met Chouhan and suggested ways, including a loan waiver, to end the farmers unrest. After meeting the chief minister, Dubey did not speak to reporters.



State Congress chief spokesperson K K Mishra said, "Chouhan should tell people whether his so-called fast is a nautanki, an event or an act of repentance for his misdeeds that set the state on fire."



"Though he is trying to send a message that he is doing Gandhi-giri (using a Gandhian way), it is absolutely not so. He neither sat at the foot of the statue of Gandhi nor did he garland the statue before launching his nautanki," Mishra said.



"He should remember that (demon king) Ravana is burnt at the Dussehra Maidan every year," the Congress leader said.



Parts of western Madhya Pradesh has been on the boil ever since the farmers launched an agitation last week seeking loan waiver and better crop prices.



The situation has been volatile in Mandsaur and Neemuch in the last few days. Five farmers were killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday, while six others were injured.
Farmers land wont be acquired without their consent and schemes related to them would be devised in consultation with them, he said. I am a servant of farmers and would continue to serve them.

Without naming Congress leaders, he again claimed that vandalism and violence was not done by farmers but it was the handiwork of evil and devilish elements who wont be spared by the law.

I would start a state-wide kisan padyatra shortly for farmers awakening if farmers demands are not met soon, Patwari announced.



: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended his indefinite fast announcing slew of measures to benefit farmers but did not mention farm loan waiver, a prominent farmers demand on which the peasants agitated for ten days on the streets of the central Indian state.Chouhan, before ending his fast at BHEL Dussehra Ground in Bhopal, addressed thousands of farmers announcing battery of measures to benefit them including better procurement prices for farm products, formation of kisan bazaars, formation of State Landuse Advisory Committee, scientific method for milk procurement on the lines of corporate giant AMUL, implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations, among others.However, the most contentious issue, farm loan waiver, did not find any mention in the speech.Chouhan had launched his fast on Saturday afternoon in Bhopals Dusshera Maidan for restoration of peace.Soon after, former chief minister Kailash Joshi offered Chouhan coconut water to end his fast.Bharatiya Kisan Sangh leader Anil Yadav, who was also on the stage, announced the withdrawal of strike and thanked CM Chouhan for accepting their demands. He also claimed that BKS wont take part in stir proposed in New Delhi.Interestingly, BKS officebearers after meeting with the CM in Ujjain had distanced themselves from the farmers stir on June 2, seond day of the ten-day agitation in Madhya Pradesh, announced by Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh and others.Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya was also present on Sundays function to refute reports of rift between him and CM Chouhan.Rau MLA Jitu Patwari, who was instrumental in anchoring farmers agitation in Malwa region, on Sunday accepted before newsmen that he was actively supporting the agitation but did not led the agitation which was anchored by young farmers.He blamed state governments act of deflating the agitation through BKS call of ending strike which according to him spurred violence especially after Mandsaur incident.He also pulled up CM Shivraj and Home minister Bhupendra Singh for contradictory statements after Mandsaur firing. The state government purportedly circulated videos of me and other Congress leaders and twisted facts, Patwari, who had accompanied Congress vice president on bike till Neemuch, said.He also alleged that bureaucracy allured the kin of those killed in Mandsaur, brought them to Bhopal and made them request CM Chouhan to end his fast.The Congress has dubbed the fast as a nautanki (drama) with party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia set to launch a 72-hour satyagraha for farmers rights from June 14.
In police custody for crime not known, while those who killed farmers roam free. Rule of law? pic.twitter.com/n1IpSxP3XI  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

Brought to Govt Rest House Jaora.

To rest, I guess!  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

: Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, social activists Medha Patkar, and 28 others were detained by police on Sunday when they tried to enter the Mandsaur district to meet deceased farmers' families.Yogendra Yadav, after being detained, took to Twitter, questioning the administration for not allowing him to meet the farmers' families. "In police custody for crime not known, while those who killed farmers roam free. Rule of law?"Minutes later, Yadav tweeted, "Brought to Govt Rest House Jaora. To rest, I guess!"Mandsaur is the epicentre of the current farmers' agitation in Madhya Pradesh, where five farmers were killed on Wednesday after the police opened fire at them.Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with the BJP, has held the Congress party responsible for the ongoing disturbance in the state.Chouhan, who ended a day-long fast on Sunday after announcing a slew of measures to benefit farmers, has repeatedly said that his government will deal with "anti-social elements" strictly to take control of the situation.Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi was also detained and later arrested by police on Thursday when he was en route violence-hit Mandsaur to meet the families of five people killed in police firing.
A sareee day ... will I be termed communal,Sanghi,bhakt,hindutva icon?if I say I love wearing the saree and I think it's the most elegant pic.twitter.com/3ZYDJcyKJk  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 10, 2017

all those thinking o want to get into politics. I AM NOT INTERESTED.Was offered by TMC. CONG, and BJP. Said No.Would've joined yours Nizam https://t.co/zU4OjXeZUC  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 10, 2017

The reason that i put a disclaimer for saying I love the saree!Nowadays can be trolled for anything and can be twisted to suit narrative https://t.co/zUR7bisFxi  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 10, 2017

Saree is a beautiful Elegant Indian Garment.My Tweet was NOT to communalise Saree.Was my fear of being trolled to say I love anything Indian  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 10, 2017

If it has come across as anything else.I apologise.That was not the intention.Had not thought that it would be misunderstood the way it has.  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) June 10, 2017

Actress Raveena Tandon on Saturday hit back at Twitter trolls for indicating that she is voicing her opinion to further her political ambitions. She said she is not interested in joining politics.The actress was being trolled for a post that read: "A sareee day... will I be termed communal, sanghi, bhakt, hindutva icon? If I say I love wearing the saree and I think it's the most elegant."One Twitter user posted: "Are you trying for a comeback in movie? Or trying to get a Sanghi seat in 2019?"To which Raveena said: "All those thinking I want to get into politics. I am not interested. Was offered by TMC. Congress, and BJP. Said No."She even justified her 'saree' tweet."The reason that I put a disclaimer for saying I love the saree! Nowadays can be trolled for anything and can be twisted to suit narrative... Last I knew one was in a democracy and could practice your faith without being targeted and called names," she said.The "Mohra" star added: "Saree is a beautiful elegant Indian garment. My tweet was not to communalise saree. Was my fear of being trolled to say I love anything Indian."The actress even apologised for her tweet."If it has come across as anything else. I apologise. That was not the intention. Had not thought that it would be misunderstood the way it has."On the work front, she will soon be seen in Onir's Shab, which will release on June 30.
Jamshedpur: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday described the amendments made in the Chhotanagpur and Santal Paragana Tenancy Act (CNT & SPT) as the "biggest ever injustice" meted out to adivasis and moolvasis.



Kumar said that the British had bowed down before the tribal movement to protect their land and enacted the tenancy law before Independence.



Wondering why the Das led Jharkhand government brought in the amendments in the CNT and SPT acts, he termed the move as biggest ever injustice meted out to the state's people.



Kumar was addressing a public meeting organised by the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), barely yards away from the residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das.



Sharing the dais with JVM president and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Kumar said that the amendment would allow the government to convert agriculture land into commercial land without seeking the opinion of landowners.



A Land Act enacted by the erstwhile UPA government in the state had a provision for Social Impact Assessment but the CNT and SPT was deprived of this provision following the amendment, he said.



Kumar extended his support to the ongoing agitation launched by various organisation against the amendment.



In an indirect reference to the investors' summit Momentum Jharkhand held in February, Kumar asked why investors were being invited instead of reviving the closed industries.



Industrial estates were in bad shape but the state government had formed a land bank by acquiring non-used government land, he said.



The mineral-rich state was lagging behind compared to the development works done under Marandi's regime, Kumar said.



"We were very much hopeful that mineral-rich Jharkhand would become the no. 1 state in the country but unfortunately, it lagged behind Bihar, whose growth rate has been increasing continuously," the chief minister said.



The budget of Bihar increased from Rs 30,000 crore when the state bifurcated, to Rs 1.60 lakh crore owing to rapid all round development, he said.



Liquor ban in Bihar has lessened domestic violence and helped people spend more money, Kumar said and expressed confidence that Jharkhand would also follow suit.



If the Das government failed to do it, Kumar said he was confident that the next government formed by Marandi would do it.



Marandi, his speech, described Kumar as a "credible leader and hope of the country to lead".


Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia will launch a 72-hour satyagraha in Bhopal from June 14 to protest for the rights of farmers  a move aimed at countering the fast for peace by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.Scindia, MP from the states Guna constituency, will also meet the family members of six farmers who were killed in police firing during a protest earlier this week in Mandsaur district. Congress leaders, including vice-president Rahul Gandhi, were stopped from visiting the district on Thursday.The Congress has demanded the imposition of Presidents Rule in the state, saying Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has no right to continue as he is evading his constitutional duties."One of the killed farmers was father of a 40-day- old child. Chouhan should have gone to meet his wife and the child and family of other farmers, who were killed. CM has been evading constitutional responsibility. We demand imposition of President's Rule in the state," said Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh.Singhs views were echoed by BJP ally Shiv Sena which said Chouhan should have visited the deceased farmers families instead of sitting on fast. Sena's media in-charge Apoorva Dubey, who reached Chouhans fast venue in Bhopals Dusshera Maidan, said, "Instead of sitting here, he should have gone to Mandsaur to comfort and help the farmers. Chouhan should sit indefinitely on the fast till the farmers' woes are mitigated, or we else will launch an indefinite fast in support of the farmers."Chouhans fast coincided with the 10th day of farmers protests in the state. Meeting delegations of farmers units, Chouhan has reportedly promised them profitable prices for their produce.
For Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung, its now or never.His call for an indefinite strike in the Hills from Monday  to retain his fiefdom  is going to be a litmus test for his Gorkhaland movement.However, a rift within the GJM and an apparent loss of trust in him as the face of the Gorkhaland movement has left Gurung worried. The same was evident when he proclaimed himself as the Chief Minister of Hills in a direct challenge to Mamata Banerjee.Gurungs hopes rest with the BJP with which his party has been associated since 2009 but differences over a separate Gorkhaland remain. While the state unit of the BJP does not want a separate state to be carved out of Bengal, the central leadership has been dangling the proverbial carrot since the tenure of former Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singhs tenure. It continued with the election of SS Ahluwalia with GJM support in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.The BJP has been maintaining a safe distance from current turmoil in Darjeeling Ahluwalia is yet to weigh in on the recent violence in the Hills over the alleged imposition of Bengali language in schools as well as for a separate Gorkhaland.Realising that he is caught between the BJP-TMC slugfest, Gurung has now declared a fight till death to retain power in the Hills. There will be an indefinite shutdown in the Hills. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) offices, banks and government offices will be closed from Monday. The banks will open twice a week for public transactions. The indefinite strike will not be applicable to schools, colleges, transport services and hotels. I will fight for a separate Gorkhaland till death, he said.People in his party, however, have accused him of losing the plot. Recently, he said he will quit the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). Now, he says he is the chief of GTA and, therefore, the Chief Minister of the Hills. He is behaving like a king. Party workers are now confused on how to take this movement forward logically. Bandhs and strikes are not going to achieve anything. This will send a bad message, a senior GJM leader told News18.com.Gurungs desperate attempt to remain in the hot seat has forced the state government to mull a strategy. We have information that they misused GTA funds. They cannot escape now, a Trinamool Congress leader said.Sources said Mamata will try to expose Gurung through a special audit.In the last six years, Rs 3,925 crore has been sanctioned to the GTA for the development of the Hills. There are allegations that these funds were misused by GTA officials.We need to dent his image. People in the Hills are very simple. They dont like someone imposing anything on them. Therefore, the best way is to expose their leaders. The people in the Hills should know that the money given to them for water, sanitation, education and healthcare was misused by leaders for whom they hit the streets and risk their lives, a state Cabinet minister said, adding that if the situation goes out of control on Monday, Gurung would be arrested.Mamata has already hinted that she will handle the issue strategically. There is a possibility that she may try to convince some GJM leaders to join the TMC. There may be a few bad apples, but most are good, she had said at a press conference.Citing a High Courts ruling which declared bandhs as illegal, her government is planning to make Mondays strike unsuccessful.A large contingent of police force will be on stand-by in Darjeeling on Sunday evening. Special vehicles will be provided to state government employees and bank officials. Police are also likely to make some preventive arrests on Sunday.
New Delhi: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit created a storm on Sunday when he accused Army Chief Bipin Rawat of making statements like a "sadak ka gunda" (a street thug).



Though, Sandeep Dikshit, in a U-turn, felt it was 'wrong' on his part and sought apology for his remarks.



"I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologise for it and withdraw my statement," said Dikshit



In a recent interview the Army chief, while speaking about the Kashmir unrest, had suggested that it would have been easier for the armed forces if the protesters were firing weapons instead of throwing stones.



Rawat had said: "In fact, I wish these people instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then I would have been happy. Then I could do what I (want to do)."



The BJP was quick to take umbrage and expressed its dismay over the use of such words to describe the Army Chief.



"What's wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda", tweeted MoS Home Kiren Rijiju.



BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called it a "shameful statement".



Incidentally, Prakash Karat too in an article said the statement by the Army chief was a needless provocation and was "unbecoming of a senior Army officer."
Dublin: Irish prime minister Enda Kenny expressed concern today that a proposed alliance between Britain's ruling Conservatives and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) could pose a "challenge" to peace in the province.



In a phone call with British Prime Minster Theresa May, Kenny warned that efforts to shore up her minority government with the hardline Protestant DUP should not put at risk the Good Friday peace accords.



"They discussed the outcome of the UK general election and the (British) prime minister outlined the proposed supply and confidence arrangement between her party and the DUP," a spokesman for the Irish government said.



"The taoiseach (Kenny) indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring."



Before the 1998 peace deal, Northern Ireland was plagued by violence over Britain's control of the province.



The Good Friday accords led to a power-sharing arrangement between nationalist, largely Catholic parties who want to join Ireland and the pro-British Protestant community.



Kenny also "noted the absence of any nationalist voice in Westminster", after Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) lost its three seats in Thursday's election.



Sinn Fein won seven seats but the party refuses to sit in the House of Commons, which requires swearing allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II.



May lost her parliamentary majority in Thursday's snap election, prompting her to seek the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to stay in power.



Kenny is due to hand over power this week to his successor as leader of the ruling Fine Gael party, Leo Varadkar.



"The taoiseach stated that there should be an early meeting between the prime minister and his successor Leo Varadkar and wished her well in the challenges that now lie ahead," the spokesman added.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for the dismantling of the U.N. agency that aids millions of Palestinian refugees, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement and saying he had conveyed his message to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.



Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Netanyahu was pursuing a "fantasy". The United States, Israel's main ally, was the biggest donor to UNRWA last year, pledging $368 million.



In public remarks to his cabinet at its weekly meeting, Netanyahu said UNRWA perpetuated, rather than solved, the Palestinian refugee problem and that anti-Israeli incitement was rife in its institutions, which includes schools.



"It is time UNRWA be dismantled and merged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," Netanyahu said.



Referring to a meeting he held in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Netanyahu said: "I told her it was time the United Nations re-examine UNRWA's existence."



UNRWA was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation.



It says it currently aids five million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.



Chris Gunness, UNRWA's chief spokesman, said in an email to Reuters that only the General Assembly, by a majority vote, could change the agency's mandate.



"In December 2016, UNRWA's mandate was extended for three years by the General Assembly by a large majority," he added.



Netanyahu made his comments two days after UNRWA said it had discovered part of a tunnel running under two of its schools in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.



UNRWA said it had protested to Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the enclave and which had used a network of cross-border tunnels to launch attacks inside Israel in a 2014 war. UNRWA condemned the tunnel as a violation of neutrality. Hamas denied it was responsible for building it.



Abu Hasna, speaking in Hebrew on Israel Radio, cautioned that if "UNRWA is gone" in the Gaza Strip, where its food, educational and health services are crucial, "two million people will turn into IS (Islamic State) supporters.






London: A petition against British Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party garnered nearly 600,000 signatures on Sunday as concern grew over her plan to govern with their support.



"This is a disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power," read the petition, which outlined some of the DUP's more controversial views including opposition to gay marriage and abortion.



The petition echoed some of the slogans at a leftist demonstration by a few hundred people outside Downing Street on Sunday who chanted: "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has to go".



Some Conservative MPs also spoke out on Saturday as officials announced that Northern Ireland's DUP had signed up to "an outline agreement" to back a minority Conservative government.



May needs the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to be able to govern after losing her parliamentary majority in Thursday's general election.



The details of the agreement are not yet known but Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said it "simply won't work" if

it includes any change to abortion laws or "dilution" of gay rights.



Wollaston also said she was opposed to the death penalty and creationism being taught in schools, policies that have been supported by some DUP politicians.



Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, said she had received "assurances" from May that there would be no change to gay rights for the rest of Britain.



Gay marriage is banned in Northern Ireland, as is abortion except for when the life of the mother is in danger. The DUP was founded in 1971 by firebrand Protestant evangelical preacher Ian Paisley to defend Northern Ireland's union with Britain against demands for a united Ireland.



Early in his political career, the colorful cleric became a byword for bigotry and intolerance of Catholics. The party is now more secular and attracts a wider demographic than when it was founded, shifting from fundamentalist outsiders to political pragmatists.



But some of its politicians have been criticised for homophobic comments and, although it has a female leader in Arlene Foster, it remains an overwhelmingly male, white bastion.
Washington: Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator until President Donald Trump picked him as US attorney general, heads to Congress this coming week when he will face a grilling about his Russian interactions.



Sessions, among the earliest high-profile backers of Trump's election campaign, appears before his former colleagues Tuesday, days after explosive testimony by ousted FBI director James Comey, whose removal he recommended.



Concerns have been raised about whether Sessions helped otherwise subvert the ongoing Russia-related investigations.



"This is going to prompt a lot of questions for him," the panel's top Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy, told AFP of an appearance in which lawmakers will be eager to learn what role Sessions played in Comey's firing last month.



The Senate Appropriations Committee had called in the attorney general to testify about budget issues. But on Saturday, after senators made clear they would zero in on Sessions's connections to Russia, Sessions shifted his plan, opting to address the Senate Intelligence Committee.



"In light of reports regarding Mr Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters," Sessions said in a letter announcing the change.



The intelligence panel "is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added.



With reports circulating that Trump had been clashing with his attorney general, and that Sessions had offered to resign, the White House on Tuesday declined to say whether the president maintained confidence in Sessions.



And in a stunning moment of inside-the-Beltway intrigue, Comey dropped a bombshell about why he and other top FBI officials concluded that the attorney general was going to recuse himself from the probe.



"We also were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said.



'Something big'



Although Sessions, a genteel 70-year-old from the southern state of Alabama who served 20 years in the Senate, backed Trump's campaign, he was also one of the first administration officials to fly into turbulence. During his January confirmation hearing he failed to disclose meetings he held with Russian officials.



On March 1, The Washington Post reported that he met twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, during the campaign.



The following day, Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe, and several top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, demanded he resign. Sessions refused.



He may also be under a cloud of suspicion after Comey, in his devastating testimony, suggested the attorney general may have failed to take appropriate steps to protect the FBI chief.



At the conclusion of a February 14 meeting in the White House, Comey testified, Trump urged everyone else but Comey to leave the Oval Office, including Sessions.



"My impression was, something big is about to happen," Comey said, as he recalled the encounter.

"My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving," Comey added.



When the two men were alone, the ex-FBI director said, Trump urged Comey to stop the investigation into fired national security advisor Michael Flynn.



In written testimony Comey said he told Sessions it was "inappropriate" for him to leave the FBI director alone with the president, and that Sessions "did not reply."



With Sessions already under fire for failing to disclose the two meetings with Russians, CNN reported last week that investigators were looking into a possible third Sessions meeting with Kislyak, on the sidelines of an April 27, 2016 campaign event in Washington.



Despite his recusal, Sessions in May signed a letter to Trump recommending he remove Comey, the man overseeing the investigation into Russian election meddling and the possible Russia-Trump nexus.



Lawmakers and critics have expressed concern about any possible role by Sessions in either sacking Comey, or in subverting the ongoing investigation by the FBI.



"There remain a number of questions about his own interactions with the Russians," Republican Senator Susan Collins told CNN Friday.



"We on the Intelligence Committee want to know the answers to those questions, and we have begun to request information from the attorney general to allow us to get to the bottom of that."



With the Russia story spreading, the Justice Department in May appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller, widely respected within both parties, as a special counsel to head a separate Russia probe.
Teach children coping skills

This week at a Joint Select Committee meeting of Parliament President of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists Dr Katija Khan, citing a statement from a stakeholder at a meeting to develop a National Suicide Plan, reported that more than 400 primary and secondary school students are on suicide watch due to some degree of mental illness .

Isava, who is based in Maryland, US, was asked about this statistic by Sunday Newsday following his presentation, Discussion on Raising Resilient Children, Fostering Social and Emotional Development, held at Maple Leaf International School, Petit Valley .

Im not surprised that students are reporting suicide because as I mentioned (in my presentation) stress is the number manifestation that I see and I treat at least in the United States. With our ever changing society kids are increasingly stressed from the competitiveness and the demands that are placed on them .

And when they dont have coping skills a default is to find avenues and with the promotion and the glamorisation of suicide it seems like a reasonable option without them having the mental capacity or ability to understand the ramifications, he said .

He continued: Consequently when kids respond to their stress by saying they want to kill themselves it is our obligation and responsibility as adults and educators and practitioners to respond in kind to the same level of response by saying theres hope, theres direction. Suicide is not the option. He advised Government and mental health practitioners should then respond by doing either presentations on options beyond suicide or giving kids coping skills .

Isava said he would be happy to be involved in a local initiative as he has done this in the US where they had one of the highest suicide rates in the school system that he serviced .

During his presentation, Isava said parenting has changed so much in one generation and parents are now focusing on academic achievement instead of teaching children to be socially and emotionally strong .

He also said social/emotional learning or resiliency is not a priority for schools or in parenting .

He stressed that resilient kids can tolerate more and handle more stress .

Isava said with the internet it has opened up the floodgates of disappointment and temptations He advised parents they should teach children to say no thank you so they can learn to pace themselves and have balance in their lives; teach them that no is a reasonable and acceptable answer to unrealistic questions; teach them to value winning and instead of saying good job have them understand how they won; and to teach them how to lose graciously .

His said instead of waiting until something happens and then react when you are emotionally charged you should start picking fights with kids .

He gave them example of saying you have a lot of cash and driving past KFC and when they ask you to buy it you tell them no .

He advised parents that they should dialogue about an infraction and give a message and then give consequences .

He added that too often parents jump too quickly to consequences and children do not learn resiliency. He also cautioned that if parents make empty threats it will show weakness to their kids. He advised parents to use key terms like safety, responsibility and respect, not to fight with teachers but work with them and to make resilient kids they have to become resilient themselves .
What happens when girl gets pregnant?

The Senate approved the Miscellaneous Provisions (Marriage) Bill 2016 amending the Marriage Act, Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, Hindu Marriage Act, Orisa Marriage Act and Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act, changing the legal marriageable age to 18.

Umar Abdullah of the Islamic Front did not agree with the bill and did not believe Government and those supporting the bill thought out the matter properly.

By raising the marriage age to 18, it will definitely put a strain on our social and family infrastructure.

Here you are telling people if they have intercourse and the girl becomes pregnant, they need to either have to abort the child or if she wants to have the child she can not get married to the young man. How are we going to treat with that relationship between the girl and the boy? Obviously the boy has committed a criminal offence. You are looking at the boy serving time in prison. How is that going to auger for the young child that would be brought up in a home where there is no father? He said since abortion was against the law, the girl would have to go to her family and ask for help without the support of the father.

Abdullah stressed that children getting married should not be the norm but it was necessary when no one had been able to deal with the issue of children having sexual relationships.

He said what should be done is to try to curb teenagers from having sexual intercourse. He said parents and schools could not do anything about children having sex, and the government had not introduced programmes to stop or reduce occurrences.

In addition he said the countrys society was developed on child marriages. He said many peoples parents and grandparents were married at a very young age, some were arranged, and they were successful.

Our social infrastructure has broken down tremendously, the government has done nothing to bring it back to that pristine form, and they are going to let the courts legislate our basic rights as a family structure... When we interfere with Gods law we pay for it in the long run. We will have a wrecked society. In a radio interview, general secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Saba, Satnarayan Maharaj, commented on the bill and said, We believe that the practice of our religion is guaranteed under the Constitution and any attempt to take away that constitutional right can be challenged. We are awaiting advice of legal team on the way forward. Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley, on the other hand, was in agreement with the move as he believed it was important to keep pace with international standards and basic human rights.

He said it would make it easier to regulate the treatment between male and female relationships so that claims of exploitation of young people could be standardised and properly monitored. At the same time he said, I hope if there are any other considerations after we have looked at this for a period of time, a case would be made if there are differences in opinions.
TTAP: Erroneous coverage on suicide and SEA

The association in a media release yesterday said it wanted to clarify certain reports based on the Khans contribution at the recent Joint Select Committee (JSC) enquiry into the state of mental health services and facilities in Trinidad and Tobago.

The association said that a broadcaster and other media outlets reported that Khan suggested that the SE A exam was partly to blame for students being placed on suicide watch.

This is an incorrect record of comments made by Dr Khan.

Her comments on the SE A exam were in direct response to a question by the Committee chairperson on whether the SE A exam was a factor contributing to suicide amongst students. Dr Khan indicated that the SE A is indeed stressful for both parents and students and it would be worthwhile to conduct more research into the impact of the SE A exam on students. The association also sought to correct a media report in which Khan is reported as stating that 400 students were on suicide watch based on a Pan American Health Organisation report.

The association pointed out that Khan had noted PAHOs significant and creditable contribution to suicide prevention.

She had also said that there had been meetings to develop a National Suicide Plan led by the Health Ministry and the figure relating to the number of students in schools on suicide watch was given by a stakeholder at one of these meetings. The cited figure was subsequently erroneously attributed to a PAHO report in one newspaper.

Dr Khan did not attribute any report to the PAHO or to the Ministry of Health, neither was any specific report on this issue identified by Dr Khan in her contribution to the JSC.  The association commended the JSC on its work and expressed hope that the evident commitment and fervour of its members can lead to tangible developments. The association also commended the Ministry of Health and its Mental Health Unit for their work in engaging stakeholders to develop strategies to address mental health issues.

The association is heartened by the current level of national interest in improving mental health. There are many gaps that need to be addressed and the association is resolute in its commitment to contributing to developing effective solutions to mental health problems, including that of children at risk of suicide. We thank you for the opportunity to be of service.
Expert: Take down mentally ill aggressor with needles not bullets

He is also recommending a system where mental health officers could be called to help calm a mentally ill person with a sedative, taking them down with  a needle instead of bullets.

Deyalsingh was responding to reports of a soldier shooting Edison Thompson, 45, of Princes Town on Friday.

Thompson, who was aboard a bus on Henry Street, Port-of-Spain, attacked a soldier with a hammer and was shot in the buttocks. He was taken to Port of Spain General Hospital where he died. He was the forth mentally ill man to be shot and killed by a member of the protective services.

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Deyalsingh said global reports state that with every successive generation, not only did the number of cases of depression increase, but the people who suffer from the illness were younger. In fact, he said the second highest cause of death in people ages 16 to 29 was suicide.

We know mental illness is going to increase.

Different factors are bringing on mental illness in terms of poverty, unemployment and other societal issues... If its increasing, our encounters with people who are mentally ill will be more.

Meaning, we as normal people who are walking, as well as the police officers will have to deal with it. He said police and soldiers who have to deal with the public should be trained to assess the risk of a mentally ill person, the level of danger that person poses to themselves and to the public.

He said psychological assessment was a part of training at the Police Academy but after a year or two that knowledge could fade. He suggested continual training, especially as that section of the population was increasing.

In the meantime, he advised the police not to rush in but step back; get a plain-clothes officer if possible because the uniform could frighten them; speak to the person slowly, in a non-confrontational manner; if they are rambling, repeat what they say so they know you are listening to them. He said these things could help calm the person and lessen their aggression enough to apprehend the person.

He said people suffering from mental illnesses were ten time more likely to be a victim of crime so non-lethal ways of subduing someone was important  possibly by shooting the person in the foot or with the use of rubber bullets or tasers.

However he stressed that, In the case of life and death situations, you have no choice but to defend yourself because it is either you or them. Deyalsingh also suggested making a crisis intervention team of mental health officers available to the police.

Therefore, if the police encountered someone with a problem, a team member could be called to the scene.

He said the mental health officers would be better trained on how to talk to the person. The patient may know the mental health officer if they attended a psychiatric clinic in the area and it would be easier for the officer to deal with the person.

In addition, he said the mental health officer would carry a Haldol injection, a drug used to calm an agitated person.

We could take them down with needles instead of bullets. To the average person, if a person seemed to be mentally ill because of their speech or behaviour, it was best not to look the person in the eye. In fact, he suggested avoiding all contact as they could be paranoid or have delusions and react aggressively.

If the mentally ill person approached in an aggressive manner, show your hands and back off and tell them that you were leaving. If they still approach in a confrontational manner, then run.
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A study involving a 99-million-year-old piece of Burmese amber is making waves thanks to the cute little creature caught inside. According to Popular Science, a well-preserved baby bird trapped in the sap just a few days or weeks after hatching may be the key to unlocking secrets of the Cretaceous period. The three-inch bird, nicknamed Belone, is technically an avian dinosaur, notes the Washington Post, but it belonged to an extinct species of bird known as enantiornithes. They have no modern relatives, but are similar to birds we see today save a few distinct features, like teeth and wings with clawed fingers. And given the fossils condition, scientists are already making discoveries.

Researcher Lida Xing says the team initially thought it had just a pair of feet and some feathers before it underwent CT imaging and that it was a big, big, big surprise after that," per National Geographic. Belone is the most complete fossil found of its kind, with almost half of its body intact, including feet, a head and neck, and a piece of wing. And though it was encased in amber so close to hatching, the fossil already had flight feathers. Researchers believe that being able to fly at such a young age, maybe even upon hatching, could mean the species was "highly precocial, or needed to fend for itself at a much earlier age than todays tree-living birdlings, who have much more doting parents. (Last year, scientists found an ancient flower species similarly trapped in amber.)
Small but raucous demonstrations across the country Saturday targeted the notion that extremist interpretations of Islamic law might somehow infect American democracy, but many of the rallies drew even more boisterous counter-protests by people who called such fears an unfounded distortion of Islam, the AP reports. Hundreds of counter-protesters marched through downtown Seattle, banging drums, cymbals, and cowbells behind a large sign saying "Seattle stands with our Muslim neighbors." Participants chanted "No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here" on their way to City Hall, while a phalanx of bicycle police officers separated them from an anti-Shariah rally numbering in the dozens. Police ultimately used tear gas to disperse rowdy demonstrators and made several arrests.

In front of the Trump building in downtown Chicago, about 30 people demonstrated against Islamic law and in favor of President Trump, shouting slogans and holding signs that read "Ban Sharia" and "Sharia abuses women." About twice as many counter-protesters marshaled across the street. A similar scene played out in a park near a New York courthouse, where counter-protesters sounded air-horns and banged pots and pans in an effort to silence an anti-Shariah rally. In St. Paul, Minn., state troopers arrested seven people when scuffles broke out at the close of competing demonstrations at the state Capitol. The rallies, held in more than two dozen US cities, were organized by ACT for America, which claims Islamic law is incompatible with Western democracy. The organization said it opposes discrimination and supports the rights of those subject to Shariah. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, calls it the largest American anti-Muslim group. (Read more Sharia law stories.)
Let's just say Jacee Dellapena won't be buying any stories about storks because she's knows firsthand where babies come from: The Mississippi 12-year-old can also tell her new little brother all about it because, thanks to a combination of Jacee's precociousness and an indulgent doctor, she helped bring Cayson into the world. It goes like this: Jacee's mom, 34-year-old Dede Carraway, blocked her daughter from the delivery room for the birth of 18-month-old Zayden, so when the new pregnancy was announced, Jacee lobbied early and often to be allowed in. Once there, though, she tells Today, "I started crying because I was too short to see anything. The doctor was like, 'Just go ahead and get some gear on and come help me deliver the baby."

Say what? "I was like, are you kidding me? Are you being real?" says mom, "but the doctor said, Im being serious. Ill guide her hands and everything.' So she got up in there and was suddenly in the middle of everything." Carraway reasons that Jacee had already had sex ed at school, so "theres no reason why she shouldnt learn about it at home, too." Cue the proud big sister: "I couldnt believe it," Jacee says. "It was like, oh my goodness, I just delivered a baby, and its my baby brother, and Im going to tell him when he gets older that I delivered him. I cant wait." Check out photos over at Today. (Read more child birth stories.)
President Trump again referred to James Comey's "leaks" in Sunday's Twitterstorm, part of which went thusly: "I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'" Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the former FBI director admitted last week that he helped leak a memo on Trump to a reporter, and the Hill notes that Trump's lawyer may be preparing legal action against Comey over the leak. Per the AP, Comey contends that information was not classified or otherwise protected. (Next up before the Senate panel: AG Jeff Sessions.)
When James Comey was finished testifying before a Senate panel, President Trump's attorney quickly rebutted one key part of his testimony. The president, he said, never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone. But in an appearance on Fox News Saturday, presidential son Donald Trump Jr. seemed to have a different view of his father's intention, reports the Washington Post. When he tells you to do something, guess what? There's no ambiguity in it, there's no, 'Hey, I'm hoping,'" Trump Jr. said. You and I are friends: 'Hey, I hope this happens, but you've got to do your job.' That's what he told Comey."

The former FBI chief has quoted the president as saying, "I hope you can let this go," referring to the agency's investigation of Michael Flynn. Trump's attorney suggested that the president didn't even go that far, but his son suggested that he did. As the Hill notes, it speaks to a line of defense that seems to be emerging for Republicans: Even if Trump said he "hoped" the investigation would go away, that's far short of directing Comey to drop it. (The FBI chief testified that he interpreted the message as a "direction" from Trump to drop the inquiry.)
Someone claiming to be a fugitive Kentucky lawyer at the center of a nearly $600 million Social Security fraud case has contacted a newspaper to spell out proposed terms of his surrender. Disability lawyer Eric C. Conn, who disappeared a month before his sentencing, faces an outstanding FBI warrant for his arrest. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the terms received in an email to the newspaper included that Conn not be charged with crimes related to fleeing. Among other suggested terms for surrender include a request that they be made available for public review. Conn's attorney, Scott White, told the AP Sunday that he also received an email with some of the same details and is convinced it was from his client due in part to Conn's particular style of writing.

My certainty is 99%, says White, who claims the terms outlined in both the email to him and to the newspaper were identical, which "sealed it for me." A $20,000 reward has been offered for information leading authorities to Conn, who pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge. He faces up to 12 years in prison and has agreed to pay the government tens of millions of dollars. According to the email sent to the newspaper Friday, the person claiming to be Conn said he fled because he believed it was unjust that the two convicted judges related to his crime would receive less prison time. (Read more crime stories.)
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New Delhi:

Mathematician Anand Kumar continues to show wonder as all the 30 students from his Super 30 brigade has cleared the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2017 for admission to Indias premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The results have been declared at the official website of the board joint entrance examination board on Sunday which is jeeadv.ac.in.

This is nothing new for Anand and his group of highly meritorious students as they had previously done this kinds of miracle in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Hence, this is the fourth time that they have made it possible. Last year 28 out of 30 students cracked the examination.

"This year, it is again 30/30", Anand was quoted while interacting with media.

The genius is already a world fame for making possible such kind of wonders for years and his main aim is to groom and gift a bright career to all those extra ordinary students who belong to a underpriviledged section of our society.

Also Read: CBSE declares date for National Eligibility Test 2017

From son of a landless farm labourer to a daughter of vendor all of them finally experienced this dream like feel which they never think that they will be capable of.

In its glorious journey of 15 years around 396 students have made their career in the arena of IIT so far. Like every year this time too Anand and all his 30 brilliant gems were poured into wishes all over the country.

On this regard Anand Kumar praised the hard works and devotion of all his students and expressed wish to expand his dreams further.

Also Read: Sarvesh Mehtani tops IIT-JEE, click here to check your rank

"But now I think I will have to strive more to bring smiles to a higher number of students," he stated.

Kumar mentors 30 students free of cost at his home and provides them food and lodging for around a year. His entire family is involved with Super 30 as his mother takes care of the cooking and his brother Pranav plans the logistics.

Though offered donation from big industrial houses of the country as well help from the government, Kumar said he does not accept any financial assistance from any quarter as a matter of principle and manages it with his earnings from evening tuition classes for Class 12 students.

Also Read: Govt proposes NEET-like exam to recruit judicial officers

Aditya Anand, Manoj Kumar Verma, Dhirendra Kumar and Abhishek Kumar are some of those bright gems from the brigade of Anand's Super 30.

We wish Anand and his Super 30 continue to live thier dreams and achieve much more in near future to touch the sky.
New Delhi:

After Priyanka Chopra and 'Dangal' actress Fatima Sana Shaikh became the recent targets of social media trolls, Katrina Kaif came up with a special advise for both the actresses to deal with such trolls. The actress suggested that Fatima and Priyanka should ignore the negative comments and focus on the well wishes by their respective fans.



Katrina's statement came after Priyanka and Fatima were trolled for their dresses lately by the social media users. While Priyanka was slammed for wearing a one piece during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendr Modi and showing off her legs, Fatima was lashed out on social media for wearing a swimsuit during the holy month of Ramadan.

Also Read | Priyanka Chopra gets trolled for her dress to meet PM Modi, slams haters with a PERFECT reply

So when Katrina was quizzed about such social media trolls and how to deal with it, she stated, "My take on social media is take the positivity and avoid the criticism and negativity."



She further stated, "That is what you should do, it's the simplest way (to deal with it). Sometimes you get good feedback and response, you know you have well wishers and supporters and that's what you should pay attention to and not the negativity."

Also Read | Fatima Sana Shaikh trolled for wearing a swimsuit during Ramadan



On the work front, Katrina Kaif is busy promoting her upcoming movie 'Jagga Jasoos' opposite ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. Helmed by Anurag Basu, the movie is finally slated to release on July 14 after much of a delay and will be Katrina-Ranbir's first movie together post break-up.

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Mumbai:

The action in Salman Khan-starrer "Tiger Zinda Hai" is of international standard and both the superstar and lead actress Katrina Kaif are putting in their best foot forward, says director Ali Abbas Zafar.



Salman and Katrina have teamed up again for the sequel to their 2012 blockbuster "Ek Tha Tiger".



"Salman and Katrina both have worked really hard. This time he (Salman) will be seen in a different body type, he is much leaner," Ali told PTI.



"The film requires a certain kind of action and it's challenging to do it. The action is of a certain scale, it's contemporary and of international standard."



The makers of "Tiger Zinda Hai" have roped-in stunt director Tom Struthers, known for his stellar work in "Inception" and "The Dark Knight".

Also Read | What? Salman Khan REGRETS signing Katrina Kaif-starrer 'Tiger Zinda Hai'!



The film's first installment revolved around an Indian spy code-named Tiger (Salman), who falls in love with Pakistani spy Zoya (Katrina) during an investigation.



In the sequel, both Salman and Katrina will reprise their roles as spies Tiger and Zoya.



"The characters played by Salman and Katrina are the same in the second part. It's too early to talk in detail about the plot of the film," Ali says when asked if Salman and Katrina are set on a new mission.



Presently, the "Dabangg" star is busy with the promotions of "Tubelight" that is slated to hit the cinema houses this Eid.



Once Salman is done with the release of "Tubelight", the shooting for "Tiger Zinda Hai" will resume, says Ali.



"The film is shaping up well and we are happy with the way it has turned out so far," he says.

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New Delhi:

Seems like the political feud in the Aam Aadmi Party has not ended yet and in the latest development senior AAP leader and founder member, Kumar Vishwas said that he had volunteered to step down from the post of party's overseas fundraiser.

However, Vishwas will still remain on the post of AAPs overseas convenor.

I never tried to know about the funds and nor do I want to know. Other colleagues were looking after fundraising affairs. So, I requested the party leadership to relieve me of this responsibility so that I could focus more on Rajasthan, he said.

Kumar was excused from the overseas fund raising duty last week.

The AAPs national executive accepted my request and I thank it for that, Vishwas told reporters in Delhi on the sidelines of a meeting with party workers from the western state.

Suggested Read: Kumar Vishwas' journey from poet to activist

Well, the news gave some more opportunity to sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra to attack Aam Aadmi Party. Mishra was quick to react on the development and claimed that Kumar Vishwas was unhappy over the lack of transparency in the partys funding.

He quit because he was not kept in the loop as to from where did the money come or how was it spent. Most of the transactions were carried out in cash without any receipt, Mishra said.

The AAPs overseas fund raising is being looked after by its Karnataka convenor Prithvi Reddy, Preeti Sharma Menon and Dwarka MLA Adarsh Shastri since September 2016.

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New Delhi:

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgis three year tenure is going to end on June 19. And now he has asked government not to consider him for reappointment to the post.

Rohatgi told PTI that he had written to the government in May conveying his wish to discontinue as Attorney General and return to private practice.

He said the extension given to him by the government earlier in June was adhoc, till further orders, as it was done when the Prime Minister was on a visit to Russia.

So, the government has to take a call on my decision, he said.

Rohatgi said that he maintained a good relationship with the government and would come to its aid as and when required.

He said he was appointed by the Narendra Modi government after it came to power in May 2014 and he has served his term to his full satisfaction.

He said he considers this duration as the top law officer enough and does not want to be considered for reappointment.

I have conveyed to the government last month that I dont wish to seek re-appointment. I consider the three-year term as enough and I had also served the previous BJP government for five years. I would like to return to private practice, Rohatgi told PTI.

He clarified that his letter conveying his decision not to seek reappointment should not be considered as resignation as his term is due to end.

I will come to the aid of the government as long as I live, he said.

Asked about his response if Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists that he continue, Rohatgi said, I will cross the bridge when it comes.

Besides Rohatgi, two additional solicitor generals P S Patwalia and Neeraj Kishan Kaul have also preferred not to seek reappointment as law officers.

Rohatgi was appointed as the AG on June 19, 2014 immediately after the BJP government came to power in May that year.

During his three-year stint, he argued many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

He also defended the government which was in tussle with the Supreme Court Collegium of judges on the appointment of judges for higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the apex court in triple talaq matter in which the judgement is reserved.

He has also advanced the governments stand of defending the policy of Aadhaar in which the issue of Right to Privacy has been raised and is pending before apex court.

As a top law officer, Rohatgi defended the governments policy of demonetisation in which the high denomination currency of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 were declared as not a legal tender.

Rohatgi had led a team of lawyers which had participated in the pre-dawn hearing in the apex court to oppose any relief to Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

He also appeared for the NDA government when its decision to impose Presidents rule in Uttarakhand was challenged.

The top law officer also assisted the apex court which scrapped the controversial section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

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Bengaluru:

Congress in Karnataka demanded for a national policy on farm loans from the central government on Sunday.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara said that if there was a national policy, all states which now have different polices, would follow it. There would be uniformity in approach by both central and state governments when they waive such loans, he said.

We in Karnataka are committed to address farmers issues. Central government should formulate a national policy in this regard, so that states also follow it. I demand a national policy on these kinds of issues, Parameshwara said.

When you (central government) can overnight formulate a law banning read beacons, why cant you formulate a national policy when farmers from across the country are demanding for loan waiver faced by drought? he questioned.

Pointing out that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led UPA government had waived farmers loans amounting to about Rs 72,000 crore, he said the central government cannot just wash their hands off by leaving it to the states.

As a national government it should come out with a national policy so that everyone agrees to it, he added.

Asked about Congress government in Karnataka not announcing a farm loan waiver for farmers when their leader Rahul Gandhi was demanding the same in Madhya Pradesh, he said we are holding discussions in this regard and our government is committed to address the issues faced by farmers.

Parameshwara reiterated Karnatakas demand that the Centre first waive loans availed by farmers through nationalised banks, adding that such loans got through state run cooperative banks was very small compared to nationalised banks.

He was speaking to reporters while briefing them of party Vice President Rahul Gandhis visit Bengaluru on Monday to attend National Heralds event to celebrate 70 years of independence with release of a commemorative publication.

Gandhi will also attend a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committees extended general body meeting, where he will address about 1,500 party workers and office bearers about the preparations for the 2018 assembly polls in the state.

First launched in 1938 as a daily in the vanguard of the Freedom Movement, the Congress-owned newspaper National Herald had in November, 2016 staged a comeback with a digital version, eight years after it had downed shutters.

The publication has come in the midst of a legal battle over its past, which has ensnared Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Parameshwara termed as deplorable, BJP President Amit Shahs statement that Mahatma Gandhi was a chatur baniya, a reference to the mercantile caste to which he was born and said it was not just an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, but to the entire nation. He demanded an unconditional apology from Amit Shah.

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New Delhi:

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday said that it felt bead when Army chief gave statement like a sadak ka gunda. Soon after making that statement, Dikshit withdrew his statement by saying that he genuinely believed that what he said was wrong and apologised for it.

After Dikshits statement on Army chief, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju attacked Congress.

I dont know what is wrong with Congress? How Congress can say that Army chief is talking like a sadak ka gunda, said Rijiju.

Earlier, writer and historian Partho Chatterjee had compared Army chief Bipin Rawat to General Dyer. It created a lot of controversy. Chatterjee had criticised Army chief for the incident where Army personnel tied a man to jeep to control crowd in Jammu and Kashmir.

Also read: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat attends passing out parade at Indian Military Academy

Also read: Army Chief Bipin Rawat says India ready for two-and-a-half front war as he refers to Pak, China and internal security threats



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New Delhi:

Its in the air. Its the new buzzword of a happening India. And it plays out in all its manifestations from Una in Gujarat to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. From Jharkhand to Alwar in Rajasthan. It flows from the barrel of the state police in Mandsaur to the pellet guns of the paramilitary in Srinagar. One kills the other blinds.



The triggers are pulled with gleeful vengeance. A slew of pellets in exchange for a stone pelted at the force in Srinagar. A rat-tat of gunfire for a stone pelted at the police in Mandsaur. And when the state is not flexing its muscles it's the gau-rakshaks who fill in the gap by delivering vigilante justice attacking potential victims most fatally with sticks and iron-rods and petrol bombs or simply shoot them dead with desi pistols.



And, it seems intolerance, aggression, and violence has found its own growth rate too. Because despite Prime Minister Modis much-delayed reprimand to cow vigilantes, the issue played out favourably well for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh - the partys new lab of social engineering-cum-nationalism. Remember, it all started with the brutal lynching of Akhlaq of Dadri in Western UP.



But violence in Mandsaur played out differently on the political chessboard in Madhya Pradesh. The news of death of five farmers in police firing that reached Bhopal from 300 kms away in Mandsaur must have jolted chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan out of his stupor. Driven to back foot over Vyapam scam - one of the biggest scams that has ever visited a chief minister of any Indian state - that has claimed several lives ever since it was brought to light four years ago, this was the last thing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan wanted on his platter. The state police ensured the menu was served hot.



What does the chief minister do? Chauhan first denies police ever opened fire on agitating farmers. Secondly, his government goes on a propaganda overdrive saying farmers didnt die of police bullets. Such penchant for denial of facts in the age of intruding smartphone cameras and a pumped-in social media snapping close on the heels. Later, a government version made no bones about defending police action saying they only retaliated after incidence of stone pelting by farmers. From Kashmir to Mandsaur, BJP governments maintain their visceral aversion to stone pelters.



The farmers in the Malwa region, already reeling under heavy debt, had been demanding minimum support price for their crops from the government. Last year the farmers had sown nigella seeds ( kalonji ) due to escalated government prices. This year due to even better harvest across Indian states including West Bengal, the prices came crashing down even in international market. The state government instead of taking cognisance of the alarming situation turned a deaf ear to farmers demand for MSP.



A similar situation confronted soybean farmers also. Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of soybean but the farmers had to sell their crops much below the MSP. On top of it, state government insisted digital payment in place of hard cash for procuring produce from farmers in the mandis. This only aggravated their woes. Many farmers have gone jobless past few years because of the governments regulation of selling of poppy husk. These farmers were surviving on debts already.



The chief minister claimed he has been a farmer himself and by that virtue was better placed to understand and appreciate their problems. So he goes on to sit on an indefinite fast until peace was restored in the state. The opposition Congress was quick to point out the CMs innate ability to play-act even in times of crisis involving death of farmers at the hands of the police.

Also Read | Shivraj Singh Chouhan: My Govt stands firmly with farmers, will buy farm products and give profitable prices for it



No wonder then Mandsaur refuses to fall off front pages of national news dailies. And amidst all this news of violence grabbing headlines came along a piece of news that had had a balming effect on readers. This was about a remark by Sushma Swaraj, Indias Minister for External Affairs, who the tweeple have grown so fond of because of her warmth, sensitively and willingness to pull an Indian out of distress from any part of the globe. A twitter user posed this imaginary question to the minister asking her whether she will be able to help someone stuck on planet mars. And pat came her reply - even if you are stuck on Mars, Indian embassy there will help you.



Nothing could be more ironical than the fact that a minister in the Modi government earns the reputation of saving a distressed soul even in an alien planet far away in outer space but many belonging to the same political gharana, to a pariwar espousing cultural nationalism, would not think twice in taking a life and eliminating his space to eat, dress the way he wants to as enjoined on him by the countrys constitution.



In the long shot Mandsaur firing at farmers may not fall in the category of lumpenism and violence that passes off for cow vigilantism but the state violence that left six farmers dead, does cast a shadow on the ruler-ruled relationship. What is even more disturbing is the states predisposition to crush a democratic protest by people fighting for their right to be heard.



The government in Bhopal or New Delhi need to take a leaf out of Sushma Swarajs book. Broken hearts need a healing touch. Kashmir to Mandsaur, Una to Rajasthan, the governments of the day have done little to heal the wounds. Instead, they have been accused of preparing a climate that perpetuates violence and have found ways and means to justify that violence.

Also Read | MP farmers protest | Shivraj Singh Chouhan at fast: We will help our farmer brothers to earn better profits



One is reminded of Pop star Michael Jacksons lyrics from his iconic number - Beat It - from his most popular album, Thriller, released in 1982. A line from it said : Theyll kick you, then they beat you, then theyll tell you its fair.



Only the Modi government along with the BJP ruled state governments have been able to decipher the true meaning of the song thirty years down the line and been able to put it in context - Saath hai, vishwas hai, ho raha vikas hai.





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New Delhi:

Pakistani troops on Sunday violated another ceasefire along LoC in Bimber Gali sector at 9:45 am. The Indian Army retaliated and firing was on in the area.

The Pakistan Rangers also targeted BSF troops in Ramgarh (Samba). The firing was continued for 45 minutes. No casualty has been reported so far.

On June 3, two persons, including a woman, were injured when the Pakistan Army had violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC, prompting retaliation from the Indian troops.

J&K: Pak Rangers started firing on forward BSF troops in Ramgarh (Samba) at 10 am today, BSF retaliated. Firing continued for 45min. No loss  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

Pakistani troops had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector, a defence spokesman had said.

Also Read: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat says work is religion for soldiers

The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he had said.

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Srinagar:

Terrorists on Sunday fired upon policeman identified as Khurshid Ahmad outside SOG camp at Shopian's Imam Sahib. The policeman is admitted to hospital.

The shooting happened in Imam Sahib area of the district near the the camp of the special operations group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police, a police official said.

Special Police Officer (SPO) Khursheed Ahmad, who was injured in the attack, was rushed to the sub-district hospital.

Police have launched a hunt to nab the attackers, the official said, adding that further details are awaited.

Also read: 13 armed intruders killed in 96-hour long operation along Line of Control, says Army spokesman of Northern Command

Also read: J-K: Six militants killed as Army foils 5th infiltration bid in Uri sector; terrorists hurled grenade at police station in Pulwama



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New Delhi:

The first batch of pilgrims bound for the annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra for 2017 was flagged off by Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Sunday.



Swaraj told the pilgrims to take care to not "sully" the route leading up to Kailash Mansarovar during the holy journey.



"The reverence we have for Lord Shiva, we should have similar respect for his abode. Therefore, please do not sully the road that will lead you to Lord Shiva," she told the pilgrims at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi.



A total of 1,430 devotees will undertake the pilgrimage in 25 batches in 2017. Eighteen batches, each comprising around 60 pilgrims, will visit Kailash Mansoravar through the more arduous Lipulekh Pass route, while seven batches with 50 pilgrims each will take the newly-opened Nathu La route.



The yatra will continue for the next four months.



The MEA had received 4,442 applications this year compared to last year's 2,600. The pilgrims were shortlisted through a computerised draw of lots.



"In this first batch, we had selected 60 people but two of them couldn't clear their medical test and hence 58 people will go in the first batch," she said.



Swaraj said the Indian government was making constant efforts and improvements to make the journey more convenient for the pilgrims.



"But it is a gradual process and we are doing a bit more every year," she said.



Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant in December 2016, asked the pilgrims to seek blessings on her behalf as well.



"I underwent the operation but by God's grace I could recuperate within months. Since you all are going to seek blessings of Lord Shiva, I'd request you to seek some blessings for me too as I myself haven't gone to Kailash Mansarovar, ever, and am not sure if I ever will," she said.

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New Delhi:

In an unfortunate incident, nine people were killed and 12 other injured after a bus carrying passengers overturned in the early hours of Sunday morning in Beed district of Maharashtra.

According to reports, the bus was travelling from Pune to Latur. After receiving information, the police officials rushed to the spot and rescue operation is on.

"The bus was travelling from Mumbai to Latur. The survivors have claimed that the driver was over-speeding, survivors which survivors accident," Mahesh Tak, API,attached to Ambhora Police Station, in Beed district told PTI.

The injured persons have been rushed to the Ahmednagar district civil hospital, which is around 70 km away from theaccident spot.

#FLASH: Nine people killed after a bus travelling from Pune to Latur, met with an accident in Beed, in early morning hours #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/XJaLNUvJay  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

"The accident took place around 5.30 am. When the bus was near Dhanora village, the driver lost control and the bus overturned," he said. (With PTI Inputs)

Also Read | Video | Delhi flyover car accident: Fourth student succumbs to injury in hospital

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New Delhi:

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday continued his fast for the second day at Dusshera Maidan in Bhopal.

He affirmed that he has always tried to do a lot for the farmers. He said, farmers problem is ours. They are our own.

The chief minister began indefinite fast from Saturday till restoration for peace in the state.

On the other hand, Curfew was lifted on Saturday from Mandsaur city as the district, the epicentre of the farmers agitation in Madhya Pradesh, remained peaceful though the restrictions on assembly would remain in force.

I have always tried doing a lot for farmers, and their problem is ours. They are our own: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan pic.twitter.com/n8v4NSRWDg  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

The district administration had also said the Internet services in the district, which were suspended on June 5 after out break of violence, will be restored by Sunday morning.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continues with his fast for the second day at Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal #Mandsaur pic.twitter.com/So2eizfxV2  ANI (@ANI_news) June 11, 2017

Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh had informed the curfew has been lifted from all the three police station areas of the Mandsaur city where it was imposed. However, prohibitory orders under section CrPC 144, which bans assembly of more than four persons, will remain in force in the district.

Also Read: Shiv Sena, Congress criticise Chouhan for indefinite fast instead of visiting Mandsaur to comfort farmers

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Mandsaur:

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were on Sunday arrested in Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam district after they tried to enter neighbouring Mandsaur to meet the families of the five persons killed in police firing during the farmers stir.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam districts Jaora town.

The police told them that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, from where curfew was lifted on Saturday. Prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place in the district.

After being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from various farmer outfits across the country, sat on protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic movement.

The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour.

They also argued with the police and Ratlam administration officials to allow them to enter Mandsaur.

Following this, the police arrested the 30 activists under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

After the arrest, Yadav told mediapersons, Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us.

We wanted to meet the families of deceased farmers peacefully and honour them by giving them a letter and soil brought from different parts of the country but we were not allowed to go, he said.

Yadav said the government should waive farmers loans, and they should get the right price for their agricultural produce.

He also demanded a probe into the death of the six people who have died during the farmers agitation so far.

Patkar said, We are being told that if we go to Mandsaur, peace may get disturbed. We are unable to understand how it will affect the peace.

We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers family, she said.

Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during the farmers protest on June 6.

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Srinagar:

According to police JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) chairman and Separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik was on Sunday was detained in south Kashmir's Shopian district due to apprehension of breach of peace.

Malik, along with Noor Muhammad Kalwal, the zonal president of his outfit, was detained by the security forces at Reban in Shopian this morning, a police official said.

A JKLF spokesman, while condemning their detention, said the outfit's chief had gone to Reban to meet the family of jailed leader Sarjan Barkati. Also Read: J-K: Terrorists open fire at policeman outside SOG camp at Shopian

The spokesman said the duo have been taken to some unknown location.

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Bhopal:

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been hit out by BJP ally Shiv Sena on Saturday over the farmers unrest in the state. Shiv Sena has further advised that instead of sitting on a fast, the CM should have visited Mandsaur to comfort the farmers.

Congress also dubbed Chouhans fast as mere "nautanki" (drama).

As the farmers protests entered its tenth day in the state, Chouhan launched his indefinite fast at the Dusshera Maidan here today promising profitable prices to farmers for their produce.

Senas media in-charge Apoorva Dubey, who reached the Dusshera Maidan, told reporters, "Instead of sitting here, he should have gone to Mandsaur to comfort and help the farmers. Chouhan should sit indefinitely on the fast till the farmers woes are mitigated, or we else will launch an indefinite fast in support of the farmers."

"Those farmers who have come to the Dussehra Maiden had been brought by the ruling BJP. Farmers stir is the result of the failure of Chouhan, the state bureaucracy and the police," he alleged.

Also Read: People's emotions about Hindu nation forced Rahul to read Gita'

Later, a delegation of Shiv Sena met Chouhan and suggested ways, including a loan waiver, to end the farmers unrest. After meeting the chief minister, Dubey did not speak to reporters.

State Congress chief spokesperson K K Mishra said, "Chouhan should tell people whether his so-called fast is a nautanki, an event or an act of repentance for his misdeeds that set the state on fire."

"Though he is trying to send a message that he is doing Gandhi-giri (using a Gandhian way), it is absolutely not so. He neither sat at the foot of the statue of Gandhi nor did he garland the statue before launching his nautanki," Mishra said.

"He should remember that (demon king) Ravana is burnt at the Dussehra Maidan every year," the Congress leader said.

Parts of western Madhya Pradesh has been on the boil ever since the farmers launched an agitation last week seeking loan waiver and better crop prices.

Also Read: MP farmers protest: Cong terms Shivraj Singh Chouhans fast a drama'

The situation has been volatile in Mandsaur and Neemuch in the last few days. Five farmers were killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday, while six others were injured.

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New Delhi:

To explore what conditions exist on planet Mars, NASA is sending a team of four crew members to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, which will spend 10 days simulating a deep space mission.

According to researchers at the University of South Florida, Living and working at the bottom of the ocean mimics the micro-gravity (or harsh) environment that humans will experience in space.

The crew will conduct simulated spacewalks, test time delays in communication, evaluate a variety of tools and procedures to be used in future space missions, they said.

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 22 expedition will begin on June 18 when the crew will splash down to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

ALSO READ | Ancient lake on Mars may have harboured microbial life



For NEEMO 22 mission, Dominic DAgostino, Associate Professor at the University of South Florida is selected as one of the four crew members. He was selected for his research conducted on how extreme environments impact the human body.

One of the counter-measures developed is a method to induce and sustain nutritional ketosis with ketone supplement formulations.

Nutritional ketosis shifts the bodys metabolic state to burn fat rather than glucose as its primary fuel.

The USF-patented method will play a pivotal role in advancing the objectives of the NEEMO 22 mission, researchers said.

DAgostino will be in a constant state of nutritional ketosis, which is proven to preserve the genome, protecting DNA.

This is beneficial to NASA as it can counter-measure neurological risks that come with space travel such as space radiation, lack of oxygen and stress of small spaces, researchers said.

NASA Mission to SUN: Details on Solar Probe Plus spacecraft to be out tomorrow; event to be live streamed

No other crew members will be in this metabolic state, creating a baseline for how environmental factors impact the human body in such extreme conditions.

Data will also be collected from the other crew members on gut microbiome, body composition, cognitive tasks, vision assessment, sleep quality and a variety of other physiological parameters.

Other objectives of the NEEMO 22 crew include testing counter measure equipment, technology for precisely tracking assets and assess hardware sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) that will help crew members evacuate someone who has been injured on a lunar spacewalk.

(With PTI Inputs)

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Mogadhishu:

An air strike conducted by the US military in Africa killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp in southern Somalia, 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu, the capital.

A US military statement said the attack happened on Sunday morning. There was no immediate comment on the air strike from Somalia's homegrown extremist group, al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida.

Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed confirmed the air strike, saying that Somali and partner forces destroyed an al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Jubaregion.

Read more: Al-Shabab attack on Somalia military base kills nearly 70 people

He said such attacks would disrupt the group's ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.

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New Delhi:

A woman in the UK was allegedly pushed to the ground and her hijab ripped off amid a spike in hate crime incidents following the two terror attacks in London and Manchester by Islamists that claimed 30 lives.

The assault took place in Fengate, Peterborough after the woman had just got out of her car and crossed the road with her three-year-old daughter when she was pushed from behind and knocked to the ground.

She had her hijab pulled off and thrown towards her. No words were exchanged in the assault, but police have confirmed they are treating it as a racially or religiously aggravated hate crime, Peterborough Telegraph reported.

The male offender was described as white, tall, of medium build and wearing a black hooded top with the head pulled up.

A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the victim was shaken by the attack but otherwise uninjured.

The assault comes amid a spike in hate crime incidents in the UK following a suicide bombing at a concert in Manchester that claimed 22 lives and an attack in London by three terrorists, who drove a van into pedestrians and then went on a stabbing spree, killing eight persons before being shot dead.

Read Here: Testimony of London attacker's mother

Anti-Muslim crimes in the British capital increased fivefold since the London attack, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last week, warning that police would take a zero-tolerance approach.

Following last months concert bombing as well, the number of hate crime incidents reported to police in Manchester had doubled.

The kind of incidents reported included a bomb threat received by a Muslim school, racist graffiti and a niqab-clad woman being told she should not be wearing the Islamic outfit.

Also, a Muslim woman was spat on while a teenaged Muslim girl taunted by a passer-by who said, When are you going to stop bombing people.

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New Delhi:

Pakistan, in a first, has awarded death sentence to a man over blasphemy on social media. Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday convicted a 30-year-old man for spreading blasphemous content about Islam on Facebook and given capital punishment.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan had last year arrested the accused, a Shia Muslim, who hails from Okara for allegedly posting derogatory content about prominent Muslim figures and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his wives on Facebook.

A case was registered against him on behalf of the State at CTD Multan police station under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet) and Sections 9 and 11w of the Anti-Terrorism Act (which deal with whipping up sectarian hatred).

The sentence was the harshest among cyber-crime related sentences given so far in Pakistan. The Muslim country had so far never executed anyone guilty of blasphemy.

Suggested Read: Three men, 96 children: Tale of Pakistan's growing population

Blasphemy has been a contentious issue in the country where people have been murdered over allegations of sacrilege. Earlier this year, a mob in Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan beat up a student, Mashal Khan, to death after accusing him of blasphemy over social media.

In order to crack down on blasphemous content on social media, the Interior Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Nisar has threatened to block all social media websites whichever allow such content.

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London:

According to one of the close allies of Boris Johnson, at least five UK Cabinet ministers are pushing for him to topple Theresa May as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister, but the foreign secretary denied any plans of a coup.

Pressure has been building up on May to step down after a disastrous election result for the Tories, which saw the ruling party's majority slashed and being forced to cobble together a minority government with the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

"A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at Cabinet level", a Johnson ally told 'The Sunday Times'.

"He has been inundated with messages of support... We need a Brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal", he added.

But Johnson reacted to media speculation on Twitter by dismissing any rebellion: "I am backing Theresa May. Let's get on with the job."

Read more: UK election results 2017: Theresa May to pick cabinet amid DUP talks

The latest leadership speculation comes a day after two of May's closest advisers, her joint chiefs-of-staff Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, resigned amid recriminations about their controlling management style.

May had been reportedly given an ultimatum to get rid of the duo or face a leadership challenge by Monday.

"Theresa May is a dead woman walking and the only question is how long she remains on death row", said George Osborne, who had been sacked as UK Chancellor when May took over at 10 Downing Street after David Cameron resigned as PM after the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

The new editor of the 'Evening Standard' newspaper and close ally of Cameron added: "Cameron took years getting back to office, winning in seats like Bath and Brighton and Oxford and I am angry when we go backwards and I am not afraid to say that."

The sense of uncertainty about a May-led minority government was made worse on Saturday night by conflicting messages from Downing Street.

An initial statement suggested a deal had been struck with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), but a later version said the talks were continuing.

"The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week. We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond", the final statement said.

Read more: UK election 2017: Indian-origin MPs tally rises to 12

Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster has said that talks were ongoing, indicating it may not be such a smooth process after all.

The Opposition Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has also said that his party is waiting in the wings to take charge after he defied pollsters' predictions by gaining 30 seats in Thursday's election, leaving a hung Parliament.

He said that Labour under his leadership was "quite ready and able to put forward a serious programme of government", which he said "obviously has massive support in this country".

"We can't go on with a period of great instability", he said, adding that the Labour Party was ready to fight another election campaign.

A latest YouGov poll for 'The Sunday Times' revealed that voters, by a margin of 48 per cent to 38 per cent, believe the Prime Minister should resign and for the first time Corbyn has drawn level with May on the question of who would be the best Prime Minister.

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Scott Mullin / For the

REDDING  Two roads will be closed this afternoon as residents celebrate the 15th annual Georgetown Day.

Police will close Main Street and Old Mill Road for the festivities, the department tweeted.
State police turned to social media to remind residents about the dangers of leaving pets in parked cars.

On an 80-degree day, it only takes 10 minutes for the temperature inside a parked car to reach 100 degrees, and within 30 minutes, the temperature can climb as high as 114 degrees, according to state police.

Please protect your pets and dont leave them in parked cars, the post said.

PETA has an entire page on their website devoted to educating people about the seriousness of leaving dogs, specifically, in parked cars.

If a dog is seen in a car alone, have at least one person remain near the vehicle and someone else take the cars information inside nearby establishments and ask that an announcement be made so the owner returns to their vehicle, PETA suggests.

There are several symptoms that a dog will show if it is experiencing heat stroke, according to PETA. Restlessness, excessive panting, vomiting and lack of coordination are among some of the symptoms.

If you encounter a dog experiencing such behavior, PETA suggests getting the dog into an air-conditioned area and bringing it to a veterinarian.

PETA provides many other suggestions on their website.

Stanford Universitys School of Medicine conducted a study back in 2005 to measure temperature rises in a parked car on a sunny day that found similar results to the numbers PETA advertises on their website.

The results of the study showed that a cars interior can heat up by an average of approximately 40 degrees within an hour, as long as the sun is out. The study indicates that 80 percent of the rise in the temperature in the car will occur within the first half hour.

The study also found that even on a relatively cool dayroughly 60 degreesthe temperature inside a parked car can quickly spike to life-threatening levels if the sun is out.

Typically when a pet is left in a vehicle, passersby will notice windows left open and assume that will help the animal. But the Stanford study found that cracking windows on the car did not impact how fast or how hot the temperature rose.

But the dangers of a hot car arent the only thing dog owners need to be concerned with, according to PETA.

When the temperature outside is 86 degrees, the asphalt can reach as high as 135 degrees, according to PETA.

On an 87-degree day, asphalt temperatures can reach 140 degrees, hot enough to cause burns, permanent damage and scarring after just one minute of contact, PETA warns. Rapid burns and blistering can occur (when the asphalt temperature is) at 150 degrees.
Maybe this is why Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seemed a bit groggy during Thursday's high-profile congressional hearing: He had spent the previous week on the other side of the world, hop-scotching his way around the Pacific trying to reassure allies that the U.S. government remains in their corner.

It's a role McCain has long played, but it's taken on a more serious tenor in the era of President Donald Trump. Already this year, the senator has logged more than 75,000 miles to more than 15 nations across three continents, according to his staff.

McCain's journeys to those far-flung places also drains the octogenarian - and it is beginning to show when he returns to the Capitol. He won't publicly admit this, but some friends suspect his awkward performance at the Intelligence Committee's hearing with James B. Comey, the fired FBI director, could be traced to McCain's near-constant global travels whenever Congress takes a break.

Something seemed off about McCain on Thursday, and social media took notice (even Fox News blasted a headline, "Partisans agree . . . McCain was confusing"). McCain tried to ask Comey questions about how he got fired and how he made the decision last year to close the investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information while she served as secretary of state.

At times, it seemed as if the 2008 Republican presidential nominee was equating the two investigations - one that was closed almost a year ago, and another that seems to still be expanding. The line of questioning seemed to many to be an attempt to defend Trump.

That certainly is not the role McCain is playing around the world.

More aptly, McCain is serving as a shadow secretary of state, trying to clean up or refute statements and positions that Trump has made.

"When Senator McCain is in the room, there's just a different level of respect," Sen. Christopher A. Coons, D-Del., who traveled with McCain last week, said in an interview. "His mere presence reassures our allies in the Asia Pacific and the Northern Atlantic."

Look at where he traveled and what he said over the 10-day break Congress took around the Memorial Day holiday. From Australia to Vietnam to Singapore, McCain tried to shore up frayed alliances. He landed in Australia several months after Trump had an embarrassing clash with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee agreement. McCain sat on the floor of the Parliament of Australia during "Question Time," an honor reserved usually for visiting heads of state or foreign ministers.

And Turnbull and two former prime ministers attended a McCain speech toward the end of the visit. The 80-year-old senator didn't hold back his contempt for Trump's behavior toward such a long-standing ally.

"I come to Australia at a time when many are questioning whether America is still committed to these values. And you are not alone. Other American allies have similar doubts these days. And this is understandable," he said. "I realize that some of President Trump's actions and statements have unsettled America's friends. They have unsettled many Americans as well."

He went on to detail the state of American politics, the rise of nationalist populism, legislative dysfunction and hyper-partisanship. He expressed understanding for those who doubt Trump, but he assured them that the president's national security team was experienced and fully invested in the nation's traditional role of global force for democracy.

Unlike some senators who struggle to get the best meetings abroad, McCain always prompts presidents and prime ministers to clamor for an audience. "Because they want to hear what he has to say," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wy., a frequent travel companion. "He is a reassuring figure around the world."

Barrasso and Coons joined McCain in Vietnam, where McCain is now a revered political figure after having been shot down as a Navy fighter pilot and held captive 5 1/2 years. In the Senate in the 1990s, McCain and John Kerry, D-Mass., another Vietnam War hero, led the effort to normalize relations with Vietnam.

After the more recent delegation's first day there last week, the leading Vietnamese newspaper ran a front-page story with a headline "Senator McCain and friends meet with national leaders," Coons recalled. No mention of the other lawmakers on the trip.

"As a face of Congress around the world, he would be the prime minister of Congress," Barrasso said.

Last week was only the latest whirlwind itinerary for McCain.

Two days after Christmas, McCain began a swing through several Baltic nations that view Russia's incursions into Ukraine as an existential threat to their freedom.

Ten days after Trump won the election, McCain led a bipartisan delegation to the Halifax International Security Forum, where NATO allies were panicked by Trump's declaration that the security alliance might be "obsolete" amid his softening toward Russia.

"We were reassuring people, in some cases scraping them off the ceiling," Coons said of those meetings.

McCain sent the clearest signal of the role he was assuming as international fixer at a February speech in Munich, but he has continued this approach in many other lower profile appearances around the globe.

In one week in April, McCain hit seven tiny nations across southeastern Europe that collectively form a key region - and serve as a transit point for Islamist militants heading to and from Syria. In a speech in Kosovo, he again never mentioned Trump, but he assured leaders that they still had friends in Washington.

"You may have heard that we occasionally have some disagreements back in Washington. But I want you to know that members of the United States Congress in both political parties are fully committed to working with you," McCain said.

The schedule is grueling, even for younger colleagues. Coons, 53, marveled at how McCain squeezed in a late-night meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at a security conference in Singapore just as he cut short his trip to fly back to tend to his wife, Cindy, who had broken her arm in a fall.

That type of travel will wear down the healthiest of senators, even one whose mother, Roberta McCain, is alive and well at 105. After his embarrassing moment questioning Comey, McCain issued a formal statement blaming his performance on staying up late to watch an Arizona Diamondbacks game on the West Coast.

There's no indication he will slow down, not with so many allies who don't understand what Trump means with his tweets and brusque diplomacy.

"We need your patience and your understanding. We need your commitment to our common interests and ideals. We need you to have faith in America and in the enduring value of our alliance," McCain told the Australians. It's a message he's likely to repeat in the coming weeks and months.
OTTAWA, June 9, 2017 /CNW/ - A joint forces police operation involving the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) "O" Division Ottawa Detachment Financial Crime unit has resulted in one property being restrained, and a 2016 Chevrolet Corvette being seized. The property and the vehicle which belonged to Peter Pavlovich Jr., are valued at approximately $900,000.00. Peter Pavlolich Jr. was a subject of this investigation which resulted in charges being laid against him and eleven other individuals, and the dismantling of an Ottawa-based drug trafficking network in 2016. This media release is a follow up to a news release issued by Ottawa Police Service, December 14, 2016 at 4 pm titled "Project STEP results in 12 people charged with drug offences". These matters are presently before the courts. Reports provided by FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) assisted in this proceeds of crime investigation.

The RCMP plays an active role in the fight against proceeds of crime by identifying, assessing, seizing, restraining and dealing with the forfeiture of illicit wealth accumulated through criminal activities. Criminal network groups such as this one, seek to profit from their illegal activities. Illicit profits undermine the social and economic well-being of Canadians and increase the power and influence of organized criminals and their illegal enterprises.

Website: RCMP in Ontario

Twitter: @RCMPONT

Facebook: RCMP.Ontario

YouTube: RCMPGRCPOLICE

SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police

For further information: RCMP Media Relations, 'O' Division (Ontario), Cpl. Louise Savard, Tel. 905-876-9709

Related Links

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/


Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
If there is any area that we havent succeeded then it is that area of stigmatization and discrimination. He further explained that reproductive health education and HIV/AIDS education are not friendly enough to sustain the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Even though we have made considerable progress we still havent been able to arrest the situation because they are in conflict with the law and the tendency is for them to go underground, so we are unable to reach them to offer these services to get them out of it.

A new report by UNAIDS on HIV prevalence in women has revealed that Ghana is among countries with the highest prevalence rate in West Africa. As many as 160,000 women and girls in Ghana are living with the virus, the report said.The 2017 report titled When women lead, change happens  women advancing the end of AIDS provides global statistics on the prevalence of HIV among women across the world. The report also highlights the contributions, challenges, and successes of the UNAIDS in the fight against HIV/AIDS.According to the report, 18.6 million women and girls are reported to be living with HIV in the world. The report said women accounted for 51% of people living with HIV worldwide, but with large regional differencesin western and central Africa, nearly 60% of all people living with HIV are women. As indicated in the UNAIDS report, nearly one million girls and women were newly infected with HIV in 2015.In sub-Saharan Africa, women accounted for 56% of new HIV infections among adults. Young women aged 1524 accounted for 25% of new HIV infections among adults and are at particularly high risk of HIV infection, despite accounting for just 11% of the adult population.Speaking to Wendy Laryea on TV3 Midday Live on Thursday 8th June, the outgoing country representative of UNAID, Girmay Haile admitted that the fight against stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS has not been successful, largely because of social norms and cultures.Girmay Haile also explained that criminalization of sex work has not helped the issue either.The prevalence rate among female sex traders in Ghana is 11.1%. Aside the HIV prevalence, female sex workers also face challenges as physical violence and sexual violence.Source: Ghana's 3news.
Nigerian-born televangelist, Pastor Tim Omotoso, has been denied bail by the Magistrates Court at Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Nigerian-born televangelist, Pastor Tim Omotoso, has been denied bail by the Magistrates Court at Port Elizabeth, South Africa.









The founder of the Jesus Dominion International church, Durban, has been held since April 20 over accusations of child sex abuse and human trafficking.

Delivering the ruling, Magistrate Thandeka Mashiyi said the pastor whose family are all UK nationals, faced a sentence of at least life imprisonment.

His family, wife and children are all United Kingdom citizens, his church has international branches which he visits from time to time, he is regarded as an illegal immigrant [and] there is nothing tying the applicant to South Africa, Mashiyi said.

Omotoso is also accused of using fraudulent travel documentation.

Mashiyi added: Based on the strength of the States case, the gravity of the offences, as well as if convicted, the applicant faces very lengthy sentences.

I find that there is a likelihood that if he is released on bail he might attempt to flee and evade his trial.

The cases investigating officer, warrant officer Peter Plaatjies, testified against the pastor.

He said senior members of the ministers church would draw vulnerable girls aged 13-15 into the church and have them perform sexual acts with him.

The pastor is charged with having trafficked more than 30 girls and women who were part of his nationwide church network.

He allegedly sexually abused the trafficked girls at a house in Umhlanga, near Durban.

Evidence was given suggesting Omotoso had the means to intimidate victims and witnesses and provoke them not to testify against him.

His child victims were reportedly told not to tell anyone what had happened or they would be cursed and die.

Mashiyi said: I am taking into account that there is a public outcry about the explosion of these crimes of human trafficking, rape and sexual assault on young girls and women.

Outside the court, Omotosos supporters from his church prayed for him, while his opponents celebrated the bail denial, calling it a victory to the nation and to the society at large

The case has now been postponed until July 21.
Just weeks after his release and immortalization by his people, a video clip of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu inciting a deep hatred and enmity b...

Just weeks after his release and immortalization by his people, a video clip of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu inciting a deep hatred and enmity between his Igbo people and the Yoruba tribe has emerged.





In the video, a property of Biafra Television, Nnamdi KANU says that any Igbo man who still worships in a church pastored by a Yoruba man is an imbecile, a fool and is not worthy to be called a human being.

According to him, Yorubas are worse than the Boko Haram terrorist and full of deceit.

They use your money to buy private jet and build private universities and still preach about Jesus! Which Jesus? He says.

Obasanjo who stole our money is now praying for unity in Nigeria

He continues saying he has nothing more to say than to tell everyone who befriends a Yoruba pastor that such person is a fool and an imbecile.





The video was released on Twitter by political activist and commentator Kayode Ogundamisi who has insisted for a long time that Biafra incites hatred and enmity. He released the video to prove his point.

Watch video here:




The Nigerian Army has confirmed the killing of a civilian by one of its personnel on Friday.

The Nigerian Army has confirmed the killing of a civilian by one of its personnel on Friday.









Recall that a soldier attached to Command Secondary School, Kaduna by Command Junction along Kachia Road, shot dead a man for fetching sand from a gutter close to his duty post.





Reacting to the incident, the Army said the attention of Headquarters 1 Division Nigerian has been drawn to tension arising from an incident that occurred at about 10:00am yesterday, 9 June 2017.

A soldier of the Division Internal Security Force deployed at Command Secondary School Kaduna opened fire on some youths suspected to have encroached into the school premises. One of the youths was hit and died at the spot.





The statement signed by Colonel Kingsley Umoh, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 1 Division Nigerian Army said officers have been deployed to the scene of the incident in response and the Police have also been invited to take control of the situation.

Also speaking at an emergency meeting to resolve the impasse with some traditional rulers and youth leaders from Television community, the representative of the State Governor and coordinator of Operation Yaki, Col. Yakubu Soja (Rtd), assured citizens of the state that government would conduct investigation into the incidence with the sole aim of prosecuting the culprit.





He said, the governor is saddened by the development and appealed for calm among the citizens of the state.

He advised the people of the area not to view what happen with religious coloration but a clash between civilians and soldiers.

His words, We cannot allow this to go unpunished, we shall investigate the cause of the incidence and ensure the law takes its course. The Army authority has already taken action against the soldier that shot dead the civilian. We ares assuring the people that justice shall take its course, he said.




Embattled Senator representing Kogi West in the Senate, Dino Melaye, has described the process of his recall as a joke. On his Instagra...

One hand writing 5 signatures. Joke noni!!! A post shared by Dino Melaye (@dinomelaye) on Jun 10, 2017 at 10:06am PDT

Embattled Senator representing Kogi West in the Senate, Dino Melaye, has described the process of his recall as a joke.On his Instagram handle, the senator had queried a register containing signatures of members of his constituency, saying it contains certain flaws.He said the signature book contained several signatures to a single handwriting, and that the entire exercise is a joke.He wrote: One hand writing 5 signatures. Joke noni!!!See the Instagram post:
The Ndigbo in the North, under the aegis of Northern Youth Council of Nigeria on Saturday demanded the arrest of Prof. Ango Abdullahi, t...

The Ndigbo in the North, under the aegis of Northern Youth Council of Nigeria on Saturday demanded the arrest of Prof. Ango Abdullahi, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum.Abdullahi had at a press conference on Friday backed the three-month ultimatum by a coalition of Northern group to the Ndigbo in the region to vacate the place before October 1, 2017.The group, at a press conference, by its spokesperson, Isa Abubakar, urged security operatives to immediately arrest the NEF spokesman, following what it described as his hate speech.
The Eze Ndigbo (traditional rulers) and leaders of Igbo socio-cultural associations in the North have vowed to resist any attempt by th...

The Eze Ndigbo (traditional rulers) and leaders of Igbo socio-cultural associations in the North have vowed to resist any attempt by the Coalition of Northern Groups to chase them out of the region.The coalition groups are: Arewa Citizens Action for Change, led by Nastura Ashir Sharif; Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, led by Shettima Yerima; Arewa Youth Development Foundation, led by Aminu Adam; and the Arewa Students Forum, led by Alfred Solomon.Others are, Northern Emancipation Network, led by Abdul-azeez Suleiman; Northern Youth Vanguard, led by Joshua Viashman; Northern Youth Stakeholders Forum, led by Mohammad Mohammad; North-East Assembly, led by Mohammed Tasiupantami; and North Central Peoples Front, led by Nathaniel Ajegenaadigizi.Concerned by the outrage that greeted the declaration, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the arrest of the signatories to the declaration, but none of the youths has been apprehended as of Saturday.The tension generated by the declaration of the northern youths worsened on Friday afternoon, when a prominent member of the Northern Elders Forum, and former Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, threw his weight behind the coalition.The group of northern elders also expressed disappointment with the Northern Governors Forum for disowning the coalition, insisting that it was hypocritical for the Igbo to continue to live in other parts of the country while agitating for Nigerias breakup.Speaking with one of our correspondents, the Eze Ndigbo of Kano, Boniface Ibekwe, said the over three million Igbo indigenes in Kano would not leave the city with all their investments acquired over several decades.He said, We have advised our people to remain calm and that nobody should travel. The lives and property Igbo are secure. As far as I am concerned, no Igbo man has relocated with his family to the East. We are here and going about our normal business. The northern groups fanning the embers of war have never experienced the pains and after-effects of war because, if they had, they would always pray for the sustenance of peace, unity and stability.Also, the Eze Ndigbo of Kaduna, Igwe Sylvanus Aneke, told one of our correspondents that his people were not afraid of the plans of the Arewa youths, especially when the Federal Government had stepped into the matter.He said, The youths have asked us to leave, but their parents, the police, the state government and the Federal Government have asked us to ignore the threat. We will rather listen to the elders and the government.Ango Abdullahi merely expressed his opinion. We are not taking him seriously because we are used to his antics. We are watching the events for now. We will take our decisions after we have watched, prayed and discovered that nothing has changed.The President General of the Igbo Community Welfare Association in Kaduna State, Chris Nnoli, also urged Igbo in the North to stay still.He said, It (the ultimatum) is a serious issue that should naturally be taken seriously. We are concerned, but since the Kaduna State Government has assured us of safety, we want to hold on to this assurance. I am greatly worried that up till this moment, nobody has been apprehended over the issue. We are watching events and we believe that government will intensify action and get the youths arrested. It is when we have seen that the government and the IGs assurances are not effective that we will start to think of other means of seeking protection.The Eze Igbo III, Jos South in Plateau State, Lawrence Onwudinjo, who is also the President, Igbo Cultural Association, said no Igbo person would leave the North on account of any threat from any northern youth.He said, Igbo people in Plateau State are going nowhere. There is no right-thinking human being that will ask people to leave where they are living. This is one Nigeria where we are living. Nigeria belongs to all of us. I believe that if any part of the country needs anything, they should sit down together to discuss it. Everybody should come to a roundtable to discuss it.Another Igbo leader in Lantang, James Abraham, said no Igbo would relocate and that if they would have to move, northerners in the South-East should be waiting for their quit notice too.He said, If the Arewa youths tell us to leave the North, their kinsmen in the South-East should also be ready to leave. Do the Arewa youths have representatives in Plateau State? They should not be taken seriously.The President General of the Igbo community in Sokoto, Onyebuchi Uwaga, revealed that, following the assurance from the government and the police, no Igbo would leave the North.Also, the Ezeigbo I of Nasarawa State, Nathaniel Nduba, in calling for the immediate arrest of the Arewa youths in the interest of peace, pointed out that no Igbo person would leave the region, despite the threat given by the northern coalition.A yam seller in Nasarawa, Mrs. Amaka Chukwudi, also said, The threat by the AYCF was an empty threat. They forget that they have their brothers and sisters spread across other states. Has anybody asked them to leave? Why should the northerners give such an ultimatum?Igbo in Bauchi State, in reaction to the ultimatum, also stated that they would not leave the North.One of them, Joshua Chukwu, said, For me, I will not take laws into my hands but will remain law-abiding, as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees everyone, irrespective of tribe or origin, the right to reside in whatever part of the country he deems fit to pursue his legitimate business.Similarly, Igbo in Niger State stated that they would ignore the threat and carry on with their legitimate activities without exercising any fear.A businessman, Tochukwu Chikwem, said he had no plans to send his family back to the East.Another Igbo man in Minna, Felix Irojiogu, said, They are seeking recognition or attention which they dont deserve. They are wasting their time; government should arrest them for trying to cause problem in the country.In Katsina State, the mood of defiance was also noticed when a businessman, Jude Eze, said, How can I listen to the rantings of those rascals? You should know they dont know the consequences of what they are saying. It took our leaders and elders years of sweat, and some even paid with their lives, to get Nigeria to this stage and some boys who have never gone beyond their villages are saying we should pack our belongings and go. We are not going anywhere.Meanwhile, Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has assured non-indigenes in the state of their safety.But in Sokoto State, some Igbo men have made up their minds to leave, stressing that anyone who ignores the Arewa youths threat would do so at his peril.One of them, Uchendu Sunday, a father of three, who operates a patent medicine store at Mabera, in Sokoto, said, I grew up in Kano. Sadly, my elder brother was killed there during a violent demonstration against the United States of America, when Osama bin Laden was declared wanted in 2001, after the bombing of the World Trade Centre.It was this sad memory that haunted me out of Kano to Sokoto. This is why I have decided to end my sojourn in the North and return to the East with my wife and three children. One thing I can assure you is that there will be an exodus of Igbo from the North, based on this ultimatum.In the East, various groups and associations said they had no intention of issuing a similar ultimatum to northerners living among them.Speaking for Igbo youths, the President of Ohanaeze Youth Council, the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said, We will not ask northerners to leave. We will continue to show them love, as Igbo have done in the past.Reacting to the ultimatum, the leader of the northern community in Enugu State, Sarkin Hausawa, Idris Ado Suleiman, stated that they exercised no fear of any tit-for-tat response by their eastern hosts.Suleiman said, We have heard about the ultimatum. They said Igbo in the North should leave in three months. But we know it is not something that is possible.Acting President Prof Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday called on the various ethnic groups in Nigeria to live in peace, saying that in any marriage, there was tendency for disagreement.Osinbajo spoke at the wedding of the daughter of the founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, Wuraola, and Dr. Olawale Solabi in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.The Acting Presidents message came on the heels of an ultimatum issued by Arewa youth wings to Igbo people living in northern Nigeria.Osinbajo said it was common for nations with different ethnic nationalities to experience quarrels among themselves like in any marriage.According to him, agitations and quarrels can best be addressed when people give peace a chance and work in unity.Osinbajo said, instead of fanning the embers of disagreement within ethnic groups, it would be better if understanding was allowed to prevail.He said, Marriage is a very large institution that requires a lot of prayers. It is the same marriage that nations go through. Our nation has been in marriage for a while now.Sometimes, there are quarrels within that marriage. Sometimes, there is disagreement. What is important is that you must remain together. You must remain united.Among dignitaries at the wedding ceremony were Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State; and Governor Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa State.An ex-governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and a former governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni, were also present.The Indigenous People of Biafra on Saturday supported the three-month quit notice served on the Igbo living in the northern part of the country by the Arewa youths.IPOB, in a press statement made available to our correspondent in Awka by the groups media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, commended the northern youths and Arewa Elders Forum for fast-tracking the Biafra exit with their pronouncements.The group maintained that the quit notice had a human face, unlike the situation in the past, when the people perceived as Biafrans were attacked without any notice or provocation.IPOB said it would prevail on Igbo living in the North to adhere to the quit notice.The statement read, Biafrans in general wish to thank these vocal northerners for at least having the courtesy to issue advance warning this time before embarking on their routine massacre of the Igbo and other Biafrans living in northern Nigeria; unlike what their fathers did in 1966.We promise to adhere to your warning to leave northern Nigeria because a word is enough for the wise. Biafrans and other southerners should start packing their belongings to come down to the South.We also advise the northern youths and their elders to keep it up because all they have done is to exercise their right to free speech which is not a crime under any law known to man.We are therefore against those calling for the arrest of these Arewa youths and their elders.
The Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) seems not to be in agreement with the position of the Southeast governors that ...

The Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) seems not to be in agreement with the position of the Southeast governors that Igbo resident in the North should ignore the quit notice issued by some Arewa youth organisations.The Biafran group yesterday accepted the quit notice and asked Igbo up north to begin to pack their belongings preparatory to relocation to the south.This is contrary to the stance of the Southeast Governors Forum which had, late on Friday, dismissed speculations that it had concluded arrangement to ferry home millions of Igbo in the North on account of the quit threat.It said it had no such plan for now and that the Igbo should remain where they are and continue with their normal life.Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at a function in Ibadan yesterday pointed out that Nigeria is better off as an entity as opposed to the dismemberment being agitated in some quarters.He likened the federation to a marriage that is bound to have its ups and downs but which must last for life.Three northern governors  Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto),Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Aminu Masari (Katsina)  said the Igbo in their states have nothing to fear and should remain where ever they are.The director of media and publicity of IPOB, Emma Powerful, said in a statement yesterday said it was grateful to the Arewa Elders Forum (AEF), Arewa Youths and Arewa Consultative Forum for seeing sense in what IPOB has been saying about the need for a referendum to be conducted in Nigeria to decide the fate of the component ethnic nationalities criminally lumped together by the British in 1914, and to vocal Northerners for at least having the courtesy to issue advance warning this time.It promised to adhere to your warning to leave Northern Nigeria because a word is enough for the wise. Biafrans and other Southerners should start packing their properties to come down to the South, and advised Northern youths and elders to keep it on because all they have done is exercise their right to free speech which is not a crime under any law known to man.It said it was not in support of calls for the arrest of such Arewa Youths and their Elders.The group dismissed suggestion that economic investments of Southeasterners in the north constitutes an impediment to Biafra restoration project.It branded such view as cheap blackmail designed to trigger rancour among Biafra populations because the North have always assumed and wrongly too, that the Igbo will place economic well being over and above their life. This assumption is based on a false premise and one we are determined to prove same as events unfold in the coming weeks and months.We are not afraid of our enemies; neither will any threat or violence from any quarter deter us. We remain peaceful in our noble quest to restore Biafra but we must caution that we always retain the right as a people to defend ourselves should the need arise.Allow Biafrans time to relocate peacefully back to BIAFRALAND, that is all we ask.The South East Governors Forum (SEGF), on its part, denied that it had commenced moves to bring back home their kits and kin in the north by mobilisng vehicles and cash for the purported evacuation.The rumours should be disregarded, as they are nothing but tissues of lies, the Chairman of SEGF and Ebonyi governor, David Umahi, said in a statement.No amount of provocation would lead us to such a precipitate and irresponsible action at this time.Those exploiting such vacuous tittle-tattle as a basis for divisive rhetoric in public spaces are simply playing juvenile politics and we urge them to cease and desist.He appealed to Igbo resident in the North to go about their lawful daily engagements without fear of intimidation, hindrance or molestation and assured them of corporate existence of Nigeria.The Forum has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to and preference for the existence of a virile, united, prosperous and progressive Nigeria where justice, fairness, equity, mutual respect and equality of opportunity to all citizens regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender will reign supreme under the inflexible rule of law.We have had occasions recently to take this position publicly in response to the agitation, but peaceful actions of some Igbo youth.The governors, he said, would continue to take a similar stance in response to any action that might threaten the cohesiveness of Nigeria or designed to cause its rupture.He said that the lives and property of law-abiding Igbo citizens were as precious as the lives and property of all Nigerians, irrespective of the region of their abode within this Republic.These must be guaranteed and defended against all forms of threat and aggression, both domestic and external, by the security forces and agencies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.The governors are collaborating effectively with the security agencies to ensure that no harm of any description was done to any law-abiding Nigerian citizen resident in the South East, including those from the North.H called on all serious minded patriots, religious leadership in the North; the leadership of other socio-cultural groups; Nigerian Governors Forum; and all the service branches to rise up with voices of peace and wisdom to counteract the mischievousness and exuberant excesses of the northern youth.The ugly lessons of history are too grim to be stoked with carelessness, he warned and that as leaders, we must exert the full measure of our powers and influence to forestall a repetition.He expressed appreciation to all Nigerians, including the presidency; reputable socio-cultural group, including Afenifere, who have declaimed the threat by the northern youth, and thus underscored the unity and oneness of this nation.The forum also appreciated Senate President Bukola Saraki; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; our brother Governors particularly Alhaji Kashim Shetimma (the Chairman of Northern Governors Forum).The Forum also thanked Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), the Minister of Interior; Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State; the leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); the security agencies and others.
Recently the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), the revered man of God, Prophet TB Joshua, a citizen of this country k...

Recently the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), the revered man of God, Prophet TB Joshua, a citizen of this country known worldwide and someone who has contributed immensely to the social economic development and growth of Nigeria, threatened to relocate his ministry from Nigeria.









The internationally acclaimed preacher and philanthropist who is followed by millions worldwide from within and outside Nigeria, stated that, his country has become hostile and difficult for him to reside and operate in.

According to him, This is the most persecuted ministry in the world. Who are the people persecuting the ministry? My people, Africa.

That is why I choose to live a lonely life. If you want to see me, come to this church. I dont go out. It has not been easy  because I dont know who is a friend or who is an enemy.

If you learn TB Joshua is not around, I am in a revival. I live in the church here. I dont have a house outside.

What happened to me from the beginning of my ministry is enough to chase me out of this country.

But I am still in your midst. Upon the persecution and hatred, I decided to follow the path of love. You show hatred; I show love.

Many Nigerians are aware that, if Prophet TB Joshua relocates from Nigeria, the aftermath will be disastrous and further compound the economic woes of the already tethering social economic well-being of Nigerians.





For those conversant with the activities of the prophet, millions of foreigners troop into the country on daily basis, all year round to see the manifestation of what God is using him to do, but like the biblical saying, a prophet and rightly so is not always recognized in his own home.

It is because of this that Prophet TB Joshua has continued to be prosecuted, attacked, insulted without the government and its agencies raising any eyebrows.

Days ago, a former Minister of Aviation of the Federal Republic, Femi Fani Kayode, raised some salient issues and accusations against the security apparatus of the federal government.

For clarity of purpose, this is what Fani Kayode has to say:

One of the single greatest atrocities perpetuated by rogue elements in our intelligence agencies in modern history was the blowing up of a guest house in Prophet TB Joshuas church which resulted in the death of approximately 116 people, most of whom were foreigners.





This took place on September 12th 2014. The perpetrators of this utterly barbaric act were the same people that covertly and cleverly spun the tale that the building collapsed as a result of a weak foundation and fed that pernicious lie to a gullible and easily manipulated Nigerian media.

They argued that the building was built without the relevant permits and conveniently overlooked the fact that, according to my sources at Alausa, Lagos state, between 60 and 70 percent of buildings in the environs and suburbs of Lagos state, either never had a building permit in the first place, procured one only after the relevant building was constructed, or have fake ones which were procured through bribes.





The motive for the attack was to silence and discredit Joshua, who, by that time, had become a thorn in the flesh of many within the corridors of power, simply because he was exposing the deepest secrets about what was going on in the country and those who were covertly working against former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He went as far as to prophesy and predict everything that would happen in the 2015 election which was scheduled to hold two years later, with great accuracy, if President Goodluck Jonathan did not remove certain people (whose names were mentioned) within his government and inner circle.

The attack involved the use of certain members of our intelligence agencies who used a large remote-controlled drone to fly over the building and who then activated an explosive device which had been planted in the building days earlier with the drone.





The whole thing appears to have been covered up and those in high places in the intelligence agencies at the time, having discovered that this was yet another rogue operation by a group of fifth columnists within the security apparatus who were keen on silencing the Presidents friends and who wanted to use the operation to embarrass and terrify their perceived enemies and adversaries, decided to brush the whole thing under the carpet and keep it quiet.

And this is where things went badly wrong. In a typical Nigerian manner, instead of digging deep and patiently trying to establish the relevant facts and setting in motion a forensic-based and professional investigation, the security agencies looked for a scapegoat, turned on the man of God, made him the subject of a criminal investigation and claimed that the building collapsed because it had weak foundations and because it had not been properly built.

However, as it is typical in the Nigerian context, the government has kept mute, carrying on as if nothing is amiss and the citizens too, weird down by the the current situation in the country, are busy looking for what to eat and drink and not worried that someone like the Prophet is being set up.

A country is not built like this and there is no way we are going to make progress as a people with this lackadaisical altitude to issues of such monumental propotion and expect us to compete with other serious minded countries in the commity of nations.





Even the Federal Government that should know better and try to get to the root of the matter because it appreciates the contributions of TB Joshua is not saying anything tangible on the development.

The federal government should know better because when the Man of God threatened to relocate his ministry to Israel the federal government through the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, advised him to shealth the idea, knowing the consequences.





Speaking with newsmen during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) in Lagos, Mohammed called for dialogue between the Pastor and the authorities over whatever challenges he was facing as jumping ship is not an idea to be considered.

His words: That will be very unfortunate (TB Joshua leaving Nigeria) in the sense that if he does move out, it will affect our tourism in Nigeria.

Pastor Joshua is an important person, he must bear with us. This is his country; if he moves out and go to South Africa, for example, the revenue will go to South Africa.

It is better that Pastor Joshua sits down with the relevant authority and resolve whatever problem he has. If I have access to him, this is exactly what I am going to tell him. the government spokesman said.

But the question begging for answers, however, is why government is foot dragging on launching a comprehensive and independent investigation into what actually transpired that led to the building collaps?





Fani Kayode might be an ardent critic of this administration, but a serious allegation and issue that border on National Security and National development has been raised as the Minister of information himself has testified to.





Or is it because, it is coming from an opposition figure? This government should employ all avenue necessary to bring this matter to an open and transparent conclusion, that is the only way it can engender patriotism and give those contributing their quota to the development of the country a sense of belonging.





In my humble opinion, government needs to revisit this issue and get to the root of the matter. Those allegedly involved and covering up the situation should be brought to book as a way to showing the man of God that his country values him, loves him and appreciate his contributions to the country.





Many Nigerians and expatriates alike, who have benefited from the philanthropic gesture of Prophet T.B Joshua, spaning gifts and cash to the less privileged in the society and foreigners who troop here on a daily basis to boost our foreign exchange, as testified to by Lai Muhammed, will believe more in Nigeria as a country and this administration as one that is capable of bringing about the change, on which platform it rode to power.

(Dr Kankia (OFR), a Public Affairs Analyst, wrote in from Katsina.








The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has warned that over 70 percent of Nigerian youths are frustrated by the system. He also attribu...

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has warned that over 70 percent of Nigerian youths are frustrated by the system. He also attributed the current economic woes in the country to heavy dependence on foreign goods. Oba Ogunwusi said this in Malete, Moro local government area of Kwara State while delivering this years convocation lecture of the Kwara State University (KWASU).70 percent of Nigerians are youth. They are vibrant, energetic and purposeful driven; they can think outside the box, yet they are frustrated by the system. The system has not encouraged them, Oba Ogunwusi said.He listed investment, production and consumption as some of the ingredients for a viable economy. He added that the way out of the economic recession is huge investment in locally made goods, saying that if we change our orientation things will move forward properly for the country.There is no shortcut to success. We have propensity to consume but no propensity to produce. In the 60s Nigeria had so much money and didnot know what to do with the currency, then out propensity to produce started dropping. One of our fundamental problems in this country is that we dont want to learn from our mistakes. We have forgotten how to link all economic ingredients for economic recovery in Nigeria.The current economic hardship in the country is a blessing in disguise. It is making us think inwardly, as state governments are now collaborating. How well we are thinking out of the box that is food for thought for us all in Nigeria. Necessity is the mother of invention. The leeway to economic recovery in Nigeria lies with you and I. let us believe in our country and think positively, he added.
The National Judicial Council has responded to the recent statement by President Muhammadu Buharis special assistant on prosecution, Oko...

The National Judicial Council has responded to the recent statement by President Muhammadu Buharis special assistant on prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, over the councils decision to recall suspended judges.The NJC had on last Saturday, after its 82nd meeting, recalled six judges including Justice Adeniyi Ademola of an Abuja division of the Federal High Court.Some of the judges were suspended after a search was carried out at their residences by the State Security Service on October 7, 2016. Three of the affected judges were later arraigned for alleged corruption.The charges against Mr. Ademola were later dismissed after five months of accelerated trial at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.But the presidency expressed concerns with the decision to recall the judges.Mr. Okono-Obla said on Thursday that the council could not claim it was unaware of pending appeals against Mr. Ademola, filed since April.But in its statement on Saturday, signed by the director of communication, Soji Oye, the NJC explained why it decided to recall the judges.Read parts of the statement below:Council is particularly concerned about the Press statement issued by Okoi Obono-Obla, Esq, Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution on 8th June, 2017; that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation filed a Notice of Appeal against the Ruling of Hon. Justice Jude Okeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for discharging and acquitting Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola and 2 ORS on 7th April, 2017.Contrary to the above statement, the Registry of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja, informed the Department of Information of the National Judicial Council that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation filed two Notices of Appeal in the Court; the first one on 7th April, 2017, against Hon Justice A. F. A. Ademola, his wife, Olabowale Ademola and Joe Agi, SAN. The second one was filed on 6th of June, 2017, two days after the Press Release was issued by the National Judicial Council, with additional grounds of appeal against only Hon. Justice A.F.A. Ademola.It is on record that when the Parties were invited by High Court of the FCT for settlement of records to be transmitted to the Court of Appeal on 18th April, 2017, the Appellant failed to turn up. The Registrar of the Court further adjourned the settlement of records to 21st April, 2017, and invited all the Parties, but the Appellant again did not come to Court. The total number of 45 days allowed for compilation of record in all circumstances expired on 7th May, 2017, for the Registrar of the Lower Court and 22nd May, 2017, for the Appellant.Council noted that the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice only filed additional grounds of appeal in the Court on Tuesday 6th June, 2017, three days after the Press Release by the Council that the Judicial Officers have been directed to resume their Judicial duties. It was on 6th June, 2017, that letters were again issued by the Registrar to the Parties for settlement of records against 14th June, 2017, the statement said.The NJC further said the initial appeal could not be regarded as proper, because parties failed to make the necessary agreement and settlement of records as expected.For avoidance of doubt, by the Rules of the Court of Appeal, there cannot be a proper appeal before the Court until Parties have agreed and settled records before the Lower Court and transmit copies of such records to the Court of Appeal before an appeal number is given. It is only after an appeal number is given that an appeal is said to be entered in the Court of Appeal.The Council confirmed from Registry of the Court of Appeal that there is no such Appeal till date. The only matter that is pending is a Motion with Number CA/A/371M/CR/2019 filed by Joe Odey Agi, SAN, against the Federal Republic of Nigeria seeking the dismissal of Appellant/Respondent appeal between the Federal Government of Nigeria Vs Joe Odey Agi for failure to transmit the Records from the Lower Court within 45 days.According to the statement, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation had filed charges against two Supreme Court Justices and Mr. Ademola at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in February, but letter withdrew the charges against one of the Supreme Court Justices, Inyang Okoro, and Mr. Ademola, with a motive to amend the charges.Council is aware that at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the Federal Government filed Suits against Hon. Justices N. S. Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court and A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court on 8th February, 2017.However, the Federal Ministry of Justice later withdrew the files pertaining the Suits against Hon. Justices Inyang Okoro and A. F. A. Ademola, with the intention of filing additional evidence against them.In the case of Hon. Justice Ngwuta, he has since been arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for non-declaration of his assets.In effect, there is currently no Suit filed against Hon. Justices Inyang Okoro and A. F. A. Ademola J. at the Tribunal, the statement said.The council also defended itself against alleged hasty decision made against it (NJC) by chairman presidential advisory committee against corruption, Itse Sagay.According to its statement, persons recommended by the council for dismissal over alleged fraud have remained active in their various capacities long after they were recommended for dismissal to the executive arm of government.
The Inspector-Generals Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by ACP Abba Kyari on Saturday said it has arrested one of the most wanted ...

Kyari, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the suspect was arrested at his Magodo residence in Lagos.IRT headquarters in Abuja is celebrating the arrest of the most wanted brilliant and notorious high profile kidnapper in Nigeria.He has collected several billions of Naira as ransom in the last seven years as the kingpin of kidnappers.He was arrested at about 1.00p.m on Saturday in his residence in Magodo Estate, Lagos, Kyari said.He commended the Force Headquarters for mobilising the resources to go all out against the richest and most notorious kidnapper in the history of Nigeria.Kyari said the Inspector-General had directed that the suspect should be paraded before newsmen on Sunday in Lagos. (NAN)
Operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have celebrated the arrest of Nigerias billionaire kidnappe...

Operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have celebrated the arrest of Nigerias billionaire kidnapper, Evans.









Evans was arrested in his Magodo Estate mansion around 1pm on Saturday by the IRT, headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari. The kidnap kingpin, it was gathered, targets wealthy businessmen and collects no less than N50m before releasing them. (read HERE Evans was arrested in his Magodo Estate mansion around 1pm on Saturday by the IRT, headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari.

Evans is said to own another home in Igando area of Lagos State, which he converted to the base and hideout of kidnappers working for him and victims they abduct.









After news of the arrest broke, officers of the IRT, which is directly under the office of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, got jubilant in one of their offices premises.





In a video online, they are seen in victorious mood, dancing and singing along to Teknos song.





Watch video:




The Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) has called on Yoruba people to prepare for their own sovereign nation.

The Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) has called on Yoruba people to prepare for their own sovereign nation.









ONAC said its call was in reaction to the threat by northern groups as well as pain and misery on the Yoruba people due to distort of the development plan of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo for the South West.

ONAC consists 18 groups including Oodua Peoples Congress, (OPC), Oodua Liberation Movement, (OLM), Oodua Republic Coalition, (ORC), Yoruba Revolutionary Congress, (YORC), Oodua Muslim-Christian Dialogue Group, (OMDG), Yoruba Students Nationalist Front, (YOSNF), Oodua Hunters Union, (OHUN) among others.

A statement on behalf of the coalition signed by Micheal Popoola, Oluwole Suleiman and Mrs Aduke Fadahunsi, on Sunday called on Yoruba people in the territories of the Hausa-Fulani North to be guided by a strong sense of history and the fact that they will not be spared by those who claim to be their hosts.

We advise them to begin to make alternative plans for the inevitable upheaval being promoted by the Fulani oligarchy.

North has always been the aggressor because of the regions loss of power and the unhidden desire to make Nigeria the irreversible extension of the Fulani emirate.

What we see is violent conflict of civilisations which can only be resolved when each region go her own way.

In the bid to keep Nigeria as one country, millions of people have been killed and the lives of children wasted, the future pauperized and the potentials of Yoruba young men and women bottled or chained with fetters of iron.

Today, we make the historic declaration that Yoruba people are ready for our own Oduduwa Republic. We have watched events these past days. The cloud is getting thicker.

The poisonous rain appear ready to fall. It is time for the Yoruba people to be ready to defend our homeland from being seized by local imperial elements and their collaborators.

We assert Yoruba self-determination and sovereignty. We shall work for it. We will actualize it, ONAC said in the statement.

The group stated further called on Yoruba people all over the world to prepare for a sovereign nation for the people of the South West. We are over 50 million and far more than the population of 140 countries in the world.

Yoruba will be the third biggest nation in Africa and about the 28th biggest nation in the world. We are big and knowledgeable enough to be a sovereign nation. We assert the Yoruba self-determination without any further delay.

ONAC said with the position of Northern youths asking Igbo to quit the North, the outright demand for Arewa sovereignty by the Northern Elders Forum, (NEF), and the legitimate demand for Biafra by Igbo, the call for a Niger-Delta Republic It is time for the Yoruba people to stand for Oodua Republic without any further delay.

Yoruba people this time will not support any attack on Self determination.We shall mobilise the masses and prevent Yoruba people from being used for any attack on the long suffering indigenous peoples of the South East and the South- South

ONAC said the quit notice was not against the Igbo alone but also against the Yoruba since Igbo is not written on the forehead of residents in the North.


Dr John Danfulani, Chairman, Centrum Initiative For Development And Fundamental Rights Advocacy, CEDRA, has enjoined governor Nasiru Ahmed ...

Dr John Danfulani, Chairman, Centrum Initiative For Development And Fundamental Rights Advocacy, CEDRA, has enjoined governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai to prove his impartiality by arresting and prosecuting the Northern Youth groups and Professor Ango Abdullahi by giving ultimatum directing Igbos in Northern Nigeria to relocate to their states of origin.









In a letter he addressed to governor El-Rufai and made available to newsmen in Kaduna Saturday, Dr. Danfulani, the former lecturer of Kaduna State University said, On 6th June 2017, a Coalition of Northern Nigeria Youth Groups met in Arewa House Kaduna and reeled an illegal, morally bankrupt and politically suicidal ultimatum directing Ndigbos living in Northern Nigeria to relocate to their states of origin. They promised dire consequences for any Ndigbo that ignore their deadly directive.

On Wednesday the 7th of June 2017 you repudiated and nullified their 6th June 2017 ultimatum and directed security agencies to trail, nap and prosecute them for using Kaduna State as an assembly plan and launching pad of their felonious project. Your position was fully supported by other northern governors.

A day after your rebuttal, arrest, and prosecute directive, the miscreants and apostles of doom resurfaced and reinforced their 6th June 2017 position. And unabashedly lambasted you and your other colleagues that distanced themselves and their people from their doomsday ultimatum.

As all men and women of pure conscience, goodwill, and peace were condemning the infamous quit notice to Ndigbos, on Friday 9th June 2017,Prof Ango Abdullahi,a Village Head in Zazzau Emirate of Kaduna State- a veteran nepotist, a first class irredentist, a regional warlord, and a confused ethnic-supremacist, used the platform of Northern Elders Forum(NEF) and supported the evangelists of destruction of peace and unity of Nigeria.

After Prof Ango Abdullahis unwarranted gibberish, the Secretary General of NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo distilled the air by asserting in unambiguous terms that the gerontocratic regional champion and ethnic-supremacist has no mandate to speak for their group. From Dr. Unongos statement, there is no second guessing that the District Head didnt speak on behalf of the conclave of self anointed northern Nigeria elders.

Dr. Unongos declaration suggests that Prof Abdullahi is an imposter that illegally used the platform of esteemed club of NEF to support a felonious and morally bankrupt ultimatum. Therefore, Prof Abdullahi is their comrade-in-crime, his name must be included in the list of those to face arrest and prosecution. And the old Prof should be in the net with immediate alacrity.

After reading your resolved of 7th June 2017 we wrote a commendation letter to you and encouraged you to walk your talk to deter others nursing the ambition of hatching events that will trigger another civil war in Nigeria. Since then, we have glued our eyes to news bars and pay attention to electronic media without hearing the news of any arrest, let alone prosecution of these jackals of disunity.

Effecting arrest of these people shouldnt be a Herculean task, for obvious reasons. First, somebody with a specific address applied for the venue of the event. Second, somebody approved and received payment for the usage of the venue.Third, somebody gave somebody the key to the venue of their meeting. Four, the same process unfolded when they addressed another press conference that reinforced their earlier position. Some radio and television stations even conducted interviews with them via the telephone. With these multiple leads and footprints, arresting them should be a matter of minutes or hours not days. Thus, we are struggling to know why they are still walking free.

Mr. Governor, we are entertaining this fear because of what happened in the cases of Audu Maikori/Luka Biniyet ( in February of 2017) and Alh Haruna Usman versus Nigeria Army (in March of 2017). These two incidences border conscious or unconscious making of statements that were not anchored on realism on ground. Despite similarities of these incidences, you disgracefully cum selectively acted on Audu/Biniyats case and deliberately looked the other way on Miyatti Allah versus Nigeria Armys case. No special wisdom is needed to know why you adopted two dispositions on cases with similar ingredients. Ethno-religious sentiment guided your decisions,period.

Similarly, you went on a live Television programme (Hardcopy Channels TV) and tagged the leadership of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) an umbrella organization of all Southern Kaduna ethnic groups bigots because of their loud cries against the semi-genocide perpetrated by a Fulani Militia you openly accepted communing and compensating in foreign climes.

The same you wore a deaf ear when Miyyati Allah and their kingpins acknowledged masterminding killings in some villages of Southern Kaduna. You refused to use your power of idioms and phrases coinage to reel-out a judgement on them.

It is clear from these cases that, you are practicing a specie of apartheid system in Kaduna. A political setting where ones ethnicity and religion determines which right he/she enjoys. No wonder all the people you have thus far arrested and persecuted pillared on your shallow intellectual definition of hate speech, bigotry and fanatism, are all Christians and mostly people from Southern Kaduna. This is illegal and morally debasing because you took an oath on 29th May 2015 to treat all manner of persons equal as engraved in our 1999 constitution( as amended).

You can not Make Kaduna Great Again by institutionalizing an apartheid system in a democratic clime. And by suppressing, repressing, crudely subjugating and maltreating people who dont share your faith or exploitative elitist political ideology.

History and posterity shall never be kind to you. Dont ever lose sight of the fact that the wicked goddess of vengeance has a long memory that never forgive nor forget. Kindly keep in mind that you must account (in local and international courts) for most of these heinous acts when your tenure and immunity expires by 10am of 29th May 2019.


Foremost Benue born social activist, Barr. Franc Utoo has been abducted by unknown gunmen. Utoo was abducted on Saturday, in the presence...

Foremost Benue born social activist, Barr. Franc Utoo has been abducted by unknown gunmen.

Utoo was abducted on Saturday, in the presence of his 2 kids, around Chambian Plaza in Gwarimpa-Abuja.









The unknown gunmen, who were said to be in mufti, apparently trailed Utoo from his house when he went out with the kids and house help to pick some groceries from the supermarket.

The abductors, however, were alleged to have told the house help that they had orders from some powerful politicians in Benue State Government and the State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to pick Barr. Utoo.

When contacted, a Police source in Makurdi, Benue State capital, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the arrest of Utoo.

The source disclosed that the APC stalwart was being held by the Police Authority at the state command on the order of an APC chieftain, who complained that Barr. Utoo insulted him on facebook.

It could be recalled that, Barr. Franc Utoo contested for House of Representatives under the APC in 2015, but his name was allegedly substituted.

He has, consequently formed an opposing voice to what he described as impunity, in running the affairs of the party by the State Chairman, Yaro.

Utoo has also been a resounding voice against the government of Gov. Samuel Ortom.

In the wake of wanton destructions of lives and properties by the Fulani Mercenaries, Utoo was one of the formidable persons, who stood against open grazing and also led series of protests to the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has condemned the abduction of Barr. Franc Utoo.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, through his social media handle, said, the Samuel Ortom administration recognizes the fact that Franc is one of the courageous voices of reason who have spoken out against the invasion of Benue communities and killing of innocent people by herdsmen.

Franc Utoo is one of those who have remained resolute in condemnation of the senseless killings and have supported the passage of the anti-grazing law.

He is one of those who have risen in support of the present administration in its push for the ranching revolution of this country. This administration is not only proud of men like Utoo but also appreciates their selfless contributions for a safer Benue.

The Governor described Utoo as a brave man and said his abduction was uncalled for.

I join you and numerous friends of Franc Utoo to call for his immediate release.

We cant afford to have one of our bravest men held hostage at a time we need him most, Ortom said.


Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged Nigerians to avoid inflammatory remarks capable of causing disunity among the people.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged Nigerians to avoid inflammatory remarks capable of causing disunity among the people.Tambuwal spoke on Friday night against the backdrop of the ultimatum given to the Igbo by Arewa youths to leave the North, while hosting community members at an iftar session in Sokoto to break their Ramadan fast.Addressing Igbo residents in the state, he said, I align myself fully with the position of the northern governors, as enunciated by our chairman, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno (State). All Nigerians must feel free to stay in any part of the country without fear of molestation.We have enjoyed a robust relationship with all members of the resident communities and you have no reason to fear. Sokoto is your home and it will continue to remain as such.I urge our youths to show restraint in making inflammatory remarks and threatening of one another. What we need now is to team up as a people to find lasting solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting us.We are a blessed nation and we should continue to develop our strengths so as to provide the needed leadership for Africa and the black world. So, as far as your stay is in the North and in Sokoto, do not feel threatened by anyone.In his remarks, a representative of the Igbo community in Sokoto, Mr. Steven Okoro, commended the state government for making all Nigerians living in Sokoto feel at home.Okoro added, We have never felt threatened in Sokoto. We and our families have stayed here in peace for hundreds of years and our relationship with all groups of people here is based on mutual trust and respect for one another.In the same vein, a leader of the Yoruba community in Sokoto, Abdulfatah Coker, and the Chairman of the Association of Resident Communities, Muhammad Ibrahim, said they would continue to support constituted authorities to deliver on their mandates and thanked Tambuwal for his open-door policy, which they said had enabled all citizens to gain unfettered access to him.
Former British Chancellor, George Osborne has reacted to the devastating loss British prime minister, Theresa May, suffered in the UK elect...

Former British Chancellor, George Osborne has reacted to the devastating loss British prime minister, Theresa May, suffered in the UK election.









He said her days in Downing Street were numbered and wondered why she is sitting tight in office when she had lost her popularity.

Osborne stated that the electorate spoke clearly and that Theresa May should toe the honourable path by leaving office.

Theresa May is a dead woman walking. It is just how long she is going to remain on death row, Osborne, told BBC Ones The Andrew Marr Show.

I think we will know very shortly. We could easily get to the middle of next week and it all collapses for her.

Already, Theresa May has received the permission of Queen Elizabeth II to put together a minority government.

She said afterward: As were the party that won the most seats and most votes we are the only party in a position to form a government.

The key finance, foreign, Brexit, interior and defense ministers would remain unchanged.

We would be backed by a small Northern Irish party after we lost an election gamble days before launching talks on Britains departure from the European Union.
LODI -- A New Jersey family has adopted an unusual family member to live with them: a skunk, CBS New York reported.

Gloria Kim reportedly saw an albino skunk at the pet store and knew she wanted to get one. She put in an order at an exotic pet store for one.

Her pet, Seven, has had his scent glands surgically removed, so he won't spray the odor skunks are best known for.

New Jersey residents can have a skunk as a pet after they get a permit from Fish Game and Wildlife. A permit is $12 per year, according to the report.

"Beautiful hair. Temperament is very beautiful. He's so cute, he's like a little baby," Kim told the news crew.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
WEST WINDSOR -- Two years ago, the world mourned John and Alicia Nash, the renowned mathematician immortalized by the Oscar-winning film, A Beautiful Mind, and his wife when they died in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike.

But the people closest to the couple understood the tragedy cut far deeper than the loss of the Nobel-prize winner and the woman whose devotion ensured Nash was treated for schizophrenia.

The Nashes left behind their son, John Charles Nash, who inherited both his father's genius and his mental illness. With his parents ripped from his life, friends and colleagues anxiously wondered: what will happen to "Johnny?"

A little more than two years later, John Nash continues to live in the modest two-story house facing the Princeton Junction train station parking lot in West Windsor, his home for 45 of his 58 years. The voices and visual hallucinations that had clouded his mind since he was a teenager have faded. His illness is managed by medication and regular visits from members of his treatment team.

Asked how he's coped with his grief and loss, Nash's reply is reflexive: "I'm alright," he said, a touch of lilting optimism in his voice.

Nash is actually faring far better than anybody could have anticipated, said Drew Wisloski, director of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment for Catholic Charities-Diocese of Trenton.

Nash is one of 2,157 clients with serious and persistent mental illness across the state who receive regular home visits from PACT teams that help maintain their independence, according to state Human Services figures.

"What we don't see is Johnny in the hospital. We don't see him institutionalized or in a group home," Wisloski said. "He has been able to maintain his life and individual integrity in his family home without his parents there. That had been a concern for the family -- it's a concern for most families: what will happen when I am gone?"

"The fact he is able to take care of himself in so many ways is a marker of his success," he said.

Alicia and John Nash gave a rare interview to The Star-Ledger in 2009 to praise the community-run, state-funded programs that had done so much to help their son.

Alicia Nash said they brought her comfort and feared that if she did not speak out on their behalf, these programs might be vulnerable to budget cuts. The teams cost about $30 million (and about $34 million today) and the state was mired in an post-recession funk.

"When I am gone, will Johnny be living in the street?" she said, panic momentarily washing over her otherwise poised face.

Alicia Nash was especially protective of her son and frequently spoke about her concern for his future, said Debra Wentz, a family friend and the executive director of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies. But Alicia never considered appointing a legal guardian for him or placing him in a supervised home in the eventuality of her death.

Wentz said she has seen and spoken to him on numerous occasions in the last two years, including some public events honoring his parents. She said she is awestruck by his strength and perseverance.

"Looking down from heaven, Alicia would have a big smile on her face. She would be so proud of how he has done," Wentz said. "She would be proud to know her instinct served him well."

"I guess there is no doubt Johnny Nash is definitely the son of his brilliant parents," Wentz added. (Alicia Larde met John Nash while she was getting her PhD in physics at MIT in the mid 1950s.)

"And like his father, he serves as good example you can have a difficult illness but you can live with it and have a successful and meaningful life, and be in charge of your life."

Wentz praised the PACT team, which visited him every day in the aftermath of his parents' deaths and went with him to plan the funeral. They also arranged meetings with lawyers to handle the estate, Wisloski said.

Nowadays, members of his eight-person team take him to doctors appointments and out for Chinese food, said Franklin Hinton, a peer counselor whose worked with Nash for three years. They make sure he's taking his medication, and if he requests it, they provide counseling services, Hinton said.

"He's doing quite well," Hinton said.

On a piece of paper taped to the wall in the dining room lists the phone numbers of other members of his support system: his half-brother, John David Stier, who was visiting from Massachusetts last week, and two close friends.

The PhD in mathematics from Rutgers University said he "passes the time" playing chess and math games online with opponents around the world. He pores over his monthly chess magazine, and keeps up with news on the internet and television. He recently kicked a 17-year smoking habit.

"Johnny seems to be very content with being here. This seems to be a place of comfort, a place of familiarity for Dr. Nash," Hinton said during a home visit last week. "The only thing I have mentioned is putting his own touches on the home, changing up something. As far I can tell it hasn't changed since his parents have passed."

Most of the hardcover books stacked and toppled on the dusty shelves belonged to his parents. They include three copies of Sylvia Nasar's biography of his father, "A Beautiful Mind." Nash said he enjoyed book because, "I learned a lot about" his father. "He never spoke about those things."

Dressed in a Harvard tee shirt and a Life Alert pendant around his neck -- his idea, just in case -- John Nash is a portrait of stoicism and brevity no matter the subject.

On President Trump, he said, "I think the guy in office now is a greater risk for World War III than Obama was."

On the biggest challenge since he has lived alone? "I had to file a tax return."

On how he has coped with the jarring loss of his parents: "They were getting old -- they were in their 80s. They died quickly, together. I am at peace with their death."

Nash does not, and maybe cannot, wade too deeply into abstract thoughts of foreboding loss, Wislowski said. Ask him how he is doing and his response is based on what is happening in the moment.

That appeared to be true throughout an hourlong conversation -- except for one fleeting moment. The thought he cannot escape -- the one regret -- was his decision not to accompany his parents to Oslo, Norway, where his father went to accept the Abel Prize, an international recognition of his contributions to mathematics.

Nash had said the Abel Prize -- a pure math award recommended by an esteemed international committee -- was his father's proudest achievement.

At the time, Johnny Nash thought he was not feeling up to a big trip.

They died when their taxi driver lost control of the car and crashed into a guardrail in Monroe Township on the way home from Newark Liberty International Airport on May 23.

Nash said he was home alone when the police came to his door to tell him about the accident. He said he doesn't remember how he felt in that moment. He remembers calling Jim, a close family friend.

"It bothered me I did not go with them," Nash said, wincing for the first time in an hourlong conversation. "They died without me being with them. I think maybe they would have been alive if I had been with them."

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY - About a dozen firefighters and two people on a motorcycle were in the right place at the right time Sunday morning, helping rescue three residents from a house fire in the Heights.

No major injuries were reported in the two-alarm fire at 82 Beach St that broke out at about 8:45 a.m., interim Fire Chief Steve McGill said.

A man and woman riding on a motorcycle first saw the fire while traveling near Kennedy Boulevard. Two men were standing on an awning above the front door of the home while another woman was hanging out a second floor window, he said.

Firefighters were in the area heading to training when they heard the call of a fire. The van of about a dozen firefighters stopped at the home and were able to prevent anyone from jumping from the burning building. Firefighters then put a ladder up against the home and brought all three residents to safety, McGill said.

The two men and two firefighters were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and the trapped woman was brought to the hospital from treatment.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and believed to have started in the basement, McGill said.

While parked at the scene, a fire truck over heated and sent heavy white smoke billowing in the neighborhood.

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
Welcome to nonleaguedaily.coms news provision, your go-to source for all non league updates, rumours, interviews, and much more besides.

Founded by a team with a genuine passion for the world of non league football, nonleaguedaily.com understands exactly what supporters of the so-called lower leagues are looking for. You want the high-quality reporting, in-depth analysis, and match reporting that matches that is more commonly found in the journalism for the top flights, but with the focus firmly fixed on the national leagues.

We understand that your passion, interest, and dedication is constant, and we believe you need a news service that matches that commitment with its own dedication and thoroughness  so thats what you can expect from our site.

The latest non league news, as and when it happens

Conventionally, non league news has always travelled fairly slowly, especially when compared to the instantaneous, constant breaking news cycles found in the upper leagues. Tales are told on terraces, rumours passed between pub patrons and circled between supporters at the latest game, often forced to remain somewhat local initially before word eventually spreads to other locales.

For us, this slow spread may be fairly organic in nature, but it simply isnt compatible with the modern football environment. Its also not conducive to the current fast-paced, always-available media landscape, nor the way that people tend to consume news nowadays. Thats why we have put together a non league news source that fans can turn to for the latest updates, as and when they happen, and as and when you want to read them. Non-league news now is the only acceptable speed at Betting.co.uk.

We update our non-league football news coverage constantly, bringing you all the latest developments and seeking to spread the word as quickly and accurately as possible. So if youre wondering whats happening both with your local team and with the lower leagues as a whole, you can visit us for non league news now, and be confident the stories you find are completely up to date.

News reported by passionate fans

Our efforts to bring you the very best non league football news are undeniably a professional concern, and one that we take seriously. We are  if youll excuse the uncharacteristic tooting of our own horns  good at what we do, and we know that the efforts we make in this regard are one of the reasons our site has enjoyed such success thus far.

However, everyone who writes for us also shares our readers enthusiasm for non league football. Were not just churning out content in the hopes of cashing in on a professional dream; were here because we want to be, and will always be dedicated and committed to non league football as an entity and thriving in the experience of being able to talk about our favourite subject whenever we can. We create non-league news now that is written by genuine fans and enthusiasts, for fans. We know what you want to know and what matters most to an ardent non league supporter, and we always ensure that focusing on these elements is our guiding principle as we seek to solidify our status as an online non league paper fans can always rely on.

When compiling non league news, we think with the mind of a fan first and foremost. We cover the angles and stories that we find compelling and that we know our fellow non league enthusiasts also care about. News doesnt have to be dry and formulaic, in our opinion. When its written by people who are genuinely as fascinated by the stories they are reporting on as their readership will be, we believe news can be interesting, compelling, and even have a sense of personality and humour.

News content written with passion and expertise

We believe that thanks to our dedication, insightfulness, and commitment to our subject matter of non league today, we are offering the best of both worlds to those searching for an online non league paper. We give you the professional approach we feel is appropriate for news about one of the most intriguing aspects of UK football; an aspect that we genuinely feel does not receive the interest and plaudits that it should be generating. Nevertheless, we dont let that professionalism take over everything we do: we remain committed fans, nurturing our own personal interest in non league football and ensuring every word we compose is infused with a sense of passion and dedication that enhances the posts we create.

Its therefore obvious that our non-league content today isnt ever going to be dry, basic, or put together by a tired staff writer who has never heard of any team below the Championship before they rush off to the pub for the evening. Our writers are genuine experts: were covering non league football because we want to, because we believe in it, and because its where our strengths lie. The result is informed content that capitalises on our deep knowledge of the history, as well as the present-day realities, of non league football in the UK.

Beyond news: the nonleaguedaily.com interview series

One of our goals with nonleaguedaily.com is to not just dryly report the news from an outsiders perspective, effectively regurgitating press releases that are devoid of genuinely illuminating information. We also go right to the source of the stories: the managers and club insiders who have direct experience, and often influence, on the sport and how it is managed.

We regularly conduct interviews as part of our news provision, asking the questions that are on everyones lips and providing the best possible view into the non league world. We have reporters pitchside at matches, microphone to hand and plentiful questions ready to be asked. The end result for you, the reader, is the kind of information and close-up looks into the non league world that just cant be found anywhere else.

As our commitment to providing interesting interviews amply demonstrates, we want to be involved in breaking the stories that everyone then talks about, rather than following along and focusing solely on what everyone already knows. If youre looking for leading content that you cant find anywhere else, and that goes right to the centre of the non league world, then you can turn to nonleaguedaily.com for all the benefits of a conventional non league paper, but in electronic, easily-accessed form.

A host of other content to enjoy alongside the non league today

Our focus on providing non league news will always be maintained: we consider this aspect the most important of what we do, and it will always be the recipient of our time, dedication, and interest. Well be here, a consistent and trustworthy news portal, for as long as non league football news exists.

With that said, when you have read up on the latest goings-on, were here with further content for you to enjoy. Naturally, given our partnership with leading brand Betting.co.uk, we provide guidelines for those interested in the world of sports betting. Well help you find the best UK bookmaker with our plentiful coverage of existing brands; ideal if youre looking to put your newfound knowledge, courtesy of us, about non league to use and place a few bets.

Furthermore, we also provide highlights of all the latest UK betting offers, so you can ensure youre achieving the best value with all the latest betting deals whenever youre betting on the latest non league matches. Youll find all of this coverage is as consistent and reliable as our non league news provision,

Non league features and deep dives

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So whether youre looking to find the most recent non league football news, seeking a new bookmaker for your non league bets, or hoping to delve deep into a niche non league-related topic, nonleaguedaily.com is always going to be worth a visit.

Return to nonleaguedaily.com for all your non league news needs

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The Council Bluffs City Council will vote on the second reading of two ordinances that would open a brief window of time for the legalized use of fireworks in the city.

The amendments to the citys fireworks and noise control ordinances would allow residents to shoot off fireworks from noon to 11 p.m. July 2 to 4 and from noon on Dec. 31 through 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1.

During a special meeting on May 31, the council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinances. If approved again Monday, its possible the council could wave a third reading and the new ordinance would go into affect.

The votes come on the heels of the Iowa Legislature legalizing the sale, purchase and possession of the majority of consumer fireworks. The law allows local municipalities to restrict the use of fireworks.

I think the current ordinance banning all use would be unenforceable, Councilman Al Ringgenberg said during the special meeting, saying there needs to be a way to balance residents right to peace and quiet with the liberty afforded in the change of state law.

The council will also vote on an ordinance that would adopt the updated 2015 International Fire Code. Cities and counties across the country follow the code, and this move would update the citys laws from its current use of the 2009 International Fire Code.

One amendment is the city would ban the release of sky lanterns, which the international code says must be on a tether. The sky lanterns, also known as Chinese lanterns, are small, hot air balloons made of paper with an opening at the bottom for a suspended fire source.

The issue came up locally when the Shine sky lantern festival attempted to hold a sky lantern release at Westfair. The Westfair board voted unanimously on Thursday night to deny the request to rent the fairgrounds for the festival in October.

Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James and Fire Marshal Larry Wohlers had said the lanterns are dangerous.

Theyre too dangerous, Wohlers said. Its an open flame in the air. You dont have any control of it once you launch it. Its my recommendation not to allow them.

The meeting will also include three public hearings on resolutions to issue general obligation bonds totaling $1.9 million.

The council will vote on whether to issue $450,000 in bonds for construction, reconstruction, enlargement, improvement and equipping of recreation grounds, swimming pools and parks; and the construction, reconstruction, enlargement, improvement and equipping of fire stations, according to paperwork submitted by city Finance Director Kathy Knott.

The council will then vote on whether to issue $750,000 in bonds for opening, widening, extending, grading and draining the right-of-way of streets, highways, avenues, alleys and public grounds; the construction, reconstruction and repairing of any street improvements; the acquisition, installation and repair of sidewalks, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, water service lines, street lighting and traffic control devices; and the acquisition of any real estate needed for any of the foregoing purposes; removal and replacement of dead or diseased trees in a public right of way, removal or replacement and planting of trees in parks and the abatement of a nuisance, Knott wrote.

The last vote will be for $700,000 in bonds for the operation of the city or the health and welfare of its citizens, including demolition of vacant buildings owned by the city, according to Knott.

All three bond issues were included as part of the citys fiscal year 2018 capital improvement plan.
Officials broke ground Saturday for a trail that will someday link Council Bluffs with Underwood and Neola and hook up with trails leading to other communities.

The Railroad Highway Multi-Use Trail will begin at Smith Wildlife Area near the intersection of Railroad Highway and Husker Lane and run north along the highway. Work on the first segment, which will travel 1.8 miles to County Road L34, is underway and is scheduled for completion this year, said Brian Shea, chairman of the Pottawattamie County Trails Association.

This will be the first of many trails across southwest Iowa, Iowa and even other states, he said. We hope to get out to Underwood sometime next year and, shortly after, to Neola.

Jan Ehrens, deputy city clerk in Underwood, said before the ceremony that she was excited about the project.

We live on a farm, and its difficult to ride, she said.

The trail will provide a safe place away from all the traffic for bicyclists, Ehrens said.

Shea credited Mark Shoemaker, executive director of Pottawattamie County Conservation; and Brian Leaders of the National Park Services Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program with leading the effort to develop trails in the county and beyond.

They had the vision, and they kept the drive, he said.

Shoemaker started thinking about a county trail system seven years ago, he said.

When I was park ranger at Longs Landing, it was our responsibility to mow the (Wabash Trace Nature Trail), he said. I thought it was really neat to connect the communities, and I thought wouldnt it be neat to connect all the communities in Pottawattamie County.

Every community in Pottawattamie County was involved in this process, Shoemaker said. Its going to be a big benefit to Pottawattamie County.

Neola Mayor Pete Sorenson said the trail will boost economic development in the smaller towns by bringing people out from the cities.

What small towns need is people  people to buy their goods and services, he said. This is a way to connect people to small towns. As mayor of Neola, we are super excited that this is going to come out there.

My No. 1 thing on the trail is safety, said Denny Bardsley, mayor of Underwood. My second thing is health  its a healthy thing to do. My third thing is economic development.

Bardsley, who worked as an Iowa State Trooper for 33 years, recalled going to the scene of an accident where two middle-school students had been crossing Railroad Highway on their bicycles and were hit by a vehicle that had just crested a hill.

That was one of the toughest duties I had to perform, he said.

Leaders complimented the committee for raising more than $4 million for the trail.

Mark (Shoemaker) was the driving force behind this, he said.

The National Park Service provided some technical assistance, he said.

We went through a number of communities in Pottawattamie County and asked people to provide input on where they would like to have trails and what kinds of trails they thought should be built, Leaders said.

The result was the Pottawattamie County Trail Plan. While the Railroad Highway trail will be concrete, the plan also includes some soft-surface paths, he said.

The 17-mile trail to Neola will be part of a network of trails that will combine to reach Manilla  about 100 miles in all, Leaders said. East-west trails are also planned.

Were looking at doing a poured concrete trail 10 feet wide from Omaha all the way to Des Moines, he said.

Plans are in the works to piece together some lightly trafficked roads to form a Lewis & Clark Trail, Leaders said. The route would be marked as a shared-road trail for safety purposes.

The Iowa West Foundation awarded a $1.1 million grant for the trail, Shea said. The remaining funds came from a federal recreation grant of $300,000, a state recreation grant of $700,000, a $425,000 grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, a $38,000 grant from Iowas Resource Enhancement and Protection program and $60,000 from the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, as well as public contributions.

One of our four strategic areas is community development, which includes place building, said Pete Tulipana, CEO of the Iowa West Foundation. Weve built trails in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area, and were so excited to partner with this group to get trails going throughout the county. People of all ages enjoy trails. We have already made a commitment to fund the second phase.

Pottawattamie County Supervisor Scott Belt said the trail will encourage people to visit the countys parks.

I think its going to be a blessing to everyone out here, he said.
OMAHA  VA officials said Friday they hope that a new federal initiative plus more local hiring will stop a trend that has seen more western Iowa and Nebraska veterans waiting longer to see doctors.

Two years ago, Department of Veterans Affairs data examined by The World-Herald showed that only one in 278 clients of the VA Medical Center in Omaha had to wait longer than 30 days to see a doctor. More than 99.6 percent saw a doctor on time. That placed the hospital among the top three of 152 VA hospitals in the country.

Nearly every other clinic in the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System  which serves veterans from North Platte, Nebraska, in the west to Shenandoah in the east  boasted similarly impressive numbers.

Since then those numbers have slipped. A new look at recent data shows that the rate has dropped to 98.3 percent in Omaha. Eleven other hospitals now rank ahead of it, though Omaha still ranked well above the VAs national average in April of 96.8 percent.

The problem is even more serious at the VA clinic in Norfolk, Nebraska, where in April more than 6 percent of patients waited more than 30 days. Thats far more than the national average.

The problem in Norfolk began when the clinic lost two of three primary care physicians who work there, said Dr. David Williams, the health care systems chief of staff.

One of our big challenges is staffing, Williams said. If a doctor gets sick or retires, it takes a long time to replace them.

He said new physicians recently have been hired.

I would say by August well see significant improvement, he said.

VA officials said the slippage in Omaha and across the region is, ironically, the result of a program meant to help shorten veterans wait times.

Congress created the program, called Veterans Choice, in 2014, after revelations that some VA hospitals  but none in Nebraska or Iowa  had created phony waiting lists to cover up scandalously long waiting times.

The law allowed veterans who had waited more than 30 days or live more than 40 miles from a VA clinic to visit a doctor in the private sector instead.

A private contractor, called Health Net, was hired to run the program. But the company has struggled to keep up, said Jenny Rosenbalm, business office director for the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System. That has led to longer wait times for a few veterans needing to see certain specialists.

Historically we had a very good non-VA care program. We would buy anything our veterans needed in the private market, Rosenbalm said. Choice has added some hurdles.

She said she expects improvements with the recent passage by Congress of a successor program, called Veterans Choice 2.0. Rosenbalm said the new version will involve the local VA more directly in setting up appointments for affected veterans.

Since the current fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2016, the local VA has processed nearly 17,000 Veterans Choice claims, according to VA officials. That compares with 21,304 during the entire previous year.

Were going to be one of the first sites to try it, Rosenbalm said. Our staff will be more heavily involved in the care of the veterans.

Also on Friday, Health Care System Director Don Burman briefed reporters on planned improvements as part of a State of the VA initiative begun last month by VA Secretary David Shulkin that calls for improvements in 13 areas of service.

Burman said the VA wants to offer wider choices for veterans, improve quality of care, modernize electronic records, boost employee accountability and enlist the communitys help in stopping veteran suicides.

Among planned VA improvements:

 Begin construction next spring on an $86 million ambulatory care facility at the Omaha VA hospital through a groundbreaking public-private partnership. When completed, the new facility will allow most outpatient services to move out of the aging and outdated hospital building, which opened in 1950.

 At the same time, begin building a 350-stall parking garage to ease the hospitals chronic parking woes. The garage is expected to cost between $8 million and $9 million, said Will Ackerman, a VA spokesman.

 Begin construction of a new Fisher House on the Omaha campus. The house provides rooms for families to stay while veterans from out of town receive extended care.

 Fill vacancies faster with the help of events like a recent job fair, at which VA recruiters collected resumes from more than 400 job candidates.

The system has a particularly urgent need for nurses, said Eileen Kingston, associate director for patient services, with 15 current openings for acute-care surgical nurses.

 Boost the Omaha VA hospitals current four-star (out of five) quality rating to the top mark by the end of the year. Our metrics all point to us as a five-star facility, Burman said.
Every fall, new students begin their adventure at Iowa State University. They choose our beloved institution over thousands of other universities in the world.

We are Cody West and Cody Smith, the president and vice president of the student body, respectively, at Iowa State. We are the leaders that over 36,000 students have entrusted to leave the university better than when we inherited it.

Unfortunately, this task has become increasingly challenging in recent years. Our institution finds itself facing nearly $12 million in budget cuts from the Iowa Legislature this year alone.

The quality of an Iowa State degree is among the best in the world. Accredited by the Association of American Universities, this puts Iowa State head-to-head with Ivy League institutions. Regrettably, public higher education in Iowa is ensnared in a dangerous, unsustainable cycle that threatens our world-renowned institution.

The Iowa Legislature cut funding, forcing the university to propose tuition increases to the Board of Regents which will, inevitably, place the burden on the backs of students.

Our state has reached a critical turning point when it comes to public higher education. Iowa State, the first land grant university in the U.S., should serve as a beacon of opportunity for students who are determined enough to pursue higher education. As a land grant, our mission is to be the most affordable and accessible to Iowas students. We should strive to uphold this pledge because it is these same students that will contribute significantly to our states economy by becoming our local farmers, teachers, agronomists, engineers, veterinarians and neighbors.

We write today to ask Iowans to think long and hard about what our priorities are as a state. Today, Iowa State receives significantly fewer actual dollars from the state than we did in 1999. It is important to note that, during this same period of time, total enrollment has increased by approximately 10,000 students and the cost of education continues to soar. This increase of enrollment, paired with a decrease of state support, is adding more barriers to higher education in Iowa.

Unfortunately, our universitys reputation and credibility are being threatened by this negligence. As Iowans, these cuts and their impact should concern us all, especially our legislators.

We are asking for your support of higher education in our state; it is an investment in the future we want for generations to come. It is an investment in Iowa.

Iowa State student body president Cody West and vice president Cody Smith, Ames
After taking first place in talent and evening wear at preliminaries earlier in the week, Allison Tietjen was crowned Miss Nebraska on Saturday night after the final night of competition at North Platte High School.

Tietjen, who came into the pageant as Miss Heartland, wowed judges in a full-length white gown with gemstones Wednesday night, the first night of the pageant. Thursday, she played Phantom of the Opera on piano in honor of her grandmother, with whom she shares a love of musicals.

Tietjen, of Chester, also earned high marks in volunteer service. She took home first place in the pageants community service award and a $1,000 Miss America scholarship  presented by Sam Haskell III, CEO and executive chairman of Miss America  for the organizations recognition of community service.

Tietjen raised thousands of dollars for veterans to take honor flights to war memorials in Washington, D.C., a service close to her platform, United We Stand: Honoring Our Military.

Miss Omaha Wellesley Lauren Michael took home first runner-up Saturday after playing Hallelujah on the violin. Miss Kearney Jessica Shultis won second runner-up after delivering a monologue titled Wake Up America about racism. Third runner-up was Miss Harvest Moon Festival Lianna Prill, who sang Dont Rain on My Parade, and Miss Douglas County Kogan Murphy won fourth runner-up after performing contemporary ballet en pointe to Tied Down.

The night started with eight finalists chosen from the weeks contestants. The other three finalists were Miss Kool-Aid Days Krista Hinrichs, Miss Nebraska State Fair Jenni Wahonick and Miss Twin Rivers Emma Wilkinson, who is from North Platte.

A number of other awards were given out Saturday, including Miss Congeniality, a contestants choice award for their peer. Miss Queen City Jaicelyn Shakespaere received the award.

Shakespaere, who sang At Last, also won the non-finalist talent award Saturday. Her microphone cut out partway through the Etta James classic, but she continued the song strong as ever. When the sound was restored, the crowd erupted.

Talk about overcoming adversity, emcee Dave Griek, an NTV sportscaster, said later. Adversity was a common theme in contestants platforms and talents throughout the week.

Miss Nebraska 2009 Brittany Jeffers co-hosted the event with Griek. Jeffers, a broadcast journalist in Dallas, told Griek that she felt like she was home, having gotten ready for the evening at her past host familys home, received little sleep and used as much hairspray as in years past.
One of the four points of the Miss America crown is service, but its not just contestants who dedicate their time to others.

Sam Haskell, the CEO of the Miss America organization, said Friday that the titleholders wouldnt be titleholders without the support of thousands of volunteers across the country.

There would not be a Miss America without the infrastructure of the local and state volunteers, Haskell said.

Haskell arrived in North Platte early Friday morning to attend the 80th Anniversary Gala celebrating the Miss Nebraska Organization and to see the next Miss Nebraska get crowned.

When Haskell took his position 12 years ago, he vowed to visit all 52 state pageants that sent representatives to Miss America.

This weekend is number 41, Haskell said.

After Nebraska, hell head for Washington D.C., Oregon, Mississippi and Ohio. The remaining eight states will be spread out over the next two years leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Miss America Organization.

Haskell said the visits help him stay connected to whats happening with the organization on a local level. The trips also give him the opportunity to thank the volunteers who carry the organization forward.

Its important for me to let people ... know I know what theyre doing and I care about what theyre doing, Haskell said.

Volunteers are a vital part of the program at every level, from the directors of local pageants to the hosts of state pageants to the judges on the Miss America stage  without them, there would be no contestants, no scholarships, no Miss America.

Without them, the women who compete would be missing opportunities to grow and improve themselves and their communities.

Ultimately, Haskell said, Miss America is about empowering women.

I think the empowerment of women is something that has been on everyones lips since the suffragist movement, Haskell said.

First and foremost, he said, contestants are empowered by education. In April, thebestcolleges.org named the organization the No. 1 scholarship provider in the world. Every year, millions of dollars in scholarships are given to contestants at every level.

Theyre also empowered by experiences. Whether its attending New York Fashion Week as Miss America or visiting terminally ill children in a Childrens Miracle Network Hospital as a state titleholder, contestants are exposed to a variety of things they might not be exposed to otherwise. These moments teach the women humility, grace and understanding, which allows them to become a whole person, Haskell said. I want Miss America to be a whole person.

Even swimwear, a portion of the competition that is sometimes controversial, helps the women who compete. Haskell pointed out that it takes a lot of confidence to walk across the stage in a swimsuit.

We dont dictate what they have to wear, Haskell said. If they dont want to wear a bikini, they can wear a full-piece.

Despite the common belief that the swimsuit competition is a way to objectify and sexualize competitors, thats just not the case, Haskell said. The competition is actually about showing that the women take pride in their bodies and aim to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Thats not the only misconception surrounding pageants. Most people also believe theres only one winner, but Haskell doesnt think so.

I believe that any woman who entered the competition with the desire to better herself, learn and grow will always be a winner, Haskell said. Thats what its about.

Another falsehood is viewing the women who are involved as shallow, arrogant, stupid or snotty.

While he admits that no program is perfect and that some contestants may be involved purely to boost their ego, thats not the case with 90 percent of them, he said. Haskell doesnt want a Miss America who is anything but kind.

I told the judges, yes, we want her to be beautiful and talented and community-service minded, He said. Yes, we want her to be a good representative on the red carpet ... but she has to be kind.

She has to have a servants heart, he said, not unlike the volunteers who have helped her be successful on her quest to the Miss America crown.
I just got done watching the new four-hour documentary on the Grateful Dead entitled "Long Strange Trip."

I loved every minute of it, and as a Deadhead, wished it would have gone even deeper into the story of this incredible band and the equally incredible scene that sprang up around it.

I first saw the band play near Chicago in 1981 as a senior in high school. I had already been to many different rock concerts by that age, but was totally unprepared for what I experienced that night.

The flow of the concert was unlike anything I had ever seen. I couldn't immediately grasp the music, which danced along in so many different forms and just out of reach. All I knew for sure is that I wanted more.

I returned many times, following the band around the center of the country on each of its tours for more than a decade. I even took a solo trip out to their turf to see a string of three Mardi Gras shows in Oakland, California, in addition to seeing many solo shows by members Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart.

The notorious parking lot scene and crowd at the band's shows was also an unfamiliar and sometimes bewildering sight, but I felt right at home. I have always been a curious person who if everyone else is using doors A or B, wanted to know what was going on behind that locked Door C.

Well, a Grateful Dead show offered the key to door C, at least before the final few years when immense popularity altered the intimacy between the band and audience, and even among the audience members.

Why I write about all this is because it occurred to me recently how my experience with the Grateful Dead and fellow Deadheads helped fertilize and shape who I have become.

This includes me becoming a vegetarian and vegan. Where else was a kid from a big agricultural state like Indiana in the early 1980s going to be exposed to such radical ideas as loving all animals enough not to eat, wear or otherwise exploit them?

I am not alone in this transformation. Gene Baur, of the well-known Farm Sanctuary, "began his activist career selling veggie hotdogs out of a VW van at Grateful Dead concerts to fund farm animal rescues," according to the group's website.

The film and all this reminiscing has left me nostalgic and reflecting on the final few lines of one of the band's beloved ballads:

"There's nothing you can hold

"For very long

"And when you hear that song

"Come crying like the wind

"It seems like all this life

"Was just a dream."
Skeptics said it would never work.

They said a mall should be built at the fringes of Michigan City, not downtown. They said the Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets ought to be near all the interstate traffic.

"They said it wouldn't last two years," said Lloyd Madaus, operations director for Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets, who helped build it for Tonn and Blank Construction in 1987. "They said it was foolish."

Now the outdoor outlet mall at 601 Wabash St. draws an estimated 1 million visitors a year to its 120 stores. It's one of the most popular shopping destinations in Northwest Indiana, and it's considered part of Michigan City's triangle of tourist attractions along with the lakefront and the Blue Chip Casino, Hotel and Spa.

Lighthouse is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Mayor Ron Meer said the city is pleased with the successful 30-year commitment.

"They are a very large draw to our community from throughout the United States and foreign countries," Meer said. "As mayor, I am extremely pleased with Lighthouse Outlets' continued success in Michigan City. They give Michigan City great exposure to the Chicago region and the Midwest region while providing hundreds of retail jobs."

The mall, which was designed to resemble a seaside village because of its proximity to Lake Michigan, was built on land once occupied by the long-defunct Pullman railroad car company. Construction began in the fall of 1986, and the main court opened in May of 1987.

The Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets, now owned by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, was a hit within a month or so of opening, Madaus said.

"It brings thousands of people, especially in the summertime and around Christmas," he said. "It has helped the downtown come back like it used to be in the last four or five years. When the factories closed a lot of people went to work in the stores."

Though many stores have come and gone over the years, some have been there for 25 to 30 years, such as Polo, Brooks Brothers and Ann Taylor Lofts. They occupy wood stick buildings meant to evoke a quaint lakeshore village.

At the time it was constructed, enclosed malls were all the vogue. Lighthouse Place may have been ahead of its time, since all the lifestyle centers being built today are open-air malls, Madaus said.

Even as the retail sector has struggled of late, people still flock to Lighhouse's outlet stores, such as Nike, Columbia, Northface, Vera Bradley, and OshKosh B'gosh.

"It's a great summertime attraction," Madaus said. "It's a big draw from Northwest Indiana, southern Michigan and Chicagoans who have beach houses up and down the lakeshore. They stop by when headed to the beach house or when coming back."

Many swing by when visiting nearby Washington Park, with its Lake Michigan beaches. In fact, when the weather abruptly changes, as it is wont to do in Indiana, shoppers in swimsuits swing by to grab sweatshirts.

It helps that they're within walking distance of each other, said Linda Simmons, the LaPorte County Convention and Visitors Bureau marketing director.

"It's a huge tourist attraction with a lot of big brand names," she said. "People stop there after a day at the beach. You see license plates from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan."

Blue Chip Casino references the outlet mall in its convention marketing materials, and it helps bring visitors to other Michigan City attractions such as the Washington Park Zoo, the Old Lighthouse Museum and the Uptown Arts District, Simmons said.

"It has stores you'd otherwise have to go to Chicago or Indianapolis for," Simmons said. "It's often packed because it's got a lot of great stores and excellent shopping."

The Lighthouse Place mall has become a staple of Region life where memories have been made

Valparaiso residents Marie and John Borman went there last year to grab some Goldfish Crackers from Pepperidge Farm and some last-minute things for the baby room while she was pregnant, and she started to have contractions. Only she didn't initially realize it until they headed off to dinner.

"We went the hospital and the nurse was about to check how far I was dialated, my water broke. Elizabeth wasn't due for another week so that's why we didn't think the pains were contractions," Marie Borman said. "So our Elizabeth was born last year on April 23. We have been back to Lighthouse for baby clothes and toys several times."

The mall also has helped put Michigan City on the map nationally.

Whenever Madaus travels to places like South Carolina and mentions he's from Michigan City, people bring up Lighthouse Place.

Given its draw, he thinks it has a bright future.

"It's older but it still looks green and clean," he said. "It looks beautiful with the snow in the wintertime. It's still going strong. Hopefully, it's here another 20 years. I can't see it ever leaving."
Aziz Ansari says he knew he couldn't be the only storyteller on season two of "Master of None" if he wanted to keep the show's momentum going.

The show premiered on Netflix in 2015, quickly garnering critical acclaim for honest depictions of Asian and immigrant families. The first season relied heavily on Ansari, previously a star on "Parks and Recreation," who appeared in nearly every scene.

When it came time for the follow-up, the Emmy-winning writer-comedian wanted to be more ambitious, he said during a recent interview about the show.

The second season focuses less on Ansari's character Dev, a struggling New York actor turned food game show host, and more on supporting characters with different perspectives and plots.

In the standout "Thanksgiving" episode, Lena Waithe's character Denise comes out as a lesbian to her family. The revelation causes tension within her African-American family, especially with her mom played by Angela Bassett. The episode depicts a series of Thanksgiving dinners from Denise's childhood through her twenties.

Both Ansari and the show's co-creator Alan Yang rely heavily on their own experiences when writing. But neither could relate to Denise's impending character arc.

Ansari asked Waithe, 33, to co-write the episode. As a black lesbian, Waithe did exactly what Ansari and Yang do: She wrote what she knew.

"Coming out was not fun. I don't think it is for most people," Waithe said. "To have survived it and to be able to tell that story in a fun, light interesting but also honest way was a really wonderful opportunity."

Waithe said the experience of writing her own story was liberating, noting she's rarely embraced in society because of her identity.

That is why it's important her work vocalizes new perspectives, Waithe said.

"We got to keep telling really cool stories because that sometimes is the only way out, through art," she said.

Ansari didn't stop with just Waithe. He brought in Melina Matsoukas to direct two episodes, including "Thanksgiving."

Matsoukas previously directed Beyonce's "Formation" music video and several episodes of HBO's "Insecure."

"I love how they have the guts to find people who can tell the story most authentically. I think that's why I'm here today," Matsoukas said.

"Master of None's" second season ambitions extend past just nuanced storytelling. The creators experimented with various forms and sounds, from a black and white episode to a montage of first dates in the aptly named "First Date."

Then there's the episode Yang directed, "New York, I Love You."

Ansari appears for barely a minute. He wanted it that way, saying he and Yang pondered doing an episode without Dev.

Instead, the creators chose to highlight New York cab drivers, doormen and a deaf convenience store worker.

"They have their drama, their love, their humor and their lives," Ansari said. "You never see it."

He said Netflix questioned the episode at first, which incorporated eight minutes of silence. The creators stuck by their idea.

"It's been said before if you're not doing something that scares you a little bit, then you probably should be," Yang said.

Yang said they don't intentionally create provocative art, though they're praised for doing so. They're not trying to shock audiences, but said he and Ansari are just naturally curious.

"When you depict people whose stories haven't been told as often, that can lend you some originality," Yang said. "Why not tell stories that haven't been told as much?"
Sheila E. is booked. The Grammy-nominated performer is keeping busy by recording two albums, performing shows around the country and working on a documentary.

She recently spoke to The Associated Press on a number of topics, including her late mentor Prince and her show at The Apollo Theater in New York City on Monday.

TEARS FOR PRINCE

A year after the death of her mentor, Prince, Sheila E. said it's been hard to move on.

"I try to celebrate his life. ... He would not want us to mourn him, he'd want us to celebrate. But it's easier said than done, absolutely. With the support of my family and the fans and my friends, it's been better, time does heal. But there are some days when I go, 'This doesn't even make sense,'" she recalled.

Sheila E. was engaged to The Purple One and they worked on a number of memorable songs, including the funky '80s hit "The Glamorous Life."

She said it felt strange recording the song "America" without Prince beside her.

"I kind of broke down during that session, like, 'This is weird, strange.' There are those moments, and some days I'm OK," she said.

She said his death has been "an emotional roller coaster" for her and his fans.

SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO

Sheila E. will help The Apollo Theater raise money for its 2017 Apollo Spring Gala with a performance Monday at the famed venue in Harlem.

"We're going to have a good time and it's for a good cause, and Apollo's been there so long, you know, it's a place (where) so many greats have performed on that stage so I'm honored to be a part of it," she said.

Cedric the Entertainer will host the event; CeeLo Green and We McDonald will perform. Ray Chew is the musical director.

Proceeds will support the nonprofit organization's arts, education and community programming.

"The Apollo Theater has been home to legendary and up-and-coming artists alike, serving as an ever-changing driving force in popular music and culture not only in Harlem, but across the world," said Jonelle Procope, the theater's president and CEO.

Sheila E. said she doesn't remember her first performance at the Apollo, but she walked around the venue recently to soak up the history.

"You kind of walk around backstage and think about the stories or the things that have gone on (there), and that's what I did," she said.

LET'S GET POLITICAL

Sheila E. planned to release a dance album called "Girl Meets Boy," but with the current political climate, she decided to switch gears.

Now she's recording an album of songs that "has lyrical content that are relevant to the times that we're in right now." The project, originally titled, "Politically Correct," but now called "ICONIC," will be released later this year.

She and Ringo Starr both play drums on "Come Together" on the album, which also features a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Jesus Children of America" and a James Brown medley. Special guests include Freddie Stone, Bootsy Collins and Israel Houghton.

"The racism and the hatred in our country, (it's) overwhelming to see how many people hate each other, and it's sad. I look at it as this: One person can change the atmosphere to something good ... and love is something that can change things. And it also takes one person to destroy something as well, as we know, as we're seeing," she said.

"So my mission ... is to always bring people together, and through music I am able to do that."

She is currently fundraising for "ICONIC" on the crowdfunding site PledgeMusic.

BEHIND THE SCENES

When Sheila E. released her autobiography, "The Beat of My Own Drum," in 2014, she said she wanted to make the book into a film. She had already spoken to the actress she wanted to portray her on-screen.

While she still plans to make a film, at the moment she's working on a documentary about her life and career.

"We've been working on a documentary that will come out in 2018," she said. "It looks great."
CROWN POINT  David Warne, president of the Crown Point School Board, sent this statement from the board on Friday in response to a student showing up to his Crown Point High School graduation last Tuesday in his Marine dress blues and being turned away. Here is the full statement:

The Crown Point School Corp., including its Board members and administration, honors and has great respect for all of the military personal who enlist, serve and sacrifice for our country. The policies and procedures set in place regarding the Crown Point graduation ceremonies are steeped in tradition and intended to honor and recognize students with academic achievement, honor society membership, and military service. Military personnel are honored by name and rank upon their names being announced. Military personnel are permitted to wear uniforms covered in traditional cap and gown during commencement.

The School Board is not aware of previous circumstances where these permissions have not satisfied the desires of any student who has enlisted and intends to serve our great military post graduation. For over 135 years, the traditions of Crown Point High School graduation ceremonies have been respected by our administrative officials, students, and the community.

"Based upon the facts and circumstances as presented to school administration involving this particular matter, the Crown Point School Board unanimously supports the position and decision made by Principal Chip Pettit, Superintendent Teresa Eineman, and other administration officials. The decision was not intended to disrespect veterans who served our country in the past or those who intend to serve our military in the future.

Crown Point School Corp. and its administrators have been large supporters of the military programs within its schools and the involvement of military recruiters in our school corporation for many years. The School Board members will see that the Crown Point School Corp.s support of our military will continue well into the future.
SCHERERVILLE  More often than not, its the same straight-A students who receive awards year after year, said Fred Halpern, owner of Alberts Diamond Jewelers in Schererville.

Saturday was a much different story.

Saturday was about Region students who struggle, but persevere, when faced with math and reading problems. Students who have to go the extra mile to achieve high marks.

We wanted to honor the kids who are working their hardest, who improve their grades. And we always tell these kids, You know the worlds in better shape because of people like you. Youre the future of our country, Halpern said of the jewelry stores long-standing tradition of honoring the Regions most-improved students each year.

A total of 60 boys and girls from 30 Lake County-area schools were recognized Saturday at Alberts Diamond Jewelers in Schererville. Separately, the store also held a blood drive with the American Red Cross, an event they host quarterly.

Students are nominated by teachers, principals and other faculty members, and on Saturday received a certificate, new watch and a commemorative photo.

Changed her life

Fourth-grader Tori Bielski was reading at a third-grade level and was also behind in math this past year  that is, until she started attending Sylvans after-school program in Schererville.

Her reading and math skills are now at a fifth-grade level.

From a grandmothers point of view, its changed her life almost, said Dee Eenigenburg. Shes gained a lot of self-confidence. She loves to do school work now and shes always smiling. Her grades are great now.

Her favorite book series these days? Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Canterwood Crest, a shy Tori Bielski said, smiling.

Badge of honor

Passion. Perseverance. Grit. Those are the quality traits that allowed Riley Wade to make the honor roll this year. The 11-year-old misses more school days than most kids her age because of her Crohns disease.

She misses a lot but works on her homework during recess to still make the honor roll, Krissy Wade said Saturday of her daughter, who recently graduated the fifth grade at Johnston Elementary School in Highland with high marks.

The family posed for a photo after she received her certificate and new watch.

Fred Halperns son and co-owner of Alberts, Joshua Halpern, called the watch their badge of honor  a reminder of the students' commitment to education.

I tell them Just keep looking at that watch. That watch is going to give you inspiration to keep working harder and harder, Joshua Halpern said.

"These kids are working their butts off year after year," he added.

'I'm so proud'

Parents Carlton and Tahria Rollins were beaming with pride Saturday as they watched their daughter, Tahmia, be recognized as one of the Region's most improved students.

The soon-to-be ninth-grader at Bishop Noll Institute struggles in math class, but is making improvements, her mother said.

Next year, Tahmia said, she wants to learn Chinese and delve into more business and science classes, she said.

"We were so surprised," Tahria Rollins said. "I'm so proud."
Instilling qualities of good character and citizenship is a priority of Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana. In partnership with Geminus Corp., Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indianas Lake Station club teens, through a Youth Leaders program, raised $1,500 to give toward their community. Club teens focused on giving back to the Lake Station Police Department, specifically the K9 Unit. Their goal was to raise enough money to purchase a bulletproof vest for a police dog.

Excited about reaching their goal, club members presented the $1,500 check to Officer David Wright and his police dog, Officer Dax. The gift was given to the K9 Unit at River Forest Junior/Senior High School in conjunction with their awards day on May 25.

We are very proud of our club teens, said Adam Clough, program director for the Lake Station Boys & Girls Club. In our Youth Leaders program, they had the freedom to focus on where they wanted to make the most positive impact. Giving to Lake Stations Police Departments K9 Unit really resonated with our club members.
VALPARAISO  Opportunity Enterprises' annual celebration of achievement brought together more than 250 guests to celebrate their clients and employees.

Opportunity Enterprises is celebrating 50 years with a mission of providing adults with disabilities meaningful jobs and skills.

The Power of Potential event honored clients who have persevered through their challenges and overcome obstacles.

"It's amazing to realize all the lives we have touched," said Ellen DeMartinis, Opportunity Enterprises CEO. "This place is about believing and changing lives, and our staff allows successes."

Christopher Runnion was honored as volunteer of the year. He thanked his wife for getting him involved in volunteering. "I gained so much appreciation for the countless hours people volunteer, and we help people live their lives to their fullest potential," he said

Runnion said he's been thanked for "rescuing" people by volunteering but said, "Who rescued who? These people have helped me heal."

Max Danko, honored for client of the year with business services, brought humor to the ceremony as he not only thanked the staff at OE, but thanked "the academy."

Jennifer Niewinski was honored as client of the year for daily living skills. Her parents brought her to the podium as she used her walker, something she wasn't able to do a few years ago. "There's no stopping her now," said her mom, Barbara Niewinski, as she broke down in tears. "She is 42 years old, and we have been walking by her side, with a smile on her face. Thank you so much for all you have done for her."

DeMartinis said this annual event is a great way to honor the clients and employees, but "the family stories you hear are amazing. You can't plan for them. They are the true heart of Opportunity Enterprises."
CHESTERTON  Wells Fargo & Company has donated $15,000 to support Rebuilding Together  Duneland in Chesterton. The grant is part of Wells Fargos Team Member Volunteer Program donated to the organization by the Wells Fargo Team Member Volunteer Program, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Rebuilding Together  Duneland and Wells Fargo volunteers completed more than 100 community service hours toward one of the 10 house projects rehabilitated on April 29, the nonprofits National Rebuilding Day. Hundreds of other volunteers from Chesterton, Porter and Burns Harbor donated their time to do necessary repairs on a total of 10 neighborhood homes and five community projects.

Weve had a rich history of working with Rebuilding Together to strengthen local neighborhoods, Wells Fargo Senior Registered Client Associate Officer Jennifer Espinoza said. Not only do we provide funding through grants such as this one, but our team members also volunteer at the homes."

Rebuilding Together  Dunelands mission is to keep the community warm, safe and dry with rehabilitated homes and improved local community centers or parks.
The rise of the so-called gig economy  loosely defined as a market of freelance, self-employed and contract workers, often with low-to-median skill levels, who make a living performing a succession of short-term assignments  has been changing what it means to have a job in America. As those effects continue to be seen across the country, we should welcome a growing number of experiments with alternative ways to provide what long have been considered essential workplace benefits and protections.

For more than 80 years, federal and state labor laws have taken for granted the existence of clear lines between employees and contractors. Employers set employees schedules and exercise significant control over how they do their jobs; in exchange, they are held responsible to provide certain guaranteed benefits.

Independent contractors have flexibility to arrange their own time, but they also are responsible for obtaining their own benefits. These fixed concepts of employment status are incorporated into rules governing everything from overtime pay to pensions to workers compensation to health care.

But those boundary lines have become fuzzy in recent years. Research by Freelancers Union and the online marketplace Elance-oDesk finds there are now 53 million American freelancers making a combined $715 billion in freelance earnings. A growing number of these freelancers offer their services through platforms  from transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft to more broad-ranging apps like TaskRabbit and Thumbtack  that make use of labor arrangements that straddle the line between independent contractors and traditional employees. These workers want the flexibility to set their own schedules and not to submit to the control of a full-time employer. But theyd also like access to benefits that, under current law, firms could not offer without classifying the workers as employees.

Many have noted that whats needed is a third status that combines features and responsibilities from both contract work and employer-employee relationships. Toward that end, the Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act  introduced last month by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington  would provide $20 million in seed funding to state and local governments and nongovernmental nonprofits to find ways to extend benefits and other workplace protections  including paid leave, workers compensation, skills training, unemployment insurance, tax withholding and tax-advantaged retirement savings  to freelance workers. Such experiments could help discover the best ways to resolve a host of thorny issues surrounding portable benefits.

But government-sponsored programs arent the only way to tackle these issues. There are encouraging signs the private sector also is stepping up to the challenge. In Pennsylvania and several other states, Uber has launched a test program to allow drivers to opt into a kind of injury-protection insurance. The company gives drivers the option to dedicate revenues from a 5-cent-per-mile price increase to purchase insurance for medical costs, income replacement and survivor benefits that stem from a work-related accident.

According to Uber, the coverage would apply the entire time the driver is on the Uber app, but the premiums would be based on passenger mileages. If a driver chooses not to participate, they can pocket the entire 5-cents-per-mile increase.

Programs like Ubers extend protections similar to workers compensation to workers who arent technically classified as employees. Similar to traditional workplace benefit packages, it also gives the company a competitive edge by offering incentives to drive for them, rather than a competitor. Best of all, it keeps the government from monkeying around with an economic ecosystem that thus far has proven successful and capable of coming up with solutions to handle issues as they continue to grow.

The gig economy will face many challenges as it vies to become a more permanent part of the U.S. economy. Regulators and lawmakers should be cautious not to curtail these kinds of experiments as the industry goes through these expected growing pains. The same system that figured out how to deliver on-demand car rides also can figure out how best to come up with fair and competitive arrangements for the new working world.
Walking together: It's the meaning behind the Diocese of Gary's first-ever synod earlier this month.

The togetherness displayed by more than 2,000 Region Catholics  spanning multiple spectra of age, color and ethnicity  is an important lesson for us all, and on so many fronts.

Sometimes it become necessary in our society for like-minded people of good will and faith to reaffirm their dedication to common purpose.

Diocese of Gary Catholics did that in spades during a recent weekend, marching behind the leadership of Bishop Donald Hying and so many others in a quest to chart future courses for the Region's Catholic community.

The three-day event included more than 300 delegates meeting in prayer to discuss the local church's future.

It also included a public showing of unity, with Region Catholics of multiple parishes walking in processional through the streets of Gary.

In doing so, Catholics from Schererville, Crown Point, Lowell and other Region communities reaffirmed their faith and dedication, not just in the church, but also in its dedication to the beleaguered Steel City.

A Gary Pentecost Synod Mass, attended by more than 2,000 at the Genesis Center, celebrated what Hying dubbed "the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst."

The important symbolism of unity in thoughtful reflection shouldn't be lost on any citizen, regardless of faith or following.

Nor should the value of loyalty to a struggling community.

We thank Region Catholics for providing such a powerful example.
Crossing the line separating Indiana and Illinois sometimes means dealing with different laws and customs. Readers are asked to share ideas for this weekly feature. This week: Fireworks season.

With Independence Day just around the corner that means nearly all the billboards along Interstate 80-94 are advertising fireworks shops.

It is well-known that Indiana is the place for Illinoisans to purchase fireworks since basically all but sparklers are prohibited in Illinois.

Though, in the not-so-distant past, fireworks actually were manufactured in Illinois on land near what is now the Costco in Orland Park.

The Melrose Fireworks Co. made commercial-grade fireworks for nearly two decades in the southwest suburb until its factory exploded on March 7, 1972, killing 3 people, injuring 18 and producing sound and shock waves that were felt in Gary.

A similarly spectacular scene, without the injuries or deaths, happened four years ago at Windy City Fireworks in Rochester, Indiana, 60 miles southeast of LaPorte.

A blaze at the retail fireworks shop set off its entire fireworks stock over an eight-hour period. Video of the non-stop explosions was aired around the world.
The annual Puerto Rican Day Parade marched through Manhattan on Sunday.

"My family invited us. We always come here every other year over here. This is actually where I met my fiance over here, five years ago," one man said, looking along the parade route.

Fifth Avenue was red, white, and blue from 44th to 79th Streets for one of the city's biggest parades, with millions believed to have lined the route.

Paradegoers NY1 spoke with said they love to show off their Puerto Rican pride.

"I'm so happy to be here. It's my first time," one reveler said. "And also my birthday being tomorrow, I'm celebrating, I enjoy it."

"I'm Puerto Rican in my blood!" one young paradegoer said.

The celebration of Puerto Rican culture is now in its 60th year.

While Puerto Ricans celebrated on Fifth Avenue, Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico went to the polls for a non-binding referendum on the island nation's political status, voting in favor of statehood.

The referendum offered three choices: statehood, independence, or maintaining the current status as a U.S. territory.

Several political parties on the island, including the main opposition party, boycotted the vote.

Puerto Rico is in the midst of a crippling economic crisis, with rising unemployment prompting many residents to leave for the United States.

This was the fifth time Puerto Rico has voted on statehood.

The U.S. Congress would have to approve the referendum results.
The Sabal Trail pipeline, a 515-mile interstate underground natural gas pipeline that will travel through Lee County and three other Alabama counties, will be partially operational next week and fully operational by the end of the month.

The pipeline was constructed from a point near Alexander City to south of Orlando, Fla. to supply gas to Florida Power and Light.

Sabal Trail Transmission has commenced testing of the entire pipeline system prior to flowing gas and transitioning into the operational mode, said Andrea Grover, spokeswoman for Sabal Trail. Certain facilities and the mainline pipeline will be operation in the next week or so, and the remaining facilities are still on track for a full commercial in-service by the end of June.

Grover said the project has been evaluated publicly over the past four years to ensure environmental permitting agencies. Questions from all levels of local, state and federal government, as well as communities and landowners, were addressed and impacts along the pipeline route were minimized.

Sabal Trail began engaging landowners, public officials and other stakeholders in June 2013, Grover said. Since that time, thousands of discussions and one-on-one meetings have been held with landowners to determine routing, answer questions, survey the property, negotiate for the easement needs and answer construction questions. Construction preparation commenced in late August 2016 and construction to begin installing the pipeline started after Labor Day.

Grover said Sabal Trails operators will be based in Alexander City, but will be traveling the pipeline route through all four Alabama counties on a regular basis.

We still have about 150 people working at the compressor station site in Tallapoosa County and just over 100 performing clean up along the pipeline in Alabama, but we anticipate that number will continue to decline over the next month or so, Grover said. Clean-up and cosmetic work is still required  even after operational.

At peak, Sabal Trail employed about 1,200 construction workers in Alabama and more than 6,000 for the entire project, according to Grover.

There will be an additional 94 direct and indirect permanent jobs as a result of the pipeline in the four Alabama counties, according to a study Sabal Trail performed by an independent consultant

Since September 2016, Sabal Trails contractors have spent more than $32 million in the local communities in Alabama for such things as equipment rentals, supplies, lodging and meals and vendors, according to Grover.

Lee County Commissioner Robert Ham said the pipeline will be a source of ongoing revenue for the county.

We get the benefit of the pipeline being taxed for Lee County, Ham said.

Alabama is estimated to receive more than $3.2 million in taxes based on a full calendar year once operational. Lee Countys taxes are estimated to be more than $855,000 per year, according to Grover.
While enjoying a lucrative career as a voice-over actress for national TV commercials, Omaha native Cathy Schenkelberg was also searching for personal meaning and peace.

Thats when she discovered the Church of Scientology.

They tell you Scientology helps you become more yourself, Schenkelberg said in an interview. What happened to me is I became less myself.

She says it also lessened her bank account, costing her nearly $1 million that she donated or spent on Scientology courses. It eventually left her broke.

The great loss of money, she said, is nothing compared to the loss of time. Time is the most precious.

After nearly two decades, she left the church in 2009.

The graduate of Roncalli Catholic High School is returning home to Omaha this week to perform her touring 75-minute one-woman show, Squeeze My Cans: Surviving Scientology.

The cans title is partly a reference to the churchs E-meters. Adherents grip two cylinders that look like tin cans and are said to act as a kind of lie detector that is used in what the church calls auditing.

Yes, the title is also an edgy double-meaning. The shows poster is a drawing of female cleavage and a low-cut dress  Schenkelbergs jab at Scientology.

She will perform Tuesday through Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave., $20 per ticket (Tuesday is sold out); and at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Roncalli, 6401 Sorensen Parkway, $25.

Roncalli spokeswoman Maureen Irish said the school is happy to welcome Cathy back and is pleased she will donate $10 of each ticket price to the school.

Attendees must be at least 18, Irish said, and the provocative poster was deemed inappropriate for a Catholic school.

Its definitely a play on words, Irish said. We want to make sure it doesnt offend anyone or discourage anyone from attending.

Schenkelberg said her show is provocative and edgy, and explains how she got sucked into the vortex of Scientology.

It tells how a Catholic girl from a wonderful family searches for higher purpose in life and ends up in a cult, she said. It kind of goes full circle, bringing me back to my roots.

Cathy was the seventh of 10 children of Gil and Barbara Schenkelberg, a fire captain and a homemaker. When Cathy was 13, her brother Mike, 19, swerved to avoid an accident and slammed into a pole near 65th Street and Ames Avenue.

She was angry at God for his death, she said, which led to her search for answers.

Meanwhile, she performed in Roncalli musicals and played volleyball before majoring in musical theater in college.

She moved to Chicago, acted in stage plays and soon got lots of voice-over work. She taped commercials for Gerber, Sears, Chevrolet and others, and voiced cartoon characters, too.

She soon was making nearly $400,000 a year, she said, and then one day a friend mentioned Scientology.

The church was founded in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard, who was born in Tilden, Nebraska, and raised in Montana and the state of Washington. He died in 1986.

Schenkelberg said she began taking inexpensive Scientology courses, but was eventually brainwashed and manipulated. Higher levels of courses became much more expensive.

Among celebrity Scientologists are John Travolta, with whom she says she had a friendly relationship, and Tom Cruise.

Years ago, Cathy was called to an audition for what she thought was a Scientology training video. When asked what she thought of Cruise, she said he was narcissistic and a baby.

Her interview abruptly ended, she said, and another actress told her the video was an audition to be Cruises girlfriend.

Schenkelberg has told that story to various news media, prompting a denial from the Church of Scientology: There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the church to find a girlfriend, by audition or otherwise, for any member of the church. The Church of Scientology would like to make clear that participation in the church is purely voluntary.

Others unhappy with the church have spoken out, including actress Leah Remini (TVs The King of Queens).

She has produced an A&E series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. She previously wrote a book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.

Schenkelberg, who is single and has an adult daughter, says she will be happy to see family and friends in Omaha, as well as others who want to learn and be entertained by her show. She says she is thriving spiritually, and is happy and healthy.

The basis for my show was to heal and forgive myself for the choices I made in those nearly two decades, she said. I get to walk through and share a part of me that could be anyone. I call it therapy for my soul.
A group of prominent cancer doctors is planning a novel assault on high drug costs, using clinical trials to show that many oncology medications could be taken at lower doses or for shorter periods without hurting their effectiveness.

As Exhibit A, they point to their pilot study involving a widely prescribed drug for advanced prostate cancer. Cutting the standard dose of Zytiga by three-quarters was as effective as taking the full amount  as long as patients swallowed the medication with a low-fat breakfast rather than on an empty stomach, as directed by the label.

"It's inefficient, even wasteful, to take this medicine while fasting," University of Chicago oncologist Russell Szmulewitz said in presenting the data at a conference earlier this year. Reducing the dosage of the $9,400-a-month medication as studied would sharply lower costs even for well-insured patients, he said. Another benefit would be fewer side effects; the patients who'd eaten breakfast with Zytiga, for example, had fewer stomach issues.

Szmulewitz and others now want to run full trials to see whether the doses of other oral oncology drugs can be ratcheted back because of the "food effect," which can alter how a medication is absorbed. They also plan to explore if the duration of some prescriptions can be shortened and if some cheaper non-cancer drugs can be substituted for expensive cancer ones. They recently created a nonprofit, the Value in Cancer Care Consortium, to organize their work.

The initiative is the latest response to rising concerns over "financial toxicity," the economic devastation that can be wrought by the high cost of cancer care. With new oncology therapies routinely debuting at more than $100,000 a year, "lots of people are worried about developing drugs that people can't get," said Leonard Saltz of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who helped organize the new group. The effort is also an acknowledgment that, despite President Donald Trump's grousing about high drug prices earlier this year, they're unlikely to change soon.

"This is the most practical and realistic way we have available right now to reduce the cost of cancer therapy and to increase value," said consortium chairman Allen Lichter, a former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. "It doesn't require Congress to do anything or regulators to approve imports. It involves careful clinical study to show the oncology community some of these drugs can be used better. This is a win-win situation if we can show it works  fewer side effects and much better access for our patients."

Lichter and others pitched their idea to dozens of colleagues in a closed-door meeting last weekend at ASCO's annual meeting in Chicago. Their next challenges are raising money  they estimate each 300-person trial will cost from $3 million to $5 million  and setting up a network of medical centers to run the trials.

Mark Ratain, a pharmacologist who directs the University of Chicago's Center of Personalized Therapeutics, said he's optimistic the group can raise money from philanthropists, insurers and even some government health systems like the United Kingdom's, given that the result could be big savings. An initial $1 million grant already came from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Houston.

The doctors' initial study with Zytiga illustrates their thinking. The randomized trial enrolled 72 prostate-cancer patients, with half taking the recommended standard dose of 1,000 milligrams on an empty stomach and the other half taking 250 milligrams with a low-fat breakfast, such as cereal with skim milk.

Despite the big difference in dosages, there was no difference in the drug's activity, as measured by prostate-specific-antigen levels in each group. In addition, the length of time before the disease worsened was the same for both groups, about 14 months. The oncologists intend to repeat the study with many more patients.

Ratain said food can increase or decrease the absorption rate, or bioavailability, of some drugs. Zytiga has an especially large "food effect"; taking it with a low-fat meal can increase its level in the blood by four to seven times. But many oral cancer drugs, including Zytiga, stipulate that patients should fast because that's how they were tested.

Zytiga's manufacturer is not convinced by the pilot study, warning against taking a lower dose with food. "Use of food as a way to increase bioavailability in patients with cancer could present problems and risks," Janssen said in a statement. "Given the variation in the content and composition of meals, the recommendation is to take Zytiga exactly as described in the prescribing information."

Some doctors also dislike the idea of changing the way drugs are administered for cost reasons. Benjamin Davies, an assistant professor of urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, thinks many cancer drugs are much too expensive. But cutting back on their dosage "seems like a backwards approach," he said. "We should address drug prices directly. To suggest that we can't regulate or legislate our way out of this problem is a wrong assumption."

Physician and economist Scott Ramsey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who is serving on the consortium's advisory board, disagrees. He supports clinical trials to explore using cancer treatments in more efficient ways. "We desperately need to find ways to reduce our cancer-spending trend," he said.

Zytiga, also called abiraterone, is a particular case in point. New research presented at the conference showed the drug could benefit many more men with advanced prostate cancer, which means annual spending on the drug could surge, Davies wrote in Forbes.

Saltz said the group also wants to test whether some non-cancer drugs that show anti-tumor activity could be used as cheaper substitutes for expensive oncology therapies. For example, an inexpensive immunosuppressant called Rapamune, or sirolimus, has many similarities to an expensive medication called Afinitor, which is used for breast and kidney cancers. "There is a reasonable expectation that sirolimus would be functionally very similar," Saltz said.

The key, Lichter told the trade publication the Cancer Letter, is in running trials to gather the data. "As a patient, I'd want to know that I can safely take this lower dose and not sacrifice any of the benefits."
Two University of Nebraska leaders foresee no full-blown merger between the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, but they expect support services to blend and collaborations to grow.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, who was appointed in late April to take on the interim chancellorship of UNO while continuing to lead UNMC, emphasized in an interview last week that the two institutions have distinct identities that should be preserved.

Gold and NU President Hank Bounds have said efficiencies in back-office areas such as purchasing, information technology and human resources might be found, and collaborations between UNMC and UNO in academic programs and research should increase with Golds leadership over both campuses.

Leaders are putting extensive mechanisms in place to smooth the transition, indicating this is no short-term plan. Gold may stay on as head of both campuses for two years, but Bounds has said if its not working for UNO, UNMC or Gold, he will make a change.

Bounds and Gold have formed two large transition committees to help Gold. Gold also has brought in a consulting firm that specializes in organizational collaboration and change. Faculty leaders at both institutions plan to unilaterally form their own committee to maximize collaboration opportunities.

Gold likes to describe how he connected the lapel pins of UNO and UNMC with a metal fastener and glue. That sort of, I think, epitomizes my thought about this process: preserving the brand identities of the institutions, he said. But creating solid linkages that hold them together in a way that makes them stronger together than they would be separately.

But questions linger among faculty members about what the future might look like for UNO and UNMC.

The uncertainty sprouted after Bounds, following an unsuccessful search for a new UNO chancellor in the spring, asked Gold in April to oversee UNO as well as UNMC over the next couple of years. Gold had been involved in the merger of the Medical University of Ohio with the University of Toledo about 11 years ago.

The situation has perplexed some faculty members at UNO and UNMC, which are about 2 miles apart and function under the umbrella of the NU system, along with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

No one seems to know whats going on, said UNO faculty member Angela Eikenberry. Many faculty members wonder, and staff wonder, what are we transitioning from and to?

Gold, UNMCs chancellor since 2014, and Bounds, president of the NU system for the past two years, have tried to tamp down anxiety. They say its an opportunity for the two universities to find efficiencies and ways to collaborate during a period of tight budgeting at NU and in the state of Nebraska.

Former UNO Chancellor John Christensen announced last year that he was stepping down in mid-2017.

Many faculty members remain unclear about the plans for their campuses. One of the biggest questions is whether UNO and UNMC will end up as one at some point.

Is this a train going down the track that cant be stopped? Amar Natarajan, a UNMC professor, asked Monday at the UNMC Faculty Senate meeting.

Here are some of the questions being asked and some of the responses from Gold, Bounds and the NU system:

Is this a merger?

The leaders say no, although their comments have been vague at times. After announcing in late April that Gold would oversee both campuses, Bounds said this when asked whether he could guarantee there wouldnt be a merger: I cant give you an iron-clad guarantee on anything. Youre asking me to totally predict the future. I cant do that.

Gold said last week that each institutions identity is an asset that should be preserved. Bounds spokeswoman Melissa Lee said it isnt a merger. She quoted Bounds as saying the idea is to leverage the combined strengths of both campuses to grow our research enterprise, expand opportunities for students and serve our state even more effectively.

Added to the mix is State Sen. Merv Riepes plan this summer to study the pros, cons and feasibility of a merger of the two institutions. Riepe, of Ralston, heads the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee. He said his own staffers and some from his committee will conduct research and write a report on the topic that he hopes can be produced by early fall. Riepe didnt talk beforehand with Bounds about the legislative study.

How can Gold serve two institutions?

Paul Landow, a member of the UNO Faculty Senate executive committee, said the matter bewilders him and others. Many members of the UNO faculty are having a hard time understanding how one person can work 18 hours a day as chancellor of UNMC and simultaneously be the chancellor of UNO.

Gold himself said in videotaped comments to the UNMC Faculty Senate on Monday (he was out of town and couldnt attend the meeting): I have my own concerns. There are only 24 hours in a day.

Gold has brought in a national consulting firm, CFAR, to assist with the collaboration. Although CFAR representatives already have visited Omaha for two days, Gold said, no contract has been signed yet. CFAR generally helps organizations through changes and collaborations and with other projects.

Bounds and Gold also have set up two large transition teams, made up of UNO and UNMC faculty members, administrators, community leaders and others to assist with the process. A total of more than 100 people are on the two committees, which will identify questions, provide feedback and report to Gold.

What exactly happened during the UNO chancellor search?

Theres a strong lingering sense of concern ... about the unfortunate search process, Landow said. Theres a feeling that someone needs to own up to the unfortunate search process. Theres a feeling that there was a lack of transparency and a lack of consultation with the faculty that led up to choosing Chancellor Gold.

Bounds has said many universities sought leaders at the same time that the UNO leadership search was taking place. He also has said the states budget problems were a disincentive for candidates. He said he and the UNO search committee, which included numerous faculty members, simply didnt find an excellent fit for the job.

Bounds also has said Gold was the right man for the job because he understood the budget crisis that UNO and the NU system are battling.

Why didnt Christensen just continue on as chancellor for the time being?

UNO spokeswoman Erin Owen said Christensen, 68, was ready to step down and spend more time with his family. Gold took over UNOs chancellorship in early May. Christensen will receive a paid leave of absence for either six months based on his annual salary, which was to be $278,473 in 2016-17, or a year at half that salary. Either way, the compensation would be $139,237. Christensen also will assist with the transition and fundraising. He recently was given the honorary title chancellor emeritus. Details for his role over the long term are still being determined.

Gold, 64, was making $814,234 a year as UNMCs chancellor and as of now is making no more to run UNO as well.

What kinds of collaboration might take place between UNO and UNMC?

Many faculty members think the potential is great. UNMC produced a list of about 45 projects and services in which the two institutions already work together. They include a program to help certain UNO students get into UNMCs med school; neuroscience programs; psychology programs; biomechanics offerings; library services; and medical ethics.

Nicholas Stergiou, assistant dean of UNOs division of biomechanics, said it makes sense.

Ive always thought that the medical center and UNO should be working much more closely together, Stergiou said. He said he has been collaborating with UNMC researchers for years.

Collaboration can be challenging, he said, but you can do many more things that way.

Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, head of the UNMC Faculty Senate, said she works with UNO geographers, who help her locate patient populations that need access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Golds oversight should help both institutions maximize opportunities, she said.

UNMC does far more research than UNO. UNMC received about $115 million in grant money for research in 2015-16 compared with UNOs $20 million. UNMC employs about 5,150 people and UNO about 2,130. UNO, which has a long history of supporting undergraduate education, enrolled about 15,625 students in 2016-17. UNMC, which is mainly known for its graduate programs in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing and other disciplines, enrolled about 3,860 this past school year.

How is Gold doing so far at UNO?

UNO Faculty Senate President Laura Grams said Gold spoke to some faculty leaders in May and she was delighted with his stories of starting as an engineer, becoming a pediatric heart surgeon and moving into administration.

He likes a challenge, Grams said.

He could have remained in some of his prior positions, she said, but he wanted more. He looks at UNO, she said, and sees his next challenge.
A man was killed Saturday evening when the pickup truck in which he was a passenger struck a tree in Minden, Iowa, authorities said.

The Chevrolet truck crashed about 7:15 p.m. at 335th Street and Tamarack Road, said Sgt. Jim Doty of the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office.

The passenger, whose name and age authorities had not released late Saturday, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The pickups driver, a man, was taken to a Council Bluffs hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Doty said.

An investigation of the circumstances of the crash was incomplete Saturday night.
LINCOLN (AP)  Lincoln residents are complaining about the plain design of several fire stations slated to be built over the next two years.

Ground was broken Friday for the first station, in a cornfield near Northwest 48th and Adams Streets, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. It will have a metal roof and metal, concrete and brick exterior.

The other new fire stations will feature a similar design and will be in growing areas at the edges of the city.

Homeowners near the Adams Street site have complained, saying the stations need to be better looking to fit in with the neighborhood.

Assistant Fire Chief Pat Borer said construction costs for the first station doubled since plans were first made, from $150 per square foot to $300 per square foot. He said he was forced to make cuts when the original building came in a half million dollars over budget. The stations floor plans are focused on function, he said. The city also wants stations to last 50 to 75 years.

Borer said hes willing to work with the design committee.

Copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
What happens if you produce a PAN with is invalid

Last date to link PAN-Aadhaar is March 31; What happens if you don't link these documents

Aadhaar card mandatory for government school teachers in UP

India

oi-Madhuri

The Uttar Pradesh government has made it mandatory for all government school teachers to have an Aadhar card. The decision was made in order to bring complete transparency. The aadhaar card will be linked to teachers bank accounts which can also act as an identification card.

In the review meeting, Anupma Jaiswal, the Basic Education Minister said that the Aadhaar must be linked to all the government teachers by July end. In case of noncompliance, teachers' salary will not be credited. Jaiswal also stated that students class I to VIII in government schools should get an Aadhaar.

According to report by TOI, there are around 4.95 lakh teachers in including both the primary and secondary in 1.68 lakh schools.

This decision was taken after the government made it clear that the linking of the Aadhaar and the Permanent Account Number will be a "must" for filing Income Tax Returns and obtaining PAN from July 1.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 11:34 [IST]
AAP should go back to basics in Rajasthan, says Kumar Vishwas

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, June 11: The Aam Aadmi Party should go back to basics while preparing for the Rajasthan Assembly polls due next year, its leader Kumar Vishwas said on Saturday, indicating that the party had strayed away from its core philosophy while contesting elections in Punjab and Goa.

Vishwas, who was appointed the AAP's Rajasthan in-charge last month, said that "there will be minimum interference from Delhi leaders and the state unit will be given full freedom to take their own decisions while preparing for the polls. The party will return to its core principles in Rajasthan from where it had started.'

"We won in Delhi in 2013 and 2015 and yet lost successive polls in Punjab, Goa and Delhi civic bodies. Now, the situation is that polls in Rajasthan are important for the party's rejuvenation," Vishwas said, addressing party workers here.

There will be little interference from Delhi leaders and powers of the state in-charge as well as the central observers will be limited, he said.

"There will be no photos of any party in-charge or observers on the AAP's posters, banners or social media campaigns. They will not stay in any hotel or farmhouse, but in party offices or residences of workers," he added.

However, sources close to him said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's photograph will be on the posters.

Vishwas' remarks are also seen as a jibe at his detractors in the party. He has been at odds with the party leadership for some time now.

After the AAP's humiliating defeat in the MCD polls and poor performance in Punjab and Goa, Vishwas had taken a stand contrary to the party line that EVM rigging was behind its loss in the polls.

He had pointed to reasons other than the alleged tampering of electronic voting machines and had said there is a communication gap between the top brass and volunteers.

The poet-turned-politician had threatened to quit after party MLA Amanatullah Khan had in April accused him of "plotting a coup" against Kejriwal.

Vishwas had claimed Khan was merely a "pawn" and accused the "coterie" around Kejriwal of "hatching a conspiracy against him".

Posters in favour of Khan were today put up outside the AAP's office and were removed just before Vishwas' meeting with volunteers. It is not known as to who put up the posters. Vishwas, however, declined to comment on this.

PTI

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 9:49 [IST]
Three down in three days: Congress loses yet another MLA to BJP in Gujarat

Congress' Sandeep Dikshit likens Army Chief to sadak ka goonda

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday said Army Chief Bipin Rawat should not be making statements like a 'Sadak ka goonda' (Roadside goon).

"Pakistan can do only such things, they can only do uncalled for things and give statements. It feels bad when our Army Chief also give statements like a 'sadak a goonda'. Let Pakistan do it, they are like mafia. Why should our Army chief do it? We have a culture, a reputation in the world, so even if we do such things then it is cheap," he told news agency ANI.

On Saturday, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while responding to Army Chief Genral Bipin Rawat's statement, had said that Pakistani forces forces are capable of defeating all threats irrespective of the front during a visit to the forward positions along the Line of Control.

General Rawat had earlier said during an interaction that Indian Army is fully ready for a 'two-and-a-half front war'.

Minister of state for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju lashed out at the Congress leader for his remark and took to the Twitter to vent his ire.

What's wrong with Congress Party?

How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!!  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) June 11, 2017

Dikshit later apologised for his remark and said that he withdraws his statement.

"I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologize for it and withdraw my statement," he told ANI.

OneIndia News
'If I have nominated even one person using authority, I'll resign': Kerala governor on VC row

Kerala govt intends to replace Governor as Chancellor of universities through ordinance

DGP Kerala orders FIR against The Kerala Story after TN journalist forwards complaint to CM

In Kerala, Disabled children to be ambassadors government programme

India

pti-PTI

Thiruvananthapuram, June 11: A group of intellectually challenged differently-abled children, who received special training in magic, will become brand ambassadors of an ambitious empowerment programme of the Kerala government.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari will declare as many as 23 children suffering from various challenges, ranging from autism, cerebral palsy to depression and hyperactivity, as the ambassadors of the government's 'Anuyatra' programme at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

The innovative initiative is aimed at transforming the southern state to a disabled-friendly one and empower differently-abled children by bringing them to the forefront of the mainstream society. As part of the initiative, 23 selected children were given special training in magic at the Magic Academy at Thiruvananthapuram for three months under the aegis of eminent magician Gopinath Muthukad.

'Anuyatra' campaign is a joint initiative of Kerala Social Security Mission under state Social Justice Department, the State Initiative on Disabilities (SID) and the Magic Academy with the support of Departments of Health, Education, Local Self Government and National Health Mission.

The Academy has imparted free magic training for the children with an objective of creating confidence and self esteem among them under a special programme titled "M-Power".

Their debut stage performance would be held in a special function at Tagore Theatre at Thiruvananthapuram, participated by the Vice President who would declare them as brand ambassadors of 'Anuyatra'.

State Minister for Health and Social Justice K K Shylaja said 'Anuyatra' is a dream initiative of the government.

"The programme is part of the CPI(M)-led LDF government's objective to make the state differently-abled friendly," she said.

The inauguration of the magic troupe, comprising these children, would also be held, she said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Justice (Rtd) P Sathasivam would also take part in the function.

Magician Gopinath Muthukad said this would be the first such magic troupe in the world with intellectually challenged differently-abled children as performers.

According to official sources at Thiruvananthapuram, 'Anuyatra' is envisaged as a comprehensive life cycle approach for disability management.

It also aims at reducing the barriers in the path of a differently-abled person and creating conducive environment for his, her holistic development.

PTI

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 16:03 [IST]
Karnataka people don't know how to sing national anthem: Sena leader

India

oi-PTI

Panaji, June 11: Goa unit Shiv Sena President Shivprasad Joshi on Saturday said that many people in neighbouring Karnataka cannot sing the national anthem, remarks that could trigger a political controversy.

"People in Goa are patriots. I know many students who can sing complete 'Vande Mataram' unlike Karnataka where many people do not even know how to sing the national anthem and they also do not know our national fathers," Joshi told reporters.

Praising Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, whose entry is banned in Goa, he said that Muthalik has done a commendable work in Karnataka and he is a protector of women.

"When Sri Ram Sene workers went to the Mangalore pub in 2009 to make our sisters understand that it is not fair to indulge in pub culture, parents of a girl who was alleged to have been assaulted by the Sene workers, thanked Muthalik. The parents said that Muthalik was doing the right job of protecting women," the Sena leader said.

He said that "though the Sena did not demand a ban on "pub culture", but it is against the "late night affairs outside these places."

"You visit a pub in the night at 12 and you find girls and boys sitting outside and drinking. Is this fair? We don't mind what tourists do, but when it comes to local boys and girls, it is our duty to educate them," Joshi said.

Responding to a question on the ban imposed on Muthalik's entry, he said that the Sena would support Sri Ram Sene if they want to do good work for Goa.

"Even any Muslim organisation wants to come to Goa and do some good work, we will back them," he said.

PTI
Why Punjab farmers burn stubble at this scale when others do not

30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning

Maharashtra govt announces loan waiver for farmers

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Amid protests in several parts of Maharashtra by the farmers, the state government has announced a complete loan waiver to the farmers, said reports.

Reports say that the government will form a committee to decide on the criteria to waive off loans.

Farmers from several villages across Maharashtra began strike from June 1 to seek loan waiver from the government.

On Tuesday, Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a three-hour-long meeting the delegation of the farmers.

[Explained: Why the farmers of MP and Maharashtra are protesting]

Stray incidents of violence were reported from some parts last week including Nashik, Satara and Pune where some farmers emptied tankers of several tonnes of fresh milk being transported to the cities and also destroyed stocks of fresh vegetables being taken to the markets.

The worst hit areas in Maharashtra was the Marathwada region. The reliance in this region is very heavy on crops such as sugarcane which are water guzzlers. There has been a dwindling of prices for their crops and this is the main reason for the uprising in the state.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 17:53 [IST]
Gangrape of 8-year-old in Mandsaur: Chargesheet filed against the accused duo

MP: Two men gets death sentence for raping 8-year-old in Mandsaur

Mandsaur farmers' agitation: Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar detained

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were on Sunday detained by the police in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district after being denied entry to violence-hit Mandsaur.

The trio, along with around 3o other activists, were enroute Mandsaur to meet the families of the persons killed in police firing during the farmers' agitation last week.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CRPC are in place in the district.

Five farmers were killed in two separate incidents of firing near the Pipliya Mandi police station on Tuesday while protesting in support of their demand for loan waiver and better crop prices.

The union government has rushed 1,100 personnel of anti-riot Rapid Action Force to the violence-hit state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to the kin of those killed in the violence. OneIndia News

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 17:09 [IST]
Milkman from Delhi dialed Chhota Shakeel 100 times to get an assignment to kill Tarek Fatah

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Junaid Chaudhary, 21 wanted to establish himself as one of Delhi's top gangsters. Tasked to kill Tarek Fatah, Chaudhary had taken an advance from Chhota Shakeel. His dreams were however shattered when the police arrested him on June 7.

Junaid a milkman decided to become a gangster three years back. He saw Chhota Shakeel's number being flashed on a television channel three years back. He picked up the phone and dialed the same several times.

He told the police that when his calls were not answered, he sent him messages on WhatsApp. Finally he got an answer from Shakeel who is in Pakistan. He was then tasked to undertake a killing. The police say that they are still verifying the claims made by Junaid who is ambitious and is 5.7 inches tall.

The initial round of investigations suggested that Junaid had planned on killing Tarek Fatah, a Pakistan born Canadian writer and TV personality.

Junaid a sharpshooter and close aid of Shakeel was told to eliminate Fatah. Junaid was promised a sum of Rs 10 lakh to get the job done. Junaid who was arrested from Wazirabad road in north-east Delhi said that he was paid an advance of Rs 1.5 lakh.

According to the Delhi police Junaid had even carried out a reconnaissance of Fatah's house. The police managed to arrest Junaid on the basis of leads provided by the Intelligence Bureau.

The police is questioning Junaid for further information. He said during the initial round of investigations that the job was ordered to him as Shakeel did not like Fatah's views on Islam. Fatah has made several controversial statements on Islam. He is also famous for criticising Pakistan and its policies.

OneIndia News
D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders

Murder of VHP, BJP leaders: SA agrees to probe Dawood's hitman

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A one year old request has been heeded to by the South Africa government which has assured to probe a Dawood Ibrahim gang member accused in the murders of VHP and BJP leaders.

Zahidmiya Shaikh, alias Jao is on the National Investigation Agency's wanted list for the conspiracy to kill Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist Shirish Bengali and BJP leader Pragnesh Mistry at Bharuch, Gujarat, in November 2015.

It is alleged that Shaikh had hired hitmen on the instructions of Javed Chikna, a top Dawood aide to kill Hindu leaders in Gujarat.

NIA officials had learnt that Shaikh based out of South Africa had played a key role in the conspiracy. We had made the request a year back and now have been assured that he would be questioned. NIA officials also said that they are hopeful that Shaikh would be deported to India once the questioning is completed.

The NIA had taken over the probe into the case which involved the murder of two prominent Hindu leaders in Bharuch, Gujarat at the hands of Dawood's henchmen. It had been found that they had committed this murder and also planned many more in a bid to cause communal disturbances.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 7:35 [IST]
No petrol on June 16: Address concerns on revised fuel rates says association

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The petroleum dealers have said that they will not sell petro products on June 16. Petroleum dealers are preparing to observe a 24-hour bandh from the midnight of June 15 . They are upset over the government's decision to revise petrol and diesel prices every day from Thursday, June 15.

Dealers from seven states are meeting Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on June 14, and will go ahead with the protest if their concerns are not addressed.

Fuel prices to change daily from June 16

H S Manjappa, president, Karnataka State Federation of Petroleum Dealers Federation, said daily revision of fuel prices would pose many challenges. "The revision should take place exactly at 11.59 pm," he said. "And we have to update the petroleum companies about stocks by 6 am." Only owners know the password to effect price revision now, he explained. They can't share the secret code with their workers, most of whom are not permanent. The owner has to be present at the outlet at 12 midnight and again wake up well before 6 am to send updates to the oil companies," he said. This means dealers would go without sleep. "It will ruin our personal lives," he also said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 7:07 [IST]
Senior advocate K K Venugopal to continue as Attorney General for 3 more months

Mukul Rohatgi set to return as the Attorney General of India

Mukul Rohatgi turns down Centre's offer to be next Attorney General

Not seeking extension of term': Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, whose term was extended on June 3, does not want extension of his tenure and wants to return to his private practice, said reports.

He has reportedly written to the government saying he was not interested in continuation of his term.

"I do not want to seek reappointment for the post (Attorney General)," news agency ANI quoted Rohatgi as saying.

Rohatgi's three-year term was to end on June 6, but the Union Cabinet extended his term on June 3. He was appointed Attorney General of India with effect from June 19, 2014.

Rohatgi, considered to be close to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was Additional Solicitor General during the previous NDA government at the Centre.

Reports say that the decision on Rohatgi's tenure would be taken after the law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is in Bihar, returns on June 13.

[Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's term extended]

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, has represented Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 21:05 [IST]
Pakistan violates ceasefire in J&K's Bimber Gali sector, Indian Army retaliates

India

oi-Madhuri

The Pakistan Rangers fired shells on forward areas and civilian belts along the Line of Control in J&K's Bimber Gali sector at 9:45 am on Sunday.

Indian army is retaliating to unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC. The Firing is on. This is the second violation in 24 hours.

The development comes a day after India Army in a successful bid to stop infiltration from across the border killed 13 militants.

In yet another incident of ceasefire violation, BSF launched a strong retaliatory action after Pakistan once again violated ceasefire on forward BSF troops in Ramgarh in Samba at 10 am on Sunday. Firing continued for around 45 minute. However, no loss of life reported.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 11:58 [IST]
Probe ordered after Sunny Leone's pic on candidate's admit card for Karnataka govt exam

India's heaviest rocket's payload enhanced by up to 450 kg

Comedian Vir Das event cancelled in Bengaluru after complaint by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

Rahul Gandhi to visit Bengaluru today

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Bengaluru, June 11: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will visit Bengaluru on Monday to release a commemorative publication of the National Herald, said a senior Congress leader.

"Gandhi will release 'India at Crossroads: 70 Years of Independence'," Karnataka Congress President G. Parameshwara told reporters on Sunday.

Vice President Hamid Ansari and Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala are also expected to attend the function.

Gandhi, after attending the function at Dr. Ambedkar Bhavan, will attend a meeting of the Karnataka Congress. Assembly elections are due in the state in April 2018.

Kannada organisations have called for a Karnataka bandh on Monday to ask the government to resolve the dispute over the sharing of Mahadayi river water with Goa and ensure drinking water supply to Kolar and Chikballapur districts.

The Kannada organisations have also asked the government waive off loans given to farmers in the state.

IANS
Northern Ireland's DUP agrees to May's minority government

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

London, June 11: Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party has reached an agreement in principle with UK Prime Minister Theresa May to support a Conservative minority government, the media reported on Sunday.

Conservative Party Chief whip Gavin Williamson met DUP leaders in Belfast on Saturday to negotiate a deal, details of which are to be discussed Monday at a Cabinet meeting, reports Efe news.

The draft confidence and supply agreement specifies that the socially conservative, pro-British Protestant party will support the Conservatives in key parliamentary votes but the two parties will not form a coalition government like the one the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron established with the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015.

"We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond," a spokesman for the Prime Minister's office said Saturday.

The Conservatives lost an absolute majority they had enjoyed prior to the snap election on June 8, which May had called to strengthen her hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiations slated for June 19.

May's Conservatives won 318 seats in the election, falling short of the 326 required for an absolute majority. The opposition Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn took 262 seats, gaining 30.

The new Parliament will be sworn in on Tuesday, although May has until June 19 to work out the full terms of the Conservatives' agreement with the DUP. That day, Queen Elizabeth II will appear before Parliament and give a speech setting out the new government's agenda.

According to media accounts, internal pressure on May led to the resignation on Saturday of the Prime Minister's two co-chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who have been blamed for their role in designing the Conservatives' campaign and the parliamentary setback.

A few hours after the two stepped down, May named former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his seat in Thursday's election, as her new chief of staff.

The DUP is a socially conservative party that opposes abortion and gay marriage, and many of its members also are sceptical about man-made climate change and reject the theory of evolution.

May succeeded Cameron last June in the wake of the surprise outcome of the Brexit referendum on leaving the European Union.

In calling for early elections, May said that she wanted a strong mandate as her government confronts what are likely to be difficult negotiations with the EU on the terms of Brexit.

IANS

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 10:27 [IST]
Trump throws a wrench in India's Iran port plans

International

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

Last year had seen a major shift from the US on its relations with Iran after the then President Barack Obama's administration along with other western powers lifted sanctions imposed on the country.

But like many other Obama-era initiatives that have been under direct attack from the current President, Donald Trump, the major one on the international front has been the undoing of the stance taken on Iran by the previous regime now being undone with the public criticism of the country by Trump.

And though this would be a major problem for Iran, it is turning out to be quite a problem for India as well. With the fear that fresh sanctions might be imposed on the country by the US, throwing a wrench in India's plan to develop the Iranian Port of Chabahar.

While India is keen to go with the project, reluctance on the part of manufacturing companies from the western world to provide supplies such as equipment is being seen as a blow to the country's strategic ambitions.

The port is seen by India as an important part of its hopes to form a transport corridor which would be able to bypass Pakistan and connect directly to Central Asia and Afghanistan.

India has made a major push for the development of the port as a hub for its trade links to the resource-rich countries of the area, as the route to them is complicated due to India's volatile relationship with Pakistan.

And following China's Gwadar port project in Pakistan, close to Chabahar on the Pakistani coast, the BJP government unveiled investment plans centred around the Iranian port and also offered to help build railways, roads and fertiliser plants that could eventually amount to 15 billion dollars.

Such plans picked up speed last year after the sanctions on Iran were lifted, with India committing 500 million dollars soon after it, in order to speed up the development of the port.

This though has not been able to get the development of the port, seen as India's biggest infrastructure project overseas, to get going as till now the state-owned Indian firm working on the project has not been able to give even a single tender for the supply of equipment such as cranes and forklifts, according to Reuters news agency.

While India has been inviting bids for the project, major companies have not been able to take part following the public criticism of Iran by Trump on the campaign trail, which has gotten even stronger after he assumed office.

World's leading Engineering companies such as Liebherr and Finland's Konecranes and Cargotec have reportedly told India Ports Global Pvt Ltd, the Indian company developing the port, that they would not be able to bid as banks are not prepared to facilitate transactions which involve Iran due to uncertainty over US policy, Reuter reported two officials familiar with the matter as having said.

According to reports the first tenders related to the project were floated in September but was unable to attract major bidders due to fear of fresh sanctions. And such concerns have just increased since Trump took over as President in January.

This led to some tenders being even floated as many as three times since September, and a Chinese firm has finally come forward to supply some of the equipment, as per the same report.

This is not the first time that India's transactions related to Iran have been hit by sanctions or their threat, to the country. Earlier following imposition of a set of sanctions India's oil trade with the country was hit hard as it became difficult to make payments for imports from it.

Such sanctions have also hit Iran hard which was one of the reasons that it agreed to follow the restrictions that Western powers wanted on its nuclear programme. And the lifting of sanctions following this helped the country connect with the world's financial system.

But now with Trump raising the rhetoric against it once more, as he called the deal struck between the US and other countries with Iran the "the worst deal ever negotiated," is set to hurt Iran economically again.

As this and wait for clarity of the US policy related to the country continue to delay contracts that Iran wants to sign with international firms in areas such as its oil fields and airlines.

This is happening as banks, which are essential for international business transactions, but have considerable links to the US are not ready to back deals involving Iran as they fear running afoul of sanctions still in place or fresh sanctions that may be imposed.

And its concerns such as these which have hit India's plans related to the Chabahar port. But, as per the report, India's ambassador to Iran has said the situation related to the banking situation is slowly improving and procuring of equipment related to the project was under way.

"Tenders are re-floated for a variety of reasons including technical specifications not being met, etc. Banking channels, in recent months, have in fact somewhat eased," Saurabh Kumar, Indian ambassador to Iran is reported to have said by the news agency. "If some companies do not participate, it really is their business."

Meena Singh Roy, head of the West Asia Centre at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, is reported to have said though the project is of strategic significance for India, the increase in tension between US and Iran would have an impact on the port project.

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Story first published: Sunday, June 11, 2017, 6:28 [IST]
OK! Magazine 10 Nov 2022

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The family had to fight to receive the compensation they were entitled to
Srinagar, June 11 (IBNS): The Indian Army has informed that the security forces have killed 13 armed infiltrators in 96 hours along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, the Indian army said: "The sinister design of Pakistan Army to push in multiple groups of armed intruders across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir continue to be defeated by pro-active operations being carried out on the LoC."

"Relentless operations mounted by troops have successfully intercepted groups of armed intruders all along the LC in Gurez, Machhil, Naugam and Uri Sectors leading to elimination of 13 armed intruders in the past 96 hours," it further said.

Following the army statement, Pakistan resorted to heavy firing at Indias forward military posts and civilian areas in Poonch district of J-K, media reports said.

On Friday, the army gunned down five infiltrators in north Kashmirs Uri sector.

On June 8, the army eliminated groups of four and three armed intruders in Machhil and Naugam sectors.

A soldier, identified as Tara Bahadur Roka, also died in Nowgam.

The explosives, arms and ammunition recovered from them are an indication of Pakistans designs to orchestrate high-profile terror attacks on innocent civilians and security forces during the holy month of Ramzan," the army statement said.
Jerusalem Post 03 Dec 2021

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Transformer Oil Industry Analysis Size Share Growth Trends And Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1128360

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1128360

Global Transformer Oil Market: OverviewTransformer oil is an oil used in oil filled transformers for insulation purposes. It is also used as a coolant and to prevent arcing and corona discharges in a transformer. The report provides in-depth analysis and forecast of the transformer oil market on the global as well as on regional level. It further includes value chain analysis to help understand the industry thoroughly. Value chain analysis comprises detailed evaluation of the roles of various entities involved in the transformer oil industry, from raw material suppliers to end-users.Various processes employed in the manufacture of transformer oil have been included in the value chain analysis. Porters five forces model has been included to determine the degree of competition in the market during the forecast period. Furthermore, market attractiveness analysis has been conducted to analyze application segments that are expected to be lucrative during the forecast period. This is based on various factors such as market size, growth rate, profitability, raw material procurement, and competition in each application segment.Global Transformer Oil Market: Research MethodologyThe report includes forecast for the period from 2016 to 2024 in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn). Quantitative data has been derived through extensive secondary research of the global transformer oil market. Secondary sources typically include company websites, relevant magazines, government documents, and press releases. The top-down approach has been adopted to derive the regional numbers from global revenue and volume figures. Furthermore, the bottom-up approach has been employed to derive data for various product type and application segments based on demand for transformer oil in each geographical segment. A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches helps in validation of the quantitative data of the market. The data was further validated with the help of primary research with industry experts to ensure accuracy of derived numbers.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @Detailed analysis of various factors driving the global transformer oil market has been included for astute decision making. Impact of these drivers during the forecast period has been included with data to substantiate research findings. Furthermore, factors restraining market growth have been included for better understanding of the market. Impact of these restraints has been analyzed over the forecast period. The report also comprises various opportunities available for market growth over the next eight years. Opportunities entail untapped or recently explored factors that are anticipated to drive the transformer oil market during the forecast period.Global Transformer Oil Market: SegmentationThe global transformer oil market is divided on the basis of product type as mineral oil, silicone based and bio based transformer oil. The mineral oil segment is further classified into naphthenic oil and paraffinic oil. Based on application type, the transformer oil market has been segmented into power transformers, distribution transformers and others application segment.In terms of region, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Demand for transformer oil in each application segment type has been analyzed and forecast for a period of eight years. The report comprises detailed analysis of all the segments in the regional and global markets and forecast based on current and future trends in the industry in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn).View More @Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report also comprises profiles of leading companies in the transformer oil market. These include Nynas AB, Sinopec Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Cargill Incorporated, Apar Industries Ltd., Gulf Oil Middle East Ltd., and Ergon Inc. among others. Various attributes of these companies such as company overview, business strategies, and recent developments form the core of the company profiles section.This report segments the global transformer oil market as follows:By ProductMineral OilNaphthenic OilParaffinic OilSilicone basedBio basedBy ApplicationPower TransformersDistribution TransformersOthersBy RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.ItalySpainFranceGermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapan & KoreaIndiaASEANRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & Africa (MEA)GCCSouth AfricaRest of MEAMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Haitian Vetiver Oil Market Size, Share, Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1124702

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1124702

Global Vetiver Oil Market: OverviewTransparency Market Research offer an 8-year forecast for the global vetiver oil market between 2016 and 2024. In terms of volume, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 1.5% during the projected period. The primary objective of the report is to offer insights on the advancements in the vetiver oil market. The study demonstrates market dynamics that are expected to influence the current environment and future status of the global vetiver oil market over the forecast period. The primary objective of this report is to offer updates on trends, drivers, restraints, value forecasts, and opportunities for manufacturers operating in the global vetiver oil market.The global vetiver oil market has been witnessing significant increase in volume share owing to increasing prominence of aromatherapy. The globally increasing demand for therapeutic and aromatic oils is a result of the growing preference for convenient, harmless, and natural alternatives to allopathic solutions. Haitian vetiver oil is relatively popular in aromatherapy and has many medicinal properties, which include anti-inflammatory properties, cicatrisant properties, and antiseptic properties. It is known to have aphrodisiac effect, and is also used as tonic, nervine, and sedative. It also offers benefits to patients suffering from rheumatism, arthritis, gout, muscular aches, dryness, and cracking of the skin.Sample Copy f This Report @Global Vetiver Oil Market: Scope of the StudyA section of report discusses on how the overall competition in the market is steadily increasing. It discusses various factors that are shaping internal as well as external competition in the market. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into organic and conventional. The natural ingredient status, beneficial cleansing properties, and pleasant aroma, vetiver oil is being increasingly used in personal-care products. This essential oil is used in creams and lotions for moisturizing and nourishing skin and thus expected to see a rise in market growth during the forecast period. In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyses on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities.The report further talks about the market share of total vetiver oil market by different application segment including perfume and scent products, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and others. It also discusses key trends contributing to growth of the vetiver oil market globally, as well as analyses the degree to which drivers are influencing the market in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global vetiver oil market.Get More @Global Vetiver Oil Market: Competitive AnalysisIn the final section of the report, a competitive landscape has been included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view. Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long-term and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the vetiver oil market.Key players in the global vetiver oil market include International Fragrance and Flavor Inc., Lluch Essence SL, UniKode S.A., Frager S.A., Robertet Groupe, Ernesto Ventos SA, Floracopeia Inc., Fleurchem Inc., and Haiti Essential Oil Co. SA.The global Haitian vetiver oil market is segmented into:By ProductsConventionalOrganicBy ApplicationPerfume and Scent ProductsPharmaceuticalsFood and BeveragesOthersBy RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Solar Photovoltaic Material Market Size, Share, Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends, And Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1127879

http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/1127879

Solar photovoltaic materials are the materials that are used in manufacturing of solar panels or modules which are installed for generating electricity. Solar photovoltaic materials are basically of two types crystalline and thin film. Crystalline is further divided into polycrystalline and gallium arsenide whereas thin film is of three types namely amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium diselenide. Out of all the solar photovoltaic materials, polycrystalline is the most dominant material because of its good efficiency and easy manufacturing process. Thin film materials like cadmium telluride and copper indium diselenide is expected to grow in the near future.The report estimates and forecasts the solar photovoltaic material market on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the solar photovoltaic material market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period.The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the solar photovoltaic material market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitute analysis of solar photovoltaic material and global average price trend analysis.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @Global Solar Photovoltaic Material Market: SegmentationThe study provides comprehensive view of the solar photovoltaic material market by dividing it into end-user and geography. The solar photovoltaic material market has been segmented into crystalline, polycrystalline, cadmium telluride, copper indium diselenide and others. End-user segments residential, commercial, and industrial have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends.Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for solar photovoltaic material in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for end-user segments. Key countries such as the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., China, India, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual end-users in all the regions and countries.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the solar photovoltaic material market. It comprises qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for solar photovoltaic material between 2016 and 2024.Get More @Global Solar Photovoltaic Material Market: Competitive AnalysisThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Major players profiled in the report include BASF SE, Mitsubishi Material Corporation, Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation LLC, LDK Solar Co. Ltd., Okmetic, Wacker Chemie AG , Applied Materials, Inc, Shin-Etsu Chemicals Co., Ltd., Atecom Technology Co., Ltd., Topsil GlobalWafers A/S, Silicor Materials, Inc., Targray Technology International, Inc. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report. In-depth interviews and discussions with wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.The global solar photovoltaic material market has been segmented as follows:By Material TypeCrystallinePolycrystallineCadmium TellurideCopper Indium DiselenideOthersBy End UserResidentialCommercialIndustrialBy RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaChileBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Cloud Based Language Learning Market Size, Share, Technology Advances, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2017 - 2025

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This report aims to provide a comprehensive strategic analysis of the global cloud based language learning market along with revenue and growth forecasts for the period from 2015 to 2025. With advancements in cloud based language learning platforms and rising demand for cloud based language learning for various languages which includes English, Spanish, German, Italian Swedish etc., market is expected to experience high growth in the coming decade. Some of the factors supporting the growth of the market worldwide include the emergence of e-learning technologies and increased technological investments in developing regions such as Asia Pacific, high demand from the emerging markets such as China and India, advent of industry specific cloud based language learning technologies in developed regions such as North America and Europe and increasing awareness of cloud based language learning. The impact of these and other macro and micro economic factors has been analyzed while developing the market growth models.Cloud-based Language Learning Market: Scope of the ReportThis research study on the global cloud based language learning market provides a detailed analysis of cloud based language learning platforms deployed for various languages by end-users such as education sector and business houses depending upon their needs. The report offers an in-depth study of the market drivers, restraints, and growth opportunities. Using these factors, the study identifies various trends prominent in the industry and are expected to influence the market growth during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. It includes a comprehensive coverage of the underlying economic and technological factors influencing the cloud based language learning market growth. It provides the competitive landscape of key players in the cloud based language learning market in order to highlight the state of competition therein. The report also provides a detailed competitive analysis of the key players in the market and identifies various business strategies adopted by them. The study explains the penetration within each market segment across various geographies, and how these segments have accelerated the growth of the market as a whole.Request For Sample Copy Of This Report @Cloud-based Language Learning Market: SegmentationThe global cloud based language learning market is analyzed by segmenting it on the basis of training type, language and geography. Based on training type, the market is classified into education and corporate. The education segment includes k-12 and higher education. The corporate segment type covers businesses having language learning needs for their employees. In terms of language, the global cloud based language learning market is segmented into English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Japanese and others (Italian, Russian etc.).Geographically, the global market for cloud based language learning market has been segmented into five regions which are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South America. The market size and forecast for each region has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025 along with the CAGR (%) for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. The analysis by training type, language and regions helps in evaluating the present scenario and growth prospects of the cloud based language learning market over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the market and classifies it into various languages, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.Cloud-based Language Learning Market: Competitive LandscapeA list of recommendations have been provided for new entrants to help them establish a strong presence and for existing market players to take strategic decisions and strengthen their market position in the global cloud based language learning market. The report concludes with the profiles of major players in the cloud based language learning market on the basis of various attributes, such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis, segment presence, and recent developments. The major players profiled in this report include Duolingo, Linguatronics LC, Rosetta Stone Inc., Speexx, Lesson Nine GmbH, Sanako Corporation, SANS Inc., Culture Alley, Voxy Inc. and EF Education First Ltd, among others.Browse More IoT Market Research Reports @Market Segmentation:Cloud Based Language Learning Market Analysis, by Training TypeEducationCorporateCloud Based Language Learning Market Analysis, by LanguageEnglishSpanishChineseFrenchGermanJapaneseOthersIn addition, the report provides cross-sectional analysis of the cloud based language learning market with respect to the following geographical segments:North AmericaThe U.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceRest of EuropeAsia-PacificJapanChinaAustraliaIndiaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)The UAESaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaRest of the Middle East & AfricaSouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Marine Lubricants Market Size, Share, Technological Advances, Industry Analysis, Growth, Trends, And Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Lubricants play a vital role in the reduction of friction and wear and tear of operating parts of different machines. The movement of certain mechanical parts is operational only in the presence of lubricants. Marine lubricants minimize the wear and tear between different machine parts and improve their output efficiency. Marine lubricants have numerous uses in the shipping industry, as a result of which different types of engine oil, hydraulic oil, and grease are developed.Ships require marine lubricants for smooth functioning of machineries and components installed on them. Marine lubricants are effective in eliminating the harmful effects of friction. Introduction of the aviation transportation mode has hampered the water transport mode. However, owing to the high cost of aviation transportation, water transport has regained its popularity. Thus, the growing water transport worldwide is expected to fuel the demand for marine lubricants in the next few years. Group I base oils are getting scarce as well as expensive and witnessing fluctuations in demand. This is likely to result in shutdown of Group I refineries. The inadequate supply of bright stock material has propelled the discovery of alternatives, which also are inadequate. Thus, shortage of supply is expected to hamper the marine lubricants market in the near future.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @Global Marine Lubricants Market: Research MethodologyThe report estimates and forecasts the marine lubricants market on the global and regional levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the marine lubricants market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market.The report analyzes opportunities in the marine lubricants market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitute analysis of marine lubricants and global average price trend analysis.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the marine lubricants market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and regions have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for marine lubricants between 2016 and 2024.Get More Details @Global Marine Lubricants Market: SegmentationThe study provides a comprehensive view of the marine lubricants market by dividing it into product, application, operation type, and geography segments. The products have been segmented into mineral oil, synthetic oil, and bio-based oil. The applications are segmented into engine oil, hydraulic oil, turbine oil, gear oil, heat transfer fluids (HTFs), compressor oil, grease and others. The operation types have been categorized as inland and offshore. These segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends.The product segment includes lubricants formulated from base oils such as mineral oil, synthetic oil, and bio-based oil. Out of these three types, mineral oil-based marine lubricants significantly dominate the market, followed by synthetic oil-based marine lubricants. Mineral oil falls under group I, II and III by API specification. Synthetic oil can be categorized as fully synthetic (group III, IV and V) and semi-synthetic  which is the mixture of synthetic and mineral oil. Bio-based lubricants are obtained from either vegetable oil or animal oil.The application segment includes engine oil, hydraulic oil, turbine oil, gear oil, heat transfer fluids (HTFs), compressor oil, grease and others. The most consumed marine lubricants are engine oil, gear oil, hydraulic oil and grease. Following engine oil, the second most consumed marine lubricant is hydraulic oil. Even though engine oil segment held significant share of the marine lubricants market, hydraulic oil segment is expected to exhibit major growth potential during the forecast period. Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast consumption of marine lubricants in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Market segmentation includes demand for consumption in all the regions individually.Global Marine Lubricants Market: Competitive OutlookThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Royal Dutch Shell plc, ExxonMobil Corporation, BP PLC., LUKOIL Marine Lubricants DMCC, Chevron Corporation, and Total Lubmarine. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to, OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), Independent Chemical Information Service (ICIS), International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Maritime Organization (IMO), company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.The global marine lubricants market has been segmented as follows:By Product AnalysisMineral oilSynthetic oilBio-based oilBy ApplicationEngine oilHydraulic oilTurbine oilGear oilHeat Transfer Fluids (HTFs)Compressor oilGreaseOthersBy Operation TypeInlandOffshoreBy RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.SpainItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2016 - 2024

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The report estimates and forecasts the PTFE market on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the end-use segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. The study includes drivers and restraints for the PTFE market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the PTFE market on the global and regional level. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitutes of PTFE. It also provides the global average price trend analysis.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the PTFE market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-use and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @The study provides a comprehensive view of the PTFE market by dividing it into product, application, and geography. In terms of product type, the PTFE market has been segmented into Granular, fine powder, micro powder, others. In terms of application, the PTFE market has been segmented into Industrial and chemical processing, Automotive, Electricals and electronics and others. Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) between 2016 and 2024.Global Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Market: Research MethodologyIn-depth interviews and discussions with wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.View More @Global Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Market: Regional SegmentsRegional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for PTFE in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for end-use segments. Key countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Japan, India, China, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual application in all the regions and countries.Companies Mentioned in ReportThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include The Chemours Company, Daikin Industries, Ltd., 3M, HaloPolymer OJSC, Shamrock Technologies, Micro Powders, Inc., Reprolon Texas Solvay, and Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).The report segments the global PTFE market as follows:Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), by Product:GranularFine PowderMicro PowderOthers (include dispersions, liquids etc.)Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Market, by Application:Industrial and chemical processingAutomotiveElectrical and ElectronicsOthers (cookware, building & construction, and medical, etc.)Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Market, by Region:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanySpainItalyFranceU.K.Rest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaASEANRest of APACLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Instant Coffee Industry Analysis, Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Coffee is a popular beverage on the global platform. Being the most popular beverage, this product is the second most traded commodity in the world after crude oil. On the other hand, Brazil, India, Chile, Argentina are the largest producer of coffee in the world. Ethnicity and culture plays a major role in the consumption of coffee on a global level. Since 1910, the popularity of instant coffee has also taken a steady growth in the market where people from the tea consuming nations are slowly getting acquainted to consume this beverage.There has been a positive change in lifestyle of people in developing nations, with youngsters heavily adopting the western culture. Countries like India, China, and a few Middle Eastern countries are seeing a transition to heavy consumption of coffee over tea. Consumers with life style seek beverages that can be easily prepared and are pocket-friendly as well. Instant coffee not only maintains the aroma and flavor of the drink but also gives a branded experience to consumers. The impact of this driver is medium in the short run and is expected to be high by the end of the forecast period.Increasing competition in the global market is driving leading companies to undertake intensive research and development. In order to have a balanced product portfolio in the market, leading players like Starbucks and Nescafe are constantly innovating and trying to deliver a brand rich experience to consumers. The Fair Trade concept of producing coffee in underdeveloped countries is also adding to the competition in the global market.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @Global Instant Coffee Market: Geographical AnalysisThe convenience of preparing the drink due to the ease in its availability has driven the market for this product heavily. Traditional coffee or whole bean coffee machines are usually implanted in most of the households of the major coffee drinking nations. On a recent research, UK has contributed to highest instant coffee consumption in the Western Europe. Instant coffee is easy to prepare and there is no hassle of disposing off the waste, as in the case of the filter coffee. Moreover, the introduction of instant coffee in the market by leading players such as Nestle, Jacobs Douwe Egberts and others are promoting the usage of sachets and jars that will be convenient in preparing coffee quickly.Millennials are driven by convenience and quality products even in India and China, and they are ready to pay a higher price for a rich experience. However, Instant coffee faces a major setback due to the consumption pattern among the population in geographical regions such as North America, Western Europe and Latin America preferred filter coffee over instant coffee. Consumers in this countries prefer filter coffee because of their traditional habit of accepting coffee as a drink that has the true properties of it as a caffeinated beverage. Furthermore, the hassle of preparing filter coffee from the whole bean is hefty, but the original flavor and aroma lies in the espresso shot which comes from the coffee machines, usually installed in most of the households and other industrial areas in these countries. Due to these factors, the impact of this restraint is high currently and is expected to be medium by the end of the forecast period.The global instant coffee market is segmented into two types of packaging- Jars and sachets. In terms of distribution channel the market segmented by B2B and retail. B2B distribution channel is further segmented by hotels, restaurant and others. Retail distribution channel is further segmented by online and offline. Offline retail distribution channel is segmented by departmental store, super and hyper market and others.Get More Details @Global Instant Coffee Market: Competitive LandscapeIn order to get a better understanding of the global instant coffee market, a key trends analysis has been included for all the segments. In addition, the market players in the instant coffee market have also been profiled. The leading players in the market include. Nestle S.A. (Vevey, Switzerland), Starbucks Corporation. (Seattle, Washington, U.S), Jacobs Douwe Egberts (DK Amsterdam, Netherlands), Strauss Group Ltd. (Petah Tikva, Israel), Matthew Algie & Company Ltd (London, U.K), The Kraft Heinz Company (Illinois, U.S.), Tata Global Beverages (Kolkata, West Bengal), Tchibo Coffee (Hamburg, Germany), Keurig Green Mountain.(Vermont, U.S.) and Unilever Plc. (London, U.K.) among others.The global instant coffee market can be segmented as follows:-By Distribution ChannelB2BHotelRestaurantOthersRetailOnlineOfflineDepartmental StoresHyper and Super MarketOthersBy Packaging TypeJarsSachetsBy GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.Rest of North AmericaWestern EuropeU.K.GermanyFranceNetherlandRest of Western EuropeRest of EuropeRussiaPolandBulgariaOthersAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaRest of APACMiddle East and AfricaUAESouth AfricaRest of Middle East and AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
New Delhi, June 11 (IBNS): In its effort to make legal aid easily accessible to the marginalized communities and citizens living in rural areas, the Government of India has launched the aTele-Lawa.

The Ministry of Law and Justice partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which anchors the Digital India programme, to provide legal aid services through its Common Service Centres (CSC) at the panchayat level, spread across the country.

In the first phase, the Tele-Law scheme will be tested as a pilot across 500 Common service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to understand the challenges and make necessary corrections to the scheme before it is scaled up and rolled out across the country in a phased manner.

Under the scheme, a portal called Tele-Law will be launched, which will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network. This will connect the citizens to legal service providers with the help of technology enabled platforms.

Tele-Law will enable people to seek legal advice from lawyers through video conferencing available at the Common Service Centres (CSC). Additionally, law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal aid and empowerment can also be connected through the CSCs anywhere and anytime, in order to strengthen access to justice for the marginalized communities.

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) will provide a panel of lawyers from State capitals, who will be available through video conferencing to provide legal advice and counselling to the applicants, across the 1000 Common Service Centres (CSC). A robust monitoring and evaluation system is also being designed which will help in assessing the quality of legal advice provided and the ensuing benefit to those accessing it.

Announcing, the launch of Tele-Law, Honble Minister for Electronics, IT, Law and Justice, Shri. Ravi Shankar Prasad said, I am extremely happy to have launched the Tele Law, the legal aid to poor through which will be made available through the Common Services Centers.

Tele-Law will fulfill our commitment to ensure access to justice & empowerment of the poor. The Common Services Centers and Para Legal Volunteers will offer easy legal advice to litigants in rural India making them digitally and financially inclusive.

In addition to this, under this scheme, every Common Service Centre (CSC) will engage a Para Legal Volunteer (PLV), who will be the first point of contact for the rural citizens and will help them in understanding the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers and assist in further action required in cases as per the advice of the lawyer. Women PLVs will be encouraged and trained under the Scheme.

One thousand women PLVs will work for mainstreaming legal aid services through the CSCs. The aim is to promote women entrepreneurship and empowerment and ensure women participation. The selected PLVs will also be provided with relevant training to fulfil their responsibilities effectively.

A trained PLV will be available in a CSC for ten days in a month under the Scheme. These PLVs will help the applicant connect with a lawyer through the video conferencing facility at the CSC and will keep a track of the progress of the applicants cases and grievances and maintain a record.

They will also submit the records maintained to the District Legal Service Authority every week. The National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) will provide a panel of lawyers who will be sitting in the State capitals and will be available through video conferencing to provide legal advice/counselling to the applicant at the CSCs.

This scheme comes as a continuation to the Access to Justice Project for Marginalized Persons which is being implemented by Department of Justice and United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). The Access to Justice Project partnered with CSC-E-governance Services India Limited to mainstream legal literacy through common service centres in Jharkhand (10 CSCs in 3 districts) and then through 500 CSCs across 11 districts in Rajasthan. Under the program, 500 VLEs in Rajasthan were trained on social justice legislations such as fundamental rights, the right to information, citizen rights vis-a-vis policing, gender laws, child rights and labour laws.


By Georgina Young-Ellis | For The Oregonian/OregonLive

As twilight gathers on top of Mount Tabor, something is brewing on the summit.

Actors from Original Practice Shakespeare Festival are hoping to be cast in their favorite roles in William Shakespeare's romantic comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and they're lobbying their audience for votes. The genders of the roles make little difference to them. By 8:30 p.m. or so, the audience has voted and the cast is set. The spectators eat picnic dinners as the actors rehearse fights and music on the spot for a show that begins at 9.

No matter how many times you've seen "A Midsummer Night's Dream," arguably the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, you've never experienced it like this. Prepare to cheer, heckle and boo -- the more you do, the zanier it becomes, and you will laugh like you've never laughed before.

June 21 is the beginning of the summer-long run of the ninth season of Original Practice Shakespeare, led by artistic director Brian Allard. Trained at New England Shakespeare Festival in New Hampshire in this semi-improvisational style of performing the Bard's works, Allard has a core group of nine company members who not only act but also work year 'round as paid staff in roles such as dramaturg, graphic designer and fundraiser.

All are highly committed to what Allard said is the most traditional style of presenting Shakespeare's plays. Most people are used to seeing Shakespeare well-rehearsed and lines memorized, but that's not how it was done in Shakespeare's day, according to Allard. In Elizabethan times, actors worked in repertory, rotating many different plays at a time. They didn't have full scripts, partly because of the fear of intellectual property theft, and partly because it would have been prohibitive to copy all those scripts.

"Doing a new show, they wouldn't know what the play was about," Allard said. "They would only have studied their own roles. Our own actors, once they're cast in a play, are forbidden to read any of the plays that summer. Some of them are going to have a working knowledge, but one of the most interesting things is when someone doesn't know the show at all."

That makes for a lot of excitement, and a delicious feeling of danger for audience members and actors alike. As you might expect from a free production in the park, you will not see much in the way of sets or costumes. But you will see first-rate actors working with small scrolls in hand and a prompter onstage, as was done in Shakespeare's time.

Company member Lauren Saville said about the process, "What happens onstage are beautiful in-the-moment discoveries that are shared with your fellow actors and the audience. The authenticity this provides is like nothing else. I have never had more fun performing in my life than I have had with OPS."

Original Practice Shakespeare aims to capture the spontaneity that comes from actors not really knowing what's going to happen next, and achieves it by the performers' not playing the same parts more than two or three times in a season. Some actors will memorize their lines, but with 15 rotating shows, they can't memorize all the dialogue.

Don't imagine, however, that this is not a professional enterprise. It's a well-funded company that receives money from donors, fundraisers, school performances throughout the year, festivals, and passing the bucket at shows. Seventy-five percent of the money goes toward paying the actors, all of whom receive a month and a half of training after they audition and the company hires them.

This summer, they'll do 35 free shows featuring 15 plays - including "Much Ado About Nothing," "Hamlet," "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "The Tempest" - in parks throughout Portland and the region, rain or shine. It is Allard's goal to add two shows a year so that in 10 years the company will be performing all 36 of Shakespeare's plays in one summer season.

Most of the shows are family-friendly, other than R-rated versions of "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" on June 21 at Mt. Tabor Park in Southeast Portland and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" on July 29 at Willamette Park in Southwest Portland. The company also plans an all-male "Midsummer Night's Dream" at 2 p.m. Aug. 19 and an all-female "Romeo and Juliet" at 7 p.m. the same day in Gabriel Park in Southwest Portland. If anyone can pull that off, Original Practice Shakespeare can.

***

Original Practice Shakespeare

When: Various times and dates, June 21-Aug. 20; full schedule is at opsfest.org

Where: Various locations, including Mt. Tabor, Laurelhurst and Lents parks in Southeast Portland, Gabriel and Willamette parks in Southwest Portland, Cathedral and Kenton parks in North Portland, East Holladay Park in Northeast Portland and Director Park in downtown Portland.

Tickets: Free
It's on to Omaha and the College World Series for the top-ranked Oregon State Beavers baseball team.

Bryce Fehmel struck out 10 Vanderbilt batters in a complete-game gem, and the Beavers swept the NCAA super regionals with a 9-2 rout of the Commodores on Saturday night at Goss Stadium in Corvallis.

KJ Harrison homered for the second consecutive night to ignite the OSU offense in the third inning. Harrison's three-run shot put the Beavers up 4-0, and OSU responded to Vanderbilt's two-run rally in the sixth by tacking on a combined five runs in the seventh and eighth.

The Beavers won their 21st game in a row and are headed to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series for the first time since 2013.

Pregame information

Vanderbilt (36-24-1) vs. No. 1 Oregon State (53-4)

Where: Goss Stadium at Coleman Field

When: 6 p.m., Saturday

On air: ESPN (stream video here, stream audio at here); Rip City Radio 620-AM (Portland area - click here for other markets)

RPI: Vanderbilt: 18. Oregon State: 1.

All-time series: Vanderbilt leads 3-1

Last meeting: Oregon State beat Vanderbilt 8-4 in the first game of the super regionals.

NCAA Regionals: OSU 3-0 (beat No. 4-seed Holy Cross, beat No. 3-seed Yale, beat No. 3-seed Yale); Vanderbilt 3-1 (beat No. 3-seed St. John's, beat No. 1-seed Clemson, lost to No. 1-seed Clemson, beat No. 1-seed Clemson)

Pitching matchup: Sophomore right-hander Bryce Fehmel (4-2, 4.21) vs. junior right-hander Kyle Wright (5-5, 2.98)

-- Danny Moran
By Allen Alley

Phil Knight was too polite when he said the multi-hundred billion dollar PERS liability, "threatens to sink the state." After many years of revelry with Democratic lawmakers gorging themselves on sumptuous benefits and quaffing gallons of sweet perks they are left with a pounding headache and a multi-hundred billion dollar rotting pile of garbage in the middle of the table that is beginning to drip onto the floor and nobody wants to touch it.

Rather than cleaning it up, they try to increase the size of the table to hold the mess by raising taxes. Each proposal is projected to raise billions of dollars, a sizable number by any measure, but they are nothing in comparison to the hundreds of billions of dollars we have in liabilities.

There is a straightforward way to clean it up. First, stop the hemorrhaging. Cap the current system and honor the commitments we have made to the retirees and current employees. The Supreme Court of Oregon ruled on this and thinking that a proposed solution can claw back benefits is roughly equivalent to believing the garbage will magically disappear.

Second, change from a plan where retirees are promised retirement income based on their years of service, known as a defined benefit plan, to a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401K. With that plan, money is set aside by employers, often matched by employees and is invested for the employees to be withdrawn upon their retirement. The obligation of the employer is defined when the money is earned and therefore structurally eliminates the potential to have an unfunded liability. These defined contribution plans work for the private sector and federal employees. They are so good that even the new state sponsored Oregon Saves program is a defined contribution plan. They will work for Oregon state employees.

With old PERS retired, and the new defined contribution plan is in place, we will have a fully funded and sustainable new plan administered by the Oregon Investment Council (OIC), a volunteer board of investment savvy Oregonians. The sheer size of the fund gives them access to investments that most of us don't have and the performance has traditionally been very good.

Once it's in place, why not open up the new fund to anyone in Oregon? Offer an option for private sector folks to invest their 401k assets alongside their state employee brothers and sisters? Why not retire PERS and have the Oregon Retirement Plan for everyone?

The democrats are increasing taxes to pay for the spending binge they have been on for 60 years. The fact is, the state general fund spending has exploded 57 percent in the last 10 years. And even though we spend billions and billions more, the solvency of the pension system is in peril, roads are hopelessly congested and we are in a dogfight with Mississippi for 48th in the country for high school graduation rates. Oregon deserves better.

Tell your representatives, no more smearing the mess around the table. Put on the rubber gloves, clean it up.

Allen Alley of Lake Oswego is former chairman of the Oregon Republican Party and a former candidate for governor of Oregon.
New Delhi, June 11 (IBNS): External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday flagged off the first batch of pilgrims bound for the annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from New Delhi.

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted: "Pilgrimage to one of d holiest shrines. EAM @SushmaSwaraj wishes aaa aaaaaa 2 d 1st batch of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra 2017."

The Indian government on June 7 issued advisory for those nationals who will be travelling to Kailash Mansarovar through Nepal in the upcoming days.

The Indian government said travellers should ensure that they have appropriate Chinese visa in hand before commencing their journey.

"They should ensure that they have appropriate Chinese visa in hand before commencing their journey. The Chinese Visa is to be obtained from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi and not in Kathmandu," the Indian government said in its statement.

"They should note that they would be traversing Simikot and Hilsa in Nepal on their way. Both these places have inadequate tourist/medical infrastructure, and are prone to inclement weather due to which to-and-fro flights get disrupted," it said.

The government urged Indian nationals to get themselves medically examined before embarking on the tour.

"They should get themselves medically examined before embarking on the tour. They should keep at least seven days of medicine, including High Altitude Sickness and other life saving drugs," the government said.

The government said: "They should carry enough cash, mobile connection (with international roaming facility) and emergency contact numbers of their tour operators and Embassy of India, Kathmandu."

"They should avoid booking around full moon dates since there is overbooking during these periods. This leads to pilgrims being stranded for several days due to inadequate infrastructure facilities in Simikot and Hilsa or flight cancellations because of inclement weather," read the statement.

Images: Gopal Baglay Twitter page
Srinagar, June 11 (IBNS): Militants shot and injured a Special Operations Group (SOG) official on Sunday in south Kashmir's Shopian district, officials said.



Official sources said that militants opened fire upon SOG (SPO) official Khurshid Ahmad outside the camp at Imam sahib of the Shopian town, leaving him injured.

Khurshid Ahmad was shifted to Srinagar hospital for advanced treatment.

Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched massive hunt for the attackers.

(Reporting by Saleem Qadri)
Mumbai, June 11 (IBNS): In a major development, the Maharashtra government on Sunday announced it will waive off loans of farmers.

Farmers had been protesting in the state against what they said lack of fair price for their produce.

The farmers have ended their strike after the government made the announcement.

The CMO Maharashtra tweeted: "Discussions between Government of Maharashtra and representatives of farmers reached a common census. Farmers have called off the strike."

"Government agrees for loan waiver for farmers.Conditions and detailing will be finalised by a Joint Committee," read another tweet.

The government also announced its decision of accepting the demand of farmers to increase milk prices.

"At the same time, the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry," the official Twitter page of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis posted.

The government said the issue of 'betterment' of the farmers will remain a top priority.

"Farmers and their betterment was, is and will always be this Government's top priority," read the tweet.

Image: Devendra Fadnavis Facebook page
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U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Must Apologize for Suggesting ISIS Attacks on Iran "A Good Thing"

06/10/17

Press Release by NIAC Action



Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's (R-CA)



Washington, DC - Jamal Abdi, Executive Director of NIAC Action, issued the following statement in response to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's (R-CA) suggestion that the ISIS terrorist attacks on Iran be viewed as "a good thing":



"Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) must immediately disavow and apologize for his outrageous suggestion that the ISIS attacks on Iran should be viewed as 'a good thing.' After Trump's heartless message to Iran blaming the country for being attacked by ISIS, it was hard to believe that any lawmaker could find a way to go lower. Yet that is exactly what Rep. Rohrabacher did with his outrageous and deplorable line of questioning yesterday.



"While Iranians held candlelight vigils for Americans after the September 11th attacks, lawmakers like Rohrabacher and our President appear incapable of showing any remorse or humanity for victims of terror.



"In Thursday's hearing, Rohrabacher noted 'we have recently seen an attack on Iran, and the Iranian government - the mullahs, I believe that Sunni forces have attacked them.' Then he asked the panel, 'Isn't it a good thing for us to have the United States finally backing up Sunnis who will attack Hezbollah and the Shiite threat to us, isn't that a good thing?' Of course, the 'Sunni forces' he referenced are ISIS and their targets were innocent Iranian civilians.



Watch The Video:

Shocking: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Suggests Tehran ISIS Attack Was "Positive"

"The U.S. cannot credibly lead the fight against ISIS if lawmakers like Rohrabacher are cheerleading for ISIS terrorism. His comments also pose a risk of feeding into anti-American conspiracy theories in the region that will ultimately undermine our ability to unite disparate forces against our common enemy in ISIS.



"Rep. Rohrabacher's statement defending ISIS terror attacks prove that he is unfit to represent his constituents, in particular his Iranian-American constituents, and the US-led fight against ISIS and global extremism."





Victims of ISIS terror attacks in Tehran

(source: Aftab Yazd daily)

###

NIAC Action 1411 K St NW, Ste 250 Washington, DC 20005 USA

Helping to advance peace and the Iranian-American community.
Guwahati, June 11(IBNS) : A shocking news came to light, while a Foreigners Tribunal (FT) Court in Assam has asked an Assam police constable to prove that he is an Indian citizen.

According to the reports, a FT court has recently issued notice to an Assam police constable Abu Taher Ahmed, who presently served at South Salmara police station in South Salmara Mankachar district and asked him to prove himself as an Indian citizen.

The notice was issued on Mar 15 last, under the Foreigners Tribunal case no 2123/2016 and police case no 1066/2000.

The court asked the Assam police constable to prove his citizenship by appearing before the FT court on Aug 8 next.

A top police official said that, 33-year-old Abu Taher Ahmed, a resident of South Salmara, had joined the Assam police on 2008.

Abu Taher Ahmed said that following the court notice he appeared before the FT court on June 8 last, but will need to be present on the next hearing on Aug 8.

Abu further said that the names of his grandfather Shohidullah Sheikh and father Maziur Rahman were included in the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"My father had passed the 10th board examination in 1978. I born and grown up in South Salmara, "Abu said.

Image: Google Map

Meanwhile, the top police official said that, the voters registration put Abu in the Doubtful voters (D-voters) list.

"Now the FT court will decide as Abu is an Indian citizen or not," the police official said.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Iranian-made Drone Targeted Coalition Patrol in Syria

06/10/17

By Carla Babb, VOA

PENTAGON - The armed, pro-regime drone shot down by U.S. aircraft Thursday after it fired upon U.S.-led coalition members on patrol in southern Syria was Iranian-made, officials tell VOA. Officials said a U.S. F-15 fighter jet took down the Shahed-129 drone, which can be used for combat and reconnaissance missions.



Iranian Shahed-129 drone

(file photo)

Thursday's strike marked the first time the U.S. military had shot down an enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat since February 25, 2009, when an Iranian drone was brought down over Iraq, Central Command spokesman Major Josh Jacques told VOA Friday.



It was also the first time that pro-regime forces had tried to strike coalition forces in the area surrounding al-Tanf, an army base where members of the coalition are training Syrians to fight the Islamic State militant group, according to U.S.-led coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon.

Russian action

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the area around the base was largely "calm" Friday, thanks to Russia's relaying of messages from an established U.S.-Russian communication line down to the fighters near al-Tanf.



"They [the Russians] are trying to get the other parties, the pro-regime, the Iranian-backed militias, to do the right thing and to prevent them from taking actions that are destabilizing," Davis said.



But while the Pentagon was thanking Russia, the commander of Russian forces in Syria, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, criticized the U.S.-led coalition for what he described as attempts to "block" Syrian government forces from taking control of the country's southern border.



U.S. officials admitted to VOA that some of the initial U.S.-Russia conversations were tense.

Drone launched 'dud' at patrol

Local counter-IS fighters were patrolling Thursday with coalition troops about 60 kilometers east of al-Tanf when the drone, which is similar in size to an MQ-1 Predator, launched a "dud" munition that failed to detonate, military officials said.



"It hit dirt; it didn't hit any coalition forces," Dillon said, adding that the munition caused no casualties and no damage to equipment, but was "clearly meant as an attack."



American troops were part of the targeted patrol, according to officials.



About 40 pro-regime fighters have set up camp overlooking a major road northwest of al-Tanf, in an area inside an established deconfliction zone that reaches about 55 kilometers around the base, according to officials. A larger contingency of pro-regime forces is patrolling northwest of the base outside the deconfliction zone.



"Our patrols were in the opposite direction of where the regime forces were," Dillon said.



Earlier Thursday, the U.S.-led coalition said it also destroyed two pro-regime armed technical vehicles - essentially, trucks with guns attached - that were advancing toward coalition forces within the deconfliction zone.



The coalition has said its mission is to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria, but its forces always reserve the right to defend themselves against any threat.





Map of al-Tanf, Syria





Thursday marked the third day that coalition forces had struck pro-Syrian government forces in less than one month.

Targeted

The coalition strikes on May 18 and Tuesday and Thursday of this week all targeted armed vehicles, tanks and construction vehicles that could be used to establish defensive positions. None of the strikes so far has targeted those pro-regime forces that are stationed along a major road inside the deconfliction zone, but coalition forces continue to urge those forces to leave.



"They have not presented a threat. They have not continued to move toward our forces in al-Tanf garrison, but we will continue to attempt to get them to vacate the area," Dillon said.



Michael O'Hanlon, a senior defense fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy research group, told VOA on Thursday that the U.S. and Iran were now in "direct competition for certain access points inside eastern Syria."



"We don't necessarily want that for ourselves, but we don't want it for Iran," O'Hanlon said.



He said the U.S.-led coalition didn't feel the need to concede territory there because of the lack of Iranian constituencies in the Sunni-majority area. He also said there was a need to continue developing assets there to defeat IS.



Meanwhile, Iranians sense an opportunity created from the instability in Syria to create a continuous land bridge that would span from Iran to the Mediterranean, O'Hanlon said.



About the journalist: Carla is VOA's Pentagon correspondent covering defense and international security issues. Her datelines include Ukraine, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea.
PHOTOS: Thousands Gather In Tehran To Mourn Victims Of Attacks

06/10/17

Report by RFE/RL; photos by Islamic Republic News Agency

Thousands of people gathered on the streets of Tehran as Iran held funeral ceremonies for the victims of twin attacks that killed 17 people earlier this week. The ceremonies began on June 9 at the parliament building, one of the targets of the June 7 attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State (IS).











The bodies of the victims -- in coffins draped in national flags and covered with flowers -- were then taken for a religious funeral procession near Revolution Square in central Tehran, where Friday Prayers take place.





Victims of ISIS terror attacks in Tehran

(source: Aftab Yazd daily)



People in the crowds chanted "Death to Saudi Arabia" alongside the more customary slogans against the United States and Israel.











In a message read at the funeral, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the attacks will add to what he said was the hatred Iranians harbor towards the United States and Saudi Arabia -- a major Sunni power and regional archrival of Shi'ite-ruled Iran.



Khamenei said the attacks "will not damage the Iranian nation's determination and the obvious result is nothing except an increase in hate for the governments of the United States and their stooges in the region like Saudi [Arabia]."













Iranian police say they have arrested several suspects in their investigation into the attacks on parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 revolution against the U.S.-backed shah and is considered the founder of the Islamic republic.



Iranian media reported on June 9 that two of the suspects were arrested in a police raid in the western province of Kermanshah, where "some terrorist cells have also been dismantled."













The Intelligence Ministry said on June 8 that five men involved in the attacks were Iranians who joined IS in Iraq and Syria.



The ministry said the group returned to Iran in the summer of 2016 to carry out terrorist operations in religious places, and escaped when authorities broke up their cell.



























































With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Iran Criticizes Independence Vote In Iraq's Kurdistan Region

06/11/17

Source: RFE/RL

Iran has voiced its opposition to a decision by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to hold a referendum on independence, saying the vote would lead to "new problems."



Iraqi Kurdistan



"The Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi republic and unilateral decisions outside the national and legal framework, especially the Iraqi constitution... can only lead to new problems," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on June 10.



Iraqi Kurdish officials said on June 7 that the region would hold a referendum on September 25, a move unlikely to be welcomed by the federal government in Baghdad.



Iran fears separatism among its own Kurds, most of whom live in areas along the border with Iraq.



Iran is home to an estimated eight million Kurds, who like other ethnic minorities in the country, do not enjoy equal rights, such as the right to the use of their languages in schools.



Rebels of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) launch sporadic attacks into Iran from rear-bases in Iraq, triggering sometimes deadly clashes with Iranian security forces.



Iraqi Kurds' planned referendum has also been criticized by Turkey, which called it a "grave mistake."



Washington also said it was opposed to the vote, saying it would be a distraction from more urgent priorities, including the fight against the extremist group Islamic State.



Based on reporting by AFP and farsnews.com
Iranian artist Mehdi Mahdian wins prize at Finland's 2017 Poster Triennial

06/11/17

Source: Mehr News Agency

Iranian artist Mehdi Mahdian won special prize and a certificate of honour at the 20th Lahti Poster Triennial in Finland.





Dramatic Quote, 2015

By Mehdi Mahdian, Iran



The Triennial exhibition, arranged every third year, brings the latest top posters from Finland and from around the world to Lahti Art Museum June 9 - September 24, 2017. The side exhibitions of the Poster Triennial are arranged at Lahti Historical Museum and Lahti market place.





Iranian artist Mehdi Mahdian



Approximately 2100 posters by almost 700 designers from 60 countries from around the world were submitted. The Competition Committee selected 345 posters from 33 countries to be displayed in the exhibition.

Iranian artist Mehdi Mahdian won a special prize and certificate of honour for his poster "Epopee Reading, Rostam and Sohrab Dramatic Quote".

Mahdian has previously won international awards in the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA), Warsaw Biennial, Slovakia Triennial, Taiwan Biennial, etc.


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.
Ghana will on Monday mark this years World Day against Child Labour (WDCAL) on the theme: In conflicts and disasters, Protect Children from child labour.



A statement issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and copied to the Ghana News Agency said WDCAL was launched by the International Labour Organisation on June 12, 2002 as part of the global advocacy to highlight the plight of children in hard labour.



It was to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against the trend.

The statement emphasised the need for the fight against the menace of child labour and said it was enshrined in the 1992 constitution of Ghana that, Every child has the right to be protected from engaging in work that constitutes a threat to his health, education and development.



It explicitly condemned the menace and called on the public to join hands with the Ministry to clamp down on unlawful exploitation of children in the county.



Recent statistics released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that many of the 168 million children globally engaged in child labour live in conflicts and disaster-affected areas where there is high risk of being killed, maimed and injured, it noted.



Each year, almost 70million children are affected with natural disasters and more than half of the 65million people presently displaced by war are children. In Ghana, 21.8% i.e. 1.9million children are estimated to be in child labour, it added.



However, Ghana would join the member states of ILO to commemorate the WDACL under the theme In Conflicts and Disasters, protect Children from Child Labour: Mobilizing Resources for the Effective Implementation of the NPA2 (2016-2020).



The theme, the statement said, calls for increased efforts by all stakeholders to support government to mobilise enough resources for the effective implementation the NPA2.



It affirmed the commitment of government to ensure that the Ministry partnered other relevant institutions including Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, civil society organisations, and the media to mark the event throughout the country.



The move, it explained, would help intensify the efforts of the country to combat child labour and its associated acts to protect the lives of children.



The activities lined-up for the event are: media launch, radio and television discussions as well as a national policy durbar on mobilisation of resources for the effective implementation of the NPA2 (2016- 2020), which would take place in Accra.



As the country works towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the specific target (8.7) of the Sustainable Development Goals No.8 on decent work and economic growth calls for immediate measures to eradicate force labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, it said.

The statement invited the general public be part of the memorable occasion to protect and promote the rights of our children

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fusieni, has extolled the virtues of the retired Chief Justice of the land, Her Ladyship Georgina Theodora Woode.



He believes that it was not for nothing that the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, appointed her Chief Justice, stressing that her leadership brought much improvement in the Judicial Service.



But one thing of hers which won the admiration of all, he noted, was the leadership she exhibited during the 2012 Election Petition case.



Everybody in this country was disturbed that the Chief Justice having been an In-law of a very active political participant in this country might be perceived not to have dispensed justice but Mr. Speaker, she showed leadership. She constituted the panel excluding herself from sitting to adjudicate the case  that is the mark of leadership and in I think she deserves the respect of all Ghanaians for having steered the affairs of the Judiciary, he noted.



Alhaji Fuseini who is also the Minority Spokesperson on Constitutional, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs made this observation, Thursday, when contributing to a statement made by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in honour of the retired Chief Justice of the land.



Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had lauded the achievements of Her Ladyship, Georgina Theodora Woode as her dynamism as the Head of the third arm of government was demonstrated in her responsiveness to issues of concern to society.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has asked his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to stop babbling and work towards winning the 2020 elections.



Lets all put 2016 behind us and stop the babbling as to what accounted for the defeat of the NDC. Lets focus on the future, lets unite and resolve to take the battle to the NPP in 2020 and beyond and restore and recapture political power he said while addressing supporters of the party at a rally in Ashaiman as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations on Saturday, 10 June, 2017.



He also encouraged supporters to help revamp the NDC and reconnect it to its social values.



Former Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has also urged unity in the NDC, saying it was time the party closed its ranks following the 2016 defeat.



Addressing supporters at the same event, the 2016 election is over and it is important for us to move on because the agenda of the Ghanaian people is important. We must unite our people so that we can work together combining all strengths and attributes of the people in the NDC so that we can work for the good of this country,

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Guwahati, June 11 (IBNS): Several politicians and bureaucrats of Nagaland now are under Income Tax (IT) department scanner after the IT unearthed over Rs 1000 crore of an ex- Nagaland police official owned group in Kochi in Kerala.

IT officials are likely to raid several places in Nagaland soon.

A top IT official said some politicians and bureaucrats of Nagaland could have made benami investments in the Kerala-based Sreevalsa group owned by a retired Additional Superintendent of Police in Nagaland service MKR Pillai.

Recently, over Rs 1000 crore illegal fund of the group was detected in the IT raids.



The IT official said the illegal investments in the group could exceed over Rs 3000 crore.



We have found various documents of the group. The documents are indicating of illegal investment. We are looking it from all round of corners, the top IT official said.

Meanwhile, a reliable source of Nagaland said that several politicians and top officials of Nagaland police had invested their black money in the group.



Pillai, who had joined in Nagaland police as a constable, retired as an Additional Superintendent of Police.

After retirement, he was appointed as consultant of Nagaland police and it had done by political influence, the source said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
An easyJet flight bound for London has made an unscheduled stop in Germany, with 151 passengers forced to disembark via emergency slides, after an alarm was raised over a suspicious conversation overheard on-board.

The plane, which had taken off from Slovenia, landed at Cologne-Bonn airport at around 6.30pm local time, and per airport authorities, all passengers were taken to take to a transit gate where they were checked by police.

German news agency DPA report that a piece of baggage from the flight was destroyed outside the terminal, after it could not be assigned to any of the passengers.

Take-offs and landings at Cologne-Bonn were suspended for three hours after the incident, causing delays across the grid as a number of flights were diverted to other places.

A representative of the airline made a statement to the media, saying:

easyJet can confirm that flight EZY3246 from Ljubljana to London Stansted diverted to Cologne today. The Captain took the decision as a precaution to enable the aircraft to go through additional security checks in Cologne where the aircraft was met by the police. In compliance with the local authorities guidance passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed. We plan to operate the flight tomorrow morning and so are providing all passengers with hotel accommodation and refreshments along with regular updates. We thank passengers for their understanding. The safety of easyJets passengers and crew is our highest priority.

Source: The Independent.

Photo: Sean Gallup / Getty.
UPDATE: Schapelle Corbys sister Mercedes Corby has taken to Instagram to deny the rumours about her reality TV gig, calling them a load of crap.

She wrote: Its just BS reporting again. Who are these made up sources close to the family I wonder spinning all these quotes?? Mum makes the best hot tomato sauce lets call this sauce dumbmato!

Lets.

It seems that Sophie Monks casting as The Bachelorette and the announcement of an Aussie version of Mob Wives has led us directly into some sort of strange reality TV arms race.

If rumours published in The Daily Telegraph turn out to be true, then the latest piece of stunt casting is none other than Our Schapelle, who is set smuggle her way into the hearts of U.K. viewers on their version of Celebrity Big Brother.

The show, which is known for its fairly generous application of the term celebrity, has previously featured the likes of Jedward, Katie Price, Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt, and Gary Busey, who actually won in his year.

The Telegraph claims that Corby, who has been playing an elaborate game of hide-and-seek with the Aussie media since returning from her prison stint in Bali, has signed a deal with distributor Endemol Shine International.

They also claim that Endemol Shine helped engineer her return to Australia, which included a heavy security detail and upscale accommodation on her return, and encouraged her to be active on social media.

Corby has proved massively popular on Instagram, racking up more than 196,000 followers on the platform since she opene her account just over two weeks ago.

A representative from Enemol Shines London office refused to confirm or deny the rumours, saying only we dont comment on speculation.

Another UK source, who chose to remain anonymous, seems to reckon its a done deal, and that the UK will take to the witty and sharp Corby the same way it has any Aussie personalities.

Whatever happens, folks, well always have this Instagram post:

FREEDOM hashtagoiloncanvas A post shared by Schapellecorby (@schapelle.corby) on May 28, 2017 at 4:04pm PDT

Source: Daily Telegraph.

Photo: Instagram.
Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan arrives at CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ont., on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Although the Trudeau government launched its long term plan for modernizing the military last week, more immediate realities are tugging for attention on the Liberals' list of defence priorities.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
People gather during a community gathering at the Pulse nightclub memorial site in Orlando, Fla., Monday, June 12, 2017. A gunman opened fire at the nightclub one year ago in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, killing 49 people. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
New Delhi, June 11 (IBNS): Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has asked the government to relive him from his post which he has been serving for three years.

He has reportedly written to the Central government and said he is not interested to continue serving as the Attorney General.

Rohtagi was appointed to the post for a three-year term on June 19, 2014.

Sources in the law ministry told NDTV they were "not aware why the Attorney General is not keen to continue".

The Attorney General told NDTV, "I have worked for five years as law officer under the Vajpayee government and now three years under the Modi government."

He said: "I want to return to my private practice. I have a good relationship with the government... That's why I wrote to the government not to extend my term."

Image: Internet Grab
Press TV



Guyana will received from Exxon Mobil and partners a royalty of 2% on gross earnings from

production and 50% profits sharing from everything on the Staebroek Block - demerarawaves

Recent major discoveries in the Atlantic, off Guyana's coast, promise an oil revenue boom as early as 2020. This will give the government and civil society a tight schedule to prepare for the opportunities and problems that will result from becoming a major petroleum producer.

Underdeveloped economy.

Settled by the Dutch West India Company in 1620 to establish sugar plantations, Guyana became a British colony in 1834, and gained its independence in 1966. Today, with a GDP of just $3 billion, Guyana is the third-poorest nation in South America. One-third of the country's roughly 750,000 people live below the poverty line. Only 10% of Guyana's roads are paved. The country has no oil and gas production, so significant offshore finds are, for the most part, welcome news.

Guyana-Suriname basin resource assessment.

The oil and gas industry's interest in the Guyana-Suriname offshore basin was piqued by a 2000 USGS assessment of South American undiscovered resource potential. Updated in 2012, the report identified the basin as the second-largest prospect on or near the continent. The assessment's mean values for the basin were 13.6 Bbbl of oil, 21.2 Tcf of natural gas, and 574 MMbbl of NGLs. In 2012, CGX and Repsol drilled wildcats that encountered high pressures, but both were plugged without commercial finds.

Drilling by Exxon Mobil (45%), along with partners Hess (30%) and CNOOC's Nexen (25%), has confirmed the promise of the USGS assessment. Three discoveries in the 6.6-million-acre Staebroek Block have made Guyana one of the world's three most promising deepwater plays, according to Wood MacKenzie.

Three major discoveries.

In May 2015, the Liza-1 exploration well, drilling in 5,719 ft of water, encountered 295 ft of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone, upon reaching 17,825 ft, TD. The Liza-2 appraisal well, drilled later in 2015, confirmed that the field contains potential recoverable resources of 800 MMboe to 1.4 Bboe.

In December 2016, the second discovery, the Payara-1 well, drilled 10 mi to the northwest of the Liza well in 6,600 ft of water, encountered 95 ft of oil-bearing sandstone after reaching a TD of 10,080 ft. Two sidetracks were drilled to evaluate the reservoir. Exxon Mobil is still analyzing geologic data, but the company said the well reached a separate reservoir from Liza.

The third discovery was made 5 mi southeast of the Liza-1 well and was announced in March 2017. The Snoek exploration well was drilled in 5,178 ft of water to a 16,978-ft TD and found 82 ft of high-quality sandstone. Exxon Mobil describes the three discoveries as separate reservoirs that are just part of the significant exploration province offshore Guyana.

Together, the three fields could hold 2 Bbbl or more, and with fast-track development could produce 500,000 bopd to multiple, leased FPSOs, with first oil as early as 2020. According to the New York Times, Hess has committed $475 million for development, and ExxonMobil's investment should be over $500 million. The Guyanan government has granted favorable terms to operators, allowing them to recover most development costs before splitting profits 50/50.

Major infrastructure needed.

Guyana will need major infrastructure investment to support offshore activity. The government has proposed a $500-million investment for a processing facility and oil services base on Crab Island, at the mouth of the Berbice River, and is evaluating development of a deepwater port there. Another proposal calls for building a power plant on the coast and a pipeline to carry natural gas from Liza field to fuel it. New oil and gas development has the potential to create many well-paid jobs, but technical training programs will have to be put in place to provide locals the skills needed to develop and maintain new oil and gas facilities.

Border dispute.

Guyana's oil development plans have been challenged by its neighbor, Venezuela, which claims 40% of Guyana's territory in a border dispute that dates back to at least 1889. Several tribunals have since settled the argument in Guyana's favor. However, Venezuela, with its financial turmoil and Guyana's oil discoveries, has renewed its claims, which extend into the Atlantic. The Financial Times wrote that the issue is as sensitive to the Venezuelan public as the Falkland Islands/Malvinas are for Argentina. The UN has appointed Dag Halvor Nylander, the Norwegian diplomat who brokered peace in Colombia, to help resolve the current dispute.

No turning back.

Aside from Exxon Mobil, several operators are evaluating their prospects in Guyana. DrillingInfo reported that in 2013, Repsol (with partner Tullow) completed seismic surveys totaling 4,060 km 2 in its Kanuku Block and plans an additional 4,000 km 2 of 3D seismic there. Eco Atlantic plans a seismic survey in the Orinduik Block. Meanwhile, Tullow and Kosmos Energy are drilling in neighboring Suriname.

Avoiding the resource curse.

The Guyanan Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, said in a television interview that his country could be susceptible to the resource curse brought on by sudden oil wealth and potential corruption. Like many underdeveloped countries, Guyana has no experience and few resources to handle taxation, regulation, and environmental control related to energy production.

Guyana has sought advice from the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. State Department to draft legislation for a fiscal regime for oil revenues, environmental regulations, and government oversight. The country also has engaged the Mexican Petroleum Institute to train welders, drillers, and other oilfield workers. Minister Trotman has emphasized Guyana's plan to establish a sovereign wealth fund, like Norway's, to devote oil revenues to transformational national projects that will benefit generations to come.

Offshore in Depth / Ron Bitto / World Oil / June, 2017
How much does it cost for a state to borrow, say, $100 million?

Depends on how much investors trust you. If you're Delaware, Maryland, or Virginia, which live within their means  about $1.9 million a year, at recent rates.

States that spend a little faster than they raise money pay more: Pennsylvania, about $2.4 million. New Jersey, $2.9 million.

And if you're Illinois, $4.6 million. (Thanks to Tom Kozlik, municipal strategist at PNC, for recent bond yield spreads and trends.)

Big states borrow billions for schools, roads, and prisons. Interest adds up over the decades. Because Illinois' leaders can't agree on how to balance its budget or fill a $100 billion-plus gap between public pensions and the funds to pay them, it has the worst credit rating of any state.

New Jersey's borrowing costs are also up. Investors make the state pay more because its budget and pension deficits make lending it money riskier.

Pennsylvania's borrowing costs, by contrast, are lately down. Gov. Wolf and the General Assembly still have to close a scary gap between tax and spending plans. But Harrisburg impressed Wall Street when it finally passed a pension reform bill last week, seven years after the last one slowed but didn't stop the growing drain on public funds.

That looks like progress to financiers who set the price of money. But for Pennsylvania as a community, it's mixed news. Cutting guaranteed pensions for future hires and forcing them to bet part of their retirement funds on Wall Street through 401(k)-type savings plans is both a victory for living within our means and a sign of decline.

Going from guaranteed, professionally managed pensions to savings plans that rise and fall with stock prices is like turning concrete highways back to gravel paths. The actuaries cited by the state Independent Fiscal Office estimate new hires who keep a partial guaranteed pension plus a savings plan will retire at roughly half a typical salary of $70,000 a year, down from the 85 percent that many veteran workers now qualify for. (Most also get Social Security. State police and prison officers will still get the old pensions.)

That's not progress, but it became inevitable after 2001 when then-Gov. Tom Ridge, with henchmen of both parties and union leaders, cursed the pension systems with fat future deficits by boosting checks to themselves and favored constituents while cutting pension funding. Their successors hoped in vain that the U.S. economy would grow fast enough to bail them out.

It's not just state governments (and cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Dallas) that over-promised and underfunded pensions. National policy encourages corporate employers to "freeze" guaranteed pensions and replace them with less-costly but also less-productive 401(k)-style savings plans.

And U.S. growth has slowed, choking revenues that used to fund growing governments. (Pennsylvania has grown at just half the national average for decades, stressing Harrisburg more than other state capitals.)

To keep public pensions from going broke, taxpayer payments to state and school employee pensions have grown from zero in the early 2000s to more than 30 cents of every dollar paid to Pennsylvania's public workers last year. The new law, passed by fat majorities in both houses and assured of Wolf's support, will not cut those payments. Nor will it trim the $60-billion-plus state pension deficit any time soon. Many thousands of today's public workers will retire under the old rules and collect for decades before that deficit, and the need to pay extra, will go away.

It will be a good day when lawmakers can turn from cutting pensions and raising taxes to fixing federal retirement plan incentives and adding local programs that encourage Americans to save more for retirement.
One of the hedge-fund billionaires who pushed DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. to cut thousands of jobs and plan a merger to enrich investors is now trying to supercharge the CEOs' plans for splitting the combined chemical giant into profitable pieces.

Instead of the three new companies proposed since late 2015 by DuPont boss Ed Breen and Dow chief executive Andrew Liveris, there ought to be six, says Dan Loeb, boss at Third Point LLC, the fund that led the charge to push Liveris into the DuPont merger.

Loeb is particularly challenging Breen's plans for former DuPont Co. units. Instead of keeping most of its diverse industrial lines together in a company that might be split later  the way Breen, of New Hope, broke up the former Tyco International Ltd. in two stages, 2007 and 2010  Loeb wants to break up the DuPont businesses, combining them with similar Dow lines and selling them quickly, exploiting today's record-high stock market valuations.

Besides the planned "agriculture" company to be built out of DuPont's and Dow's pesticide and genetically modified seed businesses, and a modified "material science" company based on many of Dow's chemical plants, Loeb's blueprint calls for grouping DuPont's and Dow's growth-oriented electronics-materials units into an additional company and their food-supplement and biosciences businesses into another, moving DuPont's remaining safety and performance-materials units into yet another company, and carving out Dow Corning's silicone business into still one more.

According to Loeb, the split could "unlock" an extra $20 billion  a figure he reaches by comparing the proposed higher-growth sector firms to similarly specialized rivals that trade at higher stock premiums.

To show that focused spinoffs can outperform conglomerates, Loeb points to a string of Philadelphia-area companies broken off from Dow, DuPont and Tyco:

Trinseo , based in Berwyn, the former Dow plastics division that has more than tripled in value since its IPO in 2014.

Axalta , the former DuPont paints business based in Philadelphia that is up more than 60 percent since its 2014 IPO.

Chemours , the Wilmington-based company made up of some of DuPont's older chemical lines that has doubled since its 2015 public share offering, despite its environmental liabilities.

TE Connectivity, based in Berwyn, the only Tyco successor that remains an independent public company, which trades at 10 times its 2009 low. Its returns were more than double Dow's and DuPont's in the five years before their deal was announced.

Is Loeb too late? Since 2015, Breen and Liveris have been selling their three-way plan to shareholders and regulators. Top executives for the successor companies have been named. So have headquarters: The pesticide and rump-DuPont companies are to be based, like old DuPont, in Delaware, which tore a big hole in its state budget cutting the companies' taxes so they would stay. The rump-Dow company would remain at Dow headquarters in Midland, Mich. On May 11, DuPont and Dow agreed to review their merger plan but have given little public sign they are willing to change much.

"Who should realize value in this deal? And who gets to do the restructuring? Is it Ed Breen, selling these business off one by one and getting big compensation packages? Or is it a large shareholder, presumably acting in the interest of other shareholders, by pressuring management to sell?" asks Emilie Feldman, management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and author with Siwen Chen of a study of 3,500 divestitures (2007-14) that found corporate divestitures pressed by activists like Loeb tended to make investors more money than divestitures made by managers on their schedules.

"I'm kind of sympathetic to Loeb. These activists have a real track record," Feldman told me. What about the losses in labor, customer and supplier disruptions that follow mergers, and the impact on long-term pension and environmental claims? Those costs are hard to quantify and compare.

Not all merger-watchers think investors like Loeb can force the hands of veteran CEO dealmakers like Breen. "I don't think [Loeb] is going to have too much success here," said Charles Elson, head of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

What's to keep Loeb from winning support from other investors, as Nelson Peltz did in undercutting Breen's predecessor, ex-DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman, clearing way for the Breen-Liveris deal?

"Different times," Elson told me. With Dow and DuPont share prices near record highs as the August merger nears, Loeb "will have a tough time getting traction." Plus, Elson concluded, the likelihood DuPont businesses will be split and split again "is already baked into the share valuation."

(This item has been updated to clarify the focus of the Emilie Feldman-Siwen Chen paper)
City Avenue Shopping Center continues to change with the times to stay relevant Read more

Some claim that outdoor strip malls are what indoor malls should be: lean, mean, and meeting the needs of the neighborhoods. In many cases, they are showing strength in the face of brick and mortar's greatest threat: the internet.

City Avenue Shopping Center in Overbrook Park has been adjusting its tenant roster over the last four decades to home in on consumer demand. The current mix reflects what sectors are performing well: discount clothiers such as TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less, along with a pair of dollar stores and an Applebee's.

Ulta  a rapidly expanding beauty chain  will soon move into space formerly occupied by Dollar Tree, which moved to the other side of the shopping center last July next to Family Dollar.

Gone are a movie theater; a supermarket (Penn Fruit, which became Dale's Food Center, later an Acme); Sears Home Center; and a Radio Shack (now a T-Mobile).

"It's like what Willie Sutton said about why he robbed banks, because that's where the money is," said Craig Johnson of consulting firm Customer Growth Partners. "Right now, traditional malls are losing traffic and sales, while power strip and some neighborhood centers are gaining traffic and sales. These hot retailers will generate more sales and help the developers make more money."

Strip and neighborhood centers are also adding tech-oriented checkouts and ordering while staying focused on service and convenience.

Landlords are forever shuffling the deck to get better results.

Strip or "convenience" centers account for the lion's share of all centers (by count, not square footage). In April of this year, there were 68,936 strip centers in the U.S., up .8 percent from April 2014, according to retail real estate research firm CoStar. They have a small trade area (a mile or so) for customers, and require a small overall footprint, typically under three acres, said Glenn Marvin, executive vice president and principal at real estate firm Metro Commercial, which is re-creating Cheltenham Mall and Granite Run Mall.

Neighborhood centers  such as City Avenue Shopping Center  are a bit larger, but are also convenience-oriented and typically anchored by a supermarket. CoStar said in April of this year there were 32,588 neighborhood centers in the U.S., up .5 percent from three years ago.

They typically feature value chains, along with service shops (hair and nail salons, dry cleaners, mailing services, some legal or accounting services), home-improvement stores (Home Goods, Lowe's), and more recently, studio gyms.

Nationally and in the Philly region, landlords are filling the spaces of former grocery stores that have been carved into three or four sections, a practice known as backfilling.

For example, at the Brookhaven Shopping Center, a closed Pathmark and an underperforming Kmart are being replaced with a ShopRite and a Lowe's, respectively.

TJ Maxx and Home Goods just signed leases for 42,000 square feet for what used to be a Super Fresh at Columbus Crossings shopping center in South Philly. They will add to a lineup that includes Old Navy, crafts shop AC Moore, and Walmart.

"What you get is primarily a female shopper as their main customer, age 25-50, middle to upper income, fashion value-oriented, who's frequenting these centers at least once a week," Marvin said. "They pick out their merchandise pretty quickly and are going into these older centers to treasure hunt. Everyone thought that would be replaced by the internet. But you can't treasure hunt on the internet."

Located on Route 1, in a densely populated area near St. Joseph's University, the 162,135-square-foot City Avenue Shopping Center opened in 1949 as City Line Shopping Center. The name was changed later.

Median household income is $74,131 within three miles. The center, which sits in West Philadelphia across from Montgomery County and borders Delaware County, attracts a good mix of white-collar and working-class consumers.

As a teenager in the late 1970s, Karen Graber got her first job at the site's City Line Movie Center.

"The shopping center had a lot of stores and a lot of people going in and out, and the theater was busy when we had big movies, like the original Superman," said Graber, now 54, who was born and raised in Overbrook Park and now lives in West Chester. "It was bustling."

In spring 1992, a 22,538-square-foot TJ Maxx replaced the movie theater, eliminating the old cut-through used as a short cut to get from one end of the center to the other.

MSC Retail senior vice president Stanton Brown represents sneaker retailer Kicks USA, which came to the center in October 2009. The store sits next to a wine and spirits store.

Such tenants "solidified the asset," Brown said. "It cured the problem that you had all that space vacant for years, and the same tenants that saw sales decline now see a bright side with a new tenant coming in to increase foot traffic and sales."

Michael P. Niemira, principal at the Retail Economist LLC, envisions these centers becoming something more.

"I have long felt that the strip center was the new reality for the mall," Niemira said. "With a larger share of services at strip centers, malls are recognizing that as the way of the future."
A 56-year-old man who had suffered from severe pain on both sides of his face ever since he was a teenager was referred to the oral medicine faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and University Health System.

He said that his symptoms started every time he took the first bite of a meal, but subsided as he continued to chew. The pain flared again at his next meal. The patient was previously evaluated for this complaint by several health-care providers, who thought his symptoms were consistent with temporomandibular disorder (TMD), an overall term for pain and dysfunction associated with the jaw joint, the chewing muscles, or both.

This man was no stranger to pain, with a variety of chronic problems in his mid and lower spine. He also suffered from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, peripheral artery disease  a painful condition in which blood flow to the legs is reduced  and depression. It's not surprising that he took numerous medicines, including a statin, a vasodilator to help with blood flow, a medicine to reduce stomach acid and aspirin. His surgical history included spinal fusion, femoral-tibia bypass graft, and a colonoscopy.

Detailed examination of his cranial nerves, temporomandibular joints and the muscles involved in chewing showed that all were normal. His facial pain was replicated by giving him a lemon-flavored glycerine swab to stimulate his salivary glands.

At this point, we had a strong hunch of what the problem was, but just to be certain, we sent him for an MRI to be certain he didn't have a tumor somewhere in his neck.

SOLUTION

The MRI showed no evidence of a tumor, leading us to conclude that our patient had a rare condition known as first bite syndrome. As the name implies, the pain is sharpest with the first bite of a meal, and subsides as the patient continues to chew.

Characterized by pain in the parotid gland region  on either side of the mouth and in front of both ears  FBS is a recognized complication of certain types of head and neck surgery. Or, as with our patient, it also can be of unknown origin. It can mimic other types of painful conditions affecting the head and neck, which makes diagnosing and treating FBS extremely challenging. Treatments may include medications, acupuncture, botulinum toxin A injections (better known as Botox, the wrinkle reducer), radiotherapy, or some combination of these.

For our patient, we tried an anti-seizure medicine, oxcarbazepine, for a month, in addition to the gabapentin he already was taking for back pain. But the new medicine didn't help, so botulinum toxin A injections near the parotid glands were tried next. Within a week, our patient reported that his symptoms had improved, and after further injections, he found he didn't need to come back for more treatment.

Eric T. Stoopler, D.M.D., and Thomas P. Sollecito, D.M.D. are associate professors of oral medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and attending physicians at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. This article is based on a case previously published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
A memorial of candles lit for David Jones on Saturday, June 10, 2017, at the corner of Boyer and Price Streets in East Germantown, where Jones previously lived. Jones was shot dead by police in North Philadelphia on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Read more

The father of a 30-year-old man who was shot and killed by police in North Philadelphia last week said Saturday he is dismayed that his son, David Jones, was shot in the back as he ran from an officer.

"It's just kind of empty right now because I didn't think my son would get shot in the back," Thomas Jones, 47, of Olney, said. "I thought there was a procedure where you would tase a person first, or shoot a person in the leg. I didn't think you would shoot to kill if a person is running away. If someone is running away from you, why shoot him in the back like an animal?"

Police, who have yet to confirm the slain man's identity or to name the officer who shot him Thursday night, said the man had a gun in his waistband and had disobeyed an officer's orders not to pull it out.

Jones' father and other relatives questioned whether he had a gun. They said Jones, who drove long-haul trucks, carrying vegetables, fruits, and frozen food, did not have a violent criminal past.

"He never was violent," said his father, adding that his son never mentioned having a gun.

The father, also a truck driver, said his son married a few months ago and was living on Worrell Street in Juniata Park in a house he recently bought with his wife. "She's taking it hard," he said.

David Jones, who graduated from Frankford High School, spent his childhood living part of the time with his mother in East Germantown and part of the time with his father in Frankford, the father said. The parents had been separated for years.

Family members said a Muslim funeral for Jones was to be held Sunday morning in West Philadelphia.

On Thursday night, the father said, his son was riding his red dirt bike on his way to sell it to someone when he was shot by the police officer.

Police have said that about 6:40 p.m. that evening, a 15th District officer was driving two witnesses to the headquarters of the Special Victims Unit in an unrelated matter when he saw a man on a red dirt bike ride past in a "reckless manner" at Whitaker and Hunting Park Avenues. The bike stalled on the sidewalk near the Casa de Espana restaurant on the 4200 block of Whitaker, and the officer pulled up to question the rider, police said.

"Initially, he was only going there to tell this guy just to knock it off," Police Commissioner Richard Ross has said. But the rider, who got off the dirt bike, "turns to kind of walk away and he's ignoring the police officer, which is obviously somewhat suspicious."

The officer grabbed the man by the waist, felt the outline of a gun, and told the man not to pull the weapon out, according to police. Ross said a witness in the back of the police car also told the man not to pull his weapon.

Police said a struggle ensued between the officer and the man, and the man pulled a gun from his waist. The officer pulled out his own gun, and fired at the man as he ran south on Whitaker, police said. Ross said Thursday night that part of the encounter was caught on surveillance video, showing the man running away when he was struck by one of the bullets.

The video footage "gives me pause," the police commissioner said.

The man did not shoot at the officer, but police said a 9 mm firearm that he had was loaded with 15 cartridges.

Jones, who was hit in his back and buttocks, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:59 p.m. Thursday. The gun and dirt bike were taken as evidence.

According to court records, Jones had been arrested three times in his early 20s on drug-possession charges and had pleaded guilty in those cases. In the most recent case, a May 2008 arrest, he was sentenced in 2010 to two to six years in prison.

His father said Jones had been working for the last five years for New Jersey-based Roadtex Transportation Corp., and would be away for work for weeks. A representative for the company could not be reached Saturday.

Gloria Beckwith, 65, of Logan, David Jones' paternal stepgrandmother, said she also was surprised that police said Jones had a gun.

"This is just really confusing," she said. "David is not a bad child. He is not. He went to school for long-distance truck driving. He was married four months. I just don't understand what went wrong. He's a good person."

"I have never known him to carry a gun," she said. "I sure haven't. That seems so hard to believe."

She said his past arrests involved "trying to sell a little weed."

Outside the house at Boyer and Price Streets in East Germantown, where Jones lived with his mother's side of the family, candles were lit in his memory on the sidewalk Saturday, with the words RIP DJ written in candle wax.

His maternal stepgrandfather described Jones as "an outgoing person."

"He was getting ready to leave that night" after selling his dirt bike to drive a truck to California for his job, said the stepgrandfather, who didn't want to give his name, saying, "I don't want to get involved with none of this."

The man also didn't want to talk about the shooting. "I want it to be investigated," he said.

Under departmental policy, the officer was placed on administrative duty pending the results of an internal investigation.

Under a Philadelphia Police Department policy implemented a couple of years ago, the department is expected to release the name of an officer in a police-involved shooting within 72 hours of the shooting unless there is a threat against the officer or family members.
Two men were shot dead in separate Philadelphia shootings Sunday.

Both killings remain under investigation, with the motives unknown and no arrests made.

In the first slaying, a 66-year-old man died after he was shot 10 times Sunday morning on North Broad Street in North Philadelphia, police said.

The victim, identified Monday as Warren Wells of the 400 block of West Walnut Lane, was shot around 10:55 a.m. at Broad and Somerset Street, police said. He was taken to Temple University Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:41 a.m.

Authorities said no arrest had been made and no weapon was recovered.

In the second death, police responded to a shooting on the 1600 block of South 28th Street at 9:51 p.m. and found Larry McCray, 30, of the 1500 block of Hemberger Way, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:21 p.m., according to police.

No suspect information was available, officials said.

Staff writer Mari A. Schaefer contributed to this article.
Indonesia is no place for a gay man like V.S., whose survival in his Muslim-majority homeland meant a vigilantly closeted existence. When he visited Philadelphia in 2001, he intended to return home after the six months allowed by his tourist visa were up. But in the city's vibrant Gayborhood, he found acceptance for the first time in his life.

"I didn't expect to stay. I just wanted to see what was going on here," said V.S., now 45, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions.

He remained here after his visa expired, taking his place among the growing ranks of "overstays," whose numbers every year since 2007 have far exceeded those of immigrants who crossed U.S. borders illegally. Today, various studies show, overstays are the leading source of unlawful immigration, and make up more than 40 percent of the nation's approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants.

A Department of Homeland Security "entry/exit" report released late last month showed that nearly 629,000 people who came to the United States on a visa in fiscal year 2016 stayed after it expired, and were still here at the end of the year.

The latest research undercuts President Trump's often-repeated claim that "a big, beautiful wall," at a cost of $20 billion to $40 billion, is the answer to illegal immigration.

"No dollar spent on a border wall will stop someone from overstaying a visa," said Philadelphia lawyer William Stock, a former national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. A wall, however huge, he said, won't stop anyone with the means to buy an airplane ticket and the connections to obtain a visa, if one is needed for visitors from that country.

To get one, a prospective visitor has to be interviewed at a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas and produce evidence of ties to the native country that seem sufficient to tug him or her back home. How difficult the process is depends on the country of origin and the traveler's credibility at the interview.

The percentage of overstays varies widely from state to state. Pennsylvania ties (with Connecticut) for third highest, at 67 percent overstays among the state's estimated 158,000 undocumented immigrants. New Jersey, at 63 percent, ranks sixth, with 286,000 overstays among its 452,000 illegal immigrants. By contrast, the undocumented populations in Kansas, Arkansas, and New Mexico consist of fewer than 25 percent overstays.

Jon Landau, a former Philadelphia chapter chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said overstays make up about 25 percent of his practice. Pennsylvania has a relatively high percentage of them, he theorized, because its immigrant population includes many people from Eastern Europe, South America, Asia, and the former Soviet Union  people with the money to buy a ticket, and incentives to overstay when they find they can make a better living here. "They are not just from the terribly poor countries that you can think of," he said.

In a statement released with the Homeland Security report, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would expand its use of facial-recognition software and fingerprint scans to scrutinize the approximately 50 million travelers who enter the U.S. annually.

Currently, border officers interview arriving travelers to determine why they came. They collect biographic information such as names and addresses, fingerprints, and digital photographs, which are biometrically matched against data previously provided to the U.S. with the visa application. For departing travelers, air and sea carriers must provide biographic manifest data that border agents can match against the arrival data to determine who left on time and who overstayed. Anyone guilty of overstaying six months or more is barred for three years from re-entering the U.S.; overstay a year or more and it's a 10-year ban.

Hunting them all down, however, would be next to impossible.

While overstays are less than 2 percent of all visitors, their growing significance in the debate about illegal immigration is becoming better known, said demographer Robert Warren of the Center for Migration for Studies, a New York think tank that bills itself as promoting "understanding between immigrants and receiving communities."

Warren's research, contained in "The 2,000 Mile Wall in Search of a Purpose," a 2017 article he coauthored for the Journal on Migration and Human Security, found that two-thirds of the foreign-born who entered in 2014 and later became undocumented were overstays.

Such findings suggest that a singular focus on constructing a southern border wall is insufficient without a plan to keep better track of the people who enter legally and refuse to leave.

One such person is Gabriella, a native of El Salvador. She came on a six-month visa in 2008, with the secret intention of never returning to the gang-infested land where her parents' grocery-distribution business was repeatedly robbed at gunpoint.

Two years earlier, her parents had used a tourist visa to enter the U.S. and eventually settled in Montgomery County. Gabriella, 23, a law firm receptionist, married a U.S. citizen last year, which changed her status to legal resident. Her parents, who share her last name, are still undocumented, which is why she did not want to be identified. While her parents contemplated making an asylum claim, she said, they feared a loss in immigration court would mean deportation to a place where their lives were in danger.

Overstaying, even while risking arrest, seemed a safer option.

As for V.S., he was snared in the legal system around 2002, when noncitizens from majority-Muslim countries were required to register with the U.S. government after the 9/11 attack. His overstay was discovered; he faced removal, and lost a bid for asylum.

Years later, with the help of a new lawyer, John Vandenberg, V.S. was able to reopen his case, and won asylum based on new evidence in a State Department report that homophobia in Indonesia had intensified.

He works in a restaurant now, and lives in South Philadelphia with his husband. "Married to the person I love," he said, in a union inconceivable in his homeland.
Patna, June 11 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Sunday clarified he doesnat aspire for anything, apparently signalling a thaw in reported frosty relations with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Hame koi lalach nahi haiaap swatantra roop se sarkar chalate rahen (I dont aspire for anything. You keep on running the government with full freedom, Prasad told a function in Patna on Sunday.



The RJD chief made this remark while addressing a function to mark the inauguration of two road bridges over Ganga in the presence of the chief minister.



Prasad had long been accused of interfering into the functioning of the Nitish Kumar government and pressing for posting his favourite officials on important posts.

He also praised the chief minister for maintaining silence over oppositions allegations and instead focusing on his works.

They say Nitish is silent. One should know that those who keep silent emerge victorious in the end, Prasad said.

He also rubbished reports of differences between the two partners and suggested the media to present the truth.



thebiharpost.com
A 28-year-old mother was killed and her 9-year-old son injured after they were hit by an SUV in Port Richmond on Saturday night, police said. Read more

A 28-year-old woman was killed and her 9-year-old son injured after they were hit by an SUV in Port Richmond on Saturday night, police said.

A silver Dodge Durango driven by a 39-year-old man hit the pair around 8:47 p.m. in the 3500 block of Aramingo Avenue, police said. The mother, whom police did not identify, was run over and dragged alongside the vehicle until it stopped, police said. She was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:19.

Her son was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and was receiving treatment for a broken leg, police said Sunday.

The driver, whom police did not identify, stayed at the scene and was expected to be charged with driving under the influence, police said.
Lee Kaplan, front in yellow, was convicted by a Bucks County Court jury of raping or sexually assaulting six of the sisters who lived for years with him, whom he declared his wives. Now a judge will determine the future of the girls. Read more

The girls did not exist.

No medical records, no school enrollment, no Social Security numbers or birth certificates for most of them.

No friends, no birthday cards, no summer vacations.

The girls lived only in Lee Kaplan's world  not "in our world," as the abuser's attorney said  in a large, two-story white house in Feasterville with a blue door, surrounded by trees and overgrown grass, the windows covered, the backyard enclosed by a tall wooden fence. Inside, a survivalist's stash of supplies, one bed and some air mattresses, a plethora of tools, plants, and books, and an older man who concocted a religious faith that made him a prophet of God and made the girls he'd collected his servants.

On Tuesday, just 10 days shy of the one-year anniversary of his arrest, Kaplan was convicted by a Bucks County Court jury of raping or sexually assaulting six of the sisters who lived for years with him, whom he declared his "wives."

Now a judge will determine the future of the girls, who for much of their childhood were isolated from society.

Even within Kaplan's house, there were rooms without evidence of the females who lived there. Not a single toothbrush in the bathroom. No soap or other toiletries. No photos, posters, or toys.

"We needed to generate them as people," testified Stacy Roach, a Bucks County child caseworker, who began working with the family after the arrests of Kaplan and the parents of all but two of the girls. The four oldest, born when the family was still Amish, had birth certificates; the other seven did not.

Keeping them off paper helped keep them in the house. If, somehow, they did leave Kaplan, "they had nowhere to go" without Social Security numbers or the ability to work, said Deputy District Attorney Kate Kohler in her closing argument. "They would be forced to remain with him."

The case and its hair-raising accusations generated national attention. During a five-day trial that ended Tuesday, nearly 20 witnesses unspooled parts of the life that the Stoltzfus family had with Kaplan. It began with Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus seeking financial help from him and ended with all but one of their daughters living in his home. Six of the daughters, now ages 9 to 19, described repeated and varying sexual acts with Kaplan, who had the only real bed in the house. Two moved in with him in 2011, after a few years of spending the night with him, and the rest had joined by 2013. The earliest abuse, of the oldest girl, began in 2008.

Testimony portrayed a family utterly taken in by a man they viewed as their superior, more powerful and more educated.

"He showed us a lot on living life, like, outside of the world we were raised in," Savilla Stoltzfus said in court. She repeatedly described being confused by what was going on in the family but believing she should learn about "new things," try to understand, and trust Kaplan.

When the youngest "wife" began sleeping with Kaplan at the age of a second grader, Savilla Stoltzfus testified, "it's not the way I would be planning on." But, she said, she tried to view the situation as good for her daughter, who was getting "way out ahead" in learning about things.

Stoltzfus, who had completed only eighth grade but had been an Amish schoolteacher before marrying her husband at 19, had taught her children at home. She allowed Kaplan to take a role in their education as well.

"I thought he had a better idea of how to pursue these things than I did," she said.

The Stoltzfuses believed in Kaplan's power and obeyed him, some of them testified.

"I wanted to be just like him," said Jacob Stoltzfus, 22, a brother of the girls, who broke from Kaplan and now lives in Florida. "He seemed knowledgeable, a man of God, just what I wanted to be."

Kohler argued that Kaplan controlled the girls with manipulation. "He didn't do so by keeping them in cages.  He kept them hidden by putting fear into their minds," Kohler said. "He created a world where he was the only person they could trust."

Never registered in a school district, they were not tracked by the officials responsible for homeschooled children. Neighbors reported they had never seen more than a few of them outside at a time, so they did not know so many lived in the house.

The girls were discovered only because a neighbor called in a tip to ChildLine, the state's child-abuse hotline, reporting sad-looking girls in blue dresses.

When county Children and Youth Services workers went to the house, Kaplan told them five children lived there. Investigators found 11.

If not for that, Kaplan and the children might have been left alone.

"That call wasn't for anything physically abusive, it wasn't for anything emotionally or sexually abusive," Kohler said. "So really, if they [had] just showed them the kids right away, and didn't lie and didn't cover things up, we may still not be here. Which is scary, actually."

The six girls who were abused, their younger sisters, one young brother, and Kaplan's two daughters with the oldest Stoltzfus child are together in a group home, in the custody of Children and Youth Services. They range in age from 1 to 19. They want to stay together, Kohler said.

Savilla Stoltzfus has said she wants to reunite with her children.

In child-custody cases, the court has hearings to review the children's well-being and the parents' fitness. It eventually will determine whether the children can be reunited with their mother and father, or whether the parental rights should be revoked, in which case the kids would be put up for adoption, said Judith Algeo, a Doylestown family-law attorney with Penglase & Benson, which represents Savilla Stoltzfus.

After a review, the court determines whether to change "the goal from reunification to adoption," Algeo said.

In their group home, already the girls "laugh more, they smile more," and they no longer respond to their caseworkers with silent eye rolls, Roach said. They go on bike rides and play with iPads. They are driven in school and music, talented and smart, Kohler said.

But they also distrust this world, and the six who testified said they still love and miss Kaplan.

In a conversation with their mother three months after Kaplan's arrest, recorded and played in court, the sisters talked about refusing to play with another foster child in their group home, complain about adults trying to make them use fluoride toothpaste, and opine that birthday celebrations are "straight out of witchcraft."

"I pray for them. I hope that they can overcome it," Kohler said.

Kaplan could spend the rest of his life in prison. A number of his 17 sexual abuse-related charges have 20- to 40-year maximums. Before sentencing, he must be evaluated to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator.

His attorney, Ryan Hyde, indicated immediately after the trial that he would explore the possibility of an appeal.

"There's a lot of steps left in this process," Hyde said. "There's a sentencing hearing, there's potentially [an] appellate process, there's transcripts that need to be looked at to make decisions about what cases if any to appeal."

Savilla Stoltzfus pleaded guilty to child endangerment in April. Daniel Stoltzfus pleaded no contest to the same charge. They are waiting to be sentenced.

In the end, Kohler said, she has "great hope" for the girls' future.

"Whether they think they were saved at this point  or not, I think they will at some point."
Ten-year-old Chelsea Mungo was blunt about the conditions at her school when she recently wrote a letter to State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.), pleading for more equality in the state's funding of low-income, black schools vs. wealthier, white schools.

"Every day I go to school, I feel like I'm in a prison or a junkyard," Mungo, who is black, wrote about Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School in West Philadelphia, where she is in the fourth grade. "Why does the color of the students' skin matter how much money we get for our school?"

Mungo, whose class plans to meet Tuesday with Hughes to discuss funding, was among dozens of students across the Philadelphia School District who presented projects Saturday on quality-of-life issues ranging from school funding to littering to bullying.

The presentation at Girard College was part of the National Liberty Museum's Young Heroes Outreach Program.

Mungo, whose letter to Hughes was presented with her school's project, said she believes the problems at Cassidy  leaky pipes, mold, overflowing bathrooms  gain less attention because she and other students are black.

She has a point. A study by data researcher David Mosenkis in 2015 found more state funding went to Pennsylvania school districts with white students than districts with nonwhite students. Such money could be used to repair infrastructure.

"White schools get more money, and black schools get less money," Mungo said, stating the point simply. "The race and your skin color  that's a part of racism."

The School District has estimated it would cost $26 million to repair Cassidy and $32 million to replace it.

At William Rowen Elementary School, 9-year-old Laniyah Wilson and other students focused their project on trash cleanup in the city's West Oak Lane neighborhood.

"People see trash cans, but they still just want to throw it on the ground," Wilson said.

Dr. James Murray, the school's principal, had students use their math skills to analyze the amount of trash on nearby streets, and then talk to neighbors and business owners about ways to clean it up.

Murray said students are "frustrated by traveling to and from school and looking at all of the trash on the street."

In response, they painted a mural at the front of the school. It reminds everyone, he said, to keep the school and neighborhood clean.
Donald Trump Jr., son of President-elect Donald Trump, walks from the elevator at Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, in New York. Read more

During an appearance on Fox News Saturday night, Donald Trump Jr. appeared to confirm a key part of fired FBI director James Comey's testimony  that President Trump told him he "hoped" he would drop his investigation of ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

"You and I both know my father a long time. When he tells you to do something, guess what, there's no ambiguity in it. There's no, 'Hey I'm hoping'. You and I are friends, 'Hey hope this happens but you got to do your job'. That's what he told Comey," Trump Jr. told host and former New York district attorney and judge Jeanie Pirro, a longtime friend of the Trump family.

On Thursday, Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee under oath that the president told him during a meeting, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go." Comey also said the president "hoped" the then-FBI director would pledge him his loyalty.

Marc Kasowitz, President Trump's personal lawyer, denied Comey's version of the conversation and said the president "never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone, including suggesting that that Mr. Comey 'let Flynn go.' "

On Friday, the president was asked if he told Comey he hoped the FBI director would let the Flynn investigation go. "I didn't say that," Trump responded.

The reporter then asked, "So he lied about that?"

"Well, I didn't say that. I mean, I will tell you, I didn't say that," Trump replied.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Republicans, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), have claimed that it's possible Comey misinterpreted the president's words because Trump isn't experienced enough to understand the independence of the FBI.

"The president's new at this. He's new in government, and so, therefore, I think he's learning as he goes," Ryan told reporters following Comey's hearing. "I'm not saying it's an acceptable excuse. It's just my observation."

Trump Jr. also told Pirro that Comey's testimony "vindicated" his father and proved that the former FBI director is "a liar."

"I think he's proven himself to be a dishonest man of bad character," Trump Jr. said.

After the interview aired, Trump Jr. shared it on Twitter, adding, "Good times. Thanks Judge."

Watch:
Former United States Attorney General for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara arrives before former FBI director James Comey testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Washington. Read more

Fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said on Sunday that before being fired by Donald Trump, the president attempted to "cultivate" a relationship with him.

Bharara told ABC's This Week host George Stephanopoulos that after the election, Trump invited him to Trump Tower and asked him to remain U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. But after that meeting, Trump called Bharara several times in a manner that seemed similar to interactions fired FBI director James Comey testified about on Thursday.

"They were very unusual phone calls," Bharara said. "I've been reading the stories of how the president has been contacting Jim Comey over time, and it felt a little bit like deja vu."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bharara, who was nominated to become U.S. Attorney by President Barack Obama in 2009 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, said Trump called him three times in as many months, twice following the election while Trump was president-elect and once while he was president.

"The number of times President Obama called me in seven and a half years is zero," Bharara said. "The number of times I would have expected to be called by the president of the United States would be zero because there has to be some kind-of arms length relationship there given the jurisdiction that some people have."

Bharara said during the first two calls, while he was only president-elect, Trump appeared to just want to "shoot the breeze," asking him how he was doing and wondering if he was OK. Bharara said he didn't say much back to Trump.

"It was similar to what James Comey testified to in respect to a call he got when he was getting on a helicopter," Bharara noted. "It was a little uncomfortable."

Bharara says he received a third call from Trump, then president, shortly after the inauguration. He told Stephanopoulos he deliberated with his staff and made the decision not to call him back, deeming any interaction with Trump "inappropriate." 22 hours later, Bharara was asked to resign, and was ultimately fired, along with 45 other U.S. attorneys across the country.

"It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning, between the president and me or any U.S. attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and who is in a position hypothetically  to investigate business interested and associates of the president," Bharara said.

"To this day I have no idea why I was fired," Bharara added.

The Justice Department said in a statement back in March that all remaining U.S. attorneys nominated by the previous administration, including Bharara, were asked to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition." President Obama also replaced holdover U.S. attorneys when he was elected, but the changes happened over a series of months, and were followed by nominees. So far, President Trump has announced just one nominee.

Bharara also told Stephanopoulos he thinks "there's absolutely evidence to begin a case" against President Trump for obstruction of justice.

"I think it's very important for all sorts of armchair speculators in the law to be clear that no one knows right now whether there's a provable case of obstruction," Bharara said, adding, "It's also true, I think, from based on what I see as a third party and out of government, that there's no basis to say there's no obstruction."
CAMP HILL, Pa.  Before he dusts off his portrait of Ronald Reagan, fires up Skype, and prepares to defend Donald Trump to the death on national television, Jeffrey Lord has to stop at the cleaners.

He's waiting for his suits when the owner, ringing up another guy at the register, points a proud finger in Lord's direction. "Jeff," he tells the customer, "has the fun of sitting with Anderson Cooper on a weekly basis."

The man turns. "Oh  you're on CNN, right?" A pause. "They beat you up there!"

Lord just laughs.

The guy isn't wrong. Since Lord and his unshakable support for the then-long-shot candidate debuted on the network in 2015  often from a tight office in the central Pennsylvania home where he cares for his 97-year-old mother  he's made a living of it. Throughout a presidency under siege, amid every controversial health-care bill, budget cut, or twist in the Russian-meddling probe, Lord has resolutely clung to the ship, firing up Skype and hitting the cable airwaves.

In the hours after what may have been Trump's lowest moment yet  Thursday's damaging public testimony by James Comey  there was Lord back on CNN, blasting the fired FBI director as "a walking one-man swamp" whose behavior "is just beyond belief."

For Trump supporters, he's their man in the trenches, saying what almost no one else on CNN will. For liberals, he's the die-hard in the heartland who fiddles as Washington burns.

He spurred a YouTube cottage industry of pundits dressing him down, and websites now catalog his most outrageous on-air comments  like the time he called the Ku Klux Klan the "military arm of the Democratic Party." Or when he described Trump as "the Martin Luther King Jr. of health care."

Last month, Lord even got the normally unflappable Anderson Cooper to sound off in exasperation: "If [Trump] took a dump on his desk, you'd defend him," Cooper told him during a broadcast. Lord just laughed. (Cooper later apologized.)

Lord brushes it all off as if it's just a routine chapter in partisan American politics. Now 66 with a shock of white hair, he was a White House aide back when President Ronald Reagan faced perhaps his most challenging crisis, over the sale of arms to Iran.

"I remember well the steady drumbeat, that Reagan should be impeached or resign, and on and on. And he weathered the storm," Lord said Thursday, as Comey's takedown dominated the news cycle. "I think that this is going to be a battle which the president will survive."

Camp Hill to the White House

CNN president Jeff Zucker has described his nightly lineup of pundits as "characters in a drama." Lord has been playing his part for a very long time.

Massachusetts-born, he and his parents settled in Camp Hill  just outside Harrisburg  right before he left for nearby Franklin & Marshall College in 1969. Growing up, he was a fan of the Kennedys but followed his parents into the Republican Party.

A failed state Senate run at 24 got him noticed by the powers-that-be in Washington, and former Montgomery County politico Drew Lewis found him a spot in the Reagan White House. After a stint in the first Bush administration, Lord tried to make it as a writer (his novels didn't sell) and an actor (he was in a Budweiser commercial and an extra in a few films).

Out of money by 2004, he moved home to care for his ailing parents. In their first-floor duplex on a quiet residential street, Lord started writing political columns online.

One, published in 2013 in the conservative magazine American Spectator, was called "Never Ignore Donald Trump." In it, Lord argued Trump's fame as a successful businessman, his flamboyance, and braggadocio might well make him president. The piece's subject, as he is wont to do, found Lord's home phone number and called to compliment him. "I told him, 'Donald, you didn't have to call,' " Lord recalled.

By 2015, Lord had made it onto CNN, complete with a personal recommendation from then-candidate Trump. (CNN has said it was considering hiring him anyway.)

"At first," said Van Jones, a fellow CNN commentator and former Obama staffer frequently paired against Lord, "he was sort of like a comic-relief character, because the Trump candidacy was so absurd in the eyes of most of the media commentariat."

But as Trump's star rose, so did Lord's.

"I did think Trump could win, right from the get-go," Lord recalled during an interview last month. "But certainly I didn't predict the CNN side of this. I didn't see that coming at all."

Now he gets recognized around town, at the local Giant, and, yes, at the dry cleaners.

He does most of his TV spots from the family duplex, where he cares for his mother, Kathleen, who struggles with dementia. (His father died in 2007.) His office there is packed with memorabilia from the campaign trail and bookcases that stretch to the ceiling. There's a CNN-produced book on the 2016 campaign signed like a yearbook. "Thank you for your intellect, your debating skills, and your love of history  but most of all, your friendship and kindness!" Cooper scrawled in the book.

Every other night, Lord joins the CNN broadcast from the office with his mother watching from the living-room couch. On intervening nights, the network sends a car from New York, and Lord hires private nurses or asks church members to sit with his mother until he arrives home in the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes she recognizes her son on TV; sometimes she doesn't. Lord won't disclose his salary, for contractual reasons; the salary website Glassdoor.com says the average for a political analyst is $84,000.

Outside of the studio and caring for his mother, Lord said, he doesn't have much of a personal life.

"I love doing it  periodically, I'm exhausted  but I love doing it," Lord said. "My primary thing was to take care of my mom, and all of this helps."

The casting has been brilliant

A Wednesday in late May offered a glance at the routine. A few minutes before Lord went on air, he flicked on the special LED light CNN sent to mimic studio lighting, moved his printer from its shelf to the floor, and carefully placed a portrait of Reagan in its place. (The portrait, a parting gift from the White House, has become something of a hallmark.)

For the next half hour or so, he waited and watched as Cooper chatted with other guests. Finally, Lord joined the broadcast for a five-minute segment about climate change. Then it was more waiting  this time for an hour  until Cooper brought him back to debate David Priess, a political historian, who scoffed at Lord's attempt to compare Trump's son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner to Robert Kennedy.

"Apples and oranges," said Priess.

Lord was serenely unconvinced. Just like Kushner, he reminded Priess, Robert Kennedy was considered inexperienced for the job at the time, too.

As much as he may exasperate them, Lord's coworkers insist he's a true believer.

Jones has frequently clashed with him on race, most notably when Lord connected the Ku Klux Klan to the Democratic Party. (Lord says he grew up admiring Martin Luther King Jr. and described a formative moment when his father, a hotel manager, lost a business when he hired an African American manager in the 1950s South. But his views on race boil down to the belief that identity politics  talking about a person's race at all, even  are divisive and racist themselves.)

"Jeffrey says outrageously ill-informed things about race. But he also says incredibly well-informed things about the way a very large section of America feels about the coastal elite and the establishment in both parties," Jones explained last week. "And he says what he says on air, in the commercial break, in the men's room, in the parking lot, in the Uber back to the hotel. What I will say about CNN is that if we're all characters, then the casting has been brilliant."

Both came to national attention during the campaign and remain friendly off-air, bonding over caring for their aging mothers and through late nights at hotel bars on the campaign trail. "You can disagree with someone without disliking them and without disrespecting them," Jones said. "I think Jeffrey Lord has a genius that is worthy of a better cause than defending every burp that comes out of Donald's mouth."

Fellow commentator Symone Sanders was on air with him when Lord made the comment about health care and King. "Oh, Jeffrey," she responded, a slogan she has since had mass-reproduced on T-shirts (including one she gave to Lord).

But the ensuing sparring about whether we truly live in a postracial America was important, Sanders said last week. "These are good conversations to have, because we're not having enough of them," she said.

Michael Smerconish, the Philly-based talk-show host who moonlights on CNN and writes an Inquirer column, said he's not sure Jeffrey Lord would have become Jeffrey Lord in a different political climate.

"Passion sells," Smerconish said. "So perhaps a more nuanced version of Jeffrey would not have been attractive. But I always say, the only people that I know who see the world entirely through liberal or conservative lenses are talk-radio hosts and cable-television presenters."

After Lord finished his spots on CNN that night in May, he returned to his mother on the living-room couch. "I missed you, Jeffrey," she said.

The next day, it was another three-hour commute to the network's studio.

"I'll do it probably until I can't," Lord said late last week. "I mean, life moves on, but I love to write, and this was why I wanted to become a writer: to do this, and do other things in the media if possible. You're on TV, and then you're not. The main thing is to stay focused. And I could not possibly have predicted this in my wildest imagination."


New York, June 11(Just Earth News): Continuing his visit to Central Asia, United Nations Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres on Saturday visited the Aral Sea a once the world's fourth largest inland sea, that has now shrunk to about a quarter of its original size due to human mismanagement a where he urged the world to take lesson from the catastrophe and to ensure that such tragedies are not repeated.

The Aral Sea's progressive disappearance was not because of climate change, it was mismanagement by humankind of water resources, said Secretary-General Guterres after visiting Muynak, the 'cemetery of ships'  once a port city but now devoid of all water.



It also shows that if in relation to climate change, we are not able to act forcefully to tame this phenomenon, we might see this kind of tragedy multiply around the world, he warned.



The environmental disaster was precipitated by diversion of tributary rivers which drained into the Aral Sea for irrigation projects nearly half a century ago. Lack of fresh water feeding the sea slowly dried it up, increasing the salinity of the area, with serious impact on human health and agriculture.



Terming the catastrophe probably the biggest ecological catastrophe of our time, one that demonstrated that men can destroy the planet, the Secretary-General called on everyone to make the Aral Sea a lesson and to mobilize the whole international community to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change and to make sure that such tragedies will not be repeated.



Earlier in the day, Guterres held a meeting with the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, where they discussed collaboration between the UN and the country in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and regional matters.



The UN chief also met with representatives of the civil society and visited Samarkand, one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia.











Source: www.justearthnews.com




Gov. Wolf, left, and Mayor Kenney chatted when the Mayors Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Philadelphia presented its recommendations. Read more

Gov. Wolf is scheduled to stand in the capitol rotunda Monday to sign a sweeping pension reform bill. When he does it will be with the understanding that this is only a start; a good start, but nonetheless short of what must be done to stop the system's $70 billion unfunded liability from crushing state and local budgets.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the legislature last week gave final passage to a bill that cuts costs by raising participants' retirement age from 65 to 67. It also gives school and other public workers the option to invest 7.5 percent to 8.25 percent of their salaries into retirement funds, depending on the plan's quality.

New employees will be limited to participation in a hybrid pension program, which would include both a traditional plan with a guaranteed benefit and a defined contribution plan, like a 401(k), where benefits are tied to investments. That arrangement would transfer some risk from taxpayers to workers, whose retirement savings would drop if the stock market slides.

The plan is expected to save the state $2 billion to $9 billion over 30 years. It moves the state toward a fully funded pension system. Decreasing that debt would stop the state's pension obligations from crowding out other important commitments, like providing social services and fixing roads.

The mere existence of a bipartisan pension plan is a welcome change from the maddening dysfunction that marred Democrat Wolf's relationship with the Republican-controlled legislature during his first year in office.

After a horrific nine-months-long budget impasse in 2015, both sides finally realized that taxpayers expected them to do their jobs. Democrats and Republicans began to work together on issues the public clamored for, including legalizing medical marijuana. They also agreed that the opioid crisis should be a higher priority.

That same unity is needed to address politicians' addiction to making flashy promises with no way of fulfilling them.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, which has done extensive research on the subject, has enthusiastically supported the new pension plan for Pennsylvania. Pew says it reduces costs while ensuring employees will be able to count on their retirement funds. "Our research indicates that this would be one of the most  if not the most  comprehensive and impactful reforms any state has implemented," said Pew in a letter to the legislature.

Now that the governor and legislature have shown they can work together they need to apply their new spirit of cooperation to upcoming budget talks, which must address the state's $3 billion deficit.

Wolf apparently is backing away from past requests for an income tax increase. That concession should open the door for Republican legislators to impose a severance tax on their beloved shale gas industry, which has yet to shoulder its fair share of Pennsylvania's tax burden.
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It seems like these days everyone is shouting at each other, but no one is actually listening. I'd like to think that in our law enforcement family we do a pretty good job of communicating. Unfortunately, the feedback I get is that all too often men and women don't do a very good job of getting our points across to each other. This is something my wife, The Sarge, has been studying for years, and a topic she teaches to crimefighters all over the country. However, being a guy, I've sometimes attended her classes without learning as much as I should. So, the other day I thought to myself, Man, I've got to brush up on this stuff and write an article, because I sure wish I'd known some of these things much earlier in my career.

Modern science tells us men's and women's brains are different in very significant ways. Until recently, we never really studied the effect that this has on law enforcement personnel. Let me give you some pointers to help you communicate more effectively with crimefighters of the opposite gender.

First, to my brothers, when talking to your sister crimefighters, make a little more eye contact with them than you would with your male partners. Looking away, not looking at them at all, or looking somewhere else, like at your phone or computer, tells a woman that you're not listening. Also, when you ask a woman to do something, if she asks "Why?" she's not necessarily arguing with you or questioning you; she's trying to understand your reasoning. Women prefer a "back story" or an explanation. While I'm on that topic, women, when you're talking to one of your male coworkers, get right to the point. Guys don't generally want a back story, especially if you're discussing a task or a work-related situation; they need facts and action steps.

Guys, when you ask a woman what she "thinks" about something, be prepared to also hear how she "feels" about it. The female brain naturally attaches emotion to virtually everything, because both sides of her brainthe logic side and the feeling sideare connected by a superconductor. Conversely, women need to understand that if they want to know how a man "feels" about something, they have to ask him specifically, "How do you feel about that?" And ladies, realize that if a man asks you, "Are you OK?" and you answer with "I'm fine!" that no matter how aggravated you sound he's probably going to assume that you really are "fine." In other words, be direct with each other.

Men and women also process what they observe very differently. Ladies, don't be surprised when you're walking out of that domestic with your male partner and you say to him, "Can you believe the color of those curtains?!" if he says to you, "They had windows?" Men's brains process primarily the foreground; women's process both the foreground and the background. This is why a guy can give an incredibly detailed description of a suspect, but can't remember the color of the walls in his favorite watering hole.

Another hard thing for us guys to understand is that women just don't have the ability to "zone out" like we men do. Their brains are constantly processing, which is why so often the women in our lives suffer from insomnia. Ladies, when that guy in your life has a blank look on his face and you ask him what he is thinking and he says, "Nothing," he's not kidding. The male brain "reboots" 8 to 20 times a day, something that you ladies have a hard time understanding.

I guess that's the whole point of this article. It's hard to perceive what another person feels or thinks, or even the process involved. Modern science has given us some real insight into some of the key differences in the male and female brain; we just have to seek out the information. Look into researchers like Louann Brizendine and Barbara Annis; their writings are both entertaining and informative.

The beauty of all this is, when you put these two brains together, you have a remarkably effective crime-fighting team.

Dave Smith is an internationally recognized law enforcement trainer and is the creator of "J.D. Buck Savage." You can follow Buck on Twitter at @thebucksavage.
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Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wrote a scathing letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley calling for an investigation into the predicted obstruction of justice of the Russian probe. The Democratic Senator also wrote that she felt concerned about the fact that both National Security Agency Director Admiral Rogers and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats refused to answer many answerable questions during their hearings Wednesday night on Capitol Hill. Furthermore, Feinstein stated that she is supportive of issuing subpoenas in those cases where we do not receive cooperation which would be a crushing blow for Trump, a man who has not even released the tapes he threatened to.

Quoting Trumps loyalty line and referencing the conversation between former NSA director Michael Flynn and Comey, Feinstein sets up a fantastic argument for a large-scale look at the obstruction of justice that Trump has committed and continues to commit on a daily basis. Trump is not under oath but continues to disagree with what trustworthy private citizen James Comey said under oath in his hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday.

Feinstein laid out an order of operations to aid in the investigation. She requested that each issue being investigated must be developed by our legal staff, presented to us, and be subject to full committee hearings. Feinstein then silenced anyone who opposed her by describing why it is the Judiciary Committees issue. She writes in her letter that the termination of the FBI Director and any efforts to interfere with the independence of ongoing investigations  fall squarely in the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and therefore deserve an investigation by the Committee.

This letter is receiving praise from other Democratic politicians. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) tweeted:

I couldn't agree more with @SenFeinstein. The American people deserve answers. https://t.co/eHObVw0jcs  Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) June 9, 2017

Feinstein added that she believes it is necessary to hear from officials Comey said he spoke with about his interactions with Trump including Attorney General Jefferson Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

This call for action by Feinstein shows that a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee feels like there is a large issue in this investigation. Trump and his administration are trying to their best take advantage of our justice system, but resisting politicians like Feinstein and others will not let him get away with it. Click here to read Feinsteins letter in full.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions has become a key target of Democrats and those who are demanding answers in the Russia investigation.

Video of Schumer:

On CBSs Face The Nation, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, Well, first, I think he should be sworn under oath. Second, I think it should be public. There is very little that is classified. Anything that is classified, they can do in a separate classified briefing. There are some questions about Sessions that have to be asked. First, did he interfere with the Russian investigation before he recused himself? Second, what safeguards are there now so that he doesnt interfere? Third, it says he was involved in the firing of Comey, and the president said Comey was fired because of Russia. How does that fit into with recusal? It doesnt seem to stand up well to me. And, fourth, he has been involved in the selection of the new FBI director. Did he talk about the Russian investigation with them?

Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has sent a letter to the Committee leadership demanding that Sessions testify in public.

Jeff Sessions and Vice President Mike Pence are two parts of the Russia scandal that have gotten anything close to the attention that they deserve from investigators. The calls for Sessions to publicly testify on the record are growing. The Attorney General hasnt actually recused from the Russia investigation, while at the same time, new questions and previously undisclosed meetings between the Attorney General and Russian government officials continue to surface.

Democrats are zeroing in on Sessions because he has information about what happened during the election, and his presence in the Justice Department is impacting the investigation. Jeff Sessions is looking more like one of the keys to getting to the truth behind what happened between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Tropical storm conditions possible. Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Tropical storm conditions possible. Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Oftentimes, when they matter most, Gods promises contradict the circumstances of life.

John Akpan was broke and busted, as the Americans say. His Masters degree in Marketing counted for nothing in a labour market flooded with people of equal or higher qualification and with hot-tap contacts. Once, he was lucky to land a job in retail company as a supervisor, but he lost it a year later in curious circumstances that almost landed him in jail.

The only son in a poor family of  five, he had worked hard and sacrificed his comfort to attain that educational level with the hope of a good job to turn the fortunes of his family around. He was bent on doing that before starting his own family. But years after the decision, he could hardly feed himself well in the Lagos slum of Ajengule, where he was forced by circumstances to be a danfo (commercial bus) driver.

The contradiction

A bad boy, as he confessed, he had turned to God as an only option, but all he got through the still small voice, pastors and prophets he consulted was the refrain that he was blessed and highly favoured.

In sharp contradiction of Akpans circumstances all that left him all the more confused and vulnerable to the antics of the devil. In Lagos, crime, rituals and even some churches provide quick remedy in such situations. He had seen people go those ways to be rewarded with prosperity, but his church never encouraged that.

Deep inside him, Akpan believed Gods promises, but the waiting game in the face of alluring temptation and insults from friends and even his siblings was, according to him, the most difficult thing to do.

He said once when he had prayed and cried all night to God, he was replied with a simple question in the small still voice that made him look stupid. You are waiting in the comfort of your home, yet you are complaining; where did Joseph do his own waiting?

Promptly he got his Bible and read the Joseph story, he knew so well, again: God showed him a great future in a dream; but he was sold into slavery by his brothers; triumphed over the temptation of beauty of his masters wife only to land in jail for years, where even a beneficiary of his gift of dream interpretation left him forgotten.

But in proof of the supremacy of God timing, Bible scholars say if Joseph had been released before Pharaohs dream about famine, he would have rushed back to his father he loved so much, and therefore couldnt have been the powerful Prime Minister of Egypt.

A few weeks after Akpan was encouraged with the Joseph example, Ruth, his fiancee based in Calabar, came visiting with fire and fury. Akpan had to stop waiting endlessly for God and do something about his situation immediately or forget her. She said she had to move on. And she did.

The examples

Like the case of Akpan, Gods promises to broke, busted and worried people come in contradiction to their circumstances.

Advanced in old age, Abraham and Sarah were promised a son; Mary promised a son, named in advance, without having to sleep with a man. Sarahs case was so hilarious she couldnt help but laugh at God.

Years after Sarah, Gideon had a similar contradicting situation that left him wondering. I love that story: The people of Israel were under the authority of the Midianites, who seized their harvest. So Gideon was threshing out his livelihood in a winepress to avoid being noticed by the Midianites when an angel appeared to him. If he had threshed the wheat on the threshing floor, the Midianite oppressors were sure to confiscate much of it.

The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valour, the angel said.

Gideon was a coward threshing his wheat in secret so he must have looking around to confirm if the angel was real or he was talking to someone else. Still uncertain he was the mighty man he tested God to sure if the encounter was real. In the end, Gideon turned out to be the man to lead the Israelites to victory over the Midianites.

The takeaways

Those and many more examples show that as God said, He does not share His glory. He is all too powerful  the I am that I am, He does what He promises by Himself. He does not need help, and people who have tried to help Him fulfill His promises ended up complicating their situations, or got Him to hands off.

It does seem that God does what He wants to do through the empty-self of the beneficiaries. Although he may use people to fulfill His promises, they are forced to act out his script by circumstances.

Oftentimes, the answer to your prayers is in the promise He had made. And what He uses is the gift He had planted in you. Akpan knew long ago that he was gifted to be an artist, but he thought that was not a glamorous career. He ignored it. One Sunday, when his church needed a cartoonist for their weekly bulletin, he offered himself, and boom! His eyes opened to numerous opportunities. He is now a wealthy man who runs his own company.

He admits a lot happened during the waiting: he got closer to God, became humble, stronger and a more matured person.

I was raw, but now Im refined and polished, he says. The way I was, I was headed straight for hell fire.

Compared to the experience of Akpan and Joseph, Davids was more complicated, and painful. Akpan had a prophecy; Joseph a dream: but David was anointed as King by the most powerful Man of God at that time. Yet for about 16 years, he was on the run in the bushes and caves for his life.

Our circumstances shake our belief in ourselves, reducing our self-worth and confidence, but God sees us the way He created us to be. When He looked at Gideon, he didnt just see a coward hiding out, but Gideon as he would ultimately become.

The process

The various examples reveal a process. God is a God of process and order. During the period between the promise and actualization, He prepares you to handle the blessing. And that is the tough time of going through the fire to be purified.

If He has said it (there are many false prophets so you have to be careful), He will do it! Your bit of the process is to kick in your faith in believe of the promise; stay obedient to Him while you wait, hold on.

Although you dont see Him during the pain, He is there to keep you alive for your promise. It may take a while, but if He said it, He will do it!

Happy Sunday, Ma; Happy Sunday; Sir!

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The family of the late Nollywood actress, Moji Olaiya, has released a statement thanking everyone -friends, fans and colleagues -for the show of love and support.

The popular actress was buried on Wednesday morning at the Ebony Vaults, situated inside Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos, amidst tears and encomiums.

A member of the Moji Olaiya Burial Committee, actor Yomi Fabiyi, also told PREMIUM TIMES that a former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and a chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo, contributed to the burial with the latter paying for the parcel of land where the Nollywood actress was buried.

In the statement, which was signed by Mojis brother, Femi Olaiya, the family urged the general public to dismiss rumours that the deceased was poisoned. They added that it was Gods will for her to depart.

Mr. Olaiya also revealed that a trust fund had been established for his nieces.

The actress, who was one of the children of highlife music icon, Victor Olaiya, died on May 18 in Canada, two months after the birth of her baby. She had her second daughter in March and reports have it that she may have suffered complications as a result of childbirth. Her baby was born premature.

Her two daughters survive the deceased one aged 20 and the other, delivered in Canada, only two months old.

Read the familys statement below

The Olaiya Family appreciate the immense outpouring of love and affection the public showed the family since the sudden and untimely death of our beloved Sister, Moji Olaiya, and the huge support we received for her burial. Her friends, fans, colleagues in the movie industry and the general public displayed an uncommon show of support and kindness towards the family in our grieving time.

We are grateful indeed for your condolence messages, visits, gifts and other forms of support, we are indeed very grateful to have such wonderful people. We also want to use this medium to specially thank the Burial committee and all those who were involved in helping to raise funds for the return of Mojis remains to Nigeria, we are eternally grateful to you for rising above the grief to support the family.

This is also appreciating Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, erstwhile governor of Lagos State for his humane and philanthropic gesture in providing the required funds to transport Mojis corpse back to Nigeria. Thank you, your Excellency. Indeed, Moji received burial befitting queens because of all your efforts.

We wish to use this opportunity to debunk claims circulating on social media that a friend in Canada poisoned Moji. An autopsy was conducted; the autopsy reports indicated that our dear sister died of a different cause that can be termed natural medical cause. It is not the desire of the family to have anyone implicated in her death having seen the autopsy reports, therefore, we appeal to friends, fans and the general public to accept Mojis death as an act of God though rather unfortunate.

The details of the Trust fund Account-

Name: Fund Ifo Adunoluwa Farombi

Bank: Diamond Bank Acc. No: 0091214275 .

You may also wish to contact the family directly if you have any questions.

The contact person will be Modupe Olaiya  08023512108 & Mrs Shade Oliwo  08023198754 or email: femidavid99@gmail.

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Shortly after assuming office, President Muhammadu Buhari reiterated his commitment to ensure compliance to the rule of law by all agencies of government under his administration.

Four months after he was sworn in as president, in reaction to cases of human right abuses by security operatives, Mr. Buhari noted that his administration would not tolerate the situation where any arm of government undermines the rule of law.

Let me reiterate this administrations commitment to due process, merit and total observance of the rule of law as central pillars of a prosperous and democratic society, the president said.

Also during an address delivered at the Commonwealth meeting in May, 2016, Mr. Buhari again restated his governments commitment to comply with the rule of law and respect for human rights.

I am committed to applying the rule of law and to respecting human rights, the President had said.

Similarly, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in an interview with journalists in April restated the administrations commitment to the rule of law including obedience of court orders.

I very strongly believe that we must obey the law. It is our duty as government to respect the orders of the court.

Despite the verbal statements of the president and his deputy, however, three cases highlight how the Buhari administration has serially violated court orders, going against the rule of law it has repeatedly touted.

DASUKI

As part of the Buhari administrations commitment to tacking corruption, several officials of the previous administration, accused of mismanaging public funds, were charged to court.

Prominent among such persons was the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

Mr. Dasuki is facing multiple charges for alleged diversion of $2.1 billion and illegal possession of fire arms.

Although Mr. Dasuki has been granted bail on at least six different occasions by various courts, the Nigerian government has persistently refused to comply with the court orders.

In the wake of his trial, a Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola in 2015 ordered the release of Mr. Dasukis passport and granted him permission to travel abroad for three weeks on medical grounds.

Despite the order made on November 3, the SSS refused to release Mr. Dasuki.

Again, the former NSA and four others were allowed bail on December 18, 2015 with a similar condition to provide a bond of N250 million by Justice Hussein-Baba Yusuf.

Although that condition was fulfilled, the court order has yet to be obeyed by the Nigerian government.

Similarly, the former NSA; a former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; former Sokoto governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; and three others were granted bail on December 21, 2015 by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in the sum of N250 million each and two sureties in like sum.

They were charged to court on a 22-count charge for alleged diversion of funds, misappropriation and breach of trust to the tune of N19.4 billion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Despite fulfilling the conditions for his bail set by Justice Peter Affen, the SSS refused to release Mr. Dasuki.

Following the refusal of the administration to obey Nigerian courts, Mr. Dasuki approached a Court of the Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, for international mediation on the matter.

The ECOWAS court on October 4, 2016 granted the former NSA bail and ordered the Nigerian government to pay N15 million to the defendant as damages for his illegal and arbitrary detention.

Reacting to the order by the ECOWAS court, however, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said government was not under compulsion to respect that court order.

A few months later, on January 17 this year, the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court reaffirmed previous court orders granting Mr. Dasuki bail, and stressed that the fact of the said orders were undisputable.

Also on April 6, the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court affirmed, for the umpteenth time, its decision for the release of Mr. Dasuki.

Despite all these court orders, Mr. Dasuki is still held at the Kuje Maximum Prisons, while his trials continue.

EL-ZAKZAKY

Perhaps the most absurd of violation of human rights by the Buhari administration is its treatment of Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, a leader of a Shiite group, IMN.

Mr. El-Zakzaky has been in detention without any trial for over 17 months.

On December 2, 2016 the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court ordered his release with the judge berating the Nigerian government for violating his rights.

Mr. El-Zakzaky was arrested by the military on December 14, 2015 after a clash between his IMN and officers of the Nigerian Army.

At least 347 members of the group were killed during the clash. Nobody is being prosecuted for the killings.

Delivering the court order for the release of Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife, the presiding judge, Gabriel Kolawole, also asked that a fine of N50 million be paid to the detainees, while an accommodation be provided for them and their family.

Despite warnings by the court that the Nigerian government would face further sanctions if it refused to abide by the order for the release of Mr. El-Zakzaky and his wife, that decision has not been complied with long after the 45 days ultimatum given by the court of law.

Mr. Kolawole had in that ruling described the Shiites relationship with the Nigerian government as delicate and slippery, stressing that the Nigerian Government must not demonise the IMN.

Not interested in obeying the December 2, 2016 court order, the federal government filed an appeal against the ruling, 10 days after the expiration of the deadline for Mr. El-Zakzakys release.

Several rallies have been held by members of the Shiite group demanding the release of their leader and his wife. Also, the government is yet to accuse him of any crime or file any charges against him.

ALSCON

In July 2016, the Supreme Court gave an order reaffirming the nullification of the 2006 controversial transfer of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, to a Russian firm, the United Company RUSAL.

The violation of the ruling of Nigerias apex court on the matter did not however, start with the Buhari administration. The 2016 ruling was the third by the Supreme Court since the questionable sale of the aluminium plant to the Russians by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE in 2004.

In June 2004, the Nigerian-American consortium, Bancorp Financial Investment Group Divino Corporation BFIG, led by Reuben Jaja, was declared winner of the bid for the plant organised by the National Council for Privatization, NCP.

But, the BPE cancelled the outcome of the bid and disqualified the consortium in controversial circumstances, accusing it of failure to meet the deadline for the payment of 10 per cent of the bid price it offered in line with stipulated guidelines.

BFIG took the matter to court seeking the enforcement of its right in line with the terms of agreement reached in the pre-bid technical conference by all bid parties.

For over eight years, the matter dragged in various courts in Nigeria, till the Supreme Court, on July 6, 2012, in a unanimous verdict, annulled the handing over of ALSCON to UC RUSAL.

The court, which declared as illegal, null and void, BPEs decision on the basis of the agreement purportedly reached at their negotiations in 2006, reinstated BFIG as the authentic winner of the bid.

The BPE, defiantly dismissed the ruling as an error, encouraging Dayson Holdings Limited, the Nigerian affiliate of UC RUSAL in Nigeria, to file an appeal.

In its application, Dayson Holding sought a review of the July 6, 2012 judgement annulling the 2006 handing over of ALSCON to UC RUSAL by BPE. The privatisation agency also declared its support for the continued ownership of the multi-billion-dollar plant.

Consequently, BFIG returned to the court with another application in 2014 seeking the interpretation and enforcement of the subsisting order against UC RUSAL.

Despite BPE, which joined UC RUSAL, to oppose the application, the Supreme Court in its September 2014 ruling reaffirmed its previous verdict and directed BPE to fully enforce and give effect to the meaning and intendment of the judgment of the Supreme Court of July 6, 2012.

Again, the Russians ignored the directive and proceeded to file an application in November 2015 to demand the Supreme Court to, not only review its July 6, 2012 judgment, but also set it aside altogether, and confirm UC RUSAL as the owner of ALSCON.

But, on July 11, 2016, the Supreme Court again, in a unanimous ruling by a five-member panel led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, dismissed the application as incompetent and without merit.

In flagrant disregard to the Supreme Court ruling, the Minister of Mines & Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, in April 2017 undertook an inspection visit to ALSCON.

During the visit, Mr. Fayemi was received and shown around the plant by Dimitriy Zaviyalov, the managing director of UC RUSAL, the same firm the Supreme Court repeatedly sacked.

The minister not only promised to work with the Russian firm to reactivate ALSCON, but also assured Mr. Zaviyalov, that government would encourage the Supreme Court to expedite action on the ruling, to free the complex of any encumbrances.

Contrary to Mr. Fayemis claim, however, the Supreme Court already ruled.

CJN, LAWYERS SPEAK

In a recent address, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, described the failure of government or any party to adhere to court judgments as outright impunity.

Anyway, disobedience of court order is an act of impunity, said Mr. Onnoghen who further said the problems created by disobedience of court orders were a matter for the legislature and the executive to address.

Reacting to the trend, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rotimi Jacobs, said failure of any party to respect court judgements is an abuse of democracy and an invitation to anarchy.

My reactions to it is that the court, government, parties, Nigerians must comply with court orders. That is a constitutional duty imposed on every one as stipulated in section 287 of the Constitution.

The section says that judgements of every courts of law must be respected. Judgements by high courts; court of appeal and supreme court; must be respected by all persons and authorities. There are also obligations that are imposed on everyone.

There is a duty on everyone to obey court orders. And on no account should anyone fail to obey court orders. I think the journalists should also investigate why the judgements have not been obeyed. Secondly, have they appealed those judgements? I dont think any democratic government that is worth its salt should disobey court orders because it is the basis. If you disobey court judgements, you ridicule the judiciary, the constitution, you ridicule everybody and it is an invitation to anarchy, he said.

Similarly, a former chairman, National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, berated the Buhari administration for selection court orders it wishes to obey.

Its as if government is picking and choosing what court judgements to respect and the ones not to respect. There are many problems with that; one of which is that people will begin to feel that courts no longer matter. In that case the only thing that matters is that if you can overcome somebody then you win, but if you cant, then you will lose. That becomes a circumstance of rule of war, not rule of law, said Mr. Odinkalu.

He added that the situation will only create the avenue for violence and prevent great economic activities in the country.

Investors will not invest in the country, because investors want an environment where rules exist and are respected.

Mr. Odinkalu further said the law courts will also be negatively influenced if the trend continues.

That is to say if you are on the side that is favoured by the presidents body language then people will respect you because you can muster political force, but if you are not and you are accused, then you are endangered. When things get to that point, then it is dangerous.

RIGHT OF APPEAL

Reacting to his administrations serial violation of court orders, Mr. Osinbajo told PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists at an interview that although his government recognises and respects the rule of law, it also acknowledges its (governments) right of appeal.

It is our duty as government to respect the orders of the court. But we also reserve the right to appeal, he said.

However, although the federal government has appealed the judgement mandating Mr. El-Zakzakys release, after the deadline, no appeal has been filed against the many rulings mandating the release of Mr. Dasuki.

Also, the Nigerian government has not appealed against the ALSCON ruling and may be unable to do so as the ruling was repeatedly delivered by the apex court.

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Two local vigilante personnel were left dead on Saturday night after gunmen believed to be Boko Haram members attacked Yale village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, officials said.

Another operative of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, lies in critical condition at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital following the attack, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The attackers were said to have targeted a security post where both vigilante and soldiers hold sentry in Yale village

The spokesperson of the VGN in Borno State, Abbas Gava, told PREMIUM TIMES on phone that the gunmen invaded Yale village late Saturday night shooting sporadically and causing scared residents to flee into the bushes.

Three of our officials who were in Yale on routine duty were shot during the attack, said Gava.

We lost Abba Umar Yale who is our officer in charge of Yale ward and Kaigama Bukar who was the commander in charge of Konduga Local Government Area.

The commander in charge of Kawuri, Kaumi Ahijjo was wounded and he has been brought to the hospital in a very critical condition, he said.

The spokesperson said he could not confirm if there was any significant casualty on the side of the soldiers.

The Army is yet to comment officially on the attack.

The Saturday attack occurred about two days after a daring Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri. While armed gunmen invaded the Jiddari Polo area of the Borno capital, suicide bombers attacked another part of the city.

Over a dozen people were left dead in the Maiduguri attacks. Although the Army said it repelled the attack on Jiddari Polo, the Boko Haram released a video claiming the attack was a success and that it seized arms and ammunition from fleeing soldiers.

The Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria has caused about 100,000 deaths since 2009.

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Former Vice President and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday sent out a goodwill message to all Nigerians on the occasion of the anniversary of the June 12 1993 Presidential election, believed to have been won by the late businessman, philanthropist and patriot, MKO Abiola.

The former Vice President said June 12 and the events that brought it were part of our countrys history and could not be forgotten, especially because of the unity and comradeship displayed by Nigerians on that Election Day in 1993.

In a statement released by his Media Office in Abuja, the APC stalwart noted that the events of June 12, 1993 were watersheds in the history of the nation and that all Nigerians must work hard to ensure that the nation never again repeat that painful experience.

Atiku recalled that June 12 traumatized Nigerians and made some people to question the unity and oneness of the country and whether true democracy can take root in the country.

He commended Nigerians for moving beyond the challenges thrown up by June 12 and putting in place a democratic system of government that has lasted for 18 years.

He said that was a testimony to the innate democratic nature of Nigerians that today, democracy is flourishing in the country adding that restructuring of the country as being demanded by some well-meaning Nigerians would further consolidate democracy and give greater impetus to the unity and development of the country.

According to him, restructuring of the country would lay a solid foundation for prosperity and self-reliant development across the country by introducing healthy competition among the constituent parts of the Federation based on the principle of comparative advantage.

The former Vice President described the late MKO Abiola, the leading personality of the June 12 struggle, as a national hero and patriot deserving of accolades and honour by Nigerians.

He called on the Federal Government to pay the necessary tribute to the late Mr. Abiola by naming a befitting national institution after him.

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A former communication aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has dismissed a recent claim by the spokesperson of Northern Elders Forum, Ango Abdullahi, who said Northern Nigeria provided the resources used to develop the southern part of the country pre-independence.

In a Facebook statement Saturday, Mr. Omokri said crucial historical facts in public domain easily countered Mr. Abdullahis claims.

Northern Nigeria could not sustain herself financially talk less (sic) of supporting the South, Mr. Omokri said, drawing his assertion from historical records. If you are from the North this is a fact, not an insult.

Do not blame me. Blame history.

While aligning himself with some groups who demanded withdrawal of Nigerians of Igbo origin from the north, Mr. Abdullahi said Southern Nigeria had shown little appreciation for the invaluable contribution of the north, especially in economic development terms.

These people always pretend that the north is cheating them, not minding the fact that Southern Nigeria was developed by resources from the north Mr. Abdullahi told reporters in Zaria Friday.

Some northern groups recently formed a coalition to push for the exit of Igbo from Northern Nigeria.

At a press conference Tuesday, the northern coalition said they were irritated by a recent call for Igbo to stay at home on May 30, in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Civil War.

At least 500,000 Igbo were said to have been killed during the war, which broke out in 1967 and ended in 1970.

The stay-at-home order was announced by two pro-Biafra groups, including IPOB, led by Nnamdi Kanu who has become the current face of Igbo secession from Nigeria.

It came a month after Mr. Kanu secured bail and walked out of prison in Abuja for the first time since he was first arrested in Lagos in October 2015.

The northern coalition said the agitation for Biafra had elicited no condemnation from prominent Nigerians who had allowed it to fester.

They urged all northerners resident in the South-east to equally vacate the region.

We are also telling our brothers (northerners) out there in the South-East to get prepared to come back home, Yerima Shettima, leader of the coalition, said at the briefing which took place at Arewa House, Kaduna.

In his reaction to the call, Mr. Abdullahi, a professor of agricultural science and former vice-chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, slammed Governor Nasir El-Rufai and other northern voices who advocated peace in the wake of the threat to Igbo.

I am disappointed in the decision taken by Northern Governors Forum disowning and condemning the agitation by this young agile and progressive youth groups.

Let me ask these Northern governors, who are they representing,?Are they representing spirits, ghost or people of the north? he said.

The professor said northerners used their agriculture proceeds during the colonial era to develop Southern Nigeria, which broadly includes South-West, South-East and South-South, occupying predominantly Yoruba, Igbo and the minorities in the Niger-Delta region, respectively.

These people always pretend that the North is cheating them, Mr. Abdullahi said of the Igbo. Not minding the fact that Southern Nigeria was developed by resources from the north.

He appealed to the authority of a book written by Adamu Fika to buttress his claims that Southern Nigeria was really at the mercy of the north prior to independence.

Please, look for a book written by Adamu Fika on Nigerias budget before and after independence.

Each year, up to the time Nigeria gained its independence, none of the two regions was able to provide for itself.

I mean none of the Western and Eastern regions had the money to effectively run the affairs of its region until they get financial support from the Northern region, Mr. Abdullahi said.

The scholar further stated that resources from the north, which accrued from groundnut pyramid, cotton, hide and skin among other cash crops were used to construct Nigerian Railways, explore oil in the Niger-Delta and build the countrys refineries.

The claims sparked online uproar weekend, and Mr. Omokri weighed in, describing Mr. Abdullahi as a liar from the pit of hell.

How can a nation progress with dishonest and tribalistic elders as Ango? A bewildered Mr. Omokri wondered.

Mr. Omokri cited the work of a British author and historian, Colin Newbury, who he said had detailed in his 2004 book, Accounting for Power in Northern Nigeria, that for years before the amalgamation, Britain had been subsidising Northern Nigeria because of the deficit in her budget.

Mr. Omokri submitted his argument as follows:

In 1913, Lord Harcourt agreed to a proposal from Lord Lugard to amalgamate Southern Nigeria and Northern Nigeria so that, according to Newbury custom revenues from the south paying for the projects in the north.

Right now, we should be building unity in Nigeria.

However, we must not distort history to do that.

Southern funds were used to develop the North. This is a historical fact.

As a matter of fact, here is a direct quote from Lord Harcourt, the then Secretary of the Colonies who in 1913 said we have released Northern Nigeria from the leading strings of the economy.

The promising youth is about to effect an alliance with a Southern lady of means (referring to Southern Nigeria).

Time Magazine in March 1963 wrote of Nigeria thus the country numbered some 250 tribes and languages, three principal religions (Moslem. Christian, animist), and three big, traditionally hostile regions: the feudal, Moslem North, which claims half the entire population of Nigeria; the East, dominated by the astute, industrious Ibo tribes; and the West, richest and most advanced of all three, whose Yoruba tribesmen are Nigerias most sophisticated citizens.

Liar Ango Abdullahi should note the words richest of the three.

Northern intellectuals like Farooq Kperogi should please research and verify if what I have written is fact and if it is they should please call Ango Abdullahi to order.

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A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, told Swiss investigators former Nigerian officials accused of bribery did no wrong and could not be prosecuted, a claim that shocked authorities of that European country, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

The officials were public officers when part of the alleged bribe was paid to them and, by Nigerian law, barred from engaging in private business.

But Mr. Adoke, responding to a mutual legal assistance request from Switzerland, claimed the officials were only paid legitimate fees for their consultancies.

The documents on further findings of the executing competent authority of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission revealed that the money were (sic) paid as consultancy fee to the various recipients, Mr. Adoke told Switzerland in a 2012 letter.

Swiss authorities had in May 2012 wrote the Nigerian government to request support of the countrys anti-graft agency in unearthing further crucial details that could strengthen their investigation, which was already underway at the time.

Switzerland was probing suspicious transactions to the tune of $20 million between Nigerian officials and a firm in Europe.

A former Managing Director of the NPA, Adebayo Sarumi; a former Managing Director of NPAs Eastern Ports, Felix Ovbude; a former Executive Director of Finance at the NPA, Abba Murtala Mohammed; and Sullivan Nwankpo, ex-President Goodluck Jonathans special adviser on technical matters, were said to have participated in the illicit scheme.

Swiss authorities believe Daniel Afam-Obi, a former executive assistant to Mr. Nwankwo, stood in as front for his principal.

Mr. Adoke subsequently requested the EFCC, under its erstwhile chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, to investigate the Nigerian aspect of the multinational bribery scandal.

But after the EFCC forwarded its report to him, Mr. Adoke wrote to European investigators saying the agency found no acts of wrongdoings on the part of the Nigerians named in the scam.

But in May 2017, Switzerland prosecutors indicted Messrs Sarumi, Ovbude and Mohammed alongside Dredging International Services (Cyprus) Ltd, which was sentenced to a fine of one million Swiss Francs and asked to refund 36 million Swiss Francs in illegal profits for allegedly making illicit payments to the Nigerian officials.

Mr. Afam-Obi was said to have been paid $157,000 for unknown reasons.

In his letter to Swiss authorities, Mr. Adoke said he attached documents containing EFCC investigators findings in Nigeria, which allegedly uncovered no fraudulent activities on the part of the targeted Nigerians.

The former Attorney-General was yet to respond to PREMIUM TIMES request that he forwards the documents he claimed to have attached to his letter to Swiss authorities.

Nonetheless, an EFCC source familiar with the investigation told PREMIUM TIMES there was no truth in Mr. Adokes claim that the anti-graft agency did not implicate the Nigerian officials in its findings.

These were public officers and there is no way we could have told the minister they received legitimate consultancy fees, the source said. We only sent him our findings. Sad that he drew inaccurate conclusion.

The official, who pleaded strict anonymity because of the sensitivity of his new post outside the EFCC, said there was no way they would have cleared the officials of wrongdoings.

The former AGF obviously wrote his own personal opinion to Switzerland, the source said.

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The police in Lagos have arrested a man they described as the most wanted abduction specialist who led a massive kidnap syndicate with presence in major parts of the country, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, a 36-year-old native of Anambra State, was nabbed inside Magodo Phase II around noon Saturday, marking an end to a near decade-long manhunt by law enforcement authorities.

Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, who confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES Saturday evening, said Mr. Onuamadikes arrest was a major success and a moral booster in the war against incessant kidnapping, which has become a lucrative enterprise for hardened criminals in recent years.

Mr. Moshood, a chief superintendent of police, said the suspect was arrested by police intelligence monitoring unit put together by the Inspector-General, Ibrahim Idris.

Millions of Nigerians in different parts of the a country who dreaded this suspect will now be able to sleep with their two eyes closed, Mr. Moshood said.

The police first caught wind of Mr. Onuamadikes activities when he allegedly began terrorising resident of several Lagos neighbourhoods, especially Festac Town and its environs.

It was in Festac that Mr. Onuamadike allegedly masterminded the abduction of Vincent Obianudo, the billionaire owner of Young Shall Grow Motors, in 2013.

Mr. Onuamadike, a.k.a.: Evans, has presence in the South-South corridor, where he allegedly established many kidnap formations that operated in major settlements along the East-West Road, including the Port-Harcourt and Warri, both with a high number of oil workers.

The Vanguard reported earlier this year that Mr. Onuamadike, whom the paper described only by his alias, had orchestrated more than a dozen high-profile kidnappings.

The paper suggested that the syndicate pocketed up to $1 million dollars each in three different abductions in of citizens in Lagos in 2015.

Mr. Moshood said the suspect had allegedly deviced a unique method of extracting ransom from victims.

He keeps his victims for up to six to seven months in captivity until when their families pay amounts ranging from N300 to 400 million as ransom in several installments, the police spokesperson said.

Dozens of suspects attached to Mr. Onuamadikes kidnap formations across the country have been killed in shootouts with law enforcement officers since 2010, the police said.

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Glimpses about the lavish lifestyle of the billionaire kidnapper, Evans, are emerging, with his confession that he splashed his loot in buying a wristwatch for $170,000.

He also bought three phones for $6000 each and bought two houses in highbrow Magodo Estate in Lagos and another house in Ghana.

Evans was arrested in one of the houses in Lagos on Saturday, after eluding police radar for five years.

The Nation Newspaper in a report on Sunday said Evans real name is Chukwudubem Onwuamadike. He is from Umudim, Nnewi in Anambra state.

He was arrested at his Magodo residence around 1 p.m. by operatives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

It was gathered that the operatives got intelligence that Evans was hiding in his Magodo mansion where he was surrounded.

The suspect was said to have run to the roof of the house for emergency exit but the police officers caught up with him.

In the course of his arrest, he slammed the door against the operatives and injured a policeman.

It was gathered that four AK47 rifles and over 50 magazines were recovered from the house.

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had announced N30 million bounty for anyone with useful information that could lead to the arrest of Evans.

Evans, security forces said, has been responsible for many high-profile kidnapping in the south-west, south-south and south-eastern parts of the country.

Evans was said to be a brilliant criminal, who has given security forces sleepless nights.

He was said to have collected billions of naira as ransom from his victims, including expatriates, business moguls and public office holders.

A police source, who hinted on the arrest, said Mr. Idris deployed all resources at the Force disposal in the hunt for Evans.

He said their focus in the last one month had been to catch Evans alive so that Nigerians can have peace.

On how the suspect was arrested, the source: Someone called and gave information on his whereabouts. When we got there, he hid inside the roof of the house. He could not withstand the pressure on him from the police.

While Vampire was the most deadly kidnapper in the history of Nigeria and was caught some months ago during a gun battle, Evans remains the most brilliant, richest and crafty kidnapper in the countrys history.

When contacted, the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent (CSP) said the suspect would be paraded this afternoon.

The suspect told police investigators he had two houses in Magodo, which he brought for N130 million and N70 million.

Claiming to have been in the kidnapping business for 10 years, Evans also confessed to have two four bedroom houses in Ghana.

He claimed to have a wristwatch he bought for $170,000 and nine phones, three of which cost $6,000 each.

The kidnap kingpin said he sent his wife away when he realised the police were closing in on him.

He said he once relocated to Ghana and was planning to travel abroad before he was caught.

The suspect is currently being interrogated by the police.

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A Nigerian drug trafficker has been arrested in Gujarat India, with narcotics worth over $525,000.

The 27-year-old Nigerian, identified as Chinedu Okafor, was travelling from Delhi to Goa when he was nabbed on the Madgoan Rajdhani Express train.

He had frequented the route and triggered suspicions before his arrest by operatives of the Narcotics Control Bureau.

Both the Times of India and Deshgujarat.com said upon searching the Nigerian an assortment of drugs was found on him, hidden in his bag and shoes. Found was 843gm of methamphetamine, 255gm of cocaine and 65 gm of ecstasy tablets.

The street value of the drugs, was estimated at 3.5Crores, about $525,000.

Indian law enforcement agents have repeatedly arrested Nigerians in connection with drug trafficking and fraud in the country, bringing huge shame to Nigerians in that country and at home.

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The Nasarawa State Police Command said on Sunday that a police officer, Thomas Agada, in the early hours of Sunday, shot and killed himself at Masaka in Karu Local Government Area of the state.

The commands spokesperson, Kennedy Idirisu, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lafia that late Mr. Agada served at the Police command in the FCT, but resided at Masaka, where the incident occurred.

Mr. Idirisu explained that before killing himself, the deceased had shot and injured his wife and maid at their shop around De Memories Hotel in Masaka.

He said the wife and maid were currently receiving treatment at the Asokoro General Hospital in the FCT, adding that investigation had begun to ascertain the motive behind the shooting.

We cannot say for sure now what could have led to the dastardly act but we believe that the wife, currently being treated would, be of great help to our investigation, once she stabilises, Mr. Idirisu said.

(NAN)

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The UN Volunteers says it is ready to assist Nigeria to respond to the humanitarian situation caused by the Boko Haram terrorist group in the northeast.

The Chief of the Development Programming Section at United Nations Volunteers, Geoff Prewitt, made the offer following his recent travels through Nigeria, including visits to Northeast.

Mr. Prewitt said in times of crisis, the valuable role of volunteers should never be underestimated.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is ready to deploy in Nigeria much needed personnel to complement the existing resources of UN agencies within the country.

Our partnerships with more than 30 UN agencies allow us to mobilise UN Volunteers across a wide range of functions, recruiting both nationally and internationally.

This includes in fields of health, sanitation, agriculture, logistics, child protection, supply management  the list goes on.

He called on all UN agencies to intensify their heroic efforts thus far and continue to provide much needed support to the innocent communities in Northeast Nigeria.

As a collective, we may avoid looking back and saying to ourselves, we could have done more, we should have done more.

Efforts by the United Nations through the Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria are underway to increase funding for food aid and life-saving humanitarian assistance, yet commitments from donors remain low.

This forces UN agencies in Nigeria to consider carefully the needs of those most at risk in hope that funding will increase before the threat of famine reaches catastrophic proportions.

Millions of lives are at stake. The UN family in Nigeria is working tirelessly to provided needed relief but recognize that more should be done.

Addressing the needs of the population will require more than money, it will require willing hands and hearts, the UN Volunteers official said.

(NAN)

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Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday night raided Kuda-kaya village in Madagali, Adamawa State to steal food and medical supplies, residents and officials said.

The sources said scores of fighters stormed the village, two kilometres from Gulak, the administrative headquarters of Madagali, for the attack.

They came in numbers and just started shooting sporadically into the air with their guns; and there was pandemonium as people started fleeing for their lives, a fleeing resident said.

Our local hunters engaged them in a fierce battle. Presently we are hiding somewhere in a nearby village, the resident, who sought anonymity for security reasons, stated.

A local hunter in the area, who pleaded anonymity, added that, They (Boko Haram) came at about 8 p.m. and wanted to take over the village which is just a stone thrown to Gulak.

But we engaged them, he added; saying soldiers later arrived.

The Chairman of Madagali Local Government Area, Yusuf Muhammad, confirmed that the attack was repelled by the hunters and the soldiers who arrived promptly.

Mr. Muhammad lauded the efforts of security agencies and local vigilantes, and urged for more support to secure the area.

Boko Haram raided Kuda-kaya, in the latest rampage to steal food and medical supplies, but our gallant soldiers and hunters had engaged them to a fierce battle.

They were on rampage to steal food and medical supplies; even on Friday the raided my fathers village Humbli, he said.

He said calm had returned to the area with soldiers on permanent guard.

The Army is yet to react to the attack. Akintoye Badare, a major and spokesperson of the 28 Task-Force Battalion, Mubi, could not be reached as at the time of filing this report.

But an officer in the battalion confirmed the incident.

All I can confirm to you now is that there was an attack on Kuda-kaya and Humbli villages; but we successfully repelled; no casualty on our side, the source said.

The attack on Kuda-Kaya came less than 24 hours after a similar attack in Humbli, forcing residents to flee. The attack also occurs about two days after a daring Boko Haram onslaught on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The recent attacks indicate the group is still able to carry out major attacks and has not been defeated despite the successes achieved by Nigerian soldiers in the war.

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The Kwara Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board on Sunday said it had fixed Friday, June 16, as deadline for the completion of payment of 2017 Hajj fare by all prospective pilgrims travelling through the board.

Mohammed Tunde-Jimoh, the Executive Secretary of the board, announced this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in llorin.

He, therefore, advised all intending pilgrims to pay up their balance on or before that date, or forfeit their seats, warning that there would be no extension of the deadline.

Mr. Tunde-Jimoh said the fixing of the deadline was necessitated by the directive of the National Hajj Commission that all state Muslim pilgrims welfare boards should submit all travelling documents of their intending pilgrims.

The Secretary requested prospective pilgrims who had completed payment of the fare, to submit their e-passport to the Board before June 16.

He expressed gratitude to the state government for its support to the Board towards ensuring hitch-free preparations for the Hajj.

A total of 2,168 and 20 officials from the state are expected to perform the pilgrimage.

NAN reports that all intending pilgrims in the state had deposited N1 million, leaving a balance of N400,000.

The sum of N1.4 million is being charge as Hajj fare this year in Kwara.

(NAN)

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The Secretary, Nasarawa State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Abubakar Nalarabe, has appealed to the Federal Government to subsidise hajj fare.

He made the appeal on Sunday in Lafia during the orientation programme organised by the board for prospective pilgrims from the state.

He urged the government to come to the aid of intending pilgrims in view of the high exchange rate and the economic situation in the country.

Mr. Nalarabe noted that those who participated in the 2016 pilgrimage paid N1,050,000 (one million, fifty thousand naira) as fare, adding that the fare had gone up to N1.5 million.

He said that all the 1,860 seats allocated to intending pilgrims from the state for the 2017 pilgrimage were yet to be paid for even after the expiration of the June 10 deadline for payment.

He added that the deadline had been extended by one week and called on Muslim faithful to ensure that all the seats were paid for.

The secretary said that the orientation programme was organised to sensitise intending pilgrims on the rules and regulations guiding Hajj operation.

He advised the intending pilgrims to beware of fraudsters, who might want to use the name of the board to dupe them, adding that they should verify information from the board.

He also urged them to be security conscious and report any suspected person or persons to the board.

Earlier, Aliyu Ogah-Onawo, the Andoma of Doma, who chaired the occasion, urged the intending pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the state by obeying the laws of Saudi Arabia.

He explained that pilgrimage is not for tourism or luxury but to worship Allah.

He urged the intending pilgrims to be orderly during the stoning of the Devil to avoid stampede.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the orientation programme featured lecture by an Islamic Cleric who warned the prospective pilgrims not to carry charms, kola nuts or drugs to Saudi Arabia.

(NAN)

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The Bayelsa State Government has paid the balance of the fees for its scholarship students at Lincoln University in the United States of America.

A statement issued in on Sunday by the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Jonathan Obuebite, said Governor Seriake Dickson gave the approval for N250 million, which has been remitted to the Ministry of Education for transfer to the university.

According to him, even though, the students have all graduated, as a responsible government that is ever alive to its responsibilities, the governor gave the approval and equally ensured its remittance to the institution.

Mr. Obuebite explained that the delay was as a result of the economic down turn, which drastically affected the finances of the state government, but was quick to express the appreciation of the governor and his administration to the authorities of Lincoln University for their extreme show of understanding in the whole matter.

He recalled with utmost pride, the educational friendly disposition of the governor as well as the excellent performance of the students, some of whom made first class, one of them the best overall graduating student, who also read the valedictory address at the universitys last graduation ceremony.

Mr. Obuebite stated that, despite the general poor financial state of the country, Governor Dickson has remained committed to the administrations policies and programmes in the educational sector, stressing that no stone would be left unturned in ensuring the educational advancement of the state.

He also used the opportunity to commend and congratulate the students for making the state proud by turning out some of the best results.

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States in the south west have declared Monday a public holiday to honour the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Moshood Abiola.

The states, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo, have also lined activities to mark the anniversary.

While declaring the public holiday in his state, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, said the late Abiolas supreme sacrifice culminated in the hurried departure of the military from the political scene in 1999.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, Governor Akeredolu said the government is organising a lecture, as part of programmes lined up for the day, with the theme: June 12: A celebration of courage and resilience.

He said the event will hold at the International Events and Culture Centre (The Dome) in Akure.

Eminent Nigerians, including notable activists are lined up to grace the event. Hon. Wale Oshun is chairman of the occassion, while human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, will be the guest speaker, the statement said.



Akeredolu asked politicians across the country to always demonstrate their unquenchable love for the country.

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in a statement on Sunday in Ado Ekiti, said he took the decision to join his other colleagues in the South West in the spirit of the unity of the region.

Yoruba nations interest is beyond personal interest of anyone. For us to forge ahead as a people, we must speak with one voice, he said.



In the light of this, I declare Monday a public holiday to further strengthen our collective belief, hope and aspirations.

This, I have done in the spirit of Yoruba nation and South West integration.

The Ogun State Government, while declaring the public holiday through the Secretary to State Government, Adeoluwa Taiwo, said it was in line with the practice in the past years to identify with and keep the ideals of June 12.

Consistent with the practice of the past six years, and, as a way of identifying with and keeping the ideals of June 12 alive, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has declared Monday, June 12, 2017 as work free, he said.

Mr. Taiwo said the annual holiday was in honour of the late illustrious son of the state, Moshood Abiola, widely believed to have won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, which marked a unique watershed in Nigerias democratic development.

He further said that this years celebration would feature the annual Democracy Walk, which would be led by the governor, starting from the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta at 7 a.m.

The walk, he said, is expected to take participants through major roads in the state capital to the Abiola family homestead, at Oke-Ido, Gbagura, Abeokuta North Local Government Area, where special prayers and speeches would be made.

According to Mr. Taiwo, an inspirational stage play, Oju Kelekun (farewell to reproach), directed by Prof. Bakare Ojo Rasaki, will be performed at the June 12 Cultural Centre, between 3:45 and 6:00 p.m.

He called on all government functionaries, activists, civil society organisations, democracy volunteers, civil servants, labour/trade unions, students, market women/men and other stakeholders, to participate in the events, designed to draw awareness to the continued relevance of June 12.

The Osun State government on its part, said through its spokesman, Semiu Okanlawon, said that the public holiday became imperative in view of the fact that June 12marked a watershed in the history of democratic evolution in the country.

In line with its established policy of observing June 12 of every year as Democracy Day, the State Government of Osun has declaredMonday, June 12 as public holiday, he said.

He added that It was the day the June 12, 1993 presidential election, adjudged to be the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria took place.

Late Moshood Abiola won the election. However, victory was annulled by the then military head of state, Ibrahim Babangida.

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The Oyo State government has warned that herdsmen found shepherding cows into public schools in the state will be arrested and prosecuted.

A statement released on Sunday by Yomi Layinka, media aide to Governor Abiola Ajimobi, noted that the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Adeniyi Olowofela, gave the warning at a press conference in Ibadan.

Mr. Olowofela gave the warning against the backdrop of reports that cows allegedly invaded some public schools in Ibadan and other areas recently.

The commissioner warned that herdsmen found converting students playground to grazing fields will be arrested for prosecution, while the straying cattle will be seized as exhibits.

The statement explained that although the state had no designated grazing zones, herdsmen in the state have been cautioned at different meetings from straying into unauthorised places to feed their cattle to avert conflict of interest with farmers and property owners.

What happened recently in Edo State has also happened in a school in Ibadan and few other areas where cows invaded public schools, Mr. Olowofela said.

We will no longer tolerate indiscriminate rearing of cows. Stakeholders, including law enforcement agents and farmers have held several meetings in the past on this matter.

We dont want any conflict in any part of Oyo State over cow grazing. Playgrounds in public schools are not grazing fields.

Mr. Olowofela, the statement said, urged herdsmen across the state to comply with the governments directive or face the wrath of the government.

Henceforth, any herdsman caught rearing cattle into schools and other unauthorized public places will be arrested and prosecuted, he warned.

Such cows will also be confiscated and used as exhibits. We can live together in peace if we all dont trespass, he added.

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The Lagos State government has declared Monday public holiday to mark June 12 celebration in the state, saying that the state remains committed to the ideals of the annulled 1993 Presidential election.

In a statement Sunday signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, on behalf of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the government said the holiday was in honour of the ideals which June 12, 1993, presidential election represents; being a day that the country experienced an election that was adjudged as the freest and fairest in Nigerias history.

The governor said 24 years after, the ideals of June 12 commemoration were worth celebrating, describing the day as one of the most defining moments of the countrys political history which has positively shaped its democratic rule.

Governor Ambode said the time has come for Nigerians to go beyond the commemoration and entrench a viable democracy as a way to immortalise the late presumed winner of the election, M.K.O Abiola, through the practice of true federalism and conduct of credible and fair elections.

June 12, 1993 is a day we must not forget in the annals of our democratic history, said Mr. Ambode.

Our present democratic experience may still be far from the ideal but we must all make concerted efforts to entrench fiscal federalism which is the only way to achieve true nationhood.

Continuing, Mr. Ambode said part of the enduring lessons of June 12 election is that it imbued the patriotic and nationalistic zeal in all Nigerians to speak with one voice to make a political choice devoid of ethnic, racial or social sentiments.

On June 12, 1993, majority of Nigerians across all divides demonstrated through the ballot box that irrespective of class or ethnic sympathies, the Nigerian people are united and would always join hands to promote our unifying values, he said.

Governor Ambode said though the peoples hope was dashed with the annulment of the election by the military junta, the lessons of the election cannot be wished away despite subterranean efforts by many to do, describing June 12 as the real Democracy Day in Nigeria.

We owe it a duty to genuinely immortalize the fallen heroes of the June 12 struggle nationally and deepen our democratic values to ensure that never again will such anti-people action be allowed to take place.

He also assured that his administration remains committed to the ideals of June 12 by carrying out people-oriented programmes across the State and making life more comfortable for the people.

Meanwhile, the state government, through the office of Civic Engagement, has perfected arrangement for the annual public symposium which will hold at the De Roof, LTV 8 in Ikeja, to celebrate June 12.

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The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has said that the declaration by some groups in Northern Nigeria that Igbos in the north should leave the region has the potency to cause anarchy in the country.

He said the statement also showed that Nigeria is now more divided than ever before.

The quit notice to the Igbos by a coalition of Northern groups, has also received the backing of some northern elders, including a former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ango Abdullahi.

Mr. Fayose, who also condemned the Northern elders who openly endorsed the action of the youth, appealed to Igbos to remain calm even in the face of provocation.

The gap has widened beyond measure because of the body language of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, he said.

We are more divided than ever. The elements are emboldened because they believe their person is in office and nothing would happen.

This is not surprising to some of us as the herdsmen set the tone and became notorious under the watch of Buhari.

If this continued, it would further heat up the already tensed situation and promote distrust among ethnic groups in the country.

Mr. Fayose urged the federal government to accept responsibility for trend and called for a decisive action to stop it.

We must go back and chart a way forward. We must talk on how we want to live together. Nigeria is drifting and it is not in our interest, he added.

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On Tuesday, President will meet his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, and the countrys Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, as part of final preparations for the Summit of the Three Seas Initiative in July.

It is Polands most important multilateral diplomatic event (), a joint project of the Presidents of Poland and Croatia, Chief of the Cabinet of the President Krzysztof Szczerski explained.

The Three Seas Initiative brings together Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Austria. President Duda declared in May that he wants to make it one of the priorities of his presidency. This is because  he explained - it should help the region be more secure and assertive, which will add to the stability and growth of the Euro-Atlantic world. May be of interest to you Polish, Slovenian presidents discuss EU eastern policy

This is an invitation by the Presidents for countries and businesses of the region to treat each other as potential partners for joint expansion to Western and global markets, Szczerski explained.

President Dudas visit is also designed to foster economic cooperation between Poland and Croatia, with mutual trade already worth over EUR 700 mln and rising, the presidential adiviser added.

To this end, the President will be accompanied by a business mission of Polish entrepreneurs, and take part, together with Ms. Grabar-Kitarovic, in a business forum.

On Wednesday, Mr. Duda will meet with Croatias Polish diaspora. (PAP)
By Press Trust of India: Karachi, Jun 11 (PTI) Three Chinese warships have arrived on a four-day goodwill and training visit at Pakistans southern port city of Karachi.

Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu warships of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy are part of a task group that will hold a Passage Exercise with Pakistan Navy ships to enhance interoperability between the two navies, officials here said.

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A welcome ceremony was organised as the fleet reached here on a four-day goodwill and training visit yesterday.

The visit will promote the understanding and mutual trust between the people of China and Pakistan and boost the cooperation and friendship between the two nations, Commander of the Chinese navy fleet Rear Admiral Shen Hao said.

Shen said the pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development.

Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah visited the fleet. PTI SH CPS

--- ENDS ---
Hundreds of lifeguard hopefuls headed to their favorite beaches Saturday to try out, but only a select few will earn a coveted spot on their respective beach patrols.

Some of the candidates were athletes looking for what is considered the ultimate summer job. For others, it was about carrying on a family tradition.

My dads been on the beach patrol, my aunt, my grandfathers been on it, said Edward Armbruster, 16, of Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Armbruster was one of 27 potentials auditioning for a spot on the Ventnor City Beach Patrol on Saturday morning at Suffolk Avenue.

The weather was ideal for the occasion: clear skies, calm water and a cool breeze coming off the ocean. The test included a half-mile row, a half-mile run and half-mile ocean swim.

Armbruster, a summer resident, caught his breath on the beach after rowing in an iconic Van Duyne surf boat. It was his first solo row, but he made it out and back with few problems.

The Van Duyne boats are synonymous with Jersey Shore vacations and are an integral part of Ventnors beach patrol operations, said Lt. Meghan Holland. She said they are used not only for rescues and for races, but also to watch swimmers from the water.

Holland, 34, of Margate, said the Ventnor Beach Patrol wasnt sure yet how many rookies it would accept this summer. The patrol covers 11 stands over 1.7 miles of beach with 65 guards.

Its a terrific job, Holland said. It builds a lot of camaraderie. The beach patrol is such a local tradition down here.

Mackenzie Middlesworth, 17, of Linwood, whose father is a Ventnor firefighter and former lifeguard, was here for the second year in a row to try out. She passed the test last year, but no new guards were hired. On Saturday, she was confident.

The wind isnt too bad and the waves arent too bad, so Im expecting a pretty good row, Middlesworth said, admitting the run wasnt her strong suit. Im hoping to make it.

In Ocean City, more than 50 hopefuls lined the boardwalk at First Street to register for the days tryout, which included a 3-minute, 45-second half-mile run to qualify. Operations Chief Mark Jamieson, 34, who took over this year for retired Chief Tom Mullineaux, said he saw people trying out who would be fourth-generation guards.

Being over 117 years old, theres a lot of tradition in the Ocean City Beach Patrol that is shown every year in our open tests, said Jamieson, of Egg Harbor Township. Its something that kids have grown up, they turn 16, they know its their year to finally get to try out for a tradition thats been in their lives that they havent been able to be truly a part of yet.

Ocean City had 30 to 35 openings this year on its beach patrol of 171 members guarding eight miles of beach. However, not all the hopefuls were following in their families footsteps.

Mark Yellin, 62, may have been the oldest person trying out Saturday. This was the second year the Ocean City resident made an attempt at the local beach patrol.

Its a push for my kids. I wanted to show them at any age you can still compete, Yellin said. Ive always been a competitor.

Before they headed out to the race, Jamieson had a few words of encouragement for the recruits.

Its going to be a grueling test. Theres no two ways about it, he said. Dont give up.
ATLANTIC CITY  State overseers have informed the citys Fire Department it will start its new 56-hour workweek schedule Sunday.

Bill DiLorenzo, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 198, said the union was notified of the change late Friday afternoon. The department had worked 42 hours in a week.

Former U.S. Sen. Jeff Chiesa, the citys state-appointed overseer, made the change to cut costs.

Chiesa also changed health insurance coverage, cut staff 25 percent and reduced pay 20 percent as the state looks to balance the city budget.

The union said Fire Chief Scott Evans had asked for eight days notice before the changes would become effective.

We asked for more time to discuss the different schedules that were being proposed by the state, DiLorenzo said. Increasing the workweek in one of the busiest fire departments in New Jersey by 35 percent, while simultaneously implementing severe pay and benefit cuts, is having serious effects on the mental well-being of firefighters.

Lisa Ryan, spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Affairs, said its last meeting with the union forged an agreement that the new schedule would begin Sunday.

The fire union had until June 6 to decide between which of two shifts would go into place, Ryan said. They could not come to a consensus as to which of the two types of shifts they wanted, and so the acting state fire marshal and state monitor for Atlantic City chose and so advised fire Chief Evans. This is not the first time battalion Chief DiLorenzo has misrepresented the facts.

The fire union challenged the cuts in court and is scheduled June 26 to be back in front of Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez.

Meanwhile, our budget is $2 million lower than it was 32 years ago, in 1985, and were responding to 5,000 more calls than we did at that time, DiLorenzo said. How can these drastic changes be reasonable and maintain the same level of safety as the stabilization act demands?
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updates with additional inputs)

Karachi, Jun 11 (PTI) Three warships of the Chinese navy have docked at Pakistans southern port city Karachi on a four-day "goodwill and training" visit as the two all-weather allies step up their strategic ties.

The warships - Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu - of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy are part of a task group that will hold a Passage Exercise with the Pakistan Navy ships to enhance interoperability, officials here said.

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The visit will promote understanding and mutual trust between the two nations and their peoples, the commander of the Chinese navy fleet, Rear Admiral Shen Hao, said.

Shen said pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will strengthen regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development.

A welcome ceremony was organised as the fleet reached here on a four-day goodwill and training visit yesterday.

Karachi is one of the two major ports

in southern Pakistan; the other being the Gwadar Port in Balochistan province, which is being built with Chinese assistance.

Reports have previously suggested that China may potentially use the Gwadar Port as an overseas naval facility.

Experts believe that CPEC and the Gwadar Port would enhance military capabilities of both China and Pakistan, and increase the Chinese navys access to the Arabian Sea. Having a naval base in Gwadar could also allow Chinese vessels to use the port for repair and maintenance of their fleet in the Indian Ocean region.

Also, the Karachi port lies on the route of the controversial USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that links the Gwadar Port to Chinas Xinjiang province.

India has objected to the CPEC - which is a part of Chinas ambitious Belt and Road intiatiave - as it runs through Gilgit and Baltistan region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. PTI SH CPS ABH

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: colleges

New Delhi, June 11 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today asked Education Minister Manish Sisodia to explore the possibility of giving 80 per cent reservation to students of the national capital in the Delhi government-aided colleges.

Kejriwal also asked him to see if 80-85 per cent of guest teachers could be inducted from the national capital through a drive being conducted to appoint 9,000 teachers. This move would help generate jobs for the people of Delhi.

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Interacting with volunteers through Google Hangout, Kejriwal listed measures taken by his government, especially in the health and education sectors and urged them to popularise the AAP dispensations schemes.

He said the AAP government want to achieve 100 per cent literacy in the national capital.

The chief minister said he had been receiving complaints from students belonging to Delhi about not getting admission in the city-based colleges.

"Delhi is the capital of the nation. It belongs to everyone and all are welcome here. But the colleges being run with the money of Delhis taxpayers should have some reservation and students of Delhi should be given priority.

"I request Manish ji (Sisodia) to explore the possibility of giving reservation in 28 colleges which get aid from the Delhi government," he said.

The AAP had proposed a similar move in the past.

With high cut-offs for admission to several colleges in Delhi, many students in the national capital complain of not getting seats.

Also, the Delhi students have to compete with those who complete their Class XII from outside the national capital.

At present, Delhi Technological University and the Indraprastha University give reservation to students domiciled in Delhi.

Kejriwal said the ambit of the Delhi governments education scheme to stand as a guarantor for students seeking education loan up to Rs 10 lakh has been expanded.

"This scheme was applicable to students pursuing courses in colleges in Delhi. Now, they can take benefit of the scheme to study anywhere in the world," he said.

He, however, rued that the governments flagship scheme for providing free treatment in private hospitals was not being implemented properly.

"When I visited the hospitals, I realised that not all know about the scheme. I have told the medical superintendents to popularise this scheme," he said.

Kejriwal also demanded that the Centre waive farm loans and implement the Swaminathan Commission report.

If the Centre can waive loans of industrialists, then it can also write off the debt of farmers.

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Earlier in the day, Kejriwal visited his constituency of New Delhi and interacted with people. PTI PR GVS

--- ENDS ---
SAN DIEGO, June 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The medication alirocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor, reduces LDL cholesterol levels as well as non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to two ODYSSEY DIABETES (DM) presentations today at the "Inhibition of PCSK9 in Dyslipidemia Patients with Diabetes" symposium at the American Diabetes Association's 77th Scientific Sessions at the San Diego Convention Center.

People with diabetes are more prone to have abnormal cholesterol levels, which can result in increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cholesterol levels in the blood are modulated by the liver. Receptors on the liver bind cholesterol and allow it to be broken down. PCSK-9 is a protein that is known to reduce the activity of these receptors. Alirocumab is an approved monoclonal antibody that prevents PCSK-9 protein from impairing the liver's receptors. This allows more cholesterol to be broken down by the liver, therefore lowering cholesterol levels. ODYSSEY is a large study program with alirocumab and includes numerous research trials utilizing the medication.

ODYSSEY DM-Insulin Trial

The ODYSSEY-DM Insulin Trial is an international Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, study conducted at 108 centers across the U.S. and Europe. The trial enrolled insulin treated patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and who also had a high cardiovascular risk and hypercholesterolemia (high levels of "bad" cholesterol) not adequately controlled by the maximum tolerated statin therapy.

This analysis outlines the study results of the patients with T2D. The trial enrolled a total of 441 adults with T2D who had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels at screening of 70mg/dL (1.81mmol/L). The patients were either taking the maximum tolerated cholesterol-lowering drug dose (called statins) or were unable to tolerate any statin. Additionally, the patients had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or at least one other cardiovascular risk factor.

The patients were randomly assigned to receive either an injection of 75 mg of alirocumab (N=294) or a placebo (N=147) injection once every two weeks. The patients in the alirocumab group who had an LDL-C level of 70mg/dL at eight weeks received a blinded dose increase to 150mg at week 12 (a blinded dose indicates that the clinician and the patient were unaware if medication or placebo was administered). Primary endpoints of the trial were the difference between treatment arms in percentage change of calculated LDL-C from baseline to week 24, and adverse events.

The results indicate that at 24-weeks, alirocumab significantly reduced LDL-C by 49 percent compared to the placebo and also improved other lipid parameters. Further, 80 percent of patients reached the recommended target LDL-C levels with the alirocumab dose of 75 mg. Researchers concluded that the co-administration of alirocumab and insulin was safe and the incidence of adverse events was generally similar between alirocumab and placebo. Additionally, alirocumab was generally well-tolerated and did not affect glucose control.

While this was the first dedicated trial of a PCSK9 inhibitor in patients with T2D, the results are comparable to what was previously seen in the ODYSSEY program. This study also evaluated the effect of alirocumab on some newer lipid parameters that will enable researchers to better understand the effect of alirocumab on atherogenic diabetic dyslipidemia (ADD). (ADD is characterized by high serum triglycerides, elevated LDL levels, low HDL levels and postprandial lipemia, with insulin resistance being the primary cause of ADD).

"People with diabetes are at high cardiovascular risk, and dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for macrovascular complications," said Lawrence Leiter, MD, associate scientist at Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, and professor in the departments of medicine and nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. "Despite the current standard of care for lipid lowering therapy, many individuals with diabetes have persistent lipid abnormalities resulting in increased residual cardiovascular risk. For people with diabetes, cardiovascular risk increases with advanced duration of diabetes, particularly in insulin-treated patients. The results of the ODYSSEY DM-Insulin study provide valuable information on the efficacy and safety of alirocumab in this high cardiovascular risk group and will help guide clinical decision-making beyond statin therapy."

Additional results on the efficacy and safety of alirocumab in patients with T1D will be extracted and reported at a later date.

Alirocumab Versus Usual Care in Diabetes with Mixed Dyslipidemia  ODYSSEY DM  DYSLIPIDEMIA Study

This international trial, "Efficacy and Safety of Alirocumab Versus Usual Care on Top of Maximally Tolerated Statin Therapy in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Mixed Dyslipidemia (ODYSSEY DM-Dyslipidemia)," was a randomized, open-label, parallel group study. The study focused on evaluating the efficacy and safety of alirocumab versus standard care (either no additional lipid lowering therapy or ezetimibe, fenofibrates, omega-3 fatty acids, nicotinic acid ) in patients with type 2 diabetes and mixed dyslipidemia who were at high cardiovascular risk (established atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) or at least one other cardiovascular risk factor) with non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL- C) not adequately controlled with the maximum tolerated dosage of statin therapy. Mixed dyslipidemia was defined as elevations in non-HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels that are often accompanied by low levels of HDL cholesterol.

The study enrolled 413 people with type 2 diabetes from 110 centers from the U.S., Europe, South America, the Middle East, Australia and the U.K. The trial consisted of a 24-week treatment period, and a safety follow-up period of eight weeks. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 75 mg of alirocumab (administered via an auto-injector every two weeks for 24 weeks); or standard care in a 2:1 ratio. Patients who were randomized to be in the alirocumab group, but who did not achieve adequate reduction in non HDL-cholesterol at 12 weeks follow-up, had their alirocumab dosage increased to 150 mg in a blinded manner (meaning the clinician and the patient were both unaware if the medication administered was alirocumab or placebo). Primary endpoint of the trial was the difference between treatment arms in percentage change of non-HDL-C from baseline to week 24.

After 24 weeks of treatment, data indicates that alirocumab significantly reduced the non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) by 32.5 percent compared to usual care. Non-HDL-C is considered to be a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than LDL-C levels, particularly in this patient population with type 2 diabetes with mixed dyslipidemia. Additionally, patients who received alirocumab had improvement in other lipid parameters1 compared to the patients in the usual care group, and the majority of patients in the alirocumab group reached the recommended lipid levels on the 75 mg dose. The number of adverse events was generally similar between the two treatment arms. Further, alirocumab was generally well tolerated and did not affect glucose control.

"Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in people with type 2 diabetes," said lead investigator Robert R. Henry, MD, professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology & metabolism at the University of California, San Diego, and chief of the endocrinology, metabolism & diabetes section and the Center for Metabolic Research at the VA Medical Center in San Diego. "Mixed dyslipidemia is commonly present in these patients and further increases their cardiovascular risk. The ODYSSEY-DM-DYSLIPIDEMA study is the first trial that directly compares a PCSK9 Inhibitor with usual care in patients with T2DM diabetes who have lipid disturbances. The results of our study will assist clinicians in the management of mixed dyslipidemia, which is a persistent challenge in clinical practice, for patients with type 2 diabetes."

To speak with Dr. Leiter or Dr. Henry, please contact the Association's media relations team on-site at the San Diego Convention Center on June 9 -13, by phone at 619-525-6250 or by email at [email protected].

The American Diabetes Association's 77th Scientific Sessions, to be held June 9-13, 2017, at the San Diego Convention Center, is the world's largest scientific meeting focused on diabetes research, prevention and care. During the five-day meeting, health care professionals have exclusive access to more than 2,500 original research presentations, participate in provocative and engaging exchanges with leading diabetes experts, and can earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) or Continuing Education (CE) credits for educational sessions. The program is grouped into eight interest areas: Acute and Chronic Complications; Behavioral Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Education and Exercise; Clinical Diabetes/Therapeutics; Epidemiology/Genetics; Immunology/Transplantation; Insulin Action/Molecular Metabolism; Integrated Physiology/Obesity; and Islet Biology/Insulin Secretion. Brenda Montgomery, RN, MSHS, CDE,2 President of Health Care and Education, will deliver her address on Saturday, June 10, and Alvin C. Powers, MD, President of Medicine and Science, will present his address on Sunday, June 11. Eight abstracts were selected by the Scientific Sessions Meeting Planning Committee to be presented on Tuesday, June 13, in the President's Oral Session. These abstracts represent important research being conducted in the field of diabetes today. In total, the 2017 Scientific Sessions includes 378 abstracts in 49 oral sessions; 2,152 poster presentations including 50 moderated poster discussions; and 360 published-only abstracts. Join the Scientific Sessions conversation on Twitter, #2017ADA.

About the American Diabetes Association

More than 29 million Americans have diabetes, and every 23 seconds another person is diagnosed with diabetes. The American Diabetes Association (Association) is the global authority on diabetes and since 1940 has been committed to its mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. To tackle this global public health crisis, the Association drives discovery in research to treat, manage and prevent all types of diabetes, as well as to search for cures; raises voice to the urgency of the diabetes epidemic; and provides support and advocacy for people living with diabetes, those at risk of developing diabetes and the health care professionals who serve them. For more information, please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit diabetes.org. Information from both of these sources is available in English and Spanish. Find us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn) and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).

1 Parameters such as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B (Apo B), total cholesterol (Total -C), lipoprotein a (Lp[a]), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), triglyceride rich lipoproteins (TGRLs), apolipoprotein A-1 (Apo A-1), apolipoprotein C-III (Apo C-III), lipid subfractions by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (i.e. LDL-C particle size and LDL, very low-density lipoprotein [VLDL], HDL, and intermediate-density lipoprotein [IDL] particle number).

2 Disclosures for Brenda Montgomery. Employer: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Montgomery's role as President, Health Care & Education of the American Diabetes Association (Association) is a voluntary position to which she was elected by the members of the Association in 2015. She continues to recuse herself from any and all discussions, decisions or votes that have or could be perceived as having a conflict of interest with her employer.

SOURCE American Diabetes Association

Related Links

http://www.diabetes.org


AMSTERDAM and DENVER, June 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NSYE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced that it will be showcasing molecular imaging solutions highlighting Philips' commitment to innovation and more personalized care at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2017 Annual Meeting. Molecular imaging provides insight into molecular and cellular processes in the body, and has the potential to transform healthcare by offering earlier detection and more precise treatment of diseases. Philips continues to bring solutions into the field of nuclear medicine that enhance quantitative accuracy and enable new clinical applications driving more personalized care and workflow efficiencies from diagnosis to treatment.

Nuclear medicine technology has significantly evolved over the years  growing from just scanners to solutions that comprise systems and advanced informatics, for enhanced image quality, quantification and analytics. As value-based care changes the way healthcare organizations approach care delivery, there is a greater need for easy to use, fast and precise imaging. With increased access to better data, clinicians are looking for ways to make that data actionable, especially in terms of customizing patient treatment. Molecular imaging accomplishes that, allowing physicians to make decisions based on the specific molecular and cellular patterns of disease in addition to the patient's anatomy.

"Molecular imaging today allows physicians to make decisions with greater insight, precision and confidence, bringing healthcare one step closer to personalized care," said Kirill Shalyaev, Ph.D., Business Leader, Advanced Molecular Imaging, Philips. "Philips has made a lasting impact in nuclear medicine by providing clinicians with innovations such as Time-of-Flight PET and digital PET/CT, and we remain dedicated to developing solutions that simplify the path to clinical decision making for more confident diagnosis and a faster path to treatment."

Even with its significant growth in past years, the opportunity for further innovation and growth in nuclear medicine remains, continuing to maximize its value and impact. Philips' SNMMI exhibit (booth 657) will feature the company's latest solutions and technologies driving the future of nuclear medicine:

Vereos Digital PET/CT  The world's first and only fully digital PET/CT system featuring Philips proprietary Digital Photon Counting (DPC) technology. Vereos offers improved detectability and characterization of small lesions[1]. The system provides uncompromised detectability and quantification at half the PET dose[2]. Vereos also provides lesion detectability in one tenth of the time[3].

 The world's first and only fully digital PET/CT system featuring Philips proprietary Digital Photon Counting (DPC) technology. Vereos offers improved detectability and characterization of small lesions[1]. The system provides uncompromised detectability and quantification at half the PET dose[2]. Vereos also provides lesion detectability in one tenth of the time[3]. Ingenuity TF PET/CT  Leverages Philips' Astonish TF technology for enhanced image contrast, resolution, and quality. Features Philips' proprietary xPand5 quantification tools to assist in measuring and monitoring disease progression. These technologies join CT advances, such as iPatient, iDoseand metal artifact reduction for implants (O-MAR), to drive confidence and consistency through personalized patient centric workflow.

Leverages Philips' Astonish TF technology for enhanced image contrast, resolution, and quality. Features Philips' proprietary xPand5 quantification tools to assist in measuring and monitoring disease progression. These technologies join CT advances, such as iPatient, iDoseand metal artifact reduction for implants (O-MAR), to drive confidence and consistency through personalized patient centric workflow. IntelliSpace Portal 9.0  IntelliSpace Portal 9.0  The latest edition of Philips' comprehensive, advanced visualization and analysis platform offers quantitative tumor tracking and treatment response tools with a streamlined workflow for followup and analysis in oncology cases. IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 provides enterprisewide access to a comprehensive suite of Molecular Imaging processing and review applications for general Nuclear Medicine, SPECT, SPECT/CT and PET/CT.

 IntelliSpace Portal 9.0  The latest edition of Philips' comprehensive, advanced visualization and analysis platform offers quantitative tumor tracking and treatment response tools with a streamlined workflow for followup and analysis in oncology cases. IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 provides enterprisewide access to a comprehensive suite of Molecular Imaging processing and review applications for general Nuclear Medicine, SPECT, SPECT/CT and PET/CT. SPECT Solutions  To fulfill the need for clinically dependable SPECT systems, Philips provides cost-efficient cardiac and general-purpose SPECT solutions that maximize the return on investment.

Innovation Talks

This year, Philips will host a number of talks and presentations at its booth (#657) at SNMMI. In addition, Philips' academic partners will present 19 scientific presentations and posters demonstrating the value Philips' digital PET/CT system is bringing to molecular imaging  advancing knowledge and application using features such as lesion detection and quantitative imaging.

For more information on Philips' molecular imaging solutions, and to learn more about the company's presence at SNMMI 2017, visit booth 657, www.philips.com/snmmi and follow the conversation on @PhilipsLiveFrom.

For further information, please contact:

Alicia Cafardi

Philips Group Communications

Tel: + 1 412-523-9616

E-mail: [email protected]

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com

ewscenter.

[1] Nguyen NC, Image Quality and Diagnostic Performance of a Digital PET Prototype in Patients with Oncologic Diseases: Initial Experience and Comparison with Analog PET, J Nucl Med 2015; 56:13781385.

[2] Liu X et al, Impact of FDG Dose Reduction on Lesion Quantification in Dynamic PET: A Simulation Study Based on Clinical Trial Data, SNMMI 2016.

[3] Zhang J., Evaluation of speed of PET acquisition: How fast can we go? - A validation of list mode PET simulation approach with true acquisitions, SNMMI 2017.

SOURCE Royal Philips
ASHEVILLE, N.C., June 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporations nationwide are now able to directly sign Purchase Power Agreements (PPA's) with Innovative Solar Systems, LLC and thus save millions of dollars yearly on their large Corporate Power Bills. No change in service or interruption of their current service or service provider is necessary for all of this to happen. It has never been simpler for Corporate America to have a choice in who they buy their power from and how much they pay. Solar Power is now the cheapest form of electricity, cheaper than coal, natural gas and nuclear so it just makes sense that large Corporations that consume massive quantities of electricity would want to enter into long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA's) with Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers like ISS to save millions. Corporate America can now immediately become more profitable by merely entering into long term reduced rate PPA's for our power that is generated from ISS's Solar Farms nationwide.

Sign a Long Term Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) with ISS today and save on your electricity bills.

Innovative Solar Systems is the largest developer of Solar Farm projects in the US and can help Corporate buyers of electricity enjoy energy stability for budgets, and forecasting by locking into fixed term PPA's that range from 5 to 25 years or longer. Corporates are now able to reduce energy costs by as much as 20% while offsetting their carbon emissions with our SRECs. Does your Corporation wish to join the prestigious RE100 Club and use 100% Renewables for the energy you consume? Cut the middle man out of your energy procurement process and buy your electricity directly from the Solar Farm Company today. Solar energy is now by far the cheapest form of electricity and Innovative Solar Systems can supply your corporate needs for the long term so please contact our Executive Team today to explore a long term PPA with us.

Corporate energy savings has never been easier and requires so little for the savings to quickly occur. Cheap electricity for Corporations of any size is now a reality through Innovative Solar Systems and our massive Utility Scale Solar Farm projects located in over 35 states nationwide. Save on your corporate energy bill while securing long term efficient renewable energy. Please contact our team today for cut rate, long term Purchase Power Agreements (PPA's). Improving your company bottom line just got easier so call us now and buy electricity for less.

Contact - CFO (Mr. Craig Sherman) at +1 828 767 1015

Contact - CEO (John E Green) at +1 828 215 9064

Email  [email protected]

Email  [email protected]

*THIS CONTENT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE CONSTRUED AS AN OFFER FOR SALE OF AN INVESTMENT OR SECURITIES, NOR IS ANY LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE BEING OFFERED.*

SOURCE Innovative Solar Systems
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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
Washington, June 9 : The Justice Department has issued a statement defending Attorney General Jeff Sessions and refuting some of former FBI Director James Comey's congressional testimony.

The Justice Department contradicted Comey's statement given to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, which suggested that Sessions recused himself on March 2 from an ongoing probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election because he was implicated in a series of facts which could not be made public as it was classified information, reports Efe news.

"We were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said.

"Our judgment, as I recall, was that he was very close to and inevitably going to recuse himself for a variety of reasons," the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director added.

In response, Justice Department spokesperson Ian Prior said in a statement later on Thursday, Sessions stepped away from the investigation on Kremlin because he had actively participated in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, accompanying him to campaign events and advising him on immigration issues.

"Shortly after being sworn in, Attorney General Sessions began consulting with career Department of Justice ethics officials to determine whether he should recuse himself from any existing or future investigations of any matters related in any way to the campaigns for President of the US," Prior said.

Due to his participation in Trump's presidential campaign, Sessions decided to recuse himself from the Russian investigation "for that reason, and that reason alone," according to Prior.

However, when Sessions made the decision, the fact that he had had two meetings during the presidential campaign with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, had just come to light.

Sessions did not reveal his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during his confirmation hearing, an omission which prompted Republican and Democratic lawmakers' to call for Sessions to distance himself from the investigation.

In a speech in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the former FBI's testimony "raises serious questions about Attorney General Sessions that he and the Justice Department must answer immediately."

According to CNN, in a closed session with the senators in the afternoon, Comey revealed that Sessions had a third meeting with the Russian ambassador that was kept secret.

That encounter allegedly also took place during the presidential campaign.

Sessions is due to appear before a Senate subcommittee on June 13, and Democratic lawmakers have already announced that they will take the opportunity to ask him about his contacts with Moscow as well as his role in the Russian FBI investigation.
Shimla, June 9 : Himachal Pradesh's octogenarian Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has taken it upon himself to restoring, and sometimes even reconstructing, the state's beautiful ancient temples to preserve as he says its rich religious and cultural traditions for posterity.

Be it the hilltop Tara Devi temple overlooking the state capital or the Hatu temple located at an elevation of 3,400 metre near Narkanda, he is reviving the past by reconstructing them in their original style. The work is done primarily using government funds but the Chief Minister does not mind paying from his own pocket if there is a fund crunch.

The hill state has over 2,000 temples and monasteries that are centuries-old. Of these, 60 are under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India while 36 are under the control of the state Language, Art and Culture Department.

Officials say in total there are over 25,000 small and big temples, comprising largely local deities, dotted across the state. Most of them have been built in typical hill architecture of wood and slate.

"There is a provision to sanction grant-in-aid that goes maximum up to Rs 25 lakh to a temple for its restoration," Shashi Thakur, director of state Language, Art and Culture Department, told IANS.

Earlier, there was a provision to allocate funds only to the temples that are over a century old.

"Now even the temples that have completed 50 years of existence have been covered under the restoration scheme, provided temple authorities have submitted restoration proposals for approval with us," Thakur, who is also the custodian of the temples, added.

A scion of the royal family, Virbhadra Singh's generosity has been an open secret. His aides say the discretion to allocate grants for maintenance of the religious institutions through a revolving fund lies with the Chief Minister himself, who is liberal in allocating funds.

"If some temple doesn't fall under the preview of the fund that is meant for preservation of religious institutions, the Chief Minister doesn't mind paying from his own pocket," an official said.

On June 4, the Chief Minister attended a ceremony to install an idol of Shaity Naag in the newly-constructed temple of Shaity Naag Devta at Shettadhar, an upcoming paragliding destination in the interiors of Seraj that is some 94 km from Mandi town.

The Shaity Naag Devta temple, which was last rebuilt 200 years ago, was reconstructed after demolishing the old structure. It is located close to the 250-year-old prominent temple dedicated to Goddess Hadimba which was reconstructed in 2013.

Temple priest Himant Ram said the temple, which was restored at a cost of over Rs 2 crore, was reconstructed in four years at its original site. The doors and the wooden structures of the temple have been tastefully decorated with miniature pictures of goddesses.

To ensure the Chief Minister's participation in the idol installation ceremony in the hilltop temple that is not connected by road, a special helipad was constructed by local authorities.

"In this state life of people revolves around their deities. It has a rich culture and traditions which need to be carried forward and the government is working with utmost commitment in this direction," Virbhadra Singh said.

Likewise, the Hatu temple near Narkanda and Bhimakali temple in Sarahan - both centuries-old temples located in Shimla district - have got their original look back after reconstruction.

In the past, many temples had their own land and income generated out of it was used for maintenance and for daily prayers and worship.

The government says after implementation of land reforms, many temples lost their landed estates resulting into paucity of income. This resulted in lack of maintenance as well as regular worship at the temple.

The government has created a revolving fund scheme to regularise daily prayers and worship and ensure proper maintenance of the religious institutions, besides helping them increase their income.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
New Delhi : In 1986, in a thickly forested mountain valley in north-east China, eight tigers emerged from transport containers to find themselves in new and unfamiliar territory. Born in American zoos, these tigers had been shipped to China on the understanding that they would form the basis of a new captive breeding programme, to benefit the conservation of the species.

Instead, they were to become the founding population of China's first commercial tiger farm. They had been brought together by the Ministry of Forestry at a fur farm in Heilongjiang Province to establish the Hengdaohezi Breeding Centre, a government-funded operation to breed tigers for profit, primarily to supply bones for medicinal use. The move marked the beginning of a cruel chapter in the history of their species, which was to have a devastating impact on tigers across the world.

By the 1980s, after decades of systematic persecution, wild tigers were almost extinct in China. With this decline, so too the supply of wild tiger body parts within China for use in traditional medicines had dried up. As continued demand in China fuelled a poaching epidemic across other tiger range countries, government and private profiteers seized upon a business opportunity: Large-scale breeding of tigers in captive facilities to supply body parts to the traditional medicine industry. From the outset, the tigers in China's tiger farms were commodities, to be slaughtered and sold off for profit.

Fast-forward three decades. There are now 5,000-6,000 tigers kept in more than 200 facilities across China. Among these are huge-scale farming operations, including the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, and Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village in Guangxi each of which now hold more than 1,000 tigers.

Many of these tigers are kept in horrific conditions, in cramped concrete enclosures without any kind of mental stimulation. Many captive tigers exhibit symptoms of severe mental and physical distress, and genetic deformities suggest serious in-breeding.

There are fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left on Earth -- a decline of 96 per cent since the start of the 20th century. The main reason for this decline is poaching to feed Chinese demand for their skins, bones and other body parts.

Elsewhere in Asia, tigers have followed a similar trajectory. Populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are now functionally extinct, with no evidence of breeding. While tiger populations are stable or increasing in some other countries, such as India, the poaching of wild tigers to feed Chinese demand for their body parts continues at alarming rates.

Clearly, an explosion in the number of captive tigers has done nothing to stop the killing of wild tigers. Instead, tiger farming has sustained and stimulated demand for tiger parts, driving devastating poaching and hastening their march to extinction.

China's tiger farms make frequent appearances on social media and in the news. Just this month, the announcement of tiger births at Hengdaohezi Breeding Centre was widely shared, accompanied by beguiling images of the young animals.

At many facilities in China, visitors can pay to get close to tigers, by taking bus "safaris" through enclosures, or posing for selfies with tiger cubs or sedated adults. Videos from Harbin Tiger Park show tigers living in unnatural "herds". Visitors can pay to feed the animals, and can witness live animals being killed and devoured by as many as 20 tigers at once. There is nothing natural about such behaviour.

Wild tigers are solitary creatures that depend on their hunting skills to survive. While these captive tigers may share the inherent ability to kill as their wild brethren, they have not learned the skills of what to kill. Growing up around people, they lose their fear of humans. They would pose a serious danger to local communities if released, and would be condemned to a life of persecution.

Many facilities that keep captive tigers in China have been exposed trading products made from tiger parts. The Harbin Siberian Tiger Park and Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Village have both been documented on multiple occasions trading "wine" made by soaking tiger bones in alcohol.

The Government of China is apparently complicit in perpetuating tiger trade. Despite a 1993 directive, which prohibits all trade in tiger bone and its use in medicine, tiger bone wine appears to be produced and marketed with express government authorisation under a 2005 Notification. In 2013, the Environmental Investigation Agency reported on the commercial sale of luxury rugs made from the skins of captive-bred tigers, which were being offered for sale with permits issued by the State Forestry Administration.

Multiple real-world examples have shown that in practice, legal trade in threatened species does not take pressure off wild populations. Conversely, legal trade stimulates demand by legitimising the product in the eye of the consumer; complicates law enforcement as products from wild and captive animals are often indistinguishable; and presents opportunities for traders to launder illegal items from poached animals into the legal trade.

The year 2016 saw more tigers poached in India than any year since 2001. The world's last remaining wild tiger populations are paying the ultimate price to feed demand that is stimulated by Chinese policy. They simply cannot withstand this level of killing.

It's clear that there is growing support for ending tiger farming in China. A proposal was put forward at this year's CPPCC plenary session to end tiger trade and phase out tiger farms, and new government plans to establish a huge reserve in north-east China for tigers and leopards are a positive step. But until commercial breeding and trade of tigers and their parts are phased out, this policy will continue to undermine any other attempts to save China's tigers.

(In arrangement with thethirdpole.net. Aron White is a campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency. Views expressed are those of thethirdpole.net. Feedback at information@thethirdpole.net)
O Panneerselvam today announced the dissolution of a panel formed to hold merger talks with the AIADMK faction led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

By India Today Web Desk: Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today announced the dissolution of a seven-member panel formed in April to hold merger talks with the AIADMK faction led by his successor, Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Panneerselvam made the announcement at a meeting of party functionaries, after senior leaders pressed him for a decision in this regard.

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O Panneerselvam ('OPS' ) leads the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, and Edappadi Palaniswami ('EPS') leads the AIADMK Amma faction. 'Amma' is a reference to the late J Jayalalithaa.

The OPS camp had demanded that AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran be dismissed from the party, and that the investigation in the Jayalalithaa death case be handed over to the CBI. None of this has happened.

It's also worth noting that several EPS camp MLAs recently met Dinakaran, who's out on bail after being arrested in a bribery case. He was accused of bribing an Election Commission official to get the frozen 'two leaves' symbol for his faction.

What's more, Chief Minister Palaniswami said recently at a meeting that the party had enough numbers to lead the Tamil Nadu government without the OPS camp's support.

The OPS and EPS camps split after a couple of tumultuous weeks in February saw Panneerselvam revolt against VK Sasikala after she was made legislature party leader, the Supreme Court sentence Sasikala in a disproportionate assets case, and Palaniswami take over as CM after winning a trust vote in the state Assembly.

Merger talks between the two factions began in April.

EPS CAMP TO FILE 1,50,000 AFFIDAVITS IN TWO LEAVES SYMBOL DISPUTE CASE

Meanwhile, the Palaniswami camp is set to file around 1,50,000 affidavits tomorrow at the Election Commission in the AIADMK 'two leaves symbol' dispute case.

After Tamil Nadu law minister CV Shanmugham files them tomorrow, the total number of affidavits filed by the EPS camp in the EC will be 3,10,000.

The poll panel froze in the symbol in the run-up to the now-cancelled bypoll in Chennai's RK Nagar, Jayalalithaa's former constituency.

(Inputs from PTI)

ALSO READ | Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar, brother Deepak fight over Poes Garden house, target Sasikala

ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu: Why Dinakaran's meeting with 21 AIADMK MLAs spells trouble for EPS government

ALSO WATCH | Dinakaran posing threat to EPS: What next for AIADMK?

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--- ENDS ---
The Hague, June 11 : In front of Amsterdam Central Station a car crashed against a wall at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, eight people were injured, Amsterdam police said.

The driver of the car was arrested and taken to the police station for questioning. His car is being investigated. The area in front of the station was sealed after the incident. Of the eight injured people, two have been taken to the hospital, Xinhua reported.

According to the statement by the Amsterdam police, the car was parked at a place where that was not allowed, after which police officers told the car driver about his obstruction.

The car driver then drove away with high speed across the Stationsplein square in front of the station, hitting several people and crashing to the subway entrance wall.
New Delhi : The Second World War was truly a "world" war -- for, apart from encompassing most of the globe, it saw all military forces drawing in additional "personnel" beyond the planet's dominant species. These were not only beasts of burden and transport like horses or elephants, but also man's best animal friend performing a range of tasks from "escort" to "early warning", and a shell-totting bear and many more.

Over 50 animals, on the British side, displaying "conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty" were conferred the Dickin Medal, popularly known as "the animals' Victoria Cross". While not all these dogs, homing pigeons, horses and a cat recipients have books on them, some of these -- or others who do -- form a heartening sub-genre of war literature.

One of the most unusual of them was the beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking (or rather eating) "Corporal Wojciech Perski" of 22nd Artillery Support Company of the Polish II Corps -- or rather Wojtek the Bear (c.1942-63) as he is better known.

Entranced by stories about this bear told by her grandfather, seeing him in Edinburgh Zoo and having helped to immortalise his memory in Scotland, Aileen Orr recounts his curious life in "Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero" (2010).

Bought in Iran from his boy owner by a contingent of Polish servicemen, released from Stalin's gulags to join the Allies, the orphaned Syrian bear cub, bearing a Polish name meaning "happy warrior", accompanied them through their onward sojourn through Iraq to Palestine, to combat in Italy.

In Iraq, he helped capture an Arab spy but also stole an entire washing line of women soldiers' underwear. His minders, however, managed to recover them, returned them "with some difficulty in keeping straight faces" and made him say sorry. Wojtek "dutifully played his part, hiding his snout behind his large forepaws and whimpering piteously. Then he peeked out from behind his paws, his bright button eyes searching the girls' faces to see what sort of effect he was having on them".

Participating in the desperate battles of Monte Cassino (where he helped to carry around artillery shells), he came with them to Scotland, where the Poles were brought after the war ended, demobilised and most settled down -- being unable to return to their Soviet-run homeland. He was eventually -- and most reluctantly -- sent to the zoo when his Polish minders had to move on, became a little sad, but was always perked by their visits, the sound of Polish and the treats smuggled in to him.

There was the St Bernard who became the mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy and then of the entire Free Norwegian Forces and has his story told in, among other accounts, Angus Whitson & Andrew Orr's "Sea Dog Bamse, World War II Canine Hero" (2011).

Owned by a whaler's captain and taken to sea from an early age, Bamse became an official crew member when the war broke out and his owner fled to Britain with his vessel. Converted into a minesweeper, operating out of Scotland, it had Bamse, wearing a special helmet, standing in the vessel's forward gun tower during action.

But he played a major role on shore too, once saving a ship officer attacked by a knife-wielding man by pushing the assailant into the sea. Made responsible for rounding up crew on shore leave, he travelled on local buses to get down near a bar they frequented to take them back. He also specialised in breaking up fights among crewmates by rearing up and putting his paws on their shoulders to calm them down.

Ant was a German Shepherd found by Vaclav Robert Bozdech, a Czech pilot in French service, after a crash and went to fly on missions with his master. Smuggled to Britain after France's collapse, he continued as Bozdech's aviation auxiliary in a bomber. Taken to Czechoslovakia after the war, he helped his master escape after the Communists seized power.

His story was first told (rather inaccurately) in Anthony Richardson's "One Man and His Dog" (1961) but better in Hamish Ross' "Freedom in the Air: A Czech Flyer and His Aircrew Dog" (2007) and Damien Lewis' "War Dog: The No-Man's Land Puppy Who Took To the Skies" (2013).

Ex-para Gil Boyd's "The Amazing Adventures of Bing the Parachuting Dog" (2013) tells of the Alsatian-collie mix, trained to locate the enemy and having "an incredible ability to sense danger", who participated in D-Day, and was again part of the paradrop into Germany the next year.

Then there was the Bactrian camel, who accompanied the Red Army to Berlin, a stray dog at an Australian airbase who was the first to warn of approaching Japanese aircraft, the elephants that helped defeat the Japanese in Burma and more.

But without disparaging these examples, doesn't it raise a question why man can extend love to other species, but have no qualms at killing his own kind -- whatever be the reason.

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Kochi, June 11 : Two fishermen were killed and one went missing after a cargo ship bearing Panama flag hit a fishing boat here on the high seas. Eleven fishermen were rescued by another fishing boat.

A fisherman of the ill-fated boat told the media that the accident occurred around 2 a.m. on Sunday.

According to preliminary reports, one among the dead is from Kolachel in Tamil Nadu while the other is from Assam. The missing fisherman is said to be from Uttar Pradesh.

"The incident occurred around 16 nautical miles from the coast here. There was no warning and after hitting the boat, they sailed away without stopping. Another fishing boat came and rescued us," said a fisherman who is being treated at a hospital here.

Kochi Police Commissioner M.P. Dinesh told reporters that the Kochi Port Trust authorities have already detained the ship 'Amber'.

"Orders have been given to bring the ship to the coast here. The Coast Guard and Indian Navy officials are working together to bring the ship here. A case under section of culpable homicide will be registered against the officials of the ship," said Dinesh.
Darjeeling, June 11 : Life returned to normal in the northern West Bengal hills with no violence reported so far on Sunday, but uncertainty prevails as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called an indefinite shutdown from Monday.

The tourists, who are still in the picturesque tourist town, are planning to leave the place from Sunday.

According to GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri, all central and state government offices including block development offices, sub-divisional offices and district magistrate offices, banks, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (the hill development body) offices will be closed as a part of the shutdown from Monday.

However, schools and colleges, transport and tourism - hotels, eateries, shops - will be outside the purview of the shutdown.

"There is an uncertainty. We do not know what would happen from Monday even though GJM said tourism will not fall in the purview of shutdown. We are planning to leave for Siliguri in the afternoon. Some tourists are also going to Sikkim," a tourist said here.

Several tourists from Darjeeling reached Kolkata on Sunday morning.

After the GJM's central committee meeting chaired by its President Bimal Gurung on Saturday, the party leaders threw a virtual challenge to the Mamata Banerjee-led state government to press for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

Giri said the state government's revenue sources like electricity, mines and boulders will also be part of the shutdown.

After the clash between police and GJM supporters, the district police launched a search operation.

Five GJM activists have been arrested so far, according to a police official of Darjeeling Sadar police station.

The army patrolling in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong towns was not seen on Sunday morning.
Kochi, June 11 : Two fishermen were killed and one went missing after a cargo ship flying the Panama flag hit a fishing boat in the sea off Kochi in Kerala early on Sunday, the authorities said. Eleven others in the fishing boat were rescued.

One of the dead men was from Tamil Nadu and the other from Assam. The missing fisherman is said to be from Uttar Pradesh. The accident occurred around 2 a.m.

"The incident occurred around 16 nautical miles from the coast. There was no warning. And after hitting the fishing boat, they sailed away without stopping. Another fishing boat came and rescued us," said a fisherman being treated at a hospital here.

Kochi Police Commissioner M.P. Dinesh told reporters that the Kochi Port Trust authorities had detained the ship, Amber.

"The Coast Guard and Navy are working together to bring the ship here. A case of culpable homicide will be registered against the ship crew," said Dinesh.

Officials said the cargo ship was loaded with fertilizers and unless its weight was reduced, it won't be possible to berth it at the port.

Coastal Police chief Tomin J. Thachenkery said the cargo vessel's crime was that even after it hit the fishing boat, it failed to provide any help.

The fishing boat, Carmel Matha, departed from Kochi two days back. It was engaged in fishing with 14 fishermen, mostly from Tamil Nadu and Assam.

The captain of the ship is a Greek national. It has 28 crew members including two Indians who work as security officers.

The police say the ship officials claim they did not even know they had hit the fishing boat.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced Rs 2 lakh each as emergency relief to the families of the dead fishermen.

He also directed the Fisheries department and Coastal Police to provide adequate security to the fishermen in the seas.
Panaji, June 11 : The AAP in Goa on Sunday alleged malpractice in the ongoing village panchayat polls in the coastal state, claiming that identity of voters is allegedly being compromised at the time of casting ballot.

"The serial numbering of ballot paper leaves it open for the political establishment to identify which voter has voted for whom. Dozens of AAP volunteers have registered written complaints with presiding officers at their respective booths," Goa's Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashley Rosario told reporters.

Nearly 7.49 lakh voters were eligible to cast ballot in Sunday's polls to elect grassroots representatives in 186 panchayats in the state.

AAP said a formal complaint had been made to the State Election Commission, adding that the decision to add the serial number to the ballot paper amounted to "jeopardising the secrecy of balloting in the panchayat polls held today".

While panchayat polls in Goa are not held on political lines, the AAP and other political parties have informally backed individual candidates and panels of candidates in the polls.
New Delhi, June 11 : Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday offered an apology after his description of Army chief General Bipin Rawat as a "sadak ka goonda" (street thug) caused outrage.

Dikshit came under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which also asked the Congress to take action against the former MP.

"I have reservations on a comment of the Army chief but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologize," Dikshit, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, tweeted after BJP leaders and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju slammed him.

"What's wrong with Congress? How dare Congress call Indian Army chief as 'sadak ka gunda'!!" Rijiju tweeted.

Dikshit told a journalist that it was understandable if the Pakistan Army chief used foul language but wondered why the Indian Army chief was giving statements like a "sadak ka goonda".

General Rawat sparked a row when he defended a Major's decision to strap a civilian to the bonnet of his jeep in the Kashmir Valley.
New Delhi, June 11 : Veteran journalist P. Sainath on Sunday described farm loan waiver as a relief but not a solution to agrarian crisis and accused the Modi government of not fulfilling its poll promise of implementing M.S. Swaminathan's recommendations.

"It is very important to understand that the protests across the country by the farmers is not about loans or loan waivers as there are far more serious issues," Sainath said.

"The loan waiver is a tool, but not a transformation. They are a mechanism but not a solution. They are a relief but not an answer," he said.

In remarks broadcast on YouTube channel, Sainath, who has written extensively on the Indian agricultural sector, took a dig at Modi government.

"The BJP manifesto promised to implement the Swaminathan Report," he said.

"But after coming to power, in the Supreme Court, they submitted an affidavit saying this cannot be done. The government did not give any explanation why it lied to the people and the nation."

The National Commission on Farmers (NCF), constituted under the chairmanship of Swaminathan, suggested a Minimum Support Price (MSP) including an additional 50 per cent over and above the total expenses incurred on farming.

Sainath described the recent farmers' protests as the "manifestations of crisis".

"Try to understand farmers' crisis and do not try understanding agrarian situation to events and episodes of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu farmers protesting in Delhi and the killing of farmers in Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh) in police firing.

"These are the manifestations of a crisis, they are not the crisis," he said. Sainath urged bureaucrats, people and think tanks to understand the farm crisis.

He said the protests this year did not start in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions but in the most prosperous areas of Maharashtra like Nashik and the state's western belt.

He criticised Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh and Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra for not having a dialogue with the farmers earlier.

"Both the CMs refused to speak with the farmers in the earlier stage of the protests, which angered the farmers," he said.

Farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have asked the government to write off their loans and to give a good price for their produce.
Kolkata, June 11 : Debaditya Pramanik on Sunday became West Bengal topper and the zonal topper in the Joint Entrance Examination Advanced (JEE Advanced) 2017.

"It has been a dream to make it to the IIT since childhood," said an elated Debaditya, a student of Birla High School.

Capping off a great year where he secured the first position in the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination while also becoming the topper from West Bengal in the Central Board of Secondary Education's Class 12 exam, Debaditya notched up 315 out of 366 marks, bagging the All India Rank of 38 in the JEE Advanced 2017.

Panchkula's Sarvesh Mehtani secured the All India Rank of 1 in the JEE (Advanced), held for admission to all the 23 IITs and the Indian School of Mines (ISM).
New Delhi, June 11 : Indian Navy chief Sunil Lanba would leave for a four-day visit to Israel on Monday to further consolidate armed forces' cooperation between the two countries, a defence statement said.

During his visit, Admiral Lanba would hold bilateral discussions with Lt. General Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of the General Staff of Israeli Defence Forces, to explore avenues for greater cooperation.

He is also scheduled to meet the Commander-in-Chief of Israeli Navy, Commander of Israeli Air Force and Commander of Israeli Ground Forces, said the Defence Ministry statement.

In addition, the Admiral would visit Haifa Naval Base and other Israeli air force and army establishments.

The Defence Ministry said this visit would further consolidate the armed forces' cooperation.

"Since the renewal of formal diplomatic relations in 1992, defence cooperation has been one of the main pillars of bilateral engagement between the two nations.

"India has been importing critical defence technologies from Israel. In addition, both the armed forces and the Defence Ministry have been cooperating through the medium of staff talks, Joint Working Group and exchange of high-level visits," it said.
The web series will star Ronit Roy and Mona Singh in the lead.

By India Today Web Desk: Veteran actress Neena Gupta is all set to be associated with the digital medium. As per reports, Neena is making a comeback as a writer with Alt Balaji's Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai.

Neena Gupta, who has earlier been associated with some of the critically acclaimed shows like Saans and Pal Chhin will make a comeback to writing after Saans. She has conceptualized the show with Ekta Kapoor.

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The web series will have actor Ronit Roy and actress Mona Singh in the lead.

Also read: Ekta Kapoor's Test Case passes the litmus test, makes a solid case for women empowerment

A source close to the show informed the TimesOfIndia.com, "So far only first narration has taken place and Ronit and Mona have been finalized for the series. It will be a mature love story."

Also read: From bold characters to clutter-breaking content; 5 changes Ekta Kapoor's shows will see in digital space

Both Ronit and Mona are good actors but this is the first time that the duo have been cast opposite each other.

Alt Balaji is trying to bring content, which is different from regular Balaji daily soaps. One of their shows Romil and Jugal is a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's classic Romeo & Juliet. One of their upcoming shows is based on Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, which star Rajakumar Rao in the lead.

While Ronit Roy was last seen on Sony TV's Adaalat , Mona is currently seen on India Banega Manch as a host along with Krushna Abhishek.

--- ENDS ---
Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), June 11 : Social activists Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav were among 40 persons detained on Sunday while on way to meet the kin of farmers killed in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district.

They were detained at Dhodhar while on way from Ratlam to Mandsaur where at least five farmers were killed on June 6 in police firing amid violence. They were released on bail later.

Ratlam Superintendent of Police Amit Singh said Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was enforced in Mandsaur district in anticipation of fear of breach of peace, which prohibited congregation of four or more persons at one place.

He said those detained included five women, including Patkar.

Earlier, these social activists and various farmer leaders paid homage to killed farmers.

Communist Party of India-Marxist state unit chief Badal Saroj dubbed police action against farmers protesting in support of their demands for loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce as "undemocratic".
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FARC rebels recently announced they had turned in 30% of their weapons, but the deadline for those turnovers, originally the end of May, has been extended by 20 days because of construction delays and other issues hindering the demobilization process.

As the FARC leaves the battlefield, a number of problems have cropped up.

Production of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, is up considerably for a variety of reasons. Violence in certain parts of the country has continued or increased as well, as criminal groups and dissident rebel factions jockey for control of territory vacated by the FARC.

The Colombian government has tried to crack down on the groups driving the killing, but they've put police and the military under fire in a style reminiscent of Pablo Escobar, adding to the body count.

Chief among those groups is Los Urabenos, also known as the Gulf clan, the most powerful of Colombia's third-generation criminal groups and likely the only one with a truly national reach.

Colombia has dispatched 1,000 officers to scour northwest Colombia, often in Black Hawk helicopters. The government says it's closing in on the group's 45-year-old leader, Dario Antonio Usuga, aka Otoniel, who reportedly has to change locations every three hours. (Otoniel, however, has eluded capture for years.)

"We have him within striking distance," Jose Angel Mendoza, head of the anti-narcotics police division, told AFP earlier this month. "He has had to run for it at the last second, more than once."

Colombian officials have dropped leaflets offering a reward for information about Otoniel from helicopters over northwestern Antioquia, the gang's home turf whose capital, Medellin, was once the redoubt of Pablo Escobar's eponymous cartel.

The US State Department has offered a $5 million reward based on a 2009 indictment in a New York court, calling Los Urabenos

But Los Urabenos is fighting back.

Taking a page from Escobar's playbook, the gang  responsible for 70% of the cocaine production in Colombia, which produced 646 metric tons of the drug in 2015  is targeting the police, cutting down officers in the streets in a campaign reminiscent of Escobar's vicious fight against the state in the early 1990s.

Targeted killings of police date back to March, and have been attributed in part to the National Liberation Army, another left-wing rebel group present in the country.

Los Urabenos appears to be responsible for many of the more recent police killings. During May, Los Urabenos gave out leaflets calling for the killing of police, and police-intelligence officials believe the group is offering nearly $700 for each death. Police have said the killings are in retaliation for law-enforcement action against the group.

Eleven police were killed throughout May, most of them on patrol. The killings have taken place around the country but mainly in the north around Antioquia and along the Panamanian border.

The killing spree has been compared to the "pistol plan," a campaign devised by Escobar to put pressure on the government in the early 1990s. Even the governor of Antioquia,

By the end of 1992, Escobar upped the ante by offering a $2,000 bounty for Medellin cops.

Not content with shootings, Escobar dispatched car bombs; a massive one exploded outside a stadium in the city on December 2, killing 10 police and three civilians. At the end of the month, authorities found another massive car bomb outside the national police's provincial headquarters.

By the time Escobar himself was gunned down in December 1993, hundreds of Colombian police had been slain.

"In Colombia, every time a criminal group turns to killing police, they do it as a desperate measure," Vice President Oscar Naranjo, who battled the nation's drug cartels as national police chief, told the Associated Press in May.

State pressure on Los Urabenos has intensified as well. In late May, the national police reported arresting 35 members of the gang who were involved in police killings.

Around the same time, Colombian authorities reported capturing a gang leader known as "El Boyaco," who is suspected of financing the campaign against police.

While Escobar was not a rebel or an insurgent, his campaign did have the political objective of getting the government to relent in its efforts to capture or kill his cartel's members and to secure an agreement not to extradite them to the US. The FARC, both insurgents and traffickers, had designs on remaking Colombia's political system.

Los Urabenos don't appear to have aspirations for their deadly campaign beyond getting the police off their backs.

"Unlike what we have seen in the past, these groups don't have defined political objectives," Jorge Restrepo, director of the Conflict Analysis Resource Center in Bogota, told the AP.
China started building the Djibouti base in early 2016, constructing it near Camp Lemonnier, a US special-operations outpost.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the base, located near one of the world's busiest shipping channels, would allow the country's military to "

As such, China's People's Liberation Navy is looking to establish more hubs "to be able to operate across the greater Asia-Pacific region in high-intensity actions over a period of several months," the Pentagon report states, adding:

"Chinas leaders may judge that a mixture of military logistics models, including preferred access to overseas commercial ports and a limited number of exclusive PLAN logistic facilitiesprobably collocated with commercial portsmost closely aligns with Chinas future overseas military logistics needs."

But around the same time, China itself suggested that more bases like the one in Djibouti could be in the offing.

Washington is not the only power that has expressed dismay about the Djibouti base and other activity in the region.

In India, the construction of the base added to concern Beijing was extending its "string of pearls," referring to its military assets and partnerships in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region.

The Djibouti facility is seen by New Delhi as a base for Chinese naval air assets, which could facilitate surveillance activity over the Persian Gulf and Indian's western territories. (India has also objected to China's planned shipping network with Pakistan, saying it cuts through disputed parts of Kashmir.)

India has tracked seven Chinese submarines entering the Indian Ocean since the end of 2013, regarding them warily. "The pretext is anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden," a Indian defense source told The Times of India in May. "But what role can submarines play against pirates and their dhows?"

More recently, India declined an Australian request to take part in Indian Ocean naval exercises, reportedly out of fear of antagonizing Beijing. (Though Delhi may also have doubts about Canberra's reliability.)

Australia and India, along with countries like Vietnam and Japan, have considered informal alliances to bolster regional security in light of growing Chinese influence and doubts about US commitment under President Donald Trump.
Qatar has been in talks with Iran and Turkey to secure food and water supplies after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut links, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar says the allegations are based on lies.

By Reuters: Iran has sent four cargo planes of food to Qatar and plans to provide 100 tonnes of fruit and vegetable every day, Iranian officials said, amid concerns of shortages after Qatar's biggest suppliers severed ties with the import-dependent country.

Qatar has been in talks with Iran and Turkey to secure food and water supplies after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut links, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Qatar says the allegations are based on lies.

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"Following the sanctions ... on Qatar, IranAir has so far transported food and vegetables to this country by four flights," Shahrokh Noushabadi, the head of public relations at Iran's national airline was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Saturday.

The head of the industries, business and trade organisation in the Fars province was also quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying on Sunday the first planes carrying food to Qatar had flown from the southern city of Shiraz.

"Every day we will export 100 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to Qatar," Ali Hemmati said.

Qatar, a small peninsular nation of 2.5 million people, was importing 80 percent of its food requirements from bigger Gulf Arab neighbours before they cut ties with it.

Iran, long at odds with Saudi Arabia and a behind-the-scenes target of the move, has called for the sides to overcome their differences.

Also Read:

How Saudi Arabia and allies strong-armed Qatar, blindsided US

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The "Firstminute Capital" fund will be used to make seed stage investments in companies across Europe. It has been set up with former Goldman Sachs analyst Spencer Crawley.

The fund will invest between $250,000 (196,000) and $750,000 (589,000) at a time.

"We believe that emerging European technology startups will continue to excite, and build on the momentum that has seen 47 unicorn companies built in Europe in the last 10 years," Hoberman said in a statement.

"We hope to help the next generation of top entrepreneurs, both with our reach and by giving them credibility and support. We will invest not just in the UK, but across Europe. We were aiming to raise $60 million for our first fund, and to have achieved that with oversubscription before our final close is a strong signal for European technology. We believe the fund represents an unparalleled wealth of expertise to deliver on this promise."

Ex-Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom, partner and CEO at Atomico, said in a statement: "Brent is a pioneer of technology entrepreneurship in Europe. For two decades he has done more than most to find, support and encourage Europe's best founders.

"That's why we wanted to be his first investor. We share a firm belief in the future of Europe's technology ecosystem so we're excited to be part of this new fund as it backs Europe's most promising early stage founders."
The movie is the latest casualty of Hollywood's current reboot frenzy.

Resurrection is one of the most memorable thing about Brendan Fraser's trilogy of Mummy movies (1999-2008), and since Universal Studios has decided to reboot it for a planned Dark Universe film series, resurrection might be the worst thing to happen to it now.

After its first run from 1932 to 1955, the franchise gained a cult following with the reboot starring Fraser and Rachel Weisz in a series that easily passed for fun with its execution of horror and self-conscious comedy.

This new Mummy cant seem to be able to make up its mind about what it wants to be; an action movie, or a monster movie.

The result of this is a tonally soulless cocktail of both, lacking any real sense of adventure that marked Fraser's run.

It's never really scary, it's hardly entertaining or intelligent, and the supposedly high stakes are underserved by the unimpressive script.

The only thing it does best is make you cringe in place of horrified.

The movie, with the annoying help of voice-over narration, takes the audience to ancient Egypt where Princess Ahmanet's lust for power leads her to sell her soul to the god Set in her bid to inherit her father's throne after the birth of a new baby boy suddenly makes him the legitimate heir over her.

Set demands the sacrifice of a human vessel from Ahmanet in exchange for his help, but before she can complete her evil plan, she is captured and mummified alive, buried far away from Egypt.

The movie jumps to introduce Nick Morton (Tom Cruise), an American mercenary, who, with his partner Chris Vail (Jake Johnson), accidentally unearth Ahmanet's tomb.

With the help of Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), an archaeologist who Nick is somehow involved with, the team moves Ahmanet's sarcophagus from the tomb so they can examine it properly.

Things go downhill from here; for the characters, and for the movie.

The Mummy shambles along from one scene to the next, desperately trying to be funny and entertaining while it is stuck in a maze of its own narrative incompetence and keeps getting lost in it.

The movie has moments where the script writers somehow wind up writing lame lines of dialogue, sometimes for the comedic relief that the audience terribly needs, but definitely dont deserve.

The movie consistently makes reveals too early to rob some subplots of any mystery, and deny its twists of any dramatic impact that could have made it more entertaining.

Nick, who's actually the one playing Tom Cruise here, is meant to come off as a charming, lovable morally-conflicted rogue (like a Han Solo type), but he's none of those things.

Nick is actually a scrapbook of Tom Cruise characters over his acting career patched together to be anything close to a character you care about.

Cruise only has a handful of movies that are unarguably dreadful, and The Mummy might be close to that list than anyone might be willing to admit.

This is his actual Mission Impossible.

Nicks romantic interest, Jenny is even more vaguely represented. She says finding the sarcophagus is her lifes work; she works for a secret organization; but thats just about all the audience knows about her.

Shes in the movie to be saved most of the time and provide exposition whenever the story hits a deadend.

Russell Crowe is another star who makes somewhat of a disappointing cameo appearance as Dr. Henry Jekyll.

He is a well-mannered brilliant scientist who heads Prodigium, a S.H.I.E.L.D-like organization that supposedly purges evil from the world.

When he isnt playing the gravely ambiguous Dr. Jekyll with secrets to Hyde, he is the movies exposition ex machina, telling the audience what the movie is too lazy to show in a more compelling manner.

He is included in the movie as a Dark World universe-building character as he's expected to show up in the other movies to come.

Even the most average movie is only as good as its villain, and here, four-pupiled golden-eyed Ahmanet is a completely annoying bore.

This is not due to any fault of the mesmerising Sofia Boutella who sells the character's malevolence with all her best, it's the script writers, a team of three, that carelessly throw her under the bus.

In what was an inspired idea to make the Mummy a woman this time, the movie flushes this 'novelty' down the toilet by making Ahmanet a villain whose biggest drive is getting her 'man' and killing the 'woman' he loves, even though she only became evil in her fight against ancient Egypts patriarchal ascension system.

The script never cares enough about her to build on her rich backstory in the beginning, even though it's supposed to be her party.

Even though the movie tries to con the audience into buying the love connection between Nick and Jenny, the chemistry between them is lacking in any spark that the movie so desperately needed.

The movie's action sequences are the only bearable thing here; the plane crash scene that has been played to death in the trailers is still riveting to watch; theres a London sandstorm scene that passes as entertaining even if it's lacking in required thrill. But any time the movie slows down to catch its breath, it passes out.

One of the movies fundamental problem is that it makes no secret of its intention of acting as a set up for the Dark Universe, instead of focusing more on being sensible first as its own movie.

It peters out to an average conclusion that also manages to be terribly unsettling in its execution, and at this point, the strongest emotion the movie can elicit in the audience is a forced sleepy cheer.

If The Mummy is any yardstick for what to expect, Universal's planned revival of old monsters might be doomed to fail already.
It is not only private rich people but also the chiefs and foreign individuals have acquired and shared the lagoon as their private enterprise.

So, the Songor lagoon which before the introduction of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) in April 1983, was a free gift of nature for all the communities living in and around the Songor lagoon, providing a source of livelihood and income to cater for the women and their children, has now become a private property of a few privileged persons.

ASSWA explains that whilst Atsiakpor restrains the production of salt in an environmentally friendly manner, it also subverts the communal values that recognise the collective ownership of the resource.

They made the call for the ban of Atsiakpor at a ceremony to mark the 32 anniversary of death of Margaret Kuwornu, a salt winner who was shot dead by a stray bullet in a police raid on salt winners in the Songor Lagoon at Bonikope in Ada on Friday 17 May 1985.

Pictorial evidence from the area reveal huge hectares of land around the Songor lagoon have been forcefully grabbed by both local and private businessmen in collusion with some chiefs of the area.

Edith Osabutey Akumo, Secretary to the association explains that with the aid of sophisticated pumping machines, these private businessmen draw brine or sea water out of the lagoon to produce salt privately. Water levels in the lagoon have dropped and the communities cannot fish in it or win salt from it as they used to do.

According to her, this method of salt production impacted adversely on the natural salt producing character of the lagoon and lead to the marginalization and enslavement of many women who are left without an option but to work in these small dams for the owners for paltry sums of Ghc 1 per pan. Cases of sexual abuse have also been reported by the women. It is alleged that unless a woman sleeps with a private businessman or agent, she cannot have access to even work at salt winning.

INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY

Questions about how to use the fruits of the lagoon in a manner that benefits future generations have been raised by ASSWA. According to the association, large scale salt producing companies exploiting the lagoon are not interested in the buildup of social and capital infrastructure to support future generations.

ASSWA contends that if the current approach to the exploitation of the resource does not change, Ghana will lose control over salt as a resource.

Salt is a required product in the oil and chemical industry and Ghana will be forced to buy salt with its scarce foreign exchange from outside the country.

LIVELIHOOD FOR ALL

ASSWA is taking the bull by the horns with the launch of a Songor Plan for Livelihood for All.

The process advocates a return to equitable communal access to the Songor lagoon and a right to use the lagoon as a communal resource. It also demands participation in decision making affecting the communal rights of the people.

Edith pointed out that although We are non-literate because of poverty and cultural barriers we are deeply knowledgeable about the developments, laws and agreement on the Songor

ASSWA is calling for a return to the communal values that recognised that the lagoon must be for the benefit of all through the rigorous implementation of a Master Plan for salt production prepared in 1991 referred to as PNDC Law 287.

According to ASSWA, twenty five years after the passage of the law, it only remained a model of how to undertake community-inclusive development planning.

As members of the contiguous communities of the Songor and as women who nurture all aspects of life in the Songor, said Edith, we have a right to be part of every decision on or about the Songor adding that this principle is drawn from the heart of the Sustainable Development Goal that calls on the Ghanaian government to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision making at all levels of society.

SALT IMPORT COMPOUNDS PROBLEMS

Mary Akuteye, President of ASSWA is deeply worried over the huge volumes of imported salt into the country. According to her, local production by artisanal salt miners suffered a double agony when it had to deal with Atsiakpor and compete with the huge volumes of imported salt.

According to her, the local salt winners at the Keta and Songor lagoons can produce enough salt for industrial and domestic use but are affected by government policy that fails to create a conducive environment for the growth of their industry.

ASSWA believes that the lagoon hold the key to the socio-economic challenges the bedeviled communities around the lagoon. It called on the youths and members of the contiguous communities to take a keen interest in the protection, sustainability and the development of the lagoon.
He made the comments in parliament when contributing to a statement made by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in honour of the retired Chief Justice of the land.

Everybody in this country was disturbed that the Chief Justice having been an In-law of a very active political participant in this country might be perceived not to have dispensed justice but Mr. Speaker, she showed leadership, he said.

He continued: She constituted the panel excluding herself from sitting to adjudicate the case  that is the mark of leadership and in I think she deserves the respect of all Ghanaians for having steered the affairs of the Judiciary.

Georgina Wood retired from public service on Wednesday, June 7, after becoming the first female Chief Justice.

Georgina Wood will become a member of the Council of State, since the advisory council to the president must also include a former Chief Justice.

Mrs. Wood is replaced by Justice Sophia A.B Akuffo, who was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Her name has since been submitted to the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting.

Georgina Wood worked with the Ghana Police Service as a deputy superintendent and public prosecutor for three years before joining the Judicial Service as a District Magistrate in 1974.
What we would not accept is to hear from either from the Police service or the Ghana Armed Forces or the Attorney General that they are in want of evidence. That will not be countenanced or accepted by us, he said.

He continued: Let this be a litmus test for the Ghana police service and the Ghana armed forces. We have called for the Attorney General, Ministers for Interior and Defence, to work in concert to unravel the circumstances of his death and punish same accordingly.

Police have so far arrested a total of 42 persons in connection with the murder of the soldier, Major Maxwell Mahama.
The comments came after a political show host on Accra-based Asempa FM speculated that there could be more to the death of the late military officer than the public know from the police.

He urged the public to hand over any information they have regarding the death Major Mahama to the investigators.

Major Mahama was lynched by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central region on Monday, May 29, and he will be laid to rest this Friday, June 9, 2017.

Police have so far arrested a total of 42 persons in connection with the murder of the soldier, Major Maxwell Mahama.
When I came to power, I left most of these public sector workers but when this [NPP] government took over, they dismissed them, and this is a bad precedent for our governance because potentially government can change in every four years so if another government takes over, it means all those working in the public sector have to be dismissed for a new crop of employees to take over and this is bad for governance.
Viewers have been in awe of the brave policeman who was not afraid to sacrifice his life in a gun battle with armed robbers.

What most people do not realise is that this incident actually took place in the Imo State Branch of the Bank, on February 22, 2017.

Punch did some digging and discovered that the fearless policeman's name is Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko.

ALSO READ: Robbers kill 4 policemen in Osun

According to the newspaper, the officer left behind a widow named Mrs Rose Iboko and seven children in Amakohia, Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area.

Anyone would think that such a rare act of bravery would have been rewarded and that the officer's widow would be doing fine after her husband's demise.

However, this interview with the 32-year-old lady says differently.

Although her husband died while he was on the duty, Mrs Iboko says the Nigerian Police Force has failed to support them. She also revealed that Zenith Bank has offered very little assistance.

She said the Police "only came for his burial in the village on Friday, March 17, 2017. I am now left with my children alone.

The bank only assisted me in making sure that he was buried. After that, no help has come from the bank."

When asked how life after her husband's death has been, Mrs Iboko had some tear-jerking things to say.

She revealed that her husband's demise not only left her without a breadwinner, it also took her 5-year-old son, who died once he saw his dads corpse.

In her words, "We have triplets; all boys, but sadly, one of them, Chukwuebuka slumped and died the day their fathers remains were to be interred. He slumped immediately he saw his dads corpse during his lying-in-state and died.

It was a double tragedy for my family that day. He was very close to his father.

Despite being just five years, he couldnt bear the loss of his loving father. "

Since the policeman's death, the rest of her children can no longer afford to go to school due to their mother's inability to pay their tuition fees.

Speaking on her husband's bravery, she said, "Yes, I am very aware. I was not surprised that he confronted them because he was a combatant, committed and patriotic cop. My only regret was that his death was untimely, leaving me to cater for our children alone. He was in Yobe State for a special mission during the upsurge of Boko Haram attacks in the North.

He was also on special missions in Kano and Plateau states and he fought gallantly. One thing about him was that he was committed to his job. He loved his job and derived joy in saving lives."

Concerning her reaction to the news of his death, she said, "It was one of his colleagues who called me on a Thursday morning to tell me that my husband was shot by armed robbers the previous day. I dont know the person but he spoke to me in a manner that suggested that all was not well. He didnt tell me that my husband was dead. He only informed me that my husband was shot by armed robbers a day before that day.

It was when I arrived in Mopol 18 that I was told that my husband, whom I spoke with on the phone on Tuesday prior to that day, was dead. I couldnt believe it. I told them to stop the joke but they insisted that he was dead. It was as if my world had crumbled. Several thoughts came to my mind within a few minutes: Where do I begin? How do I explain what happened to him to his children, especially our last child, Success, who was fond of him? Where do I go from here?

Her first son, 16-year-old Favour, also spoke with the Punch correspondent.

Amid tears, I spoke with daddy two days before his death. He died on Thursday but had promised to come home for the weekend. He promised to give me money for some textbooks I needed once he arrived. But he couldnt fulfil his promise as he died two days to the day he promised to come home.

Despite how their father died, Favour's immediate younger brother indicated interest in following his fathers career path.

However, Favour said he dreams of becoming a medical doctor.

Mrs Iboko called on the government and fellow kind-hearted Nigerians to help her family.

She said, "I want government and Nigerians to help me support the education of our children and to take care of us. I want them to please do for his kids, the things he would have done for them as a father if he were alive. I am jobless.

He had an uncompleted building project in the village. He was building a bungalow. I am not sure I know where I will take my children to whenever we visit the village. He promised to train them up to the university level. He pledged that he would assist Favour to realise his dream to study medicine. But death didnt allow him to fulfil any of them.

My husbands father is dead and his mother, Mrs Maria Iboko, is seriously sick, owing to the shock she suffered upon hearing the news of her sons death. My husband was her second child and the familys breadwinner. She is almost 80 years old. My mother is currently down with a stroke. She could not bear the news. She was fond of my husband.

We are at the mercy of a landlord, he wants his rent. We owe 15-months, rent and that is about N180,000. I want the good people of Nigeria to come to our aid before we are thrown out of the apartment."
The GST council has revised the rates of 66 articles, which will now attract lower tax levels when the new taxation regime is rolled out on July 1.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressing the mediapersons after GST council meet in New Delhi today. (Photo: @ANI_news)

By India Today Web Desk: Bringing about a major change in the rates of goods and services taxes, the GST council today lowered the tax levels on 66 articles.

Briefing the mediapersons after GST council meet, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "A total of 133 representations had been received and were considered at length. Some items were historically charged at higher rate but today their tax rates need to be lowered."

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"The GST council has revised tax levels on 66 out of 133 representations," Arun Jaitley said adding that the ext meeting of the council would be held next Sunday.

The changes made in the tax levels of several articles by the GST council include:

GST on cashew nuts reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent

GST on pickles, chutney, sauces, instant food mixes were charged at 18 per cent and are now reduced to 12 per cent

GST on kajal slashed from 28 per cent to 18 per cent

GST on insulin reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent

GST on school bags reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent

GST on children's colouring and drawing books revised from 12 per cent to nil

GST on cutlery reduced from 18 per cent to 12 per cent

GST on some tractor components will now attract 18 per cent compared to 28 per cent under previous arrangement

GST on computer printers reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent

GST rate of 28 per cent will be maintained for all cinema tickets above Rs 100 while for tickets below Rs 100, it will be reduced to 18 per cent

Also read: Subramanian Swamy fears GST could be Narendra Modi's Waterloo: A fact check

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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The Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB also thanked the northerners for giving the Igbo an advance warning to vacate the north.

Some Arewa youth groups had a three-month quit notice from the north to Igbo residing there.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and other northern Governors had kicked against the notice but some elders in the region backed the eviction of Igbo from the north.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Friday, June 9, threw its weight behind the call for Igbo to vacate the region.

In a statement signed by Emma Powerful, IPOB called on all southerners in the north to start leaving the region as soon as possible.

"We the members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leadership worldwide wish to sincerely thank the Arewa Elders Forum (AEF), Arewa Youths and Arewa Consultative Forum for seeing sense in what IPOB has been saying about the need for a referendum to be conducted in Nigeria to decide the fate of the component ethnic nationalities criminally lumped together by the British in 1914," the statement read.

"Biafrans in general also wish to thank these vocal Northerners for at least having the courtesy to issue advance warning this time before embarking on their routine massacre of Igbos and other Biafrans living in Northern Nigeria; unlike what their fathers did in 1966 when death, destruction and mayhem were unleashed upon unsuspecting innocent civilian populations from the South comprising of mostly Igbo men, women and children.

"Igbo massacres in Northern Nigeria has occurred so many times that it has almost become some sort of an annual sporting activity for blood thirsty Northern youths. That is why we are particularly grateful to Arewa Youths and Elders for having the decency to give us prior notice before the slaughter commences.

"We promise to adhere to your warning to leave Northern Nigeria because a word is enough for the wise. Biafrans and other Southerner should start packing their properties to come down to the South. We also advice the Northern youths and their Elders to keep it on because all they have done is exercise their right to free speech which is not a crime under any law known to man. We are therefore against those calling for the arrest of these Arewa Youths and their Elders.

"It is abundantly evident from the genocidal statements coming from certain influential segments of Northern Nigeria that the British socio-political experimentation and economic fraud we know today as Nigeria, should not have been created in the first place. IPOB is very much aware of the covert blackmail and implied threat inherent in the utterances emanating from Islamic Northern Nigeria.

"Furthermore, the assumption that economic investments of Biafrans in the Northern part of the contraption called Nigeria is an impediment to Biafra restoration project is misguided and most definitely misplaced. This is cheap blackmail designed to trigger rancour among Biafra populations because the North have always assumed and wrongly too, that Igbos will place economic well being over and above their life. This assumption is based on a false premise and one we are determined to prove same as events unfold in the coming weeks and months.

"IPOB under the divine leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the instrument Chukwu Okike Abiama (God Almighty) is using to restore Biafra, therefore we are not afraid of our enemies, neither will any threat or violence from any quarter deter us. We remain peaceful in our noble quest to restore Biafra but we must caution that we always retain the right as a people to defend ourselves should the need arise.

"The civilised world is aware that we IPOB have been adopting peaceful means to restore Biafra since 2014. It is the Arewa Islamic Northern Nigeria dominated Army, Police, Navy and Civil Defence that has brought torture, killings, massacres and mayhem to communities and populations in the South. Till date, nobody has been held to account despite the existence of a comprehensive Amnesty International report to this effect.

"We are aware that these Northern youths and their sponsors Britain, have perfected plans to begin another round of killing of innocent people as the did in 1966. We advise them not to make this mistake because Britain will no longer protect Islamic Northern Nigeria because in this digital age, the world is watching. Allow Biafrans time to relocate peacefully back to Bafraland, that is all we ask."

Other northern stakeholders against the quit notice include, Sokoto governor Aminu Tambuwal and the Emir of Katsina Abdulmumini Kabir.
Commenting ahead of the 24th anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993, election won by the late Chief MKO Abiola, he said the year was a traumatising period which caused many Nigerians to question the unity of the country.

In a statement issued by his media office on Sunday, June 11, Atiku commended Nigerians for moving past the events of June 12, 1993, and creating a place for democracy.

He noted that the annulled election and its aftereffects cannot be forgotten because of the unity displayed by Nigerians.

"The former vice-president and Waziri Adamawa states that June 12 and the events that brought it are part of our country's history and cannot be forgotten, especially because of the unity and comradeship displayed by Nigerians on that election day in 1993," the statement read.

"Atiku Abubakar recalls that June 12 traumatised Nigerians and made some people to question the unity and oneness of the country and whether true democracy can take root in the country.

"The waziri commends Nigerians for moving beyond the challenges thrown up by June 12 and putting in place a democratic system of government that has lasted for 18 years.

"He says that it is a testimony to the innate democratic nature of Nigerians that today, democracy is flourishing in the country adding that restructuring of the country as being demanded by some well-meaning Nigerians would further consolidate democracy and give greater impetus to the unity and development of the country."

Atiku described the late Abiola as "a national Hero and Patriot deserving of accolades and honour by Nigerians. He calls on the federal government to pay the necessary tribute to the late chief Abiola of blessed memory by naming a befitting national institution after him."

ALSO READ: '

Moshood Abiola, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is widely believed to have defeated Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention in the annulled presidential election of 1993.
It shouldnt be about covering events. The news reporting that we do every day largely flows with the wind.

Where were the stories you and I wrote five years ago or six years ago.

You can only find them in one archive or library somewhere people dont get to talk about them again, Lasisi said in Lagos at a launch of a book he co-authored.

Lasisi, a poet for more than 25 years, said that some journalists developed ideas that could form books, but did not produce books out of them.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the book is entitled Phenomenal Lagos: 50 Iconic Places in the Centre of Excellence.

Lasisi, an Assistant Editor with Punch newspapers wrote the book together with Mr Kabir Garba, an Assistant Editor with the Guardian newspaper.

The book is about tourism and arts in Lagos State.

It has to do with iconic places that made Lagos stand out.

Lasisi, a two-time winner of the Association of Nigeria Authors Poetry Prize, covers arts and culture for the Punch.

We did not allow our own idea of `phenomenal Lagos to die.

We wanted it to be part of `Lagos @ 50, but there was funding challenge.

We were not deterred. We decided to put the profile of each of the places with photographs and an accompanying poem.

It is about culture and tourism, to identify 50 strong places in Lagos, he said.

Lasisis co-author, Garba, also said that journalist should be able to write books because they travelled widely.

It is good for journalists to think outside the box. Lets endeavour to leave something behind, he said.

NAN reports that some of the places highlighted in the book are the National Theatre, Eko Hotels, Tinubu Square, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos House, Computer Village, Brazilian Quarters and Lagos Lagoon.

The others include the National Museum, Lagos Central Mosque, Christ Church Cathedral, Marina, the first storey building in Nigeria, Lord Lugard House and Black Heritage Museum in Badagry.

NAN reports that the book has 119 chapters.

Every chapter is accompanied by a poem and photographs of iconic places.
In an interview with PUNCH on Sunday, June 11, the deputy national publicity secretary of the Ohanaeze, Chuks Ibegbu, said even though Kanu "never" issued a quit notice to the northerners in the south-east, he was charged with treason.

Ibegbu said arresting and charging the northern youths with the same offense is "the only way the government can convince Nigerians that there is justice, equity and fair play" in the country.

"The authorities know that these northern youths are calling for secession," he said.

"The federal government should arrest them and also charge them with treason. That is what we expect the federal government to do.

"He [Kanu] was only talking about self-determination, which he has the right to aspire to under international laws.

"The question every Nigerian should ask the federal government is, how come you clamped Nnamdi Kanu in detention for calling for self-determination, but you have not arrested these northern youths who are promoting secession?

"About three days after making the threat, despite outrage expressed across the country, they are still holding meetings, issuing more threats. Are the security agencies not seeing the youths holding meetings?

"How come none of them have been arrested? What is giving them the confidence to continue to issue threats?" he asked.

According to him, the Igbos would not issue a quit notice to the northerners in the south-east, adding that they are "too sophisticated to engage in such behaviour."

"They [northerners] are welcome and nobody will molest them in the south-east.

"In fact, we are encouraging the northerners in the south-east to expand their businesses, build factories and prosper as much as possible," he said.

Igbebu, however, distanced from Kanu's ideology, saying Ohanaeze believes "the Igbo are landlords in Nigeria and cannot leave this country for anybody."
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters want all herdsmen to vacate their territory without further delay.

Women in their hundreds chanting songs appealed to the government to find a lasting solution to the activities of the herdsmen in the area.

NAN reports that one Mrs Magdalene Tunar, 39, was on Friday allegedly killed by armed men suspected to be herdsmen in Uluoke, near Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area.

The victim was reported to have been shot dead while returning from the farm with her husband, Mr Wilson Tunar and their two children.

Mr Tunar, however, told NAN that the two armed men he suspected to be herdsmen had accosted them on their way from the farm.

I usually park my car somewhere along the farm route because of the terrain, so we were moving towards where I parked when two men suddenly came out of the bush and pointed a gun at us.

On sighting them, my wife inquired to know what was happening and the next thing I heard was a sound of the gun. They shot her in the stomach.

When she fell, they pointed the gun at my children again and I immediately shielded them behind me to protect them from being shot.

It was, however, a miracle when I heard the click of the trigger but nothing happened.

I grabbed a wood close by and fought them with it and I got injured in the neck by a knife from one of them.

They immediately fled when I was overpowering them.

I had to rush my wife, who was then still alive to Iyamoh health centre for medical attention, he said.

Tunar told NAN that he was advised to go to Faith Foundation Hospital close by as they were incapable of taking care of her.

He said that at Faith Hospital, they were again referred to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), saying that it was while they were on the way there that she died.

Tunar said activities of herdsmen have become increasingly problematic in the area and appealed to security agencies to help protect lives and property of people in the area.

As I speak with you, three persons were allegedly abducted in the same area, on Friday by these people.

Though two cars were snatched in the process, the vehicles have been recovered while the persons were yet to be found.

The Edo North Area Commander of the Nigeria Police, (ACP) Abdullahi Mohammed confirmed the incident to NAN, saying that the command had commenced an investigation on the matter.
Nigerians should shun all forms of idleness that breed poverty and lack, he said.

He insisted that with the current economic realities, there should be no room for idleness both at the family, neighbourhood and community levels.

The cleric advised that Nigerians should be engaged irrespective of the remuneration attached to the job; as it could be a spring board for greater things to come.

Productive hours should be used for productive things. The time to work hard should not be the time you continue to pray.

God does not bless an idle man, woman or youth.

The hands that till the land; would always have bread (food) and be satisfied with it, Onyia said.

He said that God was watching civil servants, who spent their time in idleness and collect an undue salary for being idle.
He stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Minna.

The Niger state museum is replete with artefacts and antiquities, but funding is the major challenge in embarking on an excavation of archaeological sites in Niger," he said.

According to Salihu, excavation of antiquities to the museum will go a long way in educating both students and tourist who visited it regularly.

He added that the museum had received 1,360 visitors in the last six months, saying that the number was expected to increase before the end of the year. 

The number of students we receive monthly is appreciating as a result of research programmes undertaken by undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Students and officials of the History Department of the University of Ilorin were the latest visitors we received in May.

This museum is a very busy one because many universities need to study the artefacts and antiquities for their research works, he said.

Salihu said that aside from students, international tourist also visited the museum to learn one or two things and to appreciate the Nigerian culture.
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It said most of the judges are yet to be charged to court.

A statement issued by the NJC spokesman, Soji Oye, denied the statement made by Itse Sagay, chairman, the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC), that the judiciary is not on board with the anti-corruption efforts of the presidency.

Oye said since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, the council has sacked many of its officers over corruption.

As proof of this, he said the NJC would publish the list of judicial officers who have been removed or compulsorily retired by the President or Governors based on its recommendation.

The statement said, "Contrary to the allegations by Professor Itse Sagay, (SAN), Chairman, PACAC, that Judiciary took a hasty decision to recall the Judges, and that it is not on board with anti-graft war of the federal government, the number of judicial officers that have been removed from office for misconduct particularly for corrupt practices since President Buhari administration came on board, that has been made public by NJC in October and November, 2016, speaks for itself in that vein.

"Some of the judicial officers were removed from office by dismissal or compulsory retirement by the President or governors on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.

"While a number of the judicial officers were reprimanded by Council in the exercise of its Constitutional powers to exercise disciplinary control over judges of superior courts of record in the federation.

"But for suspension of the affected judicial officers from office by NJC, they would have to date been still performing their judicial duties.

"And these are officers that have been found culpable of gross misconduct by National Judicial Council after due process and diligent fact finding investigation by Council based on the Rule of Law enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, NJC Judicial Discipline Regulations and Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"The NJC will soon issue an advertorial on the foregoing and list out the number of judicial officers that have since April, 2000 when it held its inaugural meeting to date, been dismissed or compulsorily retired by the president or governors for gross misconduct or corrupt practices, on its recommendation; and also reprimanded by council by suspension or warning/caution.

"Council is not oblivious of the fact that some major stakeholders in the Judiciary and justice delivery sector in conjunction with the Nigerian Bar Association, met with the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and anti-graft and security agencies before the judicial officers were recalled, to discuss the subject matter and in particular the fate of the judicial officers that have not been charged and arraigned.

"When no progress was made, the NJC, which is the only constitutional institution empowered to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers for misconduct, decided to recall the judicial officers.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has informed the Narendra Modi government that he isn't interested in continuing in his post.

By Anusha Soni: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has informed the Narendra Modi government that he isn't interested in continuing in his post.

Rohatgi says he wants to go back to his private practice.

He says he had a fantastic relation with PM Modi, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and the bureaucracy during his three year tenure.

Rohatgi was appointed as the AG immediately after the BJP government came to power in May 2014 and during the stint, he argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

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Recently, he assisted the apex court in triple talaq matter in which the judgement is reserved.

Early this month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had extended his tenure until further orders.

HIGH-PROFILE CASES

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two Italian marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Besides some of these high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi had also appeared on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial.

(Inputs from PTI)

ALSO READ | If triple talaq declared illegal, will bring in law to regulate Muslim marriage, divorce: AG Mukul Rohatgi to Supreme Court

ALSO WATCH

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According to The Nation, the governor is happy with the verdict because it proves that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot deny the truth that he won the election square and fair.

He said, I had no doubt in my mind that given the quality judiciary we had, it would go straight to the matter."

One thing you must always know is that the truth never changes. I won the election. God has affirmed that I won the election. The court has now affirmed that I won the election.

No matter how hard they (opposition) try, they cannot change the truth. I am sure they will appeal."

"We will meet at the Supreme Court and it will be the same verdict," he added.

Obaseki also thanked the people of his state for their patience while making promises.

I thank Edo people for their patience with us. We want to assure them that we are not distracted and we will continue on our path to recovery, on our path to progress?.

We have done a little bit of work. I know that people are pleased with what we have done. But I want to assure them that it is only the beginning.

I want to assure them that with the continued support we are receiving from Edo people, we will put in everything we have to make sure that Edo State becomes the state that it should be," he said.

Obasekis immediate predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has also reacted to the court's verdict.

He also warned the PDP that its rigging machine had no place in the state.

When I said that PDP petition was like the petition filed by Mama Akara, they tried to twist it. Now, if you listen to the judgment, you will see that the Court of Appeal even has more harsh words for them; that the findings of the tribunal were unassailable so they did not have to beat around the bush.

This is clear and I just hope that the PDP can understand that their rigging machine that was dismantled in 2007, they cannot return it and our people can never welcome them back," he said.

Moving on, Oshiomole gave some advice to the current state governor.

He said, I think it is now for Godwin (Obaseki) to concentrate fully. Happily, he is doing very well. And now with this clarity of his position, we have no doubt that he won the election. Even if the PDP wants to go to the World Court we are ready.

But the government will not be distracted and Edo people can be reassured that they voted wisely and they are getting the dividends of democracy that they voted for.

I am excited. The only thing is that we have to review the rules of the court in a manner that when a man has no case and files a fictitious petition, he should be asked to pay for the time wasted by the judges and others, so that we will have penalties for frivolities.

Like I said, he who dies in sin can never resurrect. The PDP died in sin."

The Court of Appeal came to it's decision after counsels to both parties had argued their cases on May 30, 2017.

After everything, the court, which held in Benin, ruled that the PDP had no case for the nullification of the election or the declaration of Ize-Iyamu as the winner.

The court, led by Hon. Justice Dongban-Mensen, commended the Justice Ahmed Badamasi-led tribunal for a job well done in the proper evaluation of all the witnesses evidence and ascribing probative value to it.
Saraki told newsmen in Ibadan on Saturday that Nigerians, irrespective of political, ethnic and religious affiliations, must shun calls for disintegration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Saraki, in company with Sen. Abdulfatai Buhari(APC-Oyo North), was in Ibadan for the wedding ceremony of the daughter of APC chieftain, Chief Bisi Akande.

The Senate president was reacting to the ultimatum issued by some northern youths to Igbos to quit the north by Oct. 1 and the counter threats by some other ethnic groups.

But Saraki said that the unity of the country was not negotiable, adding that Nigerians must come together to achieve peace and progress.

 Leaders from the various regions of the country should preach unity to their youths.

We are leaders to guide the youths through the path of progress which the nation deserves now.

 We wont relent until this country achieves greatness through unity and peace, he said.

Saraki stated that there was no perfect system, adding the nation only needed improvement from its present state.

The Senate president said that there was no problem in the quest for improvement in a system, arguing that it must not be through threats, division or violence.

He warned those agitating for a breakup to desist, pledging that the National Assembly would ensure that Nigeria remained united.

We all must stand clearly to defend one Nigeria. There is no room for a division and we must live by example. We are not afraid of anybody.

We must rise up to make a statement on what is happening. We will be failing if we do not do something that will reassure the people on the need for one Nigeria.
The leader of the kidnap gang, America and some of his co-criminals, are believed to have met at a rendezvous with the kidnappers at around 8pm on Thursday 8th of June.

According to Vanguard, the parents hope the students will be released any time soon.

The six students of Model College Igbonla were kidnapped from their hostels early on Thursday 25th of May, 2017. At first, the kidnappers made a demand for up to N400m. When it was clear the parents couldn't afford to raise the money, they reduced it to N100 million. Eventually, the kidnappers reduced the ransom to N10m.

The government on the other hand, has insisted on not negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers. They insist that security forces are capable of rescuing the students.

The students were abducted on May 25 2017 from their school and when the kidnappers established contact with the parents, a ransom of N400m was demanded but this was later reduced to N100m owing to the inability of the parents to meet up with the demand. The kidnappers were said to have advised the parents to reach out to others and deliberate on how to raise the N100m as well as mounting pressure on the state government to raise the money for them.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said that eight suspects have now been arrested in connection with the kidnapping.

He said at a press briefing on Thursday:

"When conducting operations such as this, the safety of the children is very important and we are concentrating all our efforts on protecting the lives of those children.

"The creeks surrounding Epe and Ikorodu are always connected with kidnapping. We are going to have a permanent solution to the security in those areas but we and the state government have to advise school owners on where to site schools."
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, has for most of its lifetime been managed by the Osun and Oyo States University. Sole-management was with Oyo State until Osun was carved out of it.

The students' demand to the House of Assembly was for the Federal Government to takeover the management and funding of the University.

So far, the two parent state governments have done a horrible job at it. In fact, industrial action has kept them in the same level since 2015. To put it clearly, a 400-level student in 2015, is still a 400 level student.

There's an even bigger problem.

You know how two parents separate and go on to start new lives. Then both of them go on to have their own kids, leaving the child they had together hanging, almost parentless. That's the case of LAUTECH.

The Oyo State Government very recently commissioned its Technical University in Ibadan. While Osun State has its own State University.

"They've left us hanging," a student told us.

The biggest problem remains funding, and it appears Oyo and Osun are irresponsible parents.

President of the Students Union Government (SUG) of LAUTECH, Comrade Bakare Solace Olateinde, said at the protest:

The 500 level and other students in junior levels have remained in the same level since 2015.

"Our alumni always recount their experiences to us as they are always being faced with genuine shock and barefaced humbling, that despite their good results and the standard of the institution from which they had graduated from, they are always being met with rejection at the labour market, due to age factor, which was solemnly due to time wastage and delay before completion of their academic education.

We hereby, passionately appeal to the federal government to consider our appeal to save the lives and future of over thirty five thousand (35,000) students of this citadel of learning, 

It's quite clear, even to a blind person, that this university has no future at the hands of the states government.
Mr Abdulrazak Salawu, the NYSC FCT Coordinator, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Salawu said that the scheme needs training materials to adequately train the large number of corps members, noting that most of the materials currently being used were borrowed by the corps.

He said with the large number of youths mobilised annually for national service nationwide, the corps is faced with the challenge of providing materials for them to acquire skills in their chosen fields.

He said if the issue is not urgently addressed, it would affect the level of progress corps members are making in learning; as well as perfecting the skills they are being taught.

"In spite of the challenges we face, our Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme has been able to train more than two million youths in the last four years.

"We train them in skills such as; food processing, education, film and photography, construction and automobile.

"Other areas are: power and energy, environment, horticulture and landscaping, cosmetology, aggro-allied, ICT, culture and tourism.

"We train them in these skills so that they do not need to go looking for white collar jobs; but become self -employed and employers of labor.

"In the fashion designing class we have over 300 corps members and they are using only three sewing machines; you can imagine how in-effective such training will be.

"We urge well-meaning Nigerians and the private sector to support us with materials such as: sewing machines, clothing materials, poultry and feed, electricity generating set and aluminium cutting machines.

"We also need make-up box, computer set, inverters, solar modules, paint making chemicals, tiling cement and many other materials for the various skills set we train corps members in," Salawu said.

He also said that the NYSC is currently training the corps members in 12 skills set including: ICT, aggro-allied, culture and tourism, education, cosmetology and automobile.

Others are: construction, power and energy, film and photography, food processing, horticulture and landscaping and environment.

He added that the SAED programme was introduced by the scheme to assist the Federal Government to address the problem of unemployment in the country.

He said that although the problem is faced not only by Nigeria but the world over, Nigeria faces a greater problem due to the large population.

Salawu urged the Federal Government to replicate the strategies used by developed nations "which is investing in the youths for national development."

NAN reports that the SAED programme was introduced by the NYSC in 2012 to train corps members in various skills to enable them become self- reliant and employers of labor.

Corps members are introduced to the programme immediately they commence the orientation course and after the training they can receive loans from various financial institutions to start up their businesses.
Google News Lab and the World Bank are going to work with Code For Africa, a data journalism and civic technology initiative, to train journalists by giving them the necessary support to understand the web and utilise the tools they have available to them.

The Code For Africa Digital Journalism Initiative will take place over a period of nine months and it will span 12 African countries: Abuja, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Casablanca, Dakar, Freetown, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, and Yaounde.

According to a statement made available to Pulse Tech, the program will take place in three formats:

In-person training sessions will be held in the cities mentioned above starting from June 15, 2017. In each city, the initiative will conduct training in 3 newsrooms and training will be held twice a month for the duration of the initiative.

ALSO READ: Google has trained 1 million youths across Africa in 11 months

A massive open online course (MOOC) will be made freely available online from August, covering a range of web concepts and practices for digital journalists.

The program will also involve monthly study group meetups in collaboration with Hacks/Hackers to provide more focused, in-person instruction. Monthly meetings will take place in Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

The web and digital tools present an interesting array of options for journalists, but learning how to use these tools can be a daunting task for many media people. While the global news industry faces a knowledge challenge with regards to digital tools, Africa, by virtue of its non-digital education systems, faces even greater odds in the battle for digital integration in news and storytelling, said Daniel Sieberg, Head of Training & Development at Google News Lab.

In Nigeria for instance, only a few of the journalism institutions offer training programs that focus on Web tools, and many top news organisations lose out on stories due to their inability to utilise newer and more engaging digital techniques.
The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion has stated that the release happened on Friday, upon a request from the "interim government".

Despite the news of his release, he has not been seen in public yet. However, local reports have suggested that Saif is currently staying with relatives in the eastern city of Bayda.

Analysis by BBC states that Saif's release could present some problems to the country's unstable state.

This is not the first time that there have been claims of his release by the media. The last report was in 2016, which the Zintan military denied.

Speaking with Reuters, a Zintan military source said, "We deny that Saif Islam has been released."

Saifwas caught in the desert while trying to flee the country in November 2011.

Since then, he has been held in Zintan by one of the factions that began contending for power after his father's death six years ago.

These Zintani forces have refused to hand Saif over to other authorities, despite Libya's new U.N.-backed unity government's guarantees that they would not let him escape.
The 40-year-old, identified only as doctorate student Farid I., was shot and wounded by another policeman during Tuesday's attack in which he shouted: "This is for Syria".

The attack sparked panic among tourists at the popular attraction.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the suspect was an educated man who under questioning told investigators he had radicalised himself over a period of 10 months.

Examination of a laptop and four USB keys found at the man's apartment in Paris revealed a "lone wolves' manual" compiled by IS, the prosecutor told a press conference.

Investigators also found photographs of the last week's jihadist attack in London in which eight people were killed and videos "glorifying" earlier attacks in Paris and Brussels.

"He had never shown any sign of radicalisation to those close to him, he had never been convicted, he was unknown to the intelligence services and so far, no signs of contact with anyone in Iraq or Syria have been found," Molins said.

Worrying diversity of profiles

"He therefore appears to have the profile of a neophyte that the services fighting terrorism fear as much as hardened cases," he added.

"It shows the diversity of profiles and that anything is possible."

The prosecutor confirmed that the man had recorded a video pledging allegiance to IS. He had opened an account on the Telegram messaging service, but did not appear to have contacted anyone.

Other jihadist suspects in France have been piloted through Telegram messages sent by jihadists in Iraq and Syria, but there was no sign it had happened in this case.

The man, who received hospital treatment for a gunshot wound to the leg, is to be charged with attempted murder.

He had approached a group of police officers outside Notre Dame and suddenly aimed a hammer at the back of the head of one of them.

Alerted by one of his colleagues, the policeman was able to bend partially out of the way, avoiding a harder and potentially more harmful blow, the prosecutor said.

The man was found to be carrying kitchen knives.

France has been repeatedly targeted in jihadist attacks since 2015.

In the bloodiest attack, 130 people were killed in Paris on November 13, 2015, in carnage claimed by IS.

France is part of the US-led international coalition fighting IS and has carried out air strikes against militants in Syria.
The two were arrested on Saturday by the RAB from Rupganj area of Narayanganj district.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested two organisers of banned militant outfit 'neo-JMB' from Rupganj area of Narayanganj district. Both are the members of 'Sarwar-Tamim Group' involved in the Gulshan cafe attack. Among them, Imran Ahmed is the 'Amir' of the organisation. Apart from firearms, a booklet called 'Passport of the Paradise' was recovered from them.

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The suspects were arrested on Saturday night. The media wing chief Mufti Mahmud Khan said that through the book 'Passport of Heaven', people were motivated for militant activities. However, he did not elaborate on what was written inside the book.

The RAB officials said on the basis of inputs, they arrested Imran Ahmed of the JMB Sarwar-Tamim Group and his associate Shamim Mia.

During the initial interrogation, Imran revealed that he was a textile factory owner. In 2012, he got involved in militant activities through a friend. A lot of other literature related to militancy was recovered from his office, factory building and home.

The media wing chief added, "JMBs are now giving more importance to Dawah. That is why they had recently met in Bogra district recently wherein a 10-member committee was constituted for the activities of the dawah."

Also read: Bangladesh: Miscreants attack puja mandap, vandalise idols in Naogaon

Also read: Bangladesh: Hindu religious leader arrested for blasphemous comment on Facebook

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"There have been three arrests in the past 24 hours," an official source said, without identifying those detained.

A local activist said six people had been brought in for questioning -- "three in the city of Al-Hoceima and three in nearby areas".

A leading protest figure was detained Saturday afternoon near his home in Al-Hoceima, a source close to the protesters and the official source said.

El Mortada Iamrachen was seen as a moderate voice in the grassroots Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi, or "Popular Movement".

The mainly Berber Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the gruesome death of a fishmonger in Al-Hoceima last year.

Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death in a rubbish truck in October as he tried to prevent the destruction of swordfish which had been confiscated because it was caught out of season.

Calls for justice snowballed into a wider social movement led by Al-Hirak demanding development, an end to corruption and jobs for the Rif.

Demonstrators have rallied nightly in Al-Hoceima and the nearby town of Imzouren since the arrest of Al-Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi on May 29 and the subsequent arrests of dozens more.

Eighty-six people have been charged, including with "undermining internal security".

The Moroccan press has reported families have banded together to start a group to campaign for their release.

Protesters have gathered at night after breaking their fast as they mark the month of Ramadan during which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till sunset.

Protesters gathered in Al-Hoceima late Saturday without incident, though numbers were lower than in previous days.

Around 500 people marched in protest in Imzouren, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Al-Hoceima, an AFP photographer said.

"We are all Zefzafi", demonstrators shouted, demanding the detainees be freed, in a protest that was peaceful.

The previous night, protesters had clashed with security forces in Imzouren.

The Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.
Although the presidential palace quickly issued a statement denying the report, the Supreme Court came out with an unusually strongly worded statement of its own Saturday to denounce any pressure on its judges.

"It is inadmissable to commit a very serious crime against the Federal Supreme Court, against democracy and against liberty," said the statement signed by Chief Justice Carmen Lucia.

Describing pressure against judges as "the practice of a dictatorship," Lucia said the court "vehemently rejects spurious, unconstitutional and immoral snooping against any citizen and even more so against one of its members -- even more so if aimed at embarrassing a judge."

The statement warned of "legal, political and institutional consequences" if the reported operation were "proven at any time."

The Supreme Court is overseeing scores of corruption cases against Brazilian politicians, including ministers, senators and lower house deputies, whose cases are not handled by lower courts.

The slew of graft cases have been unleashed by investigators with the "Car Wash" operation against embezzlement and bribery at the top levels of politics and business. Fachin is the head judge for "Car Wash" matters.

"Now it's war"

Temer himself is now under investigation for bribe taking and obstruction of justice related to the array of interlocking "Car Wash" corruption scandals.

In a separate case Friday, Temer was narrowly exonerated by the seven judges on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal who had been examining whether his 2014 election was marred by illegal campaign donations.

Temer denies all the charges against him, but now that the election controversy has been put aside he is believed to be gearing up for an intensified fight with prosecutors over the corruption allegations.

Veja, which specializes in political scoops, published its story on the alleged use of the intelligence agency against Justice Fachin with a cover showing Temer dressed as a soldier and the headline: "Now it's war."

The presidential palace quickly responded, saying Temer "never deployed (Abin) to investigate the life of Supreme Court MinisterEdson Fachin, as was reported."

"The government does not use the public machinery against Brazilian citizens, much less in any sort of action that would not respect the strict rules of the law."
URBANA (AP)  The University of Illinois aims to renovate and expand its historic Illini Union built during the Great Depression.

A feasibility study conducted in February spurred plans for a top-to-bottom renovation. The study showed when compared to 14 similar institutions, the Illini Union is below average for space allocated to student programming, flexible lounge areas, student organization meeting spaces and conference or break-out space.

The renovation project would cost $247 million and be the most expensive in the campus' history.

"This really is an iconic building," said Angela Dimit, director of advancement for student affairs, which oversees the Illini Union. "I think alumni will be very, very eager to be a part of it."

Preliminary designs include a three-story addition to the middle of the building with glassed-in walls. It would also include remodeling the 74 hotel rooms that are at the south end of the building.

Backers say renovating the Illini Union would add needed space for student programs, recreation, meetings and conferences.

The project requires approval by university trustees and construction wouldn't begin until 2022.

The proposal is among the campus' top construction priorities. It will be part of the university-wide campaign set to kick off in October, and officials envision "naming opportunities."
DAVENPORT -- The second QCIC X-press shuttle starts June 20.

Formerly, the River Bend Transits shuttle provided fully accessible transportation Tuesday through Friday from Davenport to Iowa City.

Currently the shuttle leaves a Park & Ride location at NorthPark Mall in Davenport at 8 a.m. Tuesdays and 6:30 a.m. Wednesday through Friday. They arrive in Iowa City at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday through Friday.

All four days the shuttles leave Iowa City at 4 p.m. and return to Davenport around 5 p.m.

The schedule changes June 20 with the first shuttle leaving Davenport at 6:15 a.m. and arriving in Iowa City by 7:45 a.m. and a second shuttle leaving at 11: 45 a.m. and arriving in Iowa City by 1 p.m.

The first shuttle will leave Iowa City at 12:15 p.m. and return to Davenport by 1 p.m. The second shuttle will leave Iowa City by 5:30 p.m. and return by 6:30 p.m. Riders may choose whichever scheduled runs are most convenient; the times are the same Tuesday through Friday.

The fare is $5 per trip in either direction. Children 5 and under continue to ride free at no charge with an adult. This express service is open to the general public.

The shuttles are fully accessible and equipped with free Wi-Fi. Riders can be dropped off anywhere in the general downtown Iowa City area. While in Iowa City, the bus remains available to riders throughout the day at no additional charge for extra Iowa City area trips of choice, as time allows.

Walk-ons are welcome at the Park & Ride location if seating is available, although advance reservations are preferred. Call 563-386-1350 or 800-292-8959. Onboard payment options include cash (exact fare) debit card, Visa or MasterCard. Rides may be reserved for either a one-way or round trip, same day or in advance.

For more information, visit riverbendtransit.org or call 563-386-1350 or 800-292-8959.
By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, June 11 (PTI) Senior Odisha BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra today renewed his charge that Odias are ignored in getting jobs in IOCL refinery at Paradip, barely a week after he wrote to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan voicing concern over the issue.

Mohapatra alleged that the youth from Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts did not got employment in IOCLs Paradip Refinery during the last three years.

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"Not a single local has been given appointment in the last three years," the senior leader alleged while talking to reporters.

Asking the public sector oil company to tell how many locals have been appointed in the refinery, he said let IOCL give details of people they have recruited and from which village and panchayat.

The BJP leader also asked the company to share details of job given to anybody from Kendrapara or Jagatsinghpur district during the last three years.

Mohapatra also took exception to BJP leaders reacting to his allegation on the issue.

BJP refuted Mohapatras allegations with party state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan claiming that IOCL has given details of Odias posted in executive, non-executive and contractual posts.

Stating that people of the state should not be misled, Harichandan said since Mohapatra had raised the issue in a letter to the Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the party sought to make things clear.

Earlier, Mohapatra in a letter to Pradhan expressed serious concern over the manner in which the Odia youth are given less priority in jobs, works and other engagements at the refinery.

"The dreams of the educated unemployed Odia youth remain shattered. Outsiders have taken over. Truly, the party (BJP) cadres have lost their moral to fight and they have no answers," Mohapatra had claimed in the letter.

"They (the people) question our commitment to Odisha. Are you really interested for future of Odia boys? Are you working for Odisha, they ask? Are you working for Odisha or outsiders, they ask?" Mohapatra said in the letter.

Right from direct employment to indirect ones like contract work, labour and transport of goods are all being cornered or awarded to people and agencies outside Odisha, he said in the letter. PTI SKN DKB

--- ENDS ---
On June 12, Douglas Maxeiner, Molines new city administrator, is expected to complete his transition from Wauconda, Ill., in the Chicago suburbs. Its a trip I made in a more round-about way 30 years ago. There are many opportunities to compare and contrast the two communities.

I was the local editor of the Wauconda Leader newspaper in the 1970s. In 1988, it celebrated its 100th anniversary; in 2006, it was combined into the Lake County Journal. In Moline, The Dispatch dates back 139 years and The Rock Island Argus 166 years and they were recently combined. There is a rich journalistic history in both areas.

When I was in Wauconda, the population was just over 5,000. It climbed to 6,500 by 1990 and is 13,800 today. In comparison, Moline had a population of 38,400 in 1970, peaked at 45,600 in 1980 and is around 43,400 today. Although smaller, I like Wauconda's growth trend better.

Wauconda was settled in 1848 by Justus Bangs. The city is built around a lake named after him. By the time Mr. Bangs arrived, the Native Americans had moved out, although they did visit from time to time to trade, as I recall the history.

Moline was settled by pioneer David B. Sears in 1837. A factory town was platted in 1843. Charles Atkinson, one of the major area landowners, picked the name Moline ("City of Mills," from the French moulin). The town of Moline was incorporated in 1848. The same year, John Deere relocated his steel plow company to Moline from Grand Detour, Ill. Early settlers found the region inhabited by the not-so-friendly Sauk Indians led by the warrior Black Hawk and had to fight for the land in the Black Hawk War.

While I was in Wauconda, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1977. I was by far the youngest member of the centennial planning committee (not to mention the chamber of commerce and the Miss Wauconda Committee). I even grew a beard! Here, there are many young guns on the area's chamber of commerce; there is no Miss Moline.

So Wauconda grew into a somewhat bucolic resort area and eventually a suburb, while Moline's growth centered on industry and transportation. When I was in Wauconda, its only industry was very small. Moline has John Deere -- 'nuff said.

Back in the 1970s, Wauconda was not too far removed from having just jumped Route 12 with housing development by Harold Dato. Today, Moline is looking for ways to jump the Rock River and start residential development there.

Those days in Wauconda were also VERY political. Moline has very little blatant politics because of the wisely adopted non-partisan elections. The Wauconda mayor was known to ride his bike around town. I don't know if Stephanie Acri has a bike.

Despite the political gamesmanship, Wauconda was a very open village. I learned most of what I know about city government from its clerk, Fran Stanke. I hung out with the police and firemen in their stations. In Moline, its difficult to find out what's going on. Moline could learn a thing or two there.

Wauconda has a couple of highways but no nearby Interstates, airports or rivers. The fact that this is a transportation hub is a real advantage for Moline.

Moline and the Quad-Cities have a bustling tourism industry, too. Wauconda had a few cabins and the historic Mers Restaurant and Hotel -- a grand restaurant overlooking the lake with some hotel rooms upstairs. Google tells me it closed in 1996 and was then remodeled into several other themed restaurants since. In Moline, there is nothing comparable, although Moline has many hotels and restaurants. Wauconda also had Lindy's Landing, best described in my era in town as a well-worn, beer-soaked bar and marina comparable to many neighborhood bars in Moline. I've heard today it has been rebuilt into a destination restaurant and marina that ol' Lindy wouldn't recognize.

Oh, and one other thing. Mr. Maxeiner needs to get rid of all of the Bulldog swag. He's a Maroon now (and I still haven't quite figured out what that is).

Mr. Maxeiner has a relatively small-town background which I think will play well in Moline, even tho it's a larger city. He has served as the village administrator of Wauconda since 2013 and has described himself as a "downstater at heart."

One thing is for sure, Mr. Maxeiner, you're not in Wauconda anymore. Welcome to the Quads!
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By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: On a tour of the entire country currently, Bombay Bassment is in full party mode. It has already been to Chennai, Goa, Pune and Mumbai, and are set to perform in Delhi (on June 22) and Bengaluru (on June 24) - all to promote their EP, OK, Dance.

The songs by Bobkat (Robert Omulo, MC), Ruell (Ruell Barretto, bass) and MajorC (Chandrashekhar Kunder, samples/percussion) - the men of Bombay Bassment - stay true to the title of the EP. Reggae, hip-hop, Afro-beats and street style all merge to produce the most dancefloor-worthy songs. According to the band, OK, Dance is midway between their first and second albums.

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Bobkat explains the idea behind the EP: "We're all about happiness and seeing people dancing at our gigs. We wanted to give people something to uplift their spirits. We wanted to make music that could be something you wanna play on Monday mornings to chase away the blues."

There are five tracks on OK, Dance - 'Yes Yes All', 'Put Em Up', 'Miss Goody', 'Party Party' and 'Pump It Up' - but of them all the one that stands out the most for the threepiece is 'Miss Goody'. Bobkat says, "It was the most fun to record because as soon as we composed it, we knew we had a banger in our hands."

For the people who are planning to go to their gigs, the above statement will please them for sure, as will the following promise of a "punchier" sound. "For the upcoming tour, due to our newly adapted sound and coupled with experience, if you've heard Bombay Bassment before, you will know this sound is tighter, and punchier," concludes Bobkat.

Bombay Bassment will perform in Delhi on June 22 at Bandstand. Listen to their new album on their soundcloud page.

--- ENDS ---
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By Press Trust of India: future exams: UPSC

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) As students prepare for writing the civil services examinations next Sunday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has said it will debar from future exams the candidates who bring gadgets like mobile phones or bluetooth devices inside the centre.

In a set of dos and donts for the civil services aspirants, the UPSC has also asked them not to bring any costly items inside the examination halls.

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"Electronic gadgets like cellular/mobile phones, any other devices for communication, laptop, bluetooth device, and calculator are banned inside the examination hall.

"Any infringement of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action against the candidates concerned including debarment from future examinations/selection," the UPSC said.

The civil services examination is conducted annually by the Commission in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.

The civil services preliminary examination 2017 is scheduled to be held on June 18.

Tens of thousands of students appear in this prestigious examination from across the country. About 4.59 lakh had taken the last years civil services prelims.

Of these, 1,099 have been declared successful, the result of which was declared on May 31. PTI AKV TIR SRY

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Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has conveyed to the government that he be relieved from the post which he has held for three years.

Rohatgi said that he had written to the government last month conveying his wish that he would not like a re-appointment to the post of the country's top law officer, and wanted to return to private practice.

He said he was appointed by the Narendra Modi government after it came to power in May 2014 and he has served his three-year term.

He said he considers this duration as enough and would like to return to his practice.

Rohatgi was appointed as the AG immediately after the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in May 2014 and during the stint, he argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to National Judicial Appointments Commission Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the apex court in 'triple talaq' matter in which the judgement is reserved.

Early this month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had extended his tenure until further orders.

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two Italian marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Besides some of these high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi had also appeared on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial.
The death of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-K chief S S Khaplang may pave the way for peace talks with the hardline Naga rebel group, bringing about a possible change in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast.

Khaplang, 77, who had also led the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia, a conglomerate of several insurgent groups, was instrumental in the recent step up in the attacks against security forces, besides running an arms racket.

He was opposed to a peace dialogue with the Centre.

While opinion is divided on how the insurgency situation will evolve in the Northeast, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said a peace dialogue with the NSCN-K is possible if the organisation gives up violence and secessionist activity.

"Khaplang was the main person who was supporting and facilitating insurgency in the Northeast and had a clout. He was a Myanmarese citizen and hence there was a problem. His death will definitely have impact in the region," he said.

Rijiju said the central government will rehabilitate all Indian citizens in the Naga group if they abjure violence.

"We appeal to all the Indian Nagas in the NSCN-K to surrender and return to the mainstream. We will rehabilitate them, he said.

Rijiju, however, said he cannot talk about Myanmarese citizens, who are part of the NSCN-K.

Khaplang was a Hemi Naga from Myanmar.

Executive director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies, Wasbir Hussain, said Khaplang was the most important player in the insurgency theatre in the Northeast and he abrogated the peace talks with the central government two years ago.

"His death raises questions whether his successors are more belligerent than him," he said.

Hussain said the Nagaland government had some time ago claimed that it was in touch with Khaplang to bring him back to the peace process and the rebel leader had apparently agreed to it provided the talks centered at substantive issues.

"Now the question is whether Khaplang's successors will keep that apparent commitment or whether the group will step up attack on the Indian state," he said.

Hussain said it will be also significant to see whether Khaplangs departure from the scene will impact the activities of the rebel umbrella United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia.

"This is because Khaplang and the anti-talks faction of ULFA leader Paresh Baruah were the two main movers and shakers of this potent rebel platform," he said.

Editor of the Dimapur-based English daily Nagaland Page, Monalisa Changkija, said it was too early to say whether peace will return to the Northeast following the death of Khaplang.

Changkija said if the NSCN-K leadership goes into the hands of Nagas belonging to Nagaland, there is a possibility of holding peace talks.

"Why would government of India talk to someone from Myanmar? It will take time some time to get a clear picture. It is difficult to predict just a day after Khaplang's death as to how the situation will evolve, she said.

Khaplang, who had engineered many attacks on the security forces including the killing of 18 Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015, died on Friday at Takka in Kachin province of Myanmar.

Khaplang, along with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, had formed the NSCN in 1980.

However, Khaplang split and formed his own group NSCN-K in 1988 following differences with Swu and Muivah. Swu died in June 2016 in a Delhi hospital.

The faction headed by Swu and Muivah has been carrying on a peace dialogue with the central government since 1997.

Khaplang had also entered into a ceasefire agreement with the central government in 1997, but abrogated it on March 28, 2015.

The NSCN-K was involved in the killing of 18 army soldiers in an ambush in Manipur on June 4, 2015.

Following the Manipur ambush, the Indian Army had carried out cross-border raids on NSCN-K camps located inside Myanmar killing several terrorists.

Subsequently in September 2015, the government declared the NSCN-K an unlawful organisation for five years.

Khaplang was willing to have a dialogue with Centre: Naga CM

Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu has said Khaplang had passed away before any solution to the protracted Naga political problem could be reached.

"It was encouraging to learn that Khaplang had, a few months back, conveyed his willingness to have a dialogue with the Centre provided issues of substance were discussed," Liezietsu said.

However, the Naga leader died before things could be taken forward to their logical conclusion, he said.

After NSCN-K abrogated ceasefire with the Government of India in 2015, Nagaland government in consultation with the Centre had been sending delegations to meet the NSCN-K leadership in Myanmar to convince the rebel outfit to re-enter the peace process and to find an early solution to the Naga political problem, Liezietsu said.

Khaplang died following a cardiac arrest at Takka in Myanmar on the night of June 9.

It is tragic that an important Naga leader like Khaplang expired considering the fact that the protracted Naga political problem is on the verge of being resolved, and the need for all different Naga political groups to come together to air our views and aspirations to the government of India in one voice is absolutely imperative, Liezietsu had said in his condolence message.

The chief minister also urged the Nagas to resolve and dedicate themselves to work with renewed vigour and determination to find a solution to the Naga political problem, which is honourable and acceptable to all stakeholders.

NSCN-IM forgives Khaplang for his political mistakes

The NSCN-IM on Sunday said it hadforgiven Khaplang for all his allegedpolitical mistakes.

We have forgiven S S Khaplang for all the politicalmistakes and crimes he had committed, however grave they maybe, NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah said in astatement in Kohima.

Based on the declaration made by our former chairman lateIsak Chishi Swu on forgiveness and reconciliation, we haveforgiven Khaplang, he said.

He consoled the bereaved family.

Various Naga political groups, Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio,Naga tribal organisations and political parties in the statehave mourned Khaplangs death.
Iran's national carrier Iran Air confirmed on Sunday that the country has sent five planes of food to Qatar after Gulf countries cut off air and other transport links to the emirate, amid a diplomatic row engulfing the region, local media reports said.

Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi said that some 90 tonnes of food items such as fruit and vegetables were sent to Doha by five planes.

He added that Iran would continue to deliver the food items as long as there is demand for it.

Three ships loaded with 350 tonnes of food were also set to leave an Iranian port for Qatar, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, have cut diplomatic ties with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Qatar. This situation is a repeat of 2014, when several Gulf countries recalled their Ambassadors from Doha over its support for Muslim Brotherhood.

These countries have accused Qatar for allegedly supporting extremism.

Iran has urged Qatar and neighbouring Gulf countries to engage in dialogue to resolve their dispute.

Iran has also opened its airspace to about 100 more Qatari flights a day, after some gulf nations banned Qatari planes from their airspace.
Mandsaur Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sudhir Gupta on Sunday alleged that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence and said the farmers stir was led by the opposition party.

The Neemuch-Mandsaur MP alleged that the Congress organised this stir to divert peoples attention from the recent public slaughter of a calf by Youth Congress leaders in Kerala.

"This is not a farmers agitation, this is Congress agitation," he said.

When asked if his party will suffer in the elections as most of the people here are farmers, Gupta said when the truth about the Congress' role in agitation will come out, the Congress will have to face loss.

"India is a democratic country and the farmers have all the rights to raise their demands but no one can imagine that farmers of Malwa region, which is very peaceful, on the name of agitation, would do so much violence, he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

Over the Congress alleging that no BJP leader visited the families of farmers killed during the agitation, the MP rejected the allegation saying he is in touch with the farmers families.

When the bodies of the five farmers killed in police firing were brought to a hospital here, I sat with them for over five hours, Gupta said.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Meenakshi Natarajan denied the allegation that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence.

"Congress never supports violence. It is completely a farmers agitation but we are there to fight for the farmers demands," she said.

When asked about the violence, Natarajan said the farmers of Neemuch-Mandsaur are angry over not getting the right price for their yields of soyabean, onion, garlic among others.

Also, many windmills are operating in the region for which land was acquired from the farmers, but the government never gave compensation for the agricultural land, she alleged.

On Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's fast, Natarajan said, "He is the CM, what is the need to fast instead he should call a cabinet meeting and pass a proposal on the demands of the farmers."

A special session of the state Assembly should also be called for resolving problems of agri sector apart from the cabinet meeting, she said.

Farmers do not have any say in fixing of the price of their crops and the government is not listening to their demands, Natarajan alleged.

She urged the Narendra Modi government to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan commission report.

Natarajan said the Central government should waive all the farm loans as the agriculture sector is facing problems.

Mandsaur-Neemuch region had always been a stronghold of the BJP. Six MLAs out of the seven assembly seats of the two districts are from the BJP while 1 MLA is from the Congress.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers protest on June 6.
The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.

"The government has, in principle, decided to waive farmers' loans with certain stipulations. The loans of farmers with small and medium land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.

Patil, who headed a high-power committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders in Mumbai Sunday.

Fadnavis said the state government had agreed to the loan waiver for farmers, adding that conditions and details will be finalised by a joint committee.

"Discussions between the government of Maharashtra and representatives of farmers have reached a consensus and farmers have called off the strike," Fadnavis said.

'The government has also accepted the demand of farmers to increase the milk prices,' the CM tweeted after the meeting.

He said that the milk societies will have to agree with 70:30 formula of profit sharing on the lines of sugar industry.

The move is expected to benefit 1.07 crore farmers in the state, who have land holdings of less than five acres, a farmer leader said. He said the loans of such small and medium farmers, worth Rs 30,000 crore, have been waived.

Meanwhile, the revenue minister said cases against those who participated in the farmers stir will be withdrawn, except in certain matters.

MP Raju Shetti, the leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, said if the government fails to fulfil its commitments, they would restart their agitation from July 25.

"Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said.

Shiv Sena minister Diwakar Raote said, "I was a representative of Sena in the talks. I said the Sena was with the agitators. Fadnavis, in today's discussions, agreed in principle to the demands." Dhanajya Dhorade, a farmer leader from Puntamba where the stir first began, said he was happy that the agitation was successful and demands of the farmers were met.

Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that 'all loans' of farmers will be waived.

"The atmosphere now is like a Diwali celebration. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted," he said.

The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said.

"We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said.

"However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation," Kadu said.

Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.

IMAGE: Farmer leaders celebrate after successful negotiations with the state government in Mumbai on Sunday. Photograph: Sahil Salvi
Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday arrested -- and subsequently released -- 30 activists, including Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Swami Agnivesh, in Ratlam, while they were on their way to Mandsaur to meet families of farmers killed in police firing.

The activists were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam district's Jaora town and detained in the circuit house there for about 30 minutes.

"They dispersed after they were released," City SP Deepak Kumar Shukla said.

The police told the activists, among them Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from farmer outfits, that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, where prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place, though curfew was lifted on Saturday.

"Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us," Yadav, of the political outfit Swaraj India, told reporters after the arrest.

He stressed the group had wanted to meet the families in Mandsaur 'peacefully' and wanted to present them with a 'letter of tribute' and soil brought from different parts of the country.

"But we were not allowed to go to Mandsaur," he said.

On being stopped from entering neigbouring Mandsaur, the activists sat on a protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic, the police said.

The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour.

The police said the activists were arrested when they insisted on being allowed to enter Mandsaur.

They were arrested under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

Yadav also demanded that the government waive farmers' loans and give them higher prices for agriculture produce.

He called for a probe into the death of six people who had been killed in the stir. Five died in police firing, and one was allegedly beaten to death.

Patkar said she could not understand how their presence in Mandsaur could disturb the situation.

"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers' families," she said.

Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress, as protests over low prices for crops and heavy farm debts started on June 1 and snowballed into a widespread agitation.

In Mandsaur, curfew was imposed after the five farmers were killed in two incidents of police firing during the protest on June 6.

Hardik Patel may leave for Mandsaur on Tuesday

Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel will arrive in Udaipur on Monday and is likely to leave for Mandsaur with his supporters the following day.

"Patel will be reaching Udaipur via road from Ahmedabad on Monday evening and will take part in a community feast in Namri panchayat. We had asked the police to allow him to address a gathering but it was not permitted," said Gehrilal Dangi, district president of Patel Navnirman Sena.

He has plans to leave for Mandsaur, but whether the administration allows it is uncertain, Dangi added.

He said that the Patidar community in Gujarat and Rajasthan stands in support of the Madhya Pradesh farmers.

"Patel desires to meet the agitating cultivators during his visit," Dangi said.

Additional SP Brijesh Kumar Soni said: "We have information that Hardik Patel will be in Udaipur on June 12 and take part in a community gathering."

Hardik, who had spent six months of exile in Udaipur after a Gujarat High Court order, had returned to his hometown in January this year. He was staying at a former Congress MLA's house during this period.

He was released from jail in Gujarat after nine months in confinement in July last year.
In ferment for the last several days, Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur, the epicentre of a violent stir by farmers, remained peaceful on Sunday, prompting Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to end his indefinite fast.

Chouhan, who began the fast yesterday to calm frayed tempers of the farmers demanding a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce, announced a slew of schemes for their benefit but issued a stern warning to those who engaged in 'incendiary activities'.

There was no curfew in all three police stations areas of Mandsaur city for the second day today, but prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of more than four people remained in force in the entire district.

Curfew will, however, continue in Pipliamandi police station area, about 15 km from Mandsaur district headquarters, where the killing of five farmers in police firing on June 6 led to sudden escalation of violence and arson that spread to several other districts of Madhya Pradesh.

"The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far," Collector OP Srivastava and Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh said.

Chouhan, under relentless opposition attack over the farmers' stir, broke his fast about a day-and-half into it with a glass of coconut water offered by former MP chief minister Kailash Joshi.

"Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today," Chouhan said before ending his fast.

"In a state where agriculture has flourished, it is impossible that farmers would indulge in violence on such a scale. While any pain to farmers is unacceptable, those who have engaged in incendiary activities will be severely dealt with.

"Those whose properties have been damaged will be compensated, but it will be investigated who were behind this violence. I began this fast in accordance with 'Rashtra dharma' (duty towards the nation) as in the name of farmers' agitation some people created a situation that caused me worry," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been accusing the Congress party of having stoked the agitation.

On being asked whether he had agreed to the demand for loan waiver, Chouhan, however, avoided a direct reply, maintaining he had told the farmers what he had to say.

During his fast, Chouhan had met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 of big cultivators.

BJP's state unit president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan claimed the family members of those killed in Tuesday's police firing had yesterday met Chouhan and requested him to call off his fast. The kin of four out of five men killed in firing had met Chouhan at the fast venue.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya claimed the farmers requested Chouhan to end his fast and even said they were ready to withdraw the agitation.

Before ending his 28-hour fast, Chouhan announced a slew of measures for the benefit of farmers and declared purchase of any farm produce below the minimum support price (MSP) will be treated as crime.

"Any purchase of farm produce below the MSP declared by the Centre would be considered a criminal act in MP," Chouhan told a gathering at BHEL's Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal, the venue of his fast.

He said agricultural land would now be acquired only with the consent of farmers concerned.

He said 'Kisan Bazaar' would be set up in all municipal areas and a cooperative institution on the lines of the Amul Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat will be set up across the state.

The chief minister said the government was in the process of setting up a Rs 1,000-crore Price Stabilisation Fund to purchase farm produce at the MSP.

Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure remunerative prices of farm produce.

Farmer shot dead in Mandsaur had four cases against him: police

Police has claimed that Kanhaiya Lal Patidar, one of the five farmers shot dead in the district, was booked for drug trafficking four times and was absconding in one case.

Superintendent of Police Manoj Singh told reporters yesterday that Patidar had been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act several times.

According to Town Inspector Vinod Kushwaha, Patidar, 38, was booked for drug trafficking four times between 2001 and 2011.

In the first three cases, registered under different police stations, he was granted bail, while he was absconding following the fourth FIR at Neemuch Cantt police station.

The first FIR was registered against him at Narayangarh police station in 1994 when he was caught allegedly trafficking opium.

In 2001, he was nabbed with smack worth Rs 4.5 crore and a first information report was registered against him at Mandsaur police station.

In 2011, two cases were registered in Y D Nagar and Neemuch Cantt police stations when he was allegedly caught in possession of 11 quintal and 22 quintal poppy husk respectively.

He was absconding since then, police said.

IMAGE: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan having juice from former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi to break his indefinite fast for peace in state, in Bhopal on Sunday. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, left, is also present. Photograph: PTI Photo
The Army said on Sunday the five terrorists killed in a counter-infiltration operation along the Line of Control in the Uri sector on Friday belonged to a 'fidayeen' squad and were planning a suicide attack.

"So far, in the search operations, huge quantity of arms and ammunition have been recovered, which includes five AK 47 rifles, two UBGLs, large quantity of explosives, combat dresses, incendiary material, eatables with Pakistani markings and uniquely body-fitted IEDs with timer mechanisms.

"All this indicates that this was a fidayeen group which was infiltrated into the sector with the sinister plans of carrying out a gruesome attack on an army camp or a civil installation around Uri," Brigadier Y S Ahlawat said.

Speaking to reporters at Uri in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, Brigadier Ahlawat said it was quite possible that with the kind of materials the terrorists were carrying, they could have executed a fidayeen-type attack similar to the 2016 attack in Uri.

He said the alertness and resilience of army troops has not only resulted in the elimination of this group, but has also ensured peace and tranquillity which this group wanted to vitiate specially during the holy month of Ramzaan.

"This is the fifth infiltration bid that has been successfully eliminated by the army in the last three days. The army continues with its resolve to keep a strong vigil along the LoC and foil all such nefarious designs of Pakistan-abetted terrorists," he said.

Pak ceasefire violation along LoC, IB in Rajouri, Samba

Meanwhile, Pakistani troops resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts along LoC and International Border in Rajouri and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, prompting Indian troops to retaliate.

Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, heavy automatics and mortars from 1240 hours along the Line of Control in Naushera sector in Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.

"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

In another ceasefire violation, Pakistan Rangers started firing on forward BSF troops in Ramgarh Sector in Samba district along the IB, a senior BSF officer said adding that BSF also retaliated.

During exchange of fire, Pak Rangers also fired a few small mortar shells. Intermittent fire continued till 1045 hours, he said adding there was no loss or damage so far.

"Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 0920 hours this morning along the Line of Control (LC) in Bhimbher Gali sector in Rajouri," a senior army officer said.

The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on, he said.

"It may be recalled that Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 2030 hours last evening along the LoC in Krishana Ghati sector," a senior army officer said.

Reports said Pak troops also targeted civilian population and hamlets along LoC in Krishnaghati and Balanar areas of Poonch district triggering panic among the area dwellers.

The Pakistan Army is targeting residential areas and hamlets with 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs triggering fear psychosis as shells are landing deep inside border civil hamlets.

Earlier this month, five Pakistani soldiers were killed and some others injured in the Indian Army's retaliatory action in LoC belt of the Nowshera and Krishnaghati sectors.
At least five United Kingdom cabinet ministers are pushing for Boris Johnson to topple Theresa May as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister, one of his close allies said on Sunday but the foreign secretary denied any plans of a coup.

Pressure has been building up on May to step down after a disastrous election result for the Tories, which saw the ruling party's majority slashed and being forced to cobble together a minority government with the support of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

"A handful of senior people have pledged their loyalty to Boris at Cabinet level," a Johnson ally told The Sunday Times.

"He has been inundated with messages of support... We need a Brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal," he added.

But Johnson reacted to media speculation on Twitter by dismissing any rebellion: "I am backing Theresa May. Let's get on with the job."

The latest leadership speculation comes a day after two of May's closest advisers, her joint chiefs-of-staff Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, resigned amid recriminations about their controlling management style.

May had been reportedly given an ultimatum to get rid of the duo or face a leadership challenge by Monday.

"Theresa May is a dead woman walking and the only question is how long she remains on death row," said George Osborne, who had been sacked as UK Chancellor when May took over at 10 Downing Street after David Cameron resigned as PM after the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

The new editor of the Evening Standard newspaper and close ally of Cameron added: "Cameron took years getting back to office, winning in seats like Bath and Brighton and Oxford and I am angry when we go backwards and I am not afraid to say that."

The sense of uncertainty about a May-led minority government was made worse on Saturday night by conflicting messages from Downing Street.

An initial statement suggested a deal had been struck with the Democratic Unionist Party, but a later version said the talks were continuing.

'The prime minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week. We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond,' the final statement said.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Arlene Foster has said that talks were ongoing, indicating it may not be such a smooth process after all.

The Opposition Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has also said that his party is waiting in the wings to take charge after he defied pollsters predictions by gaining 30 seats in Thursday's election, leaving a hung Parliament.

He said that Labour under his leadership was 'quite ready and able to put forward a serious programme of government', which he said 'obviously has massive support in this country'.

"We can't go on with a period of great instability," he said, adding that the Labour Party was ready to fight another election campaign.

A latest YouGov poll for 'The Sunday Times' revealed that voters, by a margin of 48 per cent to 38 per cent, believe the prime minister should resign and for the first time Corbyn has drawn level with May on the question of who would be the best prime minister.

IMAGE: Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Theresa May attend a cabinet meeting in Buckinghamshire to discuss department-by-department Brexit action plans. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/Pool/Reuters
By Press Trust of India: Panaji, June 11 (PTI) The Goa Congress today criticised state Shiv Sena president Shivprasad Joshi for praising the right wing Sri Ram Sene and stating that many people in neighbouring Karnataka cannot sing complete national anthem.

Joshi yesterday said though Goans are patriots, many people in Karnataka do not even know how to sing the national anthem.

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The Sena leader had also hailed the Sene and its controversial chief Pramod Muthalik for doing a commendable job of protecting women.

"Shiv Senas praising of Shri Ram Sene displays their mindset though its not at all surprising. Moreover, the moral policing hypocrites should introspect first," Goa Congress spokesman Sunil Kawthankar told PTI.

Reacting to Joshis statement on singing of the national anthem, the Congress leader said the remarks regarding people of Karnataka are "completely unfortunate and condemnable".

Referring to incomplete printing of national anthem in the Marathi subject textbooks of class II in Goa, Kawthankar asked, "where was Shiv Sena when incomplete national anthem was printed in thousands of Gomant Bharti books? Is their nationalism selective?"

In the wake of the Congress allegation that the books carried incomplete national anthem, the state government recently ordered reprinting/replacement of several thousand books. PTI RPS NSK BAS

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: goonda

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit today triggered a row after he likened Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to a "goon on the street" over the latters public remarks, prompting the BJP to demand his expulsion and an apology from Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress was quick to distance itself from the remarks of Dikshit, who, following criticism, was forced to withdraw his remarks and apologise.

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"Ours is not a mafia army like the Pakistani army which makes statements like the goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief gives a statement like a sadak ka goonda (goon on the street)," the former Congress MP and son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.

He also said the Indian Army had depth and was gentlemanly and as it was a great institution, it brought along a particular culture with it.

"I dont think our Army chief lived up to that...I believe this Army chief does not live up to my image of what the Indian Army should be. I believe, the Army chief should not make political statements," Dikshit said.

He, however, later tweeted, "I have reservations on a comment of the Army chief, but I should have chosen appropriate words. I apologise."

Dikshits comments on the Army chief drew flak from Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju. On Twitter, Rijiju wrote, "Whats wrong with Congress Party? How dare Congress call Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda"!! (sic)."

Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said, "Our party respects the Army and so does the country. If some words have been used for its chief, it is unfortunate."

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was quick to demand an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the episode and Dikshits expulsion from the party.

"This statement is absolutely shocking, it is appalling. Calling the respected Army chief of the country a sadak ka goonda, the Indian people will not accept it.

"Sonia Gandhi should expel such leaders and apologise," he said.

Patra alleged that the Congress had a "tradition" of making such remarks as its vice-president Rahul Gandhi had earlier used words such as "khoon ki dalali" and said, "We see a trend of Congress leaders speaking against the Indian Army and the Army chief."

He added that this will not be accepted by the people of the country and the democracy will reject the Congress party for this kind of language against the Army chief.

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General Rawat, in a recent interview to PTI, had defended Army Major Leetul Gogois act of tying a Kashmiri man to his jeep and using him as a "human shield" against stone-pelters in the Valley.

"I wish these people, instead of throwing stones at us, were firing weapons at us. Then, I would have been happy. Then, I could do what I (wanted to do)," he had said.

The Army chiefs comments had come under criticism from various quarters, including mainstream political parties such as the Left parties and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC). PTI SKC RC

--- ENDS ---
From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?'
By Press Trust of India: Mandsaur (MP), Jun 11 (PTI) With peace gradually returning to violence-hit Mandsaur, local BJP MP Sudhir Gupta today alleged that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence and said the farmers stir was led by the opposition party.

The Neemuch-Mandsaur MP alleged that the Congress organised this stir to divert peoples attention from the recent public slaughter of a cow by Youth Congress leaders in Kerala.

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"This is not a farmers agitation, this is Congress agitation," he said.

When asked if his party will suffer in the elections as most of the people here are farmers, Gupta said when the truth about the Congress role in agitation will come out, then Congress will have to face loss.

"India is a democratic country and the farmers have all the rights to raise their demands but no one can imagine that farmers of Malwa region, which is very peaceful, on the name of agitation, would do so much violence," he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

Over the Congress alleging that no BJP leader visited the families of farmers killed during the agitation, the MP rejected the allegation saying he is in touch with the farmers families.

"When the bodies of the five farmers killed in police firing were brought to a hospital here, I sat with them for over five hours," Gupta said.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Meenakshi Natarajan denied the allegation that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence.

"Congress never supports violence. It is completely a farmers agitation but we are there to fight for the farmers demands," she said.

When asked about the violence, Natarajan said the farmers of Neemuch-Mandsaur are angry over not getting the right price for their yields of soyabean, onion, garlic among others.

Also, many windmills are operating in the region for which land was acquired from the farmers, but the government never gave compensation for the agricultural land, she alleged.

On Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans fast, Natarajan said, "He is the CM, what is the need to fast instead he should call a cabinet meeting and pass a proposal on the demands of the farmers."

A special session of the state Assembly should also be called for resolving problems of agri sector apart from the Cabinet meeting, she said.

Farmers do not have any say in fixing of the price of their crops and the government is not listening to their demands, Natarajan alleged.

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She urged the Narendra Modi government to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan commission report.

Natarajan said the Central government should waive all the farm loans as the agriculture sector is facing problems.

Mandsaur-Neemuch region, where had always been a stronghold of the BJP. Six MLAs out of the seven assembly seats of the two district are from the BJP while 1 MLA is from the Congress.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers protest on June 6.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan yesterday launched an indefinite fast in state capital Bhopal with an appeal for peace and met farmer leaders, but failed to reach a compromise. PTI HWP DIP

--- ENDS ---
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Bowlmor AMF said this week that the investment firm Atairos Group Inc. has acquired a substantial ownership position in the company, which operates 305 bowling centers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Bowlmor AMF was created through the 2013 merger of Hanover County-based AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc., the largest operator of bowling centers, and New York-based Bowlmor, a smaller operator of upscale bowling centers.

The company has an administrative office in Hanover County that will not be affected, the company said.

It is business as usual, said Rick Chung, general counsel of Bowlmor AMF.

Atairos, based in New York, acquired the ownership stake from a group of previous investors led by Cerberus Capital Management LP.

The companies did not disclose the financial value of the investment.

Thomas Shannon, CEO of Bowlmor AMF, will maintain his significant investment in the company, and its management team will remain in place, the companies said.

Atairos is the ideal partner for Bowlmor as we embark on the next phase of our growth and development, Shannon said in a statement.

In 2014, Bowlmor AMF completed a $270 million acquisition of Brunswick Corp.s bowling center business, which included 85 centers in 18 states and in Canada.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said it feels bad when COAS Bipan Rawat speaks like a 'sadak ka gunda.' He soon apologised for his remarks.

By India Today Web Desk: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit today said it felt bad when Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat spoke like a "sadak ka gunda (goon on the street)," prompting a furious response from Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju.

"What's wrong with (the) Congress Party? How dare Congress call (the) Indian Army Chief as "Sadak Ka Gunda", Rijiju tweeted. Dikshit soon apologised for his remarks.

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"I genuinely believe what I said was wrong. So I apologise for it and withdraw my statement," the news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

Dikshit had told ANI that Pakistan Army personnel were like "mafia people," so it was understandable if they used such language.

But why, he asked, was Army Chief Gen Rawat talking that way?

It isn't the first time a comparison targeting Gen Rawat has landed a public figure in the media spotlight.

After academic Partha Chatterjee controversially compared him to General Reginal Dyer, the man responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Gen Rawat had this to say:

"See, I am an Army officer, just anything cannot affect me. You have to be prepared to face such. People can misinterpret (comments made by him)."

(Inputs from ANI)

ALSO READ | Not hurt by comparison with General Dyer, says Army chief Bipin Rawat

ALSO READ | Women to be inducted as military police jawans first, says Army Chief Bipin Rawat

WATCH THE VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark decision in Loving v. Virginia, which effectively struck down bans on interracial marriage in Virginia and 15 other states.

The court ruled unanimously that Virginias anti-miscegenation statutes violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

In delivering the courts opinion on June 12, 1967, Chief Justice Earl Warren said: Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the state.

Much has changed since the historic victory of Richard and Mildred Loving, a mixed-race couple from Caroline County, whose story was told in the film Loving.

The Pew Research Center reported last month that as of 2015, 17 percent of U.S. newlyweds had a spouse with a different race or ethnicity. That was up from 3 percent in 1967.

More broadly, one in 10 married people in 2015  not just those who recently married  had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity, according to the Pew analysis of U.S. census data. This translates into 11 million people who were intermarried, Pew reported, noting that the increase has dovetailed with growing social acceptance.

The Lovings story

Richard and Mildred Loving married in June 1958 in the District of Columbia. They returned to Virginia and about a month later were arrested at Mildred Lovings parents home and charged with violating state laws against interracial marriage.

In 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty in a Caroline County court to unlawfully cohabitating as a married couple. A judge suspended their one-year jail terms on the condition that they leave Virginia and not return together for 25 years.

After they were convicted, the Lovings moved from Caroline County to Washington. In 1963, Bernard S. Cohen, a lawyer working with the American Civil Liberties Union, took on an appeal of the Lovings convictions. He would later work with another attorney, Philip J. Hirschkop.

In March 1966, the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the states laws against miscegenation, but found the conditions of the Lovings suspended terms so unreasonable as to render the sentences void. In June 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling.

Richard Loving was killed in June 1975 when his car was struck in Caroline by a drunken driver. Mildred Loving died of pneumonia in March 2008.

Cohen, a Democrat, served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1996.

Fifty years after the Supreme Courts ruling, the Pew report found significant regional differences in intermarriage.

In the Honolulu metro area, 42 percent of newlyweds were married to a spouse of a different race or ethnicity, compared with 3 percent in Jackson, Miss., and in Asheville, N.C., according to combined data from 2011 to 2015. In the Richmond area, 12 percent of newlyweds were married to a person of a different race or ethnicity, according to the Pew report.
WOOLWINE

All thats left of the Bob White Covered Bridge are its concrete piers and a vision, backed by almost half the funds some say it may take to build a replacement.

The bridge, built in 1921, was washed out by flooding and heavy rain in September 2015.

Many residents of Patrick County, particularly in Woolwine, where the bridge was, are on a mission to have a replica built. But that has been a long process, said Betty Perry. Some are not so sure. You cant replace an old bridge, people say, but you can build a replacement that looks just like it, to keep the local history alive, she and other supporters believe.

There are only six covered bridges left in Virginia, with one of them, Jacks Creek Covered Bridge, just less than 3 miles from the Bob White site.

The Bob White bridge served an old road between Elamsville Road and Bob White Road, going alongside the Smith River Church of the Brethren. It spanned 80 feet across the Smith River.

Perry is the granddaughter of Walter Weaver, who was in charge of the building of the bridge in 1921. He designed it and also the Jacks Creek Covered Bridge, which was built in 1914.

Her uncle Ed Weaver helped her grandfather build the Bob White bridge, Perry said. Her father, Noel Weaver, was 12 years old at the time. He carried water to the builders, and her aunt Annie Atkins carried their lunch.

The bridge was named after the Bob White Post Office, which in turn was named after the Bob White quail. It stopped being used for vehicular traffic around the 1960s. But covered wagons have crossed it during the Virginia Covered Bridge Festival, which is held at the site each June, and many brides have crossed it going to their weddings at the church, either on foot or in vintage cars.

When the bridge was destroyed, there were already plans to repair it. Patrick County had received grant funding through VDOT for the project. Engineered plans were drafted and completed in June 2015 just three months before the bridge was destroyed.

The Jacks Creek Covered Bridge was restored about eight years ago, with grant funds from the Federal Highway Administrations covered bridge preservation program and the states Department of Historic Resources.

When the Bob White bridge was destroyed, Joe Quesenberry, who was the countys tourism director at the time, helped in efforts to rebuild it by creating a YouCaring page online. It has raised $900.

Bert Hatcher, who lives near the bridge and is part of the Covered Bridge Committee working to rebuild it, said a Virginia Tech engineer certified the set of piers was strong enough to rebuild on.

There have been a lot of fence-sitters, Hatcher said. The supervisors have pledged their support; theres just no county money to help.

Local sawmills have donated lumber for the project, he said. The donations were pledged for the refurbishment but would now be used for the rebuilding.

Back when the plan was to refurbish the bridge to historically correct standards, the estimated cost was $300,000. Building a new bridge following modern construction methods, requirements and standards may cost only about a third of that, Hatcher said.

Once enough money has been raised, the group will get an engineer to design the plans. Those engineered plans would cost about $30,000, Quesenberry had estimated last summer. Then the project could go out to bid, and people will have a better idea of what it would cost to rebuild, Hatcher said.

When they were planning to refurbish the bridge under the government grant, the local committee would have had to come up with $60,000 to contribute toward the total cost of refurbishment, the group said. Thats how they came to have about $10,000 raised by the time the bridge was destroyed.

Crystal Harris, chair of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors and a member of the committee, said theres been some difficulty in garnering support from officials.

The board did a resolution that they would help us to get grants and do RFPs (requests for proposals), she said, but a county official wanted the bridge to be privately owned.

That, the group said, goes against the intention of the bridge being a public site.

Its manipulation, said Harris, who declined to go into further detail.

Lock Boyce, who represents the Mayo River District, said he is adamantly opposed to spending a dime of county taxpayer money on these covered bridges. But Rickie Fulcher of the Peters Creek District said the rebuild should be possible through grants, private donations and gifts, and the hope is that (county funding) will not be required as funding will come from other sources.

To help it along, he said, The county has approved a resolution of support ... and has instructed the Tourism Department to assist in helping to secure funding sources.

Its too early in the process to know who would own the rebuilt bridge, Fulcher added.

Sandra Puckett, the countys tourism director who began her role in January, said she has been looking for grants to help but has not found any yet.

I think my manager, being the county administrator, does not want to get involved, but the Board of Supervisors said, We will support the rebuilding, so were trying to support them as far as searching for grant funding and helping them with donations as far as receiving the donations, Puckett said.

She said the county is in the process of having someone from an architectural firm talk to the committee and guide it in the direction it needs to go.

That specialist, who is from Roanoke, was involved with the Jacks Creek bridge refurbishment, she said. He has expressed a personal interest in the project, she said, and volunteered to help.

He would be able to give the committee a guesstimate on the cost of building a replacement, she added.

The committee has 501(c)3 status as a government-recognized nonprofit entity and is run by volunteers. Most of the funds for the bridge have come from donations, which may be sent to P.O. Box 275, Woolwine, VA 24185. Checks should be made to Covered Bridge Committee.

The group also holds fundraisers, and Nancy Belcher Cox of the Commonwealths Attorneys office plans to have a fundraising dinner soon. But holding those fundraisers is tough.

Harris said, Were all elderly and ... 

... we dont have the energy to do it, Perry finished her sentence.
August Wallmeyer, author of The Extremes of Virginia, recently interviewed Jack Kennedy, clerk of the court for Wise County, in Southwest Virginia. Kennedy is a strong advocate for Appalachia  and for helping the region recover from the downturn in the coal economy by re-inventing itself as part of the 21st century. Here is an edited transcript of the interview.

August Wallmeyer: What is right about Southwest Virginia and what is wrong?

Jack Kennedy: Thats an interesting question. What is right is that were in the heart of central Appalachia. It has a quality of life that is benign in the sense that everyone knows one another generally, a higher sense of safety and community that may not be as fast and furious as you find in Northern Virginia, with its one quarter population churn every four years. You dont have that here.

Certainly, the population is in implosion because of the economic downturn, and that unfortunate reason does bring families closer together. I think the sense of the quality of life in rural Virginia is safe, secure, a stronger sense of family, legacy, history, that gives it a very serious foundation. Beyond that, the quality of life for someone coming into the area, of having an abundance of natural resources, natural treasures, trails for four-wheeling, being able to go fishing, and yet to have a community in which you have a branch of the University of Virginia that offers the only undergraduate degree in software engineering, are all positives.

The negatives have been and continue to be a sense of isolation that comes from a lack of interaction with other parts of the commonwealth, since six other state capitals are closer to us (than Richmond). We find ourselves more in this mindset of the nonexistent state of Franklin, because we have more in common with West Virginia and Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina than we do compared to Accomack and Fairfax and Fauquier or Richmond or Petersburg. It is a disconnect in many ways.

The dependence on fossil-fuel extraction and the boom and bust that has been associated with that for generations causes a recurring problem. There is a lack of entrepreneurial mindset, not self-inflicted, but based upon absentee mineral development by large corporations coming in and providing employment ... for generations. (That) sort of pushed the entrepreneurial skill set out. We need a greater sense of entrepreneurialism, venture capital, a greater awareness of modernity, a greater understanding of our own geography. The coalfields have been in an export economy for generations, (people) just dont fully realize just how much foreign trade weve participated in shipping coal around the world.

***

Wallmeyer: For that sense of entrepreneurship, is there any change in the young people today, versus 20 or 30 years ago?

Kennedy: The young people today, unfortunately, are part of our export. My own two children, 35 and 29, are outside of Virginia. Theyve moved for different things in their lives. But theres no future here for them. College educated, young, career-seeking adults see little opportunity here. Its not that they want to leave. But theres no sense of opportunity of ever coming back.

Wallmeyer: So the young people who do not leave tend to be not college educated, not professional people, to be people who have traditionally been dependent on the extraction industry for the most part for their jobs?

Kennedy: Yes. And if you look at the census data over the last decade, youre seeing a graying of the population as it declines, a loss of youth, when parents who do leave for employment take their children out of school. As a result, were seeing more school consolidation, and less funding for education while were trying to maintain this infrastructure, or struggling to find the ways and means to consolidate the infrastructure into a newer facility.

***

Wallmeyer: If the young people and the professional people are leaving, and the numbers show a decline of greater than 2 percent in the first five years of this decade, play that out 20, 30, 40 years from now?

Kennedy: It depends on if we can break this logjam of leadership and thinking both at the state level and the local level, because we have an aging leadership that tends to push out new thinking.

Weve not embraced the sense of modernity and change as much as we need to, and we need to work on that. We need to look at upgrading our infrastructure.

In Wise County today, were dependent on Kentucky Utilities (doing business as) Old Dominion Power, which has not invested adequately in creating a smart grid or incorporating renewables, because they do not want to generate (electricity) in Virginia because they do not want to bring on more State Corporation Commission regulation.

So it leaves us in a quagmire of having a grid that is not 21st century and therefore inhibits our ability to attract outside investment and seek hundreds of millions of dollars from data centers and logistics centers and the like. We have got to do something about that in the next few years.

The University of Virginias College at Wise is the greatest asset in Southwest Virginias Appalachian region today, because it provides us an avenue to recruit students from throughout Virginia and the United States and literally around the world, and we need to do that on a massive scale. We need to grow that institution to over 5,000 students. It will change the whole region.

Bill Crutchfield of Crutchfield Electronics in Charlottesville used to be on the Board of Visitors of University of Virginia and also on the board of UVa-Wise. (His idea) was building a dormitory for UVas Charlottesville students in Wise, and yet another for UVa-Wise students in Charlottesville. Lets stop and think about this. How many Virginians come to Wise County, or even realize that Virginia extends west of Detroit? Few! How many young people from Southwestern Virginia never hear of Tangier Island, never really experience an urban life in Arlington, dont really understand downtown Richmond and what VCU has done for it?

So, we need to grow together, and (Crutchfields idea) would provide a greater sense of commonwealth, redefining that to community for the entire state. If I had a magic wand, that would be very high on my list of what I would do, and it would not be very expensive. And it would have a profound cultural impact on the commonwealth as a whole and on this region specifically.

***

Wallmeyer: You want to not only attract business, not only to stop the outflow of young people and professional people, but also you want to change the culture?

Kennedy: Yes. Because right now state policy has in effect changed Southwest Virginia into a penal colony. We probably have 50 percent of the of the Department of Corrections employees in Southwestern Virginia. And while I dont mean to stereotype or demean correctional officers one iota, we serve the entire criminal justice system in Virginia. (The prisons in Southwest Virginia) are good economic development projects, I appreciate them being there, but what does that do to build the entrepreneurial base and the cultural change of a 21st century economy? Little! Yet we are spending more on the Department of Corrections than we are on trying to do something positive for education.

I dont want a handout, I want a helping hand. Right now, households in Southwestern Virginia have a 25 percent poverty rate. We need to ameliorate that problem. We need to determine how were going to address the drug problem. And weve got to eradicate it, through giving opportunities to young people who dont necessarily have (them) today and incentivize them to stay.

***

Wallmeyer: Imagine youre a senator or delegate in Northern Virginia or Eastern Virginia or in the Richmond metro area. Why do you care about Southwest Virginia or Southside or the Eastern Shore?

Kennedy: As a Virginian and a former legislator, I think each of the 140 members of the General Assembly has a fiduciary and ethical responsibility to the commonwealth as a whole. Theres got to greater cooperation among Virginians and across party lines.

I am flabbergasted by the erosion of cross-party cooperation. Weve got to have a greater sense of community. Rather than red or blue, weve got to be more purple. Were all a part of this same commonwealth. ... I hope that all five candidates for governor, especially, dont forget that.

Governors can make a huge difference, and they have the responsibility, like a parent has to a child. You go pick up the one thats crying, not the one that is laughing and having a good time.
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Jun 10 (PTI) Union Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya will be leaving for Geneva tomorrow to participate in the 106th meeting of the International Labour Organisation from June 12-16.

"During the ILO Conference I would deliver address on June 12 marking the World Child Labour Day. The next day, I will address Non Aligned Movement (NAM) countries, Indian Event on Child Labour and ASPAG meeting (Asia Pacific Group of ILO)," he told reporters here.

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He would address the ILO Conference and G-20 Countries meet on June 14 and the ILO plenary session on June 16.

The Minister will also hold bilateral talks with labour ministers of eight countries.

During the ILO conference, India will be hosting an event on Child Labour.

Dattatreya also said as per the recent rule passed by the Parliament, children under 14 years of age are not be allowed to work at any place while those under 18 years are prevented from working in hazardous industries as per the ILO 138 and 182 conventions.

The Minister further said India is implementing technology mode governance in administration and lot of changes and reforms have taken place in the labour ministry during the past three years.

According to Dattatreya, Medical Council of India (MCI) has given permission to ESI Medical College for 2nd year admissions and permission to start Dental College at Gulbarga in Karnataka.

He said six medical colleges and two dental colleges are run by the ESIC across the country.

The six medical colleges are located at Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Joka, Faridabad, Chennai and Gulbarga and the dental colleges are at Delhi and Gulbarga. PTI GDK NRB

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The three Republicans running for lieutenant governor head into Tuesdays primary following a personally contentious campaign loaded with unseemly allegations and mail attacks that one candidate described as emotional voodoo.

State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel of Fauquier County has the money edge in the race, thanks in part to big donations from her father, William B. Holtzman, who owns an oil business.

Sen. Bryce E. Reeves of Spotsylvania, a former Prince William County police officer and Army lieutenant who earned the coveted Ranger tab, never served in combat but has waged political warfare on Vogel. He has attacked Vogel with direct mail accusing her of being liberal and sought to depose her in court over an email last year attacking him that he believes she was behind. Vogel also came under attack from a well-funded, dark-money advertising campaign comparing her to Hillary Clinton.

Del. Glenn R. Davis Jr., R-Virginia Beach, has largely avoided the negative fray, but his sniping at Vogel over tax policy eventually prompted her to pummel him in Facebook ads saying he backed 10 separate tax hikes & the largest tax hike in Virginias history.

Davis, 43, the founder of an information technology company, is a former member of the Virginia Beach City Council and was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2013.

Davis, who also came under attack on the website of Americans for Tax Reform, has complained to the state about Vogels ads. But he has largely run a jovial campaign, traversing Virginia in his recreational vehicle dubbed Mello Yellow and regularly posting on-the-fly Facebook videos in which he engages his audience on taxes and job growth  and a meme in which he wielded a humming lightsaber.

This is getting really absurd. Right now both of my opponents for lieutenant governor  theyre fighting in the courtroom, Davis said in a recent TV ad. During this whole campaign, Ive been working to limit the scope of government, bring high-paying jobs to Virginia and stop the expansion of Medicaid.

Davis referenced a legal issue in which Reeves sought to depose Vogel, her husband, their neighbors and two supporters over an email sent last fall to some of his supporters alleging he had an affair with a campaign aide. Reeves has denied the allegation and in court records said he believes the Vogels are behind the email. Jill Vogel has denied involvement and said she was the target of a political stunt.

A judge on Friday denied Reeves request for depositions. He now says he plans to sue Vogel and others.

Vogel, 46, a state senator since 2008, was counsel for the 1996 Republican National Convention. She is former counsel at the Republican National Committee and former deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy, and founded her own law firm in 2001.

She has focused her campaign, through television ads, on her biography as a lawyer handling campaign ethics law, her work as a state senator and her role as a mother.

I think your No. 1 priority has to be to put principle over party, Vogel said in an ad. The big issues of our time, honestly, are not partisan issues. Issues of public safety, issues of economic freedom, health care reform, jobs and prosperity. They are not partisan issues  theyre good-government issues.

Reeves, 50, a state senator since 2012, bills himself as the conservative choice in the race, touting his voting record on gun rights and social issues. Vogel, however, was endorsed by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, one of the leading gun-rights groups in the state.

One of Reeves TV ads featured two head-scarved terrorists who frighten a suburban mother and her two children. Reeves, an insurance agent, calls for stricter immigration enforcement. This is the America Obama left behind, he said in the ad.

Reeves has also focused on support for veterans and law enforcement.

In mailers, he attacked Vogel for supporting gay rights and voting to elect a gay judge, Tracy W.J. Thorne-Begland of Richmond General District Court, in 2013. Reeves was among social conservatives who did not vote.

Vogels campaign responded that she opposes discrimination.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
A new restaurant is headed to Roanoke's Old Southwest neighborhood.

Mel's Place will open at 551 Marshall Ave. in the former Old Southwest Grill location. Before that, the spot housed Fork in the City for several years.

Mel's Place will specialize in wood-fired brick oven pizza. The fact that the kitchen already features a brick oven is one of the reasons its owners were led there. Michele Green and her husband, Chris Graham, searched for about a year and a half to find the right restaurant space.

Mel's Place previously had a location in Maine, but business was seasonal and the restaurant couldn't be operated year-round, Green said. So they looked up and down the East Coast for a spot. When they found the former Old Southwest Grill location, they researched Roanoke and decided to move to the Star City to launch the restaurant. It is named for Green's mother, Mel, who loved to cook Italian food.

Pizza will be Mel's Place's main dish, but the restaurant also will serve other Italian foods, such as chicken parmesan and lasagna, as well as sandwiches and salads. Green described it as "Italian-American comfort food" and said much of it will be made from scratch. The restaurant will have a full bar and operate for lunch and dinner.

The layout of the restaurant will remain the same, but the interior is being redesigned for a more rustic and industrial look for a casual atmosphere. There will also be patio seating. Mel's is expected to open in the next few weeks.
Whats your role at Draper Aden?

We are an engineering, surveying and environmental consulting firm that provides services throughout Virginia and North Carolina.  We have professional business developers that are responsible for developing relationships in our target industries so that we can be positioned for engineering and environmental services when our clients and prospects need it. A year ago, I was asked to focus on the economic development opportunities. They include greenfield product  [like] the Roanoke County Wood Haven project at the [Interstate] 58181 corridor. The other thing we do is a lot of brownfield work. We work with the city of Roanoke, the city of Lynchburg, the town of Pulaski and the city of Martinsville to help them to assess some of their buildings and sites to make sure that they are not contaminated. Those are the two primary things our firm does for the economic development world: brownfield assessments and product development.

What are some trends you are seeing in Southwest Virginia in regard to that?

Southwest Virginia, especially in regards to the Roanoke Valley, has enjoyed tremendous success in the last year with two breweries, and Eldor Corp. So the trend right now is that theyve gone from a whole lot of product to not much product at all. So thats where the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program comes in handy. It can help them to assess the level of readiness the sites are at and help them determine what they can do to get to the next level.

Whats the advantage of having a site thats ready to go?

Total advantage. Today, companies, when they are finding a place to locate, they are looking to do so as quickly as possible. So finding out its a beautiful site, but theres no water and sewer there and its not readily available or theres not fiber or broadband  that can be a deal killer.

What does the area need to enhance economic development?

As a citizen, I think its cool to see how much the Roanoke Valley is changing. Weve got that cool vibe going on. Its becoming a much more attractive and enjoyable place to live. The economic development professionals in the region have done a great job with that. What they are really running short on is sites to attract people.  If you go to Botetourt County you hear the same thing. If you go to Roanoke County you hear the same thing. However, Franklin County has a really cool site now. Unfortunately, my firm is not working on it, but we are tracking it and watching things develop there.

How did you end up in this line of work?

I got a job as a temporary receptionist at an engineering firm in a bad economy. It was in Richmond and the owner of it just saw something in me that he wanted me to work there. He knew I was a marketing graduate and he promoted me quickly to the marketing coordinator job, and then quickly again to the marketing manager job, and I just kind of developed a reputation for being really good at it. I think its because some engineers want to go out and network and do what I do, but a lot dont.  So Ive kind of found a place that needs me.
Fort Lewis Pharmacy owner Kirtesh Patel said sometimes he has to stay a little late in order to accommodate clients who want to talk one on one. And some people come in just to drink from the free pot of coffee offered in the sitting area of the store. Patel said he is OK with that.

Personal service is what Patel likes to emphasize at the pharmacy, an independently owned business that opened on West Main Street in Salem last fall after previously operating on the Richfield Retirement Community campus. In an increasingly competitive market for locally owned pharmacies, personal attention is one of such stores biggest selling points.

There is still a place for us, Patel said.

In the past few years, health insurance companies, prescription benefit managers and large retail chains have put new burdens on community pharmacies. But the National Community Pharmacists Association says the number of independent pharmacies has remained stable over the past few years, hovering around 22,000 locations nationwide, as they find their niche in the marketplace.

The Roanoke and New River valleys are home to about 25 locally owned pharmacies, according to the association. Thats about the same number of locations that CVS, the nations largest pharmacy chain, has in the two valleys. There are also about eight Walgreens and dozens of grocery store pharmacies in the region.

This area has seen a mix of pharmacy openings and closings. Downtown Drug in Roanoke closed in November after two years. The Medicine Shoppe in Boones Mill closed in 2015 when its owner retired after nearly 60 years. The business was sold to Walgreens and the property went up for sale, leaving the town without a locally owned pharmacy. Williamson Road Pharmacy closed in April after more than five decades and the business was sold to CVS. That property also is now on the market.

Thirty-year-old Jeremy Counts is a second-generation pharmacist who opened Main Street Pharmacy in Blackburg a little more than a year ago. He said the business is doing well, already bringing in earnings he wasnt expecting for another year. He and other local pharmacists said they are not bothered by the competition from chain stores.

Instead, their primary struggle is with prescription benefit managers, which often steer business away from independent pharmacies.

They are the biggest problem in health care right now, Counts said.

PBMs, as they are commonly known, are third-party administrators that handle prescription drug plans. They act as middlemen between pharmacies and drug manufacturers to negotiate prices, and they are often contracted by health insurance companies. The largest three PBMs are Express Scripts, CVS Health and OptumRx.

They are designed to cut down on prescription costs and increase patient access to medications. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a lobbying organization for PBMs, says on its website, PBMs are projected to save employers, unions, government programs, and consumers $654 billion  up to 30 percent  on drug benefit costs over the next decade.

However, PBMs have increasingly come under fire as drug prices have soared in the past few years  along with their profits. Critics say theres little transparency in how they operate and determine pricing. Pharmacists are charged retroactive fees by the PMB when they sell each drug. But pharmacists say the fees are not itemized and often come up unexpectedly. This affects large chains less than it does small pharmacies, which have slimmer profit margins and rely more on drug sales than do the chains, which typically also sell groceries, health and beauty aids and other goods.

PBMs also often require customers to order maintenance drugs  those taken on a recurring, regular basis  in bulk through the mail, cutting out independent pharmacies.

You cant fight that no matter how good your service is, said Patel, who thinks many of the practices are unfair.

Counts pharmacy is part of an independent pharmacy buying group, like a co-op, that unites pharmacies to give them more buying power.

The confusion over PBM fees has led to several pieces of federal legislation aimed at greater transparency. National Community Pharmacist Association spokesman John Norton said much of the legislation is bipartisan and comes from politicians in rural areas where community pharmacies are more prevalent. U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, has been one of the pharmacists supporters, backing this type of legislation.

The Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act, which Griffith first introduced in September, is designed to ensure that community pharmacists receive reimbursement at the rate posted at the time the prescription is filled.

Some drugs are like a commodity whose prices change, Griffith said when the bill was introduced. But when the price of gasoline fluctuates with the market, your local gas station isnt allowed to send you a bill after the fact. They cant say the price was $2.09 when you filled up your tank, but you really shouldve paid $2.15.

The bill was reintroduced in February and is moving through the House. Griffith believes there is a good chance for it to advance, especially as lobbying groups such as the National Community Pharmacy Association advocate for it. Griffith, whose district covers portions of rural southwest Virginia, said local pharmacists inspired him to sponsor the bill.

Finding a niche

Community pharmacists have had to find other ways to attract business.

You have to find a niche, said Larry Hill, who has owned Crouchs Pharmacy in Hollins since 1980. He has taken on many former Williamson Road Pharmacy customers since that store closed. Most of them, he said, preferred a locally owned pharmacy for its personal service.

Crouchs, Fort Lewis, Main Street Pharmacy and other local spots offer charge accounts for customers who cannot pay immediately. Most offer services such as home delivery, curbside pickup, private consultations and compounding, or making drugs from scratch. Fort Lewis provides Dispill, a service that packages and sorts all of a patients medicines, which is convenient for the elderly and people with multiple medications.

Blue Ridge Apothecary in Roanoke is one of the few compounding-only pharmacies in this part of the state. It produces customized medicines that are hard to find elsewhere. Owner Graham Stephens also said about 20 percent of the business is for veterinary drugs, a growing facet of the industry.

Counts said its also more beneficial for pharmacists to have one-on-one relationships with customers. Knowing someones health history is very personal, but its an important part of the job. His promotions at Main Street Pharmacy have included offering free antibiotics around the winter holidays and a $20 alternative to the highly priced EpiPen, all to emphasize a customer-friendly environment.

You have to treat customers with kindness, Hill said. You want to say something to make them smile, make them feel comfortable. I try to speak to somebody even if they buy a pack a gum.

Chad Alvarez, senior director of retail pharmacy at Carilion Clinic, said pharmacists are often the most accessible health care available and are playing a larger role as more people have health insurance and access to drugs, or as people try to avoid a costly trip to the doctor.

Carilion has five pharmacies in the Roanoke Valley that are open to the public. Alvarez said pharmacies now are emphasizing more clinical and outpatient services and focus on wellness programs as part of the business. They are no longer just places to dispense drugs, but can also provide things like vaccinations or smoking cessation programs. Pharmacies big and small are having to adjust.
A 25-year-old Delhi woman who recently gave birth at the Safdarjung Hospital has alleged that the institution handed her a baby girl even though she gave delivered a boy. The hospital has denied the charge.

By Priyanka Sharma: Is it a boy or a girl? Sonia Prajapati, 25, says she gave birth to a son on June 2 at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. But the central government-run institute handed her a baby girl. She and her husband are now waiting for the report of a DNA test to end the mystery and their anguish.

The hospital says the results would be in its favour and denies any possible baby switch. Sonia and her husband, Bhupender, are distraught.

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She is still in the gynaecology ward and keeps on looking at the empty crib next to her with tears in her eyes. She feels a little better on seeing other mothers playing with their babies.

The couple lives in south Delhi's Khanpur and has lodged a complaint with the Safdarjung Police station.

"Mine was a normal delivery. I am certain that I had a given birth to a baby boy and even the doctors showed me. In case this was a girl child and I was wrong, the doctors in the OT and the nursing staff should have corrected me. But they didn't. That proves that I gave birth to baby boy," Sonia, who teaches at the NGO Navasrishti, told Mail Today.

"Also, without taking my permission, doctors here inserted Copper-T (a device used to prevent pregnancy) into my body. It is illegal. And if our DNA matches with the baby girl, I will accept her," Sonia added.

DOC REFUTES CLAIM

However, Dr AK Rai, director of Safdarjung Hospital, told MAIL TODAY that the couple's allegation is wrong.

"We are all waiting for the DNA reports and I am sure they will be in our favour as there was no exchange of babies. The DNA reports are likely to come in 20 days and till that time the baby girl is being kept in our nursery and looked after by the nursing staff," he said.

Dr Rai added that on June 2, only two boys were born at the hospital and the rest were girls.

"At 11am, a patient delivered a baby boy, who was premature and was sent to the nursery and the other male child was born at around 4pm, after the allegations made by Sonia (the patient) over exchange of babies," he said. "How can it be possible?"

The young couple waited four years for a child and is not ready to accept the "wrong" baby.

"They have returned the child to the hospital's nursery but have not got back their own son. We are trying to help them," said Krishna Bansal from Navasrishti, who helped the couple raise their voice against the alleged medical negligence. "Sonia's family approached us. We asked them to take action as previously incidents of medical faults have been noticed at Safarjung Hospital."

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Bansal has now written to the National Human Rights Commission to look into the matter.

"In this whole scenario, it's the baby girl who is suffering and being kept away from her mother since birth, which is the golden period for any newborn," said Bansal.

ALSO READ | Newborn baby theft case: DCW sends notice to Delhi Medical Council, AIIMS

ALSO WATCH | 92-Year-Old Palestinian Man Celebrates Birth of Baby Daughter

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Virginia Western Community College announces that a record-setting nine dual-enrolled students were awarded the Governors Medallion this year for earning their Associates Degree or General Education Certificate while still in high school. Numerous other dual-enrolled high school graduates received Virginia Western career studies certificates in various fields.

Governors Medallions are awarded to high school graduates who have proven academic excellence by simultaneously earning a high school degree and an Associates Degree or General Education Certificate at a Virginia community college. Students who receive this award are able to wear the medallion during their high school graduations as well as during their college commencement ceremonies.

Virginia Western students who earned their Associates Degrees and the Governors Medallion in 2017 include: Chloe Amala Pusha, Northside High School Lauren Hall, Northside; Sydney Gordon, James River High School; Kaelyn Katie Dooley, Lord Botetourt High School; Erin Bohannon, Lord Botetourt; Robert Wampler III, Northside; Lauren Cook, William Byrd High School; Brenna Harman, Cave Spring High School; and Jack Diviney, home schooled.

I would highly recommend the program, even if the student isnt sure they want to follow it through to completion, said Wampler, who plans to study Engineering at Virginia Tech. The program is a great opportunity to really push yourself and see what youre capable of.

High school students who choose to dual-enroll through Virginia Western have the opportunity to get ahead on their college education, gain valuable experience and save money. While taking college credits as a high school student is challenging, it is also rewarding.

It is such a fulfilling experience for someone who is passionate about learning, but it requires dedication and sacrifice, said Gordon, who will be attending James Madison University with plans to go on to a Doctorate in Audiology. You will meet so many new people and make great memories along the way.
Editor's note: This column has been updated to reflect the correct time Rep. Bob Goodlatte's Twitter account posted about his April 12 meeting with President Trump. The image that accompanied the original was incorrect and has been updated as well.

On April 12, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson got stuck for 20 minutes in a public housing elevator in Miami.

In Washington, Congress was in recess. According to the White House schedule, President Donald Trump had an 11:30 a.m. meeting with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

We know the meeting happened because at 4:39 p.m. that day, a picture of Goodlatte alongside a beaming Trump was posted to the congressmans Twitter account.

Glad that I had the opportunity to meet with @POTUS today to discuss @HouseJudiciarys priorities this Congress, the tweet reads.

Exactly when the meeting ended is unclear, but its raised other questions about Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, one of the most influential lawmakers in America, regarding matters of crime and punishment.

Just before 4 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon, a Nelson County sheriffs deputy pulled over Goodlatte for speeding.

According to the summons issued by Deputy Danny Jones, the traffic stop occurred at 3:59 p.m. The weather was clear. Goodlatte was driving a 2011 Ford Edge with a Virginia vanity tag that reads simply 6. Goodlatte represents the 6th Congressional District.

Jones issued a citation charging the congressman with driving 69 mph in a 35-mph school zone.

According to the ticket, the stop happened along U.S. 29 south outside the Nelson County High School/Middle School complex, about a mile south of the county seat, Lovingston.

Lovingston, according to Google Maps, is a more than three-hour drive from the White House.

What happened next is even more curious. Rather than simply paying the ticket ($238 plus a $64 processing fee), Goodlatte challenged the charge. He engaged an attorney  his wife, Maryellen, who specializes in real estate, zoning and business law.

Wednesday morning, she showed up in General District Court in Lovingston, where an assistant commonwealths attorney agreed to amend the charge to a non-moving violation  driving with a defective speedometer.

The court kept the fine at $238, plus the $64 processing fee; that was paid Thursday night by credit card, said Rosemary North, Nelson County General District Court clerk. The congressman also paid a $12.08 credit card fee, she noted.

By getting the charge amended, Goodlatte avoided getting points on his otherwise clean driving record.

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the speed limit on that stretch of highway is normally 60 mph. Before the school complex, there are stationary flashing lights in both directions that signal the 35 mph limit each morning and afternoon that school is in session (as it was April 12).

Among the questions hanging: Why was the congressman driving through Lovingston that afternoon? What was the hurry that hed be traveling nearly double the speed limit in a school zone? Why didnt he simply pay the ticket?

And how did his wife persuade the commonwealths attorney to amend the charge? Did Goodlatte, a lawyer himself, get special treatment because of the powerful position he holds in Congress? Could you or I get the same deal?

Unfortunately, you wont find many answers to those questions here.

I would like to refer you to the Nelson County Commonwealths Attorneys Office for any questions regarding the legal proceedings. Beyond that, I have no comment, said Goodlatte spokesman Beth Breeding.

Nelson County Commonwealths Attorney Daniel Rutherford didnt return a phone call for comment. Neither did Maryellen Goodlatte nor Deputy Jones.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Erik Laub, who agreed to the deal, didnt return two phone calls. And Nelson County Sheriffs Capt. Robert New didnt return three.

Laub told the (Lynchburg) News & Advance that our office tried to treat [Goodlatte] exactly the same way we would anyone else.

Roanoke attorney Ray Ferris said its not unheard of for a speeding charge to get amended to defective equipment. But it depends on the jurisdiction, he added. It would never work in Botetourt County, which is notoriously tough on speeders.

If youre going 20 or over in Botetourt, youre going to jail, Ferris said.

But in Montgomery County, its a different story, Ferris added. An attorney who presents an affidavit of a miscalibrated speedometer is much more likely to be able to negotiate a plea to defective equipment.

Its unclear whether Maryellen Goodlatte presented such an affidavit in her husbands case. If she did, its not part of the court file, according to the clerks office.

Ferris said he couldnt predict how such a maneuver would fly in Nelson County, because he doesnt typically practice there. So I called a couple of lawyers who do.

One was Scott Goodman of Charlottesville. The other was Leigh Drewry, whose office is in Lynchburg. Both have been practicing for more than three decades.

Goodman said Goodlatte got a tremendous break from the deputy, who didnt charge the congressman with a much more serious offense, considering he was driving 34 mph over the limit.

Reckless driving is almost automatic at 20 or more over the limit, Goodman said. Officers do have discretion to charge speeding [rather than] reckless driving. Its unusual with someone going twice the limit. Its quite a break on the charge. Its a tremendous break.

Part of the reason, Goodman said, is the infraction happened in a school zone at a high school. Typically when the lights are flashing, its when the traffic entering the highway includes slow-moving buses full of students or vehicles with inexperienced teenagers behind the wheel.

But its possible the coast was clear when the deputy pulled over Goodlatte, Goodman added.

Mind you, Goodman was addressing the congressman not being charged with reckless driving. He found it even more surprising that a charge of driving 69 mph in a 35-mph zone would be amended down to a defective speedometer.

I cant conceive of them doing this agreement without [an affidavit of miscalibration] being introduced, Goodman said. However, most courts wouldnt accept that evidence. You cant be doing 69 and think youre doing 35. That is not believable. Its not something most courts would find credible.

Drewry gave me a three-part answer predicated on the case being in Nelson County.

If it were 69 in a 55, and Ive got a client whos got a clean driving record, it would be fairly easy to get it knocked down to defective equipment, Drewry said.

If it was 69 in a 35  but not in a school zone  and the client had a clean record, depending on who the assistant commonwealths attorney was, Id say the chances would be 50-50, Drewry added.

Before this incident, if it was 69 in 35 and it was a school zone and the lights were flashing, I wouldnt have thought my chances were very good.

But in the wake of Goodlattes widely publicized deal, I think times have changed north of the Tye River, Drewry said.

And what about that tweet? I asked his office about that.

The tweet you reference was sent well after the meeting ended and not while driving, Beth Breeding replied.

I asked when the White House meeting ended.

She did not reply.
While singing a Lakota prayer, Delwin Fiddler poured a jug of water slowly into the large basin centered on the Elmwood Park Ampitheaters stage. Other religious leaders stood by, waiting with water containers to perform their own blessings over the natural resource.

The interfaith ritual was part of Defend the Sacred, an afternoon-long festival held at Elmwood Park on Saturday in opposition to the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast natural gas pipelines.

Organizers and attendees brought water in jars and bottles, carefully labeling the streams and creeks they were collected from, to represent the natural resources they believed could be jeopardized by the proposed pipelines.

Were not protesters. Were protectors of water, of life, Fiddler told the crowd, who huddled close to the stage to take part in the water blessing. From this point on, I consider us family.

More than 200 people endured temperatures in the 80s to attend the festival, which featured live music, art performances and food from local farms.

Though attendance was free, a $5 donation was suggested for Bold Alliance, an organization that opposes pipeline projects in several states, including Nebraska, Louisiana, Iowa and Oklahoma.

Festivalgoers also took in traditional Native American dances performed by Trail of Tears Intertribal Dance Troupe. Fiddler, a member of the troupe, performed the Sioux Grass Dance, a popular dance among Native American men that originated from the Northern Great Plains.

Troupe member JoAnn Steele said the dance symbolizes the story of a boy who wished to take part in tribal dances but was unable to walk.

At the direction of a medicine man, the boy observed the long grass swaying in the breeze and, with the help of his father, made an garment out of the grass. In the story, the boys legs regained their function after he started to dance like the grass.

Steele said the group performed at the event to support both those who protest local pipeline projects, and the demonstrators at Standing Rock in North Dakota who opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Native Americans tend to come close when it comes to water and nature, Steele said. Without water, theres no life.

Former representative and Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Tom Perriello also made an appearance at the festival, reminding attendants of his campaign pledge to reject donations from Dominion Energy Inc., the company behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. He urged residents to vote in the primary election on June 13.

This pipeline fight is about more than just protecting our environment. Its about the question of whether were going to continue down the path of a few monopolies controlling all the jobs and profit, or whether were going to give our farmers and small business owners a chance to be part of the clean energy jobs of the future, Perriello said.

We think thats a better future here in Virginia.
Three Republicans are vying for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in a race that front-runner Ed Gillespie has led throughout in polls and fundraising, with Frank Wagner and Corey Stewart campaigning hard to catch up.

The three men with national, state and local political backgrounds have largely focused their campaigns on jobs and the economy.

Here are their top issues:

Ed Gillespie

Gillespie, who came close to defeating U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in 2014, has been gearing up for his gubernatorial bid since that loss.

During the campaign, Gillespie rolled out two major plans for reforming state government. He showcased his tax plan as a centerpiece of his campaign and backed measures that would strengthen Virginias ethics laws.

Gillespies across the board tax cut plan centers on a 10 percent cut to the individual income tax rate. Phased in over three years, Gillespies campaign says the cut would save the typical Virginia family $1,300 a year, but that return is based on a family netting an average income of $135,000 per year.

In short, the tax cut would translate to economic growth and more jobs because families will have more money to spend, Gillespie contends.

Gillespies plan also pushes localities to scrap business taxes like the machinery and tools tax, the Business and Professional Occupancy License tax and the merchants capital tax. Cities and counties would be able to decide for themselves whether to keep the taxes on the books.

As for the ethics reform, Gillespie pitched a 15-point reform plan to tighten gift rules for lawmakers and suggested a ban on personal use of campaign funds. The policy would also prohibit candidates from raising funds to run for one office and then using that money to run for a different office.

Virginia has relatively loose campaign finance laws that allow lawmakers wide latitude to spend their campaign funds .

Gillespie also aims to shrink state government by creating an Office of Innovation and Efficiency tasked with cutting redundancies and saving money.

He also pitched eliminating about 1,000 jobs from the states 105,000 full-time positions when employees retire. The move wouldnt include layoffs.

In addition, Gillespie aims to reduce the number of government regulations that can complicate small business growth.

As the primary election drew nearer, the early front-runner in the race mostly shied from the limelight.

Similar to the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, Gillespie, a former national chairman of the Republican Party, has been careful to distance himself from President Donald Trump and the investigations that have plagued his administration.

Corey Stewart

Stewart, the bombastic Prince William County supervisor who is quick to emulate President Donald Trump with his robust Twitter persona and disdain for political correctness, is the odd man out in the gubernatorial race.

In between pitching plans to cut the states income tax completely and pushing a zero-based budgeting model to cut government spending, Stewart seemed more focused on attacking Gillespie and preserving Confederate flags and monuments than on his policy proposals. That said, he still names jobs and the economy as the top issue of the race.

The governors race turned into Stewart versus the city of Charlottesville when members of the city council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park. Stewart adopted preserving Confederate flags and statues as a centerpiece of his campaign. He vowed, if elected, to bar localities from removing historical monuments.

As for his economic positions, Stewart supports eventually scrapping the state income tax. Until then, he proposes cutting the tax rate for people earning more than $17,000 per year, providing an estimated $2.2 billion in tax relief during his first year in office.

In year two, Stewart would direct department leaders to cut their budgets until he can redirect $2.2 billion in state spending to road and infrastructure projects.

Stewart also has chided Gov. Terry McAuliffes climate change actions, most recently, Virginias entrance into the U.S. Climate Alliance after Trump shunned the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Stewart believes climate change is a hoax and supports the coal industry over renewable energy. He vowed to renew the coal tax credit if hes elected.

Following up on his time on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, where he has encouraged the federal government to deport undocumented immigrants living in the locality, Stewart has promised to take his immigration stance with him to the governors mansion.

Frank Wagner

Wagner, a longtime General Assembly legislator, wields his 25 years of lawmaking experience as his greatest asset in the governors race.

The state senator from Virginia Beach, who is proposing an increase in the states gas tax, is quick to call out his opponents for pitching tax cuts the same year the General Assembly worked to close a $1.2 billion budget shortfall.

For Wagner, more roads and career and technical training options are key to bringing growth to economically depressed areas like Southwest Virginias coalfields .

Wagner also has slammed McAuliffes climate actions to reduce carbon emissions as a catalyst that could kill what little coal industry remains in the commonwealth. He pledged to undo McAuliffes plans, should he take the governors mansion.

Coming from the highway-heavy Hampton Roads area, Wagner has seen how roads can affect a regions growth. Raising the gas tax  enough to generate an additional $1 billion a year  could have a huge effect on infrastructure in Southwest Virginia, Wagner argues.

The state could then use those funds to widen Interstate 81 and build the Coalfields Expressway and Interstate 73, which would run from Roanoke to Greensboro, North Carolina, and beyond.

Wagner proposes switching the gas tax from a percentage rate to a per-gallon tax on a sliding scale. Citing North Carolinas high gas tax, but low prices at the pump, Wagner argues Virginia drivers wouldnt notice the difference.

On education, Wagner sees immense value in career and technical education and proposes a second path for school systems to become accredited. The alternate path would take into account students working to receive industry credentials for career fields like welding, nursing, ship building and more.

Wagner also pushes for increased broadband access. In todays digital age, broadband is a necessity, especially to help rural areas across the commonwealth, he said.
From family drama to romance to religion, Durjoy Datta's latest book indulges your heart in it all.

By Karishma Kuenzang: Durjoy Datta's latest novel, The Boy Who Loved, has it all - family drama, death and despair, romance, marriage and religion.

There is plenty of drama in The Boy Who Loved (Penguin; Rs 199), though unlike his other books, this one narrates the slightly ominous happenings around Raghu, who's suicidal, through journal entries.

There are also multiple deaths in the book, which Datta explains, saying, "If there was a button to end your life and just vanish, people would opt for it. Committing suicide is cumbersome and a long process."

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But Indians still don't treat depression as a disease, he adds.

The book also deals with religion and how opinions have an impact on a whole family, "We are all conditioned to be sexist, hate our neighbouring nation, dislike people from different states and religion. It's only when you grow up that you start forming your own opinions and shed your beliefs. So, Raghu's unlearning is akin to mine," Datta says.

Speaking about how the idea of love and marriage has changed over the years, he adds, "When I was in class 11, this couple in my class would hold hands and we were convinced they would get married. There were no crushes, just love. You had to be in love with a person to go on a date, and majority of love and relationships happened before the first date. But, within a year everything changed and everyone was dating everyone," he says.

His next book, which will be sequel to The Boy Who Loved, will be in journal entry-format, but will show Raghu's life through someone else's perspective.

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On Tuesday, there's a Democratic and a Republican primary to select party candidates for Virginia Governor. Guess what -- Virginia voters are not registered by party. So each voter on entering requests either the Democratic or the Republican ballot.

The two candidates for governor in the Democratic Primary are Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam. Perriello served in Congress for the 5th Congressional District, and worked for real health care. Perriello is opposed to fracking and opposed to the pipelines that would cross our lands, and has refused to take money from Dominion Energy, which backs fracking and pipelines. Perriello understands the challenges and advantages in rural areas as well as urban ones, and has noted that people in the western region of Virginia are often overlooked or forgotten by government.

Northam, however, serving in the General Assembly, has accepted thousands of dollars from and owns stock in Dominion Energy, and has refused to take any position or any opposition to fracking or to pipelines.

Perriello was the first to announce support for a $15 minimum wage. Perriello is endorsed by three progressive groups, including Our Revolution, an organization backing the proposals of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders who ran for President in 2016, and who has endorsed Perriello as well.

Perriello would work to attain bold goals, such as free community college and paid family leave as means towards advancing individuals and working families in their careers. Northam, however, supports small incremental advances and would require students to work community service to pay for their "free" tuition. Perriello said Northam's plan would be more expensive in the long run for students and for Virginia taxpayers. Other issues including Perriello's plans to help grow the economy for everyone are at tomforvirginia.com.

Primaries are usually low in voter participation -- so your vote is extra important! Please get out and vote on June 13, and please consider a vote in the Democratic primary for Tom Perriello for Governor.

ANNE MORROW DONLEY

INDEPENDENCE
In the June 13th Democratic primary for Governor, we are supporting a consistent advocate for Southwestern Virginia, Dr. Ralph Northam.

Ralph understands rural Virginia, having grown up on a farm on the Eastern Shore. He served our country in the Army after attending the Virginia Military Institute and Eastern Virginia Medical School, taking care of wounded soldiers during Operation Desert Storm. Ralph served our Commonwealth in the State Senate and as our current Lieutenant Governor. Hes been on the Spearhead and Creeper Trails, right in our backyards. And, most importantly, he has a vision on how to move us forward.

Ralph demonstrated this vision by supporting expansion of UVA-Wise. If UVA-Wise grew their offerings, especially in the sciences, our children would have the best training and preparation to get a job. If UVA-Wise taught five to ten thousand students a year, our area would see an economic transformation. And his G3 program  Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back  will help our area build a more effective workforce, by getting people trained for the jobs that are out there today.

Ralph understands our challenges. Thats why he has held multiple opioid town halls and toured the Laurel Treatment Center in Lebanon. He talks about how all of Virginia needs broadband and cell phone coverage, an issue we face most.

Whether its volunteering and treating patients at RAM Clinics, or holding a roundtable with the Governor about unmanned aerial systems at UVA-Wise, he really cares about our region.

Ralph Northams record and vision, specifically on the issues that face rural Virginia, make him the best candidate for Governor, both in the June 13th primary and on November 7th. Please allow him to continue serving us and support him.

DOUGLAS MULLINS JR.

Wise County Commissioner of the Revenue

FRED LUNSFORD

Member, Wise County Board of Supervisors

STEVE BATES

Member, Wise County Board of Supervisors

WISE
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jun 11 (PTI) E Niwas upcoming directorial venture, a suspense thriller film titled "Gumnaam", will be shot on an island in Mauritius.

Niwas last release was Pakistani actor Ali Zafar-starrer "Total Siyapa".

"The film will be shot mostly on an Mauritius island, some portions will be shot in Mumbai and Delhi as well," Niwas told PTI.

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The filmmaker insisted his film is not a remake of the 1965 superhit suspense movie "Gumnaam" featuring Manoj Kumar and Nanda in the lead.

"Except the title and the title song Gumnaam, there is no similarity with the original film. Ours is a suspense thriller film about various people from different walks of life, coming together, who are not friends with each other," Niwas said.

The films producer Jayantilal Gada also said that the upcoming film has nothing to do with the original one.

"We have bought the rights of the title song Gumnaam from Saregama. We have a writer working on the script," Gada added.

The film will go on floors by August-September and the makers are planning to release it early next year. PTI KKP NRB SHD

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By Press Trust of India: Howrah(WB), Jun 11 (PTI) The Government Railway Police has arrested five persons and seized Rs 24 lakh in demonetised notes from them in Howrah district, GRP sources said today.

The GRP personnel at Birshibpur railway station in Howrah district yesterday noticed five persons moving suspiciously in the station.

The GRP personnel questioned them and searched their bags. During the search Rs 24 lakh in demonetised notes in the denomination of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 were found, the sources said.

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The five persons told the GRP that one person has told them to meet him at the station and he would change the demonetised notes with new currency, the sources added. PTI COR RG

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By Sandipan Deb: Very few people outside Gujarat would know that KM Munshi - freedom fighter, politician and founder of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan - was also a very popular novelist. His most acclaimed work in historical fiction is the Patan trilogy, the first part of which, Patanni Prabhuta, is now available in a fine English translation by Rita and Abhijit Kothari as The Glory of Patan.

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Patan today is a minor town in Gujarat, known principally for its exquisite Patola sarees, but from the 10th to the early 13th century, it was the capital of a kingdom which united almost all of Gujarat. Ruled by the Solankis, kshatriyas of Rajput origin, it was a magnificent city peopled by proud citizens who believed that Patan was the centre of the world and dreamt of conquering all of India. That was not to be due to the Muslim invasions, but Munshi's novels capture a very important moment in the history of Gujarat, and a forgotten chapter in our national history.

KM Munshi. Picture courtesy: Mail Today

The events described in The Glory of Patan take place at the end of the 11th century, with King Karnadev on his deathbed. His son Jaydev is still a child. The onus of managing the kingdom falls on Queen Minaldevi and Patan's chief minister Munjal Mehta. But there's intrigue in the air. Anandsuri, a fanatical Jain monk, is trying to influence the queen to turn Patan into a Jain kingdom.

Devprasad, a Rajput mandaleshwar--ruler of a fiefdom that is part of the Patan kingdom - is rushing to the fortified city to neutralise the monk. Minaldevi is seeking alliances with other mandaleshwars because she is afraid that Devprasad may lead a rebellion against her. Munjal Mehta, who was Minaldevi's first love, has come to believe that the queen's tactics will harm Patan, and may team up with Devprasad. Several armies have been raised and Gujarat is a heartbeat away from an internecine war. Meanwhile, Devprasad's wife Hansa, who is also Munjal's sister and who is supposed to have died 15 years ago, may not after all be dead.

It should be obvious by now that The Glory of Patan has a complex plot, brimful of conspiracies, betrayals and unpredictable twists and turns. The story moves at breakneck pace, scarcely giving the reader time to catch his breath. Munshi has taken a few real-life characters - Minaldevi, Munjal Mehta, Jayadev - and created others who fill in the spaces where history is silent. Of course, he has his favourites. Munshi's heart lies with Munjal Mehta, the charismatic leader whose only interest is maintaining and furthering the glory of Patan.

But the real hero of the book is the city of Patan itself, loved by all, from its royals to its warriors to its common citizens. All the actions that the characters take - right or wrong - and all the sacrifices that they make are for Patan. Munshi is not given to descriptive prose - he is a writer who wants to keep things moving, so we are never overtly given a sense of what the gates and walls and lanes and by-lanes of Patan look like. But strangely enough, even though he writes only about his characters and what they do, he evokes strong visual imagery of Patan. Here, credit must also certainly go to his translators.

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Munshi's book was published in 1916, telling of events that took place a millennium ago. Yet, like all great fiction, it has a timeless quality. Indeed, some readers may even find contemporary resonance. The monk Anandsuri, when defeated, insists angrily that a great nation cannot be built unless it is consolidated under one religion. Some readers may also be uncomfortable with the central plotline, which is a battle for supremacy between Hinduism and Jainism, with Anandsuri wanting to make Jainism the state religion of Gujarat. But this is not so. Munshi's main argument is that religion and politics should not be mixed up. After all, Munjal Mehta himself is a Jain, but he believes that giving in to Anandsuri will lead to disaster for Patan.

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The book is a great read, and I cannot wait for the translations of the next two books in the trilogy to be published.

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This dynamic helped Gov. Laura Kelly win reelection in Kansas

Gov. Laura Kelly won a second term in a historic win in the Kansas governor's race. Her performance in Johnson County helped deliver a narrow victory.
The GJM will begin an indefinite strike of all government facilities from Monday that threatens to cripple normal life in the region.

By Indrajit Kundu: With the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) war cry against the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, the hill towns of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong are bracing up for tough times ahead.

The GJM begins their indefinite strike of all government facilities in the hills from Monday, a move that threatens to cripple life in the region. On Saturday, the Morcha had announced that it will launch a complete non-cooperation movement against the state administration.

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As part of its agitation, all government (state, central and GTA) offices in the hills will be closed for an indefinite period. Not in a mood to relent, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cracked the whip with the state government issuing an order on Sunday warning government employees of stern action, if they failed to report to work.

EMPLOYEES ASKED TO REPORT FOR DUTY

According to the order, all "state government offices situated in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong including those provided with Grants-in-Aid by the state government would remain open and all the employees of those offices should report for duty on each day till the call for such bandh is not withdrawn." Any absence from duty during this period will be deemed as "break in service" and salary would be deducted for those days, informed the government order.

Meanwhile, in its efforts to crackdown on the GJM, police arrested five of its members on Sunday morning for indulging in violence during last week's agitation programme against the CM in Darjeeling.

However, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's president Bimal Gurung said his supporters will not be deterred by such police moves and warned of more "action" if provoked. "So what if five of our men have been arrested, they can arrest five thousand but we won't cow down. The more force they use, the more we shall get emboldened," Gurung told India Today.

Infact, what comes as a boost for the Morcha, hundreds of Trinamool Congress workers joined the party at Gurung's residence on Sunday morning.

SPECIAL AUDIT

A team of officers from the state finance department also arrived in Darjeeling to conduct a special audit of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) accounts. During her visit last week, Banerjee had warned that the state government will find out whether the funds meant for development of the hills were utilised properly.

"The GTA is under the jurisdiction of the state government. We can always inquire into how much money has been used and how much has been siphoned off," Banerjee had announced last week.

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But criticising her "dictatorial" attitude, the GJM blamed Banerjee for hijacking the GTA, a semi-autonomous body created in 2011 for administering the Darjeeling hills. "She should rather investigate Mukul Roy. Bimal Gurung was not caught in Narada and Saradha scams like her ministers," Gurung said, taking a jibe at the TMC.

Given the confrontational mood of the GJM, the state government continues the deployment of Army in the hills of Bengal. Six columns of Army and three companies of CRPF are assisting the Darjeeling Police currently. Akilesh Chaturvedi, the new Superintendent of Police took charge on Sunday after his predecessor Amit Jagalvi was removed and sent on compulsory waiting for last week's violence during the CM's visit.

Also read: Darjeeling limping back to normalcy amid uncertainty

Also read: Beef ban: How BJP plans to milk the cow in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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PH does not tolerate "police impunity", Cayetano asserts

By Office of Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano

May 8, 2017

PASAY CITY  Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, during a gathering of the Filipino community in Geneva Switzerland, asserted that under Philippine regulations, there is no police impunity.

Anyone killed by the police is investigated. Although the police operations were presumed legitimate, the presumption is not conclusive, Cayetano said before hundreds of Filipinos from Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, UK, Italy, and Canada.

If evidence shows that there is (EJK) extrajudicial killing, kakasuhan po ang mga alagad ng batas, he added.

In a short message addressed to attendees in the forum organized by Overseas Filipino Workers in Switzerland, Cayetano cited that in the past, drug lords, the corrupt, and criminals were acting with impunity.

Theyre not afraid of the law. The police were afraid of catching them. Dahil sila pa ang makakasuhan. The fiscals were afraid of powerful organizations, Cayetano said.

The Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Services (PNP-IAS) is mandated to conduct motu proprio investigations during incidents a) where a police personnel discharges a firearm; b) where death, serious physical injury or any violation of human rights occurred in the conduct of police operations; c) where evidence was compromised, tampered with obliterated or lost while in the custody of police personnel; d) where a suspect in the custody of the police was seriously injured ; and e) where the established rules of engagement have been violated.

To prevent police impunity, the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) and the Philippine National Police have existing policies and guidelines to discipline their personnel and officials. The NAPOLCOM issued MC No. 2016-002 dated 7 March 2016 revising the uniform rules of procedures before the administrative disciplinary authorities and the PNP Internal Affairs Service.

Cayetano, together with Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, is in Geneva to lead the Philippine delegation attending the Universal Periodic Review on May 8.

The team is expected to present the human rights-based development programs of the Philippines and the measures adopted to fulfill its obligations to the eight (8) International treaties ratified in the past years.
LONDON (AP)  British Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal in principle with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party on Saturday to prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.

The result has demolished May's political authority, and she has also lost her two top aides, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party.

The moves buy May a temporary reprieve. But the ballot-box humiliation has seriously  and possibly mortally  wounded her leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.

May's office said Saturday that the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 10 seats in Parliament, had agreed to a "confidence and supply" arrangement with the government. That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it's not a coalition government or a broader pact.

Downing St. said the Cabinet will discuss the agreement on Monday.

The announcement came after May lost Downing St. chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned Saturday. They formed part of May's small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party's lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate "Theresa's positive plan for the future," and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May's party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.

May announced later that Gavin Barwell  a former housing minister who lost his seat in Thursday's election  would be her new chief of staff.

May said Barwell would help her "reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for."

Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was "a start," but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.

He said the Conservative election manifesto  which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting  was "a full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens."

"It was a disaster," he said. "Our manifesto was full of fear and the Labour Party's manifesto was full of promises."

Martin Selmayr, senior aide to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, responded to the resignations by tweeting the word "bauernopfer"  German for the sacrifice of a pawn in chess.

May called the early election when her party was comfortably ahead in the polls, in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain's hand in exit talks with the EU.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

May wanted to win explicit backing for her stance on Brexit, which involves leaving the EU's single market and imposing restrictions on immigration while trying to negotiate free trade deal with the bloc. Some say her failure means the government must now take a more flexible approach to the divorce.

The Times of London said in an editorial that "the election appears to have been, among other things, a rejection of the vague but harshly worded prospectus for Brexit for which Mrs. May sought a mandate."

It added that "the logic leading to Mrs. May's departure from Downing St. is remorseless."

The Downing St. resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government and replace ministers who lost their seats on Thursday. Her weakened position in the party rules out big changes, and May's office has said that the most senior Cabinet members  including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd  will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

The arrangement with the DUP will make governing easier, but it makes some Conservatives uneasy. The DUP is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and once appointed an environment minister who believes human-driven climate change is a myth.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the "Save Ulster from Sodomy" campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

"It's an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them)," said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

DUP Leader Arlene Foster recently denied the party was homophobic.

"I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That's not a matter for me," she said. "When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage."

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland's British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party's unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

Newspaper headlines saw her as just clinging on. "May fights to remain PM," said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: "May stares into the abyss."

But she seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don't want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest.

"I don't think throwing us into a leadership battle at this moment in time, when we are about to launch into these difficult negotiations, would be in the best interests of the country," Evans said.
Dr. Norman Ned Sharpless, a prominent North Carolina cancer researcher, has been named by President Donald J. Trump to lead the National Cancer Institute. He succeeds Dr. Douglas Lowy, who was named acting director of the National Cancer Institute in April 2015.

The appointment comes just days after Trump announced he would retain Francis Collins as director of the National Institutes of Health. That news was greeted with praise by the biomedical community.

Cancer researchers also gave high marks to Sharpless, director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Extremely smart. Hell be terrific for the field of cancer biology, cancer stem cell biologist Sean Morrison of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas told Science.

Sharpless is an excellent choice to lead the NCI, the American Cancer Society said in a statement.

And the American Association for Cancer Research congratulated Sharpless, stating that he brings impressive qualifications to his job as a researcher who is also a practicing oncologist.

In another nod to concerns by biomedical researchers, the Trump administration has dropped a controversial plan to limit total grants to scientists in order to free up money for other researchers.

Instead, the National Institutes of Health will set up a fund with $1 billion annually earmarked for early- and midcareer scientists.

Sharpless noted the policy change on Twitter.

While those decisions of Trumps have been applauded, the biomedical field still opposes the presidents plan to cut billions in funding from the NIH, the largest single funder of biomedical research in the country. Congress is now deliberating Trumps proposal and the rest of his 2018 budget.

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Ah, summer!

Imagine a job with unlimited vacation days. An employees dream and an employers nightmare, right? Yet according to a 2016 study published by the Society for Human Resource Management, 1 to 2 percent of employers nationwide have adopted unlimited vacation policies, including LinkedIn, Netflix, and other California-based innovators. Why? And are they legal?

As I explained in a previous column, California law considers accrued vacation time a form of deferred compensation. No use-it-or-lose-it. Consequently, an employer must pay a departing employee the value of unused vacation time at the employees pay rate at the time of departure.

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Even where an employer caps the number of vacation days an employee can have banked at any time, the payout for highly compensated employees may reach five figures. According to research by travel advocacy group Project: Time-Off, in 2014 over 40 percent of American workers planned to take less than all their vacation time that year. Thats a lot of bank.

An unlimited vacation policy eliminates those payments. Since there is no fixed number of earned vacation days, there is no value to any unused vacation days to pay out at termination. Such policies also do not eliminate the employers right to manage vacations, for example by requiring prior management approval.

Employees benefit, too. According to an article published by SHRM in March, leaders at companies that have adopted such a policy consider it a perk. They say theres no more pressure on workers to plan and save days... .

And yet adopting an unlimited vacation policy carries legal risk. The legality of the concept hasnt been examined in any reported court decision I could find -- anywhere. Even regulatory guidance is scant, though the California Labor Commissioner opined in a short 1987 letter that an unlimited vacation policy is a sham when employees also are told they have a basic entitlement to four weeks of vacation and may take vacations longer than one week only with approval.

Employee advocate Sebastian Miller has argued there are five ways an unlimited vacation policy could offend California law. The first way: such a policy may be a use-it-or-lose-it policy in disguise in the sense that any day worked theoretically is a vacation day lost.

Still, there are at least two reasons to believe that genuine unlimited vacation policies are lawful in California.

First, the law does not require employers to offer paid vacation time at all. It is a matter of contract between employer and employee; the parties set the terms. The law doesnt favor any particular kind of vacation policy.

Second, the California Supreme Court concluded in 2010 that employees with unlimited sick days have different rights from those with a fixed number of sick days. The court unanimously held that an employer with an uncapped sick leave policy has no obligations under Californias kin care law, which requires employers to let their employees use at least half of their unused sick days to care for a close relative. That the kin care law defines sick leave as accrued increments of compensated leave . . . indicates that the reach of the statute is limited to employers that provide a measurable, banked amount of sick leave.

Similar reasoning would appear to distinguish the right of a departing employee with a measurable, banked amount of vacation leave to be paid the value of such leave upon termination from a departing employee who had enjoyed unlimited vacation leave. California law requires immediate payment of compensation, including the value of vacation time, earned but unpaid at the time of discharge. No unused fixed vacation days equals no earned but unpaid vacation time upon discharge.

Unlimited vacation policies at some point may become widespread. The law at some point will have its say. It always does.

Dan Eaton is a partner with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek where his practice focuses on defending and advising employers. He also is an instructor at the San Diego State University Fowler College of Business where he teaches classes in business ethics and employment law. He may be reached at eaton@scmv.com. His Twitter handle is @DanEatonlaw.
CITY COUNCILS

DEL MAR

The Del Mar City Council met Monday and agreed to join a feasibility study of Community Choice Energy; directed staff to continue work on the downtown Streetscape plans, including community input; and held a public hearing and approved new rates for solid waste services. The council approved permits for temporary placement of horse sculptures as part of the Breeders Cup event, including a temporary space for a donated horse in Seagrove Park. An ordinance amending the citys parking ordinance was introduced and approved.

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ENCINITAS

The Encinitas City Council met Wednesday to review designs for the San Elijo Lagoon Double Track Project retaining wall, and approved the arts commissions design preferences. The council also approved grant requests from the City of Encinitas and Mizel Family Foundation, with some adjustments. The council approved, 3-2, a resolution establishing an all-way stop at Vulcan Avenue and Union Street, and directing study of a possible roundabout. The master five-year agreement with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department for law enforcement and traffic services was approved.

ESCONDIDO

The Escondido City Council met in closed session Wednesday to discuss litigation and labor and property negotiation. In regular session, the council held a hearing and approved a resolution to commit no more than $450,000 in federal funds to Interfaith Community Services to buy and remodel four affordable rental units at 557-563 Aster Place. It also approved the 2017-2018 plan for Community Development Block Grants and other funds; and approved applying for $1 million to the California Coastal Conservancy for Proposition 1 funds to be used for drainage improvements to the earthen portions of the channel draining the Spruce Street area near the Transit Station.

OCEANSIDE

The Oceanside City Council met in closed session Wednesday for labor and real estate negotiations. In open session, the council approved on first reading an ordinance amending city code to define and ban loitering; and ordinances amending zoning laws to reflect changes made by the California Coastal Commission. An item regarding easements of privately owned property to build and maintain a northbound to eastbound right-turn pocket at College Boulevard and Plaza Drive was continued to the June 21 meeting.

POWAY

The Poway City Council met Tuesday and approved ordinances creating two underground utility districts. It held hearings and approved a proposal to add a 5,500-square-foot, two-story building at the Huntington Manor residential care facility, and a variance for Cox Communications to build two two-story buildings that exceed the maximum 30 percent lot coverage. The Twin Peaks Road traffic study was discussed and staff was directed to proceed further on several fronts, including a speed test on Los Nietos, managed U-turns on Twin Peaks Road and speed feedback signs near schools. After hearing from residents, the council directed staff to pursue adding stop signs at Los Olivos Avenue and Alora Street. The council also agreed to notify the Public Utilities Commission that it opposes a San Diego Gas & Electric natural gas pipeline through the city. The council then went into closed session to discuss litigation.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

CARDIFF

The Cardiff School District board met Thursday and unanimously voted to hire Studio E Architects for the design and development of the rebuilding of Cardiff School and other district projects last night. The projects will be paid for with Measure GG bond funds approved by Cardiff voters last year. The board held hearings on the Local Control and Accountability Plan and the 2017-18 budget, and also heard a report on the Single Plan for Student Achievement. The board then went into closed session to discuss labor negotiations.

CARLSBAD

The Carlsbad Unified School District board met in closed session Wednesday and reported it had appointed Michelle Kruse to the position of director of fiscal services, effective July 10. The board held its second hearing on creating districts for the upcoming change to by-district elections. The board also held hearings on the proposed 2017-18 Local Control Accountability Plan and 2017-18 budget. A request for a 10-month contract extension for the preschool at Sanderling Waldorf School was approved. The boards policy on orienting and training new members/superintendents was reviewed.

ENCINITAS

The Encinitas Union School District board met in closed session Tuesday and appointed Amanda Rothengast as principal of Paul Ecke Central Elementary School, effective July 1. In open session, the board approved raising lunch fees by 50 cents; continued a discussion of Farm Lab, plus upcoming projects in the district; and continued a discussion of board bylaws to the next meeting. The board approved a bid of $137,200 to Lightning Fence Co. Inc. for various fencing projects in the district. The board also met in special session Friday to discuss facilities and safety, and its Farm Lab program; and to discuss their roles as board members.

FALLBROOK

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board met Monday for public hearings on the 2017-2018 Local Control and Accountability Plan, and on the 2017-2018 budget.

SAN DIEGUITO

The San Dieguito Union High School District board met Thursday and approved various contracts for services to the district, including an energy service contract with Borrego Solar Systems Inc. for a photovoltaic fixed-tilt carport canopy in the south parking lot of Carmel Valley Middle School, and for extending part of the canopy to the field area to provide shade for students and visitors, at an estimated cost of $1,157,149. The board also approved a spring revision to the 2016-17 district budget, and held hearings on the Local Control and Accountability Plan and on the 2017-18 proposed budget.

SOLANA BEACH

The Solana Beach School District board met in closed session Thursday to discuss student matters. In regular session, the board held hearings on its Local Control and Accountability Plan, and on the 2017-18 budget. The board designated schools of attendance for students from new housing developments in Pacific Highlands Ranch, with one change: Housing development 22C will be assigned to Solana Santa Fe Elementary rather than Solana Ranch Elementary. The board also approved raising fees for the Solana Beach Child Development Center preschool.

laura.groch@sduniontribune.com
In her comedic debut novel, Crimes Against a Book Club, Kathy Cooperman tells the story of two friends  one a lawyer struggling to pay for fertility treatments, the other a chemist struggling to pay for her sons autism therapy  who make money by selling high-priced face cream with a secret ingredient to wealthy women in La Jolla.

Cooperman did improvisational comedy and worked as a criminal lawyer before turning to fiction-writing. She lives in Del Mar.

Q: I understand you wrote this book in a fit of culture shock after moving to La Jolla. What was shocking to you?

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A: The beauty is amazing, how gorgeous it is. And its there all the time. The other thing that shocked me was how flashy people were with money. Dont get me wrong  I came from New York and Boston where theres tons of wealth. But It wasnt quite as in your face wherever you walked.

Here, youd go to the park and youd see moms in designer track suits with diamonds in their ears and made up to the T. What is this? I sort of got gobsmacked by that, the very ostentatious display of wealth.

Q: Did your introduction to the place start you thinking about the book, or had you already been working on it?

A: Some of the other themes Id been thinking about because of my own life, and because of people I know facing those issues, like feeling pinched for money. I have quite a few friends with kids on the (autism) spectrum, and I have a kid on the spectrum.

Any time Id see autism in fiction, it was treated as some kind of a death sentence. It was very heavy, a your-life-is-over kind of thing. There are more nuanced treatments of it now, but when I first started writing this, there was nothing. And certainly nothing funny. It was, Oh, how unfortunate. Your child will have to go to a home now.

On the fertility treatments, Ive had them myself. Again, there wasnt much out there when I started writing. I was looking for a book where the character isnt totally defined by the fertility treatments. And I wanted to write about the money side of it, which is kind of shocking.

Q: You are playing in the book with our preconceived notions of privilege and luxury. What did you want the readers to think about?

A: At the beginning, when Annie (the chemist) meets the socialites, shes very turned off. Shes very judgy. Oh, youre rich and youre beautiful and you must be shallow. But part of it is she cant match up to it and she feels rejected.

The book wouldnt be interesting if they were all just one-dimensional people, so as you get to know them you realize they all have their struggles. The great leveler for every woman seems to be aging and how hard that is. I thought that was a way to make them relatable. And I really wanted to look at what happens to women of a certain age when they get a sudden boost of confidence.

Q: Youre also writing about friendship. Tell me why you wanted to explore that.

A: It wasnt a conscious choice. There is tons of literature on female friendship thats great, but a lot of it, especially when it gets adapted to the screen, feels like the friendships are in the background and the main point is, Who is she going to date? Whos she going to be with? Well, thats been settled for a lot of women.

I felt like it would be interesting to have two women where really their anchor in life is this friendship. Their husbands are important, too, of course, but this kind of friendship is crucial to them, especially as they age.

Q: What drew you to the various aspects of motherhood that are in the book?

A: Its the main drive for everyone. If you saw some people like Annie and Sarah (the lawyer) committing this crime on their own, theres nothing interesting about that. Its not morally complicated; theyre just fraudsters. But since they are doing this for their kids, it becomes something else.

Ive gotten responses where some people say, Its horrible what Annie did, and I have had other people say, Yeah, I would totally do it.

With Annie, its like Jean Valjean (in Les Miserables) and the loaf of bread. She doesnt feel any moral qualms about it.

Q: How did your earlier work in improv and as a lawyer shape your writing?

A: It definitely shaped the parts with Sarah in the law firm. I had a similar experience with some big law firms, and I saw some incredible stuff with moms in law firms. I think its gotten better. I think theres more choice out there. When I was coming up, I saw insane stuff. I saw a woman who scheduled a C-section on a Friday so she could be back at work on Monday. I know one or two people who quit law firms because they were convinced the stress contributed to their inability to get pregnant.

Q: Did you ever have to protect a sandwich from the boss like Sarah does in the book?

A: No, but thats the kind of power play you see. Its not about the sandwich. Its, You took over my life.

When I was a prosecutor, I was amazed at which cases got attention and which ones didnt. I thought it would be fun to work that in, to show some of the practical side of being a prosecutor. The Big Boy case I make fun of, with the erectile dysfunction, thats real. It wasnt called that, but witnesses wouldnt come forward because it was embarrassing. I thought it would be interesting to show some of that.

Q: There are streaks of social satire in the book. How did you guard against it being mean?

A: I dont like mean comedy. I tend to gravitate toward writers who will recognize whats funny about a situation without having contempt for their characters. Most of the time, contempt is a product of distance. In the first scene, Annie feels contempt for the other women because she doesnt really know them. She doesnt know what they go through.

Crimes Against a Book Club, by Kathy Cooperman, Lake Union, 320 pages.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236

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Even though it took two hours of searching, Neil Murphy and Amanda Joyner were more than happy when they finally found their $19 cocktails, a Gold Rush and a Singapore Vling.

Thats because the La Mesa couple were sipping their concoctions inside Jade Peacock, the San Diego County Fairs secret new speakeasy. Hidden on the fairgrounds and accessible only via password, the Jade Peacock has been quietly drawing a stream of cocktail-lovers on Friday and Saturday nights since the fair opened on June 2.

Every year, Murphy, 37, and Joyner, 35, buy season passes to the fair and visit multiple times. But they had no idea this years fair included a speakeasy, the name for the clandestine cocktail bars that flourished during the Prohibition era.

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The couple was trying to find a quality craft cocktail at one of the fairs outdoor bars without success when a bartender said hed heard there was a speakeasy at the fairgrounds, but he didnt know where.

That set Murphy and Joyner on a quest that led them to virtually every drinking establishment at the Del Mar Fairgrounds until they ended up at the Painted Pony, the vintage saloon inside the Where the West is Fun themed exhibit. There, the bartender quietly slipped them a card.

After a clandestine walk that snaked through a farming exhibit and an underground tunnel, among other twists and turns, they arrived Jade Peacock. The elaborately decorated, opium den-style bar and lounge has red curtains, a corner bar and a spectacular view of the fairgrounds and Del Mar.

The couple didnt mind the extended location hunt or the price of their cocktails and vowed to come back for another visit.

I love how it feels kind of secret and special, Joyner said this past Friday. Here we are, above everyone else and we can see them but they cant see us.

Jade Peacock was dreamed up by Sue Walls, director of catering and dining services for the company Premier Food Services, which serves the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Every year she tries to come up with a special concept tied to the fairs theme, like last years Alice in Wonderland-style tea parties. She thought an old-fashioned Asian-style bar would honor the history of the Chinese immigrants who worked on the Western railroads and in gold-mining camps during the late 1800s.

The response has been excellent, said Walls, who is considering adding a speakeasy to the Scream Zone attraction next fall.

Walls said fair-goers are always looking for new and different experiences, and speakeasies are a growing trend. San Diego has a half-dozen hidden speakeasies at restaurants and bars from the Gaslamp Quarter to Oceanside, and some of the citys distilleries are building secret cocktail lairs.

Filled with paper lanterns, Buddha and lucky-lion statuary, peacock paintings and bowls filled with Chinese bar snacks, Jade Peacock serves beer and wine. But most visitors come for the cocktails mixed by costumed bartender Traci Brighouse.

The cocktails feature locally made spirits that won medals at last years Distilled: San Diego Spirit & Cocktail Festival, which is scheduled to return to the fair this year on June 24. Among the companies featured are Tequila Fortaleza, Liberty Call Distilling, Cutwater Spirits, Malahat Spirits and Henebery Spirits.

Some of these distillers are doing tastings inside the speakeasy, like Scott Nixon, who was pouring samples Friday of his Copper Collar Artisan Vodka. Nixon co-founded the Santee company last year with his friend Jason Pelle. Both men are retired Navy divers and copper collar is a nickname for their job, inspired by the copper-like helmets divers used back in the 1930s and 40s.

Our vodka is sort of a speakeasy product because were like a best-kept secret. Were doing all of our marketing through word of mouth, Nixon said.

Jade Peacock is open from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through July 1. Admission is free to ages 21 and over, but limited to a maximum of 45 guests at a time. When the bar is at full capacity, guests can leave their cellphone number at the check-in area for a callback. So far, about 145 to 160 people have visited each night and stayed for about an hour, Walls said.

To get into Jade Peacock, check in after 6:30 pm at the Painted Pony to receive a card with instructions and a password that changes nightly. On Friday, it was catawumpus.

A costumed actor leads groups of six at a time on a serpentine path through the fairgrounds marked by peacock drawings. Before customers can embark, they must recite an oath not to divulge the location to law enforcement or other fairgoers.

Symonn Still, 20, of Dulzura was the bar-goers guide on Friday evening. Dressed in a Western-style skirt, woven Chinese shawl and tiny bowler hat, the Grossmont College drama student said everyone seems to be enjoying the cloak-and-dagger concept of the speakeasy.

The secretive nature of the place was the main attraction for Victoria Valdez, 22, of Imperial Beach and her friend Adriana Fernandez, 36, of Chula Vista.

I love the whole idea of speakeasies and Prohibition and the history behind it, said Valdez, sipping a gin cocktail named Tombstone Rickey. I love that I can say Ive been here and none of my friend have.

San Diego County Fair

When: Through July 4. Closed Mondays (except July 3) and Tuesdays (except June 27 and July 4.)

Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar

Admission: $11 to 18; free for kids 5 and younger. Parking is $13.

Phone: (858) 793-5555 (24-hour recorded information)

Online: sdfair.com: sdfair.com

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Among other things, 'mosque hopping' is a trend amongst those who choose to travel to different mosques around the country to experience late-night prayers.

By Mail Today: The beauty of Ramzan is seeing brightly-lit mosques beckoning worshippers upon the call of azaan in Malaysia. Subserviently, 'mosque hopping' is also a new trend amongst youngsters and elders who choose to travel to different mosques around the country to experience taraveeh prayers (late-night prayers) during this holy month. One can stare at the beauty of blue marbles of Sultan Abdul Aziz Mosque in Shah Alam in Selangor, Sultan Mizan mosque fondly called The Iron Mosque overlooking Putrajaya Lake, or the Zaharah Mosque, the floating beauty over in Trengganu state.

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The serene tranquility of sitting on white stairs of the floating mosque, feeling the sea breeze and gazing at the glorious architectural lighting after performing the prayers are all ethereal. The congregation goes on further into night discussing the beauty of Ramzan over 'moreh' - the night supper.

Close-knitted community

In Malaysia, Ramzan brings out the best in everyone. It is a ritual for all government agencies, organisations, private companies even school and university alumni to host iftars for orphans and the homeless. From the chef to the organising committee, people of different races are involved - not only Malay but also Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan. The same ritual applies nationwide; many even attend the open gathering of iftars in city parks to experience the dusk dissolve into the night. One such popular gathering is the Iftar@KL that takes place at Dataran Merdeka, Jalan Raja. One is overwhelmed with the city folks sitting on mats or grass, breaking fast with food bought from food trucks and Ramzan bazaar stalls in front of the iconic historical landmark Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad building - a Moorish architectural beauty that used to be a city hall which was turned into the federal and high court and now functions as the cultural office! As tourists, you are spoilt for choices on where to have your iftar experience.

Eid gathering

Eid in Malaysia is a colourful affair and the colours come in the form of traditional costumes 'Baju Melayu' for men and 'Baju Kurung' for women. Malaysians of multi-cultural and multi-religious ethnicity celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr for a month, in fact we celebrate all festivals for months.

And the one Malaysian experience one should never forsake is the open-house gatherings which could go on for a month. This long standing tradition of open-houses will be held at every level - national, community and personal. Almost every residence will spread the warm hospitality to all guests; relatives, friends or foreigners! So bring along your smile and good manners, enjoy warm hospitality, savour the great food and enjoy the laughter!

- Contributed by Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz. The writer is the minister for tourism and culture, Malaysia.

--- ENDS ---
Before painting full time, Patrick Brown spent a number of years in advertising as an art director and a creative director.

After college, I tried the fine arts career, but it was difficult to support myself and then, eventually, a family, he says. I started painting full time in 2012 after an illness caused the loss of a job and home. It was a matter of reinventing myself.

That reinvention has led Brown to relationships where his work is used on the sets of television programs, mural work and portraits, and one of his paintings being selected as Best in Show for the PROUD exhibit at The Studio Door this month (the exhibit is on display through June 25).

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The exhibit celebrates national LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride month this month with dozens of pieces from LGBTQ artists from more than 20 states. The focus is to highlight the views of people within the community on identity, lifestyles and diversity. His featured piece, Proud Parade, is an oil painting of a young, gender non-conforming person in front, with a group of other people marching in the parade behind. The young person represents innocence and the absence of fear in expressing the individuality thats celebrated as part of Pride, the artist says.

Brown, 64, lives in Escondido and has two adult sons, Michael and William. His work has been included in the Summation exhibit at Municipal Gallery in Escondido and book publication, along with the Edgar Allan Poe exhibit in San Diego. Hes also a member of Visual AIDS, the Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery, and the Los Angeles Art Association. He took some time to discuss his work in PROUD, what pride means to him, and his days leading trout fishing in Arkansas.

Q: Why did you want to participate in the PROUD exhibit?

A: This is a new exhibit for me and many of my paintings have political or social messages. I wanted to be a part of a bigger cause and have my voice heard.

Q: What was your approach to the works you created for this exhibit?

A: I wanted it to be both humorous and serious at the same time. I also wanted to show todays youth and how their identities are represented in so many different forms today.

Q: What were you thinking about as you were creating your three pieces, Proud Parade, POZ Mens March and Sylvester, Nina, George and Barbara Bush Walk Into a Bar?

A: Probably the difference between the time spent in my youth and the difference today. The youth of today still face all sorts of problems, but they are not afraid to let people know theyre different. Everyone was closeted when I was that age.

What I love about Escondido ...

Escondido is nothing like the hustle of San Diego. I really like the small-town feel of Grand Avenue with its galleries, shops and restaurants. Friday nights from April to September, we have Cruising Grand when all of the car collectors take over the streets with their hot rods and antique cars. The farmers market on Tuesday afternoon into the evening brings awesome produce and prepared foods of multiple varieties. I like the family atmosphere of Escondido.

Q: You were named best in show for your piece, PROUD Parade. What did you want to say in this piece?

A: The statement is mainly focused on gender issues, the innocence of youth that slips away with age, and the unknown hardships ahead.

Q: When you think about the words proud or pride, what do they mean to you?

A: They have a different meaning to someone my age than they do to a 21-year-old who is accepted in todays society. I still struggle with the pride concept because being gay or bisexual has caused serious issues for me.

Im proud of the person I am today, though Im not sure that being gay, specifically, gives me a sense of pride. The meaning of gay pride has also changed over the years. The Stonewall Riots started the Pride events, usually a parade in June around the anniversary. The celebration back then was to show the world we were not afraid to fight back against the oppression generations had to endure. Todays parade is a huge party that anyone can join. When you get to the festival site, you see the same booths that can be found at a Memorial Day picnic. There are families with children, politicians seeking votes, banks wanting your business, etc. Most of the people are there to see and be seen, and thats a big part of Pride. Many want the recognition of being accepted. There is also the new groups added each year, like the military, and policeman or professionals that in days past would not have made a public statement by participating.

Q: Do you typically take part in Pride festivities?

A: I try to see the art exhibit in Balboa Park and catch part of the parade. I am never at the late-night, pounding music events at my age.

Q: Is there anything you look forward to this year?

A: The arts have quite a presence this year and I will try to see as much as I can. The PROUD show at The Studio Door is a national show and the art represented is exceptional. I am very proud to be a part of that. Patric Stillman has worked tirelessly to put together a top-notch exhibit for San Diego.

Q: What do you hope people get from your work in the PROUD exhibit?

A: I hope they see the humor and take time to read the descriptions and understand their meanings. Proud Parade and Sylvester, Nina, George and Barbara Bush Walk into a Bar are all about the fun of the days events. POZ Mens March is a tribute to all of the people who stood up for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and the years it took our government to address those issues.

Q: Whats been challenging about your work over the years?

A: The life of an artist is similar to actors or musicians who work long hours and do not always get the rewards they deserve. Balancing a budget on the sale of paintings can be difficult. The artists that succeed are the ones who put in the work, explore all the options and never give up. Realizing that being a professional artist is much more than just the painting process, I have spent a lot of time this year outside of the studio writing grant requests, being accepted to the Los Angeles Art Association and doing exhibits there as well as in San Diego. You constantly need to keep your portfolio and website updated, so its a full-time job.

Q: Whats been rewarding about it?

A: The rewards for me is more self-gratification. Many of my paintings are political in nature, and I try to bring awareness of all sorts of issues in my work. Selling a painting to someone who really is excited about owning a piece of my art is always rewarding.

Q: What has it taught you about yourself?

A: It is therapy for me, in many ways. I process a lot of my own issues through my work. After hundreds of paintings and countless hours, it has also taught me that this is what I was meant to do and am very fortunate to be able to continue this as my career.

Q: What is the best advice youve ever received?

A: Probably to let go of the things you have no control over and live life to your fullest potential.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: That I was a trout fishing guide on the streams and rivers of Arkansas.

Q: Describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: Weekends usually mean openings, so thats part of work for me. I enjoy them, but when I get the chance, I like weekday trips to the beach, picking up stones or the occasional shell. An outdoor grill with a few friends at home makes me happy. I am pretty much a workaholic, so painting seven days a week is normal.

Email: lisa.deaderick@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @lisadeaderick
In the Baja California city of Rosarito Beach, President Donald Trump has plenty of critics.

American critics.

Ken Bell, a Californian who has lived here since 1999, recoiled when candidate Trump promised to build a border wall while trashing Mexican immigrants. (Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.)

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If Im going to build a fence with my neighbor, said Bell, a former Vietnam War veteran, the first thing I do is not insult them.

Terri Raposa, who has lived here for 12 years said: Trump is like a joke. I dont know of one person who voted for him, and if they did they wont admit it.

But the fact is, there are more than a few Trump fans among the areas estimated 15,000 to 30,000 U.S. citizens. John Murphy, a former Anaheim resident who has lived here for 28 years, cheered Trumps victory. Even so, the loyal Republican and Baja California enthusiast offered some friendly advice to the new U.S. president.

Tone down the rhetoric. Murphy said.

Just like their fellow Americans north of the border, Rosarito Beachs expatriates are coming to terms with the Trump administration. Living just 35 miles south of San Diego, these U.S. citizens perspectives are seasoned by their residency in a foreign land.

As events unfold in Washington, they wrestle with concerns that have as much to do with their temporary home as their native country.

Will tightened security add to the delays at the border crossings? Will tariffs on goods exported into the U.S. damage Rosarito Beachs economy? Will more deportations lead to increased crime in Mexicos border cities?

Living abroad has always meant adventures and adjustments. For Rosarito Beachs expats, the Trump era means a new set of uncertainties.

If Trump has complete control over the border, who knows what will happen, said Bob Carpenter, a former aerospace executive who has lived here for 33 of his 87 years. The fear  we dont need it.

Tinseltown glamour

While Trumps criticism of Mexico annoys some Americans, it rankles more Mexicans. In Rosarito Beach, you find Donald Trump pinatas and street vendors who sell bracelets with a crude two-word message: (Expletive) Trump.

What you dont find, though, are signs of a broader anti-American backlash.

We know he is just one person  hes the one talking like that, not the American people, said Armando Gonzalez, director general of Rosaritos Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura. We still love the American people.

If so, theres a lot to love. The U.S. State Department reports that of the 4 million to 7 million Americans living abroad, 1 million have settled in Mexico. Many have set down roots in Baja Californias coastal cities and villages.

The Mexicans welcome them and their dollars, said Denise Moreno Ducheny, a former California state senator and now a senior policy adviser at UC San Diegos Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. These are people who obviously like Mexico, so the Mexicans dont dislike them.

Rosarito Beach relies on tourism, and many of the tourists come from north of the border. Since 1925, the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel has been a magnet for Americans on holiday. In the 1950s, the clientele included Hollywood royalty like actress Rita Hayworth and bonafide royalty, her husband, Prince Aly Khan of Pakistan.

The town still retains some Tinseltown glamour. James Camerons 1997 epic, Titanic, was largely filmed at a studio on the edge of town. Segments of the AMC TV series Fear the Walking Dead are produced there.

Being so close to the border, Rosarito Beachs American residents can drive into the U.S. for visits, supplies and medical attention. Many expats are covered by Medicare, which must be used in the United States. Veterans like Bell head north to the VA Hospital in La Jolla.

But before I signed up with the VA, Bell said, Id go to a Mexican doctor and I was perfectly happy.

Also appealing is this areas balmy climate, welcoming people and  by California standards  low cost of living. Among those who glimpsed an opportunity here was a New York real estate mogul.

A decade ago, a proposed condominium project on the rugged coastline outside Rosarito Beach was heavily promoted by that developer, Donald Trump.

One of the things I most love about this project is that its in Baja, Mexico, and Baja is one of the really hot places, he said in a promotional video for Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico.

By 2009, the global recession and cost overruns led to the abandonment of Trump Ocean Resort. Trump insisted he was blameless, having merely leased his name to Mexican and U.S. developers.

In 2013, he settled a class-action lawsuit brought by more than 100 would-be buyers. The terms of the settlement were not announced.

Locals still cite this debacle when asked about the new U.S. president. It was, said Hugo Torres, owner of the Rosarito Beach Hotel, a Trump Tower.

1 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Max Katz, Calafia CondosO director of sales. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Under the pier at the Rosarito Beach Hotel. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. View from outside John Murphys balcony. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Bob Carpenter, an American who has lived here for 33 of his 87 years, at lunch with other expats. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Rosaritos Boys and Girls Club helping youth in the area. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Rosaritos Boys and Girls Club receives donations and support from many Americans living in Rosarito. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Rosy Torres, president of Rosaritos Boys and Girls Club in the back, hanging out the children. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. John Murphy, 79, a former Orange County resident who has occupied a beachfront home for 28 years sitting in his living room. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Ken Bell, co-founder of the Rosaritos Friends of the Library. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Ken Bell, co-founder of the Rosaritos Friends of the Library. Looking for a book. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Hugo Torres, the former mayor and longtime owner of the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Expat Gil Sperry, Editor of the Baja Times in Rosarito. In his office at | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. John Murphy, 79, a former Orange County resident who has occupied a beachfront home for 28 years. He stand outside his home. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Inside the Downtown Rosarito library. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. From left to right: expats at lunch Gabe Fasolino, Bob Carpenter and Marrilyn Gauld. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. A food court next to the Rosarito Beach Hotel. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 18 Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, May 24th, 2017: | Feature story about U.S. expats in the Rosarito Beach area, dealing with the Trump Effect. Calafia Condos south of Rosarito. | Alejandro Tamayo  The San Diego Union Tribune 2017 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Baja rapture

The global recession struck as Rosarito Beach was dealing with a local calamity. In 2005, warfare between rival drug cartels erupted.

The murder rate climbed across the country, and Rosarito recorded a previously unheard-of 61 homicides in 2008. Thanks in part to efforts by then-Mayor Torres to root out corruption on the police force, the numbers dropped in half by 2013.

That drop proved temporary. Last year, 80 murders were reported there, as drug-related crime rose across Mexico. The resort citys supporters, though, insist Americans who are not involved in drug trafficking are safer here than in U.S. neighborhoods.

Once you cross the border here, its like getting a big massage, said Merrilyn Avila-Gauld, 80, who moved here from Newport Beach 13 years. You just relax.

What Bell calls Baja rapture, a passion for this region, only gradually dawned on him. In 1999, he planned to stay here just long enough to remodel a condominium he had inherited from his father. Months passed, as did Bells desire to return to the Sacramento area.

It dawned on me that I could retire early and stay in Mexico, he said, or go back to California and back to work.

Bell said hes never regretted staying, even at the height of the cartel violence. Now, he believes Americans are returning to Rosarito in ever-increasing numbers.

Those who liked coming down here and missed it, he said, we got them back.

The region also is seeing an increase in deportees. Murphy, although a Trump fan, worries that the U.S. presidents desire to deport more bad hombres may lead to more car thefts and break-ins in Rosarito Beach.

Theyre coming down to Mexico with no job, no money, no place to stay, Murphy said. Ive been concerned.

He agrees with Trump that trade deals must be re-examined and order brought to lawless parts of the border. Murphy believes that some of the presidents more dramatic positions  that California-to-Texas wall, for instance  are attention-getting bargaining chips.

Trumps a negotiator, he said. He started by throwing out the wildest things he could think of just so he could have things he could give up.

Expats, thank goodness

Gabe Fasolino, 70, moved here a year ago from Portland, Ore.. Neither he nor his wife had any retirement savings, but their Social Security checks stretch far enough here for them to do far more than just survive.

After renting a 2,300-square-foot house with an ocean view for $1,150 a month, they decided to build their own place above the Pacific. Their budget: $160,000.

Washington politics and the president have left the former roofing company owner disenchanted. Im very disappointed with how hes dealing with the whole immigration issue, Fasolino said. I cant have much of an impact on Washington. What I can do is make a difference to a few people here.

Last October, he founded the Rotary Club of La Mision. The 23 members are refurbishing the library at a local elementary school.

Were making that a place where children can come in and learn how to love to read, Fasolino said.

While many people in the U.S. devote part of their retirement to volunteer work, thats less common here.

In Mexico, said Rosy Torres, our culture is not so much to donate or volunteer.

Torres, the former mayors daughter, is president of the Boys and Girls Club of Rosarito Beach. A Coronado High School graduate, she learned about Boys and Girls Clubs during her time in the U.S.

Back home, she worried that the children of maquiladora workers were coming home from school to empty houses. Torres saw the new club as a healthy alternative to TV, video games or entry-level positions in the narcotics trade.

Initially, this was not a popular view. Mexicans dont know about the club, she said. They dont believe in it and the government  her father left office seven years ago  could care less about it.

She found an ally in Gil Sperry, editor of the English-language newspaper, The Baja Times. His annual mariachi festival has raised about $750,000 for the club since 2010.

Thank goodness we have a big expat community in Rosarito Beach, Torres said.

When Bell and another expat founded a local Friends of the Library, they encountered similar skepticism from their Mexican friends.

Why should I do that? Bell was often asked. The government takes care of the libraries.

Well, yes, they do, hed reply. But we want to make that better. Were friends of the library.

Today, the citys five libraries have thousands of books donated by the Friends. The group equipped four branches with computers. The fifth branch lacks electricity.

Bell, who was president of the Friends four years ago, said the organization is no longer viewed with skepticism. The board is now composed entirely of Mexicans.

Thats success, Bell said.

Let me out...

Opinions about the Trump administrations economic positions are mixed in Rosarito Beach. Trumps suggestion that goods entering the U.S. should pay a border tariff rattled local merchants. East of downtown, several maquiladoras employ thousands of residents.

Theres a possible effect, if they close the Hyundai plant because import duties are especially high, Hugo Torres said.

Expats, though, enjoyed an increase in buying power when Trumps election rattled currency markets. The U.S. dollar, worth about 18 pesos in the weeks before the election, climbed to 22 pesos on inauguration day. The rate has since fallen to about 18.5 pesos, but residents note thats 50 percent higher than just four years ago.

Its really great for us, said Avila-Gauld. But horrible for the Mexicans.

At Calafia Towers, a three-tower resort on the rugged coastline south of Rosarito Beach, Mexicans have made up about 30 percent of the buyers. Since the election, though, director of sales Max Katz has been fielding increasing inquiries from north of the border.

I do get calls from people who say, Let me out of the U.S. Im moving to Mexico, Katz said. I get that actually probably once or twice a month, people call me.

Relocating to Rosarito Beach is relatively easy  the city even operates a Foreign Residents Attention Office, a sort of Welcome Wagon for expats.

Yet authorities here estimate that most Americans residents, and most American visitors, are there illegally.

The truth is, said Rudolfo Figueroa, director of the Mexican immigration office for Baja California, every time you go into Mexico you need to acquire status, that is, you have to register at the port of entry.

The paperwork should only take a few minutes, Figueroa said, and permits are free for people staying fewer than seven days. Any longer, and there is a nominal fee of about $20.

Mexican immigration does not hunt down Americans without permits. But if visitors are involved in a car accident or encounter any legal problems, Figueroa said, lacking a permit could lead to greater penalties.

Moreover, his office deported more than 1,700 Americans last year. About 200 were wanted on U.S. warrants. The rest were booted out of Baja California for violating Mexican laws.

Understanding local laws and customs is common sense, veteran expatriates say.

Were guests here, Bell said.

Since moving here, this Californian has studied Spanish, learned about Mexican culture, made friends with his Mexican neighbors. And, like any good guest, he approaches sensitive topics with sensitivity.

The people that I know who defend Trump arent bashing Mexico in the process. Most of them, Bell said. Some of them  well, some people shouldnt drink.

ALSO:

With Trump, a resurgence of Mexican nationalism at the border

From the border to Mexicos capital: San Diego chamber trip aims to build bridges

Border wall: San Diegos been there, done that

Failed Baja condo project haunts U.S. buyers
Out of all the tests administered in the San Diego Unified School District, perhaps none riles up parents more than the exam that determines whether or not their child is eligible for the Gifted and Talented Education program.

For decades, the district has used the Raven Progressive Matrices, an untimed, nonverbal test that uses a series of multiple-choice inquiries  requiring students to predict the progression of patterns and puzzles  to assess general intelligence and cognitive processing.

The school board on Tuesday will consider a plan to scrap Raven in favor of the Cognitive Abilities Test (known as the CogAt), in addition to other criteria, including parent and teacher input.

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The shift is expected to offer a more accurate determination of who needs special instruction. The proposed criteria would likely reduce the number of San Diego students who are deemed gifted and highly gifted, an elite designation coveted by some parents because it steers top-scoring students into elite Seminar classes that are taught by specialized teachers.

San Diego Unified is known for its unusually large population of gifted students. Some say the district over-identifies gifted students because Raven content is widely available online and sought out by heavy-handed parents. Others say the Raven needs to be normed to the population.

About 18 percent of San Diego Unified students are identified as gifted, more than twice the percentage than the states 8.5 percent, according to the California Department of Education.

The Raven is completely compromised. You can go online and practice for it. Thats part of the reason we have too many kids identified, said Katie Anderson, who advises the San Diego school board on behalf of parents of gifted students.

Anderson and who supports the plan to switch tests.

This is not going to change the way things are done in the classroom, she said. It just means we will have fewer students in the program.

Under the proposal, San Diego Unified would continue to tests all students for the gifted programs in the second-grade. However, the district would revise the rules for retesting and appealing results to help transfer students, mobile military students and others.

Those who score in the 98th percentile are eligible for cluster classes, where a group of gifted students are put in a classroom taught by a teacher trained in gifted education. Students can get weighted scores for certain factors, such family income, disabilities, or if they are not fluent in English.

Those who score in the 99th percentile are put in the seminar program: stand-alone classes in third- through fifth-grade, and designated English, history and social studies classes in middle and high school.

Seminar classes are made up of highly gifted students. Seminar classes used to be capped at 20 students before the school board raised them to cope with budget cuts. The now-larger seminar classes are also filled with students who closely missed the seminar designation. <

School board Vice President John Lee Evans said the seminar program should be re-evaluated in the coming years.

We need to determine the best way to deliver services to GATE students, Evans said. The program was designed as a sort of special education for kids who were so highly gifted that their needs were not met in the classroom. Its almost turned into a high-achievers club.

The proposal would cost about $180,000 to buy the new testing materials. The school board also expects to reexamine how GATE students are grouped and taught.
A 43-year-old Navy man was killed and his cousin wounded in a seemingly unprovoked shooting at Horton Plaza late Saturday, San Diego police said.

The victims were about 100 yards north of the Mad House Comedy Club, which is on the seventh floor of the Gaslamp Quarter outdoor mall, when two men confronted them about 11:45 p.m., San Diego police homicide Lt. Mike Holden said.

Moments later, one of the two men shot the victims. The assailants then ran north through the mall, Holden said.

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There is no evidence an argument occurred after the suspects approached the men or from earlier in the evening, Holden said.

The shooting appears to be unprovoked, he said. We havent found any evidence that discounts that.

The Navy man, of San Diego, suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest, and died at a nearby hospital. His cousin, a 29-year-old Riverside man, was shot in the leg and is expected to recover, the lieutenant said.

Both men have been identified but will not be named until their families have been notified.

Descriptions of the shooter and his companion were not released.

Detectives interviewed a number of witnesses, including people who had attended a show at the Comedy Club and staff members at the venue. The 9:45 p.m. performance featured eight comedians and was headlined by Johnny Cardinale, according to the clubs website.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call police at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477.

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
Sometime this summer, as temperatures begin to sizzle, California Republicans could do something that  if things worked out just right could thaw out their long, cold winter of political isolation.

It would be bold, but not without precedent: A war waged against a tax increase. In this instance, the states impending price hike for a gallon of gas.

Its the price tag thats in your face every day, said Rob Stutzman, a longtime GOP political consultant whos not backing the idea, but says its ripe for the taking. Its not hard to explain.

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Less than seven weeks ago, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a sweeping $5.2-billion package of proposals to fix Californias roads and highways. To pay for it, the base excise tax on gas goes up by 12 cents a gallon in November. Diesel fuel taxes will rise by 20 cents a gallon.

Theres also a new annual vehicle fee the DMV will charge to help fund the transportation projects, based on a vehicles value and ranging from $25 to $175. Brown has made a frequent point of defending the necessity of the transportation plan, which won a supermajority vote in both legislative houses and earned the support of business and transportation groups.

Californians hate bad roads. But they may hate taxes even more. In a new statewide poll by UC Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies, 58% of voters surveyed said they oppose the tax-and-spend transportation plan.

Its not a bad issue to organize a campaign around, Stutzman said.

In fact, its the centerpiece of a recall effort against state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), a freshman legislator who voted for the tax increase. The California Republican Party is helping pay for signature-gathering to force a special election. So why not go all the way with a full statewide vote on a gas tax repeal?

Last month, a GOP legislator filed a proposed initiative to do just that. Getting it on the ballot would probably cost around $3 million, a full-blown campaign to pass it would cost much more. And theres danger for the GOP, whose biggest donors are some of the same business groups that supported the transportation plan.

But as Stutzman points out  and some Democratic strategists agree, though none would say so on the record  getting it on the ballot could provide a big boost for Republicans.

Just qualifying it would make it a centerpiece of all the political conversation, he said. It allows them to go on offense.

Political Road Map: Theres not a single California congressional district with a Republican majority 

It could force Democrats in battleground legislative races to defend the tax. The California Democratic Party might have to open up its sizable war chest. Perhaps even Brown, by then on the homestretch of his political career and facing questions about his legacy, would dip into his $15 million campaign bank account for the transportation plan he helped craft.

Even vulnerable GOP members of Congress might benefit, giving them something other than President Trump to talk about. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently suggested that the unpopular gas tax could fuel strong Republican turnout next year. If he wanted to, McCarthy alone could probably raise the money needed to qualify a gas tax repeal for the ballot.

In truth, this is mostly a good political parlor game right now in Sacramento and across the state. Things are quiet, and the 2018 initiative landscape looks bare  a striking contrast to 2016, one of the longest statewide ballots in recent history. Its up to Republicans to decide whether its really a window of opportunity.

But the party has been hemorrhaging voters. Its lost every statewide election since 2006. And Republicans now have only a fraction of the seats they used to hold in the Legislature. An old-fashioned tax fight, in a state where taxes have historically been hard to defend, could be just what the doctor ordered.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

ALSO:

Gov. Jerry Brown signs a $52 billion transportation funding plan into law

Political Road Map: The California Republican brand has become radioactive

Updates on California politics and government
Competing rallies about Islam, particularly the religions rules known as Sharia law, evolved from peaceful marches to shouting matches near the beach in Oceanside on Saturday.

With a line of five police officers separating the opposing sides on the boardwalk, a group of several dozen people yelled No Sharia law and USA at a similarly sized group that yelled back slogans such as No hate.

Similar scenes played out in about 30 cities across the country Saturday.

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1 / 24 Kareem Samuel, from Chula Vista, argues with a woman with the anti-Sharia law protesters. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 24 Ellen Bartlett holds a sign as he and other people with Anti-Islamophobia rally gather on The Strand. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 24 A man, who didnt give his name, covers his face as he stands with a group protesting against Sharia law. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 24 Anti-Sharia law protesters march down The Strand. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 24 2OCEANSIDE, June 10, 2017 | Anti-Islamophobia protesters march down The Strand in Oceanside on Saturday. | Photo by Hayne Palmour IV/San Diego Union-Tribune/Mandatory Credit: HAYNE PALMOUR IV/SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE/ZUMA PRESS San Diego Union-Tribune Photo by Hayne Palmour IV copyright 2017 (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 24 Ed Schildmeier, from Fallbrook, holds out an American flag as he and a group protesting against Sharia law march past a group protesting against Islamophobia. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 24 Mustafa Nizam, right, one of the organizers of the anti-Islamophobia rally shakes hands with Sean Colgan, who is with the anti-Sharia law rally, in a gesture of creating dialog between the two groups. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 24 The conversation gets heat between a man, left, who was not part of the anti-Islamophobia rally, and anti-Sharia law protesters, including Duane Siegmann, right, from Oceanside. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 24 During the heated exchange with the anti-Sharia law protesters, an Oceanside policewoman pulls on the mans guitar case on his back. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 24 When the man swung around, Oceanside police try to grab him. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 24 Oceanside policemen continue to restrain the man. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 24 An Oceanside policeman shoves the man to the pavement. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 24 As other policemen help retrain the man, an Oceanside policeman puts his sunglasses to the side as they try to handcuff him. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 24 Oceanside police escorts the man to a police car. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 24 A woman with the anti-Sharia law protesters argues with those who disagree. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 24 Ricky Martinez, from Oceanside, who was not part of the anti-Islamophobia rally, yells at anti-Sharia law protesters. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 24 Anti-Sharia law protesters argue with those who dont agree, foreground. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 24 Anti-Sharia law protesters stand on the west side of The Strand as they chant slogans. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 24 Anti-Sharia law protesters cheer as a sign plane passes by. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 24 Christopher Moore, from San Marcos, who just came for a day at the beach, holds up a sign as he faces anti-Sharia law protesters. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 24 Ricky Martinez, right, from Oceanside, who was not part of the anti-Islamophobia rally, argues with anti-Sharia law protesters. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 24 People in a rented cart pedal past the loud commotion. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 24 A muslim woman, who only gave a first name as Yasmeen, argues with an Anti-Sharia law protester. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 24 With the Oceanside Pier in the background, anti-Sharia law protesters argue with those that disagree. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The organization ACT for America staged rallies in these locations to demonstrate against what it described as the threat of extremist interpretations of Islamic law infecting American democracy. Those rallies were met with counter-protests held by people saying ACT for America is distorting Islams teachings.

Oceanside resident Duane Siegmann, one of the marchers against Sharia law, said he joined the beachside gathering to spread word about what he saw as a growing menace.

Their beliefs do not abide by the Constitution of the United States, so our job today is to educate people to make them understand, he said. Dont bring Sharia law in here because its designed to take over the government.

Fallbrook resident Ed Schildmeier said he participated in the same rally because he views the spread of radical Islam as the greatest threat to mankind ever.

Radical Islam is a cancer that will destroy the world if we dont confront it and defeat it, Schildmeier said. President Trumps going to do that.

Schildmeier claimed that Sharia law allows atrocities such as the marriage of 9-year-old girls, the stoning of women, beheadings and the killing of gays by throwing them from roofs.

On the opposing side, Muslims and their supporters said there are many misunderstandings about Islam and Sharia law.

They believe that Muslims are trying to implement Sharia law in this country and totally replace the Constitution, which is impossible. The first point of Sharia law, if you study Sharia law at all, is to respect the lands that youre in, said Mustafa Nizam of Vista, who coordinated the counter-march in Oceanside.

A friend of Nizams, Homayra Yusufi-Marin of San Diego, said she follows Sharia law and its hardly the version depicted by ACT for America.

Yusufi-Marin described Sharia law as a series of opinions, not a firm set of rules, on issues such as how to prepare food and what types of shoes to wear at a mosque.

I would say I follow Sharia law in day-to-day life, and it doesnt run counter to the Constitution, she said Friday. There are Muslim women like me who live in America, and Im as western as they come.

The opposing groups varied in their numbers throughout Saturday afternoon.

At its peak, the anti-Sharia rally had about 50 participants. The high figure for the counter-rally was roughly 70 people.

Both marches began around noon about a block apart just south of the Oceanside Pier, and marchers passed each other peacefully at times.

Before the events ended around 3:15 p.m., however, both groups faced off on opposite sides of the boardwalk and tried to shout down each other. One person was arrested after having a confrontation with the anti-Sharia law group and Oceanside police.

Some marchers against Sharia law chanted gay rights at one time and said they opposed Islams treatment of women, but the executive director of the North County LGBTQ Resource Center said he didnt appreciate the association.

As the LGBTQ community, we wanted to be here to show how we dont want our name to be used in rhetoric racism pushing against Islam, said Max Disposti, head of the center.

In Seattle, the dozens of anti-Sharia demonstrators faced off with hundreds of counter-protesters who marched through downtown banging drums, cymbals and cowbells behind a large sign saying Seattle stands with our Muslim neighbors.

In front of the Trump building in downtown Chicago, about 30 people demonstrated against Islamic law and in favor of President Donald Trump, shouting slogans and holding signs that read Ban Sharia and Sharia abuses women. About twice as many counter-protesters marshaled across the street.

A similar scene played out in a park near a New York courthouse, where counter-protesters sounded air-horns and banged pots and pans in an effort to silence an anti-Sharia rally. In St. Paul, Minnesota, state troopers arrested about a half-dozen people when scuffles broke out at the close of competing demonstrations at the state Capitol.

ACT for America billed the rallies as marches for human rights and freedom, and aimed at protecting Muslim women and children from the impacts of Sharia law.

The Council for American Islamic Relations, however, called the ACT for America event anti-Islam rallies and urged people to respond with peaceful educational events and activities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
San Diegos infamous terror attraction McKamey Manor has resumed operations at a private home in Rancho Penasquitos after a failed attempt to relocate to a small town in Illinois.

Proprietor Russ McKamey, 56, has scared patrons for years by simulating abductions, assaults and other horrors at his home, named the most extreme haunted house in the world by Tech Times and The New York Daily News.

McKamey says his manor makes no money and raises funds for animal welfare. When he lost his job as a veterans advocate this year, he said, he attempted to move his financially strapped venture to a more affordable region. He ran into public opposition in Illinois.

View the Video Is McKamey Manor too extreme?

I have to find some place thats supportive, McKamey said. Its tricky. Ive learned people will go to great extent to shut us down.

As of July, McKamey was planning to move to McLeansboro, Ill., a town of about 3,000 people in the southeastern part of the state. McKamey said he arranged to rent space and dropped off about $35,000 worth of equipment, when problems started to arise.

What appeared to be a promising future in July had become, by October, a tangle of accusations and ill will against McKamey by his would-be landlady and some locals.

Before McKamey had even met with the citys zoning administrator, controversy exploded on Facebook, and someone threw a rock at the building McKamey planned to lease, cracking a window, said Fred Vallowe, McLeansboros city clerk.

They saw my movies, and it scared these people in this little Bible Belt town to death, McKamey said.

McKamey said he thinks a lot of the problems McKamey Manor has faced recently stem from his effort to take it from a private hobby to a money-making business.

For years, McKamey Manor was able to avoid becoming a business. Participants were carefully selected, but once admitted, the only cost of admission was a donation of dog food for Operation Greyhound, a nonprofit greyhound rescue organization.

Is McKamey Manor too extreme? Yes 70% (5530) No 30% (2426) 7956 total votes.

An official with the El Cajon-based organization confirmed that McKamey collected donations of dog food for the nonprofit and also helped it raise money.

Because McKamey Manor did not charge for admission and entertained only a small number of participants, the city didnt automatically scrutinize it for conformity to codes and regulations as it would a business, McKamey said. He recently applied for a business license for the first time.

A review of city code enforcement and police records show there have been few complaints about McKameys home on Almazon Street in San Diego, where he takes his patrons.

City code enforcement went to McKameys house in December 2014 and found a violation related to room additions and structures. McKamey brought everything up to code by March, and a citation was never issued.

Police said they have records of three calls for service related to the address within the last two years, two of which were calls from McKamey and one of which was a report of a kidnapping that did not turn out to be a crime.

McKamey said the kidnapping was him bringing an electrician to his own home. He said he doesnt like people to know where he lives, so he picked up the electrician from another location and hooded him for the ride. Suddenly, the police were on his doorstep.

We had eight of them at the door with guns drawn and they go, Oh, its you, McKamey said.

Police said one person who toured McKamey Manor called to ask if the manors operations were legal, but she did not report a crime or indicate she wanted to press charges.

To visit McKamey Manor, patrons must be over 21 and come alone or with one companion. They sign a waiver allowing a certain amount of physical harm, although McKamey does not give participants a copy of the form and declined to release a copy to U-T Watchdog.

Visitors meet the haunted house staff at a remote location, where they are blindfolded, bound and gagged and taken to the manor in a location unknown to them in a large blood-red van.

At the house, they are subjected to simulated drowning and suffocating, force-feeding, unwelcome haircuts and physically rough treatment. Participants agree that they will not be released until McKamey gives his permission.

McKamey says much of what appears on the Internet YouTube videos  vomiting, participants weeping and bruised, a young man crying out to be released as his head is shoved under water  is smoke and mirrors, and that visitors are not held against their will.

Critics such as Amy Milligan of East County say they were held captive after they begged to be let go, and that what happened to them left physical bruises and emotional scars.

I cry over every little thing, Milligan said. If I hear about McKamey Manor, I freak out. Im so stressed. It gets so stressful. ... You give so much trust to them and they just break it by waterboarding you and slapping you.

Previously Infamous haunted house leaving town

Milligan said she knew McKamey Manor was an extreme experience, and she expected to an unpleasant, terrifying tour when she signed up, but she thought it was, ultimately, a haunted house.

Milligan said it occurred to her, as she lay closed in a coffin with cockroaches on her face, listening to hissing from little tubes, which appeared to be emitting some kind of gas, that she had unwittingly placed herself in actual danger.

It clicked in my head, I dont know these people. It could be any kind of gas; I have no idea, Milligan said. So I was plugging my nose because I was scared, like, I dont know where I am; I dont understand this. I thought this was going to be a haunted house.

Milligan said she was placed in a shallow pool enclosed with a cage and held under water. She said she actually thought the manors actors were going to kill her, by accident if not intentionally.

Im going to die here, Milligan recalled thinking. Im going to drown. My hair is wrapping around my neck and I start freaking out. Im telling them I cant breathe and theyre just laughing and doing it more.

Milligans statements in an interview with the Watchdog contrast with video McKamey recorded after she took the tour, in which she said she was never assaulted, tortured or held against her will.

It was my own free will, she said. I never felt that I was being tortured.

Milligan told the Watchdog that she said those things during her exit interview video at McKamey Manor in the hopes she could obtain footage of her tour to use as evidence of what had happened to herself and her partner on the tour. She said she went to police with her concerns but never filed a report.

McKamey counts Milligan as one of the haters, a minority of participants who relentlessly pursue an invitation to the manor, repeatedly ignore his warnings about what might happen to them once inside, voluntarily sign a waiver to participate and then regret the decision later, falsely accusing the haunt of torture, assault and other crimes.

Ben Armstrong, president of America Haunts, a professional group for large, professional traditional haunted houses, said McKamey Manor caters to a very small audience of hardcore thrill-seekers and provides a very, very different product.

While McKamey Manor is often called an extreme haunted house, Armstrong says he and most of the other professional attraction owners America Haunts represents consider it a simulated abduction.

In my mind theres nothing haunted about it, Armstrong said. A good haunted house rides the razors edge between Halloween and horror, supernatural versus gore. Too far into horror and you become sadistic.

McKamey said he has identified a new place to move McKamey Manor, and hopes to move out of his home in San Diego and into a temporary location within the next few months. He declined to say where.
The New York Times has eliminated its public editor position. The public editor is another name for a readers representative or an ombudsman.

The Times created the post in 2003 after the Jayson Blair scandal, in which Times editors discovered that the reporter had fabricated and plagiarized in multiple stories.

During the 14 years since, The Times has had six public editors, the latest was Elizabeth Spayd. She was a former managing editor of The Washington Post and editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review. She was on the job for a year.

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As you can probably guess, I dislike the move. A public editor provides accountability and sets newspapers and their digital products apart from other news organizations, particularly today with so many questionable news websites. But The Times has something new that sounds intriguing  a Reader Center, which looks to strengthen the companys connection to readers.

Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said the public editors office had become obsolete. The responsibility of the public editor  to serve as the readers representative  has outgrown that one office, he said in memo to Times staffers on May 31. Our business requires that we must all seek to hold ourselves accountable to our readers. When our audience has questions or concerns ... we must answer them ourselves.

The public editor position, created in the aftermath of a grave journalistic scandal, played a crucial part in rebuilding our readers trusts by acting as our in-house watchdog. We welcomed that criticism, even when it stung. But today, our followers on social media and our readers across the internet have come together to collectively serve as a modern watchdog, more vigilant and forceful than one person could ever be. Our responsibility is to empower all of those watchdogs, and to listen to them, rather than to channel their voice through a single office.

But I dont see the ability for readers to comment erasing the need for a public editor, who can actually address the complaints and shed some light on newsroom decisions and how they work.

The Organization of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors, an international group, said it deplores the elimination of the position of public editor. We believe this is contrary to the best interests of a free, independent and trusted media.

To say ... the position has outlived its value in the age of social media, is just plain wrong, the group said. On the contrary, its more necessary than ever. The social media space is characterized by heat, little light, angry assertions and not as many facts.

There might have been other factors in the decision to drop the public editor. Spayd was panned for overly harsh criticism and at times naive points of view. Also, I wonder if the decision was more a matter of cost cutting. That same week Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet announced buyouts to streamline ... and reduce the number of editors.

The Times public editor was a full-time post independent of the newsroom. Few news organizations can afford to have a full-time position like that anymore. The U-Ts last full-time ombudsman was Gina Lubrano, who retired in 2006. Since then a newsroom editor, which I am, has taken on the task of also being a readers representative.

In his memo, Sulzberger said another editor will be responsible for making sure that our report lives up to our standards of fairness, accuracy and journalistic excellence.The editor will respond to reader concerns and looks into corrections requests.

Despite the loss of the public editor, The Times is looking to expand reader interaction through a new project called the Reader Center, led by a senior editor, Hanna Ingber.The center, based on the news desk, began last month. It will work with with reporters, editors, visual journalists and even the marketing department in reaching out to readers to gather their input on stories.

I asked Ingber a few questions about the initiative.

What are your goals for the center?

The Center aims to be a convener, bringing together our audience and our journalism. We launched in May, and as we currently see it, our goals are to: change the relationship between our readers and our journalists, make our journalism more transparent, find new ways to create connections, and evangelize and empower our journalists to connect with our readers.

How will the center serve readers?

Everything we do will be about the connection between our readers and our journalism. We believe that if we accomplish our goals, we will help The Times create stronger journalism and have a stronger relationship with our audience. Ultimately, we will also be elevating the position of the readers.

The public editor could look at how a mistake happened or could probe criticism of a piece. Will the Reader Center provide any of that?

There are many teams in the newsroom that currently look into mistakes and criticism. The standards editors are one key example. The Reader Center will also help our journalists be even more responsive to our readers and transparent in our coverage.

I believe the concept holds great potential and something other news organizations should look at.

More on they

I heard from a couple of readers last week on The Associated Press style change that now allows they to be used as a singular pronoun. The readers, one of whom is U-T word columnist Richard Lederer, support the move.

They has long been a graceful solution to the most nettlesome problem in sexist language  the generic masculine pronoun, Lederer emailed.

Al Weiss from San Diego pointed to three dictionaries that acknowledge they is commonly used as a singular pronoun. He also gave literary examples, such as this one by Lewis Carroll: But how can you talk with a person if they always say the same thing.
Hyderabad Police has apprehended nine individuals with demonetised bills worth a whopping 3.48 crore.

By Ashish Pandey: Sleuths from Hyderabad's Commissioner's Task Force on Sunday apprehended nine people with demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 3.48 crore.

The accused had tried to exchange the demonetised notes for valid bills with agents on a commission basis, and cheat innocent customers by offering huge commissions.

Among those arrested are a software businessman from Hyderabad, a realtor from Rangareddy, a doctor from Visakhapatnam and a private finance operator from Medak.

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Three of the accused are absconding.

Those arrested have been booked under IPC sections 420 and 511, and section 5 r/w 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act 2017. They've been handed over to Hyderabad's SR Nagar Police Station for further investigation.

ALSO READ | Demonetisation effect on GDP needs more analysis, says India's chief statistician behind growth data

ALSO READ | PM Modi's demonetisation move gave economy Rs 5 lakh crore advantage

ALSO WATCH | Demonetisation impact requires more analysis, says India's chief statistician TCA Anant

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Sourav Ganguly said India were too professional and Bangladesh will find it very hard to stop the defending champions in the semi-finals.

By Jepher Christopher Nickels: Former captain Sourav Ganguly praised Team India's "remarkable" victory against South Africa to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals on Sunday. India defeated South Africa by eight wickets in a must-win game to reach the last-four of the elite tournament for the fifth time.

"South Africa were mentally weak here and against Pakistan as well. It was a remarkable performance by India," Ganguly told India Today.

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India will play Bangladesh in the second semi-final on June 15 in Birmingham. Ganguly said the victory will boost India's confidence.

"India were too professional. Bangladesh will find it very hard to control this team," he said.

Ganguly also believes that Bangladesh will put a better fight against India.

"In terms of quality, South Africa were a better team in these conditions but their performance were very poor.

"On paper, Bangladesh are a weaker team than South Africa but will probably pull up a better fight because they have a good batting lineup, they play spin well and their bowlers have done well. But I am not too sure if they are strong enough to beat this rampaging Indian team," Ganguly said.

Put into bat first, Indian bowlers bowled tight lines and bundled out South Africa for a paltry 191 in 44.3 overs. In reply, India rode on 128-run stand between Shikhar Dhawan (78) and Virat Kohli (76 not out) for the second wicket to cross the finish line with 12 overs to spare.

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up two wickets each while Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya got one apiece.

Ganguly praised the Jadeja-Ashwin pair, who once again combined to restrict the run-scoring.

"With Ashwin at the other end, Jadeja also bowls well. It was a dry pitch. When you see one spinner bowl well, the other spinner also bowls well," he said.

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Stigma over sexual inability is driving more and more Indians, including teens and the elderly, to end their lives.

By Chayyanika Nigam: Schoolteacher Sunita Aggarwal* (38) is in depression after her husband committed suicide last year as he was sterile. The Haryana couple underwent IVF treatment - an assisted reproductive technology -five times, but was unsuccessful. Then one day, Rakesh Aggarwal* (40), who worked in a private bank, hanged himself at home.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, as many as 448 people took their own lives in 2015, blaming infertility or impotence. The number was a significant increase from 332 the previous year.

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It's been six months, but Sunita is unable to overcome the grief. The couple tied the knot 10 years ago and had been trying for a child since then. Initially, family members suspected Sunita was barren. She was blamed and harassed. But after visiting a doctor, it was discovered that her husband was suffering from infertility.

On learning this, Rakesh went into depression. Apart from consulting astrologers, the couple also went for the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, which cost them around Rs 7-8 lakh and put a huge financial burden without producing results. The failure left Rakesh feeling dejected and helpless. Sunita was ready to adopt but her husband was against it.

Last year, Rakesh killed himself, leaving Sunita broken. She has been receiving treatment for depression at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for nearly seven weeks.

Sources say on an average 40-50 people are consulting gynaecologists at private hospitals for treatment of impotence or infertility every month. In as many as 20 per cent of these cases, the patients need psychiatric help.

TEENAGERS DRIVEN TO SUICIDE

Believe it or not, 10 teenagers were among those who ended their life in 2015 - 17 in 2014 - due to impotence or infertility. In 2015, seven boys killed themselves compared to five the previous year.

"Discovering about impotence at the age of adolescence is very common," Dr Rajiv Mehta, consultant psychiatrist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital told Mail Today. "If the child shares the problem with his peer group, he is made fun of. If not, the guilt within himself leads to depression and results in suicide attempts."

The NCRB data also revealed that 34 senior citizens in the country committed suicide in 2015 for being impotent or infertile, while the number was six in 2014.

The statistics also show that 140 people (72 male and 68 female) of the age group 18-30 committed suicide because of impotence or infertility. The number of suicide cases goes up in the age group of 30 to 45 years. As many as 102 males and 103 females in this bracket took their own lives.

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Also, 59 people of the age group 45 to 60 committed suicide in various parts of the country in 2015.

SOCIAL STIGMA TO BLAME?

Doctors say the rise in such cases is driven by inferiority complex, peer pressure, extramarital affairs and social stigma. All these factors push a person towards depression or frustration and, sometimes, suicide.

In many cases, because of family pressure, couples are forced to break up and remarry only to extend the family lineage by conceiving. This is another reason that provokes people to end their lives.

Dr Mehta said he himself was a victim of this peer pressure when he and his wife, who is also a doctor, were not able to conceive.

Speaking to Mail Today, he shared that they had a child after nine years of marriage with IVF treatment. But those years were a difficult phase.

"It is a bad feeling to know that we cannot conceive and there is some problem within us," he said. "We knew that the treatment was available but the stigma made us think about what we had done wrong that God had punished us."

He added that when he informed the family about the problem, they asked the couple to opt for other ways, including visiting religious places, ayurvedic treatment, and astrology. But that didn't work.

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"In my case, being a psychiatrist, I have handled myself and my wife very well," he said.

"Like 10 years ago, I was not comfortable in putting my case in the public domain, but now I am. My wife had quit her job when she was undergoing treatment and now we are proud parents."

ALSO READ | Live streaming suicide: What drives a suicidal mind to take the extreme step on social media?

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) India is helping Nepal to set up a national police academy near Kathmandu at a cost of Rs 550 crore which will provide training to 410 Nepalese police officers annually.

The academy at Panauti, 35 km south-east of Kathmandu, will be on the lines of Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel NPA, the alma mater for the officers of the Indian Police Service.

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The feasibility study for the national police academy (NPA) was done by the NPA, Hyderabad, while Indias Ministry of Home Affairs is doing consultancy service for the project monitoring and quality assurance services.

Nepals Ministry of Home Affairs is the executing agency and coordinating with the government of India-nominated officials in a joint project monitoring committee.

"India is providing Rs 550 crore towards construction of the academy. As of now, 350 police officers from Nepal undergo training in India every year. The new academy in Nepal will cater to the training of 410 Nepalese police officers annually," an official said.

India provides substantial financial and technical development assistance to Nepal, which is a broad-based programme focusing on creation of infrastructure at the grass-root level, under which various projects have been implemented in the areas of health, water resources, education and rural and community development.

In recent years, India has been assisting Nepal in development of border infrastructure through upgrade of roads in the Terai areas; development of cross-border rail links at Jogbani-Biratnagar, Jaynagar-Bardibas, Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj, Nautanwa-Bhairhawa, and New Jalpaigudi-Kakarbhitta; and establishment of integrated check posts at Raxaul-Birgunj, Sunauli-Bhairhawa, Jogbani-Biratnagar, and Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj.

India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture.

India shares a 1,751-km-long border with Nepal that touches Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim. PTI ACB ZMN SRY

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Last week we had our one day this year at Charlestons international Spoleto Festival USA, and it had us thinking about the future.

Spoleto is an international event featuring stars and artists from around the world and patterned after Gian Carlo Menottis Festival of Two Worlds, which takes place in Spoleto, Italy. The festivals smaller companion, Piccolo Spoleto, brings to Charleston regional arts and performers, adding many attractions daily to the citys busy festival period.

We caught a Piccolo presentation by the Rising Stars the other day that reminded us of the importance of the young who are moving forward into the performing world.

Five youngsters aged from 11 to 16 gave performances at a St. Matthews Lutheran Church auditorium as part of the Rising Stars portion of Piccolo. The youngest of the group was Zak Chen of Florence, a violinist of both great talent and potential. We have heard him several times in Florence; the first time he was playing from the top of a piano stool so he could be better seen by his audience. He dazzled the Charleston audience with a complicated piece.

Equally impressive was before his performance when he was interviewed by the master of ceremonies. He looked entirely relaxed, like a guest on The Tonight Show, as he responded to the MCs questions and observations. He looks comfortable in the spotlight, and thats good, because he will be in it often as time passes.

The next best performance that day was by a teenage Upstate girl who unleashed an operatic voice, singing Summertime, appropriate for Charleston.

Giving attention and encouragement to youngsters in the arts is a very good thing, and as we watched performances from the statewide program, I thought about the encouragement that youngsters get in Florence, and that is one of the main reasons that we have a very good arts scene here for a community our size.

Many Florence youngsters get important encouragement, including strings, voice and dance performances where they get a chance to perform, particularly in the youth program of Florence Little Theatre. For me it brought to mind the fact that I have been around the FLT operation since its days at the airport, where they used what I believe to have been an old movie house for World War II servicemen at the Florence air base. Then its Cashua Drive theater and now its splendid house on South Dargan.

FLT has a high level of performance that it has maintained over the years, largely because of the dedication developed over decades by its performers and supporters. (Legend has it that in its earliest days, FLT gave a performance in the back yard of a home. That night after the curtain calls the cast threw the villain into the swimming pool. They took this stuff seriously.)

Perhaps the most important part of their programs is for the children who are interested in theater. They have several youth shows a year that give the kids a chance to perform on that FLT stage. In fact, among the leaders of our community theater today are people who years ago were among the cute little kids who took part in FLTs youth programs. You can bet one day their children will be among those keeping the FLT standards high. The same is true of young participants in other arts programs in the community.

It had been an unusually long time since I had been in Charleston, and among the sites I made sure to see was Mother Emanuel, the African Methodist Episcopal Church where a racist murdered people at a church meeting two years ago. It was nice to walk the old streets of that city again and to view the historic buildings.

I thought about the time decades ago when Menotti came to Charleston as he studied U.S. cities to find an American second home he had promised for his Festival of Two Worlds, which started in Spoleto, Italy.

He had a list of cities to consider, but when he saw Charleston, a lot like Brigham Young, Menotti said, This is the place, or words to that effect. The choice was a good one, both for Spoleto and for Charleston and for the rest of us.

Thom Anderson is a former editor of the Morning News. Email him at thidbit@aol.com.
By Press Trust of India: movement: Centre to states

New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) The Centre has asked states to involve RWAs and traders associations to ensure huge participation in the third International Yoga Day on June 21, to make it a mass movement.

In a letter to principal secretary of urban development department of the states and UTs, Joint Secretary in the Union Urban Development Ministry B Anand said the Residents Welfare Associations/market and trader associations are important stakeholders whose involvement would be instrumental in creating awareness and encouraging citizens participation in the promotion of yoga.

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He said the government has continuously been promoting yoga as a human treasure and a key to noble health.

"It has been taking forward the momentum created by celebration of International Yoga Day in 2015 and 2016 with greater and more active participation of youth and other stakeholders of the community," Anand said.

He said Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have played a crucial role in the successful celebration of the International Day of Yoga in the last two years and similar efforts are required from them for making it a mass movement this year as well.

"I would request you to advise the ULBs in your state/UT to actively involve the RWAs/traders/ market associations to make yoga more popular and also ensure successful celebration of 3rd International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2017," he wrote.

The senior official also asked the states to send the photographs, video recordings and other documentation of the celebrations held by ULBs in their states to the ministry.

The decision to observe June 21 as the International Yoga Day was taken on Prime Minister Narendra Modis initiative at the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 2014. PTI MP IKA

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HS2 Ltd in recent months has focused its efforts on trying to secure procurement for station and train design.

The firm has appealed to companies wishing to get involved with the project to secure contracts for the design process.

The infrastructure for HS2 will be another area which requires steel.

When the Telegraph launched this campaign, it was made clear that the steel provision could be provided for a range of requirements.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "The vast majority of steel used on our railways is British and we don't envisage that changing."

The department added that the project is an "excellent" opportunity for businesses across the region.

The House of Commons completed two years of scrutiny of the first phase of the project and now preparations will be made for construction to begin soon.

However, pressure must be kept on the Department for Transport to hand the HS2 steel contract to the Scunthorpe steelworks.

Back in March a spokesperson said that the Government was in "discussions" with the steel industry regarding the HS2 project.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said at the time: ""We positively encourage bids from British companies to build HS2 and are already holding discussions with UK suppliers to make sure they are in the best possible position to win contracts for the steel that will be needed."

The Telegraph believes pressure needs to be put on the Government for the Scunthorpe steelworks to be handed the HS2 contract.
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Scarecrows, wheelbarrows and decorated gates were on display around Scawby, as the annual gala got under way.

This year, the event followed the theme of Great Britons.

A treasure hunt took place around the village on Friday (June 9) and a coffee morning took place at the village hall yesterday (Saturday, June 10).

The Sutton Arms hosted its Party in the car park with a bouncy castle, live music and a barbecue.

A charity tractor run kicked-off proceedings today, with proceeds to go to Lincolnshire LIVES.

The gala took place on the playing field at Scawby, with attractions including a Hurricane flypast.

There were various demonstrations by local groups, classic vehicles, a circus skills and giant bubble workshop, dog obedience and agility display and a fun dog show, among many other attractions.
Jammu and Police constable guarding the house of a former MLA in Shopian managed to thwart an attack by suspected militants. The attack was launched with the aim of looting weapons, the SP of the area said.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Suspected militants fired at the house of Gulam Hassan Khan, a former MLA from the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, in Shopian late Sunday evening.

Jammu Kashmir police constables guarding the house retaliated but the militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

The Superintendent of Police (Shopian), Ambarkar Shri Ram, told India Today, "The attempt was to loot weapons. There are 5 persons on (guard) duty (to protect) Ghulam Hassan."

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Following the attempted attack, troops from the 14 battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force reached the site and launched a search operations.

There have been several similar attempts to loot weapons from policemen on guard duties in Kashmir in the past.

ALSO READ | Suspected militants loot another J&K Bank in Shopian district

ALSO WATCH | Visuals of militants looting bank in Kashmir

--- ENDS ---
Press Release

June 10, 2017 ABETTING REBELLION ACCUSATION: DICTATOR MARCOS DID IT BEFORE

Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros Accusing someone of abetting a rebellion is not new. This is the same tactic used by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos against democracy defenders like Soc Rodrigo, Lorenzo Tanada and Ka Pepe Diokno. Even then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo resorted to this when she accused journalist Tina Panganiban Perez of abetting a rebellion when the latter was simply fulfilling her duty as a member of a free press. Thus, I am saddened by the news that Mayor Inday Sara Duterte accuses me of such. The Mayor and I have been friendly acquaintances for some years, and I respect her as a fellow woman leader. Does the Mayor accuse me already or simply wonder if I'm abetting rebellion? The accusation that I am abetting a rebellion is absurd. It is as ludicrous as the latest fake news about me. I have publicly condemned the Maute group for their brazen acts of terrorism and criminality. I stand by our brave soldiers and police personnel for their heroic efforts, I praise their decisive victories to neutralize the Maute group. Rebellion is ideological, terrorism is pure terror But purveyors of fake news accuse me of siding with the Maute group because I didn't automatically regard their terrorist action as rebellion. Magkalinawan tayo. Ang Maute group ay hindi mga rebelde. Sila ay mga terorista. Ang mga rebelde gaya ng CPP-NPA, MNLF at MILF ay kausap na ng pamahalaan sa peace process. Ang Maute ay hindi. Wala silang karapatan umupo sa lamesa ng kapayapaan. The essence of rebellion is ideological. Terrorism is pure terror. In my long years as a member of the government panel for the peace process, the principle has always been to set a very high bar for characterizing a given incident as rebellion because history has demonstrated repeatedly how governments use the label of rebellion to justify the abuse of state power to silence dissent. Silencing voices Today, I suspect that the same concept of "abetting a rebellion" is being used against me simply because I demanded the Legislature to hold a joint session to deliberate the factual bases for the Martial Law declaration. They paint me an enemy who sympathize with terrorists like the Maute group. I suspect that the government will try to use this to silence my voice, and the voices of those who want to see the Maute threat eliminated and at the same time demand to know the truth about Martial Law. "Fake news king" Yesterday, Justice Secretary Vitalliano Aguirre ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate and build cases against Senators and opposition leaders who are allegedly involved in a destabilization plot against the government. Wala na bang ibang magawa ang fake news king ng Padre Faura? Namamatay na ang mga inosente at ang ating mga sundalo sa Marawi, pero ang tanging pinagkakaabalahan pa rin ng mga gaya ni Aguirre ay mga pekeng kaso at pekeng balita. I will not be surprised if a case is filed against me or my colleagues in the Senate minority. I will not be intimidated or silenced. I will continue to take the floor and speak truth to power. They can make thousands of fake news accounts, they can threaten me with false charges but I will continue to stand. They cannot stop me from doing my duty as a legislator to speak out about our civil liberties and oppose creeping authoritarianism.
VILLANUEVA WANTS TO PENALIZE THOSE WHO 'MALICIOUSLY' CREATE, SPREAD FAKE NEWS

Senator Joel Villanueva is set to file a bill penalizing those who 'maliciously' create and intentionally spread fake news in print, broadcast or online following the false claims of Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre implicating some opposition lawmakers in the conflict in Marawi City.

"We intend to file a bill that would penalize any person who maliciously creates or intentionally spread fake news in print, broadcast media or on the internet including social media websites," Villanueva said.

Villanueva said those who author lies and fake news should not be tolerated most especially when the public interest is at stake.

Villanueva also expressed the need to find a balance between democracy and responsibility.

"We want to strike a balance between democracy and duty to promote a high standard of ethics especially in public service," Villanueva stressed.

Meanwhile, Villanueva supports his colleagues in the senate in calling for Aguirre to retract his statements and issue a public apology.
This is the third attack in a day in Jammu and Kashmir with two attacks in Shopian and 1 in Srinagar.

By India Today Web Desk: Three police personnel and a CRPF SI were injured after a grenade was lobbed on a CRPF camp in Srinagar's Saraf Kadal during late hours on Sunday.

Terrorists on Sunday evening also opened fire on a security guard near Shopian Police Station. The terrorists fled after retaliatory fire from the cops. A search operation is underway in Shopian.

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Earlier in the day, a police constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police's Special Operation Group was shot by suspected terrorists in south Kashmir's Shopian.

Sources say, the militants opened fire at the constable, who has been been identified as Khurshid Ahmad outside a camp at Imam Sahib.

Ahmad received a bullet injury below abdomen and was shifted to Srinagar for treatment.

Also read: Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC for third time in a row

Also read: Uri attack: NIA sends Letter Rogatory to Pakistan as probe makes little headway

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  It took more than seven hours on the field Saturday, but the As finally earned a win at Tropicana Field.

After absorbing a drubbing Friday night, the As dropped the first game of a scheduled doubleheader 6-5 in 10 innings, then bounced back with hits both big and small in a 7-2 victory in Game 2. Yonder Alonso had four hits in the second game and seven hits for the day, lifting his average from .289 to .314.

Thats a lot of hits, manager Bob Melvin said. A months worth of hits for some people.

Josh Phegley and Ryon Healy hit solo blasts in Game 2, Chad Pinder a two-run shot and Jaycob Brugman added a safety-squeeze bunt single in the sixth that rolled toward first and stopped right on the line as Khris Davis raced home to score, giving Brugman his first major-league RBI.

Very well placed  against a left-hander throwing 99 mph in rookie Jose Alvarado, Melvin said. Not an easy assignment.

I thought it was decently in play, Brugman said, I looked back and they were all looking at the line and I was like, What happened?

Brugman recorded his first big-league hit in the sixth inning of Game 1 and he finished the day with four hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly, plus he made a sensational catch on the track in Game 2, running with his back to the plate, to take away an extra-base hit from Tim Beckham in the first inning.

I didnt really know where the wall was and you cant take your eye off the ball here, so I just jumped and luckily I wasnt close to the wall. Brugman said.

That was a hell of a play, Melvin said. When it was first hit, I didnt think there was any way he would get to it.

Alonso drove in Oaklands first run in Game 2 with the third of the As consecutive two-out singles in the first inning against Matt Andriese. Andriese, just off the disabled list, left after the first with a recurrence of his groin injury.

Alonso deflected questions about his big day with answers about the teams win, but he enthusiastically discussed Brugman. Did you guys see that catch he made? Alonso asked reporters, calling Brugman a five-tool player.

Sean Manaeas streak of games with no more than five hits allowed came to an end at 16; he worked seven innings and gave up six hits, two walks and two runs and struck out five in earning his fifth win in a row. Manaea (6-3) hasnt allowed more than two runs in any of his past five starts.

Manaeas 16-game streak of five hits or fewer is the longest in the American League since at least 1913, and the third longest in the majors after Al Downings 18 in 1975-76 and Jose Fernandezs 17 in 2013-14.

Oaklands Game 1 loss took 3 hours and 56 minutes and was a tale of opportunities missed, with 13 runners left on. They got big hits when they needed to, and we didnt, Melvin said.

The As tied it in the ninth on back-to-back doubles by Alonso and Healy, ending Alex Colomes string of converted saves at 12, but Peter Bourjos opened the 10th inning with a groundball single off Liam Hendriks, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Evan Longorias base hit to left.

The Rays, wearing preposterous baby blue and bright yellow throwback uniforms in Game 1, scored twice in the fourth inning, which began when Sonny Gray tried to loft a toss to Alonso at first but sailed it, and Mallex Smith was safe on the error  just the second charged to Gray since the start of the 2015 season. With one out, Longoria doubled, and with two outs, Steven Souza Jr. drove in both runners with a base hit to left-center.

In the sixth, Longoria hit a drive to left-center that Brugman appeared ready to catch, but he slowed at the last moment and the ball fell in, a double for Longoria. It looked like he backed off just a little bit on it, but the center fielder has to take ownership of the outfield, Melvin said.

Gray walked Souza and with two outs, Beckham doubled to send in both runners. Then Michael Martinez beat out an infield hit as Beckham broke for the plate. Alonso threw home with plenty of time to spare, Phegley tried to put down the tag but failed to come up with the ball cleanly, and Beckham scored on the error by the catcher.

Gray went six innings and allowed nine hits, one walk and five runs, two earned.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser
Sierra Club recruitment: The Sierra Club is seeking volunteers to recruit new members and educate people on environmental issues at Sunday Streets, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Golden Gate Park. The Sierra Club booth will be on John F. Kennedy Drive, near Spreckels Lake at 36th Avenue. For information, contact Katherine Howard at sfoceanedge@earthlink.net.

Equality march: Marchers to mobilize and call for the protection of rights for LGBTQ people and those targeted due to immigration status, ethnicity, religion, skin color, gender and disability. The event begins at 11 a.m. at San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St. A rally will begin at 1 p.m. at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park, 1 Paseo De San Antonio in San Jose. For information: http://equalitymarchsj.domoreproject.org.

Monday

Refugees: Oxfam America and Microsoft will host an interactive event exploring the Syrian refugee crisis. The free event is from 5 to 7 p.m. at Microsoft Conference Center 1065 La Avenida St., Building 1 in Mountain View. For information: www.refugeeroad.info.

Saturday

Nuclear weapons march: Womens March to Ban the Bomb, in support of U.N. negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Demonstrators will meet at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto. For information: wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com. In San Francisco, marchers are planning to meet at noon at U.N. Plaza. For information: bln.sf.ca@gmail.com.

Anti-Trump discussion: Hosted by the Freedom Socialist Party, a conversation on countering racism and fascism. The event begins at 2 p.m. A $3 to $5 donation is requested at the door. The event is at New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St. in San Francisco. For information: (415) 864-1278 or www.socialism.com.

Nuclear weapons film: A screening and discussion of The Nuclear Requiem, on the challenges of controlling nuclear weapons. The free, two-hour event starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Los Altos Public Librarys Orchard Room, 13 South San Antonio Road. For information: wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com.

June 21

Electoral system presentation: Californians for Electoral Reform and FairVote California will present an overview of local election systems and discuss possible reforms. The free event is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Richmond Progressive Alliance, 2540 Macdonald Ave. in Richmond. For information: (510) 412-2260.

June 22

Coal film: A free screening of From the Ashes, a National Geographic documentary about coal, followed by a discussion on the environment and climate. The film begins at 7 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. For information: www.nocoalinoakland.info.
The Fishers are one of the wealthiest families in San Francisco, thanks in large part to the historical success of international apparel retailer Gap Inc. But over the past three years, Gaps struggles, reflected in its sagging stock price, have weighed heavily on that wealth  at least on paper.

In early 2014, Doris, John, William and Robert Fisher collectively owned 370.2 million shares, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With Gaps stock trading around $41 per share at the time, the value of the family stake was about $15 billion.

Had they kept all their stock, the Fishers stock holdings in 2014 would be worth $8.5 billion today, a 42 percent decline.

But they sold plenty: Gaps most recent proxy statement showed that the four family members together own 202.5 million shares, now worth about $4.7 billion at Fridays closing price of $22.83.

In short, the Fishers are a lot less wealthy than they were three years ago.

The company and the family declined to comment.

Donald and Doris Fisher founded Gap in 1969. Seven years later, the company went public and grew into one of the largest and most successful clothing chains in the United States. Today, Doris Fisher and her sons John, William and Robert, who serves as chairman of the board, own about 44 percent of the retailer. (Donald Fisher died in 2009.)

Normally, stable family ownership of publicly traded firms boosts shareholder value, said Mary-Hunter McDonnell, an assistant professor of management at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School. Family members, especially those who served as executives like Robert and William Fisher, are intimately familiar with the business and what made it successful in the first place.

But like many apparel retailers, Gap has struggled in recent years as shoppers flock to the Internet to purchase shirts, pants and shoes. More worrisome for Gap, its basic styles of clothing have lost favor with shoppers. Fast-fashion chains like H&M and Zara, which can introduce merchandise faster than traditional apparel chains like Gap and J. Crew, are grabbing market share.

Gaps clothing is completely out of sync in the United States, said Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resources Group consulting firm in New York. The assortments are very weak.

Given these circumstances, family ownership could hurt investors, because the Fishers may be too loyal to the founders vision, McDonnell said. They may not want to make the dramatic changes needed to transform the business, she said.

The Fishers are doubtless watching whats happening at Nordstrom, another struggling publicly traded retailer controlled by a family.

The Nordstroms, most notably Chairman Emeritus Bruce Nordstrom, still the largest shareholder, said last week that they are considering a plan to take the Seattle upscale department chain private. Blake, Peter and Erik Nordstrom serve as co-presidents, and James Nordstrom is president of stores.

As with Nordstrom, taking Gap private might offer the Fishers breathing room to fix the company without having to worry about Wall Street, Flickinger said.

Since 2013, Gap has reduced its store space, measured in square feet, by 4 percent and boosted e-commerce sales to 16 percent of annual sales, or about $2.5 billion, according to Morningstar.

But its strategies have yet to produce results, analysts say.

Cost reductions will not reinvigorate top-line growth, Bridget Weishaar, a retail analyst for Morningstar, wrote in a recent research note. We are concerned that company investments in a responsive supply chain, omni-channel capabilities, geographic expansion, and better design have had little effect in sustained same store sales growth.

The question is what the Fishers will do if the value of their Gap holdings continues to deteriorate. The family is quite active in philanthropy and social issues, including the arts, environment and charter schools. A decline in wealth may make it more difficult for them to support these causes.

Gap needs time to recruit fresh apparel designers and a top-notch real estate executive to renegotiate leases with mall owners, Flickinger said.

Exiting the public markets would also allow the Fishers to continue to fund their philanthropy without the risk, McDonnell said, of angering shareholders who might worry about the familys diverted attention.

For a family as charitably minded as the Fishers, going private would make a lot of sense, she said.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
Tim Wilson stood by the door of his classroom and watched the last of his band students leave for summer break.

See ya, Mr. Wilson, the boy said over his shoulder as he turned into the hallway.

Bye-bye, Brandon, Wilson replied.

And with that, it was over  not only a school year but also a four-year adventure in which the trumpet virtuoso, his career derailed by disease, found renewed passion in a Richmond middle school classroom teaching students not only to play music, but also how to believe in themselves.

Wilson turned back to his empty classroom, his beloved band room, where the cacophony of adolescent squeals and squeaking musical instruments was now replaced by the soft hum of an air conditioner.

He stacked a few chairs on a rack and then, with a sigh, pulled one up and sat down.

Its finished, he said.

The music teacher will not be back when classes at Lovonya DeJean Middle School start again in the fall. Whether the music program he built will remain is an open question.

When Wilson arrived in 2013, there hadnt been a music program at the Richmond school for a decade. Now, school leaders, students and parents say they cant imagine the sound of silence again in the band room. What Wilson brought to DeJean was so remarkable that his efforts were feted last month at City Hall, where Richmond Mayor Tom Butt and City Council members gave him a commendation and a standing ovation.

Wilson was no ordinary bandleader. He was a former principal trumpet player in the San Francisco Opera orchestra until a tragic twist of fate 14 years ago. Diagnosed with glaucoma, he was warned by a doctor that continuing to blow hard into a horn could blind him.

He eventually found teaching, and then he found DeJean, but the 58-year-old maestro has known since December that his mounting health problems would force him to leave. He knows he can no longer work the 12- to 14-hour days nourishing a music program at a school where 95 percent of students live in poverty, their lives often in upheaval.

But it was quite a four-year run: Wilson not only taught math and music but also bought dozens of instruments his students needed, hired additional staffers with his own money and created a marching band.

Dipping into his salary and opera pension, he spent $300,000 in all, according to his own estimates.

The music teachers final year at DeJean  profiled in April in a Chronicle story titled Mr. Wilsons second act  had started in September with nursery rhymes. It ended in June with jazz, blues and Beethoven.

Thank you so much for the love you provided to our children, said Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles at the City Council meeting where Wilson was honored. Music is so healing. Beautiful people like you deserve appreciation.

As the school year wound down, though, Wilson wasnt coasting on such accolades.

He led his students as they marched and played in a Cinco de Mayo parade and as they filled in for a high school band at a school district banquet.

All told, Wilson conducted 12 performances during the school year, including a rendition of the national anthem at the schools eighth-grade promotion featuring a tuba, a sousaphone and crashing cymbals.

But it was the final concert in mid-May that gave Wilsons students an opportunity to show off, performing for a full house in the schools multipurpose room. The program included seven songs ranging from Ecossaise for Military Band by Beethoven to Happy by Pharrell Williams.

The applause was loud and lingering. Yet afterward, backstage, clarinet player Akasha DeAguero, 14, was in tears.

The students, with the principal, had prepared a presentation for Wilson, with flowers and a few speeches, but they had run out of time.

Akasha had wanted to tell Wilson, officially and in public, that she wished she could go back in time and apologize for things she said to him in anger, when she was more upset at life than him.

I was going to say Im going to miss him, Akasha said later. And Im sad I wont be able to come back and visit him.

Band was her favorite class, a sentiment shared by many students on the last day of school.

Yet DeJean still doesnt have anyone to take over the band program next year.

Were trying to figure out how to keep this going, said Principal William McGee. And if he cant find anyone? Then we have to find another elective and the band ceases to exist.

That is not an option Wilson is willing to consider. As he sat in his room after his last class of the year, he considered the dozens of instruments he still needed to inventory and organize for his replacement. It would take several hours.

He decided it could wait. Instead, he opened the purple, handmade card decorated with quarter notes and treble clefs that one of his students, with tears in her eyes, handed him earlier in the day.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

On the cover was a quotation: If you mess up, dont give up, keep trying.  Mr. Wilson.

The music teacher smiled. That message had been one of his mantras through the year. It had taken him weeks in some cases to coax the first notes out of flutes, to convince others they could play the saxophone or the trombone if they just tried.

Inside the card, Jocelyn, a flute player, thanked her teacher for an amazing school year.

Wilson read her message aloud: Like music notes leave our instruments, you are leaving our school. Though I will tell you something: You 100 percent sure left a truly positive legacy.

He turned the card over in his hand.

Thats sweet, he said. And then, ever the teacher, he added, I like the way she chose to use a figurative comparison.

While Wilson is leaving DeJean, he wont stop teaching. He has taken a job starting in the fall at Hall Middle School in Larkspur, near his Corte Madera home, that wont require the long days and nights preparing for concerts and taking broken instruments to a repair shop. He will teach math.

Wilson glanced around his classroom again before picking up another chair to stack.

Surrounding him, nearly from floor to ceiling, were posters and signs bearing classroom rules, musical notations and the myriad inspirational sayings he constantly repeated.

My fingerprints are all over this room, he said.

Within the next few days, it would all have to come down. But for the moment, the words remained, offering encouragement to an empty room.

Im not telling you its going to be easy, one read. Im telling you its going to be worth it.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
Sara and Rich Combs have spent their lives letting intuition guide them.

Instinct brought them across the country from the East Coast in September 2008, when they found work as Web designers in San Francisco, despite having never set foot in California before. In 2013 they established Hexagon, their own Web design and consulting firm, and the next year they discovered Joshua Tree in Riverside County on a lets-take-advantage-of-being-self-employed road trip to Southern California.

They fell in love with the strange, surreal terrain. Everything was so new! says Sara. We didnt know what any plants or animals were, which made us feel like kids again. We were curious in a way that we hadnt been in so long. Its like we gained a fresh perspective.

So strong was this connection to the desert that they immediately began an obsessive search for property to buy. After pursuing, in vain, some frustrating leads with an agent, Sara took to Craigslist and happened upon a listing with terrible photos but a barely detectable hint of charm. Structurally sound, it was an ideal starter house  a modest fixer-upper in which it was possible that they do most of the fixer-upping.

Since the couple was splitting time between San Francisco and Joshua Tree, they listed the remodeled home on Airbnb to keep it generating money while they were away. It proved so popular with guests that they soon concluded that it was time to buy another spot to call their own.

The next search  in Joshua Tree  proved equally successful, thanks again to their sixth sense. It was clear from the first time we stepped on the land, says Sara. About 15 minutes drive from the original house, which they still own, this plot contained not one, but two structures: a hacienda, where they live while theyre in town, and the Casita, which they refurbished to rent to others.

The Casita was a 1958 charmer beset by a bad upgrade. It had been renovated in the 90s, says Sara. Our goal became undoing as much of that era as possible and trying to get back to the true history of the space. We pretty much changed everything. This included covering the dated orange walls with a fresh coat of white, replacing an unsightly popcorn ceiling with wood, and hiring a contractor to undo some of the most egregious design transgressions. The kitchen and bathroom were fully overhauled, and a nonsensical dividing wall in the living room was removed.

Though the house is relatively small at about 850 square feet, a breezy sense extends throughout. It feels a lot bigger because the inside and outside are intentionally blurred. There are French doors that open wide and awnings that create outdoor areas that feel like an extension of the indoor square footage, Rich says.

When it came time to decorate, the couple took cues from their previous property purchase. They sourced furnishings that had a different vibe than their midcentury-styled San Francisco apartment, located in the Mission District.

We didnt want to be too cheesy about a desert theme, but we did try to let the Casita dictate the design, says Sara. Rather than setting ourselves up to be disappointed as each space became worn in, we chose materials that we believed would decay well. Joshua Tree artist Andrea Zittels Rules of Raugh (a play on the word raw) became an unofficial guide for the decor because the second of nine entries on Zittels list reads: Because all possessions ultimately break down or wear out, a Raugh object must deteriorate beautifully.

The couple nabbed a lot of local treasures such as vintage books about the desert and vinyl records at the nearby Yucca Valley swap meet and trawled Craigslist and Etsy for other unique treasures to complete the comfy rustic modern look. However, their favorite objects in the house are more sentimental. Sarahs mother wove the large macrame portal hanging over the bedroom window, and the wood artwork in the same room was a custom commission from Aleksandra Zee.

Perhaps its the desert, with its glowy sun and long horizon, or perhaps its the success of a few home renovations that have deepened the couples optimism  the same hopefulness that brought them to California nine years ago, sight unseen. It feels like anything is possible and that has influenced us a lot. Theres not one idea that well shut down, says Rich. Weve learned that if were passionate enough, well make it happen.

Jordan Kushins is a San Francisco freelance writer. Email: home@sfchronicle.com

Desert romance

Joshua Tree feels like a little old Western town where people really know each other, and there are so many creative enclaves, says Sara Combs. Here are her top spots to visit:

AZ West: The artist Andrea Zittel offers seasonal tours of her home and studio, and also hosts residences at her wagon encampment. Its difficult to leave here not feeling inspired to create.

bkb Ceramics: This small shop in downtown Joshua Tree is full of work from many local artists, including gorgeous ceramics by the owner Brian Bosworth. Its a beautiful curation, and I always head here first if Im in need of a gift for someone.

Sky Village swap meet: The swap meet is open every Saturday and Sunday. Ive found early Saturday mornings to be the best for scoring inexpensive finds like midcentury planters, records and crystals. Speaking of crystals, make sure to visit the crystal cave at the center of it all. On some weekends, you can take a seat inside and meditate while surrounded by mini waterfalls.

Noah Purifoy Outdoor museum: Rather than a museum of white walls and echo-y rooms, Noah Purifoys work sits against the sky and sand. Purposefully created to decay with the harsh desert elements, each one of his sculptures makes me feel as though I get to re-experience a memory or moment of his life.

The End: Owned and curated by Kime Buzzelli, the End is a color lovers shop full of vintage clothing, ceramics and artwork. I found my absolute favorite sweater here!

Wonder Valley: Alison and Jay Carroll, the couple behind this local olive oil and home goods line are opening up a brick-and-mortar shop in Wonder Valley in the coming month. I love their Mexican pottery, Turkish towels and their own face and olive oils.
Dear Mick: Can you name any films that youd find perfectly watchable were it not for one lead performance that keeps you away?

Jim Forgione, Oakland

Dear Jim: My examples of this tend to be sexual in nature. Tom Ewell is too creepy to watch in The Seven Year Itch, and the affront of that is compounded when he turns down sex with Marilyn Monroe, a renunciation I regard as an offense against nature. And in The Maltese Falcon, I just dont get why its so emotionally difficult for Humphrey Bogart to send Mary Astor to prison. I would get not wanting to lock up Rita Hayworth, maybe. Or Carole Landis. Or if they wanted to hire within studio (Warners), Barbara Stanwyck or Ann Sheridan. But Mary Astor was no femme fatale.

Dear Mick: I recently watched Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates on your recommendation and afterward I asked myself, What was Mick thinking when he gave this a good review? As Ricky Ricardo said, Splain me, Lucy.

Barry Silverblatt, Berkeley

Dear Barry: The movie made me laugh. A lot. And I have to respect that. I cant dismiss a movie as worthless after laughing all over myself for 90 minutes. Great laughs dont come about by accident. They are built, one by one. That movie may be uncouth, but its seriously crafted. Of course, not everybody will agree on whats funny. Thats inevitable.

Dear Mr. LaSalle: You spoke well of King of Kings, with Jeffrey Hunter, so I checked it out of the library. I think Ill take a Jesus movie seriously if the actor chosen to play Him isnt movie-star handsome, someone more on the order of the late Marty Feldman. After all, Jesus might have been a gimpy, dwarfish guy, but with an astonishing charisma nevertheless.

Michael Biehl, San Francisco

Dear Mr. Biehl: Yes, but aside from actually raising the dead or turning water into wine, how can an actor convey deity-level charisma onscreen except by being beautiful? It would take an actual divine intervention for someone who looks like Marty Feldman or Tom Ewell for that matter to project that kind of magnetism. The best thing you could hope for with a homely actor playing Jesus is that he doesnt look ridiculous. Film is a medium of surfaces, and in the movies beauty is a metaphor for virtue.

Our Friend Mick: Can you name some actors from comedic backgrounds who impressed you later on in their careers for their dramatic chops? For example, seeing John Candys no-nonsense performance in JFK during the lunch scene stands out.

Greg Schwarte, San Francisco

Our Friend Greg: There are too many to name. It has happened over and over since the beginning of movies, and yet people are always surprised. In a way, the question should almost be reversed: Have you seen dramatic actors who have impressed you with their comedic ability? This happens too, but much less frequently, for a reason that most people dont appreciate: Comedy requires more skill. The public doesnt take comedy seriously enough, I suppose because it makes them laugh. They dont respect it, so they think its somehow a kind of graduation for comic actors to get serious. In fact, theyre slumming. Theyre doing something a lot easier than what they usually do. So most comic actors can do drama: Charlie Chaplin. Lucille Ball. Jack Lemmon. Jackie Gleason. Goldie Hawn. Steve Martin. Bette Midler. Bill Murray. Robin Williams. Bill Hader. Kristen Wiig. Jason Sudeikis.

Drama is pretty straightforward, but comedy requires an adjustment of reality, a kind of internalization of tone and genre. And while dramas tend to be pretty much in the same tonal register, different comedies require different tonal adjustments, which the actors have to find each time theyre in a new comedy. Comic acting requires a kind of dual consciousness of being both inside and outside the character. When done right, comic acting is a small miracle, and yet everybody says, Oh, that was silly. Yet have one actress forget to wipe her nose while crying and everybody falls down believing theyve witnessed genius.

Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle at mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Include your name and city for publication.
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SAN DIEGO  A Mexican woman was released from custody Friday while the U.S. government seeks to deport her after a judge rejected arguments she should wear a monitoring device because she was arrested twice while demonstrating in support of people in the country illegally.

Claudia Rueda, 22, plans to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program started in 2012 under President Barack Obama that shields immigrants who came to the U.S. as young children from being deported. Her case has drawn attention because she has no criminal record and is an immigration activist.

The immigration judge, Annie Garcy, said holding Rueda without bond was unduly severe and allowed her to be released on her own recognizance. She noted Ruedas academic and other achievements and was incredulous when a government attorney asked that Rueda be required to wear a monitoring device.

Wow, an ankle bracelet? Really? said Garcy, who is on temporary assignment from Newark, N.J., under an administration effort to give higher priority to cases along the U.S. border with Mexico.

The government attorney, Matthew Hanson, responded that Rueda was arrested twice, once for trespassing and once for disorderly conduct.

Her attorney, Monika Langarica, said those arrests occurred during peaceful demonstrations to support people in the country illegally. She was charged in only one case and it was dismissed.

Rueda, a student at Cal State Los Angeles, was arrested on immigration charges May 18 outside a relatives Los Angeles home in connection with what the U.S. Border Patrol said was a drug smuggling investigation.

Her mother, Teresa Vidal-Jaime, was arrested on immigration violations in April in connection with the same investigation and later released from custody. Neither Rueda nor her mother was arrested on drug charges.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would comply with the order to release Rueda.

Langarica submitted legal arguments in support of Rueda that included letters from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat.

During President Trumps first 100 days in office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested more than 41,000 people on immigration charges, an increase of nearly 40 percent from the same period a year earlier. Nearly 75 percent had criminal convictions.

Elliot Spagat is an Associated Press writer.
There were 14 people on board when the accident took place.

By Pramod Madhav: Two people were killed after a boat was hit by a merchant vessel off Kochi coast in Kerala today early morning.

The incident took place at around 2 am near Azhikode.

There were 14 people on board when the accident took place.

Another boat swung into action immediately after the incident and rescued about 11 people.

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Naval ship Kalpeni and a helicopter was involved in the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, rescue operators have recovered bodies of two out of three missing persons.

Two people who were injured have been rushed to Fort Kochi hospital.

Also read:

Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with 9 crew members off Gujarat's Jakhau coast

Patna: 25 dead as boat capsizes in Ganga, FIR lodged against boat operator

WATCH | Patna: Boat capsizes in Ganga, 17 dead

--- ENDS ---
Sen. Kamala Harris has no regrets about her very public dustup with senior Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee over her questioning of Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, saying there are times when truth has to rise over decorum.

It was a tense moment for the rookie senator last week, with the whole nation watching as she asked Rosenstein if he would put in writing that special counsel Robert Mueller would have complete independence and authority in his probe into possible ties between President Trumps 2016 campaign team and Russia.

This was not a theoretical point or some law school question, Harris, D-Calif., told us. It was very straightforward  are you willing to give a statement?

What the guy (Rosenstein) essentially said was, Trust me. Well, guess what? I have a hard time believing that when you had a part in the firing of the last guy who investigated, Harris said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey.

Right about then, the committees Republican elders weighed in. First Arizona Sen. John McCain and then committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said Harris was being disrespectful to Rosenstein.

Extend the courtesy for questions to get answered, Burr said.

Harris said she was surprised by the interference, but quickly decided that getting into a knock-down, drag-out with the committee chairman was not the thing to do.

That might have made for great TV, but it would also have been a distraction from the job at hand, Harris said.

Instead, she stayed calm and pushed on. And while she never got a straight answer from Rosenstein on whether he would guarantee the special counsels authority, it was clear to anyone watching that he did not want to answer the question, Harris said.

It was an old courtroom trick from a former San Francisco district attorney, and it worked.

The person that looked bad was him, Harris said.

Go green: Gov. Jerry Browns green jaunt to China, where he met with President Xi Jinping, certainly grabbed the international spotlight, especially with the governors quips about how America is going AWOL under President Trump.

Behind the scenes, it was a sales trip as well, which included about 30 clean-energy leaders assembled by the business-friendly Bay Area Council.

Those along for the ride and handing out business cards included investors and representatives from British Petroleum, Genentech, the California Clean Energy Fund, Energica Motor Co., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Royal Business Bank, UC Berkeley and Thor Trucks.

The goal was to look at mutual opportunities and especially to bring investments back to California, said Bay Area Council chief Jim Wunderman.

Makes sense.

California is creating new technologies for power, and China is going to be one of the biggest markets for that technology, said Severin Borenstein, director emeritus of the UC Energy Institute.

And as Maximilian Auffhammer, a UC Berkeley professor in international development, noted, If you are producing electrical vehicles, you would like to have a head start in selling electric vehicles in China with 1.3 billion individuals.

Thank you, Mr. Trump.

Chiang chugging: The race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown is starting to rev up, with state Treasurer John Chiang rolling into town last week to kick off his gubernatorial campaign with a labor endorsement.

Im always the underdog, Chiang said in an interview outside the Gallery Cafe at Mason and Washington streets, where he stopped to greet a handful of well-wishers after picking up his endorsement from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council.

I wasnt born into a family with wealth or big connections, and that is what people respect, Chiang said in a not-too-subtle dig at the 2018 front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Chiang isnt exactly a household name, despite having been elected to statewide office three times  twice as state controller and once as treasurer. And if a recent Berkeley IGS Poll is any indication, Chiang has a very steep climb ahead of him  with only 5 percent of the voters on his bandwagon.

The same poll found that 22 percent of likely voters surveyed favor Newsom and 17 percent support former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Chiang was joined by former state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin and Republicans John Cox and David Hadley in single-digit territory.

On the other hand, the poll found Newsoms numbers down six points from a survey in March  and 37 percent of voters remain undecided.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
Britains election was a catastrophe for Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and a personal vindication for Jeremy Corbyn, the Labor Partys left-wing leader.

It was also the revenge of the young, whose voices go unheard because their turnout is usually low. Britains new generation taught a lesson to their counterparts around the world: Voting confers power.

But the unexpected outcome could produce new forms of conventional wisdom as misleading as the flawed punditry that enticed May to call the election in the first place.

It didnt need to happen, because May had three years left in her term. Voters clearly resented being called to the polls for opportunistic reasons. May thought that because Corbyn was so unpopular and seemingly out of the mainstream, she could turn a relatively small Conservative Party majority into an overwhelming advantage in Parliament. She also thought she could marshal the nationalism reflected in Britains vote to leave the European Union by adding the far-right votes of the UK Independence Party to Conservative totals.

May forgot that 48 percent of British voters rejected Brexit and were still not happy about the outcome. They were looking for ways to strike back, and they did.

She and just about everyone else also underestimated how skilled a campaigner Corbyn would be. For example, Chuka Umunna, one of Corbyns critics among moderate Labor parliamentarians, acknowledged that Corbyn ran a positive and dynamic campaign that emphasized hope. The Economist, no friend of Corbyns, conceded that he fought a strong campaign against all expectations.

Lord Stewart Wood, who was a top adviser to former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, saw Corbyns strong showing as the definitive end of Blairism, the middle-of-the-road Labor politics associated with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In a telephone interview, Wood noted that Corbyn rode a tide turning against austerity after years of Conservative budget cuts. Like Bernie Sanders in 2016, he said Corbyn had mobilized an energetic grassroots campaign and sophisticated social media network.

And far from working politically in favor of the Conservatives as the traditional party of order, the terrorist attacks before the election hurt May. Corbyns criticisms of Mays cutbacks in the police forces, Wood believes, were particularly resonant because they linked the Labor leaders argument against austerity to the issue of security. He added that many voters he encountered while campaigning door to door were absolutely furious over President Trumps verbal assault on Mayor Sadiq Khan after the London Bridge attack.

Matt Browne, who was an aide to Blair and is now at the Center for American Progress in Washington, agreed Corbyns showing meant that for the foreseeable future, centrist progressivism is on hold. The more moderate left, he told me from London, needed to learn from what Corbyn accomplished, especially in mobilizing the young.

But given Mays unpopularity, Browne argued, this is an election we could have won, and could have won handsomely. There is some evidence, particularly in anti-Brexit London, that more moderate Labor candidates such as Umunna ran ahead of the national swing.

Thus the twin caveats to sweeping conclusions on the left: Its more moderate wing needs to acknowledge the mobilizing power of a clear and principled egalitarian politics and the increasingly progressive tilt of younger voters. But fans of Corbyns approach to politics need to come to terms with the fact that while he outran expectations, he lost the election. Labor still needs a strategy for winning dozens of additional seats.

Britain also defied trends in other Western countries toward the fragmentation of older party systems. Corbyn boosted the Labor Party vote to 40 percent, 9.5 points higher than it was two years ago. And even though the election was a disaster for May, the Conservative vote rose to 42.4 percent, a 5.5-point increase. It was the highest Labor share since 2001 and the highest Conservative share since 1983. The sharp decline of the Scottish Nationalists  they lost more than a third of their seats  further signaled a return to an earlier political era.

In other words, claims that everything has gone haywire in Western politics since Brexit and Trumps election are exaggerated, as we are also likely to see in the German election this fall. And backlashes to Trump continue to push electorates in Europe toward the center or left.

Indeed, May sought to recast contemporary conservatism in a moderately nationalist way, hoping to hold the metropolitan professionals while expanding her coalition to a restive working class far from the centers of power. It was a bold bet. But it failed.

 2017,

Washington Post Writers Group

Email: ejdionne@washpost.com Twitter: @EJDionne
House Republicans appear strangely eager to party like its 2009, back when much of the world was mired in the recession that followed the U.S. mortgage and financial meltdown. Last week, they passed a bill to undo Congress overdue and in some ways underdone reaction to the 2008 crisis.

The sprawling 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was at least a serious attempt to preclude a ruinous repeat of the worst downturn since the Great Depression. In stark contrast, the Financial Choice Act, as the newly passed bill was titled with Orwellian flair, contrives to pretend the crisis never occurred  which, as it happens, is also the devout wish of Wall Street.
San Franciscos sprawling airport is under perpetual construction, but an even larger rebuilding plan, out of sight and mind, may swing under way if President Trump and an alliance of groups can pull it off. The nations air traffic system may finally reach the tech stratosphere.

The shift involves advanced guidance systems, artificial intelligence and a change in the nervy and split-second work of air traffic controllers. Right now, the system mixes dated computer technology and human oversight in tracking and guiding passenger jets that make some 40 million flights per year.

Its largely safe and reliable. But the funnel of flight paths is at the limit, not a good thing in a nation that depends on a convenient supply of airline seats. With an economy that hinges on international trade and tourism, the Bay Area has an obvious need for efficient use of its runways. For years, Congress and the industry have considered changes with nothing happening because of doubts and internal politics.

The largely invisible issue now is getting star treatment from Trump; hes debuting it in his long-awaited infrastructure package. Its an odd choice since the promised system wont involve bulldozers, flashy ribbon cutting or an instant jolt to the economy. The makeover, long in the talking stage, isnt really a Trump product.

The first changes are already under way. The current radar-run program is slowly being replaced by a satellite and GPS system  the same method that can pinpoint a drivers position on a city street  to feed more planes safely to destinations. More direct routes could mean fewer delays and less pollution from jet exhaust.

Known as NextGen, the proposal is partly in effect though it comes with some hitches. For example, the new flight paths in the Bay Area have brought noisy jets at lower altitudes over residential areas on the Peninsula and in the Santa Cruz Mountains instead of quieter routes used in the past. There are bugs that need fixing.

Along with technology, the system features a bureaucracy fix. Air traffic would be spun off to a nonprofit private entity that would honor the union jobs of some 14,000 controllers. Their union is now on board with the proposal, removing a major stumbling block. Theres no doubt that those jobs will be changing, though, as automated guidance controls and Siri-like voices will take over radio chatter, with humans playing a watchdog role to prevent glitches.

The Federal Aviation Administration would still carry out its major duties involving safety and airport improvements, but it would farm out the task of landing fees and traffic controls to the outside agency. In some respects, that handoff makes sense since federal delays and even possible shutdowns can disrupt budget making needed for long term projects.

Given the industrys scale, its expected that airlines would play the largest role in fixing charges and setting policy. That feature poses a significant question: should a cost-minded business, which has drawn customer anger over passenger mistreatment in recent months, make the rules? Safety cant be subordinated.

That leaves the issue largely up to Congress, which must approve the changes. Republicans favor paring down government, as this plan appears to do. They also want a political win while health care and taxes remain out of reach for now.

Democrats are in no mind to cooperate with Trump. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat, criticized the proposal as a rerun of past ideas that never went anywhere. Her opposition and a cool reception from some GOP leaders suggest that Congress may not want to cede control to an independent agency as envisioned in the Trump plan.

As a major infrastructure gesture, an air traffic upgrade isnt on the scale of highway rebuilding or seaport expansions. But the plan recognizes that an outmoded system needs a modern-day fix. If the public can be assured that the benefits will produce safety, convenience and reliable service, then the reforms are worth pursuing.
Summer conditions in the Bay Area can go from the sunny temperatures of the East Bay, Marin and Peninsula to the freezing fog of some San Francisco neighborhoods quicker than you can say microclimate. The way to win summer dressing in the Bay Area comes down to one word: layers. Think of yourself as a flower shedding petals in the heat  but with the right, fresh pieces you wont look wilted. Unlike a flower, when temperatures drop again on your travels, you can pick those petals back up as required.

 Tony Bravo, tbravo@sfchronicle.com

The look for her: The comeback of more voluminous silhouettes, especially wider-legged and flared pants for women is perfect for summer layers. A babydoll dress can go from sundress to top if the weather isnt bare-leg friendly, and a lightweight kimono-style bomber is an easy middle piece for protecting against mild chills without adding bulk. Finish the cold-weather look with a soft, unstructured trench; we cinched ours for a variation on the bell shape. Carrying an extra scarf just in case is very summer in S.F., especially if its made from a gauzy fabric.

The look for him: Designers like Guccis Alessandro Michele and Robert Geller have been looking to British and European music subcultures for new takes on staples like skinny denim and the ubiquitous bomber jacket for summer. Start with one of the many bold new variations on the polo shirt and a slim-straight jean. Sliders with socks are everywhere on the runways, and with San Franciscos sudden bursts of frigid air, weve seen plenty on the streets, too. Finish the look with a traditional gym class-cut sweatshirt and a tech fabric bomber, perfect for traveling between climates.

Credits

Styling: Tony Bravo

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.

Models: Amaryon Bates / Look Model Agency; Melissa Ziegler / Scout

Hair & makeup: Erika Taniguchi / beautybyerika.com

Shot on location at The Chronicle
Political events in the Bay Area

Refugees: Oxfam America and Microsoft will host an interactive event exploring the Syrian refugee crisis. The free event is from 5-7 p.m. at Microsoft Conference Center 1065 La Avenida St., Building 1, Mountain View. For information: www.refugeeroad.info.

Saturday

Nuclear weapons march: Womens March to Ban the Bomb, in support of U.N. negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Demonstrators will meet at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto. For information: wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com. In San Francisco, marchers are planning to meet at noon at UN Plaza. For information: bln.sf.ca@gmail.com.

Anti-Trump discussion: Hosted by the Freedom Socialist Party, a conversation on countering racism and fascism. The event begins at 2 p.m. A $3 to $5 donation is requested at the door. The event is at New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St., San Francisco. For information: (415) 864-1278 or www.socsialism.com.

Nuclear weapons film: A screening and discussion of The Nuclear Requiem, on the challenges of controlling nuclear weapons. The free, two-hour event starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Los Altos Public Librarys Orchard Room, 13 South San Antonio Road. For information: wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com.

June 21

Electoral system presentation: Californians for Electoral Reform and FairVote California will present an overview of local election systems and discuss possible reforms. The free event is from 7-9 p.m. at the Richmond Progressive Alliance, 2540 Macdonald Ave., Richmond. For information: (510) 412-2260.

June 22

Coal film: A free screening of From the Ashes, a National Geographic documentary about coal, followed by a discussion on the environment and climate. The film begins at 7 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. For information: www.nocoalinoakland.info.
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Harland J. Fletcher, a 17-year-old US Army Reserve Medic and senior at Liberty Union High School in Brentwood, did not walk in his high school's graduation on June 9 because the school refused to let him wear his military uniform to the ceremony, he says.

Private First Class Fletcher was told by the school that if he didn't wear a cap and gown he would not be able to participate and could pick up his diploma the following Monday.

"He basically told me this is a graduation ceremony. You're not allowed to wear that uniform. You're supposed to wear a cap and gown," Fletcher told ABC7.

The school released an apology via CBS Bay Area on Saturday stating: "No slight was meant to Harland nor to the US Army. In fact with a little prior notification I'm sure Principal Walsh and the site administration would've come to this conclusion before the ceremony."

Fletcher said that his counselor told him that he could wear his uniform, since California's Educational Code allows it.

Section 35183.3 of the code states:

"A person shall have the right to wear a dress uniform issued to him or her by a branch of the United States Armed Forces while participating in the graduation ceremony for his or her high school if that person meets both of the following requirements: (a) He or she has fulfilled all of the requirements of this code for receiving a diploma of graduation from high school, and is otherwise eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony. (b) He or she has completed basic training for, and is an active member of, a branch of the United States Armed Forces."

PFC Fletcher enlisted in the army on his 17th birthday and completed basic training.

Even though Fletcher had the right to wear his uniform, the family states that the principal and vice principal told Fletcher that he had to wear a cap and gown in order to walk.

The family was heartbroken over the school's decision.

"I just couldn't, I was in disbelief to see my husband devastated, my son devastated. Being told he couldn't wear his uniform was just crushing," Harland's mother Regina told ABC7.

"I am tired of service members and vets being quietly and systematically denied rights by establishments that should know, respect and abide by the laws enacted on all of our behalfs," Harland's father Bill told KRON4.
Kolkata is set to get an underwater Metro, which will use a transportation tunnel built under the Hooghly. This will be India's first underwater transportation tunnel.

By Manogya Loiwal : Kolkata will soon have an underwater Metro which will pass through tunnels several feet under the Hooghly. The first underwater transportation tunnel of India is ready with the second one nearing completion.

The Kolkata Metro transportation tunnel is unique to India because never before in the history of the country has a tunnel been made under a flowing river.

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The tunnel has been constructed 30 metres below riverbed, just a few metres away from the famous Howrah Bridge, built in the last century to connect Howrah and Kolkata.

There aren't even roads that are under a river in India making the Kolkata Metro tunnel a complete technology marvel which will see trains will chugging through it every two and a half minutes.

"It will be connecting two main terminals: Howrah and Sealdah - each of which has a footfall of about 10-12 lakh passengers per day. These type of tunnel-boring machines, which we call 'earth pressure balancing tunnel boring machines', have been used for the first time in Eastern India," said Satish Kumar, Managing Director of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

Another interesting point is that more than 10 lakh tonne of mud has been dug out for the construction of this tunnel. The tunnel-boring machines were used for the first time in eastern India.

The entire 16.6-kilometre stretch of the first tunnel is ready. The second tunnel is yet to be completed. Of the entire length, 10.8 kms is underground and around one kilometre is underwater..

"For tunnelling below the river, the water tightness, waterproofing, and the design of gaskets were the major challenges, because the tunnel is being constructed for a service of 120 years, so we cannot afford any water leakage during service," said Kumar.

Tunnelling cannot be done for long hence the homework was done for almost an year and then the machines and equipment shifted to the location for final implementation and execution of the plan. The material used gives it immunity to survive quakes in seismic zone 3, in which Kolkata falls.

The use of the standard gauge makes it a unique one. It is the latest technology that has been utilised to ensure that the tracks have sharp curves, keeping in mind that this tunnel passes under a lot of heritage buildings.

The heritage buildings had to be protected, and the work was not supposed to stop even for a day in these buildings.

Puja Shukla, a local resident said, "I think it's a good thing which is happening, because the Metro is the cheapest and the fastest form of transport, used by a large number of people which will also hopefully ease traffic on the surface. This will be very beneficial in connecting people from all over Kolkata."

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ALSO READ | Get set for Wi-Fi service on Kolkata's underground metro rail

ALSO WATCH | India's longest bridge built between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

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More than a month after the Trump administration purged data tracking climate change from the Environmental Protection Agencys website, the numbers are going back online in some unexpected places.

San Francisco and 11 other cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Seattle, were set to launch their own websites Sunday publishing the numbers. The information  posted here on a San Francisco city website  includes the science behind climate change, how weather patterns are impacted by it, and detailed data charting greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures around the globe.

Climate change is real and it is one of worlds greatest economic and health risks, the citys page notes. Despite federal actions, San Francisco will continue to take aggressive action on climate change.

Mayor Ed Lee, who recently committed to join the Paris agreement with 270 other mayors, says it is a way of stepping up and making sure important data and information is available. Lee has a local record of working to lessen San Franciscos carbon footprint, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2017, a goal he likes to tout.

Deleting federal web pages does not reset the scientific consensus that climate change is real, Lee said in a statement. The American people are entitled to the publicly funded EPA research on climate change. And while the federal government continues to undermine the progress weve made on climate change, cities are taking a stand.

Officials scrapped the EPA web pages hosting climate change research in late April, saying it was done to better represent the agencys new direction under President Trump. Some of the deleted documents include expansive data sets on rising global temperatures, fact sheets about greenhouse gas emissions and how specific demographic groups are impacted by them, and findings from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

As EPA renews its commitment to human health and clean air, land, and water, our website needs to reflect the views of the leadership of the agency, J.P. Freire, the agencys associate administrator for public affairs, said in an April statement of the deleted pages, which have been online since at least 1997.

In early May, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the first city official to launch his own website with detailed climate change information. The Chicago city website now chronicles data taken from the EPAs archives, with the addendum, while this information may not be readily available on the agencys web page right now, here in Chicago we know climate change is real and we will continue to take action to fight it.

In a May statement, Emanuel said that while the Trump administration could try to erase decades of work from scientists and federal employees, burying their heads in the sand wouldnt erase the problem.

Paul Steinberg, a professor of global environmental politics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont (Los Angeles County), said the data dump is an example of how decentralized the United States system is, compared with other countries. Even if climate change is not a focus for the federal government, states and cities have discretion on how they respond to it.

The significance lies in the fact that addressing climate change and sustainability are now mainstream concerns for city officials, he said. They have insights and practical experiences with how to make the transition to a lower carbon economy. ... Local information can be a very powerful tool for catalyzing change.

Bruce Monger, a senior oceanography lecturer at Cornell University, said the move emphasizes the importance local governments now play in creating green environmental policies.

I knew when the Trump administration came into office that the shift would have to happen to make progress, said Monger, who teaches a class of 1,000 students. Local government is the most responsive to the people, and the states are the second most responsive. We have a matter of decades to protect future generations, and we need to get the entire planet to zero-carbon emissions.

In San Francisco, officials have vowed to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and 100 percent by 2030.

Its important for us not to hide all of the facts about climate change, said Tyrone Jue, environmental adviser to San Franciscos mayor. You have an EPA that is systemically removing public information and research pointing to the evidence of climate change to further their own agenda. This is the time we need to come together to make sure we are sending the signal that it is not OK.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
From Pixar and North Face to Cowgirl Creamery and Lagunitas, certain brands seem inherent to the fibers of the Bay Area. All of the aforementioned brands, however, are owned by multinational corporations.

ABOVE GALLERY: Who really owns beloved Bay Area brands?
WASHINGTON  The FBI chief he fired called the president a liar, but the response from many Republicans was a collective shrug. The GOP still needs Donald Trump if it has any hope of accomplishing its legislative agenda and winning elections, and its going to take more than James Comeys testimony to shake them.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday boasted of the GOPs accomplishments under Trump thus far and promised more to come, making no mention of Comey in a speech. A group of House conservatives discussed taxes and the budget, with no reference to Comey or the federal investigations into Russias election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Elsewhere, there were few outward signs of concern from the top Republican officials, donors and business leaders who gathered largely behind closed doors in Park City, Utah, for a weekend conference hosted by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The people in this room, who give money to the Republican Party and who are focused on helping get Republicans elected, they do it because they believe in an agenda, Spencer Zwick, House Speaker Paul Ryans fundraising chief, said. As for the Comey testimony, theres nothing we can do about it, Zwick said.

It all underscored whats become a hardening dynamic of the Trump presidency: Republicans on Capitol Hill and off are mostly sticking with the president despite the mounting scandals and seemingly endless crises that surround him.

Though some are privately concerned, and frustration is regularly voiced about the presidents undisciplined administration and the distractions he creates, Republicans have scant incentive to abandon him now. Trumps signature remains key to the still-nascent GOP agenda, and he has the ability to appoint judges to lifetime appointments, a thrilling prospect for conservatives.

And, despite Trumps low approval ratings nationally, his core base of supporters remains firmly behind him. Those voters will be key to the GOPs success in next years midterms when Republicans will be defending a fragile majority in the House and looking to pick up seats in the Senate, thanks to a favorable map that has a large group of Democratic incumbents up for re-election in states that voted for Trump.

I think the last 24, 48 hours were all good for the president, confirmed he was telling the truth all along, that he wasnt under investigation, GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said after Comeys confirmation that he had informed Trump that the president wasnt being personally investigated.

Comey also bluntly accused the Trump White House of lying, asserted that Trump asked him to back off an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and contended that Trump fired him in an effort to change the course of the Russia investigation. But Republicans chose to ignore those things and focus on the aspects of Comeys testimony on Thursday that were favorable to Trump. Trump himself, appearing alongside the president of Romania on Friday, attacked Comey and said some of his testimony wasnt true.

Ryan and other Republicans explained away Trumps interactions with Comey as the understandable blunders of a Washington neophyte.

Its no secret to anybody that this president is not experienced in the ways of Washington, of how these investigations work, said GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Intelligence Committee. When you have the FBI director telling you three times youre not the subject of an investigation and you ask him, would you please announce that publicly and he refuses, I can understand why the president would be frustrated by that.

Erica Werner is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  Fellow Republicans pressed President Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does  or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

I dont understand why the president just doesnt clear this matter up once and for all, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comeys testimony as candid and thorough and said she would support a subpoena if needed.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also a member of the committee, agreed the panel needed to hear any tapes that exist. Weve obviously pressed the White House, he said.

Trumps aides have dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russia investigation have been recorded, and so has the president. Pressed on the issue Friday, Trump said Ill tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future.

Lankford said Sessions testimony Tuesday will help flesh out the truth of Comeys allegations, including Sessions presence at the White House in February when Trump asked to speak to Comey alone. Comey alleges that Trump then privately asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynns contacts with Russia.

Comey also has said Sessions did not respond when he complained he didnt want to get time alone with the president again. The Justice Department has denied that, saying Sessions stressed to Comey the need to be careful about following appropriate policies.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said theres a real question of the propriety of Sessions involvement in Comeys dismissal, because Sessions had stepped aside from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. Comey was leading that probe.

Reed said he also wants to know if Sessions had more meetings with Russian officials as a Trump campaign adviser than have been disclosed.

Trump on Sunday accused Comey of cowardly leaks and predicted many more from him. Totally illegal? he asked in a tweet. Very cowardly!

Collins spoke on CNN, Lankford appeared on CBS, and Reed was on Fox News.

Hope Yen is an Associated Press writer.
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

WASHINGTON  In the nations capital, and dozens of other cities across the U.S., supporters of LGBT rights mobilized for marches and rallies Sunday, celebrating their gains but angered over threats to those advances.

The centerpiece event, the Equality March for Unity and Pride in Washington, was endorsed by virtually every major national advocacy group working on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Leaders of those groups have been embittered by several actions of President Trumps administration  including the rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.
A London-bound easyJet flight made an unscheduled landing in Germany after passengers onboard reported that three men were talking about 'terrorist matters'. The men have been detained.

By Reuters: Three male passengers were detained on Saturday evening in Cologne, Germany after their easyJet flight from Ljubljana, Slovenia to London made an unscheduled landing there, Cologne police said in a statement.

The aircraft landed in Cologne after passengers reported that the men were talking about "terrorist matters," according to the statement. The men were not identified.

Police carried out security checks of the aircraft and questioned passengers after all 151 passengers were evacuated safely from the Airbus 319 aircraft using emergency slides, the airport said in a statement on its website.

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Six aircraft were diverted to other airports as a result of the police investigation, the airport said. It said air traffic was affected for several hours as a result of the incident.

Federal police seized a backpack that belonged to one of the men, and exploded it outside of the aircraft, police said. They gave no information on the contents of the backpack and said officials continued to investigate the backpack.

The men continued to be questioned late Saturday evening. Other passengers were also being questioned, police said.

Bild newspaper quoted a spokesman for the German federal police as saying the pilot decided to land the aircraft in Cologne after passengers told airline personnel they had heard the men using words including "bomb" and "explosive".

No comment was immediately available from federal police.

ALSO READ | Delhi: Mid-air fire forces GoAir flight to make emergency landing, no casualties reported

ALSO READ | Ban on laptops, iPads in US-bound flights: Here is how Indian travellers will be affected

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KCCI

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP)  A Louisiana girl's road trip to show her appreciation for law enforcement by hugging police officers has come to Missouri.

The Springfield News-Leader (http://sgfnow.co/2r2kidV ) reports that 7-year-old Rosalyn Baldwin visited the Springfield Police Headquarters Monday to give hugs and stickers to officers from squad 16.
Chouhan ended his peace fast almost after 28 hours with coconut water.

By India Today Web Desk: A day after initiating a fast to placate agitated farmers, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today ended his fast.

Chouhan ended his peace fast almost after 28 hours with coconut water. The chief minister said that demands of the farmers will be considered.

Earlier, the kin of the five farmers killed in police firing during the Mandsaur protests had asked Chouhan to discontinue his fast.

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On Saturday, Chouhan said that he was saddened by the violence and subsequent deaths of people in Mandsaur district.

Chouhan said that over 65 per cent of our population is a dependent on farming and that the state cannot progress without farmers.

"My fast will continue till there is peace in the entire state. Madhya Pradesh is a temple to me and its people are my God. People's pain is my pain," he added.

Chouhan's move comes in the wake of unrest in the state following farmers staging a protest demanding better prices for their produce as also a waiver on loan repayments.

ALSO READ | Madhya Pradesh: Families of 4 farmers who died in Mandsaur firing ask CM Chouhan to end fast

ALSO READ | Shivraj Singh Chouhan on fast: BJP pins its hope on PM Narendra Modi to counter belligerent Opposition

WATCH | Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan ends his 'fast for peace'

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BEIRUT  A U.S.-backed Syrian opposition force said Sunday that it has captured a northwestern neighborhood of the Islamic State groups de-facto capital of Raqqa, the second district to fall since the group opened a wide offensive to gain control of the city.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said its fighters captured the neighborhood of Romaniah after two days of fighting that left 12 Islamic State gunmen dead, including a commander known as Abu Khattab al-Tunsi.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters now control Romaniah and the eastern neighborhood of Mashlab. The fighters have also entered Raqqas western neighborhood of Sabahiya and the industrial district in the east.

Raqqa was among the first cities captured by the Islamic State, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the groups most prominent leaders. The battle for the city is expected to be extended and bloody, and could mark a major turning point in the war against the extremists.

Islamic State has been fortifying its positions in Raqqa for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from aerial surveillance. A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circle the city.

SDF fighters began their offensive on the city of Raqqa on Tuesday under the cover of air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

The Islamic State-linked Aamaq news agency said the city was subjected to intense air strikes and shelling by the SDF and the U.S.-led coalition, releasing a video that showed wide destruction in one of the neighborhoods. The video also showed severely wounded men and children being rushed to hospitals.

In southern Syria, Jordan said its border guards killed five suspected infiltrators approaching the kingdoms border from Syria in a pickup truck and two motorcycles. Jordan has expressed concern that recent offensives will push some of the militants closer to the kingdoms border.
While Madhya Pradesh CM was holding a peace fast to attend to the grievances of farmers, an 80-year-old who was beaten by policemen with sticks was stopped to meet him in Bhopal.

By India Today Web Desk: An 80-year-old woman in Bhopal has alleged that a group of four-five policemen barged into her house and beat her with sticks, breaking her bones and grievously injuring her husband too.

According to an NDTV report, the policemen came to her house while chasing agitators who had disrupted a rally in nearby Phanda Kalan village near Sehore, as they ran through her compound.

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When the boys outran the cops, they turned to Kamlabai (80) and said, "You are one of them, you ordered that trucks be set ablaze."

After beating Kamlabai, her husband and sons, the cops arrested her grandsons along with Kamlabai herself.

Bandaged on arms and legs where she has suffered fractures, Kamlabai went to meet the Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan who was fasting 40km from her village in Dusshera Maidan in Bhopal.

But to her dismay, she was not allowed to meet the chief minister who was holding his 'peace fast' for the state farmers.

The couple has gone on a fast now, demanding that the chief minister meet them and assure them justice for the unprovoked assault they were subjected to and punish the policemen.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan ends his 'peace fast' on Day 2

Also read: Madhya Pradesh: Families of 4 farmers who died in Mandsaur firing ask CM Chouhan to end fast

ALSO WATCH THE VIDEO:

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San Francisco (BCN)

A 41-year-old man was taken to the hospital Thursday after he was struck with a hammer in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, police said.

The attack occurred on Market Street around noon and the man's injuries were not life-threatening, according to police.

The incident was at least the second reported hammer attack in the city within two days.

On Wednesday, an attack by a man with a hammer left a woman with life-threatening injuries in Hayes Valley, police said.

The Wednesday attack was reported at 3:42 a.m. in the 1700 block of Market Street, where the 23-year-old woman was trying to help a man suffering from a medical problem, according to police.

A separate man, a 21-year-old whose identity has not been released, then got into an argument with the woman and then allegedly attacked her with a hammer, police said.

The woman and the man she was trying to help were both taken to a hospital. The suspect was arrested by police.
Maharashtra government has waived off loans of all farmers. The small farmers will get immediate relief while for others a committee will be set up to finalise the loan waiver conditions.

By Mustafa Shaikh: Succumbing to the demands by striking farmers, Maharashtra government today waived off loans of all farmers with some conditions.

The loans of small farmers were waived with immediate effect, announced Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil.

Patil said, "In principle, approval has been given for loan waiver to all farmers with some conditions. A disciplinary committee will be formed to decide these conditions."

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"Loans of small farmers have been waived off with immediate effect," Patil said. Responding to Patil's statement, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatan leader Raju Shetti, who played an important role in farmers' agitation in Maharashtra, announced that the "strike has been suspended for now."

However, Shetti warned the government of fresh protests if "our loan is not cleared before July 25, that is, before the next Assembly session." He added, "We will come back with more force."

HOW DEAL WAS STRUCK

The deal between the striking farmers and the government was struck after second round of talks between the farmers' representatives and ministerial committee today.

At the start of the meeting, farmers gave a list of their demands to the ministers. The meeting lasted for around four hours.

Government has given in principal approval to complete loan waiver on some conditions. The conditions will be decided by a disciplinary committee comprising farmers and government.

Under the agreed formula, the small farmers will be eligible for getting new loans despite having been blacklisted for failing to repay loans.

Police case registered against farmers will be withdrawn except for cases where damage to public property has been proved.

On Swaminathan Commission report, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will lead a farmers' delegation to Delhi and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it can only be implemented by the Centre.

Profit sharing on milk has been decided at 70-30. After the balance sheet is drawn 70 per cent profit to farmers and 30 to government.

Those present at the meeting included Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, Transport Minister Diwakar Raote and Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan while the farmers were represented by Raju Shetti, the Peasants and Workers Party's Jayant Patil, independent MLA Bachchu Kadu and Subhash Deshmukh.

Farmers had given time to make a decision on their demands, pending which farmers will resort to street protests and rail traffic disruptions from June 12.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

With the fresh loan waiver, the total farm loans across Maharashtra stand at Rs 1.1 lakh crore. The state is already under debt of Rs 4 lakh crore.

The seventh Pay Commission has already increased the burden on the government exchequer. The GST equation is likely to affect the Maharashtra's revenue adversely.

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Also read: Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra: Narendra Modi had promised in 2014 what farmers are demanding today

Also read: Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan ends his 'peace fast' on Day 2

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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The US First Lady Melania Trump, who has been staying in New York ever since Donald Trump became president, moved into the White House this weekend.

By India Today Web Desk: The internet is going to get even more opportunities to examine and critique the chemistry - or lack thereof - between United States First Lady Melania Trump and husband and president, Donald Trump.

The 47-year-old former model moved into the White House, the official residence of the first family of the United States, this weekend.

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Melania announced the news via Twitter, posting a photograph showing the White House lawns. Using the hashtag #Movingday, Melania said, "Looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home!"

Looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home! #Movingday pic.twitter.com/R5DtdV1Hnv- Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) June 12, 2017

After Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th US president in January this year, he moved into the White House, but wife Melania remained in New York City, staying at the Trumps' penthouse, so that the couple's 11-year-old son Barron would not have switch schools midway through a year.

With the school year in the US coming to an end, Melania and Barron finally made the planned move to Washington, DC.

OF HAND NUDGES AND AWKWARD BODY LANGUAGE

While they have been staying apart, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have appeared together on numerous occasions to attend formal events.

And almost all of their public appearances have, unsurprisingly, been analysed - and overanalysed - by the internet. The most recent such incident was at the Ben Gurion airport in Israel where Melania was seen on video swatting Donald's hand away as he attempted to hold it.

(Video courtesy: YouTube/Matt Novak)

The couple was in the country as part of President Trump's first official foreign tour, which was to the Middle East.

Earlier in April, in another viral video, Melania was seen nudging Trump to place his hand over his heart while the US national anthem played at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

ALSO READ | Meet the new First Lady of the US, Melania Trump, former model and immigrant

ALSO READ | Oldest Trump son fires off 80-plus tweets in support of dad

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Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia will be launching a 72-hour long satyagrah from June 14 in Bhopal to counter Chouhan's 'fast for peace'.

By India Today Web Desk: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today entered second day of fasting to placate the agitated farmers who have been protesting for the last few days.

Chouhan had earlier said that his government is open to discussion. Farmers have been protesting over the price rise and have been demanding loan waiver.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia will be launching a 72-hour long satyagrah from June 14 in Bhopal to counter Chouhan's 'fast for peace'.

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Scindia will also meet the kin of the six persons who were killed in police firing in Mandsaur district earlier this week.

Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia will be launching a 72-hour long satyagrah from June 14 in Bhopal.

The Congress party has also sought the imposition of President's rule in Madhya Pradesh citing that CM Chouhan was evading his constitutional duties.

MANDSAUR INCIDENT UNFORTUNATE

Addressing the people on Saturday, Chouhan said that he was saddened by the violence and subsequent deaths of people in Mandsaur district. He went on to assure that the BJP government is pro-farmers and that they will work towards providing them with the right and profitable price.

Chouhan said that over 65 per cent of our population is a dependent on farming and that the state cannot progress without farmers.

"My fast will continue till there is peace in the entire state. Madhya Pradesh is a temple to me and its people are my God. People's pain is my pain," he added.

Chouhan's move comes in the wake of unrest in the state following farmers staging a protest demanding better prices for their produce as also a waiver on loan repayments.

With inputs from ANI

ALSO READ | Madhya Pradesh: Families of 4 farmers who died in Mandsaur firing ask CM Chouhan to end fast

ALSO READ | Shivraj Singh Chouhan on fast: BJP pins its hope on PM Narendra Modi to counter belligerent Opposition

ALSO WATCH | My priority always been farmers; ready for peaceful dialogue, says Shivraj Chouhan as he begins fast

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By Press Trust of India: (Eds: With additional inputs)

Bhopal, Jun 11 (PTI) With no fresh case of violence, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh today called off his fast for farmers, a day after he began the exercise, and declared that peace has returned to the state.

Chouhan, who faced heat over the violent farmer unrest in MP, broke his fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former state chief minister Kailash Joshi.

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Before breaking his fast, the chief minister said, "Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today."

He said that those involved in the death of five farmers in Mandsaur will be punished severely.

"I will not end my fast till peace is restored in the state," Chouhan had said last evening after the protest by farmers was marred by violence in the state.

The CM, reaching out to cultivators, also met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 panels of big farmers yesterday. The delegations pressed for loan waiver and "satisfactory" prices for their produce.

BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan had claimed that the family members of those killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday have requested the CM to call off his fast.

Kin of four out of the five persons killed in police firing on Tuesday at Mandsaur--the epicentre of the farmers stir--had met Chouhan here yesterday.

They had come down from Mandsaur seeking justice for the deceased.

Chouhan had launched his indefinite fast for "peace restoration" yesterday at the BHEL Dussehra Maidan here amid violent farmer protests in western MP, especially in Dewas and Mandsaur districts over the last ten days.

A day ahead of launching his fast, Chouhan, whose government had came under fire over the peasant deaths, had said that the agitation had turned "anarchic", and had appealed to farmers to come to Dussehra Maidan and have a dialogue with him.

"I wont sit in my office at Mantralaya (secretariat)... but sit at Dussehra Maidan and do all (official) work from there," Chouhan had said.

Chouhan had also blamed the Congress for instigating violence during peaceful farmers agitation - a charge denied by the rival party, which dubbed the CMs fast as a "nautanki" (drama).

The farmers protest, which began on June 1, took a violent turn on June 6, when five persons were killed in police firing at Mandsaur. A day after the firing incident, the protesters allegedly heckled Mandsaur district collector S K Singh, who was later transferred.

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Subsequently, the farmers protest witnessed bandh and arson as the agitation spread in other districts of western Madhya Pradesh including Neemuch, Dhar, Ratlam and Jhabua.

During the later stage of this 10-day stir, the flames of protest singed the state capital as protesters torched a truck and some other vehicles on the Bhopal-Indore highway.

A day after Mandsaur firing, the protesters had also allegedly set ablaze four passenger buses and a dozen other vehicles in Newri Phata in Dewas district on the highway.

The protesters had also burnt a truck and four motorbikes at Rajgarh district headquarters on June 8.

The agitation had hit the train services in western MP while several roads including Bhopal-Indore and Indore- Ahmedabad highways also remained blocked for hours due to road blockade by protesters.

Earlier on June 4, the chief minister had claimed after a meeting with representatives of agitating farmers at Ujjain, that differences with cultivators were ironed out with the RSS farmers outfit Bharatiya Kisan Sangh even announcing that the strike had been withdrawn.

However, other farmers outfits stuck to their previous announcement of 10-day long strike denying any agreement with the government.

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On the same day (on June 4), a police assistant sub inspector sustained severe injuries in his one eye during the stone pelting at Ratlam.

A high-voltage political drama was also witnessed on June 8, when Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was detained on his way to Mandsaur to meet the family members of the farmers killed in police firing. PTI DKM ASR ADU LAL DK GK IKA

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TEHRAN  Iranian authorities have arrested eight suspects for allegedly supporting the Islamic State-claimed attacks on Irans parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that killed 17 people in Tehran, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

The report quoted Ahmad Fazelian, chief justice of Alborz province west of Tehran as saying: These agents who were supporters of the two terrorist groups, and had full coordination with them, were arrested and they were delivered to Tehrans judicial and security authorities.
KABUL  An Afghan soldier opened fire on U.S. troops in a restive eastern province on Saturday, killing three and injuring at least one more, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in the Achin district of Afghanistans Nangahar province, according to a U.S. defense official, an area where both Islamic State and Taliban insurgents are contesting territory.

Early media reports suggested the assailant was an elite Afghan commando, although that is not confirmed. The gunman was killed by American troops, according to a security official in the province.

Achin has been the site of heavy fighting in recent months as U.S. Special Operations forces  including elite Army Rangers and Green Berets  have been working alongside Afghan commandos to route the Islamic State from the area. Three U.S. soldiers had died there this year before Saturdays shooting.

The Taliban are also active in the area, and there have been reports of clashes between the two insurgent groups in recent weeks. A Taliban spokesman sent a text message to journalists Saturday claiming the alleged assailant was an infiltrator of the Afghan army.

Allied commanders provided limited details.

We are aware of an incident in Eastern Afghanistan. We will release more information when appropriate, Douglas High, the public affairs officer for Operation Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, said in an email statement.

Also Saturday, two Afghan border police officers were killed by U.S. aircraft fire during a joint operation in the southern province of Helmand. The U.S. military in a statement apologized for the deaths and said the incident was under investigation.

Achin was the also site where U.S. Special Operations troops in April dropped the GBU-43, a 22,000-pound bomb known as the MOAB, on a purported cave complex where insurgents were believed to be hiding. The blast flattened a swath of the countryside. While Afghan officials said dozens of militants were killed, the Pentagon has remained mum on what exactly the bomb accomplished.

The deaths come as the Trump administration is weighing whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Annie Gowen is a Washington Post writer.
ISTANBUL  A Turkish court has formally arrested Amnesty Internationals chairman in the country pending trial on charges of membership in a terror organization, Turkeys official Anadolu news agency said Saturday. The rights group called it a mockery of justice.

Taner Kilic was arrested in the western province of Izmir along with five other attorneys who are accused of using ByLock, an encrypted mobile messaging application. Kilic was detained on Tuesday and arrested late Friday.
BEIRUT  Supported by crutches and a fellow Islamic State jihadi, Abu Shuaib al-Maslawi hopped on his left leg toward the explosives-laden black SUV that he would minutes later plow into a group of Iraqi troops in the northern city of Mosul.

Then, turning toward the camera, the one-legged suicide bomber spoke his final words, urging Muslims in the West who cannot come to the extremists self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria to carry out attacks inside their home countries.

I urge you in the name of God that before sunset may your swords be dripping with the infidels blood, said al-Maslawi, who appeared to be in his 50s, with a long gray beard and a black Islamic skull cap. Every drop of blood that is spilled there will reduce pressure on us, he added, gripping the steering wheel.

Drone footage then showed the heavily armored sport utility vehicle careening into a line of Iraqi troop vehicles parked outside a building in Mosul, followed by an explosion, a huge fireball and a cloud of black smoke.

Posted by Islamic State on social media in late May, the video contains a change in message and tone that reflects the pressure the extremist group is under as it continues to lose ground in Iraq and Syria.

The groups propaganda machine used to be confident, promising that its self-declared caliphate would be lasting and expanding. But in recent months, as the groups territory has shrunk, its messages have as well.

Far from the boastful, self-aggrandizing videos of the past, the group is now urging fighters to resist and not run away from the battlefield. The quality of the videos has dropped as well after some of the extremists most prominent propagandists and producers were killed.

Slickly produced propaganda videos shot from multiple angles with religious songs in the background used to spread fear among the groups opponents, with gruesome footage of beheadings, shootings, confessions of detainees and sophisticated attacks against their rivals. In the videos, the group boasted that Muslims from all over the world were flocking to what they called the first caliphate since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a century ago.

Now the videos mostly urge fighters to be steadfast and call on the local population to join the group after hundreds of Islamic State fighters have been killed over the past months.

The propaganda of the organization has become zero, to be frank. It indicates their collapse and that the group is retreating, said Omar Abu Laila, a Syrian opposition activist now based in Germany who is originally from Syrias eastern province of Deir el-Zour. Their calls for people to join the group are signs of weakness.

A major blow came in August, when an air strike in Syria claimed by the U.S. and Russia killed Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the groups chief spokesman and senior commander who was known for fiery speeches that used to boost the morale of fighters. In 2014, after the group declared its caliphate, al-Adnani vowed to conquer Baghdad as well as the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in southern Iraq.

Another blow came in October when a U.S. air strike in Syria killed Wael al-Fayadh, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Furqan, who was in charge of producing highly professional propaganda videos. One of the groups main media arms, Al-Furqan Media, was named after him. He was replaced by Abu Bashir al-Maslawi, who was killed a short time later.

In late May, the founder of the groups Aamaq news agency, Baraa Kadek, was reportedly killed along with his daughter in an air strike in the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen.

A video released last month titled Answer the Call urged young men to join Islamic State to make up for the loss of manpower.

Despite the battlefield setbacks in Iraq and Syria, the militants have been quick to claim responsibility for recent overseas attacks in Britain, Iran and elsewhere.

Bassem Mroue is an Associated Press writer.
MOSUL, Iraq  Large numbers of civilians are being killed and injured in western Mosul because Iraqi and U.S.-backed coalition forces are relying on the use of heavy weapons as they struggle to push Islamic State group militants from the city, human rights organizations have warned.

Heavy ordnance, such as 500-pound air-delivered bombs, are causing excessive and disproportionate damage to civilian life and property, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law, organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Center for Civilians in Conflict warned.

In a combined report released last week, they also pointed to the use of artillery systems, including heavy mortars and locally fabricated rocket launchers that lack a guidance mechanism, and are therefore inherently imprecise and indiscriminate.

Such disproportionate military attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law, the report said.

Backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraq last October launched a wide-scale military offensive to recapture Mosul and the surrounding areas, with various Iraqi military, police and paramilitary forces taking part in the operation. The citys eastern half was declared liberated in January, and the push for the citys western section, separated from the east by the Tigris River, began the following month.

Iraqi forces are in their last push to drive Islamic State militants from the remaining pockets of territory they still hold in the Old City where narrow streets and a dense civilian population are complicating the fight.

The use of powerful and often inaccurate weapons is problematic because a very large number of civilians  as many as 180,000, according to the United Nations  remain in militant-controlled areas of the city, now little more than 1.5 square miles. The situation is made more difficult by the militants practice of using civilians as human shields and stopping people from leaving.

Many of the recently retaken areas of western Mosul are reduced to rubble, in some cases with entire families killed in air strikes or shelling.

Amran Waabdullah Jumaa, 35, said his mother was killed on May 12 in an air strike outside their house in the Tammouz district. She was killed by these American smart bombs or whatever they call them, he said.

Ahmed Najim Abdullah, 27, a resident of the Zanjili district of western Mosul, lost three members of his family when their house collapsed on them after an air strike. He was trying to dig the rest of them out from under the rubble when another rocket hit, injuring him.

Its well known that the houses there are very old, the missiles weigh over 200 kilos (440 pounds), it hits the house and when it hits one house the next four or five houses will collapse with it too, he said in his hospital bed in Irbil.

Military analysts say Iraqi and coalition forces rely on these weapons because they are trying to minimize their own casualties, which have been considerable. According to a recent U.S. Defense Department report, Iraqi special forces have suffered a staggering 40 percent casualty loss in Mosul so far.

The U.S.-led coalition estimates that its air strikes unintentionally killed at least 484 civilians between the start of the Mosul campaign and June 2. Airwars, the United Kingdom-based non-governmental organization that monitors air strikes, believes the real number may be as high as 3,800.

Balint Szlanko is an Associated Press writer.
By India Today Web Desk: Actress Aditi Rathore, who is currently seen as the grown-up Avni on Star Plus' Naamkarann defended ex-boyfriend Shreedhan Singh from haters.

Recently, Shreedhan who is a body builder posted a picture on Instagram displaying his biceps and captioned it, "Haters like parrots, talk much but cannot fly, eagles say nothing but conquer the skies, going back heavy, enough with the light mode shit . #beastmode #on."

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After he uploaded the picture, his haters started posting nasty comments, which didn't go down well with Aditi. She took to Instagram and posted a picture with Shreedhan with a note that said, "So I have been reading all the bad comments about him. First thing if he wouldn't have been there I would have not been in acting in the first place. Plus try saying that in front of him and you will know what he really is ! #respect."

So I have been reading all the bad comments about him . first thing if he wouldn't have been there i would have not been in acting in the first place . Plus try saying that in front of him . and you will know what he really is ! #respect A post shared by Aditi Rathore (@ad_aditirathore93) on Jun 9, 2017 at 7:18am PDT

This is not the first time when Shreedhan has received such nasty comments and Aditi has defended him. In December 2015, Aditi had shared screenshots of a picture of the hater and his comments, who wrote nasty things about Shreedhan on Aditi's post. She shared the screenshots with a note that said, " If u got nothing good to say then don't attempt only."

If u got nothing gud to say den don't attempt only... ????????? A post shared by Aditi Rathore (@ad_aditirathore93) on Dec 9, 2015 at 10:27am PST

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BIDI BIDI, Uganda  Joy Diko remembers that the government soldiers who besieged her town were young enough to be her children.

Yet the teenagers in South Sudan military uniforms showed no mercy as they swept in to put down a rebellion, raiding homes and raping women and girls for days on end.

The solemn-looking Diko, a 60-year-old widow, escaped unhurt. But she said the young soldiers dragged her teenage daughter outside and took turns raping her as she cried for help. Thats when Diko decided she had seen enough, and they fled.

Now living in a sprawling settlement in neighboring Uganda that is home to over 270,000 refugees, she is one of hundreds of survivors of sexual violence who meet regularly to help each other get beyond their trauma.

Gathered under tarpaulins baking in the sun, the women counsel one another and learn skills such as how to build a kitchen stove from clay. Thirteen such centers focusing on gender-based violence were launched last year by the International Rescue Committee.

Sexual violence in South Sudan has reached epic proportions, U.N. investigators have said.

Some of the women say sharing their stories helps them cope with the trauma of sexual violence, but memories are still raw.

We would see people being killed and sometimes very young children would call a mother of my age to go sexually with him, said Diko, who crossed into Uganda in September. I would expect such a kid to be calling me mother, but you saw young boys going with women who were old enough to be their mothers.

The violence of South Sudans civil war spread to Dikos formerly calm town of Yei in August after fresh fighting broke out in the capital, Juba, and government troops pursued rebel leader Riek Machar toward the border. When the army fought for rebel territory, Yei became an epicenter of some of the worst atrocities since the conflict began at the end of 2013.

Gunshots echoed through the town at night and soldiers were said to prowl the streets, looting and raping. A U.N. report in May said pro-government forces killed 114 civilians in Yei last year and raped girls and women in front of their families.

Many of the women at the support centers in the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, which in recent months has become the largest in the world, were in Yei when the crackdown by government forces began.

Though all sides in the civil war have been accused of raping and killing, the women who spoke to the Associated Press said their homes were raided by pro-government troops with the facial marks of the Dinka, the ethnic group of President Salva Kiir.

South Sudanese officials have insisted they are taking steps to counter sexual violence, while other officials have denied abuses by government troops.

The civil war often has been fought along ethnic lines, with Dinka pitted against ethnic Nuer rebels loyal to Machar. Other, smaller ethnic groups have been caught in the crossfire.

The Bidi Bidi settlement is largely inhabited by members of minority groups such as the Pojulu and the Kuku. It is hard to find Dinka refugees.

One 32-year-old mother was detained by Dinka soldiers after being separated from her husband, who remains missing. She said she was raped for several days before she was allowed to leave. In September, after she escaped to Uganda, the mother of five tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The women said they have little hope of returning to South Sudan, where the fighting shows no sign of ending.

Lilian Dawa, a refugee from Yei who runs one of the support centers, said victims and survivors of sexual violence value a place to be heard without the risk of being ostracized. Its the young generation that will change the future of South Sudan, she said.

Rodney Muhumuza is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  President Trump says the United States is committed to the mutual defense of NATO members, casting aside concerns that his failure to mention the commitment last month weakened the alliance.

Trump said Friday that he was committing the United States to Article 5. That article in the NATO treaty says an attack on one member is an attack on all members and binds the allies to come to that countrys defense.

European countries and others expressed concern last month when Trump did not mention the clause in a speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels. In that speech, Trump demanded that allies live up to a pledge to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. He did not specifically mention Article 5, which has only been invoked once, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Im committing the United States to Article 5, Trump told reporters at a news conference Friday with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Certainly we are there to protect, and thats one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force. But yes, absolutely, Id be committed to Article 5.

The White House later reaffirmed the commitment in a statement announcing that Trump will visit Poland next month as part of his second foreign trip. It said that in addition to showing Americas support of Poland, the trip will also emphasize the presidents commitment to strengthening NATOs collective defense.

Trumps omission in Brussels raised concerns on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. White House aides said the presidents support was implied even though he deliberately did not utter the words.

Still, allies had questions about Trumps belief in the value of NATO, which he had termed obsolete during the presidential campaign.

On Friday, Trump noted that only a handful of NATOs 29 members  Montenegro joined just last week  were meeting the 2 percent pledge. But he said the U.S. would abide by its treaty obligations.

Were going to make NATO very strong, he said. You need the money to make it strong. You cant just do what weve been doing in the past.

Matthew Lee is an Associated Press writer.
ILIGAN, Philippines  American spy planes are helping Filipino troops quell a nearly three-week siege by Muslim militants in a southern city where 13 Philippine marines were killed in the biggest single-day loss for government forces, officials said Saturday.

A U.S. Navy aircraft provided surveillance for the local troops as the battle raged in Marawi on Friday, confirming the involvement of the U.S. military in helping to end the urban insurrection at the request of the Philippine government, Philippine military officials said.

An Associated Press journalist and photographer saw a U.S. Navy P3 Orion plane hovering in cloudy skies above Marawi on Friday. The aircraft flew above rocket-firing Philippine helicopters that struck militant positions, causing plumes of smoke to billow skyward.

We dont have adequate surveillance equipment, so we asked the U.S. military for assistance. Its noncombat assistance, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said by phone, citing a Philippine government policy that bars foreign troops from local combat.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said without elaborating that U.S. special operations forces were providing help to Filipino troops battling the Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants in Marawi.

The United States is a proud ally of the Philippines, and we will continue to work with the Philippines to address shared threats to the peace and security of our countries, including on counterterrorism issues, the embassy said in a statement.

Philippine marines were conducting a house-to-house search for militants allied with the Islamic State group who are still occupying parts of Marawi when the battle erupted Friday, said Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the Philippine armys 1st Infantry Division.

About 30 to 40 militants used civilians as human shields, making it hard for troops to operate, and also positioned themselves in the citys many mosques.

Forty other marines were wounded, Herrera said.

Philippine military officials say the violence has left at least 138 militants and 58 government troops dead. At least 21 civilians have been killed, including a boy who was hit by suspected militant gunfire inside a Marawi mosque where his family had taken refuge, Padilla said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city, parts of which were reduced to rubble by fighting and government air strikes in an attempt to dislodge the rebels.

Todd Pitman is an Associated Press writer.
Social activist working for the upliftment of tribals in Odisha has received threats from a Maoist group, asking him to stop educating people in Naxal regions.

Members of Red Ultras, a Maoist group put up posters of threats and warning Samanta against providing free education to the tribals.

By Manogya Loiwal : Social activist and founder of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Achyuta Samanta was allegedly threatened by Maoists against educating tribals.

Members of Red Ultras, a Maoist group put up posters of threats and warning Samanta against providing free education to the tribals.

Posters were put up in the Kakiriguma area in Koraput and read that the 52-year-old activist is working with the police and trying to weaken the Maoist movement in the name of educating tribal students.

Posters carrying a threat message for Achyuta Samanta. Photo: @achyuta_samanta

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Samata was warned with a punishment through a kangaroo court if he does not stop.

WHO IS ACHYUTA SAMANTA?

Achyuta Samanta provides free education and vocational training to over 25,000 students across Odisha through his institution called Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) which was formed in 1993.

Over the last decade, Samanta has received numerous awards for promoting education, art and culture among the tribals in the past 25 years. He has also established nearly 25 spiritual centres and shrines to promote yoga and spiritualism.

The governments of at least 20 states in India and 10 foreign countries have evinced interest in setting up schools similar to KISS for underprivileged children.

ABOUT KISS

KISS provides education, food, books, lodging and other amenities to almost 20,000 students hailing from tribal and Maoist infested region across Odisha for free.

The police is now reviewing his security.

With inputs from Mohammad Suffian in Bhubaneshwar

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By Press Trust of India: Jammu, Jun 11 (PTI) Pakistani troops resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts along LoC and International Border in Rajouri and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, prompting Indian troops to retaliate.

Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, heavy automatics and mortars from 1240 hours along the Line of Control in Naushera sector in Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.

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"The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on," he said.

In another ceasefire violation, Pakistan Rangers started firing on forward BSF troops in Ramgarh Sector in Samba district along the IB, a senior BSF officer said adding that BSF also retaliated.

During exchanger of fire, Pak Rangers also fired a few small mortar shells. Intermittent fire continued till 1045 hours, he said adding there was no loss or damage so far.

"Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 0920 hours this morning along the Line of Control (LC) in Bhimbher Gali sector in Rajouri," a senior army officer said.

The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on, he said.

"It may be recalled that Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 2030 hours last evening along the LoC in Krishana Ghati sector," a senior army officer said.

Reports said Pak troops also targeted civilian population and hamlets along LoC in Krishnaghati and Balanar areas of Poonch district triggering panic among the area dwellers.

The Pakistan Army is targeting residential areas and hamlets with 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs triggering fear psychosis as shells are landing deep inside border civil hamlets.

Earlier this month, five Pakistani soldiers were killed and some others injured in the Indian Armys retaliatory action in LoC belt of the Nowshera and Krishnaghati sectors. PTI AB KUN

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- On a sun-soaked ball field, New York brewers and restaurateurs popped up white tents to dole out beer and tacos, the menu this Saturday at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, St. George.

The festival is on from 1 to 5 p.m., a sampling event for $50 a ticket at the door, $40 advance purchase. There are $25 "designated driver tickets" at SIYanks.com/ipatacofest.

At front and center with the beers is IPA, aka India Pale Ale. Flagship features two on this sunny afternoon: the flagship, shall we say Flagship IPA and "Swamp Tings."

Matt McGinley, a principal of Flagship, describes the Swamp Tings as having a "7.1% ABV (alcohol by volume) with a "medium bodied, intensely hazy Northeast style IPA, brewed with Motueka, Wakatu, and Citra hops."

As for flavor profiles, McGinley adds, "Mild bitterness combines with large amounts candied tropical fruit, citrus and a soft mouthfeel."

"The Staten Island Yankees are proud to host the Unforgettable IPA & Taco Festival at Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George," said Will Smith, President/Operating Partner of the ballpark.

"We share the vision of our partners in this venture -- local business owners, Flagship Brewery & Ho'Brah Tacos - as we aim to give the community another reason to congregate at this gem of a facility. It's the first of many additional events that we plan to program at the Ballpark this year. And we expect to build on this foundation to create new opportunities for memories in our new St. George neighborhood for many years to come."

Ian Fontenot, director of communications & entertainment for the S.I. Yanks, said at the launch to the event back in April: The event is "inspired by the North Shore's pioneer spirit."

A highlight of the day is the home brewer aspect.

"Jay Sykes from Flagship contacted me and asked if Pour Standards would like to pour some homebrew at the IPA/Taco fest, and of course I said absolutely we are on board," said Doug Williams, Vice President of Pour Standards home-brew club.

"Also joining us at the table for the day a couple of members of "The Brewdies," a brooklyn based homebrew club," said Williams. They are sampling "SMASH" beers, an acronym for "Single Malt And Single Hop."

Each recipe, explained Pour Standards president Paul Camarca, "Everyone made the same beer but with a different hop." The process used 10 pounds of base malt. (Hops are flower buds that season beer in a way that a cook would use salt and pepper.)

Some of the featured home-brewers were Camarca and Williams themselves with a "Falconder Flight" crafted with "Citra" hops. Mike Feidman used "Cascade" varietals, Erica Beyer chooses "Warrior." Homebrewer Rachel Wade offered tastes of a grapefruit-forward "Boom Hop-Alata" which elicited "yums" from partakers.

The Brewdies of Brooklyn bring a beer made with "Jarrylo" and "Simcoe."

"It will give everyone a chance to taste and smell the individual and unique profile of each hop," said Carmarca just prior to the festival start. "I am also looking forward to blending some to see how they work together."

Proceeds of the day, in part, go to The NYC Brewer's Guild and No Kid Hungry.

"Amazing day of beer and tacos!" enthused Camarca. With an hour more to go for the festival, he raved, "Great crowd...and they loved the home brews!"
Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

HUG A PUG AT THE ALICE AUSTEN HOUSE

Get a glimpse of the pug life at the Alice Austen House Museum Sunday, June 11, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To honor Alice Austen's love for her pug, Punch, the museum invites Staten Island dog lovers to bring their own pugs to their grounds for a day of games and puppy costume contests.

The Annual Pug Fun Day is presented in partnership with the Pug Dog Club of Greater New York, Inc. Alice Austen House is located at 2 Hylan Boulevard in Rosebank. Admission to the event is $5. For more information, visit AliceAusten.org.

(Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons and Hilton Flores)

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Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

TAKE A TROLLEY TOUR OF SOUTH SHORE DINING DESTINATIONS

The North Shore has seen its restaurant crawls from the Bay Street Corridor to Forest Avenue and up to Victory Boulevard through Castleton Corners. And the East Shore has had its inaugural stroll and follow up with success.

Now, it's time to see some food action on the Deep South Shore.

So, thanks to the South Shore Business Improvement District and Councilman Joe Borelli's office, food tourists can take a trolley to "Taste the Towns." Rain or shine, the food event happens on Sunday, June 11, from 1 to 6 p.m.

YES, you read that right: A trolley transports you from restaurant to restaurant.

Buy tickets in advance for $15 at SouthShoreBid.org  they are $20 the day of the event  or text "SSBID" to the number 313131.

CHECK OUT A FULL LIST OF PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS HERE

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Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

IRISH FAIR AT MOUNT LORETTO

The 19th annual Staten Island Irish Fair takes place art Mount Loretto with traditional Irish music, food and culture celebrated on the South Shore from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 11. READ ALL ABOUT SATURDAY'S OPENING DAY FESTIVITIES HERE.

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'25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE'

If you've never seen adults playing middle school kids competing at a spelling bee, prepare to be amazed at Wagner College this weekend.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee -- presented by Sundog Theatre -- takes to Wagner College Stage One in Grymes Hill this weekend and next. The production is directed by Tina Barone, featuring music from William Finn.

Sundog describes the show as "hilarious, touching [with] catchy songs and dialogue. Spelling bee contestants reveal their hopes, struggles, and passions as they make their way through the competition."

Dates for the show are June 9-11 and June 16-18. Note: There is no Thursday show the first weekend. Tickets are $20, $17 for students and seniors.

Wagner College Stage One is located at 630 Howard Avenue. For more information, visit BrownPaperTickets.com.

(Courtesy of Sundog Theatre)

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Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

SVPT PRODUCTION TACKLES SIBLING RIVALRY

Sea View Playwrights Theatre opens its production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" by Christopher Durang this weekend.

Here's the synopsis: "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" is a comedy play telling the story revolving around the relationships of three middle-aged single siblings.

Two siblings live together and takes place during a visit by the third sister, Masha. They discuss their lives and get into a disagreement which makes Masha threaten to sell their family's house.

Staten Islanders are invited to see how the sibling rivalry plays out. Some of the show's elements were derived from works of Anton Chekhov, including several character names, the play's setting in a cherry orchard and the theme of the possible loss of an ancestral home.

Here's the cast: Craig Stoebling as Vanya, Nikki Lauren as Sonia, Julie Corbin as Masha, Zachary Urcinoli as Spike, Noa Miranda as Nina and Anna Glenn Sparks as Cassandra.

The show is directed by Karen O'Donnell with assistant director Robert Heffernan along with stage manager Elizabeith Watt.

Sea View Playwrights Theatre performs the show at 460 Brielle Avenue. Dates for the show are June 9-11 and June 16-18. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $22, $20 for students and seniors. For more information, visit http://svpt.brownpapertickets.com.

(Photo courtesy of Sea View Playwright's Theatre)

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Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

CAR & BIKE SHOW AT THE TELEPORT

The North Central Kiwanis Club hosts their inaugural classic car and bike show this Sunday at 9 a.m.

The show takes place at the Commons Cafe located at the Teleport, along with a flea market. The Commons Cafe is located at 2 Teleport Drive off of South Avenue.

Admission is $5, $20 if you submit a car or bike. Trophies and dash plaques are awarded to during the event. Food and drinks are available for purchase. All proceeds go to charity.

Call 917-885-0945 for more information on the event To learn more about Kiwanis or if you're interested in becoming a member, visit www.kiwanis-ny.org.

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Victoria Priola | vpriola@siadvance.com

SSG MICHAEL OLLIS MEMORIAL 5K RUN/WALK & STREET FESTIVAL

All proceeds will benefit the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2013 to support U.S. veterans and commemorate the memory of SSG Michael Ollis, a Staten Island native who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013 when he heroically sacrificed his life to save a fellow service member. Get tickets at EventBrite.com.

*All Event Details Below May Be Subject to Change*

Event Schedule:

7:30-8:30 a.m. - Same-Day Registration and Late Registrant Bib Pickup (PARTICIPANTS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO REGISTER AHEAD OF TIME)

8 a.m. - Corralls Open for Runners/Walkers to Start Lining Up

8:30 a.m. - Opening Ceremony Begins- National Anthem & Remarks

9 a.m. - Race Begins

10:15 a.m.-noon: Street Festival/Awards Presentation (Street festival will take place after the race on New Dorp Lane between New Dorp Plaza and 10th Street)

10:15 a.m. (immediately after the main race concludes) - Kids Fun Run between Burbank Ave and New Dorp Lane!

Race Route: The race will begin at New Dorp Lane and New Dorp Plaza South and the route will be a loop around the streets bordering the SIR railroad in New Dorp.

5K/3.1 Mile Route for Runners

2-Mile Abridged Route for Walkers

Bib/Packet pickup will be available for participants who sign up by Thursday June 8. Pickup will be at: SSG Michael Ollis VFW Post - 575 Mill Rd.

Friday, June 9, 3-9 p.m.

Saturday, June 10, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

For more information on "SSG Ollis' inspiring life and sacrifice for our country," and to learn more about the mission of the SSG Ollis Freedom Foundation, visit SSGollis.org.

Email OllisRace@gmail.com or call 718-887-6522 with any questions or requests for additional info. Note: One free T-shirt will be provided for all race ticket purchases and donors who contribute $35 or more.

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BILL KIRCHEN TAKES TO HAMILTON PARK HOUSE

Rock guitarist and singer Bill Kirchen plays Hamilton Park House Concerts in New Brighton this Sunday, June 11, at 3 p.m.

Kirchen is most known for being a member of the 70's rock band, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

The Hamilton Park House Concerts is located at 29 Harvard Avenue. Tickets are are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Email Rayheff@mac.com for more information.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One person was injured in a two car accident on the West Shore Expressway Sunday morning, according to a city Fire Department (FDNY) spokesman.

FDNY responded to the accident near Exit 8 on the New Jersey-bound side of the West Shore Expressway after receiving a call at 11:13 a.m., said an FDNY spokesman.

EMS transported one person to Staten Island University Hospital, the spokesman said.

TRAFFIC STALLED

Traffic was reportedly snarled for more than three exits on the Expressway in the direction headed toward the Outerbridge Crossing while firefighters and EMS cleared the scene.

To make traffic matters worse, the New Jersey-bound span of the Goethals Bridge is closed until 6 p.m., which leaves only the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing as outlets to New Jersey from the Island.

This is a breaking news story, check back to silive.com for updates.

Reporter Shane DiMaio contributed to this report.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The first span of the new Goethals Bridge was opened to traffic Saturday, marking the first opening of a major new bridge by the Port Authority since the Bayonne Bridge was completed in 1931.

Plans for the new bridge began in 2002 with environmental impact statements and public hearings. Ground was broken for the project in 2014.

When the second span is open in 2018, each bridge will have three 12-foot lanes, as well as 12-foot outer shoulders and 5-foot inner shoulders.

The second bridge will have a 10-foot shared use path for bicyclists and pedestrians, and space on both spans will be preserved for future mass transit.

The complete bridge, with a total of 144 stay cables, each up to 450 feet long and 14 inches in diameter, will unite the roadways with four sets of soaring, V-shaped, 272-foot-tall concrete towers.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is paying for a portion of the new bridges, along with private partner NYNJ Link LLC -- a partnership of Macquarie and Kiewit -- using a combination of taxpayer funds, federal loans, private bonds and private capital.

The total cost for the project is $1.5 billion. The Port Authority committed approximately $363 million to date, including prior planning, permitting, property acquisition, as well as design and engineering work.

The original bridge, which was closed to traffic for good Friday evening, opened to traffic on June 29, 1928 on what would have been the 70th birthday of its namesake, Major Gen. George Washington Goethals.

Goethals, who administered and oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal, served as the Port Authority's first consulting engineer. He died shortly before the completion of the bridge.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Though we won't know for sure for a few years, there's a good chance the 570 students at PS 39 include a future senator, congresswoman or maybe even a future president.

The Arrochar school is committed to building leaders, with words of wisdom at every turn -- on walls, doors, even radiator covers in the lobby.

"Mistakes are proof that you are trying!"

"Your attitude affects the outcome."

"Let's dream big and reach for success."

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

"Teamwork makes the dream work."

PS 39 fifth-grader Daniel Guz makes a point during class. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

Thirty-six fifth-graders are members of PS 39's Leaders in Training Club who give up recess every Friday to plan community service events like a food drive for the Bread of Life program.

"We went way over our goal of six boxes" of donated food, boasts Engjel Hidri, who is a Leaders in Training member with his twin brother, Indrit. "We collected 12."

Several students take over the public address system in the principal's office each morning to encourage their schoolmates with reminders about the seven habits of happy kids, based on Sean Covey's popular book.

Drama teacher Dawn Macchia works with kindergartners Edis Borici, left, and Mason Arroyo. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

They also spend time in "community circles" to strengthen conversational skills.

"When I first came here, I was very shy," recalls Engjel, who transferred in last year with his brother. "I was even too shy to talk to a teacher." Now he's leading the way during morning announcements.

PS 39 students follow the Mood Meter designed by the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence, which builds self-awareness and the skills to make more informed decisions. With colors coded to identify levels of pleasantness and energy, the approach teaches children to manage stress and conflict.

GOOD START TO THE DAY

Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 start the day by singing a selection of upbeat songs like "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "Blue Skies" and "The Happy Song" during an assembly in the petite auditorium.

Fifth-graders Jadyn Irizarry and Kiana Lawrence pair up during a ballroom dancing class. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

"We would include all students if there was enough room," says Principal Tracey Wright, a musician, vocalist and former entertainer who leads the assembly.

"It's a way to calm us down so we have a more productive day," summarizes Lori Gallo, a fifth-grader in the leaders program who appreciates her principal's efforts.

Built in 1925 at the intersection of Sand Lane and Macfarland Avenue, PS 39 features many of its original architectural details like transom windows, dumbwaiters and bookcases.

Teaching artists and cast members gather for a photo during Write-A-Play, an afterschool program at PS 39 directed by IlluminArt Productions. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

But Principal Wright has been working hard to make the 92-year-old building meet the needs of today's students. Grants have allowed her to replace fixed wooden seats in the auditorium with moveable chairs in bright yellow and blue, the school colors.

The library has been renovated with lemon yellow walls and a cozy reading area with bean bags and upholstered chairs.

And in the lunchroom, students sit at new circular tables emblazoned with a school motto, "PS 39: A bridge to success," which replaced rectangular benches to encourage conversation.

FORMER BAND MEMBER

A native of Woodbury, Conn., Principal Wright studied political science and engineering at the University of Connecticut and performed with the band, Pharaoh's Daughter, while substitute teaching on the side.

PS 39 Principal Tracey Wright, center, is joined by assistant principals Kassandra Lopez-Garcia at left and Keena Flournoy-White at right. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

"There came a time when I had to choose" between performing and teaching, she says. Mixing the two was difficult with tours and weekend gigging.

She moved to West Brighton and earned a master's degree and a certificate in administration and supervision from Hunter College. Her first appointment in the city school system was at PS 96 in East Harlem, where she taught for 11 years and served as assistant principal for five.

She was named principal of PS 39 in 2010.

Second-grade teacher Anthony Musachio gives his former students a fist bump. From the left are fifth-graders Jayleen Garcia, Ema Chaka and Leila Saeed. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

"I wanted to live here and work here and be a part of Staten Island," she says, appreciating the borough.

Her student body is a diverse mix of Albanian, Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian, African-American and Polish, and includes several students whose parents are stationed with the Coast Guard at nearby Fort Wadsworth.

A rich arts program includes 16 weeks of drama and ballroom dancing. On a recent Thursday morning, Class 5-314 was enjoying a rehearsal of the fox trot, waltz and tango for their June 9 performance.

MEETING SPECIAL NEEDS

Principal Wright has strengthened special education services.

Sophie Yarkhunov and Sonila Osmani get some assistance from their fourth-grade teacher, Renata Kozyra. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

"When I arrived, there was only one class of special ed," she recalls. Today PS 39 offers seven integrated co-teaching classes and three self-contained classes, plus four speech teachers, a full-time occupational therapist and a part-time physical therapist.

She makes it a priority to offer professional development opportunities to her staff of 36 teachers and 10 paraprofessionals.

The school participates in the Reading and Writing Project of Columbia University Teachers College, which offers specialists for mentoring and curriculum development.

Second-graders Adriana Escalante, Queenie Ho and Jocelyn Palillero performed in "The Mishap at the Circus in Outer Space" as part of an afterschool program hosted by IlluminArt Productions. (Staten Island Advance/Claire Regan)

"I believe in the philosophy of rolling things out slowly and layering them," she says, referring to the many programs put in place since she became principal.

"We are building tool kits for children and teachers. All the things we're doing here, I wish I had as a kid," she confides.

Wright believes in the potential of every child under her watch.

"I expect them to be senators and congressmen and to take care of the world," she says. "I want them to be change makers."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Out with the old, and in with the new.

The first span of the new twinned Goethals Bridge -- complete with wider lanes and shoulders, and overall clean, modern look -- officially debuted Saturday afternoon for New York-bound traffic.

New Jersey-bound lanes are due to open by 6 p.m. Sunday.

The first few cars crossed the bridge into Staten Island shortly after 4 p.m., with drivers giving workers a thumbs up, honking their horns and waving out their windows.

An Advance reporter, photographer and videographer were in one of the first cars to cross the new span.

"It's a great celebration today as we reach an important milestone in the Port Authority's history. On this day, we open our first long-span bridge in over 85 years," said Roger Prince, general manager for the Port Authority Staten Island bridges, as he stood on the roof of the Port Authority building overlooking the bridge.

Prince promised commuters will find the crossing "a much smoother ride."

The new Goethals Bridge span will have a total of four 11-foot lanes, two in each direction, plus narrow shoulders, Prince said.

The old Goethals Bridge, built 89 years ago, was declared "functionally obsolete." The bridge had no shoulders and lanes were 10-feet wide -- barely enough for two trucks to drive side by side -- hemmed by steel trusses.

It gave drivers a "claustrophobic, white-knuckled ride" sandwiched alongside and behind 18-wheelers, said James Blackmore, program director for the bridge modernization program. "It made the drive psychologically intimidating."

"We think drivers are going to find an amazing difference," he said.

When the second span is open in 2018, each bridge will have three 12-foot lanes, as well as 12-foot outer shoulders and 5-foot inner shoulders. The second bridge will have a 10-foot shared use path for bicyclists and pedestrians, and space on both spans will be preserved for future mass transit.

The Goethals Bridge carries more than 31 million vehicles in a year.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Ten years ago, Jeri Cela was told by doctors that her eight-year-old son, Nik, wouldn't live beyond 10-years-old.

Fast forward to 2017 and Nik of Bulls Head is turning 18 this year, graduating New Dorp High School, went to his senior prom and is heading off to college in the fall.

Cela and her son were joined by friends and family to lead "Team Nik", at the annual Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk, which was held at Midland Beach on Sunday.

DIAGNOSED AT 5 MONTHS OLD

Nik was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was five months old.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited, life-threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Approximately 30,000 people live with the disease in the United States.

Cela said she never knew what cystic fibrosis was until his diagnosis.

When Nik was eight years old he had a lobectomy (a lobe of the lung removed). It was his only option, besides a lung transplant, said Cela, who noted that children had a low success rate with that procedure.

Since the surgery, Nik continues to have his "ups-and-downs" and continues his therapy.

Cela says it's important to raise awareness because most people don't know about the disease, and who it affects.

"We are raising awareness because you never know if it will affect you," Cela said, noting the disease affects the whole body, but there are no phsycial signs her son is dealing with the disease.

"There's not much federal funding and we have to advise people about how serious it is. People don't really take it as serious as it should be because you don't see what it is causing."

To read more about Nik's story, you can visit Jeri Cela's fundraising page at fightcf.cff.org, here.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- It's Scott LoBaido's dream to have one of his paintings hanging in the White House.

And he might just get his wish.

On Saturday, the Staten Island artist sent an original work to President Donald Trump as a present for his 71st birthday.

The painting -- titled "She Loves A Windy Day"-- is 4x4-foot oil-on-canvas of the American flag flowing in the wind. It took five days to complete the piece, LoBaido said.

"It's probably the best one I ever did," he said. "You can hear it flapping in the wind through the painting."

Flag Day is Wednesday, which is also Trump's birthday.

LoBaido said a friend of a friend will present Trump with the painting on Sunday, and ask the president to hang it in the White House.

"That would be my dream to have an original Scott LoBaido flag painting to be hanging in the White House," he said.

He said he will know in the next couple of days if his dream will come true.

LoBaido is a Trump supporter who erected a 12-foot pro-Trump "T" in Castleton Corners in May, but the piece was set on fire in August.

LoBaido then unveiled a new wooden "T" that stood 16-feet-high.

He assembled the model at the exact spot where his original artwork stood.

The giant "T" was originally erected at the home of Sam Pirozzolo. It was taken down after the election.
By Press Trust of India: By Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Jun 11 (PTI) Pakistan today rejected as "fabricated and baseless" reports that it plans to deploy its troops in Qatar amid diplomatic tensions in the Middle East.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria rejected reports appearing in some foreign media regarding deployment of Pakistani troops in Qatar.

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He said these were "completely fabricated and baseless".

He stressed that "these false reports appear to be part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstanding between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf.?

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have cut ties with Qatar, accusing their former Gulf Cooperation Council ally of supporting extremist groups.

Earlier, there were reports of Pakistan sending troops to Qatar after Turkeys decided to deploy troops in Qatar.

Pakistan has been in a fix as it enjoys good ties with both Doha and Riyadh. It so far has been staying neutral in the issue. PTI SH AJR

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By Press Trust of India: Mandsaur/Bhopal, Jun 11 (PTI) In ferment for the last several days, Madhya Pradeshs Mandsaur, the epicentre of a violent stir by farmers, remained peaceful today, prompting Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to end his indefinite fast.

Chouhan, who began the fast yesterday to calm frayed tempers of the farmers demanding a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce, announced a slew of schemes for their benefit but issued a stern warning to those who engaged in "incendiary activities".

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There was no curfew in all three police stations areas of Mandsaur city for the second day today, but prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of more than four people remained in force in the entire district.

Curfew will, however, continue in Pipliamandi police station area, about 15 km from Mandsaur district headquarters, where the killing of five farmers in police firing on June 6 led to sudden escalation of violence and arson that spread to several other districts of Madhya Pradesh.

"The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far," Collector OP Srivastava and SP Manoj Singh said.

Chouhan, under relentless opposition attack over the farmers stir, broke his fast about a day-and-half into it with a glass of coconut water offered by former MP chief minister Kailash Joshi.

"Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today," Chouhan said before ending his fast.

"In a state where agriculture has flourished, it is impossible that farmers would indulge in violence on such a scale. While any pain to farmers is unacceptable, those who have engaged in incendiary activities will be severely dealt with.

"Those whose properties have been damaged will be compensated, but it will be investigated who were behind this violence. I began this fast in accordance with Rashtra dharma (duty towards the nation) as in the name of farmers agitation some people created a situation that caused me worry," he said.

BJP leaders have been accusing the Congress party of having stoked the agitation.

On being asked whether he had agreed to the demand for loan waiver, Chouhan, however, avoided a direct reply, maintaining he had told the farmers what he had to say.

During his fast, Chouhan had met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 of big cultivators.

BJPs state unit president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan claimed the family members of those killed in Tuesdays police firing had yesterday met Chouhan and requested him to call off his fast. The kin of four out of five men killed in firing had met Chouhan at the fast venue.

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BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya claimed the farmers requested Chouhan to end his fast and even said they were ready to withdraw the agitation.

Before ending his 28-hour fast, Chouhan announced a slew of measures for the benefit of farmers and declared purchase of any farm produce below the minimum support price (MSP) will be treated as crime.

"Any purchase of farm produce below the MSP declared by the Centre would be considered a criminal act in MP," Chouhan told a gathering at BHELs Dussehra Maidan here, the venue of his fast. He said agricultural land would now be acquired only with the consent of farmers concerned.

He said Kisan Bazaar would be set up in all municipal areas and a cooperative institution on the lines of the Amul Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat will be set up across the state.

The chief minister said the government was in the process of setting up a Rs 1,000-crore Price Stabilisation Fund to purchase farm produce at the MSP.

Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure remunerative prices of farm produce.

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Meanwhile, Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and social activists Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh were today detained in Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam district while trying to enter neighbouring Mandsaur to meet the families of the five farmers killed in police firing.

The activists, around 30 in number, were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Jaora town as prohibitory orders were in force across Mandsaur district.

On being stopped, the activists, including JNU students union President Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives of various farmers organisations sat in protest on the Mhow- Neemuch highway, disrupting traffic. They were detained and later released.

After their detention, Yadav told reporters, "Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us."

"We wanted to meet the families of deceased farmers peacefully and honour them by giving them a letter and soil brought from different parts of the country but we were not allowed to go," he said.

Patkar said, "We are being told that if we go to Mandsaur, peace may get disturbed

. We are unable to understand how it will affect peace."

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"We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers family," she said. PTI HWP ADU DIP BSA DV SK SK

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Former US Attorney Preet Bharara revealed in an interview that he had received a few unusual phone calls from Donald Trump after the latter won the presidency in November last year. The Indian-American Bharara was fired by Trump in March this year.

By Reuters: Former US Attorney Preet Bharara revealed on Sunday that he received a handful of "unusual" phone calls from Donald Trump after the November election that made him feel uncomfortable, and said he was fired after declining to take the third call.

Speaking on ABC News' "This Week" in his first televised interview since Trump fired him in March as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Bharara said he believed Trump's calls to him violated the usual boundaries between the executive branch and independent criminal investigators.

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"It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president," Bharara said.

He added that during President Barack Obama's tenure, Obama never called him directly.

Bharara's comments came just a few days after former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey testified at a congressional panel that Trump had asked him to drop an investigation into former Trump aide Michael Flynn and his alleged ties to Russia.

Comey also said he believed he was subsequently fired in an effort to undermine the investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has denied allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia and said he never directed Comey to drop the Flynn probe.

A White House spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bharara said on Sunday that Trump called him twice after the November election "ostensibly just to shoot the breeze."

"It was a little bit uncomfortable, but he was not the president. He was only the president-elect," Bharara said.

The third call, however, came two days after Trump's inauguration. That time, he said, he refused to call back.

"The call came in. I got a message. We deliberated over it, thought it was inappropriate to return the call. And 22 hours later I was asked to resign along with 45 other people," he said.

Bharara stopped short of saying whether he thought Trump had obstructed justice in his conversations and subsequent firing of Comey.

However, he said he thought there was "absolutely evidence to begin a case" into the matter.

ALSO READ | Donald Trump fires FBI Director James Comey, triggering US political storm

ALSO WATCH | US pulls out of Paris Climate Accord; Trump says deal not tough on India, China

--- ENDS ---

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Crowned with a shock of crazy white hair, American TV scientist Julius Sumner Miller may have inspired a career that brought one of Canberra's most influential technologies to the world.

Dr Alex Zelinsky, co-founder of safety technology firm Seeing Machines, remembers watching the enigmatic professor on television and becoming intrigued about science.

Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky is now an officer of the Order of Australia. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Now chief scientist at the Defence Department and named an officer in the Order of Australia, the entrepreneur and innovator doesn't want his latest achievements to be the last things he's remembered for.

"I hope it doesn't mean I'm at the end," he laughed.
Westpac has rejected the corporate watchdog's claim it broke responsible lending laws in the mortgage market, saying the regulator has failed to prove that a group of loans it made were unsuitable for consumers.

In a landmark action, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in March alleged the bank acted irresponsibly because it did not adequately test whether borrowers could afford their loans.

Westpac says ASIC has not established that its sample of seven loans were unsuitable. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The claim, the first of its kind, cites a sample of seven customers who were given loans between 2011 and 2015, most of them interest-only mortgages.

It alleges the bank used a statistical benchmark to assess the borrowers' living expenses, instead of the actual expenses nominated by customers, which were significantly higher.
As prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had promised a reworked MSP for crops if NDA was voted to power. The Swaminathan Commission had made the same recommendation during UPA-I rule. Protesting farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are demanding exactly the same today.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Farmers of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are agitating with their demands for better price for their crops and a satisfactory loan waiver among several other things.

Interestingly, their demands are similar to what the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had promised as prime ministerial candidate in the run up to the last Lok Sabha elections.

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On April 15, 2014 as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had promised at a rally in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh that an NDA government would rework the minimum support price for crops with a margin for profit ensuring protection of input cost.

Narendra Modi had then said, "we will change the minimum support price. There will be a new formula - the entire cost of production and 50 per cent profit. It will not only help farmers but this step will also not allow anyone to loot farmers."

Modi repeated the promise a week later at Surendranagar, Gujarat - with a large number of cotton farmers in audience.

Narendra Modi said, "If BJP government is elected to power, I assure you that we will device a procedure for deciding MSPs of agriculture commodities. We will take into consideration expenditure made by farmers for seeds, irrigation water, electricity, farm equipment, medicines, fertilisers and other input cost. Then over the input cost we will add 50 per cent profit of farmers. So, if Rs 100 is the input cost, MSP will be Rs 150."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched DD Kisan channel in May, 2015. (Photo: PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched DD Kisan channel in May, 2015. (Photo: PTI)

Narendra Modi believed that the new formula "will not lead to situation where a farmer is forced to commit suicide." Now, farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are demanding the same. Besides, they have added a few more to the list.

HOW THE STORY OF PROTESTS BEGAN

A PTI report said that farmers were protesting in 162 districts of the country across nine states since June 1 over two principal demands of an MSP ensuring 50 per cent profit and farm loan waiver.

The genesis of protest can be traced to Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. On April 3 this year, a few farmers of Puntambe village gathered to discuss the agricultural problems that they face year after year.

They reached at a conclusion that the farm crisis is the combined result of low minimum support price and government's neglect of agriculture. The farmers proposed to strike. The Puntambe gram sabha passed a resolution for strike demanding remedies from the government.

Their demands included implementation of Swaminathan Commission's recommendations for long term solution and loan waiver for immediate relief. Swaminathan Commission recommended among other things an MSP ensuring 50 per cent profit on crops - what Narendra Modi promised as prime ministerial candidate.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister presenting a memento to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kisan Mahasammelan in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh in February, 2016. (Photo: PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister presenting a memento to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kisan Mahasammelan in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh in February, 2016. (Photo: PTI)

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The farmers of Puntambe might have been influenced by their brethren from Kuntamba village from same Ahmednagar district.

The farmers of Kuntamba village had launched a similar protest last year demanding implementation of Swaminathan Commission report. The other demands of the farmers included reforms in agriculture, construction of cold storages and agriculture malls - on the lines of shopping malls, pension for farmers over 60 years of age and withdrawal of cases against farmers registered for taking part in farm-related agitation.

HOW PROTEST SPREAD

As the Puntambe gram sabha passed the resolution, word spread through social media and word of mouth far and wide. Soon, over 2,500 panchayats extended support to Puntambe farmers.

The movement was gaining momentum. By the end of May, a smaller ally of the BJP - the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana led by Raju Shetti - came out in support of the farmers and announced an Atmaklesh Yatra.

Raju Shetti called this yatra his repentance for having sided with a government that has remained insensitive to the pains of farming class. The Atmaklesh Yatra did not find way to headlines but farmers were mobilised with this. At the end of the yatra, the farmers launched their protest in Maharashtra from June 1.

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Smaller groups of farmers from Madhya Pradesh were also in touch with the agitating farmers of Maharashtra through social media. A couple of days later, the Maharashtra government held talks with the representative of the protesting farmers - Jayaji Suryawanshi of Puntambe, who announced calling off the strike without consulting the other farmers on the conditions to end their agitation. The other farmers rebelled and declared that their agitation was leaderless and would continue till their demands are met.

Farmers threw vegetables on road during protest in Nagpur, Maharashtra early this month. (Photo: PTI)

Among the smaller groups of farmers communicating with the agitating farmers of Maharashtra was a bunch from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. They picked up the thread and intensified their protest. The protest turned violent and security forces - CRPF and police - resorted to firing causing six deaths. The farmers have given a call for state wide bandh in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh on June 12 and a rail roko campaign from June 13.

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WHAT SWAMINATHAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDED

The National Commission for Farmers (NCF) or Swaminathan Commission as it is better known was set up 2004 in the backdrop of farmers' protest in some parts of the country. Noted agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan headed the commission. The Swaminathan Commission submitted five reports making recommendations for 'faster and more inclusive' growth of farm and farmers. The final report was filed in 2006. It has been biting dust ever since.

The report prescribed a holistic and multi-pronged approach to address farm distress and solve the problems of farmers. According to analysis by PRS legislative research, the key recommendations included improvement in MSP, which should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.

Farmers pelted stones as they clash with the police during their agitation in Phanda near Bhopal last week. (Photo: PTI)

It also suggested providing affordable health insurance, revitalising primary healthcare centres and extending the National Rural Health Mission to suicide hotspot locations on priority basis.

It recommended setting up State level Farmers' Commission with representation of farmers for ensuring dynamic government response to farmers' problems and making provision of a social security net which includes old age support and health insurance. The farmers are demanding the same now. They expect that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fulfill the promises that he made as BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

Also read:

Shivraj Chouhan's fast enters Day 2, Scindia calls for satyagrah for farmers

MP farmers protests: Congress workers hurl eggs at Radha Mohan Singh's car in Bhubaneshwar

MP farmers' protests: Sitaram Yechury calls Shivraj Chouhan's fast 'tamasha'

WATCH | Chouhan continues fast for second day, Scindia says will sit on dharna

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A billionaire retail property legend, the chairman of one of the world's biggest miners, a manufacturing icon with heavy links to medical research and the man who makes the magic at Penfolds are among the business identities handed the highest honours this Queen's Birthday.

Retail property doyen John Gandel was one of several business leaders made a Companion in the Order of Australia.

John Gandel at the launch of Legoland at Chadstone Shopping Centre in 2016. Credit:Eddie Jim

Mr Gandel, who was ranked seventh of the Financial Review's Rich List with a wealth of about $6.1 billion, has built a business empire that includes Australia's biggest shopping centre - Chadstone in Melbourne's south-east.

He was recognised for his support of a range of arts and cultural institutions, youth education, medical and biotechnology innovation programs, contributions to business and to the advancement of philanthropic giving.
As European Union officials count the days before their annual vacation, Google's lawyers and lobbyists are hunkering down in Brussels, preparing for what may be a record EU antitrust fine.

A penalty in the shopping-search probe could come within weeks and many expect it to exceed a 1.06 billion ($1.58 billion) fine imposed on Intel in 2009.

The EU is concerned Google has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service.

That would be another show of strength by EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who slapped Apple with a 13 billion tax bill in August. Google is a top priority case for her as European politicians and publishers push for action against the online advertising giant.

"If there's going to be a fine, it has to be the biggest ever," said Stephen Kinsella, a lawyer at Sidley Austin who represents companies that have complained to the EU about Google. "The European Commission has strongly signalled that if there is going to be a fine it would need to be at a level that would have deterrent effect."
Chinese-controlled Yancoal is considering its response to the last-minute bid lodged at the weekend by Swiss-based Glencore to acquire Rio Tinto's NSW coal mines as it awaits Rio's decision on whether the rival offer is "superior".

If Glencore's $US2.55 billion ($3.4 billion) cash bid is successful, it could emerge as the dominant player in the Australian coal industry. Earlier in the year, Yancoal bid $US2.45 billion for the Rio mines.

Yancoal's bid for Rio's NSW coal assets is under threat Credit:Anthony Taylor

Yancoal officials were locked in meetings at the weekend and a formal statement is likely early in the week.

Glencore had sought to merge with Rio in 2014. It was rebuffed at that time but there has been ongoing speculation it would still pursue a deal with the Ango-Australian miner, despite the recovery in asset prices over the past 12 months or so.
Critics of Fairfax and the ABC might scorn Australia's liberal media for its alleged biases, but when it comes to investigative journalism The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald continue to outflank their competitors.

A week ago today, Fairfax and the ABC reported on Chinese "money-talks" influence over Australian politics, and in the process exposed a sewer of questionable behaviour.

Special Minister of State Scott Ryan: plans to introduce donations legislation to Parliament in spring. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The simple truth is that neither side of politics would be welcoming the sort of investigations that have exposed sleazy behaviour by the political class on all sides.

Maverick senator Cory Bernardi was not overstating things when he said in reference to the political donations scandal there was "something rotten in the state of Denmark".
A few weeks ago I left work for the last time with a heavy cardboard box and an even heavier heart. After 20 years, there was little doubt that the time had come to leave, but as I swiped my security card and stepped through the doors I felt the distinct pull of the abyss.

I mean, I was leaving behind everything I knew, including quite a few people I genuinely like, as well as three or four I call close friends (which would explain why my farewell party felt more like a wake).

Leaving a long-term job can feel like stepping into the abyss. Credit:Tribune

Despite knowing in some far-off reality that I'd made the right decision, in that moment  and over the course of the week that followed  I was at the mercy of raw, startling emotion.

No wonder they say that leaving a long-term job is up there with severing a romantic relationship. The similarities seemed all but indisputable, and, naturally, the more years we invest in the job, the harder we fall. In workplaces where we've managed to forge a number of deeper relationships that feeling of loss can be significant.
On Queen's Birthday weekend, Springwood's Adrian Connelly says he has discovered why Japan boasts the world's most enduring monarchy. "It took Britain just one day to have Edward VIII's declaration of abdication put into immediate effect by an act of parliament," he says. "The Herald reports (Saturday) that it has taken around 10 months for Emperor Akihito's desire to pack it in to be given the tick by their parliament, and still no word when it will actually take effect."

Further to Edith Crowne's question (C8, Friday) regarding why the pattern of squares for cryptic and quick crosswords are nearly always identical, Spencer Seaver, of Gordon, thinks he has filled in the blanks: "When doing the lower (easier) puzzle you put the answers in the upper (difficult) grid thereby giving the impression to an observer that you are doing the cryptic puzzle and are smarter than you really are. QED."

More news of untoward teenage behaviour at a 1971 UNSW Roundhouse production of the HSC play The Crucible containing a deathless line concerning a slight explosion. Wahroonga's Grahame Marr recalls escorting a co-ed class from Ashcroft High School, Green Valley, saying it was "not a common venture for these kids" to see live theatre in the eastern suburbs. "But it was not the fart line which caused a problem. There was a scene with the young Abigail lying on a bed. When the scene opened, the boys in the audience went crazy," he says. Marr hastens to add it was "not our kids", but says director Robin Lovejoy had to stop the play to admonish the young theatregoers.

Medowie's Rod Sullivan has a head of steam up over Newcastle East streets named Watt, Newcomen and Bolton to commemorate significant figures in the development of steam power. "Is Newcastle the only city to recognise these pioneers in this way?" he asks.

Getting more than you bargained for continued. Brian Pymont, Frenchs Forest, hopes Sue Threlfall returned her seventh crumpet from her packet of six and Edward Loong returned the second yolk of his double-yolker egg to the hen (C8, Saturday). "To do otherwise would be to trash our reputation for honesty and a fair go for all," he says. Meanwhile from Thailand, David Folkard says it is possible to buy double-yolkers in local markets. "How do they know what's inside?" He knows not.
It was a show that only the US capital can stage. Washingtonians skipped work and poured into taverns to watch en masse, live on screen, what The New York Times called "the latest instalment of a reality show known as the Trump presidency". At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, the atmosphere was more sombre for the testimony of FBI director James Comey on the circumstances of his sacking by Donald Trump. "I was fired because of the Russia investigation," he said. "That is a very big deal."

It's only a few months ago that Mr Comey was a demon to the Democrats, decried for going public in the last weeks of the presidential election campaign about the bureau's reopening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. Mr Trump lauded him for it but in a reality TV-type twist used it as initial justification for Mr Comey's sacking. Now Mr Comey is doing the Democrats' work for them. Here's something Mr Trump's hubris seems to blind him to: there are principled people within the non-partisan institutions of executive government who hold their allegiance to America's democratic legal principles higher than any personal, even self-interested regard for this or that president or political party.

Former FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Washington. Credit:AP

The institutions Mr Trump appears more comfortable with, and seeks to use to his advantage, are newer ones such as reality TV and Twitter. He managed to stay off the social media channel during Comey's testimony but his son Donald jnr ran live interference by asserting that when his father "'orders or tells' you to do something there is no ambiguity, you will know exactly what he means".

It's a pivotal point because it goes to the question of whether Mr Trump obstructed justice by sacking Mr Comey to halt the FBI investigation into whether members of Mr Trump's campaign colluded with Russian agents in an effort to influence the US election outcome. Mr Trump's appointee for national security advisor Michael Flynn had to resign after lying about his contacts with Russia. The next day Mr Trump called Mr Comey into the Oval Office and requested that he drop the FBI investigation into Mr Flynn.
Legendary corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald is challenging federal politicians to prove they truly are "honourable" members.

The former judge has teamed up with the Australian Institute think tank to survey MPs on their ethical values as part of a push to clean up Canberra and build momentum for a federal anti-corruption body.

Corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald is part of a push to clean up Canberra. Credit:Greg White

The Queensland QC  who presided over the Fitzgerald Inquiry that ultimately led to the resignation of the state premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen  has developed the questionnaire that asks MPs about their attitudes towards accountability, integrity, nepotism, deception and the spending of public money.

The major political parties are controlled by professional, "whatever-it-takes" politicians who are driven by self-interest and ideology, and addicted to vested interest funding, Mr Fitzgerald said.



"Politicians will find it impossible to regain public trust unless they behave like normal, honourable people: treat everyone equally, tell the truth, explain decisions, and act only in the public interest," he said.
The Turnbull government will keep secret the public's feedback on its proposed changes to the Australian citizenship test, in a marked departure from normal processes, as the controversial bill goes before Parliament this week.

The immigration department confirmed it will not publish submissions to the consultation process designed to inform the final version of its revamped citizenship regime  particularly the introduction of an Australian values test.

Open for the six weeks until June 1, the consultation was supposed to help the government define "Australian values" and to word a new pledge of allegiance to Australia. "We are looking for views," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in April.

But the department will not air those views publicly, citing confidentiality, nor confirm the volume of feedback received. "Submissions were provided in confidence and were not for publication by the department," a spokesperson said in a statement.
After attending an Iftar party, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said that there was no mention of any Muslim religious head eating beef in Quran and even Prophet Mohammad condemned it.

RSS leader said that there is no mention of any Muslim religious head consuming beef in the Quran. Photo: PTI

By Press Trust of India: Questioning the practice of consumption of cow meat among Muslims, RSS leader Indresh Kumar has claimed that even Prophet Muhammad had said that consumption of beef is wrong.

After attending an Iftaar party organised by the RSS' Muslim Rashtriya Manch at Kalyan in the district last evening, Kumar said the system of triple talaq is a "great sin as per the Quran and Islam".

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"The Prophet had said that eating beef is wrong. In the Quran also there is no mention of any Muslim religious head consuming beef...I feel that members of Muslim community should decide what is wrong and what is right," the RSS leader said.

Stating that triple talaq is not part of Islam, he said, "this practice is an injustice to women. It should be stopped". Referring to the current situation in LoC, Kumar said Pakistan had an old habit of playing mischief in India".

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Why are Catholic schools so angry?

The Catholic sector  which educates 20 per cent of the country's school children  has the been the loudest opponent of the government's proposals. Funding for Catholic systemic schools is forecast to grow by 3.5 per cent a year over the next decade  less than public schools (5.1 per cent a year) and private schools (4.1 per cent).

Firstly, the Catholic sector is peeved about the process adopted by the government. It felt blindsided by the changes when they were announced and resents its historical funding arrangements being described as a "special deal". It is also incensed the government has published the federal funding allocation for each school in the country on a new website. It says this will make it harder to redistribute money between its schools and keep fees low across the country.

Secondly, there is bad news for the Catholics in the new model. Non-government school systems can currently access a generous funding formula known as the "student-weighted average". This funds systemic schools based on the average socio-economic status of all the schools in a given state and territory. Under the government's model, funding would be calculated according to the SES of each individual school. This may sound like a dry, technical distinction but it adds up to big dollars: hundreds of millions less over the forward estimates.

In total, the National Catholic Education Commission estimates 617 of its schools  40 per cent of the Catholic sector  will be worse off under the new model.
Schapelle Corby has labelled media reports on Sunday morning claiming she has struck a deal with Britain's Celebrity Big Brother as "false news".

Corby told her 190,000 followers on Instagram: "Not true. First I've heard of it" inserting a quizzical/disbelieving emoji symbol and labelling the News Corp story "False News".

The News Corp "exclusive" quoted unnamed sources which claimed the production company Endemol Shine International had inked a deal with the convicted drug smuggler.

According to the reports, Corby had already applied for a network-sponsored working visa.
These days, Collette Dinnigan is just as likely to be poring over samples of wood as she is the fine French lace for which she earned her name in Australian fashion.

Dinnigan, 51, is having something of a second career in interiors since restructuring her fashion business four years ago to spend more time with her young family.

Collette Dinnigan: 'Who knows maybe in the future ... I might go back to something that involves clothing ... but right now I don't think it's where I should be.' Credit:Janie Barrett

"I am working on other projects. I am so busy ... and learning quite a lot with timber and different mediums. Who knows maybe in the future ... I might go back to something that involves clothing ... but right now I don't think it's where I should be.

"It's not something I took lightly and I'm not about to just jump back into it again."
Liz Broderick has encouraged more female nominees. Credit:Louise Kennerley Secretary? Mark Fraser. Official secretary to the Governor-General. Ex-officio representatives? Senator George Brandis. Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin. Illustration: Ron Tandberg. All decent people but from worlds dominated by men. The military. The Liberal Party. None famous for equality. How is it possible to reshape this reflection of Australian spirit if all you see reflected is the people with whom you grew up, with whom you went to school; and now work alongside?

So that's one problem  unconscious bias. And too few women within the council to shake the bias to its core. Second problem? The nomination system moves at glacial place, when what we really need is some fast-tracking to break the ice. A senior male science academic emailed me earlier this year. He nominated a brilliant woman in April 2016. She was the first female professor in her male-dominated field. She was head of school for more than a decade, led a renewal of her field in Australia, has been a lambent force for change across teaching, research and administration. For 12 months he didn't hear a thing, so he got busy. He rang all the referees he'd lined up. They still haven't heard anything. Ruth McGowan, one of the co-founders of support network and movement for change Honour A Woman, is desperate. She knows that just eight weeks into the establishment of the group it's unrealistic to imagine there can be instant transformation.

"We've been in the ring for 83 rounds and it shows just how stubborn those numbers are ... we are rusted on at less than a third," she says. She too believes there needs to be change at the council: "We can't keep saying, 'c'mon community, fix this'." In September 1990, Senator Margaret Reynolds (former minister assisting the PM for the status of women) issued a report titled Women and the Order of Australia. Her view was that women are not under-represented on the basis of nominations received, but that women are not being nominated in equal numbers to men. She urged women's organisations to alert their members to the nomination process in an effort to increase the rate of nominations for women.

In 1992, the Lavarch parliamentary committee conducted an Inquiry into Equal Opportunity and Equal Status for Australian Women. Its report, Halfway to Equal, made two recommendations relating to women and the honours system: a fully funded public awareness campaign, and that the honours secretariat investigate "making the process more accessible to the public to ensure that the contribution of women, particularly in the voluntary sector, is recognised and nominations are made". We've known for years that there's a problem. More than 20 years ago, in 1995, Clare Petre wrote A matter of honour: the report of the Review of Australian Honours and Awards. It made detailed recommendations about how to even up the numbers. In a stroke of genius, it recommended a group award of the Order of Australia (because many people, particularly Indigenous people), work in teams. And recommendation 36: "We recommend that inequities in awards outcomes be addressed through raising awareness of award imbalances, among system administrators and award decision makers, and through changes to award processes." Honour A Woman is doing the best it can to increase awareness and run workshops. And this year Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove called for Australians to use International Woman's Day, March 8, as a day to nominate women for the awards.

But that's not enough. The council must change its ways. Rhian Richardson, the board diversity manager for the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has some suggestions. As the person who heads the programs to transform ASX 200 companies from homogeneous to heterogeneous, she's also had some considerable success. In 2009, women made up just 8.3 per cent of boards of ASX 200 companies. With the guidance of a team now led by Richardson, it's 25.4 per cent. That's an achievable rate of change. Richardson says all the data must be as transparent as possible. In the case of the ASX 200, it's about which boards didn't have any women at all. No more aggregation of data, just the cold hard figures on the page. And she says that if boards don't start meeting targets of 30 per cent, there will have to be quotas. "If they can't achieve that as a collective by the end of 2018, we will have to reassess quotas and that's when the government will have to look at it."
Children as young as 10 are choosing a career path based on factors such as their achievement in NAPLAN tests and gender, according to a new study that has major implications for primary school educators.

Students with high NAPLAN scores are more likely to show interest in science, law, engineering, architecture, social work and arts, and children who think their academic performance is above average are more likely to choose medicine, the study of 6492 students from years 3 to 12 across 64 NSW public schools has found.

Students with high NAPLAN scores are more likely to show interest in science, law, engineering, architecture, social work and arts early on. Credit:Louie Douvis

One of the study's authors, Professor Jenny Gore, who is director of the University of Newcastle's teachers and teaching research centre, said the way primary school tests are handled could have long-term impacts on students' aspirations.

"I think we have to be careful in schools not to too quickly label children as low achieving, because kids develop early ideas of their own abilities," Professor Gore said.
The state government will spend tens of millions of dollars on a new Supermax high-security unit at Goulburn jail in a bid to prevent those convicted of terrorism from spreading extreme views, even though Corrections' own figures show only about five inmates had been radicalised over the past decade.

And Australian National University criminologist Clarke Jones said the total isolation of inmates in the so-called Supermax II would be counterproductive because it would remove any chance of rehabilitation, especially for young prisoners. It would also foster a belief in certain communities that the world was against them.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at Silverwater jail in western Sydney on Sunday. Credit:Nick Moir

"The outcomes will be worse. And even from an economic standpoint, it doesn't make any sense," he said. "I think it is a dangerous path."

Dr Jones, a counter-terrorism expert, said the likelihood of radicalisation spreading within jails was very low because those convicted of terrorism were at the bottom of the inmate-imposed pecking order and, if they needed to be separated, it was often to protect them from the rest of the prison population.
A Toowoomba father has cried down the phone to his daughter, after he and his 12-year-old son were carjacked at a service station west of Brisbane on Sunday morning.

One of the alleged bandits was brought to a stop using tyre stingers about 12 hours later and close to 150 kilometres away but the other remained on the run.

Shane Gundry, 55, and his son, Treye, were at a service station on the Warrego Highway at Helidon about 10.20am, when two men allegedly threatened them with a chisel.

Police initially received reports indicating a gun had been used, however it was now understood a chisel was used.
An elderly woman has been knocked to the ground and spat on inside her own home in Brisbane's east on Saturday afternoon, with another man living at the house also assaulted.

A man and woman, known to the victims, have been charged after the violent home invasion in Murarrie.

Police said all four people involved were known to each other. Credit:Rob Gunstone

Police said about 2.20pm the alleged offenders entered the Northcliffe Street residence claiming they were being chased.

When the residents asked them to leave, police say the female offender pushed the older woman over and spat on her while the male offender then repeatedly assaulted the 50-year-old man.
The Queensland Police Service is reviewing whether officers have the right skills to deal with the increasingly complex terrorism threat.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the review would look at whether the QPS structure was suitable and whether police had the skills to deal with terrorism.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said a review was looking at whether officers had the right skills to deal with terrorism. Credit:Glenn Hunt

"We'll be looking at not just the Lindt review report but what's happened in Victoria just in the last week or so, all of that and internationally, we reach out to our international partners to look at what's occurring there because terrorism is borderless," he said.

"The only reason that I think I need a formal review at this moment around terrorism is because it's becoming so important to us as part of the national environment that we're all facing right now and I just want to make sure that we're up with world best."
The case has been brought by Elisabeth Higgins, a former Thermomix in Australia consultant, who claims her business was taken away without compensation. The ACCC alleges that Thermomix misled customers about their consumer guarantee rights. Credit:Kristoffer Paulsen Higgins joined Thermomix in Australia in 2007 and become a group leader in 2008, which enabled her to manage other consultants and earn a commission from their sales. Higgins claims a boundary change to the geographic area she managed was made without her agreement and resulted in consultants being transferred away from her leadership before she was dumped from the role in 2014. Grace Mazur at the Thermomix office in Western Australia. Credit:Tony McDonough

In 2014 Higgins claims she led a team of 13 consultants and expected to earn $60,617.16 from the consultants. Mazur says as the case is before the courts she cannot comment on it. Grace Mazur and her daughter Bianca Mazur. People might say it's a cult but it's really people wanting to share their experience about how it's changed their lives and how they've moved from fast food to cooking fresh food. Grace Mazur, founder and owner of Thermomix in Australia. "We go through stages and this is one of the challenges that has come up," she says. "With over 3000 consultants we haven't had any other experiences like that. [Higgins] was a consultant from the early days and as we got more and more consultants there are no boundaries for selling. You can sell Thermomixes wherever you go."

Mazur says Thermomix's consultants are contractors rather than employees. "Some are full time and do a lot of hours because that is what they are looking for and some are working part-time and the income is a supplement," she says. "The consultants are independent business people, we cannot control them and we don't want to control them." Higgins says as a group leader she was looking after a team of consultants in a defined geographical area.



"Over time Thermomix reduced the boundaries of my geographical area without consultation with me though the contract I signed stipulates to do so," she claims. "The business I have built up for Thermomix was taken away from me without compensation." Challenges

The litigation is not the first challenge Mazur has faced running Thermomix in Australia with widespread consumer backlash after the new Thermomix TM5 model was released in 2014 without prior warning. Customers who had purchased the old model for only $50 less days beforehand were outraged and demanded their money back and advocacy group Choice awarded Thermomix a "shonky" award for its behaviour. Mazur says the lack of communication is a failure the business has learnt from and it is being proactive in publicising its latest product testing of a new Wi-Fi-enabled Thermomix product the Cook-Key. "We are communicating ahead of time so all customers are aware of it," she says. Even more damaging was an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation last year after some customers suffered second degree burns when their machines exploded at high speed.

Again, Mazur says this was an opportunity to learn. "You experience different challenges in the growth phase and in later phases," she says. "You learn from every experience as you move through it." Bringing Thermomix to Australia Mazur, 56, has built her business on a chance discovery after the mother and mining consultant first came across Thermomix during a holiday to Poland 17 years ago. "I went back for a holiday and caught up with a friend from high school and while we were having coffee the kids cooked up a storm and we had a three-course meal," she says. "I ended up having a demonstration back then so I made sure I knew how to use it and I brought it back to Australia. Working full time I was running my own business in the mining industry and I could see how much time it saved me so I wanted to make sure everyone could have the same experience."

With no experience in the industry Mazur negotiated with Thermomix's German owner, Vorwerk, for the exclusive rights to distribute the product in Australia. Negotiations took almost a year and Mazur and her husband Witek ploughed in $80,000 of their savings to found Thermomix in Australia in 2001. "[Vorwerk] had average experiences in English speaking markets, they had tried in Australia once before and in the United Kingdom and America and it didn't work out," she says. "The geography and travel is very challenging in Australia. My first goal was to break even and we were reinvesting all the time." Thermomix in Australia now employs over 100 staff but it is still essentially a family business with Mazur's 34-year-old daughter, Bianca, heading up the New Zealand arm of the business. "I've been involved from day dot when Mum bought the Thermomix home," Bianca says. "I've learnt a lot from Mum building the business from scratch. It's a different dynamic in a family business, we communicate in a different way. Now we have a lot of consultants who are mothers and daughters working together as well."

Competitors Thermomix now faces an increasing number of competitors including the Bellini and Tefal Cuisine Companion, but Mazur says Thermomix's dominance is not under threat. "It's good for the market because it creates more awareness," Mazur says. "Thermomix is the market leader it has been doing the product since the 70s so they are really ahead of the pack." Mazur is confident Thermomix will continue to grow. "Everywhere I go and meet people there is a big passion for Thermomix and everyone has a story for how it has changed their lives," she says. "People might say it's a cult but it's really people wanting to share their experience about how it's changed their lives and how they've moved from fast food to cooking fresh food."
Farmers in Punjab have decided to organise state-level protests today to express solidarity with Mandsaur farmers.

By Manjeet Sehgal: The fire of discontent which engulfed Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur has now reached Punjab, where farmers have decided to organise state-level protests today to express solidarity with the Mandsaur farmers.

The protests will be organised between 11 AM to 4 PM outside district collectorates.

Farmers will raise the issue of loan waivers, which the ruling Congress promised them in its election manifesto. They'll submit memorandums demanding the registration of criminal cases against the police officials involved in the Mandsaur firing.

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In the last three months, more than 50 farmers have committed suicide in Punjab. The state government hasn't announced any compensation for the affected families, citing empty coffers.

LOAN WAIVER NOT LIKELY TO FIND A PLACE IN BUDGET

Punjab's farmers aren't likely to get any assurance in the maiden budget which the Amarinder Singh government will present on June 20. That's because an expert panel headed by NITI Aayog advisor Dr T Haque - which was earlier asked to submit its report within two months - has now sought more time.

There are 20 lakh crop loan accounts in the state, and nearly 60 percent of crop loans were advanced to marginal farmers, whose holding size is less than five acres.

While 8.15 lakh loan accounts belong to small farmers, 5.71 lakh accounts are owned by marginal farmers. The remaining accounts belong to other farmers.

"We are committed to waive off the farmer's debts and action will be taken when the panel submits its report," Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said.

Sources close to the government say the plan to bail out the state's farmers may not materialise soon, as the state government's treasuries are empty. Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but hasn't got any assurance in this regard.

FARMERS THREATEN TO INTENSIFY STIR

Farmer leaders have threatened to step-up the offensive against the state government if it fails to compensate farmers.

While a section of farmer unions will go on a day long protest on Monday, others have planned protests on June 16.

The farmer leaders have said that the state and central governments should not view the Mandsaur incidents in isolation, as the farming community in general is stressed and angered.

"Farming is no more a profitable business. We have tried to diversify but what we got in return is just an eyewash or failure. We grew potatoes which were sold at Rs 1 a kg, we were compelled to wait for six months for the sugarcane payments. The state government still owes Rs 200 crore to the sugarcane farmers. The cotton, rice ,carrot or corn crops also failed to bring respite. We want to remind the state government of its promise which it made during the elections. If it failed to keep its promise we will be forced to resort to block the roads and it will difficult for the state government to douse the fire of discontment," said Mehar Singh Theri, the President of Bhartiya Kisan Union, Aktia Sidhupur.

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FARMERS WANT IMPLEMENTATION OF MS SWAMINATHAN REPORT

Farmer leaders say that waiving off crop loans can only bring temporary relief, and that the farmers will continue to raise loans till their income is increased.

They want the Centre to implement the National Commission on Farmers report, which has promised a substantial increase in Market Support Price.

Besides the implementation of the Swaminathan report, Punjab's farmers have also sought compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each family whose members committed suicide after failing to pay back loans.

The farmers have also said the state government should also do away with the blank cheque requirements for the loans, which bankers use to harass farmers.

In neighbouring Haryana, too, the farming community is highly stressed and the situation is tense. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that the BJP government has retracted on the issue of the Swaminathan Commission report, which it used during the elections to woo voters.

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Hooda has called a meeting of farmer organisations on June 13 in New Delhi, to chalk out a strategy to step up the offensive against the state and central governments.

ALSO READ | Despite PM Narendra Modi's reform measures, why farmers are angry

ALSO READ | Maharashtra waives off loans of small farmers; conditions apply for others

ALSO WATCH | Maharashtra govt waives off farmers loans; Fadnavis to meet PM for implementation Swaminathan panel report

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A pair of dark blue jeans, a brown belt and a pair of Kustom-brand runners are the clues police hope will identify a mystery man found unconscious in south-east Melbourne on Saturday morning.

More than 24 hours later, police are still no closer to identifying the man, who was found in Karkarook Park, Heatherton.

Items of clothing the man found in Karkarook Park was wearing.

Aged about 40, he is 180 centimetres tall with short brown hair, a reddish brown moustache and blue eyes. He was also wearing a tie-dye T-shirt.

Police were called to the area just before 9am on Saturday after a member of the public who came across the man alerted emergency services.
When Robert Doyle left the Victorian Parliament more than a decade ago, there was an expectation his political career was over and a path into a high-earning consulting role lay ahead.

Little did Melbourne know that Doyle's 14 years as the member for Malvern, including four years as opposition leader, was just the first act in a triumphant political career.

In his first lord mayoral campaign in 2008, the former English teacher promised to do many of the things one might expect from a conservative candidate, famously pledging to overturn the ban on cars on Swanston Street.

But Melbourne's longest-serving lord mayor has emerged as sensible decision-maker, more likely to be driven by the sober research of council officers than the outrage of radio talk-back hosts (though the latter seem to like him too).
Three teenagers have been taken to hospital and another is missing after a high-speed car accident in Melbourne's north.

Police attempted to intercept the vehicle, believed to be stolen, on Cooper Street, Epping, at about 2am on Monday when the driver reportedly sped off at speeds exceeding 150km/h.

The car then crashed into a pole before mounting a median strip, crossing three lanes of traffic and smashing into a tree.

One of the occupants fled the scene and remains on the run while the three others were trapped for some time.
The WA Police Union's call for stab-proof vests and more assault rifles has been rejected, with the minister and force saying equipment is proportionate to the current terror threat level in the state.

WA Police said training and force options provided to frontline officers and those in specialist areas such as the Tactical Response Group were proportionate to the threat level.

The WA police union has called for stab proof vests for officers to no avail. Credit:Paul Rovere

"At this time, there are no plans to increase the number of AR-15 rifles issued to officers or to introduce stab-proof vests," WA Police said in an emailed statement.

"We monitor how other police agencies are responding and equipping their officers and make modifications to our approach and accoutrements where necessary."
London: Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday there had been no change to plans for US President Donald Trump's to come to Britain on a state visit, after the Guardian newspaper reported the trip had been postponed.

The paper, citing an unnamed adviser at May's Downing Street office who was in the room at the time, reported Trump had told May by telephone in recent weeks that he did not want to come if there were likely to be large-scale protests.

"We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations," a spokeswoman for May's office said. "The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

The White House had no immediate comment on the report.
Other key roles were also filled by anti-immigrant firebrands, pushing aside the more moderate populists that controlled the party, one of the three that make up Finland's ruling coalition. The development sent shock waves through the alliance, with Prime Minister Juha Sipila calling a meeting for Monday to discuss the Cabinet's future.

The election of hard-liner Jussi Halla-aho as the new chairman on Saturday was only the tip of the iceberg as a coup within The Finns party wiped out the 20-year legacy of Foreign Minister Timo Soini.

Jussi Halla-aho Credit:Wikipedia

Halla-aho, in a speech Sunday, opened up the party for closer cooperation with other European nationalists movements such as France's National Front and the Sweden Democrats. Support for the group has almost halved in the polls as it lost backing from its grass roots after joining the government forced it to compromise on immigration and other key issues.

A member of the European Parliament, Halla-aho was fined in 2012 for making anti-Muslim statements on his blog. The party's new deputy chairwoman, Laura Huhtasaari, 38, says Finland needs to quit the European Union and embrace trade protectionism. She has spoken against gay marriage and has publicly questioned the theory of evolution. Halla-aho supporters Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola also won top posts.

But the Finns leader rejected criticism that the party was hijacked, saying his election was a reflection of the will of its members. "It would in any case have elected a chairman critical of immigration and the EU because other kinds of candidates were not up for election," he said in an address to the party on Sunday.

The shift to the right is likely to be hard to embrace for the Centre and National Coalition parties that form most of the governing coalition. If the Cabinet collapses, they would probably try to form a new government with one or several opposition parties, which would likely mean major concessions. The prime minister ruled out snap elections.
Benghazi: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been released after more than five years in detention, his militia captors say.

The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Brigade said Saif al-Islam was released on Friday, but gave no details on his whereabouts.

The release was a direct challenge to the extradition efforts by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has said Gaddafi should stand trial on war crimes charges at The Hague. He was convicted of such charges in 2015 by a Libyan court in the country's capital, Tripoli.

At one point an Australian lawyer sent to act on his behalf by the ICC was also detained by rebels.
Bangkok: Philippine armed forces have vowed to liberate the besieged southern city of Marawi on Monday, the country's Independence Day, despite fierce ongoing battles with Islamist extremists.

Armed forces spokesman Restituto Padilla told reporters that troops hope on Monday to "freely wave our flags in every corner of Marawi and we are working feverishly to do that".

But two previous deadlines to retake the city 830 kilometres south of Manila have passed as Philippine troops struggled in the urban battlefield of the country's largest predominantly Muslim city, where the militants have been using hostages and hundreds of trapped residents as human shields.

More than 200 people have been killed, including 58 soldiers and police, since the siege began on May 23 in what has emerged to be a bold, well-planned attempt to establish an Islamist stronghold in South-east Asia.
Moscow: Russia has told the United States it is unacceptable for Washington to strike pro-government forces in Syria after the US military carried out an air strike on pro-Assad militia last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the message to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Saturday initiated by the US side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The announcement came as Syrian state television claimed that a government air strike had killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Such claims have been made in the past but are difficult to verify.

US officials said last month that the US military carried out the air strike against militia supported by the government of President Bashar al-Assad which it said posed a threat to US forces and US-backed Syrian fighters in the country's south.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will attend the partys Karnataka state committee meeting in Bengaluru tomorrow to frame strategy for the Assembly polls.

He will release the National Heralds commemorative publication -- India at a Crossroads: 70 years of Independence.

Later in the day, he will meet senior Congress leaders and attend the extended general body meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee.

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The state will go to polls early next year. PTI SKC SMN

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Ever since they were forcibly returned by Australia to Vietnam two years ago, mother-of-four Tran Thi Thanh Loan and mother-of-three Tran Thi Lua have lived in constant fear of a harsh jail sentence.

They did not know whether Indonesia  where they applied for recognition as refugees earlier this year  would follow Australia's example and return them too.

The three youngest children of Tran Thi Thanh Loan and Tran Thi Lua play in the detention centre in Kuningan, South Jakarta. Credit:Shira Sebban

Now, however, the two mothers can breathe a little easier: officials from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees have visited the group of 18 Vietnamese asylum seekers, including 12 children, currently in detention in Jakarta to tell them they have been granted refugee status.

Loan and Lua had been facing lengthy prison terms in Vietnam for helping to organise "illegal" departures to Australia on family-owned fishing boats in 2015.
Travel Policy not respected --- Financial Auditor Intimidated during a board meeting on Saturday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- For the second time in a row members of the Supervisory Board of GEBE almost throw fist punches at each other when certain board members posed questions about policies that GEBE has but are not being implemented.

At least one of the policy that is put aside is the travel policy and the abuse by certain members of the Supervisory Board and management board of the company.

According to information reaching SMN News is that one member of the board questioned why GEBE travel policy is not respected especially since the CEO of GEBE traveled to Aruba recently for personal matters, yet he met with key persons in Aruba to discuss solar energy. The source said when the question was posed at the board meeting the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Roy Marlin got extremely agitated and began a verbal attack towards Daniel and the board member that posed the question citing the board member is beginning to ask political questions. Some board members who felt the attack was unjustified told SMN News that the Chairman of the Board continues to micromanage the company and seemingly the Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel is sitting with his hands folded as all of the alleged illegalities takes place.

On Saturday, June 10th 2017, GEBE held another Supervisory Board meeting where the Financial Auditor Sharine Daniel was invited to attend, Daniel was asked to give the Supervisory Board an elucidation on the travel policy and the policy to re-hire persons that were terminated from the company, whether it was done via a settlement or other legal procedures to terminate the services of any employee of the company.

SMN News learned that Daniel was not given the opportunity to explain the policy to the board members that were eager to know what the policy entails, especially since the chairman of GEBE Supervisory Board Roy Marlin is putting some unnecessary pressure on the management board to re-hire his cousin Steve Duzanzon.

According to the information provided to SMN News on Saturday, the Chairman of GEBE board interrupted Daniel several times and even stood up in the meeting to lecture Daniel. The sources say that other board members kept telling the Chairman of GEBE Supervisory Board that they want to know what the policies entail and that he should stop interrupting Daniel from giving the board the much-needed information they need.

Last week an email sent to the management board by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board regarding the re-hiring of Steven Duzanzon sparked quite some furry. In that email. Roy Marlin made clear that Duzanzon is his relative but he is not asking the management board for any favors. He stated that Duzanzon is an asset to the company and GEBE management board should reconsider him, in the same email, Marliin said Duzanzon have been calling him at least 3 times per week while he is also trying to get hold of the management board by phone and they are not taking his phone calls.

The email which was published on SMN News sparked Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel who was also attacked in the email to dispatch an email to Marlin informing him that he also wants him to re-hire Ray Carty. It should be noted that GEBE fired Carty when they obtained video footage of Carty removing copper from the power plant. Further investigation shows that Carty was complying with the instructions given to him by the former Chief Operations Officer Romelio Maduro.

It is clear that there are fireworks within GEBE as the chairman of the supervisory board is accused of micromanaging.

A member of the management board told SMN News that they had a meeting with the Minister of VSA on Friday regarding drinking water, and water distribution and while this meeting had to be with members of the management board and some key employees, the chairman of the Supervisory Board was also present at that meeting.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Gendarmes on the French Side of the island and KPSM assisted by the Customs Department continue to carry out general joint controls as promised using the articles mentioned in Treaty of Concordia as a basis. These controls are held with the focus on combating crime on either side of the island in general and mainly armed robberies.

On Friday, June 9th between 06.00 a.m. and 09.00 a.m. joint controls were held simultaneously by both law enforcement organizations at all border crossings. Both organizations provided each other with the necessary support in regard to the citizens from the respective side of the island.

A total of 25 vehicles were controlled, 02 vehicles were towed and 6 fines were given to drivers that were in violation with the traffic laws. This was a very successful control and other controls are scheduled to be held in the near future.

KPSM Press Release
PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten Lions Club installed their new President and Board at the Divi Little Bay Resort on the 100th Anniversary of Lions Club International. The incoming President for 2017-2018 is Lion Alison Busby. The rest of Board of Directors are comprised of Immediate Past President Lion Davey Woods MJF, 1st Vice President is Lion Christl Larmonie, 2nd Vice President Carmen Lake, Secretary Lion Oralie Boirard, Treasurer Lion Claudio Buncamper MJF, 1-Year Director Lion Jennifer Johnson, 2-Year Director Wanuki Holiday and Membership Director Lion Eldert Louisa MJF. Non-Board Positions that were also installed at the ceremony were Lion Michael van Grieken as Tamer and Lion Claudius Buncamper PMJF as Tail Twister.

The outgoing President Lion Davey mentioned his long list accomplishments to the crowd of Lions, partners in service and families at the dinner which was also attended by Honorable Minister of Justice Mr. Rafael Boasman, who is also a long serving Lions member.

Minister Boasman gave a speech about how proud he felt being a Lion, congratulated the club on its many achievements and gave a toast to Lions Club International, District 60B, and the St. Maarten Lions Club. Zone 2B Chairlady Lion Ernie Hodge-Carty from Anguilla also attended the event along with the President and members of the three French Lions Clubs, Lions Club Oualichi, Doyene and Fort Louis.

Club President Lion Davey Woods stated, It was a pleasure to serve as President of such prestigious Lions Club while also serving the St. Maarten community. I received great support from my board and general membership. Apart from the Signature Project, we have accomplished everything else that I have set out to do from the start of the year and much more.

Incoming President Lion Alison said, My focus will be on our young people on St.Maarten especially with drug and alcohol abuse and we will be going back into the various communities to see where help is needed. The St. Maarten Lions Club wants to serve its communities and by going into those communities it can get a good assessment of what the community needs are.

The night was capped off with the outgoing President giving out various plaques to deserving members of the club while various speeches were given concerning the 100th-anniversary celebration followed by a buffet dinner.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher recently held what she termed extremely fruitful follow-up discussions with officials of JetBlue airline to secure a new Fort Lauderdale-St. Maarten route. Initial discussions started earlier this year and the Minister used the opportunity to bring the flight closer to reality during her visit to New York last week to attend Caribbean Week hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

JetBlue officials told the Minister that they have completed their market research on the route and recognizes its enormous potential. The target date to kick off the service is towards the end of this year, but this could possibly stretch into 2018. The decision about the route will come in the next few weeks.

The discussions in New York were extensive and touched on various issues including St. Maartens hotel inventory, incentives towards the airline, JetBlue Vacations, the number of times a week for the scheduled flight ect.

We are working diligently to secure more airlift for St. Maarten to key markets and destinations. JetBlue SXM-Fort Lauderdale is route we have always targeted and will compliment some other initiatives we are working on. The discussions were very positive and we look forward to finalizing very soon, the Minister said.

Fort Lauderdale represents about 15% of JetBlues capacity, its the largest airline at that airport. The airline recently said that even though competition may be rising, JetBlue sees South Florida as a large underserved market with more expansion capabilities. JetBlue plans to continue to grow thoughtfully in the market, the airline said.

JetBlue also plans to roll out its Mint service (similar to first class) at Fort Lauderdale later this year. In other markets, the introduction of Mint service has led to improved profitability. Mint service was also discussed with the Minister in New York.

The Minister was joined in New York by members of her Cabinet, Head of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Rolando Brison and St. Maartens marketing firm for the US, MMGY Global/Spring OBrien, whose representatives attended the meeting to familiarize themselves with the initiatives/wishes of St. Maarten and JetBlue.
Bridgetown Barbados:--- Caribbean Cyber Security Center.

The penetration of internet access in the Caribbean region has undoubtedly paved the way for greater access to the information superhighway and the benefits of competing on the global stage. However, with this access comes great responsibility and risk and we will soon learn that ignorance is no excuse and what we dont know can and will hurt us.

Pretending that the Caribbean is immune from the impact of cyber threats and cyber crime should be quickly eroded from our minds when we see recently that banks in the region are reissuing credit cards because of data breaches, regional websites being hacked by Isis, the recent spike in extortion based cyber crime, and the infamous WannaCry attack. If we look back as far as back as the last quarter of 2012 and first quarter of 2013 we have seen rapid growth in the reported attacks in the Caribbean and its beginning to get a little closer to our pockets. The internet is like the wild-west, any and every type of company is being hacked these days and regional businesses will not be spared.

Did you know that Cybercrime has become the primary motivation behind cyber-attacks in the Caribbean? Did you know that a cyber-attack resulting in two days of downtime and data breach could cost a company more than US$50,000 in losses? Of course we all you know that the islands economies are heavily dependent on tourism and by extension, the inability to do business will have grave impacts on our financial services sectors and our fragile economies.

As parents and guardians have we stopped and considered what our kids are doing on the social media sites. Do we know that fraudsters and pedophiles target social media sites to exploit our children? Did you know revealing information on where we live, where mum and dad work and when we travel can all be used by criminals against us and our children? Do you know there are reports of children being abducted in the Caribbean by persons they meet on social media sites? Simply posting that we are on vacation in Miami with the whole family on our social media profile tells everyone that our home may be unattended.

As business leaders do we know that insurance companies and auditors will soon demand proof that you have done all that is necessary to protect your companys data assets so that cyber-related claims can be settled. Do we know that our local IT staff faces the same threats as the

IT staff for the CIA or a fortune 500 company that trades on NYSE? Did you just buy a $10,000 firewall or some device on the advice of the vendor that you will be safe? Well, guess again devices alone cant keep us safe.

The protection of Caribbean Information and Communication Infrastructures is one of the most serious public safety, economic and national security challenges facing our region. In response, the Caribbean Cyber Security Center was established to improve awareness of the threats and to assist in making the right investments in people, policies, processes, and technology to protect our region and its people from the harms of Cybercrime. If we continue to pretend that we will never become a victim because the Caribbean is too small we will soon come face to face with the cliche what we dont know can hurt us after we have been compromised and have suffered a great loss.

Mr. Deon Olton is a UWI graduate and Certified IT Security practitioner. organizationspert in cyber security, having assisted multiple organisations to improve their security posture, written extensive articles for popular publications, written annual cyber security predictions for the region and appeared as a guest on tv and radio interviews. Mr. Oltons experience in telecoms, ICT and Cyber Security has allowed him to perform multiple roles in IT Risk Assessment, Security Awareness Training and long-term strategic IT planning. With this depth of experience and passion Mr. Olton has developed proactive plans to address the growing Cyber Security threats to the Caribbean regions economies. As the Project Lead for the Caribbeans first and only indigenous Cyber security public awareness Campaign, with a mission of Keeping Caribbean Citizens Safe Online, he is responsible for the online web portal, creating public service messages, developing age appropriate presentations for parents, schools and the elderly. Additional Mr. Olton has spearheaded community outreach projects to increase knowledge of cyber security within schools and communities all across the region.
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Urging China and other BRICS nations to unite against terrorism, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said it is time to end "double standards".

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav has urged China and other BRICS nations to unite on the issue of terrorism.

By Ananth Krishnan: BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav today said during a visit to China that it is time to end "double standards" in fighting terrorism at a time when it has become "an instrument of state policy" for some countries, addressing a rare political parties' meet of the five BRICS countries.

Urging China and the other BRICS nations to unite against terrorism, Madhav said, "Our efficacy and efficiency to take on this global challenge is sometimes hampered by narrow self interests and double standards. We need to be convinced, and convince others through our actions, that all forms of terrorism is bad and any distinction of 'your terrorist' and 'my terrorist' or 'good terrorist' and 'bad terrorist' is unscrupulous and ill-conceived. BRICS countries should take the lead in an early conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism."

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Ahead of the September BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Fujian province, the Communist Party of China's International Department convened a gathering of political parties from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian.

TERROR HAS BECOME STATE POLICY FOR SOME

Noting that it was "for the first time that leaders of the political parties from BRICS countries have come together", Madhav highlighted terrorism "as the single most lethal challenge to mankind today".

"Terrorism has today become an instrument of state policy for some countries; while a number of rogue terror groups wander around in the lawless lands of some other regions in the world," he said. "The need of the hour is for countries to work towards dismantling terror infrastructure, destroying terror networks, and drying up the sources of terror financing and weapons supply."

"BRICS countries, together with several other countries in the world, have been the victims of one form of terrorism or the other, be it ideological, religious, political, racial or ethnic. BRICS countries should stand united in the fight against terror in all its forms and manifestations," he added.

CHINA CONCERNED BY PAK TERROR

The BJP leader was clearly referring to Pakistan when speaking of terror becoming "an instrument of state policy" for "some" countries.

The issue of Pakistan-sourced terror has become a concern even for its "all weather ally" China.

On Friday, China said it was "gravely concerned" by the abduction and reported killing of two young Chinese teachers from Balochistan. Beijing called on Pakistan "to take effective measures" to ensure safety of its citizens, but at the same time was careful to publicly support Pakistan's fight against terror.

The killing of the two Chinese has received wide attention in China and reignited concerns about the safety of Chinese citizens in Pakistan.

Curiously, China's President Xi Jinping, who met Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana on Friday, did not schedule a bilateral meeting with Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Xi held meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as leaders of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the King of Spain who was in Astana for the world expo.

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Despite its concerns, China has recently shielded Pakistan from diplomatic pressure on the issue of Pakistani support to certain terror groups, for instance by placing "technical holds" at the UN Security Council on applications filed by India last year, and again by the US, UK and France in January, to sanction the leader of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, Masood Azhar. The application will be reviewed this month.

BRICS NOT ANTI-WEST

Speaking in Fuzhou, Madhav said that while BRICS was "a non-Western coalition", it was "not anti-West".

"The BRICS is an alliance that can define what constitutes the good of the world at this juncture. Our uniqueness lies in the fact that we are the significant 'Other' - the non-Western world," he said.

He called for "a greater and bigger role" for the BRICS nations on the international arena and stressed that for bodies such as the UNSC to remain relevant, "especially India, South Africa and Brazil should find a more prominent role in these bodies."

Madhav also stressed the need for an "open and inclusive" security architecture in the Asia-Pacific, including ensuring freedom of navigation, at a time when many countries in the region have been concerned by China beefing up its posture in the South China Sea and carrying out reclamation activities on islands and reefs.

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"Today it is the Indo-Pacific region that has emerged as the new global power house," Madhav said. "Our futures are invariably linked to the Indo-Pacific sea lanes. Facilitating efforts to build an open, well-balanced and inclusive architecture in the region based on shared principles like peace, security, freedom of navigation and development will help promote legitimate interests of all states. Leaders of BRICS countries should take the lead in promoting a relevant dialogue in that direction."

ALSO READ | China has vested interest in mediating between India, Pakistan on Kashmir, says Chinese daily Global Times

ALSO READ | China bats for greater global role through BRICS, pledges to work against unilateralism

ALSO WATCH | BJP's Ram Madhav on Lucknow encounter: ISIS unable to take root in India thanks to security forces

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif's cold vibes have been the subject of innumerable gossip columns. And it seems Deepika's boyfriend Ranveer Singh is caught in the crossfire, if a report in Deccan Chronicle is to be believed.

Apparently, Ranveer was offered Baar Bar Dekho director Nitya Mehra's new film, which also stars Katrina. However, the actor turned it down. Incidentally, the two are on good terms, and Kat even follows Ranveer on Instagram. However, he reportedly rejected the film with her to keep his ladylove happy.

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When the publication contacted Ranveer's spokesperson, she denied the news and said, "There is no truth in this."

Incidentally, Deepika had earlier said that she was fond of Katrina. "Sometimes you have a certain feeling for other people and they don't necessarily feel the same way about you. But that's okay. I am extremely fond of Katrina professionally and personally," she had said.

ALSO READ: Katrina Kaif's friend says Deepika Padukone is insecure about her?

ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone miffed with Katrina Kaif for stealing the spotlight from her?

ALSO WATCH: When Deepika Padukone wished Katrina Kaif a happy birthday

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Washington, Jun 11 (PTI) Removing old cells from joints may delay the onset of age-related joint conditions, such as osteoarthritis, a new study has found.

Senescent cells (SnCs) that accumulate in many vertebrate tissues as we age, contribute significantly in delaying the onset of age-related pathologies such as osteoarthritis.

Researchers, including those from John Hopkins University in the US, presented a novel pharmacologic candidate that alleviates age-related degenerative joint conditions, by selectively destroying SnCs.

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Senescent cells (SnCs) accumulate with age in many vertebrate tissues and are present at sites of age-related pathology. Although these cells play an essential role in wound healing and injury repair, they may also promote cancer incidence in tissues, researchers said.

For instance, in articular joints, such as the knee and cartilage tissue, SnCs often are not cleared from the area after injury, thereby contributing to OA development.

Researchers took both younger and older mice and cut their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) to mimic injury.

They then administered injections of an experimental drug, named UBX0101 to selectively remove SnCs after anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) surgery.

The team noted that aged mice did not exhibit signs of cartilage regeneration after treatment with UBX0101 injections.

"The findings provide new insights into therapies targeting SnCs for the treatment of trauma and age-related degenerative joint disease," researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine. PTI APA MHN MHN

--- ENDS ---
Brussels, June 11, 2017 (SPS) - Euro-MP Paloma Lopez warned the European Union of the consequences of the continued plundering of Western Saharas natural resources, calling it to take the necessary measures so that the member states, notably Spain, prevent this illegal exploitation in accordance with the international and European law.

In a written question sent to the European Commission, the Euro deputy wondered about the measures that have been taken by the European executive to ensure that the Spanish authorities prevent the confiscation of Western Saharas natural resources and to comply with the international law and recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

In a judgement delivered on 21 December 2016, CJEU concluded that the association and liberalization agreements between EU and Morocco do not apply to Western Sahara because of the distinct and separate status guaranteed in the territory of Western Sahara in accordance with the charter of the United Nations and the principle of peoples right to self-determination.

In this regard, Paloma Lopez suggested the seizure of the ships transporting the products coming from Western Sahara insofar as these products cannot be imported in EU without the prior consent of the Sahrawi people in accordance with the international law applicable to the non-self governing territories and CJEUs decision delivered on 21 December 2016. (SPS)

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A police officer was rushed to hospital after he was surrounded by a gang of thugs and kicked in the face in a shocking and cowardly" attack.

The 32-year-old Met officer, broke his nose and fractured his jaw after he was viscously assaulted while trying to make an arrest in Brentford on Saturday evening.

He had been chasing a man believed to have been involved in a fight before the gang surrounded him and one member kicked him in the face, police said.

Officers had been called to reports of an assault near Boston Manor Road, in Brentford at about 9.35pm on Saturday.

On arrival the man ran off, but two officers chased him having followed him in a police car.

The Met Police said the officer was then surrounded by the gang who started acting hostile towards him, with one man kicking him in the face.

The second policeman was able to stop the attack when he set off his pepper spray among the thugs.

DSI Helen Flanagan of Hounslow CID said: "This was a shocking and cowardly attack on a police officer going about his duty.

There were large numbers of people in Boston Manor Road as there was a music event taking place nearby and I would appeal to anyone who saw this incident to contact police immediately."

A 21-year-old man who was detained by officers was arrested for obstructing police and remains in custody at a west London police station.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hounslow CID on 020 8247 6224 or 6299 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
P olice believe a second victim may have been injured when a knife-wielding gang on mopeds stabbed a man in central London.

Violence broke out near the Brunswick Centre near Russell Square on Friday night when a large group of thugs riding mopeds descended on the area.

During an altercation at around 7.45pm, a man aged in his 20s was knifed, police say.

Paramedics and Londons Air Ambulance arrived at the scene to whisk the injured man to hospital.

His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Detectives revealed on Sunday that a second man may have been assaulted during the incident and said they were urgently trying to trace him.

After the attack the riders were seen to head along Brunswick Square towards Handle Street and Tavistock Place.

Two men, aged 21 and 22, were arrested on suspicion of GBH and have since been released under investigation.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Alternatively, tweet via @MetCC or email DC Hutchison at caroline.hutchison@met.pnn.police.uk
D ramatic footage has emerged of firefighters rescuing children from a burning building in north west London.

In the footage, two children can be seen scrambling out of a window on the upper floor of a block of flats in Golders Green after a huge fire broke out in a shop below.

Amazed passersby can be seen watching on as a firefighter helps the two children climb down the ladder to escape the terrifying blaze.

Five people were rescued from the block in Princes Parade on Sunday morning, while dozens fled the block after the fire broke out.

Fifteen people were also taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Smoke can be seen billowing out over north west London / London Fire Brigade

Firefighters were forced to use specialist equipment to cut through the shutters of the shop in a bid to rescue anyone trapped inside.

Dramatic pictures have emerged on social media of flames billowing out of the block over north west London.

Station Manager Paul Fitzgerald said: Crews used specialist cutting equipment to break in through the shops roller shutters at the front of the building and worked quickly in very difficult and smoky conditions to rescue three people via ladder and lead two to safety.

The alarm was raised by a member of the public who noticed smoke coming from the building

Ten fire engines were sent to Princes parade at about 7.30am, with 70 firefighters tackling the blaze.

Paramedics also treated 15 people for smoke inhalation.

A spokeswoman for LFB said: "Five people have been rescued by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus from a fire in a shop with flats above it on Princess Parade, off Golders Green Road, Golders Green.

"Three people have been rescued via a ladder, two were led to safety by crews and 25 people evacuated before the arrival of the Brigade.

All of the ground floor of the shop and half of the second floor of the building is alight and over 70 firefighters and officers are currently tackling the fire.

"10 fire engines and an aerial ladder platform from stations including Hendon, West Hampstead, Finchley and Mill Hill fire stations are at the scene."

Incident response officer Andy brown said: "We were called a 7.34am to reports of a fire at Princes Parade, Golders green this morning.

"We have treated a total of 15 people for smoke inhalation. They have all been taken to local hospitals.

"Hazola - a voluntary Jewish Ambulance Service - have taken a number of patients on our behalf."

Firefighters are still at the scene tackling the blaze and an investigation has been launched.
T he RSPCA are investigating after a dead cat was found hanging from barbed wire with a noose in north west London.

Inspectors were called out to Besant Way in Neasden after a woman made the horrific discovery.

The charity said the sandy ginger tabby was hanging by its neck from a line of barbed wire attached to a wall.

Deputy Chief Inspector (DCI) Nicole Broster, who is investigating the incident said: I was concerned when the call came in and when I arrived at the scene I was absolutely horrified at what I saw.

This poor cat was left hanging from his throat, attached to the barbed wire with a twine noose, about 4ft above the ground.

She added: At this point we cannot be a 100 per cent sure whether he was dead before being hung up like this, or whether this is how he died.

However I highly suspect from the evidence found that he was alive when he was strung up and put in the noose.

It is awfully distressing to think he may have suffered so unimaginably.

Ms Broster said other people on the housing estate may have seen what happened before the animal was found on June 4.

She said: Whats particularly concerning is that this is a busy housing estate and the cats body was in full view from the road yet we only received one report to our cruelty line.

Other people must have seen him or may even have seen what happened.

Anyone with information should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.
T heresa May faced mounting pressure over her job amid claims Boris Johnson is plotting a leadership bid and being urged by Cabinet members to challenge the Prime Minister.

Downing Street was continuing talks with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party over a possible deal with support a Conservative minority government as the PM looks to secure her position in Number 10.

An ally of Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson was reported in the Mail on Sunday as saying it was go-go-go for a leadership push in a bid to oust Mrs May.

Mr Johnson dismissed the reports as tripe, but was said to have been pressed by five members of the Cabinet to launch a challenge to Mrs May after her disastrous election campaign.

Discussions between senior Tories and the socially hardline DUP were set to continue in a bid to secure a confidence and supply deal for the Northern Irish party to use their 10 Commons seats to help Mrs May govern. It would mean the DUP backing the Government on its Budget and confidence motions, but could potentially lead to other issues being decided on a vote-by-vote basis.

General Election: How the day unfolded

There was confusion over the status of the deal overnight after Number 10 had said it was agreed in principle, but was contradicted by the DUP which said an agreement was yet to be finalised. Sky News reported that Downing Street had issued its earlier statement in error.

In a statement issued at midnight, the DUP said: The DUP held discussions with representatives of the Conservative Party in line with [party leader] Arlene Foster's commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge.

"The talks so far have been positive."

Within the space of an hour, Downing Street issued another statement saying details would be presented by both parties as and when they were finalised.

The statement added: We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

Mrs May needs to shore up her position in Parliament because the Queen's Speech setting out the Government's programme is due on June 19, with a highly significant vote on its content expected after a few days' debate.

Optimistic: Jeremy Corbyn greets a passer-by in Islington / REUTERS

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted "I can still be Prime Minister" as he vowed to oppose the legislative programme.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Mr Corbyn added: "This is still on. Absolutely".

Mrs May's position looked insecure amid disquiet within the Tory party and reports of manouvering by Mr Johnson's supporters.

One ally told the Sunday Times: "We are facing a populist and they have realised we need someone who can talk to the people.

Protest outside Downing Street against DUP alliance 1 /16 Protest outside Downing Street against DUP alliance Downing-street-DUP-protest-1 Protesters gather at parliament Square AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-2 A woman holds a sign protesting Theresa may's minority government AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-3 Protesters march towards Downing Street AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-4 People protested the DUP's hardline stance on social issues AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-5 The group Stand Up To Racism joined the demonstration Getty Images Downing-street-DUP-protest-6 Protesters chanting outside Street Getty Images Downing-street-DUP-protest-7 People hold placards in Parliament Square EPA Downing-street-DUP-protest-8 Police line up alongside protesters outside Downing Street Getty Images Downing-street-DUP-protest-9 A man protesting Theresa May's new government Getty Images Downing-street-DUP-protest-10 People held signs reading "Corbyn In, Tories Out" AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-11 People held signs in support of Labour leader jeremy Corbyn AP Downing-street-DUP-protest-12 Protesters chant outside Downing Street AP

"We need a Brexiteer. Boris is the only option with the liberal values, Brexit credentials and popular appeal."

The reports came after Mrs Mays two closest aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, resigned from their posts as the fallout from the election campaign continued.

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Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who oversaw a strong Conservative showing north of the border, indicated she wanted to see a fresh approach to Brexit by seeking a consensus across parties.

Ms Davidson, who wields considerable influence after the Scottish Conservatives won 13 seats, said: "I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit which we know we are now going to have to get cross-party support for.

"And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave."

In a hint at the approach she wanted, she said: "It is about making sure that we put free trade at the heart of what it is we seek to achieve as we leave."
B oris Johnson has urged Conservative MPs to show loyalty to Theresa May, leaked messages appear to reveal.

The Foreign Secretary has been tipped as a possible replacement for the Prime Minister after her disastrous election performance against Jeremy Corbyns Labour last week.

One of his allies was quoted as saying his leadership push is go-go-go, amid reports that five Cabinet ministers had urged him to oust Mrs May.

But WhatsApp messages leaked to ITV News appeared to show Mr Johnson calling on his Tory party colleagues to unify behind the PM.

A message purportedly sent by Mr Johnson said: Folks we need to calm down and get behind the prime minister.

1 she won more votes than anyone since Margaret Thatcher 2 I cant remember us having anything like 43 per cent of the vote 3 we have to stop the narrative that Corbyn somehow won this thing  he barely did better than Gordon useless Brown when we beat him in 2010

4 we must get on and deliver for the people of this country  including a great Brexit deal 5 we must not allow the media to spread mischief not least because the public are fed up to the back teeth of politics and politicians and they certainly DO NOT want another election

Theresa May delivers a speech watched by Forgeign Secretary Boris Johnson in Slough / EPA

6 yes of course we need to think about the lessons of this election but not in the papers 7 the pm is a woman of extraordinary qualities and frankly the public are looking to us to get behind her with discipline and determination 8 on with the job!

The message was backed by users including former Education Secretary Michael Gove, who knifed Mr Johnson in last years Tory leadership contest.

Mr Johnson earlier dismissed newspaper reports that he was plotting a leadership bid as tripe, despite two polls finding that one in two voters think Mrs May should resign as PM after losing the Conservatives majority.

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Senior Tories have told the PM she will never lead the party into another General Election as the Prime Ministers authority drained away following her humiliating poll performance.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn said his party will invite others to defeat the Government in the Queens speech, the PMs legislative programme which will be presented to the Commons within weeks.

Former ministers Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry, as well as ex-Chancellor George Osborne were among those who warned Mrs May her premiership is not sustainable.

Mr Osborne, who now edits the Evening Standard, said Mrs May is now a dead woman walking who could be forced out of her job within days.

Describing Mrs May's position as "untenable", former business minister Ms Soubry told Sky News: "I just can't see how she can continue in any long-term way. I think she will have to go unfortunately."
F ollowing last weeks surprise election result and a weekend of scrutiny for Theresa May, the determined Prime Minister has set up her new Cabinet and pledged to "get on with the immediate job".

After the snap election left Mrs May leading a minority government, her subsequent loss of authority and apparent weakness within the party meant many people were left in their existing roles.

Notable suprises included appointing Damian Green as First Secretary of State - essentially her deputy - and bringing back Michael Gove who was unceremoniously sacked by her last year.

Speaking after the announcements, the Prime Minister said she would be working with "talent" from across the party and set out her intention to remain as leader for the next five years - despite suggestions from opposition parties that she should resign.

Theresa May's cabinet reshuffle: The key positions

Here is the Cabinet she will be working with:

Chancellor Philip Hammond

Philip Hammond / PA

Former foreign secretary Mr Hammond will remain as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He had been tipped to lose his job in the reshuffle, after disagreeing with the Prime Minister on several issues.

But, with Mrs May fighting to stay leader of a minority government, she could not afford to create enemies in the party.

Mr Hammond studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and is believed to have a devout belief in economic stability and prudent public finances.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd

Amber Rudd / PA

After suffering a nervous election night which saw her majority much reduced, Ms Rudd was given some comfort as she was confirmed as remaining in one of the Great Offices of State.

She came to politics later in life than most, having worked as an investment banker, venture capitalist and financial journalist.

The former secretary of state for the Department of Energy and Climate Change was a loud voice for Remain during the EU referendum.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson / PA

Rumours abound he was again manoeuvring for a potential leadership bid, Mr Johnson keeps his brief amid his strenuous denials he is eyeing Mrs May's job.

His political fortunes turned following the Prime Minister's decision to give him one of the most sought-after roles in the Cabinet last year.

The 52-year-old former mayor of London's appointment could be seen as somewhat unexpected, having been prone to more than the odd gaffe overseas down the years.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon

Sir Michael Fallon / PA

A loyal defender of Mrs May since the election result, he was previously tipped as a possible candidate for promotion but the Prime Minister appeared to give her seal of approval to his work in the past three years by keeping Mr Fallon, 65, in his current role.

Secretary of State for Brexit David Davis

David Davis / PA

He retains the role created in July 2016 and will stay front and centre in the looming negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU.

The 68-year-old has previously published what he described as a "Brexit economic strategy for Britain".

Mr Davis has served as Foreign Office minister and shadow home secretary.

First Secretary of State Damian Green

Damian Green / PA

The former work and pensions secretary takes the title generally associated with the role of deputy prime minister.

A long-standing ally of Mrs May, he will also take on the role of Minister for the Cabinet Office. He was minister for state for police and criminal justice until 2014.

Mr Green, 61, graduated from Oxford and worked as a journalist before becoming an MP in 1997.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss

Liz Truss / PA

Demoted from her previous role as justice secretary after she was criticised over her failure to defend the judiciary from media attacks over the Article 50 decision.

Ms Truss, who studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University, worked as a management accountant before entering politics.

The 41-year-old once described the political views of her parents as "to the left of Labour" and said her father was "horrified" when he discovered she had joined the Conservatives.

Business Secretary Greg Clark

Greg Clarke / PA

Mr Clark retains the business portfolio. He follows Sajid Javid in the role which will see him manage strategy and policy across the business department.

Mr Clark, 49, grew up in Middlesbrough and went on to study at Cambridge and the London School of Economics where he gained a PhD for a thesis on incentive payments.

He has also held the post of universities secretary and financial secretary to the Treasury.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox

Liam Fox / REUTERS

Stays in post. He was forced to resign from his role as defence secretary in 2011 after allowing his friend and best man Adam Werritty to take on an unofficial and undeclared role as his adviser.

In July last year, he was welcomed back into the ranks by Theresa May. Dr Fox, 54, ran in the Tory leadership contest but was quick to back Mrs May when he was eliminated in the first round.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke

David Gauke / Getty Images

Replacing Mr Green at the Department for Work and Pensions, he leaves his previous role as chief secretary to the Treasury.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove

Michael Gove / REUTERS

His appointment is a remarkable comeback for a man who fought, and lost, to Theresa May in last year's Tory leadership battle.

The former justice secretary dramatically ditched Mr Johnson to run himself and had found himself frozen out in Mrs May's first Cabinet last July.

The 49-year-old's wife, journalist Sarah Vine, was forced to deny being power-hungry after an email blunder revealed she told him not to "concede any ground" to Mr Johnson.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel

Priri Patel / Getty Images

Prominent Brexiteer Ms Patel was employment minister before taking on the international development role. The 45-year-old studied at Keele and Essex universities and began work in the Conservative Central Office in 1997. She also worked in consultancy before she became MP for Witham, Essex, in 2010.

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Karen Bradley

Karen Bradley / REUTERS

She was parliamentary under secretary of state in the Home Office from 2014 and now Mrs Bradley will continue to hold the culture portfolio.

She oversees arts and culture, broadcasting and creative industries, amongst others. Mrs Bradley, 47, is a mathematics graduate of Imperial College London and went on to work as a tax manager.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns

Alun Cairns / Andrew Matthews/PA

He was appointed as Welsh Secretary just four months before the first of Mrs May's reshuffles so there is little surprise that Mr Cairns retains his position.

The 45-year-old who was born in Swansea, is a graduate of the University of Wales, Newport, and was elected as MP for the Vale of Glamorgan in 2010.

He worked in banking for a decade before his election to the Welsh Assembly.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary David Lidington

David Lidington / PA

Promoted to the Ministry of Justice to replace Ms Truss.

Mr Lidington had been Europe minister between 2010 and last year when he moved across to leader of the House of Commons, a post concerned with the smooth running of the Commons.

The Cambridge history graduate and father-of-four has been MP for Aylesbury since 1992. He previously worked for BP and mining firm Rio Tinto.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid / REUTERS

The former business secretary holds on to the role of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Javid, who held the culture secretary position before being appointed to the business role last year, is a former managing director of Deutsche Bank.

The 47-year-old University of Exeter graduate stood on a "joint ticket" with Stephen Crabb for the leadership election, hoping to be chancellor if Mr Crabb had become PM.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire

James Brokenshire / REUTERS

Former minister for security and immigration James Brokenshire also stays in post.

Theresa Villiers resigned from the role after Mrs May offered her another role which she felt she could not take on.

Mr Brokenshire, 49, studied law at the University of Exeter and worked in an international law firm before being elected as MP for Hornchurch in 2005.

The constituency was dissolved and he then became MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup in 2010.

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom

Andrea Leadsom / REUTERS

Moved from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to replace David Lidington.

Last year she had hoped to become the new prime minister, but after dropping out of the race Mrs Leadsom was made secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs.

Mrs Leadsom, 53, was energy minister before being appointed to the new role. She was elected as MP for South Northamptonshire in 2010, having previously worked in the financial sector.

Chief Whip Gavin Williamson

Gavin Williamson / Paul Hackett/Reuters

David Cameron's former parliamentary private secretary holds on to the post of Chief Whip, having been dispatched to Northern Ireland to negotiate a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up a Tory minority government.

The 40-year-old, who is reportedly well-liked within the Tory Party, took on Mark Harper's former role.

The relatively unknown MP for South Staffordshire was state-educated before studying for a BSc in social sciences at the University of Bradford.

Education Secretary Justine Greening

Justine Greening / Getty Images

She was international development secretary before being given Nicky Morgan's old portfolio in Mrs May's first Cabinet.

Yorkshire-born Ms Greening was state-educated and studied economics at Southampton University.

She worked as an accountant and finance manager before winning the seat of Putney in the 2005 general election.

In June, the 48-year-old revealed she was in a "happy same-sex relationship", and tweeted: "I campaigned for Stronger In but sometimes you're better off out!".

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling

Chris Grayling / Getty Images

Former leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling remains Transport Secretary, following in the footsteps of Sir Patrick McLoughlin.

Mr Grayling, 54, has been an MP since 2001 and has held several cabinet and shadow cabinet positions.

The Brexiteer backed Theresa May's leadership bid. Mr Grayling is a Cambridge graduate and worked as a journalist before entering politics.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt / PA

Despite being a figure of hate for some in the NHS, the Health Secretary has kept his job.

Mr Hunt, 49, who has been heavily criticised for imposing a new contract for junior doctors, will remain in the role he has held for five years.

He is a philosophy, politics and economics graduate of Oxford University and was elected as an MP in 2005.

After the first reshuffle last July, Mr Hunt tweeted: "'Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated ...' Thrilled to be back in the best job in Government."

Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell

David Mundell / PA

The Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale was confirmed as returning to the post as Theresa May carried out a post-election Cabinet reshuffle.

He was given the position in 2015 as the only Tory MP elected in Scotland.

This time he is joined by 12 party colleagues, with the Conservatives achieving their best election result north of the border for three decades.
D onald Trumps state visit to the UK has effectively been put on hold because the US President does not want to come to London until the occasion is backed by the British public, according to reports.

Mr Trump is said to have told Theresa May in a phone call that the prospect of large scale protests has put him off the visit.

The phone call is said to have been made within the last few weeks and took the Prime Minister by surprise, The Guardian reported, citing a Downing Street adviser who was present.

Mrs May invited Mr Trump to Britain when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House, just days after his inauguration in January.

But the offer sparked an immediate backlash in Britain, with senior diplomats suggesting that the invitation was made too soon. Historically most US Presidents have visited in their second terms or several years into their first term.

Mr Trumps state visit had originally been planned to take place this summer, but the announcement of a snap election forced officials to delay it until October.

An online petition was signed by nearly two million people who wanted to block the visit, sparking a debate in parliament but Mrs May has made clear it will go ahead.

Last week, a high-profile row between London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Mr Trump was re-ignited by the Presidents behaviour following the London Bridge terror attack.

Donald Trump slams Sadiq Khan on London terror attack

Mr Trump attacked Mr Khan within hours of the atrocity in which eight people were killed, prompting the Mayor to label the President ignorant and wrong.

Mr Trump tweeted mockery of Mr Khans appeal to Londoners not to be alarm by an increased police presence on the streets and transport system.

Senior former diplomat Lord Ricketts said the official invitation could not be rescinded but should be left on the table for the time being. The intervention of the respected life peer - who served as head of the Foreign Office and as Britains first National Security Adviser, followed outrage over Mr Trumps comments.

Asked if the invite should be torn up, he said: I think it is hard to rescind it now. I think it can perhaps be left on the table and perhaps activated later.

He said he was in favour of Trump coming on an ordinary visit to understand the fibre of this country and see for himself the determination and resilience not to be cowed by these terrorist attacks. But I would leave a state visit for later.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the news, tweeting: "Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor & withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal."
Former top bureaucrats have endorsed an open letter to highlight their concern over what they call growing intolerance and hyper-nationalism in the country.

By Sahil Joshi: Nearly 65 retired officers of central and All India Services (AIS) have endorsed an open letter as appeal to highlight their concern over what they called a general spirit of religious intolerance, vigilantism, propensity to crackdown on student groups and universities which express dissent, and witch hunt against NGOs if they oppose the state.

The petition cites examples of Pehlu Khan's lynching in Rajasthan, anti-Romeo squads and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public speech at Fatehgarh on Kabristan during UP Assembly election campaign among other things.

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This petition has been endorsed by many former IAS, IFS and IPS officers including former secretary planning commission DR NC Saxena, former chief secretary of West Bengal Ardhendu Sen, former Union health secretary Keshav Desiraju, former chief secretary of Bihar Anup Mukherjee, former secretary of Maharashtra Sundar Burra and another former secretary Maharashtra VV Ramani among others.

WHY EX-BABUS ARE CONCERNED

The letter also opposes the systematic trolling to intimidate those who disagree with the dominant ideology, hyper-nationalism, authoritarianism and majoritarianism saying that this trend is a threat for free speech and other fundamental rights.

The petition urges reinstatement of reason-based debate, discussion and calls upon all public authorities, public institutions and constitutional bodies to defend the spirit of the Constitution of India.

After 'award wapsi' over intolerance issue in the first year of Narendra Modi government, this is for the first time a major group of former, senior government officials have expressed concern about 'intolerant atmosphere' across the country. This comes out as a direct attack on the government and the ruling party.

Speaking to India Today, VV Ramani said, "These observations are based on the strong experience of public service they have had and prevailing situation in the country. The letter is not against a party or government but a request to all the parties involved to follow the Constitution."

ALSO READ |

Rajasthan: Muslim man killed by cow vigilantes in Alwar, attack caught on cam

ALSO WATCH | BJP's beef dilemma: Different states, different stakes?

--- ENDS ---
L abour leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted he can still be prime minister" as he vowed to fight Theresa May's attempt to run a minority government "all the way".

Labour won 262 seats in the General Election, up from the 232 secured by Ed Miliband in 2015, but the Conservatives remain the largest party in Parliament.

Mrs May today secured an outlined agreement with the DUP who she hopes will be able to prop up her minority in the Commons.

But Mr Corbyn said that, without an outright majority, Mrs May's position is vulnerable and he has outline his intention to oppose the Queen's Speech in an attempt to bring down her administration.

'Very happy': Mr Corbyn said he was pleased with the election result / Frank Augstein/AP

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I can still be prime minister. This is still on. Absolutely. Theresa May has been to the palace. She's now attempting to form a government.

"She's then got to present a programme to Parliament. There's a possibility of voting the Queen's Speech down and we're going to push that all the way.

Two of Theresa May's closest aides quit following General Election result

"We have got a mandate to deal with issues of poverty, justice and inequality in Britain. We want to end austerity and invest in this country and that's what we're going to do.

"Nearly 13 million people voted for us to do it. That's why I'm here."

Theresa May returns to No.10 after the shock election result / Getty Images

Mrs May is seeking to rely on the Democratic Unionist Party's 10 MPs to win key votes in Parliament  including that of the Queens Speech scheduled for June 19.

But Mr Corbyn said: "I don't think Theresa May and this government have any credibility.

"The Prime Minister called this election on the basis she would need a stronger mandate to negotiate Brexit.

"Well look what's happened. The parallels are with 1974. The Conservatives sought, as they have done this time, a 'who governs Britain?' mandate.

Protest against Theresa May's alliance with the DUP

"Ted Heath lost and tried to form another government and tried to get another majority in Parliament.

"And eventually Harold Wilson managed to form a government. She's taking us back to those times. It's back to the 70s with Theresa May."

The Labour leader, who survived an attempt to oust him by his own MPs before the election, now expects that he will be able to attract some of the party's biggest names to serve on his front bench.

"My phone is full of texts from lots and lots of people from right across the party," he said.

"I'm very happy about that. I'm very proud to lead this party. And I'm open to everyone. It's important to make that clear."
J eremy Corbyn has suggested another General Election is "quite possible" in a matter of months as Theresa May struggles to cling on to power.

The Prime Minister faced more pressure today as Tory grandee Lord Heseltine and former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan both said she will not fight another election.

Labour leader Mr Corbyn suggested Britain could soon be heading to the polls for the third time in less than three years after Thursdays election returned a hung parliament.

I think its quite possible there will be an election later this year or early next year, and that might be a good thing, he told the BBCs Andrew Marr show.

Mr Corbyn added that his party is ready to fight another election campaign after making unexpected gains last week.

Up for the fight: Jeremy Corbyn

He said that without an outright majority Mrs May's position is vulnerable and he intends to oppose the Queen's Speech and table a "substantial amendment" in an attempt to bring down her administration.

"We're going to put down a substantial amendment to the Queen's Speech which will contain within it the main points of our manifesto, and so we'll invite the House to consider all the issues we put forward which I've mentioned - jobs-first Brexit, mention the issues of young people and austerity, there's many other things."

Asked if he was in the fight for the long term, Mr Corbyn replied: "Look at me. I've got youth on my side".

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On Brexit, Mr Corbyn said he wants a "jobs-first Brexit" negotiated as quickly as possible along with guaranteeing the post-Brexit rights of EU nationals living in the UK.

Asked if Labour would seek to keep Britain in the European single market and customs union, Mr Corbyn said: "Well, the single market is a requirement of EU membership and since we won't be EU members there will have to be an arrangement made."

He was speaking after the first polls since the ballot showed Labour with a six point lead over the Tories, with one in two voters saying Mrs May should quit as PM.

Meanwhile Mrs May was clinging to her job amid claims Boris Johnson is plotting a leadership bid and being urged by Cabinet members to challenge the Prime Minister.

Boris Johnson's allies are said to be urging him to oust Theresa May / REUTERS

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster is set to hold talks with Theresa May in Downing Street to finalise an agreement on propping up her minority government.

The DUP confirmed that Mrs Foster would be going to No10 on Tuesday after discussions in Belfast over the weekend were said to have made "good progress".

Mrs Foster told Sky News: "We had very good discussions yesterday with the Conservative Party in relation to how we could support them in forming a national government - one that would bring stability to the nation. Those discussions continue."

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Downing Street initially said on Saturday that an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached with the DUP which would be put to the Cabinet for discussion on Monday.

But it later disclosed that no deal had been finalised and talks on the arrangement will continue during the week as Mrs May desperately tries to shore up her position after losing her Commons majority in the election.

The strength of any deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Mrs May in Parliament and insisting: "I can still be prime minister."

Jeremy Corbyn: We are ready to serve this country

The talks were in line with Mrs Foster's "commitment to explore how we might bring stability to the nation at this time of great challenge", her party said in a statement.

It continued: "The talks so far have been positive. Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament."

Number 10 had earlier said: "We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week."

Following talks between Mrs May and the DUP on Saturday night, a second statement confirmed that no final deal had been reached.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week.

"We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

"As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward."

Mrs May needs support in Parliament because the Queen's Speech setting out the Government's programme is due on June 19, with a crucial vote on it expected after a few days' debate.
A news presenter called Jeremy Hunt a c*** live on television in a hilariously awkward blunder.

BBC journalist Ellie Price was discussing whether Mr Hunt had been kept on as Health Secretary in Theresa Mays new-look cabinet.

But, stumbling over her words, she said: Yeah, were waiting to hear from Jeremy c***, Jeremy Hunt!

And she wasnt the only one to get her words mixed up, as a Sky News presenter also referred to Mr Hunt as Jeremy C***.

Viewers took to social media to poke fun at the blunder, with some saying that she had been right the first time.

One even wrote: "That seemed suspiciously deliberate..."

The controversial Health Secretary  who has come under a lot of criticism as a result of his changes to junior doctor contracts  will remain in the post, Downing Street announced.
T heresa May has been warned she must work more closely with the rest of the Conservative Party after her disastrous election campaign.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Prime Minister recognised that she would have to adopt a more collective approach after seeing her Commons majority swept away.

Sir Michael, who was one of the first ministers to be confirmed in his post by Mrs May on Friday, welcomed the resignation of her co-chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill - blamed by some in the party for the election debacle.

"Clearly a minority government requires a different approach. You have already seen some changes of personnel in Downing Street. I welcome that of course," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon / PA

"We are going to see, I hope, more collective decision-making in the cabinet. I and other senior colleagues have made that clear to her.

"I think you will also see that she will want to work much more closely with the parliamentary party both in the conduct of business and the development of policy."

Humbled: Theresa May / Jeremy Selwyn

Sir Michael insisted the election result would not affect the Government's approach to forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

However, after Chancellor Philip Hammond reportedly told Mrs May she needed to concentrate more on preserving jobs - in an intervention seen as a coded criticism of her focus on immigration - he acknowledged the need to work with business.

"We want to work with business on this. It is very, very important that we are careful about the existing trade we do with Europe, about access to the single market in whatever new arrangement that we come to," he said.

"It is also important that we don't lose the co-operation between our intelligence services, between our police forces, the security co-operation we have with Europe."

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Sir Michael did not rule out the possibility of co-operating with the Labour Party over the negotiations.

"I welcome the fact the Labour Party have shifted their view now and do not seem to be calling for a new referendum," he said.

"They, like us, I hope now want to have a successful Brexit, an agreement that works for us, that works for the European Union, that does not jeopardise the jobs and trade we do with Europe, but still implements the overall result of the referendum last year."

Sir Michael defended Mrs May's decision to seek an agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to support a minority Conservative government, despite their socially conservative views on issues such as same-sex marriage.

"Just because they are agreeing to support us on the big economic and security issues facing this country it doesn't mean that we now agree with all of their views. We don't," he said.

"We are not in government with the DUP, we are not in coalition with the DUP. We do not agree and do not have to agree with any of their views on some of these social issues and I certainly don't."
R ichard Hammond has apologised to his family after he was airlifted to hospital following a terrifying crash while racing a 2 million supercar.

The former Top Gear host posted a video from his hospital bed on Sunday, during which he thanked staff and Grand Tour co-host James May for sneaking a bottle of gin into the hospital.

The TV star suffered a fractured knee when he smashed an electric supercar through a barrier and sent it plummeting down a hill in Switzerland on Saturday.

He was found lying on the ground near the Rimac Concept One electric car, having scrambled free just moments before it burst into flames.

Footage of Richard Hammond's horror crash

It is the second time the 47-year-old has suffered a serious crash while filming after he was left with life-threatening head injuries following a high-speed crash in 2006. He was filming for Top Gear at the time.

In a video filmed by visiting co-host James May and posted by Drive Tribe, Mr Hammond said: Yes, it's true - I binned it. Again. The net result being I'm here, in a hospital in Switzerland."

While showing off X-Rays of his knee, Mr Hammond said: This is my knee, that they're going to turn from this into this  giving me a Swiss Army knee hopefully later today.

I'd like to say thank you as well to James May, who smuggled a bottle of gin in for me last night. I shouldn't have said that out loud.

James May holds up a copy of the Idiot Brain following the terrifying crash / Drive Tribe

And most importantly sorry to my wife Mindy and my daughters, Izzy and Willow. I'm sorry for being such a colossal idiot. More news later.

At that moment Mr May holds a copy of the Idiot Brain book, mocking Hammond for the horrifying crash.

Richard Hammond was airlifted to hospital following the crash / Getty Images

Footage of the terrifying smash has been published which shows Mr Hammond speeding towards the corner.

As he approaches, the presenter loses control of the rear and the car crashes through the barrier.

His co-hosts Jeremy Clarkson and Mr May ran to help him after the car burst into flames, with Mr Clarkson describing the crash as the most frightening he has ever seen.

Richard Hammond escaped serious injury in the crash / PA

A spokesman for The Grand Tour said: "Richard Hammond was involved in a serious crash after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland in a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for The Grand Tour Season 2 on Amazon Prime, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury.

"Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames.

"He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over, revealing a fracture to his knee.
A Briton suspected of encouraging tourists to make false food poisoning claims has been arrested in Majorca.

The Spanish Civil Guard confirmed it had arrested one person and quizzed another on Friday after a rise in the number of false claims in the country, according to reports.

The arrest is believed to be the first of its kind in Spain.

It comes a month after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said there had been a rise in claims and warned tourists that anyone submitting false claims would face legal action.

The FCO was forced to update its travel advice for Britons visiting the country. It has confirmed it is speaking to Spanish authorities following the arrest.

Investigations by the Mail on Sunday have found rogue firms in the UK are encouraging Britons to make fake claims for thousands of pounds.

The paper reported tour operators in Majorca have seen a 700% rise in complaints of stomach problems and that the Spanish hotel owners' association, the FEHR, estimates 90% of those are bogus.

The FCO advice said: "There have been reports of an increase in holidaymakers being encouraged to submit a claim for personal injury if they have experienced gastric illness during their stay."

It continues: "You should only consider pursuing a complaint or claim if you have genuinely suffered from injury or illness. If you make a false or fraudulent claim, you may face legal proceedings in the UK or Spain."

A spokeswoman for the FCO said: "We are in contact with local authorities following the arrest of a British national in Majorca."
T his is the incredible moment police freed a rape victim who had been chained up by a serial killer inside a shipping container for two months.

Kala Brown, 30, was freed from inside her makeshift prison after police in South Carolina heard her screams.

She had been locked up by Todd Kohlhepp, who had already murdered her boyfriend Charlie Karver, and repeatedly raped in an ordeal lasting around two months.

Police had to saw open the container and free her using bolt cutters.

Asking about her boyfriend, an officer asks: 'Do you know where your buddy is?

Freed: Kala Brown

She replies: Charlie? He shot him.

Who did? asks the officer.

The distressed woman replies: Todd Kohlhepp shot Charlie Carver three times in the chest, wrapped him in a blue tarp, put him in the bucket of the tractor, locked me down here.

I've never seen him again. He says he's dead and buried. He says there are several bodies dead and buried out here.

Prosecutors released the video this week after Kohlhepp pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder to avoid the death penalty. He also pleaded guilty to raping Brown and was sentenced to life.

Investigators found three bodies on the rural Spartanburg County property. They had gone to the land on November 3 to look for Ms Brown and her 32-year-old boyfriend.

The couple had been missing for two months, and Ms Brown's cellphone indicated she might have been in the area when she vanished.

Authorities say on the way to the hospital, Ms Brown told them about how Kohlhepp confessed to killing a married couple before she was captured, and about killing four people at a Spartanburg County motorcycle shop - murders that were unsolved for 13 years.

Serial killer: Todd Kohlhepp / AP

After authorities let Kohlhepp talk to his mother and promised to give her money from his accounts, he confessed in several other videos released by prosecutors.

Kohlhepp bragged in one video about wearing gloves when loading his gun to assure no fingerprints were on the casings. He also told authorities he pulled the gun apart and threw the components into different trash bins, putting the barrel into a bag of used kitty litter.

Even though it had been 13 years, Kohlhepp detailed each shot he fired at the Superbike shop, including final shots to the forehead of 30-year-old Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy, 52, 30-year-old Brian Lucas and Chris Sherbert, 26.

"That was one big building. I cleared that building in under 30 seconds," Kohlhepp said. "I'm sorry, but you guys would have been proud."

The investigators asked if anyone begged for their lives or said anything to him.

"I don't remember any of that. I will tell you that once I engaged, I was engaged. It was almost like a video game. It's not a game - you've been there, sir, you know what I am talking about," Kohlhepp said.

He also killed 29-year-old Johnny Coxie and 26-year-old Leigh McCraw-Coxie in December 2015. They, like Carver and Brown, were lured to Kohlhepp's land after he promised them work.

Kohlhepp killed Mr Coxie immediately and tried to keep Ms McCraw-Coxie locked away, but he said he killed her after several days because she tried to burn the container after he gave her cigarettes.

He denied killing anyone else. He did say he shot a man in Arizona when he was 14, but could give few details. Authorities have not charged him with any additional crimes in other states.

Kohlhepp moved to South Carolina in 2001 after 14 years in prison for a kidnapping in Arizona. Authorities there said the then 15-year-old Kohlhepp forced a 14-year-old neighbour back to his home at gunpoint, tied her up and raped her.
G eneral Election? What general election. The only drama were interested in this week is the return of BBCs favourite Sunday night show  Poldark.

But what can we expect from the new series other than rugged good looks (thatll be the Cornish coastline), family feuds and love triangles? Heres everything you need to know:

Therell be lots of intrigue around Eizabeths baby

The start of series three sees Elizabeth (Heida Reid) preparing to welcome her new baby, but were still not sure whos the father.

After last series controversial scene in which Ross Poldark, played by Aidan Turner, appears to rape Elizabeth, it became apparent the child could be either his or her husband George Warleggans.

BBC/Robert Viglasky

And with DNA tests few and far between in 18th century Cornwall, producers have made it clear therell be no Jeremy Kyle-style revelations any time soon.

Writer Debbie Horsfield told The Express: The books are really ambiguous about it, its never said, Oh, its obviously Ross baby.

"We may wish it to be, certainly for drama, it makes it more interesting but the book is not clear at this stage. Were not saying at this stage either.

Aidan Turner wont be stripping off

Series one saw Aidan Turners shirtless scythe-wielding antics propel the period drama to fame.

But heartthrob status weighed heavy on his shoulders and after shooting fewer topless scenes in series two, the actor has ruled out getting his kit off in any of the upcoming episodes.

Poldark Trailer - BBC One

But fans shouldnt despair just yet as new cast member Harry Richardson, who plays Demelzas brother Drake, confirms other characters are more than happy to compensate, joking: "More than one of us get our top off. I'm so ready for all the attention. I don't think anyone can compete with Aidan [though], let's be honest."

And if the trailer is anything to go by, viewers can look forward to many more shirtless scenes to come.

Demelza considers an affair

After Ross cheated on Demelza last series, producers say the couples will have found a fragile peace by the time the new episodes roll round.

However, it looks unlikely to last with Demelza, played by Eleanor Tomlinson considering a flirtation with a handsome Captain Malcom McNeil in order to take revenge on her husband for his infidelity.

The dashing Captain is played by Henry Garrett who has made a few brief appearances in the past two series.

Around the World in TV Shows 1 /6 Around the World in TV Shows p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17 Walter Presents p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17 p22 edition 15.03.17

Theres revolution in the air

The effects of the French Revolution are beginning to make themselves felt, casting a shadow over the Cornish folk.

Ross will once more have the option to don his captains uniform and serve his country, which could see him leave his family to cross the channel.

Producer Michael Ray explains: The world of Poldark expands again in series three as we head across the sea to violent revolutionary France.

Its back in its Sunday night slot but wont face off against Victoria

Last year the two rival period dramas were forced to compete for viewers due to a scheduling clash which saw them both broadcast on Sundays at 9pm on BBC and ITV.

As Poldark will air earlier this year, in June rather than November, fans of both dramas wont be forced to choose between them this time.

Poldark will air on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday June 11.
US forces were providing the Philippines with technical assistance, but they had no boots on the ground, the Philippines military said on Saturday.

By Reuters: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday he was not aware the US government was providing assistance to government troops in its battle against Islamist militants in a southern city.

Duterte also said he "never approached America" for help. "I am not aware of that until they arrived," Duterte told a media briefing when asked about US support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City.

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US forces were providing the Philippines with technical assistance, but they had no "boots on the ground", the Philippines military said on Saturday.

Also Read:

US joins battle as Philippines takes losses in besieged city

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Regulator Sebi is mulling tightening its investigation and enforcement mechanism to check misuse of stock market platform for generating "bogus" long-term capital gains to launder black money.

The markets watchdog has also come across cases wherein fraudulent tax benefits have been claimed through trades in some blue-chip stocks, as against the common perception of only penny stocks being used as vehicles for such frauds, a top official said.

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While the rules provide exemption from long-term capital gains through stock market trades, the government in this years Budget, announced steps to limit such benefits only to "genuine trades" as part of a concerted effort to clamp down on tax evasion through "sham transactions".

The regulator is now looking at further steps to ensure such benefits are available to genuine investors only as they are aimed at encouraging long-term investment culture in the country, the official said, while adding that some changes are required in the surveillance and enforcement mechanism to weed out "bogus LTCG gains" by misusing this provision.

The modus operandi in such cases typically involved stock market dealings aimed at evading long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) and showing the source of income as legitimate from stock markets. Besides, bogus losses are also created through stock trades to offset the same against capital gains.

While penny stocks have been known as being among the most preferred vehicle for such misdeeds, the regulator is now looking into possible misuse of LTCG benefits by trading in blue-chip stocks.

While there have been suggestions from some quarters about totally doing away with the LTCG exemptions, there is a buzz that such a drastic move could actually send a wrong message as such benefits are given to promote investments.

While steps have been taken to check any unnatural rise or fall in share prices -- as seen in penny stocks misused by tax evaders -- the regulator is now also looking into cases of blue-chip stocks as the data suggest that 80-90 per cent of the LTCG exemptions being claimed are for larger companies.

Sebi and the tax department, along with various regulatory and enforcement agencies, are looking into thousands of cases where exemptions from long-term capital gains tax have been misused to declare unaccounted income.

Last year, Sebi identified approximately 32,000 entities for further examination on suspicion of violating securities law to evade taxes.

While interim penal action has already been taken by Sebi against hundreds of those entities, it has forwarded a large number of such cases to the tax department and other agencies for further investigation and necessary action at their end.

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A stronger surveillance and enforcement mechanism would help Sebi prove with greater authority any connivance between such operators and the promoters of the listed firms -- a ground on which some regulatory orders have been challenged.

Besides, the regulator is looking at greater coordination with other agencies to find out flow of funds for suspected entities to prove any connivance.

The regulator is also strengthening its rules to clamp down on those involved in stock manipulations and take action against all listed companies, along with their promoters and directors, found to be in cahoots with such operators.

Sebi is referring all the details about the beneficiaries and facilitators of such trade to the income tax department for further action.

The regulator had also received references from the tax department highlighting methods used by the operators for allegedly manipulating prices of scrips and thus misusing the stock exchange platform for booking LTCG, short-term capital loss and thereby evading tax.

To further tighten the noose around manipulators and black money launderers in the stock markets, Sebi is undertaking a comprehensive review of its surveillance systems -- including seeking help from independent experts -- and plans to further fast-track its enforcement actions.

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Sebi was also asked by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money to take additional measures to catch those evading taxes and laundering black money through trading in illiquid stocks.

The regulator is pitching for a greater coordination among various watchdogs and enforcement agencies to bring to book the rogue elements that misuse the stock market platform.

Amid a sharp rally in the stock market in recent months, Sebi has stepped up its surveillance to ensure no unscrupulous players take genuine investors for a ride.

The enhanced vigil has resulted in identification of broadly four distinct ways adopted by the manipulators.

The typical modus operandi used include certain entities seeking LTCG by misusing the stock market mechanism while there are also cases of those involving Offshore Derivative Instrument (ODI) holders trading on the basis of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information.

Also, certain Indian and overseas entities have been found to have misused the GDR route.

While Sebis existing surveillance systems are already generating over 100 alerts a day to facilitate detection of market manipulation, it has been felt that there is a constant need to enhance capabilities of surveillance both in terms of systems and skill sets so as to address challenges emerging out of extremely dynamic Indian securities market. PTI BJ ARD JM

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Three graduating seniors: Perla Camargo, a Scottsbluff High School senior, Alejandra Martinez, a Morrill High School senior, and Tanner Walker, a Gering High School senior, have all been named winners of the Irene Hehnke/Audra Williams Memorial Scholarship given by the Monument Business and Professional Women of Gering. The Irene Hehnke/ Audra Williams Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $300, is given annually to deserving senior graduates of Scotts Bluff County high schools, who wish to pursue a post-secondary education.

Camargo, a 2017 graduate of Scottsbluff High School, has been actively involved in Nike Club, Key Club, Multicultural Club, FCCLA, Spanish Club, Bluffs Staff Co-editor, Youth Alive, and One Acts. Camargos love for music has been demonstrated through her involvement in a cappella choir, varsity show choir, and musicals. In addition, Camargo is active in her church where she participates in youth group, is on worship team, the BELAY teaching team, and serves as a church intern. In addition, she has been a volunteer student tutor at Roosevelt Elementary School. Perla is employed part time at the Buckle in the Monument Mall. Her future educational plans are to attend Chadron State College this fall and pursue a degree in elementary education. Perla is the daughter of Lucia Diaz and Manuel Camargo.

Martinez, who is a senior at Morrill High School, has been involved in many school activities including: Future Farmers of America, Future Business Leaders of America, National Honor Society, Spanish Club, Cooking Club, and One Act Plays. Her community involvement has consisted of helping at the Guadalupe Center in Scottsbluff and in Morrill with Citizenship classes. Martinez has spent hours volunteering at local soup kitchens, the Riverside Zoo and throughout several school organizations. Next fall, she plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney to complete her general education requirements and prerequisite courses for two years. At that point, Martinez hopes to attend the University of Nebraska Medical Center where she can obtain her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. She is the daughter of Jocquin and Andres Martinez.

Tanner Walker is a Gering High School senior who has many activities and honors to be proud of. He has been president of student council, GHS Senior class treasurer, and vice-president of Key Club. In addition, he is a member of the Gering High marching and concert bands, DECA, mock trial, speech team, National Honor Society, Leo Club, and Nebraska Boys State Representative. Walker, a member of the GHS Varsity Cross Country Team and qualified for state competition for the past three years. He was named a member of the Star-Herald All-Region Cross Country Team, Western Conference cross country team, and All-Conference cross country team. In addition to school activities, Walker is an active member of the Panhandle Livestock 4-H group. Hiss church activities have included: youth group, youth choir, and religious education classes. He is currently employed part time at the Nile Theater in Mitchell. Walkers future plans are to attend the University of Nebraska at Omaha next fall and major in business. He is the son of Micki and Ron Walker.

All three of these outstanding graduates will be honored at the June meeting of the Monument Business and Professional Women to be held at the Monument Grill Restaurant, 2550 Clubhouse Drive in Gering, on Tuesday, June 20 at 6 p.m.
LARAMIE, Wyo.  A plant scientist at the University of Wyoming examines bioherbicides to control cheatgrass in a publication from UW Extension.

Daniel Tekiela, invasive plant ecology specialist, reviews three strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas flourescens for invasive annual grass control.

Invasive annual grasses are capable of reducing forage quality, biodiversity and wildlife habitat, said Tekiela, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. There is great interest in effective, long-term control of these grasses. There has been an increased interest in using bioherbicides to manage and control invasive annual grasses.

Use of Pseudomonas fluorescens as a bioherbicide for cheatgrass and other invasive winter annual grass control, B-1296, is available for viewing and download by going to www.uwyo.edu/uwe and clicking on the Publications link. Enter B-1296 in the search field. PDF, HTML and ePub versions are offered.

For more information, contact Tekiela at 307-766-3113 or at dtekiela@uwyo.edu.
RUSHVILLE  Three western Nebraska communities are recipients of USDA Rural Development funds totaling $55,700.

City of Rushville received an Economic Impact Initiative Grant of $43,600 from USDA leveraged with $14,561 from the city to replace the roof on the assisted living facility.

Village of Lewellen was awarded $6,000 from USDA leveraged with a $2,000 contribution from the village to make improvements to the village library including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, energy improvements, and the purchase of a public computer and printer.

City of Gordon received $6,100 from USDA leveraged with $5,160 from the city to provide the city of Gordons Police Department with technological updates to their cruisers.

The Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program provides funding in eligible rural areas for community service facilities such as fire and rescue buildings, streets, utilities, clinics and nursing homes.
SCOTTSBLUFF  In September 2016, after the opening of the newly renovated and expanded Legacy of the Plains Museum, Sandra Reddish, then-executive director of the museum and Judy Amoo, executive director of the John N. Harms Center at Western Nebraska Community College and museum volunteer, recognized the importance of volunteers.

Reddish and Amoo began planning a series of docent training workshops through the Business and Community Education division of WNCC. Docents are highly trained volunteers typically working with museums, zoos, or art galleries who teach and interpret the meaning of the collections contained within the organizations.

The Legacy of the Plains Museum docent program launched on April 24, and after eight workshops, nearly 30 newly educated docents began sharing their knowledge with museum visitors, just in time to kick off the tourist season over Memorial Day Weekend.

Amoo worked closely with Amanda Gibbs, Legacy of the Plains Museum interim executive director and archivist to plan each workshop.

After each workshop, I received great feedback from the docents about the helpful information they obtained from the lectures and tours, and also about the power of networking in building confidence among the team volunteers, said Gibbs.

Presenters during the workshops included Dick Kuxhausen, Jerry Lucas, Susan Weideman, John Beard, Sandra Strey and Gibbs, who each offered expertise about each of the outbuildings and sections of the museums extensive historical collections.

For more information about the Legacy of the Plains Museum docent training, contact Amoo at amooj@wncc.edu or 308-635-6702.
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: South Africa has agreed to investigate Zahidmiya Saikh, alias Jao, an Indian citizen and aide of the most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, in the murders of a VHP activist and a BJP leader in Gujarat, top sources in National Investigation agency (NIA) have confirmed.

Jao is accused for conspiring to kill Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist Shirish Bengali and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pragnesh Mistry at Bharuch, Gujarat, in November 2015. This comes after the Indian agency pushed for South Africa to co-operate with India in the case.

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Last year, the agency had written to South Africa requesting for "provisional arrest" of Jao, who is suspected to be in Pretoria. The NIA has provided crucial details including his latest photograph and phone number. Request for provisional arrest of Jao has been sought under Article 12 of the India-South Africa Extradition treaty.

An attempt to have a video conferencing between the officials of both the countries failed, with South Africa police stone-walling NIA's repeated request for a follow up. The matter was discussed at the highest level, with the agency even requesting the Indian High Commissioner in South Africa to plead their request with them. The repeated push finally yielded. NIA has been mulling to send a team to the country, but only after there is a positive development.

South Africa had sought many clarifications including asking why a murder was being investigated as a terror case. "When we shared the details of the links to Pakistan, they agreed to act," a senior NIA official said.

In its charge-sheet filed in 2016, the NIA said that murders were part of a "larger conspiracy by Saikh to target Hindu leaders allegedly involved in the 2002 Gujarat riots and who were perceived to be anti-Muslim. Saikh contacted young people in India and offered them handsome money to work for the 'D' company and lured them with foreign jobs."

"Shirish Bengali's murder was part of a larger conspiracy to target people from the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and BJP. Twenty-six foreign conspirators, based in South Africa and Pakistan, formed a terrorist gang and hatched a conspiracy through voice call, SMS and WhatsApp calls and messages to kill people belonging to a particular section of the society with the intention of terrorising them and creating communal unrest," it said.

The NIA said that Javed Chikna, now settled in Karachi, had sent the names of the people to be targeted to Saikh in October 2015, a month before the murders.

The case was earlier investigated by the Gujarat Police and then transferred to the NIA. Twelve persons were arrested for the murders- Saiyed Mohammad Kadri, Zuheb Ansari, Inayat Patel, Mohammad Yunus, Haider Ali, Nissarbhai Sheikh, Moshin Khan, Mohammad Altaf, Abid Patel, Abdul Salim, Abdul Samad and Nasir Khan Pathan.

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ALSO READ | Mumbai: 4 people, including 2 women, arrested in D-Company plot to murder Gujarat businessman

ALSO READ | Arrest D gang-aide Zahidmiyan Sheikh: NIA writes to South Africa

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Baghel said he was saddened by the events that unfolded in Madhya Pradesh, but added that police were only doing their duty.

By Manogya Loiwal : Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister SP Singh Baghel has defended the police firing which took place in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur earlier this week, saying law enforcement personnel were only doing their job. Five farmers were killed in the incident.

"While I am of course saddened to hear of the events in MP, we must remember that the police were simply doing their duty. No one has the right to take the law into his own hands," Baghel said.

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Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today ended a two-day fast which he began at a time when his state has witnesse protests by farmers who want debt relief and better crop prices.

'MAMATA FAILED TO DELIVER ON HER PROMISE'

SP Singh Baghel, who was on a political visit to West Bengal, also commented on the Darjeeling crisis.

"As for the events in Darjeeling and the Bengali language compulsion, I believe nothing should be forced down people's throats. The Government should give the people what they want. My overall view of the governance in the state is that Mamata Banerjee has failed to deliver on her promise that she would do in 5 years what the CPI(M) Government couldn't do in 30 years," he said.

Baghel accused Banerjee of using his party's name to "cover up her own failures."

"While Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of being behind the riots in Darjeeling, I would like to point out that she sees the BJP in everything. If it rains less, it's the BJP's fault. If it rains more, it's the BJP's fault," he said.

ALSO READ | Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan ends his 'peace fast' on Day 2

ALSO READ | Modi promised in 2014 what Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh farmers are demanding today

ALSO WATCH | Madhya Pradesh has always taken decisions for welfare of farmers: Chouhan

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Kansas bold tax experiment appears to be over, but it wont soon be forgotten.

Repercussions of the Sunflower States 2012 income tax cut, which was largely reversed Tuesday when the Legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Sam Brownback, will continue to influence tax debates in other states, including Missouri, and in the nations capital.

When the tax cuts were passed, Brownback promised that they would provide a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy. If so, the patient didnt respond very well. Kansas gross domestic product grew by less than the national average every year since 2012, and its rate of job growth has declined sharply.

Last year, Kansas added a meager 2,100 jobs, for growth of 0.15 percent. Employment in Missouri and the nation grew more than 10 times as fast. Missouri also outpaced Kansas in job growth in 2014 and 2015.

I dont know how much time you need for a shot of adrenaline to take effect, but five years should be more than enough, says Nick Johnson, a senior vice president at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Despite Kansas poor economic record, some Missouri legislators have viewed it as a sort of nirvana. Rex Sinquefield, the Missouri billionaire whos a leading political donor, was a major backer of Brownbacks tax cuts, along with conservative economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore.

Sinquefield has spent the last five years encouraging Missouri to follow its western neighbors example. Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed Kansas-inspired tax cuts in 2013 and 2014, but Republicans found enough votes to override the second veto.

The 2014 cuts, though, arent being phased in as scheduled. Lawmakers wisely made them contingent on an increase in state revenue, and then unwisely blew a big hole in the states budget with a separate business tax cut the next year.

Will the Kansas experience inspire Missouri Republicans to rethink their tax-cutting fervor? Who knows, but folks in Washington already seem to be noticing the fallout from Topeka.

President Donald Trumps tax package is, in a couple of significant ways, modeled after what didnt work in Kansas.

He wants to create a broad exemption for pass-through income, such as that earned by people who own partnerships or closely held businesses, and he is relying on budget math that assumes the tax cuts will significantly boost economic growth.

I think the debacle of the Kansas tax cuts has already had an influence in Washington, Johnson said. It has thrown up a little bit of a yellow flag in front of the folks who argue that a tax cut can produce economic growth.

Johnsons think tank is left-of-center, but Kansas exemption for pass-through businesses also has been criticized by the right-leaning Tax Foundation.

That loophole, which was closed in the legislation that passed last week, allowed many people to avoid taxes simply by reorganizing their businesses as limited-liability companies.

Johnson says he wasnt surprised by the economic fallout in Kansas, which included a budget gap of nearly $1 billion and a couple of dents in the states bond rating.

He knows, however, that Laffer and others continue to preach the gospel that tax cuts will pay for themselves by spurring faster growth. I have no illusion that this puts anything to rest, Johnson says.

It should. Kansas experiment was a disaster for the states economy, and lawmakers in Jefferson City and Washington should heed the caution flag thats been hoisted over the plains.
NEW YORK  Macys Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette is optimistic about the future of the largest department-store chain, even if it doesnt look much like the store R.H. Macy imagined.

Gennette, 55, wants to build Macys into a fashion destination where shoppers looking for exclusive products can buy online or on their phones as easily as in a store. In an interview from his office on the 13th floor above the department stores iconic Herald Square flagship location, he mapped out how Macys will capture one hypothetical customers heart.

We need to be sure that when she walks into a Macys  be it on the web or on a mobile device or when she walks into our stores  she encounters a brand she loves, that gets her, that she wants to tell her friends about, Gennette said.

He has his work cut out for him. The chain is reeling from tumbling sales and sluggish shopping-mall traffic. Macys posted a 4.6 percent decline in comparable sales last quarter  deeper than the 3.5 percent drop predicted by analysts. Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet warned Tuesday that second-quarter gross margins have contracted a percentage point from a year earlier, sending the shares to their biggest dive in almost a month. Through Fridays close, theyve lost nearly 37 percent of their value this year.

Despite the challenges, the company is maintaining its earnings forecast, vowing to reach its goals by slashing costs and revamping its marketing strategy.

As for beyond 2017, Gennette, who took the helm in late March after serving as Macys president and chief merchandising officer, says Macys will focus on delivering better fashion. Instead of adding more apparel options to stores, the retailer will offer more products that shoppers cant find anywhere else.

Part of this effort will focus on adding special lines of Macys-exclusive products  known as capsule collections  from national brands such as Levi Strauss & Co. and Ralph Lauren. Gennette sees 40 percent of the department stores inventory as unique to Macys in 2020, up from 29 percent today.

Brands are eager to work with Macys on these collections, he said.

Its a collaboration, he said. Our bigger issue is not jumping at every exclusive opportunity that comes our way from our vendors, its being selective.

The Cincinnati-based company also is building up its e-commerce site and rolling out its discount division, Backstage, in an effort to drive more traffic into stores. The first St. Louis area Backstage makes its debut in the Macys at St. Clair Square on Saturday, June 17.

All this will take time to pay off, and in the meantime, Macys is cutting costs. The retailer is closing 100 underperforming stores  68 of which are being shuttered this year. This will eliminate about 4,000 jobs, on top of 6,200 cuts that were announced in January.

Macys is also trimming its catalog of products. The retailer is trying to edit down its assortment to reduce clutter and remove items that duplicate each other. Gennette wants fewer distractions for shoppers, who he believes desire clearer choices.

Its not overnight, Gennette said. Were going to do it one brand or product category at a time.

He declined to address speculation that Saks Fifth Avenue-owner Hudsons Bay Co. may be interested in a takeover of Macys to add to its real estate portfolio. Instead, Gennette said the company is considering the brands appeal to international consumers, with a particular focus on China, where Macys has a partnership with Alibabas Tmall platform.

Domestically, Macys sees its sprawling real estate holdings as a source of cash to fund growth. The company has a plan to squeeze more cash from its properties, which includes its flagship store in Manhattan. Brookfield Asset Management was hired in November and given a two-year window to create development plans for about 50 of Macys real estate assets.

Gennette acknowledges that for his plans to be realized, the key metric of store sales has to improve.

That has to stabilize, we have to do that, Gennette said. And I believe its in our control to help with that.
Gina Haffner was at her daughters volleyball game when she got the news.

Her husband, Jim, has been battling cancer of the pancreas. Its his second bout with the c word, and this round has been a tougher battle than his previous victory over throat cancer. Pancreatic cancer tends to be fast moving and it has spread to Haffners liver.

In April, Haffners insurance company, CoventryOne, refused to cover the treatment that had been prescribed by his doctors at the Siteman Cancer Center. Its a relatively new procedure called selective internal radiation therapy that inserts radioactive microspheres directly into the liver to attack the cancer.

The Haffners appealed to the Missouri Department of Insurance, seeking to overturn the decision that had been made by a family physician in Tennessee who looked at the file and overruled the board-certified oncologists leading Jims care team.

The phone call came on a Sunday afternoon in May. Jim, 58, an attorney was home alone in south St. Louis County. The Department of Insurance was on the other line. It had ordered that the insurance company had to pay for Jims treatment.

It brought tears to my eyes, Jim told me Saturday night. I was so happy.

He called Gina immediately.

At daughter Emilys volleyball game, Gina stood up and proclaimed: We won!

The volleyball game wasnt over, but most people knew what she meant.

Now the Haffners have to focus on the next game: beating cancer again.

On Saturday, hundreds of people who love them came out to Paddy Os in downtown St. Louis to celebrate the good news, raise some money to offset the Haffners cancer treatment costs, and reconnect with old friends.

Its like the entire South Side is here, said Nick Llewellyn, as he shook hands with Chris Dorr.

Both went to St. Louis University High School, as did nearly everybody in the crowd, it seemed, with either Jim or one of his four brothers.

John Haffner, a physician in Florida, shook a mans hand who had come to the fundraiser. After the man walked away, he confided, I cant remember who that was.

It didnt matter.

For most of the crowd, this was more than a celebration of a bad insurance decision that got corrected.

It was a reminder of the frailty of life, the connections that make us who we are and that contribute to the fabric of a big city that sometimes feels like a small town. It was a SLU High reunion, with a sprinkling of summer carnival or Friday fish fry at St. Gabriels and St. Catherines.

Haffner, thin but full of energy, made his rounds.

Soon, hell be conserving energy for the second round of treatment.

On May 18, he received his first round of treatment, and it hit him pretty hard. For a few days he was stuck at home, not eating much, weak and nauseated. His father, Richard, was worried. But he regained his strength. Last week his blood tests came in and the treatment seems to be doing the job it was intended to do.

Now Ive got to get in shape, Haffner said Saturday. On June 23 he gets his second round of the internal radiation therapy. My goal right now is to get as healthy as I can.

An untimely denial almost got in the way of Haffners ability to fight the cancer that is still attacking him. CoventryOne, a subsidiary of Aetna said no even though the proposed treatment is a common response to certain forms of cancer, and has shown some success. The Haffners were dumbfounded when they were denied. They called and wrote everybody they could to get the decision overturned, and they won.

But they wonder about others who face such decisions. People of lesser means, without the knowledge or energy to advocate for themselves.

What happens to them?

For one night, though, cancer seemed a distant thought, even if that was what brought Haffners friends, family and colleagues together. Haffner was smiling. All of his brothers, his parents, his wife and daughters, enjoyed food and drink, friendship and a live band, celebrating life in a way that sometimes escapes us.
Thousands of people filled the air field and runways to enjoy the airshow, which continues until 5 p.m. Sunday and includes a performance by the USAF Thunderbirds.
Entertainment Tonight co-host Kevin Frazier has traveled the world for his job. But before he began working on air, he manned the camera behind the scenes. I worked as a cameraman, Frazier said from Los Angeles, where he resides with his family. (One day I) got to do a story about a peewee football team that was going to the big championship game. I went out and set everything up and shot that football practice and did my little stand-up. At the time, he was 27 years old and making $13,000 annually. But Frazier, 58, said he wouldnt trade his humble start for anything, because his early years gave him the foundation to work in every aspect of broadcast journalism.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today flagged off the first batch of pilgrims bound for the annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra for this year.

Swaraj told the pilgrims to take care to not "sully" the route leading up to Kailash Mansarovar during the holy journey.

"The reverence we have for Lord Shiva, we should have similar respect for his abode. Therefore, please do not sully the road that will lead you to Lord Shiva," she told the pilgrims at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan here.

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A total of 1,430 devotees will undertake the pilgrimage in 25 batches this year. Eighteen batches, each comprising around 60 pilgrims, will visit Kailash Mansoravar through the more arduous Lipulekh Pass route, while seven batches with 50 pilgrims each will take the newly-opened Nathu La route.

The yatra will continue for the next four months.

The MEA had received 4,442 applications this year compared to last years 2,600. The pilgrims were shortlisted through a computerised draw of lots.

"In this first batch, we had selected 60 people but two of them couldnt clear their medical test and hence 58 people will go in the first batch," she said.

Swaraj said the Indian government was making constant efforts and improvements to make the journey more convenient for the pilgrims.

"But it is a gradual process and we are doing a bit more every year," she said.

Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant in December last year, asked the pilgrims to seek blessings on her behalf as well.

"I underwent the operation but by Gods grace I could recuperate within months. Since you all are going to seek blessings of Lord Shiva, Id request you to seek some blessings for me too as I myself havent gone to Kailash Mansarovar, ever, and am not sure if I ever will," she said. PTI CHT BSA

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The weather department has predicted heavy to very rains in parts of Telangana and coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh in the next 24 hours.

By Ashish Pandey: According to the Indian Meteorological Department, southwest monsoon has further advanced into the central Arabian Sea, Konkan, Maharashtra, north and south of Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh along with most parts of Rayalaseema and central and north Bay of Bengal.

Monsoon is expected to advance into remaining parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Telangana in the next two-three days.

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Saturday's low pressure area over the northern parts of central Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Bay of Bengal now is a well marked low pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal.

Today several areas in Telangana received heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, the weather department has predicted more heavy rains at isolated places in all the districts of Telangana on June 12-13 and isolated places in all the districts of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh for next 24 hours.

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Prominent cleric and head of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Tahirul Qadri, in his return to Pakistan on Sunday, alleged that the joint investigation team (JIT) probing allegations of money laundering against the Sharif family is working as an 'election cell' for the ruling PML-N.

Qadri, who spoke to reporters at Lahore airport upon his arrival from Canada, claimed that the criticisms that have been levelled against the JIT by Hussain Nawaz and two other witnesses, are all part of a "plot".

"This criticism is a plot. Through their criticism, the JIT will be shown to be neutral," he claimed.

Qadri elaborated that the PML-N will plan its election campaign around the decision of the JIT, which consists of "servants of the ruling party".

"When a [favourable] decision comes, they (the PML-N) will say it was made despite the allegations made [against the JIT]," Qadri alleged.

The prime ministers elder son, his cousin Tariq Shafi and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president Saeed Ahmad have accused the JIT of mistreatment.

Hussain, who has appeared before the JIT five times, submitted an application before the Supreme Court earlier this week after his photograph during a proceeding was leaked to social media. He alleged that the JIT has been pressurizing every witness that has appeared before it to change their statements, and had allegedly tried to implicate specific persons in wrongdoing under threat of arrest, prosecution and long-term incarceration.

Shafi and Ahmad claimed they were made to wait for long hours at Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) before the JIT's proceedings began. Shafi also claimed that he was continuously intimidated, browbeat and harassed by a member of the JIT.

"This JIT will prepare their (PML-N's) election campaign for them, they will create slogans based on the JIT's decision," Qadri claimed on Sunday.
Sri Lanka introduces new international residency scheme View(s):

The Government is planning to introduce a scheme somewhat akin to the Malaysia My Second Home via introduction of a new law in Sri Lanka. For this purpose a Bill dated May 29, 2017 has been specifically published and is yet to be enacted in to Law.

The preamble reads an Act to provide for a special deposit account for foreign nationals to remit foreign exchange in to Sri Lanka and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Once enacted, this statute will be termed Special Deposit Account Act. The bill envisages a foreign national who opens and maintains a special deposit account in a commercial bank being eligible to obtain residency visa up to a period of 10 years from the date of opening the Special Deposit Account (SDA) subject to the criteria laid down in the bill. Subject to conditions the spouse and the minor children are also eligible for the residency visas. The Malaysian scheme also grants a 10-year residency visa but could be renewed at the end of the term. The SDA fails to address the issue of renewal on the expiry of the term.

A foreign national in order to obtain the benefit of the residency visa has to deposit a minimum of US$500,000 (approximately Rs. 75 million). Alternatively, an equivalent amount could be deposited in alternative foreign currencies specified in the schedule to the bill; i.e. Australian, Singapore, Canadian dollars, Euro, British pound, Japanese yen or Swiss franc. The Bill has reserved the right of the Minister of Finance by regulation to add any other convertible foreign currency to the above list.

The financial investment criteria in the Malaysian scheme is minimal compared to the requirements in the SDA Bill and is depended upon the age of the participant. While the minimum requirement in Sri Lanka is $800,000 for both main visa holder and spouse, the Malaysian scheme only requires approximately $200,000 and a monthly foreign income of $2500 for a person under 50 years and $75,000 and a monthly foreign pension of $2,500 for a person over 50 years. The spouse and the dependent children below 21 years could also obtain a visa under the Malaysian scheme without any additional investment.

A comparison of the quantum of deposit criteria in the Malaysian scheme reveals that whilst the SDA requires a minimum of $500,000 up front, under the Malaysian scheme an equivalent sum could be spread across 10 years i.e. initial deposit of $200,000 and monthly income of $2,500 during the period of the visa for persons below 50 years. In case of persons over 50 years the Malaysian scheme requires initial deposit of $75,000 and monthly pension income of $2,500 during the period of the visa.

Residency visa issued under this scheme does not permit the account holder to engage in any paid employment unless a working visa is secured under the normal laws similar to the Malaysian scheme.

Minimum investment in SDA

The failure to maintain the minimum amount of $500,000 in the SDA would result in a burden being imposed on the commercial bank to inform the Controller of Immigration and Emigration within seven days after the expiry of the grace period of one month of such account not meeting the minimum balance.

Permissible investments

A foreign national who makes such a deposit into a SDA is not barred from utilizing such amount for investment in Sri Lanka. However, such investments should be carried out within the parameters of the regulations to be issued by the Minister of Finance in future.

The bill is silent as to who should be the authority to monitor that such permitted investments are being carried out in the prescribed manner and to also whom such proof of investment be admitted. The bill stipulates the failure to adduce to the continuance of the investment in the permitted area should be reported to the Controller of Immigration and Emigration by the commercial bank. The practicality of imposing this burden on the commercial bank should be analyzed further in the context of the permissible investments to be regulated. Under the Malaysia scheme permissible investments include investment in stock market, unit trusts or local companies.

Other causes for

cancellation of visa

Death and bankruptcy of the account holder could also be causes for the cancellation of a visa. The bill also contains a subjective and ambiguous provision for cancellation of visa being the account holder being suspected of treason. It is significant to note that the cancellation is due to a mere suspicion and not conviction or charge. The bill is silent as to whether the suspicion of treason is in the eyes of the Government of Sri Lanka or a foreign government. The interpretation section of the bill does not contain a definition for the word treason. The word treason is defined in the Oxford dictionary as the crime of betraying ones country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the sovereign or Government.

The account holder failing to route foreign exchange utilized for investment purposes through the account is also a reason for cancellation of the visa.

During the period of the visa the SDA should continue to be maintained and the closure of the account is a cause for cancellation of the visa.

Visa for spouse and children

As per the provisions of the bill a spouse of the deposit holder is also eligible for a Residency Visa if an additional $300,000 (Rs.45 million) is deposited in to the same SDA. For a deposit of $800,000 (about Rs.120 million) a deposit holder and spouse will both enjoy visas up to a maximum term of 10 years. However, the validity of the visa of the spouse is conditional upon validity of the visa of the main deposit holder.

As per the bill, upon the death of the main deposit holder, the spouse stands to lose the residency visa. However, one should appreciate that if the wife is the heir to the wealth of the husband upon his demise including the sum in the special deposit account, there is no logic for depriving the residency visa to the wife for the balance period. Perhaps this aspect warrants a revisit by the policy makers to add an additional condition for the wife to enjoy the residency visa for the balance period subject to conditions.

Minor children (below 18 years) of the foreign national unlike in the case of the spouse are entitled for residency visa without any additional deposit. However, such a minor child reaching the age of 18 stands to lose the residency visa. Similar to the case of the spouse, a minor childs resident visa is also conditional upon the validity of the visa of the main participant.

Medical certificate and insurance

In addition to financial requirements, the Malaysian scheme requires participants/spouse and minor children to forward medical certificates and be covered with medical insurance during the stay subject to exceptions. It is recommended the SDA should also encompass a medical requirement for issuance of residency visa.

Tax benefit to the deposit holder

A salient feature of the bill is that a deposit holder is free from any tax or any other levies with regard to the foreign sourced income (derived from outside Sri Lanka). The bill also extends the tax free status on the interest on income accrued or capital in the account. The bill has reserved the right to the Central Bank to impose an administrative or operational levy on the deposit holder.

A significant point that requires the attention of the policy maker is that the income tax free status has been granted under the provision of the Inland Revenue Act No 10 of 2006 which is currently in operation. However, a brand new Inland Revenue Act (IRA) led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in the pipeline and the draft of the proposed IRA prohibits granting of any income tax exemption from any other statute other than under the contemplated IRA. Hence if the aforesaid income tax release stipulated in the SDA is to be effective, it must be entrenched in the provisions of the proposed new IRA. On the other hand, this barrier could be overcome by the policymakers by enacting the SDA in Parliament prior to the commencement of the new income tax regime.

In addition to the foreign source income being free from income tax in the Malaysian law, a participant is allowed to import a personal motor vehicle sans any duty (under Malaysia scheme).

Dual citizens

A foreign national has been defined to include a dual citizen as well. As such a dual citizen has the opportunity of remitting the stipulated sum of $500,000 and enjoy the tax benefit as specified in the SDA, if a similar benefit is not available for a resident in the new IRA.

Existing Resident Guest

Scheme Visa

At present, Sri Lanka also has a Resident Guest Scheme Visa in operation. This was introduced for prospective investors and professionals who would contribute to the economic and socio cultural development of Sri Lanka.

Under the investor category, any foreign national may obtain a residency visa but for a period of five years on investment of $250,000 which should be deposited in a special account in any commercial bank. A further sum of $35,000 should be deposited for each dependent accompanying the investor. Funds remitted should be invested in an approved project such as new ventures subject to BOI approval, existing or new companies subject to relevant authority approvals and listed shares.

A professional may obtain the residency visa on remitting $2,000 per month for him and $1,000 per month for each dependent, including spouse for living expenses.

One stop shop

Malaysia My Second Home scheme is set up under the Ministry of Tourism. However, as per the bill the Sri Lankan scheme is under the preview of the Minister of Finance. Perhaps it is more efficient for the scheme to be promoted by the ministry in charge of tourism rather than by the Ministry of Finance.

A one stop shop centre, affording much convenience to the applicants could be created if the visa issuance process under the scheme is also to be under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism.
Realities of the Indian Ocean View(s):

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received a clean bill of health from a New York-based hospital, enabling him to address an important UN conference this week on conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources.

The fact that Mr Wickremesinghe was deemed hale and hearty is to be welcomed. It permitted him to attend a UN conference with direct and vital impact on Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka woke up early to the need to prioritise the use and management of the countrys marine resources. And this country has pioneered UN efforts on oceans.

The yesteryears colourful ambassador, Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, was in a team that negotiated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. He was President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, having been appointed by acclamation. He also chaired several ad-hoc committees on matters related to the seabed, ocean floor and, specifically, the Indian Ocean. Other Sri Lankan diplomats and advisors played a crucial role in this arena over the decades.

In 1971, Sri Lanka proposed to the 26th Session of the UN General Assembly to adopt a declaration intended to make the Indian Ocean together with the airspace about it and seabed below for all timea zone of peace. The Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace was, thus, spearheaded by the then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike who, by then, had earned an international reputation through her leadership of the Non-aligned Movement.

The Declaration called upon the great powers to enter into immediate consultations with the littoral States of the Indian Ocean with a view to, among other things, halting the further escalation and expansion of their military presence in the Indian Ocean; and to eliminating from the Indian Ocean all bases, military installations and logistical supply facilities, the disposition of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction and any manifestation of great Power military presence in the Indian Ocean conceived in the context of great Power rivalry.

Historically, therefore, Sri Lanka was a significant participant in and contributor towards promoting peace and order in the seas. This week, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was told by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Sri Lanka and Portugal (from where the latter hails) had a close association with the ocean. This is true, except that ancient Portugal used the seas for its various conquests. Being great navigators in the Old World, it even invented the first mathematical instrument called the nonius which is employed to take fine measurements on the astrolabe.

Mr. Wickremesinghe in his speech this week reaffirmed Sri Lankas endorsement of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This puts him at odds with prevailing US policy under President Donald Trump. Calling climate change a hoax, the US leader recently reneged on his countrys support for a global drive to reduce atmospheric temperatures.

We are deeply conscious that our fate is not in our hands alone, Mr. Wickremesinghe said, before reiterating Sri Lankas commitment to every significant international environmental agreement including the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The country was especially vulnerable to the impact of ocean environments and climate change. Rising temperatures meant melting glaciers and higher sea-levels which would impact on island nations.

For nations like Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister observed, the oceans were life and death. The Indian Ocean provided employment, food, avenues of trade and commerce. Rise of the seas, pollution of oceans, depletion of fish or good coastal eco systems were not abstractions; they formed the core of our existence.

The Indian Ocean now had the second largest accumulation of floating plastic waste in the world. It was also where large tankers, container vessels and the like of the West plying between West and East dumped their waste. Oil and tar were common features on Sri Lankan beaches. Studies have estimated the amounts of oil and petroleum discharged into the Indian Ocean to make up about 40 percent of the total petroleum spill of the world oceans.

These are all massive challenges. More recently, undercurrents of naval build ups in the South China Sea are being felt in the Indian Ocean. China has established its first overseas military base in the Indian Ocean rim nation of Djibouti, causing serious concerns in New Delhi about the implications. This, too, is in our backyard.

Over and above all this, Sri Lanka faces a continuing issue of poaching and rape of marine life in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. Successive Sri Lankan Governments are doing little to stop the armadas of illegal fishermen from India.

Mr. Wickremesinghe told the UN conference that his administration was implementing the Sri Lanka National Plan of Action on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. What of the Indian side? India has now asked for time to wean its fisher folk away from bottom-trawling in the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. But their funds will go towards assisting their own. And the plea to allow them more time to divert their destructive, bottom-trawling fisher folk to deep-sea fishing is an old one. In the end, all this might be too little, too late for Sri Lankan fishermen and our precious marine resources.

Some other countries have not been as tolerant. Last year, news broke that Indonesia has been blowing up foreign boats confiscated for fishing illegally in its waters. The 23 vessels comprised 13 from Vietnam and 10 from Malaysia. The most Sri Lanka does is to detain the trawlers of intruders and even release some of them as parts of diplomatic deals.

Research in countries like Somalia has shown that illegal fishing by foreign vessels was a fundamental grievance that sparked piracy and provides ongoing justification for it. Studies have observed that, according to coastal residents extensive illegal fishing inflicts damage in several ways. Most obviously, foreign trawlers directly compete for fish with local communities, including those where fishing is the traditional, and only, livelihood.

Which brings us to this point: UN conferencesattending them and delivering pertinent speeches at themare well and good. But it remains debatable how far they have contributed towards changing ground realities, so to say, such as these.
Drug war: Navy detects 5.5 kg of heroin in northern seas; Police make more arrests in Colombo View(s):

Law enforcement authorities continued to make significant detections of heroin with a large haul of the drug being discovered this week off the northern coast. On Friday, Coast Guard personnel who were on patrol on board the CG 41 of the northern naval command, seized 5.5 kilograms (kg) of heroin floating10 nautical miles off Kankesanthurai.

The navy said that the 5.5kg of heroin found in a bag in five packages, was handed over to the Kankesanthurai Police for further investigations. A similar incident was reported on May 12 this year, when the navy recovered 9.3kg of heroin in the same area of the sea.

In another breakthrough on Friday, four suspects, including two women, were taken into custody in Colombo for the possession of heroin. The arrests were made from Kotahena, Piliyandala, Welikada and Modera.

The biggest heroin detection was at Armour Street in Kotahena when officers from the Western Province Anti-Vice Squad acting on a tip-off arrested a 34-year-old suspect with 1.272kg of heroin. The suspect was from Grandpass. Meanwhile, a 40-year-old woman from Borella was taken into custody with 567.23g of heroin in Piliyandala.

In two other instances Welikada police arrested a 25-year-old man from Rajagiriya with 2.9g of heroin and a 26-year-old woman from Mattakkuliya was nabbed in Modera with 10g of heroin.
A man after being rejected by a girl stabbed her to death a day before her engagement.

By Ashish Pandey: In a shocking incident, a spurned lover stabbed a 22-year-girl to death, a day before her engagement in Telangana.

The deceased identified as Gayatri, a native of Yadgaripalli village of Yadadri district, was a second year degree student and her marriage was to be held next month.

According to police the 23-year-old accused G Srikanth is also from the same village and is known to the deceased's family.

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Srikanth, who works with a private firm, had proposed Gayatri. However, when she rejected the proposal he began to harass her.

"Srikanth has been stalking Gayatri for the last six months. However, she rejected the advances several times. She thought her marriage will solve her woes and so she did not inform her family about the harassment," said Yadagirigutta Police Inspector P Raghuveer Reddy.

Gayatri was to get married to man based in Hyderabad. She was stabbed to death when her parents were out to shop for the engagement that was to be held on Sunday.

"Srikanth barged into the house and stabbed Gayatri about seven times in her abdomen. Her brother and she was alone in the house at the time of incident," said her father Sailu.

After the murder, Srikanth walked into the police station and surrendered.

Meanwhile, on Sunday hundreds of locals gathered outside Srikanth's house and tried to burn it down. They also held a protest demanding justice to the girl and her family.

Also read:

Bengaluru: Jilted lover throws acid at boyfriend for refusing to marry her, slashes face with surgical knife

Chennai shocker: Man kills girlfriend with hammer wrapped as birthday gift, hangs self with her shawl

Tamil Nadu: Jilted lover crushes girl to death using stone, surrenders after murder

Caught on camera: Delhi woman stabbed 22 times by jilted lover

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Cyclones Debbie and Cook may be just a distant memory for many, but for flood-affected farmers in Hauraki theyre not so easy to forget.

Damaged paddocks, feed shortages, and the onset of winter are all stark reminders of the relentless rain that fell over a matter of days, raising river levels to record heights and breaching stop banks.

It caused mayhem for many, who are now asking questions about potential improvements to the Piako River Flood Scheme managed by Waikato Regional Council.

The scheme is currently in its normal review cycle, but following recent events, WRC is producing a special report into what happened which it says will be available early to mid-July at a series of open days. Technical experts will also be in attendance to listen to concerns and answer questions.

Now in recovery mode, the Waikato Civil Defence Group is working to coordinate agencies that can provide assistance. These include Ministry of Primary Industries and Ministry of Social Development, which are working with Rural Support Trust and Task Force Green to supply crews for clean-up work.

Federated Farmers has also put its hand up to assist farmers in need of feed or grazing. Its been working with its members to source discounted and donated feed across the North Island. Rural Women New Zealand also has $1000 grants available for farmers in need.

At a local level, Hauraki District Council is leading a smaller scale recovery operation to determine the extent of the damage to farms and its impact on the farming community, as well as the wider district.

Assistance has been divided into two recovery sectors, social and rural. The social sector is supported by Thames Valley Civil Defence Welfare Committee, while the rural sector is being led by the Rural Support Trust.

The council is keen to spread the word support is available for those who need it.

Its great to see all these agencies and communities coming together to support each other and offer help, says acting mayor Toby Adams.

No one should feel they have to go through this on their own, we know there will be an ongoing recovery period for many, and we urge anyone with any concerns to ask for help."

For rural support call 0800 RURAL HELP (0800 787 254).

For stop bank or other flood-scheme related matters call the Waikato Regional Council on 0800 800 401

For welfare concerns contact Hauraki District Council on 0800 734 834.
The person briefed on the matter said the board will discuss Kalanick taking time off from the company. The discussion involved the possibility that Kalanick might return in a role with less authority, this person said.

By Reuters: Uber Technologies Inc's board will discuss Chief Executive Travis Kalanick temporarily stepping away from the embattled ride-hailing firm and consider sweeping changes to the company's management practices at a meeting on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person briefed on the matter said the board will discuss Kalanick taking time off from the company. The discussion involved the possibility that Kalanick might return in a role with less authority, this person said, either in a position other than CEO or as CEO with narrower responsibilities and subject to stronger oversight.

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The source said it is not clear that the board will make any decision to change Kalanick's role. The board is expected to adopt a number of internal policy and management changes recommended by outside attorneys hired to investigate sexual harassment and the firm's broader culture. The outside lawyers made no recommendation about Kalanick.

KALANICK DID NOT RESPOND

An Uber spokesman had no comment. Kalanick did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Saturday.

The meeting, which Uber has not publicized, could be a pivotal moment for the world's most valuable venture-backed private company, which has upended the tightly regulated taxi industry in many countries but has run into legal trouble with a rough-and-tumble approach to local regulations and the way it handles employees and drivers.

At the Sunday meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter, the seven voting members of Uber's board, including Kalanick, are expected to vote on recommendations made by the law firm of former US Attorney General Eric Holder, which conducted a review of the company's policies and culture.

The review was launched in February after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and the lack of a suitable response by senior managers. Fowler now works for digital payments company Stripe.

UBER'S BOARD TO TELL PUBLIC OF ITS DECISIONS BY TUESDAY

Uber's board will likely tell employees and the public of its decisions by Tuesday, one of the sources said.

Kalanick has developed a reputation as an abrasive leader, and his approach has rubbed off on his company. The 40-year-old executive was captured on video in February berating an Uber driver.

"I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up," Kalanick said in a statement following the video's release.

Uber board member Arianna Huffington said in March that Kalanick needed to change his leadership style from that of a "scrappy entrepreneur" to be more like a "leader of a major global company." The board has been looking for a chief operating officer to help Kalanick run the company since March.

The report was prepared by Holder and partner Tammy Albarran at Covington & Burling, which did not respond to requests for comment. It comes shortly after another law firm, Perkins Coie, submitted a separate report on sexual harassment and other employee concerns at the company.

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On Tuesday, Uber responded to that report's findings by saying it had fired 20 employees for a variety of reasons, and was increasing training and adopting new policies. Uber said that report considered 215 cases encompassing sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying and other employee complaints.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TIGHTER CONTROLS

San Francisco-based Uber is valued at nearly $70 billion but has yet to turn a profit.

Some of the recommendations in Holder's firm's report would force greater controls on spending, human resources and other areas where executives led by Kalanick have had a surprising amount of autonomy for a company with more than 12,000 employees, one person familiar with the matter said. Uber's more than 1.5 million drivers worldwide are classified as independent contractors rather than employees.

Kalanick, along with two close allies, has voting control of the company.

The board's discussions come at a moment when Kalanick is facing a personal trauma: his mother died last month in a boating accident, in which his father was also badly injured.

EMPLOYEES COMPLAINED ABOUT SEXUAL AND RACIAL BIAS

Employees and former employees interviewed by Holder's team complained about sexual and racial bias, bullying and retaliation, according to people familiar with their accounts.

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They said that Kalanick and his lieutenants had favorites who played by different rules than other employees, and that even those favorites were nervous that they could fall from grace, which they sometimes did. Uber declined comment on that characterization.

One of the issues that came to Holder's team's attention, according to two people familiar with the matter, was the company's handling of a crisis in India after one of its drivers was arrested for raping a customer.

Though the man was convicted in 2015, Kalanick and other executives became convinced that the crime was a set up by a local competitor, former employees said. Eric Alexander, the head of Asian business, shared medical records internally that he argued showed that the woman had been assaulted but not raped, people who spoke to him said. Alexander was fired this week; he did not return messages seeking comment. Uber confirmed Alexander had left the company but declined to discuss the matter further.

ALSO READ:

Uber fires 20 employees over harassment issues, hires 1 Apple marketing executive

Employee alleges sexual harassment at Uber, CEO says probe needed

--- ENDS ---

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Accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old, a Max Meadows man has been charged with three felonies.

Lyndal Beryl Workman, 37, was arrested on May 25 by Wythe County Deputy D.S. Viars.

He was charged with sexually abusing a child under age 15, forcible sodomy and carnal knowledge of a minor without force.

The child was only identified by initials in the arrest warrants.

Disabled for 20 years, Workman was arraigned June 1 and given a court-appointed attorney, according to court records.

Initially held without bond in the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin, Workman was denied bond again during an appeal hearing on Wednesday in Wythe County Circuit Court.

His preliminary hearing has been set for June 20 in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Suspects arrested in Ivanhoe store break-in

A trail of blood at a crime scene led to a cell phone that led to a girlfriend who led deputies to two men suspected in break-ins at a popular Ivanhoe store and in South Carolina.

Deputies from the Wythe County Sheriffs Office were called to Robins Git-N-Go Wednesday morning, where someone had thrown part of a cinderblock threw a window, crawled through the jagged hole and stole some cigarettes.

Maj. Anthony Cline noticed blood at the scene and realized the suspect had been cut while breaking in. He followed the blood, which led him to a cell phone in some nearby grass.

The phone belonged to a juvenile, who told deputies that she had given the phone to her boyfriend, Cline said. Her information led them to 403 Shady River Road, where deputies found Robert Michael Halldorson, 18, and Matthew Gene Hatchell, 20.

I noticed while speaking to Hatchell that he had a large laceration to his hand, Cline said. I asked him about his hand and he said he and Halldorson had broken into the store.

Deputies recovered about 40 stolen cigarette packs at the home.

While interviewing Hatchell, Cline learned that the two men were suspects in two break-ins in Ridgeland, South Carolina, where firearms were stolen.

Wythe deputies charged Hatchell and Halldorson with breaking and entering, conspiracy to commit breaking and entering, grand larceny and destruction of property.

They walked from a residence a mile-and-a-half away from the store, broke in and then walked a mile-and-a-half back, Cline said.

Hatchell and Halldorson moved to Wythe County after meeting someone on Facebook from the area, he added. They are being held in the New River Valley Regional Jail with no bond.

Stolen purse leads to identity theft

An Austinville man has been charged with stealing a purse and using the owners identity information to set up an Amazon account.

Jason Bradley Blevins, 36, of 1501 Pauley Flatwoods Road, Austinville, has been charged with grand larceny and identity theft, according to the Wythe County Sheriffs Office.

Maj. Anthony Cline said that on May 25, Dorothy Grimes reported that her purse had been stolen from her car while she worked to clean the Poplar Camp Church of God. The car was unlocked.

On Thursday, June 8, deputies were notified that Grimes information had been used to set up an Amazon account. Nothing had been ordered from the account, which listed Blevins Austinville address as the delivery point, Cline said. Deputies went to the home, where they saw Grimes keys as they spoke with Blevins, the major said.

Blevins is in the New River Valley Regional Jail with no bond.
By Press Trust of India: London, Jun 11 (PTI) Scientists have discovered a hoard of gold coins that was likely buried around AD 460, just before the final fall of the West Roman Empire.

The researchers retrieved a total of 42 coins. However, according to the archaeologists, the treasure is undoubtedly incomplete.

Researchers, including those Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, dug over more of the plot, but no new coins were found.

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Neither were any fragments of earthenware or metal utensils found, which may mean that the treasure was originally hidden in a leather or textile pouch.

Last year, amateur archaeologists found 23 Roman gold coins in an orchard in Lienden in the Dutch province of Gelderland.

Archaeologists also tracked down two others who had found eight gold coins in exactly the same spot four years earlier.

Archival research revealed that similar coins ? which had vanished in the meantime ? had been found on the same plot of land in the 19th century.

The coins are solidi, the standard Roman gold coin dating from the late 4th and 5th century.

"The find adds a key element to our knowledge of the final stages of Roman rule in the Netherlands and the transition to the Early Middle Ages," said Nico Roymans, from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

"It is the largest currently known hoard of solidi in the Netherlands. It also appears to be the very last Roman hoard of coins we know of in the Netherlands and adjoining regions," Roymans said.

"The latest of the coins bears the likeness of Emperor Majorian, who ruled from 457 to 461. This implies that the treasure must have been buried sometime around 460 or shortly after," he said.

The West Roman Empire ended in 476 when the last Emperor was deposed.

Since unburnt remains of human bones were found which date back to a much earlier period (1800 BC), the conclusion is that the hoard of coins was probably buried in an old, Middle Bronze Age burial mound, which was still visible at the time.

"The exact reason for this remains unclear. The most likely is that it was buried for reasons of security in times of crisis, and the choice of an old burial mound as its hiding place might have been prompted by religious considerations," Roymans said.

The arrival of a consignment of gold around 460 is probably connected to the activities of the West Roman Emperor Majorian and his general Aegidius in Gaul.

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The most plausible scenario is that Aegidius had asked for military aid from the Frankish kings in exchange for payments in gold.

The gold hoard of Lienden is a unique document of historical interest for the last stages of Roman rule in the Netherlands, giving us an insight into the political and military situation during the transitional phase to the Early Middle Ages, researchers said.

It is the last hoard of Roman gold in the Netherlands, which marks the end of the West Roman Empire in this country. PTI MHN MHN

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As the last smoker of the year, the Footlights show this week was almost as nostalgic as it was funny, with members of the group saying their final farewells. For the familiar onstage faces, as well as the regular student theatre-goers, this weeks smoker held a greater significance than normal being the last time this team would come together. While the performance was dotted with somewhat sombre (though by no means diminishing) goodbye speeches, and the inevitable presence of a few weaker sketches, the group once again managed to deliver an evening of comedy of the high standard expected of them.

As is to be anticipated, sketches which used exam term humour such as 'the milk thief' and Exama Sutra (the different positions in which we study, without the result of anything actually going in) were particularly popular with the student audience; however, less likely sketches such as the 'Torres/Les Mis mash-up' also had the audience in hysterics, while Jamie Fraser and Alex Mackeiths take on the Coen brothers, with the latter lurching, deranged, about the stage with an eight foot stick, also went down well. More physical comedy such as Olivia Le Andersons shower mime, the epic sandwich sketch and the crisp-consuming cat fearer were nicely balanced with the stand-up from Fraser and Pope, though the sketches which excelled the most combined the two, such as the gammy pigeon/bird flu scare. Less successful instances tended to occur either when the acting courageously held up the questionable scripted integrity of the humour (for instance, the small squeaky hammer scene), or when individuals failed to present a diversity of their comic persona (Adrian Grays convincing performance of a drunkard can only take him so far).

As members of the team reflected on their final performance, certain elements such as Matilda Wneks heartfelt goodbye and Oliver Taylors shirt collecting goblin scene brought to the stage a degree of sincerity not usually present. Though at both of these points the audience became more subdued than in the more raucous sketches, the actors maintained humour throughout  even if the principle source of it was their inability to mask their own fits of laughter onstage.

While some sketches failed to induce side-splitting laughter, these faded away into obscurity to be forgotten amidst what was a fitting and entertaining final smoker.

8/10
The NIA has sent a Letter Rogatory (LR) to Pakistan, seeking its response on seizures made after the biggest terror attack.

The NIA has failed to make a headway into the Uri terror attack. (File photo for representation)

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sent a formal request to Pakistan to cooperate with probe into the Uri terror attack that took place on September 18 last year.

The NIA has made little headway in the probe into the terror case in nine months since four heavily armed Pakistani terrorists attacked army camp killing 19 soldiers.

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Indian Army had launched surgical strike following the Uri attack to destroy terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In a fresh move however, the agency has sent a Letter Rogatory (LR) to Pakistan, seeking its response on seizures made after the biggest terror attack unleashed by suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist.

Highly placed sources said that the request contains details of medicines, clothes, shoes, accessories and DNA of one of the terrorists, identified as Abu Anas. Even after nine months, the identity of three other terrorists is yet to be established.

Though the Army initially suspected the attack to be handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists, there was a turn around after Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) chief Hafiz Sayeed organised funeral prayers in absentia for one of the Uri attackers. The event was postponed after massive pressure from India raising the matter in international platform. The event was organised by LeT's parent organisation JUD in Gujranwala of Punjab, Pakistan, according to posters widely circulated on social media.

The poster bragged that LeT's Muhammad Anas, code named Abu-Saraqa attained "martyrdom" while carrying out the attack on the Indian Army camp in Uri, Kashmir. Written in Urdu, the poster, however also made an outlandish claim that LeT terrorists had killed 177 Indian soldiers.

Retracing the route taken by the Uri fidayeen from Pakistan also received a jolt after the US agency FBI as well as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which specialises in technical surveillance, failed to retrieve any data from the GPS set recovered from the attackers. Both GPS were burnt and data sources was deleted.

The NIA sleuths are, however, tight lipped about matrix sheets recovered from encounter site. Sources said that the team which was in Uri a few days ago, spoke to villagers at the LoC looking for clues, but came back disappointed.

In absence of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Pakistan, Letters Rogatory (LR) has been sent to Pakistan court after approval from MHA for seeking judicial assistance in service of process and taking of evidence. Pakistan has however never yielded to request by India. A top officer said that LR is mere symbolism as Pakistan never cooperates, but we are doing are best.

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ALSO READ | Uri attack: An inside story of how it happened

ALSO READ | Uri attack: 2 teenager terror guides to return to Pakistan, NIA files closure report

ALSO WATCH | NIA writes to RAW to acquire Lashkar posters that claimed Uri attack responsibility

--- ENDS ---
many long-time Nokia fans and tech enthusiasts - including myself - had been wondering and worrying whether new Nokia-branded handsets would still exude the qualities that they loved on Nokia models of the past

I'd like you to invite you and your readers to come and look at the devices, to feel them. And I think you will see for yourself when you look at the quality of [the products], you will get an idea of how 'very Nokia' these phones are.

And as I've said previously, we are not approaching this from a 'we know everything' [mentality]. We are approaching this from listening to customers, understanding what are the pain-points, what are the desires of customers, and then, designing phones accordingly. So at the heart of everything is the Nokia Brand.

Ever since Finnish Giantannounced its return to the mobile industry back in May 2016 and disclosed that it will no longer manufacture its own devices and will instead work with HMD Global to license out its name,It's a common concern that had been expressed to me by my friends and readers who've owned old Nokia releases and are now thinking about purchasing new Nokia-branded products made by a Chinese OEM."Sir Mark, will these new Nokia phones under HMD Global still be durable?""Do you think HMD Global will still focus on making Nokia devices that are as tough as nails or will they sacrifice quality for more profit?""Mark, I remember dropping my old Nokia 3310 numerous times on concrete and still worked. Can the new Nokia 3310 do that?"These are only some of the questions that they had asked me following the announcement of new Nokia-branded devices at MWC 2017 earlier this year.So last June 8, 2017, during the landmark launch of HMD Global's new Nokia-branded handsets here in the Philippines - held at The Fort in Taguig City, I took it upon myself to ask a related question to our friends at HMD Global as a way to get reassurance that their products would reflect what we have come to love about the Nokia of old.I recorded the entire conversation on video and you can watch it here:Here's what, Vice President of HMD Global Asia Pacific told me:Like many others have presented today, in almost every single one of our presentations, we talked about the quality; We talked about the trust and all those things. [...] The Nokia Brand is at the center of everything we do so [that means we focus on attributes like] quality, durability, and those things. That's the starting point."Based on his answer, it's clear that HMD Global knows what Nokia - as a phone brand - represents and this knowledge is at the heart of their efforts to come up with new products that exude that the Finnish Giant is all about. The process involves listening to consumers, which is always a good thing, and focusing on quality above all else. Is HMD Global successful in doing this? I guess we'll all just have to experience their upcoming Nokia-branded handsets to know for sure.
What the hell is happening to cryptocurrency valuations? The total market cap for all cryptocurrencies just surpassed $100 billion. The vast majority of these gains have come in just the last few months --- on April 1st the total market cap was just over $25 billion --- representing a 300 percent increase in value in just over 60 days. While some of these gains are from bitcoin itself (BTC is up ~160 percent in the same two-month time frame), other digital currencies like Ethereum are also responsible for the increase, which on its own has increased ~439 percent over the last two months. TechCrunch (also, 3 reasons the cryptocurrency exchange market is maturing & Cryptoeconomics 101)

My experience using hackintosh low-end PC for 3 years Almost 3 years ago I installed Mac OS X mavericks for the first time on my personal computer, before this I used a lot of distributions of gnu linux. but sometimes I had heard about Mac OS X and hackintosh, in that moment it seemed something Impossible to do. After spending hours reading guides in forums, reddit, tonymac86. I decided to try installing mavericks. The first thing I did was to download a torrent of niresh. For that moment there was no support for Yosemite. Jhonny Arana

Pirate Bay founder: We've lost the internet, it's all about damage control now At its inception, the internet was a beautifully idealistic and equal place. But the world sucks and we've continuously made it more and more centralized, taking power away from users and handing it over to big companies. And the worst thing is that we can't fix it --- we can only make it slightly less awful. The Next Web

An open letter to Microsoft: A 64-bit OS is better than a 32-bit OS There are a few absolutes in life - death, taxes, and that a 64-bit OS is better than a 32-bit OS. Moving over to a 64-bit OS allows your laptop to run BOTH the old compatible 32-bit processes and also the new 64-bit processes. In other words, there is zero downside (and there are gigantic upsides). Backblaze

Following the money hobbled vDOS attack-for-hire service A new report proves the value of following the money in the fight against dodgy cybercrime services known as "booters" or "stressers" --- virtual hired muscle that can be rented to knock nearly any website offline. Last fall, two 18-year-old Israeli men were arrested for allegedly running vDOS, perhaps the most successful booter service of all time. Krebs on Security

Automate the freight: maritime drone deliveries Ships at sea are literally islands unto themselves. If what you need isn't on board, good luck getting it in the middle of the Pacific. As such, most ships are really well equipped with spare parts and even with raw materials and the tools needed to fabricate most of what they can't store, and mariners are famed for their ability to make do with what they've got. Hackaday (also, Japan to launch self-navigating cargo ships 'by 2025')

It's been so windy in Europe that electricity prices have turned negative It's been very windy across Europe this week. So much so, in fact, that the high wind load on onshore and offshore wind turbines across much of the continent has helped set new wind power records. For starters, renewables generated more than half of Britain's energy demand on Wednesday---for the first time ever. Vice

Amazon lent $1 billion to merchants to boost sales on its marketplace Amazon.com Inc has stepped up lending to third-party sellers on its site who are looking to grow their business, a company executive said in an interview on Wednesday. The e-commerce giant has doled out more than $1 billion in small loans to sellers in the past 12 months, compared with more than $1.5 billion it lent from 2011 through 2015, said Peeyush Nahar, vice president for Amazon Marketplace. Reuters

DARPA funds development of new type of processor A completely new kind of non-von-Neumann processor called a HIVE --- Hierarchical Identify Verify Exploit --- is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to the tune of $80 million over four-and-a-half years. Chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm are participating in the project, along with a national laboratory, a university and a defense contractor North Grumman. EE Times

Xbox Unleashed: Our deep-dive study of how millions use Xbox Live For three years now, Ars' Steam Gauge project and the public sampling projects it has inspired (such as Steam Spy) have provided an important behind-the-scenes look at what kinds of games are popular on PC gaming's most popular marketplace. Today, after years of work, we're ready to unveil a new effort that similarly uncovers what's popular among Xbox Live users on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Ars Technica
OnePlus's newest smartphone, the OnePlus 5, is coming this month. The company officially announced that the OnePlus 5 would be unveiled during a live stream on June 20.

The Reveal Event

As was the case with the company's previous product reveals, the OnePlus 5 event will be live streamed. This year, the event will be held at 12 p.m. EDT on June 20.

However, the company is also doing a series of promotional events across the country. After the main event, OnePlus CEO Carl Pei and Marques Brownlee will be in New York City. Several similar events will be held in cities across the country.

Are you prepared for the OnePlus 5? Focus on what matters and join our keynote live on June 20. https://t.co/uuWc1m3pz1 pic.twitter.com/KfbVfMyh00  OnePlus (@oneplus) June 6, 2017

Specs And Features

The OnePlus line has built its brand on providing premium quality smartphones at lower prices than those offered by Samsung or Apple. While we don't currently have a certain amount, it is expected that the OnePlus 5 will be more competitively priced than its competition.

In terms of specs, we have nothing concrete, but there have been plenty of leaks surrounding the phone. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is said to be backed up by 6 GB of RAM and a 3,600 mAh battery. There has been no word regarding whether or not the OnePlus 5 will feature quick or wireless charging, though both features have become popular in high-end handsets.

In terms of design, OnePlus chief Pete Lau has claimed that the phone will be the slimmest handset yet. However, it is unclear whether or not Lau meant that the OnePlus 5 will be thinner than the competition or merely the thinnest phone OnePlus has released.

Camera

One of the phone's standout features will be its powerful camera. The exact nature of the camera has not been revealed, but rumors indicate that it will feature a 16-megapixel selfie shooter and a 23-megapixel rear-facing camera or a possible dual-camera setup. It has been revealed that the company is working with DxO to improve the phone's camera quality, so it should be one of the better options for those concerned with taking pictures. Recently, the company sent out a tweet showing off the camera's capabilities.

Can you tell which photo was taken with the OnePlus 5? pic.twitter.com/Pd27la4ewn  OnePlus (@oneplus) May 29, 2017

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Intel is not happy about Microsoft and Qualcomm's Windows 10 x86 emulation plans.

When the company's 8086 chip turned 39 years old Thursday, June 8, the company wasn't as celebratory as one would expect. For the most part, it highlighted the history of the architecture  but not without indirectly threatening Qualcomm or any company developing x86 emulation technology on their Windows 10 PCs.

Intel's lengthy blog post summarizes all the investments the company has made in making the x86 instruction set better, with features such as TSX transactional memory, SGX secure enclaves, and more, as proof of Intel's success in transforming the old architecture into something innovative.

Intel Threatens Qualcomm, Microsoft For x86 Emulation Plans

The latter half of the post, however, unexpectedly escalates into a less-than-celebratory note. Intel states that many of the developments it highlighted in the post are protected by patents and that the company itself has a history of using patents to protect its x86 developments. The post avoids dropping names, but at this point, it's easy to make guesses: Microsoft and perhaps Qualcomm too are supposedly the targets of Intel's threats.

"Intel carefully protects its x86 innovations, and we do not widely license others to use them," the company wrote in a blog post. "Over the past 30 years, Intel has vigilantly enforced its intellectual property rights against infringement by third-party microprocessors."

The company went further and listed victims of its previous patent wars: AMD, Cyrix, Transmeta, and more.

"[W]e do not welcome unlawful infringement of our patents, and we fully expect other companies to continue to respect Intel's intellectual property rights."

Windows 10 ARM, Powered By Qualcomm

Later this year, a number of companies including Asus, HP, and Lenovo will be launching Windows laptops powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor. While ARM-backed Windows PCs isn't news, there's a key difference this time around. Windows RT, Microsoft's first attempt to bring Windows to ARM, couldn't run any x86 apps. The new machines slated for this year, however, will include an x86 emulator that'll be able to run most, if not all, 32-bit x86 apps.

If this happens, those new machines will stand as threats to Intel's x86 business. If Windows 10 on ARM can offer better battery life, lower weight, and other key metrics, it could seriously undercut Intel in the same department, let alone if said machines are cheaper than what Intel offers. This, in turn, could dampen Intel's lead in the laptop space.

The implication seems to be that not only Intel will beef up its investments and innovations to improve the architecture, but it'll also be feel confident in initiating legal actions should companies violate its patents.

That said, information about Windows 10's x86 emulation is pretty nebulous at present, and its similarities to Intel's architecture are key to any potential litigation going forward, should they occur, that is.

It's hard to imagine that Qualcomm and Microsoft hadn't stumbled upon this conundrum amid their partnership. The manufacturers, meanwhile, are also fully supportive of the venture. Suppose Microsoft and Qualcomm missed the litigation involved as both were dishing out plans  again, this is highly unlikely  Intel's note should serve as fair warning.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
At least 10 people died after a vehicle fell into a canal in Mathura early morning.

People being rescued from the car, which fell into the canal in Mathura. (Photo: ANI)

By India Today Web Desk: At least 10 pilgrims were killed after a car fell into a canal at Makera area of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh early today.

The deceased were natives of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. Of the 10 killed, nine belonged to the same family.

-More details awaited.

ALSO READ | Uttarakhand: Helicopter accident in Badrinath kills 1

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ALSO READ | Dangal actor Zaira Wasim rescued from Dal lake after accident

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Jun 11 (PTI) Vietnam Grand Master Nguyen Duc Hoa clinched a decisive win against Indian GM Neelotpal Das in the 10th and concluding round to finish with 8.5 points and emerge champion of the 10th Mumbai Mayors Cup International Open Chess Tournament today.

The contest between the Nguyen (ELO 2477, rank 10) and Neelotpal (ELO 2438, rank 13), the joint leaders with 7.5 points each after the ninth round, was a close tense affair.

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The Vietnamese GM held his nerves and with some clever moves managed to outsmart the Indian GM to snatch a creditable win and the full point which secured him the victory and the top honours in the Rs 29-lakh prize money tournament.

The champion went home richer with the top prize of Rs 3 lakhs, while top-ranked Tajikistan GM Farrukh Amonatov (ELO 2635) took home a cheque of Rs 2 lakhs by finishing runner-up.

Amonatov finished with 8 points following his triumph over Russian GM Deviatkin Andrei (2481) to claim the second spot.

Indian Grand Masters Diptayan Ghosh, who had started with a flourish recording four successive wins in the opening rounds, and Neelotpal Das who shared the lead with Duc Hoa at the end of the penultimate round, finished with identical 7.5 points and were placed third and fourth respectively.

Ghosh picked a sum of Rs 1 lakh and Neelotpal received Rs 70,000 for their fine efforts.

Four other players ended with a tally of 7.5 points and claimed the fifth to sixth positions. Bangladesh Grandmaster Rahman Ziaur (5th), IM Karthikeyan P. (6th), Armenian Grandmaster Babujian Levon (7th) and FM Sai Krishna G.V. (8th), all finished with the same tally of points.

Results (top 10 boards) ? Round 10: GM Nguyen Duc Hoa (2477, VIE) - 8.5 pts beat GM Neelotpal Das (2438, IND) 7.5; GM Deviatkin Andrei (2481, RUS) - 7 lost to GM Amonatov Farrukh (2635, TJK) - 8; GM Ghosh Diptayan (2569, IND) - 7.5 drew with GM Rahman Ziaur (2526, BAN) - 7.5; IM Khusenkhojaev Muhammad (2424, TJK) - 7 drew with GM Tukhaev Adam (2567, UKR) ? 7; Navalgund Niranjan (2351, IND) ? 6.5 lost to IM Karthikeyan P. (2502, IND) ? 7.5; FM Rathanvel V. S. (2332, IND) ? 7 drew with GM Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib (2484, BAN) ? 7; FM Sai Krishna G. V. (2339, AP) ? 7.5 beat GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. (2480, IND) ? 6.5; GM Babujian Levon (2438, ARM) - 7.5 beat FM Sauravh Khherdekar (2230, IND) ? 6.5; Saurabh Anand (2266, IND) ? 7 drew with IM Nitin S. (2427, IND) ? 7; GM Grover Sahaj (2485, IND) ? 7 beat Mithil Ajgaonkar (2203, IND) ? 6.

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Final Positions (top 8): 1. GM Nguyen Duc Hoa (VIE) - 8.5 points, 2. GM Amonatov Farrukh (TJK) - 8, 3. GM Ghosh Diptayan (IND) - 7.5, 4. GM Neelotpal Das (IND) -7.5, 5. GM Rahman Ziaur (BAN) - 7.5, 6. IM Karthikeyan P. (IND) - 7.5, 7. GM Babujian Levon (ARM) - 7.5, 8. FM Sai Krishna G.V. (IND) - 7.5. PTI SSR NRB BAS

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Kochi, Jun 10 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today termed as "unfortunate" the killing of five people in police firing during a farmers agitation in Madhya Pradesh, but said "very grave" situation there necessitated police action.

Fadnavis, who himself is grappled with a simmering farmers protest in his state for quite some time now, said there could be no justification for such killings.

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"What happened in Madhya Pradesh is unfortunate (and) no government ever wants to do that. But the situation also was very grave, it could have turned more problematic," he told reporters here in response to a query on farmers stir in Madhya Pradesh.

"So nobody can justify (it)... even the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has not justified the action," he said.

However, Fadnavis hailed the steps taken by MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to improve farm production in his state during his over a decade-long rule.

Fadnavis is in Kerala to participate in events organised by the state unit of the BJP to mark the Narendra Modi governments three years at the Centre.

Admitting that there were issues in the farm sector in Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said it happened because the farm prices are no more controlled by government post globalisation.

He also blamed the four-year-long drought situation that prevailed in Maharashtra for the farm crisis.

"We in Maharashtra had successive drought for four years. And due to those droughts, yes, there is a distress amongst farmers," Fadnavis said.

He said the farm crisis which was there is not pan Maharashtra.

"It was in certain parts of Maharashtra and the life was not affected even a single day. But still we feel that demands of farmers are there. We are trying to address it," he said.

The Chief Minister said people of the state knew that his government was working with good intentions and that helped the BJP to sweep the elections held to local bodies in the state recently.

"We swept all elections including zilla parishads, nagar palika, municipal corporations and that is because the people know this government is working and has good intentions," he said.

Fadnavis also hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over alleged political killings in the state.

He said Vijayan should concentrate on issues of governance rather than convening meetings of chief ministers on the Centres notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter in animal market.

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"The more grave situation here is political killings. I think he should concentrate more on that. Whether these killings are state sponsored is something which I think he needs to answer," he said.

Noting that during a small span of Vijayans rule, 17 "political murders" took place in Kerala, Fadnavis said such incidents have never happened in Indian democracy.

"Democracy is all about discussion. We are not enemies.. We are political opponents.. Our ideologies may differ.. We may defeat each other in elections.. But when in democracy you start killing your political opponents, you start killing the ideologies because we differ in ideologies we start defeating the democracy," he said.

The confirmation that the five farmers were killed in police firing bears significance as the MP government had initially claimed that the police did not fire at the agitating farmers.

Five persons were killed on June 6 as the farmers agitation turned violent in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew in the trouble-hit area.

Mandsaur has been on the boil since the farmers agitation in the district turned violent.

Farmers in western Madhya Pradesh are protesting since June 1 over various demands including fixing of a crop prices. PTI TGB ROH KIS

--- ENDS ---

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President-elect Lula da Silva and Sonia Gujajara are expected to meet at the 2022 UN Climate Change next week. | Read More
About Me

I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.

View my complete profile
The Hague (AFP) June 8, 2017





Plastic that is dumped in rivers and then ends up in the world's oceans is one of the major sources of marine pollution, a new study said this week, with Asian waterways the main culprits. ... more

Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX) Jun 05, 2017





During the last glacial period - when the ice in the Antarctic was far thicker and extended further offshore than it does today - it has been speculated that subglacial lakes existed beneath it. An ... more

Bremerhaven, Germany (SPX) Jun 07, 2017





It is only six centimetres long, but it plays a major role in the Antarctic ecosystem: the small crustacean Euphausia superba (Antarctic krill). It's one of the world's most abundant species and the ... more

Oslo, Norway (SPX) Jun 07, 2017





"Every year we go back to the dome area with our research vessel, and every year I am anxious to see if one of these domes has become a crater," says lead author of the study Pavel Serov, PhD candid ... more

United Nations, United States (AFP) June 8, 2017





British entrepreneur Richard Branson handed over a petition with more than a million signatures to the UN on Thursday, urging governments to protect at least 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030. ... more

Washington (UPI) Jun 8, 2017


Dexter Filkins, an American journalist in a published article on Friday, June 9th, 2017 in New Yorker wrote: The road network from the Iranian border with Iraq, and Iraq to Syria was gained last week, respectively. When Iranian regime backed militant seized last series of Iraqi villages near the Syrian border.

A Kurdish official said: The path is complete. The Iranian regime can go from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean. Syrian Kurdish officials are saying: They do not want any Iraqi paramilitaries on their land. They also do not want the Iranian regime. Irans allies put pressure on Kurds to cooperate in recent days, and Kurds have said that Russia has threatened to attack them.

Iraqi Kurdish official told Dexter Filkins, he believes the Iranian regime path is inevitable, unless America gets involve and stop it. The Middle Easts future depends to a large extent on who will win. This official said: It all depends on whether America wants to stop it?
The war of words between LSU and a former tenured education professor fired by the university in 2015 is heating up in Baton Rouge federal court as a judge considers a civil rights lawsuit filed against the school.

Teresa Buchanan claims she was fired for using vulgar language, saying her free speech and due process rights were trampled by LSU Chancellor F. King Alexander and other top administrators, and she wants monetary damages and her old job back. She worked for LSU for nearly two decades.

"This is a case of political correctness run amok," Buchanan's attorneys argue in a recent court filing. "The defendants at LSU fired Dr. Teresa Buchanan ... for 'sexual harassment' based on speech having nothing to do with either 'sex' or 'harassment.'"

LSU contends its termination of Buchanan was appropriate and necessary to protect students from her verbally abusive behavior.

"This case is not about salty language; students and others observed aggressive and bullying behavior by (Buchanan) in the classroom," attorneys for Alexander, Damon Andrew, A.G. Monaco and Gaston Reinoso argue. "(Buchanan) cannot hide behind the shield of academic freedom while creating a hostile learning environment for the students she was hired to teach."

Andrew is dean of LSU's College of Human Sciences and Education. Monaco is associate vice chancellor of the Office of Human Resource Management, and Reinoso is director of the Human Resource Management office.

Robert Corn-Revere, one of Buchanan's attorneys, declined Thursday to elaborate on the court documents filed on her behalf and instead said he would let those filings "do the talking for us for now." The attorneys for Alexander and his colleagues did not respond to a request for comment.

Buchanan, who specialized in early childhood education and trained elementary school teachers, alleges in her January 2016 lawsuit that her "occasional use of profanity" was part of her teaching approach and "was not directed at  nor did it disparage  any student."

LSU has said Buchanan was fired in June 2015 for "documented evidence of a history of inappropriate behavior that included verbal abuse, intimidation and harassment of our students."

A five-member faculty had recommended that Buchanan not lose her job, but the LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to fire her.

The American Association of University Professors came to Buchanan's aid shortly after her termination, criticizing her firing and pledging money to assist her legal defense.

In addition, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a group that advocates for free speech on college campuses, put LSU on its list of worst offenders early last year. The university was featured on the list largely due to Buchanan's termination.

Buchanan's controversial comments included saying "f*** no" repeatedly in the presence of students, using a slang term for vagina that implies cowardice, and telling a joke that the quality of sex gets worse the longer a relationship lasts.

Buchanan has said she's proud of the job she did at LSU and doesn't regret anything she did.

In recent court filings, Special Assistant Attorneys General Sheri Morris and Carlton "Trey" Jones III, the lawyers representing Alexander and his colleagues, say Buchanan's conduct clearly violated LSU's sexual harassment policies, which mirror a blueprint for campus anti-harassment policies promulgated by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice.

But Buchanan's attorneys claim LSU's sexual harassment policies are "defective" and unconstitutional, and that her firing also was unconstitutional.

"It's absurd for (Buchanan) to claim that defendants' recommendations to enforce policies consistent with federal guidelines are unreasonable," Morris and Jones argue.

Buchanan's attorneys, however, insist that the speech for which she was fired "falls squarely within the First Amendment's protections.

"The First Amendment ... does not permit university officials to equate offendedness with harassment," they argue.

But LSU's attorneys disagree that Buchanan's "embarrassing, humiliating and intimidating speech" toward a captive audience of classroom students was a valid part of her teaching approach.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who is presiding over the case, has not ruled or scheduled a hearing on LSU's and Buchanan's dueling motions for summary judgment, which ask the judge to rule in their respective favors.
During floor debate in the final week of the regular legislative session, Democratic Rep. Barbara Norton, of Shreveport, apparently had enough of Republican Rep. Valarie Hodges from Denham Springs.

I am sick of you coming to talk about Israel and those other countries when we need to take care of this budget, Norton chided Hodges, who champions legislation pushed by national conservative advocacy groups, such as for punishing sanctuary cities, limiting immigration and, in this case, protecting Israeli investments.

I speak for my constituents and for most of Louisiana that want to stand with our ally, Hodges replied sharply as House Speaker Taylor Barras repeatedly interjected, ladies, ladies trying to maintain decorum.

Its an unwritten rule that legislators show respect and amity to colleagues. Its what allows people of vastly differing views to work together.

But conviviality is what has been chucked out by legislators in this session, said more than a dozen representatives and senators on Thursday while leaders negotiated the $28 billion budget. The oft-described most hostile session, ever might be a bit hyperbolic in a building where a U.S. senator was murdered after one session and where shards remain in the ceiling from a bomb that exploded before another session.

Still, after two months, legislators didnt agree on a budget  their most important constitutional duty.

I have never seen it this partisan, never, said state Sen. Francis Thompson during one of the long waits Thursday while House and Senate leaders negotiated the budget.

Thompson has been a legislator for 42 years and says more members now identify themselves first by national party. They cleave, in the Biblical meaning, to national platform points that offer little wiggle room and are strictly patrolled for deviations by social media, pressure groups and trade associations, he said.

Thats why legislators entered the session in April with high hopes of a sweeping overhaul of Louisianas teetering fiscal structure, then couldnt agree on a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

In simple terms for what is a legislative mares nest, the House wanted to cut spending now by $100 million. If revenue projections come up short, were covered and wont have to scramble around whacking programs to balance the budget. If the projections are closer to target, then the state has extra money to start the new year.

Senators agree that some of the money needs to be held in reserve. The Senate wants to fund services, but ask that agencies not spend a portion of that money until later in the fiscal year when we see how things are going. That way, the state is prepared if the tax, royalties and fees come in less than expected but services arent eliminated from the get-go.

The House wanted about $200 million set aside but dropped its demand to $100 million. Senate leaders wanted $50 million and wouldnt budge.

Some in the Republican majority in the House also voiced concern that compromise would allow Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards to claim an accomplishment, according to four participants speaking in separate interviews on condition of anonymity because each feared being punished by their colleagues.

A literal last-minute flurry of parliamentary rules tried to force a vote on the Senate version that the House leaders wanted rejected.

It was very apparent that New Orleans Democratic Rep. Walt Leger III was far more familiar with parliamentary procedure than Barras, R-New Iberia. Barras ate up precious minutes being briefed by his lawyers. But the delay kept that vote from actually happening.

Hence, the special session Edwards had suggested as a precaution began 30 minutes later. Legislators now have until June 19 to approve a budget.

Under the rules, the state budget, House Bill 1, has to go through the process again.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said hes deciding whether to file on Monday the same bill that the House approved in early May and the same one the Senate changed in early June. Or he could make some adjustments to the legislation that authorizes spending for next year.

We can amend House Bill 1 to be what we want it to be, Henry said.

Usually, for those who leave late in the day, the State Capitol is dramatically illuminated and a beam of light from the top tower shines onto Huey P. Longs grave in the nearby park.

But the lights werent on the night the Legislature failed to pass a state budget.

Instead, Capitol Park was illuminated only by clown-colored lights twirling on the spokes of a bicycle clubs outing as they glided through the complex where the Louisiana government meets.

The State Capitol itself was dark.
It was no, no, no, no. It was no, again and again.

State legislators said no to a task forces recommendations to fix an inefficient and broken tax system. They said no to addressing a looming budget deficit of about $1 billion. They said no to raising the gas tax to pay for better roads and bridges.

And, during a chaotic finish to the 60-day regular session Thursday, they said no to reaching a deal on the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The final no left legislators with the result that everybody said they didnt want  yet another special session on the budget, which began at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Minutes later, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, seized the post-regular session narrative by declaring to reporters: We just witnessed an epic failure in leadership. The House leadership clearly chose party politics ahead of the peoples business, over the needs of the people of Louisiana.

Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, offered a more subdued take.

It was our responsibility to get it done, and we didnt, he said in an interview. Theres probably enough blame that can go around.

House Republicans pinned the blame on Alario and Edwards, who belong to different political parties but are allied. Alario and Edwards, the House Republicans said, were stuck on spending 100 percent of the anticipated available money, while House Republicans favored cutting out $100 million to provide a cushion in the event of a revenue shortfall.

The people of Louisiana won because we didnt raise taxes, Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, said in an interview. In the budget fiasco, there wasnt a winner.

The Council for a Better Louisiana, a government policy advocacy nonprofit based in Baton Rouge, offered this view on Friday: Theres plenty of culpability to go around on a variety of fronts, but at the end of the day, its politics, and thats what the public says its so tired of. The point is that people expect their government to work. Theyre not paying attention to all the details of the infighting. They just want it to work. Sadly, that wasnt the case this session.

The House and Senate  both under Republican leadership  ended up being divided over a mere $50 million in the $9.5 billion part of the budget that involves state taxes, tuition and fees.

Now legislators are engaged in a special session that costs state taxpayers $60,000 per day and has to end by June 19. But, as Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, pointed out, Our options wont be much different.

The regular sessions failures went deeper than the spectacular ending, which saw the House in an uproar over a last-minute effort by Democrats to force a vote on the budget  and a regular session then concluding without an approved budget for the first time in 17 years. Approving a budget bill before July 1 is something the Legislature must do each year.

When the session began April 10, the onus of responsibility fell on the Republicans, given their majority in each house. They had insisted in 2016 on passing temporary tax increases  including a penny increase in the sales tax  to set up a fiscal cliff that they would theoretically have to address in 2017  the last time the Legislature could raise or renew taxes during a regular session before the temporary taxes vanish on July 1, 2018.

To help with that task, the Legislature in 2016 created a task force to issue recommendations to improve the tax system and also provide solutions to avoid the fiscal cliff. The task force called for ending tax exemptions that had proliferated in recent years while also reducing tax rates.

Addressing the task forces recommendations fell to the House Republican leadership because the tax measures would have to begin in the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Neil Abramson, a Democrat from New Orleans who is often allied with the Republicans.

Less than two weeks before the session began, Edwards questioned whether House Republicans would address the fiscal cliff.

The only thing you hear from them is no, without a plan, Edwards told The Advocate at the time. Im disappointed but not surprised. What Im asking them to do is hard. Its unpleasant. But its necessary. They have the prerogative to vote no. But if they do that without their own plan, they are not serious.

House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, in an interview then, said a number of Republicans would offer revenue-raising bills that, taken together, would constitute an overall plan, in his view. (Barras did not return a phone call on Friday.)

Rep. Lance Harris, of Alexandria, who heads the House Republican caucus, said his groups focus would be on clamping down on spending, even though he had convened a working group of legislators to examine the tax system and offer recommendations for change.

Under the lead of Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, the House passed a budget that would spend only 97.5 percent of the money forecast to be available for the upcoming fiscal year. Republicans said the state needed a cushion  which would amount to $206 million under their proposed budget  because the state for years has collected less money than anticipated and has had to enact midyear budget cuts as a result.

Harris told reporters that the House Republican budget would address half of the fiscal cliff. But the House leadership never offered a comprehensive tax plan. (Harris declined an interview request for this article.)

Consistent with a focus only on spending, the Ways and Means Committee shot down every tax proposal supported by Edwards that mirrored the task forces recommendations.

The committee did support changes to the income tax code sponsored by two Republicans  Reps. Barry Ivey, of Central, and Julie Stokes, of Kenner  that came from the task forces recommendations. But the task force called for income tax measures to produce more dollars, while the Ivey and Stokes bills were revenue-neutral  a requirement to win the Houses approval.

In the end, both bills died in a Senate committee whose members cited the need for comprehensive tax reform, not piecemeal measures.

Last stab at passing recommended tax changes dies this legislative session A task force spent 2016 studying the tax system, issued a comprehensive set of recommendatio

Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, pushed a plan to raise the gas tax by up to 17 cents per gallon to expand roadways to reduce traffic congestion and repair roads and bridges  which another task force had called an urgent need.

The state Republican Party and outside conservative groups said no to a tax hike and forced Carter to admit defeat without calling a vote.

As Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, explained it in an interview, the Republicans believe any extra money would simply feed a faceless government bureaucracy that is insatiable for more money. Morris and other lawmakers said constituents were telling them to oppose new taxes.

The Senate countered with a budget that would not cut higher education; would provide money for child care abuse cases and housing for foster children; would increase salaries for low-paid state workers in jobs with high turnover, including probation and parole officers; and would provide additional dollars for health care for the poor and disabled.

The House rejected the Senate budget, with Republicans supplying nearly all of the "no" votes.

That set the stage for the final day Thursday.

At 8 a.m., Barras walked the 20 steps from his office on the first floor of the State Capitol to the Senate presidents office. There, Barras presented a plan to Alario and Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, who chairs the Finance Committee.

He said the House would agree to the Senates version of the budget to spend all of the money anticipated to be available next year, but the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government would be directed to withhold a total of $50 million to cover any revenue shortfall that might develop.

Barras idea satisfied senators, LaFleur said in an interview an hour after the meeting with Barras, because it would provide the spending they sought. It also won Edwards support, his aides said, because the governor had carried out a similar move during the current fiscal year, asking state agencies to set aside 5 percent of their money as a contingency.

Senators held out hope that Barras idea would win favor among enough Republicans in the House to pass.

The House Republicans caucused in the State Capitol basement at 10 a.m. Barras presented it not as his plan but as a potential idea. The conservatives rejected it, saying they wanted less spending and calling for a win against the Democratic governor, according to four lawmakers who were present. The conservatives insisted on actual cuts in the state budget, not the promise of money being set aside.

A majority of House members don't want to spend 100 percent of a wrong number, Henry told reporters.

By 5 p.m., one hour before adjournment, the leadership in neither the House nor the Senate was willing to budge from its position. Edwards told Alario he sided with the Senate.

Thirty minutes later, Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, made a last-ditch effort to force the House leadership to permit the House to vote on the Senates version of the budget. Amid shouts from Democrats to allow a vote on it, Republicans blocked him, but two procedural votes indicated that Leger was close to having the votes and may even have had them.

We did nothing to address the fiscal cliff, Rep. Rob Shadoin, R-Ruston, said in an interview. We did nothing to reform our budgetary process. And we did nothing on tax reform.

Other than that, he added, tongue firmly in cheek, its been a successful session.
This is especially concerning since American Senators described Iran as the main supporter of terrorism, and the recent Tehran attacks proved Iran is tasting its own medicine.

Exactly when the Iranian people was engaged with an attack on the parliament by terrorists, the US Senate shamelessly approved a bill against the Iranian people, and approved supporting terrorists, he said.

In this bill, filled entirely with the support of terrorism, they have imposed sanctions on Irans missile technology, IRGC and the Quds Force. The US knows the IRGC and Quds Force are the main fighting against terrorism in the Middle East. Therefore, this bill shows they are hand in hand with the regional terrorists, Larijani added.

The US should not think disputes in Iran will provide them any opportunities. We say it very clearly that the IRGC is a sacrificing force for the Islamic Revolution, and the Quds Force and IRGC are Irans red lines, and we will give them strong response, he continued.
The introduction of company director identification numbers to help prevent the deliberate liquidation of companies to avoid paying workers' entitlements and tax is being considered by the federal government.

A Federal Treasury spokeswoman told Fairfax Media the introduction of a director identification number had been recommended by a Productivity Commission inquiry and a Senate economics committee inquiry into insolvency in the construction industry and was being considered.

Labor spokesman for employment, Brendan O'Connor. Labor said it would adopt as policy the introduction of ID numbers for all Australian company directors. Credit:SMH

"The government is considering its response to these reports," the Treasury spokeswoman said.

Fraudulent phoenix activity involves the evasion of tax and other liabilities, including employee entitlements, through the sometimes repeated liquidation of companies. Like the mythical phoenix, a new company emerges from the "ashes" of the failed company, free of its former debts.
The Queen's Birthday honours list seems almost as constant as Her Majesty, Britain's longest-reigning monarch. For more than 65 years she has reigned over us and the rest of the Commonwealth. And, every year at this time, the honours list fails to reflect the heft of women in our society, polity and economy. Since the Australian inception of the honours list in 1975, women have each year received fewer than a third of the awards, which, the official description says, "recognise a diverse range of contributions and service across all fields, including professional endeavours, community work, Australia's Defence Force and Emergency Services". Been coming here long? The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince Phillip stop to wave outside the Town Hall during a visit to Melbourne in 1970. Every year, the list is not only testosterone-heavy, but arguably also contains too many well-known names, and too many people who are there for doing their job, albeit in a sterling fashion. Let us be clear, we have profound regard and respect for our head of state, Queen Elizabeth. She has been a remarkable figure of stability and kindness, of civic duty and charity, of family and community. We believe it is right and just, ahead of what may well be Australia's inevitable transition to a republic, that we mark our monarch's birthday by celebrating the good and great among us. We congratulate each and every person honoured. Our digital platforms carry the names of almost 900 such people, this year's recipients as approved and announced by the Queen's local representative, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

The fundamental reason far fewer women than men are nominated is that, as our reporting throughout the year lamentably shows, men continue to dominate positions of power throughout the nation. They not only earn more gongs, they earn more money, often a lot more, across every sector and role. So, while in no way disrespecting a single recipient, this is the point we amplify today. An unintended benefit of the honours list is it can be seen as a prominent proxy for the lack of progress we have made on gender equality and equality of opportunity, despite the collective cognitive dissonance that is our belief Australia is the nation of "the fair go". As the election days ago in the Queen's own realm showed so starkly, issues of fairness are coming to dominate politics and public policy as the gap between rich and poor widens, technology transforms jobs and industries, and as class and other invisible barriers are perpetuated. This makes it more important and pressing than ever to recognise and celebrate the otherwise unsung achievers in our communities. So much leadership comes from the ground up. Yes, there is of course a pivotal role for political, corporate, legal and bureaucratic hierarchies, but so much change is generated by those who realise there is no "them"  as in, "they" should fix it, but only us. So many such people  and lots of them do, thankfully, make it onto the honours lists  are in the community sector, as volunteers or, increasingly, employees of social enterprises. As much as 5 per cent of our national output comes from not-for-profit organisations, of which there are some 600,000 in Australia  most of them community sporting clubs and the like. One in four Australians is a volunteer, and about one in 12 jobs are in the not-for-profit sector.
"I remember when I first did a high-street issue some people were horrified, because Vogue wasn't meant to address that. But I always wanted to make it a magazine for every person rather than for the industry." That meant putting Crossrail engineers in the features pages and Victoria Beckham - before her reinvention was deemed credible - on the cover. "Nobody else would have done that then because they didn't think Victoria was 'Vogue', whereas I just thought that she was really interesting to a lot of people," she says. Unlike the US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Shulman never bought into a Vogue-style private life. Ask Shulman whether she's ever had Beckham or any of the world's top designers and models over for dinner to the Queen's Park home she shares with her journalist partner, David Jenkins, and she flings back: "No. Victoria's not a friend, but I like her and she likes me and I can pick up the phone to her if I need to." Because there are now so few models "who really register in a commercial way", Shulman has developed different concerns from those she had in the 1990s. I can't bear the whole 'empowering women' thing. It has become this catchphrase, but it doesn't actually mean anything. I particularly hate it when it is attached to anything commercial.

"Back then you could be sure that if someone was famous and you had a reasonable picture of them, they would sell magazines. That's not necessarily true now. You've got Gigi Hadid, who sold very well for us." She pauses. "Cara Delevingne did a very good job at creating herself as an interesting and strong woman - and Kendall Jenner, basically because of the Kardashians." When I ask how she feels about the likes of Kardashian and the model Emily Ratajkowski stripping off on Instagram in the name of feminism, she grimaces. "Feminism has become one of those tricky concepts because I think we all want to feel that women should have equal respect and absolutely equal rights. But just as I don't want to see a naked man on Instagram with the hashtag 'alpha male', I don't want to see naked women with the hashtag 'feminism'. That's not what feminism is about. Feminism is about being proud of and happy with your body - particularly if you're leaving it absolutely as nature gave it to you. She shakes her head: "I can't bear the whole 'empowering women' thing. It has become this catchphrase, but it doesn't actually mean anything. I particularly hate it when it is attached to anything commercial." To remain as sensible and non-faddy as Shulman in an often whimsical, fad-peddling industry is impressive. And anyone mistaking either these comments or those made two years ago when she warned women not to expect their jobs to be reserved for them "in aspic" while they are off on maternity leave as un-sisterly has got her wrong.

A lot of the women at Vogue are the chief breadwinners, she tells me, and many are on a four-day week. As a single mother raising her now 22-year-old son, Sam - whom she had with her former husband, the American writer Paul Spike - "I didn't really feel that I could have a big job and not work full-time," she admits. "My generation didn't, but I've noticed that many more women are prepared to sacrifice the full-time aspect now, and if you can sit down with your boss and have a civilised conversation about how to make that work, then great." One thing she will caution against is the notion that women "can have it all. Because of course men can't have it all either - but maybe they're not trying to," she sighs. "I don't know why women have created such impossible standards for themselves. Not just in their looks, but in their whole lives. Maybe it's over-compensating: if you've come from being judged basically on your marriageability and emerged from that through a lot of fighting, maybe you think you can do everything. Well, I'm a full believer that you can't. And I find it particularly depressing how perfectionist and judgmental so many women are about their own appearances. Because on the whole men aren't saying, 'You're too fat and your legs are too hairy and you've got a double chin.' Women are doing that to themselves." Although Shulman hasn't seen any evidence that women are worse at asking for salary rises than men in her tenure, she will point out one niggling Conde Nast discrepancy: "If you look at this company you'll see that the people at the top are almost all men. So that's not about asking for rises but something to do with the culture, whereby the highest-paid people are all men - even though the company is basically aimed at women." Could this be, I wonder, her way of addressing rumours that Enninful - who will be Vogue's first male editor - has negotiated a substantial salary. Whatever that figure may be, however, Shulman does sound utterly confident that her successor will do a good job, adding that as a former GQ editor herself, "It would it would be very hard for me to say that a man couldn't edit Vogue: I absolutely believe that a man can."
Two Sydney councils in traditional Liberal heartland will use council elections to conduct a referendum on council mergers, adding to mounting pressure on the Berejiklian government over the controversial policy.

Alongside electing councillors, ratepayers in Hunters Hill and Lane Cove will be asked if they support the state government's proposed merger in a separate poll at the September council elections.

Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton says the government remains committed to the remaining mergers, which have been delayed due to legal action.

It comes as some Sydney mayors foreshadow scaled-back elections and difficulty in attracting quality candidates due to the ongoing uncertainty over the future of their councils.

The referendums will be the first time entire communities have been polled on their views on council mergers, more than a year after the then-Baird government rolled out the policy in May 2016.
A total of six assailants armed with AK47 rifles and explosive vests launched two simultaneous attacks in Tehran targeting two heavily secured sites in the Iranian capital Wednesday morning.

The unexpected twin assault left 17 killed and dozens more wounded in Irans parliament and the mausoleum of former Iranian regime leader Ruhollah Khomeini located south of the capital.

Islamic State claimed responsibility and released a video purporting to show gunmen inside the parliament building and one body, apparently dead, on the floor, according to Reuters in a wire from inside Iran.

The attackers, disguised as women, apparently were able to find their way in the parliament through the main entrance, the semi-official Tasnim news agency cited Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari. Four hours into the entire rampage Iranian state media reported the incident over with all six assailants dead.

Condemnations cross the board

As ISIS claimed to have staged its first ever attack in Iran, the international community condemned this heinous act of terrorism. Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, condemned the loss of innocent lives.

ISISs conduct clearly benefits the Iranian regimes Supreme Leader Khamenei, who wholeheartedly welcomes it as an opportunity to overcome his regimes regional and international impasse and isolation. The founder and the number one state sponsor of terror is thus trying to switch the place of murderer and the victim and portray the central banker of terrorism as a victim, Rajavi added.

To uproot terrorism in the region:

 The IRGC must be designated as a terrorist entity.

 The IRGC and paramilitary proxies of the Khamenei caliphate must be removed from Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

 The Organization of Islamic Cooperation must expel the mullahs regime and recognize the Iranian Resistance for ending religious fascism.

Devious past

However, there are also questions about the suspicious nature of this entire attack, especially considering the heavily fortified status of the two sites. One of the wounded individuals said in an interview people cannot bring even a pen into the parliament without passing through security.

There are also widespread signs seen in social media users inside Iran expressing uncertainty over ISIS being behind the attack.

There seems to be a general lack of trust on official sources. This is not without precedent.

Iran is also known to resort to such brutal tactics to tarnish the image of its opposition. In 1994 a staged bombing of the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, northeast Iran, was staged by Iranian intelligence, leaving 25 dead and more than 300 injured. Iranian authorities immediately claimed of arresting the culprit and he confessed that he was a member of the opposition Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The PMOI, however, condemned the attack. Some years later it was publicly acknowledged that the bombing of Imam Rezas shrine, similar to the murder of three Christian priests, also been blamed on the PMOI/MEK, had been planned and carried out by the Irans Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) to tarnish the image of the group.

Paving the path

It is expected that authorities shall certainly use this incident to increase the level domestic suppression.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his first remarks following the attacks, specifically said, When the central apparatus has such disorders, then you are weapons free. Khamenei also used the term soft war officers, in a reference to principalists and hardcore elements of the Revolutionary Guards Basij paramilitary units, according to the BBC Farsi.

Iranian officials will take advantage of such a turn of events to justify their escalating intervention in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and counter growing popular opposition to its meddling in other states, while the country is in deep economic crisis and poverty is widespread. It is also feared that this incident may be used by Tehran to fuel sectarian wars across the region. Iran is known to support the Shiite Hashid al-Shabi in Iraq against ISIS and the minority Sunni community; Shiite Houthis to oust the legitimate government of Yemen and threaten its regional archrival Saudi Arabia; and Shiite militias from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to prop up the Assad regime against Syrian opposition forces and innocent people under the pretext of fighting ISIS.

Iran has blamed not only ISIS but also the United Sates and Saudi Arabia for the terror attack in Tehran. This is the Iranian regime in practice preparing the grounds for terrorist attacks across the Middle East against its rivals. However, this is the topic of an entire different discussion in the future.

Broader threats

A dangerous outcome of this incident would be the provision of ample opportunity to the Revolutionary Guards and Quds Force to escalate their regional meddling and demand more foothold.

Rest assured the Iranian regime will seek to capitalize this turn of events to boost the very pillars of its establishment, especially after the crisis-riddled presidential election where Khamenei failed to have his preferred candidate, conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, replace the incumbent Hassan Rouhani.The mullahs in Tehran will no doubt increase their nationwide crackdown measures through the police and intelligence apparatus, boost their meddling through proxy forces across the region and press the gas pedal on the ballistic missile program.
Australia's electricity grid operator has moved to head off the risk of power blackouts in Victoria next summer by offering to pay big industrial energy users to shut down during heatwaves.

In a highly unusual move, the Australian Energy Market Operator has dusted off previously dormant emergency powers, issuing a tender to free up 600 megawatts of energy from early January to the start of March 2018.

Powering down: Energy users could be paid to reduce demand at peak times. Credit:Max Mason-Hubers

That would be the equivalent of saving about half the power generated by a typical coal-fired plant.

Under the plan, which comes amid alarm about the security of the state's energy supply following the shutdown of the Hazelwood coal-fired plant in March, a little-known mechanism called a "Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader" would be triggered to contract power-hungry businesses such as smelters to stop using electricity during periods of extreme heat.
Police have shot a 59-year-old man in the arm after he allegedly threatened them with a gun in Victoria's north-east.

Officers had been called to the property in Cornishtown, near the Victoria-New South Wales border, on Sunday night before the shooting occurred.

"It is believed police were initially called to the rural property in relation to a domestic violence incident involving an axe and a firearm," a police spokesman said.

The man is alleged to have threatened the officers with a firearm before police opened fire, he said.

The injured man was taken to the Albury Base Hospital, where he remained listed in a stable condition with a gunshot wound to his arm.
"Decaying" old apartment buildings around Melbourne could be demolished and sold to developers under proposed reforms that could see people's homes forcibly acquired.

As it stands, any plan to sell a building must be approved by 100 per cent of owners, making sales of ageing apartment complexes near impossible.

Mortgage broker Clint Bravo is angry that one dissenting owner is preventing the sale of his St Kilda Road apartment block. Credit:Penny Stephens

The Andrews government is considering reforms that could result in the voting requirement for sales and redevelopments reduced to as little as 75 per cent.

While these laws would likely see the replacement of many old "six-pack" blocks built in the 1950s to 1970s in desirable suburbs such as Toorak and South Yarra, there is also concern it would force people to relinquish their perfectly liveable homes at the bidding of their neighbours.
A Melbourne family has pleaded for help to find a beloved mother who has been missing for several days.

Karen Curnow, 57, was last seen on Friday when she left her home in Frankston South, in the city's outer southern suburbs.

Karen Curnow, 57, of Frankston South, has been reported missing.

She told her husband and youngest son that she was going shopping before leaving their Chetwyn Court address between 3pm and 4pm.

Her older son, Fletcher Curnow, said he's extremely concerned for her welfare as the family widens their search across the state.
Barcelona: The butcher's shop at the Mercat de La Boqueria has been in Francisca Gabaldas family for four generations.

For decades, she says, visitors have come from far and wide for the array of quality produce on offer at the Barcelona's covered market.

The picturesque market is thronging but the traders are not happy, as the visitors are selfie stick-wielding tourists and their regular trade is being strangled. "They stand in crowds in the middle of the aisles, taking photos, or eating," Mrs Gabaldas, 71, said.

"People don't want to come here to do their shopping any more."
Washington: Former New York US attorney Preet Bharara says there's enough evidence to begin an obstruction-of-justice case against President Donald Trump over last month's dismissal of FBI director James Comey.

"There's absolutely evidence to begin a case," Bharara, who was fired by Trump in March and has emerged as a critic of the President, said Sunday on ABC News' This Week.

"No one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction," Bharara said in his first televised interview since his dismissal.

He added, "Based on what I see as a third party and out of government, that there's no basis to say there's no obstruction."
Berlin: German authorities on Sunday released without charge three British men detained in Germany late on Saturday after their conversations on board an easyJet flight from Slovenia to London prompted the pilot to divert to Cologne.

"The criminal investigation against them has been halted. No evidence was found," a local police spokesman said. "We now believe that there was never any real danger."

Nine people received medical treatment after all 151 passengers were evacuated from the Airbus 319 aircraft using emergency slides.

It was not immediately clear when the men, who were returning to London after a business trip, would travel onto London. The remaining passengers had departed on another easyJet plane for London earlier on Sunday.
 Mckinley Edward Maurer, of Bryan Texas, has made Ottawa University's Spring 2017 Dean's Honor Roll List. In order to make the Dean's Honor Roll, students must be full-time enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours and earn a semester grade point average of 3.5.

 Emma Tamplin and Megan Wheeler of College Station, have made the Spring 2017 Dean's List at Belemont University. Eligibility is based on a minimum course load of 12 hours and students must earn a 3.5 semester grade point average with no grade below a C.

 Raid Zaini of College Station, was recently awarded a Masters in Science degree in system dynamics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at their spring graduate students' commencement ceremony. Zaini was among one of the nearly 800 candidates awarded masters and doctoral degrees at WPI's 149th commencement.

 Park University's Austin Campus Center recently held its graduation ceremony at Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin. Tiffany C. Harris of Bryan, graduated with a Masters of Healthcare Administration.

 Kari Simmons of Bryan, graduated from Oklahoma University with a Masters of Education and was honored during their Spring 2017 commencement ceremony.

 Brandon Kyle Muske of Burton has been named to the President's List at Jacksonville State. To be named to the President's List, a student must maintain a perfect 4.0 grade point average while enrolled in a full-time course load.
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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.

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March 2, 1994 - June 7, 2017

Austin Cole Wittig, 23, of Bremond, passed away on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. A memorial service celebrating his life is set for 10:30 am on Wednesday, June 14, 2017, at Franklin United Methodist Church, 100 W Decherd St., Franklin, TX 77856. Immediately following the service there will be a luncheon where stories of remembrance are encouraged. Cremation services are in the care of Callaway-Jones Funeral and Cremation Centers of Bryan College Station.

Austin was born March 2, 1994, in San Antonio, Texas to Vernon and Teresa Wittig. He grew up in Pleasanton, Texas, until his family moved to Bremond, Texas. Austin graduated from Bremond High School in 2012. He then attended Texas State Tech College, where he studied Electrical Engineering. He was employed by Britt Rice Electric, L.P. He helped his father and mother on the family ranch. He enjoyed playing board games, computer gaming, dungeons and dragons, and dominoes with his friends. He flew kites and did origami.

He is survived by his parents Vernon and Teresa Wittig of Franklin, TX; two brothers, Kyle Wittig of Franklin, TX and Shawn Wittig of Pflugerville, TX; grandparents, Gilbert and Maydell Wittig of Calvert, TX; Aunts, Donna Weller and Teresa Regin; uncles, Craig Wittig and Keith Wittig, their spouses and children; great-aunts, Bonnie Hill of Deer Park and Annie Gaudin of Bryan. Numerous cousins and family from his mother's Baxter side and from his father's Wittig and Welch side.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church of Franklin, 105 E. Decherd St., Franklin, TX 77856. Express condolences at CallawayJones.com
WACO gets a crack at the first state championship game in school history
NORWALK  The gatehouse at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is finally getting a new tenant after the Southwest Connecticut Visitors Bureau lost funding and abruptly closed last year.

CRIS Radio, a nonprofit that offers radio-reading services for people who are blind or unable to read, will open its fifth regional studio inside the gatehouse. CRIS will share the gatehouse with the Fairfield County Cultural Alliance, which has been located there for almost four years.

We look for organizations that are going to benefit the community in a significant way as well as be good tenants and take care of our buildings, said David Westmoreland, chairman of the Norwalk Historical Commission, which oversees tenants in the citys historic buildings.

We thought that what this org does is really pretty cool and would be a nice thing for the community, Westmoreland said.

Westmoreland said there is typically little turnover in the buildings overseen by the Historical Commission, but when there is space available they look for nonprofits that will benefit the community.

We generally look for nonprofits, Westmoreland said. For the most part weve had long standing leases. Its not something that actually happens very much. The visitors bureau were in that space for years.

The 39-year-old nonprofit is the only radio-reading service in Connecticut. The station broadcasts articles featured in more than 50 newspapers and magazines, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The organization employs an army of 300 volunteers across its five studios in Danbury, Trumbull, Norwich and West Haven.

More Information For more information or to download a volunteer application, visit www.crisradio.org, email info@crisradio.org, or call (860) 527-8000. See More Collapse

CRIS is now seeking volunteers for the Norwalk studio to provide on-air voice talent, audio editing and broadcast production. CRIS is also looking for a studio coordinator and people to provide regional outreach at local Lions Clubs and other community civic clubs and senior centers.

Volunteers at the Norwalk studio will broadcast articles featured in local Fairfield County newspapers as well as those published in The New York Times Metro Edition.

In addition to broadcasting newspaper and magazine articles, CRIS also records classroom materials for teachers, and the CRISKids Audio Library offers more than 800 classroom titles, including 17 childrens magazines, also recorded by CRIS volunteers.

Other CRIS programs include CRIS en Espanol and CRISAccess, featuring Spanish-language newspapers and magazines and audible tours for museums, respectively. CRIS also streams audio versions of childrens magazines to patient rooms at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center and offers audio versions of World War I historical records and documents in collaboration with the Connecticut State Library.

CRIS recordings are available through broadcast or internet radios, as well as through the free CRIS Radio app or toll-free through the CRIS Telephone Reader. The recordings are also available on demand at www.crisradio.org with a $30 annual subscription for unlimited access.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt
From finding a job to supporting yourself, graduates are faced with a number of real world challenges that are new to them. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2016-2017 school year, colleges and universities are expected to award 1.9 million bachelors degrees. And with so many grads going out into the workforce, what are they most worried about and what are they looking for in an employer?

Related: 12 Things College Students Need to Know About the Business World

From post-college concerns to employment expectations, online student loan website LendEDU conducted a series of polls with college students over an 11-month period.

It turns out, even before finding a job, students are more worried about their finances. One of the polls, surveying more than 3,700 college students, sought to discover the main concerns that students have about life after school. Nearly half of those surveyed said paying taxes and budgeting was the thing that scared them the most and 26 percent said having to find a job was their biggest worry. However, for some, their concerns had more to do with socializing and sleep. Fourteen percent are worried about not being around friends all the time and 11 percent are nervous about waking up early five days a week.

Related: Should You Work or Travel After Graduation? (Infographic)

With the number of students concerned about their finances, its no surprise that when choosing an employer, most kids are focused on money. In a poll of 3,617 students, more than 70 percent said good pay was most important to them, compared to a strong company culture or a good training program. Not only that, but students would rather work at large, more established companies rather than small startups. Of 3,103 students, 69 percent theyd prefer a large company than a startup.

Related:

Students Are More Worried About Taxes and Budgeting Than Finding a Job, New Study Finds

Advice to College Grads: Embrace Entrepreneurship

Considering Hiring a New College Grad for Your Startup or Small Business? Use These 5 Tests to Find Superstar Employees.



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The lawsuit decided last fall and currently in appeal, CCJEF v. Rell, confirmed what we already know about the way we fund public education in Connecticut: while we might spend enough to educate our states public school students, we do not share our funding equitably.

The reality is that many of our highest need communities need more resources to support their students. This is too important to wait to address for another year.

Our incredible teachers and students from across the state are doing more with less every day. We know that money alone does not close the persistent achievement gap between low-income and wealthier districts, but we recognize that we must create the conditions for success in all schools. We need a new formula for how we fund public education in Connecticut and we know it is possible this coming legislative session to act.

We are working on a bill to redesign the way we fund public education in the state that will be more equitable, transparent, and predictable. This plan recommends using one formula for all students, weighted for student learning needs, and based on school enrollment. It also determines the amount a town or city receives from the state to supplement their education costs on both property wealth as well as income levels of residents, to gain a more accurate measure of a municipalitys ability to provide adequately for its students.

So, what does this mean for our towns and schools? It means one unified funding formula that creates a transparent, consistent, and equitable school finance system that can respond as enrollments and demographicsas well as Connecticut's economychange.

School districts will no longer have to wade through a sea of disconnected and outdated funding formulas, and wonder what their state education funding will be. Instead, districts will be able to enter their enrollment numbers and the specific needs of their students into one formula, and know what they will receive from the state for that year.

Creating a school finance system that is fair and addresses the needs of students and communities is a complex and politically challenging task. There will, of course, be the reality of cost and compromise. But the stakes are too high for policymakers not to take action this year. With significant fiscal challenges, we as policymakers must make difficult decisions about our states top priorities and how to fund them in smarter, fairer, and more transparent ways. We will work hard to make sure that education funding reform is part of our budget.

This is about our kids and their potential. And to be clear, there will be towns and cities that will not get more resources in this new plan. But this is a reflection of significant declining enrollment in their school districts and a towns financial ability to meet their education needs, and not on political gimmicks.

We are encouraged by the response of our colleagues in the Legislature, on both sides of the aisle, in support of this effort. As we work to address the fiscal challenges we face, prioritizing Connecticuts next generation of skilled workers and competitive employees needs to be at the very top of our list. We cannot ask corporations to invest in Connecticuts future if we do not make the investment ourselves.

Connecticut is at an important impasse: Do we put partisanship or the status quo ahead of progress, or do we address the challenges we face with innovation and productive compromise? The way we fund public education in our state reflects who we are and where we are headed.

Our childrens future, their success, and our states economy are counting on us for this systemic change. The time to act is now.

Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, is the Senate Majority Leader in the Connecticut General Assembly. He represents Norwalk and Darien. State Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, is co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee. He represents East Hartford and Manchester.
How do we get on so many junk mailing lists?

No doubt your mail box is as full as mine of letters, huge envelopes and packages that I did not order. Of course, I am expected to pay or donate to the senders.

When I apologized to our mail lady for all the junk mail she laughed and said, I call it job security.

That made sense so at least I dont feel guilty about all the stuff the post office and employees must handle.

So what does your mail include? Probably much the same as mine:

Requests for money to feed starving children all around the world. Many years ago I donated a few bucks to a Native American school. Its possible they made more money selling my name and address than I ever donated. The list of mail I receive from Native American schools and other groups comes from all across the country.

Donations requested from politicians who may or may not represent us. However it makes more sense to give money now and then to local representatives in various parts of our state and the country. Even so, its often a surprise how many letters I receive from those I know nothing about.

As you know, many of us have nightmares about abortionists who make money from killing babies. It is no secret they may be insisting they are helping women but that is nonsense. I receive requests from a number of nationwide groups whose purpose is to help women who have an inconvenient pregnancy find alternatives to killing their children. No, I cant help all mothers and their children but often donate money hoping to save babies and their mothers from disaster.

A couple of days ago I received a letter from the Center for Medical Progress asking for support for the president, David Daleiden, who has been sued by the baby killers at Planned Parenthood who were exposed about the organizations trafficking in baby body parts.

As a Christian, I am concerned that so many people in our country seem to think trusting in the Lord is nonsense. Thats their privilege as members of our country but working to stop others from the joys of being Christian doesnt make sense. I have received requests for aid from those who have, or will, present The Religious Liberty Protection Act to Congress.

Although I didnt write the first letter, you can guess that I will do what I can to help those who need help. However, generally it is better to support our area agencies which are so good at helping local people in need. Many also send donations to their national and international groups.

I hesitate to name local groups but we all know that the Salvation Army, Red Cross, the YWCA and YMCA can be counted on to help when needed.

When todays mail came, only two letters were from local folks  and both are reminders of monthly bills.

Billy Wetterer of Wood River was the family living editor for The Independent before her retirement; she still writes a column twice a month for the newspaper. Email her at Billy.Wetterer@aol.com
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 10:27 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4bbc76 4 Science & Tech ministry,Rudiantara,website,indonesiabaik-id,fake-news,good-news,positive-news Free

Communications and Technology Minister Rudiantara has established a website to highlight positive news about Indonesia.

Indonesiabaik.id is everything that is good about Indonesia, he told Antara news agency during the launch in Jakarta on Tuesday. We need to endorse positive things.

According to the websites page, Indonesiabaik.id aims to ignite the spirit of moving to a better version of Indonesia. There are many things that Indonesia has and does. All of them have to be told and shared, therefore we know we can do much more things for Indonesia, says the website.

The website itself provides general information about Indonesia, current news and a section on the country's development from different aspects, including economics, education and health. The public can also sign up for a newsletter by submitting their e-mail addresses.

Read also: Google preps for Ramadhan and Idul Fitri

The homepage of 'indonesiabaik.id'. The website highlights positive news about Indonesia.(indonesiabaik.id/File)

Rudiantara explains that the ministry is trying to share constructive information about Indonesia in a way that can be accepted by the millennial generation, which is still growing and which will be at the peak of Indonesian demography in 2028.

Meanwhile, the ministry's director general for information and public policy Rosarita Niken Widiastuti said the public was also encouraged to share positive content through the website. This can be about government policies, Indonesians achievements, tourist destinations, public services and other related news that later can be shared via social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

She hopes that the development of positive content will help to eliminate the negative information that has greatly expanded nowadays. (wir/kes)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, June 10 2017

Indonesian biodiesel producers are eyeing China as a new promising market amid negative sentiment in the European Union and the United states.

Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (Aprobi) chairman MP Tumanggor stressed Thursday that their members could no longer rely on their exports to the US and EU.

Our production capacity reaches 11 million kiloliters per year, 4 million of which is absorbed by the domestic market. The remaining 7 million kiloliters are idle, he said, adding that exports to European countries and the US account for just a portion.

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Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, June 10 2017

When we are on a seaside vacation, we often step on seagrasses without realizing their worth to the lives of various organisms, ranging from human beings to critically endangered species like the green turtle and dugong.

Seagrass is the only flowering plant that can live in the sea and often grows in what scientists call meadows found in shallow waters. A seagrass meadow can harbor multiple species of living organisms for the plants can produce a vast amount of oxygen for the inhabitants.

In Indonesia, seagrass meadows cover around 150,000 hectares in the sea. There are at least 15 species of seagrass that have been discovered in this archipelago, with scientists expecting more species to be discovered in the country that has some of the richest marine biodiversity in the world.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 14:57 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c44c3 1 City Idul-Fitri-2017,Jakarta-police,theft,crime,exodus Free

The Jakarta Police will allow residents to leave their private vehicles at police stations throughout the city for safekeeping before leaving for their hometowns as part of the mass exodus, which usually starts two weeks before Idul Fitri.

If residents are worried about leaving their vehicles at home, please entrust it to the police stations, which have wide [parking] areas. Inform us how long it will be entrusted, and it is free, said Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono on Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Furthermore, Argo reminded residents who want to go back to their hometowns for Idul Fitri to check the security condition around their homes to prevent unwanted accidents.

He reminded them not to forget to lock doors, turn off electricity and stoves and close windows.

To prevent robberies, the police will also increase their patrol in residential areas so people should not be worried while spending time away from their homes. (wnd/wit)
Eighteen months after Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) was spun off from its parent, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), in 2013, the animal-health company's stock had risen a meager 5%. It's a different story today, though. Zoetis stock continues to set new highs and is trouncing the S&P 500 index in 2017.

But can the sizzling momentum for Zoetis continue? Here are three things that could cool the stock down.

1. A market correction

Probably the most likely thing that could derail Zoetis from going higher is a major market correction. By definition, a market correction is a drop of at least 10%. The stock market undergoes a correction, on average, about once every year. For what it's worth, the last correction for the S&P 500 was a brief one in late 2015 and early 2016. We're overdue for another.

It has also been quite a while since the U.S. economy went through a recession and caused a bear market (typically defined as a 20% drop from peak levels). Since animal lovers will still care for their pets and farmers will still need supplies for livestock, Zoetis could be seen as somewhat recession-proof. However, tough economic times could still take a toll on the stock if fewer families get pets and demand for meat falls.

Interestingly, Zoetis' beta of 1.24 indicates that the stock is more volatile than the overall market. Also, during those overall market corrections of the past couple of years, Zoetis stock fell at least twice as much as the S&P 500 did. If there's a market correction, Zoetis is likely to feel the pain.

2. Its premium valuation

Even if the market doesn't correct, Zoetis stock could have its own correction if investors become leery of its valuation. The animal-health company's shares currently trade at 36 times trailing-12-month earnings and over 23 times expected earnings. Zoetis stock isn't cheap.

But what about growth? Don't expectations for high growth help justify a high valuation for a stock? Usually, that's the case. However, Wall Street analysts project that Zoetis will grow its earnings by an average annual rate of around 13% over the next few years. That's not bad, but it's well below earnings growth levels from the past five years. And it's not high enough to make the stock's valuation seem much more attractive.

3. Increased competition

Although Zoetis has been tremendously successful, the competition in the animal-health market is intense. It's probably going to increase even more.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) is making a play to give Zoetis a run for its money in the Latin American market. Merck Animal Health completed an acquisition of Vallee S.A. in March. Vallee is a leading producer of animal-health products in Brazil.

Zoetis already lags behind at least one major rival in all geographic areas outside of North America and South America. With the middle class growing especially fast in Asian countries, the company certainly doesn't want to give up market share.

Sizzle to fizzle?

Will Zoetis stock really go from sizzle to fizzle? Probably not.

The risks mentioned above are real. However, even if the stock suffers from a market correction, it would likely only be a short-lived setback. Investors could steer clear of Zoetis over valuation concerns, but the stock's earnings multiple isn't out of line with historical levels for the company. And if Zoetis takes some licks from Merck or another major rival in one region, you can bet the company will fight back aggressively.

Over the long run, there are several factors that should help Zoetis stock go even higher. The company's share price will inevitably retreat somewhat sooner or later, but I think Zoetis remains a solid pick for investors.

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Keith Speights owns shares of Pfizer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi  Sun, June 11, 2017 11:49 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4bdeba 1 National Jambi,customs-and-excise,CustomsOfficials,cigarette,illegal-cigarettes Free

Personnel of the Jambi Customs and Excise Office have seized more than 4.8 million illegal cigarettes of various brands during a security operation codenamed Operation Patuh Ampadan I, which ran from May 15 to June 8.

The Offices head Priyono Triatmojo said the illegal cigarettes were confiscated during raids on four different locations across Rimbo Bujang, Tebo regency.

The total value of the seized goods is estimated to amount to Rp 1.2 billion [US$90,252.72], said Priyono on Friday.

He said the Office was investigating further to discover who had possessed the illegal cigarettes as officers were unable to make arrests during the raids.

We found the cigarettes in warehouses. During the raids, only the owners of the warehouses were present. The lessees werent there, said Priyono.

Potential State loss caused by the crimes amounted to around Rp 1.7 billion, he added.

Between January and the first of June, the Jambi Customs and Excise Office conducted 29 raids, confiscating Rp 1.9 billion worth of illegal goods amounting to potential state losses of Rp 2.4 billion.

The successful operation could not be separated from the support of related authorities such as the National Police, the Indonesian Military, prosecutors and local administrations, said Priyono. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 18:17 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c7f97 1 National digital-map,President-Jokowi,blusukan Free

President Joko Jokowi Widowo has long been known for the signature impromptu visits, or blusukan, he makes when he can find the time in his already frenetic schedule. Not only on weekdays, Jokowi has often spent weekends doing blusukan.

His blusukan have now been archived into a digital map containing locations and results of the visits. The digital map can be accessed via the Presidents website: PresidenRI.go.id or click here.

The many dropped pins on the digital map of Indonesia show that Jokowi has visited areas across the whole Indonesian archipelago.

Upon clicking the dropped pins, visitors can see photos and captions or brief reports describing Jokowis official activities during the visits.

The digital map also shows islands that have not been visited by Jokowi during his three-year tenure, including the Aru Islands. (dmr)
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Linkedin Angus MacKinnon (Agence France-Presse) Bologna, Italy  Mon, June 12, 2017 06:00 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c9adb 2 World climate-change,#ClimateChange Free

The United States' partners in the G7 club of wealthy democracies vowed Sunday to pursue efforts to curb climate change despite a rift caused by the American withdrawal from the Paris accord.

"G7 countries have crucial roles and responsibilities to our own public opinion, to developing countries and to the planet," Italy's Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said at a two-day meeting of G7 environmental chiefs in Italy. "The international community awaits our message."

Scott Pruitt -- a friend of the oil industry who is skeptical about man-made climate change and was Trump's controversial choice to head the US Environmental Protection Agency -- attended the meeting in northern city Bologna but was due to fly home after the first day.

With Germany's environment minister, Barbara Hendricks, also departing early and France's Nicolas Hulot not arriving until Monday because of legislative elections, there appeared little prospect of substantial bridge building on an issue which has caused significant tensions between Donald Trump's administration and key US allies.

Patricia Espinosa, the UN official in charge of implementing the Paris accord, stressed that Trump's pullout would not make any difference in the short-term.

"We've all registered with regret the US decision, but at the same time the US remains a party to the agreement because it foresees a three-year period before any party can withdraw.

"So for us it is really clear that what we need to do is to go forward with implementing the accord and helping countries translate their national program into their development policies so we can get to 2018 and have a first assessment of where we stand," she said.

Hundreds of students marched through Bologna to protest the presence of the G7 ministers in the ancient university city, a long-standing bastion of progressive activism.

Organizer Giacomo Cossu told AFP that Trump had given the radical environmentalist movement a shot in the arm, but said he would have been on the streets regardless.

"Trump has revealed the truth that lies behind the rhetoric of the G7 on the environment. They want changes that suit the interests of big business. That is not our model. Ecology for us means democracy and equality. They represent the one percent not the seven billion."

Chaperoned by hundreds of riot police, the demonstration appeared to be passing off peacefully with protestors brandishing placards declaring: "There is no Planet B" and "They think the Kyoto protocol is a Japanese erotic film."

Trump announced at the start of this month that the US would not abide by the 2015 Paris agreement and would seek to renegotiate terms he denounced as unfairly damaging to the American economy and overly generous to India and China.

Trump said Washington would not be bound by the targets on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases set down in Paris, and will cut funding for developing countries affected by climate change.

But many analysts say Trump's rhetoric may make little difference.

Important players in US industry and individual cities and states are already implementing changes aimed at meeting the targets laid down in Paris, where most of the world's countries agreed to try to cap global temperature rises at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Germany and California agreed Saturday to work together to keep the Paris accords on track and the most populous US state had its own representative at the Bologna talks.

Scientists warn that failing to contain climate change will have devastating consequences as sea level rise and extreme storms, droughts and heatwaves becoming more common, endangering crops and fragile environments with knock-on effects in the form of new conflicts and mass fluxes of people escaping affected areas.

The G7 is made up Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, the world's seven biggest economies when the club was formed. The discussions in Bologna were also attended by Chile, the Maldives, Ethiopia and Rwanda, four developing countries with a particular interest in combatting climate change.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 11:47 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4bd3e6 4 National PT-Garam,salt-import,money-laundering,Trade-Ministry,#SaltScandal Free

National Police have arrested state salt company PT Garam president director Achmad Boediono and named him a suspect of alleged misuse in the importation and distribution of industrial salt totalling about 75,000 tons.

We arrested the suspect at his residence in Jatibening, Pondok Gede, Bekasi in West Java, said National Police Detectives for special crime chief Brig. Gen. Agung Setya as quoted by Antara on Saturday night.

According to Agung, Boediono had been assigned by the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry to import salt to meet the countrys needs. The license issued by the Trade Ministry only allows PT Garam to import industrial salt containing more than 97 percent sodium chloride.

However, [PT Garam] imported 1,000 tons of industrial salt, which was later repackaged into 400-gram bags using brand name, Segi Tiga G, and sold it to consumers, Agung said, adding that the remaining 74,000 tons of the industrial salt was sold to 45 companies.

Agung said the moves taken by PT Garam violated the license issued on salt importation, which prohibits any trade of industrial salt from PT Garam to other parties.

In this case, PT Garam have allegedly traded the imported industrial salt, but also repackaged it into consumption salt to sell to consumers, he said.

Boediono has been charged for allegedly violating Article 62 on the Law on Consumer Protection, Article 3 on the Corruption Crime and Article 3 and Article 5 on the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. (dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 18:07 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c7a59 4 National lobster-seeds,exports,soekarno-hatta-airport,fisheries Free

The National Polices Special Crimes Directorate has foiled an attempt to illegally export lobster eggs worth billions of rupiah to Singapore via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten.

We confiscated 208,756 lobster eggs inside eight suitcases, said directorate chief Brig. Gen. Purwadi Arianto as quoted by tribunnews.com on Sunday.

Had the smuggling attempt been successful, state losses could have reached Rp 31.3 billion (US$ 2.4 million), Purwadi said, adding that the police had questioned two persons, identified as AM and WHY, in relation to the case.

AM was attempting to board a Garuda Indonesia flight to Singapore carrying 169,136 lobster eggs in six suitcases, while WHY took Lion Air flight departing from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, carrying 39,620 lobster eggs to Soekarno-Hatta, from where he intended to continue traveling to Singapore.

From the polices preliminary investigations, they suspect that AM ordered WHY to carry the lobster eggs. Police have named AM a suspect in the case, while WHYs status so far remains that of a witness.

Besides lobster eggs, the police also confiscated one passport, two mobile phones, Rp 7.1 million and S$525 in cash, boarding passes and luggage claim tags.

AM is being charged with violating Law No. 31/2004 on fisheries, Law No. 16/1992 on quarantine, animals and plants and the Criminal Code.

The police in cooperation with other agencies, including customs, aviation security, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministrys National Fish Quarantine, Quality Control and Fishery Product Safety Agency (BKIPM), have released the lobster eggs on Carita Beach in Banten, keeping only 256 as evidence. (wnd/dmr)
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Sun, June 11, 2017 11:54 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4bf421 4 National Riau-Islands,terrorists,terrorism,counterterrorism,Batam,Islamic-State,IS,Marawi,southern-Philippines,Philippines Free

The Riau Islands Police have strengthened security measures and monitoring activities in ports of entry and outermost islands to anticipate terrorist infiltration into the province.

The extra measures were taken following terror attacks in several countries and in response to the situation in Marawi, southern Philippines, which was recently attacked by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

We are applying tighter monitoring to Indonesian people returning from Malaysia because information reveals many Indonesian citizens have been involved with insurgencies in Mindanao, said Riau Islands Police head Insp.Gen. Sambudi Gusdian on Friday.

Batam, the largest city in the province, now serves five international ferry routes. These include two routes, which connect Batam and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and depart from Ferry Batam Centre Terminal and Harbour Bay in Batu Ampar. These two routes are often used by Indonesian workers who want to go to Malaysia.

Sambudi said the police would also monitor beaches as they could be used as entrance points into Indonesia.

The police were increasing monitoring activities on people and groups indicated to have been involved in radical movements, he added. The increased monitoring comes in response to a recent statement from National Counterterrorism Agencys (BNPT) , which stated that Riau Islands is an area prone to radical movements.

It has become a transit point for radical group members. Singapore authorities have apprehended several alleged radical groups members reportedly departing from Batam, said Riau Islands Police intelligence and security director Sr. Comr. Musa Tampubolon. (kuk/ebf)
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Linkedin Fadli, Eva Aruperes and Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Batam/Manado/Palu  Mon, June 12 2017

As an armed conflict between military forces and Islamic State (IS) fighters in Marawi on the island of Mindanao, Philippines, has yet to show signs of ceasing soon, the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) are heightening security in northern border areas to anticipate possible entry of the militants.

The TNI has just deployed the KRI Nanggala (402) submarine to Sulawesi to join fleets of warships and surveillance aircraft to monitor the Philippines border in North Sulawesi and North Maluku.

This is serious. We have continued to pay close attention to the evolving situation in Marawi. That is why we deployed a submarine to the border area, TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said at a submarine dock of the Palu Naval Base in Central Sulawesi on Friday.

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Linkedin  Sun, June 11, 2017 15:15 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c5638 2 SE Asia #Philippines,#Islamist-militants,#marawi Free

United States special forces are providing support to the Philippine military battling to dislodge Islamist militants in a southern city, the US embassy said Saturday, as 13 Filipino marines were killed in fresh fighting.

Philippine troops are struggling to defeat hundreds of fighters, who rampaged through Marawi on May 23 flying black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group, and have used civilians as human shields, bomb-proof tunnels and anti-tank weapons to fortify their positions.

Friday's ferocious, street-to-street gunbattles with the militants saw 13 troops killed, in a dramatic surge in the toll from the conflict, Philippine military spokesmen said.

A 15-year-old boy was also killed by a stray bullet as he took part in Friday prayers at a mosque in Marawi as the skirmishes raged outside, an AFP video journalist said.

It was among the heaviest fighting seen in mainly Muslim Marawi as the air force battered parts of the city with strikes to support ground troops. Some 40 marines were wounded in the gunbattles that lasted 14 hours, according to military spokesman Colonel Edgardo Arevalo.

As the conflict intensified, the US embassy in Manila said American forces were providing assistance to the Filipino troops, although it declined to give details for security reasons.

"At the request of the government of the Philippines, US special operations forces are assisting the (Philippine military) with ongoing operations in Marawi," the embassy said in a statement.

Marawi-based military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera confirmed the US help, adding that the special forces were not fighting, but "providing technical support".

He told AFP Friday's deaths amounted to the military's biggest single-day loss in the campaign.

Herrera also said there are "strong indications" that Omarkhayam and Madie Maute, two leaders of the Marawi attack, were killed in separate operations.

But he added the military is still "validating" the report and there is no way of independently confirming it.

"There were intense firefights, house-to-house gunbattles," Herrera said at a news conference in Marawi earlier in describing Friday's gunbattles, adding that the total number of government troops killed in the conflict was 58.

Over 20 civilians have been confirmed killed due to the fighting, according to the government, but the true number is likely to be higher with authorities yet to fully assess the roughly 10 percent of Marawi still being held by the militants.

Tens of thousands have fled Marawi, which is the Catholic country's most important Muslim city, as the fighting ripped through residential neighbourhoods, with more than 200,000 displaced people now living in precarious conditions and vulnerable to deadly health risks, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Friday.

About 2,000 people are also believed to still be trapped in militant-held areas as insurgents continue to entrench themselves two weeks ito the conflict, which saw them take a Catholic priest hostage, open up two jails and destroy many buildings.

Herrera said security forces were struggling to contain the fighters without causing civilian casualties.

"The local terrorist groups are using the mosque, they are entrenched there. They also used civilians as human shields... we are very precise in our operations to avoid collateral damage."

President Rodrigo Duterte has said the militant attack was part of a wider plot by IS to establish a base in the southern region of Mindanao, and declared martial law there to quell the threat.

The announcement of US help in the embattled southern region of Mindanao comes after Duterte has sought to reduce the Philippines' reliance on the United States and build much closer ties with China and Russia.

The US Embassy said Washington would "continue to work with the Philippines to address shared threats to the peace and security of our countries, including on counterterrorism issues" in its statement Saturday.

The US on Monday gave the Philippines hundreds of machine guns, pistols and grenade launchers, which a local commander said would be used in the fight against Islamist militants.

Philippine military leaders have said their troops unexpectedly interrupted plans by the fighters to take over Marawi in a spectacular event to show that IS had arrived in the Philippines and was intent on carving out territory.

They initially estimated there were about 100 gunmen but later said there were as many as 500, supplemented by foreign fighters from Chechnya, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The gunmen have also had a surprisingly large arsenal of military hardware, including rocket-propelled grenades and a so-far inexhaustible amount of ammunition.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 15:34 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c5882 1 News Tourism-Ministry,Arief-Yahya,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,bali,Bali-Beyond-Travel-Fair Free

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya attended the Bali & Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) 2017, held at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center from June 7 to 11.

During his visit, the minister encouraged BBTF to establish itself as a marketplace by inviting more international sellers and buyers. Yahya said its better to combine both sellers and buyers in one place instead of having a standalone kiosk.

People go to a mall because there are many options there, the same thing applies for a tourism marketplace. People complete transactions because there is a place to do that, said Yahya.

Read also: Bali Beyond Travel Fair to become international travel fair

Moreover, he also advised that the event target both high-end and mass markets.

The BBTF event has been held by the Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies since 2014. This year, South Sumatra province was appointed as the co-host of the event. 174 sellers from 19 provinces and 198 overseas and local buyers participated at this years event that generated a total transaction of 5.6 trillion rupiahs.

We changed our promotional strategy for a more trendy and up-to-the-minute approach. For example, we partnered with Sanur Development Foundation that connects communities, tourism industry and government. We receive funding for tourism promotion from the government every two-years, the latest was US$ 200,000. The funding for next year will certainly increase, explained Denpasar Tourism Board head Ida Bagus Sidharta. (asw)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, June 11, 2017 12:48 1978 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a4c0b6a 1 News Tourism-Ministry,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Arief-Yahya,hospitality-students,hospitality-industry Free

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya recently attended Ramadan Inspiration (Irama) interactive discussion at Salman Mosque, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) on Friday, June 9.

At the event that was attended by 200 people, Yahya said that tourism is the most profitable, easiest and cheapest industry. There are three potential tourism industries in Indonesia: Culture, nature and creative.

The minister also encouraged youngsters to start businesses in the tourism sector considering the fact that the government aims to make tourism the nations leading sector, Tourism has the highest foreign exchange contribution for the country, he said.

An alumnus of ITB himself, Yahya encouraged youngsters and students to combine their majors with the tourism potential around them.

Read also: The Studio: Sustainable design in Lombok

If there are any architect or civil engineering majors in here, you can combine both property and tourism, thats the most profitable, said Yahya.

Although profits from a tourism business can take time to be earn, if it's combined and developed, the result will be significant. Yahya mentioned the profit rate is between 10 to 15 percent.

For example, if you own 100-hectares of land and if 10 hectares is devoted to tourism, that will be the operational return. But then the profit from the increased value of the rest of the 90 hectares will be multiplied and this is what we call a non-operational return, Yahya explained. (asw)
Landmines, the new play from Phil Davies, staged in collaboration with The Bridge Company is a show brimming with ambition  ambition which is unfortunately beyond its scope.

It follows the murky throughline of a teacher, Vida, whose social activism is ignited following an act of terrorism akin to the murder of Jo Cox. We watch her spiral into self-destruction in an attempt to get those around to her understand the injustices of the world we live in.

Credit: The Other Richard

At its core, the piece appears to have a message it truly believes in, which is admirable. The text however, is really quite poor.

Countless monologues follow each other in an attempt to give the characters some degree of emotional depth, however we rarely leave the shallow end of the pool. Just when the play thinks it has hit a profound and insightful point, its still just dipping its feet into the water  the statements it makes are cringe worthy in their lack of self-awareness.

The overuse of monologues often demonstrates the shortcomings of the writer in developing the characters and story through dialogue; which admittedly is far more difficult, but marks the distinction between an amateur and a professional.

Despite the overwhelming horde of characters, there is only one voice  this is the result when a play is written to say only one thing. It has been built around a single idea, and falls around this too. There really is no direction, as it satirises the entire political spectrum, providing no middle ground, and no point to the 80-minute production.

To its merit, the staging itself is sharp and intriguing  to fill the stage it needs to move away from using the characters as a mouthpiece to hammer in one ill-considered message, and provide them with individuality and purpose to explore the complexities it reaches for, but ultimately fails to grasp.
Cadbury has announced all its chocolate bars sold in the UK and Ireland will use sustainably sourced cocoa in an attempt to secure a future for farmers and supplies of the key ingredient.

The company, which is owned by Mondelez International, has set up the Cocoa Life sustainability scheme  which involves a 400 million US dollar (310 million) investment over 10 years across six countries.

So what exactly is happening?

Fresh cocoa pod (Kwabena Amankwaa Agyeman/Mondele/Cocoa Life)

The chocolate makers plan is that by the end of 2018, all Cadbury bars in the UK and Ireland will carry the Cocoa Life symbol, showing cocoa is sourced through the programme.

Cocoa Life is working with a number of charities and partners with Fairtrade to verify that farmers are getting a fair deal.

What is the reason for doing this?

Cocoa powder (Quanthem/Getty Images)

Ghanas cocoa sector faces major challenges, with people trapped in unprofitable subsistence farming and its future threatened by climate change.

Lack of profitability has been putting off young people and bringing about the next generation of farmers  which is why attempts are being made to ensure we dont end up with a chocolate crisis in the future.

Steve Mann, from Cadbury, said: Without cocoa there is no chocolate, without the next generation of cocoa farmers and a thriving cocoa supply chain, theres no cocoa.

And as a business, cocoa being a major commodity which we use in our supply chain as a chocolate company, its very important for us to make sure right into the future we have a sustainable supply of cocoa.

What are the key challenges in making chocolate more sustainable?

Dried cocoa pods (Nick Ansell/PA)

Ghana is set to see rising temperatures, drier conditions and changes to rainfall patterns, all of which could threaten cocoa production.

Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, country lead for the Cocoa Life Ghana programme, said: The farmers havent really labelled it climate change, but they are aware there has been a change, for example the level of the water bodies and rivers, the rainfall patterns, the heat, so things have changed.

That is where we come in with trees that are more resilient to the changing weather, that they dont perish or wither away because of the sun.

What are the steps being taken?

A cocoa farmer cutting weeds underneath a cocoa tree (Kwabena Amankwaa Agyeman/Mondele/Cocoa Life)

The Cocoa Life programme is encouraging better agricultural practices, including weeding and pruning, planting shade trees to protect the cocoa from rising temperatures and ensuring the best number of plants per acre.

It is also working with a company, Tree Global, which grows more resilient, fast-yielding plants.

Under Cocoa Life, farmers receive a premium for their cocoa on top of the price set by the government, boosting incomes.

There is also investment in setting up savings and loans schemes for women, enterprise training, building nursery schools and providing mosquito nets to prevent malaria  as encouragement for farmers to join the industry.
More than 200 women MPs have been elected in the 2017 General Election, a record number which means that just under one in three MPs (32%) are female.

Some 207 women, out of 649 (minus Kensington) have been elected to seats around the country, a gain of 11 since the 2015 poll and by-elections since, which saw a total of 196 women voted into Parliament.

Isabel Infantes/PA

Previously, the highest number of women elected in a single general election was 191, in 2015.

There was a stark difference in gender balance between Labour and the Tories, with women MPs in Jeremy Corbyns party representing almost half (45%) of Labours constituencies. For Theresa Mays Conservatives, just over one in five MPs elected were female.

For Labour, this represents an increase of 1%, while the Tories faced no change.

This may come as a surprise to some as Theresa May has often championed her party as a beacon for gender representation in Parliament, having produced the UKs only female prime ministers  Margaret Thatcher and herself.

In terms of smaller parties, the Liberal Democrats have tripled their number of female MPs, from 11% to 33%, a total of four women representatives.

The SNP have slightly increased their share of female MPs as, although they lost seats, just over one third (34%) of their remaining constituencies were held by women.

The key MPs who are new to Westminster

Here is a look at some of the freshly elected women MPs in this years poll.

Preet Gill

At St Marys Church in Bearwood I cast my vote for my local MP @spellar exercise your right to vote #VoteLabour2017 #preet4edgbaston #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/AdgIXQ9ZBc  Preet4Edgbaston (@Preet4Edgbaston) June 8, 2017

This election produced the UKs first ever female Sikh MP, Preet Gill, who was elected MP for Birmingham Edgbaston with a majority of 6,917 votes, up 10% on Labour former MP Gisela Stuarts majority. Uniquely, the seat has historically been represented by women MPs both Labour and Tory since 1953.

Gill, a Labour Co-op representative, was previously a councillor for Sandwell in the West Midlands and championed mental health issues during her tenure. She was born and raised in Edgbaston as the daughter of a bus driver, she says on her website.

Her journey into politics was inspired by her fathers friend and the UKs first Sikh peer, Lord King, who she says pushed her to make a difference.

During her career, she has campaigned passionately for the representation of Sikh and BAME women in society.

Marsha de Cordova

In one of many shocks turned up by this years result, Labours Marsha De Cordova surmounted an 8,000 Tory majority to represent Battersea, a seat held by Jane Ellison since 2010.

The MP, who is visually-impaired, is a campaigner for disability rights and in her victory speech vowed to lobby Parliament to improve accessibility in public places.

She prided her team on running a grassroots campaign and on her Twitter, expressed her honour at being elected, saying: I will work for a better future for all my constituents.

Kirstene Hair

In Scotland, where the Conservatives emerged with the most gains, newly-elected MP for Angus Kirstene Hair took over from the SNPs Mike Weir, who has held the seat since 2001. The constituency was traditionally a Scottish Nationalist stronghold, secured by the party since 1997.

Hairs win, with a majority of 2,644 after overturning an SNP majority of over 11,000, was praised on Twitter by Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson. In her speech, Hair said she would serve the public, and not be a party servant.

Following the result shortly before 2am, she told the Courier Angus paper that she was absolutely delighted to be representing the area that I was born and brought up in.

Key MPs who retained their seats

Stefan Rousseau/PA

Home Secretary Amber Rudd retained her Hastings and Rye seat by a slim majority of 346, following two recounts after being closely contested by Labours Peter Chowney. Her return tipped the number of women MPs in the Commons to a record 197.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas win in her Brighton Pavilion seat led the number of women MPs to surpass the 200 mark. She almost doubled her majority in the constituency and earned nearly double the number of votes than her closest competitor, Labours Solomon Curtis.

Diane Abbott, who was taken ill in the final leg of Labours campaign and temporarily replaced as Shadow Home Secretary, held on to her Hackney seat with a stomping majority and 75% of the vote, with many on Twitter lauding her success in the face of adversity:

Glad to c @HackneyAbbott wipe out the opposition in her seat after a horrific racist & sexist hate campaign against her #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/R0tq8XidWD  Aamer Anwar (@AamerAnwar) June 9, 2017

Also, @HackneyAbbott  bloody well done! You are an inspiration 2 us all!  Tobi Oredein (@IamTobiOredein) June 9, 2017

It was 99 years ago that the first woman MP, Constance Markievicz, was elected to the Commons following the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, which gave women aged 21 and over the right to stand for election.

However she did not take up her seat as she was a member of Sinn Fein.

UK politics has come a long way since then.
Who wouldve thought that it would take a trip to London to attend the taping of a show that calls Los Angeles home?

As Ive made a conscious effort to almost completely detach myself from television and social media during my time abroad, it took a classic piece of advertising to inform me of an opportunity I just couldnt pass up.

While walking home from a grocery trip at Tesco, I spotted a large billboard announcing that The Late Late Show with James Corden would be traveling to London, Cordens hometown, for three special episodes. Upon arriving back at my flat, I immediately took to Google to find out how I could buy a ticket to my favorite nightly talk show.

Having never attended the filming of a television show, I was up for a number of surprises. The first of which being that tickets were actually free and were given out on a randomly selected basis to those who submitted a request. What more could a college student studying abroad ask for?

After a few days of anxious waiting and constant email checking, I received a ticket confirmation email for the Tuesday, June 6 taping and couldnt believe it! The message clearly stated that not everyone who received a ticket would be guaranteed entry to the show and that wristbands would be given out on a first come-first serve basis. As soon as I finished reading the rules and guidelines, I sent an email to my internship supervisor requesting permission to leave work early to get in line and, thankfully, that request was granted.

I did not truly understand the magnitude of how lucky I was to have been randomly selected until after being given my wristband in line  about four hours before the taping was set to begin  a producer mentioned that over half a million people submitted ticket request forms, making The Late Late Show with James Corden the most requested television show right now!

Getting in line early certainly panned out for me, as I was given a blue wristband which permitted me to sit in the lower level, where I was later directed to an aisle seat in the third row from the center stage. My location was perfect for a number of reasons. Besides just being close to the center stage, I also had a prime view of the interview platform, where no one would be able to block my view of Corden interviewing star actress Nicole Kidman and Game of Thrones Kit Harrington, another London native.

In addition to the taping of that first ever London episode with those guests, the rest of the crowd and I were extra fortunate to be involved in the filming of a bit for the next days episode called Drop the Mic, which is a rap battle between Corden and a celebrity guest. This particular guest was Jennifer Hudson, who brought with her an incredible personality and her amazing voice. My seat proved to be perfect once again, as I was situated in the aisle where Corden walked down to enter the ring for the bit and was therefore right in the middle of his high-five line and in clear sight for the television cameras. After the hilarious sketch was over, Jennifer Hudson made her exit down my aisle and made sure to high-five everybody down the line.

One underrated part of the experience was being able to view Cordens trademark bit, Carpool Karaoke, before it was released. He had yet another Englishman, Ed Sheeran, in the passenger seat and it was one of the best Carpool Karaokes yet. We also got to watch another skit called Crosswalk the Musical, which featured Sir Ben Kingsley. I couldnt stop laughing at either of the videos.

As a rookie to television show tapings, I did not realize how much involvement the audience truly had. We had to tape voiceovers as a whole of us reacting in certain ways and even tape a silly video that would be edited in later. The whole filming process took a little over three hours, but it was a blast the entire time. I was perhaps most surprised that once the actual show got going, the monologue through the farewell message was taped completely straight through, which gives the show more of a live feel. I always thought that segments like the interview section were actually longer and then were cut down and edited to fit a certain time parameter, but I was wrong. I think that makes it even cooler and more genuine.

My experience at The Late Late Show with James Corden was a fantastic one and gave me memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I would highly recommend that you attend at least one taping of a television show to have an awesome time and to gain some perspective on all the work that goes into each episode. Thank you, James Corden, and I cant wait to go to my next television show taping, whenever it may be and whatever program it may be.
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MALCOLM  At the base of a hill on the edge of a 20-acre field covered by low weeds, 250 people gathered under and around white tents to celebrate the establishment of Nebraskas newest cemetery.

They feasted, piling styrofoam plates high with stuffed grape leaves, spiced rice and vegetables, grilled chicken, beef-filled dumplings swimming in a red sauce, pickles and flat bread. The food of the Yazidi people.

American flags decorated the cemetery entrance and tables. Over a speaker plugged into an iPhone, Baba Sheikh, a Yazidi religious leader in Iraq, said a prayer.

This is an important event for us and all our people here, Taalo Khudhur, the local Yazidi elder who dialed up Baba Sheikh for the event, said through an interpreter. Its important to have land here where we can carry out our traditions in the United States.

Bought by the United Yezidi Community of America for $150,500 in October, the 20-acre cemetery consists of little more than a simple gravel drive leading to a field among the rolling hills northwest of Lincoln. (The groups name uses an alternate spelling of the religion preferred by many of its followers.)

Eventually they plan to plant grass, extend the drive, erect statutes, build a shrine and erect a funeral home to hold gatherings. But after buying the land and spending $20,000 on a culvert and the gravel drive, the organization ran low on funds and is seeking donations to replenish its coffers.

While Lincoln is thought to have the largest concentration of Yazidis in the United States, there are some pockets in other cities. The cemetery will be for all of them, said Khalaf Hesso, co-founder of United Yezidi Community of America.

This land is a god-chosen land for the Yazidis, said Hesso, a 34-year-old professional interpreter who came to Nebraska with his family 22 years ago.

Yazidis follow an ancient religion for which they have been persecuted for centuries, most recently the 2014 genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State forces in the Yazidi homeland of northern Iraq.

Yazidis living in Lincoln have been talking about establishing a cemetery for more than a decade. The first families made their way to Nebraska in the 1980s after Saddam Hussein began slaughtering people by the thousands in a violent relocation campaign.

Another wave arrived in the U.S. following the Iraq War, many having gotten special immigration visas for working as local interpreters and translators for the armed forces.

Then came the ISIS offensive in August 2014 and the Sinjar massacre. Islamic fighters destroyed Yazidi homes, shrines and cemeteries, murdered thousands of people, raped and enslaved women and kidnapped children.

Before the onslaught, some adherents to the religion would ship their dead back to Iraq for burial. But that became increasingly difficult and dangerous with the unrest.

And the number of Yazidis in Nebraska, which already had the highest concentration in the United States, continued to grow. Hesso estimates as many as 2,500 Yazidi currently live here.

Lincolns Yazidis wanted a cemetery, Hesso said. While some believed their community has more pressing concerns, those who wanted the cemetery proceeded with fundraising. It took them nearly two years to find a site.

With their homes destroyed, there is little left in Iraq to go back to except more persecution, said Faisal Rasho, who moved to Lincoln in October 2010 and is president of the United Yezidi Community of America.

The cemetery binds the Yazidi community together, gives it roots in Nebraska and a holy place for its deceased, Rasho said.

Stephen Lahey, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor and chair of classics and religious studies, echoed that sentiment, saying the Yazidi people recognize that they must adapt to survive.

Given the current uproar about xenophobic fear of Islam in the U.S., theirs is a small-but-real American success story, Lahey said in an email. Establishing cemeteries shows that American soil provides the opportunity for religious diversity to flourish, even in times like these.

Matthew Barber, an activist for the Yazidi and a University of Chicago scholar, said Yazidis must be careful to ensure that their young people don't forget their heritage.

"This is especially difficult for Yazidis in diaspora, which is a reason why the cemetery is important in preserving Yazidi identity and tradition," Barber said.

Yazidis believe in a single god, that created the world and entrusted it to seven angels, the greatest of which is Tawusi Melek, the peacock angel, who defies God but repents.

While the Yazidi Tawusi Melek is a force for good and intermediary between humanity and the divine, Muslims in Iraq see similarities to the devil, called Shaytan, cast out of heaven and have labeled Yazidis devil-worshipers.

The Yazidi pass their religion from generation to generation through spoken word and stories, but repeated genocides, the Yazidi count 73, and modern life have broken down and weakened tradition, Barber said.

The building of a Yazidi cemetery in Nebraska is a significant step for the local Yazidis in establishing a greater sense of permanence for their community here. It is one more way of saying "Nebraska is home," Barber said.

The cemetery proved controversial with some neighbors.

Michael Williams and his wife, Katherine Girario, bought the 20 acres north of the cemetery site in April 2016 planning to build a home and raise cows, pigs, chickens and ducks.

They were horrified when they learned the land to their south would become a cemetery.

Williams, in a recent interview, said he doesnt care what religion the group follows. He doesnt want to live next to dead bodies.

I would have the same opposition to Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Jewish. It wouldnt matter, Williams said.

He has a laundry list of concerns, including the possibility of disease, water and soil contamination, decreased property value, having a constant reminder of death nearby, noise from prayers and that state law lets cemeteries use eminent domain to expand once they fill up.

Hesso said the Yazidi will follow all state laws, plan to use burial vaults and caskets, and have consulted other cemeteries, including Wyuka Funeral Home, on best practices.

Williams complained to the Lancaster County Board but learned he could do nothing to stop it.

Zoning has allowed cemeteries since its inception in the county in 1968, with the only requirement being that a cemetery has to be on at least 20 acres.

Theyve met all the standards weve set out in the zoning code, County Commissioner Jennifer Brinkman, who represents the area where the cemetery will be, said in an interview last week.

Theyre entitled to meet those conditions just the way any other religious sect or organization would apply. Im supportive of the fact they have the ability to do that.

Frustrated, Williams has sought a zoning change, hoping to at least spare others the same disappointment he's experienced. But elected officials have not been receptive to his petition to make several currently permitted and conditional uses of agricultural property instead require a special permit, including dog kennels, churches, cemeteries and group homes.

The couples dream house is days from being complete, but they already have plans to sell it.
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'That's madam governor to you': Record 12 women elected to serve in 2023
Having coined Bush Derangement Syndrome more than a decade ago, I feel authorized to weigh in on its most recent offshoot. What distinguishes Trump Derangement Syndrome is not just general hysteria about the subject, but additionally the inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences on the one hand and signs of psychic pathology on the other.

Take Trump's climate-change decision. The hyperbole that met his withdrawal from the Paris agreement -- a traitorous act of war against the American people, America just resigned as leader of the free world, etc. -- was astonishing, though hardly unusual, this being Trump.

What the critics don't seem to recognize is that the Paris agreement itself was a huge failure. It contained no uniform commitments and no enforcement provisions. Sure, the whole world signed. But onto what? A voluntary set of vaporous promises. China pledged to "achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030." Meaning that they rise for another 13 years.

The rationale, I suppose, is that developing countries like India and China should be given a pass because the West had a two-century head start on industrialization.

I don't think the West needs to apologize -- or pay -- for having invented the steam engine. In fact, I've long favored a real climate-change pact, strong and enforceable, that would impose relatively uniform demands on China, India, the U.S., the EU and any others willing to join.

Paris was nothing but hot air. Withdrawing was a perfectly plausible policy choice (the other being remaining but trying to reduce our CO2-cutting commitments). The subsequent attacks on Trump were all the more unhinged because the president's other behavior over the last several weeks provided ample opportunity for shock and dismay.

It's the tweets, of course. Trump sees them as a direct, "unfiltered" conduit to the public. What he doesn't quite understand is that for him -- indeed, for anyone -- they are a direct conduit from the unfiltered id. They erase whatever membrane normally exists between one's internal disturbances and their external manifestations.

For most people, who cares? For the president of the United States, there are consequences. When the president's id speaks, the world listens.

Consider his tweets mocking the mayor of London after the most recent terror attack. They were appalling. This is a time when a president expresses sympathy and solidarity -- and stops there. Trump can't stop, ever. He used the atrocity to renew an old feud with a minor official of another country. Petty in the extreme.

As was his using London to support his misbegotten travel ban, to attack his own Justice Department for having "watered down" the original executive order (ignoring the fact that Trump himself signed it) and to undermine the case for it just as it goes to the Supreme Court.

As when he boasted by tweet that the administration was already doing "extreme vetting." But that explodes the whole rationale for the travel ban -- that a 90-day moratorium on entry was needed while new vetting procedures were developed. If the vetting is already in place, the ban has no purpose. The rationale evaporates.

And if that wasn't mischief enough, he then credited his own interventions in Saudi Arabia for the sudden squeeze that the Saudis, the UAE, Egypt and other Sunni-run states are putting on Qatar for its long-running dirty game of supporting and arming terrorists (such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas) and playing footsie with Iran.

It's good to see our Sunni allies confront Qatar and try to bring it into line. But why make it personal -- other than to feed the presidential id? Gratuitously injecting the U.S. into the crisis taints the endeavor by making it seem an American rather than an Arab initiative and turns our allies into instruments of American designs rather than defenders of their own region from a double agent in their midst.

And this is just four days' worth of tweets, all vainglorious and self-injurious. Where does it end?

The economist Herb Stein once quipped that "if something cannot go on forever, it will stop." This really can't go on, can it? But it's hard to see what, short of a smoking gun produced by the Russia inquiry, actually does stop him.

Trump was elected to do politically incorrect -- and needed -- things like withdrawing from Paris. He was not elected to do crazy things, starting with his tweets. If he cannot distinguish between the two, Trump Derangement Syndrome will only become epidemic.
Film director Anurag Basu, who is gearing up for the release of Jagga Jasoos featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, says he made the film keeping the children audience in mind.

"After watching Baarfi! (his last release) my daughter felt it was an ok film. In fact, every time during their (his children) vacation I show them Hollywood children films because we do not have much children film in Bollywood these days. So, I wanted to make a film that children can enjoy! So I thought I should make a film that kids and family can go and watch and enjoy," Basu told media here.

"I sincerely believe that we should make films that cater to all, tough but we should try!"

Basu was present here on Friday for the song launch "Galti se mistake" along with Katrina and Ranbir.

Jagga Jasoos is releasing on July 14.
WASHINGTON -- President Trump, on his recent European trip, literally shoved aside Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro in order to get to the front of a group of leaders. On Monday, Vice President Pence hosted the shoving victim at the White House, then praised Markovic publicly.

"I had the privilege of welcoming the prime minister to the White House today," Pence said at an Atlantic Council dinner. "I was very humbled to be able to share a few moments with him on the very day that Montenegro became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

On that same European trip, Trump surprised his own aides and unsettled allies when he refused to affirm NATO's collective-defense obligations. On Monday night, Pence expressed his "unwavering" support: "The United States is resolved, as we were at NATO's founding and in every hour since, to live by that principle that an attack on one of us is an attack on us all."

John Nance Garner, one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's vice presidents, famously compared the office to "a bucket of warm piss." For Pence, the vice presidency is a bucket of Clorox and a mop.

Tuesday morning found the vice president doing what he does frequently these days: cleaning up Trump's messes. Pence, speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, offered a soothing contrast to Trump's recent outbursts.

Where Trump alienated allies and opened a dispute with the mayor of London, Pence vowed to "continue to stand with our allies" and praised "our cherished ally," Britain. Where Trump has largely removed human rights from the agenda, Pence called for "an America standing tall in the world again for our values and our ideals."

Trump, at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year, told attendees to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger and his "Apprentice" ratings. Pence aimed higher. "Don't so much pray for a cause as for country," he said, paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln. "Just pray for America."

Amen.

The contrast between the reckless president and his responsible understudy has me thinking, not for the first time, how much better things would be if Pence were president. Trump shows no ability to correct course, to pull himself out of a self-destructive spiral.

It may be premature to talk of impeachment or resignation, but Trump's path is unsustainable. Republicans in Congress would be sensible to start thinking about an endgame, and the former Indiana governor may be the their best hope -- and all of ours.

Many liberals correctly call Pence a doctrinaire conservative, particularly on gay rights and other social issues. He'll be forever tarnished because of his role in legitimizing Trump for mainstream conservatives, a calculation based on the vain hope that he could influence Trump. He has embarrassed himself in office by parroting Trump's untruths and cheerleading for the boss.

But Pence is, at core, a small-d democrat, not a demagogue. The world would be safer with him in charge. We would still have fierce divisions about the nation's direction. But Pence, in the nearly two decades I've known him, has been an honorable man. Opponents can disagree with him yet sleep well knowing he's unlikely to be irrational.

This was supposed to have been "infrastructure week" for Trump, but he has been using his Twitter account to impair further the infrastructure of his presidency: burning bridges, building bunkers and going off the rails. He has vented unfiltered rage at the courts, the media, the mayor of London, Qatar and his own administration.

Meanwhile, Pence governs. He visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to have a luncheon talk with GOP senators about health-care reform. He hosted female entrepreneurs at the White House on Monday and said seven words to them that likely never passed his boss's lips: "I'm here to listen, not to talk."

At the Atlantic Council dinner, he gave a statesmanlike response to the London attacks that contrasted dramatically with Trump's. He repeatedly hailed NATO and European allies. He criticized Russian expansionism. He was diplomatic about areas of disagreement with Europe.

Trump could not have given that speech, nor the one Pence gave at the Catholic Prayer Breakfast, asking for prayers to heal a divided country -- at almost the exact moment Trump was railing on Twitter about fake news and political correctness. Pence urged the Catholics to "continue to be the hands and feet of our Savior, reaching in with love and compassion, embracing the dignity of all people of every background and every experience."

A noble -- even presidential -- aspiration. Under Trump we don't have a prayer.
Social activists Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar and Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav were among 40 persons detained on Sunday while on way to meet the kin of farmers killed in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district.

They were detained at Dhodhar while on way from Ratlam to Mandsaur where at least five farmers were killed on June 6 in police firing amid violence. They were released on bail later.

Ratlam Superintendent of Police Amit Singh said Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was enforced in Mandsaur district in anticipation of fear of breach of peace, which prohibited congregation of four or more persons at one place.

He said those detained included five women, including Patkar.

Earlier, these social activists and various farmer leaders paid homage to killed farmers.

Communist Party of India-Marxist state unit chief Badal Saroj dubbed police action against farmers protesting in support of their demands for loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce as "undemocratic".
Curfew was on Sunday lifted from Mandsaur city as the district, the epicentre of the farmers' agitation in Madhya Pradesh, remained peaceful though the restrictions on assembly would remain in force.

The district administration also said the Internet services in the district, which were suspended on June 5 after out break of violence, will be restored by tomorrow morning.

Mandsaur Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh said the curfew has been lifted from all the three police station areas of the Mandsaur city where it was imposed. However, prohibitory orders under section CrPC 144, which bans assembly of more than four persons, will remain in force in the district.

Demonstrations, protests and rallies will not be allowed in the district, he said.

The curfew will remain in Pipliamandi police station area which is 15 kms from Mandsaur district headquarters and where five farmers were killed in separate police firings during the agitation.

In a joint press conference here, Collector O P Shrivastava said the internet services will be restored at earliest.

But if objectionable or inflammatory content is circulated on social media, the decision would be reconsidered, he added.

When asked about resumption of public transport, the SP said a meeting with bus operators will be held tomorrow in which they will be asked to restore their services.

Singh said that security will be provided to bus staffers, petrol pump employees and milkmen so that they can work.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1. The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five people were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on June 6, it was today relaxed for 12 hours in four police station areas of the district.

Their stir turned violent when five persons died in police firing, while six others were injured on Tuesday in Mandsaur district.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended indefinite fast at the Dusshera Maidan in Bhopal.
The verdant Darjeeling hills on Sunday braced for a fresh confrontation between the Mamata Banerjee government and the influential Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) which has called an indefinite shutdown of government offices from Monday and renewed the demand for Gorkhaland.

GJM president Bimal Gurung has asked tourists to leave the hills because of the possibility of occurrence of "untoward" incidents.

The GJM, an ally of the Centre's ruling NDA, has called an indefinite shutdown of state government and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) offices, but kept educational institutions, transport and hotels out of its purview. The GJM, which heads the GTA, has also issued a diktat to banks to open only twice a week.

The Trinamool Congress government, on its part, ordered all its employees and those of the institutions receiving grants-in-aid from it to attend office on all days till the agitation continues, warning that absence from duty will be considered a break in service.

"All state government offices in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts will remain open and all employees should report for duty on each day till such bandh is not withdrawn," a government notification said.

"Any absence will be considered as a break in service and no salary will be admissible unless covered by reasonable grounds," the notification said.

The GJM had on Friday called a 12-hour bandh in the hills against the Mamata Banerjee government's decision to introduce Bengali language in schools in the hills, a day after Darjeeling, the picturesque north Bengal town known the world over for its tea industry, witnessed large-scale violence.

A day before, GJM supporters and workers had clashed with the police and set ablaze several government vehicles during widespread protests over introduction of Bengali language in schools in the hills.

Army had to be called out to stage flag marches in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to restore peace.

The sensitive language issue provided the spark which reignited the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

"The government has encroached on our identity, our language Nepali. We will never tolerate it," Gurung said, adding "we are ready to court arrest, we will have to go to jail for the sake of the agitation."

Blaming Banerjee for the renewal of the Gorkhaland demand by his party, Gurung said, "We will stick to our demand for a separate state and continue with the agitation for achieving it. Mamata Banerjee has forced us to renew the statehood demand, we will achieve it."

Meanwhile, police today arrested five GJM supporters for their alleged involvement in Thursday's violence.

The GJM has been concerned about the rise in TMCs popularity in the hills after the latter won the Mirik municipality in the recently held civic bodies elections, and also opened its account in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, a first for a political party from the plains in many years.

The government's decision for a "special audit" of funds allotted to GTA also riled Gurung's GJM, which has controlled the territorial administration since 2011.

Banerjee had warned of "strong action" against the GJM if it engaged in violence, but the Gorkha outfit upped the ante with its call for a shutdown of government offices, apparently with an eye on the upcoming GTA elections. The term of the present territorial administration ends next month.

Darjeeling hills had seen a violent movement for a separate Gorkhaland in the mid 1980s under Subhash Ghisingh.

The movement ended with the establishment of a semi-autonomous administrative body in 1988 called Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council headed by Ghisingh.

As Ghisingh's influence waned over time, the GJM launched another movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland. In 2011, the GJM signed an agreement with the state and central governments, and another semi-autonomous administrative unit GTA was born replacing the DGHC.
The Shiromani Akali Dal and Bhartiya Janta Party combine will hold dharnas at all districts in the state on 12 June against the government on several issues, including farm debt waiver and alleged "impropriety" in sand mining contract.

The dharnas will be attended by party leaders and workers of both the parties, besides the common citizens, SAD secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said in a statement issued here on 10 June.

He said SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal will lead a protest dharna in Ludhiana.

Cheema said besides the senior leadership of both the parties, the SAD core committee members, MPs, MLAs, SGPC members, office bearers of the party and all the district level leaders and members and elected representatives of the local bodies will take part in these dharnas.

"The objective is to get resolved the burning issues confronting the state and awake the deaf and dump government about the problems of the people," he said.

The SAD spokesman said, "Issues taken at these dharnas will include the mining scandal in which Punjab cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh and several ruling party MLAs were involved, the government's apathy towards problems of the farmers and its betrayal on the issue of farm loan waiver, failure of the government to control incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and governing the state."

Cheema said the alleged atrocities being committed against Dalits and deteriorating law and order situation in the state will also be highlighted in these dharnas.

He said both the parties have issued instructions to party workers to make these dharnas successful and meetings are also being held in this regard.

The SAD leader said after the dharnas leaders of both the parties will meet respective deputy commissioners to submit memorandums. He said that dharnas will be "completely peaceful".

After the completion of the dharna programme, a high- level delegation of both the parties, including core committee members, MPs and MLAs, will meet Punjab Governor on 13 June and demand dismissal of Gurjit from the Cabinet, besides an enquiry by CBI, ED and Income Tax authorities in the sand mining contract, he added.
In 1985 during my second year at a state-owned college in Karachi, I befriended a guy called Yousaf. In those days I was posing as a Marxist and was associated with a progressive student organisation. But this did not come in the way of me becoming Yousafs friend despite the fact that he was a passionate supporter of a right-wing religious outfit.

In May 1986, Yousaf stopped coming to college. When I called his home, his father told me Yousaf had gone to their ancestral town in Punjab to attend a wedding. He didnt sound very convincing so I asked a mutual friend about Yousafs whereabouts and was told that Yousaf had actually joined an Afghan insurgent group and was being trained as a guerrilla fighter on the Pak-Afghan border.

Yousaf returned to college in late 1986. The college administration was not amused. But this didnt seem to bother him. He told me (and these were his exact words, albeit in Urdu), Paracha, all that we do in the name of education in this college, and student politics is petty compared to what I have achieved  .

When I asked him what was it that he had achieved, he told me that he had fought against Soviet troops in Afghanistan and that he was planning to go back there the following year. His parents, though as conservative and religious as he was, werent too thrilled by the idea. Yet, according to Yousaf, they had given him their blessings.

Whats more, despite knowing well that I was politically opposed to the Afghan insurgency, Yousaf wanted me to accompany him. He told me that I needed to give my life some spiritual meaning. To this I had replied, How can one give spiritual meaning to ones life by fighting an insurgency funded by the US, the Saudi monarchy and a Pakistani dictator (Zia)?

I remember how my question had agitated Yousaf. But he still handed me two thin booklets that he had brought back with him. Both booklets were largely in Urdu but also had text in Arabic, Pashto and Dari. These were full of text praising the insurgents, telling them that they were fighting a just war against the evils of communism. The booklets also carried quotes and anecdotes of fighters who claimed that Afghanistan was unconquerable. At least two anecdotes in one of the booklets suggested that the insurgents had destroyed Soviet tanks by simply jumping in front of them and loudly proclaiming, God is great! By the way, both the booklets were published in Texas, US.

In early 1993, some five years after the Soviet forces had retreated from Kabul, I saw one of the two booklets in a government library in Karachi where I had gone to research for a newspaper story that I was doing. I had become a journalist in December 1990. This edition of the booklet was published in 1991 with an additional chapter explaining how the anti-Soviet insurgents (mujahideen) had defeated a world power (Soviet Union).

According to various experts who study Islamic militancy, widespread claims such as that Afghanistan was invincible and that the Soviet Union was destroyed by Muslim militants were first concocted by propagandists in US President Ronald Reagans administration (1981-88) and by those facilitating the anti-Soviet insurgency in Pakistan.

The experts also suggest that such claims (including anecdotes about miraculous heroics of the insurgents who were supposedly able to trigger sudden combustion of Soviet soldiers and tanks with a loud war cry) continued to be applied by various militant groups in Muslim countries, including Al-Qaeda, for recruitment purposes.

In 2011, Jonathan Steele, author and war correspondent of UKs The Guardian published his eighth and most referenced book The Afghan Ghost. In it he shot to pieces the many claims aired during the Afghan conflict of the 1980s, and which are still being dished out by various militant groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Steele refuted the claim that the Afghans had always defeated foreign armies. He reminded his readers that in 330 BCE, Greek armies led by Alexander marched through Afghanistan with very little resistance. Then, a millennium later, Genghis Khans Mongol hordes demolished whatever resistance his army faced in Afghanistan.

Steele then went on to suggest that the late 19th century battles between the British and the Afghans were hard-fought but, by 1880, the Afghans had to cede various frontier areas to the British.

Steele also puts to rest the common belief that it was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 which kick-started the civil war there. A former CIA operative and later President Obamas defence secretary, Robert Gates, wrote in his 2015 book Duty that a number of insurgent leaders who fought against the Soviets had earlier rebelled against the modernist Afghan nationalist regime of Sardar Daud (1973-78). Gates also wrote that many of these insurgents were already being backed by the US and by the ZA Bhutto government in Pakistan, years before the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet forces.

The claim which Steele takes the most pleasure in debunking is regarding the Islamic insurgents role in triggering the fall of Soviet communism. Steele quotes Morton Abramowitz, who directed the US State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the time, as saying that in 1985 there was great concern in Reagans White House that the mujahideen were actually losing the war. Abramowitz told Steele that the insurgents were losing major battles and falling apart.

According to Steele it was the new Soviet leader Gorbachev who decided to pull the plug and begin to roll back the war in Afghanistan. Steele wrote that Gorbachev calculated that the war had become a stalemate and was draining the Soviet economy. The Soviet economy was already under strain mainly due to failed socialist experiments. Its ultimate failure and the Soviet Unions eventual collapse had little to do with the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. Basically the Soviet Union imploded from within.

Yousaf went to Afghanistan again in 1987. He returned later that year and by the early 1990s he had become completely disillusioned by his earlier passions. I last met him in 2004 when he was moving to Nairobi with his wife and children. I handed him back the two booklets he had given me in 1986, jokingly telling him that he might still need to give his life some spiritual meaning.

He laughed, then ran to his bedroom and came back with an old paperback biography of Karl Marx. He took the booklets from me and handed me the Marx bio, saying, Thanks, and here, this is for you. These booklets and the Marx bio will remind both of us about the utter stupidity of youthful idealism.

dawn/ ann
A literary agent once said to me that a paragraph in People magazine with some trivial gossip about a writer sold more copies of his book than a prominent favourable review in The New York Times.

Except for Ernest Hemingway, for whom to be on the cover of Time tolled the bell of success, the more important writers of the 20th century had no interest in such publicity. They were important because of their contribution to the high art of their time and not because they ran before the bulls in Pamplona or posed, gun in hand, with a lion they had shot in Africa  their chief interest was that the quality of the writing be appreciated not their personality.

When he was 42 years old and already established as one of the finest living poets of the 20th century, TS Eliot wrote to his brother Henry,  if I could destroy every letter I have ever written in my life I would do so before I die. The letter in which he made that wish is in the fifth volume of his letters of which six hefty volumes, containing a total of 5,237 pages with letters written between 1898 and 1933, have been published so far in a very handsome edition byYale University Press. Several more volumes of letters he wrote in the succeeding 32 years will no doubt follow.

In that letter to his brother, Eliot also said, I should like to leave as little biography as possible.Whatever was happening in his private life was none of anyones business and he preferred it to remain unknown. However, in his final years, when he found happiness with his second wife, Valerie, he was persuaded by her not to forbid the publication of his letters, and she devoted the 47 years that she survived after his death to doing one of the most magnificent editing jobs (assisted by John Haffenden) ever done with a writers correspondence, exceeding even the brilliant scholarly work by Francis Steegmuller on Gustave Flaubert, Leon Edel on Henry James, and Richard Ellmann on James Joyce.

Much of Eliots correspondence consists of letters he wrote as the editor of Criterion and as a director at Faber & Faber, and while it reveals an important aspect of his life, showing how scrupulously correct he was in his editorial decisions and the trouble he took to encourage new writers he was obliged to reject for economic reasons, there is little in the correspondence with any voyeuristic appeal to amuse the curious.

Inevitably, there are letters associated with the problems of his first marriage and the spiritual crisis that drew him to the Anglo-Catholic church, but the real value of a writers correspondence is to be found in some spontaneous remark thats revelatory of his aesthetic or philosophic preoccupation, as when Eliot remarks that Beethovens quartets have made such a profound impression on him that he would like to replicate in some future verse the effect produced on him by the music. However, while there are these occasional nuggets with their gleaming insight into the nature of literary creativity, which reward the patient reader of Eliots correspondence, our appreciation and enjoyment of his poetry would scarcely have been diminished had his original wish to destroy his letters been carried out. We know nothing of Homer, very little of Shakespeare, and our understanding of their work is none the worse for it.

Its a well known fact that Ezra Pound helped launch Eliots career as a poet by persuading Harriet Monroe, editor ofPoetry at that time the most important poetry magazine in the US  to publish The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, a poem that made little sense to her and its also well known that Pound helped Eliot to edit and put together the various related fragments what became The Waste Land. These incidental facts enhance our admiration for Pounds passionate promotion of good literature but in no way colour our reading of the poems.

Pound was a tireless promoter of other writers, even to the extent of sacrificing his own work, as when he was so extraordinarily impressed by a book by Joyce which no one was prepared to publish, that Pound sent it to his own American publisher, advising him, he says in a letter, to print the Joyce in preference to my book. He also suggested that if the American censor found certain passages unacceptable, then, rather than allowing the book to be banned, it should be printed with blank spaces for the censored passages and that he himself would type out those missing passages on good paper and paste them in the blank spaces.

Then there is the astonishing occasion when the American Pound persuaded the British Prime Minister to give the poverty-stricken Irish novelist Joyce a grant of 100 pounds from the English Civil List; at the same time, Pound got the Society of Authors to give Joyce a modest subsidy. Unlike most writers who are obsessed with promoting their own work, Pound cared less for the individual self, least of all his own, but excitedly championed good writing regardless of who wrote it. It is tremendously important, he wrote in an early essay called A Retrospect, that great poetry be written, it makes no jot of difference who writes it.

Unlike Pound, however, most writers, driven no doubt by common vanity that compels the self to advance its claim to uniqueness, would prefer that they should be the ones to be noted as the singular creators of the great literature of their time. Not receiving attention at the highest level where the quality of language and stylistic originality  the formal organisation that alone transforms any expression into a work of art  are the only criteria by which to be evaluated, many writers are content to be judged as contributors to a secondary category if that would get them known.

There were several new categories after the World War II  African American writers, women writers, and, after the dissolution of the British Empire, Commonwealth writers. Consequently, many a minority writer received conspicuous attention who otherwise would have remained neglected; publishers eagerly took on the latest emancipated group and marketed its books as the significant literature of the time only to let it perish in order to promote the next trend, so that reputations rose and fell like a seismic needle reacting to a succession of tremors, with each liberating movement seeming to strike like an earthquake that mostly created a cloud of dust and left a few ugly cracks behind.

But again, while there was no dearth of writers eager to join the trendy crowd on the fashionable boulevard, there were always those who turned away to their own quiet alley. Elizabeth Bishop was a notable example of the latter. At the height of the feminist movement in the early 1970s, she refused to be included in anthologies of womens poetry, famously saying, Literature is literature, no matter who produces it.

Perhaps the newer generation of writers, clamouring for attention and hungry for publicity, will seize any opportunity to be talked about. Which writer today would decline if offered to have his or her portrait on the cover ofTimemagazine as did William Faulkner in 1954? Five years earlier, Faulkner had resisted being the subject, like Hemingway had been before him, of gossipy adulation in Life magazine. When he reluctantly agreed to let Life do an article on him, Faulkner insisted (in a letter to Malcolm Cowley) that there be no photographs, no recorded documents, and added, It is my ambition to be, as a private individual, abolished and voided from history, leaving it markless, no refuse save the printed books. He wanted, he wrote, both his obituary and the epitaph on his gravestone to be the one sentence, He made the books and he died.

Faulkner so hated what Life proceeded to publish that he absolutely refused to be on the cover of Time. One of the most striking documents in the history of literary biography is the long telegram Faulkner sent to Bennett Cerf, his editor at Random House. When Cerf tried to persuade him to agree to a cover story in Timeby saying that a large sum of money was to be made by such publicity, Faulkner wired back, let me write the books, let someone who wants it have the publicity, went on to say that he would never consent to having his picture on the cover of Time, and then added the most astonishing statement, estimate what refusal will cost random house and i will pay it.

Samuel Beckett was another very private person who hated biographical publicity. At the time when his biography by Deirdre Bair came out, my American publisher, who was Becketts friend, told me that he happened to visit Beckett in Paris and asked him if hed read it. Beckett answered that hed received a package, which he suspected contained the book and that, without opening it, he had thrown it into the rubbish chute.

The writer is a poet, novelist and literary critic. His works include the novel The Murder of Aziz Khan and a collection of short fictions, Veronica and the Gongora Passion. He is professor emeritus at the University of Texas, US

Dawn/ann
The debate is the initiative of PNGs National Press Club, which says it will be the first time a PNG prime minister and opposition leader will engage in a public debate on issues affecting the country.

While Media Council of PNG boss Alex Rheeney says no date has been set, prime minister Peter O'Neill has accepted an invitation to debate opposition leader Don Polye, who will also be representing other political parties campaigning against ONeills People's National Congress.

IT HAS been a long time coming, but it seems that Papua New Guinea may soon see a pre-election face-off between a prime minister and an opposition leader.

Meanwhile, in a media statement yesterday, former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta, said Mr O'Neill had made a "cowardly decision not to participate in televised political debates during the election."

I am ready to debate him any time, any place, Sir Mekere said. "It is time for the prime minister to put his record and his policies up for public scrutiny and questioning."

Papua New Guineans seem eager to see such an event take place.

This practice will bring PNG to the next level of politics in promoting good governance and ethical conduct, said Ben Sarett. Public scrutiny is the way forward. More of this will transform PNG.

John Wanis asked the Media Council of PNG to stream the debate online so as many citizens as possible can watch it live.

While Wali Kota doubted that Peter ONeill would really turn up for a debate, others proposed questions that the prime minister should answer, including his anti-corruption policies.

We have been hearing O'Neill promising free goodies and infrastructure development, said Karabuspalau Kaiku. What are his policies to address the endemic corruption and mismanagement happening in this country?

And Zec Mai Firkwai wants Mr ONeill to outline the plans he has to rescue failing economy and how he will minimise mountain of debts he created.

Isaac Raymond warned the prime minister to be well prepared to avoid being embarrassed and humiliated.
Sen. Bob Krist may skip a Republican gubernatorial primary confrontation with Gov. Pete Ricketts next year and move directly to the 2018 general election ballot by forming a separate party as a vehicle to offer voters "a centrist approach to governing."

His message would "focus on unity" and problem-solving rather than Republican or Democratic partisanship or party dogma, the Omaha senator said, and he would directly address the issues that are most important to Nebraskans.

Heading that list, he said, would be property tax relief.

A citizens initiative to impose property tax reduction conceivably could be on the ballot at the same time.

Property tax reduction proponents are mulling whether to take the issue to the voters after failing to win the kind of fundamental change they pushed for during the 2017 legislative session.

Krist, a Republican who will complete his 10th and final year in the nonpartisan Legislature next year, signaled last month that he was considering a 2018 gubernatorial bid that would challenge Ricketts in next spring's GOP primary election.

But formation of a new party could gain him a slot on the general election ballot without running the gamut of a Republican primary election in which an incumbent Republican governor would hold all the political advantages.

It only takes roughly 5,000 signatures to form a new party and gain access to the general election ballot, Krist said.

There's been no decision on what he might name the new party or who he might choose as a running mate, he said, but his candidacy would center on "getting things done" without regard to party.

"We will be the alternative vote," Krist said.

Krist said he plans to travel the state in August, embarking on "a listening tour" to hear directly from Nebraskans about their priorities and concerns while assessing "how people in Nebraska judge the administration" of Ricketts in his third year as governor.

While Ricketts pushed this year for a tax package that included income and property tax reduction, Krist said the bill "concentrated basically on income tax reduction" rather than property tax cuts.

Ricketts has included increases in state property tax credits in his budget recommendations every year and they have been enacted by the Legislature.

Although Krist has not officially pulled the trigger yet on a gubernatorial bid, he said he's "still strongly considering doing so around Labor Day."

A retired U.S. Air Force officer, Krist plans to pilot the aircraft he will use to tour the state. He flew more than 100 combat sorties during his military service.

In an interview at his state Capitol office, Krist said the nonpartisan Legislature has become "too politically-oriented in terms of R and D," with Republicans and Democrats too often dividing according to party affiliation or loyalty to the governor.

The focus should be on the priorities and concerns of Nebraskans, he said, and property tax reduction sits atop that list.

"I understand it when people say they feel their voices are not being heard," Krist said.

Divisions over budget priorities and needs also ought to be carefully considered, he said, especially when it appears that "the most disenfranchised, most vulnerable, most fragile Nebraskans" are those who will bear the brunt of some recent state budget decisions.

High on Krist's list of policy priorities would be a commitment to "fix the corrections problem" that has plagued the state's prison system and devising an ongoing plan to "shrink the size of state government."

Meanwhile, he said, property tax reduction needs to be accomplished in concert with assurances of adequate education funding.

"I will get it done," Krist said.

Ricketts formally announced his candidacy for a second term last Sunday, pledging to reduce taxes and continue to slow the growth of state spending.
Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrences private plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. She is fine and came out unhurt, according to her representative.

The incident took place on Saturday when the 26-year-old was flying from her hometown Louisville, Kentucky, where she had been visiting family, when one of the plane's engines shut down, reports eonline.com.

According to her representative, Lawrence "emerged unscathed from the incident".

The jet was flying at 31,000 feet when it suffered engine failure, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Buffalo.

But in the middle of the landing, the plane's other engine shut down, on what would have been an undoubtedly harrowing flight for The Hunger Games star.

After touching down in Buffalo, the jet was met by emergency vehicles.
STURTEVANT  This village will soon get a buy-and-sell record shop called Time & Again that will also deal in art, photography and music memorabilia.

Photographer and longtime music collector Ray Zirkle and his wife, Marianne, will open their store at 9602 Durand Ave., between Sturtevant Spirits and Wine and KP Toffee.

Ray Zirkle, a Racine resident, said his more than 30 years of retail and retail management experience in music goes back to when he was 17 or 18, working in record stores in Chicago. Eventually he went into photography and continues in that business, mainly doing landscapes, as Ray Zirkle Photography.

But Zirkle keeps his hand in music; he hosts a weekly radio program in Chicago about Bruce Springsteen called Getting Loose with Bruce. It airs live at 5 p.m. Mondays and cant be heard via radio here but can be streamed live via internet, he said.

Time & Again will buy and sell and trade rock, soul and other various genres with a focus on vintage vinyl albums from the 50s, 60s and 70s, Zirkle wrote in his application for a conditional-use permit from the Village of Sturtevant.

I will gladly carry other desirable music, he said. But the fifties through the seventies seems to be the hot stuff out there right now. Zirkle said hell also delve into such stalwart musical acts from outside that era as Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Overall he said hell deal in albums and collectible 45-rpm records, the latter especially those with picture sleeves, and limited-run items.

I dont want to get into bins of stuff no ones going to buy, he remarked.

Time & Again will be half music and half art, Zirkle said. Hell sell his own photography, is considering selling the works of other artists and also will sell framed ads of musicians and bands from old music magazines such as Billboard.

Hes planning to be open from 10 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. He hopes to open July 1.
An Australian research indicates blockchain technology  that enables bitcoin  may increase productivity and innovation in government and industry in the future.

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger or decentralised database that keeps records of digital transactions.

A distributed ledger has a network of replicated databases, synchronised via the internet and visible to anyone within the network.

"It (Blockchain) has potential to reframe existing industries like financial services and seed new ones like food provenance and personalised health," said Adrian Turner, Chief Executive of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

A recent report released by the CSIRO explored plausible adoption scenarios of blockchain in Australia by 2030, while another took a technical approach exploring design alternatives for blockchain systems in uses such as remittance payments and agricultural supply chains.

"The reports demonstrate the benefits of this technology could be profound delivering productivity, security and efficiency gains," suggested Scott Morrison, Australia's Treasurer.

"It will give decision makers in business and government guidance on matters they need to consider in developing a system that uses blockchain technology," Morrison added.
The impact of climate change on glaciers has been well documented. From Alaska to Europe, Antarctica to Siberia, glaciers are in recession the world over. Fortysix gigatons of ice from Alaskan glaciers was lost on average for each year from 2003 to 2010, according to Nasa, while those in Asia are losing acres of coverage annually.

All glaciers situated near Mount Everest are in retreat, including the Rongbuk glacier. Explored by George Mallory in 1921, it is now thought to have lost around 300 feet of ice vertically over the past 80 years. Some researchers believe that glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear entirely by 2035.

Glacial recession carries many risks, not least the effect on sea levels, and on the prevalence of glacial lakes, which can be a cause of dangerous glacial lake outburst floods. In one of the most immediately pressing issues, the retreat of glaciers in the Himalayas is leaving rural communities without sufficient supplies of water for their crops.

There are roughly 15,000 glaciers in the greater Himalayan region, many of which are an important source of water for communities that have lived in the shadow of its mountains for centuries. The glaciers continue to hold water into the regions dry season, providing enough water to irrigate desertified parts of Afghanistan, Mongolia and India during the summer months.

The human cost of climate change and local pollution is already having an effect in mountain villages such as those dotted around the desert region of Ladakh, 3,500 miles above sea level on the Tibetan plateau. Life here is already challenging, with the lowest winter temperatures reaching -30C, and average annual rainfall of just 100mm (compared to say 885mm in the UK).

Water has always been a problem for the people who make a living here. Glacial meltwater is in short supply and needs to be diverted to sustain arable land that supports barley and wheat as well as fruit trees such as apricot and apple.

Sonam Wangchuk, a son of Ladakh and a respected engineer, has devised an innovative and beautiful solution to this challenge. By channelling meltwater into a system of pipes Wangchukhas been able to create what he has called the artificial glaciers of Ladakh.

Part of his inspiration was a phenomenon many people have witnessed, where chunks of ice remain frozen even when temperatures rise around them. One day I saw some ice hanging under a bridge, he says. That made me realise it was not summer or winter that was causing ice to melt, but direct sunlight.

The conical formation of the ice stupas  which resemble the Buddhist stupas that are used for meditation and are prominent features of the landscape in the Tibetan desert regions  maximises the volume of water that is kept out of the sun, slowing down the melting of the artificial glaciers.

Previous attempts at diverting and storing water had proved too costly, requiring regular maintenance and shade. One of our senior engineers, Mr Norphel, was working on freezing streams. But because he was doing this on a flat surface he needed to do this at high altitudes. He was an inspiration for us, and triggered me into thinking of solutions. I thought, why cant we do this at normal altitudes?

Apart from laying an underground pipe, the costs of these stupas is relatively small. As the system relies on gravity, there are no expensive (and polluting) pumps required to push the water towards the villages.

Water piped from 60 metres upstream would easily rise close to 60 metres up from ground when it reaches the village. For simplicity we can imagine that the pipe is mounted on a mobile-phone tower of that height, and then it is made to fall from that height in cold Ladakhi winter nights when it is -30C to -50C outside (with wind chill factor). At this point the ice freezes, forming the stupas.

Wangchuks technique is a modern reinvention of the ancient practice of glacial grafting. Developed by the Hindu and Buddhist communities living in the Himalayas, they would graft chunks of ice onto the sides of mountains in the hope of creating new glaciers. Local legend has it that villagers grew glaciers in an effort to keep Genghis Khan from making it across the Himalayas in the 13th century.There has always been a tradition of making ice or artificial glaciers since ancient times, says Wangchuk. These were a fascination since childhood.

For Wangchuk, the ice stupas resemblance to the familiar and traditional Buddhist structures is an important cultural bridge for todays Ladakh residents to relate with. For the first one or two years there was a lot of disbelief, he says. We now have an ice mass of one million litres, or half a million litres, even now in midMay. So they can see a canal coming from this structure and are much more positive about it.

These structures can be between 30 metres and 50 metres in height, and last throughout the summer.We will be finetuning the different components of the ice-making process. The technology right now is like automobiles 70 years ago. You had a few problems and you have to intervene in the vehicle and driving was a skill involving a lot of maintenance. We want it to require minimum intervention from people so one person starts it and it works all winter long.

Wangchuk has crowdfunded a 2015 prototype of his design installing a 1.5- mile pipeline that supplied 1.5 million litres of water to 5,000 saplings in the village desert. He subsequently won the Rolex Award for Enterprise providing him with 80,000 towards further developing his ideas, as well as his own Rolex chronometer watch. The funds will be used to create 20 further stupas, each 30 metres high.

Once Wangchuk has perfected the technology for providing water to villages, the next step will be utilising it to help prevent the overflow of glacial meltwater. The melting of the Himalayan glaciers has brought about an increase in the number of dangerous glacial lakes. In a phenomenon known as GLOF, a large volume of meltwater can undermine the moraine holding up the lakes, causing a sudden flood that has been known to take lives and destroy crucial infrastructure.

In 1981, 20 million cubic metres of meltwater was emptied onto Nepal, taking out the Sunkoski hydropower dam and causing $4m (3.1m) of damage. According to a study in Hydrological Processes, the central Himalayas have seen the area covered by lakes fed from glaciers increase by 122 per cent between 1976 and 2010, increasing the chances of future incidents.

NGOs and the United Nations Development Programme have worked on getting some of these lakes drained but with limited resources and roughly 20,000 such formations across the Himalayas, preventing future disasters is going to require ingenuity.

These have to be mitigated before they become a disaster, Wangchuk says. Mitigation alone is good enough but if these systems can be used as an asset, a man-made resource under the lake, then you are at least adapting to, if not solving, the climate change crisis.

The Independent
Three Chinese warships have arrived on a four-day goodwill and training visit at Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.

Chang Chun, Jing Zhou and Chao Hu warships of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy are part of a task group that will hold a Passage Exercise with Pakistan Navy ships to enhance interoperability between the two navies, officials here said.

A welcome ceremony was organised as the fleet reached here on a four-day goodwill and training visit yesterday.

The visit will promote the understanding and mutual trust between the people of China and Pakistan and boost the cooperation and friendship between the two nations, Commander of the Chinese navy fleet Rear Admiral Shen Hao said.

Shen said the pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development.

Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah visited the fleet.
At least 79 people, including 16 children and nine women, were killed in the first five days of an offensive against the Islamic State terror group in the Syrian city of al-Raqqa, a UK-based war monitor reported on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) warned that the number of victims was increasing due to bombardments by the US-led international coalition, which killed 24 people, including five minors and three women, reports Efe news.

The SOHR said those who died on Saturday included 15 people who were inside an internet cafe, and among them was an NGO activist.

The ground offensive against al-Raqqa, the main IS stronghold in Syria, began last week, under the command of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The number of civilians remaining inside al-Raqqa, which before the beginning of the conflict in Syria had more than 200,000 inhabitants, is not known for certain, according to official statistics.
Farmers and fishermen displaced by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria want to return home, saying it will help ease chronic food shortages for the remote region's starving millions.

Subsistence agriculture is a lifeline in the northeast but the eight-year Islamist insurgency has devastated activities, causing a desperate lack of food and sky-high prices.

Many farmers and fishermen have either been killed or fled to camps for the displaced, where they are dependent on food aid, or to live with friends and distant relatives.

Aid agencies say a severe funding shortfall is affecting feeding programmes, despite high levels of severe acute malnutrition and repeated warnings that famine is a possibility.

The head of the Lake Chad fishermen's union, Labbo Tahir, said: "No amount of food aid can adequately feed us.

"The only way out of this unending starvation is for us to return home, grow our own food and rebuild our lives," he told AFP.

Ibrahim Mammadu used to grow rice and other crops but now works as a labourer on a tomato field near the Borno state capital Maiduguri for $13 (11.6 euros) a month.

The money is hardly enough to feed his family of five for a week.

"If only I can return to my farm my hardship would be over and within a year I can grow enough food for my family," said the 35-year-old.

"This is the only way I can end my dependency and poverty because farming is all I know."

The freshwaters of Lake Chad and its fertile shores have made northern Borno the state's food basket.

Government statistics say three districts on the Nigerian side of the lake  Marte, Kukawa and Ngala  provided a quarter of the country's annual wheat production of 90,000 tonnes in 2014.

The Fisheries Society of Nigeria says some 300,000 tonnes of fish caught in the region represents about 12 per cent of fish consumed nationwide.

But Lake Chad is currently a Boko Haram hotspot and economic activity has ground to a halt. A sales ban has exacerbated losses, as the military fears profits are funding insurgent activities.

In recent weeks, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) donated 30 tonnes of early-maturing, pest- resistant seeds to Borno's farmers.

But IITA coordinator Kamai Nkike said three consecutive rainy seasons have been missed and the current season, which began two weeks ago, is also likely to pass without crops being planted.

"Farming in northern Borno at the moment is practically impossible," said Nkike. "The farmers want to be on their own.

They are not happy with food aid."
KEWAUKEE  Preliminary results of a study on an east Wisconsin countys groundwater indicate some wells contain fecal microbes that can make people sick.

The two-year study found that about 380 residents in Kewaunee County are at risk of contracting a stomach parasite called cryptosporidiosis, which can cause diarrhea, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Mark Borchardt and a team from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh monitored more than 620 wells. Almost 5,000 households in the county depend on private wells.

The study found that some wells contained traces of fecal matter, which may be from cows and likely entered groundwater through shallow topsoil. The most severe contamination occurs after heavy rain or a quick snow melt, Borchardt said.

Between two to nine cases of cryptosporidiosis are confirmed in the county every year, Borchardt said. He estimates the number of cases is closer to 140 each year because the symptoms often go unreported.

The initial findings indicate that the county has a problem it needs to address, said Lynn Utesch, the founder of Kewaunee Cares, an environmental group that focuses on water quality issues. He said the county should look at land use practices and consider putting a stop to herd expansion in the area.

Maureen Muldoon, a geologist and professor at the university, said the numbers and statistics still need to be calculated to truly figure out where the pathogens found in the wells originate.

Theres no timeline for when the USDA will finalize the studys findings.
A journalist was shot dead on Sunday by unknown gunmen in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

Bakhshish Ahmad, Bureau Chief of The K2 Times Urdu daily, was attacked in Haripur district, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Islamabad-based Pashto-language Khyber TV, which owns the daily, said the gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at the journalist when he was headed to work in Haripur.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 117 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years in Pakistan. Of these, only three cases were taken up in judicial courts, Xinhua quoted official data as saying.
The last days of the Newfie Pride

There were many nights he didnt sleep. The numbers and scenarios turned over and over in his mind, making rest impossible. Id get up two, three oclock in the morning, night after night, come out to the kitchen table and work the numbers every ...
TREMPEALEAU  Danielle Benden has been uncovering artifacts in the Trempealeau area for the past decade, but the thrill of the find never gets old.

Its still equally as exciting now, said Benden, archaeologist and co-owner of Driftless Pathways with husband and fellow archaeologist Robert Ernie Boszhardt. Digging up something in the dirt that hasnt been touched in 1,000 years ... its an amazing feeling.

Its an experience Benden has shared with many over the course of the Trempealeau Archaeology Project, a community-wide quest to uncover the history of the Mississippians, a group of 100 to 200 people who left the city of Cahokia, a 2,200-acre tract near what is now St. Louis and paddled 500 miles up the Mississippi River to the Mountain Whose Foot is Bathed in Water, the La Crosse Tribune reported. Benden and Boszhardt, both formerly with the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, recently developed the Trempealeau Interpretive Path: TRIP initiative to share the wealth of discoveries.

TRIP includes curriculum resources, with activities and breakdowns of their findings, and a three-part exhibit. An artifact display at the Shirley M. Wright Memorial Library includes historical illustrations and artifacts collected during both the group digs and by local individuals. An expansive indoor exhibit in the Perrot State Park Nature Center, completed last September, offers a comprehensive 13,000-year history of the region, with a look at geological, topographical and cultural changes in the area, and houses a display of traditional Native American clothing. Lastly, a new informational kiosk, signage and interpretive pathway have been added to the Little Bluff Mounds, the center of the Mississippian settlement.

We believe the Mississippians came for the Trempealeau mountain, Benden said. Its a unique landmark, the only place with a remnant bluff completely surrounded by water. They believed the mountain itself had a tremendous amount of power. It was almost like a mission trip  a Mecca.

Early records of the mounds were composed by surveyor T.H. Lewis in the 1880s, and Benden, Boszhardt, UW-Madison students and dozens of locals ranging in age from 7 to 70 have continued to uncover the symbolic platform mounds, the base for religious temples, as well as excavate the village below, digging in yards for artifacts and remnants.

When the Mississippians, known for their building skills and corn farming, arrived, they brought their culture with them, including their bright red pottery, stone tools and religious practices. The parameters of their religion are unknown, but is believed to involve sun worship, as the mounds are aligned to the cycles of the sun and moon.

Construction of the platform mounds was labor intensive, with millions of baskets filled with dirt hauled to the 100-foot peak of the bluff, leaving behind deep recesses in the ground, called borrow pits. Rectangular wooden structures with thatched roofs were erected atop the mounds, and upon digging a trench at the location, Boszhardt discovered the top of a temple and a hearth, where a spiritual leader was likely tasked with keeping the fire burning constantly.

Your world would end if that fire goes out, Boszhardt said. You dont want that eternal flame to blow out.

The flame could be seen by the commoners residing below the bluff, as the vegetation was sparse at the time, the lack of trees offering a 270 degree view of the Mississippi.

They could look down the valley toward their homeland, Benden said. Were hoping to open up the vista for a full view.

Artifacts and carbon dating indicate the Mississippians only stayed in the area for half a century, later settling in Aztalan in southeast Wisconsin. While the reason for their departure is unknown, it is not believed to be caused by conflict, as the lack of walls and barriers indicate they lived peacefully with the neighboring locals. However, the perimeter of the settlement has continued to expand with each discovery, a sign of a once bustling area.

The community plan is much bigger than we thought, Benden explained. We want to try to put boundaries on it. Every year we continue to excavate. Its science  were extrapolating and compounding on what we know.

Benden and Boszhardt will lead their next excavation this summer, unearthing the lawns of modern day residents for traces of dwellings long ago.

The Driftless area is a special place to live now  it has been for 1,000 years, Benden said. Theres something about knowing where you come from. Perhaps these findings can help people connect and feel ownership over the place they live, and a provide as sense of stewardship over the land. These are places definitely worth preserving.
The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) has threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 24th, in protest against the daily revision of petrol prices.

"Dealers of the entire country have unanimously decided that the decision of daily revision of petrol prices should not be shelved, else the dealers shall observe "No Purchase No Sale" on June 16 for one day. In the event of no favorable response to drop this draconian decision, then they can go on an indefinite "No Purchase No Sale" from June 24, till such time this decision is annulled," Ashok Badhwar, president of FAIPT said in a statement.

The federation wrote to the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas, stating that the move to introduce daily changes in petrol prices would only benefit oil companies and harms the petrol dealers involved in retailing of petroleum.

"Certain reports in a section of media suggest that oil marketing companies are planning to start daily revision of price of petroleum products. If the news is correct then it shall kill the petrol dealers involved in retailing of petroleum products in the entire country," the statement added.

The FAIPT president further said that if there would be a daily revision in prices, then the dealer shall have to be personally present at the retail outlet every night to implement the revised prices of petrol and diesel, which is beyond their physical competence.

"The new prices are communicated by the oil industry much later than 12:00 am. The dealer has to ensure the implementation of new prices in the dispensing units and thus he has to stay awake to effect price change," he said.

Asserting that the entire work of PSU oil companies not fully automated, Badhwar said changing the prices in the dispensing units through remote operations is not possible.

"We have never believed in giving any kind of strike call but such a measure of daily price revision shall ruin the very existence of dealers. Therefore, the Federation of All India Petroleum Traders pleads that system of daily revision of petrol prices should be dropped," Badhwar said in a statement.

He further sought the ministry's intervention to stop the oil companies not to embark on the decision.

In a bid to counter undercutting by private retailers and to bring India at par with the US oil market, state-run fuel retailers will revise petrol and diesel prices daily from June 16 across the country.
The Indian Army launched a strong retaliatory action after Pakistan again violated ceasefire in the Ramgarh sector in Samba district and Bhimber Gali sector in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

Pakistan Rangers, on Sunday, violated ceasefire on Border Security Force (BSF) troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramgarh sector at 10: 45 a.m. The firing at Bhimber Gali sector happened at 9.45 a.m.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district along the LoC.

The Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. The firing continued for about 45 minutes.

No injuries or damages have been reported.
During its 38-year history, the Lighthouse Run, presented by Eductators Credit Union, The Journal Times and the Racine Family YMCA, has evolved into one of the premier road run/walks in the state of Wisconsin.

That tradition continues on June 17 with the Image Management 10 Mile Run, Financial Service Group 4 Mile Run, Modine 4 and 2 Mile Fun Run/Walk, Kids Dash and Landmark Credit Union Mascot Challenge.

Offering both competitive and non-competitive events, the Lighthouse Run serves as the official kick-off to summer fitness awareness.

Proceeds from your participation in the Lighthouse Run support the YMCA Strong Kids/Strong Communities Campaign helping the Y provide financial assistance to youth and families who could otherwise not afford membership and/or programs.

Throughout its history the event has allowed many youth with the opportunity to attend the Ys summer day camp.

Day Camp for youth, one of the most popular programs offered by YMCAs, provides youngsters with a unique opportunity to connect with their peers and their community. At the Racine Y day camp, campers enjoy a broad range of age-appropriate programs, events and activities.

Y Day Camp provides a wealth of opportunity for kids to get active through play. This is especially important as rates of overweight and obesity among youth have increased dramatically over the past 25 years. In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that school-age children should participate in moderate to vigorous activity for a minimum of 60 minutes a day. Y Day Camp helps kids build healthy habits while having fun.

Children are our greatest treasures and greatest responsibility, said Ahmad Qawi, chief operations officer at the Y. Y day camp helps kids grow positively, meet healthy role models and learn good values  all while having fun. We not only provide memories that last a lifetime, but we also assure parents that their kids are in good hands during the summer.

For both parents and kids, its never too early to start thinking about plans for the summer. Parents want to be sure their children are safe, supervised, and engaged in activities that keep their kids minds and bodies active after school lets out for the summer. Youngsters look forward to the free time, and simply want to have fun and learn something new. The Racine Family Y day camp is a perfect option for parents who are looking for a safe and fun place for their kids to build healthy mind, body and spirit this summer.

The need is as strong today as ever before, said Qawi. Being more physical through play helps children better manage stress, succeed in school, reduce stress, build energy and, most of all, learn skills that encourage a lifetime of activity.

YMCAs today are collectively one of the nations largest providers of camping programs with almost 2,300 camps across the country. Nearly 1,000,000 youngsters enroll in Y day camps annually. Ys also employ nearly 12,000 teenagers each summer as lifeguards and camp counselors.

For more than 140 years, the Racine Family YMCA has developed initiatives and programs that have helped improve the physical, social, emotional and spiritual health of tens of thousands of community youth, said Jeff Collen, YMCA CEO. Participation in Y Day Camp provides kids and families with a chance to build friendship and community, a sense of well-being and confidence and improved physical, mental and cognitive abilities.

Participate in the Lighthouse Run; Make a difference for kids; www.ymcaracine.org.
Pakistan Army resorted to heavy shelling and firing at Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, defence officials said on Sunday.



The Pakistani troopers initiated the ceasefire violation at 8.20 p.m. on Saturday at three places in the Krishna Ghati sector.



"They first initiated small arms and automatic gunfire, but later used 82 mm mortars. Our posts effectively retaliated," the officials added.

Reports said that the Pakistani troops also targeted civilian population and hamelts along the LoC in Krishna Ghati and Balnoie areas of Poonch district, triggering panic among the area dwellers.

The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively, the officer said, adding the firing is presently on.
Pakistan Rangers carried out indiscriminate firing on Indian positions on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district around noon on Sunday while Pakistan troops violated the LoC ceasefire in Rajouri district in the evening, officials said.

Border Security Force (BSF) sources said Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at positions in Ramgarh sector.

"Pakistan Rangers violated ceasefire without any provocation when BSF troopers were busy with ground clearance. They used small arms, automatics and mortars. BSF troopers retaliated effectively.

"After intermittent exchanges continued for nearly two hours, the firing exchanges stopped," the source said.

Splinters hit some houses close to the border creating panic in the area.

Many civilians were seen running away from the line of fire in the area as people in other places remained huddled inside their homes.

Meanwhile, a defence spokesman here said Pakistani troops began firing on Indian positions in Nowshera sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri at around 6.40 pm Indian troops returned the fire and exchange of fire was continuing in the area as of 7.30 pm., he added.
After the Saudi Arabia-led coalition of states decided to isolate Qatar and cut it off diplomatically and economically, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed concerns over the feud, especially as it came after the visit of President Donald Trump to the region.

During his visit last month, Trump met representatives from 55 Islamic countries, and, among other things, wanted to forge an anti-Iran bloc and clip the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar, however, plays a major role in supporting activities of the Brotherhood. The country also holds the third largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and as an oil tycoon, Tillerson understands the future of gas as a key source of energy. The US, hence, supports the Saudi Arabia-led embargo on Qatar.

Qatar is considered to be close to Iran, and this hampers the anti-Iran bloc led by the US and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries, led by Saudi Arabia, expect Qatar to either surrender to their dictates or face the music. The GCC was formed after the 1979 Iran revolution, to present a united front against an aggressive Iran. It, however, failed to develop into a military bloc as the US remained the guarantor of the GCCs security. After the second Gulf War, the US established military bases in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Saudis monetary influence will lead to more nations isolating Qatar, forcing the emir to fall in line or be overthrown. A military action will be possible only if the US backs the anti-Qatar front. The hefty cheque Saudi Arabia gave Trump for arms and infrastructure projects is seen as a token to secure American protection.

The next war will be for gas, and three nations hold the keyRussia, Iran and Qatar. The US will not allow this trio to lead the global economy, hence the need to isolate them.

It is the US which will call the shots and be the sole beneficiary of the current crisis. Money will be paid by rich states to the US for protection. The focus is now on Iran and the many sleeping cells that might create havoc and attack government establishments.

Awwad is a writer and political analyst.
RACINE  State tax credits for the citys Machinery Row redevelopment still appear to be uncertain at best.

At worst, the $9 million in historic tax credits that city officials say they need to make the project happen are unlikely, which would put the future of the development in question.

Machinery Row is the name of a riverfront redevelopment plan that calls for renovating two massive former J.I. Case Co. buildings from the early 1900s at 820 and 900 Water St.

The state awarded $9 million in state historic tax credits in 2014, but the development struggled to get going. Then-developer Rodney Blackwell eventually defaulted on a $4.5 million loan and left the project.

A new developer, Gorman & Co., was introduced in February. Ted Matkom, the companys Wisconsin market president, has called the tax credits a major source of financing needed to make the project happen.

Officials say they want a six-month extension on the credits, which would keep them allocated through the end of 2018. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. said it has not yet received a formal request for an extension.

Republicans, who control both chambers of the Legislature, say it will be a tough road ahead for getting state support.

My opinion is it wont happen, said state Rep. Thomas Weatherston, a Caledonia Republican whose district includes part of Racine.

Racine maxed out the states entire allocation of tax credits for the project in 2014, Weatherston said, only to see the project fall apart. While the city now has a new developer in place, a lot of other communities are clamoring for those credits, he said.

As that plays out, Gov. Scott Walker has proposed limiting the historic tax credit program to $10 million. The state budget committee has yet to review the proposal.

Gorman has history

Blackwell had planned to redevelop the old industrial sites into housing and commercial uses and work with the city to turn the waterfront on 20 acres there into a public thoroughfare. The area also includes the former Azarian Marina.

City officials believe the project is in good hands with Matkom and Gorman. The company, based in Oregon, Wis., has completed three developments in Racine, the Belle Harbor Loft Apartments, 134 Main St., The Harbor at State and Main, and the Mitchell Wagon Factory Lofts, 815 8th St. It also has projects throughout the state, including renovation underway in Downtown Kenosha of the historic Heritage House Inn.

Gorman specializes in downtown revitalization; the preservation of affordable housing, workforce housing, and the adaptive reuse of significant historic buildings.

Matkom has said Gorman is committed to the Machinery Row project no matter what at this stage.
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Dramatic Results in Hiddushs 2017 Survey  Support for marriage or civil unions for toeiva couples increased to an all-time high of 79%. 47% of Zionist Orthodox Israelis and 65% of voters for the Zionist Orthodox Bayit Leumi party support the establishment of toeiva marriage or civil unions in Israel.

Support for the implementation of marriage or civil unions for toeiva couples in Israel: 79% of the Jewish Israeli public believes that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry (60%) or have civil unions (19%). These findings arose from a Hiddush-commissioned survey conducted by the Rafi Smith Polling Institute among a representative sample of Jewish Israelis in honor of the Pride Parade, which is taking place this year on June 9th in Tel Aviv. This reflects a consistent increase in public support for the official establishment of state recognized toeiva partnerships in Israel, which stood at 76% in 2016 and in previous years ranged from 60-65%.

Hiddush adds, Israel not only denies toeiva couples the right to marry, against the clear public will, but also denies hundreds of thousands of heterosexual couples the right to family because it granted exclusive monopoly over Jewish marriages to the Orthodox Rabbinate. This political reality also forces more than a million and a half additional citizens to marry in ceremonies that do not befit their beliefs and lifestyles. The data prove that the establishment of legal marriage for toeiva couples and religious freedom in general have practically become the public consensus of the Israeli Jewish population. The publics will has never been translated into legislation because all successive Israeli Governments, from both the left and the right, have instead traded away the publics freedom of marriage and divorce to the Orthodox parties in exchange for their political support.

Israel remains the only Western democracy in the world, which severely restricts the freedom of marriage. In fact, nearly ten percent of the population cannot marry at all. 42 countries now allow for marriage or legal registration of toeiva couples. In other words, the gap between Israel and the rest of the enlightened world in the arena of LGBTQ rights is only increasing. Israels Government will only abandon its long-held, shameful tradition of surrendering the fundamental right of marriage freedom if the public wakes up and expresses its concern over this critical issue and Jewish communities from around the world join in the demand for freedom of marriage, so that all children growing up in those same Jewish communities will be treated equally and with dignity and respect in Israel for their Jewish choices.

The gulf between the Israeli public will and the governments policies is widening, said Rabbi Uri Regev, Esq. While the Jewish public is increasingly open and supportive of the realization of individual freedoms in the spirit of Israels Declaration of Independence, which promised freedom of religion and conscience for all, the Israeli government coalition kowtows to the ultra-Orthodox political parties, perpetuating State enforced religious coercion and infringement of civil rights and human dignity in Israel. These important findings give us a foundation for hope and pride that the necessary change will come, and Hiddush will do its best to ensure that it will come soon.

The wording of the survey question was as follows: Do you think toeiva (not the word used in survey but added by YWN) couples should be permitted to marry or have civil unions in Israel? (A civil union is not a marriage, but it grants similar rights and responsibilities). 79% of respondents said yes, and only 21% said LGBTQ couples should not be allowed to formalize their partnerships in Israel. Among secular Israeli Jews, 92% expressed their support, and among Zionist Orthodox Israelis support was at 47%. Another surprise: among immigrants from the former Soviet Union who tend to be conservative when it comes to LGBTQ relationships, support increased dramatically to 85% from 74% last year.

84% of Likud voters support toeiva marriage (55%) or civil unions (29%), as do 90% of Kulanu, 83% of Yisrael Beitenu, and 65% of Bayit Yehudi party voters. In other words, a majority of voters for all of the non-chareidi government coalition parties support toeiva marriage or civil unions. Among voters for the opposition parties, 100% of Zionist Union voters and Meretz voters and 94% of Yesh Atid voters expressed their support.

As noted, this is an increase in support compared to last years survey and all previous years. For example, in Hiddushs annual Religion & State Index, the following question has been included several times: Do you believe civil marriage or civil unions should be applicable for toeiva couples? In 2009, a slight majority of 53% supported the establishment of state recognized partnerships for toeiva couples. In 2015, support reached 64% (still far from the 79% support level in this latest survey). In a comprehensive survey conducted in 2014 by Dr. Mina Tzemach, 63% of respondents expressed support for civil marriage or couples registration for LGBTQ couples.

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

Police report an arrest was made, in Meah Shearim, in connection to threats and protests against IDF Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Moti Almoz.

Last week, a criminal indictment was handed down against Jerusalem resident Moshe Avraham Iyaram, another member of the chareidi tzibur, who allegedly spent Shabbos in the high-ranking officers community to harass him over Shabbos. While he was the leader, police report others were involved.

Police stated that the investigation was continuing and additional arrests were to be expected. Iyaram was arraigned and ordered held without bail.

The suspect arrest in Meah Shearim over the weekend lives in Batei Hungarin, a R Mintzberg. He too will be arraigned.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Former Vice President Joe Biden has encouraged onetime GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for the Senate in Utah if longtime Republican incumbent Orrin Hatch decides to retire next year.

Biden made the recommendation to Romney on Friday evening at the Utah resort where Romney was hosting an annual invitation-only business and politics summit.

The Biden-Romney event, like most of the discussions and speeches at the gathering, was closed to reporters. But people who were there confirmed the conversation and described it as a warm, bipartisan talk.

Romney did not give any indication he was considering a run, should Hatch, 83, decide not to run again next year, said one person in attendance, Maryland videographer Dean Dykema.

Mitt didnt have a chance to ask many questions because Joe pretty much took over the show, Dykema said.

Hatch, who has been in office since 1977, has said he hasnt decided if hell seek another term but he might step aside if Romney ran.

The 70-year-old former Massachusetts governor now lives in Utah, where hes remained popular as the man who led a turnaround of the scandal-plagued 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and as a prominent Mormon businessman and politician in a state thats home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In April, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he reached out to Romney about running for Hatchs seat, but said hed support the longtime senator if he decided to run again.

Hatch has said that he hopes everyone in Utah could get behind Romney and avoid a divisive primary contest like the one in 2010 that ousted his close friend, the late Utah Republican Sen. Robert Bennett. Bennett was defeated by a tea party-backed Republican, Mike Lee.

On Friday in Utah, Romney and Biden did not discuss the 2012 election where they ran on opposing tickets, but Biden did discuss the 2016 election.

He made some comments critical of President Donald Trump, but said he felt his own party and its candidate Hillary Clinton failed to connect with some key voting blocs, including millennials and those in working-class states where Biden was sent as a surrogate for the campaign.

Biden also discussed a need for bipartisanship in Congress, lamenting how Republicans and Democrats dont sit together anymore in the Capitol dining room, and spoke of his efforts to improve cancer research, a cause he has focused on since his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died in 2015 of brain cancer.

(AP)
President Donald Trump is trying to change the subject back to his promise to make American job creation a top priority.

We want to get back to running our great country, Trump said at a White House news conference on Friday after a week that saw Washington and much of the country fixated on the damaging testimony of his fired FBI director.

Facing turmoil about investigations that began over his campaigns ties to Russia, Trump plans to devote next week to bringing more Americans into the economy by having them start working as apprentices. The effort follows a week spent on infrastructure in which the president remained relatively vague about his policies in hopes of starting a conversation.

The jobs training initiative is aimed at millions of Americans who could consider apprenticeships instead of four-year college degrees, which can leave them struggling to pay off student loans. But as presented by White House aides Friday, the push so far lacks the details of a significant policy drive.

Trumps young presidency is facing an increasingly tense period, amid the congressional and Justice Department probes into Russias interference in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign. Other items on the Trump agenda are also mired in uncertainty, including a tax overhaul and plans to replace the health insurance law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

To turn to jobs and apprenticeships in particular, Trump is visiting a technical college in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, delivering a policy speech at the Labor Department on Wednesday and meeting with eight governors at the White House on Thursday.

There are few specifics as to how Trump would encourage more Americans to simultaneously work and learn as apprentices. He intends to improve coordination on the issue among businesses, schools and government leaders.

Its really when those elements come together that the country has seen the best results, Reed Cordish, a presidential aide on intragovernmental and technology issues, said in a conference call with reporters.

Administration officials declined to say how much additional money would be devoted for apprenticeship programs, let alone how they intend to increase the number of people taking part from roughly 500,000 in fiscal 2016.

At a White House event earlier this year with CEOs, Trump said he was willing to try for a goal of 5 million new apprenticeships over five years. Part of the challenge, White House officials said, was changing negative attitudes toward vocational education.

Funding may also prove an obstacle. Trumps proposed budget would slash the Labor Departments budget by a fifth to $9.6 billion and its job training programs by more than a third. The $90 million spent on apprenticeships would be spared. The plan aims to more tightly organize what his aides say are 43 job training programs across 13 agencies.

Angela Hanks, of the liberal Center for American Progress, said the Trump budget betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how apprenticeship programs work.

Its great if we can all agree that apprenticeships are good, she said. But if you cant access child care to get there, and you cant partner to develop good programs because the workforce system that we have has been gutted, its hard to see how you get to the goal that the presidents laid out.

Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter and an aide, said that worker training is necessary for her father to deliver on his promise to create 25 million jobs over a decade.

Many employers say they cant find workers with the necessary skills. The number of job openings climbed above 6 million in April, an all-time high, but the level of hiring has barely risen over the past year.

Apprenticeships had largely been focused on the construction sector but have since branched out to include health care and information technology, among other fields, said Andrew Cortes, who leads a committee that advises the secretary of labor on the governments registered apprenticeship program.

The Obama-era Labor Department  which also encouraged apprenticeships  noted that 91 percent of those that completed the programs found jobs with average incomes above $60,000.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta on Wednesday defended Trumps budget to a House committee considering its own plan. Were going to do more with less, he told members of the Appropriations Committee, describing the presidents budget priorities as smart investments in programs that work.

You can only do less with less, replied Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who criticized the cuts in jobs programs for Americans who need the most help finding work.

(AP)
Law and order may apply in Israel, but reality presents a different picture for Jews in Jerusalems Old City, where all too often the complainant who calls police, the victim, is placed under arrest while police release the assailant, the non-Jew. Clearly there is a policy being implanted by police, one that is not favorable to Jews.

A 35-year-old chareidi resident of Jerusalems Old City, married and the father of six BH, traveled on Sunday morning 17 Sivan 5777 on his bicycle near his home when he was severely beaten by a group of Christians who were involved in a religious event. According to the Christians, as the chareidi man passed he spat on the ground, an act which offended them.

In response, a number of persons in the group began to beat the father of six until he began bleeding. They continued beating him however until passers-by stopped them and extricated the injured man from their wrath. When police arrived, they did not hesitate to act, arresting the chareidi man, releasing the attackers to go about their day.

The injured man was taken to the police station as he was bleeding from his head and face.

Honenu attorney Rechavia Filch arrived at the police station to assist the man. He stated Once again, we are witness to the helplessness of police regarding the safety of Jewish residents of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is inconceivable that in every event involving a Jew and non-Jew, Israel Police will place the blame on the Jew and regard him to be guilty.

Filch added this policy significantly harms the personal feeling of safety and security of Jewish residents of the Old City, and helps violent offenders to walk freely and evade prosecution.

Filch adds In his interrogation, my client expressed his strong protest against the severe discrimination and the abandonment of his security as well as filing a complaint against the assailants, and we intend not to remain silent about this injustice and demand answers from those responsible for law enforcement in the area.

The organization added that if the resident is not released in the near future, they intended to apply to the court with an urgent appeal.

Police have yet to respond.

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

A large fire broke out Sunday morning at a Kosher supermarket in Northwest London.

Crews responded to the scene shortly after 7:30 AM, (local time) at Kays Kosher supermarket in Princess Parade, off Golders Green Road.

The block of buildings consists of stores on the ground level, with apartment upstairs. All of the shops were reported alight, with flames spreading to many of the upper level rooms.

At least 70 firefighters and 15 fire engines reported to the scene. 25 people were evacuated from the building. 3 people had to be rescued by fire crews, and were led to safety via a ladder  as seen in the attached video.

A total of 15 people were treated for minor injuries, including smoke inhalation. Hatzola volunteers were at the scene, and took a number of patients to nearby hospitals.

The cause of the blaze has not yet been identified.

Photo Credits: Shomrim N.W. London, @999London





#GoldersGreen Firefighters still working hard to bring the fire under control pic.twitter.com/lzWYuXSTv4  London 999 Feed (@999London) June 11, 2017

(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week, Midas looks at shares that could weather the Brexit and political uncertainty. The Sunday Times analyses outsourcing firm Mitie and the Sunday Telegraph assesses RBS.

FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY

Looming Brexit talks had already cast uncertainty over the UK economy, now in light of last weeks election prospects are even harder to predict.

However now is not the time for investors to panic, says Financial Mail on Sundays Midas.

Instead, a long view on shares is invariably the best path to take, particularly with well-established dividend payers that have a large overseas presence.

In this election special, Midas considers three such stocks  Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and Diageo  as well as some builders and retailers that could come up trumps in these uncertain times.

Consumer brands

Unilever, Reckitt and Diageo are almost bound to deliver over the long term, says Midas, particularly if investors reinvest their dividends year in, year out.

The all sell millions of products to millions of people every day  a minority Conservative government is unlikely to change that.

They dont come cheap, but cost is less important than direction of travel  which is going the right way.

Housebuilders

These offer two advantages  most tend to offer generous dividends, and while no one knows what will happen to house prices in the coming months, the UK still suffers a chronic shortage of homes and that is unlikely to change any time soon.

Shares in Bovis Homes fell a penny to 922p on Friday, but should recover as new chief executive Greg Fitzgerald takes over as chief executive.

The company has been through a troubled period, with a shock profit warning in December and admitting it would build fewer than expected homes in the year.

However its new chief executive is one of the sectors leading lights, while a dividend of about 45p is expected this year, putting shares on a yield of almost five per cent.

Gleeson Homes offers another twist on the housebuilding market, as it specialises in affordable homes, mainly in the North of England. Recommended by Midas in 2011 at 104p, the shares had risen to 612p when we last looked at them in March of this year and they have since risen further to 655p.

The price was barely changed after the Election result and the 2017 dividend is forecast at 19p, putting the shares on a yield of just under 3 per cent. This is at the low end of the range among builders, but Gleesons affordable homes formula has seen the company grow by leaps and bounds over the past six years and it should continue in a similar vein.

Low-cost retailers

Chaired by former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, B&M has more than 500 stores, selling a huge range of non-food items at bargain basement prices. Results last month showed profits up 18 per cent to 183 million for the year to March 25 and a 21 per cent increase in the dividend to 5.8p.

B&M shares have done well over the past year and now trade at 357p, but if consumers decide to tighten their belts, the company should benefit and the shares should rise. Brokers expect the price to top 400p in the next 12 months.

Conviviality may also prosper if the UK economy falters and people seek solace in the bottle. Tipped by Midas in 2013 at 144p, the shares have more than doubled to 308p and the firm has been transformed.

The stock has performed well but it should continue to rise, with the market suggesting the price will reach about 380p by next summer.

Read the full Midas column here

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Phil Bentley faced a formidable task when he took over the helm at Mitie in November. His predecessor Baroness McGregor-Smith had left an unholy mess in her wake, says Simon Duke in the Sunday Times Inside the City.

Mities empire increased under her watch, as did questions about Mities accounting policies.

When Bentley took over he hired auditors from KPMG to scour the books. Last month, Mitie took a 50million writedown and, says Inside the City in a veiled swipe at McGregor-Smith, said its accounting methods had not been as conservative as rivals.

Tomorrow as Bentley presents his strategic plan and the annual results, he will want to draw a line under those woes.

So is now a good time to invest?

Analysts at UBS expect pre-tax profits to slump from 98million to 29.5million for the year to April, but then to rebound to 45.5million next year.

Its not like investors would be picking up shares on the cheap  they have rallied since McGregor-Smiths departure.

Such exuberance feels overdone, notwithstanding Bentleys past exploits, says Inside the City. Avoid.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

It has been customary to sing the praises of once taxpayer-backed Lloyds, but not those of RBS. However, it has sharply increased underlying pre-tax profits, gained market share and its share price has risen by 14 per cent this year, says the Sunday Telegraphs James Ashton in Questor.

He questions whether after years of difficulties, it may be time to invest in RBS once again.

It has finally reached a settlement with investors who held out to get better compensation after allegedly being misled over the disastrous 12billion cash call mounted by former boss Fred Goodwin in 2008.

It is still waiting on a fine that could be close to $15billion to settle a years-old scandal in the US over residential mortgage backed securities.

However, once these are dealt with, and its proposal for an alternative to disposing of the Williams & Glyn network, legacy issues should start to dissipate.

The Chancellor has already warmed up markets by saying he is happy to sell the states remaining stake at a loss.

It also continues to grow its share of the mortgage market, and RBS could be in good enough shape to turn in a statutory profit next year  something it hasnt managed in more than a decade.

The outlook could deteriorate depending on the state of the UK economy.

But analysts have pencilled in a dividend payment next year.

Risks remain but far fewer than investors might credit, says Ashton. Make it happen as the company logo entreated customers and investors alike during Fred the Shreds ruinous heyday. Buy.
RACINE  Legend has it that the minute women were allowed to join Rotary, a Racine club jumped to install one of their longtime supporters. That was in 1988, when the Rotary Club of Downtown Racine accepted Mildred Schroth as their first female member.

Millie had long been connected to Rotary through her husband, Gerhard, a music composer and conductor who was supervisor of music for Racine Unified School District and a guest conductor of the Racine Symphony Orchestra. Both were Rotarians.

She was a sweetheart of a person, recalls Rotarian James Parrish. Everyone loved her, although, you learned not to cross her.

Millie kept members straight. She quickly became a paid member of the club, serving as secretary. She would take attendance, publish a newsletter and make sure members paid their dues. For more than a decade, Millie filled that role, until she moved to Fond du Lac with her daughter.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1987 opened the door for women to join Rotary. Clubs around the world began to accept women as members. Rotary International officials changed the organizations constitution in 1989 to reflect the ruling. Since then, women have been critical members of their clubs.

Carole Pfister, now retired in Arizona, was the first female president of the former Racine Rotary West Club. Owner of Pfisters Pflowers, she led the club in 1993.

Another woman Rotary president has led the 100-year celebration in Racine. Ashley Staeck, a program officer for the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, is the current president of the one remaining club  Founders Rotary Club. She will hand the presidents gavel over to fellow Rotarian Patrick Booth on July 1.

Staeck joined the group six years ago, and says it was a bit of a selfish move at first. She had taken a new role with the Johnson Foundation and didnt want to lose touch with the business sector.

Then, once I volunteered for things, I began to realize how inspiring it was to see all of these different people working together  people you never would expect to be together, she admits. I had some preconceived notions, and now I see how very generous people are in the club.

As one of a handful of women Rotary presidents in Racine in the last century, Staeck says one of the benefits of being a Rotary member is to help nudge society toward equity for more people.

In this club, youre really working with the leaders of the community, and my hope for the club is in its ability to invite diversity  gender, racial, ethnic and age, Staeck says. The best ideas and the most creative solutions to problems happen with a dynamic group such as that. Id like us to expand our reach.
Gold soared after Brexit and continued to rise after Donald Trump's election win

Uncertainty driven by the election of Donald Trump and last year's Brexit vote has led to the gold reserves of the world's largest public sector investors to reach an 18-year high.

State investors hoarded an additional 377 tons of gold last year to reach an estimated 31,000 tons according to Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum research seen by the Financial Times.

Gold is traditionally seen as a safe haven asset, and as such is used by investors during times of political uncertainty.

The precious metal's price soared after Brexit and continued to rise after Trump's election.

It has also been helped in recent weeks by uncertainty around the UK's general election and European Central Bank policy, as well as Trump's ongoing battle with former FBI chief James Comey.
Shipping out? Airbus has threatened to quit Britain

BREXIT DEMANDS Plane-maker Airbus has threatened to move production out of Britain if a series of non-negotiable Brexit demands are not met. These include the free movement of its international staff into the UK and exemption from import and export tariffs.

BUSINESS BLUES Last weeks general election result has led to a big drop in business confidence and huge concerns over the effects of political uncertainty on the UK economy among firms, claims the Institute of Directors.

BROADBAND BOOST Energy giant SSE is reportedly planning to take on established internet firms such as BT and Virgin Media with investments in ultrafast broadband infrastructure.

MINING STAKE Commodities giant Glencore has announced its intention to buy a 2billion stake in an Australian miner.

It will purchase the stake in Coal & Allied Industries from Rio Tinto.

FALLING POUND Discount chain Poundstretcher had allegedly held informal sale talks with turnaround firm Endless, which specialises in buying distressed companies.

BUMPER PAYDAY Seventeen partners at Mayfair hedge fund Silchester International Investors have shared a 152million payday.

They were rewarded after the firms profits surged to more than 175million in the 12 months to the end of March.

DATA DEAL Analytics firm Big Sofa has secured a partnership deal with a global US firm, understood to be household goods maker Procter & Gamble.

Big Sofa will provide video research and analytical technology as part of the agreement.
President Donald Trump plans to visit Waukesha County Technical College on Tuesday as part of his administrations week-long focus on national workforce development issues.

The presidents emphasis on concerns raised by CEOs across the country, that there are some 6 million job vacancies  the highest since the 1980s  largely due to a lack of qualified workers, echoes a similar focus on workforce development in Wisconsin by Gov. Scott Walker.

Walker will join Trump for the tour of Waukesha County Technical College and for a discussion with local business owners, teachers and apprentices.

Walker also will be one of eight governors participating in a White House discussion about workforce issues on Thursday with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta and daughter Ivanka Trump.

Trump also plans to attend a fundraiser for Walker on Tuesday evening in southeastern Wisconsin. Tickets are $1,000 each and a photograph with Trump costs $10,000, according to an invitation obtained by The Associated Press. The location is being disclosed only to ticket buyers.

In a conference call with reporters, Ivanka Trump and Acosta, who will also come to Waukesha on Tuesday, discussed the need for government and the private sector to work together on helping more students pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math fields, as well as technical education.

In recent decades, there has been great focus on the importance of four-year education, higher education, Ivanka Trump said. And the reality is that that is not the right path for everyone. While it is the right path for many, it is not for everyone.

Acosta said that in a recent survey, nearly 95 percent of CEOs reported having trouble filling vacancies. The U.S. unemployment rate is 4.3 percent. In Wisconsin, its 3.2 percent, nearly an all-time low.

Acosta said there needs to be a greater emphasis on apprenticeship programs, which could also help close the skills gap for women and minorities. He said of the 6 million vacant jobs in the country, many are in manufacturing, IT and health care. He said nine out of 10 graduates of apprenticeship programs find work right away and the average starting salary is $60,000, which is higher than the average for college graduates.

Reed Cordish, a senior aide to the president, said the White House in the upcoming week plans to announce highly substantive actions it will take. Also, Trump will deliver a major policy speech on the issue on Wednesday.

Wisconsin has been a leader in creating the ecosystem of local government working with technical schools in partnership with the private sector, Cordish said. In this regard, the Waukesha County Technical College is the perfect location for the president to visit and for the administration to learn from.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairwoman Martha Laning highlighted a recent federal report that showed Wisconsins job creation through December was the lowest of Walkers six years in office.

Throughout his two terms, Gov. Scott Walker focused on giving massive tax giveaways to millionaires and out-of-state corporations, Laning said. The same failed ideas of the last six years dont need to be duplicated at the federal level. Wisconsinites need an economy that works for them all  not just those at the very top.
Sir,



The House of Assembly consists of not more than 76 members, comprising 60 members elected from Tinkhundla constituencies based on one or more chiefdoms (Section 80) and 10 members nominated by the King. Four female members specially elected from the four regions but this is done only if after a general election less than 30 per cent of the members elected ordinarily are female (see Section 86).

Unfortunately the current Parliament did not elect the females as per the dictates of the Constitution. This means Swaziland has a Constitution but not one that belongs to the people. Sitawentani vele!!! Imfucuta itawentani vele!!! We do not own the constitution.



Moreover, judicial power vests in the courts, the independence of the Judiciary is critical for the separation of powers. There would not be any separation of powers without the independence of the Judiciary. As stated by Rabkin, the most fundamental aspect of the separation of powers is that there should be a separation between the Judiciary and the other two political branches of government. The independence of the Judiciary means that it should not be subordinated to the authority of any branch of government but only subject to the Constitution and the law.



It should be impartial and perform its functions without fear or favour. This does not mean that the Executive is not involved in the appointment of the members of the Judiciary or that the judges are not accountable. In every country, judges are appointed by the head of State based on the recommendation by the judges themselves as members of the independent judicial commission. This is part of the checks and balances affecting the Judiciary. While on the other hand the judges are controlled and accountable to the people. Nowhere in the World, did the people establish a government of the judges.

The independence of the Judiciary is critical for constitutionalism, the separation of powers and respect for human rights and the rule of law. Closely related to the foregoing, the separation of powers is important in a functioning democracy to divide governmental power between different organs of the State in order to guard against the centralisation of power which may lead to abuses of power. This is known as the separation of powers doctrine. The aim as the Constitution of Swaziland has done, is to separate the functions of the three branches of government the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary so that no single branch is able to operate alone, assume complete State control and amass centralised power. While each branch performs a number of different functions, each also plays a watchdog role in respect of the other. This helps to ensure that public power is exercised in a manner that is accountable to the general public and in accordance with the Constitution. Put differently with sadness, Swaziland with a Constitution while Swazis are without a constitution, sadly the actual exercise of power by the monarch means that there is no effective separation of powers in the country.



Needless to say, Swazis remain without a Constitution in that the issue of Swazi Nation land which is clearly articulated in Section 211 of the Constitution (2006) and reference is made with regard to the decree of 1973, that land shall continue to vest in iNgwenyama in trust for the Swazi Nation as it vested on the April, 12, 1973.



From this, a conclusion can be reached that the land policy will not be formulated anytime soon. Swazis are still going to experience more evictions in the presence of the civil society, government and the church which is made up of pretenders who are failing to defend peoples rights in particular the constitutional right.



In my last article, I made it clear that in order to fully meet all the requirements of a government of the people, by the people and for the people, politics in a democracy need to satisfy certain conditions. Politics require ideas and values that set the goals and standards of a political organisation. Freedom, justice and solidarity are such principles that can guide the political organisation of any society. Politics require social organisations that collect interests, aggregate and communicate them to the political and governmental institutions.



Political parties, but also business and workers associations as well as other non-governmental organisations of the civil society, are such organisations that collect and aggregate social interests. Politics also require institutions that collect proposals for the organisation of society and then represent, discuss, decide and implement them. Unfortunately Swazi people are still far from realising true politics.



Our Constitution is a smokescreen that is used by our authorities to dispel the perception that not all is well in Swaziland. Swaziland is at crossroads between tradition and modern practises. This has resulted in a conflict between the application of democratic principles and the preservation of Swazi law and custom.



Mbongeni Mkhonta




Sir,



The Ministry of Health is one of the critical ministries in every country in the world and that is why it needs a person who will never be seen as a failure and a coward in his or her assignment.

This ministry requires an individual who is not only concerned with being seen in the media but someone who would concentrate on the needs of the ordinary Swazis out there. Editor, I want to agree with the nurses here. The nurses are saying they cant work because the environment is not conducive.



They are complaining about the shortage of drugs which I believe is so serious among other demands.

Instead of government looking into that, she ran to court to stop them. Well, to me it was like a reminder to our government.



Then why is she silent about it and be concerned about the strike instead of solving the problem because it is exisiting. I have always said our government must prioritise the citizens and keep on showing them the beautiful part of being governed through the Tinkhundla System of Governance.

When we are talking of Vision 2022, we want to have healthy and active Swazis to contribute to it but when we dont have drugs, are we going to achieve that vision? I doubt. After all has happened now the minister has agreed government owes E236 million to suppliers.



I mean really! When the minister said they must go back to work, what did she expect them to go back to do because the was no drugs at all.

Once again, this is very serious as some Swazis cannot afford to buy drugs from expensive pharmacies especially the elderly people.

May I request government to consider and value the lives of Swazis in this country especially the penurious.
MBABANE  The SV Mdladla-led consortium violated the terms of the recovery of scholarship loans contract as they were paid 50 per cent of the contract value despite failing to deliver within the stipulated time frame.

The contract stated that 50 per cent of the contract price would be paid on the successful completion of Phase One.



In fact, the report compiled by the office of the Auditor General Phestecia Nxumalo, in the Performance Audit Report in 2014 on the recovery of scholarship loans which the Times SUNDAY had seen made it clear that the payment of half the value of the contract to the consortium had been a violation of the contract itself.



It was discovered that the consortium was paid 50 per cent of the contract sum despite only having completed 37.5 per cent (12/32 outputs) of the project.

This, she said in her report, was because the contract stipulated that the consultants who were to be paid E2 895 543 for the whole project were to be paid 50 per cent of the contract price on the successful completion of phase one.

Three companies; namely, Trans Union Swaziland (Leading firm), DataNet and SV Mdladla and Associates, are entrusted with the responsibility of collecting the outstanding monies.



According to the report, the Times SUNDAY has obtained, the project was divided into two phases; the first was to deal with administrative, legal, financial and institutional aspects of the scholarship management system while the second phase was to deal with the IT system development, integration testing and training of staff.



At the time of compiling this report, none of the expected outputs for phase two were executed and achieved, since the execution had not yet started. This means that the consultants were already far behind schedule.

This was in violation of the contract, which stated that 50 per cent of the contract price would be paid on the successful completion of Phase One.

The Times SUNDAY has learnt that the consultants were working without a binding agreement since the initial contract expired on June 30, 2013.

Moreover, at the time of compiling this report, none of the expected 16 outputs for phase two had been executed and achieved.

This means that the consultants were far behind schedule.

In a nutshell, the consultants were expected to create a robust system for the recovery of scholarship loans owing from all former beneficiaries, develop and enable a legal framework for the award of scholarships and to establish a revolving scholarship loan fund.
MBABANE  Are municipal councils and town boards acting illegally when selling urban residents properties?



This is the question that is still lingering in the minds of urban citizens who have either lost property after being sold by municipalities for defaulting on rates. There are some who are living in perpetual fear of losing their properties in the event they fail paying what is due to the councils and boards.



In essence, the question emanates from the fact that the Times SUNDAY has been made to understand that the selling of properties by municipalities and boards is illegal more so because in selling the properties, they are still using the Ratepayers Act of 1968, which was enacted before the Constitution came into force in July 26, 2005.



Some of the clauses of the Rating Act have since been challenged in court by Swaziland ratepayers. The crux of the matter is the constitutionality of the Act.

Speaking to the Times SUNDAY, Esther Dlamini, Mbabane East Member of Parliament, said the handling of selling of properties by city councils and boards by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had signs of corruption.

She argued that ratepayers took the ministry to court to have the application of this Act stopped and the courts ruled in their favour.



Dlamini pointed out that the ministry appealed in court two times but lost and in a rather ironic move, there was information that there was a third appeal, which was filed by government through the Municipal Council of Mbabane.

Ratepayers argued that some of the clauses in the Act did not complement some sections of the constitution; one being the Right to land, which states that a Swazi citizen will acquire land for permanence purposes. Contrary, the Act states that a ratepayer who will default on payment for three years will forfeit the property to the municipality, the legislator told the Times SUNDAY.



She also narrated that in 2008, the matter was raised as a motion in parliament but before it was debated, some of the affected groups challenged it in court and it was ruled in their favour.

Government appealed twice but lost and strangely we have been told that there is a third by Gideon Mhlongo, CEO of the Mbabane Municipal Council.



She said the minister at the time promised that the Act would be reviewed and tabled in parliament, but that had never happened. She pointed out that it was important that the Act be amended to stop the repossessing of plots from vulnerable citizens.
MBABANE  In what many could perceive as a fairy tale, there is a Swazi head teacher, who for over a year, has been concurrently teaching in two different schools; one in the country and the other in the Republic of South Africa.



In the process, the Times SUNDAY has learnt that the head teacher was absenting himself from the local school under the guise that he was going to the neighbouring country for medical check-ups.

This is exactly what Florence Roman Catholic High School head teacher Moses Mefika Mlangeni has been doing since June 2016 till early 2017.



Over this period, Mlangeni was fully paid by the Swaziland government a total sum of E300 734 despite that he was not attending his workstation and executing his administrative duties in full.

In South Africa, Mlangeni was initially employed as a Deputy Principal at Mountain Valley College in Badplaas for almost a month and he was promoted and assumed the position of principal in August 2016.



The Times SUNDAY has also learnt that for the administration services he rendered at his South African duty station, Mountain Valley, Mlangeni was paid over E90 000 for the months he worked.

In tandem, the administrator bagged over E390 000 from Mountain Valley proprietors and from the Swaziland government.



These are allegations levelled against Mlangeni by government and are contained in a 19-page letter which the Times SUNDAY has seen.

The letter containing the allegations is dated May 9, 2017 and was written to Mlangeni by the Schools Manager, Macanjana Motsa.



It is alleged that in the month of June 2016, Mlangeni absented himself from school and attended an interview for new employment at Mountain Valley College in Badplaas, South Africa.

It is said he was successful in his interview and was then appointed the deputy principal.



This you did knowing very well that you were still under the full employ of the Swaziland Government as the substantive Principal of Florence Roman Catholic High School.

Moreover, on the days in which you absented yourself, you had made the Deputy Head teacher, Mr Ntuli, as well as teachers to believe you were attending a doctors medical appointment as you were suffering from high blood pressure, reads part of the letter.



The Swazi government sees this as an act of dishonesty.
Nine-year-old Lila Thousand hummed cheeeeeese through a wide smile as her father, Mike, and a gymnasium full of parents snapped photos of the fourth-grader and her counterparts surrounding the governor of Wisconsin, Mineral Point Elementary Schools guest for the morning.

Walkers visit to the Iowa County school earlier this month was his 44th to a public school this year  about as many schools of any kind the governor toured in his first five years combined.

It was during those years the Republican governor and lawmakers earned the scorn of many public school advocates by essentially eliminating collective bargaining for public school teachers by enacting the law known as Act 10, cutting funding and freezing school board members ability to raise property taxes to pay for school costs, while at the same time expanding public funding for private school vouchers.

But this year, Walker has won support from some of his previous foes, including state Superintendent Tony Evers and groups representing public schools, by proposing a big increase in public school funding. Walker says that was made possible by policies set forth in previous budgets and legislation.

Theres no doubt weve had a very concentrated effort on making sure that multiple times a week we are in schools in all parts of the state of Wisconsin, Walker said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal. I love seeing the students, particularly with my youngest now graduated from college  But secondly  (the effort is) for us to stress the importance of the investment weve made.

Political observers said Walkers emphasis on public education is smart politics  particularly for a governor poised to run for re-election as opinion polls show most Wisconsinites want more money for public schools and more disapprove of his job performance than approve of it. And if his visit to Mineral Point to sign a bill the students lobbied for is any indication, it might be working.

For Lila, this has been huge, Mike Thousand, a milking equipment operator who lives in Mineral Point, said of Walkers visit. I personally think hes in a difficult position. Theres an understanding that we are a publicly funded school but theres limited funds, so he has to find a way to best get those out to the schools ... its tough to figure out the best method to the madness. I think its important that he comes out. It forges a relationship here  (for us) to know its not all about what hes trying to take away.

But there are challenges for Walker. Last week Assembly Republicans introduced their own plan to boost K-12 spending for the two years beginning July 1. Advocates for public schools, having already endorsed Walkers plan, sent a letter to lawmakers on Friday asking that they not be forced to choose between the competing plans.

And Democrats remain convinced Walkers newfound support for public schooling is insincere.

A long way to go

I think after his failed presidential bid, hes attempting to fool Wisconsinites into believing this is about something other than his own political ambitions, said Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Cross Plains, who is a longtime member of the Assembly Education Committee. Giving back some of the money that they took is not going to repair the damage (Republicans) have done  weve got a long way to go to fix what they broke.

Pope said Walkers previous cuts and moves to reduce teachers say in their workplace conditions have wounded the profession, and the current budget isnt likely to repair the relationship.

We celebrate this in one way, but in another way were also disappointed that not only our governor, but our Legislature continues to play games and continues to play politics, said Ron Martin, a middle school teacher in Eau Claire and president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council. Its sad that this is an election year and our governor is all of a sudden an education governor.

Hes being responsive

This years focus on public schools, which includes $649 million in new per-pupil funding, comes after three budgets that cut or froze public school spending, and expanded the number of families who could enroll children in private schools through taxpayer-funded vouchers.

Jon Bales, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, said he and others who advocate for public schools are hoping Walkers focus remains beyond this budget cycle should he earn a third term.

I think hes being responsive to the public around the issue of public schools needing resources, Bales said. The public is concerned about their schools and they want it resourced better than they had been. It certainly helps him to be responsive when hes heading into an election as well.

Bales said previous state budgets strained public schools, but he doesnt think the past will prevent support for Walkers current budget.

There were stress points for years over the diminishing resources which put schools in a difficult spot. We acknowledged the state was in a difficult spot and we have been doing a lot to accommodate (the state), feeling that when the time came, the resources would improve, Bales said.

You dont look at an effort to increase resources and say, Gee thanks but what about the past? I think were grateful. Its greatly needed in the schools.

Walker also said over the years he has heard more school administrators say they have been able to use the Act 10 collective bargaining law to benefit school districts by saving them health care and pension costs and thereby keeping property taxes down without the confines of union contracts.

I think superintendents and school board members in particular had even prior to this years budget been generally increasingly over the years appreciative, Walker said. They have a much more intimate, close, positive relationship now post-Act 10. Because they felt with the contract and everything else, it was a fairly adversarial relationship prior to Act 10.

Martin disputed Walkers assessment, saying superintendents are afraid to work with teachers because it could be perceived as bargaining.

Education and politics

Barry Burden, a UW-Madison political science professor, said Walkers approval ratings dont provide as much of a cushion as hes had in past election cycles, and visiting schools and providing more money for schools might rebuild public support.

Walkers new budget proposal is the first since his failed presidential bid and signals that his previous fiscal austerity approaches to budgeting may be nearing an end, Burden said.

Now there is a sense that it is time to reinvest or return some of the savings back to areas that have been hardest hit. Both K-12 and university education have taken some significant hits in recent years, Burden said. These are areas of concern that even Republican legislators from conservative districts hear about from their constituents. So both Governor Walker and members of the Legislature would like to earn back some good will by supporting education.

Charles Franklin, Marquette Law School Poll director, said a March poll showed 80 percent of those responding supported increased state funding for public schools  which nearly mirrored the 78 percent that opposed Walkers proposed $127 million cut for schools in his 2015-17 budget that was proposed amid his run for president and was later rejected by Republican lawmakers.

Franklin said 2016 poll data show 57 percent responding said their public schools received too little money while 30 percent said the states support is about right. And only 7 percent said their schools were getting too much money.

So the overall evidence is that there is very substantial support for state funding of public schools, Franklin said.

Changed the climate

Mineral Point Elementary School principal Matt Renwick, who previously worked in Wisconsin Rapids for more than a decade, said that while the passage of Act 10 changed the climate for public schools, Walkers new focus on public schools could ease some of the tension.

Any time you can bring a sitting governor into a school, thats a treat. Putting all politics aside, I think thats cool, he said while Walker chatted with Renwicks son. I think to put a face with the kids that finances and the budget affects  I think cannot hurt. Any time we can bring him in to see the kids and how excited they are to meet him, hopefully that has some influence (on budgeting).

Walker has visited two more schools since being in Mineral Point on June 1. Hes scheduled another event on Monday in Sheboygan.

Competing GOP plans

Assembly Republicans introduced last week their own K-12 spending plan that counters Walkers proposal, which Senate Republicans support.

The Assembly proposal has a smaller increase in funding that is paid to districts on a per-student basis than what Walker proposed and an increase in the amount of property taxes districts that have low-caps on their revenue limits can raise.

Bales said public school officials rallied around Walkers proposal, but now feel like they are being pitted against each other. Groups advocating for public schools sent a letter to Walker and lawmakers Friday asking them to support both proposals.

Its not helpful to sort of seduce district leadership into picking sides, Bales said. (Budget) delays dont help us either and I think there are places for compromise, and dividing and pitting districts against another isnt going to be productive for education in the end.

Walker said hes going to continue to lobby lawmakers to support his funding increase.
Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates escaped Sunday after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in DR Congo\s restive east, an official said.

"The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) by assailants whose identity is not yet known," Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, told reporters.

"In the exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers, authorities have (counted) 11 dead including eight members of the security forces," Paluku said, adding: "For the moment, out of 966 prisoners, there are only 30 left in the prison."

Paluku said the Beni area and the neighbouring town of Butembo had been put under curfew from 6:30 pm. "Only police officers and soldiers should be out from this time," he said.

Located in the north of the troubled North Kivu province, Beni has been the scene of a wave of violence since 2014 that has seen nearly 700 civilians killed, many of them hacked to death.

The killings have been blamed on a shadowy rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Secrecy shrouds the group, which is dominated by hardline Ugandan Muslims who were initially focused on overthrowing Uganda\s President Yoweri Museveni.

Several dozen suspected ADF members were imprisoned at the Kangwayi jail.

The attack came a day after the ADF attacked a police station and a prosecutor\s office in the capital Kinshasa, killing a police officer and seriously injuring four others after a series of similar strikes over the past three weeks.

It also comes after two jailbreaks in the vast, unstable central African nation in the past month.

On May 19, dozens of prisoners escaped from a dilapidated prison in Kasangulu, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Kinshasa.

Just two days earlier, rebels from Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK)  a secessionist rebel group that rejects Kinshasa\s authority and wants to set up a parallel state in the west of the country  had attacked Kinshasa\s main prison, freeing their leader and 50 others.

The violence has erupted as the Democratic Republic of Congo is mired in a deep political crisis tied to President Joseph Kabila\s hold on power.

Tension has been mounting across the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million people since December, when Kabila\s second and final term officially ended.

Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Year\s Eve, Kabila is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017.

However, Kabila earlier this month seemed to back away from the 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.

SOURCE: AFP
Dozens of Tunisians demonstrated Sunday to demand the right to eat and drink in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and to protest against non-fasters being arrested.

There is no law against eating or drinking in public during Ramadan, but every year the issue comes to the fore in the North African country.

Tunisia\s constitution guarantees "freedom of belief and conscience", but the state is also the "guardian of religion".

Following a call by the "Mouch Bessif" (Arabic for "Not against our will") group, protesters in central Tunis shouted that "Individual freedom is guaranteed by the constitution!"

One man openly smoking a cigarette  this is also deemed unacceptable during Ramadan daylight hours  held a placard in French that asked: "Why does it bother you if you fast and I eat?"

Demonstrators also protested against the arrest of people who were not fasting.

At the beginning of June, four men were sentenced to a month in jail for "public indecency" after eating outside during daylight.

"We\re protesting about lawsuits against non-fasters Whoever wants to fast can fast, but whoever doesn\t want to shouldn\t have to," demonstrator Karim Chair told AFP.

Since the 2011 revolution there have been calls for the right not to fast, but this was the first time such a demonstration has taken place in Tunisia.

"I fast but I came to join this protest and call with these people for respect for the freedom of belief and conscience," said another demonstrator, Kamel Jalouli.

Most cafes and restaurants in Tunisia close during the day in Ramadan, and those that open do so discreetly.

As this year\s fasting month began, a media-oriented preacher went round cafes open during the day to record footage of clients and shame them in a move that was heavily criticised on social networks.

SOURCE: AFP
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
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The Albany County Legislature will vote on a measure Monday night that would bar elected officials' relatives from being hired to work for the county.

The resolution also would prohibit the hiring of former county elected officials, which includes everyone from legislator to sheriff, or their relatives. The ban would include the time during the elected individual's term of office and four years following their departure.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

I think its something that the public really detests, said Latham Democratic Legislator David Mayo, who introduced the resolution. I do think right now especially, the public needs to have some respect for their elected officials, and I think that by having nepotism in place it takes away a lot of respect that we should have.

The resolution doesnt impact Civil Service positions, or legislators and their relatives who are employed currently. Should it be approved, the prohibition would take effect following the resolutions passage.

Relatives include spouses, children, stepchildren, parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.

Last month, the Times Union revealed through a two-month long examination of municipal payrolls and other public records that at least 11 local elected officials in the Capital Region have at least three relatives each working in local government. Three of those - Frank Commisso Sr., Gary Domalewicz and Gil Ethier - are Albany County legislators who have three relatives each working in county government. County Executive Daniel McCoy, who would also be impacted if the measure passes, has at least 10 relatives in county and local government posts.

Mayo had the idea to introduce the legislation last year after the controversy surrounding the 2016 county budget.

A part-time job added to county Comptroller Michael Conners' budget was seen by some lawmakers as a landing spot for outgoing legislature chairman Shawn Morse  despite denials from both men. The funding for the position eventually was moved elsewhere.

But another lawmaker, Delmar Democrat Thomas Cotrofeld, did join the payroll as a part-time accountant in the sheriffs office shortly after losing his re-election bid, according to Times Union archives. Cotrofeld was the chairman of the legislatures Audit & Finance Committee at the time the budget was approved.

Menands Democratic Legislator Alison McLean Lane, who is cosponsoring the resolution, said it is unsettling when legislators are able to vote on a budget that includes jobs for themselves.

Theres a significant ethical question there, she said. When it comes to public trust and public taxpayer funds, making sure the public knows that were not going to vote on a budget that includes jobs for ourselves is an important step forward.

Albany County in 2012 passed a Code of Ethics that outlines a variety of conflicts that may arise, such as gifts, relationships with coworkers and assurance ones official position isnt used for personal benefit, and how these things should be handled.

One portion states, a county officer or employee shall not use his or her official position or office, or take or fail to take any official action, in a manner which he or she knows, or has reason to know, may result in a personal financial benefit not shared with a substantial segment of the population of the county for various persons, including relatives, spouses, or other county officers or employees.

The code also requires elected officials and certain county employees to file annual disclosures that include any familial relations within county government as well as outside businesses and investments. The Times Union is waiting on a response to a Freedom of Information Law request for the most recent disclosures filed.

Having first introduced the resolution in January 2016, Mayo said a vote on the legislation is long overdue.

Im glad its coming to a vote, but Im not sure if itll pass, he said. I think for people who are career, or longtime politicians, its a foreign concept.

Albany Democrat William Clay, who has represented the countys 12th district for 13 years, said he agrees with the intent of the resolution, but not as its currently written.

I can agree with Dave in terms of legislators putting in the budget positions which might be intended for a relative or something, Im opposed to that, Clay said. I dont support nepotism in any form or fashion, but I dont think you can cut off possibly some talented people because they happened to be a legislator or happened to be related to one.

Guilderland Republican Legislator Mark Grimm said he appreciates Mayo tackling the issue of nepotism in Albany County, but there are aspects of the resolution that he doesn't support.

"While I'm glad that he's raising the issue, eliminating the rights of the private citizen doesn't seem fair to me," he said of former legislators being barred from county government employment. "The real key should be exposure and transparency. I think that should be our next step - every legislator should be notified if a relative or elected official is appointed."
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London

British Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal in principle with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party on Saturday to prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.

The result has demolished May's political authority, and she has also lost her two top aides, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party.

The moves buy May a temporary reprieve. But the ballot-box humiliation has seriously  and possibly mortally  wounded her leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.

May's office said Saturday that the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 10 seats in Parliament, had agreed to a "confidence and supply" arrangement with the government. That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it's not a coalition government or a broader pact.

Downing St. said the Cabinet will discuss the agreement on Monday.

The announcement came after May lost Downing St. chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned Saturday. They formed part of May's small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party's lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate "Theresa's positive plan for the future," and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May's party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.

May announced later that Gavin Barwell  a former housing minister who lost his seat in Thursday's election  would be her new chief of staff.

May said Barwell would help her "reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for."

Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was "a start," but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.

He said the Conservative election manifesto  which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting  was "a full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens."

"It was a disaster," he said.
With the re-publishing of Andrew Morton's book "Diana: Her True Story  in Her Own Words" and the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death coming in the next few months, talk of Princess Diana and Prince Charles' story is easy to come by these days.

Many facts are coming into the light, like the Lady Di's struggle with bulimia or Charles' affair with his now-wife Camilla Bowles, but amidst the dark secrets are some more lighthearted facts.
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Seattle

Demonstrators at small but raucous gatherings around the country Saturday raised the specter that extremist interpretations of Islamic law might somehow spread across the U.S., but many of the rallies drew even more boisterous counter-protests by people who called such fears unfounded.

Hundreds of counter-protesters marched through downtown Seattle, banging drums, cymbals and cowbells behind a large sign saying "Seattle stands with our Muslim neighbors." Participants chanted "No hate, no fear, Muslims are welcome here" on their way to City Hall, where dozens of anti-Shariah protesters rallied.

A phalanx of bicycle police officers kept the sides separated during the sanctioned events, but authorities said a large fight broke out after the gatherings concluded. Police used tear gas to disperse rowdy demonstrators and arrested three people for obstructing law enforcement.

In front of the Trump building in downtown Chicago, about 30 people demonstrated against Islamic law and in favor of President Donald Trump, shouting slogans and holding signs that read "Ban Sharia" and "Sharia abuses women." About twice as many counter-protesters marshaled across the street.

A similar scene played out in a park near a New York courthouse, where counter-protesters sounded air-horns and banged pots and pans in an effort to silence an anti-Shariah rally. In St. Paul, Minn., state troopers arrested about a half-dozen people when scuffles broke out at the close of competing demonstrations at the state Capitol.

"The theme of today is drowning out racism," said New York counter-protester Tony Murphy, standing next to demonstrators with colorful earplugs. "The more racists get a platform, the more people get attacked."

The rallies, held in more than two dozen U.S. cities, were organized by ACT for America, which claims Islamic law is incompatible with Western democracy.

The organization said it opposes discrimination and supports the rights of those subject to Shariah. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, calls it the largest American anti-Muslim group.

"I don't believe Islam can peacefully co-exist with the Constitution," said Seattle anti-Shariah demonstrator Aaron Bassford, 29. "We need unity in this country under no ideology and no banner except the Constitution of the United States of America."

But the overwhelming majority of Muslims don't want to replace U.S. law with Islamic law, known as Shariah, and only "radical extremist groups" would call for that, said Liyakat Takim, a professor of Islamic studies at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.

Shariah, Takim said, refers to guidelines or principles  how Muslims should live. "Fiqh" refers to jurisprudence, or specific laws. The values embedded in Shariah do not change and are shared among Muslims, he said, while fiqh is open to interpretation and change, and in fact differs among Islamic sects and communities.

"The Quran allows slavery. So does the Old Testament. That doesn't mean we allow it today, too," Takim said. "Laws are amenable to change."

In Seattle, activists set up an "Ask an American Muslim" booth to give rally participants on either side a chance to speak with a Muslim.

"American Muslims support the American values and freedoms we all cherish," said Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The marches come amid a rise in reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S., including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings and bullying of Muslim schoolchildren.

In California, small but raucous demonstrations were held in a handful of cities, including San Bernardino, where a husband and wife inspired by the Islamic State group killed 14 people and wounded 22 in a 2015 shooting attack.

Clusters of protesters and counter-protesters gathered on four corners of an intersection at a memorial to the slain, yelling and waving American flags and posters proclaiming various causes. Anti-Islamic law demonstrators marched past the building where the shootings occurred.

"There's an anti-Trump, a pro-Trump, anti-extremists, so there are a variety of messages here," San Bernardino police spokeswoman Eileen Hards said. "There are so many messages going on that I'm not sure who's who."
The supreme court later reinstated Somare on 12 December 2011 only to be rejected by the ONeill led parliament a few hours later, commencing a dark period of PNGs democracy where the country appeared to have two prime ministers for nearly seven months  ONeill operated from Parliament House and Somare from the Ela Beach Hotel.

Prime Minister Peter ONeills reign began unexpectedly in August 2011 after the then prime minister Sir Michael Somare was ousted by the PNG parliament following his long absence from the country due to illness.

PAPUA New Guinea enters its 2017 national election at the back of one of the most contentious periods of its democracy.

It was a period marked by a decline in public confidence in the judiciary, a divided police and armed forces and a perplexed public service.

The 2012 national election provided the ultimate showdown for the two warring factions. However, with an assurance to deliver the country from the misfortunes of Somares National Alliance government, ONeill and his coalition partners found favour with the people.

The 2011 constitutional impasse appeared to represent a change of the old guard in PNG politics and an undesirable initiation for the new crop of leadership with Peter ONeill hoisted to symbolise this transition.

Prime minister ONeill appeared at that time to represent the long awaited hope for the country. His government immediately appealed to the people through its flagship policies for free health and education services, and infrastructural development backed by a strong anti-corruption focus in the form of the Investigative Task Force Sweep (ITFS).

Projected revenues from the billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project and other resource developments in the country provided the assurances that his welfare policies would be sustained and effectively delivered. On the anti-corruption front, ONeill pledged to support the ITFS to systematically weed out corruption in PNG.

Five years later, the people are called upon to judge the performance of the ONeill government. For many, the results over the years appear unconvincing.

The high hopes of sustained payouts from the LNG project and the resource industry were soon dashed, and led the government to borrow huge sum of loans from overseas to supplement the national budget and sustain its welfare policies.

As loan repayments took preference, and many resource revenues were depleted, the result was a period of continued budget deficit. The government repeatedly attributed its economic woes to unstable global commodity prices. However, such excuses do not absolve its responsibility.

The lack of prudent fiscal management, many have argued, draw into question the governments ability to lead the countrys economy in an increasingly unstable global environment.

How has the delivery of free health and education services fared? Free schooling has raised access to education for students but also means overcrowding in classrooms. Overcrowding, lack of teaching materials and teacher shortages continue to affect the quality of learning output. Whether the policy has had a measurable impact on the quality of education in PNG, as opposed to quantity is doubtful.

Increasing media reports of schools and hospitals in the country running out of funds to sustain their operations further indicate the extent of the governments fiscal woes. A request early this year for Australian aid for funding indicates the projected challenges ahead.

Despite the governments shortfalls in economic management, there remain some successes and benefits most notably in the infrastructure and construction sector, especially in Port Moresby.

For instance, the airport bypass bridge, the improved road conditions and the upgrade of the Sir John Guise stadium (although not fully completed) are evidence of overseas loans. These are important developments in the city.

These developments have enabled Port Moresby to host significant international and regional events, undoubtedly raising the profile of PNG. But the end does not always justify the means, as amidst these developments are also allegations of discrepancies in the procurement and tender processes and inflated cost estimates of these projects.

While Port Moresby thrives, the majority of the towns and districts across the country remained under-developed and seemingly forgotten.

Their allocated Provincial Support Improvement Program (PSIP) Funds and District Support Improvement Program (DSIP) Funds are often politicised, inadequate or misused by their political leaders.

The enactment of the District Development Authority (DDA) Act 2014 gave MPs unprecedented political influence over the public service machinery in the districts.

The outskirts of PNG present a stark contrast to the glowing cities  a troubling outlook given more than three-quarters of the population still lives in rural areas. Foreign investments in resource industries remain stable yet the benefits are unequally distributed to many parts of the country.

Like his predecessors, ONeills government is challenged with serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement. ONeill inherited a system already plagued with corruption but it appeared to escalate during his reign.

His promise to weed out corruption took a firm foothold with the early successes of ITFS investigations including the successful prosecution of Paul Tiensten, a sitting MP and former senior government minister, who is currently serving his nine year prison term. To his credit, the successes of ITFS alarmed the PNG political and bureaucratic establishment.

However, praise for ONeill quickly turned to distrust, as he became the subject of serious allegations of corruption. The ONeill government repelled the charges and condemned the fraud investigators, the courts and the attorney-general as politically motivated. The extent of his responses to prevent arrest would make the case one of the most highly convoluted corruption investigations in the Pacific.

Sacked, under-funded and embroiled in a craftily drawn out court proceedings for more than two years, the exhausted ITFS team recently decided to discontinue the case against the Prime Minister.

The ITFS decision was partly influenced by a National Court judgment that refused to grant ITFS request for reinstatement after being disbanded by the National Executive Council (NEC), which is chaired by prime minister ONeill, himself the subject of ITFS investigation.

The Court advised that the matter be left to the voters in the coming election if they are concerned with the actions of ONeills government, as ITFS is only a creature of a NEC policy decision and does not have separate legal entitlement to carry on its functions once disbanded.

To resign to the voters not only relieves the court of an issue it should have legitimate interests in as the guardian of the justice system, but importantly raises the most critical question  will voters in PNG be able to make the right decision in all fairness?

What is the right decision? Maybe Papua New Guinean voters might put an end to this debacle if they decide to disarm ONeills political power, but is it possible amidst concerns for electoral fraud and bribery?

If history is anything to go by, governments in PNG that have been embroiled in allegations of serious corruption always struggle to return to power after an election. The case of National Alliance after the 2012 election is an example.

There have been reports of MPs under ONeill government being rejected in some electorates by the people. Prime minister ONeill may have administered an admirably ambitious regime but its controversies stand to overshadow its daring achievements.

The ONeill government is projecting itself as reliable and deserving of a second term. How will the people respond?

Bal Kama is a PhD Candidate at the ANU College of Law and a sessional lecturer at the University of Canberra Faculty of Business, Government and Law
[June 11, 2017] Wistia To Host Fourth Annual WistiaFest, Bringing Together Over 400 Professionals to Explore The Power of Video for Business

Wistia, the video platform of choice for business, today announced that the fourth annual WistiaFest will kick off on Sunday, June 11th and continue through Tuesday, June 13th, 2017, in Boston, at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center. The conference will bring together over 400 attendees from brands and agencies to discuss the creation of authentic and engaging videos to drive business growth. With inspirational keynotes, in-depth breakout sessions, and engaging networking activities for everyone from marketers and creatives to sales and HR professionals, attendees will gain new insights into how to use video to make their business stand out. Additionally, attendees will learn tips and tricks for making professional-looking videos, best practices for maximizing video impact and play rates, and how to show return on investment. To register please visit: https://wistia.com/wistiafest/2017#get-your-ticket Confirmed speakers for WistiaFest include: Joanna Lord, CMO, ClassPass

Talia Wolf, Founder and CEO, GetUplift

Glenn Elliott, Founder and CEO, Reward Gateway (News - Alert)

Adam Lisagor, Founder, Sandwich Video

Scott Voigt , CEO, Full Story

CEO, Kevin Cline, Creative Director, Zendesk

Phil Byrne, Product Education Manager, Intercom

Alyssa Morley, Senior Manager of Video Production, The Grommet







Who: Wistia, the video platform of choice for businesses What: WistiaFest Where: Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center 200 Seaport Blvd. Boston, MA 02210 When: Sunday, June 11, 2017 Welcome Reception: 6:00pm - 8:00pm at Wistia's Office Monday, June 12, 2017 WistiaFest: 8:00am - 5:00pm Happy Hour and Sunset Cruise: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Tuesday, June 13, 2017 WistiaFest: 8:00am - 5:00pm Closing Party: 7:30pm - 10:30pm at Harpoon Brewery Why: This three day event is complete with inspirational keynotes, thought-provoking breakout sessions, and entertaining after hour fun. Attendees will learn how to maximize the use of video in different areas of business from marketing and sales to human resources, customer support, and training. Attendees will also walk away with new strategies and ideas to create winning videos to reach their target audience and a new understanding of how to measure video success. Tickets: Visit http://wistia.com/wistiafest/2016/tickets to register today!

About Wistia

Wistia is the video platform of choice for business. We enable marketing, sales, training, and more to harness the engaging and connective power of video. Our technology solution provides world-class video hosting, marketing tools, and analytics to help companies grow. Wistia boasts an impressive customer portfolio across industries, with top brands including Amway, HubSpot (News - Alert), MailChimp, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co., leveraging Wistia to form authentic connections with customers, employees, and more. We're on a mission to make business more human. Founded in 2006 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wistia serves more than 300,000 businesses in over 50 countries. Learn more at wistia.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @wistia and on Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170611005001/en/

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Purdue dismissed from lawsuit alleging star player spread herpes

Alyssa Chambers lawsuit against Purdue University and Isaac Haas, its former star basketball player, is over.
Broadband internet service across Nepal in two years

The government has expedited process of connecting the entire nation with broadband internet service within two years. The move is in line with the long term plan devised by the Ministry of Information and Communications for increasing communication accessibility.
OLATHE, Kan. -- The death penalty may be on the table for the man accused of hate related shootings in Olathe. Now the widow of the man he allegedly killed opens up about the new charge. Friday, Adam Purinton was indicted on a federal hate crime charge.
Kansas City Gunfire Confrontation

KC shooting leads to 2-hour standoff A shooting in Kansas City led to a two-hour standoff overnight. On Sunday morning, just after 2 a.m., officers went to the 5800 block of NE Terrace Street on a call about a shooting. When officers arrived, they realized the person of interest in the shooting was inside an apartment.

Teen Tragedy Across State Line

Teen drowns in lake at Pierson Park while swimming at night KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Police on Sunday confirmed that a teen has drowned in a KCK lake while swimming at night. Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office said they had pulled the body of a 17-year-old male from the lake at Pierson Park after receiving a call for service around 4 a.m.

More deets On Triple Shooting

Police searching for suspect in triple shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Police are searching for the suspect in a shooting that left three people injured at a Kansas City, Missouri convenience store. One of the victims is in serious condition. The shooting happened at the Fast Stop convenience store near Blue Ridge Cutoff and Sni-a-bar Road.

Another Look At KCMO Faith Protest

Anti-Sharia protesters, counter-protesters turn out in KC Anti-Sharia protests took place in Kansas City on Saturday and counter-protesters turned out as well, on the other side of a line police put in place. Kansas City police officers established a police line separating protestors. Some were there for an anti-Sharia rally and others were there to counter them.

Sizzling Hot Kansas City Summer

First Alert: Heat stays in place The heat will stay in place for your Sunday and all this week. Look for a high today in the lower 90s.

Quick round-up and another glimpse at some of the top stories from today and this weekend . . .And this is thefor right now . . .
KMBC:

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver had some blunt words about President Trump during a celebration marking the 25th anniversary of Kansas City's Night Hoops program.

The Democratic Congressman Pulling No Punches, going After President Donald Trump Personally -- Rep. Cleaver: "I Think He's A Tiny Little Bully That Borders On Being A Tiny Little Criminal" . . . Saying His Presidency Is Embarrassing The United States -- Rep. Cleaver: "It's Becoming A Joke . . ."

Tough talk from Kansas City's top elected official . . .Money line:You decide . . .
House meet postponed, govt prepares to pass bill to provide election symbol to RJP-Nepal

The government is preparing to provide election symbol to Rastriya Janta Party-Nepal (RJPN) through a special Bill. The government will submit the Bill at the House meet on Sunday.
Regling: Greece would be out of crisis, if it had not gone off the rails in 2015

The head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling said it is feasible for Greece to return to the markers in the near future, according to an interview with German newspaper "Bild" which will be published on Saturday.

"If Greece remains in a reforming trajectory, it will be able to issue the first government bonds again, perhaps even during this year or in 2018 at the latest," he was quoted as saying.

At the same time, the German economist calls for swift decisions on the disbursement of the next loan installment for Greece as part of its current third support aid program.

Regling also said that Greece would have been out of there crisis in 2015 of the government under then Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis had not taken the wrong path. In an interview to German newspaper Bild.

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
In a post on Twitter, Tsipras said that the outcome was exceptional

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent his congratulations on Friday to the leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn, who he called friend, on the outcome of the British elections.

In a post on Twitter, Tsipras said that the outcome was exceptional and underlined that the left can inspire. He also noted that it is the voters and mostly the young people who determine the result of the elections and not the polls.

The prime minister, in three consecutive posts, wrote that neither the voters of neo-liberalism and austerity nor right-wing populism can give hope to the peoples.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The Greek capital will host the main gathering of its annual Athens Pride event on Syntagma square on Saturday, according to the organizers.

Since the first Pride rally in 2005, the aim of the festival has been to elevate the visibility of LGBTQI persons in Greek society, and in so doing advance their rights and demands. Athens Pride also raises youth awareness and support through its Volunteer Program.

The parade will kick off at 19:00 in the citys main square which will be followed later at night with the open-air concert. This year, the main slogan is A matter of education, which aims at main problems facing LGBTQI people, such as the long-awaited legislation on gender identity.

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
As the conflict between Qatar and some of its Gulf neighbours intensifies, Bahrain has banned all hotels, restaurants and tourist facilities from airing Al Jazeera TV channel.



The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) yesterday (June 9) issued an official circular to all tourism establishments operating in the Kingdom, including hotels and restaurants in this connection.



The BTEA mandates that all television receivers available in tourism facilities must be reprogrammed to remove all channels related to Al Jazeera Network.



Facilities include hotels, restaurants or other tourist establishments.



BTEA warned that tourism facilities running such channels will face tough action.



"The violation of this circular is punishable by law either by imprisonment, fine or both. Facilities who fail to comply with the circular will face closure and their tourism license will be revoked immediately," it added.-TradeArabia News Service


Iran has loaded the first 35,000 tonnes consignment of wheat in ship for export to Oman, the head of Association for Iranian Food Industries Societies said.



Reza Mortazavi said that this year the wheat export capacity is two million tonnes, reported Irna.



He also announced big and small consignments of wheat flour have been dispatched to Iraq this year.



Early this month, Deputy Agricultural Jihad Minister for commercial affairs Ali Akbar Mehrfard stated that over past three months 200,000 tonnes of wheat flour has been exported, adding that Iran's agricultural crops have been exported directly to more than 30 countries.
Iran-based Aseman Airline Company has signed a contract to buy new Boeing 737 planes on Saturday, a report said.



The deal was signed by Hossein Alaei, Managing Director of Aseman Airline and Boeing Sales representative in the Middle East and Russia James Larson, reported Irna.



Alaei said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Aseman Airline and Boeing Company on March 19.



According to the MoU, Aseman is to receive 30 Boeing 737 in the first phase and then purchasing 30 more planes will be in the agenda to equip this company with new generation of passenger planes.



According to the signed contract, Aseman Company is to pay $3 billion to Boeing for purchase of 60 planes.



Aseman is to pay 5 per cent of the amount and the rest of 95 per cent will be financed by Boeing.



The first delivery is due to take place in 2022 and during 2 years Boeing is to deliver all 30 planes to the Aseman Company, according to the report.
The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) has issued an official circular to all tourism establishments operating in the kingdom, including hotels and restaurants, banning all facilities from airing any Al Jazeera Channels.



In a statement released by BTEA, it stressed the importance of removing all channels running under Al Jazeera Network from the list of channels available in the hotel rooms and all other touristic facilities.



Tourism facilities running such channels will be penalized with fines including imprisonment and the revoking of licenses.



The circular also stated: "The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority mandates that all television receivers available in tourism facilities must be reprogrammed to remove all channels related to Al Jazeera Network. Facilities include hotels, restaurants or other tourist establishments. The violation of this circular is punishable by law either by imprisonment, fine or both. Facilities who fail to comply with the circular will face closure and their tourism license will be revoked immediately." - TradeArabia News Service


Turkish Airlines has launched new onboard services that are specially prepared for the holy month of Ramadan.



Passengers travelling during Iftar and Sohour time onboard Turkish Airlines will now be served freshly prepared Ramadan meals prepared by accomplished chefs.



Turkish Do & Co, the catering company of Turkish Airlines, have created special meal boxes with a nutritious and balanced meal including sandwiches, pide bread, dates, soup, olives and baklava. These boxes will be distributed to passengers who are fasting during Ramadan, either before boarding or after take off.



Turkish Airlines has also enhanced the Business Class meal by adding an Iftar plate which includes Pastrma (Pastrami/preserve of dried meat), cheeses, dates and olives. Passengers will have a chance to taste hot meals from rich Turkish cuisine as a main course with special Ramadan sherbets of tamarind and rose. Gullac (a Turkish Ramadan dessert), Ekmek Kadayf (Crumpets in thick syrup), Trilece (Turkish tres leches cake) and ve Sutlac (baked rice pudding) will also be served. These services will be available from various cities of the Middle East to key tourist destinations in Turkey.



Bilal Eksi, Turkish Airlines deputy chairman and CEO, said: Turkish Airlines always explores different ways to provide its passengers with the most convenient ways of travel. In celebration of Ramadan and the upcoming Eid celebrations, we are pleased to offer our Ramadan service to our guests so they are not inconvenienced during flight times that coincide with Iftar and Sohour.



During the Ramadan month, Turkish Airlines also announced a new campaign under their CSR umbrella Widen Your Heart where employees of the organisation have pledged to reach out to more than a houndred thousand people.



Giving back to the community is an integral part of our philosophy. I thank and congratulate all the employees of Turkish Airlines who have came forward on this holy month of Ramdan through our CSR initiative Widen Your Heart, added Eksi.



Through the Widen Your Heart campaign, Turkish Airlines employees will organise Iftars in cooperation with 28 Turkish Airlines offices across the Middle East. The organisation will put an Iftar table in 35 countries such as Turkey, Kosovo, Somalia, Niger, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. - TradeArabia News Service


Landowners protest halts Tinkune park construction

The construction of a temporary park at Capitals Tinkune has been halted due to landowners protest over compensation.
Man dies after eating wild greens

A person died and another one has fallen ill after eating wild leafy vegetables at Pandawakhani in Baglung district.
Nepal Coffee trademark listed in 7 more markets

Nepal has registered the Nepal Coffee collective trademark in seven more marketsSouth Korea, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The brand had been registered only in the European Union (EU) previously.
Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 10

The food packet, being sold for Rs 10 under the Sasta Bhojan scheme at Mohali has now four chappatis in it.

The number of chappatis has been increased from two to four after the news item under the heading Sasta bhojan loses flavour was published in these columns yesterday.

It is to be noted that the NGO, Istri Shakti, which has been roped in to run the scheme here, had decreased the quantity of the food packet to less than half on its own. The promised number of chappatis in the packet was five along with vegetables and pickle by the district administration at the launch of the scheme on May 8. The pickle has also gone missing from the packet.

Taking a serious note of the issue, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra cautioned the officials of the NGO in this regard.

Ashwinder Singh, who runs the affairs of the NGO here, claimed that the number of chappatis had been increased to four again following directions from the Mohali district administration.

When asked that the promised number of chappatis was five, Ashwinder Singh claimed that it was only four chapatis.

He reiterated that the material used to prepare two chappatis was equal to four chappatis. Actually, there was a problem in packing four chappatis in the food packet, so we decreased the number to two. But now onwards, it will be four, said Ashwinder Singh. At present, the Sasta Bhojan is being sold at three earmarked spots  Civil Hospital at Phase VI, near the PSEB premises at Phase VIII and the District Judicial Complex at Sector 76, on a regular basis from 12.30-2.30 pm.
Srinagar, June 11

The Centres decision not to resolve the political issue in Kashmir has worsened the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday.

He said military solutions cannot be used to fix a political problem.

Abdullah, the working president of opposition National Conference (NC), alleged the Centre has also distanced itself from all promises of the state governments common minimum programmeagenda of the allianceformally and publicly.

The BJP, the leading party at the Centre, is a partner in the ruling coalition government in J-K with the PDP.

While the central governments conscious decision to not engage with the political issue in Kashmir has worsened the situation in the state, the PDP-BJP governments complete and total failure has compounded the sense of unease and disaffection.

The PDP-BJP alliance has been in power for almost two and a half years now and they have not fulfilled even a single promise both parties made individually ahead of the elections and then also collectively as an alliance in their alleged Agenda of Alliance, Abdullah said.

His remarks came during an event held at the partys head office Nawa-e-Subha here to commemorate the death anniversaries of NC leaders Mirza Muhammad Afzal Beg and Khwaja Ghulam Mohuiddin Shah. PTI
Amir Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 11

Pakistan Army and its paramilitary rangers shelled Indian outposts along the Line of Control on Sunday morning, sources in the Indian Army and Indias Border Security Forces said.

In Sunday's first truce violation, Pakistan military shelled Indian Army outposts in Bimber Gali along LoC with small arms and automatics, sources said. The shelling began at 9.45 am and was still under way when this report was filed.

Read: Militants open fire on policeman in Kashmirs Shopian

In the second, Pakistan Rangers shelled outposts of the BSF in Ramgarh sector at 10 am. Both Indian Army and BSF retaliated.

A third shelling began at Nowshera Sector at 12.45 pm and is still ongoing, sources said.

No damage or losses have been reported so far.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 11

A Special Police Officer (SPO) of the J&K Police was critically wounded in a militant attack in south Kashmirs Shopian district on Sunday afternoon.

The police said militants shot and seriously injured SPO Khursheed Ahmad outside the camp of the Special Operations Group (SOG) at Imam Sahib, Shopian.

The SPO was shot from a point-blank range and was critically wounded in the militant attack. He was shifted to a local hospital from where he was taken to Armys 92 Base Hospital, Superintendent of Police, Shopian, Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar told The Tribune.

Soon after the attack, a cordon was laid in the area by security forces, however, the attackers, suspected to be two in number, managed to flee. No militant group immediately claimed the responsibility for the attack.

The attack comes days after an Army convoy was ambushed by militants in the neighbouring Kulgam district along the Srinagar-Jammu highway. Two Army men were killed and four others were injured in the ambush at Qazigund, Kulgam.

South Kashmirs four districts continue to remain a major concern for the security forces where nearly 100 militants, out of them 90 locals, are active.

Though the security forces have been carrying out anti-militancy operations in these districts, most of the times these are disrupted by locals.

At least two anti-militancy operations were disrupted in Anantnag and Pulwama districts in the past few days by stone-throwers.
New Delhi, June 11

BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday alleged that MPs and MLAs were inaccessible to people during the Congress rule, while his party has brought in an institutional change in the way elected representatives engage with the masses.

Addressing a function here, Shah, 52, also claimed that prior to the formation of Modi government, people were beginning to question their faith in a multi-party democratic system.

I grew up in a village... elected representatives from Congress were there in many parts of the country. We had seen that meeting an MLA or an MP was unimaginable. It was not possible to meet even the associates of these persons (lawmakers).

No one would dare take anyone to their house. If someone got an opportunity to shake hands with them (MLAs/MPs) from below a stage, they would not shake hands with anyone else for next three days. Such was the scenario, Shah said.

But, the BJP, in a multi-party system, has changed the character of a public representative, the BJP president asserted.

Today, people do not go to their representatives. The elected representatives hold janata darbar, take rounds in hospitals and public places.

He said public representatives cannot discharge functions effectively unless they reach out to the people.

If he doesnt know, what the people are thinking, then that elected representative will not be able to fulfil his duties, Shah said, after releasing a community outreach magazine of BJP MP Maheish Girri at a function here.

The BJP president said it was logistically not possible to reach out to every party worker in person, let alone every person in public.

New communication technologies have evolved, but in the last 10-15 years facts have been presented in a distorted way, and reaching out to people is essential to clear the haze on these issues, he said.

There was a time when people were looking for an alternative, wondering if the multi-party democratic system built by our constitution makers had failed? he said.

But then 2014 came, and after 30 years a party formed a government with a complete majority. Also, a non-Congress party formed a complete majority government for the first time after Independence, he said.

And, so, in these three years, we have shown that even in a multi-party democratic system, against all odds and amid all obstacles, creation of a great nation is possible, Shah added.

The BJP president also traced the eventful journey of the party from its origin in the Jana Sangh.

Our prospects were nil when the party was established, and we have faced opposition and neglect... But, today, we have come up as a huge party. From 10 initial members, we are now 11 crore...over 300 MPs and at Centre a government of full majority, he added.

Besides, Girri, BJPs Delhi in-charge Shyam Jaju, partys Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari and senior Sangh leader Bajrang Lal Gupta were also present on the occasion.  PTI
Mandsaur (MP), June 11

With peace gradually returning to violence-hit Mandsaur, local BJP MP Sudhir Gupta on Sunday alleged that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence and said the farmers stir was led by the opposition party.

The Neemuch-Mandsaur MP alleged that the Congress organised this stir to divert peoples attention from the recent public slaughter of a cow by Youth Congress leaders in Kerala.

This is not a farmers agitation, this is Congress agitation, he said.

When asked if his party would suffer in the elections as most of the people here were farmers, Gupta said when the truth about the Congress role in agitation would come out, the Congress would have to face loss.

India is a democratic country and the farmers have all the right to raise their demands but no one can imagine that farmers of Malwa region, which is very peaceful, on the name of agitation, would do so much violence, he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

Over the Congress alleging that no BJP leader visited the families of the farmers killed during the agitation, the MP rejected the allegation saying he is in touch with the families.

When the bodies of the five farmers killed in police firing were brought to a hospital here, I sat with them for over five hours, Gupta said.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Meenakshi Natarajan denied the allegation that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence.

The Congress never supports violence. It is completely a farmers agitation but we are there to fight for the farmers demands, she said.

When asked about the violence, Natarajan said the farmers of Neemuch-Mandsaur are angry over not getting the right price for their yields of soyabean, onion, garlic among others.

Also, many windmills are operating in the region for which land was acquired from the farmers, but the government never gave compensation for the agricultural land, she alleged.

On Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans fast, Natarajan said, He is the CM, what is the need to fast, instead he should call a cabinet meeting and pass a proposal on the demands of the farmers.

A special session of the state Assembly should also be called for resolving problems of agri sector apart from the Cabinet meeting, she said.

Farmers did not have any say in fixing of the price of their crops and the government is not listening to their demands, Natarajan alleged.

She urged the Narendra Modi government to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan commission report.

Natarajan said the Central government should waive all farm loans as the agriculture sector is facing problems. PTI
New Delhi, June 11

Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi has conveyed to the government that he be relieved from the post which he has held for three years.

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Rohatgi told PTI that he had written to the government last month conveying his wish that he would not like a re-appointment to the post of the countrys top law officer, and wanted to return to private practice.

He said he was appointed by the Narendra Modi government after it came to power in May 2014 and he has served his three-year term.

He said he considers this duration as enough and would like to return to his practice.

Rohatgi was appointed Attorney-General immediately after the BJP government came to power in May 2014 and during the stint, he argued in many contentious matters like the challenge to NJAC Act on appointment of judges for the higher judiciary.

Recently, he assisted the apex court in triple talaq matter in which the judgment is reserved.

Early this month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had extended his tenure until further orders.

Rohatgi, son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi, represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots and fake encounter death cases, including the Best Bakery and Zahira Sheikh cases.

A sought-after corporate lawyer, Rohatgi had also been representing the Italian embassy in the apex court in a case relating to the two Italian marines involved in the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Besides some of these high-profile cases handled by him, Rohatgi had also appeared on behalf of big corporates in the 2G scam trial. PTI
New Delhi, June 11

Replying to income tax scrutiny notices with supporting documents will soon be just a click away.

Instead of having to make the rounds of the tax department with sheaf of papers in response to notices received, taxpayers can soon upload them on the departments e-filing portal sitting in the comfort of ones own premises.

The Income Tax Department will very soon launch on its e-filing website, a facility for uploading of information sought through scrutiny notices, a senior government official told PTI.

This is part of our focus to reduce human interface and make the department more taxpayer friendly, he said. The facility to e-file the documents to scrutiny notices is being done to reduce interface between the assessing officer and the taxpayer.

Also, the tax department plans to start soon an SMS facility to communicate with taxpayers about any scrutiny notice sent to them.

We will send SMS on the registered mobile number informing them to go to their account in the efiling portal to see the new notice, the official said.

Once the facility is started, taxpayers will get an SMS alert of a new notice or information being raised by the tax department. The assessee can then log on to the efiling portal and upload the documents that have been sought.

Currently, the department sends SMSes for informing tax payers, especially the salaried class, about the tax deducted at source (TDS). Also, such alerts are sent on filing of tax returns and their acceptance.

As many as 3.65 crore individuals filed tax returns in assessment year 2014-15, while only 1 per cent of these are picked up for scrutiny. There are over 29 crore people holding permanent account number (PAN).

Also to avoid discretion to assessing officer, a computer-based programme picks up cases for scrutiny based on the risk parameters identified by the I-T department.

The Income Tax Department had earlier said that all tax-related proceedings between the assessee and the taxman from the new fiscal would be conducted online. A new link called e-proceeding has already been launched on the e-filing portal through which assessees reply to notice, questionnaire, or letter issued under various sections of the I-T Act. PTI
Polls can be held in Province 2 in third phase: DPM Gachhadar

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Bijay Kumar Gachhadhar has said that the local level elections in Province 2 can be held in the third phase.
Mumbai, June 11

The Maharashtra government on Sunday announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.

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The government has decided to waive farmers loans. The loans of farmers with small land holdings stand waived from today itself, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.

Patil, who headed a high-powered committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders here on Sunday.

Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met.

Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir, Shetti said.

Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that all loans of farmers will be waived.

The atmosphere now is like Diwali celebrations. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted, he said.

The ministers group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said.

We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13, independent MLA Bachu Kadu said.

However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation, Kadu said.

The Revenue Minister, when asked if his announcement on farmers getting new loans from today meant that the old ones would be restructured, said, It is a simple banking question.

Till the old loan is waived, one doesnt get new loan. Fadnavis had on Friday announced the formation of the six-member committee to look into the various demands of farmers, including the loan waiver.

The panel also comprises senior minister Diwakar Raote of the Shiv Sena, Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Cooperatives Minister Subhash Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.

On June 1, farmers from a village in Ahmednagar district went on strike followed by many farmers groups in other parts, who tried to suspend vegetable and milk supply to Mumbai.

Fadnavis had held a late night meeting and ensured withdrawal of the strike, but it emerged that some of the farmers leaders who were part of the talks with him in Mumbai, were close to the BJP and RSS. This outraged the farmers and their agitation intensified in the following days.

Last week, a farmer in Solapur district, before ending his life due to debt, wrote that unless the Chief Minister visited his farm, his body should not be cremated. PTI
Bhopal, June 11

With no fresh case of violence, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday called off his fast for farmers, a day after he began the exercise, and declared that peace has returned to the state.

Chouhan, who faced heat over the violent farmer unrest in MP, broke his fast with a glass of coconut water offered by former state chief minister Kailash Joshi.

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Before breaking his fast, the chief minister said, Peace has been restored in MP and no case of violence has been reported yesterday and today.

He said that those involved in the death of five farmers in Mandsaur will be punished severely.

Read: Patkar, Yadav, Agnivesh among 30 arrested outside Mandsaur, released

Congress provoked farmers to resort to violence: Mandsaur MP

There was no curfew in all three police stations areas of Mandsaur city for the second day today, but prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC banning assembly of more than four people remained in force in the entire district.

Curfew will, however, continue in Pipliamandi police station area, about 15 km from Mandsaur district headquarters, where the killing of five farmers in police firing on June 6 led to sudden escalation of violence and arson that spread to several other districts of Madhya Pradesh.

The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far, Collector OP Srivastava and SP Manoj Singh said.

In a state where agriculture has flourished, it is impossible that farmers would indulge in violence on such a scale. While any pain to farmers is unacceptable, those who have engaged in incendiary activities will be severely dealt with.

Those whose properties have been damaged will be compensated, but it will be investigated who were behind this violence. I began this fast in accordance with Rashtra dharma (duty towards the nation) as in the name of farmers agitation some people created a situation that caused me worry, Chouhan said.

BJP leaders have been accusing the Congress party of having stoked the agitation.

On being asked whether he had agreed to the demand for loan waiver, Chouhan, however, avoided a direct reply, maintaining he had told the farmers what he had to say.

During his fast, Chouhan had met 15 delegations of small farmers and 236 of big cultivators.

Before ending his 28-hour fast, Chouhan announced a slew of measures for the benefit of farmers and declared purchase of any farm produce below the minimum support price (MSP) will be treated as crime.

Any purchase of farm produce below the MSP declared by the Centre would be considered a criminal act in MP, Chouhan told a gathering at BHELs Dussehra Maidan here, the venue of his fast.

He said agricultural land would now be acquired only with the consent of farmers concerned.

He said Kisan Bazaar would be set up in all municipal areas and a cooperative institution on the lines of the Amul Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat will be set up across the state.

The chief minister said the government was in the process of setting up a Rs 1,000-crore Price Stabilisation Fund to purchase farm produce at the MSP.

Besides, Agricultural Costs and Marketing Commission would also be set up to ensure remunerative prices of farm produce.

BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan had claimed that the family members of those killed in police firing at Mandsaur on Tuesday have requested the chief minister to call off his fast.

Kin of four out of the five persons killed in police firing on Tuesday at Mandsaurthe epicentre of the farmers stirhad met Chouhan here yesterday.

They had come down from Mandsaur seeking justice for the deceased.

Chouhan had launched his indefinite fast for peace restoration yesterday at the BHEL Dussehra Maidan here amid violent farmer protests in western MP, especially in Dewas and Mandsaur districts over the last ten days.

The farmers protest, which began on June 1, took a violent turn on June 6, when five persons were killed in police firing at Mandsaur. A day after the firing incident, the protesters allegedly heckled Mandsaur district collector S K Singh, who was later transferred.

A high-voltage political drama was also witnessed on June 8, when Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was detained on his way to Mandsaur to meet the family members of the farmers killed in police firing.  PTI
Mandsaur (MP), June 11

The Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday arrested  and subsequently released  30 activists, including Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav and Swami Agnivesh, in Ratlam, while they were on their way to Mandsaur to meet families of farmers killed in police firing.

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Finally released.

Back to Ratlam https://t.co/0vSaGqjTS4  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

The activists were stopped by the police at the Dhodhar toll plaza in Ratlam districts Jaora town and detained in the circuit house there for about 30 minutes.

They dispersed after they were released, City SP Deepak Kumar Shukla said.

The police told the activists, among them JNU students union president Mohit Kumar Pandey and representatives from farmer outfits, that their visit could disturb peace in Mandsaur, where prohibitory orders under CrPc Section 144 are in place, though curfew was lifted on Saturday.

Our arrest is against the law as no written order was shown to us, Yadav, chief of the political outfit Swaraj India, told reporters after the arrest.

We didn't do anything unlawful. Were happy to abide by sec 144. Yet prevented. Served no written orders but detained. https://t.co/VaevcgBDeJ  Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) June 11, 2017

He stressed the group wanted to meet the families in Mandsaur peacefully and wanted to present them with a letter of tribute and soil brought from different parts of the country.

But we were not allowed to go to Mandsaur, he said.

On being stopped from entering neigbouring Mandsaur, the activists sat on a protest on the Mhow-Neemuch Highway, disrupting traffic, the police said.

The activists raised slogans against the government and in support of farmers for about an hour.

The police said the activists were arrested when they insisted on being allowed to enter Mandsaur.

They were arrested under CrPC section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences), Jaora SDM R P Verma said.

Yadav also demanded that the government waive farmers loans and give them higher prices for agriculture produce.

He called for a probe into the death of six persons, who had been killed in the stir. Five died in police firing, and one was allegedly beaten to death.

Patkar said she could not understand how their presence in Mandsaur could disturb the situation.

We are not going there for any protest or demonstration, we just wanted to meet the deceased farmers families, she said.

Heavy police force and water cannons were deployed and barricades placed, hours before the activists reached the Dhodhar toll plaza.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the storm of farmer distress, as protests over low prices for crops and heavy farm debts started on June 1 and snowballed into a widespread agitation.

In Mandsaur, curfew was imposed after the five farmers were killed in two incidents of police firing during the protest on June 6. PTI
Simran Sodhi

Last week saw the Japanese embassy extending diplomacy across the borders and spilling into Bhutan. The occasion was the visit of Princess Mako, a granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, who was in Bhutan on a nine-day trip. Japans ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu, who also serves as the ambassador to Bhutan, left for the Himalayan kingdom to perform his diplomatic duties there.

What makes the visit unique is that Princess Mako, who is the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, is expected to be engaged this summer to a former university classmate. This has caused quite a stir in Japan as her impending marriage to a commoner, Kei Komuro, will see her lose her royal title. Under Japanese law, any female royal family member loses her status on marrying a commoner. The law is currently being debated in Japan, as is the entire issue surrounding the chrysanthemum throne. Emperor Akihito has even hinted at abdicating his throne, which has shaken the country where the monarchy is still

much revered.

During the nine days that Princess Mako spent in Bhutan, she travelled to many places within the pristine and beautiful nation and participated in events like the opening ceremony of the Royal Bhutan Flower Exhibition and delivered a speech in English at the opening ceremony for Japan Week, an event designed to introduce Japanese culture to

the Bhutanese people.

The visit also saw an interesting display of the traditions and cultures of both Bhutan and Japan. The 25-year-old princess chose to wear the traditional furisode (long-sleeved kimono) when she paid a courtesy call on Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and his wife, Queen Jetsun Pema. The Bhutanese royals were dressed in the beautiful traditional attires of the Himalayan kingdom.

Bhutan is one of the few nations in Indias immediate neighbourhood with which it enjoys great warmth and trust. That is also the reason why many of the ambassadors based in New Delhi also serve as envoys to Bhutan. The Japanese embassy does not have an official residence in Thimpu and operates out of its New Delhi premises only. The nuance here being the closely wound relations between India and Bhutan which allow nations like Japan to then conduct diplomacy in coordination.

This was only the third official visit by Princess Mako and the coming summer will see her pay a heavy price for love. She is set to toss the title and royalty to marry a man of her choice. Apart from the personal statements, it will see the Japanese royal family struggle with yet another crisis.
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 10

Even as the Qatar crisis refuses to show any signs of resolution, India expressed its concerns and urged all parties to resolve the dispute through constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations. For India, the major worry is that there are more than eight million expatriates living in the region and escalating crisis will require India to stand ready to rush to the need of its expatriates, if needed.

The crisis began Monday when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain announced they were severing diplomatic ties and closing all connectivity links with Qatar. They have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and hosting terrorist organisations like Hamas and also extending support to organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has denied all these charges.

US President Donald Trump added his flavour to the crisis when he tweeted his support for the Saudi action and also took credit for their action.

Trumps recent visit to Saudi Arabia is believed to have emboldened Saudi Arabia and its allies to take this action against Qatar. Iran is also another factor here. Qatar has always maintained relations with Iran and that is an irritant with both the US and Saudi Arabia.

India today called on all the parties to resolve their differences through a process of constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations based on well-established international principles of mutual respect, sovereignty and non interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

However, today the crisis seemed to get worse with Saudi Arabia and its allies publishing a sanctions list that names a dozen organisations and 59 people it accuses of links to Islamist militancy, a number of them Qataris or with links to Qatar.

The Ministry of External Affairs also urged Indian expatriates in the region to contact the Indian Embassy or Consulate concerned in case they of any advice or guidance required.

International terrorism, violent extremism and religious intolerance pose grave threat not only to regional stability but also to global peace and order and must be confronted by all countries in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, the MEA said in a release today.
New Delhi, June 11

BJP chief Amit Shahs planned meet with the partys Delhi unit workers and leaders as part of his 95-day all-India tour, has been postponed, apparently in view of his enhanced focus on Kerala and West Bengal.

Party sources said Shah was scheduled to interact with city units leaders in mid-June, but the programme was postponed, as he is paying more attention to politically-crucial West Bengal and Kerala before the 2019 general elections.

No fresh date has been announced for a Delhi meet.

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We had received Shahs programme on June 14-15. But, now he has altered all his priorities focusing on Kerala and Bengal. The meet in Delhi has been postponed, said a senior party leader.

Shah had set off on an all-India tour on April 29 with an aim to strengthen the party base ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has been trying to make inroads into the states, including Kerala and West Bengal, where it fared badly in the 2014 elections, despite a Modi wave.

The BJP had managed to win just four of the 102 Lok Sabha seats in four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha and Telangana in the 2014 elections. PTI
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, June 11

The Shiv Sena has sounded a note of warning to the BJP ahead of next month's presidential elections.



At a meeting of party workers in Nashik on Saturday, Sanjay Raut, the Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP and editor of party mouthpiece Saamna, warned the BJP from trying to split it. We are fighting a major battle for our survival. Our ally is hell-bent on destroying us. So

there will be a major battle ahead... Be prepared for a political earthquake in July, Raut told the party workers.



The Shiv Sena, which has voted against the BJP's candidates in the last two presidential elections, has already thrown a spanner in the works by demanding that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat be nominated as the NDA's candidate for the post of president. Political observers say such a move would alienate the BJP's partners like the Telugu Desam

whose support is crucial as the ruling front lacks the numbers in the electoral college that elects the president.



According to sources here, the Shiv Sena is simultaneously working to embarrass the BJP in the presidential elections by bringing together regional parties in one platform with the support of the Congress.



Shiv Sena's threats to the BJP comes amidst indications that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis may dissolve the Maharashtra assembly and opt for mid-term elections after the presidential polls. The regional party has therefore decided to raise the decibel levels several notches by coming out in support of protesting farmers.



Shiv Sena shakhas, or branch offices, in rural areas have been issued blank applications for loan waivers that are being distributed to farmers to be filled in submitted to its party offices for processing by government authorities. This move, which comes even before the announcement of a final decision on the loan waiver by the government,

has come as a shocker to the BJP, say sources.



In the coming weeks, Shiv Sena cadres have been asked to barge into offices of local collectors and force officials to accept the applications for loan waivers by farmers, according to party sources.



The Sena is also raking up acquisition of lush orchards in Nashik for the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the party will not allow farmers' land to be acquired at any cost for the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, Raut said at the party meet.

According to Raut, the Shiv Sena cadres are already on the streets preventing government officials from surveying land through which the expressway is to pass. The party has also moved the courts in order to stall the project.
Yash Goyal

Jaipur, June 11

A 25-year-old man was tied to a tree, beaten up mercilessly, his nails pulled out, and head tonsured allegedly for having an affair at Moti Singh-ki-Dhani village in Churu district of Rajasthan on June 1.

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Rajkumar Jat was in touch with a girl through phone and she allegedly called him to meet in person at her village on June 1.

But he was picked by villagers on the way, who subjected him to the barbaric treatment, Bharat Singh, the investigating officer (IO) of Taranagar Police Station told The Tribune on Sunday.

The girls relatives, including a former sarpanch of the village, were allegedly involved in the incident.

A video of the incident went viral on social media.

The injured boy was admitted by unknown persons at Jaipurs Mahatma Gandhi Hospital the next morning when he was unconscious.

Police have registered an FIR against seven persons, including the former sarpanch, under various Sections of the IPC, including 365, 323, 341, 342, 383 and 384.

The IO said that since the victim is getting treatment in the hospital, he would be interrogated after he gets well.

Police suspect that it might be a caste clash between the two communities. No one was arrested so far, though two of the seven accused were identified as Surendra and Pawan, the IO said.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 11

The police have arrested two drug smugglers from Tarn Taran and recovered contacts of about 130 Pakistan-based smugglers from their mobile phones.

An official spokesperson said Sukhbir Singh alias Titu of Naushera Dhalla village in Tarn Taran district and Tasveer Singh alias Tassu of Dhanoya Kalan in Amritsar district  both in their sixties  were nabbed last evening.

About 6-kg heroin, a Pakistani SIM card, two rifles and a motorcycle were recovered from them. Both used to procure drugs and other contraband from across the border through Pakistani and Indian couriers, the spokesperson said.

Sukhbirs phone directory lists the numbers of Dogar Iftrwaha, Asghar Chowdhary, Baadi Hazi, Bagga and Naini Narowal and others involved in cross-border smuggling.

The spokesperson said Sukhbir was using Pakistani SIM cards of Zong telecom service to maintain contact with his Pakistani accomplices. Sukhbir told the police that he was earlier involved in gold smuggling.

Sukhbir and his two accomplices were earlier convicted and awarded 10-year imprisonment for attacking police officers and carrying heroin as well as fake Indian currency. The police said Sukhbir had fired at a police party led by Snehdeep Sharma, then DSP, Ludhiana, in 2003. Tasveer was caught in Pakistan in 1979 with 100 gold biscuits and was lodged in Lahore jail.
Prioritising health care

Recently, Kantipur Publications news outlets published an appeal to help Mansara, a four-year-old child from Kalikot who has developed a terrible tumour in her right eye.
Islamabad, June 11

A journalist was shot dead on Sunday by unidentified gunmen in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

Bakhshish Ahmad, Bureau Chief of The K2 Times Urdu daily, was attacked in Haripur district, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Islamabad-based Pashto-language Khyber TV, which owns the daily, said the gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at the journalist when he was headed to work in Haripur.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 117 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years in Pakistan. Of these, only three cases were taken up in judicial courts, Xinhua quoted official data as saying. IANS
RJPN cadres disrupt CEC Yadav's prgm in Rajbiraj, clash with police

A clash ensued between cadres of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and the police at Rajbiraj on Sunday.
Promising sign: Gross receipts to the state treasury in May were 9 percent more than the same month a year ago, which Treasurer Ken Miller interpreted as a promising sign a long decline is finally turning around.

Our analysis ... would appear to indicate Oklahomas economy is recovering from the energy downturn, Miller said. In addition to the gross receipts picture, numerous other indicators add credence to the conclusion that Oklahoma is marching up the expansion side of the business cycle.

Year-over-year gross receipts have been higher in four of the past five months after a two-year slide.

Gross receipts to the treasury are all taxes paid to the state, including those collected on behalf of local governments and money returned to taxpayers through refunds and rebates. It also includes money directly apportioned to specific purposes such as roads and education.

Gross production tax receipts, which are considered a reliable leading indicator of economic activity in the state, have been up for eight straight months.

Candidates and elections: State Rep. Chuck Strohm, R-Jenks, has told supporters he plans to run for the state Senate District 37 seat being vacated by Republican Dan Newberry in January. No filing or election dates have been set for the special election to replace Newberry.

Meetings and events: State Sen. Glen Mulready, R-Tulsa, and Sen. Marty Quinn, R-Claremore, will speak to the Republican Womens Club of Tulsa County at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 7902 S. Lewis Ave.

Gene Perry of the Oklahoma Policy Institute will speak to the Creek County Democratic Party at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bristow Community Center, 417 N. Chestnut, Bristow.

State Sen. Greg Treat, R-Edmond, will speak to the Tulsa Republican Club at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Summit Club, 15 W. Sixth St.

The advocacy organization Together Oklahoma plans a statewide Better Budget Bash for 2 p.m. June 25. The event is billed as a series of simultaneous get-togethers linked through the internet for a webinar. See http://bit.ly/2sLAB0J for details.

One-liners: Former state Senate Democratic Leader Charlie Laster of Shawnee was appointed to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission by Gov. Mary Fallin. ... In a letter to members, Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce President Mike Neal took the Legislature to task for not doing more to fund core state functions. It should be the mission of every legislator  and the cry of every citizen  to fully fund these areas and keep Oklahomas economy strong, Neal wrote. ... State Rep. Bobby Cleveland, R-Slaughterville, said he intends to investigate the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and its director, Stan Florence.

 Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World
A national publication is recognizing state Rep. Regina Goodwin for her efforts to expand caregiver support services.

Goodwin will be awarded the Fearless Caregiver Community Advocate Award from Todays Caregiver and caregiver.com at an upcoming conference.

She is the author of House Bill 1357, known as the Oklahoma Caregiver Support Act, that was passed this legislative session.

The act, signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin, is an effort to encourage the expansion of available caregiver supports, especially in rural and under-served areas, without increasing costs.

People understand what it means to have to leave a job and go with someone receiving chemo or who is on dialysis, Goodwin said. All of us have to take off from work, juggle our schedules and go and help our loved ones. This bill provides info on how to best do that.

Doing so will require collaborations between communities and providers.

In these times when moneys are being cut, my goal was to figure out how to do this while relying on the kindness of strangers, Goodwin said.

The bill directs the Aging Services Division of the state Department of Human Services to work with caregiver community groups across the state in a cost-neutral manner to expand the number of locations offering caregiver workshops as well as ensure the sites include low-, mid- and high-economic- income areas.

The idea is for communities to identify existing facilities, such as schools, that can be used for free to host events where experts in the caregiving field can provide support and assistance.

Lance Robertson, the director of the state Department of Human Services Aging Services Division, said the bill signifies the states commitment to doing all it can for caregivers.

Back in the day, we had a fairly robust caregiver program. We lost federal and state funding for some of that work, and were not sure when well see it return, he said. This bill is a really good step for our state. Unfortunately, I wish it came with an abundance of funding.
OKLAHOMA CITY  One organization is known in the state for medical responses, but continues to expand and deploy its large animal response team to disasters.

Animals in our culture play such a crucial role, everybody knows that, whether we are talking about small animals that are a part of our family or big animals, said Clayton McCook, vice president of the Oklahoma Large Animal Response Team.

In May, the organization, a division of the Oklahoma Medical Response Corps, responded to tornado damage in Elk City. The team took two horses back for care and helped with medical response teams already on the ground.

More than 575 volunteers are on the State Animal Response Teams, including 68 veterinarians and 40 veterinarian techs.

To be able to mobilize a large group of people with trucks and trailers and be able to get these animals to safety, and in some cases to the hospital quickly, is really important, McCook said.

The team uses horse barns across the state including locally at the Lazy E Arena and Heritage Place.

After being with the organization for more than four years, McCook said that preparedness is key for his 100-plus member team that responds to disasters across the state and helps local officials.

Its the only group within the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps that has equipment, which includes a stock trailer.

We want to compliment their services, McCook said. He first became a member during the 2013 Moore tornadoes and said he was ill-prepared on how large animal response works.

I did not know how the system worked, McCook said. It was a very chaotic experience for me, through my own fault.

Preparedness is key, he said, even though he is an assistant veterinarian in Oklahoma City.

Almost every county in Oklahoma has an animal response unit, with some creating multicounty response teams.

With animals there is a good chance that somebody will be bit, so we need to have medical on hand for our people, said Mike Payne, a licensed emergency medical technician and volunteer.

During disasters animals are usually frightened and that can create a higher chance of being hurt, Payne said.

It is a team effort, he said.

He said the organization prefers to have medical support on any mission, due to the unknown circumstances. The organization also will help medical facilities when they are overwhelmed.

Volunteering over 200 hours a year, Payne said that anybody can get involved with the organization and still have time to volunteer elsewhere.

When I see them as an EMT they are usually not having the best day. If I can help them through that it helps me grow as a person, Payne said.

Because we are a statewide organization made up of the units from across the state, we have the capabilities to do a regional or statewide activation when the need for volunteers is greater, said Lezlie Carter, Oklahoma Medical Response Corps state coordinator.

Carter said the organization usually knows within 12 to 24 hours after a disaster whether they should respond.

We are not activated until we are requested to respond, such as from the Department of Agriculture, Carter said.

The agency has more than 5,300 trained volunteers throughout the state, with many helping in nonmedical areas. Each volunteer is required to complete four different training sessions before becoming a member.

Other volunteers including, Lucien and Barb Jones, have been with the organization for many years as support staff. They said both medical and other staff are always needed.

When on the scene, they do not have the time to deal with the paperwork, said Barb Jones, who has been with the organization since 2008. You are able to go serve when the time is needed.
Sometimes travel affords a new view of home. Over the Memorial Day weekend, I traveled to visit family in northern Virginia.

May 28, I was reminded of home when the The Washington Post had a front-page article on the budget crisis in Oklahoma that featured the four-day school week in Blanchard. May 29, I flew home through Dallas-Fort Worth. On the approach, I was able to view two sparkling high school campuses. Leaving DFW, I soon crossed the Red River to my home for all my life.

Connecting Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma, a line from a Pink Floyd song came to mind while flying over my home state: We dont need no education. Reflecting on the historically chronic underfunding of education in Oklahoma and on the acute underfunding of education over the last 10 years that has driven Oklahoma to the bottom of education rankings, I wonder if the Pink Floyd lyric too uncomfortably reflects the esteem with which education is held in Oklahoma.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.
Start up your engines, and feed them a bloody limb, Blood Drive is ready to roll.

Syfys new twisted series is full-throttle on mayhem and B-grade horror, fusing hot cars, sexy stars and excess gore. With camp humour and strong production values, this is a show that knows its audience.

The setting is the distant future of 1999 where society faces both a fuel and water shortage. Hunky young cop Arthur Bailey (Alan Ritchson) who works for ContraCop is one of the few LA cops not to digress into cynicism, and maintains a sense of order.

But his optimism will prove to be his weak spot. When he stumbles onto a rogue tribe of illegal street racers Arthur gets more than he bargained for.

Flamboyant, grinning MC Julian Slink (Colin Cunningham) spares his life but throws him together with sexy, bad-ass girl Grace (Christina Ochoa) in a car race that leaves The Wacky Races for dead (literally). With competitors named Rib Bone, The Gentleman & The Scholar, Clown D*ck and Fat Elvis, they hit the road for the meanest, nastiest, filthiest road race in the world, eager to win a $10m prize at all costs.

Embedded in Arthurs neck is an implant that inflicts pain should he try to flee, but the biggest surprise of all is that under the hoods of the cars is a gnashing carburettor and piston teeth that chomp human bodies like a mince meat grinder.

These cars run on human blood? asks a shocked Arthur.

Have you seen gas prices lately? Grace quips.

From there its a no-holds barred race to the finish line skewered with a fight for survival, as Arthur and Grace steam up a blood-spattered screen.

Created by James Roland, a production assistant on Weeds, Mad Men & Hustle, and gaudily directed by David Straiton (Bates Motel, Grimm, Fringe) this is handsomely shot in South Africa and confidently sticking its tongue in its cheek (or into the engine).

Alan Ritchson strides through his scenes with alpha-male bravado and a commitment to the genre while Christina Ochoa matches him with gnarly determination.

Visually the show borrows plenty from the Max Max universe with its post-apocalyptic-meets-Vegas styling. Theres even a line that nods to a road warrior. Later episodes promise cannibals, monsters, cults, lawmen, and nymphos and amazons.

Blood Drive may not match the legacy of The Cars that Ate Paris nor Christine, but youll enjoy the ride if you can stay alive.

Blood Drive 8:40pm Saturday June 17 on Syfy.
The family of a man who shot himself after a 43-hour siege with police is taking legal action against Channel Nine, following a coroners report that Melbourne chief of staff Kate McGrath interfered with police.

In March 2013 McGrath spoke to convicted rapist Antonio Tony Loguancio, 40, while he was barricaded in a Glenroy bungalow, including in one phone call lasting 54 minutes.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson found McGraths communication with Loguancio, which he initiated, had been disruptive, but cleared her of contributing to his suicide.

It ultimately amounted to an opportunistic exploitation of a significant police incident, executed by Ms McGrath without any consideration for the fact that she may be compromising police endeavours to have Tony surrender himself, she said.

Ms. McGraths contact with Tony  was conducted to the exclusion of negotiators and limited their already precarious ability to engage and negotiate with Tony.

I find that Nine Networks direct communications with Tony during the siege were inappropriate and disruptive to the police operation but was not of itself, causative to the outcome.

Loguancios mother Lesley Gilmour told Fairfax, I never got the chance to get him out of the siege because of Channel Nine.

A spokeswoman for Nine said: We are sorry for Ms Gilmours loss, however, we reject the version of events alleged by the plaintiff and note the Coroners finding that any conduct of Nine was not causative to the outcome.

Source: Fairfax

Lifeline: 131114

beyondblue.org.au
Television stars, producers, execs and writers are amongst those named in the 2017 Queens Birthday Honours.

Deborah Mailman, Michael Ebeid, Mark Fennessy, Mike McColl-Jones & Patti Newton are all honoured today:

COMPANION (AC) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

Cate Blanchett received a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts as an actor, artistic director and as a role model for young performers and women.

OFFICER (AO) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

ABC pollster Antony Green for his service to the broadcast media as an analyst and commentator for state and federal elections.

Ex ABC & Film Vic board member Michael Lynch for distinguished service to arts administration, to leadership of international cultural institutions and nationally recognised art organisations, and through contributions to Australian public life.

MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA

Deborah Mailman receives an Order of Australia Medal, for her significant service to the performing arts as an actor, and role model for indigenous performers and the community.

SBS managing director Michael Ebeid receives a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the broadcast media and multicultural affairs as an executive, innovator and business leader.

Producer Mark Fennessy for significant service to the broadcast media industry as an entrepreneur, innovator and production executive.

Patti Newton for significant service to the broadcast media as an entertainer and presenter, and as a supporter of charitable and medical research foundations.

Director Donald Crombie for significant service to the Australian film and television industry through contributions as a director and writer, and to professional organisations.

Former Southern Cross Television News Presenter James Cox for significant service to the Parliament of Tasmania, to local government and the people of Launceston, and to road safety.

Richard Francis-Bruce (US) for significant service to film production as an editor, and to the Australian film industry as a role model and ambassador.

Choreographer Adele Hyland (So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars) for significant service to the performing arts as a choreographer and dance educator and to developing dance as a sport.

Designer Roger Kirk for significant service to the performing arts as a costume and set designer for theatre, dance, opera and film productions.

Frank Van Straten for significant service to performing arts heritage and conservation as a theatre historian, as an author, and to the broadcast media.

John Romeril for significant service to the performing arts as a playwright and screenwriter, and to theatre companies and education.

MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION

Writer Mike McColl Jones received a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia for his contribution to television, particularly in the field of writing.

Robbie Porter for service to the music industry as a producer, writer and performer.

Choreographer Barbara Duncan for service to the performing arts as a choreographer.

Paul Dellit for service to the performing arts in Queensland.

May Hu for service to the broadcast media, to women, and to the multicultural community of

Victoria.

Super Hubert for service to children through charitable organisations.

This post updates.
Lachlan Murdoch, James Packer and Bruce Gordon will not guarantee a new $250m loan for TEN, according to media reports.

TEN is facing a December deadline with the Commonwealth Bank on its existing loan.

Without a new $250 million credit guarantee, banks are unlikely to lend to the troubled broadcaster and it could go into receivership.

James Packer has been looking to sell his7.7 per cent stake in the company, but with few interested buyers. The Australian Financial Review now reports Murdoch and Bruce Gordon told TEN late on Friday evening they would not guarantee the new loan.

But newly appointed advisors, Moelis & Co, lead by head of corporate finance Chris Wyke, remain confident of securing the refinancing and have been talking with a number of parties.

Its believed TEN has made progress its onerous output deals with US studios 21st Century Fox and CBS, worth more than $150 million per year, but a deal remains some time off. The network is also awaiting the passage of media reforms which will address current licensing fees. Major cost cuts are also expected.

A TEN spokesman declined to comment.
Two state Assembly members are pushing to restore seven-day visitation at medium security correctional facilities and weekend bus service for families visiting inmates at prisons across the state.

Assemblyman David Weprin, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Correction, is the sponsor of legislation that would adjust the visitation schedule at medium security facilities.

The policy in effect at medium security facilities permits visitors on weekends and holidays. This would bring visitation in line with maximum security prisons, which have a seven-day schedule.

Weprin said in a phone interview Thursday that the measure is in response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal released earlier this year that would slash the visitation schedule at maximum security facilities.

Cuomo's plan, which was included in his executive budget proposal, wasn't supported by the state Legislature. It wasn't included in the final state budget agreement adopted in April.

Weprin's bill is in response to feedback about the existing visitation policy at medium security prisons. He's heard that visits are often cut off and the visiting rooms are often overcrowded.

"We want to encourage family members to visit inmates," he said.

He doesn't expect increasing visitation at medium security facilities will have a major budget impact. He noted that the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, which oversees New York's correctional facilities, has a $3 billion budget.

Increasing visitation at medium security prisons, he estimated, would result in a "modest increase."

Caroline Hsu, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society's Prisoners' Rights Project in New York City, said the visitation change would not only help inmates, but keep prisons calmer and safer.

Hsu said the current visitation conditions are "poor" because the rooms are often crowded and noisy.

"DOCCS talks a lot about support reentry and DOCCS talks a lot about supporting families," she said. "But what DOCCS is doing on the ground seems to me very much the opposite. Restoring visitation to the mediums would be doing something  an obvious thing  that would show that they genuinely mean what they say when they talk about supporting families."

DOCCS declined to comment for this story, citing a policy of not commenting on proposed legislation.

Another member of the Assembly Correction Committee, Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, proposed a bill that would restore bus service for visitors traveling to meet with family members who are being held in correctional facilities across the state.

The program was in place until 2011. Weekend bus service was provided from Albany, New York City, Rochester and Syracuse to every prison. It was eliminated in 2011.

De La Rosa said the state saved $1.5 million by cutting bus service for inmate families. Under her plan, the state would offer no less than free bi-monthly transportation to correctional facilities.

"There are close to 100,000 children in our New York state who have an incarcerated parent," she said. "When you look at communities who have families that have been historically and disproportionately affected by criminal justice polices in our state, it is incumbent upon us to find solutions that foster a family's ability to maintain relationships."

Weprin's bill has been approved by his Assembly committee and another, the codes committee. De La Rosa's measure has also been approved by the committees on correction and ways and means.

It's unclear whether the measures will be adopted before the end of the legislative session this month. Weprin is hopeful that the bills will pass the state Legislature before lawmakers head back to their districts. If not, he said the proposals may be included in the Assembly's budget next year.
Saptari villages exposed to flood threats

People living in the southeast region of Saptari district were suddenly exposed to flood threats on Saturday after the rain-fed Khado stream breached its banks, sweeping a 50-metre section of the Rajbiraj-Kunauli road stretch in Tilathi.
UNHCR staff wait at the port of Augusta in Sicily to disembark refugees found adrift in the Mediterranean Sea in May 2016.  UNHCR/Carlotta Sami

UNHCR is deeply concerned about the latest reports of deaths at sea on the Mediterranean this weekend.

According to the Italian Coast Guard, eight corpses have been recovered so far and at least 52 people are feared missing from two incidents involving large numbers of people on flimsy dinghies off the coast of Libya on Saturday.

More than 2,500 people have been rescued in over a dozen search-and-rescue efforts coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard on Saturday and Sunday. These people are expected to be disembarked in Italian ports over the coming days. It is also important that broader regional responsibility sharing responses for disembarkation are developed urgently. Solutions cannot just be in Italy.

UNHCR applauds the rescue efforts by European government authorities, the Italian Coast Guard and NGOs, but is deeply saddened that the death toll continues to rise. Over 1,770 people are estimated to have died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea so far in 2017, and it is only the start of the summer sailing season. More are believed to have died in the Sahara before arriving in Libya.

Saving lives must be the top priority for all, and further rescue efforts are needed along this still deadly route.

The mixed flows of people through East and West Africa towards Sudan, Niger and Libya continue unmanaged, and cruel smuggling networks flourish.

We urgently need renewed efforts to find different solutions for refugees and migrants in the countries they cross before they reach Libya, given the insecurity in that country and vulnerability of people on the move to horrific exploitation and abuse. In parallel, new measures on both sides of the Central Mediterranean Sea to seriously combat trafficking are needed.

UNHCR also urges that alternative and safe pathways be developed, so people do not undertake such dangerous journeys. For those in need of international protection, alternatives include family reunification, resettlement, refugee scholarships and private sponsorship.

Efforts must also be redoubled to address downstream the root causes behind these movements of people to Libya, including by solving conflicts and reducing poverty.

Media contacts:
A render for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 8 has mounted up on the internet, and it hints at a major feature that did not make the cut on Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. As the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is said to launch in late August, the device appears to use the same Infinity Display design that was introduced in Samsung Galaxy S8.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8's newly leaked render was shared on Twitter. The highly anticipated Galaxy Note 8 phablet appears to arrive with the same the same Infinity Display design of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

But, it is not a huge surprise. It has been reported that the Galaxy Note 8 was going to arrive with this feature, as well as a 6.3-inch display size.

Nonetheless, the Chinese microblogging website has suggested that Galaxy Note 8's Infinity Display would be better than the one that's on the Galaxy S8. The corners of the display of the upcoming device are said to be even smaller, which gives a bit of more space for on-screen content, Slash Gear reported.

In spite of that, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will arrive with the Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system instead of the Android O. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will have a dual rear camera, with 12MP and 13MP lenses, CNET reported.

Aside from that, the much-awaited Samsung phablet is said to be powered by either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or an Exynos 8995 processor. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will boast a 128GB of internal storage, but the RAM of the device was not revealed.

The battery fiasco of the Note 7 is clearly out of the picture, as Samsung's mobile chief D.J. Koh made it known that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be safer and more innovative device. The upcoming device will arrive with battery pack of 4,000 mAh that went through a battery check to ensure safety measures.

Watch The Video Here:
Sri Lankan envoy pledges support for Lumbini's development

Sri Lankan Ambassador to Nepal, WS Pereira, has underscored the importance of Buddhist philosophy and literature for social justice and co-existence.
The representative of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort receiving the award

The award ceremony, held at Grand Kempinski Hotel Shanghai, saw the participation of hundreds of senior key decision-makers from across Asia and Australasia. InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort has won the following accolades: Asia's Leading Luxury Resort 2017, Vietnam's Leading Resort 2017, Asia's Leading Fine Dining Hotel Restaurant 2017: La Maison 1888 restaurant, and Asia's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa 2017: Sun Peninsula Residence Villa.

This year, InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort surpassed leading contenders, including Angkor Miracle Resort and Spa (Campuchia), Conrad Koh Samui (Thailand), Gaya Island Resort (Malaysia), The Bulgari Resort Bali, The Grand Ho Tram Strip (Vietnam), and The Oberoi Vanyavilas (India), to retain its place as Asia's Leading Luxury Resort in 2017, winning the title for the fourth consecutive year since 2014.

In the race to earn Asia's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa 2017 title, Sun Peninsula Residence Villa of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort also successfully left behind strong contenders, such as Conrad Royal Oceanview Pool Villa at Conrad Koh Samui; Coral Bay Deluxe Villa of Mandarin Oriental, Sanya; Presidential Villa of The Mulia, Mulia Resort and VillasNusa Dua, Bali; The Bulgari Villa of The Bulgari Resort Bali; The Presidential Beach Front Pool Villa of V Villas Hua Hin; and MGallery by Sofitel.

La Maison 1888 was named among the worlds ten most beautiful restaurants by newspapers NewYork Daily News and The Daily Meal. The restaurant then ranked one of the top 10 in the World's Best New Restaurants 2016 by CNN. This year, the restaurant was named Best Hotel/Resort Fine Dining Restaurant Worldwide 2016/17" by Hotel of The Year Awards in January. Now the restaurant was named Asia's Leading Fine Dining Hotel Restaurant 2017 by World Travel Awards.

To be recognised in this year's awards is a result of the thoughtful and world-class service and great experiences we deliver to our guests everyday as well as the fantastic vision of our owners who built the most impressive Resort in Asia, said Juan Losada, general manager of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort.

2017 marks the fifth year since InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula officially started operation. Since 2012, the 200-room ocean view resort, surrounded by Son Tra Peninsulas beautiful scenery, has received a host of prestigious awards. As of now, the resort designed by Bill Bensley, has received about 40 of the highest awards in the regional and global tourism industry.

The World Travel Awards was launched in 1993 to acknowledge excellence in the travel and tourism industry and is now in its 24th year. Heralded as the travel industry's equivalent to the Oscar's by The Wall Street Journal, the awards are handed out based on votes by the public and travel professionals worldwide.
The Dangerous Side-Effects of Plastics, and How to Minimize Their Toxic Impact

Plastics are not only an environmental disaster; these man-made conveniences introduced a century ago are also harming our physical and mental health. Phthalates  chemical compounds used to make plastic more flexible and durable  are found in more products than you might imagine, and have become the human bodys
The Arab Syrian army (ie the Syrian Republics army) has managed to reach the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Over the last two months, the US Coalition Forces have bombed militias or soldiers loyal to Damascus on three separate occasions. And why? Probably to cut the silk route and to prevent a bridge being built between the Syrian army and the Iraqi army.

The re-establishment of the Damascus-Baghdad route would signal that the mission that the Obama Administration entrusted to Daesh at the beginning of 2014 has failed [1].

Jeff Davis, the Pentagons spokesperson thanked Russia for its stabilizing action in this area.
On 6 June 2017 at Paris, the Saudi Minister for Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Joubeir, laid down the conditions for re-establishing diplomatic relations with Qatar. These include expelling Hamas whose political leadership was brutally displaced from Damascus to Doha, in 2012, just before it declared itself to be The Palestinian Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (a title that it subsequently abandoned).

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, supported the saudi pre-condition.

Qatar has at last asked some, but not all, of Hamass leaders, present on its territory to leave.

The entire Arab world has interpreted the speech that US President, Donald Trump delivered on 21 May at Riyadh as giving them the licence to put an end to terrorism and therefore to their master, the Muslim Brotherhood. The vision that the Arab Press had of Hamas has suddenly radically changed: up until now Hamas was considered as a legitimate movement of the Palestine Resistance. The Arab Press presents it now as a terrorist organization that manipulates and exploits the sufferings of the Palestine people. It is only the media funded by Iran does not participate in this stampede.

Khaled Mechaal and a delegation of the Political Bureau went to Teheran. It seems that Iran has decided to grant political asylum to Hamas.

Hamas has a complex history. It was in 1987 that three members of the Muslim Brotherhood established it, initially at the initiative of the United Kingdom. While Hamas made no challenge to Western colonialism, it declared that the Koran prohibits a Muslim land from being governed by non-Muslims. This is why it personifies religious resistance to Israel. For years, Tel-Aviv helped it to develop so as to lessen the influence of the secular Fatah, Yasser Arafat, himself supported by the United States and France. Gradually, Iran exercised stronger and stronger influence over the armed branch of Hamas to which it provided a large number of arms. In 2012, in the context of what appeared the triumph of the British project, the Arab Springs, Hamas declared itself to be the Palestinian Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite the links between the Hamas and the MI6 and despite the anti-imperialist ideal of Imam Khomeini, Teheran decided to consider this declaration as an act, internal to Palestine.

We are currently witnessing a change in paradigm in the Middle East. The struggle against imperialism is blotted out when confronted by the struggle against clericalism. The chief supporters of political Islam are represented among the Sunnites by Hamas and among the Shiites by the government of Sheikh Hassan Rouhani.
Chief Minister to Address United Nations C24 on Monday

The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia have left for New York this weekend.

In line with the policy of the Government, on Monday the Chief Minister will again address the Committee of 24 on Gibraltar issues during their annual examination of the territories that remain on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.

Mr Picardo will update the Committee on the political situation of Gibraltar over the last twelve months, including the position of Gibraltar in relation to the decision taken in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Mr Picardo and Dr Garcia will take advantage of their time in New York in order to hold a number of meetings on political and commercial issues.

They return to Gibraltar on Tuesday. In the absence of the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, the Minister for Education Dr John Cortes will act as Chief Minister.
SSFN Chairman Yadav faces backlash in Madhes

Sanghiya Samajswadi Forum Nepal (SSFN) Chairman Upendra Yadav, who was regarded as an architect in Madhes for waging campaigns for rights of Madhes and Madhesis ten years ago, has faced backlash in the southern belt on Sunday.
Back in season seven, Mark Gatiss reintroduced classic Doctor Who villains the Ice Warriors in Cold War, an episode I was gaga over. A big part of my love revolved around its infusion of 80s nuclear paranoia, which at the time seemed something of a distant memory. My, how just a few years can see us tumbling backward. Empress of Mars, which is in no way a sequel to Cold War (indeed, it takes place a hundred years before its predecessor), is another score for Gatiss, and enough so that we must forgive him for last seasons dire Sleep No More. Empress is a sleek tale of honor, loyalty, and redemption told through the filter of science-fiction mavericks such as Burroughs, Verne, and Wells.

The action kicks off in the present day at NASA, which the Doctor, Bill, and Nardole have infiltrated seemingly for no other reason than because they can. A probe called the Valkyrie is sending back images from a previously unseen area of the planet, and the first one shocks everyone in the room: Its a landscape across which is written God Save the Queen. The Doctor wastes no time taking his posse to the planet, albeit in 1881, which is when the TARDIS says the message was created. (Must be a handy new feature that well likely never see again.) They materialize underground in an elaborate cave system, replete with oxygen, which the Doctor credits the indigenous Martians with engineering.

Without warning, Bill tumbles down a shaft and Nardole rushes back to the TARDIS to get rescue gear  only for the TARDIS to dematerialize, seemingly of its own accord. We never do get a solid reason for why that happens, but the result of the action is probably the only reason we need: Missy. The craft returns to the school and the only person Nardole can turn to is inside the vault. Shes happy to help. We see neither of them again until the end of the episode, when Nardole nervously greets the Doctor and Bill. As they step through the door, they see Missy sheepishly peeking from behind the time rotor. The Doctor quietly informs her that this cant happen and that she must go back into the vault. She comes closer to him, seemingly most concerned for his health and safety, and theres a moment of pure electricity between the Doctor and his old nemesis. What is going on there?

On one hand, its difficult to believe Missy has changed. Surely this is an elaborate ruse, right? The idea that shes putting on a show in order to escape back out into the universe seems the most plausible scenario. But the more interesting possibility is that she actually has undergone a transformation of spirit. Were nearing the end of not just Peter Capaldis Doctor but also Michelle Gomezs Missy. Would it not be poetic to have experienced some genuine change in this character, perhaps for the first time in over 40 years?

The Doctor: The indigenous species  an ancient reptilian race that built themselves a sort of biomechanical armor for protection. The creature within is at one with its carapace. The Ice Warriors  they could build a city under the sand, yet drench the snows of Mars with innocent blood. They could slaughter whole civilizations, yet weep at the crushing of a flower.

Back in the caves. the Doctor runs into a hulking Ice Warrior while Bill encounters Captain Catchlove (Victorias Ferdinand Kingsley), decked out in a steampunk spacesuit thats sure to have cosplayers working overtime. But the two are not enemies as it first appears. Colonel Godsacre (Anthony Calf) was stationed in South Africa where he found a Martian vessel. Inside was an Ice Warrior in a deep sleep. They dubbed him Friday and helped him repair his ship, and he in return built the Gargantua, a piece of mining equipment cobbled together from the Martian ships weaponry. The group returned to Mars to loot it for promised riches that werent to be found, and theyve been stranded ever since.

The battle-scarred Friday (Richard Ashton) is a much different Ice Warrior than any weve seen before, though still seemingly built on little cues from Doctor Whos past. See, in the classic series, the Ice Warriors were villains for two Patrick Troughton serials (The Ice Warriors and The Seeds of Death), but when they returned a few years later in Jon Pertwees The Curse of Peladon, theyd cleaned up their act and joined the Galactic Federation. They were suddenly the good guys! Friday exists in a state in between the two extremes  and with good reason, as we find out at the close of the episode. He says, I am old and tired and spent and yet catches a falling plate in mid-air. All is not entirely as it seems. Friday has used the Victorian soldiers not just as a way back to Mars, but also to unwittingly help him find and excavate his sleeping Queen.

The Gargantua does precisely what Friday had planned, which is unearth the Ice Queens resplendent tomb. Soon, greed takes hold of soldier Jackdaw (Game of Thrones Ian Beattie), and he pries jewels from the sarcophagus which leads to the Queens awakening and his death. The female of the species is apparently more deadly than the male, and Iraxxa (Adele Lynch) is every bit the warrior as her male subordinates, if not more so. Shes a one-woman killing machine, and perhaps the episodes greatest bit of revisionism comes in the form of what the Ice Warrior weapons can do, which is best described as delightfully horrific: They instantaneously crunch the body into a bouncy cube! It looks terribly painful, but it happens so fast it also seems unlikely the victims feel anything.

The Doctor brokers a truce by explaining that the Martian empire is no more, which Friday confirms. Iraxxa looks to Bill for solidarity and counsel as they are surrounded by noisy males. Sadly, a soldier fires, though its unclear if it was by accident or design. Nevertheless, war is declared and Catchlove takes command of the group, exposing Godsacres secret  hes a coward and a deserter and was hanged for his crimes, only the rope didnt kill him, just left him with a nasty scar. He places the Colonel along with the Doctor and Bill into confinement.

Bill (to Godsacre): Listen, Im going to make allowances for your Victorians attitudes because  well, you actually are Victorian.

A battle ensues, with more Warriors rising up through the ground itself, mercilessly slaughtering the Victorians. Friday wishes to work with the Doctor, and Bill brings the violence to a standstill by stepping in and again grabbing the Queens attention  but its not enough. The Doctor threatens to bring the entire cave system crashing down with one shot from the Gargantuan, burying everyone in ice. Before anything of the sort can happen, Catchlove puts a sword to Iraxxas throat, but Godsacre surprises everyone  with a bullet to the Captains gut.

Godsacre: Some time ago, I was hanged for cowardice. The execution took longer than expected, and I fear I have not used my time well. I should be happy for you to complete the work they failed to do so long ago.

The Doctor sends a transmission to the stars, and within seconds someone sends a message back, and old-school fans either shrieked with delight or fell out of their chairs: Its Alpha Centauri, the hermaphroditic hexapod, voiced by none other than 92-year-old Ysanne Churchman, who voiced the absurdly phallic creature back in the 70s. The story ends up a ret-con detailing the Ice Warrior transition between the Troughton and Pertwee eras. Godsacre, now beholden to the Ice Queen, helps to place a monument on the planets surface so they can be found: Its the God Save the Queen message that brought the Doctor to Mars in the first place.

Odds and Ends

 Ace Bits: The Queen is a standout; Lynch and Ashton do incredible work under heavy makeup and costumes (shes reminiscent of the Borg Queen from First Contact, yes?); the ongoing classic movie jargon from Bill that culminates in the Doctor making a Frozen joke.

 Naff Bits: That awkward moment when Bill seems to have no knowledge of Robinson Crusoe. Perhaps it was meant to contrast with her movie knowledge?

 Anthony Calf, who may be the episodes MVP, made his television debut in the 1982 Doctor Who serial The Visitation.

 The line RHIP  rank has its privileges was first said by Captain Mike Yates in Day of the Daleks.

 Popular English actor Peter Sallis, who starred as Penley in The Ice Warriors, died at the age of 96 last week.

 An original Ice Warrior mask was recently found and has been restored.
Sense8. Photo: Murray Close / Netflix

On the heels of Netflixs controversial cancellations of Sense8 and The Get Down, a bunch of network presidents gathered on Friday at the ATX Television Festival in Austin to discuss the changing TV landscape. Naturally, the topic of the rival streaming services ostensible rough patch came up. Im glad theyre canceling shows, Nick Grad, FXs President of Original Programming, bluntly declared. They cant have 10,000 shows  I think it brings them back in the ecosystem of where were all trying to make the best shows and the best decisions. Craig Erwich, of Hulu, echoed the sentiment, noting that because Netflix is capitalist, its merely reached the level other networks were already operating at in terms of the bottom line: If canceling shows is the phase where they are, he explained, it makes sense.

But as the discussion turned to networks own decisions for pickups and cancellations, of course, things got a little more complicated. Erwich admitted that chasing after high-dollar packaged projects is fraught with risk  indeed, Netflix failures Sense8 and The Get Down cost around $10 million each per episode  and others admitted to regretting past cancellation decisions. We were kind of in a confused state at NBC, the networks president, Jennifer Salke, said about axing Ryan Murphys The New Normal a few years back. If it had hit now, the story would be completely different.

Netflix, for its part, isnt exactly sweating the recent string of cancellations. The companys CEO Reed Hastings went so far as to argue last week that it should be canceling more shows and setting a higher bar for success, while, in his own recent ATX event, chief content officer Ted Sarandos frankly noted that Sense8 and The Get Down were big, expensive shows reaching only a tiny audience. As he explained the issue, [Thats] even hard in our model.
Darrell Anderson never saw a battlefield in World War II. His job dealing with the aftermath of military service was unusual  removing items from the possession of deceased soldiers that could've led to anguish or embarrassment for the next of kin.

Its probably not a job just a country kid, as he calls himself, thought about when he joined the U.S. Army.

Anderson, 88, was raised on a farm outside of Hubbard. His father had been in World War I and had been gassed in Germany; he was never healthy again.

Anderson grew up in the Great Depression. Even though the family was poor, they survived by raising what they needed on the farm, including hogs, chickens and pinto beans by the acre, he said.

I was so poor I couldnt pay attention, he joked. I could squeeze a penny hard enough to make Lincoln cry.

Anderson attended school in Mount Calm. After high school, he decided against junior college because he wanted to kick some   he said.

He also knew he could eventually take advantage of the GI Bill, which would pay for his college education. He wasnt quite 18 in the summer of 1946, but they let me in anyway, he said. Waco was the farthest he had been from home in his life.

The first job he was offered was playing Taps on the bugle, as there were many funerals after the war. He didnt care for that, because it wouldve meant living out of a duffel bag, riding from town to town in buses and trains. I said, with all due respect, hell no.

Second and final job option

So, he was assigned another job  with no choice. He found out he was going to Camp Hood, but when he received his orders, that wasnt the case. He told the officer there had been a mistake and he learned his first lesson, after a good chewing-out: I learned to keep my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open, Anderson said.

He was assigned to Headquarters, 6003 Co., of the 4th Infantry Division. He was stationed in California at Fort Ord and the Presidio of San Francisco. He would spend his military service on the West Coast.

Andersons job was to process the personal effects of soldiers killed during the war. Now a corporal, he had a crew of eight to 10 men who went through the personal effects to ensure nothing offensive or hurtful (photos, letters and so forth) were sent home to loved ones.

You know mothers. No matter how bad your child is, hes a good boy, he said.

Seeing the massive number of items for the first time was overwhelming. My thought was, well never see the end of this, he said.

They processed about 20 cases a day. There were warehouses with other outfits doing the same thing. They went through duffel bags, wallets and footlockers. Clothes went to the quartermaster and items deemed offensive were removed. Another unit sent the personal belongings to the next of kin.

The Army was extra careful with GI belongings. They didnt want anyone to pilfer. One of Andersons jobs was the ensure that didnt happen. I had a good crew, Anderson said. I didnt have any problems.

He was also there in case the men had questions. Anderson himself made the final decision on whether an item whould be sent home or discarded. If there was any doubt, it wasnt sent.

Back to Texas in 1949

Anderson did this job for nearly three years before his time was up and he returned home.

In 1949 he married his sweetheart, Juanita Slaughter, a girl he had dated for years. They had 42 years together before she passed away in 1991. They had two children, but Juanita never got to meet her grandchildren. She was exceptional. She never met a stranger, he said.

Anderson worked for the Farm Bureau before attending Baylor on the GI Bill. After earning his BBA, he took a job with Fleetwood International in 1962. He retired in 1990.

He still goes on missionary trips to Peru and will return there in January, marking his 17th visit.

Today, Anderson believes hes been blessed, even if he didnt see combat. I might not be here, he said, if he had done anything else

He doesnt want a military funeral, because he didnt see combat. But he was happy to have served and was willing to fight had that been his assignment.
Three injured in Khotang clashes

Three people were injured in clashes between supporters of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML during election campaigns in the district on Saturday.
Carolyn J. Gunn

September 11, 1944 - June 8, 2017

Carolyn J. Gunn, 72, of Waco, Texas, passed away Thursday, June 8, 2017. No services are planned.

Carolyn was born on September 11, 1944, in Waco, Texas. She graduated from Waco High School in 1962. She received a degree from Baylor University in Music education. Carolyn worked as a public school teacher and in the travel industry. She was a member the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church of Waco, Texas. Carolyn was a life-long enthusiastic supporter of Waco and of Baylor University.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Everett and Annelle Gunn; and her brother, Richard Gunn. She is survived by her cousins, Steve Gunn of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and Marsha Gunn Lovin of Georgetown, Texas.

Memorial donations may be made to the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church of Waco, Texas 1624 Wooded Acres Dr., Waco, TX 76710.
A few years ago, I was asked to host a panel to address the problem of opioid abuse. It seemed like a fascinating topic and I readily agreed. One of the first people I reached out to was a local emergency room physician, Chris Johnson, who works at a hospital in an affluent suburb. What he told me was chilling: that a regular part of his day is spent dealing with those who have overdosed on opioids and those who are trying to scam him to get opioids.

With the New York Times reporting over 59,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2016  making drug overdose the leading cause of death of Americans under 50  it seems that Dr. Johnson simply has a better view of reality than I do. He has a lot of company, though, including hundreds or thousands in McLennan County who have seen the tragedy firsthand: the parents who watch a child die, the friends who dont know what to do as an overdose begins and the EMTs who race from one overdose victim to the next on a Saturday night.

So what to do about it?

The first thing is to treat the opioid epidemic as a crisis that will take time, money and sacrifice to fix. And, yes, it is a crisis; the death total alone tells us that. Yet our governments dont seem to have gotten the memo. President Trump has formed a task force, sure  but that task force is overseen by Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law who has no experience in the field and who has also been tasked with reinventing government, reforming care for veterans and bringing peace to the Middle East.

The second thing is to recognize the nature of the challenge. Opioids span a range of illegal and prescription narcotics, all of which do basically the same thing: attach to specific receptors in the brain to dull pain and cause pleasure. This means that an opioid user can get a similar effect from either black tar heroin bought on the street or oxycodone prescribed by a doctor; they are effectively interchangeable and those who become addicted do change from one to the other based on availability and cost. That means that an effective response must do two things at once: restrict street narcotics through law enforcement and address over-prescription of legal drugs by doctors. Unless you do both at once, the plague will continue.

The bigger challenge may be to contain over-prescription, since there is a financially motivated and well-funded group of entities who will likely oppose such measures: the doctors who prescribe the pills and the companies who make them. Yet it has to happen. In 12 states, there are more opioid prescriptions than there are people. And many of the people receiving those prescriptions move on to pain-pill addiction and then heroin.

Many of us have seen close-up how this happens. The same week that I visited the emergency room to talk with Dr. Johnson about the danger of opioids, I happened to have a minor bout of diverticulitis and went to the emergency room at a different hospital. As I was discharged, the doctor asked me to describe my pain on a standard range from zero to 10, with zero correlating to no pain and 10 representing the worst pain possible. I circled three, indicating mild to moderate pain, next to a sketch of a guy who looked like he was suffering through a bad foreign film. The doctor handed me a completely unnecessary prescription for oxycodone, an opioid.

More than anything, resources must be paired with imagination in order to find better ways to fight this crisis. We must develop new addiction treatment options, for example, since the ones we have too often fail and about half of those in treatment drop out. Even the ones that work best often do so by substituting one opioid for another.

Law enforcement needs to be creative, too. The best that drug interdiction can do is temporarily raise the street price of narcotics (because drugs are a market), but that can be a worthwhile goal since higher prices drive some people out of the market. Creativity will mean more than locking people up. It will mean focusing on the people with unique skills rather than street dealers who are easily replaced, and pursuing the cash flow that sustains illegal narcotics businesses. The traditional methods for fighting drugs have failed, as use remains steady among all narcotics.

Some things are worth public investment at the state and federal levels. Addressing a crisis that leads to tens of thousands of deaths is one of them.
Add another divisive decision to President Trumps tally: pulling out of the Paris climate accord. Depending on your perspective, you may have been horrified or relieved. In either case, more uncertainty has been created.

The Paris Accord came out of a 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. More than 190 countries participated in the agreement, which involves voluntary reductions in emissions levels. Most countries tied pollution reductions to financial payments. Richer nations (including the United States) agreed to pay billions into a fund to assist poorer countries in achieving their goals.

Clearly, protecting the environment is essential to human health and wellbeing, quality of life and the economy. I have studied the economics of this issue and, believe me, the costs of harmful levels of pollutants are very high in terms of additional needs for health care, reduced productivity and premature mortality (among other things). These effects are in addition to the potential longer-term damage of climate change, which could be devastating.

Pulling out of the major initiative designed to deal with environmental challenges on a global scale was, not surprisingly, a controversial move. It took us out of the company of the major countries in the world on this issue and relegated us to a group inhabited only by Syria and Nicaragua  the latter of which did not join the accord because it did not go far enough.

Nonetheless, some legitimate arguments on the other side of the issue exist. Some studies found that the Paris Accord was poorly structured and would be unlikely to result in meaningful improvement. Also, some of the targeted industries, such as coal-fired power-generation facilities, have already come a long way in the United States and enhanced technologies have dramatically lowered emissions.

In addition, diversity in fuels used to generate electric power is a good thing in that it can help keep overall costs lower if prices for one input fuel rise and provide assurance of ample supplies under a variety of conditions. Moreover, if complying with the Paris Accord led to the significant increases in electricity costs for families and business which some researchers projected, the economy would suffer.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Paris Accord was that President Obama agreed to voluntarily reduce U.S. carbon emissions by a large amount (more than one fourth) in a relatively short period of time. It would have been a very difficult and expensive goal to achieve and a portion of these costs would have been passed along to consumers.

At the same time, other nations with large pollution problems agreed to relatively little in terms of reductions. This imbalance was a potential source of concern, although the goal was primarily aspirational and likely would not be achieved in any case.

So the real question is: What happens next? In the decision to withdraw, President Trump said that he plans to begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris Accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States and that he will work to ensure that America remains the worlds leader on environmental issues.

If a new agreement can be reached, that will be good news indeed, as the stakes are very high. As a practical matter, however, it is very difficult to bring 200 countries together when the major partner has shown itself to be unreliable.

As a side note, one argument I have seen put forth is that pulling out of the Paris Accord will harm U.S. green energy industries by curtailing their innovation and development. I dont see this as a likely scenario. Many Americans and companies are committed to purchasing power generated from green sources and that reality has little or nothing to do with the Paris agreement. Demand for green energy will drive innovation and expansion in the industry, and products and technologies will find ready buyers in domestic and international markets. Most major energy producers are diversifying and seeking better environmental properties for traditional fuels.

Many of our closest allies and trading partners are unhappy with the United States pulling out of the Paris Accord, as are millions of Americans. This factor could lead to added problems in trade and other economic issues. We need to be showing leadership in improving the environment, as there is much to be done. Whether this agreement was the best way to deal with climate issues can be credibly debated, but there is little doubt that global progress on the environmental front may be harder to come by with the United States abandoning its key seat at a very important table.
I sit here with an almost empty classroom and, like most teachers, this is a bittersweet moment for me. As I put away personal objects that have become dusty amid the past years activities, I cant help thinking about putting them out again at the beginning of the new school year.

Come fall, Ill polish all those items that tell stories, like the coffee mugs given to me by former students. Each has a story. There is the very first mug I received from a student in my first class ever. When I look at it, I wonder what happened to Nina, the student who gave me the mug. Did she become the nurse she wanted to become?

And theres the mug I received on Valentines Day years ago stuffed with candy. When I found out the student who gave it to me spent her money on me, I cried buckets. She was one of our homeless population. Whatever happened to her?

One mug I received from two students who were best friends. It sparks some conflicting emotions as it was given to cheer me up after the deadly chemical explosion in West where I live. But I love that mug just as much for those two dear girls moving on with their lives.

And then there are the mugs I have received from Baylor interns whom I have mentored these past years.

As I throw away this years leftover student paperwork, used pens and pencils and other miscellaneous materials, I wonder what will happen to this years students. I worry about them. There is the gifted artist who leaves for basic training just days after graduation. There is the young man who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance till he spoke with a Navy recruiter. He has proudly joined the Navy now. There are those former high school athletes who may go on to play college sports. Will their dreams of going pro be fulfilled?

Such questions bubble forth year after year. What of the students who barely scraped by because they were dealing with homelessness or parent illness or even parent death? Some even dealt with major illnesses of their own. Will they find happy, successful lives? What of the students who could barely endure 10 minutes without checking their phones? Will they be able to find and keep jobs with this distraction they carry? What about the health science students? Will they one day care for me in my old age? What of those in rocketry? Will they work for a space program to take us to the stars or come up with much-needed technology as our own world changes? How many of these students will become educators, musicians, chefs, priests, mothers, fathers? Where will lifes path take them?

Graduation of these students is always so hard. I tell them this is a life-changing moment. I tell them once they get that piece of paper in their hands, they can never go back to being just a high school student. They will forever and always be an ex, an alumnus. As each student walks across the stage, I will cheer for them, for they have accomplished so much. Some have accomplished more than others. Some have had to deal with way more than others. I will also tear up as I remember our time together. Some were happy, joyful moments. Some were sobering, soul-searching moments. But they were moments together, and that is the most important thing.

Again, as I clean out my classroom for the summer, these thoughts run through my mind. Ill say goodbye to some dear faculty friends as they move on to another school, another career or maybe retirement. I hate this time of year because of all the goodbyes, but I love this time of year as work and plans come to fruition for students, teachers and staff.

And there is the anticipation of next year. Next fall when I take everything out that has been packed away and polish them brightly as a fresh red apple, I know it will be the beginning of another wonderful year at University High School. Ill never forget those students and staff who have come through my door, but I also look forward to new ones who will challenge me once again.
Tuesdays show of support organized by the local NAACP and McLennan County Democratic Party for Precinct 2 County Commissioner Lester Gibson at a commissioners meeting percolated with outrage over an alleged conspiracy to undermine and oust Gibson. No less than NAACP President Peaches Henry, in organizing the protest, claimed that Gibson, who is black and a Democrat, was the victim of character assassination and that it was important that the African-American community stand together in these perilous times.

Problem: Were aware of no conspiracy to forcibly oust Gibson, a much-venerated civil-rights icon in our community elected in 2014 to what he said would be his last term. True, recent incidents involving county business and at least some of Gibsons constituents and colleagues have raised legitimate questions about his memory of late, but these have nothing to do with conspiracies involving race or politics. If evidence of all this being racially based or politically motivated exists, those making a stand for Gibson failed to present it.

Yes, Gibsons fellow commissioners  all white Republicans  did express concern when Gibson said he remembered nothing of a major county settlement on Americans With Disabilities Act violations that commissioners have been working on regularly the past two years  a conundrum that prompted the court to defer the matter. Yes, Mart Mayor Pro Tem Henry Witt III  a Gibson champion and a fellow Democrat  has suggested scrutiny regarding Gibsons memory after problems arose involving Mart and the county. Yes, County Judge Scott Felton has acknowledged hearing from constituents, city leaders and county employees concerned about Gibsons memory. But this problem  whether arising from health issues, indifference or miscommunication  hardly justifies any suggestions of racism and political opportunism. This particular court has worked well together for several years.

Yet public comments Tuesday lent credence to nefarious goings-on. Ramona Curtis, Baylor University Community Engagement and Initiatives director, alleged a witch hunt born behind closed doors. Veteran activist John April hinted any such effort would conjure up times of segregation: Let us not retreat to days we would rather forget. Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Duty invoked the analogy of a candidate in this country thats prone to outbursts late at night, thats prone to rants. The court was even treated to a sermon by Virgil Bell, Wacos praying man, who went to his knees at one point and swayed as the spirit moved him on Gibsons behalf. (Judge Felton sparked laughter after ignoring Bells busting the time limit on public comments: I had a little trouble trying to stop a man thats praying.)

As Trib courthouse staffer Cassie L. Smith notes, no one has made a move to oust Gibson through any state-required protocols. The court at present seems determined to work around any problems. Everyone should consider the advice of someone who posted on the McLennan County Democratic Party Facebook page: Wow, the color of his skin should have no bearing on this issue, and making it a point of contention only serves to weaken any position you take.
Training for Bheri hospital staff

Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre (SGNHC) is imparting training to medical staff of Bheri Zonal Hospital, Nepalgunj, and started the process to procure equipment as part of its plan to expand the services and set up a state-of-the-art laboratory in the town of the mid-western region.
An anonymous fan of Warren Buffett agreed to pay $US2.68 million ($3.5 million) at an online charity auction to have lunch with the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

The winning bid came in the closing seconds of the five-day eBay auction, which drew 41 bids before ending on Friday night.

It was lower than the record $US3.46 million bid in similar auctions in 2012 and 2016.

Money will go to Glide, a San Francisco charity that provides food, health care and other services to the homeless, the impoverished, and people struggling with substance abuse.
It takes an actor of a certain stature to stand head to toe in Lycra, taking seriously the menace posed by a loose menagerie of ham-acting co-stars dressed as a penguin, a cat, a man with question marks on his underpants and another with an egg for a head.

And yet Adam West, lovingly remembered by a generation as Batman  despite many more dramatic and arguably more authentic interpretations  was that actor: fabulously grand, a whisker from absurd and still, somehow, wholly relatable.

Today, pop culture's pantheon of living gods, has lost its Zeus: Adam West, 88, has died after a short battle with leukemia.

West's Batman might have been consigned to the dustbin of television history, along with an assortment of other 60s sitcom oddities, were it not for the seriousness with which he approached the part.
The Turnbull government is preparing for a frenzied fortnight of negotiations with the Senate crossbench as it seeks to pass its Gonski 2.0 school funding changes into law.

With Labor opposed to the controversial new funding model, the government is still short of the numbers needed to overhaul the way the nation's schools are funded.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham is lobbying the Senate crossbench to support the government's school funding changes. Credit:James Hall

Education Minister Simon Birmingham will bring his school funding legislation to a Senate vote over the next two weeks, before Parliament rises for an extended winter break.

The government is moving quickly on the issue because the changes would take effect next year and principals need certainty to plan their budgets.
Antony Green had just arrived in London last week when word came that he would be made an Officer in the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Yet the man who arrived in Australia with his "ten-pound Pom" parents as a four-year-old in 1964 seemed altogether unfazed by the honour.

Antony Green and Kerry O'Brien cover the 2007 election.

He had work to do. Green was puzzling over commentary suggesting Theresa May's Conservatives had fallen so far in the polls they could actually lose to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.

It didn't seem possible, he said. He'd have to plunge deep into the data.
WA Police have charged a 24-year-old Hocking man with the murder of Peter Anthony Jarman in a deadly apartment fire last Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called to the North Perth rental on Charles Street at around 10.40am after neighbours heard a loud explosion, and reported billowing smoke coming from the home.

Peter Anthony Jarman died during a blaze at his North Perth apartment. Credit:WA Police

Firefighters were able to locate Peter Anthony Jarman during a second search of the property. He was given CPR by paramedics and was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital, but later died as a result of his injuries.

WA Police spokeswoman Susan Usher confirmed the 24-year-old man had been charged with murder and criminal damage and is due to appear in Perth Magistrate's Court on Sunday.
WA Police are searching for a driver of a vehicle who failed to stop when a woman was thrown from her Vespa scooter on Saturday evening.

Between 5.30pm and 5.45pm, the 28-year-old Osborne Park woman was driving her black Vespa scooter along Harborne Street in Wembley.

The intersection where the accident occurred. Credit:Google Maps

At the intersection of Harborne and Cambridge Street, a vehicle turned directly into the woman's path.

"The Vespa slid from under the woman and she was thrown to the ground," WA Police spokeswoman Susan Usher said.
Nepal telecom Chief attacked

A group of unidentified individuals attacked Nepal Telecommunications Authority Chairman Digambar Jha in the Capital on Sunday.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 11, 2017 | 07:15 AM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY

A McCracken County man was arrested Friday afternoon on numerous drug offenses following a traffic stop.

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, detectives conducted a traffic stop on a motorcycle driven by 38-year-old Chesley Moore of Mayfield-Metropolis Road. Detectives had observed Moore weaving in and out of traffic.

A check of the registration plates on the motorcycle revealed it had expired in 2016. During the stop detectives also learned that Moore didn't have a motorcycle license or insurance.

A search was conducted of the motorcycle, where detectives found little bags of methamphetamine packaged for sale, some marijuana, a digital scale and a loaded .380 caliber handgun.

Moore was arrested and lodged in the McCracken County Regional Jail. He's charged with firearm enhanced trafficking in methamphetamine, firearm enhanced possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, no motorcycle operator's license, expired registration plates and no insurance.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 10, 2017 | 08:18 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Wickliffe resident and convicted felon, Christopher Ford, was the last of six co-defendants sentenced in United States District Court this week to 240 months in prison, followed by a five year period of supervised release, by Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, for his role in the distribution of methamphetamine, a controlled substance, and additional charges of being a felon in possession of firearms.

The sentencing of Christopher Ford marks the end of a dangerous and large-scale methamphetamine distribution ring operating in the Wickliffe community, stated U.S. Attorney John Kuhn. This case is just one example of our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working together to disrupt the methamphetamine supply in western Kentucky. Drug dealers who sell this poison will face stiff penalties when we bring them to justice."

Ford, 50, conspired with Wickliffe residents Amy Pary, 40; Delana Mott, 35; Keith A. Cooper, 35; Johnny R. Magee, 43; and Vanessa Cooper to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, between March 1, 2015, and August 26, 2015. All of the sales took place in Ballard County. All were sentenced in United States District Court by Senior Judge Russell.

Co-defendant Pary was sentenced to 132 months, Mott was sentenced to 120 months, Cooper was sentenced to 63 months, Magee was sentenced to 48 months and Vanessa Cooper was sentenced to two years of probation.

Ford was convicted in Ballard Circuit Court, on September 5, 2008, in of manufacturing methamphetamine, and criminal syndicate/engaging in organized crime. In U.S. District Court, Ford plead guilty to possession of the following firearms: (1) a Smith and Wesson, Model SD40VE, .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol; (2) a Cobra Enterprises, Inc., Model CA380, .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol; (3) a Leinad, Inc., Model MR, .45/410 caliber pistol; (4) a Stag Arms, Model Stag-15, 5.56 millimeter rifle; and (5) a DPMS (Defense Procurement Manufacturing Service), Model A15, .223-5.56 millimeter caliber rifle; and ammunition.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 10, 2017 | 09:07 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has announced that his office is working with Tennessee law enforcement to focus on the effective prosecution of vehicular homicide cases.

The annual training event, being held in Pigeon Forge June 13-15, brings together Kentucky commonwealth's attorneys with prosecutors from the Tennessee District Attorney's Office and crash reconstruction officers from both states.

"Unfortunately, the Commonwealth has experienced a 10 percent increase in annual highway fatalities from 2015 through 2016," Beshear said. "My administration is focused on addressing the persistent challenges our families face, and one of those is better addressing Kentucky's drug epidemic. Every time our families, our friends or our children get in a vehicle, they are at risk of being harmed by a driver under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol."

In 2016, 834 people were killed on Kentucky's roadways. A statistic that remains constant, Beshear said, is that one in five highway fatalities are in crashes that involved alcohol.

In Kentucky last year, there were more than 6,228 collisions involving alcohol and drugs, resulting in more than 2,900 injuries and 167 fatalities.

Advanced training in this area by prosecutors and crash reconstructionists will improve the ability of prosecutors to both recognize these events as well as to successfully prosecute them when warranted, Beshear said.

Attorney General's Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Robert Stokes will work in coordination with his Tennessee counterpart to present the training, which is open to the media. The training is at the Courtyard Marriott at 120 Community Drive in Pigeon Forge.

The goal of the training is to create a team building approach between crash reconstruction officers and state prosecutors, Stokes said.

The training is presented under the direction of the American Prosecutors Research Institute's (APRI) National Traffic Law Center. Last year's training was held at Lake Barkley State Park in Cadiz.
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Wexford photographer Declan Roche is back among the best with stunning shot of hare on Curracloe Beach
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/06/2017 (1978 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like most North American cities, Winnipeg faced a downtown parking crisis in the decade following the Second World War. It caused architects and developers to look upward for solutions.

The root of the problem was while most people still worked and shopped downtown, tens of thousands had been moving to the sparsely populated suburbs where the car was king and the use of public transportation often impractical.

Winnipeg Tribune The Hudson's Bay Company ran advertisements trumpeting the opening of Winnipegs first parkade in 1954.

Wilbur Smith, a traffic engineer from New Haven, Conn., was hired by the Metropolitan Planning Commission of Greater Winnipeg in 1956 to study the parking problem.

Smith pointed out that between 1946 and 1956 the number of cars registered in the greater Winnipeg area had almost tripled. At the same time, public transportation rates plummeted.

Looking ahead a decade, Smith estimated the citys downtown would lose about nine per cent of its on-street parking stalls, a total of 965, to developments such as new bridges and expressways, while the demand for parking spaces would likely increase by about 25 per cent.

Smiths main recommendation was to do what many other cities, especially those in the U.S., had done and build municipally owned, multi-level parking structures in the central business district to help meet the parking demand.

The city had been toying with the idea of building a municipal parkade since the early 1950s, but thanks in part to provincial regulations restricting the creation of a parking authority and its own trepidation at spending money, nothing came of it.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Bay Parkade, as seen from Memorial Boulevard, has been hosting vehicles since it opened with two levels in 1954. By 1964, the demand for downtown parking had seen it expanded to four levels.

Unwilling to wait any longer for the city to act, Winnipegs first parkade was constructed by the Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) behind its downtown store in 1954.

The retailer hired National Garages Inc. of Detroit, Mich., a firm that specialized in the engineering and operation of parking structures in the U.S., to manage the project. They, in turn, chose architects Smith Hynchman Grillis of Detroit for the design while local architects Moody Moore, now known as MMP Architects, were hired to oversee the construction.

It appears it was the HBC that chose the word parkade, a combination of the terms parking lot and retail arcade. While not unique to Winnipeg, (most of the HBCs other big-city western Canadian stores got parkades in the same era), it is considered to be primarily a Canadian term. Locally, parking structures built to this day are often christened parkades.

The initial HBC parkade was a double decker with a capacity of 450 cars, but was designed so additional storeys could be added.

To save gridlock at the entrances when it opened, HBC ran a series of newspaper ads in the leadup to the big day to let people know what to expect.

Winnipeg Tribune Not to be outdone by the completion, Eatons began construction on their own parkade, the citys second, in 1956.

Customers would be greeted at the parkade entrance by an attendant who escorted them to an empty spot then handed them a parking ticket. While shopping, customers could choose to have their packages sent to the parkades storage area, where they would be loaded into their vehicle before they paid the kiosk attendant and drove away.

The Bay Parkade opened at 9:00 am on Friday, Oct. 29th, 1954. The first car to enter was a convertible carrying the five longest-serving employees of the store. Customers were greeting by the sounds of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Band which performed for the first half hour of service.

The parkade was a great success even outside of store hours thanks to its proximity to the Winnipeg Auditorium with its full roster of evening and weekend events. The HBC added another parking level the following year and a final one in 1964.

Not to be outdone by the competition, the citys second parkade was built for the T. Eaton Company, though they referred to their structure by the British term, Car Park. The structure is now known as CityPlace Lot 1.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The former Eatons car park on Hargrave Street. It is now used by Bell MTS Place during events and as general public parking.

Eatons wedged its parkade onto Hargrave Street next to its power plant. The space had been its womens parking lot, one of three surface lots operated by the company for its store and mail order warehouse.

The company turned to the now experienced local parkade architects Moody Moore to design the $1-million, six-storey structure with a capacity of about 600 cars.

The Eatons parkade had its own elevators. Customers could use them to access the store through an underground tunnel or an elevated walkway, billed as Western Canadas first aerial crosswalk, which connected to the stores third floor.

Construction started in May 1956 and the first 200 parking spots were opened in mid-November, just in time for the Christmas rush. The other floors and the walkway opened in May 1957.

Winnipeg Free Press, April 5, 1957The citys third parkade, the automated Parkmaster across from the Marlborough Hotel, proved to be impractical. The $1 million structure was demolished after just a decade.

The last of the trio of 1950s parkades was the engineering marvel that was the Marlborough Hotels Parkmaster on Smith Street.

Rumoured to have cost nearly $1 million, the eight-storey structure was designed by Libling, Michener and Diamond and Associates, (now LM Architectural Group), to hold 360 cars.

The Parkmaster was fully automated. Customers drove into one of six entry aisles on Smith Street, locked their car and took a ticket from the attendant. Then, from an elevated perch similar to a lifeguards chair inside the structure, a parkmaster used his control panel to guide the car through a series of conveyors, elevators and turntables to an empty cubicle upstairs.

Newspaper stories of the day did not mention who manufactured the equipment, only saying it was new to Canada but in use elsewhere in North America.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Smith Street Parkade is located directly across from the Marlborough Hotel.

The Parkmaster opened on Sat., April 6, 1957 after a celebratory luncheon for civic leaders hosted by hotel manager Nathan Rothstein.

For all of its technology, the Parkmaster had a number of drawbacks. For one, it needed four attendants to operate it. It was also a dangerous place for the staff inside the structure, which was emphasized in 1966 when the parkades manager was killed after his head was crushed by a descending elevator.

Winnipeg TribuneAllen Burdett, one of the parkmasters at the Marlborough Hotels automated Parkmaster parkade, in his pilots seat.

The Marlboroughs biggest problem, though, was the parkades speed. It could unload, at most, two cars a minute, which was acceptable during the work day or on weekends. At afternoon rush hour or after a banquet, however, people had to line up for long periods to get their vehicle.

In July 1967, Rothstein told a Free Press reporter: We made a mistake and were admitting it. People dont seem to mind waiting as long as theyre sitting in their cars. But when theyre waiting with a crowd of other people for their cars to be brought down, they get annoyed.

A few weeks later, the Parkmaster was demolished. The current Smith Street Parkade replaced it in 1980.

By the end of 1957, the city boasted three parkades containing about 1,700 stalls. It was enough to provide some breathing space until the next wave of parkades opened between 1963 and 1965.

As for the city, its grand plans for a municipal downtown parkade didnt quite materialize. Its long-awaited offering, nowhere near the central business district, took the form of the Civic Centre Parkade on Princess Street beside the Public Safety Building, which opened in 1964.

Christian writes about local history on his blog, West End Dumplings.
When you're at the bar, and craft beer options compete with cheaper, mass-produced ones like Bud Lite, you may think the consequences of your choice begin at your wallet and end at your taste buds.

You'd be wrong. And three recent events demonstrate just how far those consequences reach.

All three concern Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest brewing company in the world and owner of big brands Budweiser and Michelob, as well as craft labels Goose Island and Elysian.

The first event is the latest in InBev's craft brewery shopping spree: Asheville, North Carolina's Wicked Weed, whose world-class sour ale production fills a significant absence in InBev's portfolio of beer styles. Reaction to the early May purchase was so bitter that Wicked Weed had to postpone its annual Funkatorium Invitational sour beer bonanza because more than 50 breweries pulled out.

Weeks later came news of a second event: InBev cutting off supplies of South African hops to American brewers it doesn't own. The region's crop of the essential beer ingredient came under InBev's ownership last October, when it bought competitor SABMiller (formerly South African Breweries). InBev, meanwhile, argued that it was limiting hop supplies due to a low crop yield that season.

While InBev was finalizing its acquisition of SABMiller, the third recent event in its craft conquest quietly took place: It bought a minority stake in online beer rating community RateBeer. The move curiously wasn't announced until last week, and craft owners like Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione responded by accusing it of infringing on the site's independence.

Though the ratings come from customers, the potential for InBev to meddle with the site's data  or mine it to study consumer behavior  has been a concern of Calagione and other brewers. Many have even asked RateBeer, unsuccessfully, to remove their beers from the site altogether, in case some new InBev algorithm lowers their scores while inflating those of Budweiser, Goose Island, etc.

And one of the breweries that's been rebuffed by RateBeer is Prison City Pub & Brewery in Auburn.

That Dawn and Marc Schulz would act so swiftly to dissociate their brewpub from InBev, and to protect their surging brand from it, should hit home here in Cayuga County. That and InBev's recent actions should demonstrate the consequences of choosing between Big Beer and craft, and how much farther they reach than your wallet and your taste buds.

Because when you make that choice, you're not choosing between beers. You're choosing between ways of doing business  ones that either hurt or help the livelihoods of people in your community.

What's on tap

Mike Sigona's Genesee Center bottle shop recently added three tap lines, going from six to nine elite-level craft beers available by the glass or growler there. At 7 p.m. Friday, July 7, Thirsty Pug will also be the site of "Zotique: A French Oak Story," which Sigona described as a tribal dancing and spoon playing performance by "YouTube sensation" Christian LeBrun. I'm just as intrigued and confused as you are.

Prison City Pub & Brewery

Brewer Ben Maeso is breaking in the State Street brewpub's new basement production space with a batch of his celebrated Mass Riot India pale ale, which should be on tap by the end of June. Prison City is also tapping a new IPA and a blonde ale with ginger, lime and raspberries within the next week.

New beers at the King Ferry brewery include a mango-infused version of its Goseface Killah gose, "which is flying out the door," co-owner Mark Grimaldi said. He and Joe Shelton have also prepared a new version of its Farmacy saison, with classic clove and spice character but more boldness and bitterness than previous versions. Their latest batch of The Ruckus IPA is also out, with more aroma due to heavier dry hopping. And an experimental Mexican-style lager, with sea salt, cilantro, lime peel and motueka hops, should be out by the end of June. Additionally, with summer arriving, the brewery has extended its hours until 6 p.m. Sundays.




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Woonsocket grads Alexis Sikhao, left, and Khady Ndongo hug each other before joining fellow members of the Class of 2017 in the Processional at Barry Field Friday.
Traditional Welsh Perry & Cider Toast Protected Status Success

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jun 11th, 2017

Traditional Welsh Perry and Traditional Welsh Cider are the latest Welsh products to be awarded protected status by the European Commission.

They join other iconic Welsh products, such as Welsh Laverbread, Welsh Lamb and Halen Mon/Anglesey Sea Salt, in being recognised for their distinct quality and awarded protection against imitation and misuse.

Traditional Welsh Perry and Traditional Welsh Cider are protected by the European Protected Geographical Indication status (PGI), which Government say will provide consumers with the confidence they are drinking the genuine Welsh product.

In total, 14 Welsh products have now been awarded protected status. Traditional Welsh Perry and Traditional Welsh Cider have now received the honour of being the first Welsh drinks to attain the PGI status.

The Welsh Government has supported the Welsh Perry and Cider Society during the complicated and extensive application process.

Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs and Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths said: I am delighted Traditional Welsh Perry and Traditional Welsh Cider are the latest of our food and drink products to be awarded protected status.

This is further evidence of the success of the Welsh food and drink sector and the effectiveness of our strategy to support it. We are forging a reputation for developing unique, high quality products and the industry is already more than half way towards reaching our target of 30% growth from 2014 to 2020.

The recognition from the European Commission is important as it demonstrates the quality of Wales produce as we strive to reach new markets to grow the industry and prepare for a future outside of the EU.

Traditional Welsh Perry and Traditional Welsh Cider are re-emerging products that were largely farm-produced drinks using perry pears and cider apples grown in nearby orchards and made for local consumption. The revival of these drinks has been based on artisan producers rediscovering and restoring ancient orchards and planting new orchards.

Sally Perks Chairman of the WPCS said: The Welsh Perry and Cider Society are thrilled with this announcement and the recognition of Traditional Welsh Cider and Traditional Welsh Perry as unique products. It provides a huge boost to Welsh cider makers in getting their products recognised throughout the UK and abroad.

(Top pic: Some welsh cider apples!)
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

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Europe

Spanish dockers strike to oppose deregulation

Spanish dockers held a series of strikes this week in their fight against deregulation. They struck every alternate hour throughout the day on Monday, Wednesday, continuing the action today. The strike hit the ports of Algeciras, Valencia, Bilbao, Seville and Santander.

Further strikes are to be held throughout June.

The CETM union called the strikes after talks with the port employers body, Anesco, broke down. The Popular Party government, at the behest of the European Union, is forcing through the abolition of the SAGEPS dock labour scheme. The scheme afforded dockers a degree of job security and relatively better wages.

The CETM called off previous planned strikes and the latest ones have only been called due to union disagreements over the exact number of jobs and wage cuts to be implemented.

Union ends French petrol delivery strike

A strike by lorry drivers of hazardous loads, including petrol, has been ended by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union federation on the promise of talks. The strike had led to severe fuel shortages across the country. The drivers are seeking a 10-hour limit to the working day, a pay increase and more routine health checks.

Jobcentre workers strike in Sheffield, England

Staff at a Jobcentre in Sheffield, England held a one-day strike on June 2 and are to begin a five-day stoppage June 12.

The members of the Public and Commercial Services union are campaigning against plans to close the Jobcentre located at Eastern Avenue in the Manor Castle area of the city. The strikers mounted a 45 strong picket line, as managers from other jobcentre offices were drafted in as strikebreakers.

The closure is part of plans to close 78 out of the 714 jobcentres nationwide along with other back office facilities.

London Picturehouse cinema staff strike

Staff at four cinemas in London held a 48-hour strike at the weekend as part of a 10-month dispute. They are demanding an increase in pay to the London living wage rate of 9.75 an hour, for improved conditions and for union recognition.

The members of the media union Bectu work at Picturehouse cinemas in Hackney, Brixton, Crouch End and Piccadilly Centre. Picturehouse is owned by Cineworld which owns over 220 cinemas across Europe.

British Airways cabin crew strike announced

Cabin crew employed by British Airways (BA) are to strike for four days from June 16 through to June 19 against poverty pay rates. The Unite union members work for BAs mixed fleet. They are employed on a contract previously agreed by Unite with inferior pay and conditions compared to other BA staff.

To date they have held 26 days of strikes during the dispute. Unite said the cause of the planned strike is the refusal by BA to restore concessionary flights to staff who took part in previous stoppages.

Refuse workers in Birmingham hold strike vote

Unite is balloting refuse workers employed by Birmingham City Council for industrial action to protest planned job losses. The job losses are planned as part of the Labour-run councils imposition of Conservative government budget cuts. The ballot closes on June 14.

Turkish glass workers protest

Glass workers employed by multinational manufacturer Sisecam are protesting by refusing to leave the companys nine factories at the end of their shift. In May, the Turkish government banned a proposed strike on grounds of national security.

Members of the Kristal-Is union are seeking an improved pay offer after the company announced a more than 150 percent increase in profits.

They are carrying out a work to rule action and instead of leaving the factory at the end of their shift, remain on site to hold meetings and protests. They then sleep on the factory premises.

Cypriot desalination workers end strike

Workers at the Episkopi desalination plant in Limassol ended their strike on June 1. The 20 members of the PEO and SEK unions began their strike on May 30, after the company failed to honour a collective bargaining agreement reached after a stoppage last year.

They returned to work following the intervention of the Cypriot government Labour Minister.

Middle East

Egyptian cement workers jailed

A court in the Maadi suburb of Cairo sentenced 32 cement workers to three years hard labour. The workers were employed at the Tora cement factory, which is part of the Italian owned Italcementi group.

The jailed workers had been fighting for permanent employment status, after being employed on a temporary basis for between 10 and 15 years.

Africa

South African municipal workers strike enters third week

The strike by 4,000 workers for Mangaung municipality has entered its third week. The members of the South African Municipal Workers Union are demanding that salary increases, in line with a Metro Status pay scale established in 2011, be paid to them. Managerial staff have received the increases.

They also demand back pay for the six years they have been on a lower pay scale. Another demand is that all 120 workers, who were casualised earlier in the year by the council, be brought back into direct employment, and that moves to further privatization be halted.

With sewage spilling into streets because of the strike, the main concern of the council is providing facilities for individuals and businesses to pay their bills. Payment centres, like the Bram Fischer building and other municipal buildings around the Metro area are inaccessible.

Union blocks industrial action by South African airline workers

Cabin crew staff at South African Airways (SAA) remain in dispute over their allowances. Staff have received no increase in allowances and many have to choose between staying in hotels or meals while on overseas flights.

South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) entered further talks with the airline last Friday and threatened to strike Monday if a resolution could not be found. SACCA then cancelled the strike notice with the dispute still not resolved.

A half-day strike took place in April, grounding 50 flights, after negotiations failed under the auspices of the state arbitration facilities.

South African mortuary staff strike over pay and protective clothing issues

Mortuary staff at Pinetown Mortuary Durban in South Africa, struck last week demanding their manager be removed.

Around 20 workers have been sacked after employees jobs were designated as essential services and an interdict issued demanding they return to work. The workers are demanding the removal of the manager, claiming she is preventing them raising grievances with higher management.

Their grievances include overtime not being signed off, having to buy their own safety equipment such as boots, staff having to put in request in for gloves, and face masks having to be reused because no replacements are available.

Labour bureaucracy in conflict over public sector in Nigerias Nasarawa State

A strike by municipal workers in Nasarawa State, Nigeriain which a central issue is a demand for the payment of unpaid wagesis continuing in the midst of a conflict within the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) bureaucracy.

The chairman of the Nasarawa state NLC chapter, Abdullahi Adeka, was seen by many workers as the governments man at the head of the union and was initially removed for opposing the strike. Adeka was reinstated after he promised to back the strike, but once again he called it off and was again removed.

Members of other unions are involved in the strike, including the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, and the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria.

Nigerian oil workers union threatens strike over privatisation

The PENGASSAN oil workers union is threatening to strike if the government goes ahead with the privatisation of the Port Harcourt Petrochemical and Refinery Company.

The government proposes to sell the company to Oando Plc., the largest Nigerian oil company with a production output of 54,000 barrels per day and a market value of $894 Million.

The Nigerian Senate was ignored when it voted for the suspension of the sale.

Nigerian national college strike threatened over unpaid wages

Members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) are striking at many colleges throughout the country.

College workers already out and those threatening to strike are protesting unpaid wages for the last month and a backlog of several months of outstanding wages, allowances and promotion arrears.

Namibian Shoprite workers face victimisation

100 Shoprite workers in Namibia are facing disciplinary measures for striking in 2015. Several lawyers are presently representing them on a pro-bono basis.

The lawyers claim Shoprite acted illegally in violating labour regulations. This involved the improper treatment by management and employment of permanent part-timers.

Workers have joined and left several unions during the course of the dispute in their attempt to achieve a living wage. The Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFWU) are proposing once again to represent them. NFAWU represented Shoprite workers until 2014, when a drop-off of membership culminated in the union pulling out.

The Shoprite Group of Companies is Africas largest food retailer with 143,000 employees and turned over N$130 billion last year from its 80 stores across Namibia.

Nurses continue strike in Kenya

Kenya nurses continue to strike in a long-running dispute. They are demanding the implementation of the 2016 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The action follows industrial action over its 2013 predecessor.

As with the 2013 agreement, the government has reneged on the 2016 contract. The government-authorised Salaries and Remunerations Committee threw out the 2016 CBA saying the cost involved is unreasonable.
ATLANTA (AP) - At least 20 people including a Georgia state lawmaker gathered in an Atlanta park for a protest against Islamic law.

The rally, one of several held in more than two dozen U.S. cities, was organized by ACT for America, which claims Islamic law is incompatible with Western democracy. The organization says it opposes discrimination and supports the rights of those subject to Shariah. However, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, calls it the largest American anti-Muslim group.

Rally participants and a handful of counter-protesters appeared Saturday in Atlanta's Piedmont Park. Counter-protesters held a banner reading "Refuse Fascism" and chanted while the other side shouted back about female genital mutilation and honor killings.

Republican state Sen. Michael Williams tweeted he addressed the rally after counter-protesters left. He called on attendees to "unite against Shariah law."
A demonstration is taking place in Shlomo Goren Square in Petach Tikvah near the home of Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit, calling for him to exhaust all legal proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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In recent weeks, demonstrators have been detained for questioning in these demonstrations. The police's legal advisor ruled that the demonstrations in Goren Square were forbidden, but following the numerous and controversial arrests, Mandelblit sent a letter of clarification last week expressing support for freedom of expressionsubject to police and court decisions.

Demonstrators carrying signs reading 'When you watch over him, you're not watching over us,' and 'Netanyahu, resign!' (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Mandelblit responded in a letter to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) saying "the only consideration that guides me and the others involved is to find the truth, and no external pressure will divert us from this consideration."

Protestor wearing a mask of the AG (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

The Association argued that the legal advisor's decision relates to the prohibition against demonstrating in front of the homes of elected officials, but the police have no authority to prevent demonstrations that are not in front of the attorney general's house, and the decision did not give the police such authority.

Photo: Motti Kimchi

"It is very important that you go outside, for the future of your children," said Manny Naftali, a former homeowner at the prime minister's house that is leading the demonstrations.

At the demonstration today, a number of residents of the neighborhood stood with signs reading: "Leave us alone," and "Get out of our neighborhood."

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
Israelis are consuming more, and the standard of living is rising steadily, but so are their debts, according to Finance Ministry chief economist Yoel Naveh.

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Israel's mortgage debts, as well as other loans, have crossed the threshold of half a trillion shekels for the first time, reaching NIS 504 billion ($142.7 billion)an increase of 23% over the past three years, with the average debt per household in Israel (about 2.5 million) at about NIS 200,000 ($56,600).

Rising standard of living in Israel (Photo: Getty Images)

Naveh notes that in recent years, there has been an accelerated growth in the consumption of durable goods, such as cars, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, etc., especially among the weaker segments of the population. The zero-interest environment and the high employment rates contributed to the increase in private consumption. These trends may also reflect a change in the "consumption standard," which means a rise in the standard of living.

But there is also a less positive aspect this rise in consumption, which is its funding, derived from loans that increase the debt of households. Naveh notes a similar situation occurred during the subprime crisis in the US in 2008. In recent years, the volume of credit to households grew at a rate similar to that in the years prior to the subprime crisis, preceded by high levels of public leverage in many developed countries.

The chief economist cautioned that in 2016 household credit increased at a rate of 7.5%, while non-housing credit expanded by 9%. The rapid growth of household credit has been going on for the past three years, following a period of five years marked by slow growth.

This shows that the expansion of private consumption is financed, at least in part, by credit. Due to the lack of a reliable database on the extent of foreign credit to individuals, the overall increase in credit may be even faster.

During a discussion in the Knesset's Finance Committee, Dr. Yossi Saadon, Head of the Macroeconomic Policy Department said, "When we identified mortgage risk, we took measures to maintain the stability of the financial system, but also of the families. There is a disturbing nominal growth in household debt, but it is still not at the level of risk. When the credit for housing is lowered, we are not among the lowest in the world, since many citizens take loans to buy a car, finance trips and more, and that does bother us."
Iran's intelligence minister said the mastermind behind Wednesday's attacks in Tehran, which killed 17 people, had himself been killed on Saturday by security forces.

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"The mastermind and main commander of terrorist attacks on the parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed today by the security forces," Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Photo: Reuters



Armed men launched attacks in Iran's parliament and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini on Wednesday morning, killing at 17 people in rare twin attacks. The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the two attacks.

Iran said on Thursday that the terrorists who attacked Tehran on Wednesday were Iranian members of ISIS who had fought in the militants' strongholds in Syria and Iraqdeepening the regional ramifications of the assaults.

Iranian authorities have also arrested seven people it suspects of helping militants involved in attacks, a judiciary official said on Saturday.

Photo: Reuters

Ahmad Fazelian, a provincial judiciary official, said the seven, suspected of "providing support for the terrorist team", were detained in Fardis, about 50 km (31 miles) west of Tehran, the judiciary's online news agency Mizan reported.

On Friday, authorities announced the arrests of 41 suspects in connection with the twin Tehran attacks.

Separately, the head of the judiciary in Fars province said seven people were detained in the southern Larestan area for possible ties to Islamic State, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.

Tehran police said the car the attackers used on Wednesday was discovered on Saturday in the city centre.

"The terrorists first went by car to the mausoleum and after dropping two of them off, went to the city centre to attack parliament," the police said in a statement published on state media.

Terrorists in the Iranian parliament

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"Fighters from Islamic state attacked Khomeini's shrine and the Iranian parliament in Tehran," the news agency said.

Amaq published a video on Wednesday showing a gunman at the Iranian parliament where an attack has been taking place.

Another attacker was heard on the video saying: "Thank God ... Do you think we will go away?"

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said a third attack had been thwarted. "This morning two terrorist groups attacked the parliament and Imam Khomeini's shrine ... Members of a third group were arrested before being able to carry out any attack," state TV quoted the ministry as saying.

Photo: Reuters

The unusual attacks in Iran's capital, Tehran, prompted the Interior Ministry to call for an urgent security meeting, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Four attackers, dressed as women and armed with AK-47 assault rifles, entered parliament's main gate and opened fire. They barricaded themselves in the upper floors of the building and held several people hostage in a standoff that lasted several hours.

All four of the attackers were shot dead by Iranian security forces.

Iranian media reported that eight people were wounded, including a guard who was hit in the leg.

ISIS releases footage from Iran parliament attack

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State TV reported that one attacker at the Iranian parliament exploded a suicide vest in the building, but some other news agencies said the explosion might have been caused by grenades thrown by the assailants

During the standoff, an Associated Press reporter saw several police snipers on the rooftops of buildings around the parliament. Shops in the area were shuttered, and gunfire could be heard. Witnesses said the attackers were shooting from the fourth floor of the parliament building down at people in the streets below.

Police helicopters were circling over the parliament building and all mobile phone lines from inside were disconnected. In addition, all entrance and exit gates at parliament were closed, while lawmakers and reporters were ordered to remain in place inside the chamber, where a session had been in progress.

Iranian police evacuate hostages (Photo: Reuters)

Photo: Reuters

"I was inside the parliament when shooting happened. Everyone was shocked and scared. I saw two men shooting randomly," said one journalist at the scene, who asked not to be named.

Iranian TV said parliament had resumed, and broadcast footage of what it said was the opening session proceeding normally.

Targeting shrine for leader of Islamic revolution

In a separate incident about half an hour later, four terrorists, including a suicide bomber, attacked the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in southern Tehran, killing a worker and wounding four other people, according to state TV.

Explosion at the mausoleum

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Tehran Governor Hossein Hashemi told state broadcaster IRIB that one attacker detonated a suicide vest at the mausoleum, one was killed by the security forces and the rest of the assailants were arrested.

In addition to being lethal, the attack on the shrine of Khomeini is symbolically shocking. As Iran's first Supreme Leader, Khomeini is a towering figure in the country and was its revolutionary leader in the 1979 ouster of the shah.

Sunni extremists, including ISIS, despise Shiite-majority Iran and are at war with Tehran's proxies in Syria and Iraq.

"The atmosphere is tense. It is a blow to (Iranian President) Rouhani. How can four armed men enter the parliament, where a very tight security has always been in place," said a senior official, who asked not to be named.

Rouhani retained power with a landslide victory over candidates supported by the hardline clergy and the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the country's most powerful security force in charge of ensuring national security.
Russia said on Saturday it had told the United States it was unacceptable for Washington to strike pro-government forces in Syria after the US military carried out an air strike on pro-Assad militia last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the message to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Saturday initiated by the US side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

US officials told Reuters last month that the US military carried out the air strike against militia supported by the government of President Bashar al-Assad which it said posed a threat to US forces and US-backed Syrian fighters in the country's south.

Russia said at the time that the US action would hamper efforts to find a political solution to the conflict and had violated the sovereignty of Syria, one of Russia's closest Middle East allies.

"Lavrov expressed his categorical disagreement with the US strikes on pro-government forces and called on him to take concrete measures to prevent similar incidents in future," the ministry said.

The two men had also exchanged assessments of the situation in Syria, it added, and confirmed their desire to step up co-operation to try to end the conflict there.

The ministry said Lavrov and Tillerson had also discussed the need to try to mend the rift between Qatar and other Arab nations through negotiations, and had talked about the state of US-Russia relations and planned meetings between officials from the two countries.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved Sunday a bill proposal to deduct the funds the Palestinian Authority pays terrorists and their families from the monthly transfer of tax money Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

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The bill, proposed by MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid), is supported by the coalition, with Likud MKs David Bitan and Avi Dichter both being signatories to it.

Palestinian prisoners (Photo: EPA)

Ahead of the vote, bereaved families issued a statement appealing to the chair of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, "We, bereaved families, wounded IDF soldiers and victims of terror, turn to you from our very heart and soul to demand a change in the reality for terrorists; those who are responsible for the murder of our children, parents, spouses, relatives; those who are responsible for our physical and mental wounds.

"The State of Israel transfers significant funds each month to the Palestinian Authority. This is taxpayer money collected by the state and transferred to the PA. Each month, the PA funds terrorists with blood on their hands and supports terror proudly, transparently and publically. For this purpose, the PA has established a ministry to deal with the issue of transferring benefits to terrorists and their families."

The statement from bereaved families went on to say that not only do the funds constitute a fine "prize" for murdering Jews and Israelis, but many of the terrorists who are released go back to terrorism, making the money the financial basis for ongoing terrorism.

MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid) (Photo: Yaron Berner)

According to MK Stern, "The current reality is that the Palestinian Authority not only rewards the murder of Jews, but also encourages it. The more you murder, the more you get. That is how their reward system is built. This must be stopped not only because it is immoral, but also because it is an obstacle to peace on both sides.

"For the Palestinians, it incites them to murder and for us it is an obstacle to peace because how can we make peace with someone who encourages murder? I am convinced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the committee headed by minister Shaked will support the legislation. Netanyahu has commented on the issue more than once and he understands that this absurdity cannot continue."
LONDON -- Iranian authorities said on Sunday they have arrested six people involved in a twin attack on Tehran in which 17 people were killed last week.

"Six people who were certainly connected to Wednesday's terrorist attacks in Tehran were identified and arrested," Aliakbar Garousi, head of the justice department in Kordestan province in western Iran was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
It was a workshop led by a Tel Aviv University professor affiliated with the Joint Arab List. The workshop, which was held in cooperation with radical left-wing organizations, included practical work guided by the organizations activists with the purpose of publishing a book together with the organizations. In return, the students received a modest scholarship funded by those organizations. Was it an academic trick or propaganda?

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And when professors express their opinion on the Zionist project, which looks like Islamic Movement propaganda materialis that permitted or forbidden? The Lefts hilltop youth, Prof. Ariel Rubinstein, who is not affiliated with the Right, once wrote about some of these lecturers. And what about when the head of the Eli pre-army academy, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, speaks ill of homosexuals and womens military service? After all, most left-wing people were in favor of taking measures against him for this chauvinistic and homophobic preaching.

Should rules of ethics be applied in the public educational system in general, and in the academic in particular, to prevent political shows of this kind? I believe that when a university or yeshiva course turns into an incubator for spreading the ideas of a racist organization like Lehava, for example, its not academic freedomits brainwashing and preaching racism.

Lecturers should be allowed to voice outrageous theories, as long as there is no brainwashing and as long as opposing opinions are presented too (Photo: Shutterstock)

The problem is that too many professors are finding it difficult to understand that anti-Zionism belongs to the racism department too. They use the stage, the occasion and the academic immunity to spread propaganda against the actual Zionist idea. They are not the majority in academic institutions, but in certain departments, in the fields of humanities and social sciences, they are not a very small minority either. Their influence is bad and perceivable.

Prof. Ephraim Yaar checked the syllabus of an introduction course, which should have reflectedmore than other coursesa wide spectrum of opinions. Yaar, who is not affiliated with the Right either, was shocked at what he found. There is an unfair use of authority here in a bid to inspire one-dimensional thinking, he wrote.

Its a known phenomenon: Certain departments are turning into an exclusive club, which only takes in members from the radical left. The academic staff at the Department for Middle East studies at Ben-Gurion University, for example, decided to grant an award to a radical left-wing organization. Lets just assume that it was a legitimate move. But when it turns out that the decision was made unanimously, thats already proof of academic bolshevism, which is the complete opposite of open and critical thinking.

Nevertheless, I doubt lecturers can be forbidden to express political opinions. Even angels will find it difficult to separate between the expression of a political opinion and a research statement on matters related to Israel, Judaism, Zionism and nationality. The problem is not in the actual expression of an opinion. The problem is that its the same opinion.

The mission, therefore, is not to silence people. The mission is to allow critical thinking through a diverse and wide presentation of approaches. The Zionist enterprise can be criticized. Outrageous theories should be voiced as well, as long as there is no brainwashing and as long as opposing opinions are presented too.

There is a difference between academic and historical criticism and the fact that certain courses are turned into a propaganda branch of radical left-wing groups. And there is a huge difference between the demand for openness, freedom of speech and criticism and the fact that in certain departments there is a one and only voice, or almost a one and only voicethe voice of the radical left.

The professors who are the subject of these rules of ethics have already announced that they will disregard them. They also know that no one will try to enforce these rules, because they will enlist the entire academic world to an anti-Israel boycott. There is no need to provide them with a weapon. The big change should take place in the lecturers admission committees, because ideological nepotism is destroying the academia. Its hard, but a way must be found to do itnot in order to silence people, but on the contrary, in order to widen the variety of approaches.
Abdoe Khoulani, a Muslim city council member in The Hague, slammed a group of Israeli high school students visiting the Dutch parliament, calling them "future Zionist terrorists, occupiers and those who murder children."

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The 28-member student delegation was made up of 16-year-old studebts from the Hen School for Young Ambassadors. They arrived in the Netherlands last week as guests of Kees van der Staaij, a Dutch parliamentarian from the SGP party.

Abdoe Khoulani

Abdoe Khoulani's remarks about the students have caused a political uproar in the Netherlands, with parliament members attacking him over his comments.

Additionally, Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands, Aviv Shir-On, sent a strong letter of protest to the Mayor of The Hague, Pauline Krikke, in which he wrote, "The 16-year-old Israelis came to Hollande in order to promote friendly relations between the countries, to meet with Dutch youth and conduct dialogue and form friendly relations.

"To call them murderers and claim they have Palestinian blood on their hands just because they are Israeli is not just a scandal, it is absolutely unacceptable. These words are nothing but anti-Israel incitement that can lead to violence that we have unfortunately seen in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Manchester and London."

Israeli delegation meeting Kees van der Staaij

Krikke refused to respond to Khoulani's comments, despite the fact this is not the first time Khoulani has made controversial statements. In 2014, the outspoken councilman also made comments supporting ISIS, saying "Long live ISIS! If Allah wills it, we will go to Baghdad to reckon with the scum there."

The CIDI, which works to monitor anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, is exploring legal action against Khoulani.

Shai from Rishon Lezion, one of the young ambassadors who participated in the delegation, said, "It is disappointing to discover that when we, Israel's youth, come as a delegation without political interests to promote friendly relations with Dutch youth, we encounter a sad barrier of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel."

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
Many lecturers in Israel's universities and colleges have come out against a proposed ethical code that would bar them from expressing political views in class or supporting academic boycotts.

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VERA, the Association of University Heads, issued a strong condemnation of the proposed code on Saturday night, saying such an ethical code "severely and fundamentally undermines academic freedom."

Education Minister Naftali Bennett has adopted the ethical code written by Prof. Asa Kasher, who also wrote the IDF's ethical code.

Tel Aviv University (Photo: Yaron Brener)

The ethical code, VERA claimed, doesn't just determine rules of appropriate conduct, "many of its articles deal with overall academic activity in research and teaching. This makes the code a collection of rules dictated by the government regarding all academic activity of faculty members in Israel."

VERA head, Prof. Joseph Klafter of Tel Aviv University, added the decision was "fundamentally wrong and driven by political interests," adding the code will be "used by interest groups to clash with academic faculty members on a daily basis."

"This very code, which claims to be protecting the universities, is turning them into hostages of those who would try to portray as political even content that is free of any agenda," said Klafter.

Prof. Joseph Klafter (Photo: PR)

Prof. Neve Gordon of the Ben-Gurion University was even blunter when he declared, "You won't silence us, and we will continue to talk politics in class. Prof. Kasher and Bennett are turning students into spies who supervise everything lecturers say."

Ram Shefa, the head of the Israel Students' Union, also expressed his opposition to the proposed ethical code. "Don't try to cover our ears. We, the students, are Israel's future generation. Trust that we know how to think on our own."

Shefa added, "We met with Prof. Kasher when he set out to write the code, and we made it clear that while we will fight to ensure every student feels safe to express his positions without fear of ramifications, we would not do this at the cost of silencing and undermining the freedom of expression."

"The code has strayed far from its mission of ethics," Shefa continued. "Thinking that you could limit statements and thoughts in academia is fundamentally wrong because yes, everything is political, and it is impossible to separate politics from other matters, all the more so in academia."

Members of the opposition also came out against the ethical code. MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) called it an "unethical document more fitting of dark regimes."

Fellow party member MK Mickey Rosenthal called the code's author, Prof. Kasher, "a philosopher at the service of Mossad," adding, "The philosopher, who 'koshered' the policy of assassinations and wholesale house demolition in the territories, is now tasked with destroying academia and policing it so it toes the line set by Minister Bennett."

Right wing support

Education Minister Bennett defended the code on Sunday morning, saying it is meant to help "prevent the silencing of opinions in academia."

"We're trying to prevent a situation in which a student could suffer for his political views, while a lecturer whose salary comes from taxpayer's money calls to boycott academia," Bennett said ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

"We're in favor of academic freedom," the education minister stressed, "and we're against promoting political agendas in academia."

The code received support from Prof. Avraham Diskin, the head of the School of Administration, Governance and Law at the Academic Center of Law and Science.

"These are meticulous and learned guidelines on reasonable and moderate conduct, with no punishment for violation. Academics, who frequently spread false stories about Israel's 'apartheid regime' and the 'Judeo-Nazi' IDF, and often support boycotts against Israel, are going out of their way to oppose the code because, in their opinion, academic freedom applies to speaking ill of Israel in the class and outside of it, but not to a code of conduct that is very tolerant," said Diskin.

Right wing politicians also expressed their support of the code. MK Shuli Mualem, who is a member of Bennett's Bayit Yehudi party, said that "any average student could testify academia is politically slanted to the left. It's not just about senior (lecturers) who take part in anti-Israel activity, but mostly those who preach their agenda in lectures and in their research. Had Israeli academia at least aspired to equality (in political representation), there would not have been any need to interfere."

The right-wing Im Tirtzu NGO also welcomed the code, calling it a "worthy and right move towards stopping politicization in academia."

Im Tirtzu leader Matan Peleg noted that "In recent years, we've exposed many instances of anti-Zionism in academia and lately also the infiltration of radical left-wing organizations to academic programs and clinics, and we've put continuous pressure to right this wrong. We are confident Minister Bennett will ensure the code is implemented and return sanity to academia."
Copacabana Sqaure in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was renamed in honor of the late Israeli President Shimon Peres last Friday during a ceremony in the seaside city.

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The ceremony was attended by Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella and heads of the local Jewish community.

The newly-renamed square is located in an area where roughly 3,500 Jewish families live.

Ceremony marking Peres Square in Rio de Janeiro (Photo: Globo)

The move was initiated by Israel's honorary consul in Rio de Janeiro, Osias Wurman, and city councilman Marcelo Arar.

In his remarks, Crivella said that Peres was a world leader who never betrayed his principles or his love for peace. According to Crivella, "Residents of Rio were inspired by him. At the age of 93 he still carried the same flag."

Wurman said, "Peres' dream was to see Arabs and Jews live in coexistence. He didn't fully realize his dream, but now that is our mission."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for the dismantling of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after a tunnel was discovered running under two of its schools in Gaza.

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Netanyahu said he spoke to US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley about the issue during their meeting in Jerusalem last week . "I told her that the time has come for the UN to reconsider the continued existence on UNRWA," he said.

"Since World War Two, there have been  and continue to be today  millions of refugees. And these millions have the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), while most of the Palestinian refugees are settled and have a separate commission. This is UNRWA; it has its own institutions and considerable incitement against Israel," the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: AFP)

UNRWA, he added, "perpetuates, and does not solve, the Palestinian refugee problem. Therefore, the time has come to disband UNRWA and integrate it into the UNHCR."

Netanyahu also didn't spare Hamas his rod. "Hamas is using schoolchildren as human shields. This is the enemy that we have been fighting against for many years, an enemy that is committing a twofold war crime. On the one hand, it first attacks innocent civilians and then hides behind children," he said.

"I instructed the Foreign Ministry Director General to file an official protest against Hamas at the UN Security Council," Netanyahu added.

The tunnel, which was discovered about 10 days ago, passes under an UNRWA school for boys at the center of the Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah. The school is part of a complex of two schools run by the agency.

The tunnel runs 2-3 meters under the school and continues deep into the Gaza Strip and towards the Israeli border fence.

UNRWA said it had protested the finding to Hamas, and the two sides agreed to seal off the section that goes under the school.
These are the days of the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War , which many see primarily as the occupation festival. The Meretz faction decided to boycott a Knesset session, whichaccording to the factions chairman, Knesset Member Ilan Gilonblatantly and conspicuously ignores the occupation and the price it has claimed throughout the years in human life.

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This is the kind of claim I would expect to hear from MK Hanin Zoabi, not from Gilon. The occupation festival is being chantedrightfully or notalmost incessantly. The 50th anniversary of the war is mainly an opportunity to remember that the war broke out because of annihilation plans, before there even was an occupation. And as for the price that has been paid in human life, I must say that every death is a tragedy, and I might also add that I doubt there is any other conflict that has claimed such a small price in human life.

Even a left-wing person like Gilon is capable of admitting these basic facts. And no, it does not contradict the battle waged by Gilon and others in favor of two states and/or against the current governments policy.

The distress experienced by Palestinian laborers is a fact, but the fact that the fence between Israel and the territories is the result of terror is being ignored (Photo: Reuters)

As part of the festival, the Associated Press published a story about the difficult life of Fuad Maraita of the West Bank town of Salfit, who is forced to wake up at 3:30 am every morning to get to work in Israel. The report received wide circulation and was also published in the New York Times.

The distress experienced by Palestinian laborers is a fact. But when the press, which is supposed to be decent, ignores the fact that the fence between Israel and the territories is the result of terror, when it ignores the fact that the strips residents are distressed because Hamas prefers an industry of rockets and death over welfare and prosperity, when it ignores the fact that under Israels rule the Palestinians have also experienced many improvements and changes for the better, and when the same report ignores the fact that the Palestinians have repeatedly turned down any proposal which would have given them a statethis is mainly misguidance.

The United Nations secretary-general joined the festival. In a statement marking the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, Antonio Guterres mentioned that the decision in 1947 was to establish two states, but only the Jewish one was founded. Why? After all, there was no occupation until 1967, yet the Arab state wasnt established. Since then, the Palestinians have been offered a state time and again and have always refused. So why the hell cant the UN chief tell the truth? Why is it so difficult?

All these biasesby Meretz, by the media and by the UN chiefarent helping the Palestinians. They even contain some racism, because they are letting them off the hook. This is the way inferior natives are treated. This isnt the way to treat a community which could have founded a state, chosen construction and improved its fate a long time ago, but has instead become completely addicted to victimization. And Meretz, AP and Guterres are helping this great deception. This is not the way to advance a solution to the Palestinian problem. This is only the way to perpetuate it.

The monster of fanaticism

In honor of Hebrew Book Week and the publication of his new book, Amos Oz is complaining about fanaticism in Israel and blaming the Ashkenazim. Thats interesting, because if we would ask an extreme rightist the same thing, he would say something very similar, only about Arabs.

At times, it seems that the fanaticism claims are the fanatics escape. But Oz is no fanatic. Far from that. And his statement symbolizes the place that the Left, even the sane Left, has marched and is marching towards. He is making a mountain out of a molehill. For years, part of the Left has been creating fake news on the deterioration of democracy, on the passion for killing civilians among IDF soldiers, on the political radicalization. The result is a fear of the monster of fanaticism.

This is nonsense. There are fanatical margins, both among Jews and among Israeli Arabs. Nothing more than margins. There is no proof that Israel is more fanatical today than it was, say, in the early 1980s. In the 1981 elections, a leftist was unable to enter Tel Avivs Carmel Market.

Amos Oz. Insists on being part of the herd of cliche declaimers (Photo: Yuval Chen)

The claim that the Ashkenazim are fanatical and the Sephardim came from a tradition of moderation and good neighborly relations with the Arabs is a bit peculiar too. The Islamic countries Jews were inferior and suffered from persecution and harassment, and the Ashkenazim didnt arrive with characteristics of fanaticism. Its kind of sad that Oz is trying to rewrite history.

He is even rewriting the closer history. The Israeli public today is ready for much more political compromises than it was in the 1970s and 1980s. There is moderation, not radicalization. That applies to Israels Arabs as well. They havent become Zionists, but most of them are undergoing an Israelization process. Every year, there are more volunteers interested in doing national service. Its true that incidents like the ones that took place in Umm al-Hiran and in Kafr Qasim create an opposite impression. But in-depth surveys, both those conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute and those conducted by Prof. Sammy Smooha, reveal moderation and a desire to fit in.

Precisely on the backdrop of the Israeli-Arab conflict, Israel is not a sea of fanaticism but a sea of sanity. In Sweden, which has much fewer problems, which has no years-long conflicts and which has a small Muslim minority, 600 neo-Nazis launched a violent march in Stockholm last November, and the radical right-wing party, which won 13% of the votes in the recent elections, is already leading the polls with 24 percent. There are violent riots and hooligans in other Scandinavian countries as well. One can only imagine what would have happened had their problems been similar to Israels.

These are the facts, but the herd of cliche declaimers about the end of democracy and about fanaticism wont let these facts confuse them. Oz, as a man of thought, could have said something a bit more serious, but he is insisting on being part of the herd. What a shame.
LONDON -- Two Iranian warships will leave for Oman on Sunday, Iran's navy said, before starting their mission in the open seas.

"An Iranian naval flotilla will depart to Oman on Sunday and then will go to the north of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden," the public relations of the naval forces of the army said in a statement published on the Tasnim news agency.

Tasnim said the flotilla included two warships.
On June 1, a 16-year-old girl lightly wounded an IDF combat soldier whom she stabbed at the entrance to Mevo Dotan. The special forces soldier fled, and he was removed from combat duty on Sunday for so doing.

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Footage of the fleeing soldier

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According to the Maglan unit commander's investigation, which was completed on Sunday, the soldier failed to make an effort to subdue the attacker, which is expected from a combat soldier in the Israeli army.

Scene of the attack (Photo: TPS)

Another soldier who was present at the scene successfully shot the attacker. She received medical treatment and was rushed in critical condition to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries..
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated Sunday that so far this year, Israel has advanced its highest number of settlement projects since 1992. This despite warnings that such plans will further hinder chances of a two-state solution.

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Lieberman (Photo: Eden Moldavsky/Defense Ministry)

Lieberman made the comments even as the leaders of the settlement movement, who are highly influential in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.

Netanyahu has found himself seeking to balance the competing demands of the settlers and US President Donald Trump, who has asked him to "hold back" on such projects for now as he seeks a way to restart peace talks with the Palestinians

Lieberman told journalists and ministers at the start of a cabinet meeting that, so far this year, plans had been advanced for 8,345 homes in the West Bank, including 3,066 slated for "immediate construction."

Settlement projects pass through a list of planning stages before final approval.

"The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992," Lieberman said.

The figures were similar to those published by settlement watchdog Peace Now last week.

Counting plans and tenders, activist NGO Peace Now said 7,721 units had been advanced in 2017, almost triple the number for all of 2016, which amounted to 2,699.

Peace Now could not immediately say whether it agreed that this year's figures were the highest since 1992.

Last week alone, Israel advanced plans for more than 3,000 settlement homes.

According to Peace Now, while the majority of those are for pre-existing homes, some will be built in the first new official settlement in some 25 years.

Last month, Trump visited Israel and the Palestinian territories, meeting both Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as he seeks what he calls the "ultimate deal".

But he has given no details about how he plans to restart talks, and there is deep skepticism over whether such an effort would have any chance of success.

Settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Some 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, alongside around 2.9 million Palestinians.

Though Netanyahu has said he still supports a two-state solution, left-wing advocates say his actions show otherwise. Last week, for instance, Netanyahu told settlers he would keep building across the West Bank.
President Reuven Rivlin met with the president of Nauru, Baron Waqa, on Sunday at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. The president of Nauru is visiting Israel for the first time.

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Rivlin welcomed him on his arrival and noted the cooperation between the two countries. Your visit here is a unique opportunity to host a true friend of Israel. Allow me to thank you personally for your firm and ongoing dedication to the friendship between our states. The relationship between us is not just a matter of words, but also of deeds. Israel is proud that our water technologies are helping supply clean drinking water to people in Nauru. Our devoted nephrologists who lead medical delegations to Nauru, represent Israels commitment to your well-being and prosperity.

President Rivlin meeting President of Nauru (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO)

Noting his guests participation in the UN Ocean Conference, the president said, Together with Nauru, Israel sees the global struggle against climate change as a top priority. Our Minister for Environmental Protection, Zeev Elkin, also participated in the conference. This is a sign of our commitment to the issue of the raising sea level and our commitment to you, our dear friends.

The president added, We believe that more than the Earth belongs to us, we belong to the Earth, and we must do all we can to care for it, for our children and grandchildren. Only if we work together can we succeed. I hope we will safeguard this friendship and the cooperation between us for many years to come.

Waqa thanked Rivlin for his warm welcome and said, We have travelled a long way from Nauru, but I am very pleased to be here. I want to show our solidarity to Israel and the people of Israel. He added, In the middle of the oceans, is the island of Nauru, a small community, a Christian community, who very much believe in Israel. We support Israel and we will continue to support Israel. As long as we protect our existence, in a time when climate change is affecting the whole world, I know that with Gods help our friendship will continue to prosper even under such circumstances.

He added, Thank you for the cooperation and for your help for Nauru over the years in the fields of medicine and water purification. We hope we will be able to advance to the next stage, and show our support for you in international fora. I know that you need much support at the UN, and we have close friendships in the Pacific, and we will work to encourage them to support Israel.

The president of Nauru extended President Rivlin an invitation to visit his region and said this would greatly help strengthen the bonds between Israel and the islands of the Pacific.

Waqa concluded by saying, Israel is in our hearts and we appreciate you. You have excellent technology and we want to learn from you, and we are looking forward to strengthening the cooperation between us. He noted that the flag of Nauru had a 12 pointed star, and that represented the 12 tribes of Nauru, similar to the 12 tribes of Israel, of which his country was very proud.
The US military in Africa says it carried out an airstrike in southern Somalia that killed eight Islamic extremists at a rebel command and logistics camp, 185 miles southwest of Mogadishu, the capital.

A US military statement said the attack happened Sunday morning. There was no immediate comment on the airstrike from Somalia's homegrown extremist group, al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaeda.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed confirmed the airstrike, saying that Somali and partner forces destroyed an al-Shabaab training camp near Sakow, in the Middle Juba region. He said such attacks would disrupt the group's ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.
A digital rights group has stepped up efforts to fight Israels biometric database law, set to go into effect on July 3. The Movement for Digital Rights, an NGO dedicated to protecting and advancing personal and community rights in the age of the internet, asked the High Court of Justice Sunday to block advertisements that are set to be published in the Hebrew-language press over the coming days portraying the new database as Bio: Smart Upgrading For Everyone.

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The group said the ad campaign was misleading because it failed to spell out the dangers inherent to the public.

A biometric station at Ben-Gurion Airport (Photo: Israel Airport Authority)

The movements attorney Yonatan Braverman said his client wants to block (the governments) ability to mislead the public. What the state is doing with this campaign is to encourage people to join a controversial database  in a way that will make it significantly harder to conduct the appeal we have filed against the database. It is clear to all that this advertisement is a breach of the agreements that the Movement for Digital Rights reached with the state at the High Court of Justice. They even appear to be violating the agreements that were given to the state by the law.

The idea to create a biometric database of every Israeli citizen has been controversial from the start. Academics and civil rights activists say the collection of personal details, including fingerprints, facial recognition photography and other details is potentially a violation of privacy rights. They also add that the nature of the digital world means the information is susceptible to being stolen.

What happens if there is a leak? asked Eli Biham, a professor of computer science at the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology, and one of Israels leading cryptographers. Its not like it never happens. Americas database was hacked a year or two ago, with all the fingerprints and biometric details of senior officials, said Biham.

Biham said there are other options available in order to prevent double identities and criminal operations, but the government was simply not interested in hearing them.

Biham said that there are a wide range of options for biometric ID of people that are much, much less harmful and invasive than face scans and fingerprints. He added that faces can be photographed from afar, fingerprints can be taken from things youve touched and then easily copied from the database.

Some biometric methods cant be taken from a person from afar without his or her agreement. Thats good enough for the type of database they are trying to buildtrying to positively identify a person when they come to the Interior Ministry for a new passport or ID card. But they didnt even check those options. They deliberately wanted these specific stats, Biham said.

Government spokespersons dismissed the Movement for Digital Rights as a small group of activists that represent only themselves and added that as both terrorists and criminals have the ability to forge identity documents with personal computers with ease, there is a need for measures that make it harder for documents to be forged.
San Juan: Puerto Ricans head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether they want their struggling U.S. territory to become the 51st U.S. state, although a vote in favor would likely face an uphill battle in Congress and with President Donald Trump.



The vote comes at a time of economic hardship for the island, hamstrung by $70 billion in debt, a 45-percent poverty rate, woefully underperforming schools, and near-insolvent pension and health systems.



Puerto Rico`s hazy political status, dating back to its 1898 acquisition by the United States from Spain, has contributed to the economic crisis that pushed it last month into the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.



"Statehood hasn`t come in the past 120 years. Why would Donald Trump want to make this bankrupt island a state now? It will be another 120 years before that happens," said Miriam Gonzalez, a 66-year-old retiree in San Juan.



Heading into the plebiscite, Puerto Ricans mingling on the quaint and narrow streets of old San Juan were divided over the three options they will face on Sunday`s ballot: becoming a U.S. state; remaining a territory; or becoming an independent nation, with or without some continuing political association with the United States.



Under the current system, Puerto Rico`s 3.5 million American citizens do not pay federal taxes, vote for U.S. presidents or receive proportionate federal funding on programs like Medicaid, though the U.S. government oversees policy and financial areas such as infrastructure, defense and trade.

Puerto Rico`s recently elected governor Ricardo Rossello campaigned last year on holding a referendum.



Rossello`s New Progressive Party (PNP) party, which controls Puerto Rico`s government, is premised on a pro-statehood stance, while the opposition Popular Democratic Party (PPD) supports versions of the current territory status and a third party, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), supports independence.



A spokesman for the governor told Reuters he will push Congress to respect a result in favor of statehood, but Puerto Rico is seen as a low priority in Washington.



The status referendum is Puerto Rico`s fifth since 1967. Statehood won in the last referendum in 2012, though PPD leaders instructed constituents to leave blank hundreds of thousands of ballots, calling the result into question.



"Statehood isn`t going to happen and the status quo is a trap," said 23-year-old engineering and economics student Daniel Montalvo. "At this point, I think gradual independence is the best option."
District of Columbia: Former FBI director James Comey`s scathing testimony has boosted the case for obstruction of justice charges against President Donald Trump, legal experts say.

But more evidence is needed to prove that the president attempted to stymie the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which has several Trump campaign aides in its crosshairs.



With stronger evidence, Trump could face the same sort of criminal allegations that forced president Richard Nixon to resign in 1973, and saw Bill Clinton impeached by the House of Representatives but survive a Senate trial in 1998-99.



Legal analysts assume that former FBI director Robert Mueller, the independent special counsel in charge of the Russia probe, has now branched out to see whether Trump has interfered in any illegal way.



Comey`s testimony Thursday to the Senate Intelligence Committee was "a pretty powerful statement" in support of an obstruction investigation, said Harvard University law professor Mark Tushnet, a legal history expert.



What Comey said about his private February meeting with Trump, and Trump`s firing of him on May 9, "gives good reason for the special prosecutor to be pretty aggressive."



On Friday an angry Trump said Comey "lied" and that he was "100 percent" prepared to be interviewed by Mueller in any probe.The first challenge is the word "hope." Comey said that in their February 14 meeting Trump expressed "hope" that the FBI would drop its probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn over Flynn`s contacts with Russian officials.



Comey said he took that as a presidential command. "I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone," Comey said, noting Trump had sent all his staff out of the room before the discussion.



"When it comes from the president, I took it as a direction." Asked if he saw it as an "order," Comey replied "yes."



Comey said he believed he was fired because of the Russia probe, which has moved steadily closer to the White House, with investigators examining Trump`s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.



"I take the president at his word, that I was fired because of the Russia investigation," he said, referring to a statement by Trump in an NBC interview. "Something about the way I was conducting it, the president felt, created pressure on him that he wanted to relieve."Given Comey`s reputation as a methodical, ultra-cautious investigator, the testimony was damning, said a Washington lawyer who served in a top position in a prior administration.



"It`s going to get investigated. If I`m Trump`s lawyer, I now know that the obstruction file is open in the special counsel`s office," he said, asking not to be identified.



"The question is going to be whether they find evidence of intent."



That could come from any of several corners. Mueller will likely seek to determine whether anyone on the White House staff discussed what Trump was going to say to, or do with, Comey.



Also crucial will be whether Trump recorded the meetings, as he seemed to suggest in a tweet after firing Comey.



In addition, news media have reported that Trump asked other officials to intervene.



A day before Comey`s testimony, two top spy chiefs, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, both refused to answer when Intelligence Committee members inquired whether Trump had ever "asked" them to help ease the probe. Both men, though, said they never "felt pressured" to do so.



But how they felt matters less than if they were asked, the former administration lawyer said. "That would be additional evidence of intent."Celebrated criminal defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz has argued in a lengthy Twitter commentary that Trump was at worst guilty of "political sins"; he said there is "no plausible case" for obstruction charges.



"You can`t have obstruction of justice when the president didn`t commit a crime," he wrote. "The president has the authority to tell the director of the FBI to stop an investigation."



But former Republican congressman Bob Inglis summarized the gravity of the situation when he recalled his own role on the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 for obstruction and perjury.



Clinton was tried in the Senate "for matters less serious than the ones before us now," Inglis said.
Washington: Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator until President Donald Trump picked him as US attorney general, heads to Congress this coming week when he will face a grilling about his Russian interactions.

Sessions, among the earliest high-profile backers of Trump's election campaign, appears before his former colleagues Tuesday, days after explosive testimony by ousted FBI director James Comey, whose removal he recommended.

Concerns have been raised about whether Sessions helped otherwise subvert the ongoing Russia-related investigations.

"This is going to prompt a lot of questions for him," the panel's top Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy, told AFP of an appearance in which lawmakers will be eager to learn what role Sessions played in Comey's firing last month.

The Senate Appropriations Committee had called in the attorney general to testify about budget issues. But yesterday, after senators made clear they would zero in on Sessions's connections to Russia, Sessions shifted his plan, opting to address the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"In light of reports regarding Mr Comey's recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters," Sessions said in a letter announcing the change.

The intelligence panel "is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information," he added.

With reports circulating that Trump had been clashing with his attorney general, and that Sessions had offered to resign, the White House on Tuesday declined to say whether the president maintained confidence in Sessions.

And in a stunning moment of inside-the-Beltway intrigue, Comey dropped a bombshell about why he and other top FBI officials concluded that the attorney general was going to recuse himself from the probe.

"We also were aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said.

Although Sessions, a genteel 70-year-old from the southern state of Alabama who served 20 years in the Senate, backed Trump's campaign, he was also one of the first administration officials to fly into turbulence.

During his January confirmation hearing he failed to disclose meetings he held with Russian officials.

On March 1, The Washington Post reported that he met twice with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, during the campaign.

The following day, Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe, and several top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, demanded he resign. Sessions refused.

He may also be under a cloud of suspicion after Comey, in his devastating testimony, suggested the attorney general may have failed to take appropriate steps to protect the FBI chief.

At the conclusion of a February 14 meeting in the White House, Comey testified, Trump urged everyone else but Comey to leave the Oval Office, including Sessions.

"My impression was, something big is about to happen," Comey said, as he recalled the encounter.

"My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving," Comey added.

When the two men were alone, the ex-FBI director said, Trump urged Comey to stop the investigation into fired national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Dhaka: Bangladesh police on Sunday arrested a businessman accused of being a major figure in the Islamist group blamed for a cafe attack that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Imran Ahmed, who runs a garment factory, and his driver were arrested in a raid just outside the capital Dhaka, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) counter-terrorism force said in a statement.

The RAB alleges Ahmed, 37, is a key decision-maker in Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a homegrown extremist outfit accused of last year`s deadly attack on a Dhaka cafe frequented by foreigners.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kamrul Hasan, a RAB commander, said Ahmed was an important figure in the outlawed group.

"He also spent a lot of money to buy weapons and explosives for the group," he told AFP.

Police seized a pistol and literature about Islamic jihad from the men, who were on the run when they were apprehended.

Ahmed is also accused of helping a high-profile militant evade authorities in the northeastern city of Sylhet after the group allegedly staged twin bomb attacks there in March.

Six people, including the head of RAB`s intelligence wing, were killed in the violence.

Bangladesh has been reeling from a spate of Islamist violence in recent years, with dozens of foreigners, secular writers, atheist activists and religious minorities killed.

The Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has denied their involvement and blamed local groups for the carnage.

Since the cafe attack, security agencies have killed some 70 militants in raids and shootouts. Among them was a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian said to be the head of a new JMB faction and the mastermind of the cafe attack.
New Delhi: Three Chinese naval warships have arrived in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on a four-day "goodwill and training" visit, media reports said on Sunday.

The visit will "further promote mutual trust and boost cooperation and friendship," fleet commander Shen Hao was quoted as saying.

"The pragmatic cooperation and communication between the two navies will be further strengthened so as to contribute to regional stability and world peace and play an active role in promoting common development," Hao said.

Pakistan's navy chief said the PLA fleet would enhance maritime collaboration.

During their stay in Karachi, both sides will interact with each other and discuss "subjects of mutual interest", a media report said.
Islamabad: At least three policemen were killed today in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan allegedly by the Islamic State militant group.

The motorcycle-borne attackers targeted a police check post in the provincial capital of Quetta.

Unidentified motorcyclists opened fired at a police check post in Gen area of Chakki Shahwani on Saryab Road of the provincial capital, resulting in the death of three police personnel, police said.

One policeman died on the spot while the other two succumbed to the bullet wounds at the hospital, an official said.

Police launched a manhunt to nab the culprits who fled after the incident.

A local affiliate of Islamic State militant group later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred after security forces killed 12 militants in a three-day operation at the start of this month in Balochistan's Mastung area.
London: US President Donald Trump has told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a phone call that he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain if there were large-scale protests.

According to a report by the Guardian, the call was made in recent weeks and the statement surprised May.May invited Trump to Britain seven days after he took office.

She told a joint press conference she had extended an invitation from the Queen to Trump and his wife Melania to make a state visit later in the year and was "delighted that the president has accepted that invitation".

Following the invitation, May faced calls to cancel the visit as opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn warned she will be failing the country if she does not cancel the American President's visit in the wake of his ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the US.

Trump had been an advocate of Brexit.In April he said, "I think Brexit is very good for the UK, it is going to be very good for UK."
Beijing: Scientists have discovered the most complete specimen of a tiny dinosaur-era bird, trapped in 98 million-year-old amber, that has exceptionally well preserved feathers, talons and other features.

Excavated from a mine in Myanmar, the piece of amber holds the specimen of a group of extinct toothed birds called enantiornithines, which died out at the end of the Cretaceous period (about 145 million to 65.5 million years ago).

Body proportions and plumage development in the tiny specimen indicated that it was very young.

The feathers' structures and distribution highlight some key differences between the ancient avians and modern-day birds, according to the study published in the journal Gondwana Research.

The fossils' exceptional preservation of plumage helps paleontologists understand the diversity of feathers and the role they played for early avians, said Jingmai O'Connor, professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Feathers can never be well understood in normal fossils," O'Connor said.

"But in amber, we get crystal-clear views of what primitive feathers were like, and they reveal all sorts of bizarre morphologies," she said.

Though scientists had previously found specimens of this bird group in amber, the new find included features never seen before, such as the ear opening, the eyelid and skin on the feet.

Its body measured about six centimetres in length. Scientists used micro-CT scans and digital 3D reconstruction to further analyse the specimen, 'Live Science' reported.

The amber chunk - which measured around 8.6 cm long, 3 cm wide and 5.7 cm thick - had been divided down the middle into two pieces.

This cut sliced through the specimen's skull, damaging some of the bones and separating the chick's beak from its braincase and neck.

However, the body was near-complete, with the amber containing the tiny bird's head and neck, part of its wings, feet and tail; and plenty of soft tissue and attached feathers.
London: British Prime Minister Theresa May reached an "outline agreement" with the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party in order to be able to govern after a humiliating election that has left her authority in tatters.

She also confirmed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call yesterday that Britain was ready to begin Brexit negotiations "as planned in the next couple of weeks", reassuring EU leaders who had expressed doubts after May's electoral losses.

May's Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in Thursday's vote and need the support of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's DUP to have a majority.

"We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative government," a spokesman for May said.

The spokesman indicated this would not be a formal coalition but a minority government with looser DUP support on a "confidence and supply basis".

"We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond," he said.

The details of the agreement "will be put forward for discussion and agreement" at a cabinet meeting tomorrow, a day before the new parliament meets, the spokesman said.

There was no mention of what concessions the DUP may have asked for, amid growing concern about the influence of a party opposed to abortion and gay marriage, and which has proved hugely controversial in the past over the homophobic and sectarian views of some of its representatives.

May yesterday lost her two closest aides as she struggled to reassert her leadership after a crushing election setback.

The Conservative leader has been warned that her days are numbered after calling Thursday's vote three years early hoping to strengthen her hand going into Brexit negotiations with Brussels, only to lose her majority.

Senior party figures have cautioned against any immediate leadership challenge, saying it would cause only further disruption as Britain prepares to start the Brexit talks as early as June 19.

But media reports suggest they had demanded the departure of May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, as the price for allowing the 60-year-old vicar's daughter to stay in office.

They were replaced by Gavin Barwell, a former housing minister who lost his seat in the election.

May put on a brave face after Thursday's vote, expressing sorrow for the MPs who lost their seats but refusing to acknowledge how her election gamble backfired.

"From hubris to humiliation," said the left-leaning Guardian, while the Times headline read: "May stares into the abyss".

The resignations of Timothy and Hill, on whom May had been heavily reliant since her previous job at the interior ministry, will be a personal blow.

Timothy said he took responsibility for the Conservative manifesto, including a plan for elderly social care that caused a backlash among core voters.

A party spokesman confirmed the resignation of Hill, a combative character who one former colleague said had helped create a "toxic" atmosphere at the heart of the government.

May is preparing to name the rest of her cabinet, after revealing Friday that her five most senior ministers would stay in their posts.
New Delhi: The government has proposed to the Supreme Court a NEET-like examination to recruit judges to the lower judiciary.

The proposal comes close on the heels of several states, including some ruled by the BJP, opposing the formation of an all-India judicial service, a 60-year-old idea.

There were vacancies of 4,452 judges in subordinate courts in the country as per the figures released on December 31, 2015.

While the sanctioned strength is 20,502, the actual number of judges/judicial officers in subordinate courts is 16,050.

"Adoption of the model followed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for conducting the National- Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses could also be explored.

"As per the process followed by NEET, the CBSE is responsible for conducting the entrance test, declaration of result and preparation of an all-India rank," reads a letter written by the Secretary (Justice) in the Law Ministry to the Secretary General, Supreme Court.

The ministry has suggested various models to the apex court so that vacancies in the subordinate courts are filled up fast.

Besides the NEET model, the Law Ministry has also proposed that a "centralised examination" could be held by a "recruitment body" for selection of candidates and it can work under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

It also proposed that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) can also be asked to hold an exam to recruit judicial officers. The UPSC, it said, can modify its procedures and practices in consultation with the high courts to hold the specialised test.

The Secretary (Justice) has also suggested that some of the features followed by the Institute of Banking and Personnel Selection could also be followed to recruit judges to lower courts.

The letter is a follow-up of a meeting held on April 8 between representatives of the government and the judiciary to discuss speedy justice where the issue of vacancies in lower courts also came up for deliberation.

During the meeting, chaired by apex court judge Adarsh Goel, who heads the Arrears Committee, it was suggested that an alternative methods of recruitment, such as creation of a central selection mechanism, could be introduced.

At present, various high courts and state service commissions hold exams to recruit judicial officers.

"While there has been a gradual increase in the sanctioned strength of the subordinate judiciary... The working strength of judges is still low due to delay in filling up vacancies. This indicates that the high courts and state public service commissions are facing difficulties in filling up vacancies, which in turn contributes to delay in disposal of cases and a rise in pendency," the letter states.

The letter has since been sent to the states for their views. The matter may come up for hearing in July after the court's summer break is over.

The Centre's plan to create a national-level judicial service, on the pattern of the All-India Civil Services, was first discussed in 1960 but the plan has not taken off due to continued differences between the stakeholders.

Seven states, including BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, have opposed the formation of an all-India judicial service.

Another BJP-ruled state, Maharashtra, wants recruitment for the all-India judicial service (AIJS) to be done in a particular manner which the Law Ministry feels is "not in consonance" with the provisions of the service included in the Constitution.

According to a Law Ministry note on AIJS circulated to members of a parliamentary consultative committee attached with the ministry, the governments of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Odisha and Uttarakhand want major changes in the proposal formulated by the Centre.
New Delhi: The HRD Ministry has directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to conduct a fresh inspection of 44 institutions labelled "unworthy" of being given a deemed varsity status by a government panel in 2009.



The status of these varsities across the country has been in limbo ever since, with some institutes seeking legal action.



"The Ministry has written to the UGC asking for a fresh inspection of these universities to judge whether they can be allowed to retain the (deemed varsity) status," a source said.



A body called the Tandon committee, set up by the human resource development ministry in 2009, had examined 126 deemed universities and found 44 of them "unworthy". Another 44 were found deficient on many counts while the performance of 38 was found satisfactory.



The panel recommended the immediate withdrawal of the deemed university status from the institutions found unworthy. However, some institutions moved court, and the matter is still sub judice.



The Tandon committee had assessed each institute on 45 marks. Institutions that scored less than 15 were labelled unworthy.



These 44 institutions were originally colleges and were later granted deemed university status by the government.
New Delhi: An integrated command of the defence forces must happen at some point of time and it must be looked at as an option, suggests Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat.



He is unfazed by theories of India getting caught in a two-front war with Pakistan and China. During an interaction with IANS, he smiled away a question, "Is India heading for a war?", which appeared on the cover of the latest edition of one of the English weeklies.



Similarly, he refused to be drawn into a discussion whether surgical strikes could be resorted to again to control terrorism and infiltration sponsored from across the border.



The Army Chief maintains that that government is ready with funds for army's modernisation and acquisition of equipment and dismissed any apprehensions about shortage of funds.



"If we are going to fight a war someday, the war is going to be fought by the three forces together. Integration has to be in a holistic manner. Can we have a joint forces mechanism? Is it better or not? We have to look at the option. It must happen at some point of time," Gen Rawat said.



"You also economise by integration of logistics. The integration has to be in the form of all services utilising their resources in a harmonised manner," he said.



Against the backdrop of the recent joint doctrine that has been put out, the army chief was asked whether an integrated command is going to be practically beneficial as neither the air force nor the navy seems to be enthusiastic.



He said the integration must happen at all costs but the method of integration has to be looked into it. "We have to look at how we integrate... It is not that today we can't fight a war if a joint mechanism is better, we need to look at it," he said.



A doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces released recently called for a joint approach among the forces. "The nature of future warfare requires harmonious and synergistic application of land, air and sea forces. Joint operations are the most essential requirement of future wars and have to focus on the seamless application of all available resources to shock, dislocate and overwhelm the belligerent," it said.



The doctrine also said the response to "terror provocations could be in the form of surgical strikes and these would be subsumed in the sub-conventional portion of the spectrum of armed conflict."



Asked if surgical strikes carried out by the special forces of the army last year on the terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-administered Kashmir would be resorted to again, the Army Chief said a surgical strike is just "one of the methods" but refused to say what may be the other options.



When asked if India was ready for a two-front war, Gen Rawat said, "We have got a plan. We know. We have our own rules (to fight)."



Asked about a recent report from the Pentagon which said China may build ports in Pakistan, the Army chief said: "Everyone is interested in getting access to the Indian Ocean Region. Pakistan is also building ports in Myanmar."



In this context, he referred to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) "being built crossing through parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir."



Talking about modernisation of the Army, Gen Rawat said there was no problem of funds as the government was clearing procurements based on the priorities expressed by the forces.



"The government is giving required funds. I don't think there is any problem with procurement. Government is not denying procurement... guns are coming, aircraft are coming," he said.



"The government has said funds will be made available as per requirement. What I am getting as my budget is only for running the Army," he said.



A parliamentary panel in its report tabled in Parliament in the budget session had said budgetary provisioning to army is critically short and is likely to affect adversely the modernisation process as well as the operational preparedness of the force.


New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic visit to Israel, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Sunday left for the jewish nation on a four-day trip aimed at broadening bilateral defence and security cooperation.

Admiral Lanba will hold talks with Lt Gen Gadi Eisenkot, Chief of the General Staff of Israeli Defence Force, to explore stepping up of cooperation between armed forces of the two countries in the wake of evolving security challenges in the region.

He is also scheduled to meet the Commander-in-Chief of Israeli Navy, Commander of Israeli Air Force, Commander of Israeli Ground Forces and a number of high-ranking officials of Israel's defence ministry, the Navy said in a statement.

Defence ties between India and Israel have been growing rapidly and a raft of mega deals including procurement of an air defence system for the Indian Navy are likely to be sealed during Modi's upcoming visit which will be the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish nation

India is the largest buyer of Israel's military hardware and the latter has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years, but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.

Admiral Lanba is also chairman of the powerful chiefs of staff committee (CoSC) which comprises the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs.

"The visit by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman CoSC & CNS will further consolidate the armed forces cooperation between the two countries,? the Navy said.

The much-awaited deal for Barak-8 air defence missile systems for the navy and procurement of Spike anti-tank missiles for the Indian Army are expected to be firmed up during Modi's visit to Tel Aviv next month.

The Indo-Israel cooperation in naval sphere has witnessed an upswing in the last few years. Western fleet ships -- Mumbai, Teg, Tarkash and Aditya -- had recently visited Hanifa in Israel.

Lanba's official schedule in Israel begins tomorrow and will conclude on June 15.

?The defence relationship between the two countries, over the years, has matured into one of mutual trust and confidence. Indian has been importing critical defence technologies from Israel.

"In addition, both the armed forces and MoD have been cooperating through the medium of Staff Talks, Joint Working Group (JWG) and exchange of high-level visits,? the Navy said, adding Lanba?s visit to Israel is in continuation of such high level defence exchanges.
New Delhi: Biometric entry passes at airports will take more time before becoming a reality, with "technical issues" forcing authorities to delay its roll out for the third time in less than six months.

The government has decided to provide biometric entry passes for employees of airlines, airports, ground handling agencies and other individuals working inside the aerodromes.

There is continuing delay in implementing the biometric entry pass system even as the Civil Aviation Ministry is working on an ambitious 'Digiyatra' initiative for seamless and paperless travel for the passengers.

Sources said the plan was to put in place biometric access control system across 43 airports from December 2016. Then it was extended to March this year and now the date of its implementation is yet to be finalised.

A source at the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said the delay is "due to technical issues" being faced by the National Informatics Centre (NIC)--the implementing authority for the government's IT-based initiatives.

The proposal was to link an individual's Aadhaar information with the biometric access control system, the source added.

However, it could not be immediately ascertained if the delay was on account of uncertainties as the Supreme Court is yet to decide on the privacy issues raised with respect to linking Aadhaar for certain purposes.

"We are expecting that the biometric system will be ready in another 2-3 months," said an official at the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

The AAI has sought 18 months time to be able to execute the biometric access control system across the 43 airports, the official added.

With the delay, the validity of airport entry passes currently used by ground staff has been renewed till December 2018.

Airport entry passes--issued by the BCAS--allow airport access to airline crew, ground staff, engineers, security personnel and other individuals.

The AAI had last year awarded Indian public sector firm Broadcasting Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) more than Rs 110 crore worth contract for providing biometric access control system at airports.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday directed Indian Ambassador in the US Navtej Sarna to update Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh about issues relating to safety and security of Indians in that country.

Swaraj's direction came after the Punjab Chief Minister, in a tweet, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swaraj to take up the issue of security concerns of Indians living in the US with President Donald Trump.

"I have asked Sardar Navtej Singh Sarna, Indian Ambassador in Washington, to update you on this," Swaraj tweeted.

Earlier, Singh said in a tweet, "Indians, Sikhs in US are not feeling safe, please take up their security with @realDonaldTrump on priority @narendramodi ji @SushmaSwaraj ji.

There has been a spate of attacks on Indians in several parts of the US in the last three months.

A 26-year-old man from Telangana was shot at by an unidentified person in California in the US on June 4 and continues to be in "very critical condition".
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday flagged off the first batch of pilgrims bound for the annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra for this year.

Swaraj told the pilgrims to take care to not "sully" the route leading up to Kailash Mansarovar during the holy journey.

"The reverence we have for Lord Shiva, we should have similar respect for his abode. Therefore, please do not sully the road that will lead you to Lord Shiva," she told the pilgrims at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan here.

A total of 1,430 devotees will undertake the pilgrimage in 25 batches this year. Eighteen batches, each comprising around 60 pilgrims, will visit Kailash Mansoravar through the more arduous Lipulekh Pass route, while seven batches with 50 pilgrims each will take the newly-opened Nathu La route.

The yatra will continue for the next four months.

The MEA had received 4,442 applications this year compared to last year's 2,600. The pilgrims were shortlisted through a computerised draw of lots.

"In this first batch, we had selected 60 people but two of them couldn't clear their medical test and hence 58 people will go in the first batch," she said.

Swaraj said the Indian government was making constant efforts and improvements to make the journey more convenient for the pilgrims.

"But it is a gradual process and we are doing a bit more every year," she said.

Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant in December last year, asked the pilgrims to seek blessings on her behalf as well.

"I underwent the operation but by God's grace I could recuperate within months. Since you all are going to seek blessings of Lord Shiva, I'd request you to seek some blessings for me too as I myself haven't gone to Kailash Mansarovar, ever, and am not sure if I ever will," she said.
Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sent a formal request to Pakistan to cooperate with the probe into Uri terror attack, as per a media report.

According to India Today, the NIA has sought Pakistan's response on seizures made after the attack.

Suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist are believed to have carried out the deadly attack on September 18 last year.

The media group quoted sources as saying that the request contains details of medicines, clothes, shoes, and DNA of one of the terrorists (identified as Abu Anas).

The identity of three other terrorists has not been established as yet.

India does not have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Pakistan.

However, a top officer told the media house that LR is mere symbolism as Pakistan never cooperates.

Heavily-armed terrorists had stormed an Army base in Uri in Kashmir, killing 18 jawans.

Located barely a few kilometres from the Line of Control (LoC) and some 70 km from Srinagar, administrative base of 10 Dogra was subjected to the brazen attack at around 5.30 am.
Srinagar: An Army major was killed after the gypsy he was travelling in turned turtle, in north Kashmir's Kupwara district today, the police said.

The accident occurred near NC Pass, Sadhna Top in the Kralpora area of Kupwara this afternoon, resulting in the death of Major S R Samal, a police official said.

The deceased belonged to 310 Field Regiment, he said.
Jammu: Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy fire on Sunday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, a defence official said.



"Pakistan army initiated indiscriminate firing and shelling on our positions on the LoC in Rajouri district's Bhimber Gali sector at 9.45 a.m.," Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta told IANS.



"The firing is going on and our forces are effectively retaliating."



Sunday's incident comes after Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling and firing on Saturday evening in three areas of Poonch district's Krishna Ghati sector.



"They first initiated small arms and automatic gunfire, but later used 82 mm mortars," the spokesman added.


Bengaluru: Congress in Karnataka on Sunday demanded that the central government formulate a national policy on farm loans.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara said that if there was a national policy, all states which now have different polices, would follow it. There would be uniformity in approach by both central and state governments when they waive such loans, he said.

"We in Karnataka are committed to address farmers issues. Central government should formulate a national policy in this regard, so that state's also follow it. I demand a national policy on these kinds of issues," Parameshwara said.

"When you (central government) can overnight formulate a law banning read beacons, why can't you formulate a national policy when farmers from across the country are demanding for loan waiver faced by drought?" he questioned.

Pointing out that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led UPA government had waived farmers' loans amounting to about Rs 72,000 crore, he said the central government cannot just wash their hands off by leaving it to the states.

"As a national government it should come out with a national policy so that everyone agrees to it," he added.

Asked about Congress government in Karnataka not announcing a farm loan waiver for farmers when their leader Rahul Gandhi was demanding the same in Madhya Pradesh, he said "we are holding discussions in this regard and our government is committed to address the issues faced by farmers."

Parameshwara reiterated Karnataka's demand that the Centre first waive loans availed by farmers through nationalised banks,adding that such loans got through state run cooperative banks was very small compared to nationalised banks.

He was speaking to reporters while briefing them of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi's visit here tomorrow to attend National Herald's event to celebrate 70 years of independence with release of a commemorative publication.

Gandhi will also attend a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's extended general body meeting, where he will address about 1,500 party workers and office bearers about the preparations for the 2018 assembly polls in the state.

First launched in 1938 as a daily in the vanguard of the Freedom Movement, the Congress-owned newspaper National Herald had in November last year staged a comeback with a digital version, eight years after it had downed shutters.

The publication has come in the midst of a legal battle over its past, which has ensnared Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Parameshwara termed as 'deplorable,' BJP President Amit Shah's statement that Mahatma Gandhi was a "chatur baniya", a reference to the mercantile caste to which he was born and said it was not just an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, but to the entire nation.

He demanded an "unconditional apology" from Amit Shah.
Mandsaur: With peace gradually returning to violence-hit Mandsaur, local BJP MP Sudhir Gupta on Sunday alleged that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence and said the farmers' stir was led by the opposition party.

The Neemuch-Mandsaur MP alleged that the Congress organised this stir to divert people's attention from the recent public slaughter of a cow by Youth Congress leaders in Kerala.

"This is not a farmers' agitation, this is Congress' agitation," he said.

When asked if his party will suffer in the elections as most of the people here are farmers, Gupta said when the truth about the Congress' role in agitation will come out, then Congress will have to face loss.

"India is a democratic country and the farmers have all the rights to raise their demands but no one can imagine that farmers of Malwa region, which is very peaceful, on the name of agitation, would do so much violence," he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

Over the Congress alleging that no BJP leader visited the families of farmers killed during the agitation, the MP rejected the allegation saying he is in touch with the farmers' families.

"When the bodies of the five farmers killed in police firing were brought to a hospital here, I sat with them for over five hours," Gupta said.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Meenakshi Natarajan denied the allegation that the Congress provoked the farmers to resort to violence.

"Congress never supports violence. It is completely a farmers' agitation but we are there to fight for the farmers' demands," she said.

When asked about the violence, Natarajan said the farmers of Neemuch-Mandsaur are angry over not getting the right price for their yields of soyabean, onion, garlic among others.

Also, many windmills are operating in the region for which land was acquired from the farmers, but the government never gave compensation for the agricultural land, she alleged.

On Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's fast, Natarajan said, "He is the CM, what is the need to fast instead he should call a cabinet meeting and pass a proposal on the demands of the farmers."

A special session of the state Assembly should also be called for resolving problems of agri sector apart from the Cabinet meeting, she said.

Farmers do not have any say in fixing of the price of their crops and the government is not listening to their demands, Natarajan alleged.

She urged the Narendra Modi government to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan commission report.



Natarajan said the Central government should waive all the farm loans as the agriculture sector is facing problems.

Mandsaur-Neemuch region, where had always been a stronghold of the BJP. Six MLAs out of the seven assembly seats of the two district are from the BJP while 1 MLA is from the Congress.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on June 6.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan yesterday launched an indefinite fast in state capital Bhopal with an appeal for peace and met farmer leaders, but failed to reach a compromise.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday ended his day-old indefinite fast which he started here for the restoration of peace in his state rocked by violence during a farmers` agitation.

He announced a series of decisions aimed at the welfare of the state`s farmers, including buying of all crops on Minimum Support Prices, purchase of milk as per Amul Dairy`s formula, and setting up of farmers markets in Madhya Pradesh to save them from the clutches of middlemen.

The government has decided to set up a Rs 1,000 crore corpus to ensure stabilisation of farm produce prices so as to ensure remunerative prices of crops.

There will be no land acquisition without the consent of affected farmers.

Former Chief Minister Kailash Joshi offered coconut water to Chouhan for ending his fast at the Dussehra Maidan here.

Chouhan started his fast on Saturday in the wake of violence that marred the farmers` protest from June 1, launched to press their demand for debt waiver and better prices for farm produce.

Madhya Pradesh is the only state in the country where farmers get interest-free loans and are charged less rate of interest on money given for buying seeds and fertilisers, he said.

Hinting that there is no scope for loan waivers, Chouhan said 80 per cent of the state`s farmers took interest-free loans. Only 20 per cent of farmers were loan defaulters and efforts will be made to bring them under the interest-free loan beneficiaries category.

The Chief Minister said his government had already implemented many of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee recommendations.

A Land Use Advisory Committee will be set up as per the panel recommendations, which will advise the farmers on cultivation-related issues.

The Chief Minister had earlier said he lived for the state`s people and the farmers and would also die for them. He said he would ensure farmers don`t face amy problems.

At least five peasants were killed in police firing in Mandsaur on June 6. Farmer leaders, however, put the number of deaths at eight. One farmer died later of injuries in clashes with police.

The violence by Madhya Pradesh farmers in Mandsaur has spilled over to several other districts, including the Malwa-Nimad area and even reached the state capital.

State Ministers and the kin of peasants killed in police firing earlier urged the Chief Minister to end his fast.

On Saturday night, Chouhan met the family members of the killed farmers. He also met several representatives of farmers` organisations and listened to their problems on Saturday.

Earlier, both the Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Gauri Shankar Bisen had ruled out any loan waiver, following which a group of farmers started a counter-protest opposite Chouhan`s podium at the same site.
Ratlam: Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, social activists Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh and JNUSU president Mohit Kumar Pandey were detained by the police on Sunday when they were trying to enter restive Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh to meet the deceased farmers` kin.

The activists, backed by at least 100 people, claimed by officials, were detained by the police under the Preventive Custody Act 151 for violating Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

According to officials, the activists were repeatedly advised not to enter the violence hit district as Section 144 was imposed, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people in an area.

"Under the Section 144, more than four to five people cannot assemble. We repeatedly requested them to follow the orders. There are at least 100 people with them. It is clearly a violation of the rule. Hence we first cautioned them and then took action," Mandsaur`s Sub Divisional Magistrate R. P. Verma told ANI.

However, Yogendra Yadav claimed that there were only four of them and were following the orders diligently.

"We don`t know why we were arrested, there is no curfew. We did not violate Section 144. When we asked for the order they did not show it to us. What democracy is this?" Yadav told ANI.

Expressing similar concerns Swami Agnivesh said, "It seems that rule of law is only applicable to those who believe in non-violence. The police are only meant to stop us and not for those who indulge in hooliganism."

Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Shukla has said that the activists have been placed under police custody and will be cautioned to not to enter the district again.

"We have taken them into custody under the Cr.PC 151. We will take them to Jaora where some paperwork needs to be done and some conditions will be imposed on them. We will ask them not to go to Mandsaur, if they still persist, we will arrest them and put them in jail," Shukla told ANI.

Mandsaur has been in the grip of intense farmers` agitation who have been protesting against loan waiver and good prices for their produce.

On June 6, the curfew was imposed after five farmers were killed in police firing during a farmers` protest.
Pune: Pune District Police on Sunday claimed to have cracked the double murder case involving a boy and girl, who were found dead in a forested area near Lonavla here, after the arrest of one person in this connection.

Bodies of two engineering students from a college in Lonavla, were found in the forest near the picturesque hill station on April 3.

"We have arrested one criminal on record in this case and the motive behind the killings was robbery," said a senior official from district police.

The arrested accused is a petty criminal involved in various theft and robbery cases, he said refusing to elaborate further.

According to sources in the district police, there is one more suspect in the case who is yet to be nabbed.

The victims were found to have been hit on the back of their heads with a blunt object and their hands tied at the back.

Pune district police had formed multiple probe teams earlier, but could not crack the case. An award of Rs 50,000 was also announced for any information on the murder after they failed to make any headway in the case.

The parents of the deceased had threatened to launch an agitation and had sought to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis for speedy investigation in the case.

The police then formed an SIT to investigate the case.
New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah has postponed his visit to Arunachal Pradesh and the party is likely to defer its national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in view of the presidential election.

Shah's presence in the capital is required as the BJP is likely to begin the process of finalising the name of its presidential nominee any time now, a party leader said.

The BJP president was to leave for the northeastern state tomorrow.

The election to the top constitutional post will be held on July 17. The last date for filing nomination is June 28.

There could be a meeting of senior party leaders here, he said, giving the reason for postponing Shah's Arunachal Pradesh trip.

If the opposition too puts up a candidate, which is very likely considering the ongoing talks among top leaders of the Congress, the Left, JD(U), among others, a contest will be inevitable.

The BJP leader said there was no point in keeping the national executive meeting scheduled for July 15-16 in Andhra Pradesh, as the presidential election is scheduled for July 17.

He noted that the executive meeting was fixed long before the Election Commission announced the presidential poll schedule.

The Election Commission had on June 7 announced the schedule for the presidential poll.

The nomination process will begin from June 14 with the issuance of a notification and the counting of votes will take place on July 20 in New Delhi.

The electorate, comprising elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and members of state assemblies, is tilted in favour of the NDA, but the opposition is trying to woo some regional parties to support their candidate.
Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu has said NSCN(K) 'chairman' SS Khaplang had passed away before any solution to the protracted Naga political problem could be reached.

"It was encouraging to learn that Khaplang had, a few months back, conveyed his willingness to have a dialogue with the Centre provided issues of substance were discussed," Liezietsu said.

However, the Naga leader died before things could be taken forward to their logical conclusion, he said.

After NSCN(K) abrogated ceasefire with the Government of India in 2015, Nagaland government in consultation with the Centre had been sending delegations to meet the NSCN(K) leadership in Myanmar to convince the rebel outfit to re-enter the peace process and to find an early solution to the Naga political problem, Liezietsu said.

Khaplang died following a cardiac arrest at Takka in Myanmar on the night of June 9.

"It is tragic that an important Naga leader like Khaplang expired considering the fact that the protracted Naga political problem is on the verge of being resolved, and the need for all different Naga political groups to come together to air our views and aspirations to the Government of India in one voice is absolutely imperative," Liezietsu had said in his condolence message.

The Chief Minister also urged the Nagas to "resolve and dedicate" themselves to work with renewed vigour and determination to find a solution to the Naga political problem, which is "honourable and acceptable to all stakeholders".
New Delhi: As many as 10.52 lakh "bogus" PAN cards of individual income tax assesses, which is around 0.4 per cent of the total such documents, cannot be termed a "minuscule" number to harm the country's economy, the Supreme Court has said.

The apex court said that it has come on record that 11.35 lakh duplicate or fraudulent permanent account numbers have been detected and out of these, 10.52 lakh cases pertain to individual assesses.

It made the observations in a 157-page judgement while upholding the validity of section 139AA of the Income Tax Act making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and filing of tax returns.

The court, however, put a partial stay on its implementation till its Constitution Bench addressed the larger issue of right to privacy related to Aadhaar.

Section 139AA of the Act provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns and making application for allotment of PAN with effect from July 1 this year.

"It was sought to be argued (by the petitioners) that persons found with duplicate/bogus PAN cards are hardly 0.4 per cent and, therefore, there was no need to have such a provision," a bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said on Friday.

"We cannot go by percentage figures. The absolute number of such cases is 10.52 lakh, which figure, by no means, can be termed as minuscule to harm the economy and create adverse effect on the nation," the bench, also comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, said.

Dealing with the submissions advanced by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that duplicate PANs were used to divert funds to shell companies, the bench said, "The fact remains that companies are after all floated by individuals and these individuals have to produce documents to show their identity."

It said if introducing Aadhaar in tax regime was one of the measures to check black money or money laundering, the scheme cannot be "denounced" only because of the reason that the purpose would not be achieved fully.

"Such kind of a menace, which is deep-rooted, needs to be tackled by taking multiple actions and those actions may be initiated at the same time.

"It is the combined effect of these actions which may yield results and each individual action considered in isolation may not be sufficient," it noted.
New Delhi: Replying to income tax scrutiny notices with supporting documents will soon be just a click away.

Instead of having to make the rounds of the tax department with sheaf of papers in response to notices received, tax payers can soon upload them on the department's e-filing portal sitting in comfort of one's own premises.

The Income Tax Department will very soon launch on its e- filing website a facility for uploading of information sought through scrutiny notices, a senior government official told PTI.

"This is part of our focus to reduce human interface and make the department more taxpayer friendly," he said. "The facility to e-file the documents to scrutiny notices is being done to reduce interface between the assessing officer and the taxpayer."

Also, the tax department plans to start soon an SMS facility to communicate with taxpayers about any scrutiny notice sent to them.

"We will send SMS on the registered mobile number informing them to go to their account in the efiling portal to see the new notice," the official said.

Once the facility is started, tax payers will get an SMS alert of a new notice or information being raised by the tax department. The assessee can then log on to the efiling portal and upload the documents that have been sought.

Currently, the department sends SMSes for informing tax payers, especially the salaried class, about the tax deducted at source (TDS). Also, such alerts are sent on filing of tax returns and their acceptance.

As many as 3.65 crore individuals filed tax returns in assessment year 2014-15, while only 1 per cent of these are picked up for scrutiny. There are over 29 crore persons holding permanent account number (PAN).

Also to avoid discretion to assessing officer, a computer-based programme picks up cases for scrutiny based on the risk parameters identified by the I-T department.

The Income Tax Department had earlier said that all tax related proceedings between the assessee and the taxman from the new fiscal will be conducted online. A new link called 'e-proceeding' has already been launched on the e-filing portal through which assessees reply to notice, questionnaire, or letter issued under various sections of the I-T Act.
San Francisco: A team of researchers has for the first time discovered magnetism in the 2-D world of monolayers, or materials that are formed by a single atomic layer.



The findings, published this week in the journal Nature, demonstrate that magnetic properties can exist even in the 2-D realm, opening a world of potential applications, as magnetic materials form the basis of technologies that play increasingly pivotal roles in our lives today, Xinhua news agency reported.



"What we have discovered here is an isolated 2-D material with intrinsic magnetism, and the magnetism in the system is highly robust," said Xiaodong Xu, a professor of physics and of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington (UW).



"We envision that new information technologies may emerge based on these new 2-D magnets."



Xu and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) physics professor Pablo Jarillo-Herrero led the international team of researchers who proved that the material, chromium triiodide, or CrI3, has magnetic properties in its monolayer form.



Other groups, including co-author Michael McGuire at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed for the US Department of Energy, had previously shown that CrI3, in its multilayered, 3-D, bulk crystal form, is ferromagnetic.



In ferromagnetic materials, the "spins" of constituent electrons, analogous to tiny, subatomic magnets, align in the same direction even without an external magnetic field.



However, no 3-D magnetic substance had previously retained its magnetic properties when thinned down to a single atomic sheet.



Atoms within monolayer materials are considered "functionally" two-dimensional because the electrons can only travel within the atomic sheet, like pieces on a chessboard.



The researchers used a special type of microscopy to detect a signature in CrI3, as in other ferromagnetic materials when a beam of polarised light is reflected off the material`s surface, indicative of intrinsic ferromagnetism in an isolated monolayer.



And surprisingly, in CrI3 flakes that are two layers thick, the telltale optical signature disappeared. This indicates that the electron spins are oppositely aligned to one another, a term known as anti-ferromagnetic ordering. Ferromagnetism returned in three-layer CrI3.
Darjeeling: Life returned to normal in the northern West Bengal hills with no violence reported so far on Sunday, but uncertainty prevails as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called an indefinite shutdown from Monday.



The tourists, who are still in the picturesque tourist town, are planning to leave the place from Sunday.



According to GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri, all central and state government offices including block development offices, sub-divisional offices and district magistrate offices, banks, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (the hill development body) offices will be closed as a part of the shutdown from Monday.



However, schools and colleges, transport and tourism - hotels, eateries, shops - will be outside the purview of the shutdown.



"There is an uncertainty. We do not know what would happen from Monday even though GJM said tourism will not fall in the purview of shutdown. We are planning to leave for Siliguri in the afternoon. Some tourists are also going to Sikkim," a tourist said here.



Several tourists from Darjeeling reached Kolkata on Sunday morning.



After the GJM's central committee meeting chaired by its President Bimal Gurung on Saturday, the party leaders threw a virtual challenge to the Mamata Banerjee-led state government to press for a separate state of Gorkhaland.



Giri said the state government's revenue sources like electricity, mines and boulders will also be part of the shutdown.



After the clash between police and GJM supporters, the district police launched a search operation.



Five GJM activists have been arrested so far, according to a police official of Darjeeling Sadar police station.



The army patrolling in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong towns was not seen on Sunday morning.


New Delhi: India is helping Nepal to set up a national police academy near Kathmandu at a cost of Rs 550 crore which will provide training to 410 Nepalese police officers annually.

The academy at Panauti, 35 km south-east of Kathmandu, will be on the lines of Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel NPA, the alma mater for the officers of the Indian Police Service.

The feasibility study for the national police academy (NPA) was done by the NPA, Hyderabad, while India's Ministry of Home Affairs is doing consultancy service for the project monitoring and quality assurance services.

Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs is the executing agency and coordinating with the government of India-nominated officials in a joint project monitoring committee.

"India is providing Rs 550 crore towards construction of the academy. As of now, 350 police officers from Nepal undergo training in India every year. The new academy in Nepal will cater to the training of 410 Nepalese police officers annually," an official said.

India provides substantial financial and technical development assistance to Nepal, which is a broad-based programme focusing on creation of infrastructure at the grass-root level, under which various projects have been implemented in the areas of health, water resources, education and rural and community development.

In recent years, India has been assisting Nepal in development of border infrastructure through upgrade of roads in the Terai areas; development of cross-border rail links at Jogbani-Biratnagar, Jaynagar-Bardibas, Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj, Nautanwa-Bhairhawa, and New Jalpaigudi-Kakarbhitta; and establishment of integrated check posts at Raxaul-Birgunj, Sunauli-Bhairhawa, Jogbani-Biratnagar, and Nepalgunj Road- Nepalgunj.

India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture.

India shares a 1,751-km-long border with Nepal that touches Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.
Islamabad: Pakistan today rejected as "fabricated and baseless" reports that it plans to deploy its troops in Qatar amid diplomatic tensions in the Middle East.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria rejected reports appearing in some foreign media regarding deployment of Pakistani troops in Qatar.

He said these were "completely fabricated and baseless".

He stressed that "these false reports appear to be part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstanding between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf.?

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have cut ties with Qatar, accusing their former Gulf Cooperation Council ally of supporting extremist groups.

Earlier, there were reports of Pakistan sending troops to Qatar after Turkey's decided to deploy troops in Qatar.

Pakistan has been in a fix as it enjoys good ties with both Doha and Riyadh. It so far has been staying neutral in the issue.
Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday he did not seek support from Washington to end the siege of a southern Philippines town by Islamist militants, a day after the United States said it was providing assistance at the request of the government.

Duterte told a news conference in Cagayan de Oro City, about 100 km (62 miles) from the besieged town of Marawi, that he had "never approached America" for help.

When asked about U.S. support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, Duterte said he was "not aware of that until they arrived."

The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject U.S. military trainers and advisers from his country.

It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over Duterte`s head in seeking U.S. help.

The Philippines military said on Saturday U.S. forces were providing technical assistance but had no "boots on the ground", confirming a statement from the U.S. embassy in Manila which said the support had been requested by the government.

The seizure of Marawi on May 23 by hundreds of local and foreign fighters has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group Islamic State is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.

The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.

It said in a statement on Saturday it was providing Philippine forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training. A U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday.

"OUR SOLDIERS ARE PRO-AMERICAN"

Duterte, who declared martial law on Mindanao - an island the size of South Korea - after the Islamist fighters overran Marawi, said that under martial law he has authority over the defence department.

He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, "our soldiers are pro-American, that I cannot deny."

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement U.S. forces were participating directly in combat operations, which is prohibited by Philippines law.

"The fight against terrorism, however, is not only the concern of the Philippines or the United States but it is a concern of many nations around the world," he said. "The Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it."

As of Saturday the number of security forces killed in the battle for Marawi stood at 58. The death toll for civilians was 20 and more than 100 had been killed overall.

At least 200 militants are holed up in a corner of the town. An estimated 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped there, some being held as human shields, while others are hiding in their homes with no access to running water, electricity or food.

One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer amid the throng of insurgents, separatists and bandits on Mindanao.

Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Islamic State as its Southeast Asia "emir". Military officials believe Hapilon is still in the town.

The military has said it is aiming to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines` independence day.
Istanbul: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said that the Qatar issue might soon turn into a global problem if the tension in the gulf region increases

."A new problem area that may be created here in Qatar would not be limited inside the region," Anadolu news agency quoted Binali Yildirim, as saying at a fast-breaking (iftar) dinner in Istanbul.

He added that the risk of this issue becoming a global problem was very high due to the geostrategic nature of the region.Yildirim called on the countries of the gulf region, who are in conflict with Qatar, to act responsibly and contribute to reducing the tension rather than increasing it.

Asserting that Turkey has made more efforts to ease the tension, Yildirim said that Ankara was negotiating with the world leaders and their diplomatic counterparts in the region to ease the current situation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also promised to continue supporting Qatar amid a diplomatic row engulfing that Gulf state.Erdogan said he had never witnessed Doha supporting terrorism, adding Turkey "will continue to give all kinds of support to Qatar.

"The Turkish leader has urged Saudi Arabia to reduce tensions and lift sanctions. However, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the U.A.E. in a collective statement has accused 59 individuals and 12 charity organisations in Qatar of being "linked to terror.

"It is wrong to add more troubles on top of everything in the term that the Muslim world is already struggling with a lot of problems," the Turkish President said."I am telling you: There won`t be any winners in the brother`s fight.

"Erdogan has called for dialogue and negotiation among members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to ease the unprecedented diplomatic crisis that has erupted after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed diplomatic ties and traffic links with the resource-rich emirate, accusing Doha of sponsoring and funding terrorist organisations.U.S. President Donald Trump, who initially offered to host a White House meeting to resolve the prevailing Gulf crisis, also attacked Doha, accusing the monarchy of sponsoring terrorism.

In a call with Qatari Emir Tameem Bin Hamad Al Thani on Wednesday, the President offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary, according to a White House statement.But on Friday, Trump said, "Doha has "historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level...

The time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding - they have to end that funding - and its extremist ideology."The Turkey Parliament passed a legislation on Wednesday permitting the deployment of troops to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Ankara will also train the Qatari Police force.Meanwhile, this situation is a repeat of 2014, when several Gulf countries recalled their Ambassadors from Doha over its support for Muslim Brotherhood.
Beirut: US-backed Syrian fighters said they had seized a second district of Raqa on Sunday and launched a renewed assault on a base north of the city, as they pursued an offensive against the Islamic State group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who broke into Raqa after announcing the start of a final assault on the city last week, said their fighters "liberated the neighbourhood of Al-Romaniya on the western front of Raqa, after two days of continued clashes."

It was the first time the SDF was reported to have taken a western district of IS-held Raqa, which its fighters are bearing down on from the east, west and north. The SDF previously seized control of the district of Al-Meshleb in the east.

There was less progress though on the northern front of the battle, where the SDF has struggled to capture the Division 17 military base and an adjacent sugar factory, used by IS to defend approaches into the city.

SDF fighters were battling on Sunday to dislodge IS from the base, with backing from the US-led coalition bombing IS, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Blasts could be heard throughout the night because of the exchange of fire between the two sides," the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said IS had "heavily fortified" the base in anticipation of a ferocious SDF assault on it.

Originally a Syrian army base, Division 17 was seized by IS in 2014 as it took control of swathes of the wider Raqa province.

After its capture by the jihadists the same year, Raqa city emerged as a key hub for IS`s operations in Syria, neighbouring Iraq, and beyond.The SDF -- an Arab-Kurdish alliance formed in 2015 -- spent seven months tightening the noose on Raqa city before finally entering it this week.

After seizing Al-Meshleb on Wednesday, SDF forces were using it as a launching pad for new operations, according to the Observatory.

Al-Meshleb is one of the more built-up residential neighbourhoods in the city`s east, while most other districts nearby are made up of markets and small shops.

An estimated 300,000 civilians were believed to have been living under IS rule in Raqa, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria.

Thousands have fled in recent months, and the UN humanitarian office estimates about 160,000 people remain in the city.

Reports of civilian casualties among those still living inside have swelled in recent weeks.

The Observatory said Sunday that coalition air strikes the previous day killed 24 civilians inside the city, up from an earlier toll of 13 people.
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.
china oil worker

Chinese President Xi Jinping has assured US President Donald Trump that China has limited influence over North Korea, but that's only half true.

It's true that diplomatic relations between the two are weak. Xi has never visited Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, and Kim has never been to Beijing. High-ranking officials with ties to China in North Korea have been executed at Kim's order, sometimes with packs of dogs, sometimes with anti-aircraft guns.

But Gordon Chang, the author of "The Coming Collapse of China," writes in The Cipher Brief that 90% of North Korea's trade is done with China, accounting for 90% of its oil and, in some years, 100% of its aviation fuel.

After a provocative North Korean missile launch in 2003, China cut off its supply of oil to North Korea for three days. In no time, the Kim regime caved to international demands and sat down for the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament.

"China can disarm North Korea in the blink of an eye," Chang wrote.

And it could do so by crippling North Korea's economy  but at a huge cost to North Koreans.

Sanctions on North Korea do not affect regular trade. Although the UN takes very seriously the prospect of an aggressive, nuclear-armed North Korea, economic warfare in the form of too-harsh sanctions would harm or kill civilians  China also supplies at least a third of North Korea's food, according to Chang.

Additionally, China pressing North Korea to the point of regime collapse would contradict its interests, as Beijing doesn't want to face a strong, democratic, unified Korea on its border that could play host to US military installations.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping

But North Korea, with its incessant nuclear provocations and nearly weekly missile tests, functions as a giant bull's-eye for the US, though any military confrontation would run a high risk of going nuclear and killing hundreds of thousands, if not more.

"China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't," Trump said in an April interview with the Financial Times. "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

Story continues

So as North Korea progresses toward a nuclear missile that can strike the US, China must decide how hard it's willing to press the rogue Kim regime while considering its increasingly strained relationship with the US over supporting it.

NOW WATCH: This is the inside account of the secret battle US Marines have been fighting against ISIS





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Today we take a look at another blend from Casa Cuevas Cigars, the Casa Cuevas Maduro. Casa Cuevas Cigars is owned and operated by the father and son team of Luis Cuevas Sr. and Luis Cuevas Jr. The Cuevas family owns a factory in the Dominican Republic known as Tabacalera Las Lavas. This is a factory that has produced brands for companies such as Gurkha, Torano Family Cigars, and Leccia Tobacco. With the Casa Cuevas brand, it introduces the Cuevas familys own brand into the marketplace. 2017 has been a year that has seen the Casa Cuevas brand move toward widespread distribution. Recently I smoked the Casa Cuevas Maduro in the Toro size. Overall, I found this to be another excellent release from Casa Cuevas.

Luis and Luis Jr. are of third and fourth generation Cuban descent. The Cuevas family traces its roots in the cigar industry back to the 19th century. This is when Juan Cuevas settled in the Pinar del Rio valley and started cultivating tobacco. Juans son Juan Jr. would take over the business from his father, but with the Cuban Revolution, Juan Jr left Cuba for the Dominican Republic. This is where the family has been based ever since.

To bring their new brand to market, the Cuevas family hired Gabriel Alvarez to be the Director of Sales for Casa Cuevas. Alvarez has a track record of helping establish new brands in the U.S. market  including Kuuts and Maya Selva Cigars.

With Casa Cuevas, the Cuevas family now introduces its own brand to the market. Casa Cuevas has three blends  a Connecticut, a Habano, and a Maduro. Lets break down the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Casa Cuevas Maduro consists of a four-country multi-national blend.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Colombian, Dominican and Nicaraguan

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera Las Lavas S.R.L)

Vitolas Available

There are three sizes to the Casa Cuevas Maduro. Each is packaged in 20 count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 52

Toro: 6 x 50

Gordo: 6 x 60

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro had a chocolate-brown color to it. The wrapper itself had a thin coat of oil on it. Most of the wrapper seams were well-hidden. While there were some thin visible veins, overall I considered this San Andres wrapper to be on the smoother side.

The band of the Casa Cuevas Habano has a dark black and gold color scheme to it. On the front of the band is a large black oval with the text CUEVAS prominently displayed in a large gold font. Just above that text is the text Casa in a thin cursive gold font. The remainder of the band features some gold medallions also on a black background. The band is finished with a thick gold foil-like trim.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I commenced the cigar experience of the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro with a straight cut. Once the cap was removed I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The dry draw produced a mix of chocolate, earth, and cedar. Overall I considered this to be a very good pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

Out of the gate, the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro delivered a nice assortment of flavors. This includes notes of cedar, citrus, chocolate, and earth. Early on, I didnt really find a dominant note, but the cedar seemed to have a slight edge. The resulted in some spiciness during the first third. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered a mix of citrus and some additional cedar notes.

Toward the later part of the first third, the cedar notes began to recede into the background  and the chocolate notes increased. As the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro moved into the second third, the chocolate notes moved into the forefront. By the midway point, the chocolate notes took on more of a mocha quality (i.e. a combination of chocolate and espresso). Also just past the midway point, a slight amount of black pepper surfaced in the background joining the citrus and earth.

The latter part of the second third of the Casa Cuevas Maduro saw the cedar and black pepper notes increase. By the final third, the cedar notes returned as the primary note with, with the black pepper notes a close secondary note. The mocha notes receded in the background joining the earth notes. There still was a touch of citrus in the background from time to time. This is the way the Casa Cuevas Maduro came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The burn of the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro scored very nicely. The burn path remained straight from start to finish. While there was a slight amount of jaggedness on the actual burn line itself, this didnt warrant any additional touch-ups. The resulting ash had a salt and pepper complexion to it. This was an ash that was on the firm side. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were on the firm side.

The draw to the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro performed quite well. This draw had a slight amount of resistance  which is something that I like. Overall, this made the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro an enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

In terms of strength, I found the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro to be a solid medium. From a body standpoint, I found the depth of the flavors to be medium to full. Throughout the smoking experience, I didnt find the intensity of the strength or body to vary. When comparing the strength and body versus the Casa Cuevas Habano, relatively speaking I found the Maduro to be slightly dialed back.

When it came to strength versus body, I found the body of the Casa Cuevas Maduro to have the edge.

Final Thoughts

Last month, my first experience with the Casa Cuevas Habano was quite positive. After smoking the Casa Cuevas Maduro Toro, it solidified my feelings on the Casa Cuevas brand. This is a brand to keep an eye on. The Casa Cuevas Maduro takes you on a nice loop of spiciness to sweetness and back to spiciness. The medium strength, medium to full-bodied profile of this smoke worked perfectly with the flavors delivered.

The Casa Cuevas Maduro is a cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast or a novice looking to move into the medium/medium plus range. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again  and its one worthy of a box split.

Summary

Key Flavors: Chocolate, Mocha, Cedar, Earth, Citrus, Black Pepper

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium to High

Strength: Medium

Body: Medium to Full

Finish: Excellent

Rating

Assessment: 3.5-Box Split

Score: 91

References

News: n/a

Price: $8.00

Source: Casa Cuevas Cigars

Brand Reference: Casa Cuevas
Pulaski County circuit judge Wendell Griffen taking part in an anti-death

penalty demonstration outside the state governors mansion, Arkansas.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen stood on the steps of the state Capitol on Friday and took aim at lawmakers and the Arkansas Supreme Court, accusing them of breaking the state's 2015 religious freedom law by scrutinizing his public displays of faith.





Backed by a cadre of supporters who appeared at a rally on his behalf, Griffen told reporters that he planned to take his case to court if sanctions against him are not lifted.





The circuit judge has been stripped of his power to hear death penalty cases since he appeared at a death-penalty protest at the Governor's Mansion in April , the same day he issued an order that temporarily halted the state's efforts to begin a series of executions.





Griffen later said his decision to lie prostrate on a cot at that April rally -- which fell on Good Friday -- was meant to portray the crucifixion of Jesus.





On Friday, donning his Panama hat like he did at the rally (though he took it off when he lay on the cot), Griffen said his actions fell under the protection of the 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.





The law says the government cannot "substantially burden a person's exercise of religion," unless it is "the least restrictive means of furthering" a compelling government interest.





Griffen is under investigation for his conduct by the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, and some Republican lawmakers have floated the idea of impeachment.





That's in addition to the Supreme Court justices removing Griffen from cases involving the death penalty.





"It has already happened. The violation [of the religious act] has already happened," Griffen told reporters Friday.





In response to the complaints filed against him with the judicial discipline commission, Griffen filed his own ethics complaint against the justices and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for not offering him a hearing before delivering sanctions.





2 of the top officials at the commission later recused from the competing cases, citing potential conflicts of interest.





David Sachar, the executive director of the commission, said Friday that the staff was looking to recruit 2 independent attorneys and 2 investigators to handle the cases.





Griffen told reporters that he had not yet been contacted by the commission and has not spoken to investigators.





Griffen did not speak at the rally that preceded his talking to reporters. At the rally, supporters from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the NAACP and local Baptist churches came to his defense.





A series of more than a dozen speakers from several states -- and one who said she was a missionary in Indonesia -- accused lawmakers of trumpeting their own brand of Christianity while chastising others.





Rizelle Aaron, the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, read a list of other judges who had run into trouble with the law or been accused of breaking judicial rules without facing similar scrutiny from the courts or lawmakers. (One of the judges he mentioned, former District Judge Joseph Boeckmann, stepped down amid an investigation into sexual misconduct.)





"Where were you, Supreme Court? Where were you, impeachment legislators?" Aaron repeated several times.





Multiple speakers mentioned the religious freedom law, Act 975, which passed after an earlier version sparked heated debate over protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The bill was pulled and rewritten to more closely match language in federal law.





Asked Friday to comment on Griffen's remarks, the sponsor of Act 975, state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, said in a text message that he would need to study the judge's argument more closely to give a full response.





However, Hutchinson said the argument would appear to carry more weight under the earlier, failed version of the religious freedom law, which he voted against.





Source: arkansasonline.com, June 10, 2017









Religious Leaders Defend Arkansas Judge's Death Penalty Protest





"We need more moral leadership in America, not less."





Religious leaders rallied on the state capitol steps Friday in defense of an Arkansas judge's 1st amendment rights, after he was barred from hearing capital murder cases in April.





Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen joined about 15 religious leaders and scholars from different faiths and states in calling the actions against him a "direct attack on religious liberty."





"I rise to say, 'Shame on you!,' to those in Arkansas government, law enforcement and judicial branches who have falsely accused Judge Wendell Griffen of being biased," said Valerie Bridgeman, the dean of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, as a crowd of 50 people cheered. "Do the right thing, Arkansas. Do the constitutional thing."





Griffen, a Baptist preacher, came under fire on Good Friday when he lay strapped to a cot as part of a death penalty protest organized by his church in front of the Governor's Mansion, the same day he issued a ruling that blocked the state's upcoming executions.





"When Pastor Griffen silently prayed while lying on a cot in solidarity with Jesus on Good Friday, he did not impose his religious beliefs on others," said Ray Higgins, the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, which is the organization that sponsored the rally.





The president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP, Rizelle Aaron, asked the crowd why Griffen, not other judges who have been criminally prosecuted, was targeted for impeachment with "Guinness World Record lightning speed." Then Aaron answered his own question: "His race."





"There's a great irony when a judge of justice is punished with injustice for exercising his legal right," Aaron said.





After the Arkansas Supreme Court stripped Griffen of his authority to hear death penalty cases, he sued the court and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.





"It's not illegal to pray," Griffen said. "I've been targeted because I have acted consistent with my ethics and my faith and that's wrong."





Griffen argues he hasn't done anything unethical. However, the state's Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission (JDDC) is investigating misconduct complaints against him.





Griffen said he has not been involved in the JDDC proceedings and plans to take legal action under the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).





"I do not misunderstand what freedom means," Griffen said. "I am not a slave. I am a free man... I will fight this as long as there is fire in my body and breath in my spirit."





Several state lawmakers have called for Griffen's impeachment, including Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado.





"He's trying to use his religion to justify his mistake," Garner said. "While I think RFRA was an excellent piece of legislation, there's a distinct difference between what it was meant for and what Griffen did."





Garner doesn't believe Griffen's actions had anything to do with religious expression, classifying them as gross misconduct that would justify impeachment.





"You can't use religion as an excuse for violating the code of ethics," Garner said.





When asked if there was ever a moment he regretted his decision to lay on the cot that day, Griffen responded, "Never a moment."





"I will go to my death with 2 things in my mind," he continued. "There was 1 right place for me that day. I was there. And if I had to do it a thousand times, I'd be right back there doing that. I'll go to my maker and say, 'I'll take whatever that means.'"





The religious leaders at Friday's rally would continue to stand beside him.





"We applaud the many ways Judge Griffen serves this state and this community. Amen."





 | 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



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: KARK news, June 10, 2017
The Arkansas State Medical Board on Thursday ended its investigation into how lethal-injection drugs were acquired by the state prison system, after determining no licensed doctors in Arkansas were involved.





The monthlong look into the procurement of execution drugs began after one supplier, the McKesson Corp., argued in court that its salesman had been duped into providing drugs without knowing their intended purpose.





The board's attorney, Kevin O'Dwyer, said he examined records of sales between the Department of Correction and drug suppliers and spoke with attorneys for involved parties to determine whether any of the board's licensees had "fraudulently" obtained execution drugs.





O'Dwyer told a reporter Thursday that he found no such misconduct or any doctors who were involved.





Without receiving a written report, the Medical Board voted to take O'Dwyer's conclusions "as information," effectively halting the investigation.





"Unless we receive additional information, our investigation is finished," O'Dwyer said.





Had evidence of violations been found, O'Dwyer said, the board would have held a hearing to determine whether to issue a reprimand, strip or suspend a doctor's license, or drop the case.





The board does not have the authority to investigate the Department of Correction or its officials, only licensed doctors, O'Dwyer said.





Among McKesson's claims were that prison officials used the medical license of an Arkansas physician who had a contract with the department.





"The information that we saw, in not just documents but speaking to several people that were involved, he did not have any involvement in procuring [drugs]," O'Dwyer said.





Those drugs were used in the execution of four inmates at the Cummins prison in April. Another four condemned prisoners were spared by court stays.





McKesson had tried to halt all the executions, and its drug from being used, by requesting a restraining order in Pulaski County Circuit Court. The order was issued, but ultimately overturned by the state Supreme Court.





Officials with the Department of Correction, in turn, denied invoking the doctor's license to purchase the drugs.





A spokesman with the Department of Correction declined to comment on the Medical Board's decision Thursday.





Court records submitted in April identified the licensee on a purchase order for vecuronium bromide, one of three drugs used in state executions, as Dr. Robert Allen Floss, an assistant regional medical director for Correct Care Solutions.





The Nashville, Tenn., company is the private provider of the Department of Correction's health care services. The company has denied that Floss or any of its workers were involved in the purchase of execution drugs.





On Thursday, Correct Care spokesman Jim Cheney declined to comment in an email, saying he would let the board's decision "speak for itself."





O'Dwyer said he did not talk to Floss directly, but spoke with his lawyers. The Medical Board attorney declined to say who else he spoke with during his investigation.





A representative for McKesson Corp. could not be reached Thursday for comment.





According to years of purchase orders obtained from the Department of Correction through the Freedom of Information Act, Floss' medical license was used to purchase drugs for prisons dating back to at least 2013.





Citing exemptions from public-disclosure laws written into the state's Method of Execution Act, the department has declined requests to release purchase orders for its execution drugs.





In addition to McKesson, the pharmaceutical companies Fresenius Kabi USA and West-Ward Pharmaceuticals have in court briefs accused Arkansas' prison system of skirting company rules to obtain execution drugs.





Drugmakers and suppliers across the U.S. and Europe have enacted such controls to prevent their drugs from being used in executions, making it difficult for states, including Arkansas, to maintain supplies of lethal-injection drugs.





April's executions were the first time the state had carried out its highest punishment in more than a decade.





They were scheduled to be carried out in quick succession, in part, because the state's supply of midazolam, a sedative used in executions, expired at the end of April.





The state has not announced the acquisition of a new supply.

 | 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



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A recent letter to the editor from Shaun Moser published June 7 questions why Ashley Hunter isn't facing a death sentence. I would like to try and explain a few things about North Dakota's history with the death penalty.





First of all, no one has been executed in North Dakota since a murderer by the name of John Rooney was hanged here in Cass County on Oct. 17, 1905.





From my perspective, North Dakota doesn't have the death penalty, most likely because of both the costs involved, and the fact that there hasn't been a murder case that would be considered eligible for the death penalty tried under state law since at least 1914.





North Dakota has only carried out eight judicially-ordered executions between statehood in 1889 and 1905. All eight of the executions were the hangings of condemned murderers. The executions took place in the county in which the inmates were convicted, with the county sheriff presiding over the hangings. If I understand the history correctly, each of these hangings were public spectacles.





However, the Rooney execution was the only execution in state history that was carried out inside of a state prison. Not in public. I wasn't aware that at one time, Cass County had a state prison, but the execution is mentioned on the North Dakota state courts website as having taken place at the Cass County Prison.





North Dakota had a death penalty on the books until it was struck down with all death penalty laws across the country in the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Accordingly, the North Dakota Legislature repealed the last vestiges of the death penalty during its 1973 regular session.





At the time, the only death penalty eligible crime was when a prisoner either killed another person while in the custody of the state penitentiary, or when a prisoner escaped from the penitentiary and killed someone outside of the prison. This was a law under which no one had been sentenced to death.





There have been bills to reinstate the death penalty introduced on a number of occasions since the death penalty was repealed in 1973. All of them failed to pass.





Yes, North Dakota is regarded as a "red" or ultra-conservative, Republican-dominated state; yet it does not have the death penalty. It doesn't seem there is any hurry to reinstate capital punishment in this state.





Source: INFORUM , Rick Olson, June 10, 2017. The author is a regular contributor to The Forums commentary and opinion pages. Email rickolson@midco.net

 | 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



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The United States is disturbed by recent reports of the abduction in Tbilisi, Georgia, and subsequent arrest in Azerbaijan of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli.

The European Union said in a statement that it demanded a "swift, thorough and transparent investigation," into the reports of an abduction of Azerbaijani nationals residing in Georgia.

"A review by Azerbaijan of any and all cases of incarceration related to the exercise of fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression, and immediate release all of those concerned is urgent, in line with Azerbaijan's international commitments," the statement continued.

The United States is also troubled by the May 25 arrest in Azerbaijan of deputy Popular Front Party chairperson Gozal Bayramli. Ms. Bayramli was detained on charges of smuggling, according to news reports.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert in a written statement urged the government of Azerbaijan to release all those incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms in accordance with Azerbaijans international and OSCE commitments.

The United States, Ms. Nauert said, is "closely following the Georgian investigation into the reported abduction, and urge(s) that it be full, transparent, and timely."
I am observing my 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Fifty years ago in 1967, on June 3, in Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester, the now Venerable Fulton J. Sheen ordained 10 transitional deacons to the Order of Priests, nine for the Diocese of Rochester and one for a Diocese of Dumageti in the Philippines.

Of the nine ordained for the Diocese of Rochester, one has passed away and the rest are retired, although two still assist in parishes. I am the only one officially assigned as a pastor at the moment. My first Mass was celebrated 50 years ago on the liturgical Feast of the Holy Trinity, so I am pleased to be able to observe my 50th anniversary with vespers this Sunday afternoon at 3 on this Feast of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

Having entered the seminary in the first year of high school at the age of 13 and completing seminary education 12 years later at the age of 25, I have in fact been under the umbrella of the Diocese of Rochester for 62 years. Of these 50 years in the priesthood, 15 were spent in seminary education and administration and the other 35 years in parish ministry  seven years as an associate pastor and 28 years as a pastor.

Of these 28 years as a pastor, 13 were spent at St. Anne Church in Rochester, two at Holy Cross Church in Dryden and St. Anthony Church in Groton, 13 at St. Marys in Auburn and the last three also as pastor of SS. Mary & Martha Parish, which also comprises St. Francis of Assisi Church and St. Hyacinth Church.

The ministry of a priest, like any helping profession, is difficult to quantify. Yes, I could say that over the course of 50 years, I probably did over 1,200 baptisms, about 750 weddings and at least 2,000 funerals, heard countless confessions and celebrated over 20,000 daily and Sunday Masses.

To the list of liturgical activities could be added countless parish meetings, major building projects, fundraising activities, individual counseling sessions, hospital visitations, emergency calls and many more day-to-day demands. Any priest ordained 50 years or more would have similar experiences. However, the effects of all those activities are difficult to measure and perhaps it is not our place to measure them. To paraphrase St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: we only plant, others water, and God gives the growth.

In his letter to the Ephesians, which will be read during solemn vespers, St. Paul said: I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love. I hope I am at least moving in that direction, but God, of course, is the final judge.

Today, in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. When we proclaim the three persons in prayer, we do not make a circular or triangular gesture that would visually connote the Trinitys eternal existence or equality of persons. Rather, the specific sign by which we have come to know the nature of our Triune God is the sign of the self-sacrificing love of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, who took our human flesh so that we might be reborn to new life in the name of the Holy Trinity.

So, in pronouncing the names of all three persons, we trace over ourselves only the sign of Jesus cross, hoping that by often speaking those three names while making that one sign, our lives will be shaped, day by day, year after year, to a truer image and likeness of Gods own love.

All of us are called to conform our lives to a truer image and likeness of Gods own love. Thats true of me; thats true of all of you. Its ongoing, no matter how young or old we are.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!
bhernandez@kpcmedia.com

Unemployment in northeast Indiana is reaching historic lows, but the rate for one group of Hoosiers looking for work is even lower: veterans.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation of Veterans 2016 report, Indiana has the nations lowest unemployment rate for veterans. The report found that just 1.8 percent of Hoosier veterans were unemployed on average during 2016.

Information for the report was obtained from the BLSs Current Population Survey, a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that provides data on employment and unemployment in the United States.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and its regional WorkOne Career Centers offer comprehensive veteran placement services.

In 2016, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and our WorkOne partners assisted more than 10,000 Hoosier veterans, and more than 1,000 veterans were placed into employment opportunities via DWD veterans services, according to Steven J. Braun, DWD commissioner.

Veterans come first at WorkOne, said Rick Farrant, spokesman for Northeast Indiana Works, and he means that literally.

If theres a veteran in line, they go to the front of the line. If there are jobs that are posted on Indiana Career Connect, veterans have the first crack at those jobs for 24 hours, he said.

The center offers programs and initiatives to help veterans in transitioning to the civilian workforce, including free vocational training, occupational skills assessments, direct job referrals, resume review and interview preparation.

The center also hosts a Veterans First hiring event each year, which attracts 60-70 employers looking to hire veterans. The first event, four years ago, brought in about 200 veterans. At the most recent event May 4, only about 80 veterans showed up. Farrant sees that as a sign of progress that veterans are being employed at a greater rate.

He believes this progress is due in part to the regional organizations focusing on helping veterans gain employers and employers increasingly recognizing the value veterans can bring to the table at their work places.

Employers have increasingly been recognizing the skills that veterans can bring to the table  things such as reliability, dedication, teamwork and steadiness under pressure, which are all attributes coveted by employers, he said. In addition, many veterans possess desirable occupational skills in such areas as communications, logistics, information technology and transportation.

One offering at the hiring event that has been helpful to veterans entering the civilian workforce is resume and interview assistance provided by volunteers from Northeast Indiana Human Resources Association, Farrant said.

Veterans need help identifying military skills that would be sought after civilian employers and translating military jargon into language that is informative for civilian employers, he said.

Each year, NIHRA honors employers who are veteran friendly by issuing them a certificate and giving them recognition for hiring veterans, retaining veterans or willingness to hire veterans. Last year, the group recognized more than 200 veteran friendly employers, said Lisa Mungovan, owner of Mungovan HR Consulting and a member of NIHRA. The group will be recognizing employers again this year Nov. 6.

Mungovan also leads the Workforce Readiness Committee, which looks at ways to support veterans and connects members to help them secure sustainable employment.

Additional initiatives include connecting our members to organizations that serve the residents who have physical and/or intellectual disabilities so that they can obtain meaningful employment and educating our members about physical, financial and mental wellness, she said.

Transitioning from active duty to civilian life can be a challenge for veterans, she said. From an employer perspective, its one of the biggest issues around hiring veterans.

Employers have to be more creative when theyre dealing with a veteran who has been in a more regimented environment, she said. When they arrive, if they have a more autonomous role, thats a challenge for them.

One resource that she said might be helpful to those making the transition is https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/ACINet.aspx.
Last week, American Funds announced that 13 of its funds have been selected in the 2017 Q1 Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource Select List prepared by Charles Schwab Investment Advisory. The inclusion of some of the key mutual funds of American Funds in the OneSource Select List is likely to attract more investors with a long-term objective to the American Funds family.

Further, the second-biggest fund family of the U.S. drew more attention from investors after three of its equity funds, New Perspective RNPGX, Smallcap World Fund RSLFX and EuroPacific Growth RERGX, along with its target-date funds won 24 Lipper Fund Awards. American Funds target-date funds won in all the 3-year and 5-year categories. Further, American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund RFETX, which has strong exposure to all the three award-winning equity funds, has returned 5.6% year to date.

Additionally, the fund family generated outstanding returns from some of its key funds last year that was reflected in Morningstars 2016 Fantastic 45 List. Of the 45 funds enlisted, 11 belong to the American Funds family. Lower expenses, effective fund management and the resilience to survive market volatility have resulted in strong fund returns.

What Boosted American Funds Performance?

American Funds invests in a variety of sectors that are sensitive, cyclical and defensive. From the sensitive sectors, most investments are made in the technology sector. Among the cyclical sectors, the fund family invests in financial services. The company has also gained from investing in defensive sectors.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) jumped 10.5% in the last six months. Consequently, mutual funds related to this sector registered stable returns. According to Morningstar, the technology mutual fund registered a year-to-date return of 11.8%. Additionally, Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) climbed 19% in the last six months and was the biggest gainer among the S&P 500 sectors.

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Buy These 4 American Mutual Funds

American Funds is one of the largest and oldest mutual fund companies in the world. It has more than $1.3 trillion assets under management invested in mutual funds across a wide range of categories including both equity and fixed-income funds. Generally, American Funds focuses on providing long-term returns to investors. This family deals with more than 58 mutual funds.

The parent company of American Funds, Capital Group, currently has around $1.4 trillion assets. Founded in 1931, American Funds offers a wide range of financial services all over the world through its offices in different regions including North America and Europe, and 7,000 associates.

Here, we have selected four mutual funds that carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy). These funds have encouraging three-month returns and minimum initial investment is within $5000. Also, these funds have low expense ratios.

We expect these funds to outperform their peers in the future. Remember, the goal of the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is to guide investors to identify potential winners and losers. Unlike most of the fund-rating systems, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is not just focused on past performance, but also on the likely future success of the fund.

American Funds Growth Fund of America R6 RGAGX invests a bulk of its assets in common stocks of companies, which generally offer capital appreciation. RGAGX may also invest around one-fourth of its assets in securities of foreign companies. The fund attains its investment objective by using the multiple portfolio manager system.

RGAGX has an expense ratio of 0.33% compared with the category average of 1.21% and returned 5.4% in the last three months.

American Funds American Balanced A ABALX seeks long-term growth of capital. ABALX invests in both common stocks and bonds that are rated investment grade and provide dividend income. It also invests in securities that are issued by the U.S. government and its entities. Moreover, the fund may invest in securities of issuers located in foreign lands.

ABALX has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared with the category average of 0.80% and returned 3.3% in the last three months.

American Funds Washington Mutual R6 RWMGX maintains a diversified portfolio by investing in securities of companies having an impressive record of earnings and dividend. RWMGX seeks to offer income and appreciation of principal, by investing primarily in those companies that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

RWMGX has an expense ratio of 0.30% compared with the category average of 0.74% and returned 3.2% in the last three months.

American Funds Tax-Advantage Income A TAIAX seeks growth of income, which is exempt from federal income tax. TAIAX also offer capital appreciation for the long run, by investing in a wide variety of American Funds in different weightings and combinations. By investing in its underlying funds, TAIAX invests in dividend-paying stocks. The fund may also invest in companies based in foreign and emerging markets.

TAIAX has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared with the category average of 0.83% and returned 2.8% in the last three months.

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NVIDIA NVDA has been grabbing investors attention this week as the stock regained its last years momentum and is scaling new record highs. Notably, the stock soared 23% following its blowout Q1 2018 earnings results on May 9, sending the market capitalization of NVDA over $75 billion for the first time.



With this, NVIDIA is approaching faster to fill the gaps created by chip giants like Qualcomm QCOM and Texas Instruments TXN having market capitalization of nearly $80 billion each. Overall, the videogame-gear specialist has given whopping returns of 208.3% over the past one year, crushing the Zacks categorized Semiconductor-General industrys return of 48.4% (read: Will Chip ETFs Continue Their Solid Run As Q1 Unfolds?).









Inside The Surge



The graphics chipmaker topped our earnings estimate by 24.24% and revenue estimate by 1.39%. On a year-over-year basis, earnings and revenues increased 85% and 48%, respectively. The impressive performance was primarily driven by booming datacenter business, which tripled in the quarter and swept away fears over the decelerating gaming business.



For the second quarter of fiscal 2018, NVIDIA expects revenues of approximately $1.95 billion (+/-2%). The Zacks Consensus Estimate at the time of earnings release was pegged at $1.893 billion (read: 5 Reasons to Bottom Fish Semiconductor ETFs).



NVIDIA is at the forefront of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution with its combination of deep learning, software algorithms and powerful GPUs (graphics processing units). As per Jensen Huang, Nvidias chief executive, Nvidias GPU deep learning platform is the instrument of choice for researchers, internet giants and startups as they invent the future.



Almost all the major computing service providers, including Amazon AMZN, Facebook FB, Alphabet GOOGL, International Business Machines IBM, Microsoft MSFT, Alibaba BABA, Baidu BIDU and Tencent TCEHY are using Nvidia GPUs. This is helping the company to rapidly capture the data center market.



Additionally, the companys GPU deep learning computer chips have applications in self-driving cars as well. Tesla TSLA is among one of them that uses the companys Drive PX 2 open AI platform in its self-driving car technology. The chipmaker also strikes a deal with auto supplier Bosch and Japanese carmaker Toyota Motors TM on self-driving cars (read: Ride on Surging Tesla With These ETFs).



With exceptional growth in its AI revolution, it wouldnt be surprising if the graphics chipmaker soon become the industry leader. All these have raised a wave of optimism about the company with many analysts raising their target price on the stock.



Currently, NVIDIA has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Style Score of C and has a solid Zacks Industry Rank (in the top 15%).



ETFs to Buy



Given the bullishness, investors should definitely ride the surge in a basket form. Below are five ETFs with the highest allocation to this graphics chipmaker that could make a compelling play at least in the near term.



iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXX



This ETF follows the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index and offers exposure to 30 U.S. firms. Out of these, NVDA takes the top spot with 8.8% allocation. The fund has amassed $977.7 million in its asset base and trades in volume of around 501,000 shares a day. It charges a fee of 47 bps a year. The fund has a Zacks Rank of 1 or Strong Buy rating with a High risk outlook.



ARK Industrial Innovation ETF ARKQ



This is an actively managed ETF seeking long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies that benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvement and advancements in scientific research related to robotics, energy storage, innovative materials, alternative energy sources, infrastructure development, space exploration, autonomous vehicles and 3D printing. This approach results in a basket of 38 stocks, with NVIDIA occupying the third position with 7% share. The product has accumulated $43.2 million in its asset base and charges 75 bps in fees per year. It sees a paltry volume of about 10,000 shares a day (read: 6 Hot ETF Charts of Q1 Earnings Season).



VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH



This is one of the popular and liquid ETFs in the semiconductor space with AUM of $760.4 million and average daily volume of more than 2.3 million shares. The fund provides exposure to 26 global securities by tracking the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. NVIDIA occupies the fifth position with 5.1% of assets. While U.S. firms dominate the funds holdings with 76.9% assets, Taiwan (12.3%), the Netherlands (9.2%) and Bermuda (1.5%) round off the top four in terms of country exposure. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.36%. It has a Zacks Rank of 1 with a High risk outlook.



PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Fund PSI



This fund tracks the Dynamic Semiconductor Intellidex Index, holding 30 securities in the basket. NVIDIA occupies the second position and makes up for 5.7% share in the basket. PSI has lower AUM of $253 million and sees a modest average daily volume of about 64,000 shares. It charges higher 63 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks Rank of 1 with a High risk outlook (read: Trump Nearing 100 Days in Office: ETF Winners & Losers).



Huntington EcoLogical Strategy ETF HECO



This is an actively managed ETF that offers exposure to ecologically focused companies that have positioned their business to respond to increased environmental legislation, cultural shifts toward environmentally conscious consumption, and capital investments in environmentally oriented projects. It holds 43 stocks in its basket with NVIDIA taking the top spot at 4.1% of assets. Expense ratio comes in at 0.95%. The fund has AUM of $7.7 million and trades in a paltry volume of under 1,000 shares.



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Apple CEO Tim Cook waves after speaking during Commencement Exercises at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., June 9, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By Ross Kerber

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday warned graduates at MIT, a pioneer in fields like computers and robots, about technology's dehumanizing aspects and urged them to infuse its development with their own values.

"Im not worried about artificial intelligence giving computers the ability to think like humans," Cook said in his commencement speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I'm more concerned about people thinking like computers, without values or compassion, without concern for consequence."

Speaking to thousands of students and their families at MIT's Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus, Cook praised the benefits of new devices and social media. But he also cautioned that the same technologies can divide people through threats to privacy or security, and said technology must be tempered with human knowledge.

"Technology is capable of doing great things, but it doesn't want to do great things. It doesn't want anything," the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) chief executive said. "That part takes all of us."

Cooks speech did not break new ground for him as head of the world's most valuable technology company but added some context around some of his past decisions, such as taking controversial stances to protect privacy rights and investing heavily in green technologies.

Cook has criticized President Donald Trumps policies but offered only a gentle joke at the president's expense on Friday, telling students it is obvious they have taken over Trumps Twitter account.

I can tell college students are behind it because most of the tweets happen at 3 a.m., Cook said.

His 15-minute talk stood in contrast to a lengthier graduation speech his predecessor, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, gave at MIT rival Stanford University in 2005, in which Jobs outlined his free-thinking background and told graduates to find work they loved.

Cook took a more conventional career path to the top of Apple, where he became CEO in 2011 after stints at IBM and Compaq.

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Cook, who is openly gay but famously circumspect, gave few details about his own life on Friday except to outline what he described as a frustrating search for meaning until joining Apple.

He said at one point he sought guidance in religion and last year met with Pope Francis, who Cook said reinforced his own sense that technology must be harnessed with strong values. He said Francis told him, Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely."

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
A girl walks past WeChat mascots inside TIT Creativity Industry Zone where Tencent office is located in Guangzhou, China May 9, 2017. Picture taken May 9, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

SHANGHAICES Asia is not CES. Its smaller and younger than the sprawling, 50-year-old tech show that takes place every January in Las Vegas. And its far closer to the factories making many of the gadgets you useand the increasingly prosperous customers buying them alongside you.

The Consumer Technology Associations show in Chinas financial capital, only in its third year, gathered an expected 35,000-plus attendees for three days of exhibits, panels and conferences. Some 66% of exhibitors here didnt make it to Januarys gathering. For a first-time CES Asia attendee but 21-time CES victim like me, it offered a glimpse at where consumer technology is heading in one of its dominant markets.

The lesson: China wants its gadgets, and its not going to wait for American firms to sell them here. Some of the resulting hardware may not go far in the U.S.I have to hope there isnt much of an American market for robots that can perform an interpretive dance to Let It Goand others will lead the Peoples Republic to some of the same tech-induced anxiety we face in the States.

Mobile first

We all stare at our phones, but customers in China are more likely to fix their gaze on the same appthe near-ubiquitous WeChat app that serves as a messaging system, social network, payment mechanism, newsfeed and more. You could call WeChat developer Tencent Holdings, Ltd. the Apple (AAPL) of CES Asiathe company that made no huge announcements because it didnt need toexcept that its software was far more ubiquitous on peoples phones than Apples is at the January gadget show.

As tech analyst Ben Thompson observed in April: For all intents and purposes WeChat is your phone, and to a far greater extent in China than anywhere else, your phone is everything. If you want to know why Facebook (FB) and Apple keep cramming new functions into Messenger and iMessage, theres your answer.

CTA senior economist Steve Koenig, citing a recent survey conducted for the Arlington, Va., trade group, said at the conference that 86% of Chinese tech buyers check WeChat multiple times a day.

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My humbling reminder of that came every time a Chinese executive apologized for not having a business card, then asked are you on WeChat? Sorry, no.

Ofo Inc., left and second left, Xiaoming Danche, third and fourth left, and other bicycles stand parked on a sidewalk in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, May 25, 2017. In China, Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Other evidence of Chinas mobile mentality waited on the streets outside, where shared bikes from services like Ofo waited for the next passerby to unlock one with a phone app and then leave it locked anywhere on a sidewalk with the same app. Alfred Zhou, an economist with the market-research firm GfK, noted that users of those bike-share services had grown from zero to 18.8 million in the 11 months before April 2018.

Smart homes in their own orbit

The CES Asia exhibits abounded with the customary demonstrations of how technology will relieve us from having to shut off light switches by hand or leave everyday tasks un-quantified. For example, Oomis smart-home hub aims to offer easy setup with other Oomi modules: just tap the two orange NFC dots on each device to pair them together.

Not far away, xSleeps SmartBed used sensors to gauge the dent you left in the mattress and, therefore, your sleep quality. The obvious question after seeing a readout from it: Does this smart bed make my butt look big?

But these displays did not revolve around the usual (AMZN), Apple, or Google (GOOG, GOOGL) software.

Alexa is not prominent, Google Home is not prominent, said Oomi CEO Winston Cheng. That firm does plan on bringing its system to the States (its hardware made its way into this years Oscars gift basket) and so is adding support Googles Nest and Amazons Echo, but its an exception.

Instead, Chinese firms are developing their own standalone systems. The wireless carrier China Mobile and the retailer Suning each showed off their own smart-home platforms that could link connected cameras, thermostats, and smart appliances.

Google probably wont be in this market anytime soon until Beijing ends its censorship of Googles search and news sites. Apples HomeKit trails behind Amazons Alexa worldwide, while WeChats role as the everyday phone interface here holds it back further.

AR and VR ambitions

Augmented-reality and virtual-reality developers filled much of the show-floor space. Thats also the case at tech gatherings like the U.S. CES, but the contenders here are likely to enter the market with lower prices aimed at a growing domestic market.

GfKs Zhou said during this talk that VR-hardware sales in China would more than double from 750 million RMB last year to 1.6 billion RMB$110 million to $235 million.

The Android-based Pico Neo standalone VR headset, for example, weighed much less than headsets that required inserting a phone and didnt demand a cable tethered to a PC. And the 360-degree, Ultra High Definition Camorama cameraand its $400 pricehelp explain why GoPro (GPRO) has been hurting so much lately.

A close up of the Camorama. Photo: Rob Pegoraro

In augmented realityin which a display projects information in front of your view of the real worldthe Futurus Horizon HUD drew attendees for its ability to project Yelp-style data about nearby attractions on a cars windshield. I have to write Yelp-style because that San Francisco firm (YELP) doesnt operate in China.

And Shadow Creators Halomini AR visor won a gadget contest for its lightweight implementation of augmented-reality overlays in scenarios like displays of manuals to maintenance workers.

(Disclosures: I helped emcee that contest, and CTA covered my travel costs.)

Drones are coming for their jobs too

No tech show is complete without an extensive array of drone exhibits. The attractions here included an exhibit from UPS (UPS) that invited attendees to experience its drone delivery by getting suspended from a harness while wearing a VR headset showing the drones view of a dropoff.

A JD.Com drone during a trial delivery. Source: JD.Com

Verdict: I dont want to be delivered by drone, and I dont endorse checking out exhibits like this before lunch.

But the most eye-catching drone display came at the exhibit of the Chinese retailer JD.com (JD). The online store that beat back Walmart (WMT) in China demonstrated a lineup of drones to inspect its warehouses, move items around them, and deliver purchases to customersnot just in the air, but on streets and sidewalks traversed by its six-wheeled delivery robot.

The Peoples Republic may benefit from low labor costs, but even it isnt immune from still-cheaper automated labor.

Should U.S. tech companies console themselves with the thought that their rivals across the Pacific face the same problems? No. CTA president Gary Shapiro offered a history lesson in a Q&A with journalists Thursday: Some of theI dont want to call it arrogancethe confidence that the U.S. has had, is like the confidence Japan had 25 years ago.

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Trumps infrastructure week builds on his call for spending $1 trillion in US infrastructure over 10 years. Specifically, Trumps plan aims for $200 billion in federal spending that would trigger $800 billion in private financing through public-private partnerships.

While the need for increased infrastructure investment has been acknowledged by Democrats and Republicans, disagreements on funding suggest a more uncertain road to passage.

Investors in companies that would benefit from an infrastructure boom dont appear convinced that a wave of spending is coming any time soon. Martin Marietta (MLM), Vulcan Materials (VMC) and United Rentals (URI) have all underperformed the market, as shown in the year-to-date chart below.

Management at these companies arent factoring in a boost in federal spending in their forecasts. The last time these companies updated their investors was just over a month ago.

Martin Marietta, a leading supplier of aggregates used for heavy construction, reiterated in its first-quarter report on May 2 that it is not banking on legislation in its estimates.

The 2017 guidance we provided in February and reaffirm today does not reflect any benefits that may be gained from potential legislation, increasing federal infrastructure investment, Martin Marietta CEO Howard Nye said.

Vulcan Materials, the biggest producer of construction aggregates in the US, also would benefit from more federal infrastructure funding. But on the companys earnings conference call on May 10, CEO Thomas Hill pointed to state-level funding, such as Californias Senate Bill 1, as the key driver for the company. He added he was optimistic about something happening eventually on the national level but remained focused on state efforts in the near and medium term for Vulcan. Its worth noting transportation Department Secretary Elaine Chao served as a board member before stepping down this year.

Construction crews work on a section of Interstate 20 West that buckled in Decatur, Ga., Monday, April 17, 2017. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

This will continue to happen across other Vulcan states and other states throughout the country, but its also going to happen at some point in time on a national level, Hill said on the earnings call.

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United Rentals, which is the largest equipment rental company in the world, also stands to benefit from a ramp-up in infrastructure, but it too is not banking on any federal approval.

As far as infrastructure, the infrastructure is being talked about on the political front, were not baking that into our number, that would be added on to as we go forward, CEO Michael Kneeland said at the Wells Fargo Industrial Conference on May 10. But I would tell you that the employment numbers, the consumer index, trucking improvements that were seeing, the tonnage weight, all point to the economy doing fairly well.

The needs are significant

State and local governments currently provide 75% of the $400 million in annual infrastructure dollars. But support from the federal government is necessary to address the nations needs.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimated that a build-out for everything from the countrys roads and bridges to schools and transportation systems needs $4.59 trillion in investment by 2025. The group gave Americas infrastructure a D+ on a 2017 report card.

As noted in the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Building to Win infrastructure plan, Without immediate action on the infrastructure crisis, the United States will lose more than 2.5 million jobs by 2025 and more than 5.8 million by 2040.

Meanwhile, past federal actionincluding Obamas 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and 2015 Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Acthavent been enough, according to Stifel analyst Stanley Elliott.

Trumps tax-credit approach has been critiqued by the left as a privatization scam that would be better served with public money. Meanwhile, passage is threatened by his own party, with health care and tax reform seen as higher agenda priorities.

Considering all these needs and hurdles, its no wonder why stocks in this sector havent seen better performance.



Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance.

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marriage relationship proposal couple love

The sun is out, flowers are blooming, and your refrigerator is so cluttered with wedding invitations you can hardly find the handle.

There's nothing quite like wedding season to get you contemplating the next phase of your relationship. So you're probably wondering  let's just say theoretically  how might tying the knot affect my partner and I? Will it make us happier? Strengthen our relationship?

Aside from the enthusiastic friend or extended family member, you probably have loads of anecdotal evidence suggesting that the answers to both of those questions is yes. After all, thousands of Pinterest boards can't lie  or can they?

Interestingly, the bulk of sociological research on this topic actually suggests that it isn't marriage that's the key to lasting happiness, but something far more basic. It all comes down to finding a romantic partner who also happens to be the person you'd call your best friend.

In a recent study of thousands of couples on marriage and happiness, John Helliwell, a University of British Columbia economist and the co-author of the UN World Happiness Report, found evidence suggesting that the most important factor for a lasting, happy relationship was whether or not you see your romantic partner as your closest friend.

Helliwell and his research team looked at data from two large British surveys and the Gallup World Poll. After accounting for couples' age, gender, income, and health conditions, they found that couples who were best friends and lived together were just as happy as couples who were best friends and married.

In other words, marriage didn't appear to matter much at all.

Here's a chart from the study comparing the "life satisfaction" of couples who were married (blue bars) with couples who lived together but were unmarried (red bars). Couples who said their partner was their best friend are on the left.

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marriage happiness chart

"What immediately intrigued me about the results was to rethink marriage as a whole," Helliwell recently told the New York Times.

Other research seems to support Helliwell's findings.

young couple

For their 2012 survey of American couples, researchers found that couples who lived together but were not married had higher self-esteem and were happier overall than their married counterparts.

In a recent blog post for Psychology Today, social psychologist Bella DePaulo took a look at a large 2012 review of more than 20 studies of married and divorced couples. Initially, the researchers concluded that marriage made people happier. But taking a closer look at the numbers, DePaulo came to the opposite conclusion.

"Except for that initial short-lived honeymoon effect for life satisfaction," she writes, "getting married did not result in getting happier or more satisfied. In fact, for life satisfaction and relationship satisfaction, the trajectories over time headed in the less satisfied direction."

Other studies back up DePaulo's assertion: A 2011 review of the impact on happiness of major life events found that couples who got married generally felt less happy and less satisfied with their lives over time.

Helliwell prefers to look on the bright side of these findings.

"Maybe what is really important [in a relationship] is friendship, and to never forget that in the push and pull of daily life," he said.

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North Korea anti-ship cruise missile launch

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, presided over the launch of a new anti-ship cruise missile system on Thursday in Wonsan, on North Korea's east coast. And though the missiles performed well and struck their target, it was a pretty weak showing.

The missiles flew about 125 miles, South Korea said, and fired from tracked launchers with forest camouflage. The missiles themselves were not new, according to The Diplomat, but they showed off a new launcher that can fire from hidden, off-road locations within moments of being set up.

But those are about the only nice things you could say about these missiles.

In the photos released by North Korean media, it's clear the missiles are striking a ship that isn't moving.

North Korea anti-ship cruise missile launch

In a combat situation, the ships would move and take countermeasures. For the US, South Korean, and Japanese navies, that often means firing an interceptor missile.

North Korea also lacks the ability to support these missiles with accurate guidance. The US would use planes, drones, or even undersea platforms to observe and track a target.

North Korea anti-ship cruise missile launch

North Korea waited to test these missiles until two US aircraft carrier strike groups armed to the teeth with missile defense capabilities left its shores, perhaps to avoid embarrassment should the US knock them down.

Unlike its practice with ballistic-missile tests, which are banned under international law, the US did not publicly comment on this launch. North Korea is well within its rights to test a cruise missile in international waters.

North Korea anti-ship cruise missile launch

But despite the rudimentary technology used in the launch, North Korea did show that it poses a real threat. Not only do the missile launchers leverage the element of surprise, but they represent yet another new missile capability.

In a few short months, North Korea has demonstrated a range of capabilities that has surprised experts and military observers. Though the missiles don't pose a threat to the US Navy, Kim showed he's serious about fighting on all fronts.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: There is a secret US government airline that flies out of commercial airports





More From Business Insider


On May 23, we issued an updated research report on Vulcan Materials Company VMC  engaged in the production, distribution and sale of construction aggregates and other construction materials.



The companys strong aggregate reserve position, pricing power, bolt-on acquisitions and significant debt reduction are encouraging. However, seasonal influences on construction activity could weigh on the companys performance.



Vulcan Materials shares have gained 5% in the last three months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Building-Cement/Concrete/AG industrys gain of 3.3%. Earnings estimates for the current quarter moved north by 4.2% in the last 30 days, while that for the current year inched 2.5% higher. This reflects ongoing optimism in the stock.









Q1 Highlights



Vulcan Materials first-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 54.5%. However, the bottom line deteriorated 17.1% from the prior-year quarter.



Total revenue of $787.3 million also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.1% and increased 4% from the prior-year quarter. Revenues improved at the Asphalt Mix and Concrete segment and declined at the Calcium segment.



Aggregates shipments (volumes) decreased 2% due to California's wet weather conditions. This along with floods halted construction activity and impaired shipments in January as well as February.



Adjusted gross margin decreased 210 basis points while adjusted EBITDA contracted 4% year over year.



Major Positives



Vulcan Materials has been expanding its footprint and reserve positions in the best markets of America via acquisitions. The company has completed 14 acquisitions and swaps since 2013. These buyouts enhance its ability to serve customers and bring in operational and commercial synergies.



Sustained growth in private construction activity improves the demand for both aggregates as well as non-aggregate businesses of Vulcan Materials. Positives like an improving economy, modest wage growth, low unemployment levels, positive consumer confidence and a tight supply situation raise optimism about the sectors performance in 2017. As such, demand for Vulcan Materials products should increase as well, thereby driving revenues.



Adverse Factors



Seasonal influences on construction activity, particularly slowing demand trends in California, could continue to weigh on the companys performance. After lagging expectations in 2016, California shipments were down 20% in the first two months of 2017 due to record rainfall.



Vulcan Materials valuation looks a bit stretched when compared to the broader market. Looking at the companys price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the company currently has a trailing 12-month P/E ratio of 43.17, higher than the S&P 500 indexs average of 19.89. Also, the companys trailing 12-month return on equity (ROE) of 8.80% compares unfavorably with the ROE of 15.63% for the S&P 500, reflecting its inefficiency in using shareholders funds.



Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider



Vulcan Materials carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Better-ranked stocks in the industry include Lyon William Homes WLH, M/I Homes, Inc. MHO and KB Home KBH.



Lyon William and M/I Homes sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Full-year 2017 earnings for Lyon William are expected to increase 38.2%, while that of M/I Homes is likely to rise 36.2%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

KB Home, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, is expected to witness 43.2% growth in fiscal 2017 earnings.



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Leading producer of construction aggregates in the U.S., Vulcan Materials Company VMC has been growing its footprint and securing positions in the best markets in America via acquisitions. Recently, the company signed an agreement with SPO Partners to buy the latters aggregates business, Aggregates USA LLC.



With this addition, Vulcan will get hold of Aggregates USA LLCs 31 facilities that serve high-growth markets throughout the southeastern U.S. comprising Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia.



The transaction, worth $900 million in cash, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory provisions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to the company's earnings per share in the first year following the close.



The acquisition will help Vulcan to benefit the most from state highway funding programs in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, and on the continued private sector growth across the region.



Notably, Vulcan will be able to serve Georgia with three granite quarries, two of which have rail capabilities, thereby boosting its reach in important markets. It will also have 16 rail distribution yards in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Moreover, the deal comprises 12 limestone quarries in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia.



Since becoming a public company in 1956, Vulcan followed a systematic inorganic strategy for expansion and has wrapped up various bolt-on acquisitions that had contributed significantly to its growth. In 2016, Vulcan expanded its aggregates distribution capabilities in Georgia and completed two strategic bolt-on acquisitions in New Mexico and Texas. These buyouts expand its ability to serve customers well and bring in operational and commercial synergies.



Additionally, sustained growth in private construction activity improves the demand for both aggregates as well as non-aggregate businesses of Vulcan. Positives like an improving economy, modest wage growth, low unemployment levels, positive consumer confidence and a tight supply situation raise optimism about the sectors performance in 2017. As such, demand for Vulcans products should increase as well, thereby driving revenues.



Share Price Performance



Vulcan Materials shares have gained 1.6% in the last three months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Building-Cement/Concrete/AG industrys loss of 1.2%. Earnings estimate for the current year have moved north by 2.5% and for 2018 by 1.5% in the last 30 days. Going forward, the companys strong aggregate reserve position and bolt-on acquisitions should drive the stocks performance in the upcoming quarters as well.





Story continues





Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider



Vulcan Materials carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Better-ranked stocks in the industry include Summit Materials, Inc. SUM, U.S. Concrete, Inc. USCR and CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. CX.



Summit Materials and U.S. Concrete sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Full-year 2017 earnings for Summit Materials are expected to increase 41.7%, while that of U.S. Concrete is likely to rise 49.8%. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



CEMEX, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, is expected to witness 32.8% growth in 2017 earnings.



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Agencies aid owners of flooded homes

ROME CITY  Aid groups offered assistance to West Lakes residents whose homes flooded, providing meals, offering laundry and shower services and giving away cleanup kits.

The American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana, Noble County Emergency Management and other aid organizations mobilized to help those in four-lake chain just west of Rome City. Although many residents have left or not shown up to vacation homes on Jones, Tamarack, Steinbarger and Waldron lakes, year-round residents and others were riding out the flood conditions.

The Red Cross eventually will direct people to resources that can help them repair and address their flooded homes, but until the water comes down, the disaster organization stepped in to provide basic services.

Angola chamber picks new director

ANGOLA  The Angola Area Chamber of Commerce has appointed Jeff Rhodes as its new executive director.

Rhodes has nearly 30 years of experience in corporate management and public affairs, most recently as global account delivery executive at Hewlett-Packard. He serves as a board member and volunteer for Steuben County Junior Achievement and is past chairman of the Cameron Memorial Hospital Benefit Ball.

Steuben County looks at selling land

ANGOLA  Steuben County Commissioners will explore the possibility of selling a significant amount of property along C.R. 200W, now that the days are numbered for the animal shelter, it was decided Monday.

The clock is ticking on the Community Humane Shelter of Steuben Countys stay on county-owned land in the 1700 block of C.R. 200W.

Between the former Steuben County Rest Home, Humane Shelter and Steuben County Highway Department, the county owns nearly 27 acres of land along C.R. 200W, said information from the countys property mapping system, GIS.

Airport receives grant to build hangar

KENDALLVILLE  The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded the Kendallville Municipal Airport a matching grant of $517,500 to pay 90 percent of the cost of a new 14,400-square-foot, heated airport hangar.

Construction is expected in 2018.

The Kendallville Aviation Board of Commissioners will pay 5 percent of the remaining cost, or about $28,750, and the Indiana Department of Transportation will pay the other 5 percent.

This is great news for the airport, commented board Vice President Roger Thon, who presided over Wednesday nights board meeting in the absence of President Mike Jansen.

Counties to get millions for roads

Counties will receive a big boost in road funding starting this summer thanks to Indianas new road funding law, with each receiving well over $1 million more annually.

Noble, DeKalb, LaGrange and Steuben counties all will receive about a 44 percent boost in annual funding into their motor vehicle highway and local road and street funds, according to an analysis produced by the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program at Purdue University.

That money is coming from the state, which is, in turn, coming from the wallets of drivers who will be paying an extra 10-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax. That gas-tax hike was the centerpiece of state legislators successful efforts this spring to generate new revenue for road repairs.

Noble County, which has more than 800 miles of county roadways, is getting the largest boost, at $1.54 million. DeKalb County will receive $1.38 million extra, LaGrange County will get $1.3 million more and Steuben County will pick up an additional $1.19 million.

Shipshewana selling car collection

SHIPSHEWANA  A multimillion-dollar collection of antique, rare cars likely is headed to the auction block after Shipshewana lost the funding its town manager said is needed to keep open Hostetlers Hudson Auto Museum.

The town owns the collection of 50 cars, estimated to be worth $4.3 million, that are now housed in a museum inside the Shipshewana Event Center. The cars were donated to the town by former local resident Eldon Hostetler, who died last year at the age of 93.

Town Manager Mike Sutter said the move to liquidate the museum comes after the LaGrange County Tax Commission stopped providing Shipshewana with more than $100,000 a year in county innkeepers tax revenue.
Do you know about the Wall Street shuffle?

Im talking about the intricate, expensive and time-consuming shimmy public companies do with Wall Street. As in the hundreds of hours CEOs, CFOs and investor relations professionals spend wooing and spinning analysts to juice the stock price.

Its not a pretty dance to tell the truthnever mind problematicfor a number of reasons. First, why should analysts get special treatment or more information than shareholders? And second and even more fundamentally, shouldnt business results alone drive the stock price?

Whats interesting here is that there actually seems to be a correlation between the most successful companies and those that dont cozy up to Wall Street. In other words many of the companies that disco the least, seem to do the best. Companies like Apple and Netflix for instance, while not completely eschewing Wall Street, certainly do it on their own terms.

Warren Buffett

And theres Amazon (AMZN) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B), the two companies that seem to dance the least with Wall Street. Is it a coincidence that they are two of the nations very best long-term performing companies? Of course not. Though distancing themselves from the Street doesnt in and of itself cause great performance, it does show that the CEOs of these two companies, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett, prioritize long-term objectives of the business over Wall Street relations.

I asked Buffett about this and he responded in some length by email:

We do not do guidance, analysts days, analysts calls and have no calls with analysts after the earnings releases. We also do not do meetings or calls with large institutional investors.

Between the annual meeting, the annual report, the 10-Ks and 10-Qs and my appearances on CNBC (always a three-hour session right after the annual report comes out), Charlie and I feel we give more shareholder-useful information than virtually any other company. We also, of course, never make earnings forecasts either internally or externally.

Story continues

In our various forums, the goal is to convey the information that I would offer to my two sisters if the three of us owned the company. They were intelligent but not financial types Their Berkshire ownership represented virtually 100% of their net worth and they had been away for a long time and now wanted to know the status of their investment and its prospects.

I think our communication policies are consistent with obtaining the shareholder base that we wish to have as co-owners. In effect, all of our shares are going to be held by someone. If it were a partnership, we could control who joined. As a public company we can influence who joins us  and doesnt join us  through our policies, communications and performance. And we try to do so.

Amazon is a bit different from Berkshire as it does do guidance and analyst calls. When I asked Amazon exactly what it does or doesnt do when it comes to working with Wall Street, company spokesperson Sam Kennedy emailed me back, writing, Hey Andy, thanks for reaching out. We dont have anyone available at the moment but appreciate your interest. (Which in a way speaks to the point, right?)

Jeff Bezos

What we know Amazon doesnt do though, is kowtow to Wall Street expectations of growth, especially when it comes to its bottom line. The Street wants to see fat, growing net income and it wants that growth to be as consistent as possible. Bezos (who worked at hedge fund D.E. Shaw in New York City in his 20s), for his part has consistently ignored those entreaties, especially early on in the companys history when he was so keen on scaling the business.

More recently, Bezos explained in Fortune that: We believe in the long term, but the long term also has to come. Fortune wrote that Bezos explained that periodically Amazon wants to check in with its ability to make money.

Check in. Can you imagine any other CEO saying that? That means Bezos likes to turn on the profit spigot when he sees fit, but not on a regular basis, and not when the Street wants it or expects it.

Does Buffett have a take on how Bezos has run Amazon?

He does.

I think Jeff has managed his company exactly the right way, Buffett wrote me.

Now that is two guys dancing to the beat of their own drumwith happy shareholders moving along to the music.



Andy Serwer is Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief. Read more:
One stock that might be an intriguing choice for investors right now is Vulcan Materials Company VMC. This is because this security in the Building Products - Concrete and Aggregates space is seeing solid earnings estimate revision activity, and is in great company from a Zacks Industry Rank perspective.



This is important because, often times, a rising tide will lift all boats in an industry, as there can be broad trends taking place in a segment that are boosting securities across the board. This is arguably taking place in the Building Products - Concrete and Aggregates space as it currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 17 out of more than 250 industries, suggesting it is well-positioned from this perspective, especially when compared to other segments out there.



Meanwhile, Vulcan Materials is actually looking pretty good on its own too. The firm has seen solid earnings estimate revision activity over the past month, suggesting analysts are becoming a bit more bullish on the firms prospects in both the short and long term.

Vulcan Materials Company Price and Consensus

Vulcan Materials Company Price and Consensus | Vulcan Materials Company Quote

In fact, over the past month, current quarter estimates have risen from $1.19 per share to $1.24 per share, while current year estimates have risen from $3.98 per share to $4.08 per share. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which is also a favorable signal. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



So, if you are looking for a decent pick in a strong industry, consider Vulcan Materials. Not only is its industry currently in the top third, but it is seeing solid estimate revisions as of late, suggesting it could be a very interesting choice for investors seeking a name in this great industry segment.



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An antiterrorism court in Pakistan on June 10 sentenced a Shiite man to death for posting information on Facebook that the court deemed as blasphemous.

The sentence against 30-year-old Taimoor Raza was announced by Judge Shabbir Ahmed in Bahawalpur in eastern Punjab Province.

The court ruled that Raza posted derogatory content on Facebook in 2016 about Sunni Muslim religious leaders and the wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

Pakistan is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country. A rivalry between Shia and Sunni Muslims dates back to the seventh century when they had a disagreement about who should be the heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Under harsh blasphemy laws in Pakistan, the death sentence can be issued against anyone accused of insulting God, Islam, or religious personalities.

Human Rights Watch says Pakistan in 2016 arrested 10 Muslims and five non-Muslims on blasphemy charges.

Rights groups say Pakistans blasphemy laws often are abused in order to settle personal vendettas.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Dawn.com
The topic of this week's Majlis was the latest summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on June 9.

For the first time since 2001, new members were admitted to the SCO, with India and Pakistan joining China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Several SCO officials, including host President Nursultan Nazarbaev, called it a "historic" day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The expansion will undoubtedly help the SCO become a more powerful organization." He added that the addition of new members would also increase the SCO's "political, economic, and humanitarian influence."

But there are different opinions about how powerful the SCO is, or can ever be.

Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL's media relations manager, moderated the Majlis panel discussion on the recent SCO summit. Joining the talk from Vietnam was Jacob Zenn, an analyst of Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and also a non-resident research fellow of the Center for Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies. Alex Melikishvili, a senior analyst of the risk environment in the Caucasus and Central Asia for IHS Markit Country Risk, participated from Washington.

As usual, I also took part in the debate from RFE/RL's headquarters in Prague.

Listen to or download the Majlis podcast below or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.
MBA Resume- Mistakes You Can Avoid

Resume is a critical part of the MBA applications, yet it is often the most neglected one. Your resume demands as much of your attention as your essays do. In fact, resume is your first introduction to the Ad Com, so it should be impactful enough to make them want to know more about you through your essays. When working with applicants on their resumes, I often quote Ross Admission Director Soojin Kwon. For me, the resume is just as important as your essays.How you describe your experience matters. What you choose to highlight matters. Think of it as trailer of the movie about you. It needs to show there is substance there. I find that many applicants dont take enough care with their resumes, Kwon said.

The analogy is so apt. If your essays show a movie about you, your resume shows the trailer of that movie. True!! Your resume is a trailer of your career progression, accomplishments, leadership and team working skills, your interests, and extra-curricular activities that will be shown in detail in the movie of your essays. Therefore, in order to make a good first impression, you need to invest your time and effort to make your resume strong and impactful.

You can build a strong resume by avoiding the following most common errors.

1. Lengthy Resume:

2. Omitting dates:

3. Writing Sentences/ Paragraphs:

4. Use of Fancy Fonts:

5. Use of Jargon:

6. Lack of Strong Verbs:

7. List of job responsibilities:

8. Lack of Quantifiable Accomplishments:

 How much or by what percentage you reduced expenses?

 How many people were on the team that you supervised?

 How much or by what percentage you increased sales ?

9. Details of high school:

10. Omitting extracurricular activities/ interest:

11. Beginning with Education Section:

12. Additional Information /Skills:

13. Providing Personal information:

14. List of References:

Lastly, and most importantly, edit and proofread your resume multiple times before you submit it. You do not want to ruin your first impression by careless spelling, grammar, and style errors. Get it reviewed by a second a pair of eyes to ensure consistency and accuracy.





Email:poonam@myessayreview.com



MyEssayReview - A personalized and dedicated consulting serviceEmail:poonam@myessayreview.com Signature Read More

First, resist the temptation of writing a lengthy resume. Its about quality, not quantity, so make sure not to go over one page limit. Most schools want to see only one page resumes. Let your resume be short and sweet The resume should be the shortest document in your application but the most impactful one that provides an overview of not only your professional career and accomplishments, but also your interest and extra- curricular activities.Please use 10 or 11 font and do not try to squeeze in loads of information by using 8 font.When listing job positions, sometimes applicants forget to mention employment dates. Without specific dates, the Ad Com will not be able to garner your career progression and your promotions.Please do not write sentences or paragraphs even if you have a lot of information to convey. Instead use bulleted points. Each bullet should be limited to two lines of text, and there should be no more than five bullets per job position. You may use 2 bullet points for listing job responsibilities and 2-3 for job accomplishments.Typical fonts for a resume are Times New Roman, Verdana, Cambria and Arial, with Times New Roman being the most common. The business resume is not the place to use fancy fonts. So dont use crazy fonts or intricate borders.One of the most common mistakes applicants make is using technical terms of their industry. Do not assume that Ad Com will understand your industry jargon. This is not a job resume that you are writing for your prospective employer. This is your MBA resume that is scanned by the Ad Com of business schools for career progression, leadership qualities, team- working skills, initiative and other interests/activities of future business leaders. So make sure to make your resume jargon free. The following example is jargon free:Example: Created and implemented new checklists and guidelines, helping reduce the cost of the projects by 10-15%Do not start a bullet point with nouns or adjectives (e.g. responsible for or in depth understanding of). Begin with a strong action verb. Verbs make you sound like a dynamic individual who is always ready for action. Also, try to avoid overusing verbs like led, managed or developed, and consider using other verbs such as accelerated, delivered, established, implemented, initiated, or spearheaded etc. Use verbs that demonstrate your collaborative attitude e.g assist, contribute, support, provide etc.Example: Collaborated with multiple stakeholders and built a team of 7 analysts that resulted in revenue growth of $ 400K/ yearAnother most common mistake some applicants make in their MBA resume is making it a long list of job responsibilities. The Ad Com will not look at your resume for the number of years you have worked or for your simple job responsibilities. Instead, they will look for the quality of professional experience i.e. the skills you have acquired and the impact you have made on your organization. When listing your professional experience, follow the reverse chronological order so your current professional experience gets the utmost attention.Resumes that do not quantify the outcome of your accomplishments fail to make an impression. So please make sure to quantify your impact on your company/organization with measurable results or achievements.Try to provide specific details such as:Example: Spearheaded a flagship project - Change In Terms for the company built a team of 5 analysts, translating into revenue of $ 100KSometimes applicants fill precious space with high school accomplishments and grades. Please do not discuss your high school activities unless you did something exceptional for your age. You have come a long way after high school; and you are applying for graduate school, not college.Sometimes the applicants get so involved in the details of their professional experience that they tend to ignore extracurricular activities/community service and other interests/ hobbies. Please note that the schools are looking for well-rounded individuals, and not only professionals who have no interests beyond their work. So do not hesitate to include 2-3 hobbies that you feel passionate about and pursue in your non-work hours. Please do not include too many hobbies or interests. Also, include community service activities you have been involved in.Beginning with the educations section is one of the most common mistakes the applicants make. Please place your education section after professional career section and keep it short. It should show the schools you have attended,the areas of study, and accomplishments/ranking etc.If you have some certificates or awards, if you have learned some foreign languages, or if you possess advanced computer skills, you may use this section for this information. Also, if you have a long list of awards/ honors, you may create a separate section of Awards and Honors to include that information.Please do not provide your height, weight, date of birth, and marital status on your resume. Also, there is no need to provide your picture on your resume.An MBA resume is not a place for providing references. So do not use precious space in providing references or even mentioning References on request._________________
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
VOA Learning English presents Americas Presidents.

Today we are continuing our story about Abraham Lincoln.

He led the United States during the Civil War, which lasted from 1861-1865. In that conflict, the Southern Confederacy battled the Union  the states that supported the federal government.

Southern states wanted to make their own laws, including those that protected slavery. They were afraid that President Lincoln would use the power of the federal government to ban slavery in their states, as well as in other areas.

So 11 Southern states withdrew from the rest of the country. They stopped recognizing the power of the central government.

President Lincoln did not think states had the right to withdraw. He said he was fighting to reunite the country.

But in time, he accepted that the Civil War would also be a fight to end slavery.

Commander-in-chief

Lincoln is known for several qualities as a wartime president. One was how he led the military campaign.

As president, Lincoln worked with top military officials to create a plan. They realized that the Union had more resources and more men who could fight than the Confederate forces. So, they planned to surround the Southern states, cut off their supplies, and prevent foreign powers from helping the Confederacy.

Lincoln hoped the Unions generals could execute the plan quickly and end the war as soon as possible.

But the generals were guarded. They did not want to harm their soldiers if they did not have to. They also knew the Confederacy had a skilled commander in General Robert E. Lee.

Troops under another Confederate general, Thomas Stonewall Jackson, also defeated the Union army in several early battles.

Lincoln was frustrated with the war effort. He wanted generals who would not only win battles, but chase after the opposing forces and destroy them so they could not fight again.

In one famous telegram, he wrote to his top general, George McClellan. Lincoln said, If General McClellan does not want to use the Army, I would like to borrow it for a time

Finally, Lincoln replaced McClellan. Then he replaced McClellans replacements.

Executive power

Lincoln changed the presidency by being actively involved as a commander-in-chief of the military. He also greatly expanded the powers of the chief executive.

Lincoln believed that, during war, the president had powers that were greater than those of Congress and the Supreme Court. As a result, he took many actions that critics  and even some supporters  considered illegal under the U.S. Constitution.

For example, Lincoln spent millions of dollars in federal money without getting permission from Congress. He also limited freedom of the press, restricted mail service, and declared martial law in some places, even when the situation did not require military action.

Most notably, Lincoln temporarily suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is an important right in the American legal tradition. It means that people who are under arrest have the right to appear personally in court.

But, at some periods, Lincoln ignored that right.

He said the Confederacys rebellion justified his actions. And, he said, extreme measures were necessary to re-unite the country.

Emancipation Proclamation

One of Lincolns most important legacies relates to slavery. The issue was at the heart of the American Civil War.

For most of his career, Lincoln spoke against slavery. But he did not try to bar the custom in states where it already existed. He agreed to leave slavery in the South alone.

Lincoln also did not really believe in racial equality. And he worried that if slavery ended in the United States, blacks and whites would not be able to live peacefully together.

But as the war continued, Lincoln changed his mind about how to deal with the issue.

For one thing, anti-slavery activists were urging Lincoln to end slavery for moral reasons.

Lincoln also considered tactical reasons -- those related to the war.

He saw that enslaved people in the South were escaping to join Union armies in the North. Their actions helped the Union effort.

Lincoln also wanted to prevent England or France from helping the South. The Southern states were important trading partners for Europe. But the English and French people had rejected slavery. Lincoln hoped that if the Union also rejected slavery, European countries would support the North  or at least not support the South.

So Lincoln waited until the Union won a major battle in Antietam, Maryland. Then he announced that he was using his power as a wartime president to order the end of slavery in the Confederate states.

He produced a document called the Emancipation Proclamation. It said that enslaved people in the rebelling states were forever free.

Historians note that the act was important and revolutionary. But it was mostly symbolic. The federal government was not able to enforce the order at the time. And it did not deal with enslaved people in other areas.

But the Emancipation Proclamation was the beginning of the end of legal slavery in the country. During the rest of his presidency, Lincoln worked in support of an anti-slavery amendment to the Constitution. That amendment  the Thirteenth  was approved in 1865. It officially outlawed slavery across the country.

Next week we will finish the story of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

Im Kelly Jean Kelly.

Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Listening Quiz

See how well you understand the story by taking this listening quiz. Play each short video, then choose the best answer.

Quiz - America's Presidents: Abraham Lincoln (Part Two) Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

resources - n. a supply of something (such as money) that someone has and can use when it is needed

frustrated - adj. very angry, discouraged, or upset because of being unable to do or complete something

martial law - adj. control of an area by military forces rather than by the police

legacies - n. things that come from someone in the past

symbolic - adj. expressing or representing an idea or quality
Chinese government environmental inspectors say they found a shockingly high number of air pollution violations in recent months.

A Ministry of Environmental Protection, or MEP, statement says two-thirds of the companies inspected since April violated rules about pollutive gas releases.

The findings raise questions about the ability of the local and central government to deal with polluters.

Inspections

Environmental inspections began last November in reaction to a smog crisis in northern Chinese cities.

The burning of coal, bad weather conditions and pollutive gas releases from factories may have created the environmental crisis.

Since then, the government has increased the number of inspection teams it deploys.

In March, the MEP said that 3,119 businesses of about 8,500 visited had falsely reported the gas waste they were releasing. In many cases, inspectors found polluters had restarted operations after being ordered to shut down.

Last month, state media reported that 5,594 businesses, or 66.2 percent of those examined by May 2, did not meet environmental requirements. The businesses were in 28 northern cities, across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The governments Xinhua news agency reported that small businesses and factories made up more than a third of the violators. It said this made enforcement difficult.

Some companies would not permit inspections.

In one case on March 12, four law enforcement officers were attacked while investigating illegal production at a textile factory in eastern Anhui province, the MEP said.

Central government and local authorities

The years of enforcement efforts, growing protests over smog and months of warnings about inspections have led to a question: Why do companies continue to violate the rules?

Some observers say the central government has yet to make air quality a campaign issue.

Philip Andrews-Speed is an expert with the Energy Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore. He noted the success of Chinas five-year energy efficiency campaign that ended in 2010. He says there must be a similar campaign on air quality.

Fines and compliance

Xinhua has reported conflicting information about enforcement efforts. On May 12, it reported that MEP inspection teams have been ordering fines directly. Weeks later, Xinhua reported the ministry had asked local governments to halt the production of, or close, businesses that violated pollution rules.

But Andrews-Speed said local officials are unlikely to take such action. He said they have long been rewarded for favoring economic interest over environmental interest. They probably will not enforce the rules unless they believe their jobs are at risk as a result, he said.

I'm John Russell.

Michael Lelyveld wrote this story for Radio Free Asia. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

smog  n. fog mixed with smoke : a cloud of dirty air from cars, factories, etc., that is usually found in cities

textile  n. a fabric that is woven or knit

efficiency  n. the ability to do something or produce something without wasting materials, time, or energy : the quality or degree of being efficient

reward  v. to give money or another kind of payment to (someone
Editor's Note: This story is part of a continuing series about international student life at colleges and universities across the United States. Please join us over the next several weeks as we bring you stories about international students and the American higher education system as a whole.

Wissem Gamra felt very different from other students when he began studying at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Gamra was born in Sousse, Tunisia. He lived there until he was 17 years old. But in his third year of high school, he learned of a chance to study at an organization called the African Leadership Academy.

The African Leadership Academy is a special school in Johannesburg, South Africa. It trains students from across the continent to become future leaders who work to solve problems in Africa. It also helps students find money so they can pay for an education at top universities around the world.

So in 2012, Gamra went to Johannesburg to complete his high school education. Then he sought admission to Yale University to study electrical engineering.

Yale is a private research university, created in 1701. It is also an Ivy League school, meaning it is one of eight private colleges and universities in the northeastern United States. The eight are widely considered to be some of the best schools in the world.

Five former U.S. presidents completed study programs at Yale University.

Ivy League schools only accept a small number of students from among the thousands who seek admission. When Yale accepted Gamra in 2014, he became its first ever undergraduate student from Tunisia.

Gamra says he felt it was his responsibility to represent his country as best he could.

"I dont really feel that people treated me differently. Its just that sometimes people, when I tell them where Im from, people would not where it is. And I take that as a good teaching opportunity for them, so that I teach them more about Tunisia."

However, Gamra says he faced some difficulties in dealing with the cultural differences between his homeland and the United States. For example, drinking alcohol at parties is common for many American college students. But many Tunisians are Muslim, and Islam has strong rules against drinking alcohol.

Also, Gamra says some Americans have misunderstandings about developing countries. For example, during his first year at Yale, Gamra went to dinner with the parents of one of his American friends. After the meal, his friends mother told Gamra how sad it was that people in the U.S. waste so much food while people living in other countries starve. Then she gave him the leftover food from their meal. Gamra thought she did this because she thought he did not have enough money for food, which he found a little insulting.

Yet Gamra says this was just one bad example. He worked hard to make more American friends and share greater understanding of his culture. He did so by joining different student organizations at Yale. He is a member of Bulldogs Racing. This group of students spends an entire year building a race car to compete against teams from other universities.

Also, Gamra joined Bulldog Productions. This is a Yale undergraduate student-operated film and theater production group. Gamra says he never did anything involving theater before coming to the United States. But he started designing theater sets when he joined Bulldog Productions in his first year. And in fall 2016, he was the lead producer of a musical production called Drakorian.

Gamra says he is doing things he never would have dreamed of doing at a university in his home country. In Tunisia, an electrical engineering student attends classes in electrical engineering, but usually does little else.

Melissa Castera says she chose Yale University because of the opportunities it provides to students outside their main field of study. She began working toward a masters degree in environmental management in 2015.

Castera is from the town of Salto, Uruguay. She earned her undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of the Republic in Montevideo in 2008. Several years later, she decided she wanted to have an international experience to expand her understanding of the world.

So Castera decided to seek a Fulbright scholarship. This is a program supported by the U.S. Department of State. It gives money to American students and professors to study and teach in other countries. It also gives money to international students and professors who want to study and teach at American colleges or universities.

Studying overseas is not common for students from Uruguay, Castera says. So when she received her scholarship and learned Yale had accepted her, many of her friends were shocked.

"They were like, What? Where are you going? Like, how come? Like, when did you decide that? They were all very surprised that this was happening. But also, like, when I would say Yale, theyd say, Wow. How did you get into that? Like, we are coming from a so small country. Do they know where is Uruguay?"

Since she began studying at Yale, Castera says she has welcomed the difficulty of the work. She already had learned a lot about planning cities and development from her undergraduate studies. She chose to study environmental management because she wanted to learn more about how to protect water resources. But her program at Yale has forced her to learn about so much more, including politics and economics.

Castera says that by examining other fields of study, she has had to think in ways she never had to before. And the ways in which she has had to use that knowledge, including public speaking, have pushed her out of her comfort zone. Now she feels she can express herself more in English and in Spanish.

Yale has also provided Castera with the chance to see the world as she had not seen it before. As part of her program, the school required her to serve as an intern. So last summer, she joined the World Resources Institute to research water usage in Brazil. And in the spring of 2017, she went on a school trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories to study how they deal with water disputes.

After completing her education, Castera says she wants to work to solve problems related to climate change. This is an issue she says she never knew much or thought about before coming to Yale.

Im Pete Musto.

And I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. Lucija Milonig produced the video. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How do universities in your country help you to explore subjects and activities you do not know much about? What other opportunities do you think you would find at a university in the U.S.? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

admission  n. the act or process of accepting someone as a student at a school

undergraduate  adj. used to describe a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree

opportunity  n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

leftover  adj. used to describe food that has not been finished at a meal and that is often served at another meal

set(s)  n. the rooms, painted backgrounds and furniture that are used for a scene in a movie, television program, or play

masters degree  n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree

scholarship  n. an amount of money that is given by a school or organization to a student to help pay for the student's education

comfort zone  n. a place, situation, or level where someone feels that they can do something well or succeed at something and has no worries, difficulty, or uncertainty

intern  n. a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time at a job in order to get experience
Many American states, cities and businesses say they will work to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement. This comes after President Donald Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the international agreement.

More than a dozen governors have signed new climate change pledges since Trump made the announcement. Their states represent nearly 40 percent of the U.S. economy. Democrats govern most of those states. Trump is a Republican.

Kate Brown is the democratic governor of Oregon. She said Tuesday, Our coalition wants to let the world know that absent leadership from our federal government,'' the country will keep cutting fossil fuel emissions.

Mayors actions

So far, over 270 mayors have agreed to adopt, honor and uphold the commitments to the goals of the Paris agreement. This includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing investments in renewable energies.

Leaders of large businesses such as Amazon, Apple and Target have also signed pledges to continue to reduce their fossil-fuel emissions.

Experts say it is unclear whether such efforts from states and individuals can fill in the hole left by Trumps decision to leave the agreement.

Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, told VOA that they will try.

If the president follows through on his commitment to withdraw from the Paris agreement, mayors will stand in the gap.

Benjamin is vice president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He hopes the group will pass a resolution urging city governments to get all of their energy from renewable sources by 2035.

States actions

The state of Hawaii passed a law last week to document sea-level rise, and to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Governor David Ige said it is the first state to pass a law carrying out parts of the Paris climate agreement. He signed another bill to reduce carbon emissions in agriculture.

Last Tuesday, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an agreement with China to work together on reducing emissions. They will work on so-called green technologies. The deals call for investments in low-carbon energy sources, cooperation on climate research and commercialization of cleaner technologies.

Brown warned that disaster still looms without urgent action.

He was attending an international clean energy conference in Beijing. Brown also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The governors office said the two pledged to expand trade between California and China, two of the worlds largest economies.

Brown spoke with the Reuters news agency:

It's highly significant that the governor of California can meet with the president of China, talk about very specific issues, on the foremost challenge of our time, namely climate change, and commit to taking the kind of steps that are needed to further this process of energy transformation.

Bloomberg and Americas Pledge

European leaders have also been meeting with local American leaders. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently met with French leaders in Paris.

Bloomberg is the United Nations Secretary Generals special envoy for cities and climate change. He said he was not there to criticize Trumps action. But he said the U.S. will meet our Paris commitment, even without federal support.

"Over the past decade, the United States has led the world on emission reductions  and our federal government has had very little to do with it. 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.

While in Paris, Bloomberg announced a new group called Americas Pledge. It will give the U.N. a plan for how the U.S. will meet its Paris commitment even without the federal government.

So far, three states, 30 cities and 300 companies have signed on to the group, said Carl Pope, an adviser to Bloomberg.

Trump administration response

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said states and local governments should feel free to follow their own plans.

"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."

The Trump administration, however, also wants to cut energy programs at the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EPA administrator Scott Pruitt called the presidents decision to withdraw from the agreement courageous. He urged Americans not to apologize for the decision. He said the president heard many voices about climate change, and was thoughtful about making his decision. Like Trump, Pruitt said the agreement put the U.S. at an economic disadvantage.

As a presidential candidate, Trump called climate change a hoax, or not true. However, Pruitt would not say whether Trump has changed his position on global warming.

Most scientists agree that climate change, and the warming of the planet, is caused by human activity.

Pruitt said the president will continue to study the issue. He said Trump will either re-enter the Paris agreement, or engage in a discussion around a new deal that would put America first.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

And Im Anne Ball.

Steve Baragona wrote this story for VOA News.com. Anne Ball adapted his report for Learning English with additional material from Reuters and the Associated Press. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page.

Listening Quiz

See how well you understand this story by taking a listening quiz. Play each short video, then choose the best answer.

Quiz: U.S. Cities and States Step up for Climate Change Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

pledge  v. to formally promise to give or do (something)

absent  adj. not present at a usual or expected place

greenhouse gas  n. carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists have linked to rising temperatures in Earths atmosphere

renewable energies  n. any naturally occurring source of energy like solar, wind, biomass, tidal and hydroelectric power that is not taken from nuclear or fossil fuel.

emission  n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

stand in the gap  expression to take the place of a person who has fallen (sometimes a religious expression)

commercialization  n. to make something available to customers

looms  v. hangs over

enact  v. to make (a bill or other legislation) officially become part of the law

courageous  adj. very brave : having or showing courage


Saffron is one of the costliest spices in the world. It is sometimes considered as valuable as money, and has been used as such in history. Saffron comes from a flower that grows mostly in parts of Europe, Iran and India. Now, a company in the United States is developing new markets for saffron grown in Afghanistan.

At Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba in Chicago saffron is very important to Executive Chef Matt Holmess menu.

We feature it in our paellas, which are our signature dish here at Cafe Bar Ba Reeba, as well as use it in a dessert and some other dishes as well. So, its incredibly important to have high-quality saffron.

Cooks throughout Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea use saffron, but few cooks in the United States know about the spice.

The company Rumi Spice, which sells saffron to Holmes, is working to change that.

Kimberly Jung is a founder of Rumi Spice. She says the company takes its name from Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th-century poet and thinker born in what is now Afghanistan.

One of his famous sayings is Where there is ruin, there is hope for treasure.

Keith Alaniz is another of the founders of the company, along with Emily Miller. They are all former U.S. military members who served in Afghanistan. Alaniz says they returned with more than just battle experience.

I was never able to resolve just going to Afghanistan, and spending time; leaving and never thinking about the place again -- especially when you form relationships with people who live there and you understand them and you know their families.

So, Jung and Alaniz began to sell saffron produced by Afghan farmers they met in Herat province. There is not much demand for saffron in Afghanistan, so farmers must export it.

Alaniz says Afghanistan has basically been cut off from the international market for 30 years. He says farmers there are producing a great product. But he says they cannot get a fair value for their goods because they are not able to export it.

Conflict and insecurity in Afghanistan is not the only difficulty in getting Afghan saffron to market.

Abdullah Faiz is the head of the countrys Herat University. He says Afghanistan has been producing saffron for many years but still has no process that guarantees the spices quality. So, Herat University is working with Purdue University in Indiana to create a department of food technology for Afghan saffron farmers.

Faiz says the department will help train farmers to produce saffron that is pure and safe.

Rumi carries out its own careful testing process on its product. Matt Holmes says it was the quality and taste of Rumis saffron that convinced him to buy it. But he also likes the companys support for Afghanistan.

And you are kind of doing double duty with the program that they have with helping farmers in Afghanistan and helping women and being a positive influence besides just selling a product, so you really get the best of both worlds.

Investors have noticed the companys success. Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban invested $250,000 after the company competed on the television show Shark Tank.

Im Jill Robbins.

VOAs Kane Farabaugh reported this story from Chicago. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Do you like cooking with saffron? What dishes do you put it in? Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

spice  n. a substance (such as pepper or nutmeg) that is used in cooking to add flavor to food and that comes from a dried plant and is usually a powder or seed

paella  n. a Spanish dish of rice, meat, seafood, vegetables, and spices

signature  adj. closely associated with someone or something; making a person or thing easy to recognize

dessert  n. sweet food eaten after the main part of a meal

dish  n. the food served in a dish; food that is prepared in a particular way
Minister of Communications Ayanda Dlodlo faces scrutiny for her name being mentioned in the Gupta email leaks.

According to a report by the Sunday Times, the DA has filed an affidavit with Parliaments ethics committee on the matter.

Dlodo was reported to have been provided accommodation in Dubai by the Guptas Sahara Computers, which was then allegedly paid for by businessman Fana Hlongwana.

Hlongwana was involved in South Africas arms deal as a middleman.

Dlodlo admitted to taking the trip to Dubai on her way back from Jordan, but said she was not aware of Saharas involvement.

The DA has asked that a probe be opened on the matter, as Dlodo failed to declare the trip.

According to the register of members interests it seems to be apparent that Dlodlo failed to disclose the trip and this warrants an investigation by the ethics committee stated the affidavit.

The potential probe follows revelations that the communications department spent nearly R1 million on one of the Gupta-owned The New Age newspapers breakfast briefings in 2016.

Now read: Cabinet approves National Radio Frequency Plan
Amazon becomes world's first public company to lose $1 trillion in market value

EU's odd couple: Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel can't stand each other

US, China set first benchmarks ahead of presidents' meeting

Iranian MFA summons Azerbaijani ambassador to carpet in connection with anti-Iranian propaganda

Washington to resist any attempt by new Israeli government to annex West Bank

Biden thinks Elon Musk's relations with other countries are worthy of being looked at

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister tells Polish senator about consequences of Azerbaijani aggression

Armenian deputy in Vilnius talks about goals of Azerbaijan's aggressive policy

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

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Pashinyan: There is no Armenia army in Karabakh

All 10 fallen soldiers transferred on October 27 by Azerbaijan to Armenia are identified, buried

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Erdogan tells what relations between Turkey and Armenia depend on

Iran says it has developed first hypersonic ballistic missile

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FM Lavrov to head Russia delegation at G20 summit

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This year 320 people seek asylum in Armenia, 213 are from Ukraine

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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

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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

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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

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LA CRESCENT, Minn.  Carolyn Lee Hogan (Roy), 75, of La Crescent, died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones early Friday morning, June, 9, 2017, at the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, following a five-year battle with cancer.

Carolyn was born in Ashland, Wis., Nov. 19, 1941. She married Thomas A. Hogan July 1, 1967 in Ashland. Carolyn received a degree in medical technology from Viterbo College in 1963. She remained active at Viterbo throughout her life, serving on many boards and committees. She was awarded a Distinguished Alumni award in 2014, for her service, along with an honorary degree.

She worked at Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago, early in her career, also serving on the Medical Ethics Board. Later, she worked at Community Memorial Hospital in Winona, for over 25 years as a medical technologist, primarily on the night shift.

Carolyn enjoyed serving on the Alumni Board and Emeritus board at Viterbo College and attending Viterbo events and performances, as well as serving as secretary on the Houston County Democratic Farmers League, and as co-chair for the DFL Senate District. She liked meeting new people and had a knack for somehow meeting other medical professionals wherever she went. She also enjoyed bowling and socializing with her breakfast bowling league team, The Omlettes.

She is survived by her devoted husband, Thomas; her children, Kirsten (Doug Thoms), Devin (Connie) and Brendan; as well as grandchildren, Sean and Kylie; all of whom were with her upon her passing.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 13, at Crucifixion Catholic Church in La Crescent, with the Rev. Matthew Fasnacht officiating. Burial will follow in the Crucifixion Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services of La Crescent, with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Visitation will also be held from 10 a.m. until the time of services Tuesday at the church.

Memorial gifts may be made in her name to Viterbo University, or to the La Crescent, Minn., First Responders team. Online condolences may be left at www.schumacher-kish.com.
If you havent already fallen in love with "The Great British Baking Show," I must encourage you to give it a whirl. The impeccably charming reality show has become a national obsession in the U.K., but it also has a niche following among Anglophiles and foodies in the U.S. And theres good reason for that.

I hereby present seven great reasons to watch the new season, which premieres on Milwaukee Public Television on Saturday, June 23 at 11:30 a.m. (see the full schedule here) and on Wisconsin Public Television on Sunday, June 24.

1. It's delightfully different

Unlike so many of its kind, "The Great British Baking Show" defies the conventions of the reality TV genre. The first thing you'll notice is the tranquil setting: a simple tent on the idyllic British countryside. The decor is painted in pleasant pastel tones. It never rains (or so it seems). Honestly, it's downright relaxing.

2. No blasted branding

Next up is the remarkable absence of irritating product placements (thanks, BBC!). Indeed, there is no blatant brandishing of brand-name flours or silicone baking molds. So, you needn't feel like you're watching a one-hour commercial for household goods.

3. The contestants

Watch no more than ten minutes and you'll also realize that the contestants are decidedly different (in a very, very good way). They are diverse and delightful. And that's partially due to the fact that they aren't type-cast. You wont find "the evil bitch" or the "egotistical douchebag" returning season after season. These folks are simply ordinary people with ordinary jobs who just happen to love baking.

4. The judges

In parallel, the judges are shockingly kind. Unlike the stereotypical critics  who rail on contestants for mistakes or hurl insults (you know who I mean)  the genteel Mary Berry and swaggering Paul Hollywood are firm but supportive. They judge contestants fairly, not by their perceived merits as human beings, but by the texture of their biscuits and the rise of their souffles. And, although it is often sad when contestants are eliminated, it is nearly never unjust.

5. Simply joy

And  maybe most delightful of all  there are no monetary advantages for the winner. Yes, you heard me correctly: The winner of "The Great British Baking Show" wins a title and an engraved cake stand. Thats it. There's simply the joy of a job well done.

6. Get your Mary Berry fill while you can

Instead of feeling irritated by polarizing personalities and falsified plot lines, youll find sheer pleasure in rooting for the genuinely likable contestants and enjoying cheeky co-hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroycs sharp-witted comments and bawdy puns about frosted buns.

Its exquisite escapism at its very best. And you should take advantage before Berry, Perkins, Giedroyc leave the show starting with season seven (wah wah). Heaven knows what will happen once the show leaves BBC, so get your fix while it lasts.

7. You can bake along!

For the second year running, you can also test your pastry prowess by baking right along with the contestants on the show, thanks to the Second Annual Wisconsin Baking Challenge from Wisconsin Public Television.

The challenge is a fun, free baking adventure that is open to all ages and skill levels. As WPT notes: "Whether you can build a showstopper with your eyes shut or are trying a Paul Hollywood recipe for the first time, we want to see your best attempts at greatness  even if they fall flat."

Last year, The Great Wisconsin Baking Challenge featured hundreds of bakes from participants across Wisconsin and around the country. There was even one baker who joined in on the fun from Australia! A total of 12 "Star Bakers" participated in all 10 challenges.

How does it work?

One week before an episode airs, WPT will issue three baking challenges based on the upcoming new episode of "The Great British Baking Show." Unlike the contestants, you have a choice: select just one or bake all three. The only catch? You must execute the recipe with a Wisconsin twist.

Once you have completed your challenge, share your baking results and story with WPT through their online submission form before the deadline. As part of the submission, youll be asked to answer a few fun questions, as well as submit a photograph of your creation. Youre also welcome to submit a short 30-second video.

You can also share your projects progress on social media using #WisconsinBakingChallenge

Each week throughout the 10-part challenge, WPT will review all baker submissions and feature them at wpt.org. Six lucky submissions will also be chosen as the weeks featured bakers.

We've also got a sneak peek at the very first challenge, which will focus on cake!

Bakers will have the choice of the following three challenges (as specified by Wisconsin Public Television):

Signature Challenge  Upside Down Cake: Traditionally, this cake is all about firm fruit, but the possibilities are endless. Dont let this challenge turn your world upside down, no matter how intimidating Paul Hollywoods glare might be. Pick a cake recipe, choose a bottom layer that will wind up on top (think: traditional pineapple or radical tomato), and flip! Technical Challenge  Rum Baba: Its time for a classic 1970s treat! In the show, the bakers used Paul Hollywoods very own recipe, but youre not required to do so. Regardless, the Baba does have some unique characteristics: Its a yeasted cake filled with Chantilly cream and topped with fruit. Hollywood describes Rum Baba as a cross between bread and cake; whats not to love? Showstopper Challenge  Hidden Design Cake: Pssst: This cake has a secret. When you slice your cake, a hidden design or pattern should appear. Were talking colored sponge with a mouth-dropping secret design, whether its a rainbow, a heart, a patriotic theme or something even more unique. This is the perfect time to hide a Wisconsin twist! Yes, this cake takes some planning, but the wow factor is well worth the effort.

Entries for the first weeks challenge are due on or before June 24.

But that's not all

Week two will feature three challenges related to bread, including a signature flatbread challenge, a technical eight-strand plaited loaf challenge and a showstopper challenge featuring the creation of both 12 savory and 12 sweet bagels

Meanwhile, week three will challenge bakers to create a French tarte tatin for their signature challenge, Mary Berrys treacle tart as a technical challenge and a showstopper designer fruit tart.

Get more information and sign up for the Great Wisconsin Baking Challenge on the WPT website.
On a rainy Saturday afternoon, about 30 people gathered at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, 2620 W. Center St., to call attention to health disparities African-Americans face.

The annual event, hosted by Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, is meant to address a variety of health issues, but this years theme was "Black Moms and Grandmothers Against Toy Guns."

"We are seeing our kids carrying around toy guns like an adult," said Dr. Patricia McManus, president and CEO of BHCW, so the group decided to focus on discouraging mothers and grandmothers from buying toy guns.

McManus said the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland "traumatized the black community." Tamir was shot and killed by officers when they thought he drew a real gun when he was actually playing with a toy gun in a park.

Black mother and grandmothers have a special bond with their sons and grandsons, explained McManus, who has a grandson near Tamirs age and worries something like that could happen to him. She and his mother dont allow him to have toy guns.

"Its not a toy, not for our community. We could get killed because of it," McManus said.

Added Eve Hall, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Urban League, "Weve almost become numb. We expect our children to go to school every day, regardless what they may experience in their communities."

Hall said that children need psychologists and professionals to go into schools to talk with them about traumatic events to help them heal. One of her goals as head of the Milwaukee Urban League is to support children and their communities after traumatic events, she said.

Dr. Bevan Baker, Milwaukee Commissioner of Health, praised the event. "I cant imagine a more incredible vision than mothers and grandmothers against toy guns," he said. "Mothers and grandmothers are the first teachers."

In addition to highlighting the dangers of toy guns, the walk is meant to bring awareness to health disparities and raise funds for the Wisconsin African American Eliminating Health Disparities Institute, a project of BHCW, McManus explained. Its also a way to get the community involved in healthy behavior and educate them on these issues, said McManus.

Most participants chose to skip the walk from the Milwaukee Urban League, 435 W. North Ave. in Halyard Park, to the Wisconsin Black Historical Society in Sherman Park due to the rain. This was the first time in 14 years that the walk was rained out, organizers said.

Every year the walk takes place in the central city instead of places at the Lakefront or on Wisconsin Avenue. McManus, who grew up in Bronzeville, said she wants the community to know that it is safe to be in the central city.

Sponsors of the walk, including Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Health Services, Inc., Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and Wisconsin Alzheimers Institute, set up information booths at the event.

Gina Green-Harris, director of community engagement and health partnerships at the Wisconsin Alzheimers Institute, works with BHCW to promote brain wellness. She said she came to the walk to provide resources for families who are caring for loved ones living with Alzheimers.

The attendees seemed passionate about making change in their communities.

"We cant go for shelter when our city is hurting," said Baker. "We have got to continue to fight."
Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski called for international arbitration in the Venezuelan crisis but only once political prisoners have been freed, according to an interview published Sunday in a Spanish newspaper. "The fundamental issue is that all political prisoners be released," he told El Pais daily. "If that is not done there is no dialogue possible." Once that condition was met then three nations friendly to the Venezuela regime could join three more critical countries to provide international arbitration on the crisis, he added. The work of the group, which would be made up of respected elder statesmen, would need to take place on neutral territory, he added. He suggested the Dutch island of Curacao off the Venezuelan coast. Venezuela has been locked in a political and economic crisis for months as thousands have marched for and against the government of leftist president Nicolas Maduro. During that time more than 60 people have been killed and hundreds more arrested. The NGO Foro Penal Venezolano, which provides legal aid to people it says have been arbitrarily detained, says the Maduro regime is currently holding 186 political prisoners. Kuczynski, an outspoken critic of the Maduro regime, made his comments to the newspaper in an interview given two weeks ago, ahead of a visit to Spain starting Monday. Talks under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Vatican broke down late last year.
Traveling internationally this summer?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, wants you to brush up on your knowledge and what to expect when arriving at the U.S. border and traveling beyond it.

With a summer that is predicted to entice record numbers of people to hit the road within and beyond the borders of the U.S., CBP is prepared to welcome visitors.

The United States has been and continues to be a welcoming country and CBP remains committed to facilitating lawful travel to the United States, said Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan.

In the spirit of this commitment, CBP has deployed innovative programs and technology including Trusted Traveler Programs, Automated Passport Control kiosks and Mobile Passport Control to make the arrival process as efficient and as quick as possible while maintaining our dual mission of border security and travel facilitation.

So what does the CBP want travelers to know before they head out on vacation?

First and foremost, they want you to make sure you have the right documents with you. It is of the utmost priority when traveling abroad to carry the right passports and visas, and travelers can speed things up at the border by having all of your documentation ready to hand to the officer.

If you have questions about what you need to enter or re-enter the country, the CBP website has the answers.

There are also a number of ways to streamline your border experience: Several apps can help visitors monitor wait times at the border and even automate passport control.

Automated Passport Control expedites entry for international travelers by pre-submitting answers to biographical questions.

Mobile Passport Control allows U.S. and Canadian visitors expedited entry by streamlining the inspection process through an app that gives them a QR code.

Border Wait Time monitors delays at borders around the country. Savvy travelers can aim for ports of entry where wait times are the shortest.

Both apps can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and via Google Play.

There are a number of other things that travelers can brush up on via the CBP website, such as traveling with pets, carrying more than $10,000 cash, traveling with medication and more.

If you want to streamline the travel process, make sure you have all of the facts first.
Turkey's decision to station troops at a base in Qatar aims to ensure the emirate's security after Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a blockade over claims it supports terrorism, the foreign minister said Saturday. "This accord is not targeting any Gulf country," Mevlut Cavusoglu said after meeting with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa. The purpose of the troop deployment "is to help foster security and stability across the Gulf," Cavusoglu said after talks attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said he wanted all parties to end the standoff before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, around June 25. Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and other states this past week in cutting ties with Qatar over what they say is the emirate's financing of extremist groups and its ties to Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival. The Arab countries closed air, sea and land links with Qatar, barred the emirate's planes from their airspace and ordered Qatari citizens out within 14 days. The crisis escalated on Friday after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain released a list of 59 Qatari and Doha-based people and entities linked to "terrorism". Erdogan has vowed to support Qatar, a close ally, in the dispute, even though he also wants to maintain good relations with the other Gulf states. So far, Turkey has not directly criticised Riyadh. "Turkey will continue with its constructive actions aimed at resolving this problem. We consider the stability and security of the Gulf in the same way we consider our own stability and security," Cavusoglu said.
2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #23

Posted on 11 June 2017 by John Hartz

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... SkS Highlights... El Nino/La Nina Update... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... Photo of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Reports of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Story of the Week...

June 2017 ENSO update: pancake breakfast

A change is afoot! After months of suggesting an elevated chance for El Nino to develop, the CPC/IRI forecast has flattened out, and neutral conditions are expected (50-55% chance) to continue through the fall.

A recipe for neutral

In fact, the Nino3.4 region (a key ENSO monitoring area in the tropical central Pacific) is hovering around 0.5C warmer than the long-term average. Yep, thats the threshold for El Nino, but surely you remember that ENSO is a seasonal phenomenon, meaning those warmer sea surface temperatures need to stick around for several monthslong enough to provoke an atmospheric response.

Monthly sea surface temperature in the Nino 3.4 region of the tropical Pacific compared to the long-term average for all years starting off from moderate-to-strong El Nino since 1950, showing how 2016 (blue line) compares to other events. Climate.gov graph based on ERSSTv4 temperature data.

Despite the warmer sea surface temperatures, the atmosphere is not behaving like El Nino. During May, the indicators that we track looked very average, including both the upper-level and near-surface winds over the equatorial Pacific and the amount of rain and cloudiness in the central Pacific and Indonesia. The indexes that measure the difference in the atmospheric pressure between the central Pacific and the far western Pacific, the Southern Oscillation Index and the Equatorial Southern Oscillation Index, were both close to zero in May, indicating, again: neutral conditions.

Most of the recent forecast models predict that the Nino3.4 region will move closer to average temperatures over the next few months. The average of all the dynamical model forecasts in the North American Multi-Model Ensemble flattens out at slightly above the long-term mean for the rest of this year. Averaging all model forecasts together usually produces the best forecast, because it reduces the noise and highlights the signal. Stay tunednext month, Im writing a post all about computer climate models. (Try to contain your excitement!)

Climate model forecasts for the Nino3.4 Index, from the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME). Darker purple envelope shows the range of 68% of all model forecasts; lighter purple shows the range of 95% of all model forecasts. NOAA Climate.gov image from CPC data.

Combine these neutral atmospheric conditions, cooling forecasts, and the lack of any substantial warmth under the surface of the Pacific, and you get the current forecast of an approximately 50-55% chance of continuing neutral conditions through the fall.

June 2017 ENSO update: pancake breakfast by Emily Becker, ENSO Blog, NOAA Climate.gov, June 8, 2017

Toon of the Week...

Quote of the Week...

Per Espen Stoknes, a Norwegian psychologist, has examined why people continue to feel disconnected from climate warnings, despite the strength of the science. He says, People think this is far off  it is not here and now, its also up there in the Arctic or Antarctica, it affects other people, not me, Ill be old before this really happens, other people are responsible, not me. We distance ourselves from it in so many ways that the pure facts are not sufficient to generate a sustained sense of risk.

Caring about climate change: it's time to build a bridge between data and emotion, Opinion by Ketan Joshi, Guardian, June 6. 2017

Graphic of the Week...

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)

Printable Version

SkS in the News...

[To be added]

Photo of the Week...



Indians cool off themselves at a fountain near the India Gate monument on a hot day in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Study: Indias rising temperatures are already deadly by Katy Daigle, AP, June 7, 2017

SkS Spotlights...

The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) is the global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network that connects a wide range of key actors. REN21s goal is to facilitate knowledge exchange, policy development and joint action towards a rapid global transition to renewable energy.

REN21 brings together governments, nongovernmental organisations, research and academic institutions, international organisations and industry to learn from one another and build on successes that advance renewable energy. To assist policy decision making, REN21 provides high quality information, catalyses discussion and debate and supports the development of thematic networks.

REN21 is an international non-profit association and is based at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris, France. REN21s network structure is made up of the following agents:

 the General Assembly

 the Steering Committee

 the Bureau

 the Secretariat

Read more at: http://www.ren21.net/about-ren21/about-us/

Video of the Week...

Darth Trumps Climate Alliance Exit #Episode I Hope



On a planet very near, very near indeed.

It is a period of climate change. The Resistance rushes to bring about a clean energy revolution, but Darth Trump ended a newly formed alliance to address the growing climate crisis.

The Jedi meanwhile try to gather as much climate data as possible, to help better predict future outcomes, and to inform the public. At the same time heat trapping gases are still released into the atmosphere, further contributing to warming the planet.

Climate State, June 5, 2017

Reports of Note...

Renewables 2017 Global Status Report

The 2017 Edition of the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report reveals a global energy transition well underway, with record new additions of installed renewable energy capacity, rapidly falling costs, and the decoupling of economic growth and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This years report continues REN21s long-standing tradition of providing the most up-to-date data and informative infographics to detail renewable energys contribution to the energy transition.

Read more at: http://www.ren21.net/status-of-renewables/global-status-report/

Coming Soon on SkS...

Larsen C Ice Shelf (John Abraham)

(John Abraham) The Trump effect: Making lemonade from lemons (Baerbel)

(Baerbel) Holocene warming matches model simulations (Dana)

(Dana) SkS Analogy 08 - I'll take the specialist (Evan)

(Evan) Explainer: Dealing with the loss and damage caused by climate change (Carbon Brief)

(Carbon Brief) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #24 (John Hartz)

(John Hartz) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #24 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week...

Climate Feedback Reviews...

Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review Global Warming Is a Myth, Say 58 Scientific Papers in 2017 by James Delingpole, Breitbart, June 6, 2017

Five scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be very low.

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Cherry-picking, Derogatory, Flawed reasoning, Inaccurate, and Misleading

Click here to acess the entire review.

SkS Week in Review...

97 Hours of Consensus...

Shaun Marcott's bio page and quote source.

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Coeur Mining, Inc. explores for precious metals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, and lead properties. It holds 100% interests in the Palmarejo gold and silver mine covering an area of approximately 67,296 net acres located in the State of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico; the Rochester silver and gold mine that covers an area of approximately 43,441net acres situated in northwestern Nevada; the Kensington gold mine comprising 3,972 net acres located to the north of Juneau, Alaska; the Wharf gold mine covering an area of approximately 3,243 net acres situated in the northern Black Hills of western South Dakota; and the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine comprising 97,298 net acres located in northern British Columbia, Canada. In addition, the company owns interests in the Crown and Sterling projects located in southern Nevada; and the La Preciosa project located in Mexico. Further, it markets and sells its concentrates to third-party customers, smelters, under off-take agreements. The company was formerly known as Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation and changed its name to Coeur Mining, Inc. in May 2013.Coeur Mining, Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Sasol Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated chemical and energy company in South Africa. The company operates through six segments: Mining, Gas, Fuels, Chemicals Africa, Chemicals America, and Chemicals Eurasia. It offers acetate, acrylate monomer, ammonia, carbon, chlor alkali, explosive, fertilizer, glycol ether, hydrocarbon blend, inorganic, ketone, mining, polymer, and wax chemicals, as well as lacquer thinners, light alcohols, and phenolics or cresylic acids. The company also markets and sells brick, electrical, engine, hand, non-ferrous, and window cleaners, as well as parts wash products and super soaps; degreasers; bitumen, fuel oils, lubricants, motor fuels, and gas-to-liquid fuels; and other fuels, such as illuminating paraffin, light cycle and distillate oils, light straight run fuels, and synthetic paraffinic kerosene. In addition, it wholesales diesel and petrol; operates coal mines; offers engineering services; and develops lower carbon solutions. Further, the company explores, develops, produces, markets, and distributes natural gas and related products through pipelines. It serves adhesive, agriculture and forestry, automotive and transportation, aviation, burner fuel, chemical, construction and material, corrosion protection, electrical and electronic, flavor and fragrance, furniture, health and medical, household and consumer goods, industrial product, lubricant, manufacturing, mining, packaging, paint and coating, personal care, pharmaceutical, plastic and polymer, publishing and ink, pulp and paper, rubber and tyre, specialty graphite, steel and foundry, textile and leather, water treatment, and other industries. Sasol Limited was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Yellow Pages (YP) has been connecting businesses and customers for decades, and the launch of the new ypWebsite Pro looks to continue on this path by making websites more efficient.

The ypWebsite Pro solution helps local businesses achieve top rankings on the biggest search engines, including Google, Bing and others.

While the vast majority of business owners understand the value of a website, not all of them know how SEO (search engine optimization) can improve their digital presence. ypWebsite Pro has been designed to give business owners greater control by being able to update and manage their listing across more than 60 search, social and directory sites.

Combined with another tool, ypWebsite Starter, the company can provide much of what a local small business needs to establish a web presence quickly and with little technical know-how requited from you. Here are the basics on the ypWebsite Starter.

Having a consistent listing and accurate information across the web earns positive data points from search engines, according to the coompany. This in turn increases the visibility of the site and overall search ranking. In addition to providing local businesses with a platform for creating sites optimized for mobile, the YP platform makes it easy for consumers to find your site, Yellow Pages claims.

According to YP, in as little as five months more than 70 percent of the keywords powered by ypWebsite Pro in websites have resulted in first page rankings on Google. This would seem to highlight the effectiveness of the SEO solution the company provides.

YP claims it can achieve these results because it combines its ypWebsite Pro with ypLocalAds and leverages more than 50 million monthly users. This combined effort drives high-value leads to supplementing SEO optimization with the eventual goal of achieving top rankings.

According to the Why Before the Buy research YP carried out, a third of consumers will look somewhere else if a company doesnt have a website and a strong online presence. With that in mind, YP wants to help optimize the websites of local businesses so they can achieve top rankings in organic search results.

The ypWebsite service is available for a monthly fee of $79 and $299 for the Starter and Plus versions, while the Pro version starts at $799.
LUXEMBURG  Up to 60 percent of sampled wells in a Kewaunee County study contained fecal microbes, many of which are capable of making people and calves sick, two scientists told hundreds of local residents gathered at a public meeting Wednesday night.

The microorganisms included Cryptosporidium, a parasite that comes from both people and animals. Researchers estimated Crypto in drinking water is likely infecting 140 of the countys 20,000 residents each year.

More than 200 people gathered at the Expo Hall at the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds to hear the latest results of a study into the source of viruses, bacteria and parasites in their private well water, and what, if anything, they can do to protect their health. The crowd was quiet during the 90-minute session, with many taking photos and notes.

Kewaunee County, where cattle outnumber people nearly 5 to 1, has become a focal point in Wisconsin over whether local, state and federal governments adequately protect drinking water from manure from dairy farms, especially in areas of fractured bedrock, which is common in northeastern Wisconsin. The latest results show an even higher percentage of well contamination than earlier rounds of testing, which had found that about one-third of tested wells were polluted.

According to the study, financed in part by the state Department of Natural Resources, the source of the contamination is both bovine and human waste that enters groundwater through cracks in so-called karst or fractured bedrock in Kewaunee County. The DNR began supplying bottled water this spring to local residents whose wells were found to be tainted by manure.

The researchers cautioned that the percentage of wells with microbial contamination may be even higher than their data show, since the 131 targeted wells were sampled only once during the study period, from April 2016 to March 2017.

Its my professional opinion, based on 25 years of experience, that if we sampled more than once, (the contamination rate) would creep up to 90 percent, Mark Borchardt, a microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service, told the crowd.

According to Borchardts research, 40 of the 79 tainted wells contained bovine microbes; 29 contained human microbes, and seven had both. The remainder of the contaminated wells had microbes that could have come from either source.

About 20 written questions were submitted after the talk, many focused on how the scientists knew for sure that human waste was not being added to manure lagoons, possibly masking the true source of the human contamination. Borchardt said that even if that was happening, the amounts would have little effect on the results.

One participant asked whether dispensing less liquid manure would reduce well contamination. You dont need a scientist for that one, Borchardt answered. If you remove the fecal source, you remove the contamination.

While the presentation was met with applause, some were left confused by the results.

Im having a hard time wrapping my head around it, Kewaunee County resident Sandy Winnemueller said. Obviously we shouldnt have septic systems if they arent working. We havent solved a darn thing. This study has just muddied the waters.

Nancy Utesch, a local beef farmer and member of advocacy group Kewaunee Cares, said she believes the picture is even worse than the data suggest.

What people really suspect here is that its much worse than the last few years of research implicate, she said. Its become an acceptable way of life here. People just know at certain times of the year not to drink the water.

In an interview before the presentation, researcher Maureen Muldoon said that due to the fast movement of groundwater through the aquifer, water quality can change in a matter of hours. She affirmed that one sample does not adequately reflect well quality.

Your well can be fine one day, then contaminated, then fine again, said Muldoon, a geology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Its like, if you wanted to measure the (annual) temperature and you only went out for one day.

Wells selected for sampling

Kewaunee County has 4,896 private wells. The study tested water from 621 of them representing wells with various depths of soil to bedrock. Of those wells, 208 tested high for total coliform or nitrate. From that subset, 131 wells were randomly selected for further testing.

We purposely chose wells that had indicators of water quality problems in order to determine the source (of contamination), Muldoon said.

Seventy-nine of those wells were contaminated by a fecal microorganism  either a virus, parasite or bacteria  62 of which were linked directly to either bovine or human sources. The other microbes could have come from either source, the researchers found.

The parasite Crypto was found in 12 percent of the sampled wells, with rotavirus A turning up in 14 percent. Borchardt noted that the concentration of bovine-specific rotavirus A was extremely high, in the thousands of bugs per quart compared to the concentration of human-specific ones. Other pathogens found included E. coli, Salmonella and rotavirus C, the last of which Borchardt said is rarely detected in groundwater.

The sampling found both Cryptosporidium hominis, which is human specific, and also Cryptosporidium parvum, which can transfer back and forth between people and cattle. According to the CDC, symptoms of Cryptosporidiosis can be serious, and can lead to severe or life-threatening illness for people with weakened immune systems.

A cryptosporidium outbreak in the Milwaukee area in 1993 was responsible for sickening more than 400,000 people and killing 69, after the parasite got into Lake Michigan water distributed by one of the citys two treatment plants. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, it was the largest waterborne disease outbreak in U.S. history.

In Kewaunee County, the scientists estimated that 3.1 percent of private wells providing drinking water for both humans and calves are contaminated with Cryptosporidium parvum. Of the 12,200 people using private wells in the county, a projected 140 people per year are infected, as well as 1,700 calves.

Borchardt said rotavirus C is one of the few gastrointestinal viruses that can go back and forth between humans and bovine. It can cause diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration and possible death.

Rotavirus C is more widely understood to be found in India and China, but new studies are showing that its starting to appear in the U.S., Borchardt said in an interview. Weve never seen these results in groundwater before.

If I was a rotavirus C and I wanted to retire, he added,  I would move to Kewaunee County.

Question of environmental justice

Borchardt said he considers the contamination in Kewaunee County to be a matter of environmental justice for those who cannot afford treatment systems such as reverse osmosis, which can cost up to $17,000 per home.

Some people have the money to fix it, but there are many people who cant even find $500 dollars to put in a treatment system at one faucet, he said.

Borchardt said when dangerous pathogens were found in private wells during the course of the study, homeowners got phone calls right away to alert them to the results.

That was really tough, he said at the meeting. Some of you I had to call and say Theres Salmonella in your water. Those were some of the hardest professional days I had.

Borchardt got emotional as he recalled those conversations. I know Im getting a little mushy, but I care a lot about this county and the people who participated in this study, he said.

Soil depth little protection

The researchers original hypothesis was that the greater the depth of the soil, the greater the protection from pollution. And while readings at shallow depths under 5 feet exceeded statewide averages for contamination by nitrate, total coliform and E. coli, they also found more contamination than expected in deeper layers, even where soil depths exceeded 20 feet.

(Contamination) is worst where the soil is shallowest, because thats where things get in. If you have 80 feet of clay, it will be diluted. If you are in the center of the county with shallow depth to bedrock, you are very vulnerable, Muldoon said.

I cannot think of a hydrogeologically worse place than northeast Wisconsin to put a lot of cows, she added.

The study was done in conjunction with Randy Hunt from the U.S. Geological Surveys Wisconsin Water Science Center. The presentation was organized by the Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department.

At the end of the meeting, Davina Bonness, the head of the land and water conservation department who helped with the study, said, This research has never been done in any county before. We have a lot of really great data, and I urge the County Board to really soak this in.

DNR policy adviser Russ Rasmussen said the findings will help his agency develop policy, including proposed changes to administrative rules aimed at preventing manure runoff.

The DNR wants to find out whats going on to make good policy decisions, he said after the meeting. We are working on implementing all the recommendations that apply to us. We are taking this issue very seriously.

Cattle outnumber people in Kewaunee

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, large farms with more than 1,000 animal units, are allowed to spread manure on land with only 2 feet to bedrock. Kewaunee County has 97,000 cows, heifers and calves, of which 45,500 are dairy cows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There are 15 dairy and one beef CAFO in the county, producing approximately 700 million gallons of manure per year.

In comparison, the county has about 20,000 people served by 4,822 septic systems. According to Borchardt, about 200 million gallons of septic effluent are released below ground per year, including human waste and water from showers, dishwashers and laundry machines. Septic systems leach into the subsurface by design, but if it hits a crack, away it goes into the groundwater, he said.

The fractured nature of the bedrock in Kewaunee County allows for water to easily infiltrate to the subsurface, especially after rain or or snowmelt. The researchers placed autosamplers in three homes to continuously test water quality during periods of recharge.

Using the autosamplers, they detected coliform numbers going from 10 parts per million to 1,000s of ppm within the span of 12 hours as the aquifer recharged, showing that a homes water chemistry can change dramatically within a short period of time.

Its like sampling a river. Its highly variable, Borchardt said.

During the study, one day after a heavy rain, one home turned up with brown water that the researchers tied to manure spread on a nearby field. The soil from the field and water from the home shared the same signatures for fecal contaminants.

Five days after the rain, at one of the test homes, the same microbes turned up in clear-looking private well water about half a mile away. Even if the waters not brown, Borchardt said, it doesnt mean you arent drinking contaminated water.

Asked how to solve Kewaunee Countys water problems, Borchardt suggested an expensive fix.

Both groups, the dairy industry, the suburban people, the exurban people, need to take care of their waste, he said. The solution is to centralize treatment for all pooping mammals out there.

Kewaunee County has 97,000 cows, heifers and calves, producing approximately 700 million gallons of manure per year. In comparison, the county has about 20,000 people.
Toronto  1 June 2017

This panel invites Toronto labour leadership to respond to a comparative book on labour strategy and political action in Toronto and New York City, titled Unions and the City: Negotiating Urban Change (Cornell ILR Press, Spring 2017). The book discusses how local unions in four sectors (hospitality, film, green energy and childcare) seek to advance organizing and collective bargaining goals through the reregulation of their respective sectors. Union strategy is evaluated according to whether it succeeds in achieving narrow trade union goals while also addressing broader class demands and social justice criteria.

Moderated by Ian MacDonald. Presentations by:

Sarah Ryan , CUPE National

, CUPE National Rick Ciccarelli , Labour Education Centre

, Labour Education Centre Lis Pimentel , UNITE HERE Local 75

, UNITE HERE Local 75 Bob Hall , IATSE Local 873

, IATSE Local 873 John Cartwright, Toronto and York Region Labour Council

Other resources:
GENOA  A Saturday morning fishing expedition was frustration-free for the two dozen kids casting lines in the Genoa National Fish Hatchery pond. Within the first 90 minutes, each child had caught the four-trout limit, reeling in fish weighing up to two pounds and 20 inches in length.

The experience was a first for many of the participants in the Southwest Wisconsin District Lions Club Fishability event, held annually in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of the Upper Mississippi Fishery Services. Open to youths 5 to 18 with physical or cognitive disabilities, the free event offers a friendly and accommodating environment, with a wheelchair-accessible dock and a level, grassy river bank to reduce the risk of tripping or slipping. The pond is stocked year-round with trout, bass and bluegills from the hatchery, and is often used for nursing home field trips and adaptive events.

The kids wouldnt normally be able to do this out on the Mississippi, said Lions Club member Dan Wolfe, who helps coordinate the event. They are happy and loving catching fish.

Jenny Gawnda, 19, of Seneca, attends annually with Pat Dearth, president of the Seneca Lions, and says the event gets better every year. Gawanda, who maintains the fish tastes far superior to store bought, was most excited about her participation medal, hung proudly around her neck, and the T-shirt and tackle box she was given to take home.

While Ryan Allerman, 7, and brother Kaleb, 9, often go fishing with parents Mackenzie and Matt, this was their first time at Fishability, and they were pleased with their bounty of both fish and swag.

I feel good when I catch a fish, said Ryan said, examining his tackle box.

I eat the fish, Kaleb added.

Gary Beardmore and Al Brinkman of the Friends of the Upper Mississippi Fishery Services were on hand to clean and package the trout for the kids to take home, a process they had down to a science.

It only takes about a minute per trout, Brinkman said. I ask the kids if they want the heads on or off, and a lot of them said, Off with their heads!

Brinkman treasures memories of fishing up North during his own childhood, and was happy to see new generations spending time outdoors with friends and family.

Hopefully they get hooked on fishing, Brinkman said.

Angie Baran-Dagendesh, assistant Hatchery manager, spent the morning passing out poles, helping the youngsters and delighting in their joy.

There arent a lot of places with access for kids to get this close to water and have this opportunity, Baran-Dagendes said. My favorite thing is watching their excitement, seeing their faces. One little boy had all four fish lined up and was jumping around, saying, This is the best day of my life. Its a pretty good day at work when you get to be a part of someones best day.
FILE PHOTO - A worker poses for a photo in front of sacks filled with sugar at Emiliano Zapata sugar mill in Zacatepec de Hidalgo, in Morelos state, Mexico on March 7, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

By Chris Prentice

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the last U.S.-based manufacturer of the red and white striped candy cane that is a ubiquitous North American holiday season treat, the sugar supply deal struck between Mexico and Washington is anything but sweet.

The competitors of Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co have, over the years, moved their plants south to Mexico and beyond to gain unfettered access to the cheaper sugar supplies there. That was part of a shift in manufacturing out of the United States that President Donald Trump has vowed to reverse.

Spangler's Chief Executive Officer Kirk Vashaw has kept the candy cane industry alive in the United States at his plant in Ohio, where his firm churns out 200 million candy canes a year.

But the new sugar supply deal will make things tougher still for Spangler, as an agreed rise in the minimum price for Mexican sugar will drive up Spangler's raw material cost.

"To be honest, I'm just very disappointed that the Trump administration didn't do more to level the playing field, which is something they promised over and over again to do for the American worker," Vashaw said in a phone interview with Reuters.

"This was an opportunity to do that, and they didn't."

The firm is one of a wide range of food producers, drinks makers and cereal manufacturers across the country that will see sugar input costs higher by about $1 billion above government support prices, according to the Sweetener Users Association.

Many of those companies, who oppose the government's support for the sugar industry, will have to consider whether to pass that rise in costs on to consumers. The additional cost is a fraction of the value of the packaged food industry, estimated at around $373 billion in 2016, according to data provider Euromonitor International.

Food and beverage firms such as Hershey Co , General Mills Inc, J.M. Smucker Co, Mondelez International Inc will be impacted because they are all companies for which sugar is a key raw material.

Story continues

Hershey said in a statement that it was aware the agreement had the potential to increase sugar prices in the long term. Both Hershey and Mondelez referred Reuters to the Sweeteners Users Association, which in a statement described the pact as a "stealth price increase."

General Mills and Coca-Cola Co declined to comment. PepsiCo Inc, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc and Mars Inc did not respond to request for comment.

"This is putting America second," said Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire, where Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprungli has its U.S. headquarters. "It's a bad deal for American families and businesses that will raise costs for consumers and threaten jobs in sugar-using industries."

Shaheen is a long-time critic of the sugar program and has pushed for changes.

U.S. sugar companies - which process beet and cane before selling it to food and beverage industries - got better terms out of the deal and yet will not be impacted by the price rise.

Refiners were insulated from the impact of the higher raw sugar price by a greater increase in the minimum prices for refined sugar in this week's agreement, so will simply charge the companies and consumers that buy their sugar more.

The U.S. sugar industry had asked for better terms after complaining the previous deal with Mexico squeezed refinery margins and starved them of supplies.

COZY DEAL

The new deal revised the previous 2014 pact and aimed to end years of dispute between the two countries. Larger sugar refiners will benefit the most, as the new terms make it harder for smaller competitors to import sugar from Mexico, which is the top foreign sugar supplier to the United States.

That means the smaller sugar buyers will have to pay more for their supplies.

Access to the 11 million-tonne annual U.S. sugar market is coveted by sugar exporters as price of the sweetener in the world's largest economy is higher than elsewhere. The market is protected by the government, prices are guaranteed and imports are rationed.

The combined impact of those measures means that U.S. sugar buyers will pay about 60 percent more than global benchmark prices.

For Spangler, which makes Dum Dum lollipops as well, the rise in prices for Mexican sugar will translate to an around 8 percent rise in what it pays, estimates Vashaw.

Spangler opened a plant in Juarez, Mexico, in the early 2000s and now produces a little over half its candy canes there.

"If it was all about money, we'd do it all in Mexico," said Vashaw. "When your main cost driver just went up 8 percent and in Mexico it didnt go up at all, it just makes any foreign confectionary supplier more cost competitive. That's why a lot of companies moved out of the United States."

(Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Simon Webb and Lisa Shumaker)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was last seen in public giving a sermon at a mosque in Mosul (Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock)

The leader of ISIS has been killed in an air strike, according to reports from Syrian state TV.

The worlds most wanted terrorist, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is said to have been killed on Saturday, though the reports are yet to be verified.

This isnt the first time that the extremist leader has been reported dead, so the news has been met with scepticism. The terrorist organisations media arm Amaq has not yet confirmed the reports.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been reported dead several times before so the news has been met with scepticism (Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock)

It is claimed that the leader of ISIS was killed during a heavy artillery raid on Raqqa, the Islamic State-occupied city in Syria, reports the Mirror.

The leader, who is known for his extremist sermons that have inspired terrorist attacks throughout Europe has a 20million bounty on his head.

At least seven civilians were reported to have been killed in Saturdays air strikes, according to independent Syrian news platform Raqqa24, but as yet there is no mention of the ISIS leader.

In January, it was reported that he had been critically injured in a similar attack and last week, ISIS fighters surrendered the Iraqi town of Baaj, which has served as one of the the leaders hideouts and is located west of Mosul near the Iraqi-Syrian border.

It is thought that Baghdadi fled Mosul for good before Iraqi forces, with U.S. backing, carried out a major assault on Iraqs second city in October 2016.

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Baghdadi was born in Samarra, Iraq, in 1971 and reportedly joined the extremist movement in 2003 following the US invasion of Iraq.

The hate preacher has not been seen in public since carrying out a sermon in Mosuls Great Mosque of al-Nuri July 1994.
US Army 2015

US Army/Staff Sgt. Michael Behlin

At the squad, platoon, and company level, the U.S. Army is not as good as its allies, reports an Army captain. American units are not as prepared or ready for combat as their multinational partners are at company level and below, writes Capt. J. Scott Metz. Many of our allies, and likely some of our potential enemies, are now tactically better than we are at company level and below because we do not train enough at home station.

In other words, they dont learn the fundamentals of maneuver before going for higher training at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), the big U.S. Army training base in Hohenfels, Germany. He should know. Until recently, Capt. Metz was an observer/controller/trainer at the JMRC. He notes that he has worked with units from 11 nations.

Heres one of his examples. Units default to conducting on-line frontal assaults because thats all they have practiced, he writes. In one rotation, a unit defaulted to a frontal assault in the open without using terrain to their advantage in every engagement. In one of those engagements, a platoon sat static in the open, engaging an enemy Leopard tank. The Leopard fired some 10 times from 10 locations in 60 seconds and never stopped moving while taking concealed routes to and from multiple alternate firing positions. He adds, Ive never seen an American tank do anything like that at JMRC.

Metz blames senior Army leaders who claim that readiness is their top priority yet dont give small units sufficient time to train enough to be genuinely ready. He is speaking truth to power.

By the way, Armor magazine deserves a Best Defense 21-laptop salute. This is the second time that it recently has printed a tough, informed article that challenges the prevailing wisdom. Doing that is a big part of the role of military professional journals, but they dont always carry it out.

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Riding a bus in Albuquerque could make someone smarter.

Thats because the public buses in Albuquerque all include a cubby full of childrens books. The books are part of the citys Discover a Book program that was started more than a decade ago in an effort to help improve reading skills among Albuquerques youngest residents. The program is part of the citys larger Read To Me book donation program, according to Nick Manole, marketing specialist for the citys ABQ Ride department and president of the Read to Me program committee.

The Read to Me program holds a book drive every winter and distributes those books not only to the ABQ Ride department but to local nonprofits, schools with large numbers of low-income students and homeless shelters. Manole said this year they collected approximately 60,000 books. About 8,000 of those books will go to the bus reading program, according to volunteer Kathy Chilton.

She has been working with the program since its inception. She said the books make the ride more fun and less daunting for parents who may have a restless child.

Discover a Book gives parents the opportunity to interact with their children in a positive way, Chilton said in an email interview from England. Several studies have shown that the greatest measure of future success in school is access to books.

Manole became involved with the program in 2007, a year after it started. He said while growing up books were his best friend and he wants all children to have a chance to experience books from a young age. Some families, he said, might not be able to afford books or have access to a library because they lack transportation.

The thought was that we know there are lower income families riding the bus, he said. The benefit is they (the books) are at your fingertips. Its an easy way to access reading and learning.

Children can read the books while on the bus or take them home. The book are restocked about once a week. Manole said the simple concept has made the program a success and that hes even gotten calls from officials in other cities.

Weve had other bus agencies call us and ask how we do it, he said. They want to do it too.

Bus driver Cynthia McCleary said she likes having the books on the bus and will sometimes even leave a few on the seats to encourage more children to pick one up. She said shes even seen high school students take books. She said shes noticed some of her routes in the center of town have more children than usual. On the days she drives those routes, she stocks up on extra books.

Its a good management tool, she said. Some of these routes are long and have traffic back-ups causing delays. It keeps the children occupied.

While the program was started to help children, they arent the only ones enjoying the books, Chilton said.

We have also heard of adults who have taught themselves to read using the picture books on the bus, Chilton said. And, of adults learning more English when their children read the bus books to them.

Although the book drive has ended for the year, Manole said residents can still donate new or gently used books to local store Page One Books, 5850 Eubank NE, and Title Wave Books, 2318 Wisconsin NE.

There is much to be done in New Mexico to improve families possibilities of success, Chilton said. Discover a Book is a simple, inexpensive, and significant step toward that goal.
Most people want sandy beaches, delicious food, exciting attractions and great adventures when planning a vacation.

New Mexico Deputy State Librarian Joy Poole wanted books. Well, actually, only one book. A diary written by Dr. Rowland Willard, who traveled through New Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail while on his way to his final destination in Mexico.

Poole has used Willards diary and his autobiography to publish a book about his life called Over the Santa Fe Trail to Mexico: The Travel Diaries and Autobiography of Dr. Rowland Willard. She has received national recognition for the book and an award.

The trail is an old commercial trade route that opened in 1821, allowing merchants to peddle their wares from Missouri to Santa Fe.

A letter from the Bonhams auction house in San Francisco, introduced Poole to Dr. Willard. The auction house had his diary and was wanting to verify whether Willard spent three months in New Mexico. She was a librarian at the state library at the time and verified the information for the auction house. The inquiry piqued her curiosity.

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale purchased the diary from the auction house and it was then that Poole said she began her 10-year journey transcribing the document, putting it in digital form and publishing the book.

In order to access the diary, Poole spent her vacations for many years traveling to Yale, sitting in the library and muddling through a diary that was written in English but hard to decipher because of smudges and small penmanship. Mimi Roberts, the director of Media Project for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, has known Poole for many years. Roberts knew Poole during the time she was researching and putting together the book about Willard. She said it was fate that brought the book into being but it was Pooles tenacity and dedication that brought it to life.

For some reason Joy thought a fun way to spend her vacation time for the next several years would be at the Beinecke, where she painstakingly transcribed and annotated the manuscript, Roberts said. That resulted in an award-winning book whose publication just happened to coincide with the premiere of the movie, The Revenant, a happy coincidence since Dr. Willard was the only doctor to ever examine the films subject, Hugh Glass, the famed mountain man who had survived being attacked by a bear.

By the time she was contacted by the auction house, Poole was already an expert on the Santa Fe Trail, well-versed in its history and an experienced researcher. She was a museum director for more than a decade before becoming a librarian.

Years ago when I was a museum director, I lived in Trinidad (Colo.). Thats along the Santa Fe Trail, she said. We offered a Santa Trail symposium there and 300 people came.

Poole and several attendees decided to form the Santa Fe Trail Association. The mission of the group was to make the route a historic trail. The group succeeded and the trail earned its historic designation in 1987.

Willard launched his journey on the Santa Fe Trail from St. Charles, Mo., in May 1825. That same year he arrived in Taos, where he stayed for three months practicing medicine. Poole said Willards diary serves not only as a historical roadmap, but it provides a vision of New Mexico through the filter of an outside eye.

His first meal in Taos, he had queso and pancakes, she said. He noted there were no utensils. Then he saw the landlord fold his pancake in half and use it to scoop up his food.

That pancake turned out to be a tortilla but Willard had never seen one before so had no idea what it was called or how to eat it.

Willards diary continues after he left Taos using the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail and eventually arrived in Chihuahua, where he stayed for two years to practice medicine.

In 2016, the American Association for State and Local History named Poole the 71st recipient of the Award for Merit for her book. The award recognizes work that preserves and interprets local history. The Stephen Watts Kearny Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave her a Women in History Award for her lifetime work on the Santa Fe Trail. Poole has given several talks about her book including at locations in Missouri and Colorado.

Poole was the director of the El Camino Real International Heritage Center, overseeing its construction south of Socorro, when she met Roberts. The Media Project director describes Poole as a doer and public servant who was so dedicated to her work that she moved into a single-wide trailer on the centers construction site to oversee the project.

There are a few things that I think of when I think of Joy, Stewart said. Foremost is her independent spirit and that New Mexicans are lucky to have her as their Deputy State Librarian. Second is her boundless curiosity  shes really obsessed when it comes to the history of the Old West.

As deputy state librarian, Pooles job is to oversee the budget, advocate for public libraries and to oversee state library programs such as the bookmobile, the summer reading program and the electronic database of thousands of magazines.

Jeff Pappas, state historic preservation officer with the Department of Cultural Affairs, has known Poole for five years and described her as a total professional.

Shes an enthusiastic, engaged, civic-minded and smart, he said. She works continuously as a community advocate for history.
SANTA FE  For the first time, a woman took the leadership seat June 6, on the influential joint finance committee that drafts New Mexicos state budget  a position that has been dominated by men over its 60-year history.

Democratic Rep. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup seized the reins as chairwoman of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, which commands subpoena powers and a staff of 38 analysts, evaluators and economists who study the costs and effectiveness of state government.

Lundstrom moved up after serving as the first chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations and Finance Committee, where she insisted this year that the state look for new sources of tax revenue to resolve a state budget crisis.

We really need to be careful about how were spending our limited resources, and I want to be sure we get that return on investment, said the 58-year-old Lundstrom, who also serves as executive director of the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corp.

Female lawmakers across the country are taking leadership roles for the first time on state finance committees that hold the purse strings for vital programs and projects.

Oklahoma this year has its first female chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees, despite the state having one of the lowest percentages of female legislators in the country.

In Texas, Republican state Sen. Jane Nelson in 2015 became the first woman in state history to chair a budget-writing committee. In Michigan, a woman is leading the House Appropriations Committee for the first time.

Overall, its not on a parity with men, said Katie Ziegler, a program manager at the National Conference of State Legislatures, which counts nearly 40 chairwomen currently at the top of major state budget and taxation committees.

An analysis by The Associated Press last year showed that women remain significantly underrepresented at all levels of elected office in the U.S.

In New Mexico, voters made history in 2010 when they elected Republican Susana Martinez as the states first female governor. The state has elected three women to Congress  but not a female U.S. senator.

In the Legislature, women currently hold 30 percent of the seats  ahead of the 25 percent national average, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But women have yet to serve as the House speaker or Senate majority leader. And they had long been kept at arms length in budget making decisions, said former four-term state Sen. Dede Feldman.

Women assigned to specialty committees, from health care to education, have been frustrated because they have limited influence with finance committee leaders, Feldman said.

The real bulls of the Senate have been the finance chairs, and in the House dating back to the 1960s, she said.
Bernalillo High School junior Alyssa Fontaine is planning to attend college in a few years, but she has no idea how shell pay for tuition, books, fees and other expenses.

I know a little but not enough to help myself, she said. Im maybe not at Square 1, but probably Square 1.5.

The 17-year-old decided she needs to change that.

This summer, Fontaine is taking a financial literacy course offered free for 25 Bernalillo High students through a new partnership with Nusenda Credit Union.

The class has been taught in Albuquerque Public Schools for the past three years, but this is the first time Nusenda has brought it to Bernalillo. Both districts offer credit to students who complete the course.

This curriculum is aligned with Common Core standards and is quite extensive, said Shana Runck, Nusendas assistant vice president of community relations and financial capability. It is good to start talking about finances at this age.  Weve found there is a lack of information and misinformation.

Over the next three weeks, the students will cover 18 modules, including investing, taxes, identity theft and college costs. There are even lessons on how to apply for a job, rent an apartment, buy a car or home and plan for retirement.

Hope Montoya-Encinias, a Bernalillo High math teacher who is leading the class, said it provides a taste of adulthood.

I want (students) to have the skills and abilities to go out after high school and be successful community members and have the resources they need to make good financial decisions, she said. These are long-term things they need to know.

The class kicked off Monday with a discussion about identifying wants versus needs, the key to successful budgeting.

Montoya-Encinias reviewed a list of items students wrote in marker on large sheets of paper: a jeep, Play Station 4 and kitten belongs in the wants category; water, food and transportation are needs.

Discipline is important in building wealth, Montoya-Encinias told the class. You get money and you want to go to Starbucks or buy things, but you should save.

Montoya-Encinias broke down her own familys budget, joking that she has much more to keep track of than the average teenager.

Runck said she hopes the students will go home and talk to their parents about what theyve been learning.

Many families need these skills, Runck added.

LaMont Pacheco, 17, said money is always tight in his house, so he is excited to attend the class.

Coming in, I didnt really know what financial literacy was, Pacheco said. I realized this could help me.
Take Back Our Republic (www.takeback.org) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to common-sense, conservative solutions to campaign finance reform. I ran political campaigns for decades before becoming the executive director of Take Back and I know how well-funded special interests manipulate the system for their own benefit.

Right now, Concerned Veterans for America  a Koch Brothers-funded organization fighting against transparency in our elections  is targeting New Mexico.

Over the last two months, CV4A placed op-eds in at least three different newspapers, each time defending Gov. Susana Martinezs veto of Senate Bill 96  a bill that 9 out of 10 New Mexican voters want. It was also supported by a bipartisan majority in the state Legislature. (An anti-SB 96 op-ed by the group appeared in the Journal on May 26.)

SB 96 would have closed a loophole that dark money groups use to get around campaign finance disclosure laws. These groups, often from out of state, run vicious and frequently unfounded attacks  and in return want special consideration to influence government at the expense of local citizens.

SB 96 would have delivered to New Mexico the kind of transparency that allows voters to see who their elected officials really represent, shining a light on who funds the campaigns in exchange for access to state money once a candidate is elected. It was supported by 92 percent of the states business community. Democrats and Republicans in New Mexicos House and Senate worked together to send it to the Governors Office to sign into law.

Then it was vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

Because of that veto, New Mexico still has two sets of rules. If an individual voter donates more than $200 to a candidates campaign, that persons name, address and occupation are publicly disclosed in campaign finance filings. But nonprofit 501(c)(4) organizations like CV4A can take money without disclosing their donors and then use the money for electioneering, like attack-ad TV commercials and editorial pieces in newspapers.

Virginia-based CV4A is one of the organizations that would have been affected by the provisions of SB 96. CV4A spends millions of dollars each year  including money to support specific candidates and campaigns  but CV4A isnt required to report who gave them the money they spend.

SB 96 would have leveled the playing field in New Mexico. If Gov. Martinez had signed the bill, donors who pay for political spending through dark money shell groups would have had to meet the same disclosure standards as New Mexico residents who donate directly to candidates campaigns.

As the amount of money spent to influence elections continues to increase, transparency in our electoral process becomes even more crucial. Voters deserve to know exactly who is spending money to influence the outcome of a campaign  because it is a clear indication of whose interests might ultimately be served if the candidate is elected.

Special interest influence isnt a victimless crime. It has real, calculable costs to taxpayers that add up to billions of dollars each year. Research shows that states with higher levels of corruption spend more on budget items that benefit special interests and less on issues that benefit citizens. Studies also tie special-interest influence to higher levels of public debt, e.g. debt to fund private construction projects that are touted as economic development.

Each state resident pays more than $1,300 extra per year when these practices are allowed to continue, according to a University of Indiana study.

SB 96 wasnt just a theoretical exercise in good government. It was an effort by citizens, acting through elected representatives, to institute common-sense transparency in New Mexicos elections, and minimize political favors and access to public officials after the elections.

There will be another legislative session next year and hopefully the state Legislature will again send a disclosure bill  maybe even the same one  to the governor. The integrity of our democratic elections is at stake. New Mexico deserves common-sense, non-partisan disclosure, free from outside dark money influence.

John Pudner managed political campaigns for almost three decades, including Dave Brats 2014 upset win over U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
If the GOP-led House and Senate pass Donald Trumps proposed budget that calls for slashing $800 billion from Medicaid, I am scared I will die.

I know that is blunt, but I struggle to make ends meet and I have a pre-existing condition: cancer. I cannot afford the health care I need on my own. I am alive because of the surgery, medicine and treatments I receive through Medicaid.

I am also a single man with no children, which means that if Trumps proposed budget passes, I would probably be one of the first people knocked off the health care rolls.

For the past several years, Obamacare has given Americans like me a respite from the cycle of fear and anxiety that comes with being sick and not having the money to pay for care. But now, we may be shoved back into the dark, confusing and frustrating maze I know too well.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated 23 million Americans will lose their coverage under a plan that will eviscerate federal funding for Medicaid by the year 2020 by replacing Obamacares commitment to providing universal health care coverage with a program that inadequately allocates states block grants and insufficiently funds Medicaid services for low-income children and the disabled.

I wonder if Trump, his wealthy advisers and his GOP supporters would understand my story.

In 2011, I was in a hospital room in New Mexico following a surgery that removed a cancerous kidney. I had traveled a long, wayward path toward finally having this life-saving surgery. At first, I slept badly; sometimes my surgical incisions burned all night.

I dreamed  the post-surgical incisions lining my abdomen were markers on a map. The map depicted several paths that led to sickness, calamity or death. One route led to safety.  I woke up understanding that the dream was metaphorical. (It) depicted the treacherous roads traveled by the uninsured, especially before Obamacare. 

My story had begun years earlier in Charleston, S.C., a southern state with an inadequate budget for health care for the uninsured.

In 2006, I worked as a restaurant employee and I lacked health insurance. So I visited to Charlestons Franklin C. Fetter health center for check-ups. The center is the main hub of care for the citys poor. The friendly, casual staff was skilled in the art of interpersonal interactions and kept their good humor, even when they discovered my abnormal blood pressure readings.

The clinic doctor believed I needed to have a heart stress test. He advised that the procedure would cost $3,000, but maybe if I went to the local medical university I could work something out. That is code for debt I could not afford. 

Four years later  I relocated to New Mexico. I had no idea then that the decision would save my life.  I did not know that my high blood pressure was symptomatic of a failing kidney.

Within a year after I arrived, I ended up in a hospital emergency room. I was close to having a stroke. However, rather than wishing me good luck with the hope I could work something out, New Mexico did a better job as a state funding health care for the uninsured. The bureaucratic process was rough and slow, but I received care.

I was able to see specialists and get that needed stress test, an MRI and a CT scan. The final diagnosis? A cancerous cyst covered my kidney. Immediate surgery was necessary.

That was how I came to be recuperating in the hospital, bobbing in and out of consciousness and having a dream that depicted the health care labyrinth in which the difference between health care or hopelessness was a state line away.

New Mexico consistently rated only a few points higher than South Carolina on the Commonwealth Fund health care quality and access listings. In 2015, the Commonwealth Fund rated South Carolina 40  10th from the bottom  and New Mexico 33. Seven points that made a huge difference between life and death.

I do not believe Trump and Republican lawmakers fully appreciate how drastically the Affordable Care Act lowered stress, worry and hopelessness in the states that accepted the Medicaid expansion. It has only been since the expansion that I received regular appointments, check-ups, cancer treatments and follow-up surgery deemed necessary. 

Twenty-three million Americans who could be covered will become uninsured. They may discover when they need help that they live in the wrong place or need assistance at the wrong time. They will wander lost in the health care labyrinth.

Again.

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington is a writing fellow for the Center for Community Change.
SAN DIEGO  Its now clear that James Comey is a highly capable lawyer with only one client: James Comey.

The former FBI director may not need an attorney. But he could really use a public relations firm to help him rehabilitate his image.

Thats because, if you paid attention to Comeys testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, you know that President Trump isnt the only person with a credibility problem.

The anti-Trump media are hammering away at what Trump did wrong, including the presidents clumsy decision to fire Comey while the FBI was looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Yet the media  which seem to have forgotten that it tried to tear Comey to pieces when he interjected himself into the 2016 election in a way that was detrimental to Hillary Clinton  have been lax in pointing out how the former FBI director fouled up in his dealings with Trump.

Dont misunderstand. None of this excuses Trump.

According to Comey, the president asked Comey if he wanted to keep his job, inquired whether he was under investigation as part of the FBIs probe into Russian meddling in the election, and expressed his hope that the bureau would drop its inquiry into the conduct of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. All of this was inappropriate.

Some Republicans on the Senate panel tried to depict the exchanges as casual conversations.

What foolishness. There is no such thing as casual when youre at the White House and talking to the president of the United States  someone who has the power to relieve you of your duties  and he tells you what hed like you to do. As he said during his testimony, Comey took Trumps comment as a direction  albeit one that he did not follow.

But heres the important part: How did Comey respond? That depends. Are we talking about the image that Comey is trying to construct now, or what he did at those moments when Trump came to him with his concerns? Big difference.

In the light of present day, Comey wants the senators  and the rest of the country  to see him as a paragon of virtue, a pillar of independence and a model of integrity. In this narrative  Comey as martyr, which you will undoubtedly be able to read for yourself one day in an eight-figure memoir  the former FBI director stood up to the bully in chief. It was the right thing to do, and he was punished for doing it.

According to this telling of the story, Trump got more than he bargained for. At one point he invited Comey to the White House for a meal, and guess who came to dinner? Eliot Ness.

But thats not what really happened. Defiance wasnt on the menu

Comey wrote in his notes, and repeated in his testimony, that Trump told him: I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.

Wow. What did Comey do? He should have gotten up and left. Or smiled politely and said nothing at all. Or changed the subject and commented on how good the soup was.

But the former FBI director didnt do any of that. According to his own notes, and his own testimony, he told the president that the best he could offer was honest loyalty.

Uh oh. Theres that L-word again. Its likely that Trump thought the two men had reached an agreement. Besides, when youre the FBI director  and, if youre really the Eagle Scout that you pretend to be  you have no business pledging your loyalty to anyone, or anything, but the truth.

And when Trump asked Comey to clarify whether he was under investigation, what did Comey do? Again, he should have gotten up and walked out. Or changed the subject.

Instead, Comey did something that no prosecutor should ever do. He showed his cards. Again, according to his own words, he told Trump that he was not under investigation.

This is a guy who seems to have been so intimidated by Trump and the trappings of the White House, and so desperate to keep his job as one of the nations top law enforcement officers, that he was much too compliant, much too polite, and much too accommodating. Are these really the actions of a hero?

Comey was invited to dinner at the White House, but the person who showed up  and got weak in the knees  wasnt Eliot Ness. It was Barney Fife.
Martinez Picks Reformer as Public Education Head

 Albuquerque Journal headline, Dec. 21, 2010

The Journal headline writer hit the nail on the head with that one.

Reform is a buzzword thats easily dropped by many in leadership roles. But in her almost seven years at the helm of New Mexicos Public Education Department, reform is exactly what Secretary Hanna Skandera has done  one painful step at a time.

Real reform is hard, but New Mexicos K-12 students are the better for it. While we continue to dwell at the bottom of national rankings, we shouldnt ignore the progress that has been made.

Skandera, who announced her resignation last week, built on accountability measures established under the Gov. Bill Richardson administration (his education secretary, Santa Fe Superintendent Veronica Garcia, established those high Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks) and those mandated by President Barack Obamas administration (linking student improvement and teacher performance).

Despite that history, the Republican appointee has been vilified from Day One for insisting that every New Mexico student can learn in our schools.

Because that flies in the face of critics, including unions and some politicians, who say that without spending hundreds of millions more dollars we just cant expect progress because these kids are too poor, dont speak English at home and/or come from families where parental engagement may be lacking.

And thats just for starters.

What kind of reception did Skandera and her ambitious agenda get? We need say no more than it took more than four years for the state Senate to confirm her despite strong support from many, including university presidents.

Yet in the interim she focused on the job at hand. She traveled the state gathering information from parents, teachers and superintendents. Now New Mexico issues letter-grade report cards for each school that show how it does in educating specific subgroups. We have put in place the Common Core curriculum, which emphasizes core knowledge and critical thinking, and the companion Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers standardized test that measures readiness for college and careers and shows how our students are doing compared to those in other states.

Teachers are the key and Skandera points out that our universities have dramatically increased the entrance requirement for students who want to become teachers  which she said at one point required only eighth-grade proficiency.

Skandera put in place a system of annual teacher evaluations that are based on student improvement  meaning what New Mexico asks of its dedicated teachers is that our kids leave their classrooms better off academically than when they walked in.

Districts that have embraced Skanderas no-excuses mentality and improvement programs have delivered for their kids. Farmington, Gallup and Gadsden are among the many that have recorded progress in student proficiencies.

Statewide, our worst-in-the-nation graduation rates under Skandera are up 8 percentage points, hitting a record of 71 percent for 2016. PARCC math and English language arts results are up as well, with 2016 recording 7,300 more kids on grade level in math and 5,000 more on grade level in English. More of our kids are taking AP classes.

This despite higher expectations  again building upon the Richardson and Obama reforms.

That student growth  the fact children are learning, Skanderas real bottom line  in turn has brought up school grades; there are more A and B schools and fewer C, D and F schools. Ditto for teacher ratings; there are 30 percent more highly effective and exemplary teachers today compared to 2014.

And its not just about testing. Teachers also have meaningful observation/feedback and Skandera has pushed mentoring programs for teachers and principals. Its not like the old days when 99 percent of New Mexico teachers were for all practical purposes rated effective.

Under Skandera, New Mexico jumped to the head of the education reform class nationally, receiving shout-outs from Obamas U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The state installed objective measures to record students academic progress, let parents know how their schools were doing educating with various subgroups of students, and provided the information to teachers and principals  along with mentoring opportunities so our states best could help raise the performance of the rest.

Could Skandera have been more conciliatory, less hard-charging and more strategic in the legislative and political arenas? Sure. But its impossible to ignore the fundamental values clash about whether our education system should put kids first, or put the adults who work there first. On that debate, she would not yield on her kids first approach.

Skandera says she is proud of our kids and our outcomes and believes she has helped change the conversation about education in New Mexico from Were poor, disadvantaged, what can we expect? to We can expect great things.

For that, New Mexico and its kids are better off.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Its an odd way to come up with cash.

But the complex bond transaction that helped resolve an impasse over New Mexicos budget crisis will free up $81 million in one-time money this year to help boost state reserves and avoid employee furloughs, officials say.

And while no one seems particularly enthusiastic about the deal, it was essentially all that the governor and lawmakers could agree on.

It means New Mexicans will borrow about $81 million this year to help finance public school construction  rather than paying with short-term sponge notes that are essentially cash.

It also comes at a cost: The governor and state lawmakers gave up their ability to plow $81 million this year into their own capital projects  such as improvements to senior centers, state prisons, water infrastructure and the computer system that makes campaign finance information available to the public.

At least some of those projects, presumably, will have to be paid for at some point, skeptics say, and forgoing them for now means the money wont flow into the states construction industry this year.

The bond swap, in any case, was one of the few budget measures that managed to win approval this year from both Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Legislature, where Democrats hold majorities in both chambers, as the state faced incredible financial pressure.

The rating agencies that watch state finances have not yet weighed in on the budget package.

But Richard Anklam, president of the nonpartisan New Mexico Tax Research Institute, said the transaction is neither ideal nor unprecedented.

Im not a purist, he told the Journal, and Id rather do what they did if the alternative is rash and poorly thought-through spending cuts or tax increases. That said, weve kicked the can a couple of years in a row and the cupboards are really bare. Our reserves are almost non-existent, which is a bit scary despite the apparent budget optimism.

The state essentially took money that would go toward brick-and-mortar projects, he said, and used it instead to bolster general-fund reserves, where it could eventually be spent on employee salaries and other operating expenses.

John Hicks, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, based in Washington, D.C., said theres nothing inherently bad or wrong with the transaction.

New Mexico clearly had a practice of using cash  or pay as you go financing  for some capital projects, but in tough times, the state decided to borrow the money instead by issuing bonds. And thats OK, Hicks said, as long as the debt is used to finance long-term assets, such as school buildings, as state officials say it will.

Its just a simple matter of, We wanted to finance it with cash, but we cant now,' Hicks said after reviewing the New Mexico legislation.

Giving up pork

The transaction triggered intense debate in the New Mexico Senate, where skeptics described the transaction as poor fiscal policy. Some called it a roundabout way of borrowing to prop up this years operating budget.

The Martinez administration, in turn, disputes that characterization. The measure was simply a way for lawmakers to give up their pork projects for a year to help the budget. The state was going to borrow the money anyway, in other words, but now its doing it for public school buildings rather than pork.

The debate comes as state finances are squeezed by a downturn in oil and gas prices  a critical source of state revenue. There is broader weakness in the economy, too: New Mexico has had the worst unemployment rate in the nation for several months.

One-time money

The complexity has added to the intensity of the political debate.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat and chairman of the influential Senate Finance Committee, said he and his colleagues were willing to approve the proposal only as a compromise with the Republican governor, who pushed for the transaction.

Martinez vetoed a package of proposed tax and fee increases adopted by the Legislature.

But the proposal she did agree to, Smith said, is one -time money that wont help the state balance its budget in future years.

Its like borrowing cash on your credit card, he said in an interview.  Its bond money being used for operational purposes.

Furthermore, he said, the capital projects that legislators and the governor agreed to give up  road projects and the like  will cost more by the time the state gets around to doing them.

Stephanie Schardin Clarke, deputy cabinet secretary for the state Department of Finance and Administration, said the swap transaction was a sensible option to help the state rebuild its reserves and protect its credit rating, all without adding to New Mexicos overall debt level.

Allowing cash on hand to shore up the states reserves was the most fiscally responsible option available to the state, Clarke said in a written statement. The swap increases the states reserves by about 1.5 percent without adding a cent to the states long-term planned debt. This step was essential to protect the states bond rating and insulate critical government services from future budget cuts.

She said she doesnt think the swap is the start of a trend. Lawmakers, in any case, need to take steps to ensure that the capital projects funded in future years are effective uses of state money.

It is critical that legislators adopt capital outlay reform to ensure scarce capital outlay funding is targeted to projects that improve health and safety and promote economic development, Clarke said.

Bond rating awaits

Outside rating agencies havent rendered an opinion yet.

David Hitchcock, a credit analyst and senior director at S&P Global Ratings, said his agency will examine New Mexicos latest budget to determine whether theres structural balance  in other words, that theres ongoing revenue to cover ongoing spending. The states debt levels, reserves and the accuracy of revenue projections are among the other factors that will be scrutinized before S&P issues a new bond rating, he said.

Our main concern is sustainability, he said in an interview, speaking generally about S&Ps approach.

The state endured a downgrade in its credit rating last year, with a negative outlook, though S&P still rated New Mexico about average for a state.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA TERESA  Juanita Ramirez doesnt speak English, but no matter. The despair shows in her eyes.

She sits close to her 35-year-old son, Omar, to whom she has devoted the last 16 years.

She watched him struggle after three brain surgeries. She was there during the long recovery from the horrific 2001 New Years Eve accident in which he hit a cow that wandered onto State Road 28 in southern New Mexico. The cows horn went through the windshield upon impact, leaving Omar with brain trauma that the family says requires 24/7 care.

At 54, Ramirez figured her eldest son, who was 20 years old at the time, would be taken care of into his old age with a court settlement of about $1.2 million, after attorney fees, reached in 2005 with the rancher who owned the cow.

But the familys bad luck has returned.

A woman from the state Adult Protective Services Division showed up at Juanita Ramirezs door in April with unbelievable news: Omars settlement money is gone  even though the family provided his care and drew sparingly over the years from the trust account that should have grown with prudent investments.

Meanwhile, the court-appointed trust company managing his settlement, Desert State Life Management of Albuquerque, is under investigation by state and federal agencies. Up to $4 million appears to have been diverted from the nonprofit trust companys client asset accounts and into business accounts controlled by CEO Paul Donisthorpe.

Criminal theft is alleged, but no one has been charged.

Meanwhile, Donisthorpe reportedly has suffered brain damage from either a stroke or a botched suicide attempt in February  although his signature appears on court divorce papers in March.

Ramirez and her family dont know where to turn.

I just felt so bad, she said in Spanish, with her son Armando translating during a Journal interview last week in their home near the New Mexico-Texas border. I had so much confidence in them (Desert State). We depended on that money for his future.

The state Financial Institutions Division filed a petition May 31 seeking a court order to place Desert State in receivership. The state has set up a hot-line for clients and their families to call, and has asked for an expedited court hearing to try to help the estimated 70 or so vulnerable people, like Omar, who relied on Desert State to pay their living expenses and manage their assets.

The case is assigned to Chief District Judge Nan Nash in Albuquerque, but no hearing had been set as of Friday.

Mike Unthank, superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, told the Journal his agency will help as much as possible but chances of recovering all the missing money for clients are slim. Legal clawback efforts could end up in lengthy court battles, he added.

I feel awful about it, Unthank said. Its a terrible situation.

Loss of vision

Initially, doctors gave Omar only a 50 percent chance of surviving.

Omar lost sight in one eye, and has poor vision in the other. He is able to walk and talk, but loses his balance. Because of the loss of his peripheral vision, he sometimes bumps into people in stores who become angry and dont understand.

Omar cant be left alone because he has seizures. Juanita has learned how to turn him on his side when that happens.

I know their family, said Jackie Alvarado, who runs an El Paso fire safety protection firm that employs Armando, a welder, and his brother Gustavo. Its really sad because they are very proud people. And they need help. They need help in the worst way.

Meeting with CEO

Armando Ramirez met Paul Donisthorpe face to face last summer. He, Omar and his mother traveled to Albuquerque to ask for the release of funds to pay for a new house for Omar and his mother because she was separating from her husband and had to move.

Paul said no, but that he would help us, Armando said. He told us not to worry. He said theres going to be enough money for him (Omar) when hes old and when he passes away there will be some left over for the family.

Now that this has happened, I realized he was sweet-talking us all the time.

For years, Juanita had submitted bills every couple of months to Desert State for reimbursement of Omars expenses. Not for housing, or food  costs the family absorbed  but for other living expenses, such as buying him a new mattress or taking him on vacation. In any given year, the amount would total about $25,000.

Juanita had been frugal to make the money last, Armando said of his mother.

In 11 years, Desert State provided only one accounting of how much money Omar had in his trust, which was supposed to be invested in stocks and other investments, Armando said.

The familys attorney in the accident case, Steven R. Almanzar, told the Journal that Desert State came highly recommended as one of the few companies that handled special needs trusts, so it was selected to manage Omars funds.

It breaks my heart to hear whats happened, he said on Friday. This gentleman really needs that assistance.

Armando said he never asked his parents to see the trust paperwork until last year. But during a recent phone call to Desert State, he said he was told that only Juanita, as the legal guardian, could discuss Omars case with the company.

They never provided any translators, he added.

He believes Desert State took advantage of my mom and my brother because they dont speak English. She (his mother) feels like she cant do anything because she cant speak with them.

Financial limbo

Court records show Corrales mayor and businessman Scott Kominiak was asked by Donisthorpes wife, attorney Liane Kerr, to assist with the states financial examination.

Kominiak on March 13 turned over copies of a portion of Desert State bank records and account statements and downloads of files that reportedly came from a computer in his possession but that is owned and was used by Paul Donisthorpe, court records state. Kominiak couldnt be reached by the Journal on Friday.

Records show money was moved from Desert State client accounts into at least three companies controlled in whole or in part by Donisthorpe, including a cattle company in Athens, Texas.

Meanwhile the Ramirez family is in limbo. Kominiak, according to Armando Ramirez, hasnt returned their phone calls. Desert State is referring clients to the state Financial Institutions Division. But officials there have told the family they have no jurisdiction pending resolution of the court petition.

The state Financial Institutions Division in a May 5 letter recommended Juanita Ramirez consult with appropriate personal financial advisors and legal counsel concerning your rights.

But honestly we dont have the money to say, lets start looking for an attorney,' Armando Ramirez said in the Journal interview.

Omars three brothers are already pitching in to help with Omars living expenses.

My mom is very strong, Armando Ramirez said. But shes like, I dont know who to trust. She cant trust anybody.
Officials with the New Mexico Financial Institutions Division have the authority to conduct annual financial examinations of the dozen or so certified trust companies in New Mexico to ensure client accounts are protected. But the last time Desert State Life Management underwent an examination was 2008, the Journal has learned.

For years we were told the company was going to wind down and shut its doors, said Alex Sanchez, deputy director of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, which oversees the financial institutions division. In 2014, the company was still operating and the FID began actively attempting to set up a time for an examination to be conducted. Many excuses from the company led to the examination being delayed repeatedly.

By the end of 2016, acting Financial Institutions Division director Christopher Moya insisted an examination of the nonprofit trust company be conducted  with no more delays, Sanchez said.

An examination was scheduled for February of this year.

On Feb. 24, four days before officials planned to begin reviewing records at the companys office at 1011 4th Street, the state received a telephone call from Liane Kerr, the wife of Desert State CEO Paul Donisthorpe, according to a petition filed in court by the Financial Institutions Division.

According to the petition, Kerr, a criminal defense attorney, told chief examiner Jeff Hagemann that her husband had fallen down and possibly had a stroke and brain damage. She told Hagemann that her husband was in the hospital, the petition stated.

Court records show that on the same day Kerr filed for divorce from Donisthorpe in state District Court in Sandoval County.

His signature appears on a divorce-related filing dated April 14. The divorce case is pending.

Neither Donisthorpe nor Kerr has returned Journal calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, the couples four-bedroom, four-bathroom luxury lodge in Angel Fire is on the market, with a listing price of $899,000, below the assessed the value of $925,000 in 2016, according to the Colfax County Assessors Office.

On April 26, the Donisthorpes also paid off nearly $29,000 in liens against them that were filed in 2008 in Bernalillo County by the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, records show.

Regulation and Licensing Superintendent Mike Unthank, who was appointed in 2014 by Gov. Susana Martinez, said federal agencies have joined the state investigation because there is evidence trust assets have been moved across state lines. He declined to say which federal agencies.

Unthank also said he is very unhappy that the examination of Desert States finances took so long.

As for the prior stalling attempts by Desert State, Unthank said he has issued instructions that when you start seeing that kind of response from somebody, theres something wrong and we need to press and do those exams.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

A landmark case that alleges New Mexicos schools are not receiving sufficient state funding will go to trial Monday.

The lawsuit  a consolidation of two similar cases, Yazzie v. New Mexico and Martinez v. New Mexico  argues that a lack of adequate funding is particularly harmful to minority and low-income children, denying them their fundamental right to a quality education as outlined in the New Mexico Constitution.

The public education system in New Mexico is literally on trial, said Marisa Bono, Southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a Los Angeles-based civil rights organization that filed Martinez v. New Mexico on behalf of families from seven school districts.

New Mexico has never seen a case of this kind, though MALDEF has filed similar lawsuits in Colorado and Texas.

Bono said the expected nine-week trial in Santa Fes 1st Judicial District Court will have a broad scope: More than 130 depositions were taken and over a million pages of documents have been exchanged.

Twenty-three of the states 89 school districts will be reviewed in the trial presentation, which will focus on academic outcomes, particularly among English language learners, low-income and Native American students. Those groups are consistently behind their peers on measures like graduation rates and standardized test scores.

The fact that these students arent being adequately served doesnt take a logical leap  the data speaks for itself, said Martin Estrada, an attorney with Munger, Tolles & Olson, a Los Angeles law firm that is working with MALDEF on the case.

One of the things we will show during the trial through expert testimony is that there are various aspects of the public education system policies that perpetuate these problems.

Estrada cited the states teacher evaluation system, which weighs test score growth as a significant factor. The approach is biased against educators with a high percentage of minority and low-income students, he said.

New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera told the Journal that the plaintiffs are ignoring research that does not support their side.

Weve consistently increased funding over the last six years with the exception of being flat this last year, and the results are up in every objective measure in 2016  the year that we did not have the increase. There is plenty of research that says resources matter, but they are not the driver for change for our kids, and New Mexico is proving that, she said.

I think the priority should be on our kids and setting them up for success, and there is no research that says resources in isolation do that.

As far as funding, New Mexico typically ranks near the middle of the nation for per-pupil spending. It placed 29th in 2016, according to the National Education Association.

The lawsuit also argues that the state has deprived students of essential cultural programs by failing to fully implement the Indian Education Act, Hispanic Education Act and Bilingual Multicultural Education Act.

I believe this case is one of the first, if not the first, to ever argue that a multicultural education is part of the sufficient education for New Mexico students, Bono said. In many ways, this is not only a landmark case for New Mexico; it is also a landmark case nationally.

Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel at MALDEF, said everyone recognizes that money is not the sole solution.

However, when a state fails to allocate funding in a manner that  will result in eliminating achievement gaps and providing an adequate education to everyone, that failure is challengeable in court.

The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty filed Yazzie v. New Mexico.

Edward Tabet-Cubero, the centers executive director, argues that the state should be giving districts $600 million more annually than they are getting now, which is $2.7 billion.

Tabet-Cubero said the funding problem predates Gov. Susana Martinez, but he believes it has worsened during her tenure.

Yazzie v. New Mexico includes a number of families and the Cuba, Gallup, Lake Arthur, Moriarty/Edgewood, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe school districts.

Martinez v. New Mexico includes parents and children from Albuquerque, Espanola, Gadsden, Las Cruces, Magdalena, Santa Fe and Zuni.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

SILVER CITY  The Gila River diversion project has run into a snag: The Nature Conservancy, which owns the land at the proposed site, wont grant access to the property.

Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the New Mexico entity that is managing the project, said the setback is minor and the groups board already has selected a new site to study.

Opponents of the diversion  who want the project to be abandoned in favor of using a smaller pot of available money on conservation projects  say the setback may cause the entity to miss key deadlines for an environmental review.

Under the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act, New Mexico has access to potentially $140 million in federal money to pursue a diversion and storage project on the river, Gutierrez said. Or, $66 million would be available for conservation and other infrastructure projects in four southwestern New Mexico counties.

The 2004 act settled a dispute between New Mexico and Arizona over water from the Colorado River. It gives New Mexico the right to take an annual average of 14,000 acre-feet of Gila River water over any consecutive 10-year period, in exchange for delivery of what is known as Central Arizona Project water to users in Arizona.

The Central Arizona Project is a 336-mile-long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines that is the largest resource of renewable water supplies in Arizona.

Under the Arizona Water Settlements Act, the board charged with creating a New Mexico unit of the Central Arizona Project is known as the CAP entity and is made up of elected officials, irrigators and water managers in Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties.

That board, in conjunction with the Interstate Stream Commission, last July opted to pursue a project to divert and store water on the Gila River near the U.S. Geological Surveys gauge site, and it expanded its contract with the engineering consulting firm AECOM to perform a feasibility study.

Technically, that was the most viable place to put a diversion, Gutierrez said. Thats why we wanted to investigate it. We approached The Nature Conservancy, but they said, We need to see a design and how it would look and what the function of it would be. So thats what we did.

Given the number of steps required and agencies involved, it took months to approve a scope of work for the contractor, and months to complete the proposed design at a total cost of roughly $300,000, Gutierrez said.

The CAP entity and AECOM presented their work to The Nature Conservancy in February.

We were surprised at how long it took for them to ask permission, said Martha Cooper, field representative of the conservancys southwestern New Mexico program. We wanted to receive a formal request from them in order to evaluate the impacts. I think what they had much earlier would have been adequate.

The Nature Conservancy  which co-owns the property at the site with the state under the Natural Lands Protection Act  sent a letter to Gutierrez in April denying the CAP entity and AECOM access to the land.

Former Interstate Stream Commission Director Norm Gaume, an opponent of the diversion project, said the CAP entity should have known it would run into obstacles with the conservancy at that site, given that the Bureau of Reclamation flagged the Natural Lands Protection Act as an issue in a 2015 study.

The report was very clear about the problems with the gauge site, Gaume said.

The Natural Lands Protection Act specifically prohibits any action that would negatively impact the ecological value of the property, the conservancy said in the letter obtained by the Journal.

The setback was enough to prompt Darr Shannon, chairman of the CAP entity, to say at an April meeting: Werent we supposed to have something to the Bureau of Reclamation so they could begin the NEPA process? I feel like were flailing. Not failing, but flailing here.

A diversion project must go through an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, by 2019.

At this point, it is very questionable whether they are going to make the schedule, said Allyson Siwik, executive director of the Gila Conservation Coalition, which opposes the project. It may be that they failed already.

Gutierrez said thats not the case. The CAP entity last month selected a new site downstream of the gauge site, this time at the Upper Gila Diversion.

The conservancy owns property up and down the river, and project designers will most likely have to work with the group no matter where they plan a diversion, including at the latest proposed site, he said.

Gutierrez said he is confident the conservancy will consider the new site, because farmers already have created their own  often problematic  push-up dams that channel water into ditches. The dams are washed out in floods and have to be bulldozed into place again, he said.

They still have that concern downstream where they have the push-dams and it has a large impact to the ecology in three different locations, Gutierrez said. So they are still interested in remedying that by what we are trying to design. Weve been in communication with them again.

The Nature Conservancy said in its letter, Our top conservation priority in New Mexico is protecting the long-term sustainability of the Gila River ecosystem but didnt rule out approving a project.

The organization also wrote that it would support cost-effective and well-engineered alternatives to meet realistic agricultural and municipal water needs in southwest New Mexico.
U.S. Marshals and Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputies on Friday arrested an escaped inmate from South Dakota who is also wanted for questioning in a killing there, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Andrew Eastman, 28, had walked away from an inmate work site in South Dakota, where he was serving a sentence for automobile theft. Eastman is also wanted for questioning in a Rapid City, S.D., homicide case, according to a news release from the Marshals Service.

He was doing work at the Rapid City landfill on June 2 when he stole a city truck with the local governments logo emblazoned on it, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Investigators from South Dakota believed Eastman would flee to Albuquerque and alerted authorities here. On Friday, the law enforcement officers tracked Eastman to a parking lot near Montano Plaza and Coors NW, and arrested him, according to the news release.

Eastman is in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center while awaiting extradition.

Justice is one step closer to prevailing, due to the unyielding and tireless efforts of many law enforcement agencies partnering with the Marshals Service, U.S. Marshal Conrad Candelaria said in a prepared statement. This fugitive will answer for any crimes he has committed.
Almost a year after the Dog Head Fire, Eagle Scout Matthew Lindeman recently was awarded one of scoutings highest honors for his responsiveness and assistance he gave to his family and neighbors.

At a surprise ceremony that Lindeman believed was just to talk about how scouting had helped him respond to the fire that threatened his familys ranch and neighbors, the 17-year-old was presented with a certificate of recognition for achieving the Boy Scouts Medal of Merit on May 24 in Edgewood.

His father, Jim Lindeman, said Boy Scouts of America only gives out about 10 Medal of Merit awards to Scouts each year.

This is an extraordinary honor, he said.

When the Dog Head Fire started June 14, 2016, the Lindemans Mosca Peak Ranch was in its path as it headed northwest. Lindemans father was on a business trip in Texas at the time, so Matthew and his mother focused on protecting the ranchs livestock, animals and pets.

His mother, Amy Lindeman, said she looked to her son to lead as first among equals.

Matthew Lindeman leaned on his scouting leadership training to create contingency plans for evacuating people and animals. To protect the ranchs structures, he mowed down a bunch of grass, cleared wood and soaked the barn with water as the sky darkened with smoke from the approaching fire.

Livestock and animals were consolidated so they could be easily taken to safety, if need be. He also packed for an evacuation, but when the order came two days later, they were allowed to stay because of how defensible the property had been made through Matthews efforts.

We are lucky to have you as a son, Amy Lindeman told him at the ceremony.

The fire at one point came close to the main ranch, but a shift in the wind spared the property and structures.

The whole time, it didnt seem real, Matthew Lindeman said. The fire stopped within a hundred yards of our property.

Like many living near the scorched mountains, flooding from rain after the fire has been a problem.

Living in the mountains, Lindeman said he always has been very careful about fires, but the Dog Head Fire taught him to be even more prepared for fire.

As for getting the award, he was genuinely surprised.

I just thought we were just going to talk about lessons from the fire, he said.

We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com.
Albuquerque police say a man was found dead early in a northeast Albuquerque title loan company parking lot.

Albuquerque Police Department officer Simon Drobik said police received reports that a man was lying in the TitleMax loans parking lot on San Mateo north of Comanche around 6 a.m. .

When they arrived, they found the mans body. Drobik said officers are investigating the death as a homicide, but he offered no other details.
Samsung Electronics on Saturday started pushing out the June Android Security Update to the unlocked variants of the Galaxy C9 Pro and Galaxy J2 Prime. The software package for the former ships with the firmware version C900FDDU1AQE6, while the latter is receiving the G532GDDU1AQE3 build. Being released as over-the-air (OTA) updates, both sets of security patches will likely take at least a week to be distributed to eligible handsets on a global level and its currently unclear whether the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is prioritizing some countries over others with its latest release. Apart from a broad range of fixes for various vulnerabilities of the Android operating system that were already detailed by Google earlier this month, the new updates for the Galaxy C9 Pro and Galaxy J2 Prime also eliminate some security-related issues associated with Samsungs proprietary mobile software suite running on its Galaxy-branded phones.

The exact size of the software packages that are currently being distributed to the aforementioned duo is still unclear, though consumers are always recommended to download all system updates over a stable Wi-Fi connection in order to avoid eating into their mobile data plans. Likewise, owners of the Galaxy J2 Prime and Galaxy C9 Pro are encouraged to either leave their devices to charge or make sure they have 50 percent of battery left at a minimum so that they avoid scenarios in which their smartphones are forced to shut down during the installation procedure which may brick them, i.e. render them unusable. Those who still havent received a push notification prompting them to download the new Android Security Update can trigger a manual search for the software package by launching the Settings app, tapping the About device menu, and selecting the Download software updates on the following screen.

Samsungs Galaxy C9 Pro and Galaxy J2 Prime are among the first Android handsets in the world that have received security patches from Google dated June 1, 2017. The Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer is expected to continue updating its product portfolio with new software in the coming weeks and more details on its efforts to do so should follow shortly.
June 11, 1962

The president of the State University of New York told 128 Auburn Community College Graduates yesterday that he hoped that they had learned to think in generalities and that they had the ability and the desire to teach themselves.

These qualities, Dr. Thomas Hales Hamilton said at the eighth annual commencement at ACC, in graduates can make us "hopeful of the future, confident that our citizenry will be able to respond to the demands made upon it."

The commencement exercises were in front of the college building on Franklin Street, under an overcast sky which threatened but did not deliver a repeat of last year's showers. The ceremonies were explained by George H. Criss of Victor, a freshman at ACC, before the processional began.

Dr. Hamilton's address given to the graduates and 1,000 parents and friends centered on "The International Dimension," which was summed up in the statement: "As a nation it is clear to me that we must become, not only better educated in world affairs, but, in particular, more cognizant of the nature, extent and implications of cultural differences."

Concerning the cultural differences, Dr. Hamilton said, "Our major difficulty seems to be that, as a society, we simply do not have that that broadly based knowledge which would permit us to understand the cultures in which we are now being asked to work.

"Frequently we have sent some of our finest technicians and educators and scientists into a nation, but without the slightest assistance from the cultural anthropologist whose insights, if shared, could make our plans acceptable to the local population."

Dr. Hamilton said that the development of understanding would come from expanding and providing courses to relate to the world and the universe and remedying "our crippled national capacity to use foreign languages."

"But even this will not be enough, for the world will change, and change rapidly. And, therefore, this study must be a continuing one long after you have left the precincts of formal learning. It must continue throughout your adult lives if you are to be sufficiently informed to exercise your rights as a citizen," the president said.

Dr. Hamilton was introduced to Dr. Albert T. Skinner, president of Auburn Community College, who urged the graduates to be good citizens because "you will remain alert and lead responsible lives."

The master of ceremonies was Dr. G. Burnett Atwater, chairman of the ACC Board of Trustees. Dr. Atwater asked the graduates to "continue the tradition of ACC" by bringing it renown through their endeavors.

Speaking for the class of 1962 was John W. Finley, who said that ACC had provided the students with "one more step closer to understanding themselves."

He called the two years "vital" and that they had made the graduates more mature, better educated and richer in experience.

The invocation and benediction were given by Rev. Edward C. Shaw, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church of Auburn.

The Auburn Community College Chorus under the direction of Harold M. Henderson sang two songs. Organ music for accompaniment, the Processional, the Alma Mater and the Recessional was played by Louis S. McCarthy. Appearing with the chorus were trumpeters Carlton Eno, Jack D. Ossont and Roger Gunn, all students at ACC.

Dr. Atwater noted that the 128 graduates were more than double the number of students in the first year of the college, 1953.

A reception was held after the ceremonies in the college gymnasium.
One Product Manager at OnePlus recently took to Chinese Q&A board Zhihu to address some recent criticism of the OnePlus 5s design. With the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) recently revealing the first official render of its latest Android flagship, some consumers took online to voice their displeasure about its overall look, criticizing the company for making a device that features an unappealing camera bump and is too similar to the Apple iPhone 7 series, among other things. The firms employee drew a parallel between those reactions and those that surfaced following the unveiling of the OnePlus 3, stating that they still remember how some consumers were mocking images of the device published by Chinese telecommunications regulator TENAA and saying that the phone was generic and ugly. Many of those same critics later changed their minds after getting the opportunity to use the OnePlus 3, the companys Product Manager said, adding how they believe history will repeat itself with the OnePlus 5.

The same source added that a flat picture can hardly be completely representative of an actual device, asserting that consumers should give the OnePlus 5 a chance before making any final conclusions on the handset. The Product Manager also specifically referred to the criticism of the camera bump present on the rear panel of the OnePlus 5, stating that smartphone development is an art that requires making compromises and currently doesnt allow for high-end image quality in a completely flat setup. In an effort to significantly improve the photo and video recording capabilities of the OnePlus 5 over those of its predecessor, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer had no choice but to design a device whose imaging setup protrudes through its back plate, the companys employee said.

All of the aforementioned arguments may be substantiated after the OnePlus 5 hits the market later this month, with the handset being scheduled for an official unveiling on June 20. According to earlier reports, the BBK Electronics-owned company is planning to release the OnePlus 5 shortly after announcing it and will be offering it in two variants boasting 6GB of RAM /64GB of flash memory and 8GB RAM / 128GB of storage space, respectively. Both models will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and offered in a handful of colors, according to previous teasers released by the Chinese OEM.
Travis Kalanick may temporarily step down from his role of Uber Chief Executive Officer, with the companys board set to discuss such a measure later today, one source with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. The possible management change is said to be part of a broader set of internal policy and leadership shifts at Uber that the ride-hailing giant is trying to implement following numerous scandals that saw the firm garner a lot of negative publicity in recent months due to a number of legal issues and concerns regarding its practices and general corporate culture. The San Francisco, California-based company reportedly hired an independent law firm Covington & Burling to investigate its internal practices, with its legal experts being set to present their findings at a meeting later today.

While Uber hasnt publicized the upcoming meeting with Covington & Burlings attorneys, the conclusions of the companys investigation are said to be announced to the public no later than Tuesday, two people close to the ride-hailing giant have said. Ubers board is expected to discuss Kalanicks future with the company at their Sunday meeting, though its currently unclear whether Covington & Burling will suggest the firms top executive takes some time off from work due to the recent scandals and a personal tragedy, with his mother having died and his father severely injured in a boating accident that occurred in late May. The ultimate decision on whether Kalanick takes a leave of absence will fall on him as the 40-year-old still has voting control of Uber, despite the companys venture capital-backed valuation of almost $70 billion and the fact that its yet to post any profit.

Provided that Kalanick temporarily steps down from his role of Uber CEO, the entrepreneur might return to the company in a more limited role, or reassume his executive duties with more oversight, one source said. The firms board has been looking for a Chief Operating Officer to help Kalanick lead the company for three months now but has yet to find a suitable candidate. An update on Ubers internal affairs and efforts to implement significant policy and management changes is expected to follow in the coming days.
Qualcomms Snapdragon X20 LTE modem will be featured in the Snapdragon 845, the companys upcoming system-on-chip (SoC) thats set to be commercialized in 2018, according to a LinkedIn profile of one of its employees that was uncovered on Saturday. One Senior Staff Engineer at Qualcomm disclosed that they are currently working on commercializing the SDM845 Modem and the Snapdragon X20, heavily implying that the firms gigabit LTE modem will be present in its upcoming high-end piece of silicon, as evidenced by the screenshot of the said LinkedIn profile that can be seen beneath this writing.

Originally announced in late February, the Snapdragon X20 is a contemporary modem with LTE Category 18 support that boasts download speeds of up to 1.2Gbps. Numerous original equipment manufacturers (OEM) have already received samples of the chip earlier this year, Qualcomm previously said, indicating that the Snapdragon X20 will be commercialized in the near future. Just like the companys recently announced flagship chips, its latest premium modem is built on the 10nm FinFET process. In addition to supporting gigabit download speeds, it can also achieve peak upload speeds of 150Mbps by relying on 2x20MHz carrier aggregation. The San Diego, California-based semiconductor manufacturer asserted that the Snapdragon X20 has been specifically designed for usage in the context of the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks, with the company hoping that the modem will help facilitate the adoption of the latest telecommunications technologies. While Qualcomm already revealed one gigabit LTE modem  the Snapdragon X50  its new chip is the first one of its kind thats available commercially and the first modem in general capable of simultaneously receiving LTE data from up to 12 streams.

According to previous reports, the Snapdragon 845 has been in active development for several months now and is expected to power a number of high-end Android devices that are said to be released next year. The Galaxy S9 series and LG G7 have recently been specifically associated with Qualcomms upcoming premium silicon and the companys chipset will likely also be adopted by a number of other OEMs including Huawei, HTC, and Sony. More details on the Snapdragon 845 and industrys efforts to commercialize it should follow later this year.
Federal and state governments in the United States have a serious responsibility to enact and enforce timely, not tardy, laws and policies that protect the health and well-being of their residents and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

The consequences of global warming and resulting climate change increasingly threaten not only the daily functioning of communities and societies, but also the very viability of human and earthly life on our planet. For evidence of climate change, visit climate.nasa.gov/evidence.

It is also the responsibility of those working in government to more boldly legislate, govern and officiate based upon the fact that Americans  like all human beings  have international human rights that were formally adopted by the United States, with 48 other countries, in the historic and fundamental United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948. The U.S.s own longest-serving First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, chaired that crucial declarations drafting committee, and Article 3 specifically states that, Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

In 1977, the U.S. also signed the U.N.s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that Congress finally ratified in 1992. In Article 6.1 of that human rights, multilateral treaty, it also re-confirms that, Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

Unfortunately, all U.S. residents rights to life, now and in the future, are indeed at risk from the rising levels of carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere and oceans, which are causing increasing temperatures, and climate change effects of all types including extreme weather. These long-predicted damaging effects and new, unforeseen developments require our American legislators and elected officials strongest attention and boldest actions to address them properly.

Growing risks to our climate and all humanity are why 193 countries in the UN General Assembly, including the United States, also adopted the important Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 on Sept. 25, 2015. These 17 interrelated goals are designed to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. For more information, see sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs.

In fact, as recently as March 17, the UN Human Rights Councils 34th Session ending March 24 published its Jan. 17 assessment report titled Report of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Written by UN Special Rapporteur John Knox, a human rights expert and professor of international law at North Carolinas Wake Forest University, the report re-confirmed in Article II.A.7 that:

International law recognizes that everyone has human rights to what the Assessment describes as the components of human well-being. The relationship between ecosystems and human rights is mediated by social institutions, culture and technology in countless ways. But it is obvious that without the services provided by healthy ecosystems, the ability to enjoy many rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and participation in cultural life, would be severely compromised or impossible.

In addition, the report emphasizes that:

To support the continued enjoyment of human rights, however, this development cannot overexploit natural ecosystems and destroy the services on which we depend. Development must be sustainable, and sustainable development requires healthy ecosystems.

In addition to enacting laws that will strongly advance clean energy use and its production to protect our climate and environment, it is also critically important to enact stronger laws that protect all water sources, all natural habitats, and the health and diversity of wildlife and plant species. These laws will simultaneously help provide human rights protections.

On Saturday, April 29, more than 300,000 across the U.S. participated in the Peoples Climate March. This included myself and more than 100 from the tri-state region who marched in La Crosse.

We are just part of the millions who continue to insist that there be 1) no more delays on substantial climate action and environmental protections at all government levels to achieve not only climate and environmental justice in our country, but also 2) social justice in multiple problem areas including the lack of healthy, environmentally beneficial and well-paying job opportunities for all.

I encourage all Americans to join us in demanding bold climate laws and actions for their own well-being.
There are lots of new features in iOS 11, but one feature that is being pulled from the next version of the iPhone operating system is the built-in support for Facebook and Twitter, Axios has confirmed. Apple has had the ability to sign into Facebook directly from iOS since 2012 and Twitter integration since 2011.

Rather than continue to add support for different social services, Apple went with a different approach, adding sharing extensions with iOS 8 in 2014. Until now, it has maintained the single sign-on for Twitter and Facebook in addition to supporting the sharing extensions for a wider range of apps.

The bottom line: Now Facebook and Twitter will be treated like other apps, with the social networks forced to rely on the same iOS sharing extensions used by all those with whom they compete.
Sci-fi robots, the ones we grew up reading about and watching in the movies, are still largely in our imagination.

To the degree they are around, it's largely because of Boston Dynamics, a 25-year-old company that a lot of people call the coolest robot-maker anywhere. Where most robot-makers boast stiff and cute personal assistants and efficient mobile vacuum cleaners, Boston Dynamics produces running, jumping and falling hominoids that get back up, wow and frighten. Take a look at the video of Handle (above).

Which is why it's still strange that deep-pocketed Alphabet _ one of the most ambitious companies in the larger artificial intelligence space _ last week sold Boston Dynamics to SoftBank.

Is Alphabet being short-sighted? The markets seem to think so. Alphabet shares plunged 3.4% on Friday. A reflection of the general tech correction that day? Possibly. Except that Softbank's shares soared 7.4%.

The neat-and-tidy explanation: It's the work of Ruth Porat, Alphabet's brutally efficient CFO, sweeping out moonshot projects and units that, even if they are cool, stand very little chance of kicking out a practical, profitable product any time soon.

There is truth in that: Martial Hebert, director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, tells me that Boston Dynamics robots display "fantastic locomotion." Its work  "so advanced and exceptional"  is showing the way to fast robots. Getting from there to a commercial product would be "a big win," he said.

Martial Hebert, director of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, tells me that Boston Dynamics robots display "fantastic locomotion." Its work  "so advanced and exceptional"  is showing the way to fast robots. Getting from there to a commercial product would be "a big win," he said. But Alphabet  among the most prideful enterprises in modern business  clearly decided that the costs weren't acceptable.

in modern business  clearly decided that the costs weren't acceptable. Watch this Steve Jobs clip for why this is an important question.

Futurism's Dom Galeon suggests that it's Softbank with the vision this time: The deal fits Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son's aim of prodding along the Singularity, or super-human intelligence, by 2047.
Never before has, or presumably again will, a former FBI director say such harsh things about a sitting president of the United States.

In his much-anticipated congressional testimony, James Comey called President Donald Trump a liar who fired him over the Russian investigation. In any other context, involving any other president, Comeys words would be very damaging, perhaps to the point of debilitating.

But his appearance had been billed as Watergate and the Clinton impeachment rolled into one, another step toward Trump getting permanently helicoptered out of the White House in a Nixonian tableau, and by this standard, his testimony didnt deliver.

Comey doesnt have Trump nailed for high crimes and misdemeanors so much as amateurish and ham-handed scheming, which is not an impeachable offense.

The Comey-Trump relationship is a tale of a bureaucratically agile and self-serving careerist matched against an institutionally ignorant and self-serving outsider. One was careful, memorializing every conversation and calculating his every move; the other was blundering around in the dark  and eventually blew the whole thing up.

The narrative that Democrats want to believe is that Trump is in so deep with the Russians that he took the incredible risk of firing his FBI director to cover his tracks. The picture presented by Comey is instead of a president driven mad by the investigation, in particular by his inability to get the FBI director to say publicly that he isnt under investigation  when, in fact, he wasnt under investigation. Trump became desperate to get this fact out in the public and badgered Comey about it, to no avail.

Even though Comey talks  a lot. He said during last years campaign that the Hillary Clinton investigation was closed, opened and closed again. A couple of months ago, he told a congressional committee that a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign was ongoing.

Besides telling Trump he wasnt under investigation, Comey had briefed congressional leaders, telling them the same thing. It wasnt crazy for Trump to wonder why, with so much blabbing, Comey couldnt simply let this be known? Especially with half the political universe believing that the authorities were rapidly closing in on Trump.

Comeys own account undercuts the idea that Trump wanted to shutter the Russia investigation more broadly. In his written statement to the committee, Comey says that in one phone conversation, Trump said that if there were some satellite associates of his who did something wrong, it would be good to find that out. In other words: Have at it with Manafort, Page and Stone, et al.

This doesnt sound like obstruction of justice. Which is not to say there isnt plenty else that is damning. Comey makes it clear, if any doubt remained, that the memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein cataloging Comeys mishandling of the Clinton case prior to his firing was always a ridiculous smokescreen.

As for Trumps request that Comey not pursue a case against Michael Flynn, this wasnt illegal. Trump expressed a hope and an opinion (Flynn had already been punished enough), and didnt issue an order to drop the case. Even if he had, it would only be obstruction if he had corrupt intent, for which there is no evidence. Still, this conversation was foolhardy and inappropriate.

Finally, in no universe is it OK for a president to demand loyalty of his FBI director, as Comey alleges Trump did during their one-on-one dinner at the White House (Trumps lawyer disputes this).

No doubt, if a Democratic president had behaved this way, Republicans would be going bonkers. The Comey testimony was, at the very least, a stinging portrayal of a president who doesnt understand or evidently much care how our government is supposed to work. But that falls short of what Democrats, in their current fevered state, hyped this into. They hoped and expected to get a swift hanging. Comey landed blows, but the political and legal fight goes on.
11 June 2017 10:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkmenistan stands for the further consolidation of efforts in defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea and development of a relevant convention, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a government meeting.

He noted that the Turkmen side has consistently taken a proactive role in the development of solutions to the Caspian Sea issues, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news service reported.

Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov delivered a report on the work done in this area.

During the meeting, close attention was paid to the issues of ensuring ecological well-being and environmental protection in the Caspian Sea region. In this context, it was noted that it is necessary to further intensify activities in implementation of provisions of the relevant documents.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
11 June 2017 10:31 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday supported a peaceful solution to Qatar row and said Turkey would continue to take constructive steps over the resolution of the crisis, Anadolu reported.

President Erdogan stressed that this tragic event -contradicting our religion, belief and traditions- should be resolved before the holy month of Ramadan ends while he emphasized his sadness over the crisis, said Cavusoglu who spoke at a joint news conference with his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa in Istanbul.

We, as Turkey, will pursue our constructive efforts to resolve this crisis because we see the stability and security in Gulf region as our own. We regard the threats against the Gulf region as they are against us, he added.

On the stance of Bahrain against Qatar crisis, Shaikh Al Khalifa said Qatar should change its policy and reach a conclusion with his country.

Late on Thursday, a joint statement by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE accused 59 individuals and 12 charity organizations in Qatar of being linked to terror.

Qatar hit back on Friday in a Foreign Ministry statement which described the accusations as baseless and slanderous.

Cavusoglu also said no country in the Gulf region should regard the deal concerning Turkey's setting up a base in Qatar as against itself.

On Wednesday, Turkeys parliament ratified two deals on deploying troops to Qatar and training the Gulf nation's gendarmerie.

The deal to deploy Turkish troops in Qatar, aimed at improving the country's army and boosting military cooperation, was signed in April 2016 in Doha.

Cavusoglu said the aim of the base in Qatar is to contribute to the security and stability of all Gulf countries.

''This agreement does not target any country in the Gulf region, he added.

Shaikh Al Khalifa confirmed Cavusoglu saying the base was set up for the security of the countries in Gulf region and it has no relation to Qatar crisis.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Plans to use conservation wardens instead of state parks rangers to enforce laws in campgrounds and recreation areas run the risk of delays in handling disruptive people, the Legislatures nonpartisan fiscal bureau says.

The changes are already taking place in state parks and forests as part of a reorganization the Department of Natural Resources announced in November. The fiscal bureau analyzed the plans because they are included in Gov. Scott Walkers proposed 2017-19 budget.

(Relying) on conservation wardens who may not be located on site could result in an inferior recreational property experience for visitors, the bureau wrote in a memorandum for the Legislatures budget committee.

The DNR hasnt provided details, but it maintains it is deploying wardens where they are needed, just as it always has with about 95 park and forest ranger positions that are being stripped of guns and arrest powers.

Conservation wardens will be providing credentialed law enforcement services during the periods, or shifts, needed to continue to provide the high level of public safety Wisconsin State Parks, Forests, and Recreation Areas are known for throughout the state, DNR spokesman Jim Dick said in a statement.

Park rangers who previously spent about 60 percent of their time on law enforcement will focus more on developing and maintaining park facilities and assisting visitors, the fiscal bureau said. Rangers will be able to make park users aware of activities that violated the law, but would need to notify a warden to deal with visitors who didnt comply.

The changes are aimed at improving DNR law enforcement consistency by making it the exclusive duty of the wardens, who will keep the peace on all department properties in addition to handling current responsibilities enforcing hunting and fishing regulations and investigating pollution violations.

The Legislatures Joint Finance Committee hasnt yet voted on the changes, but a member of the panels Republican majority who has been a critic of the DNR said the parks plan makes sense. Sen. Tom Tiffany, of Hazelhurst, said DNR officials have told him they are talking with county sheriffs to coordinate efforts.

But a committee Democrat, Sen. Jon Erpenbach, of Middleton, called the changes troubling.

If a DNR ranger comes across dangerous and disruptive behavior, he or she no longer has the ability to adequately protect the health and safety of the people in the park, Erpenbach said. They would have to contact a conservation warden, hope that there is one close by, or contact local law enforcement.

Conservation wardens typically work out of their homes and vehicles in assigned territories across the state.

Leaders of nonprofit groups who have been briefed by the DNR said conservation wardens were being assigned to patrol the busiest parks at times when disruptive behavior is most likely to occur.

Highly used places like Devils Lake State Park in Sauk County and Peninsula State Park in Door County have wardens assigned to eight-hour shifts or longer on weekends and evenings, said Bill Zager, president of Friends of Wisconsin State Parks, a group for hundreds of volunteers at more than 80 state parks and recreation sites.

They probably have more of a police presence than they had before because the warden is doing nothing but police patrols for the eight hours, Zager said. There might only be an hour of warden work. The question is what theyre going to do the rest of the time.

Smaller parks may occasionally need assistance from local police or sheriffs deputies, and some local governments will be better equipped to help than others, Zager said.

DNR officials are going to learn how it works, Zager said. Theres positives and negatives to it.

George Meyer, a former DNR secretary who is now executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said smaller parks can be covered adequately by a local warden who wouldnt be on-site.

In some parks there may not even be one citation a year, Meyer said. Theres no reason it cant work.

Mike McFadzen, the policy chairman for the friends group, was also optimistic.

I know there are some concerns about response times, but lets face it, state parks are safe places, McFadzen said.

The DNRs spokesman Dick said park rangers whose law enforcement certification hasnt expired will continue to be available for law enforcement duty for a while.

The fiscal bureau memo says that 186 full-time equivalent DNR positions with law enforcement credentials in parks, forestry and land management will be affected. Of the 94.7 current full-time equivalent parks and forest ranger positions, 52.7 would continue to work in parks and forests without law enforcement authority, the fiscal bureau said.

Plans call for 33 to retain credentials and join other wardens in the DNR law enforcement bureau. The rest would work in other areas without credentials.
Cruise to Mahogany Bay and youll feel like you won the island lottery. With silky-sand beaches and diamond-clear seas, the island of Roatan is one of the Caribbeans hidden gems. And theres no better way to experience this natural paradise than on a cruise to Honduras. The largest of Hondurass Bay Islands is a real beauty, built on a backbone of volcanic rock and ringed by the worlds second largest coral reef. Carnival cruises to Roatan promise superb diving and fishing, plus totally swoon-worthy beaches. The lush landscape of the wildlife reserves and pristine marine parkland of Roatan awaits you on your cruise to Mahogany Bay in Honduras.
ONEOK, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in gathering, processing, storage, and transportation of natural gas in the United States. It operates through Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, and Natural Gas Pipelines segments. The company owns natural gas gathering pipelines and processing plants in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions. It also gathers, treats, fractionates, and transports natural gas liquids (NGL), as well as stores, markets, and distributes NGL products. The company owns NGL gathering and distribution pipelines in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado; terminal and storage facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois; and NGL distribution and refined petroleum products pipelines in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, as well as owns and operates truck- and rail-loading, and -unloading facilities connected to NGL fractionation, storage, and pipeline assets. In addition, it operates regulated interstate and intrastate natural gas transmission pipelines and natural gas storage facilities. Further, the company owns and operates a parking garage in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma; and leases excess office space. It operates 17,500 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines; 1,500 miles of FERC-regulated interstate natural gas pipelines; 5,100 miles of state-regulated intrastate transmission pipeline; six NGL storage facilities; and eight NGL product terminals. It serves integrated and independent exploration and production companies; NGL and natural gas gathering and processing companies; crude oil and natural gas production companies; propane distributors; municipalities; ethanol producers; and petrochemical, refining, and NGL marketing companies, as well as natural gas distribution and electric generation companies, producers, processors, and marketing companies. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Hundreds march against Islamic Shariah law in US-wide protests

Hundreds across the US rallied yesterday in 'Marches against Shariah', protesting the perceived threat of radical Islam to American civilisation.

About two dozen 'Marches against Shariah' took place yesterday in cities across the US, according to RNS. The marches were organised by ACT (American Congress for Truth) for America, which describes itself as a 'grassroots national security organization' that vows to defend America's founding 'western values' and 'protect America from terrorism'.

The civil rights legal advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center classifies ACT as a hate-group, and the largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in the US with a claimed membership of 280,000.

At a rally outside a Muslim centre of worship in Dallas, Texas, one speaker Jim Gilles described Muslims as 'perverted, demonic, sex-crazed...sick perverts' who 'rape their goats'.

Anti-Sharia rallies also took place in cities like Boston, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. Counter-protests, affirming solidarity with the Islamic community, also took place.

Shariah is the Islamic religious law derived from the Quran and the traditions of the prophet Mohammed. One key ACT initiative is its lobbying for 'American Laws for American Courts': legislation which seeks to ban the use of Shariah in US civil courts.

A lawyer and spokesman for the Richardson Islamic centre in Dallas, Khalid Hamideh, said the notion that Muslims sought to impose Shariah law on America was 'absolute nonsense'.

ACT for America denies being anti-Muslim, saying its enemy is the anti-western 'radical Islam', though its founder Brigitte Gabriel is accused of neglecting such nuance in the past.

She is reported as saying in 2007 that a devout Muslim 'cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America'. A sign at the Dallas rally declared that 'Every real Muslim is a Jihadist!'

More than 100 US religious and civil liberties groups denounced the rallies as disingenuously fear-mongering, and condemned the protests in a letter to the mayors of host cities.
United Parcel Service, Inc. provides letter and package delivery, transportation, logistics, and related services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment offers guaranteed time-definite express options. The company also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, distribution and post-sales, and mail and consulting services in approximately 200 countries and territories. In addition, it offers truckload brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industry; shipping, visibility, and billing technologies; and financial and insurance services. The company operates a fleet of approximately 121,000 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; and owns 59,000 containers that are used to transport cargo in its aircraft. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The following companies are subsidiares of Harsco: 21st Century Environmental Management of NV LLC, 21st Century Environmental Management of RI LLC, AERC Acquisition Corporation, AES Asset Acquisition Corporation, Accelerated Remediation Kinetics LLC, Advanced Remediation & Disposal Technologies of Delaware LLC, Allied Environmental Group LLC, Allworth LLC, Altek, Altek Europe Holdings Ltd., Altek Europe Limited, Altek LLC, Altek Melting Solutions Limited, AluServ Middle East W.L.L., Alusalt Limited, Assessment & Remedial Design Technologies Inc, Ballagio S.a.r.l., Burlington Environmental LLC, CEHI Acquisition LLC, CEI Holding LLC, Calrissian Holdings LLC, Carteret Asphalt Corporation, Chemical Pollution Control of Florida LLC, Chemical Pollution Control of New York LLC, Chemical Reclamation Services LLC, Clean Earth Dredging Technologies LLC, Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Services Inc., Clean Earth Environmental Solutions Inc., Clean Earth Holdings LLC, Clean Earth Inc., Clean Earth LLC, Clean Earth Mobile Services LLC, Clean Earth Specialty Waste Solutions Inc., Clean Earth of Carteret LLC, Clean Earth of Georgia LLC, Clean Earth of Greater Washington LLC, Clean Earth of Maryland LLC, Clean Earth of Michigan LLC, Clean Earth of New Castle LLC, Clean Earth of North Jersey Inc., Clean Earth of Philadelphia LLC, Clean Earth of Puerto Rico LLC, Clean Earth of Southeast Pennsylvania LLC, Clean Earth of Southern Florida LLC, Clean Earth of West Virginia LLC, Clean Earth of Williamsport LLC, Clean Rock Properties Ltd, Czech Slag- Nova Hut s.r.o., ESOL TOPCO LLC, Environmental Soil Management Inc, Environmental Soil Management of New York LLC, Environmental Solutions (ESOL) Business, Excell Africa Holdings Ltd., Excell Americas Holdings Ltd S.a.r.L., Faber Prest Limited, Gardner Road Oil LLC, GasServ (Netherlands) VII B.V., General Environmental Management of Rancho Cordova LLC, HLWKH 517 Limited, Harsco (Australia) Pty. Limited, Harsco (Beijing) Fertiliser Co. Ltd, Harsco (Gibraltar) Holding Limited, Harsco (Mexico) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Peru) Holdings B.V., Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - GuYe Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Metallurgical Materials Technology Co. Ltd. - Leting Branch, Harsco (Tangshan) Renewable Resources Development Co. Ltd, Harsco (U.K.) Limited, Harsco (UK) Group Ltd, Harsco (York Place) Limited, Harsco APAC Rail Machinery (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Harsco Americas Investments S.a.r.l., Harsco Belgium SRL, Harsco Brazil Investments SRL, Harsco Canada Corporation Societe Harsco Canada, Harsco Canada General Partner Limited, Harsco Canada Limited Partnership, Harsco Chile Investments SRL, Harsco China Holding Company Limited, Harsco Defense Holding LLC, Harsco Environmental S.R.L., Harsco Europa B.V., Harsco Fairways Partnership, Harsco Finance B.V., Harsco Financial Holdings Inc., Harsco France S.A.S., Harsco Holdings Inc., Harsco India Metals Private Limited, Harsco India Private Ltd., Harsco India Services Private Ltd., Harsco Industrial Grating China Holding Co. Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure B.V., Harsco Infrastructure CZ s.r.o, Harsco Infrastructure Construction Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Group Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure Holdings Inc., Harsco Infrastructure Hong Kong Ltd, Harsco Infrastructure Industrial Services B.V., Harsco Infrastructure Services Ltd., Harsco Infrastructure South Africa (Pty.) 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Ltd., Minerval Metallurgic Additives B.V., MultiServ (Sweden) AB, MultiServ Finance B.V., MultiServ International B.V., MultiServ Limited, MultiServ Logistics Limited, MultiServ Oy, MultiServ Technologies (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Nortal Limited, Northland Environmental LLC, Nortru LLC, PSC Environmental Services LLC, PSC Recovery Systems LLC, Phillip Reclamation Services Houston LLC, Protran Technology LLC, Real Property Acquisition LLC, Republic Environmental Recycling (New Jersey) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (PA) LLC, Republic Environmental Systems (Transportation Group) LLC, Rho-Chem LLC, SGB Holdings Limited, SGB Investments Ltd., SGB Scafform Limited, Shanxi TISCO-Harsco Technology Co. Ltd., Short Brothers (Plant) Ltd., Slag Processing Company Egypt (SLAR) S.A.E., Slag Reductie (Pacific) B.V., Slag Reductie Nederland B.V., Solvent Recovery LLC, Tosyali Harsco Geri Kazanim Teknolojileri Anonim Sirketi, and United Retek of Connecticut LLC.

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During his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee former FBI director James Comey said, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes" of his conversations with President Donald Trump. I imagine the president would like a different sort of tape to put an end to Comey's embarrassing comments.
Talks with Northern Ireland's DUP still not resolved over weekend

Calls for Farage to be involved in Brexit talks as DUP connections revealed

Labour eyes combined challenge to Queens speech

Theresa May has yet to reach a formal agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party over a pact to allow her Conservative party to form a minority government, 10 Downing Street said on Sunday.

The Prime Minister remains in talks with the right-wing DUP as we head into the new week, despite indicating on Friday that a deal had already been agreed.

After calling a snap election in order to extend what was a 17-seat majority, Friday's results left May's Conservative party with fewer seats and a humiliating and destabilising hung parliament after losing its majority.

On top of the 318 seats won by the Tories, the DUP's 10 MPs would give May enough to get over the 326 votes needed to govern.

It was reported that an agreement had been struck with the DUP that would not be a formal coalition but on a vote-by-vote basis known as "confidence and supply".

On Sunday, after rumours were reported overnight that the wrong statement had been issued in error, Downing Street and senior Tories were forced to backtrack. A statement from the PM's office, which is now short of May's two closest advisers after they were forced to resign after the election, said: "We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond. As and when details are finalised both parties will put them forward."

DUP leader Arlene Foster confirmed that "discussions continue" and she would be travelling to Downing Street on Tuesday.

But main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said his Labour party will invite other parties with seats in the House of Commons to defeat the government by voting to put down a substantial amendment to the Queens speech" which would be made up of some of the key parts of the party's manifesto.

"We are ready and able to put forward a serious programme which has great support in this country, he said.

"We are going to put down a substantial amendment to the Queens speech which will be the main points of our manifesto so we will invite the House to consider all the issues weve put forward  jobs-first Brexit, policies for young people and on austerity."

DUP doubts

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon on Sunday denied the Tories needed a formal coalition to continue to govern and added in an interview with the BBC: It would be very, very surprising if something as important and complex as this was stitched together in a single day of talks in Belfast.

Against a backdrop of protests and unease within the Conservative party, which now reportedly includes 19 LBGTQ Tories, Fallon distanced himself from the DUPs socially conservative stance, which includes blocking same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland and fighting extensions to abortion rights.

Fallon said: Just because they are agreeing to support us on the big economic and security issues facing this country it doesnt mean that we now agree with all of their views. We dont. We are not in government with the DUP, we are not in coalition with the DUP.

Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, who is gay, said on Saturday that she has received assurances from May over gay rights should the Tories strike a deal with DUP.

A source familiar with the discussions told the Sunday Times that senior figures in the DUP, which has close links to former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, would press for the pro-Brexit campaigner to be involved in negotiations with the European Union.

Bad Friday Agreement

In a speech outside her Downing Street residence on Friday after visiting the Queen as part of the formalities to approve the formation of a government, May had said: "What the country needs now more than ever is certainty. Having secured the largest number of votes and greatest number of seats in the general election, it is clear the Conservative and Unionist party has the legitimacy to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the House of Commons.

"As we do, we will continue to work with our friends and allies in the Democratic Unionist Party in particular. Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years, and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom."
The Maryland House of Delegates passed a milestone fracking ban bill Friday with unprecedented bipartisan support. House Bill 1325, which passed by a vote of 97 to 40, would ban hydraulic fracturing statewide.

Public opposition to the practice has grown over the past year, as more than a dozen counties and cities across the state have already passed local resolutions and ordinances to ban fracking and more than 1,000 Marylanders marched through the state capitol last week to demand a fracking ban.

We cannot afford to put our health, our ecology or the growing economy of Western Maryland at risk for fracking. That is why a total ban is necessary and supported by the people of Maryland, said Kumar Barve, chairman of the House Environment & Transportation Committee that put forth the bill.

As a longtime proponent of legislative initiatives to protect Maryland from the dangers of fracking, I commend the Maryland House of Delegates for voting in support of a fracking ban, said Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo who introduced the bill. Across the country, fracking is polluting the air and water of countless communities and making people sick. The passing of this bill is a huge step forward in securing Maryland as a national leader in combating climate change and protecting our citizens.

Residents from across the state have sent more than 35,000 petitions and letters in support of a ban to the General Assembly. More than 200 businesses, the majority from Western Maryland, and more than 200 Maryland health professionals sent letters to the General Assembly in support of the bill.

The passing of the fracking ban bill through the House by a 57 vote margin is truly a watershed moment for Maryland, said Mitch Jones, senior policy advocate at Food & Water Watch. The current overwhelming support from Maryland delegates shows an understanding that without a ban, public health and local businesses cannot be protected. We applaud this critical step towards preserving the resources and economy of Maryland and call on the Senate to follow the lead of the House.
Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel.

Instant News Wire
Michael Gove has been named the new environment secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in Theresa May's post-election reshuffle.

Andrea Leadsom, who was appointed environment secretary on 14 July 2016, has now been appointed as leader of the House of Commons.

Theresa May continues to build her new Government after a slew of key appointments today (11 June).

The weakened Prime Minister has reshuffled her cabinet in an attempt to stay in power following Thursdays disastrous election result for the Conservative party.

Former Chancellor George Osborne called her a dead woman walking while other former ministers said her position was untenable and she would never lead the party into another General Election.

For Michael Gove, DEFRA faces some of the toughest challenges of any Government department as Brexit looms.

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which many farmers rely on, will have to be replaced with a UK-focused system.

'Significant experience'

Rural organisation the CLA, which represents landowners and farmers, said Gove will bring 'significant' experience.

CLA President Ross Murray said: I am pleased to welcome Michael Gove to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs brief.

He brings significant experience, a reputation for robust challenge of the status quo and a reformers zeal. These are all qualities that will serve the land based sector well.

Defra has a major role to play in both the negotiations and in preparing for life after the UK exits the EU.

I look forward to working with him and his team and we are eager to get on with addressing the big challenges ahead.

No previous experience

Michael Gove has no agricultural, farming or environmental experience in any of his previous political offices.

As education secretary, Gove was criticised for trying to remove climate change from the national geography curriculum.

He has previously voted in favour of badger culling.

Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen and attended Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, where he took a BA in English, graduating with a 2:1, after which he began his career as a journalist.

Michael Gove was Secretary of State for Education from 2010-14 and Secretary of State for Justice from 2015-16.

He has been the Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath since 2005.

In 2016, Gove played a major role in the UK's referendum on EU membership as the co-convenor of Vote Leave and along with Boris Johnson, became a key figurehead of the campaign.

Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in 2016, May did not appoint him to the Cabinet.

This page will continue to be updated
Farmers are cautious about signing up to new schemes, survey shows


Dicing in the midfield pack on the run down to Turn 3, Sainz made contact with Romain Grosjeans Haas before losing control, spinning into Massas car and ending up in the barriers.

The stewards announced that they would investigate the incident after the race, and having heard from both Sainz and Grosjean they determined that whilst the collision was not caused by a deliberate act, Sainzs assumption that no car was alongside him, and that therefore he could move to the right, was both careless and potentially dangerous.

As well as receiving the grid drop, Sainz was also given two penalty points on his licence, bringing his total for the last 12 months to seven. The Spaniard, who was also reprimanded on Friday, will receive a one-race ban if he receives a further five penalty points within the same period.

Grosjean, who recovered to finish 10th, said Sainzs move reminded him of the first-lap incident he was involved in at Belgium 2012 that earned him a one-race ban.

It was the same manoeuvre as me turning on Lewis [Hamilton]," the Frenchman said.

"If he sees me or not, I was there, I was well alongside him so its the same type of thing. Im not saying its a race ban, Im not saying he needs a big fine as I had, but Im saying Im very unhappy with the way he behaved and I think it was very dangerous.

Sainz later apologised to Grosjean and Massa for his part in the incident, saying on Twitter: Romain was simply on my blind spot and never got to see him. Glad we are all OK!




Haiti - Politics : Brazil promises to support Haiti after the departure of the Minustah





On Saturday, 3 June, the last day of his mission in Haiti, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs, promised Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant that his country would continue to cooperate with Haiti and accompany the Haitian people beyond the end of the Minustah, which the UN Security Council voted earlier this year to end in October.



Nunes Ferreira believes that the UN mission in Haiti, under Brazilian command since its deployment in 2004 "was a success" adding "From our point of view, we have accomplished our mission with great professionalism and courage. Haiti is more stable today and is making great strides towards a better future [...]" recalling that for 13 years Brazil contributed to the largest number of troops in the mission with 37,500 men (in rotation).



For his part, Prime Minister Lafontant warmly thanked Brazil for its support for the stabilization process in Haiti.



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Historic Flat Rock dedicates museum

Victoria Flanagan cuts the ribbon for the grand opening as Chris Battista looks on. [NATASHA TOWNSEND/Hendersonville Lightning]

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FLAT ROCK  Lovers of history celebrated the countys latest effort to preserve the past with the official opening of the Historic Flat Rock Cultural Center and Museum on Saturday, June 3.

The Cultural Center contains relics of Flat Rock that have been in the hands of many generations of locals as well as artifacts from tourists who visited Flat Rock in the summers. Donations to the Museum can be from anyone from anywhere, said Victoria Flanagan, the vice president of the Historic Flat Rock Inc. As long as the artifact has ties to the Flat Rock community or its residents, it can find a home in the museum.

Im the person who oversaw the refurbishing of this building, Flanagan said. This is the original post office for Flat Rock. Historic Flat Rock Inc. has been a nonprofit since 1968, so next year will be our 50th anniversary, which is a big deal. Our mission is to preserve and protect not just buildings in Flat Rock, but landscape monuments. We do historic easements on properties as well. Most of it is to protect the land, so that it can go to the future generation.

Photographs of various buildings that have been in Flat Rock for generations, such as Kenmure. Historic Flat Rock is involved in the community in other ways.

One of our missions is public education, so we go into the schools and work with history teachers, Flanagan said. I go into schools and teach 5th graders local history, and they write papers on specific homes that were built in Flat Rock before the Civil War. Long ago, there was no Henderson County, there was no village of Flat Rock. It was Buncombe County, and this road (Greenville Highway) was where the horse and buggies came, and this was the Buncombe Turnpike.

Flanagan dispelled some misconceptions about Flat Rocks history.

A lot of people think that the first settlers were folks from Charleston, but thats not true, she said. There were three Indian tribes: Cherokee, Catawba, and a tribe in Flat Rock. History is one thing, but the stories are another. The truth is this was an area where all the Indian tribes, even if they disagreed with each other, they came from Virginia and Tennessee, and they met here to trade goods. This was a peaceful area. They werent allowed to argue or fight.





Original Flat Rock furniture

Historic Flat Rocks newest preserved site contains a lot of the previous post offices infrastructure.

If its old, we try to help it, Flanagan said. Thats what we did here. The floor is the original floor. We did not change anything in the building. All we did was clean it up. It took less than three months because all it was was cleaning.

Historic Flat Rock Inc. has opened a museum in the 1847 historic post office. [NATASHA TOWNSEND/Hendersonville Lightning]Most of the work was done by volunteers, and the plumbing was donated, she said. It was just a matter of making the building safe. We had a blacksmith do the hand rails.

Inside is a world of decades and centuries past.

What we have in it right now  we have a lot of families that have donated to us  is furniture, so we have original Flat Rock wood furniture that was manufactured in Flat Rock, said Flanagan of the current artifacts. We have a lot of family photographs. Where the Wrinkled Egg is, that used to be Peaces Store, and we have his original accounts. We have some of his artwork and some memorabilia that his family donated after he died. We have members that bring things that they have had in their families. While most donations come from people in Flat Rock, they can be from anyone from anywhere. The first large landowners were from Charleston, she added.

The museum opens the door to expressing what the history has done for us, and then taking it to the next generation, she added. We get grandparents, parents and children in here. We have an interactive television with presentations of the old homes. We hope that we pique peoples interest in history.

We have a lot of members who have spent a lot of time and a lot of work to make this happen, said Chris Battista, president of Historic Flat Rock. This community is over 200 years old. This is a great way for us to celebrate a place we can share with our community and teach our community and the youth and visitors.

The ribbon cutting was part of Celebrate Flat Rock, an ice cream social sponsored every year by the Flat Rock Village Council. The Flat Rock Park Foundation, the YMCA, the Flat Rock Merchants Association and other nonprofits were on hand to give out information, solicit donations and recruit volunteers.

Marcia Caserio is leading a fundraising campaign to complete a 1 walking trail at the Park at Flat Rock.

One of the segments of upmost importance is a section that will be handicapped accessible for anyone with disabilities, she said. There will be a small section that will be paved so that wheelchairs and people with difficulties can have access to walk. This will open up the opportunity for us to get some state funding. The Feast & Frolic is our inaugural event, and it will be held at Kenmure Country Club. It is a fundraiser and a celebration of what weve raised so far. We want to raise $300,000 by then. To help raise the funds, any gifts value will be matched from a fund from the board of directors. This event will have a terrific band, an emcee that is a local actor and there will be antics.

The Carl Sandburg Home brought goats, and people enjoyed music and the ice cream, which was provided by Pet Dairy out of Arden.

We enjoy the music and the shade and the ice cream, said Guy Konkle, a summer visitor. Flat Rock is a neat little town. Theres lots of things to see and do. We enjoy the theater.

Its very special, said Kenneth Plummer after the museum ribbon cutting. This is a special place, and just to be a member would be an excellent idea.

* * * * *

Membership in the Cultural Center is $35 for a single and $50 for a couple. The museum, currently open from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays from 12 noon-4 p.m., is looking for more volunteers so it can open longer hours. Admission is free. For more information or to volunteer call 698-0030.
So-called liberals and secularists say that terrorism has no religion ! If this is so then why Pakistan pushing jihadi terrorists ahead of Amarnath Yatra of Hindus ?  Editor, Hindujagruti

Srinagar : Pakistan has increased infiltration bids in Jammu and Kashmir just ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra.

Though the Army and security forces have foiled 22 infiltration attempts and killed 34 armed intruders in different sectors near the Line of Control (LoC) since January, it is estimated that around 25 to 35 militants have managed to sneak into Kashmir Valley.

Earlier in the day, a resident from Anantnag was injured in Banihal of Jammu region when unknown terrorists fired on two security force vehicles that were moving ahead of his car.

Amarnath Yatra, scheduled to begin on June 29, passes through Banihal to enter Kashmir.

In an another incident earlier today, one civilian was injured in a cross-fire between terrorists and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel in the Qazigund area.

Reports coming from Gurez sector say that today afternoon the security forces foiled an infiltration bid at Gurez sector and killed one terrorist. The security forces have recovered weapons from the dead terrorist. The operation was underway at the time of filing this report.

On June 3, one Indian Army soldier was killed in an attack by terrorists on a convoy in Qazigund. Two others have been injured while two other personnel are critically injured.

On the same day, one civilian was also injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector.

Defence officials say that Pakistan is desperate to push terrorists into the Kashmir. Valley. The Pakistan Army continues to provide active support to the terrorists, including cover fire, from Pakistan army posts at the LoC.

According to defence officials, in the past 48 hours, infiltration attempts have been foiled at Gurez, Machhil, Nowgam and Uri sectors. Seven armed infiltrators have been killed so far. Large quantity of arms, ammunition and war-like stores has been recovered.

Source : Zee News
150th anniversary

St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church

Township Hamburg

1867-2017

The congregation of St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church, located in the town of Hamburg will be celebrating its 150th anniversary on Sunday, June 18.

The journey began when a small group of Christians formed the church back in 1867. The earliest written records of the Evangelical Lutheran Saint Peters congregation in the Town of Hamburg, Vernon County, date back to March 18, 1865, when a forty-acre plot of ground was purchased for $260 from Antonia and Jacob Buss for the purpose of erecting the buildings needed by the congregation. Since the church organization was not yet incorporated, the deed for the purchase was transferred to two members, George Gemeinhardt and Friederich Netzel.

At a meeting held on Feb. 17, 1867, John Matthias Stark and Carl Schaldach were elected to preside, and a resolution was passed forming the church. Incorporation took place on Feb. 20, 1867, and on the same date, the previously purchased plot of ground was transferred to the newly-organized congregation.

Pioneer work was begun in this congregation by Pastor W. Hass, who served this group with other groups in the vicinity until 1871, receiving a salary of $59 a year. Collections for the first church building were begun in 1870, and the building was completed in the summer of 1871.

In 2006, the Hamburg congregation voted to share the cost of remodeling the parsonage in Chaseburg. Pastor Oldre started offering both the common cup and individual cups for communion Sundays which were the first and third Sunday of each month.

In 2012 the interior of the church was repainted by a local company. The color changed from mustard yellow to white. The raised leaves on the border were also repainted, and the gold leaf on the altar was redone. Air conditioning was added at the same time.

In 2016, the church and the Ladies Aid hall both received beautiful brass colored metal roofs from a local company. The congregation also decided to add pew cushions for increased comfort.

As 150 years of blessings are observed and note the following facts:

The present Church Council members are Mr. Keith Rach- President, Mr. Peder Schoenfeld-Treasurer, and Mr. Terry Barnes-Secretary.

The present church custodian is Mr. Peder Schoenfeld.

There are two half-time organists-Vicki Rines and Linda Watson.

The cemetery committee includes the following members: John Pieper-president, Peder Schoenfeld-secretary/treasurer, Pastor Oldre, Stub Johnson, and John Rundahl. During the summer, each family takes turns mowing the cemetery and building grounds. During the winter, the custodian is responsible for arranging for driveway plowing, shoveling, and placement of de-icer.

The records from 1/1/1992 through 12/31 2016 show 29 baptisms, 8 weddings, 19 confirmations, 27 burials, and approximately 12,084 communicants. This brings totals from 1867 to 12/31/2016 to 852 baptisms, 206 weddings, 289 burials, 454 confirmations, and approximately 48,322 communicants.

The congregation presently numbers 57 baptized souls.

St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg Township continues to be a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and a member of the Mississippi River Valley Conference of the Western Wisconsin District.

The church mission is to support the spread of the Gospel at home and abroad.

Congratulations to the congregation of St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church and to Linda Watson for providing the above listed information.

If your church is having a special event please let us know so we can reserve Steeplechase for the occasion. Please email history, news or special events to dorothy.robson@lee.net
Burma Commander-in-Chief: We Will Complete Search for Crashed Plane

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing at Naypyidaw Command. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

NAYPDYIAWThe Burma Army would complete its search for victims and debris of the military aircraft that crashed into the Andaman Sea on Wednesday, said the Burma Army Chief, adding that he believed it crashed due to bad weather.

We will complete the search as it is in our [territorial] areas, commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing told reporters at a ceremony to accept donations for victims of the tragedy on Sunday at Naypyidaw Command.

I think it is because of the weather. But, Im not 100 percent sure. Were still investigating, he added.

According to radar records, the aircraft, which was flying at an altitude of 18,000 feet began to lose altitude at 1.31 pm after flying for around 30 minutes. It then began to climb slightly, but later it was believed to fall again completely, said the army chief.

Military security forces and local police found four witnesses, two of them said they heard abnormal aircraft noises that grew louder and then faded away, and then the noises disappeared, said the army chief.

Thirty-three bodies had been recovered by Friday evening, but severe weather in the Andaman Sea hindered the search operation on Friday and Saturday.

Only 14 bodies were identified so far as the saltwater had disfigured the bodies, said the army chief.

There were black spots on the latest body retrieved and the military would investigate with the help of Health Ministry, said the army chief.

I feel deeply sorry about this incident. [Such an accident] never happened in the history of the military. It is the most serious loss. Ive never expected it, not even dreamed of it. It makes me very sad, he said.

There are family members left behind by victims. Some people lost parents. We have to ensure their livelihoods, he added.

The army chief said he reported to President U Htin Kyaw about the plane crash on Friday.

On Wednesday evening, the Facebook page of The Ladies Journal reported that the plane crashed because of an explosion of a gas cylinder on board. The commander-in-chiefs office issued a notice warning against publishing of unconfirmed news about the plane clash.

We knew as soon as [The Ladies Journal] posted the news. That day, I was at the office till late. I saw the post and told my staff to complain [to The Ladies Journal] about unconfirmed news reports, he said.

The Ladies Journal later sent a letter of apology, said the army chief.

He said the search would be completed soon as the Navy and Air Force were searching in collaboration. The spot where the plane was believed to have crashed is just 35 meters deep, he said.

As soon as the news was reported, many fishing trawlers from Myeik and Kawthoung came to help. Over 20 fishing trawlers joined us in search and rescue operations of their own volition. Villagers from nearby villages also helped us search with their boats. Im grateful to them, said the army chief.

He also denounced netizens and other people who celebrated the crash. There are people who spoke ill. Im sad. The victims did nothing wrong. I cant understand why [they] are happy for their deaths, he said.
Burma Naga Leader SS Khaplang Dies Aged 77

SS Khaplang (right) with Council of Naga Affairs chairman Athong Makury. / Facebook

SS Khaplang, the Naga rebel leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), passed away aged 77 on Friday, according to the Council of Naga Affairs (CNA) based in Zingkaling, Hkamti in Sagaing region, northwest Burma.

Recognized by the Naga people as a great Naga national and legendary leader, Shangwang Shangyang Khaplang (also spelled Sangwang Sangnyu Khaplang) died at his residence at around 7:30 p.m. local (Burma) time in Taka (also spell Taga), the headquarters of the NSCN-K in Sagaing division.

The CNA said in its condolence statement released on Saturday that [SS Khaplang]s sacrifice, leadership, unflinching spirit for the freedom of the Naga Nation will always remain a leading and inspiring torch in the hearts of Nagas for generations to come.

He was the president of the NSCH-K since its formation in 1988 and the chairman of its government-in-exileThe Government of the Peoples Republic of Nagaland (GPRN).

SS Khaplang took part in the Naga revolutionary movement begun in the 1960s and led various leadership roles: He was a vice chairman of the Eastern Naga Revolutionary Council from 1965 and President of the Naga National Council from 1979.

NSCN-K, formed in 1988, demands the independence of Nagaland. Prior to that, ethnic Naga fought for independence of Nagalandboth in Burma and Indiaunder the National Socialist Council of Nagaland formed in 1980. But eight years later, the council was split into two fractions: One became the NSCN-K and another fraction, known as NSCN-IM, mostly fighting the Indian government, was led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

Indian media noted that SS Khaplang was wanted for an incident in Indias northeastern state of Manipur on June 4, 2015 in which 18 Indian security personnel were attacked.

Both China and India closely watch Naga groups and will be interested in who will succeed SS Khaplang. Burma expert Bertil Lintner reported in 2014 and 2015 that China used Naga as a back-channel against India.

According to Indian journalist Rajeev Bhattacharyya, who trekked into the Naga region in 2011 for almost two months, SS Khaplang was born in April 1940 and is survived by three sons and one daughter.

Little is currently known about the movement of the NSCN-K in the northwest of Burma, except that the NSCN-K signed a ceasefire agreement with the former Burma government on April 9, 2012, but has rarely been seen in the ongoing peace talks, only attending as observers. NSCN-K participated as an observer to the NCA-drafting process, but they were not interested in signing it.

The current National League for Democracy governments peace negotiators, led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, invited the NSCN-K to attend the latest 21st Century Panglong peace conference in May in August 2016 and May 2017, but they did not attend both times.

They reportedly operate in areas of Lahe, Leshi, Hkamti and Namyun townships in Sagaing Region. The ethnic Naga in Burma were given a self-administrative zone in Leshi, Lahe and Namyun townships under the military-backed 2008 Constitution.

In his last breaths, SS Khaplang shared his desire for his Naga followers to continue their fight for freedom, according to CNAs chairman Athong Makury.

His will, translated by the CNA chairman, said: I have stood under the banner of Nagaland for Christ with the hope that my people may see both physical and spiritual freedom from the oppression of the ruthless occupiers. I have done my part for the freedom of my people with the little capacity God has given me.

SS Khaplang encouraged the next generation to never waver nor be carried away with the ideologies of the aliens that Nagas do not deserve to be a nation. As a human, I have done many wrongs and forgive me all my failures in this noble venture of our cherished freedom. My sons and daughters, please continue to hold on the torch of our freedom until we reach the promised land.

U Than Khe, chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, who lived in Manipur in the 1990s, praised SS Khaplang as a great leader who kept his fight for the freedom of the Naga people to designate their own destiny and to have equal rights as other ethnicities in Burma until his last breath.

U Than Khe recalled how students fleeing the 1988 uprising were treated well in the Naga-controlled region on the India-Burma border. NSCN-Ks political path is different to other ethnics groups who want to build a federal state, but Naga wants their own land and thus, they separate themselves from following the NCA path. he added.

The NSCN-K gave no notice of who would succeed SS Khaplang as leader of the group, but Indian media suggested the commander-in-chief Khole Konyak may be the next leader.
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Human Rights Watch |  

(Beirut)  Saudi Arabia should immediately quash the death sentences of 14 members of the Shia community for protest-related crimes, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The Court of Appeal of the notorious Specialized Criminal Court upheld the sentences in May 2017, after they were handed down a year ago on June 1, 2016, following a grossly unfair trial of 24 Saudi Shia citizens. The Specialized Criminal Court is Saudi Arabias counterterrorism tribunal.

The rise in death sentences against Saudi Arabian Shia is alarming and suggests that the authorities are using the death penalty to settle scores and crush dissent under the guise of combating terrorism and maintaining national security, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

On May 25, 2017, the families of three of the defendants learned in a phone call that the Court of Appeal of the Specialized Criminal Court had upheld the death sentences against their relatives. The family members of another two defendants subsequently called the court, on May 28, and were informed that the sentences for their relatives and for the whole group of 14 had been upheld on appeal. The exact date of the appeal courts decision is unknown.

Court documents show that all defendants, including the 14 sentenced to death, were held in pretrial detention for more than two years before their trial began. During that time, most were in solitary confinement, and Saudi Arabian authorities denied them access to their families and lawyers while they interrogated them.

Since 2013, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have recorded a worrying increase in death sentences against political dissidents in Saudi Arabia, including the Shia Muslim minority. The organizations are aware of at least 38 members of Saudi Arabias Shia community  who make up 10 to 15 percent of the population  currently sentenced to death. Saudi Arabian authorities accused these individuals of activities deemed a risk to national security and sentenced them to death after deeply flawed legal proceedings at the Specialized Criminal Court.

The sham court proceedings that led to death sentences for 38 Shia men and boys brazenly flout international fair trial standards, said Lynn Maalouf, director of research at Amnesty International in the Middle East. The sentences should immediately be quashed.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch obtained the text of and analyzed 10 court judgments  involving 38 individuals  handed down by the Specialized Criminal Court between 2013 and 2016. Most were against men and children accused of protest-related crimes following mass demonstrations in 2011 and 2012, in Eastern Province towns where Shia Muslims form the majority.

In nearly all the trial judgments analyzed, defendants retracted their confessions, saying they were coerced in circumstances that in some cases amounted to torture, including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement. The court rejected all torture allegations without investigating the claims. Some defendants asked the judges to request video footage from the prison that they said would show them being tortured. Others asked the court to summon interrogators as witnesses to describe how the confessions were obtained. In all cases judges ignored these requests.

The judges admitted the confessions as evidence, and then convicted the detainees almost solely based on these confessions.

Death sentences based on coerced confessions violate international human rights law and are a repugnant yet all-too-common outcome in security-related cases in Saudi Arabia, Maalouf said. These death penalty trials fail to meet even the most basic requirements for due process.

On January 2, 2016, Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of 47 men for terrorism offenses. Among those executed were Ali Saeed al-Ribh, whose trial judgment indicates that he was under 18 at the time of some of the crimes for which he was sentenced to death. As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia is legally obliged to ensure that no one under 18 at the time of a crime is sentenced to death or to life in prison without the possibility of release.

Those currently on death row include four Saudi Arabian nationals who were found guilty of offenses committed when they were teenagers  Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun, Abdullah al-Zaher, and Abdulkareem Al-Hawaj.

The January 2, 2016 executions also included a prominent Shia Muslim cleric, Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, the uncle of Ali al-Nimr. Sheikh al-Nimr was a vocal critic of the government, and was convicted following a grossly unfair trial.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and unique in its finality. It is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.

Pending full abolition of the death penalty, the Saudi Arabian authorities should immediately establish an official moratorium on executions, and remove any death penalty provisions that are in breach of international human rights law, such as provisions for its use against juvenile offenders and those suffering from mental disabilities, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the worlds most prolific executioners and has put to death more than 400 people since the beginning of 2014, most for murder, drug-related crimes, and terrorism.

In addition to conducting unfair trials, Saudi Arabia has executed alleged child offenders and nonviolent offenders, including for drug-related crimes and crimes such as sorcery, in violation of international law which restricts the use of the death penalty to the most serious crimes  generally defined to include only intentional killing. Since the beginning of 2014, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 147 people for nonviolent drug crimes.

Human Rights Watch



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Secular Talk: Saudi Ramping Up Executions After Nod From Trump
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By Jennifer Bing | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) |  

Five decades of occupation have turned military violence into the norm for Palestinian children.

There are two places to visit if you want to know the human impact of Israels 50-year military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory: an Israeli military court and the sitting room of a Palestinian family. I have been to both.

I work for the American Friends Service Committee, which has been involved in advocacy and humanitarian work with Palestinians for more than 50 years. In that capacity I co-coordinate the Israeli Military Detention: No Way to Treat a Child campaign with Defense for Children InternationalPalestine. For decades we have documented escalating violations of the rights of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces.

Children under 18 years old currently represent 46 percent of the 4.68 million Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (70% are under the age of 30). This current generation has grown up in the shadow of failed negotiations and with futures stifled by systemic discrimination, persistent settlement expansion, blockade, and repeated military offensives.

Israeli military courts in the West Bank lack fair trials and due process, and dont recognize the rights of prisoners. At least 500-700 Palestinian children are held in Israeli military detention in the West Bank every year. These children often experience abuse, especially immediately following arrest. Over 90% of the children are convicted in courtrooms housed in Israeli military bases.

Abuses suffered in prison last a lifetime. In the past 50 years, 700,000 Palestinians have been incarcerated by Israel, representing 40 percent of the male Palestinians living under occupation.

When making Detaining Dreams, a documentary featuring the stories of Palestinian youth held in Israeli military detention, we visited Palestinian homes, where we were offered tea, sweets, and stories of arrest and imprisonment. Boys described to us how soldiers arrested them in the middle of the night, blindfolding them and tying their hands. The boys were then beaten during transit in army jeeps and interrogated without the presence of their parents or lawyers.

Family members shared with us the frustration of not being able to protect their children and how their children returned from prison traumatized from the experience. It is difficult to watch your child collapse in front of you and you cant do anything, said one parent.

Amid rapidly escalating violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territory since October 2015, Palestinian children have been increasingly subjected to disproportionate violence. Last year proved to be the deadliest in a decade for West Bank children, with 32 child fatalities at the hands of Israeli forces and security guards. In just the first four months of 2017, Israeli forces killed six Palestinian children, according to documentation by Defense for Children InternationalPalestine.

In Gaza, which is nearing 10 years of military blockade, children continue to slip deeper into poverty, with many still living in protracted displacement. Despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the 2014 military assault on Gazaincluding direct attacks on civilians as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian homes, schools, and residential neighborhoods that left at least 547 Palestinian children deadjustice and accountability for these children remain elusive.

The U.S. supports the occupation of Palestine with billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. So we in the U.S. have a responsibility to call for accountability and change when it comes to the mistreatment of Palestinian children.

Not everyone is able to visit an Israeli military court, meet Palestinians in their communities, and see the impact of five decades of rights denied and future dreams disrupted. But these abuses are well documented, even by the US State Department, and must change in order for a future viable peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

On Thursday, June 8 at 9:30 am, in room 122 in the Cannon House Office Building, human rights experts and those directly impacted by Israels occupation will testify to the challenges facing the current and future generations of children who live in an increasingly militarized environment.

I want a world where parents do not wait up all night fearing army night raids that take their children away or bombs dropped on their family homes and schools. Five decades of occupation have turned military violence into the norm for Palestinian children. The bottom line: this is no way to treat a child.

Jennifer Bing is the director of the American Friends Service Committees Palestine-Israel program.

Foreign Policy in Focus



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CGTN: Palestinian story: 50 years of life under Israeli occupation
By Rachel Lee

North Korea is repeating its demand that South Korea repatriate 13 North Koreans who defected to the South from China in April last year.

Uriminzokkiri, a state-run media outlet, has released a video clip of a mother, who has been missing her daughter, one of the waitresses who defected to Seoul from a chain of eateries operated by Pyongyang.

The mother said in the video that it has been a year since her daughter was "taken" to the south.

"The past one year felt like 10, 100 years to your father and mother, who are missing you so much," she said.

The mother also said she was determined to stay strong until her daughter comes back home.

Last month, Pyongyang revealed a note written by the deceased father of one waitress in a video clip.

In the note, the father said his physical condition worsened after the "enemies" dragged his daughter away.

He also said he would rest in peace only when his daughter comes back home and pours a glass of alcohol on his grave.












WARRENSDuring their 53-year marriage, Warrens cranberry growers Clinton and Ellen Potter amassed a collection of 1,500 pieces of cranberry glass, continuing to add pieces until Ellens death in 2000. Following Clintons death last year at age 95, the couples three children  Peggy Anderson, Jack Potter and Becky Hayes  began discussing how to disperse their parents vast collection.

We talked about dividing the collection between the family members, selling it through an auction house, donating it to the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia in order to keep the collection together, but ultimately we decided to give Clinton and Ellens cranberry glass collection to the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, said daughter-in-law Lorry Erickson.

The family is keeping some of its favorite pieces, but the majority of the collection is being donated to the Cranberry Discovery Center in downtown Warrens. Some of the glass will be showcased in the centers exhibit hall, but most of the collection will be offered for sale to help raise funds for the non-profit museum.

Words cannot express our gratitude for the Potter familys wonderful donation of their parents cranberry glass collection to the Cranberry Discovery Center. The sales of the glass will help ensure the future of the Discovery Center and its mission to educate visitors about cranberry production and Wisconsins cranberry growing heritage, said Monica Genske, Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center gift shop manager.

Clinton and Ellen purchased their first piece of cranberry glass  a candy dish  in January 1947 using money they had received as a wedding gift from Clintons mother, Eva Potter.

The couple didnt begin collecting cranberry glass in earnest, however, until the late 1980s. By then they were semi-retired from the cranberry marsh and had more time to travel. During their winter vacations in Florida, they would visit antique shops and often fill their camper with cranberry glass to bring home to Wisconsin.

They had a pretty good system. By then Mom was having more trouble getting around, so Dad with his longer legs would scout out the antique shops looking for cranberry glass and tell Mom where to look. It was something they really enjoyed doing together, said Jack Potter.

While the Potters did buy new cranberry glass, Ellens main interest was antique cranberry glass. Daughter Becky Hayes said some of the glass in her parents collection dates back to the early 1800s.

The couple purchased cranberry glass from well-known makers like Fenton, Rossi and Pilgrim, but they also have pieces by Hobbs, Moser, Moholt, Cambridge, Union Glass and Northwood Glass companies. Some of their glass is from England, Austria, Germany, Bohemia and Czechoslovakia.

Ellen tried to determine the age and maker of each item she purchased, and kept careful records of her acquisitions. In a 1997 interview with Glass Collectors Digest, Ellen said, Each piece has a story to tell. Most items remind me of trips taken, places visited or other special occasions.

After the Potter family opened the Cranberry Expo Ltd. museum and gift shop on their cranberry marsh in 1989, Ellen displayed about 500 pieces of her cranberry glass in the museum.

My mom was a teacher and she loved telling people about growing cranberries. When I suggested there should be a place to educate people on cranberries, she was all for it. Mom had a building built and told me to fill it up. As a fifth-generation cranberry grower whose ancestors were major contributors to the Wisconsin cranberry industry, I felt the Expo was a tribute to them too, said Peggy Anderson.

The Potter family operated the Cranberry Expo until 2001, when they donated the museum contents to the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association. The growers association later moved the museum to downtown Warrens, where it opened in 2004 as the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.

Granddaughter Carrie Betz also displayed some of her grandparents collection at her Cranberry Connections gift shop in Wisconsin Dells, which she operated from 2004 to 2012.

Grandma had passed away before I opened my gift shop, but Grandpa allowed me to display some of the more rare and unique pieces in my store. Our visitors were intrigued by the variety and the beauty of the cranberry glass that has been made over the past 200 years, Betz said.
A highly combustible form of energy locked deep in the ocean finally can be harvested using a new technique, but deploying that technique on a broad scale could spell trouble for the climate, experts say.

The solid material, called methane hydrate, is a form of the hydrocarbon methane that is locked in cages of ice called clathrates. Though billions of tons of this form of methane may be locked deep beneath the ocean floor, scientists had no safe or simple way to extract the material and convert it into a form that could be used.

But in a new demonstration, Chinese scientists say they have converted methane hydrate directly into usable natural gas on a floating platform in the South China Sea, the South China Morning Post reported.

However, even if this resource could be extracted safely, it would be bad for the climate because it would release greenhouse gases on a large scale, several experts said.

Untapped reservoirs

Methane hydrate is one of the largest untapped reservoirs of energy on the planet, according to the 2012 Global Energy Assessment. What's more, methane-hydrate reserves dot the coastlines of every continent on the planet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

The United States has many other, more easily accessible sources of energy, including natural gas. But many countries, such as Japan and India, lack such resources.

"If they had a domestic source of natural gas, that could be a real boon," said Carolyn Ruppel, a USGS scientist who has studied the impact of methane-hydrate leaks in the ocean. "Not everyone has the resource panorama that we have here in North America."

However, accessing the power of this flammable ice has been difficult, for two reasons.

First, these reserves are often distributed over a large area rather than concentrated in one spot as oil or natural gas reserves often are. That means collecting them is like "picking strawberries in a field," Yifeng Chen, associate researcher with the Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou, told the South China Morning Post.

The bigger problem, however, is that, true to their moniker as flammable ice, methane hydrates are unstable and potentially explosive. Drilling into the seafloor could destabilize the methane ice crystals and cause explosions, spewing vast troves of methane into the atmosphere, where it is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2), several experts told Live Science.

In 2013, Japan demonstrated a production test showing it was possible to mine such methane-hydrate resources without massive leakage. So far, however, nobody has figured out how to use the technology on a large scale. [500 'Champagne' Methane Seeps Discovered Off the Pacific Northwest Coast]

Bad for climate

Regardless of whether the China demonstration can be scaled up, "any significantly increased use of hydrate-derived natural gas (or any other fossil fuel) would lead to continuing unabated fossil-fuel greenhouse-gas emissions  not to mention prolonged dependence on fossil fuels," said Pushker Kharecha, an Earth scientist at Columbia University who was not involved in the work.

"In order to mitigate the climate crisis, rather than harvesting more fossil fuels, we must instead scale up clean energy sources like renewables and nuclear as rapidly as possible, by as much as possible," Kharecha told Live Science in an email.

Other experts agreed.

"Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas  about a factor of 30 times more potent per molecule than carbon dioxide, but [methane gases']average lifetime is only about 10 years," Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, told Live Science in an email. "They end up being oxidized (burnt) and end up as carbon dioxide."

Some have argued that replacing dirty, carbon-intensive energy sources such as coal with slightly less carbon-intensive sources such as natural gas could reduce total emissions. But reducing carbon emissions to levels to avoid runaway warming requires a more fundamental paradigm shift, said Michael Mann, a climate researcher at Pennsylvania State University.

"Fundamentally, it [methane] is still a fossil fuel, and when you burn it for energy, you still produce CO2," Mann told Live Science in an email. "A fossil fuel, fundamentally, cannot be the solution to a problem that is caused by fossil fuels."

Still, the worst-case possibility  of vast methane leaks going straight into the atmosphere  may not be as likely as people have assumed, Ruppel said.

"Even after the Deepwater Horizon incident, which released a lot of methane in the ocean, studies showed a lot of the methane was consumed by microbes, and turned into CO2," Ruppel told Live Science, referring to the 2010 disaster involving a huge oil spill. "It's not like this methane is on a freight train to the atmosphere."

However, even if there's a safe way to extract methane from the ocean, methane is a natural gas, so it warms the climate, several experts said.

If methane displaces other, dirtier carbon-based fuels, such as coal, there is also a possibility that methane could serve as a transitional fuel before less-carbon-producing fuels expand, Ruppel said.

Originally published on Live Science.
Though they haven't cracked the genetic code of Tourette's, scientists have recorded tic signals from the brain and deployed the first smart devices to detect and suppress tics.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Tourette syndrome is a mysterious medical curiosity that has puzzled doctors for more than a century. People who have it suffer from tics and other behavioral problems, such as obsessive compulsive traits and attention deficit disorder.

In addition, they are cursed by a stereotype that they swear loudly and inappropriately. In reality, 10 percent actually experience these verbal outbursts, but many are stigmatized and isolated nonetheless.

I have studied Tourette syndrome (opens in new tab) for years, and recently published a book (opens in new tab)about treatments and the common spectrum of behavioral disorders associated with it. Swearing isnt even one of the more frequent ones.

The fact is that over the last several years, many exciting and life-altering treatments have become available to Tourette patients and their families. We have reached a crossroads in this disease where it will become increasingly critical to reeducate the public and to make new therapies widely available.

Twitches and tics

French scientist Jean-Martin Charcot, the founder of modern clinical neurology, coined the eponym "Tourette syndrome" after his student, Georges Albert Gilles de la Tourette, who in 1885 described nine patients suffering from the tic "malady."

Researchers soon noticed that Tourette occurred among multiple family members across multiple generations.

Over the generations, however, new knowledge came slowly. Critical gaps in our understanding of the syndrome remain, and half of all cases remain undiagnosed.

Even the precise number of people affected has been hard to know. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in 362 children, or 0.3 percent, has Tourette. The Tourette Association of America, on the other hand, estimates the disease is twice as common, with one in 166 kids (0.6 percent) affected.

Some Tourette syndrome cases are mild, with symptoms such as nonbothersome eye blinking, or mild body twitching. In many cases, the motor tics will resolve in late adolescence or early adulthood. Many patients will even lead relatively normal lives.

Lessons from the brain yield advances

Knowledge of the syndrome has increased as scientists have learned more in general about the brain.

The normal functions of the human brain seem to be dictated by rhythmic oscillations that continuously repeat over and over, much like a popular song on the radio. These oscillations change and modulate, and they act to control various human behaviors.

If an oscillation "goes bad," it can result in a disabling tic or other behavioral symptoms of Tourette syndrome.

An important secret to the development of new therapies for Tourette is that we can alter these oscillations with rehabilitative therapies, cognitive behavioral intervention therapy (CBIT), medications such as tetrabenazine or even deep brain stimulation, which involves a small straw-like probe being inserted into the brain. Electricity can be delivered through this probe to disrupt the abnormal oscillations responsible for tics.

Continued study also helping

The genetics of Tourette remain opaque. Despite the fact that the disease tends to run in families, no one has discovered a single DNA abnormality (opens in new tab) linking all, or even most, cases.

In the meantime, however, technology is offering new means of detection and treatment. Scientists have recorded tic signals from the human brain and even deployed the first smart devices to detect and suppress tics.

Some investigators are studying newer generations of medicines that decrease the complications that can occur with old-fashioned drugs, such as Haloperidol, that have traditionally been used to treat Tourette. Scientists are also looking for way to suppress or modulate inappropriate brain signals, spurring development of new drugs with novel brain targets, such as cannabinoid receptors.

Using marijuana to treat the symptoms of Tourette syndrome makes some scientific sense. Cannabinoids occur naturally in the body, and cannabinoid receptors are found throughout many brain regions. In fact, CB1 cannabinoid receptors are located in high concentrations in regions of the brain thought to be involved in Tourette syndrome.

Living with Tourette syndrome

While it may appear to the casual observer that someone with Tourette syndrome outgrows it in adolescence or early adulthood, in fact most do not. While the motor and vocal tics wane in most cases, the obsessive-compulsive and behavioral features may persist and even escalate.

These behavioral features in Tourette syndrome, if left undiagnosed and untreated, will make it harder to live a normal life and will affect the person more than the noticeable motor and vocal tics.

While new treatments may lie in the future, there are many things that patients and their families can do today. Many changes, often very simple, can be incorporated into patients lives.

Comprehensive care teams from different disciplines play a key role. For example, a social worker can help to set up an individualized school education plan and connect families to resources that can transform difficult school situations into success stories. A rehabilitative therapist can now in many cases successfully address tics without the use of a single medication.

Our care team has taken care of close to 10,000 movement disorder patients at the University of Florida and tens of thousands more with our colleagues in the Southeast Regional Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence, which also includes neurologists, psychiatrists, rehabilitative specialists, social workers and scientists at the University of South Florida, Emory University, University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina.

There are good reasons to try different treatments, even if none seems to work. Patients need to learn how to recognize when a plan or therapy isnt working and how to speak with their doctors and care team about trying something else. The point is that left unchecked, brain vibrations can, in some Tourette cases, lead to neck-snapping tics which can cause injuries, even paralysis. Today even the most severe cases have a chance for treatment with deep brain stimulation.

Though Tourette syndrome remains mysterious in the public eye, it is important that we teach families about the broad palette of options that provide tangible benefits for quality of life. That is definitely something worth shouting about.

Michael Okun, Professor of Neurology, University of Florida

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
How best to strike up conversations with intelligent aliens? Mathematics might be the common lingo.

Communication between Earthlings and intelligent aliens should be based on mathematics  exo-arithmetic greetings that form a shared lingo, some researchers say.

The idea is that mathematics is as much a part of our humanity as music and art. And it is mathematics that might be understandable  even familiar  to extraterrestrial civilizations, allowing us to strike up star-speak repartee.

Carl DeVito, an emeritus faculty in the mathematics department at the University of Arizona in Tucson, has proposed a language based on plausibly universal scientific concepts. He recently detailed his work at the Astrobiology Science Conference 2017, held from April 24 to April 28 in Mesa, Arizona. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Alien Life]

Complex problem

Designing a signal that attracts attention and, on examination, is "clearly" the work of intelligence, is a complex problem, DeVito told Space.com. To explore the possibilities, he authored "Science, SETI, and Mathematics" (Berghahn Books, 2014).

DeVito spotlights the famous German mathematician Karl Gauss, who suggested in 1820 the planting of large swaths of Siberian forest in a graphical demonstration of the Pythagorean Theorem.

Some 20 years later, Austrian astronomer Joseph von Littrow was keen on touching off kerosene-filled trenches in the Sahara Desert that took on the form of various geometric shapes.

Both scientists thought that such large displays on Earth would surely grab the attention of faraway intelligent life. Doing so, they reasoned, would be communicating our planet's intellectual prowess. (Neither idea was carried out.)

Mutual interest

"The concept of first attracting attention and then displaying meaning is, perhaps, the best way to solve the problem," DeVito said. "Maybe extraterrestrial intelligence will have similar ideas and thereby make themselves known to us."

DeVito suggests that, for two societies to be able to exchange precise, scientific information of mutual interest, they must first learn each other's units of measurement.

Together with linguist R. T. Oehrle, DeVito has developed a language for exactly that purpose, potentially enabling civilizations from different star systems to report to each other the masses of their planets, the chemical composition of their atmospheres or the energy output of their stars.

"It is, of course, based on some assumptions," DeVito said. These assumptions include:

Both societies can count and do arithmetic.

Both societies recognize the chemical elements and the periodic table.

Both have made a quantitative study of the states of matter.

Both know enough chemistry to carry out chemical calculations.

Regarding these suppositions  all known to humans by the 19th century  DeVito said we can communicate the gram, the calorie, the degree (Kelvin) and our units of pressure.

Is belief in God good for people?

Potential difficulties

Still, there are several potential difficulties that must be recognized.

For one, an alien race might start with a different geometry and derive its laws of motion in that geometry, DeVito said. Therefore, the results might be very different from the formulation of the laws that are familiar to us, he said.

"The mathematics of motion is differential calculus. Can we assume that an alien race shares this with us? Differential and integral calculus are so fundamental in so many areas of science that it is hard to imagine a science without them," DeVito said. "But this is, perhaps, a human bias."

DeVito said he wonders whether an alien society would have the equivalent of Euclidean geometry.

"We, of course, can't know, but we must be aware that the physics of an alien race, even in a fundamental area like mechanics, might differ in subtle but important ways from our own," he said.

Similarly, would an alien civilization, in its scientific development, come to model its solar system as humanity has, in the Copernican system?

Best face forward

Given that aliens understand physical reality, DeVito said we can begin constructing a language and communicate with E.T. whatever amount of mathematics is thought necessary.

"The problem  and it is a difficult one  is how to go from a discussion of mathematics to a discussion of other aspects of human civilization." It's very important, he said, that the cross-cultural researcher must play a key role in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

DeVito acknowledges that we Earthlings certainly want to present ourselves as a highly intelligent race. In putting our best face forward, we want to be seen as a life-form that has achieved much and learned much, he said, "but is wise enough to realize that it has much more to learn."

Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of this story was posted on Space.com.
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Its quiet too quiet.

Weve all heard that line in one movie or another. The halls of the State Capitol can have a ghostly quality when its quiet. This makes the sounds of lobbyists footsteps all the more noticeable as they make their way from one back room to another  especially the distinctive patter from pricey loafers often chosen by special interest lobbyists.

With the Legislatures budget committee taking time off from public meetings, these lobbyists are working on deals as the process winds down. An alarming and costly deal that was slipped into an earlier budget took full effect last year.

The so-called manufacturing tax credit was touted as a tool to create jobs but actually pays out when jobs are cut. Nothing in the credit required job creation. Worse, investors can still qualify for the credit even when jobs are eliminated.

The results? Wisconsin lost nearly four thousand manufacturing jobs in 2016. Adding injury to injury, the GOP is forcing workers to pay off the insiders who eliminated the jobs with $300 million hard-earned tax dollars every year.

At the national level, last year marked a sea change for Republican politicians. After years of cuts to workers and handouts to job-cutters, Republican voters chose a candidate who pledged to put work and workers first.

Unfortunately here in Wisconsin its more of the same.

Career Republicans on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee voted to punish workers who lose their jobs by cutting their access to Homestead property tax credits. After the GOP raised taxes on workers whove lost jobs, they rejected cutting tuition for technical colleges so they could keep handing $300 million of your hard-earned tax dollars a year to wealthy insiders who eliminated manufacturing jobs.

In 2010, well before the state was providing the manufacturing tax credit, Wisconsin gained 12,000 new manufacturing jobs. That was the fourth-largest manufacturing job gain in the nation.

In 2016 the GOP took $300 million from those workers pockets and gave it to insiders who cut nearly 4,000 manufacturing jobs. Wages in Wisconsin that were already too low fell in 2016. The Wisconsin GOP economic plan trailed the national recovery for another year and suffered its worst overall private sector job performance since the depths of the Great Recession.

And the Wisconsin version of the GOP hauled out an old line about people who work for a living needing to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Only people who spend their time in back rooms with loafers think thats what bootstraps are for. And only special interests getting the handouts think this is a job creation plan.

Its not working. Not because theyre out to get us, but because the special interests simply dont care what their plans do for  or to  anyone on the outside. As the Wisconsin GOP continues to defy the national tide, the people doing better are the less than  of 1 percent of taxpayers who got a handout for eliminating jobs.

Its time to stop putting lobbyists in loafers ahead of working taxpayers who know what bootstraps are actually for. Its time to put Wisconsinites who do the work and pay the bills first.

Democrat Janet Bewley, Mason, represents the 25th state Senate District.
Information reaching Razzonline.com indicates strenuously that, award winning Ghanaian artiste;Michael Owusu Addo known by his stage name Sarkodie is set to add another noteworthy Ghanaian rapper Black KatGH to his SarkCess Music label.

Albert Kweku Tuffour aka Black KatGH shot to fame after releasing his hit songs 'Akye Saa,Afa featuring Atumpan and Aduaba Ft Dr Cryme.

Apparently,Black KatGH is the originator of street freestyle rap music in the Ashanti Region that nurtured award winning hip life artiste Flowking Stone,Kunta Kinte,Cabum etc.

Razzonline.com has learnt that,Sarkodie has been an admirer of Black KatGh .Sarkodie's dream of meeting the latter manifested when they met in London.

Their friendship quickly ascended with Black KatGH helping Sarkodie to promote his O2 concert on 11,March 2016 in London and also to seek for support from his fans for his performance at the One Media Music Festival also in London.

A picture of both of them together circulating on some social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook ignited the controversy.Objectively,Black KatGH will then be the third(3) musician to be signed on to SarkCess Music after embryonic and former winner of 'The Next Big Thing' reality show;Strongman and Ghanaian crooner Akwaboah who hopped on the label last year.

Well, at the time of filing this report, attempts to reach both Sarkodie and Black KatGH was unsuccessful-- but razz online.com is working around the clock to soon get confirmation from both camps.
It is obvious that man is incomplete without his maker. even when man try to deny it Much of the history of humanity is about search for the meaning and purpose of man's existence and these search points to God. That is why man is so profoundly religious.

Religion is however is defined as man ultimate desire to search for God in order to connect back to their creator.

Mankind is hungry of God and frustrated in a way!

The deep sense of belonging completely to God and becoming powerful, influential and rich like God is still found in the heart of every man irrespective of their race and belief!

Ironically, man is trying to become independent of God That is, man is trying to invent themselves as a way of assuming they can do all things , without his creator but by mere ideology and philosophy! (Religion)

and that is why every religion strive to be ahead, to be relevant, powerful and in control: these are the things that prompt the killings, hatred and segregation among man kind.

The One God who created us all and sit to govern us obviously did that with the intention of love and oneness .

For instance he introduced the sun, the moon, the daylight and night, the rainfall and heat to govern the ecosystem and all worked in unity and harmony. God s creatures in the hemisphere does not quarrel and among them are no with sentiment. Then how can these same God be happy about the tiniest creature called human beings when they show hatred , kills and destroyed the unity and harmony God intended for all his creations. Humanity engaged in all of this anomalies simply because of their desire to be ultimately in control and remain the most relevant probably in God sight or man's sight .

God sort for a fellowship with the people,He is not looking for best worshipers but true ones! what he is concern about is what He has done to redeem man to him self not what man can do to impressed him!

"Not of work less any man should boost" This is a humbling fact all man kind must know that: that our beliefs and works is of less important to God than when we take love, humility , tolerance and unity as our relationship tools towards each other

"For the kingdom of God is not about foods , drinks or activities or traditions but about love and and joy in the spirit "

Our world is in tumoil because of the lack of love and mutual respect for each other. lets value each other and see the epitome of God likeness in our self irrespective of our religions.

Let us hold on to the fact that we are all human and our belief did not make others less human or other object. In the eyes of God, we are precious creature called human which he valued and handled above every other creatures. He gave humanity the privileged to control the earth and its resources without discrimination. Why do we now invent discrimination into our religions? Why do we defend the creator who should defend us? Why should the defender become the defended? {Just reasoning}

Here is a vacuum in the hearts of humanity that is creating for infilling. Our hearts is empty of respect for human dignity, love, respect and trust.

Lets Embrace and connect to God individually to fill the void part of our heart and quench our yearning for self righteousness, independency and domination . it is only then we can become God's people and begin to enjoy the benevolence of his Kingdom which is peace, wealth and life in abundant!

Lets uphold his Kingdom of love, togetherness and peace above Religion and ethnicity in order to establish his (God) will on earth!

May God continue to bless Nigeria and the entire mankind Amen!

Blessing Utanung Michael. Miss Christian Ambassador Nigeria ( The Kingdom Queen)
To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die  Thomas Campbell

The Network of Young Mentees of Bagbin, NYMB-Ghana, wish to on this day officially add our voice of condolence to the many grieving voices of the people of Ghana over the untimely death of a gallant Soldier of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major Adams Maxwell Mahama, who was painfully lynched whilst on national assignment at Denkyire-Obuasi in the Central Region. We deeply regret and unreservedly condemn these bizarre and wicked actions and inactions of the People of Denkyira-Obuasi, the sad circumstances leading to the sorrowful departure of the gallant Major who swore an oath of office to protect lives and property in Ghana. We find this dastardly act as a clear evidence of the growing lawlessness and impunity in the country. It is very regrettable that Major Maxwell Mahama has to pay with his dear life for the breakdown of law and order in our country.

To the family, especially the wife and the kids, the Ghana Armed Forces and all friends and sympathizers, we say our hearts are with you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. We are sure that the death of Major Mahamah will not be in vain. We call on the Government to swiftly bring the perpetuators of this dastardly act to face the full rigours of the law. We belief this will calm the restless spirit of Major Mahama, restore the lost morale of the military and serve as deterrent to the monster called mob-justice. In this case of glaring evidence we, just as many Ghanaians and justice loving people, will resist any attempt to set free the perpetrators of this crime with the usual legal jargon of Nolle Prosequi by the Attorney General.

We at NYMB-Ghana are worried about the poor handling of security issues so far by the Government and the worsening security situation in the Country. The citizenry, now including the military and the police, can no longer go about their everyday businesses without fears of unprovoked attacks. The ordinary Ghanaian is now desolate and feels completely unprotected by the law. Criminals are becoming more dissolute as they are increasingly emboldened by the visible impotence of Government in protecting its people. This should not be allowed to fester. We wish to urge all citizens of Ghana to uphold the laws of the country whiles being mindful of their own security. Insecurity anywhere is a threat to security everywhere.

Finally, we wish to use this opportunity to express our unequivocal disapproval of all lynched cases involving citizens of this country, including the old woman who was reportedly lynched in the Upper East Region over witch-craft allegations, on the same day that Major Maxwell Adams Mahama was lynched, the lynching of the man who was alleged to have stolen GHc1.50, and the several others. May their souls find rest in the bosom of the Lord!

Long Live the Ghana Armed Forces!!

#JusticeForMajorMaxwellMahamahNow!!!!!!!!!

Long Live Ghana!

Signed

Solace Farhan Bataabanyira

(General Secretary)

Tel: 0247468112

B. T. Sylvester

(Public Relations Officer)

Tel: 0207180414



Dabaga Anganmwine James

(National Coordinator)

Tel: 0241377973
It is no news that a conglomerate of northern youths called the Arewa youth consultative forum has offered the Igbo community in the northern Nigeria a three months ultimatum to leave their territory. It is one that breaks the heart of the leadership of ECOWAS youth council and we commend the federal government of Nigeria for condemning this act.

We must reiterate the fact that there is no region that goes to war and ever remains the same just like in Syria. Nigeria has come this far as a country together and cannot use their own hands to scatter our bricks as it is popularly said that It is easier to destroy a thing than to build it.

I also want to use this medium to appreciate the effort of the federal government towards the growth of the country but we believe there is something that should be done concerning the restructuring of Nigeria. The need for the restructuring of the nation is one that cannot be overemphasized as its immense benefits far superceed its harm.

We also plead with the government to find a long lasting solution to the ethnic and religious issues currently facing the country as no breathing space should be given to allow for anarchy. This is to further reiterate that the Ecowas youth council is dedicated to ensuring peace and unity within the region.

In conclusion, the need for unity and harmony at this point in the country is one of great importance as you cannot expect a country to fight economic crisis and human crisis at the same time. I therefore call on the Arewa youth council to embrace peace and shun violence. It is will be our Joy to see Nigeria called a first world country so the need for the great people of Nigeria to continue in this love and unity we have always shared since birth.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA GOD BLESS ECOWAS GOD BLESS THE ECOWAS YOUTH COUNCIL

Signed H.E Seun Ologun William President, ECOWAS Youth Council.
11.06.2017 LISTEN

Alphonso Nyenuh and I are good friends, and I consider him a brother. He is one of the few Liberians with credibility and integrity in the truest sense of these words. I also find sincere.

But we disagreed on the Country-Congo debate, not because we dislike each other, but because we share divergent views, perhaps on its impacts, history, and the circumstances before us.

Brother Alphonso says we should put the Country-Congo debate in historical context and that we should not sweep it under the table just like that because some people have lived it. True. No doubt about that.

But here is my response to my dear friend and brother, a man for whom I have the highest esteem.

Brother Alphonso Nyenuh, you raised significant and convincing points, and the facts remain that we cannot, and no one should negate history.

However, there is no legitimate history to reflect at this time in Liberia, especially with regards to the upcoming October 2017 presidential and legislative elections.

You and I are from the south-eastern region of Liberia, and based on historical tradition, we are 'Doede' or historical kinsmen.

You know and I know that when President Samuel K. Doe, Sr. was in power, despite his limited education, he and his colleagues were moving Liberia forward developmentally. The entire Peoples Redemption Council (PRC) and government was comprised of the so-called native sons, and daughters.

The very people that formatted chaos in and amongst the PRC members were the same native people who posed as student activists and progressives.

Granted, Doe, Quinwonkpa, Podier, Weh-Syen and others were not educated, they got no help from their so-called power-greedy, wealth-seeking dishonest country brothers and sisters that made up the PAL and MOJA. Arent some of these same people in Liberia where bureaucrats make US$15,000 a month when our people dont food to eat? In fact, some of them are part of the very government where public theft and inhumane are the order of business.

All that aside, we have had a century of inter-marriages such that there is no one in Liberia today that can claim to be 'Congo' and yet we are reduced to a non- existent reality or mental construct that have no place in the age of science, technology, engineering and math.

That too aside, look at the current Liberian government and please critically review the entire Liberian legislature the seat and mother of corruption, greed, lies, dishonesty, dysfunction, abuse of power and national disgrace and tell me how many 'Congo' people you find there .

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is not a Congo woman, she is Gola mixed with Kru and German. That means, like you and I, part of her is from the south-eastern region of Liberia. Her Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai (a decent and good family man) is not Congo. He is Kissi from Lofa County. The leader of the senate, Armah Jallah and the speaker of the House, are all not Congo people. These two are real country people from remote villages where there are no modern latrines, clinics, electricity, good schools etc. I bet some women in those villages died from childbirth every time, and kids there are exceptionally malnourished, and not in school.

The chief Justice, the minister of justice, and many other officials in the chop I chop administration are all not Congo people. By the way, the minister of justice and I from the same countyRiver Gee, previously lower Grand Gedeh, and we are Grebo. He knows and I know that there is no good road to travel there. No electricity, no safe drinking water, no good clinics, or hospital, not jobs, and no good schools. The county is one of the remotest in the nation, yet its son is the Attorney General and minister of justice of the land where officials steal national wealth and they go basically unpunished.

The folks involved in the Sable Mining corruption saga, the lawmakers that wanted to sell the soul of Liberia to foreign criminals posing as investors, are not Congo people. Alex Tyler is from Bomi County. Few years ago, he couldnt afford his rent, but today he is millionaire, not because he engaged some efforts in the private sector but because he became speaker of the House of Representative and he effective used that position to steal from the people he supposed to represent. As for Counsellor Varney Sherman, only God knows! We can leave it at that.

The Maritimes chief, James Kollie of the now famous 'Kolliegate,' is not Congo man. In fact, like you and me, he is a damm country man in the real sense of the word. This guy comes from Zorzor, north of the country where the roads are terrible and food security and unemployment are severe.

Besides, this reduction to categorization is not just limited to the mental construct of de-classifying one another as 'Congo people and Country people.

Here is why we hear frequently about this: mental de-orientation, a kind of unknown intellectual incapacitation. When incompetent people can't find a way out, they call other people aliens, such saying someone is non- Liberians or foreigner simply because those individuals have names that do not reflect what they want or are used to.

This is the situation here, and knowing what you represent and what your beliefs and value-system are, I don't think you and I should allow that small set of people that think backward in history to derail our country's prospects, especially so when Liberia is 380 degree behind in infrastructural development, social advancement and in the unleashing of human potential.

Those who are preaching this Country-Congo divide do not have the mental stamina to relate Liberia to the level of a global debate where everyone is talking about balanced budget, the use of solar energy to power a nation, and the creation of a knowledge-based economy etc.

There are people in Liberia who say other Liberians are Togolese, Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Guineans etc. Labeling people to support their political comfort.

The question is: when are we going to stop these unhelpful tendencies that add no value to the global debate of job creation, advanced manufacturing, bio-medical research, and the unstoppable wave of industry and occupational changes going on due to information technology and advances in science and engineering?

Since 2006, the country has been run like a guinea pig race where few so-called native people became millionaires over night while neglecting to be true to common decency and basic moral values.

Decency requires that when one disagrees with something or a system then he or she should speak out, or quit. That's what being a man or woman of integrity means. But these people stay twelve years in this failed government that produce no collective benefits and result for Liberians except the privileged few and those who served in it. Suddenly, instead of accounting for what government has done and failed to do in 12 unbroken years, we are changing the facts to alternative factsthe Country and Congo debate.

For example, I had every conceivable opportunity of being a minister or a managing director of an agency in Liberia, but I felt unless the system had a focus, and champions integrity, I can't be a part, because doing so would be against my Christian moral values and social ethics. So, I chose to be out and help with some moral voice in my own weak ways. While that makes me a poor man, I believe it serves Liberia better. It means I put my country first.

All the people who are talking or engineering this outlandish divide (Country-Congo stuff) today praised this out-of-touch Unity Party's government and now some of them are talking about Congo-Country to escape the debate about transparency and accountability.

Who is Congo in Liberia? What is their population ratio? Where in Liberia are they located?

This so-called Country- Congo makeup is a myth. And it is a scary and costly error we are involved in, and will make as a nation. We are unconsciously designing a society of hate and mistrust; one of fear and a class systemone that may come back to haunt us and the future generation of Liberians.

Mind you, after this so-called Country-Congo tirade, the next thing will be tribe versus tribe, and by then it will be too late.

Are we going to wait until Lorna people say they cannot vote for me because I am Grebo, or you because you are Krahn? Are we going to wait until Grebo people say they can't vote for a decent and well-respected Liberian like Brother Tiawon Gongloe (a sound and tireless advocate for human and civil rights) because he is Gio or Mano? Are we going to wait until the Mandingo people say they can't vote for Isaac Vah Tukpah because he is from Rivercess County? Are we going to wait until the Lorna and Kissi people say they can't vote for Mohamed Daramay because he is a Mandingo man, even though he is very qualified and competent? Are we going to wait until a Kpelle man or woman who is a human resources director says he or she can't hire a qualified Bassa boy just because he is not Kpelle?

This is the unfortunate road we are headed and if we are not careful, we are about two and half miles away from getting there.

Is that the road we want to take? Is that the place we want to be?

We have been there before where Krahn and Mandingo people got killed just because they were Krahns and Mandingoes; where Gio and Mano people got killed and chased out of Liberia just because they were Gios and Manos. And now, we are gradually revisiting that playbook again.

As someone who works in labor market information and analysis at a global level, I am afraid for our country Liberia.

While other countries are bent on ensuring that their next generation becomes prepared and more competitive to enter the global labor market, we are talking tribe and some misbelief.

Drones are now delivering medical supplies in Rwanda; Kenya has just built a high-speed rail system connecting the entire country; Tunisia has completed and now has a medical capital city and we are sitting idle mentally, arguing about things that wouldn't help us.

The most dangerous officials anyone can find in that country are the so-called natives.

For example, most of the folks that run the justice ministry are natives, in fact, some of them and I are from the same county and tribe. We speak the same dialect. But when I took a project to Liberia to help the criminal justice system becomes helpful in giving skills training to inmates to reduce recidivism, the people that killed the idea were the same people that speak the same dialect I speak. They are not Congo people. That means they prevented a process for job creation in Liberia and in our county where perhaps the proposed Liberia National Correctional Enterprises.

This is a project that Liberia was never going to spend a dime on; all funding was going to be provided by foundations overseas. A similar institution does exist in the state of Maryland as seen in this: https://store.mce.md.gov/ .

In 2013, I also wrote a small business development and job creation project proposal and sent it to the Liberian government. The objective was to help unemployed Liberians become entrepreneurs, CEOs etc. in the private sector while creating jobs.

The people that administered the project secretly and misused the funds which now are leading to the "Kolliegate" are all native people

Moreover, history is replete with narratives of the danger of tribal and regional politics. It has never helped any society in the past and it will not help our country today nor tomorrow.

We are just digging a dangerous trap or hole for ourselves and the next generations of Liberians to come. We must stop this!

About the Author:

Jones Nhinson Williams is a Liberian philosopher (born in Pleebo, Maryland County but hailed from River Gee County) firmly educated by the Catholic Church. He is an American trained public policy, labor market information, strategic management, and workforce development professional with accomplished global experience in job creation and institutional governance.
The Municipal Chief Executive ( MCE) for Asokore Mampong , Alhaji Alidu Seidu has said his administration will ensure an open door policy in order to ascertain first hand grievances.

This he said, will pave way to accept and tolerate constructive criticism in the day to day administrative development agendum of the municipality.

The MCE said this in an interview with journalists at his office on Monday.

He noted that, the ongoing projects started by the previous administration would be continued but under an aggressive probity and accountability to ensure value for money.

Alhaji Seidu indicated that, together with assembly members he will ensure equity devoid of political affiliation.

He explained that, various policies are far advanced to create room for job opportunities to reduce unemployment among the youth as the NPP government has preached upon.

The MCE noted that, consultations has already begun with stakeholders for the re- construction of the Aboabo river for proper drainage.

He also took the opportunity to console residence who were affected by recent rains and promised that his outfit as the MCE would ensure NADMO do their best to support them.

He called on Ghanaians to pray for the NPP government to achieve the purpose for which it was voted for.
The founder of the NDC Jerry John Rawlings this afternoon disappointed hundreds of Ghanaians who were expecting him to throw "artillery" and "barrage" at the party's 25th Anniversary rally at the Ashaiman Mandela Park in the Greater Accra Region. The founder who appeared well composed and spirited for the occasion, eased tension at the place with his fatherly advice and admonishment to the amazement of his party folks.

The founder used the occasion to call for renewed spirit of probity and accountability. He stressed the need to recapture the spirit that stifled corruption and placed corrupt officials under constant check. The founder called on party supporters and the executives to approach the party's unity building agenda with sincerity and truthfulness to ensure genuine reconciliation and unity.

On the reasons why the party lost the 2016 election, implicitly in agreement with Former President Mahama's assertion that the reasons are multifaceted, he said the electoral college constituted by the party and failure to monitor the process effectively led to malfeasance and manipulation of the process which usurped the power of the genuine supporters of the party which automatically, denied the party the opportunity of going into the election with some genuine supporters on its side.

He also mentioned stifling of the party's core values as another reason why the party lost the election. According to the founder, it's important members do everything possible to recapture the spirit of probity and accountability before it becomes too late.

Mr Rawlings reiterated his advice to party folks to be watchful of the Npp and their tricks. The founder gave same advice to party folks at Cape Coast prior to the 2016 election.

He ignited the spirit of party folks gathered when he told them that the NDC has what it takes to turn Ghana into a one party state by winning every election held in Ghana.

He said, the Npp will remain underdogs forever if only the party will go back to its core values and strictly adhere to them.

The former President used the occasion to advise Ghanaians to take the issue about family planning serious to curb avoidable problems some families go through in the country. He told the supporters that he is hopeful the party will take back power very soon.

Former President John Mahama who spoke before the founder, repeated his call on party supporters and sympathizers to relegate the issue about who leads the NDC in 2020 to the background and concentrate on building the party to make it a winnable machine. He used his lame horse- jockey analogy to explain his point and to clear the distortions, misinterpretations and twists put on that clarion call ( analogy). Mr Mahama advised party folks to concentrate on strengthening of the party's pillars to make the 2020 election easier for whoever will emerge the party's candidate.
Among the issues that that were brought to bear at the recent Golden Jubilee anniversary and 14th General Conference of the Association of African Universities on June 5th, was the issue of graduate unemployment. The President raised a litany of salient concerns on the situation, including a call on African Universities to learn from best practices, initiating a relentless pursuit for solutions to the educational challenges that face the African continent, among others.

Ghana as a country, in the last decade has experienced a dangerous rise in graduate unemployment. This is a situation which deserves a multi-faceted approach if we are to make any progress in addressing it, but we need to make sober reflections on our educational system, and channel a lot of energy and resources into its consolidation. It is therefore worthy that the has initiated such a critical debate at this time.

There are a swarming number of university graduates who possess the needed academic qualifications but lack the requisite professional competencies and skills that are required for success in various positions. The current tertiary level of education places too much emphasis on the theoretical aspect of educational pursuit which leaves little space for the development of the practical skills for success in professional life.

In order to arrest the situation, I would recommend a massive overhaul of our educational system, starting from the basic level. The government, together with all other stakeholders of education should be committed to ensuring that we do not only invest resources in the training of teachers to be abreast with 21st century practices both inside and outside the classrooms but that the required supervisory checks and systems are also put in place to ensure that teachers actually put these modern methodologies into practice.

The Ghanaian classroom of the 21st century should also open its doors to the use of technology which has not only transformed modern working conditions into more efficient and conducive ones, but has also ensured that we can now execute professional tasks within the shortest time possible, in the most worker  friendly conditions and requiring the least human effort possible. The average Ghanaian student should therefore be equipped with these technological competencies that have become basic requirements for standard job performance.

Unless our government and policy makers make real time commitments in this direction, the integration of IT in education will remain but a cliched fantasy. As President Akuffo Addo has already pointed out, there should be an active liaison between academia and industry to ensure that the transfer of knowledge, skills and attitudes gained in the classroom to real working situations.

Even though some of our Universities, especially the private ones are a step ahead of their colleagues in the Public institutions, needless to mention names, we need to systematize these practices. Internships should not be oriented at passive observation but should be more of active participation. In fact, the president couldnt have captured it any better when he emphasized that Ghanas problem of a skills  job mismatch among the teeming number of graduates was the result of a lack of collaboration between academia and industry.

Every citizen of must positively respond to the presidents call to action, especially if they share in the hope for a better generation of Ghanaians who are more oriented to problem solving through strategic positive action. We can create a better nation for all of us if we all support this agenda in every little way we can to ensure that more graduates are placed in job positions.

However, Mr. President, the biggest onus in this regard lies with the Ministry of Education as well as the Ghana Education Service who have it as part of their mandate to formulate sound educational policies that meet the needs of the students as well as the requirements of the modern job market. Mr. President, those agencies are under your administration. Therefore, you have to see to it that the reformulation of the curriculum is optimally executed.

The presidents call to action is not out of place. However, a policy framework that spells out both the process and product of this curriculum redesigning has to be provided. Of course, the relevance of the curriculum to the skills needs of the job market goes without saying, but the question has always been how to achieve this target.

Quite lamentably, successive governments have not done enough to enhance the effectiveness of our educational system. It is not the aim of this write up to dispense culpability, but the point here is that since the World Bank, which has been one of the biggest partners to Ghana on education, especially with regards to funding, advised its beneficiary countries to Africa to redirect their focus away from the tertiary educational level and place more emphasis on basic and secondary education in 1960, the former has witnessed a staggering decline.

Ghana as a country has outlived the justification for this World Bank directive, thus, the desperate need for basic education in African countries at the time.

It is high time the policy makers in education allocated tertiary education as much focus as is given to basic and secondary educational institutions to ensure that these institutions are able to meet global standards. The short term approach to problems, especially those pertaining to education, must be replaced with one that has a long term focus and that is tailored at providing solutions to educational challenges that are sustainable and time tested.

Tertiary education must equip its students with the professional skills and competencies including teamwork, critical thinking, time consciousness, communication, problem solving, and several others that will see them succeed in their various job designations.

If the students have these skills upon completion, it will increase their employability, hence a more competitive advantage in the job market, and this is especially positive if we want to be a more globally oriented nation than we currently are. Those with an entrepreneurial drive will also not be left out, these will also be better equipped to set up their own businesses and employ others while at it.
President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo has reiterated his determination to stop the over reliance on foreign partners to finance the country's budget by ensuring that the citizens do so with from their own resources.

"So you will be hearing a great deal about the Ghana that I am seeking with your support, that is a Ghana beyond aid. A Ghana that will free itself from a mindset of dependence, of charity, of aid and handouts.The Ghana that is going to mobilize it's own resources to develop and confront it's own problems", he stated.

The President said this while addressing the Ghanaian community at a Town hall meeting at the New York University in New York on Friday (June 9, 2017).This was on the side lines of United Nations High Level Oceans Conference that brought him to the USA, for the first time since he became President.

Bubbling with confidence,the Ghanaian Leader maintained that "We are capable of doing it. We have the means to do it".

Even though the country is grateful for the support of her benefactors, he pointed out that "frankly I don't think that is the path Ghanaians should be committed to, that one will depend on others to be able to finance our budget, for others to set our priorities. We have to finance our own budget and set our priorities for ourselves.".

President Akufo Addo gave a picture of various efforts and strategies that his administration was using to make the Ghanaian economy a robust one, eliminate corruption and strengthen existing public institutions and to generate employment, especially for the youth.

"The matter of corruption in our society, in our public life cannot be ignored by any of us, if indeed we want to see a more prosperous future for the country', he noted.

Regarding the establishment of the Office of Special Prosecutor, the President said that it will be independent of the executive,and shall be chosen in a transparent manner and also have security of tenure.

He disclosed that a bill to set up that Special Prosecutor's office will be placed before Parliament before it rise and hoped that it will be passed by the middle of July.

On the declaration of assets by public Office holders, he said Parliament will be asked to consider the possibility of making the assets public.

To forestall the abuse in the public procurement, he said that the issue of sole sourcing was being replaced by competitive bidding, to eliminate corruption.To this end, he said a Minister of State has been assigned to ensure that there is transparency in the system.

He announced that a National Identification system that will cover all Ghanaians will be re-launched by the end of this year for purposes of planning and information.

Expressing total support for the on-going nationwide campaign against illegal mining (galamsey) that had resulted in polluting the country's rivers and destroyed the environment, President Akufo Addo .repeated that that cannot happen or continue to happen in the country.

He said that very soon those engaged in the galamsey will be engaged to fill the holes created.and also to clean the countryside, pointing out that 'We are not doing this because

we are against mining,after all the minerals have to be extracted, but what we are not going to allow is compromising the future of our country, drying up of our rivers, pollution of our atmosphere by illegal small scale mining. We are not going to allow that.

The moment the President mentioned Representation of the Peoples Amendment Law (ROPAL), it was greeted with shouts of acceptance but he quickly asked them to intensify their advocacy power to get the Electoral Commission to comply with the law that was passed more than eight years ago. He said under the constitution, it is ony the EC that make it happen.

He also invited the Ghanaian Diaspora to attend the Diaspora Summit scheduled for Accra in July 5 to 8 to map out how to mobilize and utilize their expertise and capital for the development of the country.

Welcoming the President and his entourage, Ambassador Martha Pobee, Permanent Representative to the United Nations said the Mission and Consulate General in New York have active engagements with the Ghanaian diaspora and recognized their dynamic and enterprising potentials for the development of Ghana.

Dr. Cyballe Raver, Vice Provost, on behalf of the,NYU, said that from their research work, the outlook for Ghana is vibrant and exciting.

The Moderator for the event, Prof Yaw Nyarko,mentioned that the institution was really involved in Ghana. For example, he said that the NYU has a campus at Labone in Accra, and had been providing technical support to farmers in Ghana, whilst a Member of the NYU faculty was helping with emergency medicine,apart from others giving technical advice to the Ghana Commodities Exchange Project team.

Before the event a minute's silence was observed in memory of the late Major Maxwel Mahama, who was cruelly murdered by some people of Denkyira buase.

Among those present at the event were the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister Shirley Ayekor Botchwey,Ms. Otiko Djaba, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms. Patricia Appiagyei, Deputy Minister of Environment, and other top government officials.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has ruled out any expectations that the irrigation dams promised all villages in northern Ghana by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) before it recaptured power in 2016 would be constructed this rainy season.

The statement, made Friday at the Bolgatanga Central Mosque when Dr. Bawumia took his nationwide Ramadan tour to the Upper East region, comes as pressure mounts on the ruling NPP to without delay deliver the change it promised Ghanaians before the 2016 polls.

As you are seeing, we are starting the one district-one factory. After the rains are over, we will start the one village-one dam because we cannot start digging dams in the rainy season. Nana Akufo-Addo says thank you. And we are at work to deliver on the promises that he has made, he said.

He also said, By the grace of God we will start the free senior secondary school education in September, this year. Similarly, we will start paying teacher and nursing trainee allowances again from September, this year. We are asking for peace in Ghana. We are asking for peace between all the religions- Christians and Muslims- to live together very peacefully as we have continued to do.

The NPPs One Village-One Dam campaign policy drew public jeers in 2016 particularly from the National Democratic Congress, NDC, who, whilst holding the reins of power, viewed the campaign promise as gimmicky and undoable, considering the huge cluster of villages strewn across the northern sector and the cost involved in constructing just one dam.

Akufo-Addo is a man of his word  Veep

Certainly aware of the open distrust a significant section of Ghanaians has continued to show in the NPPs emphatic promises, the Vice President told the crowd at the mosque President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would not go back on his word.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a man of his word. Hes a man who keeps his promise. Hes a man who has sympathy for the suffering of the Ghanaian masses. And when he said if given the opportunity he would establish the Zongo Development Fund to help the people in the zongos, hes actually done exactly that. He has allocated Gh290 million Ghana cedis to help the Zongo Development Fund, and this would be beginning this year.

The passage of the Zongo Development Law this year would make sure that funds are allocated for the budgets for this Fund and we will see a lot of development in the zongos. He promised that he would bring free senior secondary school education so that none of our kids [would] be left behind. Regardless of tribe, regardless of religion, as long as you are Ghanaian, you would go to secondary school free under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and this government and hopefully under any government as we put this policy in place, Dr. Bawumia stressed.

Purpose of Ramadan Tour

Fridays trip to the Upper East region, according to Dr. Bawumia, was meant to show appreciation for a role the Holy Month of Ramadan played in the electoral victory that came the NPPs way in 2016.

He noted that the struggles that gave the party victory had their roots in the prayers offered during the holy month last year and that it was only proper to use the same holy month this year again to highlight the impact of those prayers.

This tour fundamentally is to say thank you to our Muslim brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, who helped us so much to elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP. We are also extending the same thanks to all Ghanaians of all religions.

We are here because it is the Ramadan time. During the last Ramadan, I was here to plead for support. Now that by the grace of God Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is president, we have to follow the same path, [which] we followed to plead for that support, to thank everybody wholeheartedly for their support. We are telling our people that they have given us a great task and they should help us to execute that task. We cannot do it alone. They should continue to pray for us, the Vice President said.
Imzouren (Morocco) (AFP) - Moroccan police have detained four people in northern Morocco, an official and an activist said, as protests continued for a second week in the neglected Rif region.

"There have been three arrests in the past 24 hours," an official source said, without identifying those detained.

A local activist said six people had been brought in for questioning -- "three in the city of Al-Hoceima and three in nearby areas".

A leading protest figure was detained Saturday afternoon near his home in Al-Hoceima, a source close to the protesters and the official source said.

El Mortada Iamrachen was seen as a moderate voice in the grassroots Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi, or "Popular Movement".

The mainly Berber Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the gruesome death of a fishmonger in Al-Hoceima last year.

Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death in a rubbish truck in October as he tried to prevent the destruction of swordfish which had been confiscated because it was caught out of season.

Calls for justice snowballed into a wider social movement led by Al-Hirak demanding development, an end to corruption and jobs for the Rif.

Demonstrators have rallied nightly in Al-Hoceima and the nearby town of Imzouren since the arrest of Al-Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi on May 29 and the subsequent arrests of dozens more.

Eighty-six people have been charged, including with "undermining internal security".

The Moroccan press has reported families have banded together to start a group to campaign for their release.

Protesters have gathered at night after breaking their fast as they mark the month of Ramadan during which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till sunset.

Protesters gathered in Al-Hoceima late Saturday without incident, though numbers were lower than in previous days.

Around 500 people marched in protest in Imzouren, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Al-Hoceima, an AFP photographer said.

"We are all Zefzafi", demonstrators shouted, demanding the detainees be freed, in a protest that was peaceful.

The previous night, protesters had clashed with security forces in Imzouren.

The Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.

King Mohamed VI relinquished some of his near-absolute control through constitutional reforms following the 2011 protests.
By Alexander Nyarko Yeboah

Tema June 9, GNA - A man in his thirties lost his life in a shoot-out with the Tema police patrol team, Mr. Joseph Benefo Darkwah, Public Relations Officer

(PRO) for the Tema Regional Police Command, told journalists.

Mr. Darkwah said that the patrol team chanced upon a group of young men smoking dried leaves at about 10:30pm on Thursday at a spot known as 'Top Ten Club' close to Banners of Grace Ministries, Tema.

He said one of the men fired a gun twice at the Police in an attempt to escape interrogation and hit a police constable in the process.

The Constable returned fire which hit the neck and shoulder of the suspect.

The PRO said the two were rushed to the Tema General Hospital where the Constable was treated and discharged, but the suspect was declared dead.

Mr. Darkwah said a search on the suspects revealed MP 22 pistol loaded with 15 rounds of live ammunitions and one live ammunition in the chamber.

They also retrieved four spent shells and 12 live ammunitions upon further search.

The Police also impounded a Kia Saloon car and two motorbikes.

The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Police Hospital Morgue awaiting autopsy, as the Tema Regional Command begins a full scale investigation into the incident.

GNA
11.06.2017 LISTEN

By Laudia Sawer

Tema, June 11, GNA - Members of the Girls United Club from the Tema International School (TIS) have mingled and interacted with 39 pregnant teenagers at Tema Manhean (Newtown).

The interaction was to afford the club members the opportunity to learn from their cohorts the challenges of teenage pregnancy while encouraging them to make the best out of their situation.

It was facilitated by the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate and the Tema Manhean Health Centre Adolescent Corner.

Miss Anna-Maria Poku, a member of the club, told the Ghana News Agency that the one year old club was made up of 15 teenage girls aged 16 and 17 who had the vision to identify problems that deprived adolescents faced.

Miss Poku added that after attending some conferences to get information about the plight of such adolescents, club members decided to raise funds and embark on their first outreach programme.

The Girls United Club members after interacting with the 39 pregnant teenagers who were aged between 13 and 19, donated baby clothes, diapers and maternity pads to aid them on the pregnancy journey.

They expressed their amazement at the strength of their pregnant colleagues as according to them until they interacted with them, they had the perception that such girls would be dejected and depressed.

They encouraged them to return to school or acquire a vocation after giving birth to enable them to provide a better future for their children.

Girls United Club members also implored adolescents to abstain from sex or use contraceptives especially condoms if they want to be sexually active to ensure that they achieved their dream careers.

They described as unfortunate that most of the girls were either drugged, or had to agree to indulge in sex because of financial difficulties and parental neglect.

They therefore appealed to parents to do all they could to ensure that they provided the basic needs of their children while urging government to formulate policies that would help cater for such children.

Dr John Yabani, Tema Metropolitan Health Director, who engaged the club members prior to their interaction with the pregnant teenagers, said it was heartwarming to realise that the club members actually concerned about the plight of others.

Dr Yabani said the adolescent period was a time that most youths indulged in social vices especially sexual activities and drug use as they tried to explore and get answers to their life questions.

He indicated that to equip the adolescents in Tema with the needed information to guide them into making informed decisions, his outfit was embarking on a number of activities including establishment of adolescent health clubs in Junior and Senior High Schools, adolescent friendly corners in some communities and health centres.

He also noted that to encourage pregnant girls to access health care and not shy away from the hospitals due to stigmatization, special antenatal centres had been put in place for them to access the needed training on how to handle their pregnancies.

GNA
11.06.2017 LISTEN

Assin-Manso (C/R), June 11, GNA - Some unidentified thieves, on Thursday evening raided the office of the Assin South National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and made away with a number of items.

District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Okyere Andam who confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the thieves made away with five computers with their accessories, documents and other valuables.

He said the police received a distress call from the Assemblyman for the area about the incident but only to rush to the scene to notice that the thieves had finished their operation and had absconded.

According to him, the thieves forced the burglar proof of a window opened to create an entrance into the main Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre, which afforded them the opportunity to ransack the rooms.

ASP Andam assured that the Police would do all that it could to arrest the criminals and appealed to members of the community to help the police by volunteering vital information that might lead to the arrest of those behind the theft.

Some staff of NHIS office told the GNA that work had come to a standstill since all their documents and computers which contained vital data had been stolen.

Mr Derrick Owusu Ambrose, the District Chief Executive who visited the scene together with the Co-ordinating Director declared their unflinching support to the police to arrest the criminals to face the full rigorous of the law.

GNA

By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
11.06.2017 LISTEN

Ave-Dakpa (VR), June 11, GNA - The Akatsi North Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region, has marked the Party's 25th anniversary with a durbar.

They also honoured 196 polling agents for the 2016 general election at Ave-Dakpa.

The agents received certificates of recognition for their duties during the elections and urged to keep faith with the Party.

Mr James Gunu, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area who initiated the constituency celebration, entreated followers of NDC to maintain high hopes because the Party would not remain in opposition for long.

He said the ruling New Patriotic Party lacked the zeal to turn around the country's economic fortunes round through the highly needed infrastructural build-up, done by the NDC.

Mr Gunu said the NDC had done so much for the country in 25 years and asked the supporters to work harder into the future.

Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, Member of Parliament (MP) for the area described the zonal branches of the Party as its engine room, and said the focus was now on strengthening them.

The MP asked the members to prepare for pending branch, constituency, regional, national and presidential candidates elections.

Dr Stephen Torkpo, a member of the Party called for an end to the blame games to re-mobilise and strengthen the Party for 2020. GNA

By Dominic Adoboli, GNA
Washington (AFP) - US forces carried out a strike in conjunction with Somali special forces Sunday against Al-Shabaab approximately 185 miles (300 kilometers) southwest of Mogadishu, according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon said the operation occurred at approximately 0600 GMT "in coordination with regional partners as a direct response to Al-Shabaab actions, including recent attacks on Somali forces."

Somalia's president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said Somalian special forces participated in the raid against a training center for the extremist group's militants near Sakow, a district in the Middle Juba region.

"The mission which was successfully ended destroyed an important training camp where the group used to organize violent operations," said Mohamed. "This undermines their ability to mastermind more attacks."

Neither statement mentioned casualties.

The Pentagon statement emphasized that the strike was carried out as part of US President Donald Trump's March authorization of American forces "to conduct legal action against Al-Shabaab within a geographically defined area of active hostilities in support of (the) partner force in Somalia."

In early May an American soldier was killed in a nighttime raid in Somalia.

It appeared to be the first US military death in combat there since the infamous events of "Black Hawk Down" 24 years ago, when 18 American servicemen died in what is called the Battle of Mogadishu.

US special forces have been deployed in Somalia for years. Drone and missile strikes have also been used against Shabaab commanders and foot soldiers.

Since 2007, Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda linked group, has been fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government in Somalia.
Jojo Quayson the author

11.06.2017 LISTEN

"At his best man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst" -Aristotle

In his reaction to the gruesome murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, Dr Mensah Otabil, the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, indicated that mob action was a reflection of Ghanaian culture, but some personalities including Nana Obiri Yeboah, a lecturer, and also Malik Kweku Baako Junior, the ace journalist, expressed their disagreements to such a thought.

But I am in sync with Dr Otabil's position. Mob action is a societal norm in Ghana and has become an acceptable practice. As a matter of fact, the lynching of Captain Mahama has attracted national interest because of his personality and position, otherwise it would have been a normal case. Just last week, a man was lynched because he was suspected to have stolen GHc1.50 and the picture of the deacesed and killers wielding weapons was splashed on social media, but nobody has raised a finger at it.

The word Culture means the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society. And no one can convince me that lynching or mob action has not been part of us. As a matter of fact, some particular areas in Accra and Kumasi have been noted for such atrocities. They do not spare a suspect when the term 'julo', meaning thief, is mentioned. Some areas are classified a no go area because they will pounce on you with the slightest of suspicion, sometimes even in the full glare of the police. It will be strange and hypocrisy for any Ghanaian to portray mob action as alien in our country. I can bet that if a census is conducted right now to ascertain how many Ghanaians have heard and witnessed mob action, hundred per cent of Ghanaians will attest to the fact that lynching has become a societal norm.

We all witnessed the video of how the innocent, noble and handsome gentleman, Captain Mahama was cruelly, calamitously and attrociously murdered and crucified, by the same people he had been assigned to protect.

It reminds me of the incident of Jesus Christ, who came to save mankind but rather, man turned against him and crucified Him.

Captain Mahama was harmless yet the multitude tore him to pieces; he had a gun to have gone down with one or two of the attackers but he chose to fall alone, and personally, I consider the Captain as a martyr who died to rescue people from mob action. His death therefore should be used as a platform to save numerous innocent people that suffer such inhuman acts.

The death of Captain Mahama is a very painful one that reveberates in the minds of every Ghanaian, but as far as I am concerned, it will be more painful if we do not use his death to correct the injustices. An Ethiopian proverb goes like this, "If the one who stabbed forgets, the one who got stabbed never forgets."

I want to opine that Captain Mahama cannot be compared to Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, but we can draw some striking similarities. Jesus Christ came to save His own, but the same turned against Him. John 1:11. He came to His own,[c] and His own[d] did not receive Him.

The captain left his lovely family for national duty for the crusade against galamsey (illegal mining) to save the environment for the youth, because the future of the environment belongs to them. The ongoing galamsey is enriching a few but endangering the environment to the detriment of the youth.

Jesus Christ was hanged in between robbers even though He was righteous and sinless. Captain Mahama was pronounced an armed robber by the community without any justification.

He was labelled a thief, a robber, when he was, indeed, on a national assignment to protect our resources, our community, the people in the community, but the same youth who will be the beneficiaries of his effort perpetrated such heinous crime on him.

Jesus Christ did not touch or hit any of the attackers even though He had all the powers to prevent and over-power the crowd supernaturally. Peter attempted to fight on His behalf by slashing off the ear of one of the attackers but Jesus quickly intervened and stopped Peter and actually restored the severed ear to the soldier.

Luke 28:51: But Jesus answered and said, Permit even this. And He touched his ear and healed him.

52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

Captain Mahama had the mastery to, at least, go down with few of the attackers with his gun, but chose to die alone.

Captain Mahama chose to die alone without spilling a blood.

Jesus Christ tried to demonstrate to them who He was, the King of Kings, Captain of Isreal Host, but no one tried to decipher or figure out. It is still surprising that with all the miracles and great things Jesus did, none of the attackers really connected or realised that He was not an ordinary being. At a point, King Pilate attempted to enquire if he was the King of the Jews as proclaimed, and Jesus affirmed, "you have said so", yet they ignored and focused on killing him.

Captain Mahama was on his heels, fleeing from his attackers and yet trying to draw the attention of the attackers to who he was but they ignored his pleadings. I get the impression, he even tried to flash his ID card but the attackers ignored that too. He eventually surrendered but the attackers were poised to spill his blood.

His death should significantly be a sort of atonement to save innocent masses that are slaughtered in the name of 'instant justice'.

When I was thirteen years old, I used to travel on Saturdays from Teshie to Osu, to help my aunt sell her food stuff that she brings from the village. It was a routine exercise, as we leave early in the morning and return late in the evening.

During one of such trips, a cousin and I left my aunti's place at 5:00p.m. and came to the Anarhor Bus Stop, at Osu, in front of the erstwhile Kwabre Clinic, to wait for commercial vehicle ('trotro'). At the time, getting trotro from Osu to Teshie was very difficult, it sometimes took you 2 to 3 hours to land such buses, and when the trotro came to drop a passenger, the crowd waiting to board it would rush to the entrance of the vehicle to fill the space. Such moves created struggles and crashes.

On this occasion we waited for a while and a trotro arrived. As usual, we all rushed to the bus struggling to enter it. Then all of a sudden, I had a deafening slap, then a second slap from a strange man, who started shouting 'julo', pointing at me and explaining that I tried to pick his pocket. The crowd waiting for the bus started rushing to my direction, obviously to come and finish me, which was the norm at the time. I, as well as my cousin, was trying to explain myself, but our voices could not convince the cruciferous / vociferous crowd as the strange man held me firmly in his grips. I realised the danger because I have seen people brutalized in such situations but at the same moment, I saw a hefty woman come to the scene and forcifully challenge the man to prove the accusation. She was an orange seller at the bus stop who knew me because we usually bought from her and knows my auntie as well. I can still remember her strong voice "No, this boy is never a thief, I know him very well, he is a student, prove or leave the boy alone," she said and held the man and the crowd abandoned their bid. She shouted and called the sellers around in Ga language, thus "nye baa eee, atao ni ayi brofonyo bi le," meaning, 'neighbours, help, they want to beat the white lady's son". Immediately, the ladies around came around and I was freed. My aunt is light skinned so they call her 'brofonyo' which means white woman, and because she sold her stuff in the neighbourhood, they knew her.

Even though the event was over thirty two years ago, the thought keeps surfacing in my mind like a cork in water.

Now posthumously promoted major, Major Mahama is no more but we, as a nation, should not in any way allow his death to be just a part of the mortality statistics for 2017 or any other period but a constant reminder of the need to uproot the demon of instant justice from our great nation, and the canker of galamsey and its related evils of environmental degradation and destruction of our water bodies. I believe when we do that successfully, we would have helped Major Maxwell Adam Mahama to have accomplished the mission for which he was killed at Denkyira Obuasi with the serendipity of his death being the forceful call to attention the need for the State Ghana to deal ruthlessly with instant justice or mob action.

While at it, no Ghanaian must be deceived that lynching is alien to our country. Probably its original or actual meaning of hanging a suspect without giving him any hearing is what is confusing people. The truth is that long before the white man colonised us and introduced the expression 'instant justice or mob action to us as part of his language, suspects were suffering instant justice. In fact, it was worse in our case because we even did not highlight the fact that somebody should first be considered a suspect or innocent until proven guilty. For us everybody associated with a crime is guilty. Stories of 'thieves' and other offenders being beaten abounded in our communities before modern times. It is modernity that is criminalising it and so it appears to be new in Ghana Whatever the case may be, we should collectively fight it.

John 15:13 (AMP)

No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.

Jojo Quayson
Rabat (AFP) - Thousands of people took to the streets of Rabat Sunday demanding that authorities release the leaders of a protest movement that has rocked Morocco's neglected northern Rif region for months.

The demonstrators marched along Mohamed VI avenue in downtown Rabat in a procession nearly a kilometre (less than a mile) long, chanting "Free the prisoners!", an AFP correspondent said.

An interior ministry source said between 12,000 and 15,000 people took part in Sunday's protest which was organised by several organisations including Morocco's most popular Islamist group.

The tolerated but unrecognised Al-Adl Wal Ihsane (Justice and Charity) organisation put the number of demonstrators in what it hailed as "a historic march" at one million.

Over the past two weeks authorities in the North African country have arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on Al-Hirak Al-Shaabi or "Popular Movement" protests in the Rif port of Al-Hoceima.

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in central Rabat on June 11, 2017, demanding the release of leaders of a protest movement in the neglected northern Rif region

Eighty-six people have been referred to the prosecution, among them 30 who have been charged with offences including "undermining internal security", and have been incarcerated.

Among them is Al-Hirak leader Nasser Zefzafi, who was among the first to be arrested on May 29.

On Sunday, many marchers held up portraits of Zefzafi, and his father also briefly joined the protest alongside families of other arrested activists.

The demonstrators also waved the flags of the Amazigh, Morocco's Berber community.

The mainly Berber Rif region has been rocked by social unrest since the gruesome death of a fishmonger in Al-Hoceima last October.

Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death in a rubbish truck as he tried to prevent the destruction of swordfish which had been confiscated after being caught out of season.

Calls for justice snowballed into a wider social movement led by Al-Hirak demanding development, an end to corruption and jobs for the Rif.

Protesters from the Rif movement Al-Hirak chant during a demonstration against corruption, repression and unemployment in the northern Moroccan town of Imouzren

On Sunday, the demonstrators also called for "freedom, dignity and social justice".

The Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.

King Mohamed VI relinquished some of his near-absolute control through constitutional reforms following the 2011 protests.

Sunday's demonstration in Rabat came after an official and an activist said police had detained four more people in the Rif at the weekend.

Demonstrators have rallied nightly in Al-Hoceima and the nearby town of Imzouren since Zefzafi's arrest.

The Moroccan press has reported families joining together to start a group to campaign for the release of detainees.

Protesters gathered at night after breaking their fast during the month of Ramadan when Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till sunset.

Protesters gathered in Al-Hoceima late Saturday without incident, although their numbers were lower than in previous days.

Around 500 people marched in Imzouren, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Al-Hoceima, an AFP photographer said.

"We are all Zefzafi," demonstrators shouted, demanding that detainees be freed.

The previous night, protesters had clashed with security forces in Imzouren.
A protester in Tunis openly smokes a cigarette and holds a placard reading in French "Why does it bother you if you fast and I eat?" during Ramadan on June 11, 2017. By Sofienne HAMDAOUI (AFP)

11.06.2017 LISTEN

Tunis (AFP) - Dozens of Tunisians demonstrated Sunday to demand the right to eat and drink in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and to protest against non-fasters being arrested.

There is no law against eating or drinking in public during Ramadan, but every year the issue comes to the fore in the North African country.

Tunisia's constitution guarantees "freedom of belief and conscience", but the state is also the "guardian of religion".

Following a call by the "Mouch Bessif" (Arabic for "Not against our will") group, protesters in central Tunis shouted that "Individual freedom is guaranteed by the constitution!"

One man openly smoking a cigarette -- this is also deemed unacceptable during Ramadan daylight hours -- held a placard in French that asked: "Why does it bother you if you fast and I eat?"

Demonstrators also protested against the arrest of people who were not fasting.

At the beginning of June, four men were sentenced to a month in jail for "public indecency" after eating outside during daylight.

"We're protesting about lawsuits against non-fasters... Whoever wants to fast can fast, but whoever doesn't want to shouldn't have to," demonstrator Karim Chair told AFP.

Since the 2011 revolution there have been calls for the right not to fast, but this was the first time such a demonstration has taken place in Tunisia.

"I fast but I came to join this protest and call with these people for respect for the freedom of belief and conscience," said another demonstrator, Kamel Jalouli.

Most cafes and restaurants in Tunisia close during the day in Ramadan, and those that open do so discreetly.

As this year's fasting month began, a media-oriented preacher went round cafes open during the day to record footage of clients and shame them in a move that was heavily criticised on social networks.
Conakry (AFP) - African Union chairman Alpha Conde on Sunday put himself forward as a mediator in the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries, urging dialogue after several African nations also recalled their ambassadors to Doha.

Conde, who is president of Guinea which has close ties to Saudi Arabia, said in a letter to King Salman he had observed with "sadness" the feud between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, which he described as "brother countries" of his Muslim-majority country.

African nations including Chad, Niger and Senegal have recalled their ambassadors to Doha in recent days, while Mauritania has cut relations entirely.

Saudi Arabia finances the building of mosques, schools and development projects in several majority-Muslim African nations.

Conde offered as AU chairman to "mediate... in order to find a swift and peaceful solution to this crisis."

"Only dialogue will allow us to reach a real compromise," Conde added, while praising the "wisdom" and "know-how" of the Saudi king in battling extremism.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others accuse Qatar of supporting extremist groups, an assertion since backed by US President Donald Trump.

Qatar strongly rejects the allegations and has said it is open to talks on ending the dispute.

The crisis has raised deep concerns of instability in the region and on Sunday Kuwait's foreign minister said his country would continue efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis.
On May 30, many people in southeastern Nigeria will remembered those who lost their lives in one of Africas most brutal wars.

More than one million people died during Nigerias 1967 to 1970 civil war known as the Biafra War The conflict erupted after leaders from southeastern Nigeria declared that the region would secede from Nigeria.

Memories of the war remain strong for those who lived through it.

The war gained widespread global attention once pictures of starving Biafran children were published in the international media.

The Nigerian government had formed a blockade, making it difficult for aid groups to reach Biafra. Many children starved and developed a severe condition that became known as kwashiorkor.

The war ended with the surrender of Biafra in January 1970. Biafrans returned to Nigeria and the country once known as Biafra, ceased to exist.

But in recent years, the pro-Biafra movement has resurged.

Supporters say the grievances that led to the war have still not been addressed.

Here are 4 major signs that the push for Biafra is beginning to gain grounds.

1. Survey reports

A recent survey released by a Nigerian research group revealed that the pro-Biafra movement is gaining support, particularly among young people who did not experience the war.

The rise could also be a reaction for a region that has received little infrastructural development from the federal government.

I am supporting it [Biafra] because that is who I am, says senior university student Sopuru Afam.

Nigeria is an artificial creation by the British. I am not a Nigerian and I have never been and I never will. Buhari hates our people, Afam added.

2. Sit home order compliance

IPOBs deputy, Uche Mefor, told VOA the Nigerian government cannot ignore the voice of Biafrans.

He said May 30 will be a day for the world to recognize because pro-Biafrans will unite in peaceful resistance.

Some pro-Biafrans will stay in their homes while others plan to join street rallies.

The compliance on that day will indeed convince the world that the people of Biafra are actually ready for their self-governance. We have our right to self-existence and it doesnt matter what anybody things about it, he told VOA.

READ ALSO: 90 day quit notice to Igbos: Acting president Osinbajo finally speaks 90 day quit notice to Igbos: Acting president Osinbajo finally speaks

Few years ago, the Biafra agitation would have been looked down upon, but now the youths have made it a serious business

Just like Mefor said, so many south-easterners stayed home on May 30, sending a very strong message to Nigeria and the world at large.

3. Kanu's widespread acceptance

Following the two years he spent in DSS custody, Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB has gained massive popularity, acceptance and support from his people.

To many he is already a hero in the likes of Ojukwu, Mandela and Martin Luther King Jnr.

He was made leader of the Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA) while in prison, and on regaining his freedom many now look up to as both spiritual and political leader.

There many who have come from far and nigh, just to speak to the radio Biafra director, they see him as the new voice of the Igbo people.

4. The push for referendum

There might have been a time when the issue of a referendum was not on the table, but that time is not now anymore. Nigerians of different ethnic backgrounds are beginning to ask for a referendum, if only to get a lasting solution to the agitation for Biafra.

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Many Nigerians both the masses and the elites are beginning to raise the issue of a referendum, in a bid to find a peaceful resolution to the agitations born from the marginalization of people from the southeast.

Some are of the opinion that the Biafra agitation is just, however, the issue of secession will be open to referendum as no one will be forced into it.

Below is a Legit.ng video in which Acting President Yemi Osinbajo delivers a speech on the Biafra war.

Source: Legit.ng
Recently declassified secret files reveal so much about the Nigerian civil war, especially as regards Britains secret human right abuses.

The formerly secret files on the Nigerian civil war in the late 1960s show very clear British complicity in the Nigerian governments aggression against the region of Biafra, where an independence movement was struggling to secede from Nigeria.

Background to civil war

For those in Britain old enough to remember the war in Nigeria in the late 1960s, Biafra probably still conjures up images of starving children  the result of the blockade imposed by the Nigerian government in Lagos to defeat the secession of the eastern region, Biafra. For Biafrans themselves, the period was one of immense suffering  it is still not known how many died at this time as a direct result of the war and the blockade, but it is believed to be at least one million and as high as three million.

1. Ironsi was misunderstood

Ironsis decree in March 1966, which abolished the Nigerian federation and unified the federal and regional civil services, was perceived by many not as an effort to establish a unitary government but as a plot by the Ibo to dominate Nigeria.

Troops of northern origin, who dominated the Nigerian infantry, became increasingly restive and fighting broke out between them and Ibo soldiers in garrisons in the south.

In June, mobs in northern cities, aided by local officials, carried out a pogrom against resident Ibos, massacring several hundred people and destroying Ibo-owned property.

It was in this context that in July 1966 northern officers staged a countercoup during which Ironsi and other Ibo officers were killed. Lieutenant Colonel (later General) Yakubu Jack Gowon emerged as leader.

The aim of the coup was both to take revenge on the Ibos for the coup in January but also to promote the secession of the north, although Gowon soon pulled back from calling explicitly for this.

Gowon named himself as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and head of the military government, which was rejected by the military governor in the eastern region, Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu, who claimed, with some justification, that the Gowon regime was illegitimate.

Mark Curtis reports that throughout late 1966 and 1967 the tempo of violence increased. In September 1966 attacks on Ibos in the north were renewed with unprecedented ferocity, stirred up, eastern region officials believed, by northern political leaders.

Reports circulated that troops from the northern region had participated in the massacres. The estimated number of deaths ranged from 10,000 to as high as 30,000. More than one million Ibos returned to the eastern region in fear.

In January 1967 the military leaders met in Aburi, Ghana. By this time the eastern region under Ojukwu was threatening secession.

Many of Ojukwus eastern colleagues were now arguing that the massacres the previous September showed that the country could not be reunited amicably.

In a last minute effort at Aburi to hold Nigeria together, an accord was agreed that provided for a loose confederation of regions.

Gowon issued a decree implementing the Aburi agreement and even the northern region now favoured the formation of a multistate federation.

The federal civil service, however, vigorously opposed the Aburi agreement and sought to scupper it.

Ojukwu and Gowon then disputed what exactly had been agreed at Aburi, especially after the Federal Military Government (FMG) issued a further decree in March which was seen by Ojukwu as reneging on the FMGs commitment at Aburi to give the eastern region greater autonomy.

The new decree gave the federal government the right to declare a state of emergency in any region and to ensure that any regional government could not undermine the executive authority of the federal government.

Ojukwu then gave an ultimatum to Gowon that the eastern region would begin implementing its understanding of the Aburi agreement, providing for greater regional autonomy, by 31 March.

On 30 May 1967 Biafra declared independence and on 7 July the FMG began operations to defeat it.

It lasted until January 1970 as an extremely well-equipped Nigerian federal army of over 85,000 men supplied by Britain, the Soviet Union and few others, took on a volunteer Biafran army, much of whose equipment initially came from captured Nigerian supplies and which only later was able to procure relatively small quantities of arms from outside.

2. Biafra was legit

Yet there appears to be no reason why Biafra, with its 15 million people, could not have established a viable, independent state.

Biafrans argued that they were a people with a distinctive language and culture, that they were Christian as opposed to the Muslim communities lumped into the Nigeria federal state, which had, after all, been a colonial creation.

In fact, Biafra was also one of the most developed regions in Africa with a high density of roads, schools, hospitals and factories.

The struggle for an independent state certainly appeared to have the support of the majority of Biafrans, whose sense of nationhood deepened throughout the war as enormous sacrifices were made to contribute to the war effort.

What is crystal clear is that the wishes of the Biafrans were never a major concern of British planners; what they wanted, or what Nigerians elsewhere in the federation wanted, was simply not an issue for Whitehall.

There is simply no reference in the government files, that I have seen, to this being a consideration. The priorities for London were maintaining the unity of Nigeria for geo-political interests and protecting British oil interests.

This meant that Gowons FMG was backed right from the start. But the files also reveal astonishing levels of connivance with the FMGs aggression.

3. Nigerian aggression, British support

British interests are very clearly revealed in the declassified files. Our direct interests are trade and investment, including an important stake by Shell/BP in the eastern Region.

There are nearly 20,000 British nationals in Nigeria, for whose welfare we are of course specially [sic] concerned, the Foreign Office noted a few days before the outbreak of the war. Shell/BPs investments amounted to around 200 million, with other British investment in Nigeria accounting for a further 90 million.

It was then partly owned by the British government, and the largest producer of oil which provided most of Nigerias export earnings. Most of this oil was in the eastern region.

Commonwealth Minister George Thomas wrote in August 1967 that: The sole immediate British interest in Nigeria is that the Nigerian economy should be brought back to a condition in which our substantial trade and investment in the country can be further developed, and particularly so we can regain access to important oil installations.

Thomas further outlined the primary reason why Britain was so keen to preserve Nigerian unity, noting that our only direct interest in the maintenance of the federation is that Nigeria has been developed as an economic unit and any disruption of this would have adverse effects on trade and development.

If Nigeria were to break up, he added: We cannot expect that economic cooperation between the component parts of what was Nigeria, particularly between the East and the West, will necessarily enable development and trade to proceed at the same level as they would have done in a unified Nigeria; nor can we now count on the Shell/BP oil concession being regained on the same terms as in the past if the East and the mid-West assume full control of their own economies.

Ojukwu initially tried to get Shell/BP to pay royalties to the Biafran government rather than the FMG.

The oil companies, after giving the Biafrans a small token payment, eventually refused and Ojuwku responded by sequestering Shells property and installations, forbidding Shell to do any further business and ordering all its staff out. They have much to lose if the FMG do not achieve the expected victory, George Thomas noted in August 1967.

A key British aim throughout the war was to secure the lifting of the blockade which Gowon imposed on the east and which stopped oil exports.

In the run-up to Gowons declaration of war, Britain had made it clear to the FMG that it completely supported Nigerian unity.

READ ALSO: We are in a marriage and must learn to live in peace - Osinbajo

The British played a very key role in ensuring Nigeria has more sophisticated weapons as to gain advantage over the Biafra people

George Thomas had told the Nigerian High Commissioner in London at the end of April 1967, for example, that the Federal government had our sympathy and our full support but said that he hoped the use of force against the east could be avoided.

By the time Gowon ordered military action in early July, therefore, Britain had refused Nigerian requests to be militarily involved and had urged Gowon to seek a peaceful solution.

However, the Wilson government had also assured Gowon of British support for Nigerian unity at a time when military preparations were taking place. And Britain had also made no signs that it might cut off, or reduce, arms supplies if a military campaign were launched.

The new High Commissioner in Lagos, Sir David Hunt, wrote in a memo to London on 12 June that the only way of preserving unity [sic] of Nigeria is to remove Ojukwu by force.

He said that Ojukwu was committed to remaining the ruler of an independent state and that British interests lay in firmly supporting the FMG.

4. Weapon supplies

Before going to war, Gowon began what was to become a two and half year long shopping list of arms that the FMG wanted from Britain.

On 1 July he asked Britain for jet fighter/bomber aircraft, six fast boats and 24 anti-aircraft guns. We want to help the Federal Government in any way we can, British officials noted.

However, Britain rejected supplying the aircraft, fearing that they would publicly demonstrate direct British intervention in the war and, at this stage, also rejected supplying the boats.

London did, however, agree to supply the anti-aircraft guns and to provide training courses to use them.

he Deputy High Commissioner in Enugu, Biafras main city, noted that the supply of these anti-aircraft guns and their ammunition would be seen as British backing for the FMG and also that they were not entirely defensive weapons anyway since they could also take on an offensive role if mounted in an invasion fleet.

Nevertheless, the governments news department was instructed to stress the defensive nature of these weapons when pressed but generally to avoid publicity on their export from Britain.

High Commissioner Hunt said that it would be better to use civil aircraft to deliver these guns and secured agreement from the Nigerians that there would be no publicity in supplying them.

Faced with Gowons complaints about Britain not supplying more arms, Wilson also agreed in mid-July to supply the FMG with the fast patrol boats.

This was done in the knowledge that they would help the FMG maintain the blockade against Biafra. Wilson wrote to Gowon saying that we have demonstrated in many ways our support for your government as the legal government of Nigeria and our refusal to recognise the secessionists.

He also told him that Britain does not intend to put any obstacle in the way of orders for reasonable quantities of military material of types similar to those you have obtained here in the past.

Gowon replied saying that I have taken note of your concurrence for the usual purchases of arms supplies to continue and will take advantage of what is available now and others when necessary.

By early August Biafran forces had made major gains against the FMG and had invaded the mid-West region. Commonwealth Minister George Thomas noted that the chances of a clear-cut military decision being achieved by either side now look rather distant.

Rather, we are now faced with the probability of an escalating and increasingly disorderly war, with both sides shopping around for arms.

In this situation, he raised the option of Britain launching a peace offensive and halting all arms supplies. But this was rejected by David Hunt in Lagos and others since it would cause great resentment on the part of the FMG against the British government and be regarded as a hostile act.

Instead, the government decided to continue the flow of arms and ammunition of types previously supplied by Britain but to continue to refuse supplies of sophisticated equipment like aircraft and tanks.

The decision to continue arms exports was taken when it had already become clear in the behaviour of the Nigerian forces that any weapons supplied would be likely to be used against civilians.

It was also at a time when Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith was making renewed attempts to push for peace negotiations after having been rebuffed by Gowon in a visit to Lagos in early July.

On 23 November 1967 the Cabinet agreed that a quick Federal military victory provided the best hope for an early end to the fighting. By early December, Commonwealth Secretary George Thomson noted that the lack of supplies and ammunition is one of things that are holding operations up.

He said that Britain should agree to the FMGs recent shopping list since a favourable response to this request ought to give us every chance of establishing ourselves again as the main supplier of the Nigerian forces after the war.

If the war ended soon, the Nigerian economy will start expanding and there should be valuable business to be done. Also: Anything that we now do to assist the FMG should help our oil companies to re-establish and expand their activities in Nigeria after the war, and, more generally should help our commercial and political relationship with postwar Nigeria.

He ended by saying he hoped Britain could supply armoured cars since they have proved of especial value in the type of fighting that is going on in Nigeria and the FMG are most impressed with the Saladins and Ferrets previously supplied by Britain.

As a result Britain supplied six Saladin armoured personnel carriers (APCs), 30 Saracen APCs along with 2,000 machine guns for them, anti-tank guns and 9 million rounds of ammunition.

Denis Healey, the Defence Secretary, wrote that he hoped these supplies will encourage the Nigerians to look to the United Kingdom for their future purchases of defence equipment.

By the end of the year Britain had also approved the export of 1,050 bayonets, 700 grenades, 1,950 rifles with grenade launchers, 15,000 lbs of explosives and two helicopters.

In the first half of the following year, 1968, Britain approved the export of 15 million rounds of ammunition, 21,000 mortar bombs, 42,500 Howtizer rounds, 12 Oerlikon guns, 3 Bofors guns, 500 submachine guns, 12 Saladins with guns and spare parts, 30 Saracens and spare parts, 800 bayonets, 4,000 rifles and two other helicopters.

At the same time Wilson was constantly reassuring Gowon of British support for a united Nigeria, saying in April 1968 that I think we can fairly claim that we have not wavered in this support throughout the civil war.

These massive arms exports were being secretly supplied  indeed, massively stepped up  at a time when one could read about the actions of the recipients in the newspapers. After the Biafran withdrawal from the mid-west in September 1967 a series of massacres started against Ibo residents.

5. War crimes

The New York Times reported that over 5,000 had been killed in various towns of the mid west. About 1,000 Ibos were killed in Benin city by local people with the acquiescence of the federal forces, the New York Review noted in December 1967.

Around 700 Ibo males were lined up and shot in the town of Asaba, the Observer reported in January 1968.

According to eyewitnesses the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten.

Nigerian officials informed the British government that the arms were important to them, but not vital. More important than the actual arms was the policy of the British government in supporting the FMG.

This support was now taking place amid public and parliamentary pressure for a halt to British arms to Lagos, with 70 Labour MPs, for example, filing a motion for such an embargo in May 1968. Yet the real extent of arms supplied by Britain was concealed from the public.

Throughout 1967 and 1968, Ministers had been telling parliament that Britain was essentially neutral in the conflict in that it was not interfering in the internal affairs of Nigeria but simply continuing to supply arms to Nigeria on the same basis as before the war.

READ ALSO: President Buhari will not return this weekend - FG sources

As the declassified files, referred to above, show, this was simply a lie. For example, Wilson told the House on 16 May 1968 that: We have continued the supply of arms by private manufacturers in this country exactly on the basis that it has been in the past, but there has been no special provision for the needs of the war.

One British file at this time  mid-1968  refers to deaths of between 70,000-100,000 by now as realistic.

The Red Cross was estimating around 600,000 refugees in Biafra alone and was trying to arrange desperately needed supplies to meet needs, estimated at around 30 tons a day.

Humanitarian suffering, especially starvation, was severe as a result of the FMGs blockade of Biafra. Pictures of starving and malnourished children went around the world.

The FMG was widely seen as indulging in atrocities and attacks against civilians, including apparently indiscriminate air strikes, in an increasingly brutal war in which civilians were the chief victims.

The files show that Wilson told Gowon on several occasions in private letters that he had successfully fended off public and parliamentary criticism in Britain, in order to continue to support the FMG  clearly showing where the governments priorities and sympathies lay.

As in Vietnam at the same time, Wilson was not going to be deflected by mere public opposition from backing ongoing aggression by key allies, whatever the level of atrocities and casualties.

With federal forces in control by mid-year of Port Harcourt, the most important southern coastal city, British officials noted that having gone this far in supporting the FMG, it would be a pity to throw away the credit we have built up with them just when they seem to have the upper hand.

Britain could not halt the supply of arms since apart from other considerations, such an outcome would seriously put at risk about 200m of British investments in non-Biafra Nigeria, George Thomson explained to Harold Wilson.

It was also at this point that British officials sought to counter widespread opposition to the Nigerian government by conniving with it to improve the presentation of its policies  another example of Britains past information operations described in earlier chapters.

Britain urged the FMG to convince the outside world that it was not engaged in genocide or a policy of massacre and to make public statements on the need for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Biafra.

What was needed was good and well-presented Nigerian policies which permit that support to continue. Wilson therefore urged a senior Nigerian government official, Chief Enahoro, to make a greater effort to ensure that their case did not go by default.

The files indicate that these presentational issues were much more important to British officials than any actual suffering of the Biafrans themselves.

London never did anything significant to press the FMG. British officials ruled out threatening to cut off, or reduce, arms exports to force the FMG to change policies.

The issue that most concerned the government at the time was that it would be forced to withdraw or reduce its support for Gowon in the face of public pressure.

This, therefore, had to be countered, and the FMG needed to make greater efforts.

Mark Curtis reports that by mid-1968 British officials had still had no contacts with Ojukwu and other Biafran leaders; offers from the latter had been refused.

So supportive was Wilson of the FMG that he even asked the Nigerians in advance whether they would have any difficulties if a British official met a Biafran representative.

Chief Enahoro replied that this would be acceptable provided the contacts were strictly private and had no formal character.

In early August FMG forces had retaken the whole of the southeastern and Rivers states and the easterners were now confined to a small enclave, blockaded from the outside world.

Commonwealth Minister Lord Shepherd minuted Harold Wilson saying, that 14 months since Biafran secession: Our support for the FMG finds us in the position in which we are on comparatively good terms with the side which is in an overwhelmingly advantageous position.

It is important, therefore, that we should not be manoeuvred by pressure of opinion inspired by Ojukwus publicity, into abandoning at this late stage all the advantages which our policy so far seemed likely to bring us.

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The same month, the Red Cross estimated 2-3 million people in dire need and a similar number were facing shortages of food and medical aid.

Wilson did not succumb to public pressure. The following month he told Gowon that: The British government for their part have steadfastly maintained their policy of support for Federal Nigeria and have resisted all suggestions in parliament and in the press for a change in that policy, particularly in regard to arms supplies.

The Foreign Office argued that the whole of our investments in Nigeria and particularly our oil interests in the south east and the mid-west will be at risk if we change our policy of support for the federal government.

In November, Lord Brockway and his committee for peace in Nigeria met Wilson and urged him to halt arms sales and to press for a ceasefire, estimating that there could be two million deaths from starvation and disease by the end of the year.

Wilson not only rebuffed this plea; the files reveal that two days later he agreed to supply Nigeria with aircraft for the first time in a covert deal.

The Nigerians had been pressing Britain to supply several jet aircraft, specifically to attack the runways used by Biafran forces (and which also needed to be used to deliver humanitarian aid).

Wilson said that Britain could not supply these directly but there were such aircraft in South Yemen and Sudan previously supplied by Britain.

The Nigerians, he said, should procure the aircraft from them which would not directly involve the British government.

The company to deal with in those two countries was Airwork Limited, which was later to be again used by the British government to conceal its involvement in its covert dirty war in Yemen.

The British government also agreed to put the Nigerians in touch with suitable pilots.

British arms supplies were stepped up again in November. Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart said the Nigerians could have 5 million more rounds of ammunition, 40,000 more mortar bombs and 2,000 rifles.

You may tell Gowon, Stewart instructed High Commissioner Hunt in Lagos, that we are certainly ready to consider a further application to supply similar arms in the future as well.

He concluded: if there is anything else for ground warfare which you think they need and which would help speed up the end of the fighting, please let us know and we will consider urgently whether we can supply it.

Other supplies agreed in November following meetings with the Nigerians included six Saladins and 20,000 rounds of ammunition for them, and stepped up monthly supplies of ammunition, amounting to a total of 15 million rounds additional to those already agreed. It was recognized by the Defence Minister that the scale of the UK supply of small arms ammunition to Nigeria in recent months has been and will continue to be on a vast scale.

The recent deal meant that Britain was supplying 36 million rounds of ammunition in the last few months alone. Britains willingness to supply very large quantities of ammunition, Lord Shepherd noted, meant drawing on the British armys own supplies.

At the same time the Foreign Office was instructing its missions around the world to lie about the extent of this arms supply.

It sent a guidance memo to various diplomatic posts on 22 November saying that we wish to discourage suggestions that the Nigerians, in their recent meetings with British officials, were seeking to negotiate a massive arms deal.

Rather, our policy of supplying in reasonable quantities arms of the kind traditionally supplied to Nigeria will be maintained but no change in the recent pattern of supplies is to be expected.

So great is the culture of lying at the Foreign Office, it appears that policy is even to keep its own officials in the dark.

By the end of 1968 Britain had sold Nigeria 9 million worth of arms, 6 million of which was spent on small arms. A quarter of Nigerias supplies (by value) had come from the Soviet Union, also taking advantage of the war for its own benefit and trying no doubt to secure an opening into Nigeria provided by this opportunity.

British officials consistently justified their arms supply by saying that if they stopped, the Russians would fill the gap.

It was Britains oil interests, however, that was the dominating factor in Whitehall planners reasoning.

6. British taught Nigeria tactics to finish off Biafra

Two senior British RAF officers secretly visited Nigeria in August 1969 to advise the Nigerians on how they could better prosecute the air war.

The main British interest, the files make clear, was to provide better protection of the oil installations, but the brief for the two officers stated that this impression should not be given to the Nigerians.

The officers subsequently advised the Nigerians on a variety of tactics on neutralisation of the rebel airstrips.

It was understood that destruction of the airstrips would put them out of use for daylight humanitarian relief flights. It is not clear whether such advice was put into action.

Britain armed the federal government all the way. In December 1969, just before the FMGs final push that crushed the Biafrans, Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart was calling for stepping up military assistance including the supply of more armoured cars.

These supplies by Britain, he wrote, have undoubtedly been the most effective weapons in the ground war and have spear-headed all the major federal advances.

Biafran resistance ended by mid January 1970. Wilson then sent another message to Gowon saying that your army has won a decisive victory and has achieved your great aim of preserving the unity and integrity of Nigeria, adding: As you know I and my colleagues have believed all along that you were right and we have never wavered in our support for you, your government and you policy, despite the violent attacks which have been made on us at times in parliament and in the press as well as overseas.

The toll of the war was counted in a report for the British High Commission at the end of the month.

It referred to a relief agency report estimating 1 1/2-2 million people were being fed with food relief supplies, around 700,000 of whom were refugees in camps dependent entirely on food aid.

Three million refugees were crowded into a 2,500 square kilometre enclave in which not only food but medicine, housing and clothing were in short supply.

The Biafran economy was shattered, cities were in ruins and schools, hospitals and transport facilities destroyed.

Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians react to the possibility of achieving the Biafra dream, as clamored for by many from the Southeast.

Source: Legit.ng
- President Buhari is in London for medical treatment but some Nigerians don't want him to return

- Laureatta Onochie claimed some people even pay religious leaders to pray for Buhari's death

- The presidential aide insisted it is because of the good work Buhari is doing

Mrs. Lauretta Onochie who is the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media has said some that some Nigerians want the president dead for their selfish interest.

In an interview with The Punch, the presidential aide spoke about the presidents health and his travel to London saying some Nigerians are praying for him to die due his determination to turn the country around for good.

READ ALSO: Biafrans have the right to defend themselves - Asari Dokubo

Onochie claimed some Nigerians even go to the extent of paying religious leaders and consulting marabouts so the president will die.

She said: We are in a nation where such things have become the order of the day. It is not about marabouts alone; it is also common in the religious circles where prayers are offered for terrible things to happen to people. Not just the President alone but it happens in our society. But what they do not know is that God does not answer such prayers. God does not listen to such prayers because he has plans for all of us and only that which he wills will happen to us."

Asked why they do, she said: Selfish interest. Some people may be standing trial. They are those who held sway and squandered our national wealth or arrogated them to themselves and their families alone. Some of them are in trouble with Nigerians, and so they feel that with President Buhari in the saddle, they will continue to be held accountable for the evil that they brought upon our nation. So the easiest thing for them to do will be, if they cannot lay their hands on the President to strangle him, the best thing is to do some spiritual things in order to get him out of the way so that the corruption that Nigerians hate will continue, so that the nepotism that has pushed us back will continue; so that tribalism and all the evils this government is trying to fight can continue.

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"But God who brought President Buhari and gave Nigerians the wisdom and courage to vote out the government that held sway over the looting of our common treasury, that same God is going to see our nation through.

Like I have already mentioned, there are people who are in trouble at the moment: they have court cases, some of them are being investigated and they will not want the President to be around for 2019. But he will definitely be.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians talking about President Buhari' achievement in two years.

Source: Legit.ng
- Professor Yemi Osinbajo liked a country's union to marriage with occasional quarells

- He urged Nigerians to learn with each other peacefully

- Senator Bukola Saraki also said the senate will work towards the unity of Nigeria

Acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has described Nigerias union as that of a marriage that occasionally has to deal quarrels but it is important for them to make up.

This Day reports that the acting president spoke in Ibadan at the wedding reception for the daughter of former interim national chairman of All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande.

READ ALSO: Igbos in north defy ultimatum, vow to continue with their business

Osinbajo spoke on the backdrop of the ongoing tension in the country over the issuance of a 90 day ultimatum to Igbos in the north to vacate.

Although the acting president did not specifically mention the northern youths or their Biafran counterpart, he hinted that people must learn to live in peace in spite of their differences.

He said: Today is a special one for Wale and Wura. Marriage is a very large institution that requires a lot of prayers.

It is the same marriage that nations go through. Our nation has been in marriage for a while now. Sometimes there are quarrels within that marriage. Sometimes there is disagreement. What is important is that you must remain together. You must remain united.

Senate president, Bukola Saraki also spoke at the ceremony saying there was no room for division.

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He said: The senate must stand clearly to defend one Nigeria. There is no room for division and we must live by example. We are not afraid of anybody

We must rise up to make a statement on what is happening. We will be failing if we do not do something that will reassure the people on the need for one Nigeria. We are greater being together than going our separate ways.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Professor Osinbajo speaking about Nigeria's unity

Source: Legit.ng
- Boko Haram insurgents on Saturday, June 10, raided a village in Adamawa state

- The terrorists were in search for food and medical supplies to support their depleted resources

- They were pushed back by local hunters and soldiers who later arrived

Kuda-kaya village in Madagali, Adamawa state was raided by Boko Haram terrorists to steal food and medical supplies, according to residents and security officials.

On Saturday, June 10, scores of the insurgents stormed the village which is about two kilometres from Gulak, the administrative headquarters of Madagali.

According to Premium Times, one resident said: They came in numbers and just started shooting sporadically into the air with their guns; and there was pandemonium as people started fleeing for their lives.

Our local hunters engaged them in a fierce battle. Presently we are hiding somewhere in a nearby village."

READ ALSO: 23 victims injured in Borno Boko Haram attack released from hospital

A local hunter added: They (Boko Haram) came at about 8 p.m. and wanted to take over the village which is just a stone thrown to Gulak. But we engaged them."

Yusuf Muhammad, the chairman of Madagali local government area, confirmed that the attack happened. He also said the insurgents were pushed back by the hunters and the soldiers who arrived promptly.

Mr Muhammad praised security agencies and local vigilantes, and asked for more support to secure the area.

Boko Haram raided Kuda-kaya, in the latest rampage to steal food and medical supplies, but our gallant soldiers and hunters had engaged them to a fierce battle.

They were on rampage to steal food and medical supplies; even on Friday the raided my fathers village Humbli, he said.

READ ALSO: READ the full story of the Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri on June 7 (photos)

An officer in the 28 Task-Force Battalion, Mubi, confirmed the incident.

All I can confirm to you now is that there was an attack on Kuda-kaya and Humbli villages; but we successfully repelled; no casualty on our side, the source said.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the faction of the Boko Haram belonging to Abu Shekau has reportedly claimed responsibility for the recent sneak attack on Maiduguri, Borno state.

In a video posted by Saharareporters on Saturday, June 10, the terrorists showed how they attacked the city.

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They displayed uniforms, shoes, identity cards, arms and ammunition the group claimed their fighters seized from the military during the attack.

Watch this video on Boko Haram and their nefarious activities:

Source: Legit.ng
- The Iteskiri Progress Club has said that Itsekiri people are not part of the Biafra planned map

- The group made this known through a statement signed by its chairman and secretary

- The statement notes that it's strange and unusual for the attachment of Itsekiri homeland in the map

The Itsekiri Progress Club, (IPC) Sunday, June 11, condemned the inclusion of Itsekiri people in the proposed Biafra map.

According to Vanguard, IPC denounced the inclusion of Itsekiri homeland in Warri Kingdom, Delta state, in the map.

Gbesimi Akperi and Chief Solomon Arenyeka respectively, the chairman and publicity secretary of the IPC said in a joint statement:

IPC condemns Itsekiri inclusion in Biafara map

READ ALSO: President Buhari will not return this weekend - FG sources

''The Itsekiri Progress Club condemns in its entirety the inclusion of the Itsekiri homeland of Delta State in the banded map of the proposed Biafra Republic by the advocates of this dream.

While we have no say in the aspirations of people to own and air their views and agitate for self-determination.

WE view seriously the inclusion of the land mass of the Itsekiris of Warri Kingdom in their self-serving agitations.

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The group said : strange and unusual the attachment of Itsekiri homeland in Biafra map as there is no cultural, geographical and linguistic affinity between the Itsekiris of Warri Kingdom of Delta state and the proposed Republic.

Meanwhile Legit.ng earlier reported that Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has warned Igbos against using Biafra to threaten Nigerians, saying they are not the superior tribe in the country.

That the second republic lawmaker who gave the warning also called on the Federal Government to stop Igbo elite from hiding under the guise of Biafra agitation to terrorise Nigerians.

Watch this Legit.ng TV Video of Biafra supporters celebrating 50 years remembrance of their beloved:

Source: Legit.ng
- Ohaneze Ndigbo has dissociated itself from Nnamdi Kanus IPOBs agitation to secede from Nigeria

- The group insisted that restructuring remains the solution to Nigerias problems

- The IPOB and MASSOB had been calling for secession of Igbo from Nigeria

Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-political organisation of the Igbo, has again dissociated itself from Independent People of Biafra (IPOB)s agitation to secede from Nigeria.

The IPOB is led by Nnamdi Kanu who was recently released by the Abuja High Court after he had spent over one year in detention.

READ ALSO: Atiku reveals top secret about MKO Abiola, June 12

The Punch reports that the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Ohanaeze, Chuks Ibegbu said that the group believes more in a restructured Nigeria; a Nigeria that has a level playing field for all sections of the country; a Nigeria that gives each part of the country a sense of belonging.

Legit.ng gathered that Ibegbu said: For example, in a country of 36 states, the South-East has five states and 95 local governments; while Kano State alone has 44 local governments. The other time, we saw the statistics of recruitment in the Department of State Services with Katsina State alone having 51 allocations. Yet, we have the Federal Character Commission.

Biafra: Ohaneze disowns Nnamdi Kanu, reveals solution to Nigerias problems

We want the FCC to investigate the recent recruitment in the DSS. Abia State got only six allocations; Enugu State, six; Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, got 51 slots. These are the sort of issues that elicit agitations.

When there is no level playing ground, do you think people will keep quiet? Abia State alone produces more graduates than 10 states in the North combined, yet you gave them only seven opportunities and gave Katsina 51.

"We are not saying Nigeria should be divided, but the issues these young men are talking about should be addressed. Instead, it seems they want people like Nnamdi Kanu to shut up without addressing the issues, judging by the bail conditions (they gave him).

He said that the issue of secession should be forgone, adding that what Nigeria needs now is restructuring.

Forget about the issue of secession or no secession; the fundamental issue we are talking about is restructuring of the country. There is the need to look into the more than 200 recommendations in the 2014 Confab report. Restructuring is the only solution to the problems of the country.

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With restructuring, even the issue of corruption would be addressed. What generates corruption? When the system is suffocating people, when the system is not properly arranged, people will be stealing here and there. You cannot stop corruption by force. Even the issue of lopsided appointments is corruption. We have to address the fundamental issues.

Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo asked Federal Government should treat the Northern youths who issued three months quit notice to Igbos in the north should be treated like Nnamdi Kanu.

Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians react to the possibility of achieving the Biafra dream, as clamored for by many from the Southeast.

Source: Legit.ng
- Authotities in India have reported the arrest of a Nigerian

- The Nigerian named Chinedu Okafor was arrested for drug smuggling

- The drug in the suspect's possession is worth over N160 million

Law enforcement agents in India, have arrested a Nigerian drug trafficker in Gujarat, he was arrested with narcotics worth over $525,000 (Over N160 million).

Chinedu Okafor, the 27-year-old Nigerian, was travelling from Delhi to Goa when he was nabbed on the Madgoan Rajdhani Express train.

He had frequented the route and triggered suspicions before his arrest by operatives of the Narcotics Control Bureau.

See Nigerian arrested India with banned substance worth N161m

Both the Times of India and Deshgujarat.com said upon searching the Nigerian an assortment of dr*gs was found on him, hidden in his bag and shoes.

Found was 843gm of methamphetamine, 255gm of cocaine and 65 gm of ecstasy tablets.

The street value of the drugs, was estimated at 3.5Crores, about $525,000.

Indian law enforcement agents have repeatedly arrested Nigerians in connection with drug trafficking and fraud in the country, bringing huge shame to Nigerians in that country and at home.

READ ALSO: Referendum: 4 very strong signs Biafra is gaining grounds

See Nigerian arrested India with banned substance worth N161m

In a similar vein, as Bengaluru police begin crackdown on Nigerian drug runners, they have gotten a K-9 squad.

Outmuscled by (mostly) thickset Nigerian drug runners, Bengaluru police are all set to unleash their most potent weapon: three German Shepherds and a Doberman Pinscher.

In recent weeks, the Bengaluru police started cracking down on the drug mafia operating in the city after educational institutions complained to the government that dr*gs had reached their doorstep. However, on many occasions, officials are pushed around, attacked and even bitten by the suspects.

But not anymore.

See Nigerian arrested India with banned substance worth N161m

This K-9 unit can sniff out dr*gs no matter where they are hidden, and are ferocious enough to pin down the suspects till the police put them in handcuffs.

A handler told Bangalore Mirror that escaping from the clutches of these officers is next to impossible.

See Nigerian arrested India with banned substance worth N161 million

The city police have booked 135 narco cases under the NDPS Act and have arrested 187 Indians and 55 foreign nationals, including 31 Nigerians, this year (till May 31).

Thus far, these three canines were assisting the police in regular crime-fighting (like picking up the scent after a break-in) even though they were trained to sniff out dr*gs.

READ ALSO: See how IRT officers celebrated the arrest of notorious kidnapper in Lagos (Photos, Video)

Authorities in India are having a hard time tackling Nigerian smugglers of banned substances

Addl CP (crime) S Ravi said that henceforth these dogs will be used to tame drug peddlers. Their training is going on and they will shortly join our Women and Narcotics squad, he said.

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The dogs have been trained by a team of handlers, who in turn have been trained by BT Surendra (who has been in this business for about 20 years). The handlers report to inspector Ningareddy Patel.

In fact, so thorough is the training of the canines that Danny won a gold medal at an All-India level competition in Gujarat and Surya won a silver medal at a similar event held in Bengaluru.

Below is a Legit.ng video in which Nigerians react to their relationship with the police, answering questions regarding their trust in the force's capabilities.

Source: Legit.ng
- June 12 has been declared a public holiday in the six southwest states of Nigeria

- The six states also line activities, annually to mark the anniversary

- It is a public holiday to honour the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Moshood Abiola

Prior to the official recongition, and declaration, of June 12 as the new Democracy Day by President Muhammadu Buhari, six states in the southwest have already been marking the day to honour Moshood Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Below is a list of the Southwest states that celebrate June 12, prior to President Buhari's declaration:

1. Ekiti

2. Ondo

3. Ogun

4. Osun

5. Oyo

6. Lagos

READ ALSO: June 12: As Buhari honours Abiola, read the famous IBB speech that annulled election, almost destroyed Nigeria in 1993

Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, said Abiolas supreme sacrifice culminated in the hurried departure of the military from the political scene in 1999.

In 2017, the Ondo state government organised a lecture, as part of programmes outlined to celebrate the day, with the theme: June 12: A celebration of courage and resilience.

It was held at the International Events and Culture Centre (The Dome) in Akure, Ondo.

In a statement released by the governor prior the day, Akeredolu said:Eminent Nigerians, including notable activists are lined up to grace the event. Hon. Wale Oshun is chairman of the occassion, while human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, will be the guest speaker.

Akeredolu asked politicians across the country to always demonstrate their unquenchable love for the country.

Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, in a statement on Sunday, June 11, 2017, in Ado Ekiti, said Ekiti state joined in the Southwest decision, in the spirit of the unity of the region.

Fayose said: Yoruba nations interest is beyond personal interest of anyone. For us to forge ahead as a people, we must speak with one voice.

In the light of this, I declare Monday a public holiday to further strengthen our collective belief, hope and aspirations.

This, I have done in the spirit of Yoruba nation and Southwest integration.

Through the secretary to state government, Adeoluwa Taiwo, Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun said it was in line with the practice in the past years to identify with and keep the ideals of June 12.

He said: Consistent with the practice of the past six years, and, as a way of identifying with and keeping the ideals of June 12 alive, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has declared Monday, June 12, 2017 as work free."

The 2017 celebration in Ogun state featured the annual Democracy Walk and was led by the governor, starting from the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta at 7 am.

The walk took participants through major roads in the state capital to the Abiola family homestead, at Oke-Ido, Gbagura, Abeokuta North Local Government Area, where special prayers and speeches were made.

READ ALSO: June 12: Buhari has put an end to May 29 hypocrisy - Falana

Also, an inspirational stage play, Oju Kelekun (farewell to reproach), directed by Prof. Bakare Ojo Rasaki, was performed at the June 12 Cultural Centre, between 3:45 and 6 pm.

Osun state government said that the public holiday became imperative in view of the fact that June 12 marked a watershed in the history of democratic evolution in the country.

In line with its established policy of observing June 12 of every year as Democracy Day, the State Government of Osun has declared Monday, June 12, as public holiday," the government stated On Sunday, June 11, 2017.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tunji Bello, said the state remained committed to the ideals of the annulled 1993 Presidential election.

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Legit.ng previously reported that a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as a new Democracy Day and posthumously awarding Chief MKO Abiola, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

The president who announced this on Wednesday, June 6, in a statement signed personally, said that June 12 would now replace May 29 as the Democracy Day.

Abiola, who was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, died on July 7, 1998.

Babatope, a former minister of transport and member PDP Board of Trustees, said that the presidents motivation was right.

TODAYS GIST: Democracy Day! What is There to Celebrate? - Nigerians Lament on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
Tony Abeyta, a renowned painter and multimedia artist, may live in Berkeley, Calif. But as he prepares for a trip to The Venice Biennale, a tradition for him and his family, he ventures to call the European city a bit like home.

For Abeyta, who grew up in Santa Fe and on the Navajo Nation of New Mexico, many points across the globe have taken on that aura, where home is a litany of places lending the artist influence and genuine curiosity. His homes have contributed to an understanding of the dichotomy of life and to fearless composition of a growing legacy.

As the Museum of Northern Arizonas featured Gala artist, Tony Abeytas retrospective, Convergence, will speak of home and journeys. It opens Sunday, June 18 with a gallery talk at noon. See MusNAZ.org for details.

For the first time, Abeyta will be seeing works representing the last decade of his career. He calls Convergence a sort of returning point in a creative cycle that has brought him into multimedia spanning painting, sculpture and jewelry.

After all, he is carrying on a tradition while fueling his own legacy.

Abeyta learned from his parents. His father, himself a painter, always kept art supplies in the house and encouraged the children to use them. Abeyta embraced his fathers use of color, of composition.

His mother, too, as a ceramicist, taught her children to build with clay  a practice his sister picked up on while his brother dove into woodworking.

Its just a continuing legacy and even more so when I look at my kids, Abeyta said of his son, who is a musician and filmmaker, and daughter, who works in installation art and sculpture. Where I kind of left off, the kids pick up. Thats what I mean by legacy. Thats sort of the arc between what my parents were doing and what my kids are doing.

Abeytas corpus, bathed in brilliant hues and dynamism, contains a narrative that speaks to monumental milestones, traditional Navajo imagery, and abstractions  each presented with a contemporary flair. He explained he views all art through a comprehensive aperture: globally, historically, regionally and culturally.

When I look at my own work, I look at how it fits into whatever genre, which is culturally based in the contemporary American Indian art movement, he added of a coterie of Indigenous people creating from similar sources. Ive always thought it is an extremely important facet to world art that we represent art authentically. Were Indigenous, a rare breed, were a small minority in the larger spectrum of art, so being part of that legacy is really important to me.

The body of work represented in Convergence displays modernist landscapes, abstractions and traditional imagery in Abeytas favored large-format alongside some of his sculptural work and even a few of his fathers smaller paintings.

We have similarities and were different animals as well, he said. My fathers work tends to be smaller scale  Mine is more physical, built, large-scale with copper and sand. Just the process itself is completely different.

He employs sand and not only copper tones but the material itself. Abeyta explained this process grew from his early days as a burgeoning artist around the time he attended the Institute of Native American Art in Santa Fe. Back then, he said, he added sand and even motor oil to paints just to stretch the medium.

He now works with very refined media, but Abeyta noted, Those ended up being some of the major traits of how I work today, of creating textures and physical substance to the work.

Place, too, is a contributor. Studying sculpture in the South of France and in Italy helped the artist hone his woodworking skills and penchant for building. Eschewing confining frames, copper came into his work as a means to extend the visual lines of the painting.

And seeing these 30 works together, the artist has been able to connect the threads of how his style has evolved, and how certain themes inspired other series. For instance, the floral works, he said, represent passionate relationships and subsequent loss.

But they stand alone as their own unique expression because theyre dealing with something very specific like relationships, he added.

Looking into these works of the past, Abeyta feels himself heading on an upward trajectory. Hes recently accepted a teaching position at the University of California, Berkeley. Hes exhibiting less, but applying his vast knowledge in collaboration and pushing his work to new limits in video and figurative representations  wherever he goes across the globe.

As he advances in these new directions, he added, Wherever the muse beckons me to be, Ill go there.
From Mike Malloy Websire

What a day, Truthseekers! Or week...or month...or 2017 thus far. So Trump stood there yesterday with the Romanian president and said, in effect, that former FBI Director James Comey perjured himself in front of Congress on Thursday. Now, anyone with the IQ of a gently stewed rhubarb stalk (as Mike would say) knows that Comey is credible and Trump is seemingly a pathological liar.

Did Trump's heavyweight attorney sign off on his agreement to "100% testify under oath" to Robert Mueller?

And who is buying this "New Guy" defense that Paul Ryan is spoon-feeding the telescreens? C'mon Paul, Trump knows everything! Haven't you been listening? He knows more about ISIS than the generals. Only he can solve the Palestine-Israel conflict. He has the best plan for the best most beautiful healthcare ever, better than Canada or the UK. He can build a wall to keep out all the nasty Mexicans rapists and murderers. He can rebuild the roads, the bridges, the armed forces, the schools, revise the tax code, end unemployment, reopen the factories, repay the debt, end trade deficits, balance the budget and spread light and joy throughout the nation.

But, but...now has he gone from all-knowing savior to geeky awkward dude who doesn't know you aren't supposed to threaten to fire the FBI director if he doesn't pledge loyalty and drop his investigations into his staff? He was lying when he boasted that he knew everything about being president? Well, he certainly thought the Clintons committed a crime when Loretta Lynch met Bill on the tarmac during Hillary's email-gate investigation. Trump banged that drum to death on the campaign trail. Seemed he had a complete understanding of inappropriate political conversations six months ago -- did he forget?

Doesn't matter, really. Robert Mueller will probably pop Trump wide open without this bad boy uttering a word. Because really, does anybody believe Trump would have a problem lying under oath?

Pathological liars by definition don't know or care if they're telling the truth. They lie when they don't have a reason to lie, like Trump did with the Romanian reporter when asked about whether or not they had a particular conversation during their meeting: Trump said no, the Romanian president said yes.

He can't help it. It's like the lady and the snake, or the scorpion and the frog -- that's just his nature. He's a liar and always will be. Might have served him well as a sleazy real estate czar, but we tend to like our presidents a wee bit more honest and trustworthy than a guy who sells fancy office space in gilded towers.
From Strategic Culture

Against all the odds, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn scored a landmark victory of sorts in the British general election. Under his leadership, he has brought the party back as a major political force with future momentum.

Only a few weeks ago, he was written off as a loony left no-hoper who would crash the Labour party into oblivion. This week, however, his confident socialist manifesto has been vindicated as a winner among voters, especially the younger ones. That bodes well for the future.

Granted, Labour did not win the election with an outright majority. But the dramatic gains in new parliamentary seats brings the party into a position where it is able to propose forming a minority government if the ruling Conservatives implode from infighting.

For the Conservative party under Prime Minister Theresa May, the result is a disaster, reported Bloomberg News. The right-wing Sun blasted its front page with one word playing on the premier's name: "Mayhem." While the more sober pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph headlined gravity of the setback with: "May's gamble backfires."

Back in April, Theresa May was so confident of thrashing Labour at the ballots she made the extraordinary call to hold a snap election -- three years ahead of the scheduled parliamentary cycle. May, who took over from David Cameron last year after his Brexit referendum debacle, wanted to boost her mandate with an election victory carried under her own leadership.

When she called the early election, her party enjoyed a 20-plus point lead ahead of Labour in various opinion polls. However, that lead was slashed over the weeks running up to the election held this week, to the point where Labour has managed to increase its national share of the votes to 40 percent compared with the Conservatives, who won 42 percent, according to a BBC summary report.

That outcome marks a stupendous personal victory for Corbyn's style and substance of leadership. It wasn't just the opposition Conservatives and largely right-wing British media who were denigrating him as a Marxist and terrorist sympathizer. Many of his own parliamentarians on the Blairite right of the Labour party were casting him as a loser and dead-end throwback to the party's traditional socialist policies. It was being predicted that Corbyn would be sacked in the anticipated electoral wipe-out. As it turns out though, Labour under Corbyn has soared with the voters. He has ignited a new political energy across Britain, especially among younger voters, to give socialist ideals a renaissance.

In terms of seat numbers, Labour won some 30 new parliamentarians, while the Conservatives lost 13 seats. Rather than increasing its majority, Theresa May's party has ended up losing its overall majority. It can only form a minority government if it manages to negotiate a working coalition with one of the fringe parties, such as the Democratic Unionists from Northern Ireland who have 10 seats. It's hardly a ringing endorsement of stable government.

If the Conservatives fail to produce a working minority government, then in theory Labour could form an alternative administration if it can align with the Scottish Nationalists and the Liberal Democrats in an ad hoc progressive alliance. Corbyn said after the result that his party is ready to serve the country.

It's hard to overstate the scale of defeat for Theresa May. The BBC called the result for her humiliating. And while she might remain as prime minister in the short term in order to maintain a modicum of political stability in British governance, the knives are already out for her ouster among rivals within her party. The gaffe-prone foreign secretary Boris Johnson is being touted as the next Conservative leader and premier.

May gambled that a strong electoral win would give her more leverage to negotiate the Brexit from the European Union on more advantageous terms for Britain. As it transpires, the Brexit process is now thrown into even more disarray because of May's diminished mandate. Those negotiations between Brussels and London were set to begin later this month. But it seems that the talks will have to be put on hold -- much to the annoyance of EU leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel. It can be expected that the EU will drive a tough bargain and not give Britain the concessions on trade and immigration control it was rather arrogantly demanding.

May's pitch to the voters of electing a strong leader to negotiate a super Brexit deal with Brussels just didn't deliver.

Labour under Corbyn is also committed to leaving the EU as per the referendum result last July, even though the party campaigned on a remain ticket. May's calculation that voters would view him as unreliable was way off target.

What seems to have mattered most to British voters was not the politics of Brexit, but rather the more traditional issues of socio-economic concerns and class interests.

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Jane Sanders and RoseAnne DeMoro in front of photo taken at People's Summit

(Image by Margo Rush) Details DMCA



A big message to take from this event came when Bernie Sanders told a packed crowd of 4000 that Donald Trump didn't win, the Democrats lost. The audience erupted with cheers of agreement, rising to their feet in outrage. Someone told me that Hillary supporters spewed thousands of tweets telling Bernie supporters to give it up and get with the Democrats. Really? Bernie pointed out how the Democrats have lost the House, the Senate, the White House, two thirds of state Governorships, even more state legislature.

Nina Turner told an 8:30 Sunday morning group of thousands, "It is good for the family to come together and be renewed, but then we have the hard work. Titles are good, but purpose is better."

I tweeted some of my favorite quotes. and images. Let's start with this video-- the Emma Goldman quote inspired this: "A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having."

Native American Dallas Goldsmith

Dallas Goldtooth We r our ancestors' wildest dreams. LET'S LIVE UP TO THEM #PPLSummit #PeoplesSummit https://t.co/ZofBA7MOeq at https://t.co/ZofBA7MOeq  (((rob kall))) (@robkall) June 10, 2017

Bernie Sanders listed some of the progressive victories. Twitter limited length of video. He went on a lot longer.

Bernie Sanders lists progressive victories recently won. "Brothers & sisters, this is the political revolution https://t.co/rAhOgIJ7bk at https://t.co/rAhOgIJ7bk  (((rob kall))) (@robkall) June 11, 2017

Bernie, Bernie, the crowd roared. Bernie came back with his bottom up message,

Crowd shouts BERNIE Bernie replies: Not Bernie. It is YOU. We are in it together #FeelTheBern #PPLSummit https://t.co/HZ118r29cl at https://t.co/HZ118r29cl  (((rob kall))) (@robkall) June 11, 2017

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US proposed legislation - Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act of 2017 - threatening to sanction Qatar for its support of the so-called "Palestinian terror" was sponsored by 10 lawmakers who received more than $1m over the last 18 months from lobbyists and groups linked to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, Al Jazeera reported Friday.

The HR 2712 bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives on May 25, but the text wasn't available until Friday morning, hours after Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt put 59 people and 12 institutions linked to Qatar on a "terror list," Al Jazeera said.

HR 2712's sponsors received donations totaling $1,009,796 from pro-Israel individuals and groups for 2016 election cycle alone, according data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research group tracking money in US politics and its effect on elections and public policy, and then compiled by Al Jazeera.

Sponsors of the bill are: Congressmen Brian Mast (FL-18), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (CA-39) and Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (NY-16). The bill is co-sponsored by Congressmen Brad Sherman (CA-30), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27), Ted Poe (TX-2), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Thomas Suozzi (NY-3).

Al Jazeera reported that Royce received $242,143 from pro-Israel sources for the 2016 election cycle, $190,150 went to Engel. Mast, who volunteered with the Israeli military after he finished serving in the US Army, received $90,178.

"Following my service in the U.S. Army, I chose to volunteer alongside the Israeli Defense Forces because our countries share the common ideals of freedom, democracy and mutual respect for all people. Hamas preaches destruction to Israel and death to the values we hold dear in the United States. They have murdered more than 400 Israelis and at least 25 American citizens," Rep. Mast was quoted as saying.

According to Trita Parsi, the founder of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a nonprofit that aims to strengthen the voice of US citizens of Iranian descent, similarities between the US-allied Arab nations' "terror list" and HR 2712 show growing cooperation between Gulf Arab states and Israel.

"The coordination between hawkish pro-Israel groups and UAE and Saudi Arabia has been going on for quite some time," Parsi told Al Jazeera. What is new, he continued, is pro-Israel groups such as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies "coming out with pro-Saudi [articles] and lobbying for them on Capitol Hill".

Parsi was quoted as saying that the sponsors of the bill are traditional pro-Saudi lawmakers; however, they are in the pro-Likud camp. Likud is the party of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

President is required

The Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act 2017 requires the President to submit to Congress an annual report for the next three years identifying foreign persons, agencies or instrumentalities of a foreign state who knowingly and materially assist Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or an affiliate or successor of one of those organizations.

After identifying the organizations, the President must impose two or more sanctions, including denying

a) export-Import guarantees,

b) defense support under the Arms Export Control Act,

c) export of munitions to any agreement to which a person identified is a part,

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Human survival depends on learning to organize the way all successful living communities organize as they adapt to ever changing local conditionsfrom the Bottom-Up. A timely contribution to confronting the transformation imperative confronting humanity."



David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, The Great Turning, and Change the Story, Change the Future
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall already had a serious understanding of the Internet and its implications for media and democracy while I was still figuring out how to use email. Some see Internet connectivity solely as a means toward power and profit; Rob's book, Bottom up, sees and offers it as a vehicle for bettering society and ourselves."



Jeff Cohen, Founder, FAIR, and founding Director of the Park Center for Independent Media
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To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here.
NOTE TO READERS: In this two-part series, "Fighting the McResistance--for Climate's Sake," I make the most compelling argument that Democrats' shallow, astroturf "McResistance" to Trump must be overthrown by a grassroots, anti-duopoly, Occupy-style movement. Namely, that the likely alternative is climate Armageddon. This article is Part 1. Part 2 will be titled "Climate Judases: The Three Ways Democrats Betray Climate."



Good Cop Bad Cop (Beware: The Good Cop could be Judas.)

(Image by jrg) Details DMCA



Trump's Extremist Regime: Grave Crisis--and Golden Opportunity

In a recent, widely read article, I argued that any meaningful resistance to Donald Trump must take the form of a new, anti-duopoly, Occupy-style movement. Given the gargantuan opportunity we now share--and the virtually certain catastrophe we'll face if we blow that opportunity--the case that article makes needs to reach as wide an activist audience as possible. By an activist audience, I mean precisely the sort of progressive opinion leaders and political organizers who can form coalitions and bring an Occupy-style "movement of movements" into existence.

Without such a movement, we'll simply we see the triumph of Democrats' utterly shallow, astroturf McResistance--a triumph that, unbeknownst to most (deliberately misinformed) U.S. citizens, could ultimately plunge humanity back into a new Stone Age. Provided, of course, humanity is lucky enough to survive climate Armageddon at all. For too long (as I'll argue in this article), Democrats have gotten away with playing Good Cop to Republicans' increasingly nasty Bad Cop--to the extent voters have grown impatient with playing Democrats' patsy and the Good Cop's cover is almost blown. We must now fight the McResistance by totally blowing the Good Cop's cover--exposing him as Judas-- because allowing Democrats to pose as "Good Cop" on climate poses risks that are simply intolerable.

Democrats' "Climate Denial Lite" may look good to voters compared to Republicans' criminally insane climate-change denial--especially since it's reassuring and utterly painless in terms of lifestyle changes. But, as my next article will argue, it has itself been insanely inadequate when measured by the yardstick of actual climate science, and can only become more so after the ravages worked on climate by Trump administration barbarity. On the climate issue, where Democrats' temptation to play Good Cop to Republican's Bad Cop is obviously greatest, the Judas-like treachery implicit in the very role of Good Cop is at its most incalculably dangerous. As in flirting with Armageddon.

McResistance as Deliberate Misdiagnosis--of Political Cancer

As Chris Hedges rightly and compellingly argues, Trump is not our political disease but merely a symptom of it. Of what disease, precisely? In Hedges' own words, of "neoliberal, corporate forces that have destroyed our democracy" and that "will continue to vomit up more monstrosities as dangerous as Donald Trump."

But if Donald Trump, dangerous as he is, is merely a symptom, he offers the advantage of being a glaring one--rather like the unsightly, undeniable tumor that forces a reluctant patient to go seek a diagnosis of cancer. Being as afflicted with the cancer of "neoliberal, corporate forces that have destroyed our democracy" as much as Trump Republicans, Democrats' McResistance is essentially the reaction of a patient in denial about his own cancer, insistent on persuading everyone in sight that once the unsightly tumor (Trump and his party) is removed, everything will be hunky-dory. Of course, the ever-increasing number of us aware of the metastasizing cancer--corruption of both major parties by "neoliberal, corporate forces"--know it will not. Accurate diagnosis is essential to cure, and the McResistance is an exercise in deliberate misdiagnosis.

A Systemic Diagnosis: The Duopoly Cancer on Our Body Politic

Of course, every analogy or comparison is limited, and the one treating the Democratic Party as a patient in denial about his own cancer is no exception. For example, Democrats' denial of their party's metastasizing cancer, while certainly harmful to the "patient" himself (consider the 14 million+ people who've left the party since the last election), does grievous damage to people outside the party--even to independents, third-party supporters, or nonvoters who want nothing to do with Democrats. In what's unfortunately a two-party system (a duopoly), both major parties are now more comparable to cancerous body organs--to cancers on the "body politic"--than they are to a cancerous human individual in denial. The metastasizing cancer in both parties is a lethal threat to the body politic itself, at least if a healthy body politic involves people's democratic control over major decisions that affect their lives. And above all, their collective ability to deal with major emergencies like climate change.

If we think of the Democratic Party as a cancerous individual in denial at all, it's only to emphasize the party's deliberate misdiagnosis of our body politic's ills. It's as if a cancerous body organ had that the ability to deceive the brain--and hence the body's own defenses--via propaganda into embracing the cancer that will spell the entire body's own death. Outside the Democratic Party's propaganda effort to deny its own lethal cancer (the propaganda effort we're scorning as the "McResistance"), the proper diagnosis of cancerous duopoly politics is a systems approach where we focus on the unique deadly role each party plays in destroying our body politic--and our ability to address our climate emergency along with it. While those roles are certainly different, they're also mutually reinforcing.

Following the deeply insightful analysis by Max Mastellone cited above, the mutually reinforcing role of Democrats and Republicans in destroying our body politic is best viewed as a "Good Cop, Bad Cop" relationship. The next section will argue that Mastellone's brilliant model reinforces my view of Democrats as the party of betrayal--"the party of Judas"--the exact terms in which a grassroots anti-duopoly resistance movement should fight Democrats' astroturf McResistance.

"Good Cop, Bad Cop"--and Democrats as the Party of Judas

Not wishing to waste space summarizing, I strongly urge my audience to read for themselves the Max Mastellone article just cited, one of the most empowering political analyses in recent memory. What sets its apart--what makes it so empowering--is that Mastellone cites U.S. citizens' willingness to take our corrupt Democratic Party at its own "Good Cop" word as the predominant source of their own learned helplessness. Yes, a gazillion times yes!: Mastellone has this nailed. The McResistance is yet another Democratic Party attempt--utterly pathetic except for the prospect of its being effective--of that betraying party trying, like the proverbial Good Cop, to convince us it is our friend. Our only real hope of empowerment and resistance lies in proactively asserting--as in The Who's classic rock anthem--that we "Won't Get Fooled Again." Our proactive assertion must take the form of a large grassroots anti-duopoly movement intent on crushing the "Good Cop" propaganda of the McResistance .

Any fan of TV cop shows knows the key to understanding the "Good Cop, Bad Cop" game likes in realizing both cops, good and bad, work for the same police employers; they both, like the police they work for, do not have the best interest of the suspect they're interrogating at heart. In the case of the Bad Cop, that's obvious, which makes the Bad Cop an effective symbol for today's heartless Republican Party. But the role of the Good Cop lies in concealing whom she works for; it consists of gaining the suspect's trusts by appearing, as much as possible, to be the subject's friend. Sometimes this may consist in offering juicy deals; sometimes it consists in emphasizing how seriously bad the Bad Cop is, offering oneself as the only shelter from the Bad Cop's wrath.

It's especially telling how today's "Good Cop" Democrats, increasingly unable to fake sincerity in offering their poor, working class, and progressive base "juicy deals," have resorted almost exclusively to emphasizing the dangerous badness of "Bad Cop" Republicans. This approach marked Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign against Donald Trump, and has continued to mark establishment Democrats' McResistance. Having lost their ability even to fake being friends to progressives, the working class, and the poor, Democrats' "Good Cop" role has been reduced almost exclusively to unsmiling extortion of votes (as the only alternative to the atrocious bad cop)--hardly a recipe for gaining voters' liking or trust. Which, in last year's election, proved a major problem for Hillary Clinton and down-ticket Democrats.

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At a historic hearing, the former FBI chief casts the president as a liar who engaged in improper conduct.

Here is the bombshell: a former FBI director has said publicly and under oath that the current president of the United States cannot be trusted.

This is unprecedented and highly troubling. Though James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired in May, had the day before disclosed his prepared testimony chronicling his disturbing interactions with Trump, his dramatic and much-anticipated appearance Thursday morning before the Senate intelligence committee reinforced and expanded the damning indictment Comey presented in his statement. He noted that he believed that Trump had privately directed him to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn that was part of the FBI's ongoing Russia probe. He also testified that he saw Trump's statements to him about the Russia investigation as an order to quash the probe. And he accused the president and the White House of lying.

In his prepared testimony, Comey recounted in just-the-facts manner a series of private communications with Trump, during which the president asked Comey to pledge him loyalty, to go easy on Flynn, to "lift the cloud" created by the Russia investigation, and to publicly state that Trump was not personally under investigation. Before the intelligence committee, which is mounting its own probe of the Trump-Russia scandal, Comey detailed how these discussions worried him and other senior FBI officials.

Republicans on the committee tried to protect Trump by highlighting how Trump had asked Comey to help Flynn, noting the president had said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go." Expressing hope, they noted, is not a command. Yet Comey swatted that away, saying he was shocked by the request and interpreted Trump's statement as an instruction. "I took it as a direction," Comey testified, adding, "I didn't obey." This was solid testimony that the president was trying to block an FBI investigation of a close associate. Whether or not that qualifies as obstruction of justice -- Comey told the senators that special counsel Robert Mueller will be reviewing this question -- it is a serious charge. Moreover, Comey's account directly contradicts Trump's assertion that he did not ask Comey to let Flynn off the hook. Unless Comey is making up this tale, Trump has been caught in a bold lie.

Go to Mother Jones for the rest of this article.
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.




Afghanistan's government is mired in a war against a 16-year insurgency that has forced the capital into virtual lockdown, ignited deadly protests, and compelled the head of state to retreat behind the barricaded walls of Kabul's presidential palace.

But off the battlefield, it is also waging a campaign against another evil: systemic government corruption.

President Ashraf Ghani has made tackling Afghanistan's entrenched culture of corruption a top priority as he tries to curb lawlessness and improve his administrations tarnished image following a wave of deadly attacks that have dented public confidence in the government.

The latest major incident came when a tanker truck loaded with "military-grade" explosives detonated during rush hour in the capital on May 31, killing more than 150 people and injuring hundreds more in the deadliest act of terror in Afghanistan's post-9/11 history.

In an effort to turn the tide against insurgents, Ghanis deeply unpopular and divided national unity government has specifically targeted the security apparatus, said to be a hotbed of corruption.

For years, analysts have regarded corruption as key to fueling grievances and channeling support to the insurgency. They say endemic graft remains an existential threat to the government and warn of the huge task Ghani faces in tackling misconduct in one of the world's most corrupt countries.

"Security-sector reform is the key for peace," Ghani said on June 6, following protests that turned deadly as public anger boiled over from a spate of bombings in the capital that killed more than 160 people over several days.

But the violence has also included a brazen Taliban attack on a military compound in Balkh Province in April that left 140 troops dead, a raid on a major hospital in Kabul in March that killed more than 50 people and was claimed by Islamic State (IS) militants, and twin blasts in July that tore through a demonstration in the capital by minority Shi'ite Hazaras, killing at least 80 people.

Ghani, who has ruled the country since a U.S.-brokered deal produced a sometimes shaky national-unity government in 2014, has sought to reform the Interior Ministry, which earned a reputation for being notoriously corrupt. He has recently overseen hundreds of dismissals of government employees for graft. And he has now drawn a bead on the Defense Ministry.

But the rising violence of the past year has heaped pressure on Ghani and his administration for demonstrable results.

Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, says there is a "clear connection" between government corruption and insecurity.

"State corruption strengthens Taliban narratives about an ineffective and illegitimate state and helps recruit more foot soldiers to its cause," he says, "especially when you promise swift justice and a regular paycheck."

In rural areas, where hard-line militants exert considerable influence and many people view government bodies as corrupt or unreliable, some Afghans still turn to Taliban courts to settle disputes. Such Shari'a courts routinely prescribe punishments that can include stoning and executions. The militants also match or better the salaries paid by the Afghan National Army.

"When an Afghan soldier, officer, or higher-ups engage in the sale of equipment, provide erroneous procurement reports, or are involved in contractual kickbacks, then that can lead to insecurity, negligence, and mismanagement," says Omar Samad, a former Afghan ambassador and government adviser.

Afghanistan has struggled with "ghost" soldiers on its military payrolls, with such salaries frequently ending up in the pockets of corrupt officers. The NATO-led mission in Afghanistan announced in January that it had finally stopped paying more than 30,000 such "ghost soldiers."

Meanwhile, weapons, ammunition, and fuel have been openly sold by Afghan officers, sometimes to the Taliban militants on the other side of the fight.

Ghani has implemented some of the anticorruption moves that emerged from the October 2016 Brussels Conference On Afghanistan, when the Afghan government agreed to draft and pursue an anticorruption strategy for the whole of government by 2017.

The president has also established a special court, the Anticorruption Justice Center (ACJC), to oversee major corruption cases.

And there are signs of progress.

In March, the Defense Ministry said it had dismissed nearly 1,400 employees over the past year for alleged corruption. More than 300 officials had been brought to justice, it said. The ministry also said it was reviewing more than 1,800 allegations of corruption in national defense structures, adding that nearly 170 cases had been referred to law enforcement agencies.

The biggest name among those officials was Mohammad Faqir, a former commander of the 215th Corps in Helmand Province, who was accused of misuse of supplies and rations, neglect of duty, and a lack of transparency in the use of fuel, food, and other supplies.

The anticorruption effort has spread beyond the security ministries. In May, Kabul Mayor Abdullah Habibzai said he had dismissed 180 staff members over a six-month period for alleged involvement in corruption.

In March, the ACJC convicted four Urban Development and Housing Ministry officials on charges of embezzlement and abuse of authority. Two were sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzling more than $12.8 million, while two others were sentenced to seven years each. That same month, the ACJC sentenced the provincial council chief of Herat Province, in absentia, to 2 1/2 years in prison for abuse of authority.

Ghani also reopened the investigation into the Kabul Bank corruption scandal, a $900 million case that wrecked the country's largest bank and further shredded its international reputation. The president also sacked much of the administration of western Herat Province over allegations of corruption and incompetence.

The NATO mission noted that the government in Kabul had "increased will to respond to corruption" following the Brussels Conference.

But observers warn that there has been little evidence of far-reaching results.

"There is a lot of talk and pledging by the government, especially to the donors, and there are occasional dismissals from the lower ranks," says Samad. "But there are allegations of serious corruption at the higher levels, where patronage, nepotism, and influence peddling make it difficult to fight the darker side of corruption: bribery from the award of contracts, drug trafficking, and money laundering."

Anticorruption activists warn that bribery and related misconduct permeate all levels of Afghan society. Integrity Watch Afghanistan estimated that Afghans paid an estimated $3 billion in bribes in 2016.

Analyst Kugelman says Ghani has taken a personal interest in the need to combat corruption, and there have been some successes in the justice system and in the language of anticorruption legislation still awaiting approval in parliament.

"However, in a nation like Afghanistan, where the depths of corruption know no bounds and [the problem] is both structural and psychological, even a determined leader like Ghani will face many obstacles," Kugelman says.
The U.S. will send $400 million more in military aid to Ukraine, the Defense Department announced on November 10, saying the package will include large amounts of ammunition and four highly mobile Avenger Air Defense Systems.



National-security adviser Jake Sullivan said the new aid package includes important air defense contributions.



This increased air defense will be critical for Ukraine as Russia continues to use cruise missiles and Iranian-made drones to attack critical civilian infrastructure," Sullivan said.



Ammunition for the high mobility artillery rocket systems, known as HIMARS, which Ukraine has been successfully using in its counteroffensive against Russia, is also included in the package.

There also will be Stinger missiles for the HAWK surface-to-air antiaircraft system, 10,000 mortar rounds, thousands of artillery rounds for howitzers, 400 grenade launchers, 100 Humvees, cold weather gear, and 20 million rounds of ammunition for smaller guns and rifles.



Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters the addition of the four Avenger systems will help Ukraine protect its troops against drones, cruise missiles, and attacks from helicopters. She said she did not know when the systems will arrive in Ukraine or how long it will take to train Ukrainian troops to use them.



The new package will be a drawdown of existing inventories of U.S. military equipment, the Defense Department said in a news release.



Including the latest aid, the U.S. has committed more than $18.6 billion in weapons and other equipment to Ukraine since Russia attacked on February 24, the Defense Department said.



The Pentagon announced the aid package two days after the U.S. midterm elections, which are likely to result in Republicans winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives.



Some Republicans have called for cutting back assistance to Ukraine, while others have called for greater scrutiny of the assistance. Representative Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California), who could become speaker if Republicans win the House, has said his party will not write a blank check for Ukraine.

When asked about ongoing aid to Ukraine, Singh said it has had bipartisan support.



I think there is, in Congress, on both sides of the aisle, a commitment to Ukraine that were in this for the long haul, she said. So even with the midterms and the outcomes, I think that Ukraine will still see security assistance and support from the United States in their fight.



President Joe Biden on November 9 expressed optimism that support will go on even if Republicans take control of one or both houses of Congress.



"I hope well continue this bipartisan approach of confronting Russias aggression in Ukraine," Biden told reporters.

With reporting by AP
PRISTINA -- The ruling center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) was heading toward victory in the country's snap parliamentary elections, but it seems unlikely to win enough seats to govern even with its planned coalition partners.

The June 11 vote also confirmed the strong rise of the leftist Self-Determination Movement (VV) party, which nearly doubled its support since the last election and looked set to finish second in the overall vote.

With more than 90 percent of the ballots counted, the coalition headed by the PDK of President Hashim Thaci was leading with 34.65 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Committee.

The PDK coalition includes former prime minister and rebel leader Ramush Haradinaj's Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).

The nationalist VV, also known as Vetevendosje, had 26.59 percent of the vote, just ahead of a coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 25.82 percent.

If those results are borne out, no single group would be able to govern alone, making further coalition attempts likely.

Final distribution of seats is unlikely to come before June 12 or even later in the week, official have said. Turnout was put at 41.79 percent.

Albert Krasniqi from Democracy In Action, a coalition of nongovernmental organization monitoring the elections, said voting took place peacefully. The head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jan Braathu, said the process seems to be going smoothly.

PDK and VV voters took to the streets to celebrate in Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

This was the countrys third election since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by 114 countries, but not by Serbia and Russia.

Haradinaj, the PDK-led coalitions candidate for prime minister, declared victory during a press conference in Pristina, though he did not provide specific numbers.

"The coalition's victory is very convincing," he said.

WATCH: Voters in the town of Gracanica cast ballots in Kosovo's early parliamentary elections on June 11. Gracanica is the home to a medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery and is one of the centers of the Serb minority in Kosovo. (RFE/RL's Balkan Service)

The PDK coalition, with a large number of former guerrilla fighters, has been dubbed the "war wing" by Kosovo's media.

If Haradinaj does assume the prime minister role, it would complicate relations with neighboring Serbia, which has issued an international arrest warrant against him on suspicion of committing war crimes when he was a guerrilla fighter during Kosovos 1998-99 independence war.

Haradinaj, 48, has been tried twice and acquitted of war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. Haradinaj was elected prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 but resigned after 100 days in order to surrender himself for trial in The Hague. He has denied all charges.

His coalition and allies appeared unlikely to get the 51 seats in the 120-member parliament needed to govern.

Parliamentary rules reserve 20 seats for ethnic Serbs and other minorities. The PDK is looking to form a coalition with the 10 deputies representing the non-Serb minorities, including ethnic Turks and Roma.

Any new cabinet will have a tough job dealing with many problems facing the country, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians.

Many of Kosovo's 1.8 million inhabitants blame politicians from all sides for a stubbornly high unemployment rate that hovers around one-third of the workforce despite solid economic expansion of about 4 percent annually in one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Other key priorities the next government faces include establishing better control over privatization and creating a functioning war crimes court and prosecution office, which would start the process of sidelining wartime leaders from political and public life.

Yet the biggest issues surrounding the vote are a pair of agreements signed in 2015: one setting the border with Montenegro and another with Serbia that increases powers held by ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.

Those issues have helped stalled reforms in the legislature and angered the electorate in a country where about one-third of the population is under the age of 15.

For more than a year we didn't have a functional government, and now I dont trust them, said Islam Fehmiu, a retiree from the capital, Pristina.

Parliament couldn't finish its sessions. I have very low hopes. The preelection coalitions are looking out only for their own interests and I absolutely think they wont solve ongoing issues such as border demarcation with Montenegro, Fehmiu added.

The election marked the rise of the Self-Determination Movement, which was a disruptive opposition force in the previous parliament and would make any coalition-building difficult. VV party supporters at one time released tear gas inside parliament and threw firebombs outside it to protest the deals with Montenegro and Serbia.



Albin Kurti, the party's candidate for prime minister, said the VV would fight corruption, jail former officials, end talks with Serbia, and seek a closer union with neighboring Albania.

With reporting by Alan Crosby and Amra Zejneli in Pristina, and Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, AP, BBC, and Reuters
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Moldova on June 11 to rally both for and against proposed changes to the ex-Soviet republic's electoral system that European rights experts have called "inappropriate."



The Council of Europe's Venice Commission, an advisory body of constitutional law experts, is set to consider on June 16 whether to accept a study by outside experts that says the planned changes could lead to undue influence by political or business interests, Reuters reported last week.



Several thousand protesters gathered in the capital, Chisinau, to protest the changes, which would introduce the election of some lawmakers in a "first-past-the-post" system rather than exclusively on party lists, as the system is currently set up.



Opponents say the changes are aimed at tilting the system in favor of the Democratic Party, which is headed by controversial tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc and is the largest partner in Moldova's pro-European governing coalition.



Proponents of the changes say the new system would improve the connection between lawmakers and the electorate.



Lilia Carasciuc, head of the Moldovan chapter of the anticorruption watchdog Transparency International, said that the protesters gathered to protect the country's "small and fragile democracy."



The demonstrators chanted "We will not surrender!" and urged European lawmakers, the Council of Europe, and the United States to help stop the changes from taking effect.



Smaller rallies supporting the changes were held in other cities in Moldova.



European lawmakers last month delayed the disbursement of financial assistance to Moldova after several political groups voiced concerns about the political situation in the country.



Popular anger over a massive corruption scandal in Moldova is widely seen as having helped propel Igor Dodon, the pro-Russian leader of the Socialist Party, to the presidency in November.

With reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL's Moldova Service
Pakistani officials say gunmen killed two police officers and wounded another in an attack in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

Police said attackers on a motorcycle opened fire on June 11 on a police checkpoint in the provincial capital, Quetta, killing one officer on the spot and wounding two others before fleeing.

One wounded officer died on the way to hospital, police also said.

A bystander was also wounded, according to some reports.

The Al-Alami branch of the extremist group Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ), a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group, claimed responsibility for the attack, AFP news agency reported.

Resource-rich Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

On June 8, the extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed to have killed two Chinese nationals who had been kidnapped in Balochistan in May.

Based on reporting by AP and Dawn
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has called for protesters to move a planned anticorruption rally to central Moscow, defying city authorities and setting up a potential violent confrontation with police.

Navalny announced the last-minute change in a YouTube video on June 11, less than 24 hours before planned anticorruption protests in the Russian capital and across the country.

He said the Moscow protest was being moved to the central Tverskaya Street, which leads to the Kremlin, because authorities allegedly pressured providers of audio, video, and stage equipment not to work with the organizers.

The move sets up a possible violent crackdown by Moscow police, which had warned earlier about possible "provocations" during the protests.

The Moscow prosecutor's office warned that "any attempts to hold an unauthorized event on Tversakaya Street" would be illegal and "law enforcemnt organs will be forced to take all necessary measures" to keep order.

A Moscow police spokesman was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on June 10 that police would "respond harshly to violations of the law and take all necessary measures to ensure order and protect citizens."

More than 1,000 people were detained in Moscow alone during March 26 anticorruption protests organized by Navalny. Those rallies jolted Russia's political landscape, most notably thanks to a substantial turnout by young people.

Navalny was jailed for 15 days following that protest, one of dozens across the country in the biggest grassroots demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin's government since a wave of rallies in 2011-12.

Navalny, a Kremlin foe who is seeking to run for president next year, is looking to build on momentum picked up during the March 26 protests, which drew unexpectedly large crowds.

He said on his website on June 11 that demonstrations are set to be held in more than 200 cities and towns across the country on June 12 to protest what he alleges is a system of corruption and cronyism that Putin presides over.

Ahead of the planned Moscow march, rallies were held in cities further east such as Vladivostok, which is seven hours ahead of the capital.

"Authorities, especially the kind we have -- sitting on the throne for 18 years -- are not capable of changing for the better by themselves," he wrote prior to his YouTube announcement. "They need outside pressure."

Moscow authorities granted permission to Navalny and his supporters to stage a rally on Prospekt Sakharov, outside the city center.

Navalny's team had previously asked to hold the rally at a central location close to the Kremlin and the offices of the Russian government.

The city government rejected that idea, saying the protest might disrupt scheduled events to mark the Russia Day holiday.

In his June 11 YouTube video, Navalny accused authorities of making it impossible for demonstrators to hold the rally by pressuring businesses that organizers were seeking to rent equipment from.

The video included an alleged recording of a telephone conversation with a contractor who said his bosses told him it was "forbidden" to provide services to Navalny's group.

Navalny said protesters had a constitutional right to gather to express their political opinions and that Tverskaya Street would be an ideal location because it will be turned into a pedestrian zone for the Russia Day celebrations.

"The law is completely on our side," he said.

Navalny is trying to get on the ballot for the March 2018 presidential election, in which Putin is widely expected to seek and secure a fourth term as president.

He has been convicted three times in financial-crimes trials that he calls Kremlin-orchestrated retribution for his activism, though he has been handed suspended sentences rather than actual prison time.

Russian authorities have suggested that he could be barred from the presidential ballot due to his criminal record. But his backers say the rules are unclear, and Russian officials have not stated clearly whether he will be allowed to run.

A day before the planned June 12 protests, a video produced by Navalny and his supporters accusing Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of corruption was published on two government websites.

The video, which played a central role in galvanizing protesters for the March 26 demonstrations, was published briefly on the websites of the regional prosecutor's office in the central city of Yaroslavl and the St. Petersburg regional administration.

Yaroslavl prosecutors said they suspected their website was hacked.

With reporting by Interfax and Kommersant
British Prime Minister Theresa May's office says talks are still in progress between her Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland after earlier saying an agreement had been reached to support Mays government.

"The prime minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalizing a 'confidence-and-supply' deal when Parliament returns next week," a spokesman said early on June 11.

The little-known ultraconservative DUP party said "talks so far have been positive."

"Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament," said the DUP, which generally refuses on religious grounds to hold political discussions on Sundays.

On June 10, the prime ministers office said the two parties had agreed to an "outline agreement" to support May's government on a "confidence-and-supply basis."

Sky News cited sources as saying the Downing Street press office had made the earlier announcement of a deal "in error."

A confidence-and-supply arrangement means the DUP would support Mays government in exchange for concessions on some issues rather than forming a formal governing coalition that controls a majority in Parliament.

May is trying to form a minority government after her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in a June 8 snap election that she had called for back in April.

As a result of the vote, she has faced calls to step down from within her own party and from the opposition.

May has refused to step down. But two of her top aides -- joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill -- quit their posts on June 10 after becoming a focus of blame for the Conservatives election disaster.

The Conservatives secured 318 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons -- short of the 326 seats needed to control a majority.

The DUP won 10 seats, which would mean the Conservatives would have support from a majority of 328 deputies if they confirm the confidence-and-supply arrangement with the DUP.

A petition against May's deal with the DUP had attracted nearly 600,000 signatures on June 10 as chances of an agreement increased.

"This is a disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power," the petition said, citing some of the DUP's views, including opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

The AFP news agency reported a few hundred protesters stood outside Downing Street chanting, "Racist, sexist, antigay, the DUP has got to go."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, BBC, Sky News, and The Guardian
June 11 was the first day when the citizens of Ukraine could enter countries of the European Union without a visa. Passengers arriving in Brussels on a flight from Kyiv shared their positive feelings with RFE/RL correspondent Rikard Jozwiak. He also interviewed the chief of the Mission of Ukraine to the European Union, Mykola Tochytskyi, outside the European Parliament in Brussels.
Ukrainian forces have liberated 41 settlements in the south of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 10 but noted the "brutal struggle" and the "lives given for freedom for Ukrainians."

In his nightly address Zelenskiy said: "Today we have good news from the south. The number of Ukrainian flags returning to their rightful place within the framework of the ongoing defense operation is already dozens," he said, adding that 41 settlements have been liberated.

But he stressed that even as Ukrainians rejoice, they must remember that "every step by our defense forces represents...lives given for the freedom of Ukrainians. Everything that is happening now has been achieved by months of brutal struggle. It was achieved through courage, pain, and losses."

Zelenskiy spoke a day after the Russian defense minister announced the withdrawal of Russian troops from the west bank of the Dnieper River, the latest in a number of setbacks for Moscow on battlefields in Ukraine's east and southeast.

Zelenskiy did not specify the number of Ukrainian troops killed in the effort to reclaim the settlements, where he said stabilization measures have begun.

He noted the Russian troops left behind thousands of land mines and ammunition as they retreated from Kherson.

Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said the land mines turned Kherson into a "city of death" and predicted they would shell it from occupied areas across the Dnieper River.

Vitaliy Kim, the regional military administration chief in the Mykolayiv region, said Ukrainian soldiers had already entered the outer suburbs of Kherson. He declined to give further details to avoid revealing the military's plans.

Russia said it began withdrawing troops on November 10 from Kherson city. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said the withdrawal was taking place slowly to allow the Russian forces to reinforce positions on the other bank of the Dnieper River.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said it will take Russia at least a week to withdraw from the city of Kherson. He told Reuters Russia had 40,000 troops in Kherson region and it still had forces in the city, around the city, and on the west bank of the Dnieper River.

"It's not that easy to withdraw these troops from Kherson in one day or two days. As a minimum, [it will take] one week," he said.

Ukrainian Army chief Valeriy Zaluzhniy said earlier that Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out from the southern Kherson region but said Ukrainian forces were continuing their advance.

"We continue to conduct the offensive operation in line with our plan," he wrote in a post on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials said Moscow's forces had no choice but to flee Kherson, yet they remained cautious, fearing an ambush.

"The enemy had no other choice but to resort to fleeing," armed forces chief Zaluzhniy said, because Kyiv's army destroyed supply systems and disrupted Russia's local military command.

Kherson is strategically important, as it controls both the only land route to Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper, which bisects Ukraine.

Recapturing the city could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in late September celebrated the annexation of Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions and vowed to defend them by any means, has not commented on the withdrawal.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa
A new study, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, has shown that selling rewards programmes to participants entering a weight loss programme is a low cost strategy to increase both the magnitude and duration of weight loss. A team from the Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) led the research, which has implications for insurance companies and employers looking for low cost strategies to improve population health.

Worldwide, overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent conditions, which have led to the rise of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. They have also increased absenteeism among employees and raised private and public healthcare costs. However, they are largely preventable by making healthier food choices and engaging in regular physical activity. Yet, because people often succumb to temptation, they often fail to make healthier choices.

Professor Eric Finkelstein from Duke-NUS used insights from behavioural economics to develop a Rewards programme aimed to address the disconnect between long-term health and short-term temptation. He then teamed up with Dr Kwang Wei Tham from SGH to test it out among overweight or obese adults.

In the randomised eight month long Singapore-based Trial on Incentives for Obesity (TRIO), 161 participants paid S$234 to access a 16 week intensive weight loss programme. The programme required participants to attend weekly sessions at the Lifestyle Improvement and Fitness Enhancement (LIFE) Centre in SGH where they were taught skills to maintain a healthy lifestyle and encouraged to lose at least 5% of their body weight.

Participants also paid an additional S$165 for the Rewards programme. Participants in the intervention arm could earn monthly rewards either in cash or as a lottery ticket with a one in 10 chance of winning 10 times the cash amount if they met monthly weight loss and step goals. Additional rewards were offered for meeting 5% or 8% weight loss goals at months four and eight. The maximum possible reward value over the eight month period was S$660 if all weight loss and step goals were met. Those randomised to the control arm had their money returned and were ineligible for rewards.

At the end of month four, weight loss was more than twice as great in the Rewards arm compared with the control arm (average 3.4 kg versus 1.4 kg weight loss). At months eight and 12, weight loss remained greater (average 3.3 kg vs. 1.8 kg weight loss at month eight and 2.3 kg vs 0.8 kg weight loss at month 12). Moreover, more than three times as many Rewards arm participants achieved 5% or greater weight loss at month four, relative to control arm participants (40% vs. 12%). At month four more than twice as many hit the 5% threshold (41% vs. 21%) and the percentage with 5% or greater weight loss was still greater at month 12 (28% vs. 17%).

The average payout to participants in the Rewards arm was S$225.00. After subtracting the fee to access the rewards, third party costs were S$60.00 per participant. Moreover, although only 42% of participants earned more than they paid in, ~80% reported satisfaction with the rewards scheme.

"Our findings not only show the value of rewards to increase weight loss and weight loss maintenance, but they show it can be done in a manner that minimizes third party payments, such as those by employers or insurers. This should help to expand access to these types of programmes." said senior author Dr Finkelstein, a professor in the Duke-NUS Programme for Health Services and Systems Research.

"Even small amounts of weight loss, sustained over time, confer great health benefits and can help prevent chronic disease. This study shows that the enhancement and maintenance of weight loss is feasible through a rewards programme with participant ownership, coupled with an evidence-based, medical weight loss programme," said Dr Kwang Wei Tham, Director, LIFE Centre and Senior Consultant, Department of Endocrinology, SGH.
Brussels, June 10, 2017 (SPS) - MEP Paloma Lopez denounced the "arbitrary" nature of the accusations and court proceedings that led to the 14-month prison sentence imposed on Sahrawi journalist Waleed Al Batal, urging the European Union (EU) Put pressure on the Moroccan authorities of occupation to obtain his release, as well as that of his father Salek Al Batal.

"The arbitrary nature of the charges and court proceedings reflect the colonial nature of the Moroccan administration in the occupied territories of Western Sahara", she wrote in a question addressed to the European Commission.

According to Paloma Lopez, the sentence imposed on the Saharawi journalist, Waleed Al-Batal, is an act of retaliation for his legitimate and peaceful activism in favor of human rights in Western Sahara.

"He has been sentenced as retaliation following his participation in Smara in the demonstrations for the right of self-determination of the Saharawi people," she said, denouncing the arrest of the father of the Saharawi journalist, Salek Al Batal, for participating in similar events in Smara in 2009.

The MEP wondered, as such, about the measures taken by the EU so that the sentence imposed on Waleed Al Batal is annulled and that the journalist and his father are released.

Paloma Lopez regretted that the European Union (EU) was merely repeating, every time it was questioned about the human rights situation in Western Sahara, that it was monitoring them and that it was continuing the political dialogue with Morocco, without even raising the possibility of imposing sanctions, as the situation "worsens".

The MEP considered, in this context, that the judicial reforms carried out by the EU in its attempt to eliminate the colonial methods of the Moroccan administration have failed.

On December 5, 2016, a court of first instance sentenced Mr. Waleed Al-Batal to 14 months in prison. The latter refutes all the accusations against him after his participation in a peaceful demonstration in favor of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in Western Sahara.



If the Chief of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, affirmed she knew the situation of Waleed Al-Batal for having informed the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH), she argues, however, that she has no information on the case of his father Salek Al-Batal.

Nevertheless, Mogherini assured that "the EU regularly expresses its concerns" regarding alleged cases of ill-treatment or non-respect of freedom of expression.

"Our political dialogue goes hand in hand with our convinced and firm support through our programs of financial support for institutions and for civil society to reform the judicial system in Morocco so that it is in compliance with the international standards and the constitution ", she wrote in her answer to Paloma Lopez.

The Chief of European Diplomacy reiterated, in this context, her support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western in the framework of arrangements consistent with the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations. (SPS)

062/090/TRA




In May 2017 the United States revealed that it had sent one of its few cyber protection teams to defend the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery sent to South Korea earlier and declared operational in April. This anti-missile unit is considered a major target for hackers. Each THAAD battery consists of two or more launcher vehicles (each with eight missiles stored in canisters they are fired from), a fire control and communications system and a TPY-2 X-Band radar (or equivalent radar or radars). THAAD missiles weigh 836 kg (1,400 pounds) and are about the same size as the Patriot anti-aircraft missile and have a range of 200 kilometers and max altitude is 150 kilometers. THAAD is intended for stopping short (like SCUD) or medium range (up to 2,000 kilometer) range ballistic missiles. To work properly the battery depends a lot of networks for quickly transmitting target and other data. Since China, Russia and North Korea all have excellent network hacking capabilities and have been hostile to the stationing of a THAAD battery in South Korea, it was expected that the THAAD networks would be subject to penetration and disruption attempts by foreign hackers.

Neither the THAAD nor the cyber protection teams have had any real combat experience. THAAD has been successful in tests but the army is still seeking a realistic way to test the effectiveness of the cyber protection teams. The tense situation in South Korea could be the first real test of both new systems. At the moment THAAD seems more likely to succeed, but only if the untried cyber protection teams can keep numerous and determined hackers out.

The army knows it has a major problem with cyber protection as do the other services (air force, navy and marines). This was made clear after U.S. Army established its first Cyber Protection Brigade in late 2014. There were plans to create two more brigades by 2016. That did not happen because the army in particular and the military in general could not create or recruit enough qualified personnel. There were other problems but the key difficulty was a shortage of qualified people to staff the key units; the cyber protection team.

This cyber protection team was created to provide quick and competent personnel for setting up and maintaining network defenses, as well as experienced personnel to investigate and deal with intrusions. The core of the brigade is the twenty cyber protection teams. Each team was to contain 39 military and civilian network security experts. To provide the military personnel the army had already created a special MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) so qualified personnel can make a career of this work. This MOS (25D, Cyber Network Defender) was open to all qualified military personnel. In 2014 the army had about 700 troops with the 25D MOS and have found it difficult to find many more, or even hold on to the ones it had. The 25Ds are in high demand and they are supplemented by qualified civilians who are much more expensive. Since highly skilled 25Ds will always be tempted to leave the army and take better paying civilian jobs the army will, as it does with other specialists (like Special Forces troops) offer big cash reenlistment bonuses to 25Ds they want to keep. That has not been working because civilian firms can offer more money and other benefits than the military.

At first the army though recruiting, screening, training and organizing the 25Ds would be how Special Forces troops in that way. The Special Forces brigades (called groups) are smaller (1,500 troops) than regular combat brigades (over 4,000 personnel). The Cyber Protection Brigades were also small (1,100 or so personnel) and based on small teams of highly trained Special Forces troops common called operators. The army already knew that it was going to be more difficult to obtain Cyber War operators than Special Forces ones and from the beginning were prepared to hire expensive civilians willing to serve in what could sometimes be a physically dangerous situation (as in a combat zone). The army has lots of experience finding and using contractor personnel for dangerous situations but these contractors are usually military veterans. Few qualified civilian Cyber War operators are military veterans. From the beginning the army realized that the Cyber Protection Brigade would be unique is the integration of so many civilian contractors with military personnel in the key elements (the cyber protection teams).

On the plus side, an effort to create smaller cyber protection teams for the army National Guard (a reserve organization that answers to state governors in peacetime) was successful and appears to have (as expected) attracted higher quality personnel. Thats because many men and women with Internet security skills have served in the military and many were attracted to join the National Guard after 2001 and that provided a pool of potential 25Ds in the reserves. The problem with this is that you cannot send National Guard troops overseas without putting them on active duty (called federalizing) and the army has learned to use that sparingly because extended terms of overseas service discourages new recruits and causes existing National Guard troops to leave.

Nevertheless there is an effort to entice National Guard 25Ds to join the active army. There is also an effort to persuade civilians with the right technical skills to join the military. Additional inducements like cash bonuses and being able to skip most of the basic military training have been added. That has long been done with medical and other technical personnel. But that precedent was established during wartime when conscription was in effect and the direct commission (to officers) was an attractive alternative to getting conscripted.

The new Cyber Protection Brigade and their cyber protection teams are part of an army effort that includes the new U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and the Army Cyber Command. The Department of Defense is seeking to develop both offensive and defensive teams that will benefit from Cyber Command intelligence and monitoring operations as well as a big budget for keeping the software library stocked with effective tools (including zero day exploits, which are not cheap at all). Cyber Command also has contacts throughout the American, and international, software engineer community. This was supposed to provide crucial expertise when needed. The effectiveness of these teams will vary a great deal because one highly skilled Internet software whiz on a team can make a huge difference. The main problem is that the people with the best Cyber War skills tend to least interested in military service.

USCYBERCOM became operational in late 2010 and is still working on an official (approved by the government) policy stipulating how Internet based attacks can be responded to. Meanwhile there have been a lot of unofficial attacks. The 2013 cyber-teams announcement implied that attacks are now allowed, but not what kind of attack. The NSA leaks confirmed that attacks are going on. While Cyber Command has long been asking for permission to fight back, technical, legal, and political problems have delayed agreement on how that can be done. It's not for want of trying. In 2012 the U.S. Congress approved a new law that allows the Department of Defense to conduct offensive Cyber War operations in response to Cyber War attacks on the United States. That is, the U.S. military was now authorized to make war via the Internet. The new law stipulates that all the rules that apply to conventional war also apply to Cyber War. This includes the international law of armed conflict (meant to prevent war crimes and horrid behavior in general) and the U.S. War Powers Resolution (which requires a U.S. president to get permission from Congress within 90 days of entering into a war). Meeting with all the fine print has so far delayed actually allowing a legal counterstrike to a Cyber War attack. The NSA doesnt have all those restrictions because it comes out of the intelligence world, where there have always been fewer rules. While this approach to Cyber War makes sense to the NSA, the Department of Defense is frustrated at being held to conventional war standards.

Meanwhile, there was the seemingly unsolvable problems with finding qualified people to carry out such counterattacks. Headquartered in Fort Meade (outside Washington, DC), most of the manpower and capabilities for USCYBERCOM come from the Cyber War operations the services have already established. U.S. Cyber Command has some smaller organizations of its own that coordinate Cyber War activities among the services, as well as with other branches of the government and commercial organizations that are involved in network security. But most of Cyber Command manpower actually works for the Cyber War organizations of the four services.

Of the four services the U.S. Air Force is the most experienced in Cyber War matters. Back in 2008 the air force officially scrapped its own planned Cyber Command, which was supposed to operate more like USCYBERCOM. That new air force organization was supposed to officially begin operating by the end of 2008. Instead, many of the personnel that were sent to staff the new command were sent to the new Nuclear Command. This change was made in response to growing (at the time) problems with the management of air force nuclear weapons. Despite that, the air force continued trying to establish some kind of new Cyber War operation and use it to gain overall control for all Department of Defense Cyber War activities. The other services were not keen on this. That resistance, plus the nuclear weapons problems, led to the Cyber Command operation being scaled back to being the 24th Air Force. This organization handles electronic and Internet based warfare.

The U.S. Army, following the example of the air force, also established a Cyber War operation. Some 21,000 soldiers were pulled from a large variety of signal and intelligence outfits to form ARFORCYBER (Army Forces Cyber Command). It became fully operational in 2012 with its headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.

In 2009 the U.S. Navy created an "Information Domination Corps", in the form of a new headquarters (the 10th Fleet), with over 40,000 people reassigned to staff it. While the new Cyber War command dealt mainly with intelligence and network security, it also included meteorology and oceanography. These last two items are very important for deep water navies, especially since a lot of the information about oceans, and the weather, is kept secret. The fleet calls upon the talents of 45,000 sailors and civilians. Most (44,000) of these personnel are reorganized into 10th Fleet jobs or will contribute from within other organizations. A thousand new positions were created, mainly for 10th Fleet. All this gave the navy a more powerful and secure position in cyberspace. The navy does not want to repeat the mistakes of the air force in this area.

The U.S. Marine Corps established a Forces Cyberspace Command in 2010, with about 800 personnel, to help provide network security for marine units. The marines are accustomed to doing more with less.

The Americans arent the only ones preparing for cyber war. In 2013 Russia revealed that it is organizing a Cyber War organization within the Defense Ministry. This would be a separate branch of the army, joining more traditional branches like infantry, armor, artillery and signal (where Cyber War operations already exist in most countries). Noting whats going on in China and the United States, the Russians have decided to catch up.

The Chinese military already has a growing number of formal Cyber War units, as well as military sponsored college level Cyber War departments and extensive course offerings. These Cyber War units, plus the volunteer organizations and Golden Shield (Internet censors and monitors) bureaucrats apparently work closely with each other and have provided China with a formidable Cyber War capability. NET Force, with only a few thousand personnel, appears to be the controlling organization for all this. With the help of RHU and Golden Shield, they can mobilize formidable attacks, as well as great defensive potential. No other nation has anything like it.
The cry of man overboard was the climax of a dramatic first day of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series final in Bermuda, with Emirates Team New Zealand taking a 2-1 lead in the best of nine series.

Under pressure from the Kiwis towards the end of race three, Artemis skipper Nathan Outteridge was sprinting to the portside wheel when he lost his footing and slid off the boat.

Rival helmsman Peter Burling had been in the process of creating another come from behind lead change at mark five when the drama unfolded, and with the Swedes retiring he sailed unopposed to the finish.

Outteridges swim took some of the shine off whats developing into an incredibly close contest between two very evenly matched teams.

With Artemis ruling the start box in all three races, the Kiwis found themselves playing catch up all day.

In the first race Burling was able to climb back courtesy of two Artemis errors  a miss-timed tack and a penalty for for crossing the boundary line.

But in race two Outteridge was able to convert his superior starting into a win with flawless boat-handling and sharp tactics which forced the Kiwis into having to make an extra tack and gybe whilst also sailing 400 metres more than the Swedes.

Again in the third race Burling was outgunned at the start. But this time the Kiwis managed to keep it tight which enabled them to create a split and set up an opportunity to pass.

A poor gybe by the Swedes opened the door and Burling was in the process of driving through it when Outteridge took his dip in the Great Sound.

As predicted, the series is developing into an incredibly tight fight, and with light winds forecast for tomorrow both crews will face a whole new range of challenges.
The regions growing reputation as the centre for blue innovation has seen Tauranga successfully secure the International Marine Biotechnology Convention, which is being held in New Zealand for the first time.

The Blue2Green Marine Biotechnology Convention will take place from August 810.

It will constitute a joint meeting between the newly formed Australia New Zealand Marine Biotechnology Society (a member of the International Marine Biotechnology Association), the International Conference on Coastal Biotechnology (convened in China), and the New Zealand Aquaculture Science Association. In addition, the Korean Society for Marine Biotechnology will be sending a special delegation.

Chair of Coastal Science at the University of Waikato and Director of the Coastal Marine Field Station Professor Chris Battershill is also the Convention Chair. He says Blue2Green is designed to splice research interests, and explore new opportunities with a central theme of environmental sustainability linked to development of new high value marine industries.

This convention will demonstrate how we can harness existing international excellence across marine biotechnological sciences to fast track sustainable wealth creation through novel application of marine biotechnologies, additionally examining how these very technologies can be used to aid repair or to strengthen environments under threat.

With the Global Marine Biotechnology market predicted to reach $US5.9 billion by 2022, Chris says the convention is seen as an integral opportunity to strengthen research and development ties amongst the represented Pacific Rim and Australasian countries.

The convention will allow us to present the latest science and industry updates and highlight the value and impact of the marine biotechnology sector. Many countries, in particular New Zealand and Australia, remain in their infancy in realising the potential of novel marine bioproducts and biotechnologies.

Aquaculture targets remain limited and there are increasing issues in-sea and on-land in terms of meeting sustainable production targets for any primary product. In contrast, the science that underpins marine biotechnology has advanced enormously in the last decade, with enhanced knowledge of marine molecular processes, biosynthesis, semi-synthesis, symbiosis, marine microbial science, chemical ecology, physiology, aquaculture husbandry, aqua and agri feeds, biomedical discovery, reproductive biology and genetics.

Cheis says the convention will provide a rare opportunity for groups carrying out this research to meet and share knowledge.

We know that through a rich legacy of biodiscovery in the sea, the bioinformatics are available for translational application into other sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture and veterinary sectors. There is also immediate opportunity in applying biotechnological research to remediate damaged or threatened ecosystems. The convention will bring together research scientist groups that would not ordinarily see one another, as well as providing a platform for a truly international meeting of minds and exploration of opportunity.

The three-day convention will also include two additional innovation field trip days for delegates to visit industries across the region.

The field trips are designed to connect the partnership and opportunity dots and highlight the value and impact that the marine biotechnology sector can bring to enhancing blue innovation in the region.

The Blue2Green Convention will be hosted at the Tauranga Yacht Club, which Chris says ticked all the boxes.

Where better to host a marine biotech convention with an international line up of speakers and delegates, than right on the harbours edge at the Tauranga Yacht Club. Its the perfect spot to showcase and celebrate our precious harbour and marine environment.

The theme of this years convention is Toitu te Moana, Toitu te Tangata - Sustainability of the sea, sustainability of the people. It runs from August 8-10 in Tauranga. The convention is convened by scientists from the University of Waikato, Priority One, Flinders University, James Cook University, Cawthron Institute, Toi Ohomai, The International Marine Biotechnology Association and the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research.

For more information visit www.blue2green.co.nz
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.
The following companies are subsidiares of Becton, Dickinson and: Accuri Cytometers, Accuri Cytometers Inc., Alverix Inc, Alverix Inc., Atto Bioscience Inc, BD Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., BD Infection Prevention BV, BD Kiestra BV, BD Kiestra Total Lab Automation, BD Rapid Diagnostic (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., BD San Luis Potosi S.A. de C.V., BD Switzerland Sarl, BD Ventures LLC, BD West Africa Limited, BDX INO LLC, Bard (Thailand) Limited, Bard ASDI Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc., Bard Acquisition Sub Inc., Bard Australia Pty. Limited, Bard Benelux N.V., Bard Brachytherapy Inc., Bard Brasil Industria e Comercio de Produtos Para a Saude Ltda., Bard Canada Inc., Bard Chile S.p.A., Bard Czech Republic s.r.o., Bard Devices Inc., Bard Dublin ITC Limited, Bard EMEA Finance Center Sp.z o.o., Bard European Distribution Center N.V., Bard Finance B.V. & Co. KG., Bard Financial Services Ltd., Bard Finland OY, Bard France S.A.S., Bard Global Holdings I LLC, Bard Global Holdings II LLC, Bard Global Holdings III LLC, Bard Healthcare Inc., Bard Healthcare Science (Shanghai) Limited, Bard Hellas S.A., Bard Holding SAS, Bard Holdings Limited, Bard Holdings Netherlands B.V., Bard Hong Kong Limited, Bard IP Holdings Inc., Bard India Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Bard International Holdings B.V., Bard International Inc., Bard Istanbul Healthcare Limited Company, Bard Korea Ltd., Bard Limited, Bard MRL Acquisition Corp., Bard Malaysia Healthcare Sdn. Bhd., Bard Medica SA, Bard Medical Devices (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Bard Medical SA (Proprietary) Limited, Bard Mexico Realty S. de R.L. de C.V., Bard Norden AB, Bard Norway AS, Bard Pacific Health Care Company Ltd., Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., Bard Poland Sp. z.o.o., Bard Productos Plasticos e Medicos Ltda., Bard Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Bard S.r.l., Bard Sdn. Bhd., Bard Shannon Limited, Bard Singapore Private Limited, Bard Sourcing Office Singapore Pte. Ltd., Bard Sweden AB, Bard UK Newco Limited, Bard de Espana S.A., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Gibraltar) Management Limited, Becton Dickinson (Mauritius) Limited, Becton Dickinson (Pty) Ltd., Becton Dickinson (Thailand) Limited, Becton Dickinson A.G., Becton Dickinson A/S, Becton Dickinson Argentina S.R.L., Becton Dickinson Asia Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Asia Limited, Becton Dickinson Austria GmbH, Becton Dickinson Austria Holdings GmbH, Becton Dickinson B.V., Becton Dickinson B.V. Saudi Limited Company, Becton Dickinson Benelux N.V., Becton Dickinson Biosciences Systems and Reagents Inc., Becton Dickinson Canada Inc., Becton Dickinson Caribe Ltd., Becton Dickinson Croatia d.o.o., Becton Dickinson Czechia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Dispensing Belgium BVBA, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Denmark A/S, Becton Dickinson Dispensing France SAS, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Norway, Becton Dickinson Dispensing Spain S.L.U., Becton Dickinson Dispensing UK Ltd., Becton Dickinson Distribution Center N.V., Becton Dickinson East Africa Ltd., Becton Dickinson Euro Finance Sarl, Becton Dickinson Europe Holdings S.A.S., Becton Dickinson France S.A.S., Becton Dickinson GSA Beteilgungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings I Inc., Becton Dickinson Global Holdings II LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings IV LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings V LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Holdings VIII LLC, Becton Dickinson Global Services Centre Sdn. Bhd, Becton Dickinson GmbH, Becton Dickinson Guatemala S.A., Becton Dickinson Hellas S.A., Becton Dickinson Holdings Limited, Becton Dickinson Holdings Ltd., Becton Dickinson Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Hungary Kft., Becton Dickinson India Private Limited, Becton Dickinson Industrias Cirurgicas Ltda., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy AB, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Holdings UK Limited, Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy Systems Inc. S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson Infusion Therapy UK, Becton Dickinson Insulin Syringe Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings II Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings III Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson International Holdings Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Israel Ltd., Becton Dickinson Italia S.p.A., Becton Dickinson Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi, Becton Dickinson Korea Holding Inc., Becton Dickinson Korea Ltd., Becton Dickinson Ltd., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Finance S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Global Holdings Sarl, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings II S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings III S.a.r.L, Becton Dickinson Luxembourg Holdings V S.a.r.L., Becton Dickinson Malaysia Inc., Becton Dickinson Management GmbH & Co. KG, Becton Dickinson Matrex Holdings Inc., Becton Dickinson Medical (S) Pte Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Devices (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Products Pte. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Medical Technology (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Global Holdings II C.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings B.V., Becton Dickinson Netherlands Holdings II B.V., Becton Dickinson Norway AS, Becton Dickinson O.Y., Becton Dickinson Overseas Services Ltd., Becton Dickinson Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., Becton Dickinson Penel Limited, Becton Dickinson Philippines Inc., Becton Dickinson Polska Sp.z.o.o., Becton Dickinson Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Becton Dickinson Pty. Ltd., Becton Dickinson Research Centre Ireland Limited, Becton Dickinson Rowa Germany GmbH, Becton Dickinson Rowa Italy Srl, Becton Dickinson S.A., Becton Dickinson Sample Collection GmbH, Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.L.P., Becton Dickinson Scot Financing L.P., Becton Dickinson Sdn. Bhd., Becton Dickinson Slovakia s.r.o., Becton Dickinson Sweden AB, Becton Dickinson Sweden Holdings AB, Becton Dickinson Switzerland Global Holdings SarL, Becton Dickinson Technology Campus India, Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing I Limited, Becton Dickinson UK Financing II Limited, Becton Dickinson Venezuela C.A., Becton Dickinson Venture LLC, Becton Dickinson Verwaltungs GmbH, Becton Dickinson Vostok LLC, Becton Dickinson Worldwide Investments Sa.r.L., Becton Dickinson Zambia Limited, Becton Dickinson and Company Ltd., Becton Dickinson de Colombia Ltda., Becton Dickinson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Becton Dickinson del Uruguay S.A., Bee IT Solutions, Benex Ltd., Biometric Imaging, Bridger Biomed Inc., C. R. Bard (Portugal) - Produtos e Artigos Medicos e Farmaceuticos, C. R. Bard Do Brasil Productos Medicos Ltda., C. R. Bard GmbH, C. R. Bard Inc., C. R. Bard Netherlands Sales B.V., C.R. Bard Inc, CME America LLC, CME Ltd., CME Medical (UK) Limited, CME UK (Holdings) Limited, CRISI Medical Systems, CRISI Medical Systems Inc., Caesarea Medical Electronics, Cardal II LLC, Care Fusion Development Private Limited, CareFusion (Barbados) SrL, CareFusion (Shanghai) Commercial and Trading Co. Limited, CareFusion 213 LLC, CareFusion 2200 Inc., CareFusion 2201 Inc., CareFusion 302 LLC, CareFusion 303 Inc., CareFusion Asia (HK) Limited, CareFusion Corporation, CareFusion Corporation., CareFusion D.R. 203 Ltd., CareFusion France 309 S.A.S., CareFusion Israel 330 Ltd., CareFusion Italy 312 S.p.A., CareFusion Manufacturing LLC, CareFusion Mexico 215 S.A. de C.V., CareFusion Netherlands 328 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 503 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands 504 B.V., CareFusion Netherlands Financing 283 C.V., CareFusion Resources LLC, CareFusion S.A. 319 (Proprietary) Limited, CareFusion Solutions LLC, CareFusion U.K. 244 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 305 Limited, CareFusion U.K. 306 Limited, Carmel Pharma AB, Carmel Pharma Inc, Cato Software Solutions, Cell Analysis Systems Inc, Cellular Research, Cellular Research Inc., Clearstream Technologies Group Limited, Clearstream Technologies Limited, Clontech Laboratories Inc, Corporativo BD de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Critical Device Corporation, Cubex, Cytognos, Cytopeia Inc, DLD (Bermuda) Ltd., DVL Acquisition Sub Inc., Davol Inc., Davol International Limited, Davol Surgical Innovations S.A. de C.V., Difco Laboratories Incorporated, Distribuidora BD Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dutch American Manufacturers (D.A.M.) B.V., Dymax Corporation, Embo Medical Limited, Enturia de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Enturican Inc., FJ International Inc., FlowCardia Inc., FlowCardia LLC, FlowJo LLC, Franklin Lakes Enterprises L.L.C., GSL Solutions, Gamer Lasertechnik GmbH, GenCell Biosystems, GenCell Biosystems Ltd., GeneOhm Sciences Canada ULC, GeneOhm Sciences Inc, Gentest Corporation, Gesco International Inc., Gesco International LLC, Glentech Inc, HandyLab Inc, HandyLab Inc., IBD Holdings LLC, Iontophoretics Corporation, JoHome LLC, Kabushiki Kaisha Medicon (Medicon Inc.), Liberator Health and Education Services Inc., Liberator Health and Wellness Inc., Liberator Medical Holdings Inc., Liberator Medical Supply Inc., Limited Liability Company Bard Rus, Loma Vista Medical Inc., Loma Vista Medical LLC, Luther Medical Products Inc, Lutonix Inc., Med-Design Corporation, Med-Design Investment Holdings Inc., Med-Safe Systems Inc, Med-Safe Systems Inc., MedChem Products Inc., Medafor Inc., Medegen LLC, Medinservice.com Inc., Medivance Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NAT Diagnostics Inc., NOW Medical Distribution Inc., NOW Medical Distribution LLC, Navarre Biomedical LLC, Navarre Biomedical Ltd., Neomend Inc., Nippon Becton Dickinson Company Ltd., Omega Biosystems Incorporated, P.R.C. (Isialys) Societe a responsabilitie limitee, PT Becton Dickinson Indonesia, PharMingen, PharMingen., Plasso Technology Ltd, PreAnalytiX GmbH, Pristine Access Technologies Inc., ProSeed Inc., Procesos para Esterilizacion S.A. de C.V., Productos Bard de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Productos Para el Cuidado de la Salud S.A. de C.V., Puls Medical Devices AS LC, PureWick Corporation, Roberts Laboratories Inc., Rochester Medical Corporation, Rochester Medical Ltd., Saf-T-Med Inc, Safety Syringes Inc., Scanwell Health Inc., Sendal S.L.U., SenoRx Inc., SenoRx LLC, Shield Healthcare Centers Inc., Sirigen Group Limited, Sirigen II Limited, Sirigen Inc., Sistemas Medicos ALARIS S.A. de C.V., Specialized Cooperative Corporation, Specialized Health Products Inc., Specialized Health Products International Inc., Specialized Health Products International LLC, Staged Diabetes Management LLC, Straub Medical AG, Straub Medical AG, Surgical Site Solutions Inc., TVA Medical Inc, TVA Medical Inc., Tepha Inc, Tepha Inc., Tissuemed Ltd., Tri-County Medical & Ostomy Supplies Inc., TriPath Imaging Inc., Tru-Fit Marketing Corporation, Vas-Cath Incorporated, Vascular Pathways Inc., Velano Vascular, Velano Vascular Inc., Venclose Inc., Venetec International Inc., Venetec International LLC, Visitec, Y-Med Inc., Y-Med LLC, and ZebraSci Inc..

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BP, plc, once known as British Petroleum, is one of the worlds 7 oil & gas supermajors with operations spanning the globe. In terms of revenue, it ranks 4th on the list and the company is vertically integrated as well with operations in all segments of the oil and gas sector. Operations are currently underway in 80 countries around the world, the company can produce 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalents per day, and it lays claim to nearly 20 billion barrels in proven reserves. On the retail end of the business, the company operates more than 18,700 fuel stations and its largest segment is in the US.

The company was founded in 1908 with the purpose of exploring for and producing oil in the middle east. The company expanded into Alaska in 1959 and then accelerated its expansion when it merged with Amoco in 1998. Another merger with Burhman Castrol in 2000 created the company that is traded today.

BP, plc rebranded itself in 2000 giving new meaning to its name. The once British Petroleum is now Beyond Petroleum and focused on a major shift in its business. The company is working hard to move away from non-renewable carbon-based energy and into biofuels, solar, and wind. The company hopes to be net-zero in regard to carbon emissions and production by 2050 or earlier and is well on the way to doing so. Among the many avenues of advance are the build-out of solar and wind farms as well as the expansion of a major EV charging network. The network totaled more than 9,000 stations around the middle of 2022 and expansion was ramping in order to meet the goal of 100,000 EV stations before 2050.

BP p.l.c. currently operates through 4 segments including Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, Customers & Products, and Rosneft segments. The company produces and trades in natural gas and oil liquids, offers biofuels, and operates wind and solar power generating facilities. The company also provides de-carbonization solutions and services, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as part of its green agenda.

In addition, it produces and refines oil and gas for its downstream operations as well as invests in upstream, downstream, and alternative energy companies including advanced mobility. Advanced mobility is the future of transportation and includes technologies like EV, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells. To that end, the company is building 7 hydrogen production and storage hubs in key locations around the world. The company aims to produce blue and green hydrogen for the global transportation industry with production beginning in 2027. Blue hydrogen is hydrogen captured from the companys natural gas deposits using a process that captures the waste carbon.
NGL Energy Partners LP is a vertically integrated master limited partnership operating a network of midstream pipelines and storage facilities. The company is a diversified play on mid-stream operations offering multiple services for producers and consumers alike. Founded in 1944, the company is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The company, through a network of subsidiaries, is in business to transport, store, blend, and market crude oil, natural gas liquids, refined products, renewables, and water solutions in the United States. The company seeks to generate positive cash flow through its businesses and deliver returns to shareholders in the form of dividends, organic, and accretive growth. Organic growth is achieved by investing in new assets while accretive growth includes the acquisition of assets that complement the existing portfolio.

NGL Energy Partners operates in three segments that include Water Solutions, Crude Oil Logistics, and Natural Gas Liquids Logistics.

The Water Solutions segment transports, sells, reclaims, and recycles water for oil and natural gas production. This segment also aggregates recovered crude oil for sale, disposes of wastes, and performs cleaning services for trucks and fracking tanks along with other services.

The Crude Oil Logistics segment buys and transports crude oil and equivalents to refiners for processing and sale at pipeline heads and other trade hubs. This segment also provides storage and transportation services for third parties.

The Liquids Logistics segment supplies LNG, refined petroleum products, and biodiesel to commercial, retail, and industrial consumers in North America. This segment operates through a network of 24 terminals that are supported by third-party storage facilities, common carrier pipelines, and a fleet of leased railcars.








It is often asserted that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 proved that HWA was right and he really did see the future.

This of course is nonsense. Herbert W. Armstrong said that Christ would return within twenty years in his book Mystery of the Ages. (PCG has since deleted those words so someone in there knows HWA spoke nonsense.) How convenient for them to forget this.

Also Herbert W. Armstrong never said the Soviet Union would collapse. He thought it would survive intact until a few years after Christ's return. It shows how biased some many in the COGs are that they never seem to notice this. This inconvenient truth is just tossed into the memory hole.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".
The following companies are subsidiares of International Flavors & Fragrances: 1456111 Ontario Limited, A. Boake Roberts And Company (Holding) Limited, ASA Ventures Inc., Agtech Products Inc., Alpris Ltd., Amco SP Z.O.O, ApS Syntetic, Aroma S.A., Aromatics Holdings Limited, Aromco Ltd., Aromor, Arvin Company, Asian Investments Inc., Atelier du Parfumeur IFF Grasse SAS, BKF Vision Ltd, BSA India Food Ingr. P. Ltd., Belden Company, Branch office of DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, Bremil Industria e Comercio de Ingredientes Alimenticos Ltda. , Bremil S/A Industria De Produtos Alimenticos , Bush Boake Allen (New Zealand) Limited, Bush Boake Allen (Pension Trustees) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Australia Pty Ltd, Bush Boake Allen Benelux B.V., Bush Boake Allen Chile S.A., Bush Boake Allen Controladora S.A. de C.V., Bush Boake Allen Enterprises Limited, Bush Boake Allen Holdings (U.K.) Limited, Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Inc., Bush Boake Allen Limited, Bush Boake Allen Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Bush Boake Allen do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, Chemical Process Materials and Equipment S.A., CitraSource Holdings L.L.C., Columbia PhytoTechnology LLC, Columbia Phytotechnology LLC, Cometra ApS, Crestmont Investment Co., Cultor Oy, DDP Specialty Products Germany GmbH & Co. KG, DDP Specialty Products Poland Sp. z.o.o., DSP Germany N&B Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Daivd Michael Netherlands B.V., Dandy Lions Limited, Danisco (China) Co. Ltd., Danisco (China) Holding Co. Ltd., Danisco (India) Private Limited, Danisco (Zhangjiagang) Textural Ingredients Co. Ltd., Danisco Argentina S.A., Danisco Australia Pty Limited, Danisco Austria GmbH, Danisco B.V., Danisco Biosciences (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Danisco Brasil Ltda., Danisco Canada Inc., Danisco Chile S.A., Danisco Colombia Ltda., Danisco Cultor (Switzerland) AG, Danisco Cultor Sweden AB, Danisco Cultor Trading Ltda., Danisco Czech Republic a.s., Danisco Deutschland GmbH, Danisco Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Danisco Egypt Trading LLC, Danisco Flexible Brasil Ltda, Danisco France SAS, Danisco Guatemala S.A., Danisco Holding USA Inc., Danisco Holdings (UK) Ltd., Danisco Holland B.V., Danisco Ingredients Belgium N.V., Danisco Italia S.p.A., Danisco Japan Limited, Danisco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Danisco Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Danisco Mexico S.A. de C.V., Danisco New Zealand Limited, Danisco Nutrition & Bioscience Greece Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Malaysia SDN. BHD., Danisco Nutrition & Biosciences Taiwan Limited, Danisco Nutrition and Biosciences India Private Ltd, Danisco Peru S.A.C., Danisco Poland Sp. z.o.o, Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Danisco South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Danisco Sweeteners Oy, Danisco Switzerland AG, Danisco UK Ltd., Danisco US Inc., Danisco USA Inc., Danisco Ukraine LLC, Danisco Zaandam BV, David Michael & Company (Canada) 1986 Ltd., David Michael Europe S.A.S., Du Pont de Nemours Nigeria Limited, DuPont (Shanghai) Enterprise Co. Ltd., DuPont Acquisition LLC, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, DuPont Denmark Holding ApS, DuPont Electronics Holding LLC, DuPont LA Holding 1 BV, DuPont Lanka (Private) Limited, DuPont Nutrition (Thailand) Ltd, DuPont Nutrition Biosciences ApS, DuPont Nutrition Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, DuPont Nutrition Food Ingredients (Beijing) Co. Ltd., DuPont Nutrition Ingredientes BRASIL LTDA, DuPont Nutrition International, DuPont Nutrition Ireland, DuPont Nutrition Italy SRL (f/k/a FMC Chemical Italy SrL), DuPont Nutrition Manufacturing UK Limited, DuPont Nutrition Mexicana S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Mexico S.A de C.V., DuPont Nutrition Norge AS, DuPont Nutrition Philippines Inc., DuPont Nutrition USA Inc, DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences Iberica S.L., DuPont Protein Technologies International Sales LLC, DuPont S&C Holding LLC, DuPont Shineway Luohe Food Company Limited , DuPont Shineway Luohe Protein Company Limited , DuPont US Holding LLC, DuPont de Nemours Kenya Limited, ERELEM, ETOL SK s.r.o., ETOL-RUS Ltd., Eden Essentials Inc., Envoltec Industria de Embalagens Ltda. , Enzymotec Australia PTY LTD, Enzymotec Singapore Pte. Ltd., Enzymotec USA Inc., Etol Aroma Ve Baharat Gida Urunleri San.Ve Tic.a.s., Etol JVE d.o.o., Etol Proizvodnja Arom D.O.O, Etol Skopje DRUSTVO ZA TRGOVIJA ETOL UVOZ-IZVOZ DOOEL, FYMSA Real Estate LLC (23), FYMSA del Caribe S.R.L , Fangchen International Trading Ltd. (6), Finnfeeds Finland Oy, Finnfeeds Oy, Finnsugar Bioproducts Inc., Flavor Systems International Inc., Flavors and Essences UK Limited, FoodBlenders Limited, Foreign Trade Representative of Danisco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Fragrance Resources, Fragrance Resources (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fragrance Resources Asia Pacific Ltd., Frutarom (Asia Pacific) Limited, Frutarom (Marketing) S.R.L., Frutarom (UK) Holdings Limited, Frutarom (UK) Ltd., Frutarom - Etol (UK) Limited, Frutarom Belgium N.V., Frutarom Chile S.A., Frutarom Czech Republic S.r.o, Frutarom Do Brazil Industria E Comercio Ltda., Frutarom Etol RO SRL, Frutarom Etol Ukraine LLC., Frutarom F&F Trading (Shanghai) Co., Frutarom Finance EUR AG, Frutarom Flavors (Kushan) Co Ltd., Frutarom Flavors Mexico S.A. de C.V., Frutarom Flavours (India) Private Limited (14), Frutarom France S.A.R.L, Frutarom Germany GmbH, Frutarom Gida Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Frutarom Global Ltd., Frutarom GmbH, Frutarom Industries Ld, Frutarom Industries Ltd., Frutarom Italy S.r.l, Frutarom Kenya Limited, Frutarom Ltd., Frutarom Netherlands B.V., Frutarom Nigeria Limited, Frutarom Nordic A/S Flachsmann Scandinavia A/S Aksel Holm-Essensfabrik A / S, Frutarom Norway A.S, Frutarom Peru S.A. (Montana Food activity), Frutarom Production GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Austria GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Germany GmbH, Frutarom Savory Solutions Switzerland AG, Frutarom Savory Solutions Ukraine, Frutarom Switzerland Finance CHF AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance GBP AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance MXN AG, Frutarom Switzerland Finance USD AG, Frutarom Switzerland Ltd., Frutarom Trade & Marketing (1990) Ltd., Frutarom UK Investments Limited, Frutarom USA Holding Inc., Frutarom USA Inc., Frutarom do Brasil GRU Industria e Comercio Ltda., Genencor (China) Bio-Products Co. Ltd., Genencor International B.V., Genencor International BVBA, Genencor International Holding BV, Genencor International Indiana Inc., Genencor International Oy, Genencor International Wisconsin Inc., Genencor Mauritius Ltd., Genentech Ventures Inc., Grow Company Inc., Hagelin Flv (UK) Ltd., Hexachem Sociedad Anonima, IB EMEA Holding 2 B.V., IFF (BVI) Limited, IFF (Korea) Inc., IFF Aroma Esans Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF Augusta Holdings LLC, IFF Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, IFF Benicarlo S.L., IFF Bio-Technology (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., IFF Capital Services, IFF Chemical Holdings Inc., IFF Delaware Holdings LLC, IFF Essencias e Fragrancias Ltda., IFF Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., IFF Fragrance GmbH, IFF Hungary Global Kft, IFF International Inc., IFF Latin American Holdings (Espana) S.L., IFF Mexico Manufactura S.A. de C.V., IFF Murcia Natural Ingredients S.L., IFF Sabores y Fragancias de Chile Ltda., IFF Turkey Aroma Ve Esans Urunleri Satis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, IFF West Africa Limited, IFF Worldwide LLC, Ingrediants dooel Skopje, Institut Europeen de Biologie Cellulaire, International Aroma Group, International Flavors & Fragrances (Canada) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Caribe) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (China) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Greater Asia) Pte. Ltd, International Flavors & Fragrances (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Hong Kong) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Japan) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Mexico) S. de R.L. de C.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Middle East) FZ-LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances (Myanmar) Limited, International Flavors & Fragrances (Nederland) Holding B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances (Philippines) Inc., International Flavors & Fragrances (Poland) Sp. z o.o., International Flavors & Fragrances (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company, International Flavors & Fragrances (ZhangJiagang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances (Zimbabwe) (Private) Ltd., International Flavors & Fragrances Ardenne S.a r.l., International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding I SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding II SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances France Holding III SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Holdings LLC, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Chile) Limitada, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Espana) S.A., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Hungary) Kft, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Nederland) B.V., International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Norden) AB, International Flavors & Fragrances I.F.F. (Rus), International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (Deutschland) GmbH, International Flavors & Fragrances IFF (France) SAS, International Flavors & Fragrances Irish Acquisition Company Limited, International Flavors and Fragrances Colombia S.A.S., International Flavors and Fragrances I.F.F. (Israel) Ltd., International Flavors and Fragrances IFF (South Africa), International Flavors and Fragrances Ingredients Ltd, International Flavors e Fragrances IFF (Italia) S.r.l., International Flavours & Fragrances (Australia) Pty Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (CIL) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (GB) Holdings Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Mauritius) Ltd, International Flavours & Fragrances (NZ) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Pension Trustees) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances (Thailand) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances I.F.F. (Great Britain) Limited, International Flavours & Fragrances India Private Limited (13), International Frutarom Corporation, Inventive Food Technology (ZQ) Ltd., Inventive Technology Ltd., Irish Flavours and Fragrances Limited, K-Vision Consulting and Investments Ltd, Kelp Industries Pty. Ltd, Leagel GmbH (11), Leagel S.r.l. (19), Les Ingredients Alimentaires BSA Inc., Les Laboratories Bio ForeXtra Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Australia Pty Ltd, Lucas Meyer Cosmetics Canada Inc., Lucas Meyer Cosmetics S.A.S., M.P. Equity Holdings Ltd, MISR Company for Aromatic products, Manseg S.A., Mark Services Holdings Inc., N&B Chemicals Germany GmbH, N&B EMEA Holding B.V., N&B Germany Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B International Holding B.V., N&B NL BV - Saudi Branch, N&B Real Estate Verwaltungs-GmbH, N&B Services BV, N&B Switzerland  UAE Branch, N&H EMEA Holding 1 BV, N&H EMEA Holding 2 BV, N&H EMEA Holding B.V., N&H International Holding 1 B.V., N&H International Holding 3 BV, N&H Switzerland Holding Sarl, Nardi Armoas Ltda., Neptune Merger Sub I Inc., Neptune Merger Sub II LLC, New Asia Holdco B.V., Nutra-Lease Ltd. (16), Nutrition & Bioscience (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Nutrition & Bioscience (Switzerland) GmbH, Nutrition & Bioscience (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Nutrition & Bioscience Pakistan (Private) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences (Finland) Oy, Nutrition & Biosciences (France) SAS, Nutrition & Biosciences (Sweden) AB, Nutrition & Biosciences (UK) Ltd, Nutrition & Biosciences Argentina S.A.U., Nutrition & Biosciences Australia Pty Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Brasil Ingredientes Ltda., Nutrition & Biosciences Canada Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Chile SpA, Nutrition & Biosciences Colombia S.A.S, Nutrition & Biosciences Hong Kong Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Hungary Limited Liability Company, Nutrition & Biosciences Inc., Nutrition & Biosciences Italy S.r.l., Nutrition & Biosciences Japan K.K., Nutrition & Biosciences Korea Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Nutrition & Biosciences Netherlands B.V., Nutrition & Biosciences New Zealand Limited, Nutrition & Biosciences Singapore Pte. Ltd., Nutrition & Biosciences USA 1 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 2 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences USA 3 LLC, Nutrition & Biosciences Vietnam Company Limited, Nutrition Biosciences USA 4 Inc, Nutrition and Biosciences South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Nutrition and Biosciences Spain S.L., OOO WIBERG Rus, P.T. Essence Indonesia, PARMA FA, PIASA USA (24), PM Taiwan Inc., PT Blue Cube Indonesia, PTI Astana LLC, PTI CA LLC, PTI Center LLC, PTI Group of Companies LLC (GK PTI), PTI-BEL TUE, PTI-MOL LLC, PTI-NN LLC, PTI-Ukraine LLC, Platinum Absolut LLC, Pointer Specialty Chemicals LLC, Protein Technologies Do Brasil Ltda., Protein Technologies International Asia Pacific LLC, Protein Technologies International Development LLC, Protein Technologies International Europe LLC, Proveedores de Ingenieria Alimentaria S.A. de C.V. ("PIASA") (17), Prowin International Ltd., Pucheng Yongfang Fragrance Technology Co. Ltd. , Redbrook (UK) Limited, Redbrook Blentech Limited, Redbrook Ingredient Services Limited, Rene Laurent SAS, Representaciones FYMSA S.A. de C.V (FYMSA) (18), Rohm and Haas Wood Treatment LLC, SP EMEA Holding 8 BV, SP Holding IB Inc., SP Nutrition and Health (Singapore) Inc., Sabormax Industria de Alimentos e Representacao Ltda., Savoury Flavours (Holding) Limited, Savoury Flavours Ltd., Solae (UK) Limited, Solae Argentina S.A., Solae Australia Pty Limited, Solae Belgium N.V., Solae Company India Private Limited, Solae Denmark ApS, Solae Deutschland GmbH (f/k/a CSY Agri-Processing (Deutschland) GmbH), Solae Do Brasil Industria E Comercio De Alimentos Ltda., Solae Europe S.A., Solae Holdings LLC, Solae Investimentos LTDA, Solae LLC (SMLLC of Solae Holdings), Solae Overseas B.V., Solae Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Solae de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (formerly PTI Mexico), Solae do Brasil Holdings Ltda., Sonarome Private Limited (15), Southern Cross Botanicals Pty Ltd, Specialty Products Balkans d.o.o., Specialty Products FZE, Specialty Products N&H Inc, Specialty Products US LLC, Speximo AB, TNI Investments NV, Tastepoint Flavors (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Tastepoint Inc., Tastepoint OOO, Tastepoint Polska Sp.z o.o, Tastepoint SA (Pty) Ltd., Tastepoint Tovarna arom in etericnih olj d.o.o., Taura Natural Ingredients (Australia) Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients (North America) Inc., Taura Natural Ingredients Holdings Pty Limited, Taura Natural Ingredients Ltd., Taura Natural Ingredients NV, Tekhnomol Soya Products LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Additive Advantage LLC, The Foote & Jenks Corporation, The Mighty Company Limited (21), Thorungaverksmidjan HF (12), UFC America Inc., Unique Flavors Proprietary Limited, Unique Food Solutions Proprietary Limited, Unique Ingredients Limited, VAYA PHARMA HONKG LTD, VITIVA proizvodnja in storitve d.d., Vantodio Holdings Limited, Vaya Pharma Inc., Vaya Pharma Pte Ltd. (20), Venezuela Protein Technologies Internationla -PTI C.A., W.W. 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Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through three segments: MedSurg, Rhythm and Neuro, and Cardiovascular. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems. It also provides medical technologies to diagnose and treat rate and rhythm disorders of the heart comprising 3-D cardiac mapping and navigation solutions, ablation catheters, diagnostic catheters, mapping catheters, intracardiac ultrasound catheters, delivery sheaths, and other accessories; spinal cord stimulator systems for the management of chronic pain; indirect decompression systems; and deep brain stimulation systems. In addition, the company offers interventional cardiology products, including drug-eluting coronary stent systems used in the treatment of coronary artery disease; percutaneous coronary interventions products to treat atherosclerosis; intravascular catheter-directed ultrasound imaging catheters, fractional flow reserve devices, and systems for use in coronary arteries and heart chambers, as well as various peripheral vessels; and structural heart therapies. Further, it provides stents, balloon catheters, wires, and atherectomy systems to treat arterial diseases; thrombectomy and acoustic pulse thrombolysis systems, wires, and stents to treat venous diseases; and peripheral embolization devices, radioactive microspheres, ablation systems, cryotherapy ablation systems, and micro and drainage catheters to treat cancer. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Alexandra Bells A Teenager with Promise on a building in Brooklyn. Photo: Alexandra Bell

Alexandra Bell wants you to think twice about what you read. Over the past two months, the 34-year-old Brooklyn artist has been transforming New York Times articles that she sees as loaded with racial prejudice  rewriting headlines, redacting text  to illustrate the inherent bias in news media. The result is a series of images posted across Brooklyn buildings and on the walls of subway stations. In one of her works, Bell, who has a journalism degree from Columbia University, takes a 2014 article about Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager killed by a police officer, originally titled A Teenager Grappling With Problems and Promise, and changes it to read A Teenager With Promise. In another, she takes articles about the Ryan Lochte robbery in Brazil and the culprit of a hate crime and rewrites the headlines to identify the criminals as white-Americans. In all of her pieces, Bells art forces us to consider how decisions to tell the stories of black lives are made. We spoke with Bell about the message behind her work, what she makes of the current fake news crisis, and the perils of making art for public spaces.

Why did you pick the New York Times profiles of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson to use in your first work of art?

Journalists are taught to be objective and not to advocate for people or causes. Im really interested in these moments where papers, especially the more liberal-leaning papers that were inclined to trust more, make sort of hiccups on that principle.

I also think people who are enduring abuses [of power] in the world deserve at least from my art to be able to look at the paper and see themselves as full people, and I dont think thats the case oftentimes with black people.

You decided to edit and redact these stories instead of writing or creating new versions. Why is that?

Im saying not saying that none of this information [in the New York Times story] is pertinent, obviously this story should be here on some level, but Im revealing another point of view that isnt often considered. Thats what a counter narrative is. I also want to show how these little tiny changes tip the scale, and can fully change perspectives.

Bells second piece Olympic Threat from her Counter Narrative series outside of Brooklyn store Sincerely Tommy.

In your other two works, you explore the idea of actually identifying white people as white-Americans in the media. Why take this approach?

Theres so much inherent ownership in the way people talk about white people and land and space. So, when I see races in headlines and then I see something as blase as Tulsa Man Accused of Harassing Lebanese Family Is Charged With Murder, theres something very arrogant about that. I wanted him to be a white-American, I wanted to stop this situation where we look at white people as this invisible norm and everyone else bares the burden of race and race labeling in this way that I think is why we have these crimes in the first place.

Lets talk about this era of fake news that were in. What has been your reaction to that?

Everybody is up in arms about fake news, but lets talk about reputable papers that contributed to the criminalization of black people.

Weve always had fake news. Ive read a lot of books about news values and from them you get a sense of how the newspaper was always the way to discriminate. They had ads looking for runaway slaves, papers published to sell slaves, they wrote about lynchings in this surprisingly respectable way, some papers before they were delivered to black neighborhoods had the financial sections removed. Everybody is up in arms about fake news stories, but lets talk about reputable papers that contributed to the criminalization of black people post-slavery and helped to uphold white supremacy. Im not impressed or shocked by the fake news, this is old and this is actually very minor in comparison to what Ive seen and read in my studies.

One risk in public art is vandalism. In your case a lot of racist things have been written on your Michael Brown works. Was that something that you expected?

[When I was putting this together], I was like should I use Mike Browns face? I dont know him and even if I did I dont want people to be in public and be revictimized. Im not putting him up in a negative way, but there is violence happening to him  like someone writing nigger on his face. What Ive learned is that people are really invested in this narrative. Its such an atypical narrative for people to see a black kid in the paper a positive way, its too much for people. The only way for them to reconcile it is to write nigger or thug on his face, because thats what theyre used to. Ive also had so many people write me like, This has been so healing. I think its healing because we dont often see ourselves represented as full people.

How can journalists address their racial bias?

Its important [for journalists] to try to consider a persons life and humanize them, but my problem is their starting point. What does it mean when you go into a situation already thinking more negatively toward a group of people? How do you make up for that difference? Im not saying that you just need to put a bunch of black people in the newsroom and theyll know better because some black people are prone to make the same mistakes, though I do think newsrooms need to be diversified.

I think the Ryan Lochte one is a good example of what I feel like is this natural instinct to shield white people when they do bad things. The decision to have a photo of Usain Bolt on the front of that paper [under the headline for Ryan Lochtes robbery], I just found incredibly problematic. They could have put a photo of those four guys there. There are moments like that where I see things that are frustrating to me because I feel like there is an opportunity to level the field a little.

Im not saying I hate journalism and I hate news media, Im just saying that weve been in this country for hundreds of years and for a good chunk of those, folks were slaves and didnt have rights, and its not like there were tons of investigative pieces trying to put that to an end, [the news media] was pushing it along.
A 50th McAnniversary. An 80th birthday. Record sales. A tasty new chicken sandwich. Even a goofy appearance by the worlds most famous clown.

And somehow Drake manages to steal the show.

McDonalds held a top-secret company convention in Toronto last week, with 2,300 franchisees, restaurant managers and company brass  including the founder, George Cohon  celebrating the golden anniversary of the Golden Arches in Canada.

Turns out the now-retired Cohon, who just turned 80, has at least one famous rapper on his radar. He regaled the McFaithful in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre about a chance meeting he had with Drizzy at Sotto Sotto in Yorkville recently.

I said: Drake, youre a famous dude. He said: Well, youre a famous dude, Cohon recalled with a chuckle.

Then, he says, after he gave the rappers bodyguard a card to redeem for a free burger, Drake asked if I had any more, so I gave him nine of the 10 cards I had.

The anecdote befitted the closed-door, two-day gathering of McDonalds staff and suppliers at a time when the company wanted to give a respectful nod to its wildly successful 50-year history in Canada while making way for a new generation of more health-conscious and tech-savvy fast foodies.

The Golden Arches isnt the only restaurant chain that started out in Canada in the baby boomer era and is now catering to the millennial generation. Boston Pizza and Pizza Pizza also hit 50 this year, while Tim Hortons hit the milestone in 2014 (Burger King swallowed it up the same year). KFC (previously Kentucky Fried Chicken) in Canada is 55 now.

These are all brands that started here in boomer times, and now theyre doing business with a whole new digital generation that wants antibiotic-free meat, food quality and all-day breakfast, noted Robert Carter, executive director of food service at market research firm NPD Group.

Appropriately, the theme of McDonalds biennial conference this year was constant evolution. Of course, the past was celebrated. The conference kicked off with streamers and a singalong led by company mascot Ronald McDonald. Employees and executives had just watched a 1970s-era commercial featuring then unknown Anson Williams (Potsie on Happy Days) and John Amos (the dad on 70s sitcom Good Times) dancing with mops and brooms in chorus line fashion to the original You deserve a break today jingle.

The revved-up clown then urged the upbeat audience to sing new lyrics displayed on the giant stage screen to the old company standard: Celebrate ourselves today / Raise a cup of McCafe / Were McDonalds / Were McDonalds!

The first McDonalds in Canada was opened in Richmond, B.C., in 1967, marking the chains first foray outside the U.S. after 12 years of rapid growth under legendary franchising wizard Ray Kroc (the subject of the recent movie The Founder, starring Michael Keaton.)

The company quickly grew here, too, becoming the largest restaurant chain in Canada by 1981. It launched its first drive-thru restaurant in Regina in 1977 and its breakfast menu in 1976  a cutting-edge move at the time for the french fry- and burger-centric industry.

Attracting the coveted millennial customer has proven tough for a fast food industry built by boomers. Carter of NPD Group says young consumers are interested in healthier, fresh ingredients and are willing to pay more for a quality product. However, they also want to keep the fast in fast food because convenience is an issue in the non-stop digital world.

McDonalds has responded with faster ordering on in-store kiosks, and has also added third ordering windows and double lanes at drive-thrus  which make up about 70 per cent of the business. They recently added greeters to usher guests through the process from the moment they walk in, along with table service.

McDonalds Canada has pledged to remove antibiotics important to human medicine from its chicken offerings, including their popular Chicken McNuggets, by the end of 2018. It has also introduced more premium offerings at a higher price point and more customization at self-ordering kiosks, which have dozens of higher-end ingredients on offer, from crumbled blue cheese to sun-dried tomato pesto.

But the Big Mac isnt going anywhere.

Weve stayed true to our roots but constantly evolved to meet the needs of our guests, McDonalds Canada chief executive John Betts explained.

McDonalds in the U.S. was struggling a few years ago with a stale, unhealthy image and sliding sales, but has begun to bounce back with simple things such as toasting Big Mac buns and introducing all-day breakfast.

Canada has been a bright spot for the international chain, charting year-over-year sales growth over the past decade. Betts, who has presided over nine of those years, expects another record in 2017.

The conference didnt have any Big Macs or fries on offer, so lunch was catered by the convention centre, including seafood chowder, beef, chicken and vegetables. But the McCafe truck that travelled to various events such as the Toronto International Film Festival was set up on the convention floor, and samples of the chains fresh muffins and buttery croissants were available among the 80 vendors.

Mayor McCheese ties ($13) and T-shirts ($10) were popular. Free pens featuring the Hamburglar and Grimace were handed out, but those guys were nowhere in sight.

Franchisees got to check out various store designs for new restaurants via virtual reality headsets. They were all brightly lit with a European cafe vibe, featuring wood and stone finishes.

A restaurant in Richmond, B.C., was torn down and is getting a total rebuild with one of the new designs. The store is run by affable franchisee Joe Guzzo, who has worked for McDonalds for 42 years and now runs a few restaurants in the area. I have ketchup in my veins, he joked.

He said things at the company have changed a lot over the years, but its better. We kept our foundation and core values. I love the McDonalds history and what it stands for.

The convention also included a tribute to Cohon, who is renowned for his philanthropic work (Ronald McDonald House celebrates its 40th birthday this year, too). He launched McDonalds in the then Soviet Union in 1990 and wrote about his adventures working in both countries in his book To Russia With Fries.

Though the Illinois-based burger behemoth doesnt release financials for its subsidiary markets, Betts said that the first quarter of 2017 in Canada was strong, largely because of the introduction of all-day breakfast items here in February  and it was launched more than halfway through the three-month quarter.

Its not about following other brands, Betts noted.

We dont sit back. We dont accept the status quo. We drive forward with a relentless pursuit to beat yesterday, he told the cheering McCrowd.

When told this year marked the 50th birthday of a couple of his competitors, too, Betts replied: Ill have to send them a little card. Theyll get a kick out of that.

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OTTAWACanadas big-ticket defence policy will give the military greater capacity to operate in a world of complex threats  superpower aggression, challenging peacekeeping missions and the spread of terror armies  while transforming the way it looks after its troops at home, Gen. Jonathan Vance says.

Vance, the chief of the defence staff, says the strategy unveiled by the Liberal government last week will influence the countrys military for decades.

He said the welcome commitments of new equipment and big investments come at a time when the Armed Forces are confronted with increasingly complex conflicts, from regional terror cells to Russian aggression and North Korean threats.

At home, the military is called on to help Canadians caught up in natural disasters, from the Fort McMurray wildfire to a New Brunswick ice storm and, in recent weeks, flooding in Ontario and Quebec.

Its a far more uncertain world, far more fluid. Threats emerge faster and when they emerge, they stay. Intractable conflicts, Vance said.

Theres definitely an issue of scope and scale. Its not a matter of being ready for a conventional fight on the German border. Now youve got to be able to do more things with the Armed Forces, he said in an interview Friday in his office at Defence headquarters in Ottawa.

Read more:Liberals hike military annual spending from $18.9B to $32.7B by 2027

In a speech this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland suggested that Canada must prepare for a world where the United States under President Donald Trump is less prepared to engage in world affairs.

But Vance says the defence policy was written to spell out what Canada could do on the world stage, regardless of the comings and goings of allies.

Canada wants to be a good ally, said Vance.

The new defence policy, titled Strong, Secure, Engaged, details plans to spend heavily on military hardware and on the welfare of its personnel.

The defence strategy outlines 111 initiatives. Among them is a call for 15 new warships and modernized submarines, 88 new fighter jets  up from the fleet of 65 proposed by the previous Conservative government  new hardware for the army, and 300 new civilian and military intelligence experts.

The plan commits to boosting annual defence spending from $18.9 billion now to $32.7 billion by 2026-27. Over 20 years, it promises an extra $62.3 billion in funding for the military. That spending is affordable, achievable, the strategy claims.

Vance said much of the plan consists of renewal and modernization of existing capabilities.

He said it will give the military greater capacity to conduct multiple operations at home and abroad at the same time, both big and small, particularly in terms of joint force enablers, all those things that allow us to run theatres, logistics, medical support.

But he said the plan will bring transformation on one front  how the military looks after its personnel, from the time a new recruit dons a uniform to their transition back to civilian life.

Indeed, a quarter of the plans initiatives involve personnel issues, including promised investments of $342 million in resource centres and a health and wellness strategy.

Its a fundamental alteration of our personnel policy  It doesnt transform us away from being combat-ready, service before self. But I think there are more ways to allow our population to serve, Vance said.

Vance says the military must offer more varied career paths and more flexibility to allow injured personnel to remain in uniform. We can do a much better job of making it a great place to come to work, he said.

As the military looks to boost the ranks of regular and reserve forces by 5,000, Vance says it must get better at recruiting by actively going after talent. Industry goes out there and gets people ... right now, we wait for them to come to us, he said.

He conceded that headlines about military suicides and sexual harassment in the ranks are a barrier to attracting talent.

The strategy reaffirms Vances goal of having women make up 25 per cent of the military by 2026. Its not going to be easy, but its absolutely doable, he said.

In his conversation with the Star, Vance touched on other highlights of the defence plan, including:

Drones, some for surveillance, others to pack a lethal punch on the battlefield with the ability to launch missiles at targets below. Vance said that drones are modern enablers.

Without it, you are nearly irrelevant in the battle space. Our adversaries, even Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), have armed UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). They are homemade, jerry-rigged, but they use them, Vance said.

This isnt black ops, assassination, Hollywood-style at all. This is a conventional weapon for conventional purposes for striking legitimate military targets with a much greater chance of avoiding civilian casualties, the top general said.

Enhanced capabilities to conduct cyberwarfare. Its a domain where military forces are operating now, adversarial forces are operating now, Vance said.

We need to be able to operate in an offensive manner, even if its just to protect ourselves, Vance said. To be able to disrupt or prevent an enemy from acting by effective use of cyber-power, along with everything else, I think will save lives.

A significant boost to shadowy Canadian special forces, with a commitment of 605 new troops, bringing their ranks to 2,700. Its an acknowledgement that on the spectrum of conflict, there are a great number of areas and types of operations that will demand the unique expertise of special forces, from counterterror to capacity building, Vance said.

Vance, a military veteran, has seen defence plans come and go. But he says hes confident this one will stand the test of time and changes of government.

Its a realistic view of the world today  and a realistic view of Canadas role and what forces it might use in the world, Vance said. I have absolute faith that this policy will be implemented.

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125 YEARS AGO

From 1892: B.O. Bayless, who purchased an interest in the flock of the Telegraph Sheep Co,. has sold his water business to Thos. E. Holden, who will hereafter carry it on.

The Sheepmen who have been wintering their flocks around Prescott Junction have begun to move them northward.

The bill to admit Territories of Arizona and New Mexico as States of the Union has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now goes on to the Senate.

Northern Arizona potatoes are being shipped to Colorado and then to Southern Arizona. When the north-south railroad lines in Arizona are completed there will then be a mutual exchange of goods within Arizona.

The International Railroad Circus set up its tents on Wednesday and put on performances in the afternoon and evening, producing the usual palpitations in the hearts of the small boys and in some of the more mature children.

Nearly 100 persons have already registered to vote in this precinct, about half of the number of those qualified to vote.

Twenty carloads of cattle were shipped from this place on Wednesday.

A number of Moqui Indians were in town on Monday seeking lumber to build on their reservation. The lumber is being furnished by the Arizona Lumber Co. Ten wagon loads were taken on this trip.

Chas Camall, Atlantic & Pacific Line Repairer, has been making some needed changes to the telegraph line at the Depot, which is a great improvement on the old way of doing things.

J. C. Bedford, more familiarly known as Jack the Barber, has opened up a Tonsorial Parlor on Leroux Street and put the price of shaving down to 16 cents and hair cutting to 35 cents. Give him a call.

The frosts during this week have destroyed about all the early vegetables and damaged a good many fields of potatoes. There was no harm to the fields of grain.

100 YEARS AGO

From 1917: Men at The Front offer their Lives. Some of of us offer our money. Subscribe to the Liberty Loan of 1917 at the satisfactory loan rate of 3.5 percent. Protect your country and your financial self. Citizens Bank.

J. N. Bozeman was fined $1,000 plus 6 months in the County Jail on his count of Boot legging. There are several other offenses pending against him.

Young lady wanted who can repair and press ladies garments. Only those with experience need apply. Gassman Cleaning Works.

According to a new bill in Washington there will be no substitutes for drafted men in this war. No one will be exempted no matter his station in life.

Army Privates receive $30 per month. It is no longer required to be a citizen to enlist. The oath of enlistment has been changed from 7 years to 4 in the Army and 3 in the Reserve for the duration of the war.

At the Empress this week: Seven Deadly Sins. Five reels by Mc Clure, Magazine Publisher.

Diplomas were given to 14 pupils graduating from Emerson School, entitling them for entrance in the Normal School.

Herbert Megan traveling south on San Francisco Street with his two sons failed to notice incoming No. 4. His car was thrown about 25 feet with the right rear wheel completely crushed. John Francis secured one of his cars from the garage nearby and took them to a physician who found just a whole lot of bruises with no serious injuries.

At the Orpheum on Friday -- one day only. The only $1 million film ever produced. Daughter of the Gods with Annette Kellerman. ITs CLEAN! Lower floor $1. Balcony and Matinee 50 & 75 cts. A willliam Fox presentation.

OVERLAND TOUR. A car of the most ultimate distinction. Two comfortable front chair seats with forward and backward adjustment. A splendid speedy little car for $750. J.J. Waldhaus Garage, Ph. 213.

Specials this week. Oak Creek Rhubarb, Cherries, Blackberries, Raspberries & Asparagus 25 cts., Fresh Eggs 45 cts. doz. The Delicatessen Shop. Ph. 287. Auto Delivery .A. G. Bader.

75 YEARS AGO

From 1942: June 14 is FLAG DAY. Display your flag.

Theres sugar all over the road between Jacob Lake and House Rock Valley, where a huge semi overturned on Saturday, dumping 35,000 pounds of Utah Beet Sugar. Passers by filled every container available. The trucks brakes on the Consumers Wholesale Grocery of Phoenix failed, it overturned and rolled down a 65 foot embankment 11 miles south of Jacob Lake.

The Council has elected George T. Herrington as our new Mayor as according to custom he is the person who received the highest number of votes in the election. He had only a 2-vote margin over former Mayor J. J. Waldhaus.

The 5th registration for Selective Service for Men between the ages of 18 and 20 will be June 30. All young men born after Jan 1, 1922 and on or before June 30, 1921 must register. Major W. W. Midgeley, Chairman of the Local County Selective Service.

Nine men left on Tuesday for possible induction into the Army if they pass the physical exam.

An outbreak of Vincents Angina (Trench Mouth) has reached epidemic proportions. All eating establishments must boil and chlorinate all eating utensils.

The Red Cross is organizing Ambulance Units here and in Sedona. There are to be two Reception Centers and mass housing units at the State College, Emerson School and Federated Church. H. T. Jack Wilson is Chairman of the Ambulance Corp.

Leo Weaver, Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, obtained a 30-day permit from the Motor Vehicle Division of Arizona Highway Department for Warner Bros. Motion Picture Corp. to enter Arizona for the purpose of obtaining pictures of the Navajo Indian Reservation for educational features of the Navajo Indians.

The State Patrol has congratulated drivers between Flagstaff and Bellemont for staying under the 40 MPH limit.

H. 77 Fri. L. 34 Mon. & Tues. No rain

50 YEARS AGO

From 1967: A firebomb destroyed an abandoned shack at Sitgreaves and Phoenix Tuesday night. The Fire Department arrived at 12:07 a.m. with 2 engines and 15 firefighters. It was a small fire ignited by 2 pop bottles in a container which was half full of gasoline. There was hardly any damage and there are no suspects.

Eighty-five windows were shattered as a result of blasting on 4th Street on the Shadow Mountain Development. A sonic boom was caused by a peculiar splitting of a rock in the process of creating a roadbed. George Bell, President of Brisco Bell Construction Co. There were no injuries.

Work on the new I-40 continues west of Williams 6.5 miles on toward Ash Fork.

A Historic Landmark is being restored on the corner of San Francisco and Cherry. It was originally built as a parsonage, became an apartment building then a rooming house. The new building will house the law firm of Steven, Warden and Smith.

H. 70 Wed. L. 35 Wed. Rain a Trace Tues.

25 YEARS AGO

From 1992: Northern Arizona University President Eugene Hughes meeting with a Strategic Planning sub-committee told the Board of Regents that the steady increase in enrollments at NAU need to be channeled away from the Flagstaff campus in order to preserve its alternative appeal.

The Kachina restaurant reopened on Friday following the restoration needed from the fire that consumed its interior in May.

The Kids All American Fish Derby, sponsored by the Northern Arizona Fly Casting, Arizona Game and Fish and the Coconino National Forest held at Upper Lake Mary last Saturday attracted over 200 participants. With this popularity it may become an annual event.

Flag Hotels are getting busier with the arrival of spring and the tourist season. This brings a rise in revenue from the 2 percent BBB tax. Steve Schafer, city sales tax specialist. The average cost of room in April was $48.38 a rise of $6.57 since last April.

The Flagstaff Housing Authority, accepting applications for the first time in 10 months, received 500 applications this week. The response reflects a local low-income housing crisis brought on by high cost combined with a 90 to 100 percent occupancy rate. Currently we have a 1415 month waiting list. Michael Goughin, Executive Director.

The City Council is considering a special downtown committee to give consideration to a multimillion-dollar project for a 30,000 square-foot project on the northeast corner of Aspen and Leroux, property that was purchased by the City last year for $450,000.

The Milligan House Historical Trust is hoping to pave the way for completing the homes renovaton by selling personalized bricks. There will be 300 bricks available for sale at $125 each and will be used to pave the sidewalk in front of the house. Nancy Warden, Trust President.

Coconino County Director of Public Health says the declining health of citizens is related to rising insurance costs which have caused many small employers to stop providing a health insurance benefit causing an insurance loss crisis. Within tight budget constraints, the County is providing as much assistance as is possible.
The mother of a Canadian killed while fighting Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, militants in Syria said her heart was heavy as she put her hands on a casket containing the body of her son.

Tina Martino of Niagara Falls, Ont., says she has not yet been able to see the remains of her 24-year-old son, Nazzareno Tassone, because his casket was sealed when it arrived in Canada late Saturday night months after his death.

As I lay my hands on the casket, sadness came over me, Martino said Sunday. Im still wondering, Is this my boy?

Read more:

Mom of Canadian solider killed fighting Daesh questions delay in returning sons body

Canadian who died fighting Daesh in Syria remembered as a hero

The young man had told his family that he was going to Iraq to teach English, but he secretly slipped into Syria to join forces with a U.S.-backed Kurdish group known as the YPG.

Tassone was killed on Dec. 21 in the city of Raqqa while fighting militants associated with Daesh.

The young man had told his family that he was going to Iraq to teach English, but he secretly slipped into Syria to join forces with a U.S.-backed Kurdish group called the YPG.

The YPG told Tassones family that his body was taken by Daesh militants, and wasnt recovered until May.

Martino said she still has doubts about the identity of the person in the casket because of a presumed error in an initial autopsy report she was sent  it listed her son as having a different hair colour, being several inches taller than he was and more than a decade older.

Officials said they later confirmed the body was Tassone based on dental records.

But Martino said now that the body is back in Canada, the Office of the Chief Coroner will do another autopsy to verify his identity.

She said they should also be able to determine his cause of death  the autopsy report she received concluded her son died from a blow to the head, not a gunshot wound as she had previously been told.

But the new investigation means Martino wont be able to bury her son right away as she had initially planned, because its not yet known how long the coroners autopsy will take.

They dont know what shape the body is in when they receive it, she said.

Martino said she and her children waited five hours at a warehouse for her sons body to arrive. She said some of her kids had hoped to be able to see the body, but the casket he was transported in was sealed for the investigation.

A couple of them thought that was actually going to happen, but he goes straight to forensic science, she said.

I wanted just to be able to bury him this Wednesday. And I just couldnt do it. I couldnt. To be in such doubt, she said.

She said she hopes the investigation will be finished before July 3, when she is due to return to work.

So we will sit here one more time and hopefully the team will be quick.

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WASHINGTONAttorney General Jeff Sessions, whose contacts with Russias ambassador to the U.S. during the presidential campaign have sparked questions, has agreed to appear before the Senate Intelligence committee on Tuesday as it investigates alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

It was not immediately clear whether Sessions would testify at a public hearing.

Sessions stepped aside in March from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump after acknowledging that he had met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the United States. He had told lawmakers at his January confirmation hearing that he had not met with Russians during the campaign.

Sessions has been dogged by questions about possible additional encounters with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Senate Democrats have raised questions about whether the men met at an April 2016 foreign policy event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. The Justice Department has said that while Sessions was there, for a speech by Trump, there were no meetings or private encounters.

Former FBI director James Comey raised additional questions at a hearing on Thursday, saying that the FBI expected Sessions to recuse himself weeks before he actually did. Comey declined to elaborate in an open setting.

In a letter Saturday to Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Sessions said that he had been scheduled to discuss the Justice Department budget before House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees but that it had become clear some members would focus their questions on the Russia investigation. Shelby chairs the Senate appropriations subcommittee.

Sessions said his decision to accept the intelligence committees invitation to appear was due in part to Comeys testimony. He wrote that it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum. He said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would appear before the subcommittees.

Briefing congressional appropriators on the Justice Departments budget is a critical part of the attorney generals job. The fact that Sessions would delegate that task to his deputy showed the Russia investigation was distracting him from his core duties.

Sessions did not say in the letter whether his appearance would be in public or behind closed doors. Comey testified in public and then met with the committee in a closed session to discuss matters touching on classified information.

Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, said he was troubled that Sessions wouldnt appear before the appropriations panel and that the apparent reason was he does not want to discuss the scope of his recusal from the investigation regarding the 2016 presidential campaign as well as his significant interactions with Russian officials.

These are dark times if the attorney general of the United States is unwilling to answer questions under oath in an open session about his conduct or defend this administrations budget, Schatz said in a statement.

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When Breonne Rittinger, 21, and her boyfriend, Taylor Cowan, 27, were looking for a pet last year, they considered their options.

As models who travelled often, the couple wanted a pet that required less oversight. They shared an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with two other people, and one of their roommates already had two cats. A dog didnt seem feasible.

So Rittinger had an idea: rats.

Now they have three.

Ive definitely turned into a crazy rat lady, Rittinger said while her rat Zelda stashed Cheerios in Cowans backpack and another rat, Nibbler, raced through an empty LaCroix box in her cage. But Im totally OK with that.

Nibbler and her sister, Leela, arrived in January, adopted from a Staten Island family who had rescued them from a local pet store. And then, a few weeks later, came another duo, Liliu and Daisy, from a reputable rattery on Long Island. When Leela died in April, and Liliu soon afterward, Zelda joined the pack.

Rittinger was familiar with rodents as pets, having grown up with gerbils in Georgia. But Cowan was hesitant. His previous apartment, on the Lower East Side, had been infested with rats, a problem he later attributed to the landlord. After he did some research, Cowan came around to the idea. It was really hard to find negative things online about pet rats, he said.

Initially, Cowan said his sister was grossed out by the new pets, as were several of their friends. When Rittinger brought the rats to her modelling agency, two employees refused to meet them. The couple were met with a handful of baffled stares when they took their new pets to Central Park.

These experiences, rat owners say, are nothing new. Rats, known for scurrying through trash heaps and nabbing pizza slices at subway stops, have long been the scourge of the city. Recent research suggests that the street rat population could be near three million. It is easy to grasp why many New Yorkers will not embrace their domestication.

Rat owners say it is all a big misunderstanding.

When you say the word cat, people automatically associate that word with a pet at home, not a feral cat on the street, said Melissa Stewart, 34, who works in TV and film production. Whereas, when you hear someone say rat, they immediately think its feral or a street rat.

Although rare, there are stories of street rat domestication, but these rats, she said, have a much harder time finding a home. Street rats, she explained, are brown rats, which are said to be less civil and healthy, and are different from fancy rats, the species that most New Yorkers look to adopt.

Stewart was first introduced to the idea of pet rats eight years ago at a studio party in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, where someone told her that a rat named Minky was up for adoption. Stewart, a native New Yorker who had owned a hedgehog in college, was interested.

As soon as I got her, I was so amazed by how incredibly cool, smart and sociable they are, she said. They dont bite. Theyre like little dogs, mixed with a cat.

That was five rats ago.

Now, Stewart is a full-fledged adoption advocate, who often finds herself explaining rat culture to co-workers. Their initial reaction is just kind of like, Really?  she said. But she added that after an elevator pitch and a few photos, most become receptive to the idea.

The only downside, she argued, is their life span, which on average lasts barely more than two years. This can mean heartbreak, more often.

In the rat-adoption community, there is a term for a favourite rat  a heart rat, which Stewart considers to be her fallen furry companion, Markey. Thats the hardest part of having a rat, she said. When they pass away, youve created these bonds with them.

Very few doctors treat rats. Most veterinarians either dont have the interest or treat mostly dogs and cats and, without the right exposure, often provide a disservice to these types of pets, said Dr. Anthony Pilny, of the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine, in Manhattan, who recently owned five rats.

He said this deficit of caregivers drove the community to online forums and Meetup groups, where proud rat moms and dads swap tips, tricks and photos. Breeds like Dumbos, known for their floppy ears, are described in detail, while new parents ask for advice: Whats their hygiene? (They clean themselves, but their tails can get dirty.) Do they need company? (Definitely.) What do they eat? (Probably not pizza.) And cohabiting with cats? (It depends.)

Having that community can be comforting, owners say, as requests for rat sitters and medical questions are often met with rapid response. Forum participants encourage breeders over pet stores, which typically sell rats as feeders for snakes, while wheels in cages are also hotly debated and rat products are peer reviewed. The home craft website Etsy, it turns out, is a major source for rat hammocks, rat homes, rat sweaters and even rat costumes in the shape of pepperoni pizza slices.

Rat adoption is happening in places other than New York. After using the hashtag #ratsofinstagram when she posted her photos online, Stewart connected with owners in Europe, where rat adoption groups reportedly saw an increase after the Disney movie Ratatouille opened in 2007.

It is a sense of acceptance she hopes her hometown will one day adopt.

But practically since its creation, New York has waged an endless war against rats, with some citizens even taking it upon themselves to hunt them down. In 2015, the health department invested an additional $2.9 million (U.S.) in targeting rat reservoirs, or areas with high concentrations, and has recently begun small-scale tests with a fertility sterilization compound. The city also offers free workshops in Rat Management Training to landlords and building superintendents.

But Abigail Stringer, 13, of the Windsor Terrace neighbourhood in Brooklyn, wanted to make a clear distinction, perhaps to the classmates who teased her at school. Ill tell my friends about the rats, Abigail said, and theyll be like: Ew, rats. Whered you get them, the subway? 

These are a different breed of rats  these are fancy rats, she continued, as her albino rat, Squeak, slinked around her neck. Theyre not the same.

At least that was the argument Abigail made to her mother, Ruth, when she used a PowerPoint presentation to pitch the idea of adopting a pet rat. She followed up her plea with articles citing their intelligence, and stories of HeroRATs, which are used to detect landmines in Angola, Cambodia and other countries. I like to think of them as tiny dogs, that cost less and are smarter, she said, before hiding small carrot chunks in blocks for Squeak to sniff out and eat.

He is smarter than Rascal, her mother said about the familys Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who lingered nearby.

Abigail retorted, Definitely.

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WASHINGTONFifty years after Mildred and Richard Lovings landmark legal challenge shattered the laws against interracial marriage in the U.S., some couples of different races still talk of facing discrimination, disapproval and sometimes outright hostility from their fellow Americans.

Although the racist laws against mixed marriages are gone, several interracial couples said in interviews they still get nasty looks, insults and sometimes even violence when people find out about their relationships.

I have not yet counselled an interracial wedding where someone didnt have a problem on the brides or the grooms side, said the Rev. Kimberly D. Lucas of St. Margarets Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

Read more:

Mixed race isnt black and white: Paradkar

Interracial movie couples still a rarity despite acclaim for Loving, Lion

She often counsels engaged interracial couples through the prism of her own 20-year marriage  Lucas is black and her husband, Mark Retherford, is white.

I think for a lot of people its OK if its out there and its other people but when it comes home and its something that forces them to confront their own internal demons and their own prejudices and assumptions, its still really hard for people, she said.

Interracial marriages became legal nationwide on June 12, 1967, after the Supreme Court threw out a Virginia law that sent police into the Lovings bedroom to arrest them just for being who they were: a married black woman and white man.

In Canada, mixed-race couples account for only 4.6 per cent of all unions, according to a Statistics Canada report last updated in 2013.

The Lovings were locked up and given a year in a Virginia prison, with the sentence suspended on the condition that they leave Virginia. Their sentence is memorialized on a marker to go up on Monday in Richmond, Virginia, in their honour.

The Supreme Courts unanimous decision struck down the Virginia law and similar statutes in roughly one-third of the states. Some of those laws went beyond black and white, prohibiting marriages between whites and Native Americans, Filipinos, Indians, Asians and in some states all non-whites.

The Lovings, a working-class couple from a deeply rural community, werent trying to change the world and were media-shy, said one of their lawyers, Philip Hirschkop, now 81 and living in Lorton, Virginia. They simply wanted to be married and raise their children in Virginia.

But when police raided their Central Point home in 1958 and found a pregnant Mildred in bed with her husband and a District of Columbia marriage certificate on the wall, they arrested them, leading the Lovings to plead guilty to cohabitating as man and wife in Virginia.

Neither of them wanted to be involved in the lawsuit, or litigation or taking on a cause. They wanted to raise their children near their family where they were raised themselves, Hirschkop said.

But they knew what was at stake in their case.

Its the principle. Its the law. I dont think its right, Mildred Loving said in archival video footage shown in an HBO documentary. And if, if we do win, we will be helping a lot of people.

Eighty-four years before Robert Loving and Mildred Jeter travelled from their home in Virginia to wed in Washington, there was another interracial couple who made the same trip for the sake of love.

On November 4, 1874, the day interracial marriages became legal in the nations capital, Andrew Kinney, a black man, and Mahala Miller, a white woman, left their home in Augusta County, Virginia, where they lived with their two sons, travelled to the District and married.

They spent 10 days on their honeymoon before returning home to Augusta County, Virginia, where they lived as husband and wife.

Then, in 1877, they were arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious cohabitation and violating Virginias law banning interracial marriage. On February 2, 1878, they were found guilty of miscegenation and fined $500 each.

It would take nearly a century to overturn the states laws against interracial marriage, which had a long history in Virginia.

In 1962, four years after the Lovings were jailed, Mildred Loving wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, seeking help.

In the letter, Mildred Loving explained: Dear sir: I am writing to you concerning a problem we have. In 1958, my husband and I were married here in the District. We then returned to Va. to live. My husband is White. I am part Negro and part Indian.

At the time we did not know there was a law in Virginia against mixed marriages. Therefore we were jailed and tried in a little town of Bowling Green. We were to leave the state to make our home.

The problem, she wrote, was that they were not allowed to visit family in Virginia. The judge said if we enter the state within the next 30 yrs., that we will have to spend 1 yr. in jail. We know we cant live there, but we would like to go back once and a while to visit our families and friends.

The letter was sent to the ACLU, whose lawyers took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Richard Loving died in 1975, Mildred Loving in 2008.

Since the Loving decision, Americans have increasingly dated and married across racial and ethnic lines. Currently, 11 million people  or 1 out of 10 married people  in the United States have a spouse of a different race or ethnicity, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

In 2015, 17 per cent of newlyweds  or at least 1 in 6 of newly married people  were intermarried, which means they had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity. When the Supreme Court decided the Lovings case, only 3 per cent of newlyweds were intermarried.

But interracial couples can still face hostility from strangers and sometimes violence.

In the 1980s, Michele Farrell, who is white, was dating an African American man and they decided to look around Port Huron, Michigan, for an apartment together. I had the woman who was showing the apartment tell us, I dont rent to coloreds. I definitely dont rent to mixed couples, Farrell said.

In March, a white man fatally stabbed a 66-year-old black man in New York City, telling the Daily News that hed intended it as a practice run in a mission to deter interracial relationships. In August 2016 in Olympia, Washington, Daniel Rowe, who is white, walked up to an interracial couple without speaking, stabbed the 47-year-old black man in the abdomen and knifed his 35-year-old white girlfriend. Rowes victims survived and he was arrested.

And even after the Loving decision, some states tried their best to keep interracial couples from marrying.

In 1974, Joseph and Martha Rossignol got married at night in Natchez, Mississippi, on a Mississippi River bluff after local officials tried to stop them. But they found a willing priest and went ahead anyway.

We were rejected everyplace we went, because no one wanted to sell us a marriage license, said Martha Rossignol, who has written a book about her experiences then and since as part of a biracial couple. Shes black, hes white.

We just ran into a lot of racism, a lot of issues, a lot of problems. Youd go into a restaurant, people wouldnt want to serve you. When youre walking down the street together, it was like youve got a contagious disease.

But their love survived, Rossignol said, and they returned to Natchez to renew their vows 40 years later.

Interracial couples can now be seen in books, television show, movies and commercials. Former President Barack Obama is the product of a mixed marriage, with a white American mother and an African father. Public acceptance is growing, said Kara and William Bundy, who have been married since 1994 and live in Bethesda, Maryland.

To Americas credit, from the time that we first got married to now, Ive seen much less head turns when we walk by, even in rural settings, said William, who is black. We do go out for hikes every once in a while, and we dont see that as much any longer. It really is dependent on where you are in the country and also the locale.

Even in the South, interracial couples are common enough that oftentimes no one notices them, even in a state like Virginia, Hirschkop said.

I was sitting in a restaurant and there was a mixed couple sitting at the next table and they were kissing and they were holding hands, he said. Theyd have gotten hung for something like 50 years ago and no one cared  just two people could pursue their lives. Thats the best part of it, those quiet moments.

With files from the Washington Post and Toronto Star staff

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WASHINGTONFellow Republicans pressed U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday to come clean about whether he has tapes of private conversations with former FBI director James Comey and provide them to Congress if he does  or possibly face a subpoena, as a Senate investigation into collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice extended to a Trump Cabinet member.

It was a sign of escalating fallout from riveting testimony from Comey last week of undue pressure from Trump, which drew an angry response from the president on Friday that Comey was lying.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in for sharp questioning by senators on the Senate Intelligence committee Tuesday. Whether that hearing will be public or closed is not yet known.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

I dont understand why the president just doesnt clear this matter up once and for all, said Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a member of that committee, referring to the existence of any recordings.

She described Comeys testimony as candid and thorough and said she would support a subpoena if needed. Trump should voluntarily turn them over, Collins said.

Sen. James Lankford, also a member of that committee, agreed the panel needed to hear any tapes that exist. Weve obviously pressed the White House, he said.

Trumps aides have dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russia investigation have been recorded, and so has the president. Pressed on the issue Friday, Trump said Ill tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future.

Read more:

Donald Trump sees James Comeys testimony as complete vindication, and his fans agree

Lordy, I hope there are tapes, Comey accuses Trump of lying

Lankford said Sessions testimony Tuesday will help flesh out the truth of Comeys allegations, including Sessions presence at the White House in February when Trump asked to speak to Comey alone. Comey alleges that Trump then privately asked him to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynns contacts with Russia.

Comey also has said Sessions did not respond when he complained he didnt want to get time alone with the president again. The Justice Department has denied that, saying Sessions stressed to Comey the need to be careful about following appropriate policies.

We want to be able to get his side of it, Lankford said.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said theres a real question of the propriety of Sessions involvement in Comeys dismissal, because Sessions had stepped aside from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. Comey was leading that probe.

Reed said he also wants to know if Sessions had more meetings with Russian officials as a Trump campaign adviser than have been disclosed.

Trump on Sunday accused Comey of cowardly leaks and predicted many more from him. Totally illegal? he asked in a tweet. Very cowardly! 

Several Republican lawmakers also criticized Comey for disclosing memos he had written in the aftermath of his private conversations with Trump, calling that action inappropriate. But, added Lankford releasing his memos is not damaging to national security.

The New York City federal prosecutor who expected to remain on the job when Trump took office but ended up being fired said he was made uncomfortable by one-on-one interactions with the president  just like Comey was. Preet Bharara told ABCs This Week that Trump was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship with him when he called him twice before the inauguration to shoot the breeze.

He said Trump reached out to him again after the inauguration but he refused to call back, shortly before he was fired.

On Comeys accusations that Trump pressed him to drop the FBI investigation of Flynn, Bharara said no one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction of justice. But: I think theres absolutely evidence to begin a case.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the Intelligence committee, sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, urging him to investigate possible obstruction of justice by Trump in Grassleys position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein is the top Democrat on that panel and a member of both.

She said Sessions should also testify before the Judiciary Committee, because it was better suited to explore legal questions of possible obstruction. Feinstein said she was especially concerned after National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers refused to answer questions from the intelligence committee about possible undue influence by Trump.

Feinstein said she did not necessarily believe Trump was unfit for office, as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has asserted, but said he has a destabilizing effect on government.

Theres an unpredictability. He projects an instability, Feinstein said. Doing policy by tweets is really a shakeup for us, because theres no justification presented.

Sessions stepped aside in March from the federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the campaign after acknowledging that had met twice last year with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. He had told lawmakers at his January confirmation hearing that he had not met with Russians during the campaign.

Sessions has been dogged by questions about possible additional encounters with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

As for the timing of Sessions recusal, Comey said the FBI expected the attorney general to take himself out of the matters under investigation weeks before he actually did.

In other television appearances Sunday:

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he would take Trump up on his offer to testify under oath about his conversations with Comey, inviting the president to testify before the Senate.

Feinstein acknowledged she would have a queasy feeling, too if Comeys testimony was true that Loretta Lynch, as former president Barack Obamas attorney general, had directed him to describe the FBI probe into Hillary Clintons email practices as merely a matter and to avoid calling it an investigation. Feinstein said the Judiciary Committee should investigate.

Collins and Feinstein spoke on CNNs State of the Union and Lankford and Schumer appeared on CBS Face the Nation. Reed was on Fox News Sunday.

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JERUSALEMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have won a defamation lawsuit against an Israeli journalist over a Facebook post he wrote claiming that the first lady had booted the premier out of the car in an official convoy after a heated argument.

On Sunday, an Israeli magistrates court ordered the journalist, Igal Sarna, to pay the Israeli leader and his wife $28,300 for writing the post. The judge ruled that the post, at least in part, was malicious and ugly, intended to humiliate and shame the plaintiffs.

Sarna, who works for popular Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, had written the short note on his personal Facebook page in 2015.

According to a report in Israeli daily Haaretz, the damning post had read: its part of life when the prime ministers hefty convoy stops at night (it happened)  four black vehicles and more and more security men, guards and carsand a not-so-young man is ejected with shouts into the darkness on Route 1 because one woman doesnt want him to remain with her in the car. Sarna also surmised that this behaviour makes a mockery of all the security and in fact all the country and added in his criticism of the Netanyahus. Make every possible sound so we dont hear everything going up in the flames of madness. Beat the drums, he wrote.

In March, the Netanyahus took Sarna to court, claiming damages for libel. They vehemently denied the incident he described.

Everything Sarna said was a lie. It didnt happen, the prime minister said on the stand. Anyone who knows anything about motorcade security knows that something like that cant happen.

Sara Netanyahu also spoke in court, calling the post horrendous. She said that she has often been the victim of Israeli media ridicule.

During the trial, Sarna refused to reveal his source, saying only that he had verified the story. He said he had not offered it to his newspaper, however, because it was not big enough to constitute a full article, Israeli media reported at the time.

Reacting to the verdict Sunday, Sarna said in a Facebook post that he would appeal: This kind of verdict is what is expected during these dark days. But this is just the beginning of the fight.

A statement from the Netanyahus after the ruling said simply, Justice is finally done.

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Re: MDs urge feds to open books on pharma-physician back-scratching, June 9

MDs urge feds to open books on pharma-physician back-scratching, June 9

You noted that Canada is an international laggard when it comes to transparency about financial ties between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians. But financial disclosure alone has little or no effect on physician behaviour, industry bias, physician education or scientific objectivity.

Unfortunately, a minority of physicians are quite comfortable being paid for their industry services, and deny that they are being influenced.

Many drug companies support financial disclosure because it does not relinquish their control and promotes the erroneous perception that disclosure makes a big difference. This diverts attention away from the major issue of control.

The pharmaceutical industry, directly or indirectly, funds most drug research, medical journals and continuing education in medicine. Control is in their hands.

They provide the writers, statistical analysis and information distribution (speakers, PowerPoints, advertisements, direct marketing and much more) and do not allow minority author disagreement. This control permits them to continue to promote their biased agenda at the expense of scientific objectivity and truth.

Nothing will change until physicians demand writing and statistical control, and the ability to disagree. To continue in our present path will lead to more future thalidomides, Vioxxes, Avandias, Amevives, opioid crises, hormone-replacement therapies and other failed or dangerous drugs.

Dr. Robert Richards, Toronto

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- NASA flagbearer Raila Odingas wife has made a rare comment on her husbands political future

- Idah, who is usually off the limelight, campaigned for Raila in a rare gesture

- She made a promise to Kenyans ahead of the August polls

NASA flagbearer Raila Odinga s wife Idah Odinga has made a promise to Kenyans regarding the August polls.

Idah, who is rarely in the limelight despite being the opposition leaders spouse, has promised Kenyans that she would be the first lady of the country after the August polls.

She was speaking at Kilimani primary on Saturday, June 11, where she said exuded confidence of an opposition win in August.

READ ALSO: CD hawker in the Nairobi CBD holds the most enviable wedding around

The will on the Kenyan people is unstoppable and I am sure I will serve you as First Lady. I know what the country is undergoing and I will not let you down.

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It has been a long struggle but finally I know we shall be there. The country will go to the right hand sand from which we shall define our destiny as a country, She said.

This will be Railas fourth stab at the Presidency, after losing in his last three attempts  controversially in 2007 and 2013.

Meanwhile the NASA have been consolidating by touring several of his strongholds.

READ ALSO: Boost for Uhuru Kenyatta as David Musila and Francis Nyenze endorse him

While Idah was campaigning for her husband in a rare gesture, Raila was consolidating his vote count in the Ukambani region.

Have anything to add to this article or suggestions? Share with us on news@tuko.co.ke

Watch the video below of Kabogo speaking on Waititus nomination victory:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Patient satisfaction and impact on health-related quality of life; Anatomical reposition; Continence; Avoidance of complications.

The future of surgical care depends on the research we do now. If we don`t address the current shortfalls catastrophic problems like falsified research outcome and bad quality implants and surgical techniques will destroy patients faith and make good techniques disappear.Especially in pelvic floor surgery we use high risk medical products with sensitive structures. Good skills and standard procedures based on high level of evidence are needed. Women have an 11% lifetime risk of needing surgery for pelvic floor disorders and 1 of 3 patients requiring additional surgery for prolapse or incontinence [1]. More than 200 thousand surgical procedures for pelvic organ prolapse were undertaken in 1997 in the United States, at an estimated cost of more than $1 billion [2,3]. However there is a lack of homogenity and long-term data for the materials and techniques utilized. Additionally, no generally accepted definition for success after pelvic prolapse surgery exists. Outcome based on anatomic success only has a weak or absent correlation with patient perception of outcome [4]. Multiple questionnaires and definitions complicate the comparability of the studies. From 2008 on, the FDA released several reports on more than 1000 unexpected and severe adverse events, associated with trans-vaginal placement of surgical mesh. It took 8 more years that FDA finally required premarket approval and postmarket surveillance studies for trans-vaginal meshes [5]. FDA started to collaborate with the international expert group IDEAL in order to establish new requirements following the IDEAL-recommendations [6].Herewith we present a development of registry for a standardized benchmarking of pelvic floor surgery. Different modules for female prolapse, female incontinence and male incontinence have been developed.There are four main outcomes, which have been considered for the definition of success [7,8]:Based on the successful implementation of surgical hernia registries, f.e. European registry for abdominal wall hernias (EuraHs), a working group under auspices of the German Society of Residents in Urology (GeSRU) and the Study Group for Urogynecology and Plastic Pelvic Floor Reconstruction (AGUB) of the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics was built. Our approach conforms to the IDEAL-system of surgical innovation. We propose a gradual process of registry establishment to overcome the inconsistent voluntary participation and reporting. First, an implementation of quality depending reimbursement is needed by the politics. A successful registry based on the experience and consent of participating gynecological and urological societies will pave the way for the mandatory registry system driven by politics and with the financial support of the participating industrial manufacturers. Registries will provide timely, more accurate, and reliable research results with sufficient information to uniquely identify the device. Data access and analytical processes should be transparent, to enable quality improvement and the best possible and individualized care for the patients. Following the hernia registries, an established national registry will pave the way for the European registry of pelvic floor implants.Written By: Dimitri Barski, MD, Department of Urology, Lukas Hospital Neuss, Germany; Thomas Otto, MD, Department of Urology, Lukas Hospital, Neuss, Germany1. Olsen AL, Smith VJ, Bergstrom JO, et al. Epidemiology of surgically managed pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence. Obstet Gynecol. 1997;89(4):501506. doi: 10.1016/S0029-7844(97)00058-6.2. Brown JS, Waetjen LE, Subak LL, et al. Pelvic organ prolapse surgery in the United States, 1997. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2002;186:712716. doi: 10.1067/mob.2002.121897.3. Subak LL, Waetjen LE, Eeden S, et al. Cost of pelvic organ prolapse surgery in the United States. Obstet Gynecol. 2001;98:646651. doi: 10.1016/S0029-7844(01)01472-7.4. Barber MD, Brubaker L, Nygaard I, et al. Pelvic floor disorders network: Defining success after surgery for pelvic organ prolapse. Obstet Gynecol. 2009;114(3):6009. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181b2b1ae.5. FDA strengthens requirements for surgical mesh for the transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm479732.htm. Accessed 25 Apr 2017.6. McCulloch P, Altman DG, Campbell WB, et al. No surgical 357 innovation without evaluation: the IDEAL recommendations. Lancet. 2009;374(9695):1105-12. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61116-8.7. Lee U Raz S . Emerging concepts for pelvic organ prolapse surgery: What is cure? Curr Urol Rep. 2011 Feb;12(1):62-7. doi: 10.1007/s11934-010-0160-2.8. Mearini L, Zucchi A, Nunzi E, Di Biase M, Bini V, Costantini E. The S.A.C.S. (Satisfaction-Anatomy-Continence-Safety) score for evaluating pelvic organ prolapse surgery: a proposal for an outcome-based scoring system. Int Urogynecol J. 2015;26(7):1061-1067.376 doi:10.1007/s00192-015-2655-3.
The head of the dreaded Haqqani network who also is second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban has denied insurgents involvement in recent bloody attacks in Kabul.

Fugitive Sirajuddin Haqqani made the remarks in a rare Pashto language audio message released late Sunday by the Taliban to VOA.

He specifically referred to the May 31 tanker truck bombing of the Afghan capitals heavily guarded Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic sector followed by a triple suicide attack on a funeral in Kabul and last weeks bombing of a mosque in the western city of Herat.

The three strikes killed at least 180 people and wounded hundreds of others. Almost all of the victims were civilians.

Whoever planned and organized them, this was certainly not the work of the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban], nor will it conduct such activities anywhere [in the country] that are harmful to innocent [Afghan] civilians, Haqqani asserted.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts in Kabul and Herat.

Most of the casualties were caused by the tanker truck, filled with an estimated 1,500 kilograms of explosives. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told an international conference in Kabul last week that the massive explosions killed more than 150 people and wounded 350 others, including foreigners.

The attack was the deadliest in Afghanistan since 2001.

Foreign invaders

The Afghan spy agency swiftly blamed the Haqqani network of plotting the massive blast, allegedly with direct assistance from neighboring Pakistans spy agency.

Haqqani in his audio message reiterated that the Taliban will not end its insurgency until all the U.S.-led "foreign invaders are expelled from Afghanistan.

He criticized the Afghan government for allegedly promoting Western traditions in the country, "contrary to Islamic traditions," in the name of human rights.

The way you [Afghans] celebrate Afghanistans independence from Russians and the way you celebrate Afghanistans independence from British invaders, God willing, there will be a time when you will be proudly celebrating independence from Americans and their allies," the fugitive commander asserted.

The U.S. Department of State designated Haqqani a global terrorist in 2008, before designating his network a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.

Washington also has offered a $10 million reward for the Afghan terror chief, dubbed Khalifa or the boss, who is believed to have masterminded some of the deadly attacks against local and foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Afghan and U.S. officials alleged Sirajuddin Haqqani orchestrates the violence out of his sanctuaries in volatile tribal areas of Pakistan and with the help of that country's intelligence operatives.

Islamabad rejects the charges and says its military operations over the past three years have "uprooted all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani network" from the tribal belt near the border with Afghanistan.
Competing protests took place in several cities across the United States Saturday between groups saying they are protesting Sharia and groups saying they are protesting discrimination against Muslims.

The anti-Sharia protesters were organized by a group called ACT for America, a President Donald Trump-aligned organization that says it protects free speech and defends traditional American values.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, says ACT is the nations largest anti-Muslim group.

According to a Washington Post report, about three dozen ACT protesters, some dressed in fatigues and carrying American flags, gathered in downtown New York City.

Pax Hart, who organized the Manhattan rally, told a reporter that if someone feels unsafe walking around in a Muslim headscarf, try being a conservative on a college campus.

Among the people gathered at the anti-Sharia protest were Trump supporters; self-identified Oath Keepers, an anti-government group; and tidily dressed young men who identified themselves as members of the alt-right, a white nationalist movement.

Across the street, a few hundred people gathered with banners reading Fascists out of NYC.

Police officers and barricades stood between the two groups.

More than 20 cities

Similar faceoffs took place in more than 20 cities across the nation: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Austin, Texas; and San Bernardino, California, where in 2015 a husband and wife inspired by Islamic State killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in a shooting spree.

There are radicals out there, an ACT for America supporter in San Bernardino, Denise Zamora, told a local television reporter. People are saying that were against Muslims. No, Muslims are attacking other Muslims, and were bringing in these refugees that have the same ideologies.

So far, no violence has been reported at any of the demonstrations. But the Southern Poverty Law Center has noted that ACT for America rallies tend to attract a broad range of far-right extremists and anti-government activists.

The group canceled a rally scheduled for Saturday in Batesville, Arkansas, after it was revealed that the organizer was a prominent neo-Nazi, Billy Roper.

In San Bernardino, police spokeswoman Eileen Hards told a reporter, Theres an anti-Trump, a pro-Trump, anti-extremists, so there are a variety of messages here.

There are so many messages going on that Im not sure whos who, Hards added.
Islamist insurgency Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attack on Nigerias northeastern city of Maiduguri Wednesday night that killed at least 14 people, the first major assault in 18 months on a key stronghold against the militants.

The raid took place six months after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Boko Haram had technically been defeated by a military campaign that had pushed many insurgents deep into the remote Sambisa forest, near the border with Cameroon.

Maiduguri is the center of the governments eight-year fight against Boko Haram, which has been trying to set up an Islamic caliphate in the northeast.

'Hale and hearty'

We have killed those we can and have left with the bounties of war we are displaying now, said a voice on a video released by Boko Haram Saturday, showing the groups fighters among piles of ammunition and other supplies.

We are hale and hearty, contrary to claims that we have been killed, the voice said.

The Boko Haram fighters attacked Maiduguris suburbs with anti-aircraft guns and several suicide bombers, a police official said Thursday.

The video showed what appear to be Boko Haram fighters moving through the bush with guns and vehicles mounted with heavy weaponry, as well as shots of them holding security passes and other Nigerian military supplies.

God has enriched us with the arms and ammunition on display, and we shall deploy such weapons we seized against you ... the war is still ongoing, said the video.

As you look for us in the bush, we shall hunt you in the cities. ... There is no dialogue between us, only fire for fire.

20,000-plus killed by Boko Haram

The video also showed a man who appears to be Abubakar Shekau, leader of one of two branches of the jihadist group, standing in front of fighters and weaponized vehicles, speaking Arabic, though the Nigerian military has repeatedly claimed to have killed him.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Boko Harams campaign to establish a caliphate in the Lake Chad basin. A further 2.7 million have been displaced, creating one of the worlds largest humanitarian emergencies.

Despite the military liberating cities and towns, much of Borno state remains off-limits, hampering efforts to deliver food aid to nearly 1.5 million people believed to be on the brink of famine.

The World Food Program is scaling back plans for emergency feeding of 400,000 people in the region because of funding shortfalls.
President Michel Temer is fighting new allegations that his administration turned Brazil's spy services on a supreme court justice investigating him for corruption, the latest in a series of accusations that threaten to cut short his tenure.

In a story posted late Friday on its website, Veja magazine cites an anonymous presidential aide as saying that Temer and his advisers asked the Brazilian Intelligence Agency to spy on Edson Fachin, who is the justice in charge of an investigation into whether Temer accepted bribes and endorsed buying the silence of a former lawmaker convicted of corruption.

According to Veja, Temer's team is looking for a way to discredit Fachin - and thus hopefully sink the investigation.

The revelations came just hours after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal cleared Temer's 2014 campaign of charges that it received illegal financing. That decision was seen as giving the embattled Temer some breathing room, but the new accusations threaten to sink him anew, further constraining his ability to govern and reinvigorating calls for his resignation.

Carmen Lucia, the president of the supreme court, issued a scathing statement on Saturday, calling the alleged spying a tactic of dictatorships.

"It is unacceptable to commit a serious crime against the Supreme Federal Tribunal, against democracy and against liberty, if the report of this illegal invasion into the life of one of [the court's] members is confirmed," she wrote.

Attorney General Rodrigo Janot said he learned of the accusation with "puzzlement."

"If such an attack on the powers of the republic and the democratic state of law is confirmed, it would be one more unhappy episode in the grave democratic crisis that this country is going through, " he said in a statement Saturday.

Temer denied the accusation in a statement.

"The government does not use the public machine against Brazilian citizens, much less does it engage in any kind of action that doesn't respect the strict dictates of the law," the statement said.

It also reiterated that the government has never tried to constrain Operation Car Wash, the sprawling corruption investigation that has ensnared much of Brazil's political elite and led to allegations against the president himself.

Already exceptionally unpopular and seen by many Brazilians as illegitimate because he came to power following the impeachment and removal of his predecessor Dilma Rousseff, the accusations of corruption against Temer have called into question whether he can finish out his term.

Last month, a recording emerged that apparently captured Temer endorsing a plan to pay hush money to ex-House Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who is serving 15 years in prison for corruption and money laundering. Soon after, another bombshell emerged: Temer was being investigated for taking bribes.

Janot, the attorney general, is considering pressing charges against him for allegedly receiving bribes, over the audio recording and for allegedly trying to obstruct the Car Wash investigation.
Pressure is growing on Prime Minister Theresa May to announce her intention to resign in the next few months.

Senior Conservatives told VOA it is only a matter of time before May, whos scrambling to hang on to power, has to go.

They say she faces the choice between either agreeing to go quietly or facing an immediate leadership challenge, which will throw the party into an internecine war between those who want a sharp rupture with the European Union and those championing a so-called softer Brexit that would see Britain remaining inside Europes Single Market and accepting continued European migrants.

The countrys former finance minister, George Osbourne described the Prime Minister as a dead woman walking.

At least two members of her Cabinet  foreign minister Boris Johnson and the minister overseeing Brexit negotiations, David Davis  are already taking soundings to see if they have enough backing now to oust her, if she resists mounting calls for her to set a timetable for departure.

Possible replacements



Other Conservative lawmakers, who are critical of May for calling a snap election that saw the partys parliamentary majority wiped out at in last Thursdays upset election, are already discussing other possible soft Brexit contenders to replace May, arguing theres no longer a majority in the House of Commons for a sharp break with the EU.

They include Amber Rudd, the current interior minister, Philip Hammond, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives and a rising political star, who staked out her ground publicly at the weekend as the champion of a softer Brexit.

Her supporters say she is one of the few senior Tories able to connect to young voters. Labours better-than-expected electoral performance was largely due to massive backing from young voters angry over education cuts, university fees and Brexit.

Davidson urged Saturday the party to rethink its hard Brexit plans and raised the prospect of her new group of 13 Scottish Tory lawmakers torpedoing any parliamentary vote for a deal that would leave Britain outside the Single Market. Davidson said she would back a deal that prioritized the economy and free trade over restricting immigration.

Five fellow Cabinet members have already urged the populist Johnson to topple May as prime minister, if she isnt prepared to announce a timetable for departure, reported newspapers Sunday. Johnson, the tousled-haired former London mayor, dismissed the reports as tripe. In a tweet, he said: I am backing May. Lets get on with the job.

But Johnson, who has a history of being an ideological chameleon and might be able to finesse a deal between some of the partys hard and soft Brexiters and position himself as the frontrunner in a leadership contest has coveted the top job ever since he left journalism to enter politics.

On Saturday, Mays two closest aides resigned  a precondition for continued support for May from some ministers. But that has left May increasingly isolated in the upper reaches of the government and their departure failed to curb the clamor of criticism from within her parliamentary party as well as from constituency leaders across the country.

They blame her personally for what many Conservatives say was the worst election campaign their party has mounted in living memory.

Calls for resignation



A survey of Tory supporters by the Conservative Home website found that two-thirds wanted May to announce her resignation immediately.

Only Tory fear that an abrupt departure by May could open the door to Labour to try to form a minority government is staying the hand of her possible executioners.

And Labours leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party secured 262 seats compared to the Conservatives 318 in the 650-seat parliament, has not given up hope of being able to do so.

He and his aides are preparing a program for government that they intend to present to the House of Commons next week. Labour lawmakers argue that if May is forced to resign, the Queen should turn to Corbyn to see if hes able to secure sufficient backing from lawmakers in other opposition parties to set up his own minority government.

Mays efforts to secure a deal with Northern Irelands 10 Unionist lawmakers, who could give the Conservatives a working majority of 13 in the Commons, also appeared to be in doubt this weekend. Downing Street released Saturday a press statement saying May had secured a deal with the Unionists, only to have to withdrew the claim on Sunday, saying the press statement had been issued in error.

Among moderate Conservatives there is alarm about forming a Commons voting pact with the Democratic Unionists, who oppose same-sex marriage and abortion, and who have had ties in the past with Protestant paramilitaries.
Britain's embattled Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled her new Cabinet, aimed at focusing on social issues and "delivering a successful Brexit."

May on Sunday said the new line-up brought in "talent from across the whole of the Conservative Party."

She made Damian Green, former work and pensions secretary, her deputy by naming him first secretary of state.

Treasury chief secretary David Gauke moves in to take Green's place, while the leader of the House of Commons, David Lidington, becomes justice secretary.

Lidington's move sees him replace Liz Truss, who has faced criticism in the justice role and has been moved by May to Gauke's former post as treasury chief secretary.

A surprise appointment came with the naming of Michael Gove as environment and agriculture minister, less than a year after he was removed from the Cabinet by May.

Boris Johnson stays on as foreign minister, alongside fellow eurosceptic David Davis as Brexit minister.

May's replacement last year as interior minister, Amber Rudd, keeps her post, as does Defense Minister Michael Fallon.

The prime minister shrugged off suggestions that her days in Downing Street are numbered.



Asked if she is now just a caretaker leader, May noted that, "I said during the election campaign that if elected I would intend to serve a full term.''

May also said the government will be tackling issues such as the Brexit negotiations, and such issues as education, "dealing for the need for more housing" and a "proper mental health legislation that is going to support people."
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday he did not seek support from Washington to end the siege of a southern Philippines town by Islamist militants, a day after the United States said it was providing assistance at the request of the government.

Duterte told a news conference in Cagayan de Oro City, about 100 km (62 miles) from the besieged town of Marawi, that he had "never approached America" for help.

When asked about U.S. support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, Duterte said he was "not aware of that until they arrived."

The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject U.S. military trainers and advisers from his country.

It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over Duterte's head in seeking U.S. help.

The Philippines military said on Saturday U.S. forces were providing technical assistance but had no "boots on the ground", confirming a statement from the U.S. embassy in Manila which said the support had been requested by the government.

The seizure of Marawi on May 23 by hundreds of local and foreign fighters has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group Islamic State is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.

The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.

It said in a statement on Saturday it was providing Philippine forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training. A U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday.

'Our soldiers are pro-American'

Duterte, who declared martial law on Mindanao  an island the size of South Korea  after the Islamist fighters overran Marawi, said that under martial law he has authority over the defense department.



He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, "our soldiers are pro-American, that I cannot deny."

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement U.S. forces were participating directly in combat operations, which is prohibited by Philippines law.

"The fight against terrorism, however, is not only the concern of the Philippines or the United States but it is a concern of many nations around the world," he said. "The Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it."



As of Saturday the number of security forces killed in the battle for Marawi stood at 58. The death toll for civilians was 20 and more than 100 had been killed overall.

At least 200 militants are holed up in a corner of the town.

An estimated 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped there, some being held as human shields, while others are hiding in their homes with no access to running water, electricity or food.

One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer amid the throng of insurgents, separatists and bandits on Mindanao.

Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Islamic State as its Southeast Asia "emir."

Military officials believe Hapilon is still in the town.

The military has said it is aiming to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines' independence day.
U.S. military officials say they have no information to confirm or deny a report Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghadi has been killed in an airstrike.

Independent experts are expressing skepticism about the fast-spreading claims of the terrorist leaders death, which reportedly was broadcast late Saturday on Syrian state television. However the British Broadcasting Corporation's monitoring service said Sunday it had detected no such report on either state television or Syria's state news agency, SANA.

A spokesperson on weekend duty at the U.S. Defense Department told VOA she had received queries about the reports but had no information to confirm or deny it.

Air raids on Raqqa

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed intense air raids on Raqqa, where anti-IS forces began a major offensive last week. Reports from the region say the Amaq news agency, which is publicly identified with Islamic State, showed video of a body purported to be that of al-Baghdadi.

However, the British newspaper The Scotsman cited a tweet by terrorism analyst Michael Smith saying he has viewed the video and does not believe the body to be that of al-Baghdadi.

Multiple previous claims that the IS leader had been killed have proven to be false.
It's been 150 years since the birth of America's best-known architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. But his innovative designs continue to fascinate the public, from New York's Guggenheim museum, where the circular building itself is a sculptural work of art, to the Fallingwater house built over a waterfall in the Pennsylvania woods, to his modernist home on the Wisconsin prairie, Taliesin, which served as a laboratory for his ideas.

Some of Wright's buildings, now historic sites, marked his birthday milestone Thursday with parties and $1.50 tours. Other exhibits and events are being offered into the summer and fall, including a major show opening Monday at New York's Museum of Modern Art called "Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive." The exhibition, which runs through Oct. 1, showcases Wright's drawings, 3-D models, furniture and other material from an archive the museum jointly owns with Columbia University.

One of the remarkable things about Wright's enduring legacy is how popular his buildings remain as pilgrimage sites for his fans. In all, about 380 Wright structures are still standing, and those that are open to the public often sell out their tours weeks in advance, even in relatively out-of-the-way places like Taliesin, in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin, and at the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, at 19 stories tall the only skyscraper Wright ever built.

Wright is "the only architect more popular with the general public than he is with practicing architects," said Barry Bergdoll, MOMA's architecture curator.

Jeffrey Chusid, a professor at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning, agreed, saying Wright "was always doing what he wanted in his own style, and that style was often more accessible to popular taste than it was to academic taste." For example, the MOMA show explores Wright's frequent use of color, pattern and ornamentation, which Chusid said "essentially marked him as a 19th century architect," putting him at odds with the stripped-down minimalism generally associated with modernism.

The MOMA exhibition also demonstrates Wright's adept use of publicity to enhance his reputation. Displays include Wright's photo on the cover of Time magazine in 1938, and videos of his 1950s TV appearances, including the "What's My Line?" game show where blindfolded celebrity contestants guessed Wright's identity by asking questions.

Wright's sensational personal life contributed to his notoriety. He was married three times, and his longtime mistress was murdered at Taliesin by a house employee who also killed six others and set fire to the house.

But a large part of Wright's appeal also seems rooted in the notion that he was an arrogant genius who wouldn't be dissuaded from the purity of his philosophy. According to one much-told tale, when a client complained that a Wright-built roof was leaking on his desk, Wright retorted, "Move the desk!"

Those famous leaking roofs are among many structural issues that make Wright's buildings challenging to preserve, Chusid said. Wright would build "things that a moment's thought would have suggested would never work," he added. "But the thing is he also was making architecture and spaces and buildings that were passionate and astonishing to experience." He earned his fame not only as "the dramatic figure with the cowboy image, the lone architect against the world, but it was the fact that he created such fantastic buildings so often."

In addition to Taliesin, the Guggenheim and Price Tower, other Wright sites worth a visit include Kentuck Knob, in Chalkhill, Pennsylvania; the Duncan House, Acme, Pennsylvania; the Stockman House and Park Inn, Mason City, Iowa; and the SC Johnson Co. site in Racine, Wisconsin, known for tree-shaped columns supporting the structure's Great Workroom, and a research tower with windows made from 7,000 glass tubes.

The Zimmerman House, in Manchester, New Hampshire, is an example of Wright's modest Usonian homes and the only Wright house open to the public in New England. Oak Park, Illinois, has the largest concentration of Wright buildings in the world, including his home and studio, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy lists all public Wright sites on its website along with the 150th events . Exhibitions on view this summer include "Frank Lloyd Wright's Journey to the Prairie" exhibition at the Price Tower, through Aug. 27, and "Buildings for the Prairie" at the Milwaukee Art Museum, July 28-Oct. 15. And the National Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with the geographic mapping company ESRI has launched a digital story map of Wright buildings .

Wright's knack for publicity and egocentric insistence on the rectitude of his philosophy and designs all contributed to the staying power of his larger-than-life reputation. But at the end of the day, it's the buildings themselves that prove irresistible - and not just because "the technical details were way ahead of their time," said Joel Hoglund of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.

"There's this intangible thing when you're in one of his buildings that you're in the middle of something special," he said. "People come from all over the world to experience that because there's not a lot of architecture that gives people that feeling."
Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia's minister of marine affairs, who is known for blowing up foreign fishing ships that trespass into her nation's waters, has urged the United Nations to declare illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF) an organized crime.

IUUF is not a new entry in the annals of international crimes. But as more nations are working to manage their resources to prevent overfishing in their offshore and coastal waters, IUUF is a growing concern, according to the U.N.

Although hard numbers are difficult to gather, the world's fisheries in 2012 produced roughly 160 million tons of fish and generated over $129 billion in exports while providing nutrition for billions of people, according to World Bank data.

Speaking at the U.N. Ocean Conference this week in New York City, Pudjiastuti said fishing boat crews involved in IUUF "are involved not only in fish crimes but also smuggling drugs, weapons and other illegal economic products, even human trafficking. This disrupts domestic economic competition because the perpetrators have no cost and gain so much profit."

There is little disagreement that billions of dollars, or even tens of billions, are at stake with IUUF each year.

Dependent on ocean, fishing

According to the World Bank, Indonesia, which has 2.6 million fishermen and 140 million citizens who rely on marine and coastal economic systems, claims IUUF losses up to tens of millions of dollars per year.

Pudjiastuti has been pushing to make illegal fishing a transnational crime since 2015.

She has the backing of General Assembly President Peter Thomson, a diplomat from Fiji, a Pacific Island nation that "is extremely reliant on marine resources from an economic and food security perspective," according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

"I welcome Indonesia's efforts in this field. IUUF is indeed a transnational crime," Thomson told VOA Indonesia. "Ultimately, it is the responsibility of all parties, international organizations, governments, civil society, NGOs and the scientific community. This is not just an individual's responsibility but the responsibility of all of us."

With others at the conference, Thomson also spoke out against the plague of plastic waste polluting the world's oceans.

WATCH: UN Official Peter Thomson: 'The Ocean Is in Deep Trouble'

"The sea is in the midst of a plastic-and-pollution disaster," he said. "If we don't act, there will be more plastic than fish in 2050."

Indonesians, who produce more ocean waste than any nation other than China, rallied to this issue at the conference. Among the Indonesian delegates were Melati and Isabel Wijsen, two Bali teenagers who initiated Bye Bye Plastic Bags, the community movement that aims to reduce plastic waste.

Sustainable goals

Combating IUUF is one of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, which include steps to end overfishing; end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices; and implement science-based management plans. The U.N. hopes the steps restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics.

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by all 193 heads of state via a U.N. resolution in September 2015 at a special Summit of the United Nations in New York.

Pudjiastuti is both revered and criticized for her hard-line approach to combat illegal fishing. Last year, Indonesia, made up of more than 17,000 islands, sank 60 foreign fishing ships as part of its independence day celebrations.

In May, Pudjiastuti was one of the recipients of the Peter Benchley Ocean Award  named after the author of Jaws. She was cited for her efforts in protecting Indonesia's marine ecosystem, as well as tackling poachers and organized crime.

About 10,000 vessels a year use to fish in Indonesian waters, but that has stopped. "We catch them and we sink them, and it has been an effective deterrence," she said.

Since taking office in 2014, after a three-decade career as a seafood entrepreneur, Pudjiastuti has blown up hundreds of vessels, but the tactic has created tensions with regional neighbors.

China causes concerns

Indonesian officials are particularly worried about China's expansion of its fishing fleets and occasional forays into the waters of other countries in the region.

In the past, Pudjiastuti has said they have captured few Chinese vessels, which are big, fast and often accompanied by their nation's coast guard.

But she continues to push for an end to IUUF.

"It's better to have an idea that is too early than too late," she said. "I am proud that Indonesia is thinking about this ahead of other countries, and that we have actually done it, not just talk about it."

This report originated with VOA Indonesia.
Iranian reformists and opposition groups are worried that hard-liners may use this weeks Islamic State-claimed twin terror attacks to press leadership in Tehran to crack down on social media and renege on election promises of freedoms and reforms.

IS claimed responsibility for Wednesdays attacks on parliament and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, killing at least 17 people and injuring several others.

Iran had dismissed IS threats since 2007, including a March video in which the group promised to conquer the country soon.

Publicly, supporters of the regime promoted the supposition that ISs extreme Sunni-based theology has no support in largely Shiite Iran. But the systematic oppression of Sunni minority Iranians has led a number of Iranian millennials to join the extremist group, analysts say.

In the days after the attacks, Iranian authorities arrested more than 40 suspects of Iranian origin linked to IS, and said the main attackers were Iranians who had fought for IS in Syria and Iraq.

IS sympathizers

Some experts estimates the numbers of active Iranian IS sympathizers are close to 1,000. The attack rippled through the Iranian fabric and shattered the regimes veneer of security and control, analysts say.

The attack will be of concern to the Iranian authorities, not least because of the tragic loss of life, but also the humiliation of IS being able to strike in the Islamic Republics capital, and symbolically against the republics founder and first leader, terror analyst Bruce Hoffman said in an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations. IS has brought the war home to Iran in a way that hasnt occurred since the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

In his first reaction to the attacks, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei launched a wave of indirect criticism at newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, suggesting that his administration has allowed dissidents to recruit and organize through social media, particularly the popular Telegram messaging application.

The central decision-making social and cultural organs are dysfunctional, Khamenei, who has disagreed with Rouhani on several issues related to domestic reforms and opening to the West, said in a speech to pro-regime students.

Social freedoms

Some say they believe Khameneis statement could be interpreted as more pressure on social freedoms promised by Rouhani during the election campaign.

Its obvious that security measures are going to be tightened in some particular areas, said Meisam Karimi, a Tehran-based journalist and blogger. But the most important thing is that the hardliners will push for more internet and social media blockage and will use it as a vehicle to avenge their defeat in the recent election.

Rouhanis re-election last month was largely a result of social media mobilization by prominent intellectuals, actors and social media figures who waged social media campaigns to urge people to vote for him, analysts say.

They long pushed to have social media and particularly the Telegram app to be banned or controlled and couldnt reach their goal, Karimi said of the hard-liners. Now with this terrorist attack, which was orchestrated by Telegram app, they find the excuse they looked for.

Hours after the terror spree in Tehran, IS-affiliated Amaq social media released a video allegedly showing the attackers storming a parliament office, shooting at staff and shouting IS slogans in Arabic.

Days earlier, Afghan security forces arrested an Iranian national fighting with the IS in eastern Nangahar province who confessed to being recruited via Telegram. With approximately 20 million users, Telegram is the most widely used messaging app in Iran.

The Iranian intelligence have publicly claimed quick success after arrested agents and cells linked to IS. However, the timing of this incident could be cited as evidence of Rouhanis ineffective security procedures in his first term despite his experience in such affairs, analysts say.

Rouhani has replaced some of the high-ranking authorities at the intelligence ministry in the past years, said Mahan Abedin a U.K.-based author and expert on Islamic movements and ideologies.

Shahriar Zarshenas, a conservative security theorist, warned Rouhani of a looming security crisis a few months before the re-election, according to Iranian media reports.

It is obvious that the security system is suffering from sort of indecency when some IS agents can reach to the fourth floor of the parliament building, said Houchang Hassan Yari, a scholar at the Royal Military College of Canada.

Security concern

A number of security agents have complained that Rouhanis appeasement policy in the largely Kurdish Sunni region in western and southern Iran was hurting the countrys security.

A leaked report from Irans intelligence ministry in 2014 said activities linked to IS and the number of Salafi activists who disseminate jihadi ideologies both increased dramatically during Rouhanis first term.

There are numbers of Iranian Sunni Kurds who have imbibed the Salafi ideas and internalize it as a measure to defend their dignity and as a way to regain the rights they believe have been stolen from them, said Babak Taghvaee, a military expert based in Malta.

The March video issued by IS alleged that more than 18,000 Iranian Sunnis have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. One speaker urged Sunnis to join IS "to defend their dignity and regain the pride taken away by Iranian Shia authorities."

Irans involvement in propping up the Syrian and Iraqi regimes trying to gain control of territory taken from IS also has rankled Sunnis, analysts say.

The resultant anger among a large population of Sunnis has had many manifestations in Iraq, and it was inevitable that it would have the same impact on many aggrieved Sunnis who perceive Iran to be at the center of a conspiracy against Sunnis in the region, said Rashad Ali, senior fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. "This is at the root of this attack.
4 Philippine Marines carry the flag-draped caskets of eight marines who were killed Friday in the battle with Muslim militants in Marawi city in southern Philippines, after being flown in to Villamor Air Force base in suburban Pasay city southeast of Manila.
Kosovo voted in early parliamentary elections Sunday, called in May when the government lost a confidence vote after the opposition accused it of not fulfilling promises to improve the countrys standard of living.

In line with earlier public opinion polls, an exit poll by Klan Kosovo TV indicated a coalition of three former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is in the lead with 40 percent of votes.

The coalition, led by former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, is made up of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) of Kadri Veseli, the Initiative for Kosovo, NISMA, of Fatmir Limaj, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AKK), Haradinaj. The three party leaders were major wartime figures. All three have been accused of war crimes but found not guilty by The Hague International Tribunal.

Four other coalitions, 19 political parties, and two citizens' initiatives have nominated candidates for the premiership.

The new government will have to deal with a number of thorny issues, such as tense relations with Serbia, joining the European Union, the approval of border demarcation deal with Montenegro  a condition put by Brussels to join the EU's Schengen zone for visa-free travel  endemic corruption and possible war crime indictments for some leaders by a new Hague-based Special Court.

More than 1.8 million Kosovars, of whom nearly half a million live abroad, are registered to vote in the third general election since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Since then, more than 110 countries, including the United States and most of the European Union member states, have recognized Kosovo. Serbia has not.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 7 p.m.
Libya's coast guard has recovered the bodies of eight migrants from an inflatable boat found east of Tripoli on Saturday, with dozens of other migrants feared missing, a spokesman said.

"In general, this type of boat carries 100 to 110 people, so we do not know what has happened to the others," said Issa al-Zaroog, a coast guard spokesman in the town of Garabulli.

It was not clear how the migrants, whose bodies were spotted by fishermen, had died, coast guard officials said.

Earlier, Tripoli coast guard spokesman Ayoub Qassem said one Bangladeshi migrant had been killed and two wounded in crossfire when coast guards from Zawiya, just west of Tripoli, had clashed on Friday with smugglers escorting migrant boats out to sea.

Qassem said two rubber boats and a wooden vessel carrying some 570 migrants had been intercepted near Sabratha, west of Tripoli, triggering the clashes, and that coast guards had destroyed a boat and a personal watercraft used by smugglers, arresting three of them.

But afterwards a further five rubber migrant boats got away after smugglers had fired at the coastguard from the shore and from boats, Qassem said.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said separately that 380 migrants in three rubber boats had been intercepted off Zawiya and brought back to Libya on Friday, and that another 438 were intercepted on Saturday.

Libya is the most common departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe by sea, with the number making the crossing rising sharply since 2014.

So far this year more than 61,000 migrants have arrived in Italy after crossing the central Mediterranean, according to the IOM. Most are packed onto ill-equipped vessels by Libyan smugglers, and are rescued by European ships once they reach international waters.
From the third-story window of a barren government office building he now lives in as a refugee, Nasir Abdul is watching his city being destroyed.



Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades.



And on nearly every one of those days, Abdul has stood at the window and watched along with dozens of others who cant turn away from the deadly spectacle taking place just a mile away.

Dying with every bomb

As plumes of thick black smoke wafted above the citys minarets again Friday  a day of intense skirmishes that saw the deaths of 13 marines  Abdul stood transfixed. Two helicopter gunships had just finished strafing the city, and now the people beside him were pointing toward a Vietnam-era attack aircraft circling overhead.



The plane, an OV-10 Bronco, turned suddenly and dove almost straight down on the city center, letting loose two bombs before pulling its nose up and spiraling away. Moments later, blasts shook the city and more smoke billowed skyward.



It hurts to watch because we know people are dying with every bomb, the 45-year-old Abdul said, as the sound of gunfire crackled in the distance. When I see the bombings, I cant help but cry. I cant help but think whats happening to my relatives, my family, my business, my house.



We know a lot of people are buried under that rubble, he added.

Downtown leveled, militants remain



Three weeks after a new alliance of Islamic militants tried to seize this town in their boldest attack yet, large chunks of downtown have been leveled. Militants remain holed up in several pockets scattered around the city center, along with at least 100 civilians, including hostages. Most of the towns 200,000 inhabitants have fled, and more than 200 people have died.



The military says the dead include at least 138 militants, 58 government troops and 29 civilians, among them a teenager shot Friday as he sheltered inside a Marawi mosque.



But the fighting is so intense, its impossible to fully recover bodies to get an accurate casualty toll.

Fears of Islamic State



The conflict in Marawi has raised fears that the Islamic State groups violent ideology is gaining a foothold in this countrys restive southern islands, where Muslim separatists have fought for greater autonomy for decades.



The military says militants are trying to establish a caliphate here, similar to one IS has attempted to create in the Middle East that stretches from the Syrian city of Raqqa to embattled Mosul, in Iraq. They believe 40 foreign fighters have participated in the fighting in Marawi, including Malaysians and Indonesians.

The government has asked the U.S. to provide intelligence and other technical support, and at least one American surveillance plane has flown in support of the Philippine forces.

Abdul said that while people in Marawi support autonomy, few back the extremist militant groups who have grown notorious for carrying out kidnappings and beheadings.



However, Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the armys 1st Infantry Division, said the insurgents likely have a lot of sympathizers, a lot of supporters in this area.



The main group leading the siege, the Maute, has deep roots in the city  in terms of relatives, in terms of connections, in terms of culture, heritage, he said.

Maute brothers



The Maute, named after three militant brothers, staged a similar attack in November on nearby Butig, on the opposite side of Lake Lanao, which lasted six days. But the intensity of the latest assault, and the ability of the militants to hold out for so long, appears to have caught the government off guard. Herrera said insurgents had prepared for as much as a year, stocking secret caches in basements with food, weapons and ammunition.



Rexson Tamano, who is sleeping on the floor of an outdoor hallway in the same provincial government building as Abdul, said he saw no suspicious activity and no sign an attack was imminent.



When gunfire heralded the start of the siege May 23, he called his pregnant wife on the other side of town to check in on her and their four children.



She said stay where you are, please dont come for us, its too dangerous, Tamano recalled. But he ran home anyway. On the way, he was stopped near a hospital at a checkpoint manned by militants. They wore black ski masks, and each held a machine-gun.



I tried to walk away but they called me over and asked whether I was Muslim or Christian, Tamano said. He told them the truth, he was Muslim, and they waved him through. The citys minority Christians have been singled out for execution.

Its our city. Its so painful.



Mikee Rakim, a humanitarian volunteer, said one group of 10 Christians told him they had been taken hostage when the fighting started. Militants beheaded two of them and were preparing to kill the rest when an airstrike hit a neighboring house, enabling them to escape.



While most of the displaced have headed inland, about 200 are sheltering at the headquarters of the provincial government, which has distributed food, water and sleeping mats to the families camped out here. Every time airstrikes take place, they gather in small groups at the windows, which look east toward the city.



While explosions shook Marawi on Friday and fighter jets buzzed overhead, one boy pushed a baby on a stroller through a hallway. In a corner, several other children sat making toy tanks out of paper.



ISIS! ISIS cried one boy, laughing as he pointed to a tiny black flag on one of the tanks.



Fahadda Camim, who was conducting an assessment for Community Family Services International, a Filipino humanitarian organization, said the children were copying what they see outside and were in need of counseling.



Abdul said he did not want to watch the fighting. But he could not resist, either.

Its our city, he said. Its so painful. Its impossible to turn away.
British Prime Minister Theresa May was seeking a deal with a small Northern Irish party Sunday to stay in power after losing her partys parliamentary majority in a catastrophic electoral gamble just days before Brexit talks are set to start.

But with Mays personal authority in tatters, there were reports that moves were afoot within her Conservative Party to dislodge her, while opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was insisting she could be ousted and he could replace her.

Mays Downing Street office said Sunday she had spoken with Northern Irelands pro-Brexit, socially conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to discuss finalizing a deal when parliament returns Tuesday.

We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond, Downing Street said in a statement.

As and when details are finalized both parties will put them forward, it said, referring to Mays Conservative Party and the DUP.

The timing is challenging, with Britain due to start negotiating the terms of its exit from the European Union with the blocs 27 other members on June 19.

The Conservatives won 318 House of Commons seats in Thursdays election, eight short of an outright majority. Labour, the main opposition party, won 262. The DUP won 10.

Corbyn wants a chance

Labours Corbyn told the Sunday Mirror newspaper he saw a route to power himself, although it was not clear how he would command the support of a majority of members of parliament.

Labours tally, even when added to those of potential allies such as the Scottish National Party and other smaller parties, was still short of a majority.

I can still be prime minister. This is still on. Absolutely, Corbyn was quoted as saying.

He said his party would seek to vote down Mays Queens Speech, or program for government, when she presents it to parliament. If that succeeded, May would be expected to stand aside and let Corbyn try to win the backing of a majority of members of parliament to form a government.

Snap election decision

May had called the snap election with a view to increasing the narrow majority she inherited from her predecessor David Cameron. At the start of the campaign, she was enjoying poll leads of 20 points or more over the main opposition Labour Party.

But after a poor campaign and an unexpectedly stiff challenge from the opposition Labour Party under leader Jeremy Corbyn, her plan went disastrously wrong, leaving her unable to form a sustainable government without DUP support.

Brexit talks loom

The timing is challenging, with Britain set to start negotiating the terms of its exit from the European Union with the blocs 27 other members June 19.

The Conservatives now plan to reach a so-called confidence and supply agreement with the DUP, which would involve it supporting a Conservative minority government on key votes in parliament but not forming a formal coalition.

After an initial round of discussions, Downing Street had said Saturday that the principles of an outline agreement had been agreed with the DUP.

No deal with DUP yet

On Sunday, DUP leader Arlene Foster told Sky News that the talks were ongoing and that she would be traveling to London to meet May at her official Downing Street residence on Tuesday.

We had very good discussions yesterday with the Conservative Party in relation to how we could support them in forming a national government, one that would bring stability to the nation and those discussions continue. We have made good progress but the discussions continue, Foster said.

While that to-and-fro was unfolding, several British newspapers were reporting that some prominent Conservatives, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit minister David Davis, were being urged by supporters to challenge May for the party leadership.

Johnson dismissed the reports as tripe, tweeting late Saturday that he was backing May.

The prime minister also lost two top aides Saturday. Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill quit following sustained criticism within the party of the campaign.

Gavin Barwell was named new chief of staff. The Conservative lawmaker who lost his seat Thursday and has experience working as a party enforcer in parliament.


As national parks traveler Mikah Meyer continued his travels through the southwestern state of New Mexico, he was exposed to more otherworldly swaths of natural -- and man-made -- beauty. Its nickname, after all, is the Land of Enchantment. New Mexico is a large state, with 15 national park sites. While many of them share the same geography and landscape, each has its own distinct personality, Mikah said.

Cliff Dwellings

At the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, located deep within the Gila forest, he walked among the ruins of homes that belonged to the regions indigenous peoples a thousand years ago... residences that had been painstakingly carved out of the natural caves, with breathtaking views of the surrounding land and nearby Gila River.

What makes them so unique to all the other cliff dwellings in the park system are that the public is actually allowed to walk up into these caves, he said. So compared to most of the cliff dwellings in the park system this offers a unique chance that most dont.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Heading northeast from the ancient cliffs, Mikah made a quick stop at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument -- one of many Spanish missions in the American southwest that was meant to bring Christianity and Spanish culture to the native people.

This site has three different ruins, Mikah noted, adobe brick structures that have survived since the era of the Spanish arrival to the Pueblo culture.



One of them, the church, was so well intact that just from speaking, I could tell the acoustics were amazing, he said, adding that it was no surprise that concerts are held there on a regular basis.

El Malpais National Monument

Other wonders awaited Mikah at El Malpais National Monument, known for its massive sandstone bluffs. The giant rocks appear to burst out of the ground, he noted.

Its such a unique climbing experience, Mikah said. You can climb on these massive boulders, and jump from boulder to boulder you feel like a five-year-old again, discovering a new land!

Ancient messages

Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque is home to thousands of stone drawings that were carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago.

The images are considered a valuable record of cultural expression which hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers, according to the National Park Service.

But what they mean is still unclear.

There are so many faces and shapes and animals that nobody really knows what they were used for, Mikah explained. If it was a sacred location, if it was a historical notation system for the natives nobody really knows.

What is known is that modern homes and neighborhoods have been built within sight of the ancient rocks, one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America.

The development was coming so close to this old native history area that that's really what encouraged the local community to try to protect it, Mikah said.

A mini Grand Canyon

Close to New Mexico's capital city of Santa Fe is Bandelier National Monument, which Mikah described as a mini Grand Canyon...

It's in a valley between two very stark, tall canyon walls, he said. But with a slight difference.

As you look at the canyons, there's all these holes which were little dwellings, he said. People lived in these eroded or carved out areas in the canyon walls, or in some areas youll see they build stone houses outside of it.

It's this combination of natural beauty and stunning canyon walls with early historical homes and culture and it's just a really nice mix of beautiful landscapes and historical information.

Born of fire

The entire state of New Mexico has mountains just about everywhere, Mikah noted, but the northeastern region is home to a lot of old volcanoes. He enjoyed exploring one of them at the Capulin Volcano National Monument, which protects the now-dormant Capulin cinder cone volcano, part of an extinct volcanic field.

Visitors can actually climb down into the belly of this once-active natural wonder, one of the few places in the world that offers this opportunity.

Stepping over the ancient lava rocks inside the bowl-shaped crater, Mikah said he could only imagine the power of the volcano's massive eruption roughly 56,000 to 62,000 years ago.

Back at the top, Mikah enjoyed a picturesque walk along the rim of the volcano, which provided a really amazing 360-degree views of the area.

It's just a very different landscape from the rest of New Mexico in that the ground is covered in grass, he said. So youve got little rolling hills that were formed by lava flow or other volcanoes, and then this light green dry grass on top of them and then these really intense green bushes and trees.

The park grounds are also home to many species of birds and animals such as Mule deer, elk, black bears, coyotes, and even the occasional mountain lion.

Mikah looks forward to visiting New Mexicos remaining national park site wonders and invites you to follow along on his website, Facebook and Instagram.
Natural caves where desert natives once made their homes ... places where massive boulders appear to rise up from the desert ... ancient rocks inscribed with symbolic carvings ... a once-active volcano where visitors can walk down into its center. These are just a few of the timeless wonders that national parks traveler Mikah Meyer recently visited during his journey through the southwestern state of New Mexico. He shared highlights with VOA's JulieTaboh.
President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution is opposed by 85 percent of Venezuelans, according to a survey by polling company Datanalisis carried out as protests calling for presidential elections intensified.

In the poll, conducted May 29-June 4, 85 percent of respondents agreed with the statement: "There is no need to change the current constitution. What the government should do is enforce it."

Maduro, 54, has called a July 30 election to choose lawmakers who will work on the new charter, calling it a way to restore peace after two months of often violent anti-government unrest that has killed 67 people and injured thousands.

Opposition parties say they will not take part in the vote, which could dissolve the current, opposition-dominated parliament. The proposal has run into rare criticism from within the government's own ranks.

Critics say the plan is designed purely to keep Maduro in power, with rules skewed in the government's favor. They want to bring forward the next presidential vote due at the end of 2018.

"Hunger, scarcity and out-of-control violence is not going to be solved with a new constitution," academic Oscar Arnal said Saturday at a rally in Caracas, where security forces used tear gas and water cannons to clear protesters who blocked a central highway, throwing fireworks and Molotov cocktails.

"All they want is to stay in power for centuries," said Arnal. Protesters left burning barricades and clashed with security forces in the east and west of the city, while incidents were reported in other regions of the oil-producing nation.

Tear gas shells hit mall

At least three people were injured, according to Reuters witnesses and live TV images, while shoppers in Puerto Ordaz were forced to take cover when tear gas shells hit the mall they were in.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called the situation in Venezuela "concerning," in comments the government decried as interference that would fuel opposition violence.

The poll was posted on the website prodavinci.com, which publishes largely anti-government opinions, and confirmed by Datanalisis head Luis Vicente Leon, who has been a critic of Maduro.

Datanalisis did not reveal the number of participants, saying interviews were done by telephone with families from a range of economic backgrounds.

Maduro's approval rating in the poll was 21.9 percent.
Somali and U.S. military forces have destroyed an al-Shabab training base in Somalia's Middle Jubba region.



Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said Sunday he authorized the country's special forces with support from international partners to conduct a pre-dawn strike against an al-Shabab training camp near Sakow.

He said the strike destroyed a key al-Shabab command and supply hub, which will "disrupt the enemys ability to conduct new attacks within Somalia.



The U.S. military confirmed it participated "as a direct response to al-Shabab actions," including recent attacks on Somali and African Union forces. It says eight al-Shabab militants were killed in the strike.

Farmajo said Somalia has long suffered in the hands of al-Shabab, which he says is supported by global terror networks.

He did not say if any senior al-Shabab commanders were at the camp during the strike. Sakow is in the heartland of al-Shabab controlled region of Middle Jubba, ruling out ground troops involved in the attack.

In recent years U.S. drone strikes have targeted a number of key al-Shabab commanders, including former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane who was killed on September 1, 2014.

Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White says the United States is "committed to working with our Somali partners and allies to systematically dismantle al-Shabab, and help achieve stability and security throughout the region."

A source tells VOA Somali an airstrike took place near Sakow and that it may have targeted a group of about 10 al-Shabab members, including key figures.

Al-Shabab has reportedly sealed off the area and are questioning people in an attempt to identify who may have collaborated with the operation.

We and our international partners will take every possible precaution to protect our civilian population from harm during these operations while targeting terrorists, Farmajo said.

The Somali president reiterated his call to al-Shabab to take advantage of his amnesty issued on April 6.

To the members of al-Shabab, I tell you that we are bringing the fight to you. If you, however take advantage of my amnesty offer and denounce violence, we will integrate you into our reform program, he said.

You have no future with the terrorists, but you can still be a part of Somalias future; a peaceful and prosperous future.
Iran has sent at least four cargo planes of food and will continue to send more to Qatar after its biggest suppliers cut ties with the import-dependent country, according to Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Noushabadi.

Turkey has also said it would contribute food to Qatar amid fears of a food shortage after Saudi Arabia sealed Qatar's only land border, through which it imported most of its food.

Qatar hires former US Attorney General



Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed relations last week with Qatar, accusing the small nation of supporting Islamist militants and Iran, allegations Qatar has said are baseless. U.S. President Donald Trump has also had strong criticism of Qatar.



In a bid to rebut these accusations, Qatar is paying $2.5 million to the firm of John Ashcroft, who served as U.S. Attorney General during the September 11th attacks, to audit its efforts at stopping terrorism funding.

Ashcroft is expected to personally lead his Washington-based firm's efforts "to evaluate, verify and as necessary, strengthen the client's anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing" compliance, according to documents filed with the Department of Justice.

Tillerson, Cavusuglu discuss Qatar



U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke on the phone late Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu about the dispute between Qatar and its Arab Gulf neighbors.

Tillerson urged Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states Friday to no further escalate the crisis and ease their blockade of Qatar, which he said was causing unintended humanitarian consequences and affecting the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State.

In reference to Tillerson's comments on the blockade, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday in Istanbul it should be lifted completely.

"Tonight, U.S. Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson made a statement," he said. "He had a statement about easing the process and reducing the sanctions [against Qatar]. I say let us lift it entirely. This should not be happening between brothers."

Speaking at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner, Erdogan vowed to continue supporting Qatar after his rapid approval of legislation on deploying Turkish troops there.
Ukrainians celebrated the first day of visa-free travel to the European Union Sunday in what President Petro Poroshenko called "a final exit of our country from the Russian empire."

"The visa-free regime for Ukraine has started! Glory to Europe! Glory to Ukraine!" he tweeted from his official account Sunday morning.

The arrangement will allow Ukrainians with biometric passports to enter all EU member states other than Britain and Ireland for up to 90 days every six months for tourism or to visit family and friends.

Poroshenko met with Slovak counterpart Andrej Kiska Saturday on their common border, opening a symbolic "door to the EU."

"Welcome to Europe," Kiska told a crowd. "I want to call on you to continue carrying out reforms."

Thousands of Ukrainians had crossed into EU countries by midday, according to the Ukranian Foreign Ministry's consular department.

"#Bezviz [no visa] is just the beginning!" Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter, accompanied by photos of himself crossing the border into Hungary.

The EU approved the arrangement last month after repeated delays since it promised to cement ties with Kyiv in 2014. Ukraine that year became the scene of the worst confrontation between Russia and the West in Europe since the Cold War, with Moscow annexing Crimea and backing separatist rebels in the east of the country.

Visa-free travel is seen as a step toward Ukraine's accession to the European Union, though major hurdles remain based on economic instability and fears of furthering escalating the conflict with Russia.
The sudden hospitalization, due to an apparent stroke, of Uzbekistans only president since independence, Islam Karimov, has formed a dark cloud over the country as the most populous former Soviet republic in Central Asia on Wednesday and Thursday marks 25 years since breaking from the Soviet Union.

Instead of Karimov, who has not been seen in public for days, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev, a possible successor, is leading ceremonies, Russian media report. A concert the president usually attends for the occasion was cancelled.

Uzbek authorities rejected a report that Karimov is already dead. One of his daughters said Wednesday he remains in stable condition in a hospital.

Regardless, the mood of celebration is muted by the uncertainty over the presidents health and, more importantly, the lack of a clear successor.

This is a huge test, one that has been anticipated for some time, says Deirdre Tynan, who is based in Bishkek as the Central Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. But if Uzbekistan stumbles, if the transition turns to political chaos, the risk of violent conflict is high; and in a region as fragile as Central Asia, the risk of that spreading is also high, she wrote in e-mails to VOA's Moscow bureau.

Iron-fisted rule

Karimov has led Uzbekistan with an iron fist since 1989, just before the Soviet Union split apart. He has been heavily criticized for using law enforcement and the courts to repress political opponents, activists and the media as well as forcing millions to labor in cotton fields.

In 2005, security forces fired into a crowd of protesters in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan. While Uzbek authorities put the death toll at 187, independent journalists and human rights groups say as many 1,000 people were killed.



According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, the Uzbek government has jailed thousands of people on politically motivated charges, many of whom have been subjected to torture.

Political analysts in Moscow say his heavy-handed approach has kept Islamic militants at bay and maintained stability. But they warn any power struggle among Uzbekistans ruling clans could see that threat exposed or exploited.

"Karimov for many years was a very serious defender of not only his country, but also the whole region from this radical Islamic threat, said Alexander Golts, an independent defense analyst in Moscow and deputy editor of Yezhenedelny Zhurnal (Weekly Journal).

And, unfortunately, everything was based on his personality, as is usual in all authoritarian regimes, Golts said. "Karimov managed to establish security service[s] that can control everything in Uzbekistan.

But God knows how these people from security will behave when Mr. Karimov disappears," Golts added.

Other regional analysts say most of Uzbekistan's elites want to avoid a nasty fight for Karimovs throne.

The beneficiaries in this struggle, the winners, may lose more in the course of struggle if they allow chaos and loss of control in the country during it, Central Asia expert Arkady Dubnov said. So there are limits beyond which the elites cannot afford a severe struggle using unconventional methods of political struggle."

Kremlin watching

The Kremlin will be watching closely to see who comes next, Tynan said, as Uzbekistans stability and security is in Russia's interest. Karimov was a highly unpopular figure among Russian diplomats, she said.

Moscow will want someone who is amenable, at least in public, to their policies," Tynan said. In an ideal world, thats someone who would have Uzbekistan re-join the CSTO (Collective Treaty Security Organization) and be open to the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union). In practical terms though, they would probably settle for someone who is not antagonistic and willing to at least go through the motions of mutual respect."

Regional expert Dubnov thinks Moscow may have a favorite contender to replace Karimov: Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev. The prime minister is "supported by the head of the Internal Security Service, Rustam Innoyatov, who has been a KGB officer for a long time during the Soviet period and an unchangeable head of Uzbek security, Dubnov said. His idea of security that he got in the Soviet times can facilitate finding [a] common language in dialogue between Tashkent and Moscow.

Russian officials have said little since Sunday, when Uzbekistan announced the president was hospitalized.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said they had no fresh information on Karimov and could not confirm reports about his death. Russias Interfax news agency reported Russian neurosurgeons are treating Karimov.

If Karimov dies, the head of Uzbekistans Senate becomes temporary leader for three months while new elections are arranged.
Verizon's old data-center is converted into colorful co-working spaces for young professionals is seen on Friday, June 9, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

At telecommunications giant Verizon, massive buildings that used to be filled with bulky computers, copper cables and other gear are sitting vacant, as advances in fiber-optics and computers cut down on the need for equipment space. The shift has rendered more than 80 percent of the companys real estate footprint obsolete, spurring a $2 billion sell-off in property.

Then someone in Verizons real estate department happened to take notice of the recent boom in co-working spaces, in which start-ups, freelancers and some larger companies pay to co-locate together in castoff office space or other underused buildings.

The telephone company saw a connection.

The result is Alley, powered by Verizon, a co-working space slated to open on June 29 at 2055 L St. NW. The company hired local artists to bring a sense of hipness to rooms once filled with telecommunications equipment and even kept a retro feel by preserving a room full of ancient mainframe computers. Verizon is collaborating with Alley, a New York co-working space operator to run the space and share in the revenue.

More than a real estate deal, Verizon executives hope to benefit from a different kind of networking. To us, the real value is what we get by bringing entrepreneurs into the building and having them meet our folks, said John Vazquez, senior vice president and head of global real estate at Verizon. We realize that things will be invented outside of Verizon and we want to be a part of that.

A working space inside the new Verizon's old data-center that is converted into colorful co-working spaces for young professionals is seen on Friday, June 9, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

Vazquez says his team has identified 150 Verizon-owned locations along the East Coast that could be converted into co-working spaces if the market and community is there. The company has a request for proposals open for a co-working space in Singapore, suggesting it has global ambitions for the project.

Verizons partner, Alley, is trying to position itself as a more exclusive option to established brands like WeWork, closely vetting potential tenants based on what theyll bring to the community. Would-be members go through an extensive interview process that is not unlike applying for a new job or joining a fancy New York apartment building, and only about one out of 10 applicants are accepted.

We do it to protect the integrity of the community, said Alley founder Jason Saltzman. If you dont want to be collaborative with the person next to you then this is probably not the place for you.

Saltzman calls it a curated community of professionals, who enjoy the amenities of a large company with the freewheeling vibe of a tech start-up.

And its not just a place for technology companies. Sarah Ribner, whose company PiperWai sells a charcoal-based deodorant, joined one of Alleys New York spaces at the beginning of 2017. She appreciates that she can bring dog Cloe, her Australian Shepherd, to work with her.

Alleys D.C. debut is shaping up to be a little more formal than that. The wall art in one of the conference rooms shows two converging lines pointing upward, vaguely reminiscent of Verizons signature check mark.

An open space decorated with a mural will be used for regular talks given by Verizons business leaders and technologists. One of the firms first events in the space will probably be a pitch night attended by members of Verizons technology venture arm.

A working space inside the new Verizon's old data-center that is converted into colorful co-working spaces for young professionals is seen on Friday, June 9, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

Yes, its party space, but were Verizon, so we like to keep it a little more professional, said Verizon co-working lead Nick LiVigne.

In the D.C. area, Verizon is stepping into a market for start-up real estate that may already be oversaturated. There are at least three other co-working spaces operated by competing companies within two blocks of Verizons planned space on L Street NW.

Co-working giant WeWork has been aggressively expanding its presence here in recent years to eight locations with at least 8,000 desks. WeWork declined to disclose its vacancy rates on newly-opened stores.

Co-working is not expected to be a big revenue-driver for Verizon, which makes more than $100 billion annually from its primary lines of business. The company said it plans to charge between $300 and $500 per month to tenants for their most basic membership option.
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Biography

Ernest Hemingway

A Biography

By Mary V. Dearborn (Knopf)

This thorough reexamination of Hemingway shows the writer to be a more troubled, complex and tragic figure than most previous biographies have allowed.

Madame President

The Extraordinary Journey

of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

By Helene Cooper (Simon & Schuster)

A penetrating history of Liberia and the story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became the first woman elected president of an African nation.

Richard Nixon

The Life

By John A. Farrell (Doubleday)

By employing recently released government documents and oral histories, Farrell has written the best one-volume, cradle-to-grave biography that we could expect about such a famously elusive subject.

Rising Star

The Making of Barack Obama

By David Garrow (William Morrow)

Garrow shows us the calculations Obama made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency.

Robert Lowell

Setting the River on Fire

By Kay Redfield Jamison (Knopf)

There are no half measures to Kay Redfield Jamisons medico-biographical study of poet Robert Lowell. It is impassioned, intellectually thrilling and often beautifully written.

CURRENT EVENTS

An American Sickness

How Healthcare Became Big Business

and How You Can Take It Back

By Elisabeth Rosenthal (Penguin Press)

An authoritative account of the distorted financial incentives that now drive medical care in the United States.

Janesville

An American Story

By Amy Goldstein (Simon & Schuster)

A poignant account of how the people of Janesville, Wis., reacted to the closure of their General Motors plant.

No One Cares About Crazy People

The Chaos and Heartbreak

of Mental Health in America

By Ron Powers (Hachette)

Powers argues that the future of mental health in the United States is being shaped along two trajectories: a flourishing research enterprise juxtaposed with a chaotic system of delivering care.

On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century

By Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan)

Steeped in the history of interwar Germany, Snyder writes with bracing immediacy about how to prevent, or at least forestall, the repression of lives and minds.

FICTION

A Book of American Martyrs

By Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco)

An explosive story about the family of an abortion doctor and the family of the man who murdered him.

American War

By Omar El Akkad (Knopf)

When climate change sparks a devastating civil war in the United States in the late 21st century, one young woman fights to avenge her familys destruction.

Anything Is Possible

By Elizabeth Strout (Random House)

In these short stories, Strout returns to Amgash, Ill., where the protagonist of her 2016 novel, My Name Is Lucy Barton, was raised.

Borne

By Jeff VanderMeer (FSG)

In a ruined city littered with discarded biotech experiments, a young woman finds a strange life form that she decides to raise.

Exit West

By Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead)

Two Middle Eastern lovers fleeing the migrant crisis arrive in California, where they must contend with natives, other refugees and their grief for what they have left behind.

Lincoln in the Bardo

By George Saunders (Random House)

When President Lincolns 11-year-old son, Willie, is laid to rest in Georgetowns Oak Hill Cemetery, the ghosts engage in a spirited debate about how to move the boy along to the next level of existence.

No One Is Coming to Save Us

By Stephanie Powell Watts (Ecco)

In a North Carolina town ground down by factory closings, an African American family struggles to survive. Then a handsome young man returns home promising to make a new life and lift them up.

Norse Mythology

By Neil Gaiman (Norton)

Gaiman transmutes the tales of ancient Scandinavia into expertly paced short stories for the 21st century.

Saints for All Occasions

By J. Courtney Sullivan (Knopf)

Two Irish sisters come to America. One begins a family and the other becomes a cloistered nun, but their very different lives remain tethered by a fateful deception.

Standard Deviation

By Katherine Heiny (Knopf)

At the center of this witty novel on family life is a mother with an outsize personality who must deal with things such as a son whos an origami prodigy.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

By Arundhati Roy (Knopf)

In her first novel since The God of Small Things (1997), Roy draws us through a kaleidoscopic story about the struggle for Kashmirs independence.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

By Hannah Tinti (Dial)

A widower with a violent criminal past moves into a small Maine fishing town hoping to establish a safe space for his daughter, who gradually learns the stories behind her fathers 12 bullet scars.

Woman No. 17

By Edan Lepucki (Hogarth)

A mother of two boys hires a nanny so that she can work on her memoir, but the nanny has a secret project of her own.

HISTORY

Jefferson

Architect of American Liberty

By John B. Boles (Basic)

Perhaps the finest one-volume biography of an American president.

Killers of the Flower Moon



The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

By David Grann (Doubleday)

For present-day Osage communities, the events related in Killers of the Flower Moon are not last centurys news but yesterdays. Many members of the tribe still wonder what exactly happened to their relatives.

The Blood of Emmett Till

By Timothy B. Tyson (Simon & Schuster)

Tyson clears away the myths that have accumulated over the decades and restores the immediacy of this quintessentially American tragedy.

The Evangelicals

By Frances FitzGerald

(Simon & Schuster)

FitzGerald shows how a movement that began in reaction to the Calvinist establishment of New England shaped American identity in the first decades of the 19th century.

MEMOIR

Hunger

A Memoir of (My) Body

By Roxane Gay (Harper)

From the author of Bad Feminist, a long-awaited memoir about her struggles with weight and childhood traumas.

Option B

Facing Adversity, Building Resilience,

and Finding Joy

By Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant (Knopf)

Sandberg, whose husband died in 2015, illustrates with heartbreaking honesty that nothing can inoculate you against the pain of grief.

Priestdaddy

By Patricia Lockwood (Riverhead)

Poet Patricia Lockwoods darkly comic memoir about returning home to her parents house in Kansas, where she is forced to reassess her relationship with her eccentric father, a married Catholic priest.

The Bright Hour

A Memoir of Living and Dying

By Nina Riggs (Simon & Schuster)

Written in the final two years of her life, a mothers poignant memoir about her life, family and last days.

The Skin Above My Knee

By Marcia Butler (Little, Brown)

How did this distinguished oboist save herself from a detached, withholding mother and a sexually abusive father? In this insightful memoir, she reveals the answer and more.

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

Not a Sound

By Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row)

Two years after losing her hearing, a nurse discovers the corpse of a co-worker in the woods near her Minnesota cabin  and realizes her life is in jeopardy.

Since We Fell

By Dennis Lehane (Ecco)

Lehanes 14th novel, which takes the author back to his old New England stomping grounds of Mystic River, is a pleasantly twisted character study of a disgraced television journalist who shoots her second husband in the first scene.

The Long Drop

By Denise Mina (Litttle, Brown)

Based on the true story of Scotlands most infamous serial killer, a chilling novel set in 1950s Glasgow.

POP CULTURE & SOCIAL SCIENCES

Letterman

The Last Giant of Late Night

By Jason Zinoman (Harper)

A definitive and enjoyable biography of the late-night legend and why he was better at his job than Jay Leno.

The Poetry of Pop

By Adam Bradley (Yale)

Are pop music lyrics poetry? A tour of musical history that gets to the bottom of this age-old question.

Homo Deus

A Brief History of Tomorrow

By Yuval Noah Harari (Harper)

Harari presents three possible futures: In one, humans are expendable. In a second, the elite upgrade themselves, becoming another species that sees everyone else as expendable. In a third, we all join the hive mind.


Angel, who declined to let us use her first or last name, puts on makeup before going to church. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Angel was 11 the last time her mother tried to kill her. She remembers the handful of rat poison pellets, the urging: Take this. She screamed until a neighbor rushed over and pulled her away. That was a decade ago, before the counseling, and now Angels mother is bending over her shoulder, pouring her a cup of black tea. They share a bed, a concrete house without electricity and a history that horrified the world.

Over a hundred days in 1994, genocide devastated Rwanda, an East African country the size of Maryland. The assailants claimed roughly 800,000 lives and raped an estimated 250,000 women, which, according to one charitys count, produced up to 20,000 babies.

Angel is part of this generation in the shadows. These young people are now stepping into adulthood, coming to terms with an identity no parent would wish on a child. Yet they are defying expectations that tragedy would define their lives.

Historically, such children often met an early death. Thousands of Chinese women endured sexual violence during the Rape of Nanking in 1937, for example, but none publicly acknowledged raising a Japanese soldiers child, as far as historians can tell. Reports from the time suggest that victims who became pregnant widely committed infanticide.

A UNICEF study on the war babies of Bosnias 1992-1995 conflict, meanwhile, concluded that many were probably abandoned or killed by their mothers. The number of survivors remains unknown.

In Rwanda, data from support groups provides a clearer picture. The children of killers, as they are often disparaged, tend to live in poverty, facing higher rates of HIV and domestic abuse than their peers.

But thats not the whole story.

We hear everyones lives are destroyed, that theyre the walking dead, said Dara Kay Cohen, a Harvard University professor who studies sexual assault in conflict. Then you talk to people and hear theres this hopeful underbelly.

Researchers are just starting to explore how children overcome such trauma. The Rwandan government, tasked with rebuilding a shattered nation, laid out no formal policy to help those conceived in the mass rape.

Ingvill Mochmann, founder of the International Network for Interdisciplinary Research on Children Born of War, recently published a report summarizing a decade of studies on the effects of war on children.

Many have coped fairly well with their lives, Mochmann wrote. The interesting question is  what makes the difference?

Interviews with three families, just before the massacres 23rd anniversary, offer a clue.

(Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Angel and Jacqueline

Sunlight streams through Angels window, catching her metallic hoop earrings. She sits at a wooden table next to her mother, Jacqueline. They split a loaf of bread for breakfast and wash it down with tea. Jacqueline sprinkles brown sugar into their cups.

Murakoze, Angel tells her in Kinyarwanda. Thank you.

They live together under a tin roof in a rural village, where a Catholic church pays their monthly rent, the equivalent of $5. The cracked walls are painted turquoise. A mosquito net dangles above their full-size bed. A rooster outside crows.

Angel is 22 now, with a quick grin and braids down her back. She was born HIV positive, so she takes free pills from the government to stay healthy. She has just finished high school and is waiting for the test score that will shape her future.

High marks would net her a scholarship. The results will appear online in a couple of weeks. Angel and her mother will pray before heading to the Internet cafe.

Tourism is her dream career. Her backup plan is selling tomatoes.

We dont have money, she explains.

Angel learned early how she came to be. Jacqueline would tell her: Youre not my real daughter.



Angel stands in front of the house she shares with her mother in Rwandas Ngoma sector on Feb. 26. Tourism is her dream career. Her backup plan is selling tomatoes. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Whenever she would go somewhere, and if I asked her to let me come with her, she always refused and locked me inside, Angel says softly through an interpreter. She would also not permit me to play with other kids.

Jacqueline tears up when she thinks of this.

Before the genocide, she was someone elses mom. They were in fourth and sixth grade, her girls. They complained about bullies hounding them for being Tutsis, a minority ethnic group. Jacqueline was on her way to Kigali, the nations capital, to secure spots for them in a new school when the violence started. Rwandan government leaders had commanded the majority population, the Hutus, to exterminate the Tutsis. Neighbors slaughtered neighbors. Colleagues murdered colleagues. Hutu fighters found Jacqueline hiding in a Catholic school and took turns raping her. She remembers praying to die.

But three months passed, and a Tutsi rebel army overthrew the government, and there she was, following a U.N. soldier out of the rubble. Her husband and children were dead. She now had HIV and a baby on the way.

Jacqueline once poured soap and hair dye into Angels bottle and decided to drink the toxic mix, too. She wanted everything to go black. But instead they vomited, and Jacqueline reluctantly decided to keep going.



Angel drinks tea and eats bread with her mother, Jacqueline, at their home. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Jacqueline stands on the porch. Her two daughters and husband were killed during the genocide, and she was gang raped by Hutu fighters, becoming pregnant with Angel. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

She would hug Angel, then beat her. Affection and rage, affection and rage. This pattern held until they started therapy in 2007, run by an organization called Foundation Rwanda. (The Washington Post agreed to a request from the foundation and the families interviewed for this article to withhold their last names, so they can avoid discrimination and harassment.)

The charity organized weekly support groups, and the other moms inspired Jacqueline to become a Christian. She began to feel that Angel had come from God.

Foundation Rwanda paid Angels school tuition through graduation. Which has brought her to this point, this limbo.

She mostly hangs around her house, except to buy food or refill her medicine or go to church. She recently broke up with her boyfriend of five years  he wanted to get married, and she didnt want to tell him about her HIV.

Beyond her plank fence, the hills burst with banana trees. Adobe homes dot the horizon  tiny from here, like Monopoly pieces. Men play checkers outside a shuttered dive bar. Someones cow moos.

Angel is comfortable in her universe, but she is curious about what else is out there. She waits for the test score.



Albert, shown with his younger brother Pacifique, lives with his family in the rural Mukura sector of Rwanda. After graduating from a boarding school near the capital and earning a perfect score on the countrys version of the SAT, he now wants to attend college in the United States or Canada but is struggling to find the money. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Albert and Agnes

Albert, 21, stands in his familys field, hacking saplings with a machete. His leather flip-flops sink into the red dirt. His forehead shines with sweat. He graduated last year from a boarding school near Kigali and feels a little out of place here in the rural Mukura sector, with his smooth hands and Puma track pants.

Albert grew up in an orphanage, a four-hour bus ride from home, leafing through French and English dictionaries, dreaming of a future in politics. College pamphlets now litter his concrete room (Michigan State University, St. Leo University in Florida).





For now, he is helping his mom with her 2 acres of hillside  trying to help, that is. He is gathering sticks to feed her cow. She waits for him in their back yard, knifing pale kernels from corn cobs.

Agnes was a Tutsi teenager when the streets began filling with bodies. A Hutu man from the village offered her shelter. Then, she says, he kept her as his sex slave, threatening to kill her if she tried to leave.

When the war ended and the militants fled Rwanda, the man forced Agnes to join him over the border. She gave birth to two babies in Tanzania, each healthy: Albert and his younger brother.

Agnes finally escaped and returned to her old neighborhood. People asked about the babies: Did they come from the killers?

Agnes put both boys in a government-run orphanage, where she could afford to visit them once a year. She married an old friend, moved into a cottage beside rows of banana trees and started to rebuild.

Still, the separation broke her heart and confused Albert.

I told her, I want to be with you,  he recalls in English. And she said, Im trying to get money for you.

Albert didnt know he came from rape. He found himself among children who had lost both parents in the genocide. He felt lucky to have one.



Albert rides the bus to Kigali to meet with a company called Globe Education Consult that helps students apply for colleges abroad. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Albert shucks corn with his mother, Agnes, stepfather and half-siblings at the familys home. He says that, because he didnt live at home as a child, he never learned how to be a farmer and sometimes feels out of place in the rural area. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

There were 2,000 of us, he says, with different backgrounds and different stories. Other people had struggled more than me.

At age 17, he learned about his father.

The man returned to Rwanda years ago and was sentenced to life in the Mpanga prison, about 30 miles north of the familys land. Albert wonders what it would be like to meet him. He hasnt worked up the nerve.

It shocked my heart, the way my mother met him, he says.

Still, Albert says: I dont think he is inhuman. I want to see his face.

The orphanage in the northern city of Gisyeni gave Albert an advantage. Public funds covered his educational expenses. He tested into the countrys top-ranked high school. He got a perfect score on the Rwanda equivalent of the SAT.

One warm February afternoon, Albert sat across from a college adviser at a Kigali company called Globe Education Consult, which helps Rwandan students get into international schools. Albert had put on his khakis and taken the bus there.

With your grade, its going to be much easier, Godfrey Nkurunziza said, grinning. It gives us a picture of how you would perform in school.

Albert wanted to apply to colleges in the United States and Canada. He had no strong preference, just a desire to explore.

Nkurunziza told Albert to budget between $10,000 and $20,000 a year for housing, books and tuition. They would hunt for scholarships, of course.

Just one thing first . . .

To apply with us, Nkurunziza said, bring in $200, for the application fees.

Albert slumped forward. He didnt even have the bus fare  about $5  to get back home.

But the world had carried him this far. He would nudge a friend to lend him some cash. Then he would return to the house and his glossy pamphlets.

(Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Ntare and Assoumpta

When the thoughts start, Ntare writes. He scribbles in a notebook, on stray pieces of paper, whatever he can grab. Its a way to blast gloom from his head and trap it on a page. Lately, it has been turning into more  a song.

He could record it on a computer at his boarding school and send it to a Kigali radio station. A DJ there plays homemade tracks free of charge. The idea excites and scares him.

Right now, Ntare is finishing a construction internship outside the southern city of Gitarama. But inside, he is an artist, a lover of music and film. After work, he ditches his bright orange coveralls, slips into a fuzzy pink robe and watches the American hip-hop series Empire.

With his creativity, though, comes confession. This song is autobiographical. Many of his friends, including his girlfriend, dont know his story.

On this recent afternoon, Ntare, tall and toned, is practicing in his back yard, next to a rabbit pen he built with chicken wire. He bobs his head and raps in Kinyarwanda:

Some of them on the streets,

others jailed because of their crimes.

But sometimes consequences come over us.

For instance, I am among those called Interahamwe.

But we dont worry about it.

We look forward.

His biological father belonged to the Interahamwe, the Hutu militants who helped carry out the genocide. Some survivors see him as a child of the killers, including his mothers family. They wont look at him.



Ntare works at his construction internship in Kigali. When he is not working, he writes songs, some of them about the genocide and how it feels to be a child of rape. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)



Assoumpta, Ntares mother, bathes a baby boy at her home in the Muhanga district. She was gang raped during the genocide in a school where she was hiding. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

Ntare gathers clean water from a spigot near his home. (Whitney Shefte/The Washington Post)

He didnt learn why until he turned 12.

Assoumpta remembers the day she told him. Her son was a troublemaker back then, starting fights with other kids.

Would this revelation make things worse?

She willed herself not to sugarcoat it. She told him about the genocide. The militants who found her in a school and raped her. The relatives who kicked her out of their home once her belly started showing.

That was why she would snap easily and hit him.

Ntare kept quiet. He didnt look her in the eye for a week. Then he started doing extra chores. He stopped getting into brawls. He brought her fruit, saying she needed the nutrition.

The way Assoumpta tells it, he started acting like the man of the house. He no longer blamed her for the beatings or for the people who called him a bastard.

Ntare recalls feeling relief. So this was what he was. His mother had had no choice.

He practiced swagger. Am I a bastard? Yes, Im a bastard.

Ntare met other kids like him at a camp organized by Foundation Rwanda. He wrote a play about a mother telling her son the truth and got some of his new friends to help him perform it.

That stayed between them, but his song, it would be public. He might have to tell his girlfriend, an accountant. Theyve been dating for nearly two years, and hed like to marry her someday.

He has revealed his secrets to her slowly  step by step, he says. All she knows now is that he doesnt have a dad.

But hes got to come out at some point. He wants the children of killers to hear his song and feel less alone.

Hes calling it Son of Rwanda.

Update: Months after taking her exams, Angel received her score. It was not high enough to win a college scholarship. Albert never found the $200 to apply to schools through Globe Education Consult. He has applied to be sponsored by the Rwandan government for international colleges. As for Ntare, he will graduate from high school in November. He is still hoping that his song will be played on the radio.

This project was supported by a grant from the International Womens Media Foundation.

Read more

The Rwandan genocide: 20 years later

They were freed from Boko Harams rape camps. But the nightmare isnt over.

The growing U.N. scandal over sex abuse and peacekeeper babies

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
The New York Daily Newss front page on Friday morning screamed LIAR in huge type over a photo of President Trump.

USA Todays banner headline seconded the motion: Comey calls Trump a liar. On cable channels, in broadcast news, and even in the sedate Wall Street Journal, Friday morning was one of those days for Trump in the mainstream news media.

In the words of the Judith Viorst childrens book title, it was for Trump another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

No wonder Trump is retreating to his Fox News cocoon, said longtime Washington public relations man Allan Schlosser. Everywhere else you look, the coverage is overwhelmingly bad for him.

But thats nothing new. Last month, a Harvard study reported that in Trumps first 100 days, about 80 percent of mainstream press coverage reflected negatively on the new president. And the sheer amount of negative news was unprecedented.

Conservative media were quick to laud the study, labeling it as proof of liberal media bias  and even better from their point of view, emanating from a cultural-elite bastion like Harvard.

Trump, of course, has been playing the victim card for months.

Look at the way Ive been treated lately, especially by the media, he complained in a commencement address last month to U.S. Coast Guard graduates. No politician in history  and I say this with great surety  has been treated worse or more unfairly.

Looked at through this lens, Trumps press coverage has been a political nightmare.

Isnt that terribly unfair?

Heres my carefully nuanced answer: Hell, no.

Thats because when we consider negative vs. positive coverage of an elected official, were asking the wrong question.

1 of 58 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  A look at President Trumps first year in office, so far View Photos Scenes from the Republicans first months in the White House. Caption Scenes from the Republicans beginning months in the White House. Jan. 25, 2017 Trump signs an executive order for border security and immigration enforcement improvements at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Pool photo via Bloomberg News Wait 1 second to continue.

The presidents supporters often say his accomplishments get short shrift. But lets face it: Politicians have no right to expect equally balanced positive and negative coverage, or anything close to it. If a president is doing a rotten job, its the duty of the press to report how and why hes doing a rotten job.

The idea of balance is suspect on its face. Should positive coverage be provided, as if it were a birthright, to a president who consistently lies, who has spilled classified information to an adversary, and who fired the FBI director who was investigating his administration?

Certainly not. Thats why efforts like a New York Times op-eds pitch to say something nice about Donald Trump is so absurd, even if it was meant as tongue-in-cheek.

Its reasonable, however  in fact, crucial  to consider some different questions: those involving fairness, focus and overkill.

When news organizations get something wrong, do they acknowledge and correct it quickly? Or do they just move on and hope nobody notices?

Do journalists allow the president and his administration to respond to criticism and give his response prominent placement?

Do news sites give serious, sustained attention to policy issues as well as publishing innumerable hot takes about the personality-driven dust-up of the moment?

Harvard professor Thomas E. Patterson, the studys author, sees trouble on that last point.

The press is focusing on personality, not substance, he said recently on public radios On the Media program. And that reflects not a partisan bias but a journalistic bias, the tendency to seek out conflict. (No mystery there  its more interesting.)

Its the press in its usual mode, and that erodes public trust, Patterson said.

And then theres the dirty little secret that every journalist knows  Trump stories drive ratings and clicks. The word Trump in a headline vastly increases its chances of getting attention. (Were all guilty; see above.)

Say what you will about the president, he continues to have one thing dead right: Donald Trump is a ratings machine.

Thus, home pages of news organizations or hour upon hour of cable news are relentlessly focused on the president  not always because of solid newsworthiness.

Journalists would do well to spend less time in Washington and more time in places where policy intersects with peoples lives, the Harvard study reasonably suggests. If they had done so during the presidential campaign, they would not have missed the story that keyed Trumps victory  the fading of the American Dream for millions of ordinary people.

And thats a far better subject for self-scrutiny than trying to force more positive coverage of the president.

Weve got plenty of things to improve on. Giving Trump gratuitous strokes is not one of them.

For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan.


Roxane Gay set out wanting to write about fat, but she started to think, Well, what would it be like to write a memoir of my body?  (Jay Grabiec)

Roxane Gay begins her new book  the hardest shes ever had to write  by describing what it isnt.

The story of my body is not a story of triumph, Gay writes in the opening pages. Mine is not a success story.

Instead, its a searing account of the essayists lifelong struggle with her weight, which once topped 500 pounds. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body is no weight-loss memoir, she is quick to explain. Theres no tidy resolution here, no willowy woman on the book jacket holding the waistband of her old pants an arms reach from her new body.

I wished I could write that book, says Gay, 42, a once-obscure academic and fiction writer whose tart takes on social issues and pop-culture built a loyal online audience and helped launch a best-selling 2014 collection of essays, Bad Feminist.

Id wanted to write about fat for a while, and I didnt quite know how, she says. And then I started to think, Well, what would it be like to write a memoir of my body?

The resulting book turned into a portrait of resilience in the aftermath of trauma: When Gay was 12, a boy she adored lured her to a cabin in the woods near her Nebraska home, and he and a group of his friends raped her.

They did things Ive never been able to talk about, and will never be able to talk about, she writes. Those boys treated me like nothing so I became nothing.

For years, she told no one. Food became a vital source of comfort; her doting parents, both Haitian immigrants, were alarmed as their quiet daughter gained more and more weight. They knew nothing of my determination to keep making my body into what I needed it to be  a safe harbor rather than a small, weak vessel that betrayed me, Gay writes.

Gay has long focused her work on matters such as sexuality, gender, race, body image, violence. Her most recent collection of short stories, Difficult Women, is filled with quirky, surrealist tales of sisterhood, loss and toxic relationships. But of all her work so far, Hunger is certainly the most vulnerable. Which made it the most painful story to tell, Gay says.

Writing is usually a source of joy for her; she assumed the words would flow easily. But the prospect of revealing herself so completely proved terrifying. She procrastinated, and the book, originally scheduled for publication last year, was delayed. In April 2016, Gay explained to her 200,000 Twitter followers: There is no mystery beyond I still havent turned it in because the book is scary.

It was a surprising confession from a writer who has never shied from personal disclosure or controversy. Starting as a creative writing professor at Eastern Illinois University, she made her name with trenchant essays for online outlets such as Salon and the Rumpus. She wrote about the dark pull the saccharine Sweet Valley High books had over her childhood; she examined the troublesome ways that rape is represented in news coverage; she condemned the fixation on Trayvon Martins hoodie as a way to shift the blame for his murder.

Roxane Gay, center, on a panel at the New Yorker festival in 2015, with Jill Lepore and Geraldo Cadava. (Thos Robinson/Getty Images for the New Yorker)

Gay, now on faculty at Purdue University, is the kind of writer who is usually game to jump into a Twitter battle or slap down a troll. In January, she pulled a forthcoming book from Simon & Schuster in protest, after the publishing house signed far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

But this was different. This was her own body.

When youre fat, your body is not a secret, but you still hold on to secrets; you pretend, of course, that people dont see you the way you know they see you, Gay says. And so to expose myself and this history of my body . . . its not something I took any pleasure in.

[Roxane Gay pulls book from Simon & Schuster over Milo Yiannopoulos contract]

Over Hungers 88 short chapters, she explores the loneliness and pain of her bodys constraints. There is the exhaustion of constant scrutiny, of unavoidable logistical challenges. (How sturdy is a chair? How high the step onto a stage?) She conveys the relentless anxieties that fuel a constant, destructive refrain: I am the fattest person in this shopping mall. I am the fattest person on this panel. I am the fattest person in this casino. I am the fattest person.

But she also chronicles her perseverance, her formative relationships, and her ongoing quest for healing and peace. Although she turns a critical eye inward, she has much to say about a culture that glorifies TV shows such as The Biggest Loser and My 600-lb Life but makes little effort to accommodate larger people or support their physical and mental health.

I really just wanted to talk about what obesity  no, I hate that word  what fat looks like, beyond what people generally see, where youre talking about someone who is 60 or 100 pounds overweight, Gay says. I wanted to wrest control of that narrative back from the people who have seized it.

The book offers a pointed retort to the smug strangers who shoot Gay sidelong glances at the gym or gawk as she settles into an airplane seat: Here is everything you could have possibly wanted to know about why and how someone comes to live in this body.

We are human, these are our bodies, and its nobodys business. You dont get to judge, Gay says. She hopes the book increases the empathy that people have for others in different kinds of bodies. And maybe it will make people mind their business a little bit more.

As for what it means for her  shes still living her way into that answer.

Writing the book has allowed me to just take a hard and necessary look at myself that I had been unwilling to take  at how I got from then to now, she says. And to just be honest with myself.

And has that brought her closer to the peace she seeks?

Well see, she says. Its too soon to know.

Roxane Gay will speak about Hunger on June 20 at 6:30 p.m. at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington. The event is free, but space is limited.
On a recent school day Jabari Sellars set about teaching the meaning of bildungsroman to his freshman English class at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School. But it was early in the morning and late in the school year and attention was short for the long German word.

There were groans and yawns initially, but Sellars, 29, captured student interest by pointing to examples of the bildungsroman, or coming-of-age tale, in such popular movies as Straight Outta Compton, Batman and Burning Sands. Soon, the young teens were engaged in spirited conversations about characteristics of these stories, including loss of innocence, newfound independence and responsibility, and physical and mental growth.

The just-concluding academic year has also been a coming-of-age story of sorts for Ron Brown. It opened in August in Northeast Washingtons Deanwood neighborhood as the Districts only public single-sex high school amid a mix of excitement about its possibilities and doubts about what it could achieve. Now, administrators, teachers and students are taking stock, gauging their progress and assessing what the future holds as the school aims to ready these young men for college.

[The countrys newest all-boys public high school opens its doors]

For Tremayne Warren, 14, this year has been transformative in ways he never expected. Like many classmates, he began the year not wanting to attend an all-boys school and swearing that hed only spend one year there before transferring. There were difficult stretches along the way, but he said the school has helped him mature as a student and a person.

English teacher Schalette Gudger with her students at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Washington. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

I had some trouble with teachers, Warren said. I didnt like being told what to do, but I realized that by hurting them Im only hurting myself. I wasnt caring. I was only thinking about myself. Ive learned to care about other peoples feelings, and that helped me find out who I am. Now I know who I am, and Im not afraid to show it.

Like almost all of his fellow freshmen, Warren, who was wearing the schools required blue blazer, white shirt and purple-and-gold striped tie, is returning in the fall and hes happy about it. For now, just five of the 102 students who began the year are not planning to come back. Ron Brown launched with ninth-graders only and will expand each year until it reaches full size in fall 2019. The Washington Post has tracked the schools debut since a student orientation last summer.

[Men dont wear clip-on ties. A new all-male high school gets a head start.]

Jelani Burwell, another who plans to return, said the school helped him grow socially. He was home-schooled through eighth grade and appreciates the community he has found with his cohorts. He joined the chess and robotics clubs and has found others who share his interests.

There are people who always check on me, and that helps build friendship and brotherhood, the soft-spoken 15-year-old said one day last week between classes. I wasnt used to being in such a social environment, but Ive made a few great friends.

The school district doesnt like to call Ron Brown an experiment, but there is great interest in the results and what they might mean for educators and students alike. It is one of a few all-male public schools in the country, and there is ongoing debate about whether the model is effective.

The school, open to students citywide through lottery, was created through then-Chancellor Kaya Hendersons plan to invest $20 million in programs for black and Hispanic males from low-income families. Those groups make up 43 percent of students in D.C. Public Schools, and their academic achievements have fallen short of other groups. The student population at Ron Brown is 96 percent black, and nearly half receive free or reduced-price meals.

Ben Williams is the principal of Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Washington. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

[Uplifting each other: Ron Brown High is coming together in debut year]

Ben Williams, the no-nonsense principal, is an intense figure who has guided the school every step of the way, from concept to implementation. Ron Brown is his baby, and he is both a proud and worried parent.

It has taken a lot out of me emotionally, because youre tied to each and every one of these young men, said Williams as he sat in his office. You try not to take a lot of it home, but its hard to do that when you know what a lot of them are going back home to. You know that you cant save everybody, but you know the capability of all these young men. You know the struggle theyve had and youre able to identify with it because youve dealt with it yourself.

The 37-year-old educator, who never knew his father and whose mother was a drug addict and prostitute, said he has found his calling at the school and wants the young men who attend it to know they are capable of overcoming any obstacle.

These kids keep me humble, keep me driven, Williams said. This keeps me at peace with my past because I feel like I was carried through all of that for a reason.

One major focus for Williams is student discipline. During the past year, the school had fewer than 10 suspensions and no expulsions. That compares favorably to other public D.C. schools, and its not an accident. The school has worked hard to address behavior issues without immediately resorting to penalties that remove students from the classroom.

Were a restorative school, Williams said. Its about repairing harm. Its about breaking that school-to-prison pipeline. Were making sure that were rectifying the behavior and repairing the harm and not being reactive.

[First-time principal will lead D.C.s only single-gender high school]

That means keeping cool when things heat up, which can take considerable effort. But that approach to discipline is essential to the schools success, Williams says.

It cant be embarrassing for the young man. It cant be punitive, he said. We as adults wouldnt feel comfortable with somebody yelling at us in the workplace so why do we do it to students? If we wouldnt respond well to that, why would we expect our young men to respond well to that?

For Schalette Gudger, an English teacher with 17 years of experience, making sure that students feel the school is a place of trust matters as much as the academic lessons she teaches.

Even with the frustration of them not growing up as fast as we would like them to, we still found joy in the fact that this was a safe space for them to be boys, she said. Because their home lives sometimes are so riddled with situations where they have to be in an adult world that they sometimes are not ready for.

Gudger, who is 37 and has three sons, said she was struck by changes in her students over the course of the year as they became more comfortable expressing emotions and began to trust the teachers and each other.

Williams has noticed those changes, too. He saw the students taking responsibility for their school, identifying with classmates as part of a family and looking for new opportunities. Word seems to be spreading about the enthusiasm the students have. Ron Brown has accepted 115 students for the next freshman class and five more for the sophomore class. There are 42 students on a waiting list for both classes. Williams said he is gratified that the work of his staff is being rewarded. And more than ever, hes feeding off the energy of his young charges.

Theyre asking for more. Theyre asking how can they be great, Williams said. You start to hear that and it puts more fire beneath you to provide more, to expose them to what theyre asking for.
Student Amanda Eye, left, is hugged by English teacher Ginny Beverly during funeral services for Artem Ziberov at Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Md. Ziberov was one of two teens fatally shot in June.

June 10, 2017 Student Amanda Eye, left, is hugged by English teacher Ginny Beverly during funeral services for Artem Ziberov at Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Md. Ziberov was one of two teens fatally shot in June. Kate Patterson for The Washington Post

In June, loved ones recalled the humor and intelligence of the high school senior, one of two teens slain in Montgomery County, Md. A fourth suspect was charged in the killings last week.

Loved ones recall the humor and intelligence of Northwest High School senior, one of two teens slain in a Maryland suburb of Washington.

Loved ones recall the humor and intelligence of Northwest High School senior, one of two teens slain in a Maryland suburb of Washington.

We are hurting, deeply so, and we are angry: Photos from funeral of Artem Ziberov

We are hurting, deeply so, and we are angry: Photos from funeral of Artem Ziberov

William Tewelow wanted to strengthen his relationship with his stepson Artem Ziberov, so Tewelow turned to Scouting.

Ziberov, 18, excelled and became an Eagle Scout, the organizations highest achievement, in December 2015. Tewelow, a year ago, stopped calling Ziberov his stepson.

I felt like it was a constant reminder that he wasnt my real son, but he earned my respect, and I loved and cared for him as my own son, Tewelow told hundreds mourners gathered to remember Ziberov, who was killed Monday in a barrage of gunfire while in a parked car hours before his high school graduation, along with Shadi Adi Najjar, 17.

We are hurting, deeply so, and we are angry, Tewelow said beside his sons gray casket at the Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Md. Angry at this senseless act of violence that extinguished two lives.

On Monday night, about 11 p.m., Najjar was behind the wheel of a parked Honda along Gallery Court, a cul-de-sac in Montgomery Village. Seated next to him was Ziberov. Police found them dead in the still-running Honda. They said more than 22 shots were fired.

Artem Ziberovs classmate Amanda Eye is hugged by English teacher Ginny Beverly during the funeral at Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown on Saturday. (Kate Patterson/For The Washington Post)

Montgomery County police have made no arrests and have not released any more information. On Wednesday, Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said detectives were pursuing many leads, and he asked anyone with information about the case or the victims to contact his department.

Neither Manger nor other police officials would say why the teenagers may have been at that location, which was about seven miles from their homes. Nor would they speculate about the motive or how many assailants attacked the teens.

The Rev. Peter DellaSantina implored the group of mourners to report any rumor or information they may have about the incident.

This coldblooded murder, this dark violence, came down on two fine young men, DellaSantina said. And in the void that was left, unspeakable grief, mind-numbing shock, that comes in waves.

Ziberovs birthday was Thursday. Najjars parents sat directly behind Tewelow and his wife, Yulia, during Ziberovs memorial service.

Hundreds of classmates, teachers, fellow Scouts and members of Najjars mosque joined Ziberovs family Saturday afternoon. Many described Ziberov as an intelligent teenager who was introverted but a leader, who was also humorous and compassionate to those around him.

Ziberov was an AP Scholar with honors, a National Honor Society member and a Presidents Education Award recipient. His Scout uniform, graduation gown, awards and yearbook were on display at his memorial. There was also a photo of him dressed in a prom suit with a red bow tie, with his parents.

He excelled at Scouting and grew close to many of his fellow Scouts. Several of them carried Ziberovs casket from a chapel where the family held the visitation to the sanctuary where the memorial was held.

His former principal at Northwest High School, Jimmy DAndrea, told the group that Ziberov would write the one and only Artem at the top of all his school work.

Alejandra Tyma, 17, said in an interview that she often studied for her psychology exams with Ziberov during lunch. If she was having a bad day, Alejandra said he was often the one who would make her laugh.

Jessica Nguyen, 17, said she had several classes with Ziberov, beginning in their freshman year. She and Ziberov were set to attend the University of Maryland in the fall. Jessica said they would often have deep conversations about the meaning of life and their futures.

This wasnt supposed to happen, said Jessica, pink roses in hand.

The two teens had been at Ziberovs home Monday before saying they were leaving to meet friends, Ziberovs mother told The Washington Post last week.

Tewelow said many people have speculated on possible motives in the killing.

But, he suggested, all the possibilities had one big thing in common.

All of those are nothing more than evil by a different name, he said.

He charged those remembering Ziberov to be a light and carry the torch that Artem can no longer.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart won a battle this weekend with a TV station that initially refused to air an ad with an image of President Trumps bloodied head.

Stewart, a supporter of the president who was chairman of his Virginia campaign for most of last year, tried to launch the ad Friday, just days ahead of Tuesdays three-way GOP primary.

Titled Unhinged, the 30-second spot incorporates a photograph of comedian Kathy Griffin holding a bloody mask of Trumps head  a graphic stunt that generated fierce blowback.

Donald Trumps the president, and unhinged liberals cant handle it. Wholl stop them? Ed Gillespie wont, the ad begins, referring to one of Stewarts rivals in the primary.

[Ready or not, Virginia is back at the center of the political universe]

View Graphic Meet the candidates running to become Virginias next governor

On Friday, NBC12 sales manager Rodney Bryant emailed Rick Shaftan, a political operative for Stewart, to say the commercial could not air.

We cant air the Stewart spot, Bryant wrote. We feel that the spot is not appropriate to air due to the image of President Trumps bloodied face. Even if its blurred we dont feel its appropriate to air. Do you have another spot?

Shaftan pushed back: You need to call me immediately, he wrote. You cannot censor candidate ads. Have you discussed this with your legal counsel yet? You might want to do that, and then apologize to me.

By Saturday, the station had reversed course.

After consultation with counsel, the station determined that the spot could air because it was endorsed by the candidate, the station said in a written statement to The Washington Post. Our only concern was the depiction of the image of the decapitated head of a president. The spot will air as scheduled.

Stewart, who is chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, faces former Republican national party chairman Ed Gillespie and state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach) in the GOP primary.

(Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)

[We're following Virginias governors race on Facebook. Join our Facebook group dedicated to the latest reporting around this election.]

The winner will square off in November against either Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam or former congressman Tom Perriello, who are competing in Tuesdays Democratic primary.

Griffin posed with the mock severed head for a photo shoot, from which images were posted by the photographer. After coming under heavy criticism from the president and other, she apologized for making those images, but she later said Trump and his family were trying to ruin my life forever.

Due to the negative publicity created by the image, Griffin was fired by CNN and reportedly has lost other gigs, as well.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello, left, and rival Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam face off Tuesday in a tight primary race. (LEFT: Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post; RIGHT: Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Outspent on the airwaves in the final days of Virginias gubernatorial primary, Democrat Tom Perriello scrounged for votes in the dead of night Saturday at a truck stop and a Waffle House in rural parts of the state.

A few hours later, his rival, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, showcased the power of the states Democratic machine at his disposal as he campaigned in voter-rich Northern Virginia with three power hitters beloved by state Democrats: Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the commonwealths two U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner.

Meanwhile, Ed Gillespie, the front-runner in the Republican contest, who has enjoyed a hefty lead in polls and campaign cash over his two GOP competitors, seemed to campaign over the weekend as if he had already advanced to the general election, touring Democratic-leaning parts of Richmond and Fairfax County.

Virginias gubernatorial race  one of just two in the country this year and the first statewide contest in a swing state in the Trump era  enters a new phase Tuesday as voters head to the ballot box to choose both partys nominees. The final days of the primary cycle are ending on familiar notes.

[Virginias back in the political limelight. But in the Trump era, are voters tuned in?]

View Graphic Meet the candidates running to become Virginias next governor

On the Democratic side, Northam has kept rallying the party faithful, while Perriello has tried to tap into anti-Trump energy and economic populism to create a surge of new primary voters.

In the GOP race, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, and state Sen. Frank W. Wagner (Virginia Beach) are trying to close Gillespies enormous lead.

Stewart, who has relied on attention-grabbing tactics in lieu of significant campaign cash or endorsements, stoked new controversies over the weekend.

The candidate held aloft a bag of Tyson Foods chicken nuggets at a Fredericksburg diner as he pilloried Gillespie for his lobbying firms assistance to the company when it was accused of smuggling immigrant workers. He recorded a Facebook Live video in front of a Stonewall Jackson statue in Manassas, his latest defense of monuments to Virginias Confederate heritage. And his campaign feuded with a local television station that initially refused to air a campaign ad featuring a controversial image of comedian Kathy Griffin holding up a likeness of President Trumps bloody, severed head.

Wagner, a 25-year lawmaker, wrapped up his low-key, policy-driven campaign with stops in southwest Virginia and a continued focus on transportation and technical-education issues.

While the two Democratic contenders were tied in the most recent public polling a month ago, Northam has since outspent Perriello, a former one-term congressman and diplomat in President Barack Obamas administration, on campaign commercials and had nearly twice as much cash heading into the final two-week stretch.

Perriello sought to overcome this advantage by barnstorming Virginia over the weekend, beginning with a blitz of 24 hours of campaigning that started at 7 a.m. Friday.

Periello on Saturday started a 24-hour campaign push with a run with supporters on the University of Virginia campus. (Norm Shafer for The Washington Post)

[Democratic nomination could come down to African American voters]

Just before 2:30 p.m.  and still energetic  Perriello made a pitch for voting in an off-year election to the owner of a Cajun restaurant in Petersburg.

Its the first big election since Trump got elected, Perriello said. With high turnout, theyll see people are pissed.

Im your typical presidential-only voter, and we got to a place like this because people like me let it get there, the owner, 54-year-old David Payne, responded. Shame on me.

Well, we are counting on you, trust me, Perriello said.

Youll see me there, Payne reassured the candidate. Payne later told a reporter that he was pushing all his friends who normally scoff at state-level races to turn out. We have to take our country back.

Twelve hours later, Perriello entered a rest stop in rural Ashland with his hair disheveled, tie removed, and voice groggy and bordering on slurring. No customers to be found at 2:15 a.m., he introduced himself to the clerk staffing the convenience store.

Hows your job? he asked.

I make $9.66 an hour after working for years, Candace Niles, 27, said with a sigh. Im a single mom with three kids.

Would it change your life much if minimum wage was $15 an hour? Perriello asked, referencing a policy he and Northam support but Republicans in the legislature oppose.

Fifteen dollars, that would be amazing, Niles said. This job sucks.

Niles said she doesnt pay much attention to politics and probably hasnt voted in state races, but she backed Trump in November because he seemed to have her interests at heart. Even though Perriello is an outspoken Trump critic (and he didnt mention the president or his Democratic affiliation), Niles said he won her vote just by suggesting policies that could help.

Perriello had no such luck with another employee.

I stay out of politics, said Delores Lee, a 46-year-old Richmond resident who thinks its impossible for state politicians to get anything substantive done.

In an interview, Perriello said hed be the stronger candidate to take on the Republican in the fall. And he believed months of meeting voters around the state would pay dividends Tuesday, even though Northam has financial and endorsement advantages.

The groups we are surging with  young voters, voters of color and rural voters  are groups that dont normally vote for Democrats in a state election, Perriello said over a 4:45 a.m. breakfast at a Waynesboro Waffle House where a dozen anti-gas pipeline activists came out to meet him. People really appreciate we have been willing to go out and do dozens of town hall meetings and literally hundreds of public events this year.

As Perriello continued to campaign through the state, Northam spent the last days before the primary with Virginias Democratic all-stars in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads  the densely populated urban crescent areas that will probably decide the primary.

Wearing a crisp blue button-down shirt and neat khakis on a sunny Saturday morning, a relaxed Northam seemed content to let his high-octane backers rev up a crowd of 60 volunteers in an Old Town Alexandria courtyard for him.

Ill tell you about this guy, said Kaine, dropping his hand onto Northams shoulder. He appears pretty mellow, but do not tussle with him on a matter of principle. . . . You are not going to budge him one centimeter.

Kaine, Warner and McAuliffe all touted reasons Northam would be the partys best standard-bearer in a nationally watched race: his Army background in a state with deep military ties, his experience as a doctor at a time when health care is a pressing issue, and the ways his years in Richmond will help him get things accomplished.

[Northam relies on deep support from elected officials in gubernatorial bid]

One of the volunteers listening was Billie Schaeffer, an Alexandria actress drawn to Northams experience in Richmond as a state senator and lieutenant governor.

We know we can trust him because weve trusted him for years, she said, rejecting the idea that his establishment support somehow makes him tainted. You might call it establishment; I call it educated. Theyre fighting the good fight for the right reasons.

At a canvass staging center in the Arlington neighborhood of Columbia Pike, McAuliffe seemed to take a swing at Perriellos outsider challenge and the notion that Virginia needs a new breed of progressives to shake up the establishment.

This is about our future! This is about Virginia! Forget Washington  this is about governance, good governance, said McAuliffe, who is prevented by the state constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.

Then, McAuliffe linked hands with Kaine, Warner and Northam, and they raised them high  three men who had held the governors office with a fourth looking to join them.

Waiting in line for canvassing materials with his wife, Sean McDaniel said he resented the idea that national figures backing Perriello, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), act like they know better than Virginians whats good for the state.

[To shake up Democratic Party, progressives turn to race in Virginia]

Ralph is a better fit for Virginia, said McDaniel, 35. Im kind of irritated that people who we like and admire are getting rolled over by some national politics and outside funding.

Gillespie declined to weigh in on the heated Democratic race as he left a brief stop Wednesday at a coffee shop in deep-blue Arlington, where he told a pair of customers that he was running a campaign focused on small businesses and job creation.

He carried that message as he campaigned across Northern Virginia and Richmond.

I care a lot about the future of Virginia, Gillespie told a crowd Saturday at a Taste of India festival in the Richmond suburb of Chester, after wolfing down a plate of what appeared to be chicken tikka masala. Thats why Im running. Im worried about our future. We need more economic opportunity.

[We're following Virginias governors race on Facebook. Join our Facebook group dedicated to the latest reporting around this election.]
PENNSYLVANIA

Survivor: Killer saw her but spared her

The sole survivor of a shooting by a Pennsylvania grocery store employee who killed three co-workers and then himself told authorities that the shooter locked eyes with her but spared her for some reason.

Police said Randy Stair, 24, brought two pistol-grip shotguns to work at the Weis Market in rural Tunkhannock, about 150 miles northwest of New York City, and blocked store exits before he began shooting shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday.

A search warrant made public Friday included an account from the fourth co-worker. She said she was wearing headphones while she labeled products but heard shots and saw Stair shoot one of the victims, then turn and look at her. But she said rather than shooting her, he walked away and went down the next aisle. She hid and eventually escaped and called 911. Then she heard more shots.

Stair was dead before police arrived at the supermarket.

 Associated Press

Worker fatally struck by train in New York: The Long Island Rail Road said one of its workers was fatally struck Saturday by a train in Queens.

A railroad spokesman told Newsday that the person was hit by a westbound train about 10:30 a.m. near the Queens Village station. No information about the victim was available.

Bidens niece pleads guilty in credit-account theft: A niece of former vice president Joe Biden has pleaded guilty in a $110,000 credit-account theft at a New York City drugstore. Caroline Biden admitted Friday to grand larceny and petty larceny, with an agreement to get two years probation if she repays the money, does 10 days of community service and avoids rearrest for a year. Her lawyer, Ira London, declined to comment Saturday. A complaint says the 29-year-old Biden used a borrowed credit card to open a customer account at the Manhattan shop without the cardholders knowledge. She then racked up the tab over the course of a year.

 From news services
Refugees and migrants are being transfered off the Migrant Offshore Aid Station Phoenix vessel to an Italian coastguard ship after being rescued at sea earlier in the day on June 10, 2017 off Lampedusa, Italy. (Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images)

SYRIA

Russia warns U.S. about airstrikes

Russia says it has told the United States it was unacceptable for American planes to strike pro-government forces in Syria after the U.S. military carried out an airstrike on militia backing President Bashar al-Assad last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the message to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Saturday initiated by the U.S. side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

U.S. officials told Reuters last month that the U.S. military carried out the airstrike against militia supported by the government of Assad, which it said posed a threat to U.S. forces and U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in the countrys south.

Lavrov expressed his categorical disagreement with the U.S. strikes on pro-government forces and called on him to take concrete measures to prevent similar incidents in future, the ministry said.

 Reuters

IRAN

Mastermind of attack reportedly killed

Iran says its security forces have killed the mastermind of a twin attack on Tehran that left 17 people dead this week, as security was tightened around the country to prevent other possible plots.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings and gun attacks on parliament and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republics founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on Wednesday.

The mastermind and main commander of terrorist attacks on the parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed today by the security forces, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. Alavi also said that in the past month the ministry had identified and crushed a terrorist team almost daily.

Iranian authorities have also arrested seven people it suspects in attacks, a judiciary official said.

 Reuters

Car hits pedestrians outside Amsterdam station: A car driver hit eight people outside Amsterdams Central Station on Saturday, injuring two seriously, but police said there was no indication that the driver was carrying out an attack of any kind. The driver, who had been warned about parking illegally, was arrested and taken for questioning.

London-bound jet diverted, suspicious package destroyed: An EasyJet flight to London has made an unscheduled stop in Germany after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board. The plane coming from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana landed at Cologne-Bonn airport at about 6.30 p.m. Saturday. Police reportedly destroyed a piece of baggage that couldnt be assigned to anybody on board. Takeoffs and landings were suspended for three hours, causing 10 flights to be diverted to other airports and delays to over a dozen more.

Italians say more than 1,600 migrants rescued at sea: The Italian coast guard said Saturday that about 1,650 migrants have been rescued at sea in a dozen separate operations in the central Mediterranean. A total of seven bodies were also found in dinghies launched by migrant smugglers. Libya-based smugglers have been sending overcrowded, unseaworthy boats from the north African nation toward Italy.

 From news services
Andy Slavitt was acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from 2015 to 2017.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had a problem when the American Health Care Act arrived from the House last month. What to do with a bill that is clogging your agenda but only 8 percent of Americans want you to pass and members of your own caucus swore was dead on arrival? McConnell couldnt have missed the town halls filled with angry Americans who rely on Medicaid and see the Affordable Care Acts protections for those with preexisting conditions as a godsend. The House bill  which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would cause 23 million to lose coverage and end those protections for many  threatened all of that.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Faced with that reality, McConnell could have started over and had the Senate develop its own legislation, perhaps even working with Democrats on a bipartisan alternative that could withstand the test of time. Instead, McConnell put a plan in place to pass something close to the House bill using three simple tools: sabotage, speed and secrecy.

 Sabotage: Given the unpopularity of the AHCA, Republicans have just one argument: Obamacare has failed. The GOP premise is bad beats dead. The problem is the facts dont support this. Medicaid  which accounts for the bulk of the ACA coverage expansion  is successful, popular and bipartisan. The ACAs individual insurance exchanges got off to an uneasy start, but after five years, insurer filings and independent reports all point to profitable insurers and stable or stabilizing markets  at least until President Trump intervened to rattle insurers.

Taking advantage of those now well-documented efforts to sabotage the ACA, McConnell is reportedly telling his members they have no choice but to pass a replacement. By acting fast, McConnell hopes to minimize the continuing and mounting evidence of sabotage as insurers file rates in places such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania that explicitly break out the specific impact of Trumps sabotage.

 Speed: As he watched House members scrupulously avoid constituents while on recess, McConnell clearly recognized that his best bet would be to hold a vote before the July 4 recess in hopes this would minimize pressure on vulnerable senators such as Nevadas Dean Heller  who won his seat by a mere 12,000 votes in a state where more than 200,000 will lose Medicaid coverage.

So last week McConnell deployed Rule XIV, a fast-track procedure that bypasses the committee process and moves the bill directly to the floor. Just as in the House, were on track to have a vote with no hearings (there were more than 100 for the ACA). Knowing the coverage loss will be significant, McConnell plans to vote within only days, or possibly even hours, of the release of the CBO score. Moving fast leaves opponents, and the public, with no time to catch up to the details.

 Secrecy. None of this will work if the content of the bill cannot be kept secret for as long as possible. A small group of Republicans is amending the House bill behind close doors. And for all the talk of having the Senate start over and fix the bad House bill, their reported changes appear to be minimal, and to follow the blueprint laid out by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) that: 80 percent of what the House did were likely to do. The ACAs expansion of Medicaid would end. The caps on Medicaid spending imposed by the House bill would remain. With state approval, insurers would still be able to offer Swiss cheese policies that drop benefits people with preexisting conditions need most.

The secrecy is also necessary for backroom deals. Given the opioid crisis in her state, one would think the AHCAs severe Medicaid cuts would mean Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) would never support it; the majority of opioid treatments in her state are provided by Medicaid. Similarly, one would think there is no price that would cause Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) to sign on to a deal whose consequences for her state would be worse than any other state. But McConnell is counting on being able to buy their votes relatively cheaply: possibly with a small opioid fund and an extra few years before the Medicaid expansion ends in certain states.

Of course theres a better way. Not long ago, Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Capito talked about finding solutions that would lead to more people covered, not fewer. Thats an approach that could bring many Democrats to the table. Given the Senates narrow margins, by voting no, the three of them or others have the power to change the course were on and put health-care reform on a path to long-term political stability. And McConnell himself might not even mind. Something short of 50 votes will preserve the Senates role as our deliberative body with the good judgment not to bow to the political winds, particularly when the country needs its checks and balances to work like never before.
With newly elected Scott Walker in the governors office and a firm grip on the legislature, Wisconsin Republicans in 2011 had a unique opportunity to redraw the states electoral maps and fortify their partys future.

Aides were dispatched to a private law firm to keep their work out of public view. They employed the most precise technology available to dissect new Census Bureau data and convert it into reliably Republican districts even if the partys fortunes soured. Democrats were kept in the dark, and even GOP incumbents had to sign confidentiality agreements before their revamped districts were revealed to them. Only a handful of people saw the entire map until it was unveiled and quickly approved.

In the following years elections, when Republicans got just 48.6 percent of the statewide vote, they still captured a 60-to-39 seat advantage in the State Assembly.

[How Scott Walker changed Wisconsin politics]

Now, the Supreme Court is being asked to uphold a lower courts finding that the Wisconsin redistricting effort was more than just extraordinary  it was unconstitutional.

(Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

Such a conclusion would mark a watershed moment for the way American elections are conducted.

The Supreme Court has regularly  and increasingly  tossed out state electoral maps because they have been gerrymandered to reduce the influence of racial minorities by depressing the impact of their votes.

[Supreme Court says Virginia redistricting shows signs of racial bias]

But the justices have never found a plan unconstitutional because of partisan gerrymandering  when a majority party draws the states electoral districts to give such an advantage to its candidates that it dilutes the votes of those supporting the other party.

A divided panel of three judges in Wisconsin, though, decided just that in November. It became the first federal court in three decades to find that a redistricting plan violated the Constitutions First Amendment and equal rights protections because of partisan gerrymandering.

The Supreme Court could announce as soon as next Monday that it is either affirming or reversing the lower courts decision, or, more likely, accepting the case for full briefing and arguments in the term that begins in the fall.

The case comes at a time when the dusty subject of reapportionment has taken on new significance, with many blaming the drawing of safely partisan seats for a polarized and gridlocked Congress. Barack Obama has said that one of his post-presidency projects will be to combat partisan gerrymanders after the 2020 Census.

[Holder and Obama lead effort on reapportionment]

In Wisconsin, it already has become a hot topic.

If theres one word that defines the last year or year and a half in this country, its rigged,  said Dale Schultz, a Republican and former Wisconsin legislator who has joined with a Democratic counterpart to urge an end to the way the state handles redistricting. People have come to realize their votes arent as important as they once were. And thats really what this whole case is about: Its about making sure peoples votes have equal value.

Schultz volunteered that he voted for the plan. After some run-ins with leaders of his party, he said he was just glad they had not put my district in Iowa. But he said he saw after the maps were enacted that legislators became more beholden to party leaders because the only real threat to reelection was a primary challenge.

Schultzs Democratic partner in the Fair Elections Project, former state senator Tim Cullen, added that he constantly hears from audiences that if his party had been in charge of the process, it would have done the same thing Republicans did.

And, of course, the answer to that is Democrats probably would have done the same thing. But that doesnt make it right, he said.

In fact, a challenge to the way Maryland Democrats drew districts to squeeze out one of the states two Republican congressmen is making its way through the courts, and a complaint about partisan gerrymandering by Republicans in North Carolina already is before the justices.

[Supreme Court says challenge of Maryland districts may proceed]

Wisconsins Republican legislative leaders did not grant interview requests, but in their briefs to the Supreme Court, they said that if their redistricting is unconstitutional, so is that of about one-third of the other states.

They asked the justices to reject any effort that wrests control of districting away from the state legislators to whom the state constitution assigns that task, and hands it to federal judges and opportunistic plaintiffs seeking to accomplish in court what they failed to achieve at the ballot box.

Misha Tseytlin, Wisconsins solicitor general who is defending the redistricting plan, said the Republican advantage in the state legislature comes in part because its voters are spread across the state, and because it is winning the battle for voters in the purple state.

I think that political gerrymandering has become a  I dont want to say an excuse, but something that a lot of folks who are frustrated by the state-level elections over the last eight years have come to rely on as an excuse, he said in an interview in the state capitol. Its easier to have a villain than to say, oh, our party isnt doing well, not selling its message or unfortunately for our party our voters are clustering in major cities.

The Supreme Court has been reluctant to tackle partisan gerrymandering and sort through arguments about whether an electoral system is rigged or, instead, a partys political advantage is due to changing attitudes and demographics.

The justices last took up the topic in 2004 in a case called Vieth v. Jubelirer . It split the court five different ways, with the bottom line being that the justices could not agree on a test to determine when normal political instincts such as protecting your own turned into an unconstitutional dilution of someone elses vote.

Four justices  only Justice Clarence Thomas remains of the group  said it was not the courts business to make such decisions. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined the group to decide the specific case against the challengers of a Pennsylvania redistricting plan, but he left the door open for future cases.

Kennedy said he could envision a successful challenge where a state enacts a law that has the purpose and effect of subjecting a group of voters or their party to disfavored treatment. What was elusive, Kennedy said, was a manageable standard by which to measure the effect of the apportionment and so to conclude that the state did impose a burden or restriction on the rights of a partys voters.

William Whitford, one of a dozen plaintiffs suing over the Wisconsin plan, said his case, Gill v. Whitford, should be attractive to the Supreme Court: We think we have a standard.

Whitford, 77, was born in Madison, Wis. He is a Democratic partisan who lives in an old, left-leaning neighborhood near downtown where, he said, it would take a genius to put me into a Republican district. But he and the others in the lawsuit say the statewide partisan gerrymander makes it impossible for him to get the government he wants.

I want to get elected a Democratic majority, he said. It is the only chance for me to influence policy.

Whitford and his fellow plaintiffs asked the Wisconsin court to use a new approach to gauge how Republican mapmakers hurt Democrats with the main tools of gerrymandering: packing and cracking. These refer to packing like-minded voters, such as supporters of the same party, into a limited number of districts or cracking their influence by scattering them across districts in numbers too small to make an impact.

University of Chicago law professor Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos and his political scientist colleague Eric McGhee, of the Public Policy Institute of California, called their theory the efficiency gap. Under their approach, every voter packed into a district above the threshold needed to elect a candidate from his party creates a surplus vote. And someone in a cracked district, who votes for a candidate that is unable to win, is a lost vote. Surplus and lost votes are considered wasted votes.

The efficiency gap measures the difference between the wasted votes of the two parties in an election divided by the total number of votes cast. In an ideal scenario, where individual votes have as much impact as possible, the efficiency gap would be zero. The gap in Wisconsin was 13.3 percent in 2012.

National groups opposed to partisan gerrymandering hail the theory as just the kind of objective test Kennedy said he was looking for.

The Wisconsin court was not so definitive. It acknowledged the efficiency gap, but only as one of several theories the court said corroborated its findings that the Republican leadership had a discriminatory intent, that its plan had a discriminatory effect and that the state had no legitimate reason for drawing the districts in the way it did.

Tseytlin, the solicitor general, said he finds it frustrating that the efficiency gap has been hailed as a way to scientifically measure gerrymandering and said challengers have backed off their reliance on the theory in their Supreme Court filings.

The actual standard that the district court used was kind of like a social-science mishmash, he said.

Paul M. Smith, vice president for litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, which is representing the plaintiffs at the Supreme Court, said his side has not retreated from the idea that the efficiency gap theory could be the test that convinces the Supreme Court but added that it was never meant to be the only gauge.

We dont think any one formula has to have some kind of talismanic significance, Smith said, adding that the conclusion that this is one of the most extreme gerrymanders ever done is supported by the evidence  indeed, its compelled by the evidence  and supported by all of the different measures.

Tseytlin counters that there is plenty of evidence that points to a natural Republican advantage in Wisconsin, where Democratic voters are mostly clustered in Madison and Milwaukee.

Because of its history of split government, Wisconsin legislators and governor have been unable to agree on redistricting plans in the past  the 2011 plan was the first in decades. So the maps had been drawn by federal judges, the most nonpolitical way someone could draw a plan, Tseytlin said.

Under those court-drawn plans, Republicans won a majority of Assembly seats in every two-year election cycle since 1994, with the exception of 2008, the year of the Democratic landslide election of Obama. In 1998, Republicans won 49 percent of the statewide vote but 55 of the 99 Assembly seats, he said. In 2004, the party got 50 percent of the vote and won 60 seats.

The consequences of political gerrymandering in the real world have been greatly exaggerated, he said.

Whitford acknowledged Republicans may have something of a built-in advantage, but the 2011 redistricting plan gives Democrats no chance at all, he said.

I tell people, no harm is going to come from this case, he said. But well be lucky to get a level playing field. It may be still tilted, just not as tilted.
Khadijah Shareef, right, and Denise Valkyrie, both of Indiana, speak between sessions during the People's Summit in Chicago on June 10. The three-day event features speakers from the left-wing political movement, including Bernie Sanders. ( Alyssa Schukar for The Washington Post )

The groans began as soon as Hillary Clinton came on-screen.

It was the first day of the Peoples Summit, a progressive conference organized by groups connected to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and an organizer was showing hundreds of activists a video demonstrating right and wrong ways to build a movement that will win.

The wrong way: Clintons caught-on-video response at a 2016 fundraiser to a Black Lives Matter protester demanding she apologize for having used the term super predators a decade earlier, during her husbands push for tougher sentences for violent criminals. Groans turned to jeers as the video showed the protester being removed.

The right way: Sanderss tactic in an August 2015 appearance of standing back and letting activists who interrupted him at a Seattle rally take over the event. Cheers filled the McCormick Place meeting room, where the Peoples Summit had convened, as Sanders was shown on the screen talking to BLM organizers.

Thats one way to link different issues up to one movement, said Erin Evans, an organizer at one of Sanderss biggest backers, National Nurses United, who was giving the presentation. There is a way to bond people through a common vision while at the same time acknowledging that forms of structural violence that some communities undergo are important.

Sanders was introduced by NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro as a politician who had been rejected by those who control the party and their moneyed interests. Onstage, he congratulated the Labour Party for its gains in the U.K.s elections, and recounted the wins of his campaign  2.5 million individual donations, 46 percent of the primary vote, landslides with young voters.

We may not have won the campaign in 2016, but there is no question that we have won the battle of ideas, Sanders said. Brothers and sisters, that is no small thing.

Nearly a year after effectively conceding the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders was the star of this years Peoples Summit, which has quickly become the countrys largest progressive political conference. At least 4,000 people trekked to Chicago for a weekend of teach-ins, panels and dance parties. In a Saturday-night speech, Sanders planned to tell activists to charge ahead because ideas that, just a few years ago, seemed radical and unattainable, are now part of Main Street discussion.

But as Sanders used his star power to unite activists behind the Democrats, some debated whether the Democratic Party could ever be fixed to their liking. Faced with unified Republican control of Washington, progressives were less interested in simple unity than in a purity that they believed could win.

Much of the discussion at the Peoples Summit focused on the need to leave neoliberal politics in the dust. But there was disagreement about how to do so.

On Friday night, activists cheered at a clip of the NNUs DeMoro telling California Democrats not to assume the activists in California and around this country are going to stay with the Democratic Party.

When Clintons campaign was mentioned at all, it was as a cautionary tale.

A billion dollars, and they set it on fire! said CNN commentator Van Jones in a passionate speech. A billion dollars for consultants!

There were also comparisons to the surprise surge of the Labour Party in Thursdays British election. Like Sanders, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did not win. But Prime Minister Theresa May lost her majority, and Labour made gains that defied conventional wisdom.

It didnt seem like [Corbyn] was talking about how bad Theresa May was, or how stupid those Brexit voters were, said Larry Stafford Jr., executive director of Progressive Maryland, at a panel on post-Sanders campaign organizing. It seemed like there was a progressive Labour platform. They talked about their ideas; Democrats focus too much on personality.

Candidates for Congress and local offices walked the halls of the convention, signing up activists, who  post-Sanders  felt that any race was winnable if a candidate ran to the left.

Before the 2016 election, people would show up to the ballot box and cast a vote, said Winnie Wong, a co-founder of People for Bernie, a group that grew out of the Occupy movement. They wouldnt feel empowered. The agenda was always set by the media and the parties.

More hotly debated was what role Sanders himself would play in crafting the agenda  and whether the Democratic Party was worth saving at all, a topic that played out in common areas and after-parties.

Stephen Jaffe, a 71-year-old Sanders supporter challenging House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi for the 2018 midterm elections, spent some of a Friday-night meet-and-greet debating the relevance of the party with would-be supporters.

If the driver pulls the car into a ditch, you get a new driver, said Jaffe.

What if the cars so banged up that no one wants it? asked an organizer for a group that aimed to draft Sanders as an independent 2020 presidential candidate.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Sanders reiterated that he had become the Democrats outreach chair in the Senate; third-party politics in the wrong places would only split the movement, he said.

Look, as the longest-serving independent member of Congress, I know something about that, Sanders said. Where my energy is right now is in fundamentally transforming the Democratic Party into a grass-roots progressive party. And well see where it goes.

But the long hangover from the 2016 campaign has lingered. Melissa Byrne, a Sanders organizer who now serves on the Democratic National Committees transition committee, said she continues to spend time and energy persuading people not to abandon the party over bitterness about the DNCs perceived slant toward Clinton.

For the most part, people are past the primary [season], she said. Theres not one person to coalesce around, so theres a lot of fighting against something, not fighting for one thing. And when youre fighting against something, like Occupy did, it gets messy.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a freshman who has become the face of the Justice Democrats political action group, which was set up to beat corporate incumbents in primaries, said there was such a thing as too much negativity.

Theres a populism that goes after a villain, and theres a populism thats aspirational, Khanna said. Aspirational populism cuts across the party. It means talking about single-payer health care. It means the bill Im working on with [Sen.] Sherrod Brown [D-Ohio] to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. Six months ago, people said that was crazy. And now everyone who might run in 2020 is calling and asking if they can endorse it.

In Republican-controlled Washington, and in most states, the ideas are stalled. Sanders, who will turn 79 before the next election, was beseeching people not to wait on him to save them. In Chicago, they obliged.

Naomi Klein, an author promoting a book on how the anti-Trump resistance needs to advance, said at a Saturday panel that the collapse of neoliberalism and the unpopularity of the Trump administration has driven the political conversation.

Were seeing that we were lied to  were seeing that radical ideas are popular, Klein said. Whats next? Reparations for slavery and colonialism? Worker co-ops at the centerpiece of a democratic economy? Who knows?

Read more at PowerPost
Soon after Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on Mindanao, soldiers parked a large tank in front of city hall in Davao, the Philippine presidents home town and the largest city on the island. It immediately became an attraction, and locals now flock to the symbol of a new, more muscular approach to the countrys problems.

All day long, residents smile and pose for selfies in front of the tank. Some ask to take photos with the military men on duty, who happily oblige. Others stretch out their arms and clench one hand into a fist, a symbol of support for the president. They laugh, and instead of saying Cheese, they chant, One, two, three  Duterte!

We think this is great. I like the security martial law offers. Good civilians will be protected as long as we follow the rules, said Charyien Intong, who works at a local medical clinic.

Behind her, a vendor sold ice cream to children, who chased each other around the tank.

Martial law is whats needed. Otherwise were in danger, said Reynold Genoves, a local student. Duterte is a good man. More importantly, hes a strong man.

All around Davao, the heart of Dutertismo, residents gush about martial law. Not everyone is clear about what it means or why its needed here. Davao is several hours away from where the military is fighting extremists linked to the Islamic State, which is what prompted the introduction of martial law, but the presidents declaration has electrified supporters of his new, aggressive approach.

The previous presidents could never keep us safe or fight terrorism, said Intong.

The officials in charge of implementing the policy say it has energized operations and means that they have to spend less time on civil procedures and on listening to their critics.

Martial law has given teeth to the objectives of the military and the police by emboldening them, said retired army Maj. Gen. Benito de Leon, head of the Public Safety and Security Command Center in Davao. Now, he said, they can feel protected from any harassment from cause-oriented groups, like human rights groups.

De Leon, and other officials here, noted that the 1987 constitution imposes limits on martial law that should make a reprise of the Ferdinand Marcos era impossible. In 1972, Marcos responded to a communist threat by imposing military rule, then ran the country until he was deposed in 1986. The Philippine government is now compensating thousands of victims of human rights abuses suffered during that period, and tens of thousands more have lodged claims.

We abide by international humanitarian law. I can expect my people to always abide by that law, said Alexander Camilon Tagum, senior police superintendent in Davao, sitting in his office surrounded by his samurai sword collection. You wont hear about any abuses.

The government has been unclear whether martial law will be used only in relation to the fight against the Islamist insurgents or be used explicitly to fight drugs, street crime and the ongoing communist rebellion, as well as to further all the other goals of the security state. Duterte has attempted to link the Islamist rebels to drug money, which would give him more leeway to maneuver if he succeeds.

Martial law is a power that is provided to any president, said Mags Maglana, of a group called Konsensya Dabaw (Conscience Davao), which was originally organized to protest Dutertes decision to give Marcos a heros burial. But were not exactly sure what [Dutertes] agenda is. We question why all of Mindanao is covered. It seems overkill.

Duterte is overwhelmingly popular in Davao. First elected mayor in the 1980s, he pursued the sort of rough justice against drug dealers and communist insurgents  with the Davao Death Squad famously operating alongside his government  that he has now taken nationwide with a war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives. Residents say the city is safer thanks to his years in office.

The mayor today is Sara Duterte, his daughter, who has launched an Iron City program that includes 900 new auxiliary police officers.

Tagum, the police superintendent, said that operationally, martial law means that officers are allowed to perform full searches at checkpoints and make arrests without civil warrants if justified by intelligence.

Its primarily about fighting the terrorists, said Brig. Gen. Gilbert I. Gapay, a deputy regional military commander. But there is a free-rider effect. When you enhance checkpoints, you also contribute to enhancing anti-criminal activities.

He acknowledged that some soldiers hate martial law, since it means they lose their rest time and are given new responsibilities.

We are trained differently, he said. Were not trained for law enforcement. Weve operated together with [the police] for a long time, but being in the lead is a different thing.

At a news conference in Davao the same day Duterte was visiting the city, Gapay asked local journalists if they felt uncomfortable under martial law.

No, sir. We feel secure! answered one smiling young reporter.

Read more

Before Duterte was the Philippines president, he was the Death Squad mayor

Duterte says he may widen martial law from Mindanao

Duterte, the Catholic Church and the fight for the soul of the Philippines

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Supporters in Paris of Emmanuel Macrons party react after polls closed for the first round of the French legislative elections Sunday. (Christophe Petit Tesson/European Pressphoto Agency)

French President Emmanuel Macron and his party took a commanding lead in the first round of Frances legislative elections Sunday, with the potential to win an absolute majority.

In a once-unimaginable scenario, Macrons centrist party  established little more than a year ago  was projected to win between 390 and 430 of the French Parliaments 577 seats, according to an Ipsos-Sopra analysis. In a political landscape defined for decades by the well-oiled machines of traditional center-left and center-right parties, the rise of Macrons Republic on the Move represented a watershed development.

The victory of Macron in Mays presidential election was the first time a president who did not belong to either of those traditional parties won the Elysee Palace. If Sundays parliamentary results hold up after a second and final round of voting next Sunday, France will be run by both a new president and a new party. Macron, who has long promised a renewal of political life, will have successfully persuaded voters to give him relatively free rein in the attempt.

But turnout was at a record low level, and that could cloud Macrons mandate. Only 49 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Ipsos-Sopra analysis. Participation in parliamentary elections has typically been significantly higher, mostly between 60 and 80 percent.

Macrons political opponents were quick to emphasize the unusually high abstention figures.

I am particularly concerned about the fact that 1 French person out of 2 did not vote, Valerie Pecresse, the president of the center-right Republicans party in the Ile-de-France region, told Le Monde newspaper. We weaken Parliament, which is a democratic counter-power. And we take the risk of a single party, a single thought, a single program.

The Republicans, one of the two parties that controlled France until 2017, came in second, winning between 85 and 125 seats, according to early projections. But the Socialists, once a bedrock of French and European political life, were projected to win only between 20 and 35 seats. For the historic party of Francois Mitterrand, that would probably mean a devastating loss of more than 200 seats.

The tornado was too strong, the two votes too close, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, the first secretary of the French Socialist party, said in a statement Sunday night. The tornado he referred to was that of Macrons victory in the general election, in which some Socialist ministers abandoned their own party and supported instead the newfound party of the outsider candidate, himself a onetime Socialist minister.

When Macron won the French presidency last month in a landslide, it did not necessarily follow that the new leader  the youngest in modern French history, who has promised a slew of broad, sweeping reforms, many in the notoriously difficult labor sector  would carry any kind of lead in the two rounds of legislative elections now underway.

For one, many who voted for Macron in May said that they were merely voting against his opponent, the far-right extremist Marine Le Pen. In the historic circumstances of 2017, many said, Macrons appeal was merely that he was seen as the last stand against the same populist wave responsible for Britains Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

But Sundays vote would suggest that the new president and his promises have gained considerable traction.



The Calais Jungle is gone, but Frances migrant crisis is far from over

Frances Macron flexes newfound international star power

French President Macron blasts Russian state-owned media as propaganda

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The Flagstaff Family YMCA recently announced the hiring of Chris Aungst as its new executive director.

Aungst has experience with the YMCA, serving in various executive leadership roles over the past 10 years at Ys in Indiana, according to a press release. Aungst and his wife Holly are both Arizona natives, growing up in Phoenix and attending Arizona State University, before relocating to Indiana to pursue their careers. They said they are excited to be moving back to their home state to be closer to family and raise their two sons, Adam and Luke.

Aungst said he will work to increase the overall impact of the Y in the Flagstaff community and to build programs and services that meet the community's most pressing needs. He plans to accomplish his goals through building relationships, pursuing strategic partnerships, increasing the number of volunteers, fundraising and strengthening the Y staff team.

Aungst said he passionately believes in the Ys mission and wants everyone to know that, the Y is a place for everyone where we focus on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility and that living our cause everyday through programs that build a health spirit, mind and body for all will be our priority.
Prime Minister Theresa May reshuffled her cabinet a bit Sunday and mostly kept out of the public eye as she worked to strike a deal with a small party of hard-right unionists in Northern Ireland to prop up her government, which lacks a majority in Parliament.

As May and her representatives wrangled with the Democratic Unionist Party, based in Belfast, her fellow Tories were grumbling that the Conservative prime minister had not only bungled the campaign, but also was performing poorly in the days after its surprising conclusion Thursday.

On the Sunday talk shows in Britain, former Tory chancellor George Osborne, now editor of the Evening Standard and a sharp-tongued critic of the prime minister, called May a dead woman walking and suggested that she would be out of office by next year.

Its just a question of, Osborne told Sky News, how long she is going to remain on death row.

Anna Soubry, a Conservative member of Parliament, said she could not predict when May might go but called the prime ministers position untenable.

(Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Other Tories, while avoiding such brutal assessments, were more forthright in predicting that the prime minister is unlikely to lead the Conservative Party in any future elections.

Asked how she felt after the election, in which the Tories won the most seats but failed to secure a mandate or a majority, May told British broadcasters, What Im feeling is that actually there is a job to be done and I think what the public wants is to ensure that the government is getting on with that job.

It is too early to know what will happen in the coming days to May  and, more important to the global economy, how the Conservative government will approach negotiations over Britains exit from the European Union, scheduled to begin in a week.

The disruption of recent weeks has not only created worries in Europe, already antsy on the eve of Brexit negotiations, but also appears to have crossed the Atlantic.

President Trumps plans to visit Britain are now apparently on hold, although that may have more to do with his spat with Londons mayor after the recent terrorist attack than with the results of the British election.

Trump recently told May in a phone call that he does not want to go forward with a state visit to Britain until the public here supports the trip, according to a report first published in the Guardian newspaper.

1 of 17 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See photos of the scene in Britain during a snap election View Photos People head to the polls to vote for new government. Caption People head to the polls to vote for a new government. June 8, 2017 Britains Prime Minister Theresa May leaves with her husband, Philip, after voting in Maidenhead, England. Alastair Grant/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

The White House call was made in recent weeks, said a Downing Street adviser who was in the room, the Guardian reported.

Asked whether Trump had spoken to May about postponing his trip to London, which remains unscheduled, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Sunday: The president has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May. That subject never came up on the call.

Mays office said the Trump state visit was still on. The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K., and there is no change to those plans, a spokeswoman for the prime minister said.

Formal Brexit talks are scheduled to start June 19, the same day as the Queens Speech, to be delivered by Queen Elizabeth II from the throne of the House of Lords. The speech, written by Mays ministers, includes a list of the laws the government hopes to get approved by Parliament over the coming year.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, who pushed for Britain to leave the E.U. but has been absent from the public stage since the election, denied news accounts that he was maneuvering to replace May.

In a tweet, Johnson called the idea tripe.

Johnson said he is backing May. Lets get on with the job, he tweeted.

Defense Secretary Michael Fallon disagreed Sunday that May was mortally wounded and said he expected the Tory members of Parliament to support her this week.

Mays main opponent, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, appeared on the Sunday talk shows, too, looking either serene or smug  depending on the commentators measure of the man. Labour came out of Thursdays election with a substantial growth spurt.

Corbyn said it is quite possible that there will be another election this year or early next year. We cannot continue like this, he said, predicting that even a loose alliance between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland cannot endure.

Another top Labour leader, John McDonnell, said Sunday that Mays partnership with the Irish unionists will be a coalition of chaos.

On Saturday evening, the prime ministers office suggested a deal had been struck for a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP, a socially conservative and traditionalist movement. Downing Street said the deal would be revealed Monday to the cabinet.

But Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, said, Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament.

One of the prime ministers representatives was then forced to put out another statement, explaining that no final deal had been struck and suggesting that talks will drag into this week.

As and when details are finalized, both parties will put them forward, an official in Mays office said.

Tories said the deal with DUP should be completed this week and will include an economic aid package for Northern Ireland and the promise that there would be no referendum on the question of unifying Northern Ireland  a part of the United Kingdom along with England, Scotland and Wales  with the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign nation and a member of the European Union.

Shake-ups  and plenty of finger-pointing  began soon after the election results came in.

On Sunday, May named her cabinet. Most of the ministers remained in their seats. A few were demoted; a few rose.

There was one real surprise. May appointed Michael Gove as environment secretary. Gove challenged May for the leadership of the Conservatives in the aftermath of the Brexit vote  and lost.

On Saturday, two top aides of May resigned and a former minister acknowledged that Tories were plotting possible replacements via the messaging service WhatsApp.

The aides who resigned, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, Mays fiercely loyal co-chiefs of staff, had been widely blamed within the Conservative Party for the lackluster campaign that ended with the Tories losing their majority in Parliament.

Supporters of a hard exit from the European Union were watching May this weekend for any sign that she might be steering toward a softer departure from Europes trade and governing bloc.

On Saturday evening, the prime ministers office announced a new chief of staff, former minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his seat in the election.

The choice did not go down well with Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party and a leading force behind Brexit.

Farage on Sunday called Barwells selection the worst possible start for May, because her new chief of staff opposed leaving the European Union and is viewed as squishy on Brexit.

Worse, during last years referendum on the measure, Barwell called Farage a racist who hates modern Britain.

Jenna Johnson in Branchburg, N.J., contributed to this report.

Read more

Pledging to keep Britain safe, Theresa May faces an uncomfortable reality

With Mays tumble, Trumps European allies not faring well at the polls

After shocking British vote result, Europe ponders fate of Brexit negotiations

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility, banking, and renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses in the state of Hawaii. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States armed forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a community bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. This segment operates 42 branches, including 29 branches in Oahu, 6 branches in Maui, 4 branches in Hawaii, 2 branches in Kauai, and 1 branch in Molokai. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The term fake news has been a trending expression since the new US president was elected.

Former Agence France-Presse editor-in-chief Eric Wishart, who now works on special projects for the agencys global news management, was in Macau last month to attend a conference organized by the Macau Portuguese and English Press Association. He tried to answer a pertinent question: Why is fake news such a big issue now?

Wishart, who is also a scholar based in Hong Kong, defined fake news as fabricated content presented as legitimate news with an intent to deceive and noted that social media has been the driving force behind the phenomenon.

As he illustrated, the fake news emergence got to a point where Time magazine made the Is Truth Dead? cover, replicating a famous Time cover: Is God Dead? issued in 1966.

During the conference held at the Military Club, the veteran journalist proceeded by exhibiting the headlines of several US tabloids that claimed, for example, that then-presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was fighting cancer or that she had suffered two stokes.

Explaining that in its purest form fake news is fabricated, Wishart said that it could also take subtler forms by providing false context, manipulated content or even impostor content (when genuine sources are impersonated).

Many argue that governments should legislate against fake news or even censor the Internet (which is already being done in several jurisdictions). I disagree because such an attempt inevitably ends up by limiting freedom of speech and, thus, democracy.

There are libel laws for those who feel defamed. Politicians and public figures must not be oversensitive about this new reality. They should learn to cope with unfair criticism as part of their job. What they shouldnt do is turn journalists into public enemy number one and rebuke legitimate reports that they dislike as fake news. Thats reckless.

Fake news and alternative facts are here to stay. What needs to be done to limit their impact is to educate the youth to use social media and to value reliable sources of information, such as editorial contents produced by professional journalists and trustworthy media organizations.

The crucial questions are: Where will the younger generations (and, by the way, the US president) gather their information from? Facebook? Dishonest cable TV channels and tabloids? Government mouthpieces? There is a multitude of sources available, but they are not worth the same. Well-informed people know that to be an indisputable fact.

The point, Wishart said, is that there are people who will believe what they want to believe, presenting revisionist views and always believing hoaxes: The earth is square, dinosaurs didnt exist, the Holocaust is a fabrication, the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, was executed by the US government, vaccines are a way to sterilize poor people and keep the global population down. The absurd list could go on endlessly.

Education is key. The decline of public education systems in developed countries and the failure to raise educational standards in less developed ones is generating a population of misinformed citizens.

Those misinformed citizens are always a peril to democracies, wherever they still exist. As Wishart put it, fake news is real and can be dangerous.
Bank of America has a rich history dating back to 1800 and even earlier. It was begun by immigrants as a group of separate and unrelated banks that, over the years, merged and grew together. One such is the Bank of Italy which was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to serve Italian immigrants that were facing discrimination. He later buys out the Banca de America e de Italia (Bank of America and Italy) which was also located in San Francisco. Over the years additional mergers and changes in Federal banking legislation, as well as the boom brought on by WWI and then WWII, helped boost the bank to national prominence.

Things turned sour, however, in 1998 with a major bond default that led to yet another merger, this time with Charlotte, NC-based Nations Bank to officially become the Bank of America that exists today. At the time, the merger was the largest bank merger in history and the company has only grown in the time since.

Other additions to the new Bank of America include MBNA (a major credit card operator), Fleet Boston (then the US 7th largest and one of its oldest banks), and Merril Lynch, now Merril, which was added to the group in 2008 to provide an investment banking branch. Together the company dominates as one of the Big Four Banks in America. Bank of America lays claim to nearly 11% of all US deposits which ranks in line with its peer group and Bank of America Securities is listed as the worlds 3rd largest investment bank.

Today, Bank of America Corporation provides banking and financial services for individuals, small businesses, institutions, corporations, and governments worldwide. The bank operates in three segments Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, and Global Banking bringing in a combined revenue greater than $90 billion in 2022.

As of 2022, Bank of America serves approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,200 retail financial centers. The bank also operates more than 16,000 ATMs and digital banking platforms with approximately 41 million active users.

Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking and investment products for retail clients. These range from deposit accounts to savings, credit cards, consumer loans, and IRAs. The Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and wealth management solutions including, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products. The Global Banking segment provides lending products and services, including commercial loans and leases for businesses of all varieties. The Global Markets segment offers market-making, clearing, settlement, and custody services, as well as risk management, derivatives, and FX exchange services.
The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Premier Plan MMAI Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Illinois Inc., Aetna Better Health of Indiana Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Tennessee Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Insurance Company of New York, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Insurance Company of Connecticut, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Ex Pat LLC, Aetna International LLC, Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L., CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Applications LLC, CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund GP LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund LP, CVS Health Ventures Management LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Management Support LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS Pharmacy Overseas Online LLC, CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Austin LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Los Angeles LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Philadelphia LLC, CVS-SHC Renal Holdings LLC, Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc.  CVS Pharmacy Inc. 75%/Aetna Life Insurance Company 25%, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., Credentials Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California LLC, Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., First Choice of the Midwest LLC, First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Main Street Pharmacy L.L.C., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arkansas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Colorado LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services of Texas Association, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky LLC, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services LLC, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare LLC, Omnicare LLC  Aetna Inc 0.28%/CVS Cabot Holdings Inc. 49.86%/CVS Shaw Holdings Inc. 49.86%, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare LLC, Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.

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Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography (CT) systems, X-ray systems, and detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; integrated interventional systems; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services. It also offers acute patient management solutions; emergency care solutions; sleep and respiratory care solutions; and electronic medical record and care management solutions. In addition, the company provides power toothbrushes, brush heads, and interdental cleaning and teeth whitening products; infant feeding and digital parental solutions; and male grooming and beauty products and solutions. It has a strategic collaboration with Ibex Medical Analytics Ltd. to jointly promote the digital pathology and AI solutions to hospitals, health networks, and pathology laboratories worldwide, as well as a strategic partnership agreement with NICO.LAB. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Philips N.V. in May 2013. Koninklijke Philips N.V. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company marketed approximately 301 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States, Canada, and in 20 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
TWIN FALLS  Cody Root, a student at Arizona State University and son of Steve Root who works in the Twin Falls County Assessors office, was awarded one of seven Idaho Association of Counties scholarships. Root will receive $1,000 to help pay for his college education.

The fund was created to provide scholarships to children of county elected officials, county employees and grandchildren of county elected officials. County elected officials and employees contribute to the fund through personal donations and other fundraising efforts such as auctions.

This is the 14th year scholarships have been awarded.
Twitter will deliver live, uninterrupted coverage of former FBI director James Comeys testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, June 8.

Bloomberg is Twitters exclusive premium live partner for the broadcast of the Comey hearing. The live stream will be available on Twitter globally via the @business account.

Major TV networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC, also plan to air live coverage of Comeys appearance, in which hes expected to detail his conversations with President Trump about the FBIs investigation into possible ties between his campaign and Russian officials.

Twitters live-streaming coverage will kick off around 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday, hosted by Bloomberg Television anchors David Westin and David Gura, along with Bloombergs senior White House correspondent Margaret Talev.

Comey is scheduled to appear in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m. ET. Special programming and analysis hosted by Westin, Gura and Talev will continue at 1 p.m. ET, when Comey will appear in a non-televised closed session.

The one-off deal for the Comey coverage comes after Twitter and Bloomberg Media announced in May that they plan to create a 24-hour breaking news network for the social-media service. Bloomberg and Twitter also partnered to live stream the U.S. presidential debates last fall, and the platform currently streams three of Bloomberg TVs daily live programs.

Meanwhile, Twitter last month also hired Todd Swidler, formerly Bloomberg SVP and global head of video distribution and partnerships, to run its live video business.
Ever since NASAs Cassini spacecraft arrived in Saturns neighborhood more than 10 years ago, it has been sending back groundbreaking images and data about the planet in the outer solar system famous for its rings, as well as its many moons.

But all missions eventually come to an end. Cassini has embarked on its Grand Finale, the final leg of its journey that is bringing it on dives between Saturn and its rings and on other final sweeps of the area before it finally runs out of fuel and NASA sends it into Saturns atmosphere to burn up in a fiery sendoff.

Read: How Rivers Flow on Titan, Saturns Biggest Moon

Until that final salute in September, and as Cassini takes whatever measurements and other data it can during the time it has left, we can reflect on its most exciting discoveries of Saturn and its moons. Here are some of the most important images it has sent back to Earth.

Tiny moon caught red-handed

moonlet-daphnis

Photo: NASA

Saturn has plenty of full-sized moons orbiting it, but apparently they are not enough. Scientists have discovered that its massive rings have tiny moons  adorably called moonlets  cutting through them as they swing around the planet. The moonlets displace material in the rings during their orbits, with their gravity creating waves in the dust that forms the rings and creating propeller-shaped gaps in the rings wherever they are. Cassini got plenty of closeups of these propellers, but arguably the most powerful of its moonlet images is the strikingly clear closeup of Daphnis, a 5-mile-long moonlet streaking through the outer edges of the planets rings.

Shes gonna blow

enceladus-plumes

Photo: NASA

The Cassini spacecraft has gotten up close and personal with Saturns moon Enceladus during its journey to the outer solar system, including inspecting plumes that come off the moons surface. This shot of the plumes backlit by the sun show them shooting off Enceladus. Cassini flew through the plumes for the first time and collected data to send back to Earth around the time this picture was taken. Over time scientists have analyzed all the data from Cassini to find that Enceladus has hydrogen, which could be an energy source for certain kinds of alien life forms.

Story continues

Entering the ring

saturn1

Photo: NASA/JPL

Cassini went in April where no one had gone before: into the gap between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft caught some tight shots of Saturns atmosphere during its dive, the first of almost two dozen planned for the Grand Finale. The first was the most dangerous, as scientists werent completely sure what to expect. But now that Cassini survived the journey and sent back some stunning photos and data from the trip, it paved the way for future dives.

Take a good look

titan-closeup

Photo: NASA

When Cassini first encountered Saturns largest moon, it was able to capture views clearer than any equipment before it. It would learn much more about Titan over the years, but this first detailed image was where it all began. Since Cassini entered the moons neighborhood, it has collected data that indicates volcanic activity and teaches scientists about what its like on the surface.

Hi, Mom and Dad

earth-saturn-ring-zoom

Photo: NASA/JPL

The spacecraft might be famous, but it has not forgotten where it came from. Cassini recently sent back an image it took while peering through Saturns rings: one that shows Earth and Earths moon shining like stars in the distance. Although the photo doesnt tell us anything groundbreaking about our planet, it is an interesting view. Some may find it humbling to see how small and nondescript Earth looks from a planet in the outer solar system, while others may find it powerful that Earth can be spotted from such a distance away in the universe.

Every ring is illuminated

shining-rings

Photo: NASA

Cassini once made a clever move of using Saturn to block the intense light of the sun and then snapped a photo from behind the giant planet, capturing its illuminated rings in all their glory. According to NASA, it was a view scientists had never had before. And it included some familiar faces: A trained eye can detect the pale dot of Earth above the bright main rings as well as the moon Enceladus.

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Adam West, the star of the 1960s Batman television show, has died at the age of 88.

The actor died on Friday night after a short battle with leukemia and was surrounded by his wife, Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, according to his representative.

Read: 'Miracle Baby' Who Was Born Without a Nose Dies at 2 Years Old

There are no words to describe how much we'll miss him. We know you'll miss him too and we want you to know how much your love and support meant to him throughout the years. Hug your loved ones today," the West family said in a statement posted to Facebook.

Wests tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Batman and the superhero's alter ego Bruce Wayne shot him to international fame.

Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans' lives. He was and always will be our hero, his family said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The half-hour action comedy was such a hit that it aired twice a week on ABC at its peak, according to Variety. The show lasted three seasons.

Read: 25-Year-Old Hiker Dies After Plunging Off Cliff While Taking Selfie

Later in life, West struggled to find work but eventually played the mayor, who was named Adam West, on the popular TV series "Family Guy.

He also starred in other films such as Drop Dead Gorgeous, An American Vampire Story and Nevada Smith.

Burt Ward, who played Robin in the series, released a statement to Variety remembering West.

"Adam and I had a special friendship for more than 50 years. We shared some of the most fun times of our lives together. Our families have deep love and respect for each other. This is a terribly unexpected loss of my lifelong friend," Ward said. "In my eyes, there was only one real Batman that is and always will be Adam West. He was truly the Bright Night."

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Other celebrites also took to Twitter to share their sadness at the loss.

Farewell Adam West. You were MY Batman. Such a super funny, cool, charismatic actor. Loved the show as a kid, still love the show now. POW! pic.twitter.com/6QAZnOhtMs  edgarwright (@edgarwright) June 10, 2017

RIP Adam West. First person I saw who was funny, badass & cool all at once.  Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) June 10, 2017

Watch: Teen Dies a Hero While Shielding Cousin From Gunfire in Rampage That Killed 8

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Nick Gordon, the ex-boyfriend of the late Bobbi Kristina Brown, was arrested on a domestic violence charge Saturday involving his new live-in girlfriend.

Read: Nick Gordon Breaks His Silence After Bobbi Kristina's Death, Tweets: 'I Will Always Love You'

Gordon, 28, was accused of hitting and punching his girlfriend, 26-year-old Laura Leal, according to a report by the Sanford Police Department in Florida.

Leal told police that they started arguing around midnight because he thought she was trying to hook up with one of his friends before he allegedly became violent.

She said she tried to get help during the episode but Gordon took away her phone and computer, the police report stated. It was after sunrise before Leal was able to break free, and wake Gordons sleeping mother to get help.

When Leal arrived at the police station with her sister, authorities said Leal had injuries to her arm and face.

Gordon was arrested at a clubhouse near their home later that morning for domestic battery and false imprisonment.

The incident comes just months after Gordon was ordered by an Atlanta judge to pay more than $36 million to Bobbi Kristina Browns family for her wrongful death. He was deemed legally responsible for the 22-year-olds death after he failed to appear at a civil hearing.

Bobbi Kristina, the daughter of Whitney Houston, was found unconscious in a tub in January 2015 and passed away in hospice care a month later.

A lawsuit claimed Gordon had beaten Brown after a cocaine and drinking binge before giving his longtime girlfriend a toxic cocktail that caused her to pass out.

Read: Bobby Brown Says He First Saw Whitney Houston Do Drugs on Their Wedding Day

Gordon was also accused in the suit of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and transferring money from Browns bank account into his own without authorization.

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No criminal charges were filed against Gordon in Bobbi Kristinas death.

His attorneys denied he had anything to do with the death of his longtime girlfriend and instead called it a tragic accident.

Watch: Nick Gordon Ordered to Pay Bobbi Kristina Brown's Family More Than $36 Million in Wrongful Death Suit

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London (AFP) - Major changes in Britain's political landscape seem on the cards after Thursday's general election, if exit polls and results from two-thirds of the 650 seats are confirmed.

British Prime Minister Theresa May -- who had called the snap election on April 18 in a bid to boost her grip on parliament -- will govern with a smaller majority or even lose her overall majority, according to these indicators.

Here are five takeaways from this still-emerging picture:

- Brexit gets even harder -

Britain's negotiations for leaving the European Union are likely to become "far more difficult," according to Tony Travers, a professor of the London School of Economics (LSE).

Formal talks are due to start on June 19, and the negotiation schedule will be tight and arduous.

Under the outgoing parliament, May had placed the country on course for a "hard" Brexit for leaving Europe's single market and ending free movement of people.

But this strategy is now in doubt under a weakened prime minister.

The Labour Party and Conservative moderates clamouring for a "soft" Brexit will now have more clout.

"It will be difficult to govern and it could mean another election later in the year," said Wyn Grant of the University of Warwick.

- May weakened -

After she put the country through its third divisive vote in just over two years and then lost her bet with a widely criticised campaign, May's future seems badly clouded.

"It was a self-inflicted error, a self-inflicted wound and it was something that was likely borne out of a bit of taking the British public for granted," said Brian Klaas, a fellow in comparative economics at the London School of Economics (LSE).

- Corbyn triumphant -

The Labour leader was derided by May as a catastrophic choice for leading the country to Brexit, and the pro-conservative tabloid press vilified him as a Socialist blunderer who would be tossed out.

But with a confident campaign founded on radical policies, Corbyn confounded his critics and revived Labour's fortunes, and his future is secure.

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"Jeremy Corbyn managed to mobilise his base. He managed to not only enthuse young people and people who hadn't voted before but actually get them to the polling station," said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at the Queen Mary University.

- Scottish nationalists stung -

Prospects of a second referendum on Scottish independence are likely to recede.

Before the election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) threatened to hold a second independence vote because it did not want Scotland to leave the EU through Brexit.

But the SNP lost a string of seats in Westminster, including that of its former leader Alex Salmond and current deputy leader Angus Robertson, mainly to a regionally-resurgent Conservative Party.

"The scale of SNP losses is likely to damage the reputation of Nicola Sturgeon, party leader and Scottish first minister," striking "a heavy blow" to hopes of a second ballot, the Financial Times commented.

Sturgeon told the BBC she would "take time to reflect" on the results.

- UKIP wiped out -

The eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) faces electoral oblivion.

A major force in the 2015 elections and a driver of last year's Brexit referendum result, UKIP was weakened by the departure of its media-savvy leader Nigel Farage, by internal rivalries and by May's pitch to its voters on Brexit negotiations.

On Thursday, its share of the vote was set to fall from 11 percent to less than two percent and the party is unlikely to recover even the single seat it held in the outgoing parliament.
TWIN FALLS  Dr. Banu Symington has been awarded Mastership in the American College of Physicians (ACP), the national organization of internists.

Dr. Symington is a hematologist/ oncologist at the Mountain States Tumor Institute (MSTI) and the St Lukes Health System. She serves as governor of the Idaho Chapter of the American College of Physicians; as Vice Chair, ACP Ethics, Humans Rights and Professionalism Committee; and, as a member of the Executive Committee of the ACP Board of Governors. She is also serving a four-year term as Vice Chief of Staff/Chief of Staff at St Lukes Magic Valley. She is a member of the Medical Executive Committee and the Credentials Committee and chairs the Oversight Committee at St Lukes Magic Valley. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology (recertified 2013) and actively participates in MOC.

Previously, Dr. Symington spent a decade in private practice as an Internist in Rock Springs, Wyoming and an Intensivist at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. Rock Springs was both rural and a designated physician shortage area. While there, she had a monthly health advice column in the local newspaper, she served on the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and she eventually became Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine. During her time in Rock Springs, the community underwent a serious upheaval and she became the only PCP who accepted new Medicaid and Medicare patients. This was a transformative experience and led her to choose public service and volunteerism as a career path. Between 1986 and 1994, Dr. Symington was a basic researcher at the University of Washington with an NIH, DOD funded program looking at the role of cell adhesion molecules in cancer metastases.

Election to Mastership recognizes outstanding and extraordinary career accomplishments. Masters must have made a notable contribution to medicine. This includes, but is not limited to teaching, outstanding work in clinical medicine (research or practice), contributions to preventive medicine, improvements in the delivery of health care, and/or contributions to the medical literature.
Berlin (AFP) - Germany's Deutsche Bank said Friday it would not disclose any information on its links to US President Donald Trump and his family, rejecting a request from US lawmakers.

Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee had written to the bank in May to ask for documents which they said could help shed light on whether "loans Deutsche Bank made to President Trump were guaranteed by the Russian Government, or were in any way connected to Russia".

But the bank rejected the demand in a written reply published on its website, arguing that divulging such information constituted a violation of privacy.

"Federal law requires that financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank maintain the privacy of their customers and the confidentiality of information relating to those customers," said the bank.

"This is true even if the individual is a government official or well-known person, and even in circumstances where the individual has made some disclosure regarding their relationship with their banking institution," it added.

The law only provides for disclosure of such information "for law enforcement or regulatory purposes or in connection with duly-authorised investigations," it noted.

"Accordingly, Deutsche Bank, like other financial institutions, is not permitted to disclose details related to its customers," it said.

Among information sought by the lawmakers are "any document, record, memo, correspondence, or other communication related to the 2011 Russian mirror trading scheme," as well as details of any loans and guarantees made to Trump or his family members.

The demand for information from the bank was the latest twist in the high-stakes investigation of Trump's relations with Moscow, including into whether there was any collusion between his campaign and an alleged Russian bid to tilt the US election in the Republican's favour.
Former FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday before the Senate Select Committee regarding possibilities that President Donald Trump might have committed obstruction of justice when he asked Comey to drop FBIs investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's alleged ties with Russia. Although Comey was under oath during his public hearing, the latest statement released by the Department Of Justice (DOJ) contradicts his testimony.

During his testimony, Comey largely depended on detailed memos that contained all the interactions between him and Trump in the past. Besides his interactions with Trump, Comey also weighed in on a number of different matters including the time that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from FBIs investigation into ties between Russia and members of the Trump campaign, Politico reported.

When a Senate member asked Comey, Is there any kind of memorandum issued from the attorney general to the FBI outlining the parameters of his recusal? the former FBI director answered, Not that I'm aware of.

While Comeys statement implies that Sessions recusal from FBIs investigation was out of the blue, the DOJs statement states otherwise.

However, on March 2, 2017, the Attorney Generals Chief of Staff sent the attached email specifically informing Mr. Comey and other relevant Department officials of the recusal and its parameters, and advising that each of them instruct their staff not to brief the Attorney General... about, or otherwise involve the Attorney General... in, any matters described, stated DOJs statement.

Read: Before James Comey Hearing, Other Congressional Testimonies That Caught Attention

Another point of contradiction raised by the DOJ was Comeys reply to the question of why he and the FBI leadership team decided not to discuss the president's actions with Attorney General Sessions, even though he had not recused himself.

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Comey stated that it was a judgment call for him and the FBI since they were more or less aware, through various undisclosed sources, that Sessions might be recusing himself from the Russian probe sooner or later, according to the Politico report.

James Comey

Photo: Getty Images/Mandel Ngan

According to the DOJ, Comey had a discussion with Sessions in which they talked about Comey's interactions with Trump verging on inappropriateness.

Mr. Comey said, following a morning threat briefing, that he wanted to ensure that he and his FBI staff were following proper communications protocol with the White House. The Attorney General was not silent; he responded to this comment by saying that the FBI and the Department of Justice needed to be careful about following appropriate policies regarding contacts with the White House, the DOJs statement read.

Read: James Comey Salary: How Much Money FBI Directors Make

Prior to the release of DOJs statement, another statement was released by Trumps lawyer that suggested that there might be discrepancies in the timeline that Comey claims he authorized the leaking of his memos to multiple media outlets. While Comey claimed that he leaked his memos in reply to a tweet, a statement by Trump's lawyer claimed the New York Times quoted the contents of Comeys memos long before the time frame of the referenced tweet.

We will leave it [to] the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated, the lawyer said in his statement.

If Comeys testimony is investigated and he is found to have intentionally lied under oath, he might face perjury charges which can land him in federal prison for a term of up to five years, according to Criminal Law.

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President Donald Trump with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis: AP

Donald Trump reportedly lambasted Nato allies at a dinner in Brussels, hours after he had already reproached them for not spending enough on defence.

The President has expressed scepticism of the 29-member alliance, and it wasnt until Friday that he reaffirmed the USs commitment to mutual defence of Nato members after weeks of uncertainty.

The US is currently one of five countries of the alliance that meets NATO members pledge to spend 2 per cer of GDP on defence.

In his speech in Brussels, Mr Trump had also reprimanded members, visibly unsettling heads of states, and demanded that they pay more toward Nato's costs. But according to Foreign Policy magazine, he took it a step further at a confidential dinner with leaders following his remarks, saying that 2 per cent wasnt enough and that allies should instead spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence.

The President also apparently threatened to cut US defence spending and have Europeans shell out back pay to make up for their low defence spending if they dont dole out money quickly enough.

One former senior US government official briefed on the dinner described the event to FP as a train wreck.

The dinner was far worse than the speech, the person said.

According to FP, Mr Trump had two versions of prepared remarks for the dinner, one that took a more traditional approach and another that was formulated by his more Nato-skeptic advisers, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon.

He dumped both of them and improvised, one person briefed on the dinner told the magazine.

Nato headquarters declined FPs request for comment on the dinner.

On Friday, Mr Trump finally endorsed Natos collective defence clause, Article 5, after not doing so in Brussels like some of his advisers anticipated.

While he has routinely disparaged his Nato allies for their defence spending, Mr Trump has openly praised Russia, the alliances top geopolitical foe.

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During a White House press conference with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a reporter said that many of the countries on the eastern flank of Nato, including Romania, see Russia as a threat to the security and the peace in the region.

Do you share this vision? the reporter asked. And do you think that the United States should act under Article 5, if any of these countries would be under military aggression?

Mr Trump responded that he was committing the United States to Article 5.

And that's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force, the President added.

Mr Iohannis said he liked Mr Trumps speech in Brussels, and that being an alliance means everybody has to spend money.

This is called burden-sharing. And I fully agree, Mr President, to that, the Romanian leader said.

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Glasgow (AFP) - Scotland's leader Nicola Sturgeon on Friday promised to "reflect" on major losses for her Scottish National Party in Britain's general election, admitting the poor performance was in part down to her independence plans.

"Undoubtedly the issue of an independence referendum was a factor in this election result, but I think there were other factors in this election result as well," she told a press conference.

"We will reflect on these results, we will listen to voters and we will consider very carefully the best way forward for Scotland."

Last year's vote for Britain to leave the European Union had fuelled separatists' ambitions to take Scotland out of the 300-year-old British union, but the election results could serve to dash them again.

"Nobody will condemn the First Minister if she now decides to re-set her course. This is her opportunity to do so -- and I urge her to take it immediately. She must take it off the table," Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said.

Davidson led her party to its best result in Scotland for three decades, in contrast to Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May's dismal showing elsewhere in the UK.

- 'Utterly disappointing' -

The separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) lost 21 seats of their 56 parliamentary seats on Thursday.

The SNP remains Scotland's biggest party Despite the punishing losses, including former first minister Alex Salmond as well as the party's current deputy leader Angus Robertson failing to win seats.

Sturgeon said that while the SNP finished first in Scotland "It is an inescapable fact that we also suffered some bitterly disappointing losses".

Scotland voted by 55 percent against independence in a 2014 referendum, but the defeated nationalists voted en masse for the SNP in 2015 handing them 56 out of the 59 seats in Scotland.

May called the snap general election in an attempt to strengthen her hand in forthcoming Brexit talks -- and quell the nationalists' ongoing agitation for a second independence referendum.

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She lost her parliamentary majority following a late surge for left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative wins in Scotland.

The Labour party, which used to dominate Scottish politics, was reduced to just one Scottish lawmaker in 2015.

Tha figure rose to seven in Thursday's voting.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said her new MPs will be firm opponents of a second independence referendum.

"The SNP vote is crumbling in their heartlands...it's a very bad night for the SNP," she said.

- 'An open Brexit' -

Professor Iain Begg, of the London School of Economics, said it had been a "disastrous" election for the SNP.

"The Scottish nationalists, losing more than 20 seats, that is very bad news for them and for any ambition Nicola Sturgeon has to call a second referendum," he told AFP.

The SNP remains Britain's third-largest party, giving Sturgeon the chance to seek a "progressive alliance" with Labour to counter May's Conservative Party.

"We will work with others if it is at all possible to keep the Tories out of government," Sturgeon said.

"We stand ready to play our part in that alliance. And it is needed now more than ever."

Reflecting on the overall British results, Davidson said her Conservative Party needed to take account of their losses: "It is incumbent on us to listen to other parties in Parliament, and people outside it, about the best way forward."

She reiterated the party's commitment to leaving the EU -- vehemently opposed by the SNP -- while hinting she may try to move her party away from their "hard Brexit" stance of quitting the European single market.

"At the same time we must in my view seek to deliver an open Brexit, not a closed one, which puts our countrys economic growth first," she said.
Paris (AFP) - French voters went back to the polls on Sunday for the first round of parliamentary elections that are predicted to give President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party a commanding majority.

Macron has enjoyed a political honeymoon since he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to become France's youngest-ever president on May 7, naming a cabinet that crosses left-right lines and making an assured impression in meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

But the 39-year-old president has only done half the job. His Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) party, which he only founded 14 months ago, now needs a clear majority in the National Assembly for him to push through the reforms he promised in his campaign.

A host of opinion polls show Macron's untested party could take 30 percent of the first-round vote, putting it on track to secure a landslide in next Sunday's second round.

The centre-right Republicans and the Socialists fear heavy losses after their candidates failed to reach the presidential run-off for the first time in France's post-war history.

Some predictions indicate REM could win around 400 seats in the 577-seat chamber as voters seek to give the new president a strong mandate.

The party has already come first in 10 of the 11 French overseas constituencies that voted before the mainland.

However few MPs are expected to be elected in the first round.

If no candidate wins over 50 percent, the two top-placed contenders go into the second round -- as well as any candidate who won the votes of over 12.5 percent of the electorate.

Around 47 million people are eligible to vote. Polling stations in the largest cities were to remain open until 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) with exit polls released immediately afterwards.

More than 50,000 police were on patrol in a country still under a state of emergency following a wave of jihadist attacks that have killed more than 230 people since 2015.

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In the latest incident, a 40-year-old self-radicalised Algerian was shot and wounded after he attacked a policeman with a hammer outside Paris' Notre Dame cathedral on Tuesday.

- Political novices -

The new president's party has named many candidates who have never held office in an attempt to freshen up the political scene.

They include Marie Sara, a retired female bullfighter, who is taking on a senior member of Le Pen's National Front in southern France, Gilbert Collard.

The Socialists' demise could be underlined if its leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, 65, is ousted from his Paris seat by REM junior minister Mounir Mahjoubi, who is just 33.

Macron is also trying to usher in an era of "cleaner" politics, banning REM candidates from employing family members if elected and insisting they must not perform consultancy work while in office.

The measures follow the scandal that destroyed the presidential chances of Republicans candidate Francois Fillon who is facing criminal charges for paying his wife Penelope more than 900,000 euros ($1.0 million) as his parliamentary assistant.

Fillon denies the charges.

Given his crusade, Macron faces embarrassment after his small centrist ally, the MoDem party, was put under preliminary investigation on suspicion of employing fake parliamentary assistants at the European Parliament.

One of Macron's ministers, Richard Ferrand, is also being probed over a property deal involving his wife.

- 'The only opposition' -

Le Pen's party meanwhile looks set to struggle to win 15 seats nationally, a result that would represent another deep disappointment after her defeat by Macron.

But Le Pen told AFP this week in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont where she is bidding to win a seat that with other parties likely to agree to work with Macron, "we will be the only opposition force."

The far-left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party of Jean-Luc Melenchon is also hoping to perform strongly and inflict more pain on the Socialists.

Macron has urged voters to back his reform proposals including an overhaul of the rigid rules that govern hiring and firing in the labour market that are blamed by many economists for holding back growth.

The president was economy minister in the Socialist government that began implementing the reforms last year, sparking mass demonstrations that lasted for months.
A Republican state senator is facing a wave of criticism after he appeared in a photo with heavily armed members of an anti-government group during a rally in Georgia on Saturday opposing the Islamic legal and moral code.

At the March Against Sharia rally in Atlanta, lawmaker Michael Williams posed for the photo with members of the Georgia Security Force III% militia, a local chapter of a national pro-Donald Trump group that supports anti-immigration and anti-government beliefs.

In a tweet of the photo shared by the Southern Poverty Law Centers Hatewatch Twitter account, three men can be seen making a hand sign with three fingers extended, which a representative from the law center says represents the III% militia. Williams, who recently announced his candidacy for Georgias governorship in the 2018 election, is in the middle of the photo, holding a small American flag.

Here is Georgia State Senator Michael Williams pictured with the III% Security Force at the Atlanta March Against Sharia #counterACTHate pic.twitter.com/t4WcNc4l1V  Hatewatch (@Hatewatch) June 10, 2017

Williams did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment on the photo, but his spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he posed with the group because they appeared to be pro-gun supporters.

We dont know about the supposed symbolism, only that a bunch of liberal hate groups were online tweeting about it, Williams spokesman Seth Weathers told the newspaper. This is the stupidest thing in the world  that we are debating whether grown men were supposedly holding their fingers the wrong way during a photo.

Williams, the first elected official in Georgia to endorse Trumps presidential candidacy, supports expanding gun rights.

The heavily armed anti-government group III% Security Force are at the #Atlanta March Against Sharia #counterACTHate pic.twitter.com/iX6NVo4qU5  Hatewatch (@Hatewatch) June 10, 2017

An estimated 30 to 50 people attended the rally, along with a small number of counter-protesters, according to reports from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Los Angeles Times.

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It was one of more than two dozen March Against Sharia rallies that took place in cities across the country  including one in San Bernardino at the site of the 2015 shootings by a Muslim couple that left 14 people dead. ACT for America, the nations largest anti-Muslim group which has been labeled as extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized the marches. (Read HuffPosts take on what this weekends marches were really about here.)

Williams spoke at the rally in Atlanta.

We all need to come together, put aside some of our petty differences and unite together to fight sharia law, he said, according to the L.A. Times. We do not need it in our country. Overseas in Europe and other places, theyre throwing people off of buildings, theyre decapitating people because they do not believe the things they believe.

ACT for America reportedly invited the Georgia III% Security Force to the march to provide security for protestors, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported. The militia members attended the rally armed with handguns and rifles.

A 2016 New York Times profile on the Georgia militia group reported that the group trains rigorously with firearms and believes that liberals, Muslims and immigrants represent some of the biggest threats to America.

Williams photo with the group spurred several critical tweets.

Call the hate mongers out by name, then vote them OUT!!! Looking at you GA State Senator Michael Williams. #inyourownwords https://t.co/ZWr4WQ75DF  alurabrava (@alurabrava) June 10, 2017

GA Senator Michael Williams @williamsforga at #MarchAgainstSharia surrounded by a bunch of white guys flashing White Supremacy hand signal. pic.twitter.com/bmVhy4KsL0  BeeBee (@BeeBee5977) June 10, 2017

Georgia State Senator @williamsforga (Michael Williams) poses for picture with anti-government, anti-Muslim extremist group. https://t.co/DUFreeOThE  Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) June 11, 2017

Why was Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams at the #MarchAgainstSharia protests with an armed militia throwing up white supremacist signs? pic.twitter.com/YrFfRgYvWh  Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) June 11, 2017

Clarification: This article has been updated with the SPLCs interpretation of the hand gesture in the photo. This article previously noted the gestures resemblance to the OK sign, which has been disingenuously appropriated by some in the white supremacist movement.

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New York, 2017

New York Police Department officers arrest organizer Linda Sarsour who was taking part in a 'Day Without a Woman' march on International Women's Day in New York, U.S., March 8, 2017.

California, 2017

Women demonstrate in support of a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle that granted a nationwide temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's ban on travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries, at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 4, 2017.

Pennsylvania, 2017

A Muslim women holds a sign during anti-travel ban protests outside Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., Jan. 29, 2017.

New York, 2017

Women wearing U.S. flag hijabs are pictured during an "I am Muslim Too" rally in Times Square, Manhattan, New York, U.S. Feb. 19, 2017.

New York, 2017

A woman in the crowd chants in opposition to the Muslim Ban in New York City on Feb. 11, 2017.

New York, 2017

Muslim women pray before a protest in lower Manhattan against the polices of President Donald Trump on Feb. 1, 2017, in New York City.

New York, 2017

A Muslim girl holds a sign during the protest against Trump's executive orders, including the banning of Muslims from certain countries from entering the United States.

Washington, 2017

Ayla Ali (L-R), and her Somali refugee family members, cousin Ryan Adem and aunt Maryan Farah, listen to speakers at a rally for immigrants and refugees in Seattle, Washington on Jan. 29, 2017.

Illinois, 2017

A woman yells as she protests President Donald Trump's executive order at O'Hare International Airport on Jan. 29, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.

Massachusetts, 2017

Eight year-old Esma, an Irish-Moroccan-American, prays with other Muslim women during a Boston protest against President Donald Trump's executive order travel ban.

Massachusetts, 2017

Muslim women pray during a protest against President Donald Trump's travel ban on Jan. 29, 2017.

Massachusetts, 2017

A woman holds a sign during a protest in Copley Square in Boston on Jan. 29, 2017.

Canada, 2017

Muslim women join in a massive protest against President Trump's travel ban during the National Day of Action against Islamophobia and White Supremacy in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2017.

Canada, 2017

A Muslim woman in tears during a rally against Islamophobia and white supremacy in Toronto, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2017.

Canada, 2017

A Muslim girl holds a sign with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. during a protest outside of the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 30, 2017.

Canada, 2017

A Muslim woman holding a sign during a massive protest against President Trump's travel ban outside of the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 30, 2017.

Australia, 2017

A Muslim woman holds a sign during a protest against President Donald Trump and his policies in Melbourne, Australia, Feb. 3, 2017.

Italy, 2017

A woman holds banner, reading '#NoMuslimBan' during a protest against President Donald Trump and his policies outside the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy on Feb. 2, 2017.

Austria, 2017

Muslims and Austrian citizens attend a protest against a headscarves ban proposed by the government's ruling coalition in Vienna, Austria on Feb. 4, 2017.

New York, 2015

A Muslim woman displays a sign as she joins other human rights activists during a demonstration in New York on Dec. 10, 2015 in solidarity for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

U.K., 2016

Protesters gather to demonstrate in support of the people of Aleppo. The protest was intended to show anger at the inaction of the international community in the face of catastrophic bombings in Aleppo.

U.K., 2016

Protesters from different societies stage a demonstration outside the French Embassy in London, to show support for Muslim women on Aug. 25, 2016, after 15 French towns introduced and started to enforce a ban on the burkini.

U.K., 2016

Women join a demonstration organized by 'Stand up to Racism' outside the French Embassy in London on Aug. 26, 2016, against the burkini ban on French beaches.

U.K., 2016

A woman joins a demonstration organized by 'Stand up to Racism' outside the French Embassy in London on Aug. 26, 2016, against the burkini ban on French beaches.

Belgium, 2016

Women cheer in Antwerp at a beach party protest against the ban of burkinis in France.

France, 2016

Women hold signs reading, "It is not a provocation, just my freedom of conscience" during a headscarf march against Islamophobia in Avignon, southern France.

Greece, 2016

Migrants and refugees from camps around the city gather outside the consulate of Germany in Thessaloniki on Sept. 1, 2016 to protest against the difficult living conditions in the camps and to ask for the opening of the borders.

Greece, 2016

Migrant women from Syria and Afghanistan march outside the Parliament with their children. Around 2,000 refugees and migrants from Asia, along with Greek supporters, protested against the migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey that would send refugees from Greece to Turkey.

Greece, 2016

Protesters demonstrate against discrimination of Muslim women in Athens, Greece on Aug. 30, 2016 after 15 French towns introduced and started to enforce a ban on the burkini.

Yemen, 2016

Children and women protest outside the United Nations offices against Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Jan. 21, 2016.

Indonesia, 2016

Muslim women hold signs during a protest calling for an end to the violence in Aleppo, Syria outside the Russian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec. 19, 2016.

India, 2016

Kashmir Muslim women protest during the funeral of Javaid Ahmad on Sept. 11, 2016, in Srinagar. Ahmad was injured when Indian government forces fired at him during a protest. Anti-India protests in Kashmir were aimed against Indian rule and the killing of a young rebel commander Burhan Wani. The protests have triggered a heavy crackdown by Indian government forces, along with strict curfews.

Australia, 2016

A Muslim woman holds a rose at a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney on July 16, 2016. Some 300 people gathered at the rally in Sydney to demonstrate against racism in Australia and elsewhere, as racial tensions in the US simmer over the killing of black men by police.

U.K., 2015

Demonstrators protest against Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi while he met with Britain's Prime Minister in London, Britain, on Nov. 5, 2015.

Egypt, 2015

A news photographer with her mouth taped holds up her camera during a protest against the detention of Ahmed Ramadan, a photojournalist with Egyptian private newspaper "Tahrir," in front of the Syndicate of Journalists in Cairo, Egypt on Aug. 17, 2015.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Gunmen riding a motorcycle killed three policemen at a checkpoint in southwest Pakistan on Sunday before fleeing the scene, authorities said, in an attack later claimed by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

The incident occurred on the main Saryab Road of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province which is wracked by separatist and Islamist violence, senior police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema told AFP.

Doctor Farid Sumalani, head of the Sandeman Provincial Hospital, confirmed the incident.

Quetta is the capital of Pakistan's mineral-rich Balochistan province which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Ali Bin Sufyan, a spokesman for the Al Alami branch of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant group, sent AFP a text message taking credit for the shooting.

IS has been making inroads in the country through alliances with local militant outfits such as LeJ and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban, though its presence is generally downplayed by the government.

LeJ has claimed joint responsibility along with IS for several major attacks in the region including one on lawyers in Quetta that killed more than 70 people.

Earlier this week IS said it had killed two Chinese citizens who were kidnapped last month by armed gunmen in Quetta.

The jihadist group made the claim in a brief Arabic message carried by its Amaq news agency on Thursday, though there was no immediate confirmation from Chinese or Pakistani officials.

Beijing is ramping up investment in its South Asian neighbour as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 that will link its far-western Xinjiang region to Gwadar port in Balochistan with a series of infrastructure, power and transport upgrades.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist and nationalist insurgencies in the province since 2004, with hundreds of soldiers and militants killed in the fighting.
BURLEY  In a stunning courtroom moment, a Declo man accused in the brutal murder of his wife announced he wants to change his guilty plea.

Ronnie G. Kincaid Jr., 36, had been in court for sentencing for his role in the death.

Kincaid had originally pleaded guilty under an Alford plea, meaning he maintains his innocence while acknowledging a jury would likely convict him at trial.

The plea was part of an agreement with the Cassia County Prosecutors Office, where the prosecutor would recommend a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years to life on a reduced second-degree murder charge in the death of Kincaids wife, 34-year-old Melissia Dawn Kincaid. Cassia County Prosecutor Doug Abenroth would have dismissed charges of mayhem, destruction of evidence and two counts of sexual penetration by forcible use of a foreign object in the agreement.

Valdez told the court in an earlier hearing that Kincaid would have entered a straight guilty plea to manslaughter instead of the Alford plea to second-degree murder because he disputes the malice and intent of the crime  not the cause of death.

The murder stunned the Magic Valley when forensic evidence indicated the victim bled to death as a result of anal and vaginal penetration on Sept. 6, 2015.

On Friday, Judge John K. Butler denied the request for Kincaids lawyer, Anthony Valdez, to withdraw from the case until Kincaid formally withdraws his plea.

If I grant the motion to withdraw at this time whoever is appointed would not have the familiarity with case to effectively assist Kincaid in his motion to withdraw his plea, Butler said.

The court set a sentencing date in the case for 1:30 p.m. July 17. Butler said if Kincaid goes ahead and withdraws his guilty plea it must be received by the court by July 3 to give the prosecutor time to prepare.

Without knowing the basis or grounds for the motion we will need time to respond, Abenroth said.

Butler said after the court receives the paperwork for the withdrawal of the plea it may reconsider allowing Valdez to withdraw from the case.

The judge asked Valdez if he had informed Kincaid of the adverse consequences if he does not perform his part of the plea agreement.

A formal guilty plea had not been signed.

I am signing it today, Butler said.

Valdez said he informed Kincaid if he withdraws his plea the prosecutors office is not bound to honor its recommendations in the agreement.

Butler asked Kincaid if he understood that the court may not find grounds to accept the withdrawal of the plea and that the state would no longer be bound to the sentence recommendations.

Yes, Kincaid said.

Police say Kincaid didnt call police until the morning after the murder.

He told investigators his wife had been experiencing female medical problems, and she became unresponsive after the couple had sex.

Kincaid said he put her in the shower to wake her up and then in bed and slept beside her.

Kincaids son, Ronnie Kincaid III, was initially charged with accessory to murder and destroying and concealing evidence after investigators said he helped his father wash blood and DNA from his stepmothers body.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has denied that it or any other militant group built a tunnel under two UN schools in Gaza after its discovery drew a strong UN protest.

Over the years, Gaza's Hamas rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel which they used to launch attacks during their last conflict in 2014.

On June 1, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) found "part of a tunnel that passes under two adjacent agency schools in the Maghazi camp" during construction work, spokesman Christopher Gunness said on Friday.

Hamas "strongly condemned" the UNRWA statement, saying it would be exploited by Israel to "justify its crimes".

Hamas had clarified the issue "with all factions and resistance forces, who clearly stated they had no actions related to the resistance in the said location," the movement said, adding that it respected UNRWA's work.

But Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said the Jewish state viewed the tunnel discovery "with the utmost seriousness".

"The discovery of this terror tunnel operating directly under the classrooms of young children is not an isolated incident, but rather the latest of deeply concerning attempts by Hamas terrorists to systematically exploit the organs of the UN," he said.

"The latest finding verifies once again that the Hamas cruelty knows no limits including endangering centres of education and using children as human shields," Danon said.

Gunness said that the tunnel "has no entry or exit points on the premises nor is it connected to the schools or other buildings in any way".

"UNRWA condemns the existence of such tunnels in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable that students and staff are placed at risk in such a way," he said.

Gunness said the agency had "robustly intervened and protested to Hamas in Gaza".

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He said UNRWA will seal the tunnel, which was discovered while the schools were empty during the summer holiday.

Attack tunnels were a key weapon for Hamas during the 2014 Gaza war.

Hamas also built a vast network of tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt to smuggle goods and allegedly weapons.

The Israeli army found and destroyed several tunnels during the 2014 war.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars in the Gaza Strip since the group wrested control of the territory from the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in 2007.
Hong Kong (AFP) - Dozens of activists Saturday dressed in bloody costumes sprawled outside one of Hong Kong's most popular restaurants linked to the sale of shark fin soup to protest against the killing of the marine predators.

The southern Chinese city is one of the world's biggest markets for shark fin, which is viewed by many Asians as a delicacy, often served as a soup at expensive Chinese banquets.

Saturday's demonstration included about 30 protesters wearing finless shark costumes splattered with red paint, chanting "when the buying stops, the killing can too".

The activists, many of whom were children, said they came out to stop the "cruel" practice.

"Shark finning is a very cruel thing that lots of people do, and we're trying to stop a chain of restaurants from selling it," 11-year-old Narnie Hockings told AFP before donning her shark suit.

The demonstrators also dumped a large bag of fake shark fins, cut from their costumes, next to where people were waiting to enter the Maxim's Palace restaurant for lunch, before flopping down on the floor in protest.

"The display is to show people how bad it is and what people do in real life because I don't think people know that they actually chuck the bodies back into the water," Meara Johnson, 12, who's favourite animal is the shark, said.

"When I found out that they were going to be endangered soon, I thought we should do something," Johnson added.

Maxim's in response said they only source fins from a species classified as low risk and that it has seen consumption of the predator drop significantly at their restaurants since it started to promote shark-free menus in 2010.

More than 70 million sharks are killed every year, according to the World Wildlife Foundation. Huge quantities are exported annually to Hong Kong, and most of those fins are then sent on to mainland China.

Hong Kong's government in 2013 said it would stop serving shark fin at official functions as "a good example", following years of lobbying by conservation groups.
Paris (AFP) - Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front suffered a severe setback on Sunday, as her success in reaching the French presidential runoff failed to translate into support in parliamentary polls.

Le Pen won 10.7 million votes as she lost to Emmanuel Macron last month, but her party's first-round result on Sunday saw it falling way short of its aim of getting a stronger voice in parliament.

The anti-EU, anti-immigration National Front (FN) is on course to win between one and 10 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly in the June 18 runoff. It had been aiming to boost its current two seats to 15.

Le Pen blamed what she called a skewed electoral system that encouraged a record low turnout after projections showed that FN candidates scored between 13 and 14 percent of the vote.

She pointed to the fact that only around 49 percent of the electorate cast a ballot on Sunday -- the lowest level in a parliamentary election in France for six decades.

"This catastrophic abstention rate should raise the question of the voting rules which keep millions of our compatriots away from the polling stations," the 48-year-old said.

FN vice president Florian Philippot said the party had "maybe been disappointed by the score and we have paid the price, I think, for a low turnout."

The lion's share of the vote, as expected, went to the new centrist party of 39-year-old President Emmanuel Macron, Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM), which could win as many as 445 seats.

The FN had set the 15-seat goal in order to qualify as a parliamentary group, a status that gives a party more clout in the National Assembly with seats on committees and a role in setting the agenda.

- 'We are real opposition' -

The FN leader is currently a lawmaker in the European Parliament but is hoping to win a legislative seat in France for the first time.

She at least made it easily into the run-off in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont against 12 rivals and will fight a political novice from Macron's party, Anne Roquet.

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Lise Trolin, a 32-year-old saleswoman who was among around 200 FN party stalwarts who gathered to watch the results in the depressed former mining town, tried to put a brave face on the national result.

"It's not a failure," she told AFP. "We will be the only opposition force in the assembly because the Macron government is a melting pot of all the other parties. We will be the only force with enough guts to challenge Macron."

Pensioner Marie-Christine Laversin, 57, said while she was disappointed, she thought FN voters would turn out in greater numbers next Sunday.

"People don't realise that what they can expect with Emmanuel Macron is that very well-off people will become even wealthier and the poor will get poorer. What I fear a bit with Macron is, if the FN is not in the assembly, we're done for."

Le Pen and the FN have benefitted from a confluence of factors including the 2015 migrant crisis and the string of jihadist attacks that have hit France.

The party has a particular populist appeal in France's northern rustbelt, which is dotted with shut-down factories and mines.

In the presidential vote, Le Pen aimed to capitalise on the same rejection of traditional politics that swept Donald Trump to the White House and sparked Britain's vote to leave the EU.

She was roundly criticised for a poor performance in a brutal TV debate with Macron days before the presidential runoff that potentially cost her votes.

"The National Front has not recovered from the period between the two rounds (of the presidential election) and its successive mess-ups," Brice Teinturier of the Ipsos polling institute said on France 2 TV.

Le Pen has spent the past six years since taking charge of the FN trying to expunge the xenophobic, anti-Semitic ethos engendered by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the party in 1972.

Under Marine Le Pen, the FN has consistently improved its electoral scores, notching up records in past regional, European Parliament and presidential elections.

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Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron's rivals on Monday warned against handing him an overwhelming parliamentary majority that would stifle debate, after his party cruised to victory in the opening round of elections to the National Assembly.

Macron's year-old centrist Republic on the Move (REM) party and its allies are tipped to clean up in the 577-member lower house of parliament, winning up to 445 seats -- an unprecedented total for a post-war president.

The opposition and French press expressed concern over what the left-wing Liberation daily called the "quasi-Stalinist result".

The leader of the rightwing Republicans in the Paris area, Valerie Pecresse, appealed for a "civic surge", warning of the risk of "groupthink".

Record low turnout of 49 percent in Sunday's first round detracted from the performance of Macron's untested team, raising concerns over the strength of his mandate.

Government spokesman Christophe Castaner admitted that voter participation -- the lowest for six decades -- was "a failure of this election" and that Macron's camp would need to reach out to those who had stayed away.

Analyst Gael Sliman of Odoxa pollsters pinned the high abstention rate on voter fatigue after the presidential election. There was also an element of those "who may not agree with Macron but do not want to block his path," he told AFP.

The result confirmed the yearning for political renewal laid bare by Macron's election.

After being routed in the first round of the presidential election, the Republicans and the Socialists, who have alternated in power for six decades, suffered further humiliation.

The Republicans were forecast to drop around half their seats while the Socialists were tipped for catastrophic losses of more than 200 seats.

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front and the radical France Unbowed of firebrand leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon also failed to hold back Macron's tidal wave.

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REM and centrist ally MoDem won 32.32 percent of the first-round vote, ahead of the Republicans and its allies on 21.56 percent and the FN on 13.20 percent.

The Socialists and their allies secured just 9.51 percent while France Unbowed and its on-off communist allies got 13.74 percent.

- 'On the ropes' -

The Republicans had hoped to rebound from their presidential defeat but have been hamstrung by infighting between those who want to cooperate with Macron, an economic liberal, and those who oppose him.

On Monday, party leaders vowed to set aside their differences for the duration of the election.

"The stakes of the second round are clear," ex-prime minister and party grandee Alain Juppe said, urging voters to get behind the opposition. "Having a monochrome parliament is never good for democratic debate," he added.

The Socialists, meanwhile, are fighting for their survival.

Only 65 of their 413 candidates remain in contention after the first round of voting, with party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis among the heavyweights to crash out.

"We're on the ropes, decimated, in pieces," former junior education minister Thierry Mandon said, urging the party to "give the keys to the next generation".

The loss of parliamentary seats means a loss of public funding too: one Socialist Party insider said that looked likely to fall from 28 million euros to a little less than 10 million.

Only four MPs -- two of them from Macron's slate -- topped the 50 percent mark needed for election at the first round.

REM fielded political newcomers in around 200 constituencies, some of whom felled long-sitting lawmakers on Sunday.

The FN also struggled to rebound from Le Pen's bruising defeat in the presidential run-off, with forecasts suggesting it would win a maximum of 10 seats.

Le Pen repeated her complaint that France's winner-takes-all system penalises smaller parties and called on her supporters to mobilise en masse for the second round.

- Street protests planned -

The party of France's 39-year-old president coasted to victory in Sunday's first round on the back of his strong debut.

Macron has won praise for appointing a balanced cabinet that straddles the left-right divide and taking a leading role in Europe's fight-back against US President Donald Trump on climate change.

Sunday's results show he will have a relatively free hand to push through the ambitious labour, economic and social reforms he promised on the campaign trail.

He will also have succeeded in ushering in a younger and more diverse parliament with more women and ethnic minorities.

But with many of the new lawmakers owing him their seats, analysts have warned that the next parliament could be unusually submissive.

Macron's opponents have already warned that they will take the fight to the streets.

A group of trade unions and NGOs opposed to his proposals to loosen the country's strict labour laws have called for demonstrations in several cities on June 19.

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French President Emmanuel Macron was actually serious about making our planet great again after President Trump withdrew America from the Paris Climate Agreement last week.

SEE ALSO: France helpfully corrects Trump's video on climate change

He launched a campaign Thursday to recruit and pay for scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses, and organizations to tackle climate change in France. A new site with the appropriate URL, makeourplanetgreatagain.fr, is a plea for teachers, researchers, business people, academics, and more to come to France.

Delivering on our promise. https://t.co/WMo5kBKMU1  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 8, 2017

A quick form on the site asks about experience, motivations, and goals, and ends with a page explaining why you should come to France.

"France is at the forefront of future innovation and industry, notably green tech and green finance that will keep driving growth and meet the targets of the Paris Agreement," the site reads.

Once you proudly pledge your commitment to France, an overview of the grant program lays out what's on offer: 1.5 million Euros for a four-year grant for a senior researcher and a team of four. For other groups, like businesses, the site links out to resources and government programs available to make the move.

Image: screengrab/makeourplanetgreatagain.fr

This effort didn't come out of nowhere. Right after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the policy treaty, Macron urged climate researchers and scientists to "come and work here with us." He said France was the place to "work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment."

France really wants anyone committed to studying climate change and urges people to follow-through with an application through the site.

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"I can assure you France will not give up the fight," Macron said in his speech last week.

It seems like he means it.
TWIN FALLS  Despite nationwide uncertainty around refugee resettlement, the College of Southern Idahos Refugee Center continues to maintain full operations and take in newcomers.

Since the fiscal year began in October, the Twin Falls center has received 213 refugees  many of whom are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, director Zeze Rwasama said Thursday. Thats on par with the number of refugees the center has handled in years past.

Another 12 refugees are slated to arrive this month.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late January halting refugee admissions for 120 days and indefinitely for Syrian refugees, but its now stalled in courts.

Here in Idaho, refugee resettlement agencies are starting to see more newcomers than earlier this year, but still expect to see to see an overall drop in yearly numbers.

There was a definite moment in which things showed down, said Jan Reeves, director of the Idaho Office for Refugees. We had a fairly low arrival rate in Idaho in March and April, but it began to pick up again in May.

Here in Twin Falls, the CSI Refugee Center has provided services to thousands of refugees since the 1980s. Typically, it resettles up to 300 newcomers each year.

Given that we have almost four more months to go this year, we have been told that we MAY actually receive 276 refugees (by) the end of September but who knows, things keep changing everyday, Rwasama wrote in an email to the Times-News. We have been able to maintain full operation of the center and no services to refugees has been affected at this point.

He added: Uncertainty created by the current administration has tortured resettlement agencies since Jan. 17.

Across Idaho, the number of incoming refugees has fluctuated quite a bit, Reeves said, and is hard to predict.

But he expects a 30 percent reduction in newcomers this fiscal year, compared with initial projections.

Before the transition to a new U.S. president, Idaho was slated to receive about 1,175 refugees this year. Now, it will likely receive 750 to 800.

One reason for the drop: One of the Treasure Valleys three resettlement agencies, World Relief, closed its Boise office as a result of Trumps executive order.

But for Idahos other resentment agencies, theyve continued with full operations and havent reduced services, Reeves said.

Plus, much of our funding has been unaffected by fluctuations in arrivals, he said, although resettlement agencies do receive some per capita funding for each incoming refugee.

Here in Twin Falls, controversy around refugee resettlement began brewing after the CSI Refugee Center announced in 2015 it expected to resettle 300 refugees  including some from Syria  during the following fiscal year.

To date, no Syrians have been resettled in Twin Falls.

Some community members have expressed concerns about Muslim refugees becoming radicalized and a lack of adequate security screening. There was a movement to shut down the CSI Refugee Center, but it failed to get enough signatures to force a countywide vote.

At a nationwide level, Trump is moving to significantly reduce the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States.

The latest effort comes through his federal budget proposal, which calls for a 25 percent cut in funds for resettling refugees on American soil.

During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to ban Muslims  notably including refugees from Syria  from entering the U.S. until extreme vetting measures were established to determine that they dont pose a threat.

U.S. officials and refugee advocates maintain refugees are already subjected to comprehensive vetting.
Mexico City (AFP) - President Enrique Pena Nieto told German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday he wants a significant increase in trade with the European Union, vowing to complete a new trade deal by year's end.

Pena Nieto's Mexican government has been actively seeking new trade opportunities since US President Donald Trump came to office with a threat to curb Mexico's privileged access to American markets.

Mexico is currently in negotiations with the European Union to modernize a free trade agreement they signed 20 years ago.

Both Merkel and Pena Nieto vowed Friday to conclude the expanded deal by the end of the year, as the German leader kicked off a two-day visit to Mexico.

"We hope the modernization of the free trade agreement between Mexico and the European Union leads to a significant increase in our trade relationship," Pena Nieto told a joint press conference.

Merkel praised Mexico's "strong commitment to free trade," in a veiled jab at Trump's attacks on globalization.

Both Merkel and Pena Nieto have been on the receiving end of some of Trump's most fiery attacks on trade.

The US president has triggered the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, which he says has resulted in American jobs flooding south across the border.

Last month he also lashed out at what he called the United States' massive trade deficit with Germany, and accused the country of failing to pay its way in the NATO alliance.

Mexico and Germany did $17.8 billion in trade last year, and are keen to expand the relationship.

Major German automakers such as Volkswagen and Audi have opened large plants here, helping make Mexico the seventh-largest auto producer in the world.

Germany's foreign direct investment here totaled $2.4 billion last year, more than any other country except the United States and Spain.

Merkel, who is traveling with a large business delegation, was in Argentina -- another Latin American powerhouse -- on Thursday and Friday morning.

She will attend an economic forum Saturday before flying home.
The March Against Sharia Law was met by counter protesters in Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday, June 10. The two protests were held near a highway exit ramp with the two sides coming face to face before police separated the groups.

ACT for America was sponsoring the March Against Sharia Law in more than a dozen cities across the country, including New York, Austin, Chicago, and Seattle. In many cases, they were met by counter protesters, including those from socialist and anarchist groups. Antifa, an anti-fascist group, was present at many of the counter protests.
Wall Township High School student Grant Berardo is shown in an image wearing a T-shirt with Donald Trumps name on it, left, and as it appeared in a photo published in the school yearbook.

Parents in Wall Township, New Jersey, are furious after someone at Wall High School apparently Photoshopped their childrens supported for Trump right out of the yearbook.

The controversy erupted this week when students came home with their school yearbooks and parents like Joe Berardo found their childrens pro-Trump merchandise had been erased. As reported in the New York Post, Gerardo had purchased over $100 worth of Trump material for his son Grant, a junior at the high school, to wear in celebration of his support of the 45the president of the United States. It was the first election he took an interest in, Gerardo told the Post.

Other students support of making America great again were also exorcised from the school yearbook. Junior Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago wore a Trump sweater vest that started the call to arms in the first place. I thought maybe they just cropped it out or something that I shouldnt worry about, Dobrovich-Fago told WABC. But, in fact, his sister Montana noticed that the Donald Trump quote she submitted to the yearbook had also been removed.





Joe Gerardo pointed to plenty of other slogan T-shirts on display in the yearbook, including the New Jersey Devils and a vintage Reagan-Bush shirt in a candid shot. Parents and students have complained that no policy or set of guidelines was released before the pictures were taken. Wall High School representatives have not copped to who made the call to erase the Trump slogans. However the school superintendent Cheryl Dyer has commented in support of the bewildered parents, stating There is nothing in our student dress code that would prevent a student from expressing his or her political views, she wrote in a message to parents. The actions of the staff involved will be addressed as soon as the investigation is concluded.

Somebody made a bad decision, says Joe Gerardo. And that decision has consequences. Gerardo and other parents are calling for the yearbook to be reprinted  slogans and quotes intact  at the schools expense.

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Moscow (AFP) - Moscow called on Saturday for dialogue between Qatar and its neighbours in the Gulf, promising help in mediating the crisis, as Russia's foreign minister met his Qatari counterpart.

"We have observed with concern the news of this escalation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in opening remarks of his meeting with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Moscow.

"We cannot be happy in a situation when the relations between our partners are worsening. We are in favour of resolving any disagreements through... dialogue."

Qatar is reaching out for support abroad as it has fallen out with its Arab neighbours, who accuse it of sponsoring extremist groups and resent its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood movement and sponsorship of Al-Jazeera network.

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have cut diplomatic ties Monday and are trying to blockade Qatar by air and sea.

Lavrov said that Russia is "ready to try to do everything in its power" to help resolve the crisis and said unity is needed to fight terrorism.

"For us, unity is clearly necessary for maximum effect on this front (against terrorism)," he said.

Qatar has denounced the allegations against it and Al-Thani during his meeting with Lavrov called the measures against the country "illegal".

Some reports alleged that Russian hackers helped spark the crisis but Moscow has dismissed this as a "stale claim" with "zero evidence."
(Getty Images)

Ryan Blaney avoided Kyle Buschs persistent blocking and kept Kevin Harvick at bay over the final few laps to win the first Cup race of his career Sunday at Pocono.

Busch, the race leader at the time, stayed out on the races final caution flag while most everyone else  including Blaney  headed to pit road for fresh tires. That proved problematic, as Busch sprinted away after the ensuing restart but was slowly reeled in by Blaney.

As Blaney had a faster car, Busch did everything he could to keep Blaney from passing him in turns 1 and 2 with 10 laps to go. It all proved futile in turn 3, as Blaney accelerated past Busch off the corner and took the lead with nine laps to go.

Harvick, who pulled into second because of the battle, tailed Blaney the rest of the way. But he couldnt get past.

Kyle stayed out and he was on a little bit older tires and it looked like he was getting pretty tight, especially off of [turn 1] and thats where new tires really seemed to come alive because you could hold the line and get runs on him, downshift and get next to him, Blaney said. I had a big run on him off of three and he did a good job blocking, and we were able to get under him, but then I had to hold the 4 off. He was super-fast. I cant thank Kevin enough for racing me clean. That was really cool of him, but it was definitely hectic.

[View the full finishing order from Pocono here]

Blaney is the 10th different winner in the first 14 races of the 2017 season. That also means hes the 10th different driver to clinch a berth in NASCARs playoffs. Sixteen drivers qualify for the playoffs, and with 12 races to go theres now a distinct chance the playoff field will be completely filled with winners. Drivers like Harvick, Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and others havent yet won a race.

The win is also the first win for the Wood Brothers No. 21 car since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500. The No. 21 is the fifth-winningest number in NASCAR, behind the No. 43, No. 11, No. 3 and No. 24.

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Blaney had come close to winning before in 2017. He had the fastest car in the first parts of the race at Texas before an ill-advised pit call put him out of the lead. And he battled with Martin Truex Jr. at Kansas before Truex passed him and went on to take the win.

But while Blaney has had fast cars so far this season, hes also had some wicked luck. He sustained damage to his car last week when he hit Matt Kenseth entering pit road. And then an axle broke on his car. Sunday, he had a loose wheel during the first stage after his first pit stop. But the speed in the car was more than enough to make up for the early setback.

      

Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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The ability of many shareholders to influence the policies of publicly traded companies could be hobbled if the Financial Choice Act, designed to roll back Obama-era regulations, passes the Senate and becomes law.

Currently, any shareholder with either $2,000 or 1 percent of a company's shares, held for at least a year, can put a prosposal up for vote at a corporate annual meeting.

But the Choice Act, in a bow to corporate CEOs, would drop the $2,000 threshold and keep the 1 percent requirement, while extending the time frame for holding the stock to three years.

"This proposal would virtually eliminate the ability of shareholders to bring resolutions to the attention of companies," says Anne Sheehan, director of corporate governance at the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the nation's largest teachers' pension fund.

The overall bill, which passed the House Thursday and now heads to the Senate, would roll back many of the consumer protections established by the Dodd-Frank Financial and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Limiting who can make shareholder proposals would undercut an ability even small investors have had since the 1940s to make their voices heard at major companies. While companies are not required to follow shareholder proposals that pass, many of those initiatives have led to significant changes.

Three years ago, for example, John Chevedden, a small activist investor, submitted a proposal that would require elections of directors of Neustar, Inc., a data analysis company, to take place annually instead of over several years. By doing this, Chevedden believed that the board would be more responsive to shareholder needs. His proposal passed and elections are now held annually.

In 2008, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) bought just enough shares in Chipotle, the Mexican restaurant chain, to make a proposal. According to a study published by Harvard Business School, What Else Do Shareholders Want? Shareholder Proposals Contested by Firm Management, PETA called on the company to purchase chicken from suppliers that followed more humane policies than its current supplier. Chipotle didn't place the proposal on the proxy, but did change suppliers, according to the study.

Story continues

And last month a shareholder proposal for Exxon Mobile to report annually how technological changes and climate change affect its portfolio of reserves and resources was approved. It had been proposed by the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which owned about $900 million in Exxon stock.

Under the Choice Act, the proposal at Exxon Mobile would likely have gone nowhere. New Yorks retirement fund would've been required to own more than $3.4 billion in Exxon Mobile stock.

Indeed, shareholders would need to own stock worth millions or billions of dollars in order to make a proposal at the annual meeting of major U.S. corporations. To make a proposal at Apple, for example, you would need more than $8 billion in stock. At Wells Fargo, the figure would be about $2.6 billion.

The upshot of the shareholder provision is that only investors with seriously deep pockets would be able to make proposals. Such investors would include Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock, Fidelity and Vanguard, says Ken Bertsch, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Institutional Investors, a not-for-profit representing employee benefit plans, foundations and endowments.

Why Limit Proposals?

Proponents of the change say the new rules would prevent a large number of frivolous proposals from being made year after year.

"The question is whether you should be able to have $6,000 in stock and make the same proxy proposal for 11 years in a row, says James Copland, senior fellow and director of legal policy at the Manhattan Institute, a not-for-profit conservative think tank. "The process ought not to be a place for tiny shareholders to gripe about what corporations are doing."

Copland says a few big activist investors and their families, including Chevedden, invest a few thousand dollars in dozens of major companies and then lobby for change. Their proposals account for about one-third of all proposals made, says Copland, and often are about social issues, which he contends dont have a place at the annual meeting unless they positively affect shareholder wealth.

In addition, addressing the proposals distracts corporate executives and staff from focusing on more strategic tasks, says Copland.

Critics of the Financial Choice Act argue it would prevent positive corporate change, much of which often rises from the grassroots level.



The Financial Choice Act, if enacted, would weaken critical shareholder rights that investors need to hold management and boards of public companies accountable, Bertsch recently told lawmakers at a hearing about the bill.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Copyright  2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc.
London (AFP) - With Brexit talks due to begin in just over a week, Britain's shock election results may soften the government's strategy -- if there is even a government formed to negotiate in Brussels by then.

The country could be plunged into uncertainty for weeks as Theresa May seeks to form a government, if her Conservative party has lost its overall majority as an exit poll and near-complete results indicate.

Current plans to start negotiations in the week of June 19 may have to be delayed, experts said.

When the talks do begin, there could be a very different approach from the "hard Brexit" advocated by May that would involve leaving Europe's single market and curbing European immigration.

"What the UK asks for might not be quite as hard, quite as tough as she was asking for before. We might see a softening of the stance in response to this election result," said Simon Hix, politics professor at the London School of Economics.

"The terms of us leaving are so much more up for grabs than they were before," he said.

His LSE colleague Paul Kelly said the result would weaken May's hand in Brussels, where she is due to attend a summit on June 22 and 23.

German Chancellor Angela "Merkel will notice that, (French President Emmanuel) Macron will notice that. Everybody will notice that and that changes the dynamic," Kelly said.

"She has to go and ask for things now and they can say 'well we'll see'."

Paula Surridge, senior lecturer at Bristol University, said it may take time to get to the negotiations in the first place.

"The offer of the EU to extend the period before negotiations start may well be very necessary," she said.

- 'The Brexit election' -

Britain voted 52 percent in favour of leaving the EU in a shock referendum last year, becoming the first ever member state ever to do so, but the regional breakdown of the results varied hugely.

Story continues

Among Friday's election surprises were the spike in support for the opposition Labour party in London, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, and a strong showing for the pro-European Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems, which had campaigned for a second referendum on the terms of Brexit that could mean Britain staying in the bloc, was forecast to gain several seats in areas that voted for "Remain".

May called the snap election in April saying she wanted to increase her majority in order to have a stronger position in Brexit negotiations.

At the time she was riding high in the polls and she pushed a tough message on Brexit on the campaign trail, saying she was planning to be a "bloody difficult woman" in Brussels.

But a series of campaign missteps followed and instead of boosting her party in Labour-held seats that voted for Brexit, her rhetoric may have turned voters off.

"Looks like it was the Brexit election after all. But not quite the Brexit election we expected," said Rob Ford, political science professor at Manchester University.

- Brexit in trouble? -

Brexit backers on Friday voiced concern about the possibility of a full reversal, even after May triggered Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal Brexit process in March.

"Article 50 has been triggered and we were on our way. May has put all this in jeopardy," said Nigel Farage, a leading campaigner for Brexit in last year's referendum.

"The timetable, whatever happens here, is likely to be pushed back," the former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader said.

Farage warned that in the event that May cannot form a government and Labour creates a coalition "then I think Brexit is in some trouble".

"We may well be looking down the barrel of a second referendum," he said.

Gina Miller, a leading voice for Britain staying in the EU, said the vote was a sign that voters were rejecting May's proposition of a "hard Brexit".

"I think that Brexit actually is going to have to be negotiated in a very different way," she told ITV.

Alistair Campbell, Labour prime minister Tony Blair's former spokesman and a strong EU supporter, said: "This election is a rejection of May and hard Brexit. A vote for one to go and the other to be revisited".

Some EU officials had voiced hope that a stronger majority for May could allow her to make more concessions in the negotiations.

Preliminary results indicate she will instead face a far tougher balancing act between europhiles and eurosceptics within her own party.

"She will need to worry about maintaining the support of Conservative MPs who are both critical of Europe and critical of her decision to hold an election and squander the Conservative party's majority," said John Bartle from the University of Essex.
HOLLISTER  U.S. 93 was closed for three hours Saturday while Idaho State Police investigated a two-vehicle injury crash at milepost 25 south of town.

William Freda, 51, of Susanville, Calif., was driving north in a 1993 Ford pickup, when he struck a southbound 2000 Nissan Altima, driven by Renae Stark, 33, of Turlock, Calif., said a statement from ISP.

Freda and Stark were transported by ground ambulance to St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls. Freda was admitted and was in stable condition Sunday afternoon. A hospital spokesman would not release information about Stark, who was not listed as a patient at St. Lukes on Sunday.

Fredas passenger, Amanda L. Shattuck, 35, also of Susanville, and Starks passenger, Ryan J. Harner, 28, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., were transported by air ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. Shattuck is in critical but stable condition, said a hospital spokeswoman. Harner was treated and released.

All occupants were wearing seatbelts.

Both northbound and southbound lanes were closed until after 9 p.m., the ISP said.

ISP was assisted by Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office. The crash remains under investigation.
The President reportedly made the admission in a recent phone call to the PM: AFP/Getty

Donald Trump has reportedly told Theresa May that he does not want to visit the UK soon for fear of large-scale protests against him.

Ms May invited Mr Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration. Now he apparently wants to wait until the British public supports him coming.

The US President made the admission in a recent phone call to the Prime Minister, a Downing Street adviser who was present for the call told The Guardian. The aide said Ms May seemed surprised.

Mr Trump  never a favourite among British voters  stoked outcry in recent weeks for attacking London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of terrorist attacks in the city.

The President ridiculed Mr Khans calls for calm, and later condemned the Mayors pathetic excuse for his statements.

The comments drove even Ms May to say that Mr Trump was wrong. Some MPs  and Mr Khan himself  suggested she cancel Mr Trumps visit to the UK.

Show some bottle please PM, David Lammy, senior Labour MP, tweeted. Cancel the state visit and tell Trump where to get off.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has also expressed his support for cancelling the trip.

A spokesperson for Ms May, however, told Reuters that the Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans.

British police stopped sharing intelligence with the US about the Manchester terrorist attack after photos of the investigation were leaked to the media.

The Foreign Office was also reportedly upset with Mr Trumps decision to remove the US from the Paris climate agreement.

Mr Trump did not visit the UK on his first foreign trip as President, choosing instead to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. He also attended summits in Italy and Belgium. The White House recently announced that his next foreign trip will include a visit Poland.

Businessman Woody Johnson has been named as the new US ambassador to the UK, but the President has yet to formally nominate him.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Republicans Set A Standard For Impeachment  And Trump Has Met It

Former FBI Director James Comeys explosive testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee began with an unambiguous declaration that the President of the United States lied about his firing. He went on to raise serious questions about Trumps efforts to impede an FBI investigation into possible collusion between Trump or his associates and the Russian government. These questions require immediate investigation by an independent commission free of Trumps interference.

While there is much that requires further investigation, we cannot continue to stick our heads in the sand in avoidance of what is already known. Impeachment of an elected president is an act of enormous magnitude that must not be undertaken lightly or in response to routine political disagreements or policy differences. But the seriousness of the remedy speaks not only to the danger of its misuse, but to the importance of using it when appropriate. Our system depends on trust and goodwill. Breaking of norms and disregard for decency have huge, long-term costs. No one can be immune from our laws; everyone must be held to account. If Congress does not uphold that principle, it will have done more damage to our democracy than Russia could ever hope to.

The clear and undisputed facts about Mr. Trumps attempt to impede an FBI investigation demand an immediate impeachment inquiry by the House of Representatives.

These facts are not in serious dispute  indeed, two of them are simply the presidents own televised words. Other recent revelations are similarly concerning:

The facts that we know already exceed standards for presidential impeachment for obstruction of justice set in 1974 and 1998.

The first article of impeachment recommended by the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 stated that President Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice. The Committee specifically accused Nixon of interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by  the Federal Bureau of Investigation and endeavouring to misuse the Central Intelligence Agency.

When House Republicans impeached President Bill Clinton in 1998, they cited his alleged obstruction of an investigation into a matter far less consequential than possible collaboration with a successful Russian attack of American democracy. One of two articles of impeachment passed by the House asserted that Clinton, in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice. Explaining his support for Clintons impeachment, Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte said: the President knowingly engaged in a calculated pattern of lies, deceit, and delay in order to mislead the American people [and] impede the search for truth. Rep. Goodlatte now serves as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which has responsibility for conducting impeachment hearings.

The facts we already know  facts that are not in dispute, including the Presidents own televised statements  easily meet the standards for impeachment set by Congressional Republicans in 1998, many of whom are still in office.

The President of the United States has admitted firing an FBI Director over an investigation into Russian election interference on his behalf  the most serious foreign attack on American democracy since our nations founding. We must demand answers to many grave questions arising from this crisis, but the most urgent is this: How are Congressional Republicans going to hold to account a president whose efforts to obstruct an FBI investigation clearly meet the standards for impeachment articulated by Congressional Republicans fewer than twenty years ago?
This week in Trumpland: the president got off to a rocky start amid a spat with the London mayor, followed by a damning testimony from his former FBI chief

Donald Trump took two days off Twitter before returning to deride James Comeys testimony as full of many false statements and lies. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

It was supposed to be infrastructure week. Trump had mapped out the days to try to make it look as much as possible like he was simply getting on with the job and would not be blown off course by the fact that James Comey, the former FBI director, was getting ready to give evidence to the Senate intelligence committee about his firing by the president and the FBI investigation into possible links between Trumps campaign and findings of Russian interference in last years election. Unfortunately for Trump, you can lead the press and public to a number of vague proposals about air traffic control and dams, but you cant make them stop thinking about the idea their president might have tried to obstruct justice in a case involving one of his key advisers and a foreign power.



Last weekend

Trumps response to the terrorist attack on London Bridge on Saturday night was widely criticised. Shortly after the first news of the attack started coming in, he retweeted an unconfirmed story from the conservative news website the Drudge Report, and he then used the incident, in which eight people were killed by terrorists, to argue that his ban should be reinstated on travellers from six Muslim-majority countries entering the US. The next morning, he upped the ante by quoting the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, out of context. Khan had said that Londoners should not be alarmed by an increased police presence on the streets. Trump implied that Khan had been telling Londoners not to be alarmed by the attack itself. Meanwhile, in an interview in St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin denied to NBC News that he had any compromising material about Trump, as the notorious unverified dossier of material collected by the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele alleges.

Monday

Trump began the working week with a barrage of intemperate tweets on a range of topics, leading some to suggest he was attempting to distract the country from Comeys forthcoming testimony. In a statement some said might undermine his attempt to persuade the supreme court to reinstate his immigration order, he insisted he would call it what it is, a TRAVEL BAN and criticised the justice department for withdrawing the original ban and introducing a watered down, politically correct version instead (Trump signed the revised travel ban and is in charge of the justice department). He also claimed EXTREME VETTING was already in place at the border, and renewed his attack on the London mayor, accusing him of making a pathetic excuse in responding to Trumps comments the day before. Khan said Trumps invitation to Britain for a state visit should be rescinded, but the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, whose government has been cozying up to Trump as it prepares to quit the EU, rejected that idea.

Story continues

Tuesday



Trump waded in to an even more complex international controversy, appearing to take credit (or blame) for the diplomatic and economic blockade imposed on Qatar by its neighbours in the worst crisis to hit the Gulf states in 30 years, saying evidence pointed to the state funding terrorism. Qatar is an ally of the US and hosts 10,000 US troops in an airbase crucial to the war on Isis in Syria and Iraq. The country has been criticised for promoting an austere form of Islam and backing extremist groups, but so has Saudi Arabia, which Trump seemed keen to side with in the dispute after having been greatly impressed by the kingdom on his recent visit. Some suggested Trump may not have fully appreciated the strategic importance of Qatar before getting involved in the row. As if that were not complicated enough, it later emerged that the FBI believed one of the sparks for the dispute between Qatar and its neighbours was a Russian hack of Qatars state news agency. Trump either did not know this when he tweeted, or knew it and decided to disregard it in his keenness to back Saudi Arabia. Looking ahead to Comeys testimony on Thursday, Trump said: I wish him good luck.

Wednesday



Trump woke up ready at last to name his choice to replace Comey as the head of the FBI. The winning candidate was Christopher Wray, a former justice department official who represented the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, during the investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case. Trump got his nomination in just in time before the Senate intelligence committee swept it off the front pages with the release of sensational written testimony by Comey. In a gripping seven-page document, the former FBI chief backed up media reports that Trump had put pressure on him to shut down the investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynns ties to Russia. In what may come to be seen as the most significant statement yet by the president amid the constant swirl of Russia-related accusations, the president allegedly told Comey: I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. The former FBI chief also backed up media reports that Trump had told him: I need loyalty, and asked what Comey could do to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.

Thursday



Comey told the whole story in person to the Senate committee. As political junkies  and even some normal people  stopped to watch around the country, Comey branded Trump a liar, said he believed he had been sacked because of the FBIs Russia investigation, and revealed that he had given the story about Trump putting pressure on him to the New York Times  in order to prompt the appointment of a special counsel, which had duly happened the next day. This machiavellian move, coupled with Comeys authoritative demeanour and the fact he had kept contemporaneous notes of his interactions with Trump, suggested the president may have made a formidable enemy. Republicans on the committee quibbled with some of the details, but none suggested Comey  who was speaking under oath  was not telling the truth. By contrast, immediately after the Senate session, Trumps lawyer flatly denied two of Comeys key claims  that the president put pressure on Comey over Flynn and that he demanded Comeys loyalty  and attacked him for the admission he had leaked a story.

Friday

Trump broke a two-day Twitter silence to attack the former FBI chief as a leaker and claim total and complete vindication despite Comeys many false statements and lies. Trumps legal team was confirmed to be preparing to file a complaint against Comey for sharing his memos with the New York Times. At a press conference with the visiting Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, Trump said he was 100% willing to testify under oath that he did not ask Comey for loyalty or pressure him over Flynn, and refused to say whether recordings existed of their conversation. Ill tell you about that maybe sometime in the near future, he said. Youre going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. Well be the judge of that ...

Sign up for the Minute: the day in US politics, condensed
President Trump suggested Sunday that former FBI Director James Comeys leak of memos detailing their conversations may be illegal  and are far more damning than what was in them.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible, Trump tweeted. Totally illegal? Very cowardly!'

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

In calling Comeys leak cowardly, the president appears to be echoing Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who said the same on Fox News Friday.

I thought it shows a lot of cowardice, Dershowitz said. He should have had the courage to get on television and release the memos and talk about it or not talk about it. But to have some friend become his surrogate was absurd.

On Thursday, Comey told the Senate intelligence committee that as FBI director he drafted  and shared with his senior staff  memos about his interactions with Trump that left him uneasy. According to Comey, Trump asked him to go easy in his investigation of ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, an unprecedented request from a president to the head of the FBI. After he was fired, Comey said a threatening Trump tweet that hinted there were secret tapes of their conversations prompted him to ask a friend, Daniel Richman, to share the content of the memos with the New York Times.

Related: Trump on existence of Comey tapes: Youre going to be very disappointed

During his testimony, Comey also used the word cowardly to describe his own approach to not telling Trump he wouldnt drop the Flynn probe.

Well, it was kind of a slightly cowardly way of trying to avoid telling him, were not going to do that  that I would see what we could do, Comey told the committee. It was a way of kind of getting off the phone [with Trump], frankly.

Story continues

Trump took to Twitter early Friday to declare victory, denouncing the FBI director he fired as a liar and a leaker based on Comeys damaging testimony about their interactions. But he also claimed vindication on the basis of the same testimony.

Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication  and WOW, Comey is a leaker! Trump tweeted.

Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and friend and confidant of Comey, told Yahoo News on Friday afternoon that the proper response to any suggestion the former FBI director broke the law by leaking a personal memo to the press was laughter.

First of all, Comey was very clear that the memo that he wrote was intentionally written in unclassified form so that it would not be bound up in classification rules, Wittes said. So if the claim is that hes admitted to leaking classified information, thats simply factually false.

Sundays attack on Comey was the third in a series of tweets criticizing the media for focusing on the various scandals of his young presidency  and not on the great economic news since Election Day.

way up. Regulations way down. 600,000+ new jobs added. Unemployment down to 4.3%. Business and economic enthusiasm way up- record levels!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

Trump also criticized Democrats for being obstructionists.

The Democrats have no message, not on economics, not on taxes, not on jobs, not on failing #Obamacare. They are only OBSTRUCTIONISTS!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

Read more from Yahoo News:
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is committed to the NATO treaty's crucial Article Five mutual defense pledge.

Amid worries by European allies that the US leader had not fully bought in to the Atlantic treaty, Trump told reporters "I'm committing the United States to Article Five. Certainly we are there to protect."

"That's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force, by paying the kinds of money necessary to have that force," Trump said.

The US president stunned Europe's leaders at a summit Brussels on May 25 when he failed to publicly endorse the now 29-member NATO treaty's founding mutual defense guarantee.

Instead he castigated the allies for failing to pay their way with contributions to NATO forces, singling out especially Germany.

According to Politico, Trump's defense and security advisors had included in his prepared speech a clear endorsement of the mutual defense pledge, but Trump himself struck it out just before speaking.

Doubts have remained since then despite US diplomats and military leaders themselves restating the pledge.

Just days before his January 20 inauguration, Trump rocked the post-World War II western alliance by calling NATO "obsolete."

Article Five has been the core of the NATO treaty's strength since it was formed amid a budding Cold War with communist states -- particularly the Soviet Union -- in 1949.

It has only been invoked once -- in support of the United States, after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

- 'Money pouring in' to NATO -

Speaking beside Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at a White House press conference Friday, Trump suggested his pressure on other NATO members had had an effect.

"As you know, I have been an advocate for strengthening our NATO alliance through greater responsibility and burden sharing among member nations," he said.

Story continues

"Because of our actions, money is starting to pour in to NATO.... Other countries are starting to realize that it's time to pay up. And they're doing that. Very proud of that fact."

"Because together we can confront the common security challenges facing the world," he added.

Trump praised Iohannis for boosting his country's defense spending. Romania joined the NATO alliance in 2004.

"We hope our other NATO allies will follow Romania's lead," Trump said.

Iohannis said NATO's mutual defense commitment was a crucial part of a defense against an aggressive Russia.

"In my opinion, we have to be very clear, very simple, very straightforward if we talk about Russia, and with Russia," he said.

"In my opinion, we need dialogue. But on the other hand, we need what we all together decided in NATO -- a strong deterrence."
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States remained committed to NATO's mutual defense pledge, after he failed to endorse it in a speech in Brussels last month.

Amid worries by Washington's European partners that the US leader had not fully bought into the Atlantic alliance, Trump told reporters: "I'm committing the United States to Article Five. Certainly we are there to protect."

"That's one of the reasons that I want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force, by paying the kinds of money necessary to have that force," Trump told a joint press conference with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The US president stunned Europe's leaders at a summit in Brussels on May 25 when he failed to publicly back the now 29-member bloc's founding mutual defense guarantee.

Instead he castigated the allies for failing to pay their way with contributions to NATO forces, singling out especially Germany.

According to Politico, Trump's defense and security advisors included in his prepared speech a clear endorsement of the mutual defense pledge, but Trump himself struck it out just before speaking.

Doubts have remained since then, despite US diplomats and military leaders themselves restating the pledge.

- Trump to visit Poland -

Just days before his January 20 inauguration, Trump rocked the post-World War II western alliance by calling NATO "obsolete."

Article Five has been the core of the NATO treaty's strength since it was formed amid a budding Cold War with communist states -- particularly the Soviet Union -- in 1949.

It has only been invoked once -- in support of the United States, after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

On Thursday, Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee had called on Trump to declare his support for Article Five.

Trump's pledge on Friday came shortly before the White House announced that he would travel to NATO ally Poland ahead of the Group of 20 summit in early July.

Story continues

"The visit will reaffirm America's steadfast commitment to one of our closest European allies and emphasize the administration's priority of strengthening NATO's collective defense," the White House said.

- 'Money pouring in' to NATO -

Speaking beside Iohannis, Trump suggested his pressure on other NATO members had had an effect.

"As you know, I have been an advocate for strengthening our NATO alliance through greater responsibility and burden sharing among member nations," he said.

"Because of our actions, money is starting to pour in to NATO.... Other countries are starting to realize that it's time to pay up. And they're doing that. Very proud of that fact."

"Because together we can confront the common security challenges facing the world," he added.

Trump praised Iohannis for boosting his country's defense spending. Romania joined the NATO alliance in 2004.

"We hope our other NATO allies will follow Romania's lead," Trump said.

Iohannis said NATO's mutual defense commitment was a crucial part of a defense against an aggressive Russia.

"In my opinion, we have to be very clear, very simple, very straightforward if we talk about Russia, and with Russia," he said.

"In my opinion, we need dialogue. But on the other hand, we need what we all together decided in NATO -- a strong deterrence."

Republican Senator Tom Cotton called Trump's explicit statement of commitment to Article Five "a good thing."

"But make no mistake: uttering magic words does not deter aggressors like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. Only the credible threat of military force does," he said in a statement.

"And until Democrats and our European allies get serious about funding our common defense, deterrence in Europe will remain dangerously weak."

Jorge Benitez, a NATO specialist at the Atlantic Council, said Trump's statement was less than a whole-hearted commitment.

"Trump keeps using caveat: "I want people... paying the kind of money necessary to have that force," Benitez said on Twitter.
The Trump administration will meet with major tech companies throughout the month of June to discuss various topics, according to a Recode report. The upcoming meetings are described as tech week, by sources familiar with the White House.

Read: Emmanuel Macron, Trump Feud: French President Trolls With Make Our Planet Great Again Website

Leaders from companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Intel and Oracle will get together with Trumps team. Other firms invited were Adobe, Akamai and Qualcomm, which is in a legal battle with Apple. Trump transition team adviser Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, will also attend the meetings.

The main event will be on June 19 for Trumps new American Technology Council meeting. The companies chief executives will meet with the administration in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to modernize government and the services it offers to Americans and will touch on policies like immigration, the report said. Later in the month, tech experts and the Trump team will discuss drones, the internet of things, autonomous cars, investments in emerging markets and the future of the countrys workforce.

Trumps Rocky Relationship With The Tech Industry

The planned meetings come after the tech industry expressed its disappointment over Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement last week.

Trump ditched the Paris agreement saying it disadvantages the United States and would undermine the countrys economy. After the president announced his decision, elected officials, business leaders and tech companies spoke out against the decision. Parties, including Google, Lyft, Adobe, Tesla, Apple, Amazon and Yahoo! signed a Were Still In statement vowing to work together to take forceful action and to ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader in reducing emissions.

Read: Internet Spy Law: Trump Administration, Intel Leaders, Republican Senators Want To Make FISA Section 702 Permanent

Story continues

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Trump made the wrong decision regarding the Paris climate agreement.

I think its not in the best interest of the United States what he decided, Cook told Bloomberg. My view is that first and foremost things are about, can you help your country and if you can help your country and you do that by interacting, then you do it. The country eclipses politics.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who worked as an advisor for the Trump administration, left Trumps business advisory councils after the president announced his decision.

Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world, Musk said when he announced his departure.

Trump previously met with tech leaders last December before he took office. Musk, Cook, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Amazons Jeff Bezos and other tech leaders attended the summit at Trump Tower. At that time Trump praised the tech sector, promised to do "anything we can do" to help the industry and even told executives to call him or his people directly if they needed anything.

The affection didnt last long. Tech leaders expressed their outrage after Trump introduced his travel ban in January.

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The aftermath of the UK's general election, which resulted in a hung parliament and huge losses for the Conservative party, is proving chaotic and unsettling. But, the general election has proved historic for female representation in government.

More women than ever before have been elected to the House of Commons in the 2017 general election, outnumbering all intakes of female MPs from previous elections.

SEE ALSO: British politics right now is straight out of 'Veep,' says its creator

At least 207 women were elected in Thursdays general election, beating the previous record of 196 female MPs who were elected in the 2015 general election and subsequent by-elections. The record for the number of women elected in a single general election was 191 in 2015.



Amid the furore surrounding the hung parliament on social media, people took to Twitter to celebrate the historic moment for women in politics:

One very bright spot in the outcome of #GE2017 is that higest number of #women MPs have been elected, 200 in all.#womenempowerment  anilbhimjiyani (@anilbhimjiyani) June 9, 2017

There are now 207 women MPs in Parliament - a new record  And exactly 104 years after Emily Davison died for women's right to vote #GE2017  Claire Cohen (@clairecohen) June 9, 2017

For the first time in history, over 200 females have been elected into Parliament. pic.twitter.com/f9flPxCgr7  Jennifer Hassan (@GuinnessKebab) June 9, 2017

And in good news: for the first time in British history, over 200 women have been elected into Parliament   Dmitry Shishkin (@dmitryshishkin) June 9, 2017

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the women's rights charity the Fawcett Society, says the result are cause for celebration, but more work has yet to be done if we are to achieve true gender equality in politics.

"The number of women MPs in parliament has broken the 200 barrier for the first time with 207 women elected so far with one result remaining," wrote Smethers.



"But while this is progress, the fact remains that just 32 percent of our MP's are women, up from 30 percent before the election. We are moving forward at a snail's pace and this is embarrassingly slow," she added.

Smethers called for a "radical new approach" and a need for legislation requiring parties to select at least 45 percent female candidates.

Increased Diversity in Parliament

The UK's first female Sikh MP, Preet Gill, was elected after securing a majority of 6,917 votes to hold the Birmingham Edgbaston seat for Labour. The vote also saw the UK elect the country's first turban wearing Sikh MP, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi taking the Labour set for Slough.



Labour also gained two disabled MPs, both of whom are disability rights activists. Marsha de Cordova, who is registered blind, secured the Labour seat in Battersea, London. And, Hared O'Mara, who has Cerebral Palsy Hemiparesis, won Sheffield Hallam from former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Labour has GAINED two disabled MPs so far tonight. Both disability rights activists too. This needs to be recognised and celebrated!  Alice Kirby (@Alice__Kirby) June 9, 2017

Great news!
Photo credit: Performance Auto Gallery

From Road & Track

In the last few years, the collectable car market has seen the Mk. IV Toyota Supra rocket up in price thanks to its legendary status as a star car in The Fast & The Furious movie series, as well as its ability to handle absurd amounts of turbocharged power through its 2JZ engine.

Photo credit: Performance Auto Gallery

There aren't many clean, low-mileage stock examples of the Mk. IV Supra left, which is probably why this dealership is asking nearly six figures for an unmodified white 5,625-mile 1994 Turbo. If that's not crazy enough on its own, the car in question is also equipped with the less desirable four-speed automatic transmission, rather than the Getrag six-speed stick.

Photo credit: Performance Auto Gallery

Though the car seems to be in impeccable condition, $100,000 for a Supra of any kind is a little ridiculous, even with the current demand. Still, if you have the money to blow (and are willing to do a manual conversion), this Supra seems like the perfect car to start living your JDM fantasy.

Photo credit: Performance Auto Gallery

via The Drive

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Beirut (AFP) - US-backed fighters battled on Sunday to dislodge jihadists from a key military base north of Raqa city, the heart of the Islamic State group's Syrian territory, a monitor said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have entered IS's bastion Raqa from the east and west, but have struggled to capture the Division 17 military base on the northern outskirts of the city.

The SDF launched a renewed attack on Division 17 overnight with backing from the US-led coalition bombing IS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Blasts could be heard throughout the night because of the exchange of fire between the two sides," the monitoring group said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said IS had "heavily fortified" the base in anticipation of a ferocious SDF assault on it.

Originally a Syrian army base, Division 17 was seized by IS in 2014 as it took control of swathes of the wider Raqa province.

After its capture by the jihadists the same year, Raqa city emerged as a key hub for IS's operations in Syria, neighbouring Iraq, and beyond.

The SDF -- an Arab-Kurdish alliance formed in 2015 -- spent seven months tightening the noose on Raqa city before before finally entering it this week.

It has since captured the district of Al-Meshleb in the city's east, as well as parts of the western neighbourhoods of Al-Sabahiya and Al-Romaniya.

"SDF fighters are still combing through Al-Meshleb to use it as a base for new operations towards the north and south," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Al-Meshleb is one of the more built-up residential neighbourhoods in the east of the city, while most other districts nearby are made up of markets and small shops.

An estimated 300,000 civilians were believed to have been living under IS rule in Raqa, including 80,000 displaced from other parts of Syria.

Thousands have fled in recent months, and the UN humanitarian office estimates about 160,000 people remain in the city.

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Reports of civilian casualties among those still living inside have swelled in recent weeks.

The Observatory said Sunday that coalition air strikes the previous day killed 24 civilians inside the city, up from an earlier toll of 13 people.

Abdel Rahman said the increased toll brought civilian deaths in coalition raids to a total of 58 since the battle for Raqa city was launched on June 6.
Tillerson urged Gulf nations to lay off Qatar, but still criticized the small country for extremism: AFP/Getty Images

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told Gulf allies to lay off Qatar, but says that the small Middle Eastern country would do well to respond quicker to extremism.

Mr Tillerson said that a diplomatic blockade placed on Qatar by several Gulf nations has humanitarian consequences and that it hinders Americas military efforts. Qatar is the home of the Al Udeid Air Base, which is the main regional centre for American air strikes against Isis.

The Gulf countries should immediately take steps to de-escalate the situation and make a good faith effort to resolve the grievances they have with each other, Mr Tillerson said during a statement at the State Department.

The governments in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar this week, after the governments state-owned media published an interview with the countrys emir. During that interview  which the Qatari government disputes as inaccurate  the emir criticised hostility to Iran, sympathised with three Islamist groups, and accused Saudi Arabia of adopting extremist ideology that encourages terrorism. He also said that US President Donald Trump wouldnt last long in the Oval Office.

Mr Trump initially expressed support of the blockade, but changed his tone just a day later to align better with Mr Tillerson.

Criticism of Qatar for supporting Islamist groups like the Muslim brotherhood are long-standing. Since the blockade was established, Saudi Arabia has demanded that Qatar meet a list of 10 demands. That wish list includes cutting off all links to Iran, as well as expelling resident members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi officials have also demanded that Qatar stop funding terrorist organisations.

Still, Qatar is a critical military point for the American military. The USs largest military base in the region is located there, and it remains an important strategic location.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan opposition lawmakers filed fresh court cases Friday against planned crisis reforms, raising pressure on the government in a deadly political struggle after a similar challenge by a senior official.

The opposition on Friday filed a case with prosecutors alleging that the government, judges and electoral officials were conspiring "to violently change the constitution," lawmaker Tomas Guanipa said.

The move came after Attorney General Luisa Ortega on Thursday mounted a separate challenge in the Supreme Court against President Nicolas Maduro's efforts to rewrite the constitution, in a sign of division within the government camp.

Various opponents of Maduro also went to the court on Friday to try to add their names to the list of plaintiffs in that lawsuit, but found the tribunal closed and blocked by riot police vans.

Opposition lawmaker Delsa Solorzano told reporters that armed government supporters beat her group as it was leaving.

Clashes at daily protests by demonstrators calling for Maduro to quit over an economic crisis have left 66 people dead since April 1, prosecutors say.

Maduro has launched moves to reform the constitution in response to the protests, but his opponents say that is a ploy to cling to power.

Maduro says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy.

Ortega is the highest-profile official to defy him in the crisis.

Maduro retains the public backing of the military. However, its commander Vladimir Padrino Lopez sounded a moderate note this week when he warned security forces against attacking protesters.

Analysts said Ortega's suit could build bridges between the opposition and disgruntled officials and widen divisions in Maduro's camp, making it harder for him to stay in power.

"The attorney general has proposed something that they all agree on, the radical and moderate opposition and the radical and moderate critics" of Maduro within his own camp, political analyst Felix Seijas said.

"There is near-unanimous support for it. A bridge has been raised to join the two sides together."

In the latest rallies on Friday, some 2,000 demonstrators led by student groups marched in Caracas to the National Telecommunications Commission to protest what they call state censorship of the media and repression against journalists.
Harare (AFP) - President Robert Mugabe has fired Zimbabwe's top prosecutor, who now faces a misconduct trial, state media reported Saturday, the latest twist in a dispute dating back more than a year.

"Suspended prosecutor general Mr Johannes Tomana was yesterday (Friday) fired for misconduct and incompetence after a tribunal set by President Mugabe to probe him recommended dismissal," The Herald newspaper reported.

Tomana faced charges of "criminal abuse of office" and was awaiting trial, the paper added, without giving further details.

He was suspended in February 2016 after dropping charges against two men accused of plotting to bomb a dairy plant that belonged to the president's wife, Grace Mugabe.

A year earlier he was convicted of abuse of power after initially refusing to prosecute a legislator with Mugabe's ZANU PF Party accused of raping a minor.

Tomana, once seen as a Mugabe loyalist, was threatened with 30 days in jail for his conduct in the affair, but eventually reversed his decision.

The legislator in question was eventually privately prosecuted, convicted and jailed.
The app digitally evaluates how suitable a home, care facility, or any other space is for the elderly and those living with dementia.

When caring for a person with dementia, it's important to be mindful of their physical and mental health, but other challenges exist that are often less considered, such as creating a living space that accommodates their needs. If you have no idea where to begin, dont worry - theres soon going to be an app to assist you.

The app, developed by the University of Stirlings Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), works by digitally evaluating how suitable a home, care facility, or any other space is for the elderly and those living with dementia.

"This is a unique opportunity to revolutionise how we improve day-to-day life for older people and people living with dementia around the world, Lesley Palmer, chief architect at DSDC, said in a statement. We are creating a simple way for anyone to assess how dementia-friendly their environment is, and find out how to improve their surroundings.

The free app requires users to answer questions about their surroundings and take photos of it. In about 20 minutes, the user will receive an assessment that recommends improvements regarding lighting, color schemes, and noise, all of which can impair the life of a person living with dementia. The database responsible for the assessment is called IRIDIS, short for Intelligence Research Interactive Design Interface System.

"We acknowledge that there are variations of 'apps' for guidance on dementia design principles and auditing the built environment, but none which have such a level of detail and have a direct and real-time results link to the construction and product industry, said Steph Brooks, Director at Space Architects, who is collaborating with DSDC.

The app will suggest specific changes such as changing a lightbulb or rearranging furniture. The first version is free and expected to be available for download on World Alzheimers Day in September 2017. In later versions of the app, the developers plan on creating a paid-for feature that offers more sophisticated services aimed at designers and healthcare professionals.

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What we are offering is truly ground-breaking and the software within the IRIDIS app will be one of the greatest advances to date in dementia care design principles, Brooks said.

Dementia is not a specific disorder, but rather a general term for a group of brain diseases, such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and Huntingtons disease. The debilitating illnesses affect memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to perform everyday tasks. About 47 million people worldwide are currently living with dementia, and this number is expected to increase to 75 million by 2030 and almost triple by the year 2050, according to the World Health Organization.

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Apple just revived the iPad with the help of some pretty exciting software features shipping in iOS 11 that will make it behave more like a traditional computer when it comes to productivity needs. Theres a file browsing app, support for drag-and-drop, a dock thats home to more than just a handful of apps, and plenty of new multitasking tricks to name just a few. To power it all up is a brand new processor, the A10X Fusion, thats supposed to deliver an even better performance than the iPhone 7s A10 Fusion chip.

Apple, of course, bragged about the new iPad Pros chip on the stage, detailing the improvements under the hood. But it turns out that Apple lied. But for once, thats actually good news.

Don't Miss: Confirmed: OnePlus 5 is an iPhone 7 Plus clone

You see, as Motley Fool puts it, Apple totally undersells the A10Xs powers.

Apple on stage said the A10X is 30% faster than the A9X chip in the previous iPad Pro generation. That number is accurate only for the single-core performance, as fresh tests are revealing. The A10X hits 3929 in Geekbench 4 compared to 3031 for the A9X chip. Thats a 30% increase in line with Apples estimates.

But on the multi-core side, things are even better. Apparently, the A10X chip goes all the way up to 9372, which is a whopping 82% more than the 5138 score that an A9X iPad Pro might reach. Thats something Apple doesnt mention on its site, although it does note that the iPad is more powerful than most PC laptops.

Sure, these are synthetic benchmarks that do not replicate real-life use. But Apples A-series chips have no rival in the mobile universe. Not even the latest chips from Qualcomm and Samsung can outperform the iPhone 7 in single-core performance  which is what matters most to Apple considering its lie.

But the fact that the A10X chip is capable of such performance is very exciting. First of all, a new chip generation is around the corner, the A11 thatll power 2017 iPhones and should be even faster than the iPhone 7s chip. With that in mind, the A11X going into next years generation of iPads should be incredible.

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For comparison purposes, the entry-level 15-inch MacBook Pro hits 4255 in the same test, and 13727 in multi-core speeds. It sure looks like a MacBook Pro running on a custom A-series chip is just around the corner.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com
BUTTE, Mont.  Nine blows of the original Granite Mountain whistle sounded Thursday night to break a moment of silence for the lives lost in the 1917 fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator mines.

Nine whistles meant that an uncontrollable fire was burning in the mine.

Some in the crowd at the memorial site wore T-shirts commemorating the anniversary of the Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine fire of June 8, 1917, which remains the worst disaster in hard-rock mining history 100 years later.

Hard-rock miners Larry Hoffman and Matt Krattiger wore helmets with carbide lamps, their open flames jumping and flickering in the breeze. A hand-held carbide lamp started the 1917 fire when a miner accidentally touched the flame to exposed paraffin paper deep in a well-ventilated shaft.

The evening of remembrance began with a pledge of allegiance led by the VFW Color Guard, after which Gerry Walter, who led the campaign to build the memorial in the 1990s, opened with a prayer.

We count among our blessings our U.S. citizenship, our Montana roots, our sheltering mountains, our expansive living space  and most of all, our shared love for and pride in Butte, America, she read.

Humor suffused the memorial along with solemnity, sermons on courage and occasional tears. Referring to the hike some attendees had to make from their parked cars, memorial board member Sara Sparks joked, Just remember that a hundred years ago, everyone walked, and it was snowing.

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Dave Palmer presented Walters with a resolution of gratitude for her work on the memorial engraved on a plaque, which attendees affirmed with a standing ovation.

Accepting the award, Walters declared, I now claim that Im from Butte!

Montana Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney spoke in recognition of the enduring power of Buttes labor history, especially the years of tumultuous disaster following the fire, which were fueled by bottomless wartime demand and workers growing insistence on safety and fair working conditions.

Staffers from the offices of Jon Tester and Steve Daines read proclamations that the senators gave on the floor of the Senate Thursday. Daines words honored the miners sacrifice and the courage they showed. Testers speech celebrated the legacy of the labor movement in Montana and in the country, including laws that remain in effect today.

Meghan Farren, a great-great-granddaughter of fire victim Manus Duggan, found the event surprisingly moving. I didnt expect it to be so touching  its been 100 years, she said. But growing up in the shadow of the disaster left its mark on her family. Her grandmother, named Manus after her father, was born four weeks after his death.

Parish Priest Fr. Patrick Beretta pointed out that the ancient Greeks believed Pluto to be the god of death, wealth and mining  and that on the night of June 8, 1917, death, wealth and mining were neighbors caught in an inferno.

But, Beretta said, we dont heal from grief by forgetting; we heal from grief by remembering. Through song, prayer and stories, the gathered community recalled the grief of the disaster and the citys resilience.

In the distance, Our Lady of the Rockies stood sentinel as the crowd recited the Lords Prayer, holding hands with loved ones.

The evening ended with the VFW performing a 21-gun salute and Pete Godtland, a Butte resident and a World War II veteran, playing taps. Attendees opened boxes containing butterflies, which Walter called a symbol of rebirth. The butterflies emerged tentatively at first, and then all in a rush. The promised rain held off. By the time the crowd dispersed, the setting sun was breaking through the clouds, stray butterflies flapping around the flagpoles.
Flagstaff could join the ranks of San Francisco, New York City, Phoenix and six other cities that offer residents a city-issued identification card.

The municipal ID is an alternative to state and federal cards that are more difficult to obtain due to immigration status, incarceration history, homelessness and other barriers.

At the May 30 meeting of the Flagstaff City Council, a majority of the council voted in favor of having City Manager Josh Copley research how a municipal identification card program would work in Flagstaff.

Contrary to popular belief, immigrants are not the only individuals that benefit from municipal ID programs, Mayor Coral Evans, who brought the idea before the council originally, said. Other groups such as the homeless, youth in foster care, low income, elderly individuals, people with mental health issues and those who were formerly incarcerated all face obstacles, including documentation thats necessary for them to participate in life.

At the meeting, city business attraction manager Gail Jackson said, The intent of these cards is to bring undocumented residents out of the shadows, and other specific populations and to bring them more fully into the community.

Jackson said a concern that comes with the program is identity theft, and said many cities that run municipal ID programs without using a third-party vendor will destroy the application information after the card is issued. Jackson said some people have also expressed concern that the municipal ID program could become a registry for undocumented immigrants that could be obtained by immigration authorities.

The Phoenix City Council approved the creation of the card in August of 2016, but so far no cards have been created, city council spokesman Matthew Heil said.

After the conclusion of the legislative session, the city reached out to its contractor, SF Global, Heil said in an email. The company is currently working on an implementation plan and timeframe.

Phoenixs card will be a cost-neutral program to the city, city spokesman David Urbinato said in a press release.

Phoenixs plan, and Flagstaffs discussions of the idea, hit a road bump when Arizona Senator John Kavanagh, a Republican from Fountain Hills, introduced a bill, known as SB 1021, that would have eliminated a citys ability to create its own identification cards with any requirements that are less stringent than what would be required to receive a state-issued identification card from the Arizona Department of Transportation, meaning a person would have to provide records of immigration status.

Kavanaghs bill ultimately failed during the legislative session.

Anyone who is in the country legally can get an ID card at any motor vehicle office, Kavanagh said. Why would a municipality want to duplicate the effort?

By issuing the cards to undocumented people, Kavanagh said cities are attempting to facilitate illegal employment and benefits, and, to boot, it will be facilitating identity theft.

To receive a municipal ID, a person must prove identity and proof of residency in the city, which in Phoenix requires two forms of proof of identity, which can include a W-2 form from an employer, debit card, U.S. Department of Justice inmate ID, employee ID with a photo and school ID with a photo, as well as more traditional ID forms like a drivers license or birth certificate. In Phoenix, the applicant also must prove residency through two forms of residency documentation, including utility bills, verification from a homeless shelter, a property tax statement, proof of school enrollment or a pay stub from inside the city.

The low threshold for proof of identification to receive a municipal ID could allow people to get a government-issued card for a made-up name, Kavanagh said.

Kavanagh said he introduced his bill to preserve the integrity of government-issued ID, and said cities creating their own ID cards means we can no longer trust government-issued ID.

The bill failed in the Senate, and Kavanagh said unless he can get other senators to change their opinions, it would not be worthwhile to introduce a similar bill again.

In Phoenix, and in Flagstaff if the program is created, the municipal ID card is only acceptable as a secondary form of ID.

Flagstaff city spokeswoman Meg Roederer said the Flagstaff card could be used at public libraries, recreation programs and facilities and to open a water account.
The ghost of Andrew Johnson, Americas 17th president and the first to be impeached, is haunting the White House. Echoes of Johnsons footsteps can be detected in the 45th presidents policies and conduct, including Donald Trumps rash, ill-advised decision to unceremoniously fire FBI Director James Comey. That act is reminiscent of Johnsons discharge of his secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, in 1867, which led to impeachment by the House of Representatives. Whether Trumps firing of Comey could contribute to a similar fate in the House remains to be seen.

Nonetheless, in thought, word and deed, Johnson may be a spirit manifested in Trump.

Johnson has been described by historian Eric Foner as intolerant of criticism, and out of touch with political reality. Labeling Johnson self-absorbed, Foner cited a one-hour Washingtons Birthday speech by Johnson in which he referred to himself over 200 times. Sound like anyone we know?

This much can be said: The crooked, nefarious pathways blazed by Johnson on enforcement of civil rights and justice are routes that Trump is faithfully following.

Johnson laid his tracks early.

Had Johnsons policies prevailed for the past 150 years, the District of Columbia would never have had African-American mayors or council membersor even any blacks among the citys electorate. In 1867, Johnson vetoed legislation giving African-American men the right to vote in the District. That precious right was, thankfully, granted three days later, but only because Congress overrode Johnsons veto. (Johnson expressed his strong anti-black feelings in his message about a veto of the first Reconstruction Act: The negroes have not asked for the privilege of voting; the vast majority of them have no idea what it means.)

And no thanks to Johnson, Howard University and St. Marys Episcopal Church, in Foggy Bottom, are celebrating their sesquicentennials.

One hundred and fifty-one years ago, Johnson vetoed a bill renewing the charter of the Freedmens Bureau, which was created to provide assistance to Howard University and the fledging African-American colleges and universities in the emancipated South. Johnson described such assistance as Africanizing the southern part of our territory.

Howards charter, awarded by Congress in 1867, was signed by Johnson, but only because Congress overrode that Johnson veto, too, and forced the Freedmens Bureau down his throat.

St. Marys Church, the citys first African-American Episcopal congregation, also had a near-death experience with Johnson.

The church has the aforementioned Stanton to thank for its original building. Hearing about the newly formed congregations search for a place of worship, Stanton provided the chapel materials that became the first building exclusively for the citys black Episcopalians.

Like Howard University, St. Marys had dodged a Johnson bullet. The church held its first service on June 9, 1867. It was just two months later, in August, that Johnson fired Stanton.

But Johnson was a scourge of America far beyond the District of Columbia.

Frowning upon giving full rights and privileges of citizenship to freed African Americans, Johnson vetoed a stream of civil rights bills, most of the vetoes were overridden by Congress.

He undercut the positive measures of Reconstruction. He gave former Confederate states freedom to manage their affairs, which allowed them to enact Black Codes that imposed plantation-like conditions on former slaves.

Now Trump, as boorish, undisciplined, racially insensitive and bullying as Johnson was, is not missing a beat when it comes to lax civil rights enforcement and ignoring racial, ethnic and religious injustices.

Under Trumps agenda, states will be allowed to take protection of minority rights into their own hands. Trumps administration will look the other way.

In Trumps Washington, the Labor Department unit that monitors discrimination by federal contractors is being disbanded, the Education Departments office that investigates discrimination complaints in school districts is being gutted, police departments that have whipped up on blacks will receive dialed-down Justice Department oversight, and environmental polluters may get the Environmental Protection Agencys green light to contaminate minority communities.

White supremacists are as emboldened today as they were during Andrew Johnsons era.

Discrimination is getting the same blind-eye treatment it received during the post-Civil War white Southern pushback. Acts of racially and religiously motivated violence are enjoying a resurgence reminiscent of the day the White House was ruled by Andrew Johnsonan apparition that seems to be making daily appearances in the Oval Office.
Reactions to former FBI director James Comeys testimony Thursday mostly seemed to follow predictable, partisan lines. To many Democrats, Comey appeared to be describing a clear case of obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. To Republicans who support the White House, Comeys recounting of leaking his memos about conversations with Trump showed that he deserved to be fired.

But as a former FBI counterintelligence agent, what I saw as the most explosive aspect of the testimony didnt involve any legal violation of the U.S. code or questions about whether Comey had broken established Department of Justice protocols. Instead, it was the prima facie evidence that Comey presented that Trump appears unwilling to uphold his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the countrywhich puts the security of our nation and its democracy at stake. In the nine times Trump met with or called Comey, it was always to discuss how the investigation into Russias election interference was affecting him personally, rather than the security of the country. He apparently cared little about understanding either the magnitude of the Russian intelligence threat, or how the FBI might be able to prevent another attack in future elections.

When Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Comey whether Trump had ever appeared concerned about Russian interference or how to stop it in the future, Comeys answer was blunt: No. After a moment of reflection, he added, without prompting, that he had attended a fair number of meetings on that with President Obama. This contrast alone underscores Trumps disregard for his fundamental duty, which is to ensure the security of the nation, its government and its citizens from foreign enemies.

Its worth noting that there is unanimity among senior intelligence officials that the Russian interference in our election not only happened, but that it was extraordinary and unprecedented. In previous testimony, Comey described Russia as the greatest threat of any country on earth, and he warned Thursday that Russia is coming after America, regardless of party, to undermine our credibility in the rest of the world.

Former CIA director John Brennan testified to Congress in May that he was shocked that Russia had brazenly interfered in the election, so much so that he took the extraordinary step of directly confronting his Russian counterpart. He added that he believes that even in the elections aftermath, Russian intelligence services are trying to exploit what is going on in Washington now to their benefit and to our detriment.

It does not require an FBI investigation to see that a president of the United States who finds no reason for concern in any of these assertionsand indeed considers them a hoaxcannot have the best interest of the country at heart.

The FBI takes its counterintelligence mission extremely seriously, although its usually less visible to the public than its law enforcement duties, which lead to arrests and criminal trials. Most of these activities, like the foreign agents they target, are by design covert, and they rarely see the inside of a courtroom. Many of the cases I worked as a counterintelligence agent involved foreign intelligence officers who used First Amendment and political freedoms in the United States to their advantage. This might involve disseminating propaganda by recruiting journalists (who did not realize they were spies) to write articles favorable to their government, or getting agents working on their behalf to lobby politicians for favorable policies toward their countries. (A rare glimpse into such a case that became public is the 2011 arrest of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, a lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after the government accused him of being an agent for Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence Directorate.)

The FBI can usually disrupt this threat under the radarfor instance, by delicately alerting unwitting individuals that they may be being targeted by a foreign power, or by identifying and recruiting an intelligence services sources to become double agents for the United States. The Russia case is different, because its operation last year did not simply try to use the American system as a vehicle for Russias benefit. Instead, Russia essentially attempted to break the system itself, by hacking political parties computer and email systems, flooding the media with disinformation and purposely sowing political chaos in the voting process, which is the bedrock of our democracy. Although its activities didnt involve bombs or dead bodies, Russias efforts were no less dangerous than any terrorist attack. In fact, the insidiousness of Russias interference lies in its invisibility: The American public did not even know that their freedom of choice was potentially being manipulated and distorted for foreign interests.

For any president to ignore the situation is shocking. My former colleagues at the FBI who are working on this case and have uncovered the full scale of Russias efforts must be incredulous at Trumps cavalier attitude.

To understand their perspective, consider this happening in the context we normally think of as a national security threat: Imagine that during the 2016 presidential election, a candidate publicly invited the Islamic State to bomb the Democratic Party headquarters. And then imagine that such a bombing in fact took place, resulting in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Now further imagine that the new president not only had no interest in learning more about who caused the attack or bringing them to justice, but in fact went out of his way to make nice with the Islamic State and offer them political and diplomatic concessions. Finally, imagine that there may be evidence that members of the presidents campaign or other American citizens were actively or passively involved in facilitating such an attack.

The fact pattern of the Russia investigation so far is similarand thats an investigation Comey says Trump had no interest in following closely.

Regardless of which story line you believe about Comeys testimony, it is, in the end, a sideshow. The real issue is Russias assault on our democracy and how we respond to it. If the president intends to stay true to his oath, both he and all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, will support the FBI in getting to the bottom of the Russian threat and making sure that it never happens again.
As Senate Republicans move toward a vote on their own repeal-and-replace bill, they face an urgent political task. They must prove the bill is much less cruel than the version that passed the House last month, to keep on board more moderate GOP senators who dont want to be seen voting for a bill that kicks millions of poor people off Medicaid and guts protections for people with pre-existing ailments.

Senate Republicans appear to be preparing to do this in several ways. One is to say theyll phase out the Medicaid expansion more slowly over time. Another is reportedly to jettison a key feature of the House bill, one that would result in soaring premiums on people with preexisting conditions, pricing untold numbers of them out of the market entirely and leaving them without coverage.

A new report from the liberal Center for American Progress, however, seeks to challenge that second effort, by directly debunking the notion that the Senate bill will be a lot less onerous for people with preexisting conditions. The report points out that a key provision of the Senate bill would still have the effect of gutting protections for people with pre-existing conditions, even if it avoids explicitly doing this.

Heres how. The House version of the bill would allow states to waive both the ACAs requirement that insurers cover essential health benefits (such as doctor visits and prescription drugs) and the ACAs ban on insurers from jacking up premiums for people with preexisting conditions. The Congressional Budget Office projected that the result of the latter provision would be one-sixth of the population living in states that waived the protection for sicker people, leading to soaring premiums for them, many of whom might not be able to purchase coverage at all.

The Senate bill may seek to avoid this. Axios reported recently that Senate Republicans are mulling a compromise in which states could only seek the waiver on essential health benefits, and not on jacked up premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. Thus, the Affordable Care Acts protections would theoretically remain for sicker people.

But the CAP report argues that those protections would nonetheless be substantially weakened. Thats because, in states that waive the requirement of coverage for essential health benefits (EHBs), insurers could reduce the cost of covering people with preexisting conditions by nixing the EHBs upon which those people rely:

By allowing states to waive the ACAs essential health benefits (EHB) requirements, it would enable insurers to effectively screen out sick people by excluding certain services. As a result , people with pre-existing conditions in waiver states would face significantly higher costs and find it much harder to find insurance plans that actually covered treatment for even relatively common conditions such as mental health problems or diabetes.

Topher Spiro, a health policy analyst at CAP, pointed out that under the Senate bill, insurers that are prohibited from jacking up premiums for people with preexisting conditionsbut are allowed in certain states to waive EHBsmight cut their costs on sicker people by going out of their way to waive the essential services that those people disproportionately need.

The Senate bill will create a downward spiral in benefits offered as insurers race to slash benefits to avoid the sickest people, Spiro argued. Before the ACA, some plans didnt cover prescription drugs and many plans didnt cover mental health or opioid addiction treatment. Under the Senate bill, insurers in some states could drop such benefits again. If you have diabetes, or canceror any pre-existing condition that requires drugsor an opioid addiction, you could be forced to pay thousands of dollars for prescription drugs or care out of pocket.

How many people might this impact? The CAP report argues that 5.3 million people with preexisting conditions could end up living in states that seek waivers from EHBs, and thus under eroded protections. This calculation is based on two things. First, a recent government estimate found 55 percent of people getting insurance on the individual markets have preexisting conditions. Second, the CBO projects that nearly 10 million people enrolled on the individual markets would live in EHB waiver states. Applying that 55 percent future to the 10 million who would be in waiver states, it reaches the 5.3 million number. To be sure, this is a very rough and imperfect calculation.

Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, told me Friday that he thinks the estimate of the number of people who might be impacted is somewhat high. But he stressed that CAPs underlying argument is sound. The estimates of people with pre-existing conditions may be somewhat high, but the overall point is right and certainly many people would be affected, Levitt emailed.

Levitt added another crucial wrinkle, however, pointing out that under the Senate bill, insurance companies could proactively try to get states to waive the requirement:

States would come under enormous pressure from the insurance industry to waive required benefits. No insurer would want to offer the benefits needed by people with pre-existing conditions, so it would be a competitive race to skinnier insurance policies. Even if certain benefits were offered on an optional basis, they would be really expensive because insurers know that only people who know theyll need them will buy them.

We wont know what the Senate bill would do until we see it. But if Senate Republicans do allow states to waive the requirement of coverage of essential health benefitswhile claiming they are maintaining protections for the sickthis argument should come under a great deal of scrutiny, theoretically making it harder for moderates to go along.
If Democrats and Republicans agree on very little these days, at least they are in accord on this: President Donald Trump is a raging narcissist. And that makes just about everyone curious as to why he was so darned concerned about Michael Flynn.

Norman Eisen and Eric Bookbinder write in the New York Times:

Perhaps the most important of the outstanding questions concern President Trumps motives. Why did the president want the Flynn case dropped? Was it simply to do a favor for a friend? Or was it because that friend had information that would be damaging to the presidentsuch as about his potential ties to Russia? What evidence is there of such ties, including in the statements of the president and his sons, or the presidents tax returns? The uglier the motive, the stronger the obstruction case.

Trump was concerned enough about Flynn that he waited 18 days to fire him after then-acting attorney general Sally Yates told the administration he was compromised and therefore a national security danger. He was concerned enough that the day after Flynn got canned, he leaned on the FBI director to let him go. He was concerned enough publicly to call him a good man. This man [Flynn] has served for many years, hes a general, hes ain my opiniona very good person, he told NBC News. Trump was concerned enough to tell Flynn to hold out for immunity. He tweeted: Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!

I am hard-pressed to think of another person, even a relative, he has so strenuously and consistently defended in publicwell, other than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This is all the more odd because Trump does have the pardon power. Its not like Flynn would ever have to face jail timeor even a conviction on his recordif Trump wanted to spare him through the pardon power.

It therefore is hard to escape the conclusion that Trump was desperate to spare Flynn not from conviction, but from trial and threat of conviction. That is the reaction of someone terribly concerned about what a potential criminal defendant might have to say.

What did Flynn know or what had Flynn done that should have so deeply concerned Trump? We might find out if the intelligence community has the contents of, not just the fact of, calls between Flynn and Russians. We might find out if we knew more about Flynns and Trumps finances, which the special prosecutor can certainly subpoena. We might find out if Jared Kushner tells investigators (including Senate staff with whom he is to meet this month) about the meeting he and Flynn had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at Trump Tower in December to establish a line of communicationthat is, a secret back channel that would be concealed from the American intelligence community. (The Washington Post reported: Ambassador Sergey Kislyak reported to his superiors in Moscow that Kushner, son-in-law and confidant to then-President-elect Trump, made the proposal during a meeting on Dec. 1 or 2 at Trump Tower, according to intercepts of Russian communications that were reviewed by U.S. officials. Kislyak said Kushner suggested using Russian diplomatic facilities in the United States for the communications.)

In sum, Flynn connects the collusion case to the obstruction case. Figure out what Flynn was saying to whom and why he was having so many contacts with the Russians, and we may nail down precisely why Trump was leaning on Comey. I cannot think of anyone better than Robert S. Mueller III to figure it out.
Filer Mayor Rick Dunns move to consider replacing his citys police department with county sheriffs deputies isnt necessarily bad policy. But, boy, has it made for disastrous politics.

On Tuesday, at Dunns request, Twin Falls County Sheriff Tom Carter shared with the City Council his analysis of what it would cost for deputies to provide 24/7 police coverage were the city to fold its police department. Hundreds of Filer residents attended the meeting  so many, crowds spilled out onto the street outside the council chambers, where a petition circulated to save the city cops.

Carter says hed absorb the citys current officers into his department, so no one would lose a job. And, Carter says, hed be able to provide police services for about half what the city spends now on its officers. (Police Chief Tim Reeves says the numbers are deceptive because a lot of his budget is earmarked for line items outside the scope of his department.)

Either way, you cant blame Dunn for thinking outside the box to save on costs. In fact, we wish more mayors in the Magic Valley put taxpayers first when it comes to government spending.

But you can blame Dunn for going rogue, and as a result it is now unlikely the city will scuttle its police force even if it saved boatloads of money.

The mayor has lost the trust of his community  and probably doomed what might have been a good policy move  all in the just the past few days.

Dunns first mistake was going behind the City Councils back. Apparently, it was a surprise to everyone in city government Dunn was speaking to the sheriff. Dunn could have easily prevented the community outrage had he simply explained himself and been more transparent about his motives from the beginning.

Dunns second mistake was failing to address the massive crowds at Tuesdays meeting. For procedural reasons, residents werent allowed to address the Council, only adding to their frustration. And Dunn did almost nothing to assuage the communitys concerns, saying only that a public hearing would be held later if the city moves forward with the sheriffs proposal. No wonder many Filer residents feel like their government isnt listening.

Thats a terrible shame, because Dunns notion to switch to the sheriffs department might save taxpayers some money.

A classic example is in Burley, where the city has contracted with the Cassia County Sheriffs Department for police services. The arrangement has worked for the past 30 years because the politicians have largely kept out of the deal.

But politics have probably already doomed the situation in Filer from the beginning. And, maybe worse, Filer is now a community where residents dont trust their leader.
The drive along Tuba Citys main street is a study in contrasts.

Vacant, boarded-up homes stand just a few blocks from the construction site of a colorful eco-conscious elementary school while a massive, 4-year-old justice building towers over a collection of trailers that house Navajo Nation administration offices as well as a long-closed community center.

About one third of residents live below the poverty line  10 percentage points below the average for the Navajo Nation  at the same time that Tuba City boasts a robust school system and a major employer in the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, which counts more than 1,200 employees on its payroll.

Adding another facet to this community of about 9,700 is its location: It's on the Navajo Nation but just across the highway from the Hopi village of Upper Moenkopi.

At the same time, the workings of the Tuba City Chapter, the local tribal governing body, as well as the concerns of residents mirror those of many other communities in Coconino County.

At a recent chapter meeting, the agenda included legislation about retirement savings programs for employees, requests for funding from the tribal government and a program to employ local high school and college students for the summer.

GOVERNMENT AT A STANDSTILL

It wasnt too long ago, however, that the chapter was immersed in financial scandal. In 2012, the FBI began an investigation into the chapters finances after significant irregularities showed up in an audit. That same year, all of the chapters elected officials and two staff members were removed from office for tribal ethics violations that stemmed from salary bonuses they gave themselves to the tune of $80,000. Last month, it was announced that the chapters executive manager during that time faces 86 tribal criminal charges accusing her of embezzling $1 million meant for scholarships, grazing operations, capital improvements and other public uses.

Between 2012 and 2014, when a new set of staff was put into place, the chapters general delivery of service was essentially frozen, said Mike Sixkiller, who is now the chapters event coordinator, fair coordinator and de facto public relations person.

That this community received a black eye doesn't even capture it. The community was hit hard, he said.

Now, the government is trying to get the community living and breathing again, Sixkiller said.

The chapter has implemented reforms, including putting a tighter grip on how money is spent within the chapter, ensuring duties are properly segregated and being more transparent with finances, he said.

Chapter employees also have a wealth of ideas for how to improve the community, from developing a new community center to installing light posts along main street that would display banners advertising holidays or big events.

ILLEGAL DUMPING

Among the slate of current chapter projects is an effort to combat illegal dumping on the outskirts of town. Harold Nez, the public works manager, has photos of sites all over the area where people drive out and dump everything from large items to household waste. He drove this reporter to one site last week that was littered with everything from mattresses to baby accessories to old appliances.

I dont understand why some people would do this, it doesnt make sense sometimes, Nez said as he looked out on the site.

There is no curbside trash pickup in Tuba City, so citizens must bring their trash to a transfer station in the middle of town, where they can dump it for free. The chapter then hauls it to the Flagstaff landfill, spending $15,000 to $16,000 a month to do so.

The transfer station doesnt accept large items that arent broken down, though, leading some people to dump them instead, Nez said.

In hopes of cutting down on that practice, the chapter started a new program that allows people to bring larger items to the transfer station for free on one day each month. Those days used to be quarterly. Officials are also planning a community clean-up day in July, when they will pick up trash at one of the illegal dump sites.

HIRING STUDENTS

Also this summer, the chapter plans to hire 100 high school students and 30 college students for two week to one month jobs with local businesses. The Tuba City Chapter is proud of the fact that it employs more youth and gives out more in scholarships than the other 18 Western Agency chapters combined, Sixkiller said.

Last summer, the chapter used its college student employees to survey Tuba City households in order to build a database that includes information about the condition of homes, number of occupants and their demographics and income levels.

That information will be used to direct money toward repairs to homes affected by the development halt related to the 1966 Bennett Freeze and to find tribal members eligible for other funding opportunities, Acting Executive Manager Charlene Manygoats said.

The information will also be used for a comprehensive land use plan that Manygoats said is about 80 percent finished. The plan will be used to guide major building projects in the future, she said. That sort of planning will be a drastic change for the community, which has so far developed mostly haphazardly, Sixkiller said.

At the same time that it has a plate full of projects, the chapter is eyeing cuts coming down from the Navajo Nation related to the likely closure of the Navajo Generating Station, a major source of revenue to the tribe.

"It's going to be impacted across the Navajo Nation, too, but nobody has really mentioned that it is going to affect the programs too," Manygoats said.

RESIDENTS HAVE A SAY

Among residents of Tuba City, many concerns focused on basic issues.

I think we're trying to catch up with the rest of the world. There is still a lot of red tape with a lot of issues to be resolved, said Leslie Hosteen Jr., who grew up in Tuba City and teaches second grade there.

The internet speeds can be maddeningly slow and cell service isnt reliable, said Hosteen, who is taking online graduate courses in educational technology and often struggles to load pages.

Basic necessities you think would be available are not, he said.

The deteriorating condition of local roads was another complaint mentioned by Hosteen and others.

When it rains, the sand comes out of potholes and sometimes its so deep that your car slams into the whole road, Hosteen said.

When it comes to internet, the chapter has been working with other large entities in town like the healthcare center to tie into fiber optic cable that is about 15 miles away, said Gerald Keetso, president of the Tuba City Chapter.

Road conditions, on the other hand, arent something the chapter can do much about because they are under the jurisdiction of the Arizona and Navajo departments of transportation or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Keetso said.

We have our hands tied, he said. It seems like we cant get anywhere with the people responsible for it.

Some people also doubt the chapter government can make a difference, even on projects under its jurisdiction.

When they say they want to help people, it doesnt happen, said Tomaria Sellers, who grew up in Tuba City but now lives in Red Lake and was in town last week selling clothes at an informal outdoor flea market.

Clifford Torivio, who is Hopi and was born and raised in Tuba City, said he has seen the community swell in size but worries about what he called big city problems like drugs and alcohol. Compared to the more traditional and religious leanings of the Hopi reservation right next door, Tuba City is like a different world, Torivio said.

Torivio also brought up a point alluded to by several others that many in Tuba City hold a deep-seated skepticism of non-Navajos as well as people who werent born and raised in the area. For his part, Torivio recalled an instance where, in his words, he struggled to get a job as a security officer at the Western Navajo Nation Fair because he is not Navajo, despite being a lifelong resident.

Sitting next to Torivio at the flea market, Gwen Tallman had a more optimistic view of Tuba Citys trajectory.

I think theyre making progress, Tallman said, referring to the chapter government. The ideas they do have planned, I think its good for the community. I think the support is there and I think the response will be positive.
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BUILDING THE LA RAZA 'The Race' WELFARE STATE ON MIDDLE AMERICAS' BACKS: Months ago, the Biden administration publicly defended their proposal to begin providing federal identification cards to border crossers and illegal aliens who they plan to release into American communities. The goal of the proposal is to make securing public benefits easier.
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BUTTE  A furniture store that has resided in the Washoe Brewery Building on Park Avenue since 2007 is making the most of Smelter City history with a new business concept.

Last summer shop owner Renee Amato transitioned Black Dog Furniture to Black Dog Antiques, where the shelves are now lined with antique and retro odds and ends on the first floor of the four-story building.

But thats not all the former California resident has been up to since she purchased the property 11 years ago.

Amato has transformed the upper stories of the building into a living space, replete with some pretty swanky interior decorating.

Recently the Anaconda resident, who lives near the top of the building, converted the second story into three bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen for guests. The bathroom and kitchen are the most recent additions, which Amato said she refurbished almost entirely with items from her store. Similarly, Amato used barn wood from Opportunity and the Washoe Brewery to create the floors and trim of the new additions.

Aside from containing antiques and living quarters, the building also contains a lot of Anaconda history.

Boasting 13,500 square feet, the Washoe Brewery Building was completed in 1905 and cost $80,000 to build  by todays standards, thats equivalent to over $2 million.

According to a plaque on the buildings exterior, the structure was originally intended to house the upstart Washoe Brewery.

But the Washoe Brewery didnt last for long.

This is because the building was purchased by a rival business, Anaconda Brewing Company, whose owners shut down the new operation and sat on the building.

The building stood vacant for years until finally in 1933 Rocky Mountain Brewing launched its operations in the Park Avenue structure and continued to operate until 1955.

As for Amato, she moved to Anaconda fulltime in May 2016.

Amato said she grew up in California and had a career as a chief-marketing officer at a financial institution in Los Angeles.

Knowing that she never wanted to stop working, Amato decided to transition into retirement by moving from California and becoming a small business owner.

Having visited Montana in the past, she began looking at commercial properties in the Big Sky State and eventually settled on the brewery building.

I like the people, said Amato on her move to Anaconda. I like the small-town feel and the fact that you can walk anywhere.

Amato started her antique business with just three rooms of items. Today, the business takes up the entire first floor and has over 39 dealers who rent shelf space or sell on consignment.

In addition, Amato said, the store contains a room devoted to holiday and Christmas decor, a bookstore and booths with themes such as rustic cowboy and kitschy kitchen, as Amato described them.

Amato said many items are sourced locally.

People love the mining things, said Amato, noting that collectors have an affinity for antiques that harken to Anacondas history as a smelting town.

She added that theres been a lot of interest in hunting and trapping memorabilia, including bear and wolf traps, which she said customers like to use for decoration.

On a sunny afternoon in late May, two vacationers from Idaho stopped off Montana Highway 1 to take a look at Black Dogs goods.

Larry Joseph of Nampa, who was examining one of the bear traps, said he and his wife Rose like to go antiquing whenever they travel.

We stop at every store, he said, noting that Rose, a quilter, is especially drawn to arts and crafts.

Meanwhile, the brewery building has been included on the National Register of Historic Places.

The imposing Italian Renaissance-inspired brewery with its signature corner tower is a bold reminder of an industry important to Anacondas residents, the plaque on the outside of the building reads. An architecturally impressive landmark and gateway to Anacondas east side, the Washoe Brewery symbolizes the private enterprise that flourished in this company town.
After a dozen years traveling conflict zones with peace-building organizations, Robert Rivers has found a radically different outlet for his community-building skills.

We needed something with more stability, Rivers said with his wife, Fernanda, at their Imagine Nation Brewing Co. on the banks of the Clark Fork River. While we were traveling, we met this Mexican woman in Tijuana who had built a community center in a gang neighborhood because she wanted a safe place for kids to go. Things like that can have a massive impact on the world.

The Rivers version was to combine a craft beer brewery with a community center. In the two years since it opened, Imagine Nation has logged meetings from more than 1,300 local groups, clubs and organizations. During the interview last week, two different gatherings were taking place simultaneously in the brewerys conference room and on the riverside patio.

Knowing that alcohol and education rarely appear together in the same format, Rivers carefully styled the business to be welcoming and thoughtful. Big, loaded bookshelves line several walls. Tables big enough to spread blueprints or art materials mix with open areas set up for open-mic performance or professional musicians.

Beer is like a tree, Rivers said. It can give shade, provide wood to build a home or wood to make spears to use on an enemy. Its what you do with beer that counts.

Fellow brewer Kennden Culp credited Rivers with the mentorship necessary to get Culps own Matchwood Brewing Co. functioning in Sandpoint, Idaho.

As an aspiring brewer, I knew that we would need commercial experience if we were to have a successful brewery, Culp said. My wife and I walked into INBC one day and asked Robert if he would be willing to take me under his wing as an apprentice. Without hesitation, he agreed to do so. Roberts willingness to freely share with me his knowledge of brewing and to trust me without question speaks volumes of his commitment to educating and community development.

In a world far removed from Missoula beer-brewing, Rivers also worked for the Nonviolent Peaceforce, training more than 4,000 civilian peacekeepers how to operate in nearly 100 countries around the world. He holds a masters degree in peace and conflict studies from the European University Centre.

Then he spent seven years building up his training in beer brewing and business. While he modeled the atmosphere of Imagine Nation on the friendly watering holes he and Fernanda knew in Brazil, his upbringing in Helena convinced them that Big Sky Country was the place they wanted to try their idea.

I think weve succeeded and done well because Missoulians are doing it for themselves, Rivers said. About 175 different organizations have hosted things here. We worked with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency so they invested in the property in return for getting public parking to help develop this part of Missoula. You cant get people to pull strings if your only goal is to make money. The whole mission has to be beyond beer.

That said, Rivers knows Missoulians also love their beer. Hes been attentive to which taps empty fastest, and adjusts recipes accordingly.
On Saturday dozens of Flagstaff residents and people from all over northern Arizona gathered in Branigar Hall at the Museum of Northern Arizona to peruse a selection of more than 300 hand-woven Navajo rugs.

Rugs of all sizes and colors were scattered around the hall. Some were hanging on racks, while the larger rugs were laid out on chairs to show their full design and size. There were even some rugs placed on the ground, where bidders walked on them to show just how durable and long lasting Navajo rugs are.

The colors of the rugs range across the spectrum. There were rich blues and reds as well as deep blacks and whites. The designs on the rug varied in their geometric patterns, each pattern representing a particular area or trading post on the Navajo Nation. Some rugs depicted northern landscapes and scenes from Navajo life. One rug was even in the design of the American flag.

The sizes and colors of the rugs are not the only differentiating qualities about them. While some of the rugs were only recently woven, other rugs at the auction were much older than that. The oldest rug was originally woven in the 1890s, and despite being over a century old the rug still looks brand new.

Depending on the size of the rug, a weaver can take anywhere from weeks to months to complete one. Many of the weavers use all natural methods to create their rugs. This process involves shearing the sheep for its wool, spinning the wool into strands and then using natural dyes to colorize the fabric.

Many of the weavers find the process to be a way not only to connect with their native roots - weaving is a skill passed down from generation to generation -- but also find the process to be relaxing.

When you just do nothing, you feel tired and end up going to sleep, said Fannie Begay, a weaver whose rugs were up for bid at the auction. But when youre weaving, it makes you not think about things, it makes you comfortable and it makes you relaxed. No matter how hard it is, youre still relaxed.

What attracts many of the bidders there to the Navajo rugs is the Navajo culture it represents as well as the process it takes to make the rugs.

Several things appeal to me about these rugs, said Charles Biggerstaff, a bidder at the auction. The area we live, its an art form that is indigenous to the area. I love the fact that it reflects not only the art but that it also has a use. Especially the ones that are natural dyed and hand-carded -- just that whole process of taking natural things and putting them together really attracts me to them.

For many native weavers, bidders like Biggerstaff buying their rugs were their only source of income they received to help support their families.

I didnt go to school, so weaving was the only thing I used as income, said Cecelia Joe, a long-time weaver whose rugs were also in the auction.  I only went to school up to the third grade, so weaving was my main source of income when my kids were growing up.

R.B Burnham & Company, the company that put on the auction, holds 12 auctions like the one today throughout the year as well as auctions for other Native American items such as Navajo jewelry. They received most of their inventory from public donations or the weavers themselves.

The Navajo rugs at auction go for high prices -- even the smaller rugs run between $150 and $200. Larger, full-size rugs can sell for thousands.

If you want to just talk dollar amount I am going to say $15,000, said Sheri Burnham, an employee of R.B Burnham & Company. If you want to talk about price per square foot, we have sold a rug that is about the size of a placemat that you would dine on, for $12,000.

This is the eleventh year that R.B Burnham & Company, in association with the Museum Of Northern Arizona and Flagstaff Art Council, has held the auction at the museum.
Earlier this year, Caitlin Hofmeister started a podcast in her spare time called "You're Doing Just Fine."

She starts up candid conversations with her guests  so far they're creative types, such as musicians  about their struggles and failures.

The concept is humanizing, enlightening and contemporary, using an emerging medium to discuss an age-old issue in a casual, approachable way.

That outlook seems to span all of Hofmeister's work projects these days. She serves as senior producer for "SciShow," a series of YouTube channels created by online video guru Hank Green. He, Hofmeister and other hosts give accessible but informative crash courses in scientific concepts, attracting both science nerds and a newer audience.

At Green's headquarters here in Missoula, Hofmeister oversees two producers and production teams for the main channel and its spinoffs: "SciShow Space," "SciShow Psych" and "SciShow Kids." With nine people they produce 15 episodes a week. Her job focuses on organization and scheduling with the content and video teams, and making sure the workers ("They're awesome," she said) have everything they need, whether it's equipment or permission to use specific images.

Earlier this year, the team won the People's Choice category at the Webby Awards, a prize selected by voters. (It helps that the main channel has more than 4,240,000 subscribers.)

Hofmeister hadn't intended to stay in Missoula before she was hired as an editor in summer 2012. She'd recently graduated with her MFA in media arts from the University of Montana, and had imagined she'd return to Portland.

The native of Sandpoint, Idaho, was living there, working as a personal assistant on independent films. She began looking at graduate schools in filmmaking that didn't require specialization. The UM program was an affordable fit.

She'd studied English and philosophy for her bachelor of arts degree, and planned to go into narrative feature filmmaking after earning her master's. However, she'd always been a science nerd, and the opportunities to communicate about science in a fun way has proven creatively rewarding.

It hasn't always been easy. After she'd transitioned into her producer job, she was the first female host for "SciShow" on a "Space" episode. The comments were sexist and cruel in just about every way you can imagine.

"To be a normal-looking woman, not like a super-model, on anybody's screen is apparently audacious," she said.

It was difficult, she said, and eventually she talked to her bosses and decided to confront her critics on camera.

"The end of this one episode, I'm going to be like, 'I'm the producer, I read all the comments, and I'm not going to wear more makeup. Because your comments? It's me who's reading them. I'm a person and they're not having the effect that you want,' " she said.

"SciShow" has since added more female hosts and she uses that early experience with trolls to help prepare them.

There are more hosts, by the way, because there are more shows coming from their shop. She helped launch an adult show, "How F---ing Science," recently. She's a producer on a new channel, "How to Adult."
Closing in on the end of the school year, the students in Brendan Work's class are selecting superhero names in Arabic.

That's one tiny thing the 17 teenagers will do as a homework assignment at Hellgate High School.

Later, maybe at home, the students who are learning the Arabic language and culture may share their knowledge with their parents when a television news report broadcasts a story about Syria or Iraq.

Maybe much later, they'll use their learning to help others understand, too.

"It's no secret that Arabic is understood as an enemy language and has been portrayed that way for years," Work said. "Since 9/11 most significantly, but even before that, there have been negative images of the Middle East and Arabs and Muslims just about everywhere you look in the media and popular culture.

"And exploring in a positive way the culture and history of the Middle East I think has a transformative effect on students as they become socially and politically active and as they influence others' opinions."

Sibling rivalry drew Work to Arabic. His sister was studying the language, he wanted to do better, and he ended up sticking with it through college.

"I was the worst student pretty much every year," he said.

As the class advanced, though, he went from being the worst of 100 students to the worst of a much smaller class, four students. And Work can flip that status on its head: "You're the fourth-best speaker of Arabic."

After reporting in the Palestinian territories for a year and a half, Work returned to Missoula and found Missoula County Public Schools on the hunt for a permanent Arabic teacher. An earlier grant had paid for teachers to work on contract for a year at a time.

"I said, 'I can do it,' and I was hired in the spring of 2012," he said.

During some lectures, he speaks Arabic 75 percent to 80 percent of the time, and the students banter with him as well. He writes on the white board in delicate and graceful script, in lettering that "comes toward your heart."

"When you look at Arabic letters, you are experiencing how beautiful a language can look for the first time often, because we just don't have that experience with English," Work said.

Myrt Westphal, retired associate dean for student life at Swarthmore College, said Work is an example of "personal intellectual excellence and a symbol of international engagement." Westphal knew Work when he attended Swarthmore, and the retired associate dean now lives in Missoula.

"I think he is a role model for our young people in how he lives his beliefs," Westphal said in his nomination of Work for this series. "I think it (is) important to celebrate young educators, to encourage others to follow in those footsteps and remind residents that educators are part of our economic enterprise."

Work teaches Arabic language and culture I, II and III at Hellgate, and he also teaches beginning and intermediate courses at Sentinel and Big Sky high schools. In the community, he works with refugees and works to reduce Islamophobia.

People need to learn about the realities of each other's lives, Work said. Learning a language offers one of the deepest connections to another's culture, and the ability to navigate different cultures helps people in other endeavors, he said.

Work supports language teaching in general, but he also supports the teaching of the most widely spoken languages, ones not often taught in U.S. schools.

"It mystifies teachers of Chinese, Arabic and Hindi because those are the No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5," Work said.
RONAN  Soft, coppery evening light casts slanting shadows across Ronans main street, a sleepy town of about 1,800 on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Signs for 2nd CHACE Saloon and Ronan Cafe & Bakery hang above the sidewalk. A stray cat wanders, its exaggerated evening shadow following obediently as it seeks some affection from bar goers.

Laura Blaker stands in the middle of Main Street and holds up her phone to snap a picture. Shes looking for the places where color, shadow and history meet. In the background, a nearly full moon rises above the Mission Mountains.

This is like going back in time, Blaker says.

Blaker, a Missoula-based painter, teacher and single mom, is traveling to every town in the state for a project called Main Street Montana. After she snaps a photo on her phone, Blaker returns to her apartment in Missoula to paint, using the photos as a guide. On a trip to Virginia City in January, Blaker felt an urge to paint the towns rustic main street, and thought: Why stop there? Why dont I paint all of them?

I think its that they havent changed in 100 years, Blaker said. Its so interesting to me. And even if they have, theyre so quirky and funky.

Blakers paintings are bold and dramatic, bordering on abstract. Using a palette knife dipped in acrylic paint, she creates vivid, textured pieces that capture a towns details while blending the colors of buildings and trees.

Of about 300 towns in Montana  some of which comprise little more than a church, school and cafe  Blaker has finished painting eight. She expects the entire project to take her three years. Friends have already contacted her about painting towns where their grandparents grew up  places Blaker has never even heard of, despite living in Missoula for 30 years.

Im just excited to go there, Blaker said while driving to Ronan, because Im a traveler at heart.

***

Blakers mom loved art history, and she often dragged her daughter to museums and galleries. Blaker liked the galleries but the big museums bored her. She never planned to be a painter, and instead studied graphic design in college, before computers were mainstream. Blaker stumbled into painting in Montana, she says, because its what she was always supposed to do.

As her career unfolded, that certainty would only grow stronger, as outside forces worked to support her when she wasnt sure how to take the next step on her own.

When Blaker moved to Missoula at 28 and began volunteering backstage for the Missoula Community Theatre, she got a glimpse of her innate artistic talent. It started with painting sets for the theater, which gave her a chance to be creative. Her work stood out, and she eventually was hired to paint all the sets.

From there, Blaker was asked to paint a mural at HuHot Mongolian Grill in Missoula. When the restaurant became a national franchise, Blaker painted murals in their restaurants across the country.

Blaker didnt have any formal painting education when she began the murals, so she learned as much as she could from books and videos. For her first mural, and for every painting she does today, she began by painting the entire wall black. Using chalk fastened to the end of a hollow stick, Blaker drew the foundational lines of her mural, designing it as she went.

When HuHot expanded, Blaker was hired to paint 41 murals. Each was unique, but they all featured a dragon. The last mural she painted for HuHot, an 1,800-square-foot creation, took her a week to finish.

After working for HuHot, Blaker spent a month creating a mural for Missoulas Wilma Theatre. The mural has since been painted over, but Blaker said she isnt upset by that. Instead, she changed her business model. As demand for her work increased, a friend gave Blaker some advice: Murals are worth nothing if you cant take them with you, her friend said. So, she began painting on canvas.

Blaker felt limited by her lack of art education, and she learned from her ex-husband, an actor, that there is a method to every art. It helps to learn the method first, before finding a unique style.

Even Picasso studied realism first, she said.

This lesson helps Blaker when she teaches classes at Painting With a Twist, where her students learn to paint, made uninhibited by wine.

To learn the foundations of painting, Blaker felt compelled to study in the birthplace of the Renaissance: Florence, Italy. She had visited Italy before, with a friend after college, but didnt ever expect to return. Now with an 8-year-old, divorced and with a looming unpaid loan on her house, Blaker didnt know how she could afford to travel to Italy to study at the Florence Academy of Art.

She knew only that she needed to go. In a symbolic way, she dared the universe to help her. Blaker printed out two pictures of $100,000 bills, and taped them to her computer. She looked at them every day.

It worked. After days spent looking at the printed bills, Blakers ex-husband came to her with news.

I think, he told her, still stunned. I think Ive won the lottery.

***

With a portion of the $200,000 her ex-husband won, Blaker had enough money to pay off her loan and fly to Florence with her daughter. There, she learned the basics of painting  its different styles, techniques and rich history.

Now, Blakers style is defined by its bright colors and acrylic impasto technique. Her strokes with the palette knife are visible and textured. Blakers last project focused on Missoula neighborhoods. Shed bike around town, taking photos with her phone to create small snapshots of Missoula.

Her new project takes that approach deeper into Montanas history and character. It captures the spirit of disregarded rural towns, often perceived as places you drive through on the way to somewhere else.

Blaker began her Main Street Montana series close to home, with a painting of Missoula. The painting looks down Higgins from a unique angle behind a row of trees on the sidewalk. Blaker was deliberate about what she chose to include.

In her painting, the now-demolished Missoula Mercantile, a downtown icon for more than 140 years, reflects a row of trees in its windows. The Florence Hotel, also an historic landmark, is featured across the street. A faint peace sign adorns the mountainside in the background. The C.P. Higgins Bank building, with its gray dome pointing skyward, peeks through the trees. Blaker once lived in an apartment in that building. The towns history connects with her own.

Ive got the pieces of Missoula that I love, Blaker said.

When Blaker finishes a painting, a print shop in Denver creates high-quality prints of the original, which sell for $110. The originals cost $500. For some towns, the originals have sold before Blaker has even begun painting. To date, Blaker has finished painting Missoula, Hamilton, Victor, Corvallis, Whitefish, Stevensville, Darby and Lolo.

***

The paintings of Missoulas bigger cities, Blaker knows, will sell more prints. But this project is meant to be more than a visual series. Accompanying every painting, she wants to tell a story about the place and its people. Some of those stories come from old friends eager to share their family histories.

Last winter, when Blaker confided in a group of close friends about her new idea, Melanie Charlson immediately asked to introduce Blaker to her hometown, Bonner. Charlson and Blaker have been friends for 30 years, since they met at MCT, where Blaker painted sets and Charlson acted.

Since then, Charlson, who now works as president of the Missoula Education Association, has closely followed and supported Blakers painting career. In fall 2013, Charlson attended Blakers first art show, which featured paintings of Missoula neighborhoods. Charlson had just returned from cancer treatment in Seattle, which drastically weakened her immune system.

The art show was Charlsons first public outing since undergoing treatment. Being around other people was a risk to her health, so she only went for a half hour. Charlson was blown away by one of Blakers bigger pieces at the show  a painting of Rattlesnake Creek, rich with purples, golds and greens. Charlson taught for 14 years in that area, and the image struck a chord.

After the show, Charlsons friends bought it for her, and installed it at her house as a surprise. When she saw it hanging in her home, she broke down in gratitude.

I was in a puddle of tears, she said.

For Charlson, Blaker's new series reaches deeper into her personal history, stretching back generations.

Three weeks ago, Charlson and Blaker visited Bonner to take the photo that would inform Blakers painting. Charlson knew exactly what she wanted: a view facing the Blackfoot River, with the house she lived in until she was 7 on the left, and her grandparents' house on the right.

I wanted the shot of Bonner to be more nostalgic and reflect more of my familys history back there, Charlson said.

Beginning in the 1950s, Charlsons grandparents owned a cafe in what is now the Bonner Post Office. Her father worked at the lumber mill for more than 40 years, and her mother worked as an administrative assistant for the same company. Bonner used to be the hub of the lumber industry, Charlson said, and she remembers growing up with logs piled across from her house and the smell of sawdust clinging to her fathers clothes.

Blakers paintings capture that history in ways a photograph cannot, Charlson said.

I'm grateful shes preserving that. For me, the history is that its my grandparents' place. My dad went to Bonner School, I went to Bonner School. Im just grateful that I can have it preserved in such a beautiful artistic manner.

***

Blakers first Main Street Montana showing will be held on First Friday, July 7, at A&E Architects from 5 to 8 p.m. She hopes to have 15 paintings finished for the show, and will hold another in a few months when the next batch is completed.
WHITEFISH  Standing on the deck of the modest retirement home built by her parents in 1953, Debbie Biolo can see Whitefish Lake, where she learned to swim. She also can see the small house where her sister, Linda McCarthy, lives with their 89-year-old father and, beyond that, the nearly 6,000-square-foot vacation getaway built last year by a Wisconsin familys trust as an investment property.

The ritzy homes of new neighbors drove up the land value of their 1.5-acre family property to a combined $2.4 million. Annual taxes peaked at $19,000, up from $4,000 about a decade ago. To pay the bills, Biolo and her husband have spent retirement savings faster than planned and contemplated selling and moving away. McCarthy and her father move out of their home each summer to live in a trailer at the KOA campground so they can rent their home to vacationers. Rather than inviting their own grandchildren to swim in the lake, the sisters watch the kids of strangers splash around the shore.

One recent afternoon, McCarthy took a break from yard work, prepping her home for the families that will move in a few days at a time, to express her frustration at the taxes eating up so much of her Social Security and the half payments of her deceased husbands Navy pension.

The property tax is just about to force me to sell, she said. "Weve got this new, beautiful home over there. I dont think I should be taxed on the fact these people have that kind of money. Because thats not fair.

But this summer might be the last time McCarthy and her father rent out their house to strangers. When their property tax notice arrives in November, the sisters will worry less about having to give up their family homes because the Montana Legislature approved a new program that will limit the size of their tax bills, potentially reducing them by 70 percent.

For more than 30 years, Biolo and McCarthy, along with a handful of other Flathead-area families, have fought at the state Legislature for some kind of property tax relief that would keep Montanans in the homes passed down for generations. They have watched neighbor after neighbor decide to sell and move away, often to a new town, because, they say, of high property tax bills. A previous state program that reduced bills for homeowners who saw large increases is now defunct because of a change from a 6-year to a 2-year reappraisal cycle. Household income limits, usually about $45,000, also mean many middle-class Montanans cannot qualify for two other programs for the elderly and disabled veterans.

In April, a bill carried by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, passed the Legislature. Despite concerns from the Department of Revenue that the program might face a court challenge, Gov. Steve Bullock signed Senate Bill 94 last month.

Montana is not for sale to the highest bidder after all, Regier said.

Bullock, via email, said he signed the legislation because it "was a bipartisan effort to help homeowners who have lived on the same great piece of Montana land for a long time.''

"Many Montanans contacted me and my office to ask me to sign the legislation, including local elected officials and community leaders,'' he said. "It was a decent fix, which is why I ultimately decided to sign the bill."

Opponents of the bill argue that the assistance only helps a sliver of Montanans in a particular type of situation and not necessarily those who need the most help. Even some who supported the measure say it is too little, too late for many families.

This bill was designed to address a real problem, but only for (a) very, very, very selected group of people who have that problem. This bill is designed to address a very specific situation that exists at Whitefish Lake, Sen. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, said. When you try and provide a benefit for a particular class or group or people, when other people in similar circumstances dont quite qualify, it creates a lot of a lot of potential inequities.

For instance, he wondered why someone living on the lake should receive tax relief but not a family living in town with a similar home and income. He also noted that towns like Missoula and Bozeman also face problems with housing prices and taxes spiking because of rapid growth, but those communities will see little benefit from SB 94 because of the way it ties qualification to a ratio between home and land values rather than overall ability to pay. Barrett had proposed an amendment to the bill that wouldve required the owner to repay the state for the total value of tax relief received upon selling their property, which he thought would bring some fairness to the program.

***

Although Whitefish families have been the loudest to demand help at the Montana Capitol, the new assistance program could benefit thousands of people statewide. For instance, there might be as many as 1,300 qualifying homes in Missoula County, 1,400 in Flathead, 700 in Gallatin, 400 in Lewis and Clark, and 150 in Ravalli, according to an analysis of state data about residential properties of 5 acres or less. The catch: The land must have been held in the family for at least 30 years. As a result, the number of people helped is likely to be dramatically lower because they are secondary homes or have not been owned that long.

Regier admits the new program created by his bill will benefit only a few hundred or few thousand homeowners, but that doesnt lessen its need.

These people didnt do anything to increase the value of their homes, he said.

Overall, Montana ranks in the middle of the pack when comparing the effective property tax rate for owner-occupied homes around the country, according to reports by the nonpartisan non-profit Tax Foundation. Coupled with relatively low home values across much of the state  compared to inflated prices seen in some states and urban areas  most Montanans pay property tax bills that are lower than people living similarly in all but a few states.

But tax rates are only part of the affordability challenge. Even property tax bills that are relatively low by national standards can be a burden for families who spend significant portions of their income on long commutes for work, have ongoing health expenses or live on a fixed income.

Its tough to make a living in the Bitterroot Lots of people have left, Sen. Pat Connell, R-Hamilton, said. Many people still living in the valley as taxes have risen and jobs remain scarce had stubbornness, money or both.

Connell, the Whitefish families and others say rising property taxes contribute to pushing Montana families out of the homes and towns where they have roots, causing those communities to transform into destinations for recent transplants or resort playgrounds for the rich. To them, its not just a battle over bills. Its a fight for identity and vibrancy of their communities.

After the passage of SB 94, Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfield wrote a letter urging Bullock to sign it into law.

Today, only 45 percent of the lakefront properties on Whitefish Lake are owned by Montana residents, a dramatic 40 decrease since the 1980s, he wrote. When a community such as Whitefish loses families that have comprised the fabric of our town for decades, the result is a deterioration of our sense of place and authenticity.The true assets of Montana are its residents, and in towns and cities like Whitefish, maintaining our main street sense of place is of vital importance to our community and economic well being.

Several other Whitefish residents wrote letters to Bullock that echoed the one written by Muhlfield, saying SB 94 is as much about preserving Montana culture and values as it is about tax bills.

Among them is Marcia Sheffels, a 72-year-old who taught in Montana schools for 47 years and retired recently after serving as superintendent of Flathead County schools. She lives in the home her parents built in 1953 when it was cheaper to buy lakeshore property than a lot downtown. She said the relief provided by SB 94 is no different than lower tax policies designed to keep farming and ranching families on their legacy properties.

Yet other families legacy properties, such as my familys in the Flathead, are being forced from our homes, she wrote the governor. While we are not farmers, my father worked for the newly constructed Anaconda Aluminum Plant, was vested in this community and through hard work was able to establish a family home Our family has given to our community and state for generations, only to now be forced out of our very home  a shocking consequence.

***

One of the people who has urged the Legislature for tax relief the longest is 90-year-old Ranger Doug Follett, who first traveled to Helena to testify at the Legislature and speak with the governor in 1993.

He moved to Whitefish when it was still a railroad town, taught history in Columbia Falls for decades, worked 55 summers in Glacier National Park and served on the Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee. He lives on the property he and his wife bought in 1952 in the house he built himself despite having never before built anything bigger than a birdhouse. Sitting by the fireplace with rocks he hauled from the top of a favorite nearby peak, he talked about why the state has a responsibility to help keep Montana families in their homes.

The money means nothing to me. Itd be nice to have it, but I dont have to have it. From this point, you can see the entirety of Whitefish Lake, he said. Is America just about profit?

Barrett, the legislator, agreed that communities have value beyond the kind governments tax. But he said that cant be the sole basis for deciding property taxes.

We cant base tax policy on peoples subjective valuations that way, he said. There isnt any reasonable or coherent way to exempt people from paying property taxes on the value simply because they say, Well, its really important to me even though I cant afford it. 
Tiffany Matthews didn't know she'd be able to go to college until the last month of her senior year in high school.

When she was just 4, her dad committed suicide. Her mom raised Matthews and her little sisters on her own in Missoula. Her mom cleaned houses, worked as a waitress, and did odd jobs.

Sometimes, back problems prevented her from working.

"She really struggled pretty hard," Matthews said. "We always had food and a roof over our heads, but we knew that if we wanted to go to school, we would have to do it ourselves."

Early on in high school, or maybe late middle school, Matthews and her friend saw some posters about Upward Bound, a college preparation program for low- income and first-generation students. The pair signed up.

The campus tours made college life feel like a possibility for Matthews, and the classes fueled her passion for education.

"I realized how much I really loved learning and spending my time gaining more knowledge," Matthews said.

She toured the University of Montana, where she visited the Davidson Honors College, and she saw Carroll College in Helena and Montana State University in Bozeman.

"It was mostly close because I couldn't really travel that far. We just didn't have the money and resources to travel," Matthews said.

In high school, Matthews had transferred to Big Sky High School specifically for its focus on science. She wanted to pursue a degree in science after graduation, but she wasn't sure how to make it a reality.

Having grown up in poverty, the idea of racking up $80,000 in debt  the cost of roughly four years of tuition and fees, books and living expenses at UM  wasn't going to fly with her.

She didn't want to work full time and go to school full time either, and she didn't want to postpone college.

"People would tell me, 'Oh, if you don't go right after high school, you probably won't go at all,'" Matthews said. "That was really terrifying because I'm really scared of getting into a lot of debt because of how I grew up."

So in her senior year of high school, she took an Upward Bound class dedicated to scholarship applications. Soon, the awards started piling up.

In the spring of her senior year, she learned she was the recipient of the Dell Scholars Scholarship, which gave her not only money but a laptop and textbook credits.

"I think at that point, with my Pell Grant, it would be enough to where I wouldn't be too scared to take out loans if I had to," Matthews said.

Through Dell, she earned $20,000 over the course of four years, and all her scholarships combined to give her a full ride.

***

In the fall, Matthews will enter her junior year, and she's a double major in microbiology and laboratory sciences. She's enrolled in the Davidson Honors College and the Global Leadership Initiative.

Once she graduates, she may head to medical school or get a job as a medical technician at a hospital.

So far, she's been able to avoid taking out loans.

Matthews shops at thrift stores and garage sales for the things she needs. If she goes out to eat, she splits a meal with a friend. She's shared textbooks when she has friends in the same class.

"I managed to stretch that money pretty far," she said of her scholarships.

She sees her friends struggling with affordability and worrying about debt. In Montana, students graduate on average with $26,000 in loans, according to data from the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

Matthews encounters many people just outside the poverty range, too. Their parents can't afford to pay, but financial aid won't, either.

"So they're stuck in the middle there," Matthews said.

Before she found out she had earned the scholarships to pay for school, Matthews was on the fence about going to college and falling into debt.
Montanans have good reason to be worried about health care.

From rising costs to shrinking access, theres plenty to keep us awake at night. Then theres the current congressional reform efforts  yet another reason to fear the worst.

Montanas senators are in a critical position, as a critical moment, to help determine who will receive health care in the future  and who will pay for it.

These are literally life-and-death decisions. We cannot afford to divide them along party lines. Montana needs both its senators to work together to ensure all Montanans have access to affordable health care.

The health bill that was approved by members of the U.S. House in early May, before the Congressional Budget Office released its scores, is a haunting illustration of just how badly health reform can go wrong.

The CBO report concludes, among other things, that the American Health Care Act would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion by 2026  and leave 24 million Americans uninsured. People who live in rural areas like Montana would face the highest cost increases and the most risk for loss of coverage. Insurers would be free to raise prices for people with pre-existing conditions.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that the AHCA would basically put an end to Medicaid expansion  cutting $834 billion from Medicaid over 10 years  which would leave some 11 million low-income adults without health care coverage of any kind. Billions of dollars in costs would be shifted to individual states, a losing proposition for Montana any way you look at it.

The Montana Department of Health and Human Services estimates that our state stands to lose $251 million in Medicaid funds. More than 240,000 Montanans currently receive Medicaid. Nearly half of them are children enrolled in the Health Montana Kids Program, according to the Montana Budget and Policy Center, which also notes that nearly half of the 77,000 low-income residents who enrolled in the Montanas Medicaid expansion plan live in rural parts of the state.

And even in Montanas most populous county, Yellowstone County, those over the age of 60 would be hit with average premium increases of more than $10,670 per year, according to the Montana Budget and Policy Center.

Montanas U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines have both talked about working toward more affordable health care and greater access in rural communities. The ACHA clearly does not do this.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, is no cure-all, but its a damn sight better than its proposed replacement. Neither senator should support the ACHAs callous approach to deficit reduction. Instead, they should present a united front for reforms that focus on fixing the significant problems left over from the ACA.

Both senators have acknowledged that there are indeed serious problems with the ACA. For one, premiums have continued to rise under the ACA, with the Department of Health and Human Services most recent report showing that average monthly premiums have increased by 133 percent over the past four years, to $581 in 2017.

Meanwhile, providers continue to drop out of the market, and some counties now have no insurers. Only a handful of the 23 co-ops that started with ACA are still standing, and those that remain are struggling. And the CBO expects Medicaid expansion through the ACA to add $1 trillion more spending over next decade.

In his Senate discussions, Daines told the Missoulian editorial board last week, he has been concentrating on looking at backstops to prevent further collapse. His priorities, he emphasized, are improving affordability and protecting access. This means, Daines says, stabilizing the market and maintaining coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, as well as the elderly and the indigent.

Daines must understand that any reduction in federal Medicaid funding will hurt Montana. It will hurt those providers in rural communities who rely on Medicaid reimbursements to pay their bills, and it will hurt individuals who cannot pay for health care any other way. Proposals to shift more authority to the states, while they may sound like a solid strike for states rights, will not alleviate Montanans worries about costs because Congress has a long history of failing to follow through. The budget gets tight, the political winds shift, and the money that was supposed to be dedicated to the states dries up. Montanans have seen it happen time and again.

Montanas senators have teamed up on important matters in the past, but they are not yet working together on this pressing issue of health care, despite claiming to share many of the same priorities.

As a Democrat, Tester is being shut out of Republican-led discussions in the Senate. Republican Daines, meanwhile, is deeply involved in those same discussions. Its important for Daines and Tester to get on the same page, both because its whats best for Montana and because their united front will lend any resulting legislation some much-needed credibility.

Involving Montanans in these discussions is also key to credibility, and Daines has suffered a blow on that score for an apparent lack of availability. While Tester has held at least a dozen listening sessions specifically on health care in communities from Missoula to Glasgow, Daines has opted to host tele town halls on more general topics in which tens of thousands of Montanans called in, hoping for a chance to address health care. Daines has held 16 such events since he was seated in the Senate, including one just this past week in which he expected some 30,000 callers to participate.

Meeting with and hearing from Montanans face-to-face is a very different experience than tele town halls. Tester could provide that crucial perspective from his in-person meetings around Montana; Daines could then elevate it to Senate leadership  before they present their draft legislation, which might happen before the end of this month.

If, in spite of their combined efforts, that legislation looks anything like the AHCA, both of Montanas senators must join together in voting against it.
The June afternoon heat had hit its peak last week as two dogs lay quietly in the dirt. Brown and black with scruffy hair, they lingered in a scrap of shade beneath a towering McDonalds sign on the side of U.S. Highway 160 in Tuba City.

Only when a tourist walked close by with his own leashed pup did the dogs rouse themselves to bark half-heartedly.

Dogs like these, with no collars and no nearby owner to claim them, have long been a part of life in Tuba City and across the Navajo Nation. While some meander harmlessly around parking lots and through neighborhoods, others have been known to intimidate kids walking home from school, nip at people going for runs or walks, harm livestock and other dogs and, in rare tragic cases, maul people to death. Often, they arent spayed or neutered and reproduce rapidly, and they are more prone to carrying and spreading disease, creating problems that spiral out of control.

With few resources to help them, animals who are abandoned or never had a home in the first place can end up getting hit by cars, succumbing to disease or starving to death.

While it is a long-simmering issue, some across the reservation, including a group of second graders in Tuba City and the new head of the Navajo Nations animal control, are trying to change its course.

We need to get real. People need to be responsible for their pets, said Glenda Davis, the new program manager for Navajo Nations animal control program.

LACKING RESOURCES

A veterinary technician by training, Davis took the manager position in July with ambitious goals of reforming animal control and animal ownership on the reservation. As if to underscore the challenges she faced, just a few days after Davis took the helm, a 3-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of dogs near Dilkon on the Rez.

The Nation has six animal control officers to patrol the 27,000 square-mile reservation  about 4,500 square miles per officer. And with each of the approximately 46,000 households on the Navajo Nation owning four to five dogs, according to Davis estimate, the total number of dogs across the reservation could be as high as 230,000.

Responding to just three bite calls can take an officer two days because they are so far apart, she said.

Davis department has just three functioning kennels to take in the animals that control officers pick up. Due to lack of space and resources, animals are almost immediately euthanized, she said. The department destroys an average of 10,000 animals per year, according to a 2017 program report.

With so many calls about vicious dogs, bite cases, attacks on livestock and nuisance dogs, there is little time for officers to respond to calls from tourists or residents who report abandoned or unwanted animals, Davis said.

What we find is puppies dropped off at intersections, food establishments, gas stations -- and its ugly to see an animal starving for food, she said. Oftentimes, though, they have to let those calls go.

Davis is working on multiple fronts to address animal control challenges on the reservation, including pushing for stronger laws, laws that specifically address animal cruelty and cooperation from local courts to actually process and hear cases against people cited for animal control violations instead of letting many of them go. She also requested and got a proclamation from President Russell Begaye that announces a 2017 campaign to collar, license, vaccinate and confine pets, though the language isnt as strong as Davis had wanted. She is committing her animal control officers to staff the animal shelters two days a month to provide collaring, licensing and vaccinations to the public and is hoping to reopen animal shelters in Tuba City and Crownpoint, New Mexico that were closed due to building deficiencies and land ownership issues.

She is also working on a voucher program to help people afford spay and neuter procedures and other veterinary services.

But to be truly effective, Davis said her program needs more animal control officers and additional funding. She thought the 3-year-olds death and another mauling death several months later would have triggered a renewed focus and more resources for her program, but they really havent, she said.

CLASSROOM CHANGE

In Tuba City, it was a group of second graders that took on the task of addressing roaming dogs in the community. Teacher Leslie Hosteen Jr. said several students in his class at Tuba City Boarding School told stories of being bit or chased by dogs, being scared to ride their bikes around certain areas and seeing their own pets killed by other aggressive dogs. A January article in the Navajo-Hopi Observer also reported that the Tuba City school district had received requests for school bus drivers to drop students off in front of their homes instead of at bus stops because of aggressive packs of dogs in the area.

Wanting to make a difference, the class did research about the tribes animal control laws and resources, wrote letters and presented at a chapter meeting, asking tribal officials to address the problem humanely. Their work spurred animal control officers to do a sweep of Tuba City, where they picked up about 40 dogs. Chapter President Gerald Keetso also said the chapter is working with the Navajo Nation to reopen its kennel and looking at ways it might fund an extra animal control officer for Tuba City.

Its a major issue, Keetso said after a recent chapter meeting.

Hosteen also acknowledged, however, that addressing animal ownership runs into long-held beliefs and practices about how people view pets.

A lot of people are like, I feed it when it comes to my doorstep but its not my dog, he said. Its very hard to step on what has always been, but the kids did raise a lot of awareness.

ANIMAL CAREGIVER

Rose Moonwater was one of those especially encouraged by the second-graders in Hosteens class. Moonwater is the president of the Tuba City Humane Society, which unlike Flagstaffs humane association, is a teeny little rescue foster group without any sort of facility and scarce resources, she said.

The nonprofit responds to calls about animals that appear to be abandoned or homeless or injured in the area, then tries to find foster homes for the strays, Moonwater said. Volunteers work on getting the animals adopted within the community or pass them along to adoption organizations in places like Flagstaff and Phoenix, she said. Last year, the small nonprofit helped 238 animals.

Several factors contribute to the number of animals without homes, Moonwater said. Oftentimes, people get puppies but then, when they grow up, dont want the dogs anymore. There are also both strays and animals with owners that roam loose and arent fixed. They breed quickly, producing even more puppies and kittens. Female dogs, for example, can have a litter of puppies up to twice a year.

People come through and are so shocked at the situation that its hard for them to fathom that there aren't the resources that they have where they live, Moonwater said.

Its not just a matter of needing more money and people though. There also needs to be more buy-in from the community to get their animals spayed or neutered, vaccinated, collared, licensed, and to contain them, Moonwater said.

There is so much that is needed but it really has to be in context of the whole community taking more responsibility, she said.

CHANGING ATTITUDES

Some of the struggles with exploding numbers of dogs and cats on both the Navajo and Hopi reservations are also linked to cultural beliefs and more rural-oriented attitudes toward pet ownership, said Adrienne Ruby, a veterinarian who lives in Dilkon but travels to Tuba City weekly to provide veterinary services. When she worked on the Hopi reservation, for example, Ruby said many people wouldnt get their pets spayed or neutered because they believed it would affect their own fertility. Others viewed it as an unnatural process.

As far as animals roaming loose, thats a rural attitude as much as a Native American one, she said. People in those areas just dont think about putting their dogs on a chain or a leash, Ruby said.

Its a totally different animal culture," she said. Things like a million dogs running around, its a very normal thing up here.

She does see attitudes changing though and people taking more responsibility for their animals.

I think there are a lot of people who really don't care, but there are a lot of people who do, she said.

This article has been edited from its original version.
Take the Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine disaster out of the equation, and 1917 was still a devastating year for Butte miners, and for the men who worked at the Anaconda Smelter as well.

Seventy-one additional men died on the job in 1917, with October being the deadliest month. The number could have gone higher, if not for the mining strike in the summer and early fall.

Falling rock seemed to be much more problematic in 1917, with several miners dying as a result.

Thats what killed Alex Kivi, 28, on Jan. 3. Kivi, a native of Finland, was working on the 500-foot level of the old Molly Murphy Mine, which was part of the Anaconda Mine, when rock came loose and struck him in the head.

The cause of death was the same for station tender William Harty, 32, who died on March 13 at the Speculator Mine. Harty had been employed by the mine for five years.

An explosion Jan. 29 at the Mountain Con Mine killed two men, Richard Bathgate, 29, and Bert Campbell, 26. Both men left wives behind.

One hundred years ago, there was a good reason why St. Marys Parish was known as the widows parish. So many Irish Catholic miners lived near the church in the neighborhoods of Dublin Gulch, Corktown, and Muckerville. Irish born Patrick Byrne fit the criteria. He lived and worked in the Irish neighborhood. He and his wife, Mary, lived at 511 N. Main St., and Patrick worked at the Steward Mine, which was just a hop, skip and a jump from his home. He was 36 when he was killed March 9.

During its working years, the Original Mine had 43 deaths, including the May 3 deaths of Fred Rowe, 46, and Angelo Zucally, 40.

The experienced miners were killed in a May 3 cave-in. Rowe was the married father of eight children. Zucally lived with his wife and 14-year-old son at 1138 E. Second.

Inexperience may have played a hand in Albert Crones death. The Butte native was just 23 years old when he was killed just before Christmas at the Berkeley Mine. Crone, whose nickname was Tink, fell 15 feet onto a pile of rocks. His obituary stated that he was a popular young fellow and belonged to the Jazz Owl Club.

Thanks to documents from the Butte Archives and newspaper articles from 100 years ago, below is a complete list of all the miners killed from January through December 1917.

JANUARY

Sam Adamovich, Pittsmont Mine

Richard E. Bathgate, Mountain Con Mine

Bert Campbell, Mountain Con Mine

Oliver Cann, Tramway Mine

Ira Dooley, Speculator Mine

John K. Forbes, Speculator Mine

John Hone, Mountain Con Mine

Alex Kivi, Anaconda Mine

FEBRUARY

Joe Bruno, Neversweat Mine

Nels Carlson, Anaconda Smelter

Matt Erkila, Speculator Mine

John Holten, Silver King Mine

Andrew Lehto, Bullwhacker Mine

William D. Levein, West Colusa Mine

James Murray, Speculator Mine

John M. Stewart, Black Rock Mine

Alfred Zielor, North Butte Mining

MARCH

Patrick Byrne, Steward Mine

William Harty, Speculator Mine

Frank Mingus, Mountain Con Mine

L.E. Lane, Anaconda Smelter

Mike Rozic, Pittsmont Mine

John Simon, Speculator Mine

Joseph E. Sullivan, Diamond Mine

Alexander Sutherland, Anaconda Smelter

APRIL

Frank Dearro, Baltimore Mine (west of Butte)

George B. Evans, Neversweat Mine

John Holten, Silver King Mine

Edward H. Hughes, Black Rock Mine

John Pikkiri, Poulin Mine

Thomas Roskilly, Anaconda Smelter

MAY

Wesley Atchison, Anaconda Smelter

Ed Hughes, Butte & Superior Mine

John S. Murphy, Butte & Superior Mine

Charles Porlace, Alice Mine

Frederick Rowe, Original Mine

John Serich, Bell Mine

Michael Wagner, Black Rock Mine

Angelo Zucally, Original Mine

JUNE

Charles Davis, St. Lawrence Mine

Thomas Flaherty, St. Lawrence Mine

George E. Hope, Black Rock Mine

Mike McGaw, Emma Mine

JULY

None

AUGUST

Novica Kujunzich, St. Lawrence Mine

Charles Stossel, Anaconda Smelter

SEPTEMBER

Alfred Bird, Colorado Mine

Peter Granpre, Gagnon Mine

OCTOBER

William Borlace, Elm Orlu Mine

Bartol Corr, Anaconda Smelter

Hacon Daniels, Butte Czar Mine

Thomas Houston, Grey Rock Mine

James King, Anaconda Smelter

Percy LeBeau, Black Rock Mine

Najib Solomon, Steward Mine

Tore Stenquist, Timber Butte Mill

Andrew Stergule, unknown mine

Charles Uphoff, Tramway Mine

NOVEMBER

Bartholomew Aylward, Mountain Con Mine

August Gerick, Mount Moriah Mine

Phillip Harrington, Pilot Butte Mine

Timothy Manley, Anaconda Smelter

Dominick Michelotti, High Ore Mine

DECEMBER

Elmer Arklander, Elm Orlu Mine

John Boney, Neversweat Mine

Harry Burlingame, Anaconda Smelter

Albert Crone, Berkeley Mine

James Collins, Anaconda Mine

John Gaspervich, East Colusa Mine

Mike Marshall, unknown mine

Michael May, Pennsylvania Mine
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Boy-O-Boy, the Gazette just cannot let it rest. They have graced our Opinion page again with yet another diatribe against (now Congressman) Gianforte, this time also demanding that GOP leaders apologize too. To my understanding, Greg Gianforte has apologized at least three times publicly, yet apparently this is still not enough to appease the Gazette, one of four Lee Newspapers in Montana, a press outlet for at least 40% of Montana. I have yet to read anywhere, however, where Ben Jacobs, the object of Gregs frustration, apologized to Greg for barging into Gregs inner office, interrupting his interview with a Fox news team, shoving a recorder in front of Gregs face, and asking badgering questions. Not one apology! Where is the outrage over that?

If Lee Enterprises was a fair, non-partisan, media organization, they would have asked for Bens apology for causing the confrontation. After all, it was his obnoxious behavior that Greg reacted to. But, thats part of the problem, isnt it. In my view, Lee Newspapers is part of the press biased against conservatives. As noted in the Daily Signal, June 5th, Trust in the mainstream media is at a historic low --- and rightfully so, given the behavior of many journalists. Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, it is painfully clear that the mainstream media covers liberals glowingly and conservatives critically. Considering the 2016 election coverage, and now the May 25th Congressional seat coverage, I think that says it rather well.

Its not hard to imagine what would have been written if Rob Quist had reacted similarly to such a rude and obnoxious intrusion to his inner office by a reporter; probably something like, Well of course Rob had a right to privacy in his inner office, and certainly he had a right to react to a recorder shoved into his face by a rude reporter asking obnoxious questions. In my view, the difference is Rob had a D in front of his name, and Greg an R.

A Missoulian (another Lee newspaper) Op/Ed, printed in the Montana Standard the same day as the first Gazette Op/Ed, went so far as include statements from Jeff Ballou, the president of the National Press Club and Leslie Clark a D.C journalist. Ballou stated that journalists are very busy and also very professional. Clark said that Reporters first instinct is to treat all members of Congress with respect and dignity. Professional? Respect? Dignity? Didnt see a lot of that with Ben Jacobs, did we!

Even two former public officials chimed in with their sage wisdom. Ex-Congressman Pat Williams noted that reporters deserve the respect of all our citizens. Was he including Ben Jacobs? Ex-Sec. of State Bob Brown characterized Greg Gianforte as reaching the age of 56 and showing the maturity of a 7-year-old and a loose cannon upon entering Congress. Really? Those characterizations seem more appropriate for Ben Jacobs than Greg, in my view.

But regarding Ben Jacobs, and reporters in general, where is it written that reporters have a right to be loud, obnoxious, rude, and in-your-face to obtain their story? Where is it written that people of all walks of life must surrender their rights to respect, dignity, and privacy to these paparazzi reporters? I say paparazzi because their behavior reminds me of the night Princess Diana was killed in a car that was trying to evade paparazzi photographers. I think those paparazzi apologized for their actions, but then their actions resulted in her death. Shouldnt civility between the press and the objects of their stories be a two-way street?

-- EA (Andy) Johnson, of Butte, a graduate of Montana Tech, has worked as a geologist in the mineral industry for the past 40 years.
BOZEMAN  Law enforcement agencies across Montana are looking to add staff and equipment in preparation for a crime victims' rights law that goes into effect next month.

Voters passed Marsy's Law as an amendment to the Montana Constitution last November. It is essentially a victims' bill of rights, such as their right to participate criminal proceedings and to be notified of an offender's release from jail.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports the Gallatin County attorney's office is asking for $179,000 for three positions to deal with the extra work.

Bozeman City Attorney Greg Sullivan says his office also needs more staff and better technology. He is requesting an extra $150,000.

Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst says her office has added two victim witness coordinators and may need another.
PHOENIX -- He's developed a reputation as sort of a thorn in the side of state officials.

But that doesn't bother Tim Hogan, who after 26 years is leaving as the executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest.

"I guess I look at it in terms of the role of this organization as much as anything else,'' he said.

"And if I happen to be a thorn in the side, it's representative of what this organization should be,'' Hogan explained. "That's kind of being a watchdog on government and making sure they're following the law -- and taking action when they don't.''

Hogan is now stepping aside, hoping to be without a formal job for at least a little while. But he's not retiring. And Hogan said he's going to remain available to help out with the latest lawsuit he's filed launched along with education officials challenging how the state does -- and does not -- finance school construction and repair.

In an interview with Capitol Media Services, Hogan said he's probably most proud of what he was able to achieve in alterations to school funding.

Prior to 1994, each school district was responsible for its own capital funding and repairs. Put simply, if a new building was needed, board members went to local taxpayers to borrow the money.

The problem with that, as Hogan saw it, is that all school districts are not created equally.

Some are "property rich,'' with lots of taxable industrial and commercial property. So each penny added to the tax rate generates more than what would be found in a "property poor'' district.

Or as Supreme Court Justice Frederick Martone noted in ruling for the poor districts Hogan represented, the Roosevelt Elementary School District in South Phoenix had to impose a combined tax rate of $4.37 per $100 of assessed valuation to build, maintain and operate the schools; the Ruth Fisher Elementary School District, where the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is located, has a tax rate of just 11 cents per $100.

Looking at it another way, if a poor district needs to raise $3 million for a new school, the necessary tax hike is much greater than in a rich district.

All that, the high court concluded, violated the state constitutional requirement for a "general and uniform'' school system. More to the point, the justices said that there are certain minimum requirements to ensure children have access to education -- and the state is responsible for funding them.

The ruling dropped a financial bomb of sorts into the lap of Gov. Fife Symington who had the initial task of dealing with the ruling. He not only disputed the ruling at the time but continued to fight efforts to provide more funds.

"I disagreed with him on most major issues,'' Symington told Capitol Media Services this past week when asked about Hogan and the legal fight.

But Symington said he also recognized that Hogan has not been just some gadfly.

"He was really quite a force,'' the former governor said.

"He was a really important guy you could not ignore,'' Symington said. "I always admired him as a professional.''

And now, with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight -- and no longer responsible for having to come up with the cash -- Symington conceded that the series of rulings Hogan got the high court to approve on school finance were probably ultimately right.

"There had to be some ways to balance out the disparities,'' he said, saying Hogan "used the law to achieve benefits for public education.''

That, however, worked only for awhile. Now, Hogan is working with attorneys from education groups on the very same issue, arguing that the capital construction and repair spending funding plans approved by current Gov. Doug Ducey are just as illegal as the ones the state's high court voided decades ago.

No date has been set for a hearing. But Hogan said the new lawsuit, filed earlier this year, fits squarely within the pattern he set for the organization years ago about when to go to court -- and when not to.

"We've been asserting in most of these cases that what the government is doing is violating a state constitutional provision or a federal law,'' he said. "Our strategy all along has been (that) challenging state statutes doesn't get you very far if all they have to do is change the statute.''

Hogan said he hopes to remain an active participant in the latest lawsuit -- based on what the Arizona Constitution requires of education funding -- even once he formally steps aside.

So why leave?

Some of it is personal. Hogan, now 65, said he's been steadily employed since he was 17.

"It's just time to not have a job,'' he said, even if he does remain involved in some litigation.

And there's something else.

It would be one thing if being executive director meant he just got to file lawsuits and argue cases. But much of the responsibility for keeping the lights on also falls to him.

"Our budget is about a half a million,'' Hogan said. He said there are the occasional foundation grants.

"But right now 80 percent of that is individual contributions,'' he explained. "And that's an aspect of this position that requires time and effort. And that's labor intensive.''

While Hogan is best known for his work on school finance, he's scored other significant victories.

He got courts to halt the practice of the state Land Department of using money from the trust account -- money earmarked for schools and other beneficiaries -- to operate the agency.

And Hogan got judges to throw a monkey wrench into plans by utility regulators to let competition versus a fair rate of return for utilities determine what consumers pay for electricity in Arizona.

That's not to say that Hogan never loses.

He could not convince the state Court of Appeals to void a policy adopted by the Arizona Corporation Commission that utilities could could count the electricity generated by burning trash to meet the mandate to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

But even when he hasn't prevailed, Hogan and his lawsuits have made a difference.

In 2015 a federal judge finally dismissed a decades-old lawsuit challenging what parents said was the failure of the state to ensure that all children had the opportunity to learn English. Following his normal pattern, Hogan claimed the lack of funding violated federal education laws.

The courts concluded otherwise and said the state was doing all it needed to do. But Hogan does not view the multi-year case as a loss, noting the multiple changes state lawmakers made in a bid to defeat the litigation.

"We got a lot accomplished during that time,'' he said.

"There's increased funding for 'English language learners,' '' Hogan said. "There's increased focus on their achievement and performance.''
The pace of news in Washington since Inauguration Day, say the old hands, has never been faster.

And in the Flagstaff region, it seems time to put out a Half-Year in Review  thats how much news 2017 has already generated.

The difference is that the news coming out of the factional strife in Washington seems almost surreal against the backdrop of local news on the Colorado Plateau. There are no doubt a difference in values underlying the debates over wages, housing, coal-fired power and the stand-your-ground defense. But at least the parties here agree more or less on a set of underlying facts and are still talking with each other, not subpoenaing them

But more later on reality vs ideology inside and outside the Beltway. As the summer solstice approaches, lets review the top local stories of 2017, even if there are six months left in the year.

WAGES IN LIMBO

--Fallout from the Flagstaff minimum wage hike. The proposition on the Flagstaff ballot in November phased in the raise to $15 an hour over five years. But when a state pay hike also passed, a clause in the Flagstaff measure bumped up minimum pay in the city to $12 starting July 1 -- $2 more than the state rate. That was more than state-funded nonprofit caregivers said they could afford. Opponents qualified a ballot measure to essentially repeal the $15 raise and reset it to the new state minimum. A council majority countered by eliminating the $2 escalator clause through 2021 and put the repeal initiative on the November 2018. The caregivers elected to stay open, at least for now.

Key takeaway: While various sides differ sharply over the impact of the wage hike on jobs and prices, as well as whether government should be so deeply involved in the labor market, nobody has sued and no one has questioned the sincerity and motives of the other side. Its a message to state lawmakers that when allowed to work out their differences, cities with home rule powers are just as capable as the Legislature  if not more so.

DETAILS MATTER

--The Hub court ruling: Developers and opponents of this 591-bed, five-story student housing project in low-rise, low-density Southside finally got their day in court. The Board of Adjustments had approved it 3-2, and the visiting judge conceded there were conflicting passages in the transect zoning code over height and density in that location. But he said the Hub developers had the right to rely on the sections with greater development rights, sending opponents away disappointed but determined to stay engaged with student housing issues and, in particular, the transect zoning code.

Key takeaway: New Urbanists who looked to mixed-use, multi-generational projects to revitalize neighborhoods have learned that details in the code matter. But city planning staff have taken the general unhappiness with the Hub to heart and are revising standards for both high-occupancy and transect zoning. And with only a few exceptions, the finger-pointing has subsided and all sides are rolling up their sleeves to revise the code.

NO TIME TO COMPLAIN

--NGS closure announcement: Despite new pollution control rules, most everyone expected the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station to operate through at least 2041, albeit without one of three units shut down. So the announcement by four out of five owners that they were getting out and shutting down the plant as early as this year hit employees and the city of Page hard. But unlike the debate in Washington that blames the decline of coal on overregulation, the NGS owners said theirs was a financial decision: coal couldnt compete with cheaper oil and natural gas and, in the near future, solar and wind. The Navajo Nation, which holds the land lease, is negotiating a two-year lease extension in the hope that a partial plant operation can be sustained. But Page and county officials already are boosting investment in value-added tourism and an amenity-based economy.

Key takeaway: Whatever animus the Trump voters in Page have toward Democrats and the Clean Power Act hasnt distracted them from taking a constructive approach to the NGS shutdown. And the plants owners have also avoided finger-pointing in favor of straight talk about the electric power industry  a refreshing change from the grandstanding in Washington.

REAL NEWS, TOUGH CHOICES

--Steven Jones nonverdict: This was the trial that for stand-your-ground advocates was going to settle the question in favor of the threatened shooter. But after the jury couldnt come to a unanimous decision on not only first-degree murder but several lesser charges, there wasnt the usual outcry that justice had or hadnt been served. Testimony at the trial showed just how difficult it would be for jurors to determine Jones state of mind and how it meshed with evidence of his actions. A new trial is pending in October, which leaves four months for both sides to weigh what it will take to get a different verdict out of a different jury.

Key takeaway: When it comes to real vs. fake news, trial coverage doesnt get much more real. Citizens who want to make judgments about our criminal justice system and the laws it enforces dont have any better window on how that system works or doesnt. And unlike the hyperpolarized adversaries in Washington and their black-and-white view of the world, they need only look to trials like that of Steven Jones to realize that life is a lot more complicated than 141-character tweets. Wed hate to think that it will come down to the various Beltway players being forced to testify under oath. But when partisan ideology threatens to overwhelm reality, that may be the only choice left.
The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) Foundation has awarded $30,000 in college scholarships to 10 students. The scholarships are awarded annually to students whose parent or legal guardian is employed by a California winegrape grower.

The 2017 CAWG recipients included two Napa County students. As part of the scholarship application, each submitted an essay about their lives, achievements and goals.

Juan Toscano, Napa, Napa High School: Four-Year University Scholarship Recipient / $2,000

Juan is a hardworking individual who has overcome many barriers in life. At a young age, he lost all motivation after his mother passed away from cancer. He eventually decided to make a change, set high standards and honor her memory with outstanding academic performance.

Juan has been a California Scholarship Federation member for four years, created a club to raise funds for cancer patients, volunteers for the Napa Boys and Girls Club and is a bilingual tutor. My parents are immigrants who did not speak English or graduate high school. This motivated me to be the first to attend a four-year university in pursuit of a civil engineering degree," he wrote.

Alvaro De Jesus, Napa, Napa High School: Two-Year Community College Scholarship Recipient / $2,000

Alvaro came to the U.S. from Mexico at a young age seeking better opportunities. His parents still live in Mexico, but other family members have supported him here. Alvaro started working in the fields when he was 13 years old and started high school a few years later.

Despite enrolling with zero credits, not knowing English and dealing with challenging classes, Alvaro persevered. He is the first in his family to graduate from high school. Alvaro plans to attend Napa Valley College, transfer to UC Davis or Sonoma State, pursuing a degree in agriculture or culinary arts. My parents have always encouraged me to do my best because education is the most rewarding gift anyone could have," he wrote.

The CAWG Foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that awards scholarships to high school seniors whose parent or legal guardian is employed by a California winegrape grower. For more information, visit cawgfoundation.org.
Pierce Carson

Long-time Napa Valley journalist L. Pierce Carson died on May 20 of cancer.

Born on Sept. 17, 1940, in Trenton, N.J., to Helen and Lyle Carson, Pierce made his home in the Napa Valley from 1967 until his death. He came to Napa after serving with the Army in Vietnam, 1965-66, where he was with the communications office. There he met a visiting journalist Ross Game, who later offered him a reporting job at the Napa Register.

As a reporter at the Register for 50 years, Pierce first covered courts and county stories, including the formation of the historic Agricultural Preserve. Later, he became the Registers resident expert on food, wine and the arts, chronicling the transformation of Napa from an unknown valley to a world-renowned wine destination.

Pierce wrote about the stars of stage, food and wine, but his heart was with the backstage workers who enabled the stars to shine  line cooks, servers, bussers, bar-backs, stagehands, and winery workers.

He was known for his generous spirit, whether he was writing reviews of high school actors or writing a check to help a student go to culinary school.

He loaned his writing talents to many community causes, especially the Napa Valley Academy Awards party held for 25 years to raise funds and awareness for AIDS and HIV prevention and treatment.

A devoted fan of the Napa Valley Symphony, he served on the board for several years, and made it a priority to review their performances.

After his death accolades came in from around the world, including from artists whom hed supported early in their career

Cabaret entertainer Sharon McNight, who has performed on Broadway, knew Pierce from high school in New Jersey, she wrote. He was literally the first person who ever helped me with costuming, she recalled. Later he wrote about her performances many times.

In Mexico he helped encourage and promote a band called Piel Canela, who got their start performing on buses in and around Puerto Vallerta. Pierce helped them get their first booking in a club, they said.

A world traveler, Pierce left a network of friends in Italy, Germany, Mexico, Peru, and the Czech Republic.

We are very sad for Pierces death read a letter from Associazione Sassoferratesi nel Mondo in Italy. We have been great friends of Pierce since many years.

Pierce is survived by his sister, Jill Carson and by his adopted family, Martin Durand, Chris Edwards, Sasha Paulsen, Sandy Smart, Roberta Quick, Pavol Mincak, Trevor Davies, Michael Rainey and Monty Sander.

Pierce asked that his remains be cremated and taken to Prague, which had become his second home.

A celebration of life for Pierce will be held on June 26. Due to the limited capacity of the hosting facility, an RSVP is required. For further information, email rememberingpiercecarson@gmail.com or call 707-880-6238 by June 20.

En lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Pierces memory to Symphony Napa Valley.
Paul Moser, author of Inside the Flavor League and prominent amongst Napans as a Trump resister, writes to explain what this extensive resistance is all about (What are we resisting, June 8).

I am grateful for his efforts on this score because I have, since November, been puzzling over that very question.

Near the close of his explanation, Moser presents a quotation from Alexander Hamilton about a man unprincipled in private life who eventually undermines a republic and assumes tyrannical control of the state. I wont torment your readership by quoting the whole passage here. But I will point out a few things about Hamiltons sentiments, supposedly on the danger of Trump.

First, I dont buy the image of a scholarly Paul Moser poring over the works of the Founding Fathers  so that, when Trump appeared on the political scene, Moser was immediately able to summon out of his voluminous memory the appropriate prophetic passage. This passage was posted with reference to Trump on the Democratic Underground website on March 12 of this year and afterward reposted in a variety of adaptations, some of which altered it in a recognizable way and for a recognizable reason.

The original passage read, ... a man unprincipled in private life, desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habitsdespotic in his ordinary demeanour..., and so on. But one chain of current Democrat adaptations omits the phrase, having the advantage of military habits, because it doesnt seem to apply to Trump, who is not a military man, although he did attend military school. Moser omits the same phrase. According to accepted principles of textual criticism, it is reasonable to conclude that Moser is quoting someone from this chain.

Of course, it is possible that Mosers source is the March 12 post at Democratic Underground, and that he decided on his own to omit the objectionable phrase. Great minds think alike. However, it is certain that Moser is not directly quoting Hamilton himself. Moser doesnt even mark the omission with an ellipsis, which a careful scholar would do automatically if he had the original source before his weary eyes.

The curious thing about the omission of this phrase is that other phrases in the passage apply to Trump even less than the one about military habits. Trump is not desperate in his fortune. He is much better off than the average member of the political class. His name is a synonym for wealth and ostentation. He goes to Saudi Arabia, and the plutocrats there treat him with elaborate adulation, in marked contrast with the way they regarded his predecessor in office. Trump may be crass, but he is far from desperate.

And its hard to see how the gaggle of leftists to which Moser belongs can acknowledge that Trump is possessed of considerable talents. Is Moser acknowledging that point?

Theres a good reason why these phrases dont apply, or dont seem to apply, to Trump as Moser understands him. The passage itself was intended to apply to two actual targets. The first, of course, is mentioned in the passage itself: it is Julius Caesar, whose heir, Octavian, received the title Augustus and remade the entire Roman state.

The second is generally acknowledged to be Aaron Burr.

As Hamilton viewed him, Burr met all the criteria listed in the passage. Unlike Trump, he was considered desperate in his fortune at various times during his life. Unlike Trump, he served in the military  as an officer in the Continental Army. Given certain presuppositions, it was perfectly reasonable for Hamilton to think of Burr as the Julius Caesar of the age.

Burr shot and killed Hamilton in a duel in 1804. This event effectively ended Burrs political career.

In one way, Trump clearly differs from Caesar and from Burr. Both actual targets of Hamiltons criticism followed the course of political honors available in their times. Caesar became military tribune, quaestor, praetor, imperator, consul, and so on. Burr served in the military, in his state assembly, as attorney general, as U.S. senator, and as vice president. Trump has not followed such a course. As a private citizen, he jumped right into the presidency  because a whole lot of people were sick of the political class.

Trump cannot be the Caesar of our age, Mr. Moser. I suggest that you keep looking.
BREVARD COUNTY, Florida  A Florida MISSING CHILD Alert has been issued for a 9-year-old boy, Sebastian Meachum, who last seen in the 800 block of Atz Boulevard in Malabar, Florida.

A house fire erupted at the residence around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, killing one person. The fire remains under investigation.

Law enforcement believes that the child may be in the company of 39-year-old Tony Hughes who was last seen wearing a black Harley Davidson t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots, and 39-year-old Chrissy Hughes.

They may be traveling in a 2012, Nautic Global Group 18 foot boat, Florida tag number 3066PJ.

Tony Hughes is described as a 510 white male, age 39, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Chrissy Hughes is described as a 55 white female, age 39, with brown hair and blue eyes.

Sebastian Meachum is described as a white male, age 9, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

If located, DO NOT APPROACH and contact law enforcement.

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Kuwait said on Sunday that Qatar has expressed willingness to understand concerns from other Gulf states.

Kuwait is acting as a mediator in the biggest diplomatic crisis in the region in years, which saw Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, plus Egypt and Yemen, on Monday announced they were cutting all ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister said in a statement carried by the KUNA press agency that his country is eager to resolve tension among Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Qataris are willing to find a solution to the current dilemma, Foreign Minister Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah said.

"(Kuwait) affirms the readiness of the brothers in Qatar to understand the reality of the qualms and concerns of their brothers and to heed the noble endeavors to enhance security and stability," the minister added.

"The state of Kuwait will not abandon its efforts and will continue its good will efforts to patch the rift and find a solution that will deal with the root cause of the causes of the dispute... in the brotherly relations," he also said.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have called on Qatar to stop supporting extremists in the region in order for diplomatic ties to be restored.

SHOW MORE

Last Update: Sunday, 11 June 2017 KSA 13:10 - GMT 10:10
Border Security Force (BSF) sources said Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at positions in Ramgarh sector.

"Pakistan Rangers violated ceasefire without any provocation when BSF troopers were busy with ground clearance. They used small arms, automatics and mortars. BSF troopers retaliated effectively.

"After intermittent exchanges continued for nearly two hours, the firing exchanges stopped," the source said.

Splinters hit some houses close to the border creating panic in the area.

Many civilians were seen running away from the line of fire in the area as people in other places remained huddled inside their homes.

Meanwhile, a defence spokesman here said Pakistani troops began firing on Indian positions in Nowshera sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri at around 6.40 p.m. Indian troops returned the fire and exchange of fire was continuing in the area as of 7.30 p.m., he added.

--IANS sq/vd

( 196 Words)

2017-06-11-19:26:10 (IANS)
Endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India vision, French conglomerate Alstom plans to manufacture 800 "super high-power" locomotives in India over a decade, its Managing Director for India and South Asia Bharat Salhotra said. Salhotra said in an interview that the company was also planning to export rail solutions from India to Australia, Central Asia and SouthEast Asia. Awarded a contract to manufacture 800 electric locomotives for Indian Railways, Alstom, a world leader in rail transport business, has decided to produce them in India -- at a factory in Madhepura in Bihar. "The factory will produce 800 locomotives of 12,000 horsepower each. The first phase of the factory should get over in September and the first locomotive will roll out from that plant in February 2018," Salhotra told IANS. He added that almost 85 per cent of the supply chain for all those locomotives would be based in India. "Eight hundred locomotives would be made in India. We would be importing some initial parts. But then we would subsequently move it to the plant in Madhepura." To achieve that, he said, local competency would be developed in India at supplier end through a partnership with France. "Combining French technology and expertise with Indian talent and entrepreneurship would help us make rapid strides." Salhotra, who received the French honour insignia of the Knight of the National Order of Merits from the French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler on Thursday, added that the company had already started moving towards the Make in India vision. "Four years ago, we started with 30 per cent (of the supply chain) coming from India and 70 per cent coming from elsewhere. Now it is the other way around." However, Salhotra said he had larger plans not just to meet the Indian requirements but to expand the business to Central and SouthEast Asia. "Our strategy is to develop our Indian footprint, first to deliver projects for India" and then to expand to other lucrative markets as well, he said. "Today we have 1,000 plus engineers in signalling who are booking almost 1.5 million hours a year, partly for India and partly for various projects across the world. "On the rolling stock front, we are designing trains in India for other countries. For example, we are going to export trains from India to Australia," Salhotra said. He added that Alstom would invest and expand its existing factories "depending on as-needed basis". "And not to forget we have the new Madhepura plant coming up. Once we have fulfilled the obligation of the Indian Railways for delivering the 800 locomotives, we can use that resource for various other projects," he added. In India, the French conglomerate started with Chennai Metro where it is providing 42 trains of four cars each. For Kochi Metro, it is providing rolling stock, signalling and power supply solutions and receiving sub-stations. It is also providing signalling system for Bengaluru Metro, train control system for Jaipur Metro and is doing track work for the Delhi Metro. In the mainline space, Alstom is working on signalling system and power supply for the World Bank-funded 343-km eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). Salhotra said Alstom's work does not end there as it is looking at building 50 metros across the country over the next 10-15 years, electrifying 4,000 km of Indian rail track every year and transform the transportation system in urban Indian cities. "The 50 metros would take some time. Typically, we would see three or four metros coming every year. "We believe we have the ability and capacity to handle that workload. And in addition to that, to also handle some workload beyond India," the Indian Institute of Management alumni said. (Vishav can be contacted at vishav@ians.in) --IANS vv/mr ( 635 Words) 2017-06-11-15:22:11 (IANS)
State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have set up a system for the smooth rollout of the daily revision of transport fuel prices across the country, the biggest OMC Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said on Sunday, even as a petrol pump dealers' body threatened to go on strike against dynamic fuel pricing. Petrol and diesel prices will be revised daily from June 16 onwards by the three OMCs in sync with global crude oil prices. Daily revision of Retail Selling Prices (RSP) has already been implemented on a pilot basis in Udaipur, Jamshedpur, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Puducherry from May 1. After the success of the experiment, IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd have now decided to implement it across the country. "This move will ensure that the benefit of even the smallest change in international oil prices can be passed down the line to the dealers and the end users," Indian Oil said in a statement here. Presently, the oil marketing companies review and revise retail fuel prices after every fortnight on the basis of global crude oil prices. IOC said extensive training of dealers would be held to ensure that customers did not face any pricing misinformation or glitches. All 26,000-plus Indian Oil dealers will be given timely information on the effective prices at a pre-designated time -- say 8 p.m. for the next day. "At a large number of Indian Oil's 10,000 automated fuel stations, daily price can be automatically updated centrally. Besides, technology also provides for scheduling the price change at midnight," it said. At the non-automated petrol pumps, dealers would get the updated price by way of four distinct means: customised SMSes, emails, mobile app and web portal for dealers. Dealers will ensure price update at their fuel stations before start of sale, every day. Updated prices will be immediately exhibited at all petrol pumps for information of the public, the statement said. For their convenience and assurance, customers would be able to fetch daily updated prices of petrol and diesel at all cities through Indian Oil's mobile app. Alternatively, customers may cross-check the prices applicable in their cities by sending an SMS. Meanwhile, the Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) has, in a statement, said there will be "no purchase no sale" of petrol and diesel on June 16 to protest the decision. "Dealers of five cities where it was launched have already burnt their fingers. They are crying at the inventory loss that they have already suffered due to the fluctuations in the daily changing prices on the inventory held by them," FAIPT said. "One tank lorry of 18 kilolitres lasts most of such small dealers 7 to 10 days. Any such decision shall wipe out his entire working capital if the prices were to go down frequently," it said. The association also said that there are dealerships where a tank lorry takes two-to-three days to reach the petrol pump and in such cases there is a strong possibility that by the time the tank lorry reaches the retail outlet its price might have already reduced causing losses to the dealer. --IANS bc/dg ( 537 Words) 2017-06-11-20:12:15 (IANS)
A study has recently found that self-monitoring of blood glucose levels in Type-2 diabetes patients, who are not treated with insulin, did not improve their health-related quality of life. The results of a randomised trial suggested that self-monitoring should not be a routine in these patients. Many patients with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin regularly perform self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), although the value of that practice has been debated. Katrina E. Donahue and Laura A. Young of the University of North Carolina conducted a trial in 15 primary care practices in North Carolina with 450 patients with non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes. The patients were an average of 61 years old, had had diabetes for an average of eight years and 75 percent were performing SMBG at baseline. The patients were assigned to one of three groups: those who performed no SMBG, those who performed once-daily SMBG and those who performed once-daily SMBG but received enhanced feedback messages delivered through their blood glucose meters. The study measured hemoglobin A1c levels (a measure of longer-term blood sugar control) across all three groups and health-related quality of life after one year. The results revealed that there were no differences in glycemic control or health-related quality of life after one year between patients who performed SMBG compared with those who did not. Attrition in the SMBG monitoring groups could explain why some improvements were initially seen in hemoglobin A1c levels in the early months that weren't significant at 12 months, according to the study. The study also did not determine the effectiveness of SMBG in certain clinical situations, such as when a new medication is started or when a dose is changed. The authors warn the results do not apply to patients with diabetes treated with insulin. Based on these findings, patients and clinicians should engage in dialogue regarding SMBG with the current evidence suggesting that SMBG should not be routine for most patients with non-insulin-treated T2DM [type 2 diabetes mellitus]. The study is published by JAMA Internal Medicine. (ANI)
Uber Technologies Inc's board will discuss Chief Executive Travis Kalanick temporarily stepping away from the embattled ride-hailing firm and consider sweeping changes to the company's management practices at a meeting today, according to a person familiar with the situation.The source said it is not clear that the board will make any decision to change Kalanick's role. The board is expected to adopt a number of internal policy and management changes recommended by outside attorneys hired to investigate sexual harassment and the firm's broader culture. The outside lawyers made no recommendation about Kalanick.The meeting, which Uber has not publicized, could be a pivotal moment for the world's most valuable venture-backed private company, which has upended the tightly regulated taxi industry in many countries but has run into legal trouble with a rough-and-tumble approach to local regulations and the way it handles employees and drivers.At the Sunday meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter, the seven voting members of Uber's board, including Kalanick, are expected to vote on recommendations made by the law firm of former US Attorney General Eric Holder, which conducted a review of the company's policies and culture.The review was launched in February after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing what she described as sexual harassment and the lack of a suitable response by senior managers. Fowler now works for digital payments company Stripe.Uber's board will likely tell employees and the public of its decisions by Tuesday, one of the sources said.An Uber spokesman had no comment. Neither Kalanick nor Holder's law firm, Covington & Burling, immediately responded to requests for comment late Saturday.Kalanick has developed a reputation as an abrasive leader, and his approach has rubbed off on his company. The 40-year-old executive was captured on video in February berating an Uber driver.Uber board member Arianna Huffington said in March that Kalanick needed to change his leadership style from that of a "scrappy entrepreneur" to be more like a "leader of a major global company." The board has been looking for a chief operating officer to help Kalanick run the company since March.The report was prepared by Holder and partner Tammy Albarrn at Covington & Burling. It comes shortly after another law firm, Perkins Coie, submitted a separate report on sexual harassment and other employee concerns at the company.On Tuesday, Uber responded to that report's findings by saying it had fired 20 employees for a variety of reasons, and was increasing training and adopting new policies. Uber said that report considered 215 cases encompassing sexual harassment, discrimination, unprofessional behavior, bullying and other employee complaints.MORE OVERSIGHT ON CEO?San Francisco-based Uber is valued at nearly $70 billion but has yet to turn a profit.Some of the recommendations in Holder's firm's report would force greater controls on spending, human resources and other areas where executives led by Kalanick have had a surprising amount of autonomy for a company with more than 12,000 employees, one person familiar with the matter said. Uber's more than 1.5 million drivers worldwide are classified as independent contractors rather than employees.Less clear is the fate of Kalanick, who with close allies has voting control of the company.The person briefed on the matter said the board will discuss Kalanick taking time off from the company. The discussion involved the possibility that Kalanick might return in a role with less authority, this person said, either in a position other than CEO or as CEO with narrower responsibilities and subject to stronger oversight.Kalanick is also facing a personal trauma: his mother died last month in a boating accident, in which his father was also badly injured.HOLDER INTERVIEWSEmployees and former employees interviewed by Holder's team complained about sexual and racial bias, bullying and retaliation, according to people familiar with their accounts.They said that Kalanick and his lieutenants had favorites who played by different rules than other employees, and that even those favorites were nervous that they could fall from grace, which they sometimes did. Uber declined comment on that characterization.One of the issues that came to Holder's team's attention, according to two people familiar with the matter, was the company's handling of a crisis in India after one of its drivers was arrested for raping a customer.Though the man was convicted in 2015, Kalanick and other executives became convinced that the crime was a set up by a local competitor, former employees said. Eric Alexander, the head of Asian business, shared medical records internally that he argued showed that the woman had been assaulted but not raped, people who spoke to him said. Alexander was fired this week; he did not return messages seeking comment. Uber confirmed Alexander had left the company but declined to discuss the matter further.REUTERS AD1052 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0108-930020.Xml
In two different raids police recovered a huge quantity of Indian Saree, which were kept ready to smuggle Bangladesh under P R Bari police station of Belonia in South Tripura yesterday. The consignment of saree was kept in two trucks on the border road and police seized both the trucks. Acting on a secret information, officer in charge of Rangamura police outpost raided the Dimatali border areas and recovered 16 bundles sarees from two trucks. However, police could not able to arrest anybody, as the smugglers managed to escape. In another raid led by additional SP in-charge Amitava Paul raided Gouranga Bazar and recovered 43 bundles and 44 bundles of sarees from two different shops based on the information shared by BSF jawans. According to estimate, the value of the recovered seizures is about Rs 50 Lakh.UNI BB AKM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-929998.Xml
Altogether 10 members of a family were killed, when their car flipped into a roadside canal under Magora police station on Mathura-Bharatpur road in the district today. Police sources here said the car, carrying natives of Subhash Nagar in Bareilly, were going to Balaji temple in Rajasthan, when the vehicle, while trying to overtake a truck, fell into a canal at around 0500 hrs. The deceased were identified as Mahesh Sharma, his wife Deepika, Poonam, Hardik, Ritik, Rohan, Khushbu, Himanshi and Surbhi, besides the driver. Officials have reached the spot and a crane was pressed into service to fish out the car from the canal. All the deceased died due to drowning. However, local villagers, who tried to save the people but failed, fished out all the bodies. Later, the villagers protested over the bad condition of road, due to which the accident occurred. They were also agitated over late coming of police on the spot.UNI MB RJ 1016 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-930008.Xml
Ahram Online

Ahead of Ramadan 2017, Canada Post issued its first ever Eid stamp honouring Islams important holidays: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.





An explanation accompanied the ten-stamp booklet:

Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are two of the most important festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Ramadan fast. Eid al-Adha commemorates Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God and marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Both celebrations can include special ritual prayers, lavish meals, visits with friends and family, gift-giving and acts of charity.

To some it may seem like a token of tolerance and respect, but to many Muslim Canadians it exhibits how valued diversity and multiculturalism are in Canada.

Over a million Muslims live in Canada, accounting for 3.2 percent of the population and making Islam the second largest religion after Christianity. Over 90 mosques are spread over the vast country, mainly in urban hubs. And since Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion, belief and peaceful assembly, faithful Muslims practice the pillars of Islam undisturbed.

However, as brazen terrorist attacks occur worldwide by those who claim to act on behalf of Islam, it is important to see how concerned Muslim Canadians are about hate crimes stemming from the backlash against these attacks: Islamophobia, discrimination, stereotyping, and fear for their personal safety.

The Islamophobic frenzy that swarms the US and Europe does not exist in Canada. Of course, Canada has not experienced a 9/11 or its aftermath. Only one case stands out: a series of shootings on Parliament Hill in 2014, by a deranged person of Libyan descent that left one soldier dead. The incident was not followed by any reported hate crimes.

As it does everywhere in the Western world, the hijab remains the most visible of Muslim traits, and the cause of much friction. One case was quite controversial in Canada.

In March, 2015, a Quebec judge refused to hear the case of a Muslim woman unless she removed her hijab. The judge compared the hijab to a hat and sunglasses, which are not allowed in court.

The judges comments were condemned by Canadians, including then prime-minister-to-be Justin Trudeau. A Quebec Superior Court justice later criticised the judges actions and considered the premise she adopted, comparing the hijab to a hat and sunglasses, to have no force of law in Canada.

Feeling safe, a Syrian refugee wears a headscarf in Downtown Vancouver despite the odd first glance by onlookers. Veiled Saudi students are treated similarly to others at universities. Muslim Iranian students, veiled and not, lead ordinary lives on Canadian campuses.

In Ontario, Muslim students pray as a group on Fridays. This has been going on for years. Lately, however, some have protested the 20-minute group prayer and called for the Jummahs" ban, calling it inappropriate exposure to religion in a secular school system.

Ultimately the Province of Ontario determined that the Friday prayer was in full compliance with human rights codes and guidelines for religious accommodation.

The niqab is a different matter altogether. Many non-Muslim Canadians see it as an infringement on rights, feeling uncomfortable with a woman covering her face in public. However, even the requirement for a woman to show her face has been ruled unconstitutional.

Zenera Ishaq, a Muslim of Pakistani origin, took the oath of Canadian citizenship while wearing a niqab. Originally, she was denied the opportunity to participate in a citizenship ceremony unless she uncovered her face. Ishaq took the issue to court and won the case.

Although hate crimes have increased in recent years, they remain minor and not deadly, with the exception of a tragedy that occurred in early 2017.

An assault on a Quebec City mosque took the lives of six Muslim worshippers and injured nineteen others. Unnerving the whole country, the assault left Canadians reeling in shock and was condemned as a terrorist attack by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Condemning the assault, Trudeau said More than one million Canadian Muslims coming to grips with a bloody terrorist attack at a Quebec City mosque must know they are loved and not alone in their pain. Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours.

Clearly Trudeau celebrates multiculturalism in all its forms. In June 2016, the prime minister spoke on multiculturalism as the long and proud tradition of inclusion and diversity.

"As the first country in the world to adopt a policy of multiculturalism 45 years ago, Canada has shown time and time again that a country can be stronger not in spite of its differences, but because of them.

"Our roots reach out to every corner of the globe. We are from far and wide, and speak over 200 languages. Our national fabric is vibrant and varied, woven together by many cultures and heritages, and underlined by a core value of respect.

"Multiculturalism is our strength, as synonymous with Canada as the Maple Leaf," Trudeau said.

Personally, I stand out only slightly in Canadian society. I have a dark complexion; I have a slight though some may say thick accent and I spend months out of the year in my birthplace: Egypt. However, I dont wear a headscarf; I am loud and outspoken; and my gender and age are not that of a stereotypical terrorist. In all fairness, I cannot represent the Muslim multitudes.

So how have I been treated in Canada? I have never been intimidated, harassed, or discriminated against verbally or physically. I enjoy the same freedoms bestowed on everyone else. While still teaching, I was often recognised as the Egyptian prof, if someone couldnt recall who I was exactly, but thats about it.

Among other ethnicities and spiritual diversities, such as Sikhs, Asians, Latinos, and Africans, everyone is an immigrant in Canada with equal rights and freedoms.

I dont know how non-Muslim Canadians would react if Canada was suddenly hit by a slew of horrendous, bloodthirsty attacks as seen elsewhere around the world. Will life in Canada as Muslims know it change?

I hope nothing of this sort happens, so that Canada may remain as inviting and as peaceful as it has always been.

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.
Chandigarh joins the league of Kolkata and Lucknow in boasting of its own Science City when the Rs 200-crore state-of-the-art project is finally realised. It will be the first Science City in the National Capital Region (NCR) and is being developed by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the aegis of the Culture Ministry. Besides Science City, Kolkata in West Bengal and the Lucknow-based Regional Science City in Uttar Pradesh, the Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurtala, Punjab and Gujarat Science City at Ahmedabad have been set up by Council of Pushpa Gujral Science City, Punjab and Gujarat Council of Science City, Gujarat respectively with financial assistance from the Culture ministry. Next will be the turn of Guwahati after its proposal for setting up of a Science City in the capital of Assam was cleared. The Chandigarh project will be located at either Sonepat or Gurugram, as there is enough land for the development of a sprawling Science City. About 45 acres of land have been identified near Sonepat but the final decision will be taken by an NCSM team after it visits the suggested sites to assess the feasibility of the location. The project is planned for completion by December 2018. The proposed Science City in Haryana is to be built on a more ambitious scale than Kolkata's Science City, which is restricted to 49.6 acres and was set up in 1997. According to the Ministry of Culture sources, The Science Cities Scheme provides for setting up of Science Cities in all the states of the country subject to availability of funds for this purpose. States desirous of setting up a Science City under the scheme have to provide land, share the cost of setting up of facilities and corpus for upkeep and maintenance, and meet other commitments under the scheme.MORE UNI SD SV RJ 1142 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-929726.Xml
Nagaland Home Minister Y Patton has urged the voters to exercise their franchise democratically, while telling them to avoid clanism and favoritism politics. According to a release received today, speaking at the inaugural programme of Niroyo village circular road in Wokha district yesterday, Patton stressed that Lotha voters in particular and Nagas in general are deeply rooted in clan favoritism and villages bound politics, "which is not the norms of democracy." Patton also stated that good governance is judged by developmental strategies, therefore he urged the citizens to wisely and judiciously choose their representatives who can uphold and develop the society. Nagaland parliamentary secretary for agriculture YM Yollow assured that the Naga People's Front (NPF) is the only political party in the State which base their manifesto on Naga political issue. "The party will not fail the dream of the Nagas and will continue to pursue for early settlement (of Naga political issue)," he stated. Yollow further expressed confidence that the NPF party will win during the next general election, which will be held in the early part of 2018. In this, he urged the voters to vote for NPF "to fulfill the aspiration of the Nagas."UNI AS AKM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-930093.Xml
Hundreds of farmers from Nevali in the district have tonsured their head to protest against the government's move to take over the land, which was tilled by them since years. President of the Jamin Bachao Andolan Samiti Madhur Mhatre told this correspondent that the government has decided to construct an airstrip on the land belonging to the farmers in Nevali village of Kalyan's Malangad region.The construction of compound wall for the airport was started yesterday, which annoyed the villagers and they resorted to en masse tonsure of their heads.In 1942, the land was given to the government temporarily for a few months, but even now the government claims its right over the land. He said the BJP government at the Centre is all out to raze the ryots, who owned the land. To protest against the stand of the government, the peasants tonsured their hair yesterday, he added. During the World War II, the British government took 1670 acre of land from the ryots on an agreement on rent. After Independence, the government carried out amendment in the land records and transferred the land to the Army.Now, the Defence Ministry claims that the land is in the name of the Navy. ''We are demanding our land back from the government, as the purpose has been served. But when the authorities came to Nevali for carrying out survey, the villagers protested,'' he added. Mr Mhatre said since the last eight years, ''We have been fighting with the government for the restoration of land to us, but to no avail. ''The agitation by the ryots will be intensified against the government and we will not not rest, till we get our land back from the government,'' he warned. UNI XR RJ 1320 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-930045.Xml
A group of five hunters shot dead an antelope near Mamdapur forest area in Yeola tehsil of this Maharashtra district, according to forest department sources.They said the hunters, residents Malegaon city, came on a vehicle at Kolam Khurd forest area near Mamdapur for hunting, adding that at around 1700 hrs yesterday, they shot dead an antelope. Some shepherd heard the firing noise and gathered. They saw two people carrying the dead antelope.on seeing the villagers, the hunters left the dead animal and tried to run away from the spot on their vehicle but the villagers chased them and caught one of them. The shepherd and villagers beat up the youth, identified as Dastgir Mahammad Harun (24), and called the forest department. Forest department employees rushed to the spot and arrested the suspect and seized the animal's body.UNI RDS NP RSA ADG 1650 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-930331.Xml
Official sources told UNI that militants attacked the SOG camp at Imam Sahib this afternoon.

They said policemen also retaliated, adding one SOG jawan was injured in the initial exchange of fire. The injured was immediately taken to a local hospital from where he was referred to Army hospital in Srinagar in a critical condition.

Additional security forces from nearby camps have been rushed to the area and a search operation has been launched to nab the militants.

However, it is believed that the militants have managed to escape, they added.UNI ABS RSA ADG 1618

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Speaking at the Jana Samparka Abhiyan campaign to propagate threeyears of Narendra Modi Government at the centre, he said the stategovernment failed in handling drought situation in the state.

He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had failed to understand thereal issues.

Mr Yeddyurappa said dalits were unsatisfied by the governmentprogrammes that has not reached them. 'If so how can Mr Siddaramaiahsay that the drowntrodden people are with them, he asked

He said the BJP government in the past had given a large numberof social schemes that proved productive even today, during theCongress rule.

After having breakfast in a modest dalit's house, Mr Yeddyurappatold the gathering that the BJP and himself was targetted as againstdalits.

''I want to ask the Congress leaders how they treated the dalits.Did they really adhered to the teachings of Dr A B Ambedkar or BabuJagjivan ram. They have not done it,'' he said.

Expressing confidence that BJP would realise its mission 150seats, Mr Yeddyurappa said the BJP workers would take Prime MinisterModi's schemes and initiatives to the doorsteps of every householdin a big way.UNI BSP RS CS 1829

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Expressing serious concern and anguish at the reported abuse of another Sikh in the United States, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today urged the Indian government to take up the issue of security of Indians in America with the Trump administration on priority. The Chief Minister told the White House that there was no place for such intolerance in a democracy, and the Trump government should take stringent steps to check such incidents. "Shocked as another Sikh abused in the US, no place for such intolerance in a democracy @WhiteHouse @realDonaldTrump," Capt Amarinder tweeted his request to US President. He followed it up with another tweet, saying: "Indians, Sikhs in US are not feeling safe, please take up their security with @realDonaldTrump on priority @narendramodi ji @SushmaSwaraj ji." The Chief Minister, who has been seriously concerned over the frequent racial assaults and abuse of Sikhs living in America in recent months, said later in a statement that the governments in both the US and India needed to address the issue urgently. Urging the Indian government to discuss the matter of security of Indians, and Sikhs in particular, with the US government, the Chief Minister said the two countries needed to collaborate to ensure the safety of the Indians through all possible measures. Capt Singh stressed the need for sensitizing the people of the US on the Sikh cultural identity and their contribution to global economic development and progress. With many of the racist attacks traced to mistaken identity, as a result of Sikhs being taken to be Muslim fundamentalists, it is important that awareness about Sikh identity be created among the Americans by the Trump government, he added. The Chief Minister called upon US President Donald Trump to be sensitive to the concerns of India in this matter as the two countries were the world's leading democracies, which needed to work together to promote the value of equality and tolerance.UNI DB PY ADG 1837 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-930499.Xml
Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra today said exemplary work is being undertaken in Haryana for expansion of small enterprises, technical education and digital literacy, and the state has emerged as a model for other states. The Union Minister was speaking at annual function of Echelon Institute of Technology in Faridabad. Mr Mishra and Haryana Industries and Commerce Minister Vipul Goel inaugurated skill development centre in the institute, besides revieweing digital literacy campaign being implemented in the institute for poor students. Lauding the Haryana government for organising MSME sammelan recently, Mr Mishra said the state could play an important role in progress of country and creation of employment opportunities by encouraging small industries. Mr Goel said the state government was establishing skill development university at village Dudhola in Palwal district where students who have passed out of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) would also be given opportunity to pursue graduation and post-graduation courses. "With a view to create more employment opportunities, the Haryana Government has developed 22 ITIs as modern ITIs. As small industries make maximum contribution towards growth rate of country and state, the Haryana Government is working on scheme to expand such industries by promoting technical education. Our aim is to prepare skilled youth who become not only job-seekers, but also job-givers," he added.UNI DB PY ADG 1930 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-930644.Xml
the Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (HAFED) will procure sunflower seed from June 12 to July 31 at Ambala City and Shahabad mandis at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 3,950 per quintal. Stating this today, HAFED Chairman Harvinder Kalyan said HAFED would procure sunflower seed directly from the farmers through the shops of its member Cooperative Marketing Societies under the Government of India Price Support Scheme (PSS) on behalf of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). Payment to farmers would be made electronically through RTGS to their bank accounts. He said as the farmers in the state were selling their sunflower seed crop at the prevailing market rate, which was far below the MSP, the Haryana government immediately stepped in to protect their interests by deciding to procure their produce at the MSP of Rs 3,950 per quintal, which includes a bonus of Rs 100. This MSP is well above the prevailing market rate, he added.UNI DB PY ADG 2000 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-930716.Xml
The Shiromani Akali Dal reacted strongly to the statement issued by PPCC Chief Sunil Jakhar on the issue of liquor advertisements being telecast on the LEDs of the heritage street in Amritsar. In a hard hitting reply, SAD Secretary and Spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said instead of blaming the previous government, the Congress Chief should have asked this question to the present government that why the violation of advertisement contract has taken place now ? He reminded the Congress Chief that if SAD-BJP government did not not have follow the proper agreement conditions, then similar advertisements would have been telecast on these LEDs during previous regime also. Dr Cheema asked the Congress Chief that if he can quote a single instance when such highly objectionable advertisements of liquor were telecast in the SAD-BJP times. He said on one hand in his statement Mr Jakhar has quoted the relevant portions of the agreement which carries all the safeguards for telecast of advertisement content and on the other side he is saying that document was signed in haste. He wondered what he intends to convey? The SAD leader said that it becomes difficult to understand that when the agreement was signed with all the safeguards then where the fault lies? Dr Cheema urged the Congress President that instead of blame game, the Congress party and the state government should admit with a larger heart that blunder has taken place due to negligence and government should take steps to ensure that such things do not happen in future.UNI DB PY SHK 2032 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0293-930767.Xml
GulfNews.com

Cairo: In 2009, Egypts then-president Hosni Mubarak implicitly accused Qatar of standing behind an attempt by Palestinians from neighbouring Gaza Strip to storm the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt can respond to the poisonous media campaign and pressure directed against it from a sisterly Arab country and strike back hard, Mubarak said. You live in a glass house. Dont bid over Egypts role in serving and supporting the Palestinian cause, he added, apparently addressing the Qatari rulers.

In the final years in the rule of Mubarak, who was forced to step down in a 2011 uprising, relations between Egypt and Qatar were strained.

In post-Mubarak months, Qatar used its news network Al Jazeera to discredit the former president and rally support for its ally, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar, the major financial backer of the Brotherhood, offered the Islamist group around $8 billion (Dh29.37 billion) in an apparent attempt to tighten its hold on state institutions after the Brotherhood reached power in 2012.
The Dragon Boat Festival- 2017, with dragon boat racing on actual 'Dragon Boats' was held in Kolkata Today. Ma Zhanwu, the Consul General seemed extremely happy about the race being held in Kolkata. He praised the city's culture and lifestyle. "For the first time in the history of India, we have real dragon boats. Everyone is excited, including me. It's certainly the city of joy." Commenting upon whether, the India-China relations would ease out, after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Ching Ping, he said, "India-China relations have progressed a lot in the past two years. We have differences, but the shared interests are far better than the differences." He further added, there would always be differences between countries, but the positive thing is both the leaders have expressed goodwill in working together and managing the differences to make progress in the bilateral relationships. "I feel, China-India relations will see a great progress in the months to come. In early September this year, Prime Minister Modi will travel to China, to attend the BRICS summit", he added. Javed Khan, Minister of Disaster Management in West Bengal thanked the Consul General for coming. He said, "The relations between India and China are growing stronger, which is a very good sign." Khan said he wanted more of such cultural exchanges between China and Kolkata. Khan appreciated the Chinese culture existing in Kolkata. "The best Chinese food is available here. The best leather craftsmanship here is being done by the Chinese", he added. He further said, "Without any publicity, many people have come to enjoy the festival today. Not only Chinese people, but others too." The Consul General wanted this festival to happen on a larger scale next year. (ANI)
Addressing a public meeting at Mothe in the district, Mr Reddy said Mr Shah's remarks clearly indicate the low level character of BJP National President.

"This is an insult not only to the Father of the Nation, but the entire nation itself," he said.

The Congress leader said Mr Shah's remarks were indicative of his lack of knowledge of heroic contribution made by Mahatma Gandhi in country's freedom struggle.

"Every right thinking Indian must condemn Mr Shah's derogatory remarks on Mahatma Gandhi," he said while demanding that the BJP leader tender an apology for his remarks. UNI KNR PY SHK 2209

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-930793.Xml
The opposition Congress in Goa today alleged that BJP government in the state was intensifying pressure on agencies like Special Investigation Team (SIT), on matters which were raised before 2012 assembly elections by 'misleading people of Goa by promising Parivartan'. In a statement All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Girish Chodankar said, "While having absolute majority of 21 MLAs, BJP Government never thought of investigating mining allegations but after the number of MLAs reduced to 13, BJP wants to strongly peruse the matter." ''It is not only me or Congress party is feeling this but people of Goa are also wondering that BJP government is using mining issue once again to fulfill its political goal of ensuring stability of minority government and keeping mine owners under constant pressure in order to exploit them,'' he said. Mr Chodankar said,''The then Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar during the period of 2007 to 2012 had cried hoarse against Congress Government of perpetrating a mining scam, which the BJP had then valued at Rs 3,500 crore to 25,000 crore.Mr Parrikar even used PAC (Public Accounts Committee) report to communicate people of Goa with only intention to paint Congress government as corrupt and that the report was never approved by PAC or Assembly.Such gimmicks were also used by national leaders of BJP to tarnish UPA government in case of 2G spectrum allocation by discovering Presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore which they could not prove till date. Similarly coal mine allocation issue of Rs 1.86 lakh crore by using the office of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), they succeeded in changing perception of people against our Congress led UPA Government to win parliamentary elections but could not prove it through auctions of both.'' Alleging that BJP was very good in making wild allegations using inflated figures supported by 'cheap publicity stunt' to confuse people for votes, he said if BJP were serious about mining scam they could have easily investigated during 2012-17 when they had absolute majority in Goa along with central government. ''During this period our party were consistently demanding with Mr Parrikar to prove his claim on mining allegations and since he failed we named them as U turn Govt,'' Mr Chodankar recalled. He said, "Considering timings of investigations, we are convinced beyond doubt that this investigation is only to ensure stability of his government to keep pressure on MLAs and to also to keep pressure on mining companies and we are confident that BJP after five years will term it as another 'JUMLA'." The Congress leader said the party was against illegal mining and government should firmly deal with them it was strongly against using it to fulfill BJP's 'political vendetta' and 'hidden agenda' and 'to buy stability of the government'. UNI AKM PY SHK 2213 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-930810.Xml
"The eight bodies are among the 120 or 130 people who were on a rubber boat," said Colonel Fathi al-Rayani, commander of the coast guard of Garabulli city, 60 km east of Tripoli, Xinhua reported.

The boat was spotted 8 km off the town of Garabulli, said al-Rayani, adding that the number of the dead migrants could exceed 100, as this type of boats transports up to 120 people.

Ayob Qassem, Libyan navy spokesman, said that the coast guards of Al-Zawya city, which is 45 km west of Tripoli, intercepted Friday five rubber and wooden boats carrying more than 570 illegal immigrants on their way to European shores.

Qassem said the immigrants are African, Bangladeshi, and Moroccan nationals.

Libya is a preferred point of departure for migrants wishing to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe. Smugglers take advantage of the state of chaos and insecurity to sent thousands of migrants in rickety boats, many of whom drown on the way.

--IANS ahm/

( 195 Words)

2017-06-11-05:08:22 (IANS)
Prime Minister Theresa May appointed former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell as the new Downing Street chief of staff. May said she is very excited that Barwell accepted the role and asserted that the latter will bring 'considerable experience' to the post, reported the Daily Mail. Barwell who was earlier the Croydon Central MP, lost his seat to Labour in the general election. His appointment comes after the resignation of the prime minister's closest aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who was serving as joint chiefs of staff. "Barwell has been a first class minister and is widely respected. He will bring considerable experience of the party to the post," said May. "As I said yesterday, I want to reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.Gavin will have an important role to play in that," she added. Meanwhile, Barwell said that, "I voted for Theresa May to become Prime Minister." "I believe she is the best person to heal the divisions in our country that last year's referendum and the General Election have laid bare, getting the best Brexit deal for the whole country and leading us towards a brighter future outside the EU," he added. He further said that he is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as the chief of staff. In 2015 election he secured his seat with a margin of just 165 seats. However, he lost out to Labour's Sarah Jones by 5,000 votes. Barwell had also written a book called How to Win a Marginal Seat, which was published last year. Earlier, both Timothy and Hill resigned from their post following the Conservatives' loss in the snap general elections held on Thursday. Both stepped down amid calls for the Prime Minister to sack them or face a leadership challenge on Monday. "I take responsibility for my part in this election campaign, which was the oversight of our policy programme. In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care. But I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policy's inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project," Timothy wrote on the Conservative Home website. Timothy, who was special adviser to Theresa May when she was Secretary of State at the Home Office and also worked on her election campaign, was appointed Joint Chief of Staff last year in July. The Conservative Party failed to reach the halfway mark of 326 seats to form government in Britain after snap general election were held on Thursday and will now need support from other parties to reach the halfway mark of 326 in the 650-seat House of Commons. After failing to secure a majority in the parliament in the election, Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to form a government with the backing of the Democratic Unionist Party. In a statement after returning from Buckingham Palace, where she received the Queen's permission to form a government, May shrugged off a growing backlash in the Conservative Party, and said she would provide the "certainty" the country needed, The Guardian reported. She insisted she would press ahead with Brexit talks, which are to begin in 10 days. Many believe the results of the 2017 general elections will also impact Britain's exit from the 27-nation bloc, as the main reason behind calling for sudden elections was to strengthen May's hands in parliament to negotiate with Brussels and pass necessary legislation. The results left the Tories 12 short of the required majority and this will embolden anti- Brexit parties. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has already called on May to resign, saying 'Politics has changed" as Britons had rejected her policies of "austerity". He urged May to "go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country." (ANI)
On Friday, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced the new guidelines for higher education institutions, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bennett said he expects the Higher Education Council, a body that oversees Israel's higher education system, would discuss and approve the code "soon".

The proposed code, was drafted by Asa Kasher, a professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University.

Under the code, professors would be forbidden from "promoting their political worldview in class". Each institution would be required "to establish a unit that would monitor political activity" on campus.

The code would also bar lecturers from calling for academic boycotts against Israel.

The academic community reacted angrily, denouncing the move as anti-democratic.

VERA, the umbrella organisation of the heads of Israel's universities, released a statement on Saturday saying they "vehemently object" the code.

It "undermines institutes of higher education's freedom to decide their own codes of conduct for their academic staffs, and thus infringes on academic freedom in the most serious and fundamental way," the statement added.

--IANS ksk

( 197 Words)

2017-06-11-09:46:04 (IANS)
Judiciary sources told Efe news that Farid Ikken, 40, was charged on Saturday with attempted terrorist homicide of a person vested with public authority, and with criminal association for extremist purposes.

Prosecutor Francois Molins told the media that Ikken had been radicalized very quickly, alone and by means of the internet.

The first elements of the investigation present Ikken as an individual influenced by propaganda from the Islamic State (IS) terror group, to which he vows his loyalty on a video.

At his home in Cergy on the outskirts of Paris, police found on his computer, his camera and his mobile phone, numerous propaganda documents of that terrorist organisation along with news about the attacks in the French capital in November 2015 and in Brussels in March 2016.

Among them is an "action manual for lone wolves", Molins said, adding that the man describes himself as a "soldier of the caliphate".

Ikken, who was born in 1977 and who wounded the policeman in the neck with a hammer purchased at a supermarket, had decided to take action a few days before doing so.

He was brought down by a colleague of the agent, who shot him in the side.

--IANS ksk

( 238 Words)

2017-06-11-09:46:05 (IANS)
Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has reached an agreement in principle with UK Prime Minister Theresa May to support a Conservative minority government, the media reported on Sunday. Conservative Party chief whip Gavin Williamson met DUP leaders in Belfast on Saturday to negotiate a deal, details of which are to be discussed Monday at a Cabinet meeting, reports Efe news. The draft "confidence and supply" agreement specifies that the socially conservative, pro-British Protestant party will support the Conservatives in key parliamentary votes but the two parties will not form a coalition government like the one the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron established with the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015. "We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond," a spokesman for the Prime Minister's office said Saturday. The Conservatives lost an absolute majority they had enjoyed prior to the snap election on June 8, which May had called to strengthen her hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiations slated for June 19. May's Conservatives won 318 seats in the election, falling short of the 326 required for an absolute majority. The opposition Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn took 262 seats, gaining 30. The new Parliament will be sworn in on Tuesday, although May has until June 19 to work out the full terms of the Conservatives' agreement with the DUP. That day, Queen Elizabeth II will appear before Parliament and give a speech setting out the new government's agenda. According to media accounts, internal pressure on May led to the resignation on Saturday of the Prime Minister's two co-chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who have been blamed for their role in designing the Conservatives' campaign and the parliamentary setback. A few hours after the two stepped down, May named former Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, who lost his seat in Thursday's election, as her new chief of staff. The DUP is a socially conservative party that opposes abortion and gay marriage, and many of its members also are sceptical about man-made climate change and reject the theory of evolution. May succeeded Cameron last June in the wake of the surprise outcome of the Brexit referendum on leaving the European Union. In calling for early elections, May said she wanted a strong mandate as her government confronts what are likely to be difficult negotiations with the EU on the terms of Brexit. --IANS ksk ( 422 Words) 2017-06-11-09:50:04 (IANS)
Kosovars vote today in a snap parliamentary election, hoping to elect a government that can improve the Balkan state's impoverished economy and make progress in joining the European Union.About 1.9 million Kosovars, nearly half a million of whom live abroad, are registered to vote in the third election since Kosovo declared independence in 2008.Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 7 p.m.The new government will have to tackle unemployment running at 30 percent and improve relations with its neighbours, especially Serbia, a pre-condition for both countries to move forward in the European Union accession process.The West sees the integration of the Western Balkan countries in the European Union as a way to stabilise a region still recovering from wars in the 1990s."Those who were in power should not come again, they are incriminated too much. They want to stay because they have created a lot of privileges for themselves," said Hasan Visoka, 62, after voting in a school in the capital, Pristina."Nothing will change. It doesn't matter who comes to power, we'll continue to be poor, without a future," said Arta Kelmendi, 28, after voting.Early elections were called in May when the government of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa lost a no-confidence vote, accused by the opposition of failing to meet pledges to improve the lives of the youngest population in Europe.Opinion polls put a coalition led by former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj as the frontrunner. His small Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) party signed a pre-election deal with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the biggest in the country and in power since 2007.CALM CAMPAIGNA victory for Haradinaj, however, would probably complicate relations with Serbia, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest for war crimes.A coalition led Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the leftist opposition party Vetevendosje (VV), which wants to unite all Albanians in one state, are vying for second place in the vote, according to opinion polls.In a calm election campaign, almost all political parties promised to boost economic growth to up to 8 percent a year and to raise public sector wages by up to 40 percent."These economic promises will not materialise without foreign investment or building new economic capacities that will lower unemployment," analyst Imer Mushkolaj said."Unemployment and poverty are the main problems in Kosovo's society."Kosovo's economy has been growing steadily and is forecast to expand by about four percent in 2017 but the growth is mainly down to remittances from some one million Kosovars living abroad.The new government will also have to try to strike a border demarcation deal with Montenegro, which is the last condition for the European Union to grant visa-free travel for Kosovars.Neighbours Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have already secured visa-free travel with EU member states.Kosovo declared independence in 2008, nine years after NATO bombing drove out Serbian forces accused of killing and expelling Kosovo Albanian civilians during a two-year counter-insurgency. Serbia still refuses to recognise its independence.REUTERS AD -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0108-930062.Xml
Drew Angerer/Getty Images(SAN FRANCISCO) -- Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo apparently isn't a fan of President Trump -- or his meetings.

In fact, Costolo equates attending one of the president's meetings to physical torture.

In response to a tweet Friday night about an unconfirmed, planned White House meeting with tech leaders -- similar to the one the president hosted in December -- Costolo wrote, "If you don't get invited to this meeting and want to know what it was like, just drink a bottle of gin and then waterboard yourself."

If you don't get invited to this meeting and want to know what it was like, just drink a bottle of gin and then waterboard yourself. https://t.co/secLdw2Xjp  dick costolo (@dickc) June 10, 2017

The current CEO of San Francisco-based fitness start-up Chorus, Costolo has taken to Twitter before to express his disdain for the president.

Following James Comey's testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, he tweeted, "Comey testifies Trump lied on multiple occasions & the White House calls testimony a victory. Tells you all you need to know about Trump."

Comey testifies Trump lied on multiple occasions & the White House calls testimony a victory. Tells you all you need to know about Trump.  dick costolo (@dickc) June 8, 2017

And in March, Costolo tweeted, "Trump is such a wimp. He cowers from any fight, points fingers in a loss but takes credit for any win. A coward, a loser, a two-bit punk."

Trump is such a wimp. He cowers from any fight, points fingers in a loss but takes credit for any win



A coward, a loser, a two-bit punk https://t.co/udA7aUBTrI  dick costolo (@dickc) March 26, 2017

In December, several tech industry leaders -- including Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Tesla's Elon Musk -- met with Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan to improve relations between the industry and the then-incoming president.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara won a libel suit today against an Israeli journalist who claimed that she once kicked her husband out of their car during an argument.A Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ordered Igal Sarna to pay the couple some 32,500 dollars in damages over what it said was his unproven account in a Facebook post last year.Netanyahu testified at the trial that the alleged incident, which Sarna said he learned about from an acquaintance citing one of the prime minister's security guards, never took place."He crossed the line," Netanyahu said of Sarna, who writes for the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth, a newspaper often critical of the Israeli leader. "It's a gross lie, absurd."Netanyahu and his wife have a stormy relationship with the Israeli media. In January, he described the media as "left-wing" and "Bolshevik" and said they were out to bring him down.In 2016, a Jerusalem labour court ruled that Sara Netanyahu insulted and raged at household staff in the prime minister's official residence. She is currently under police investigation for using state funds for personal spending.REUTERS AD1345 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0108-930194.Xml
Lawmakers of the Iranian Parliament were briefed on the recent deadly terror attacks in the country by the Iranian Intelligence and Interior Ministers as well as Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami in a closed-door session of Parliament (Majlis) on Sunday. IRNA news agency quoted a member of Majlis Presiding Board Akbar Ranjbarzadeh, as saying that Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli as well as the IRGC Deputy Commander presented more details about the recent twin simultaneous attacks hitting the Iranian parliament and Mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in the south of Tehran, killing 17 and wounding 52. On Saturday, the Iranian security forces killed the mastermind behind the terror attacks on the country's Parliament and on the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini. Press TV quoted Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, as saying, in a televised interview on Saturday that the mastermind of terrorist attack on Iran's Parliament and the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini on June 7 were killed earlier in the day by the intelligence forces. He added that the mastermind of the operation, who had fled the country, was killed by Iranian security forces with help from friendly intelligence services. Alavi noted that about 43 terrorists were identified and arrested following the recent terrorist attack in the country, adding that some of them were in connection with the Tehran twin attacks and some of them were planning for terrorist acts in the future. The Iran's Revolutionary Guards had blamed Saudi Arabia for Wednesday's attacks. At least 12 people were killed when six attackers mounted simultaneous gun and suicide bomb attacks on Iran's Parliament building and the tomb of the republic's revolutionary founder, in one of the most audacious assaults to hit Tehran in decades. Equipped with AK-47 assault rifles, handguns and suicide vests, the gunmen killed security guards and ordinary people before holding people hostage in the upper floors of the building. One of the attackers reportedly blew himself up inside as police surrounded the building. The Islamic State claimed responsibility of the two attacks - a suicide bomb and gun assault. (ANI)
"The mastermind and main commander of the attacks on Parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini was killed," Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmud Alavi said in a televised programme on Saturday night.

Alavi said the operation was carried out by security forces on Saturday in collaboration with the secret services of neighbouring countries, reports Efe news.

The minister said the terrorist had fled the country after the attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS) but did not reveal his identity or the country where he was killed.

In May, the Intelligence Ministry identified and neutralised almost one terror cell every day, but did not make the figures public to avoid spreading panic, Alavi added.

On Saturday, the authorities also announced the arrests of eight people in Alborz province, north of Tehran, who allegedly provided logistical support to the attackers.

With the latest arrests, the number of people detained since June 7 in relation to the attacks in the capital or extremist cells has passed 50.

The ministry previously said it had arrested 41 alleged IS members in the Kurdish provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan and also in Tehran.

During the operations, the police seized documents, arms, explosives and ammunition from various terrorist hideouts.

The intelligence ministry on June 8 revealed the identities of the five attackers and said they had fought for the IS in Iraq and Syria.

This is the first time the Sunni extremist group carried out attacks in Shia-majority Iran.

--IANS ksk/mr

( 280 Words)

2017-06-11-14:42:34 (IANS)
Some 67,000 voting centres opened across the country at 8 a.m. (local time) and will close at 8 p.m., in larger cities. Voting will end two hours later in other areas, reports Efe news.

Overseas French territories voted on Saturday while French citizens living abroad cast their ballots last week.

Some 47.5 million eligible voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect 577 lawmakers to the lower house of Parliament or the National Assembly.

Polls pointed to President Macron's Republic on the Move party securing a majority of between 397-427 seats, and the Republicans were expected to come second with seats between 95-115.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Party, according to projections, was expected to take less than 40 seats, while the far-right National Front led by Marine Le Pen and left-wing France Unbowed looked toward an uncertain outcome.

The government has deployed some 50,000 police and security personnel.

The second and final round will be held on June 18.

--IANS ksk/vt

( 199 Words)

2017-06-11-14:52:23 (IANS)
Jordan's army said today its border guards killed five people who were approaching its frontier from Tanf, a Syrian desert town where US special forces training rebels are based.The town has been a flashpoint in recent weeks as militias backed by Iran have tried to get near the US garrison, prompting US coalition jets to strike back.The Jordanian army said it destroyed a car and two motorbikes in the incident. REUTERS AKC 1639 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-930412.Xml
A statement issued by the Foreign Office described the reports that appeared in some foreign media outlets about the deployment of Pakistan Army in Qatar as "completely fabricated and baseless".

"These false reports appear to be part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstanding between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

Last week, Saudi Arabia along with several Gulf states severed diplomatic ties with Qatar after accusing it of supporting and funding terrorist groups.

While Gulf countries vowed to isolate Qatar, Turkey decided to side with the oil rich state by deploying troops there.

Some foreign media organisations reported that Pakistan would also follow Turkey's suit and deploy around 20,000 troops in Qatar. (ANI)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called tody for the dismantling of the UN agency that aids millions of Palestinian refugees, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement and saying he had conveyed his message to the US ambassador to the United Nations.Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Netanyahu was pursuing a "fantasy". The United States, Israel's main ally, was the biggest donor to UNRWA last year, pledging 368 million dollars.In public remarks to his cabinet at its weekly meeting, Netanyahu said UNRWA perpetuated, rather than solved, the Palestinian refugee problem and that anti-Israeli incitement was rife in its institutions, which includes schools."It is time UNRWA be dismantled and merged with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," Netanyahu said.Referring to a meeting he held in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, Netanyahu said: "I told her it was time the United Nations re-examine UNRWA's existence."UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation.It says it currently aids five million registered Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.Chris Gunness, UNRWA's chief spokesman, said in an email to Reuters that only the General Assembly, by a majority vote, could change the agency's mandate."In December 2016, UNRWA's mandate was extended for three years by the General Assembly by a large majority," he added.Netanyahu made his comments two days after UNRWA said it had discovered part of a tunnel running under two of its schools in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.UNRWA said it had protested to Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the enclave and which had used a network of cross-border tunnels to launch attacks inside Israel in a 2014 war. UNRWA condemned the tunnel as a violation of neutrality. Hamas denied it was responsible for building it.Abu Hasna, speaking in Hebrew on Israel Radio, cautioned that if "UNRWA is gone" in the Gaza Strip, where its food, educational and health services are crucial, "two million people will turn into IS (Islamic State) supporters. REUTERS AKC 1655 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-930438.Xml
President Rodrigo Duterte said today he did not seek support from Washington to end the siege of a southern Philippines town by Islamist militants, a day after the United States said it was providing assistance at the request of the government.Duterte told a news conference in Cagayan de Oro City, about 100 km (62 miles) from the besieged town of Marawi, that he had "never approached America" for help.When asked about US support to fight the pro-Islamic State militants in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, Duterte said he was "not aware of that until they arrived."The cooperation between the longtime allies in the battle is significant because Duterte, who came to power a year ago, has taken a hostile stance towards Washington and has vowed to eject US military trainers and advisers from his country.It is unclear whether the pro-American military went over Duterte's head in seeking US help.The Philippines military said yesterday US forces were providing technical assistance but had no "boots on the ground", confirming a statement from the US embassy in Manila which said the support had been requested by the government.The seizure of Marawi on May 23 by hundreds of local and foreign fighters has alarmed Southeast Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group Islamic State is trying to establish a stronghold on Mindanao that could threaten their region.The Pentagon, which has no permanent presence in the Philippines but for years has kept 50 to 100 special forces troops in the south of the country on rotational exercises, confirmed it was helping the Philippine military in Marawi.It said in a statement today it was providing Philippine forces with security assistance and training in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It said it had an additional 300 to 500 troops in the country to support regular training and activities, without giving further details.A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said support included aerial surveillance and targeting, electronic eavesdropping, communications assistance and training. A US P-3 Orion surveillance plane was seen over the town on Friday."OUR SOLDIERS ARE PRO-AMERICAN"Duterte, who declared martial law on Mindanao - an island the size of South Korea - after the Islamist fighters overran Marawi, said that under martial law he has authority over the defence department.He did not say the armed forces had gone over his head but noted that, because of years of training from the United States, "our soldiers are pro-American, that I cannot deny."Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement US forces were participating directly in combat operations, which is prohibited by Philippines law."The fight against terrorism, however, is not only the concern of the Philippines or the United States but it is a concern of many nations around the world," he said. "The Philippines is open to assistance from other countries if they offer it."As of Saturday the number of security forces killed in the battle for Marawi stood at 58. The death toll for civilians was 20 and more than 100 had been killed overall.At least 200 militants are holed up in a corner of the town. An estimated 500 to 1,000 civilians are trapped there, some being held as human shields, while others are hiding in their homes with no access to running water, electricity or food.One of the main Islamist factions dug in around the heart of the city is the Maute group, a relative newcomer amid the throng of insurgents, separatists and bandits on Mindanao.Maute joined forces with Isnilon Hapilon, who was last year proclaimed by Islamic State as its Southeast Asia "emir". Military officials believe Hapilon is still in the town.The military has said it is aiming to end the siege by Monday, the Philippines' independence day.REUTERS AKC 1539 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-930525.Xml
Sri Lanka police have arrested five people including a member of a hardline Buddhist organisation for instigating religious violence against Muslims and a Muslim for defaming Buddhism, police said today.The arrests come a week after diplomats condemned violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka and urged the government to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion. Earlier, legislators blamed the government for failing to stop a spate of attacks on minority Muslims.More than 20 attacks on Muslims have been recorded since April 17, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques while the police said at least 16 such cases had been reported since April.President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have ordered police to uphold the law, but the violence against Muslims has not ended.Muslims, who account for around 9 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million, have blamed the attacks on Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or the "Buddhist Power Force", an organisation that says the spread of Islam is a threat to Buddhism as the dominant religion. It denies any involvement."The police was able to arrest a 32-year-old person who is directly related to four (arson) attacks," police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody told reporters adding that all four businesses were owned by Muslims."This person has direct links with Bodu Bala Sena organisation. Since 2014, he has been associating with the Bodu Bala Sena."Bodu Bala Sena in a statement denied its links with the recent attacks and said the organisation has no membership."We have ability to unleash terrorism, extremism and violence, but not behind (latest anti-Muslim) attacks," CEO of the BBS Dilanthe Withanage said in a statement.Jayakody also said the police had arrested four more people including a Muslim who posted a Facebook post against Buddhism and a Tamil national who attacked a mosque.Buddhists make up about 70 percent of the population, and analysts say some hardline Buddhist organisations have been spreading hate speech against Muslims and encouraging people to boycott Muslim shops.The Buddhist groups accuse some Muslim organisations of radicalising the community and forcefully converting people to Islam and vandalising Buddhist archaeological sites. Muslim leaders have denied the claim.In 2014, three Muslims were killed in riots stirred up hardline Buddhist groups. President Maithripala Sirisena was elected the following year after a campaign in which he promised to solve the issues faced by ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims.Churches also have faced similar attacks in the past.The government ended a full-blown 26-year civil war by defeating Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009. REUTERS PY 2036 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-930774.Xml
British trade minister Liam Fox said today it was time for the whole of the Conservative Party to support Prime Minister Theresa May, adding that he had absolute faith in her."It's now time for the whole of the Conservative Party to rally around the prime minister and get a government in the national interest," Fox told Sky News.May is seeking a deal with a small Northern Irish party to stay in power after she gambled away a parliamentary majority in an election she did not need to call.Conservative Party loyalists urged her to change her leadership style, while critics talked about her days being numbered."I have absolute faith in the prime minister, I think she is the best person to take this country forward," Fox said.He added that work towards Britain's departure from the European Union would start "right away". REUTERS PY 2259 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-930863.Xml
Tourists visit the Mikumi National Park near Morogoro, Tanzania, Aug. 8, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Sibo)

DAR ES SALAAM, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A new report released on Friday rated Tanzania's tourism industry as one of the fastest growing sectors in the east African country with figures showing a surge on tourist arrivals.

Alloyce Nzuki, the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, said the 2016 International Visitors' Exit Survey Report indicated that the number of tourists who visited the country, east Africa's second largest economy, continued to rise.

Nzuki said the report was jointly compiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, the Bank of Tanzania (BOT), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Immigration Department and the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism (ZCT).

He said the report showed that Tanzania hosted at least 1,284,279 tourists in 2016, compared to 1,137,156 in 2015, which was an increase of 12 percent.

"The report shows revenues from the tourism industry have been increasing year after year with 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 against 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2015," Nziku told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam at the launch of the report.

Nziku said in Zanzibar revenue from tourism increased by 30.4 percent to 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 from 2.9 billion U.S. dollars earned in 2015.

He named top five source of tourism markets as the United Kingdom, Kenya, the United States, Germany and Italy.

He said 75 percent of the tourists departed through airports and 25 percent through land border posts.

However, Nziku said about 41.2 percent of the tourists who visited the country expressed concerns over poor conditions of roads and airport facilities.

Nzuki said that the government was committed to developing and promoting sustainable growth on the travel and tourism sector in the country in order to preserve its natural and cultural resources.

He said the government now focused on heavy investments in marketing, hospitality and infrastructure to boost tourism in the country, especially the southern and western tourist circuits.

"The government will also put emphasis on investments in heritage sites to attract more tourists visiting historical areas," said Nzuki.

Tourism is Tanzania's largest foreign exchange earner since 2012, contributing an average of 2 billion U.S. dollars annually, which is equivalent to 25 percent of all exchange earnings, according to government data.

Tourism also contributes to more than 17 percent of the national gross domestic product (GPD), creating more than 1.5 million jobs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-10 23:29:51|Editor: yan

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TOKYO, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A Tibetan delegation of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China has informed Japanese officials and friendly groups about the current situation in Tibet and called upon Japan to properly handle Tibet-related issues.

During a five-day visit that concluded on Saturday, the delegation met with former President of Japan's House of Councilors and Chairman of Japan-China Friendship Center Satsuki Eda, Chief Secretary of Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association Yoshimasa Hayashi, as well as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei.

Heading the Tibetan delegation, Duoji Ciren, member of the standing committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, said China has been sticking to the principle of developing bilateral relations with Japan based on the four political documents and the four-point principled agreement between the two countries and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror while looking forward to the future.

He stressed that Tibet-related issues concern China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging Japan to respect China's core interests and major concerns on related issues and properly handle such issues.

Duoji also said Tibet has been developing fast since it was liberated over half a century ago, with the full support of the central government, help from the whole nation and efforts of all ethnic groups of Tibet.

Currently, Tibet is working toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects along with the whole nation, with all social undertakings thriving and people of all ethnic groups living and working in peace and contentment in the autonomous region, he added.

Eda, for his part, said it is important to maintain the friendship between the two countries as well as the two peoples. The Japanese parliament has established a regular exchange mechanism with the NPC, and the Japan-China Friendship Center has also invited Chinese youth to visit Japan on a regular basis to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Hayashi and Takei said the visit of the Tibetan delegation provided a good opportunity for the Japanese side to learn more about the situation in Tibet, and Japan is willing to deepen communication and cooperation with China in all areas so as to further improve bilateral ties.

The delegation also held seminars with Japanese scholars and overseas Chinese in Japan during the visit.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 03:26:41|Editor: yan

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JERUSALEM, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands rallied in central Israel on Saturday to protest the killing of an Arab protester by a police security guard earlier this week.

The rally, held in the Arab town of Kafr Qasim, came in the wake of the controversial shooting of 21-year-old Mouhamad Mahmoud Taha by a private security guard outside Kafr Qasim's police station amidst clashes between local protestors and the police Monday overnight.

The killing sparked anger among Israel's Arab minority, who have long accused the police of a harsh and discriminatory policy against Arabs.

The demonstrators held banners and shouted slogans denouncing the police violence and conduct.

The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens, an umbrella organization that organized the rally, blamed the police for the killing.

A statement released by the committee said the police employed a "trigger-happy policy" and harsh means to oppress Arab protests while they failed to protect Arab citizens from soaring crimes in Arab towns.

Over the past two months, criminal violence in Kafr Qasim claimed lives of six people but the police have not arrested any suspects, according to figures released by the town's mayor, Adel Badir.

Jamal Zahalka, a lawmaker with the Arab-Jewish Joint List Party, said in a statement that Police Chief Roni Alsheikh and Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan "failed to deal with the growing crime in Arab society and they need to resign," adding that "the police are abandoning Arab citizens to criminal organizations."

The incident started when the police tried to detain a civil security officer, who was hired by the locals to protect the community against crime.

According to the police, hundreds of men gathered at the site, trying to prevent the arrest.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the "rioters" torched a police car and hurled stones at the police station. The guard, whose name was not disclosed, said he felt his life was in danger and shot in self defense. He was questioned by the police on the day of the shooting and then allowed to go home.

According to the eyewitnesses and Arab leaders, Taha posed no threat at the time of the shooting and the riots started only after the killing.

The incident came in a time of spiraling tensions between the police and Arabs amidst complaints of partial and shoddy law enforcement.

In January, the police shot and killed a 47-year-old schoolteacher. They initially accused him of being an Islamic State terrorist who tried to run over a police officer, but later acknowledged he was not a terrorist and may have been killed by mistake.

Constituting about 20 percent of Israel's population, Israeli Arabs are Palestinians who stayed put during the 1948 war and became citizens after the statehood of Israel. They enjoy full citizenship but frequently face racism and discrimination in all areas of life, including fewer job opportunities, less access to health and education, and less public budgets for infrastructure in Arab towns.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 03:56:50|Editor: yan

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LONDON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The London Bridge terrorists tried to hire a 7.5-tonne lorry online on the morning of their attack but failed to pay, police revealed Saturday.

According to the most detailed investigation report revealed by Scotland Yard so far, the payment by the gang's leader, Khuram Butt, failed to go through and the three men had to hire a smaller van instead. They loaded the van with bags of gravel and several chairs, probably to make it heavier so it could be a more effective battering ram.

The three men drove the van into central London last Saturday night, running down pedestrians on the pavement of the bridge, three of who died. Then they jumped out, stabbing people with ceramic knives tied to their wrists, killing five people.

Police said the weapons were possibly chosen to prevent them being picked up by metal detectors.

Police also found the attackers had hired a flat at Barking, south London, as the safe house for them to prepare the attack, in which petrol bombs have been found.

So far, 282 witnesses from 19 countries have been questioned but police still want more people to offer information and help them understand what happened before the terrorist acts.

People in London are being urged to visit the capital's bars and restaurants on Saturday night, one week on from the London Bridge and Borough Market attack, in a show of "unity and resilience".

Restaurants will donate money from a chosen dish, and pubs and bars will ask for donations of the price of a drink. All money raised will go to the British Red Cross UK Solidarity Fund, to help victims of terror attacks and their families anywhere in Britain.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 04:26:54|Editor: yan

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JERUSALEM, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of African asylum seekers took the streets of Tel Aviv in Israel on Saturday night, protesting a new law that deducts 20 percent of their salaries.

Under the new law, which came into effect on May 1, a fifth of their salary is required to be deposited by the employers in a state-run fund. The money would become accessible for the migrants only if they leave Israel.

The march was attended by asylum seekers and their Israeli supporters, including many restaurant owners, who are the main employers of asylum seekers in Tel Aviv.

The protesters waved signs and placards reading "it's impossible to survive with 20 percent less" and "we fled a war, left with nothing."

According to official figures, as of the end of February, there were about 22,000 asylum seekers in Israel. The vast majority of them arrived from Eritrea and Sudan.

Israeli law and international conventions do not allow sending them back to their countries of origin, where they might face persecutions and even death.

The recent law is the latest measure that the government said it has employed to "persuade" the asylum seekers to leave the country.

In 2012, the parliament approved a government-led legislation, known as the "anti-infiltration law," which criminalized asylum seekers' entry to Israel.

The government also built a detention center for them in a remote region of the Negev Desert in southern Israel, called Holot, where they can be held indefinitely.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 04:52:01|Editor: ying

The photo taken on June 9, 2017 shows Rwanda Genocide perpetrator Jean Marie Vianney Mudaheranwa (1st R) and his family members living in a reconciliation village in Kabarondo, Eastern Province, Rwanda. There are 40 housing units inside Kabarondo Reconciliation Village, built by Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR), an international charity group, for families of survivors of the 1994 genocide, released ex-prisoners convicted of crimes committed in 100-day carnage, and vulnerable citizens not directly related to the mass killings that resulted in the death of more than 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

by Xinhua writers Wu Zhiqiang and Lyu Tianran

KAYONZA, Kabarondo, Rwanda, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three years ago, it would take 20 minutes for Jean Marie Vianney Mudaheranwa to walk to the house of Gracien Rwamirindi, in Kayonza, a sector in Kabarondo District, eastern Rwanda.

Now Mudaheranwa's house, marked PH4-9, and Rwamirindi's, PH4-8, are just steps away, behind the same rudimentary fence graced with blossoming ivy morning glory, sunflower and corn plants.

Theirs are among 40 housing units inside Kabarondo Reconciliation Village, built by Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR), an international charity group, for families of survivors of the 1994 genocide, released ex-prisoners convicted of crimes committed in 100-day carnage, and vulnerable citizens not directly related to the mass killings that resulted in the death of more than 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The village is about 80 km east of Kigali, the capital.

Rwamirindi, about four in 1994, lost his father and five of his seven siblings during the genocide. Mudaheranwa, now 55, spent seven years in prison for his role in the killings, including the death of Rwamirindi's relatives.

Mudaheranwa did not kill anyone with his own hands, but was jailed and convicted for actively organizing the carnage.

"I was leading the attack groups," Mudaheranwa said through the interpretation of Haguma Salvator, a PFR coordinator. "We held a meeting to identify people who would be killed."

In their sector, the third tier of administrative division under the province, a total of 38 people were massacred with clubs and machetes, and the nearest family whose members died was just five houses away from his, Mudaheranwa said.

Now as next-door neighbors, Mudaheranwa and Rwamirindi meet with each other every day, Mudaheranwa as comptroller of the village's cooperative, and Rwamirindi as a "principal social worker."

When Rwamirindi and his wife have to work away from village, they would leave their two-year-old daughter at the home of Mudaheranwa, who lives with his wife and four children.

Most of the residents in the village have no steady jobs. They try to get by with odd jobs, but such temporary employment is very hard to find. Subsistence remains a major challenge.

To help the village members tide over their difficulties, the PFR tries organizing the adults into cooperatives to engage in income-generating ventures, including farming in nearby plots of land.

In one pilot project, a chicken coop was built to raise hens, but the attempt appears to be failing. The feed is way too expensive for the cooperative to generate a profit.

In a house next to the coop, 32-year-old Vincent Musafiri, from another reconciliation village nearby, was mixing feed, which includes dried small fish imported from neighboring Tanzania.

In the corner were eggs laid by the hens and a tall container filled with beans harvested by the cooperative.

Each family will be able to get 10 eggs every two months, said Musafiri, who also doubles as a veterinarian taking care of the cows and goats kept by the villagers.

Every family is given one doe, or female goat, for free. The families are required to give the second-born baby goat to the cooperative, but can keep the first-born and subsequent baby goats for themselves. One buck, or male goat, is provided to the village and kept by a cooperative member tasked with tending to livestock.

About a dozen goats can be seen grazing on patches of grass on the slope where the houses are built.

One villager was digging for roots in the ground, where trees were cut down to make room for the construction of the houses for the reconciliation village.

The roots are to be used as firewood for cooking. There is no gas or electricity in the house.

Potable water is provided at the top of the slope from a tap, near house number PF4-1. Villagers would fetch water from the tap to their houses, each including one living room, three bedrooms, one room for livestock, one room for washing and another fitted with a squat toilet.

The water, from public unity mains, is not free; the villagers have to pay a nominal fee of 1 Rwandan Franc (0.0012 U.S. dollars) a liter.

Neither is the land beneath the houses. Each plot costs an equivalent of 300 dollars.

Such practice, which might be out of necessity due to lack of funding, happens to reinforce the idea that free giveaways should be avoided in development aid.

Indeed, villagers are encouraged to take part in the construction of the houses, to cement a sense of belonging, of ownership.

The homes of Mudaheranwa and Rwamirindi's are part of the fourth phase of the PFR's rehabilitation village project, hence the PH4 heading for the house numbers.

Families of such reconciliation villages usually come from nearby sites where killing took place, and the members usually knew each other.

By putting the survivors and offenders of the genocide in one closely knit community and having them interact with each other through daily living and cooperative work, Salvator said, the PFR wants to advance "practical reconciliation."

The efforts of Salvator, his colleagues and partners have paid off.

Mudaheranwa said he has repented for his crimes and wants to do everything possible to help the victims' families.

For his part, Rwamirindi believes he has already forgiven Mudaheranwa, thanks to efforts by the government and other parties, although he had thought initially that he should not forgive.

But reconciliation is a running process that requires sustained work that could last generations.

One of Rwamirindi's responsibilities as a social worker is to help members of the village to tackle various problems, such as minor disputes, that crop up occasionally.

"Social workers" are not outsiders but elected from among members of the village, with their performance reviewed at village meetings periodically, Salvator said.

On one Friday afternoon, Rwamirindi joined a two-day training session with 36-year-old secondary school teacher Dieudonne Munemzi, on how to deal with conflicts and provide psychological counseling, together with three other social workers from the same reconciliation village, through role-playing.

He himself sometimes still gets angry at Mudaheranwa for what he had done to his family, but would apologize later, Rwamirindi said.

Two million genocide perpetrators like Mudaheranwa were convicted through processes such as the home-grown grassroots Gacaca court proceedings, and many have been released, but the healing is important for survivors and perpetrators alike, said Fidele Ndayisaba, executive secretary of the National Unity and Reconstruction Commission (NURC), himself a survivor.

"Since the (July 1994) liberation, Rwanda has started a journey of recovering its unity and identity... which had been put aside, put down, by colonial rulers and subsequent regimes of the first and second regimes," said Ndayisaba, who also served as governor of Southern Province and mayor of Kigali, the capital city.

A 2015 NURC report, Rwanda Reconciliation Barometer, put the country's reconciliation status at 92.5 percent, up from 82.3 percent of five years before.

The government has now adopted a policy of single national identity. Citizens are registered simply as Rwandans, with no ethnic or tribal references anymore on their identification papers.

Back in the Kabarondo Reconciliation Village, Mudaheranwa and Rwamirindi, the homeowners of houses PH4-9 and PH4-8, have both managed to pay the 300 dollars land fee, but not Zibera Jerome, a 55-year-old ex-prisoner, whose house is just meters away down the slope.

With no way to earn a steady income, he could barely pay for the water he uses, let alone the land fee.

Jerome, who spent 12 years in jail and sold his original house and land to pay a fine to his victims, now lives with a 10-year-old daughter born to a woman he cohabited during the one year he fled to neighboring Tanzania. Both he and that woman, who was from another locality, were sent to prison after their return to Rwanda.

Like Mudaheranwa, Jerome did not kill any person himself, but was in a mob chasing after their victims. Around 600 died in his village, Jerome said.

His wife has passed away, and all six children they had together now live elsewhere.

Jerome's oldest son, who encountered a nasty divorce and had to sell all the belongings to split with his ex-wife, is now in Kenya. He last talked to his father more than four months ago.

Clutching a Tecno handset his son sent him through a driver, Jerome said he has since not been able to talk to the son, and wants to "sell the phone to buy something to eat."

Back to the topic of genocide, Jerome was adamant: "Genocide is a very bad thing."

"For me, my best wish is that the genocide never happened."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 05:12:14|Editor: yan

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MADRID, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The body of Ignacio Echeberria, the 39-year-old Spaniard who was one of the eight victims of the London Bridge terror attack on June 3, was flown back to Spain on Saturday.

Echeberria's body was flown back in a Spanish air force plane to the Torrejon de Ardoz airport outside of the capital city of Madrid, where Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy was there to receive it and Echeberria's family.

The funeral will be held in Echeberria's home town of Las Rozas on the outskirts of Madrid on Sunday.

The autopsy on Echeverria carried out prior to his repatriation from Britain showed he died as the result of a knife wound to his back as he tried to defend a woman who was being attacked by the three terrorists on London Bridge in the June 3 atrocity which claimed eight lives.

Friends said Echeverria had dismounted from his bicycle and tried to defend the woman using no more than his skateboard.

His courage was recognized by the Spanish government on Friday as the man who has become known in Spain as the "skateboard hero" was posthumously awarded the silver medal of civil merit.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 05:17:17|Editor: yan

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by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community (LGBTQI) of Greece, joined by their families, friends, officials and representatives of civil society organizations paraded in the streets of central Athens on Saturday to celebrate diversity and denounce stigmatization based on sexual orientation.

The one-day festival which included various happenings, such as body painting workshops and music and dance shows aimed to raise awareness on the issues that concern the LGBTQI community in Greece, such as the legal recognition of gender identity which is under discussion.

The event culminated in a colorful parade led by drag queens dressed in extravagant costumes. Youth and grey-haired revelers followed holding rainbow-colored flags and placards with slogans such as "proud to be gay."

Since the first Athens Pride festival in 2005, the mission of the festival has been to elevate the visibility of LGBTQI persons in Greek society, and in so doing advance their rights and demands, organizers explained on their website.

Approximately 500 people participated in the first Athens Pride parade. Gradually the festival grew in size and last year attracted some 20,000 revelers.

This year, the theme was "It is a matter of education", highlighting the major impediments to social acceptance and understanding faced by LGBTQI people in Greece.

"Education, in its broader context, refers to the concepts of schooling, upbringing, learning and culture cultivation. The society we strive for values empathy, solidarity and respect for all human beings," read leaflets distributed to onlookers.

"It is a very significant moment for us being here at the most famous square of Greece, outside the entrance of the parliament... We are here to say that there is shortage of education and eventually everything is a matter of education," Raphael Bilidas, the Athens Pride 2017 festival spokesperson, told Xinhua.

"We will be here each year fighting for our visibility and equal rights," he said.

Despite advances in their rights in recent years, the members of the LGBTQI community in Greece are still suffering discrimination and are threatened by racist attacks and social exclusion. Through education they hope that stereotypes will be broken, they explained.

Marialena A., a girl who took part in Saturday's parade standing by the side of her homosexual friends, plans to be returning on Syntagma square until acceptance and solidarity prevail, she told Xinhua.

"I believe it is very important coming here not only to support our gay friends who want to fight for their rights but for all those people who want to be able to freely express their sexuality and to fight for respect of their rights," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 08:00:37|Editor: Hou Qiang

A participant attends the Athens Pride parade at central Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece, on June 10, 2017. Thousands of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community (LGBTQI) of Greece, joined by their families, friends, officials and representatives of civil society organizations, paraded in the streets of central Athens on Saturday to celebrate diversity and denounce stigmatization based on sexual orientation. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 08:48:08|Editor: Zhou Xin

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XI'AN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Sajjad Raza busies himself harvesting wheat on a tract of land in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Raza, 29, is not a farmer, but a doctoral student in agriculture.

"In growing this wheat, we are trying to find out the quantitative relationship between nitrogenous fertilizer and the nitrogen concentration of the wheat produced," he says.

Raza is among 120 Pakistanis at Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, based in Yangling, Shaanxi's agricultural demonstration zone.

Since 2013 when the Belt and Road Initiative first saw light of day, more and more students like Raza have come to study in China.

"China has become a major destination for Pakistani students," Raza says in fluent Chinese.

Raza came to Shaanxi in 2014 after turning down an offer from a Beijing agricultural university. He studied Chinese for eight months before starting his courses.

"Since I majored in the subject, I decided to head to the vast agricultural area in western China," he recalls.

His cohort began growing wheat and corn in 2015, toiling in the fields like any other farmers, while collecting samples and performing analyses like any other scientists. They are now well accustomed to the swarms of biting insects and merciless June sun.

"The temperature will be around 50 degrees Celsius in my hometown, so I am used to this kind of heat," he says, while rejecting the cherries offered by his Chinese classmates. During the holy fasting month, he won't eat until sunset.

"Farming is not easy work, and I'll be delighted if I can make even a small contribution to agriculture in China through my work," he says.

It is the winters that Raza finds hardest. "I had to buy so many new clothes on arrival here, and stayed in the dorm all day long," he recalls with something of a smile.

Raza freely admits farmers use too much fertilizer, in both China and Pakistan.

"A hectare of corn makes 10,000 yuan (about 1,500 U.S. dollars), with the addition of fertilizer which costs only 2,000 yuan," he says, "but over-fertilizing hardens the soil and pollutes the environment."

A major objective of Raza's research is to reduce the amount of fertilizer used by farmers in both countries.

Chinese authorities have said that the Belt and Road is not a solo performance by China, but a chorus for all.

"I hope I can join the chorus, too," Raza says. "By maximizing the effect of fertilizers, we can reduce their use. I hope I can help the farmers of China and Pakistan live better lives."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 10:16:14|Editor: Zhou Xin

An exhibitor demonstrates liquid nitrogen to make gelato during the 7th Vancouver Mini Maker Faire in Vancouver, Canada, June 10, 2017. The Vancouver Mini Maker Faire is an annual convention of invention and creativity in promoting the DIY (do-it-youself) culture. Over 150 makers from all sectors exhibited their creations and shared their knowledge and inspiration with the audiences. (Xinhua/Liang Sen)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 10:18:30|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will pay an official visit to China from June 11 to 14 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The following are some facts about Bettel.

Bettel was born on March 3, 1973 in Luxembourg City. He has obtained a master's degree in Public and European Law and a DEA in Political Science and Public Law from Nancy 2 University in Nancy, France.

He joined the Democratic Party of Luxembourg in 1988, and has served as member of the Chamber of Deputies, member of the Luxembourg City communal council and leader of the Democratic Party.

In 2011, Bettel was elected as mayor of Luxembourg City, becoming the youngest mayor in the history of the city. Since December 2013, he has served as prime minister, as well as minister of state, minister for communications and the media and minister of worship.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 10:28:45|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MOSCOW, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian police and National Guard have eliminated a gunman that killed four people in a shooting spree on Saturday, said Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Sunday.

The gunman, a resident of the village of Kratovo in Moscow's Ramensky District, opened fire with a hunting rifle from his house on Saturday.

Almost 200 fighters of the Russian National Guard and employees of the Russian Interior Ministry were involved in the special operation to eliminate the shooter.

Four special forces operatives were wounded during the operation, local media reported citing Kolokoltsev.

Investigations would be carried out to determine the motive behind the man's shooting, said Kolokoltsev.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 10:58:52|Editor: Zhou Xin

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TRIPOLI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released from prison by an armed group in the country's western city of Zintan.

The armed group loyal to the eastern-based authorities announced on Saturday that Gaddafi was released on Friday and then left Zintan. His current whereabouts remain unknown.

No official statement has been issued regarding Gaddafi's release by either of Libya's rival governments.

Gaddafi had been held captive since 2011 by a militia group in Zintan, a town located to the southwest of the capital Tripoli. He was accused of incitement to violence and murdering protesters during the 2011 unrest that toppled his father's regime. Muammar Gaddafi was killed after he was captured by rebel fighters in 2011.

A court in Tripoli sentenced Saif Gaddafi, who was once widely considered as his father's heir before the political turmoil, to death along with some other officials of the former regime in 2015.

However, the eastern-based parliament granted him amnesty shortly after the sentence.

Gaddafi is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity committed during unsuccessful attempts to suppress the 2011 unrest. However, the militia refused to hand him over to the ICC.

Libya remains politically divided after six years of conflicts with two competing parliaments and governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in the eastern port city of Tobruk.

With mediation efforts of the international community, political rivals signed a U.N.-sponsored peace agreement in December 2015 which led to the establishment of the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and based in Tripoli.

However, the Tobruk-based parliament, which is recognized by the international community, has refused to endorse the government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 12:29:12|Editor: Hou Qiang

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NEW DELHI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed after their car fell into a canal in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Sunday, a senior police official said.

"The accident occurred around 4.30 a.m. (local time) on Mathur-Jajampatti Road near Mogarra village in the state's Mathura district, some 150 km from the national capital," Superintendent of Police (rural area) Aditya Shukla told the media.

The victims, nine of whom belonged to the same family, were on their way to offer prayers at a famous temple in the western state of Rajasthan in their car driven by a hired driver, when the incident happened.

"All the bodies have been fished out of water. The dead included two children," the official said.

Local TV channels showed footage of the vehicle being pulled out of the canal by a crane and reported that angry locals staged a protest in the area after the accident, seeking repair of a small bridge there and the poor road.

"A probe has been ordered into the incident," the official added.
Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2017 shows elephants at the Tsavo West National Park, near Voi, Kenya. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

NAIROBI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to complete its census of elephants and other large mammals by end of 2018, wildlife officials said recently.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director General (DG) Kitili Mbathi told Xinhua in Nairobi that they have already completed the census in the Masai Mara Serengeti and Tsavo Mkomazi ecosystems jointly with the Tanzanian wildlife authorities.

"We have finalized the compilation of the data and we are planning to announce the results next week," Mbathi said in a recent interview.

"Thereafter we will move to the other national and game reserves, so that we complete the nationwide census by end of 2018," he said.

The KWS official noted that the idea of the counting exercise is to know the exact number of elephants and other large mammals, so that Kenya can monitor their population trends on a regular basis.

The KWS will soon begin counting in the Aberdares National Park and Samburu National park.

Mbathi noted that conducting the aerial exercise in the Aberdares National Park will be a difficult exercise, given the mountainous nature of the territory.

The East African nation conducts an elephant census every three years. The wildlife agency will use planes to conduct the aerial census.

"In order to improve the efficiency of the exercise, we will divide the target area into grids," the DG said.
Two giraffes graze at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, July 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

NAIROBI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese tourists visiting Kenya is set to double in 2017, the tourism marketing agency has said.

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) CEO Betty Radier told Xinhua in Nairobi Thursday that approximately 69,000 Chinese tourists arrived in the country in 2016.

"We have experienced a spike in the number of Chinese visitors in Kenya for the first six months of 2017 and we are confident we could double last year's number," Radier said when KTB and the Kenya Wildlife Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

Radier said that if the current trajectory for Chinese visitors continues, the Asian nation will be largest source market in three years. Currently, the number one source market is the United States, followed by Britain, India and China.

Government data indicates in 2016, the number of international tourists via air hit 874,385. Kenya has classified the tourist sources markets and China is in the number one tier.

The East African nation will also deploy different techniques to lure Chinese tourists.

"We have found out that we can't treat the Chinese market the same way we handle our traditional markets of the U.S. and Europe," the CEO said.

The tourist marketing agency plans to increase its presence on the Chinese social media sites.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 13:49:27|Editor: Xiang Bo

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BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- When LanzaTech, a company that turns industrial waste gas into fuel and chemical products, tried to bring its technology to the market, it sought partnerships in the United States, but to no avail.

It was in China that the bioenergy start-up found some of its first industrial backers. Baosteel Group and Shougang Group, two major steelmakers, established joint ventures with LanzaTech, laying the foundation for the company's commercialization.

Since then, global partners joined in, raising more funds for the firm while helping it win global awards in clean energy.

Without the early involvement of the two Chinese steel giants, there stood little chance for the technology to become commercialized, according to Andrew Chung, former general partner at Khosla Ventures, an early investor in LanzaTech.

China's enthusiasm for clean energy is pushing the global transition toward a low-carbon future. With public and private investment and commitment to collaboration, China is playing an increasingly important role in global clean tech innovation.

Over the past few years, China saw more investment and installation in renewable energy than any other country, according to a report by the World Bank.

Solar and wind capacity have been growing rapidly, as the country tries to shift from coal-based energy consumption to a model more reliant on clean energy.

"The development of clean energy technology in China has been remarkable in the past years," Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of International Renewable Energy Agency, told Xinhua on the sidelines of a clean energy meeting held in Beijing last week.

"This has also had a global benefit, because this scale of investment in technology, production and manufacturing has led to dramatic decreases in prices," he said.

China plans to invest 2.5 trillion yuan (about 368 billion U.S. dollars) into renewable energy projects during the 2016-2020 period, creating more than 13 million jobs in the sector, according to the National Energy Administration.

With the official pledge, the private sector has smelled opportunity. Electric carmakers in China such as BYD have received a boost in sales, rivaling international competitors including Tesla and Nissan.

In 2016, China was by far the largest electric car market, accounting for more than 40 percent of electric cars sold worldwide and more than double the amount sold in the United States, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

While betting big on domestic clean tech innovation, China is also actively seeking global expertise in the field while sharing its wisdom with the world.

During a meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry in Beijing, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said he hopes the two countries can strengthen cooperation in the areas of fossil fuels and renewable energy so as to jointly push forward the transition to clean energy and contribute to the sustainable development of global energy.

California Governor Jerry Brown also expressed his interest in collaborating with Chinese officials and businesses during his visit last week, saying that Chinese expertise in fields including battery technology and zero-emission cars could help California with its own clean energy push.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, will further boost global clean energy cooperation, creating an interconnected energy system worldwide, said Amin.

"China is important not only from the climate perspective. China is important in the perspective of how energy transition may happen in the future worldwide," Amin said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 14:14:33|Editor: MJ

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MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Russia is strongly opposed to U.S. strikes on pro-government forces in Syria and hopes Washington will take measures to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.

Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a phone conversation on Saturday, in which they exchanged views on the current situation in Syria and confirmed their intention to strengthen cooperation in the efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The two countries also agreed to make full use of the existing channels,including Astana and Geneva talks, to promote reconciliation between different parties in Syria.

In May, Russia, Turkey and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of four "de-escalation zones" in Syria's Idlib province, Homs province, Damascus outskirts and southern areas.

However, since mid-May, the international coalition against the Islamic State group led by the United States has entered the "de-escalation zones" multiple times to strike pro-government forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 15:04:45|Editor: ying

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ISLAMABAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A journalist was shot dead on Sunday by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local police and the media group of the victim said.

Bakhshish Ahmad, the bureau chief of "The K2 Times" newspaper, came under attack in his home district of Haripur in the province, a police official said.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad-based Pashto-language Khyber television, which owns the newspaper, confirmed the incident.

The company said the gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at the journalist when he was heading to his office in Haripur, some 100 km northwest of capital of Islamabad.

The gunmen fled after the incident. No group claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Police said that they are investigating motives behind the incident.

At least 117 journalists have been killed in the past 15 years in Pakistan, and of these, only three cases were taken up in the judicial courts.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 16:35:48|Editor: Mengjie

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URUMQI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The first refrigerated-container train in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region left Horgos Saturday for the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The train with 40 refrigerated-containers is 620 meters long. It carried about 1,160 tonnes of concentrate juice from the border port of Horgos to Hangzhou.

Previously, Xinjiang mainly relied on the highway system for fruit juice transport. The new train route will help local companies reduce logistics costs.

Located about 670 km from Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, Horgos was once a busy passage used by traders traveling along the ancient Silk Road. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, has injected new vitality into the land port.

In the first five months of 2017, the trade volume in Horgos grew more than 70 percent year on year.
BELGRADE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Sunday in Kosovo for early parliamentary elections, where voters would make choices from among 26 political entities -- five coalitions, 19 political parties and two civic initiatives makers.

Around 900 polling centers with 2,900 polling stations opened on time without irregularities, the Central Election Commission (CEC) stated at a press conference in the morning. Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) reported that the Kosovo Police and Kosovo Force are in charge of security during the election day.

According to CEC, 1.87 million people are eligible to vote in a procedure monitored by around 30,000 observers, of which around 500 are from international organizations, institutions and foreign embassies.

Coalitions of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which were partners in the former ruling coalition, are now main competitors for the majority of the 120 parliament seats, among which 20 seats are reserved for national minorities.

The PDK coalition singled out Ramush Haradinaj, former prime minister (PM) between 2004-2005 and former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, as their candidate for the PM post. While the LDK coalition promoted Avdullah Hoti, former finance minister.

The elections were triggered by a motion of no confidence on May 10, which was proposed by the Initiative for Kosovo, a coalition partner of the PDK, over Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's failure to fulfill promises made during the previous election campaign held in June 2014.

Five Serb minority parties are competing for votes of Serbs from Kosovo, in order to decide who will get the 10 reserved places for Serb parties in the parliament.

Kosovo is a southern province of Serbia, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008.
TOKYO, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Japan's shipping companies are working with shipbuilders to develop self-navigating ships that could be in service by 2025, Japanese media reported earlier this week.

Participating shipbuilders plan to build around 250 self-piloting ships, which will use "the artificial-intelligence-driven steering system" to plot the safest, shortest and most fuel-efficient route, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

The artificial intelligence system can gather and analyze data about weather at sea, dangerous obstacles and shipping information, it said.

The smart ships would also predict onboard malfunctions and other troubles, which would help in avoiding maritime accidents, it added.

By implementing fully autonomous shipping in the future, the current amount of roughly 2,000 maritime accidents per year could be cut by half, said the Review.

However, developing such technology is estimated to cost at least tens of billions of Japanese yen, or hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

Participating shipping firms, including the country's leading companies like Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen, plan to split costs and share expertise.

The collaboration between shippers and shipbuilders is intended to help Japan take the lead in developing self-navigating technology for which demand worldwide is expected to grow, said the Review.

Suffering from a slipping global share, Japan's shipbuilders aim to stage a comeback using the technology and potentially claim around 30 percent of the market, up from roughly 20 percent now, it said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 19:16:42|Editor: ying

Volunteers and hospital staff gather around a body of a policeman at a hospital following gunmen attack in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on June 11, 2017. At least two policemen were killed and two others injured in a firing by unknown gunmen in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city on Sunday, local Urdu media reported. (Xinhua/Irfan)

ISLAMABAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- At least two policemen were killed and two others injured in a firing by unknown gunmen in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city on Sunday, local Urdu media reported.

Some unknown gunmen opened fire at a police check post in Sariab area of Quetta, the capital city of the country's southwest Balochistan Province, and fled the scene on their motorbikes, according to the ARY News.

One policeman was killed at the spot while three others got injured and they were shifted to a nearby hospital where another succumbed to injures.

Police kicked off a search operation in the area following the attack.

No group has claimed the attack yet.


Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 19:26:49|Editor: ZD

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KHARTOUM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- China's first helicopter unit on Sunday arrived in Sudanese capital Khartoum to join the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

The arriving unit is composed of 12 soldiers out of a 140 strong force to be sent in batches as part of China's participation in the UNAMID.

The team arrived along with two Mi-171 helicopters and other equipment, where two more similar helicopters are to be sent later to make a total of four Mi-171 helicopters.

The helicopter unit is from the 81st Group Army of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), where it will carry out tasks such as air patrol, transport of peacekeeping forces, evacuation of rescued personnel and air supplies.

Guan Aibing, Military Attache at the Chinese Embassy in Khartoum, said to Xinhua that "The Chinese government is concerned with achieving peace in Sudan's Darfur region. This unit will constitute China's contribution to the peacekeeping operations in Sudan."

"Soon these helicopters will be deployed in Darfur region to take part in the peacekeeping operations there," he noted.

China has been actively involved in the UN peacekeeping operations for over 25 years.

There are now 2,622 Chinese peacekeepers putting their lives at risk in restive regions around the world, according to a UN report published in July 2016.

In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping committed 8,000 troops to the UN peacekeeping standby force, a fifth of the 40,000 total troops committed by 50 nations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 19:31:52|Editor: ying

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by Ronald Ssekandi

ADJUMANI, Uganda, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Nyumanzi in the northwestern Uganda district of Adjumani was a vast grassland with shrubs and trees, parts were forested.

Several kilometers away is Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, the largest refugee settlement in the world. The settlement was formerly grassland and forest.

This phenomenon is replicated in other districts in this part of the country where South Sudan refugees have been resettled.

Figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that Uganda hosts over 900,000 refugees from neighboring South Sudan. More refugees are expected as fighting continues back home.

Experts are now warning that as the world focuses on resettlement of the refugees, there is a silent and massive destruction of the environment.

Trees are being cut down to create space for shelter, farmland and wood fuel.

In Adjumani district, figures from the local government indicate that over 11 million trees have been cut down since the latest refugee influx started in December 2013.

IMPACT

As a result of these activities, the refugee and host communities have started facing the impact of the degradation.

Most of the refugees were placed in forested areas which are the watershed for most rivers and streams.

"Because of the degradation, even our river system and these small streams have been affected. They are silted and so they are drying up," Charles Giyaya, the Adjumani District Environment Officer told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Last year, the region faced a prolonged dry spell which led to low crop yields that pushed up the food prices. Some experts attribute this to the cutting down of trees.

Because of the need to supply safe clean water, many water boreholes have been sunk in the settlements. This has come with its effects.

"We are experiencing the reduction of the water levels underground especially in the refugee settlement because there are lot of boreholes that have been drilled," said Giyaya, noting that because of this, many of the boreholes are drying up.

MITIGATION

The Ugandan government, UN and other partners are striving to replace what has been destroyed.

Refugee households in Adjumani were given 10 trees to plant but they were destroyed by the long dry spell.

Titus Jogo, the government official in charge of settlements in Adjumani argued that despite the setback, environmental protection must be scaled up.

He argued that there is need to have international collective responsibility to help fund projects aimed at protecting the environment in the refugee camps.

Giyaya told Xinhua that in Adjumani alone, over 700 million shillings (close to 200,000 U.S. dollars) are needed annually to replace what had been destroyed.

He said there should be tree planting programs that last more than three years to achieve the desired results.

"If we had a program that establishes a plantation and manages it up to three years when the trees can manage on their own, then I think we can achieve what was destroyed," Giyaya said.

He said out of the 11 million trees that have been destroyed in Adjumani, only one million trees have been planted.

Expert also advised that instead of sinking more boreholes in the settlements, one borehole could be drilled and the water is piped to the different parts of the settlement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 19:31:54|Editor: ying

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BERLIN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Fire broke out in a migrant center in the early hours of Sunday in Bremen, injuring 37 people, police officials said.

Bremen fire department said the fire started in a garbage container in the basement of the building.

Duetsche Presse Agentur reported 14 of the injured were taken to hospital or treated on site, due to smoke inhalation. Others had minor injuries.

The extinguishment efforts involved 27 fire vehicles and around 70 fire fighters. The fire was put out in 30 minutes after a distress call.

The building housing about 100 refugees was heavily damaged and identified as inhospitable after the fire.

The police is investigating the cause of the fire, with anti-immigrant motives were not excluded.
The China-developed Z-19E armed helicopter makes its maiden flight in Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Yue Shuhua)

KHARTOUM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- China's first helicopter unit on Sunday arrived in Sudanese capital Khartoum to join the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

The arriving unit is composed of 12 soldiers out of a 140 strong force to be sent in batches as part of China's participation in the UNAMID.

The team arrived along with two Mi-171 helicopters and other equipment, where two more similar helicopters are to be sent later to make a total of four Mi-171 helicopters.

The helicopter unit is from the 81st Group Army of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), where it will carry out tasks such as air patrol, transport of peacekeeping forces, evacuation of rescued personnel and air supplies.

Guan Aibing, Military Attache at the Chinese Embassy in Khartoum, said to Xinhua that "The Chinese government is concerned with achieving peace in Sudan's Darfur region. This unit will constitute China's contribution to the peacekeeping operations in Sudan."

"Soon these helicopters will be deployed in Darfur region to take part in the peacekeeping operations there," he noted.

China has been actively involved in the UN peacekeeping operations for over 25 years.

There are now 2,622 Chinese peacekeepers putting their lives at risk in restive regions around the world, according to a UN report published in July 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 19:57:06|Editor: ying

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HANOI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A chemical tanker registered under the Cayman Islands on the way from Singapore to China is being stranded near an island in Vietnam's central Binh Thuan province.

The 20,108-ton Chemroad Journey, which is carrying 27 people, 1,701 tons of fuel oil and 113 tons of diesel oil, is being stranded some 28 nautical miles from Phu Quy island, Vietnam's National Search and Rescue Committee said on Sunday afternoon.

The Vietnamese side is ready to coordinate with Chemroad Journey to help the tanker if it requests, as well as to cope with potential oil spills.

A chemical tanker is designed to transport chemicals, such as industrial chemicals, clean petroleum products, palm oil and methanol, in bulk.

The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, encompasses three islands in the western Caribbean Sea.
China's manned submersible Jiaolong is put into the sea in Yap Trench, June 9, 2017. Jiaolong conducted its 150th dive on Friday since 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping) Hi, here's what you need to know about China for the past 24 hours. ASTANA -- The just concluded trip of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan adds impetus to the building of the Belt and Road, cements the bond among countries for the community of shared future and opens up broad prospects for peace and prosperity in the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday. Xi left Astana on the same day for home after a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). "This is Xi's first foreign visit after he presided over the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and also a major diplomatic activity of China in the Eurasia region," Wang told the press. xhne.ws/iVR7d - - - ABOARD XIANGYANGHONG 09 -- China's manned submersible Jiaolong will conduct two dives in the Yap Trench on Sunday and Tuesday. The upcoming dives will be the final dives of China's 38th oceanic scientific expedition that started on Feb. 6, according to scientists on the ship. xhne.ws/zj8ou - - - - BEIJING -- China has launched a swarm of 119 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), breaking the previous record of a swarm of 67 drones, according to the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). The 119 drones performed catapult-assisted take-offs and formations in the sky. xhne.ws/iqo9X - - - - BEIJING -- A total of 13,785 companies, or 70.6 percent of those examined, violated environmental standards during the latest round of air pollution inspections, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in a statement. The findings came after two months of inspections across 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and other nearby areas, which resulted in the discovery of problems including excessive emissions and insufficient pollution control equipment. xhne.ws/7IK0r - - - - WASHINGTON -- Scientists have developed a form of ultrastrong, lightweight carbon that is hard as a diamond yet elastic like rubber and electrically conductive. "In simple terms, the material combines the best properties of graphitic- and diamond-like forms of carbon," study co-lead author Zhisheng Zhao, professor at Yanshan University, China, said in an email to Xinhua. xhne.ws/6mLdq - - - - BEIJING -- As a key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) draws near, the large Asian country it has been leading over the past nearly seven decades is attracting more and more global limelight. In the economic dimension, observers from across the world agree that under the leadership of the world's largest political party, the world's largest developing country has scored tremendous achievements and is on the right development path toward the future. xhne.ws/sb9rh
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 20:07:12|Editor: ying

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by Muhammad Tahir

ISLAMABAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an influential regional security and economic block, has formally admitted Pakistan as its member, which is seen as an important foreign policy milestone for the country.

All the heads of the family members of SCO congratulated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on this historic occasion at the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 9.

Sharif told the Astana summit that the SCO gives Pakistan a powerful platform for partnership to promote peace, build trust, and spur economic development for shared prosperity.

"The SCO's expansion takes place at an opportune time, as the Belt and Road Initiative transforms global economic landscape. And, in Pakistan, we are diligently implementing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative. What's more, these mega projects will benefit the entire SCO community," he said.

It is widely believed that Pakistan's accession would allow its closer cooperation with other member states, especially in security and anti-terror cooperation as many of the regional countries currently face security challenges.

Another positive aspect of the development is that India has also secured the membership at the same time that could help the two bitter neighbors improve relations.

Tensions between Pakistan and India have overshadowed the regional South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) grouping. However, it is hoped that being members of the SCO, Pakistan and India could enhance cooperation in various fields including security in view of the SCO's charter.

The SCO summit provided an opportunity for Sharif to briefly meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi amid tensions in the disputed Kashmir region, where troops of the uneasy neighbors routinely trade fire. Now the other SCO members could also use their influence to encourage Pakistan and India to peacefully resolve differences.

Pakistani political leaders and analysts are unanimous to underscore the importance of Pakistan's joining the SCO and observed that Islamabad's membership of the SCO will not only enhance regional connectivity but will also strengthen peace in the region.

Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Senate Defense Committee, said that Pakistan's membership of the SCO is a positive and timely initiative as it opens up strategic options for Pakistan's foreign policy in a regional and global context.

"Pakistan's SCO membership is also a plus for CPEC, because SCO countries are part of the Belt and Road Initiative," Hussain told Xinhua on Sunday.

"Moreover, it brings India and Pakistan at par in the emerging regional scenario, where India's attempts to isolate Pakistan have been an abysmal failure," he said.

Senator Sehar Kamran said that the membership of the SCO will help Pakistan strengthen its relations with the Central Asian states and that Pakistan has a lot to offer in this inter-regional alignment.

"The location of Pakistan provides a safe passage and a gateway for trade to the SCO member states, as well as the shortest and strategically most viable route. Pakistan provides the shortest possible trade routes to Central Asia, Gulf states and Iran on the one hand, and the Russian and Chinese markets on the other," Sehar, who belongs to the Pakistan Peoples Party, told Xinhua.

Pakistan's membership in the grouping is also significant as it could now play an active role to push for a peaceful solution to the problem in Afghanistan as the continued instability in the country is seen a security threat for all regional countries. The emergence of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan is worrisome for every county in the region.

Now being a member of the SCO, Pakistan will be willing to join hands with other regional countries to help Afghanistan work for the reconciliation process to end the long war.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 20:07:14|Editor: Mengjie

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DUBLIN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from China's southern province of Guangdong on Sunday wrapped up a four-day visit to Ireland, where they expressed strong interest in furthering economic and trade cooperation with the island country in west Europe.

The delegation was led by Hu Chunhua, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Guangdong Provincial CPC Committee.

Guangdong has been known for the various pilot projects and the vitality of its economy as China gradually opened up and carried out reforms over the past decades. It had a gross domestic product (GDP) of about 1.16 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016, accounting for 10.69 percent of China's total GDP and over 28 percent of China's international trade.

In a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Hu said his visit was aimed at further implementing the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, strengthening communication and exchanges in all sectors and expanding economic and trade ties between local governments.

While joining hands to build the Belt and Road, Hu said Guangdong hopes to deepen friendly and cooperative relations with Ireland, and enhance pragmatic cooperation in a wide range of fields, including science&technology, education and agriculture.

For his part, Kenny said Ireland and China enjoy long-term friendship and that bilateral relations develop smoothly.

The Irish prime minister said his country is willing to boost communication and exchanges with Guangdong and China at large. He added Ireland will continue to provide convenience of investment for China and China's Guangdong Province.

During the four-day visit to Ireland from Thursday to Sunday, Hu attended a business roundtable meeting, in which over 120 Guangdong and Irish entrepreneurs participated.

At the roundtable meeting, Hu said Guangdong in the years ahead will focus on restructuring its economic structure and accelerating its industrial transformation and upgrading.

He said his province will remain committed to the development of the "innovation-oriented" economy, adding that his province will increase efforts to promote green, circular, and low-carbon development.

Hu said he hopes to enhance friendly cooperation between local governments, expand two-way investment and increase trade levels. He said he hopes to strengthen cooperation in science&technology and education, boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges, so as to open up a new prospect for mutually beneficial cooperation.

During his visit, Hu and his delegation also visited Shannon Free Zone, which was established in 1959.

Ireland is the second leg of Guangdong delegation's current three-nation tour. After winding up visits to Israel and Ireland, the delegation will travel to Britain.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 20:07:15|Editor: ying

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BANGKOK, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Several coastal provinces known as tourist destinations in southern Thailand have beefed up security measures after receiving warnings of possible attacks, local media reported Sunday.

Southern provinces along the Andaman Sea including Krabi, Phuket that are home to clean beaches and crystal water, have to put on alert as a warning of potential violence has circulated on social media.

An intelligence report mentioned that southern militants might launch another wave of attacks against tourist attractions in Krabi and two other coastal provinces that would be similar to an arson attack in Krabi last August, according to Thai Public Broadcasting Service.

Krabi province saw a big check of surveillance cameras installed in commercial areas and tourist attractions. Officials have tightened security of the province's international airport.

In Phuket, local residents are urged to report suspicious activities to authorities. Check points in ports, airports are on high alert.

Crime crackdowns on smuggling of illegal arms and drugs have been launched in neighboring provinces, local media said.

Since August 2015, Thailand has sustained several bombings, including one at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok's Rajprasong tourist district that killed 20, and the August 2016 attacks on tourist sites in seven southern provinces.

More recently, three bombings rocked Bangkok in less than two months.
Source:Xinhua| 2017-06-11 20:22:59|Editor: Mengjie

Foreign guests walk out of the venue of the opening ceremony of the BRICS Political Parties, Think-tanks and Civil Society Organizations Forum in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 11, 2017. The forum opened here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 21:12:46|Editor: ying

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JERUSALEM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Israel has approved this year the largest number of new homes in West Bank settlements since 1992, a top Israeli minister said Sunday, in defiance of requests by the United States.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman revealed these figures at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, as he commented on the massive pressures exerted by leaders of the settlement movement to lift all restrictions on the expansion of the settlements.

Lieberman said that plans for 8,345 new housing units were approved since Jan. 1. Some 3,066 of these homes received a final approval allowing their construction to begin.

He noted that last week alone, 3,651 new housing units were approved.

"The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992," he said. "What we've approved is the maximum that can be approved," he added, claiming that further permits would "stretch the rope beyond its limit, and thus put the entire settlement enterprise at risk."

The numbers resemble data released on Thursday by Peace Now, an Israeli human rights group that monitors the settlements.

According to the group's research, plans for 7,721 housing units were advanced since the beginning of 2017, nearly three times more their number in all 2016. While the majority of these permits refer to preexisting plans, they include construction plans from the first official settlement that is expected to build in 25 years, Peace Now said.

Lieberman's statement comes about four months after Trump asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements for a little bit" to give a chance for the White House's efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

During his first official visit to the region last month, Trump held separate meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, vowing to bring "the ultimate deal." However, his visit was concluded without apparent immediate results.

The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014, mainly over the expansion of the settlements.

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has since been controlling them despite wide condemnation.

The settlements are illegal under international law and are seen as a major obstacle to peace sought by the Palestinians and the international community.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 21:32:51|Editor: ying

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WELLINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The Waterview Tunnel in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, will open to traffic in early July, marking the biggest milestone in the city's transport network in more than half a century, said Transport Minister Simon Bridges on Sunday.

The 1.4 billion NZ dollars (1 billion U.S. dollars) Waterview Connection is New Zealand's biggest and most complex road project, including twin 2.4km-long three-lane tunnels, Bridges said in a release after Sunday's ceremonial opening.

"Once open, it will transform the way people and freight move around Auckland, and will represent the biggest change in travel patterns since the opening of the Auckland Harbor Bridge in 1959," Bridges said.

Sunday's ceremonial opening will be followed by public open days to allow people the chance to experience the tunnel up close before opening to traffic, he said.

"The Waterview Connection is New Zealand's largest ever road project and is a significant part of the strong investment the government is putting into Auckland," Bridges said, adding that this investment in the strategic motorway system will help support Auckland's increasing population and economic growth.

"It largely completes the Western Ring Route, a new 48km route linking the west of Auckland, Manukau (in the south), the city and the North Shore," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 21:32:54|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Nobel laureate in economics Thomas J. Sargent has been tapped to head a Chinese university institute to conduct teaching and research on economics including the use of artificial intelligence and big data in financial analysis.

The Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance was set up at the Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) in the southern Chinese economic hub of Shenzhen, said PHBS Dean Hai Wen.

He said with the institute the school will start offering a Ph.D. program in quantitative economics and a Master's program in finance specialized in financial technology.

Sargent, an American economist, was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics for his empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy. He teaches at New York University.

Hai said Sargent will be personally involved in the new Ph.D. program, teaching the course of advanced macroeconomics. The institute will also host a number of summer and winter projects to encourage wide participation of students in the financial research and academic debates.

Hai said the Sargent institute, among other researches, will study the use of artificial intelligence and big data in quantitative investing, asset pricing, and other financial analysis.

It will partner Shenzhen-based financial institutes and firms to provide them with tools to make better investment strategies.
A train runs on the Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway during a test run near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Oct. 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

ADDIS ABABA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- In the latest struggle with its illegal migration problem, Ethiopia is urging undocumented nationals residing in Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the three-month amnesty, which came into force on March 29.

While an estimated 400,000 Ethiopians are presently undocumented by the Middle Eastern country, only close to 50,000 of them have shown interest in returning to their home country so far, according to the figure from the Ethiopian Government Communication Affairs Office.

Amid a spate of incidents on illegal migration, including the recent arrest of 40 Ethiopians in Kenya's Nairobi for being in the country illegally, the Ethiopian government has been advised to push further in the fight against migration.

The search for employment opportunities are commonly cited by analysts and organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as a major push behind the internal and cross-border migration in Ethiopia.

Building on decade-long double-digit growth catalyzed by enormous government spending on infrastructure, the size of the Ethiopian economy will reach 69.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to projections the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made for 2016. In 2015, its GDP stood at 61.6 billion dollars.

Leading by China, the foreign investment trend in the East African country is an important contributing factor behind Ethiopia's fast economic growth, complementary to the government's huge investment.

According to Abraham Tekeste, Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation, the country's per capita income has increased to 794 dollars from 396 dollars six years ago, while domestic saving capability also registered remarkable increase during its 2016/2017 budget year by 22.4 percent from 17.2 percent six years ago.

Despite the economic boom, however, Ethiopians are still fleeing their home country in search for better opportunities abroad, mainly to the Middle East and Europe via illegal and, at the same time, dangerous routes.

According to IOM, diverse migration dynamics and challenges have been unfolding in the East African country. IOM, after recognizing the challenge of youth unemployment both in the rural and urban areas, indicated that migration patterns and dynamics affecting Ethiopia have significant socio-economic and political implications for the country.

Other than the Ethiopian government, many are weighing on economic solutions to tackle the growing influx of Ethiopians, including the European Union (EU).

The EU, concerned about the growing number of Ethiopians taking the dangerous Mediterranean migration route to Europe, has recently launched he Stemming Irregular Migration in Northern and Central Ethiopia (SINCE) program.

The 48-month intervention mainly aimed at reducing irregular migration by creating employment opportunities in Ethiopia's five major migration-prone regions including the capital Addis Ababa.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE?

The merit of remittance to the Ethiopian economy is, however, indicated as a major challenge to the Ethiopian government and its partners in cooling the migration fever.

Dubbed as the backbone of the Ethiopian economy, remittance has earned close to 4 billion dollars to Ethiopia during the first ten months of the 2015/16 fiscal year, exceeding the income gained from the export sector in the same year.

Thus, ending migration could potentially denote minimizing the rate of inward remittance from nationals abroad.
South Sudan refugee children share a meal at Uganda's newly opened Palabek Refugee Settlement in the northern part of the country, April 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Ronald Ssekandi)

ADJUMANI, Uganda, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Nyumanzi in the northwestern Uganda district of Adjumani was a vast grassland with shrubs and trees, parts were forested.

Several kilometers away is Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, the largest refugee settlement in the world. The settlement was formerly grassland and forest.

This phenomenon is replicated in other districts in this part of the country where South Sudan refugees have been resettled.

Figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that Uganda hosts over 900,000 refugees from neighboring South Sudan. More refugees are expected as fighting continues back home.

Experts are now warning that as the world focuses on resettlement of the refugees, there is a silent and massive destruction of the environment.

Trees are being cut down to create space for shelter, farmland and wood fuel.

In Adjumani district, figures from the local government indicate that over 11 million trees have been cut down since the latest refugee influx started in December 2013.

IMPACT

As a result of these activities, the refugee and host communities have started facing the impact of the degradation.

Most of the refugees were placed in forested areas which are the watershed for most rivers and streams.

"Because of the degradation, even our river system and these small streams have been affected. They are silted and so they are drying up," Charles Giyaya, the Adjumani District Environment Officer told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Last year, the region faced a prolonged dry spell which led to low crop yields that pushed up the food prices. Some experts attribute this to the cutting down of trees.

Because of the need to supply safe clean water, many water boreholes have been sunk in the settlements. This has come with its effects.

"We are experiencing the reduction of the water levels underground especially in the refugee settlement because there are lot of boreholes that have been drilled," said Giyaya, noting that because of this, many of the boreholes are drying up.

MITIGATION

The Ugandan government, UN and other partners are striving to replace what has been destroyed.

Refugee households in Adjumani were given 10 trees to plant but they were destroyed by the long dry spell.

Titus Jogo, the government official in charge of settlements in Adjumani argued that despite the setback, environmental protection must be scaled up.

He argued that there is need to have international collective responsibility to help fund projects aimed at protecting the environment in the refugee camps.

Giyaya told Xinhua that in Adjumani alone, over 700 million shillings (close to 200,000 U.S. dollars) are needed annually to replace what had been destroyed.

He said there should be tree planting programs that last more than three years to achieve the desired results.

"If we had a program that establishes a plantation and manages it up to three years when the trees can manage on their own, then I think we can achieve what was destroyed," Giyaya said.

He said out of the 11 million trees that have been destroyed in Adjumani, only one million trees have been planted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 21:53:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with foreign representatives before the opening ceremony of the BRICS Political Parties, Think-tanks and Civil Society Organizations Forum in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, June 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

FUZHOU, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan met on Sunday with some leading participants attending a forum of BRICS political parties, think tanks and non-governmental organizations, in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province.

In his meeting with Aquilino Pimentel, Philippine Senate president and president of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), Liu said China-Philippines ties have maintained sound momentum for development under joint efforts of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, called on both countries to implement consensus reached by their leaders to boost substantial cooperation in various areas.

Pimentel congratulated the full success of the forum, held from Saturday to Monday. He said the PDP-Laban admires the CPC's achievements and hopes to learn from its governance experience, urging to cement party-to-party exchanges and inject vitality to stable growth of China-Philippines relations.

While meeting with Phankham Viphavanh, a member of the Political Bureau of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (PRP) Central Committee and vice president of Laos, Liu said currently China-Laos relations are at the best period of time in history, citing enhanced political trust and fruitful cooperation in all areas.

China is ready to work with Laos to deepen exchanges and cooperation at various levels, and to promote bilateral ties up to a new stage, he said.

Phankham said Laos regards China as a trustworthy partner and example for development, adding his country hopes to implement the consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, deepen friendship and upgrade relations between the two parties and countries.

In his meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, also member of the Standing Committee of Cambodian People's Party, Liu said China and Cambodia trust and support each other, and their ties have become a model for country-to-country relations, featuring treating each other equally and sharing weal and woe.

China hopes to cement high-level exchanges with Cambodia, share governance experience, fulfill cooperation blueprint of the Belt and Road Initiative, to boost stronger bilateral ties, Liu said.

Men Sam An spoke highly of Cambodia-China ties and the sound momentum of relations between the two countries and parties. She appreciated China's support, vowing to facilitate all-round cooperation with China.

The forum drew over 400 participants from political parties, think tanks and non-governmental organizations of BRICS and other developing countries.

It aims to build consensus and boost stronger BRICS cooperation through in-depth exchanges, to offer proposals and create a sound environment for the Ninth BRICS Summit scheduled for September in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 22:13:17|Editor: ying

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DHAKA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh has arrested a factory owner for suspected link to a militant group, an official said Sunday.

Imran Ahmed, 37, managing director of Jim Tex, has been arrested along with his driver by anti-crime elite force Rapid Action Battalion for their alleged involvement with the "Neo JMB", Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of the force's legal and media wing, told journalists in Dhaka Sunday.

During primary investigation, he said Imran admitted to his involvement with the militant outfit.

The Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was blamed for the deadly attack on July 1, 2016 at a Spanish cafe in Dhaka, which killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Bangladeshi police so far conducted series of large-scale operations against Neo JMB militants, in which dozens of militants were killed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 23:13:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DUBLIN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny on Sunday expressed concern over a proposed deal between Theresa May's Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland, saying that the deal could pose a challenge to the peace process.

In a phone conversation with British Prime Minister May, Kenny discussed the outcome of the recent British general election with his British counterpart, and the British prime minister outlined the proposed supply and confidence arrangement between her party and the DUP, according to a statement from the Irish government.

"The taoiseach indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will bring," the government statement said.

The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, both agreed in Belfast on Good Friday, April 10, 1998.

On Saturday, a controversial working relationship between the British Conservatives and the North Ireland Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was agreed in principle. The so-called supply and confidence deal, aimed at keeping Prime Minister May in power at 10 Downing Street, came under immediate attack.

The Conservatives won 318 seats, not enough for a majority in the Commons, but buoyed by the 10 DUP MPs. It would give May a working majority. A confidence and supply deal falls short of a full coalition arrangement, but it means May would have enough votes to carry major issues in the Commons.

The government statement said both leaders "agreed that of immediate concern were efforts to establish an executive as soon as possible, with exploratory discussions with the Northern Ireland parties to take place tomorrow."

According to the government statement, Kenny told May that there should be an early meeting between the British prime minister and his successor Leo Varadkar.

On June 2, Varadkar was elected as leader of the Fine Gael Party (United Ireland Party), the country's biggest political party. It is expected that he will be appointed as taoiseach next week following the approval of Dail Eireann, lower house of Irish parliament.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 23:18:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAPE TOWN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday urged the South African government to engage with the new US administration to preserve the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

In its Policy Discussion Document which underscores the importance of bridging the gap between the developed North and the developing South, the ANC said the new administration in the US has not yet pronounced on its Africa policy, and to this end "we will adopt a wait-and-see approach".

The renewal of AGOA too remains uncertain, the party said.

South Africa's relationship with the North and the US in particular, remains crucial, said the ANC.

The AGOA, a legislation that was approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000, is to assist the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa and to improve economic relations between the U.S. and the region. The Act provides trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry into the U.S. for certain goods, under certain conditions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 23:18:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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AMMAN, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen-year-old Abdullah said he worked almost every day at a vegetable market in the city centre of Amman to help support his family.

Abdullah, who has four other siblings and resides in Hai Nazzal of Amman, goes to school but still needs to earn some pennies to help his family.

The teenager said he was forced to work as his father died a few years ago and the family relies on him and on the aid they receive from charities in the eastern Amman neighborhood.

"I make sometimes five dinars per day and sometimes less. No matter how much I make this is important for me to help my family and my little brothers," Abdullah told Xinhua on Sunday.

Abdullah is among thousands of children who work in Jordan to help support their families.

As the world will mark the World Day Against Child Labour on Monday, figures by the Department of Statistics in Jordan indicated that there are 75,000 children who work in Jordan.

"The main reasons for child labour in Jordan is poverty...This phenomenon has increased after the influx of Syrian refugees," Economic Hosam Ayesh told Xinhua Sunday.

"There is a need for more efforts in Jordan to combat child labour as those who work rarely return to school and thus they lose their future and we end up having lost generations," Ayesh said.

According to figures from the UN, there are some 168 million children who work across the world.

"We need swift interventions and programmes to help the needy families as poverty is what drives parents to make their kids leave school and start working and earning money to make ends meet," Ayesh said.

The economist said there are serious psychological, physical and social impacts that affect working children.

Although Jordan has taken many steps and launched many strategies to combat child labour, more needs to be done, especially after the increase in the phenomenon after the Syrian crisis.

Since 2011 to date, more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees entered Jordan.

"Child labour is a serious issue as children face many violations at the workplace and this needs to come to an end," Ayesh said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 23:34:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli cabinet on Sunday voted in favor of a bill to slash funds to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) over stipends it pays to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The move means the bill will be put to the vote in the Knesset (parliament), where it is likely to be approved with the full support of the coalition's 66 members in the 120-seat parliament.

The bill is expected to be brought for a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. It needs to pass three more full rounds of votes before it becomes law.

The bill requires a cut-off of about one billion shekels (283 million U.S. dollars) from the annual tax revenues that Israel collects for Ramallah, a sum that Israel says equals the funding that Ramallah pays in stipends to the prisoners and their families.

Israel collects customs from Palestinian imports and exports on behalf of the PNA and taxes from salaries of Palestinians who work in Israel.

The bill was first proposed by lawmaker Elazar Stern of the center-right party of Yesh Atid and received an immediate support from centrist and right-wing factions.

Israeli government says the money "encourages" Palestinians' actions against Israel but the Palestinians say these are welfare payments for the prisoners and their families.

While the prisoners are regarded in the Palestinian society as heroes who sacrificed their freedom for the liberation of their homeland, the Israeli society sees all of them as terrorists.

About 6,500 Palestinians are being jailed in Israeli prisons.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-11 23:44:15|Editor: Liu

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SHANGHAI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A China Eastern Airlines plane, MU736 heading for Shanghai, returned after an engine fault was detected shortly after its take-off from Sydney Sunday night. No one was injured.

The company said a damage on the air inlet of the aircraft's left engine was "timely" noticed by the crew, and the captain "decisively" made the decision to return. The plane landed safely.

An investigation continues while the airline is taking good care of the passengers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 00:59:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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PARIS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal won his 10th title at the French Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the third-seeded Stan Wawrinka in the men's singles final here on Sunday.

The Spaniard became the first player to win 10 titles in any Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era. He took the sole second place on the all-time list among men's players for most Grand Slam titles won with his 15th trophy of career.

Nadal led their head-to-head record at 15-3 against Wawrinka, also owning an advantage of 6-1 on clay. He continued his in-form performance on his favorite surface, where he recorded the most wins in 2017, at Roland Garros without losing a set en route to the final.

Nadal won all his nine previous final appearances in French Open, and Wawrinka won his first three Grand Slam finals, the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 Roland Garros and the 2016 US Open.

Two players held their serve in the first four games, before Nadal rode on a four-game winning streak to set it 6-2 in the opening set, where the Swiss No. 3 seed suffered a total of 17 unforced errors.

Wawrinka could not convert his threatening single-handed backhand attack into an upper hand, and Nadal, in quest for a record-breaking 10th success at Roland Garros, pleased crowds a lot throughout the match with his consecutive high-quality forehand shots.

"The King of Clay" built a comfortable 3-0 lead early in the second set, before Wawrinka managed to snap his slide after holding serve in the fourth game.

The Spanish could cover every corner of the court to maintain his advantage at 5-2 after the seventh game. In the ninth game, Wawrinka broke his racquet in frustration after Nadal had two set points at 40-15.

However, that proved useless to Wawrinka as his Spanish opponent went through the second set 6-3 in 44 minutes.

Nadal grasped his second match point as he led 5-1, 40-30 in the third set to finish his flawless fortnight performance at Roland Garros. He converted 6 of 13 break points in his final phase to achieve the 10th success.

After Wawrinka netted a backhand, Nadal threw himself onto the groud of the Philippe Chatrier Court with racquet away.

At 31 years and 8 days, Nadal, only surrendering 35 games in seven matches at Roland Garros this year, also became the oldest player in history to win 15 Grand Slam titles.

He will earn a prize money of 2.1 million euros and 2000 ATP ranking points, enabling him to move up to No. 2 on world rankings to be updated on June 12, his highest since October 2014.

Last year's champion Novak Djokovic who are eliminated in the quarter-finals this year, on the contrary, will drop to world No. 4, his lowest since October 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 01:09:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KIGALI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma, one of the world's leading entrepreneurs, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group is expected to attend the inaugural of YouthConnekt Africa Summit, next month, in the Rwandan Capital, Kigali, Rwandan ministry of youth and ICT said on Sunday.

Rwanda hosts the meeting from July 19 to 21 that will primarily focus on youth entrepreneurship and to explore and exploit opportunities on the continent.

"Jack Ma is scheduled to come to Rwanda and share entrepreneurial skills with our young people. We are in contacts with the Alibaba Group, and we expect him next month in Kigali for YouthConnekt Africa Summit," Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Rwandan minister of youth and ICT said.

He added the Chinese business magnate is among key guest speakers at the event, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary general of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Abdoulaye Mar Diye, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) assistant administrator and director of the Regional Bureau for Africa.

The summit is expected to attract more than 1,500 participants including top executives from multinational companies that operate in Africa, leaders of civil society organizations, Africa's development partners, members of the academia and most importantly successful entrepreneurs, artists and youth opinion leaders from across the continent, according to organizers.

The three-day meeting dubbed "realizing Africa's youth potential" will bring together government officials, entrepreneurs, investors, multinationals, and startups shaping the African technological ecosystem to interact and discuss on the methods of using technology to drive Africa's economic growth.

It is organized by the government of Rwanda, UNCTAD and UNDP to empower young people across the continent with skills development and entrepreneurship.

The meeting will also highlight Africa's vibrant technology scene as well as comparing and learning from other technologies across the world.

YouthConnekt Africa is a result of a highly successful initiative launched in 2012 by the government of Rwanda and UNDP.

The YouthConnekt initiative is a multi-faceted program that engages youth in national dialogue, and works with them to find or create their own employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Russian police arrests a man during an anti-corruption protest in Moscow, Russia, on March 26, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian police and National Guard have eliminated a gunman that killed four people in a shooting spree on Saturday, said Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Sunday.

The gunman, a resident of the village of Kratovo in Moscow's Ramensky District, opened fire with a hunting rifle from his house on Saturday.

Almost 200 fighters of the Russian National Guard and employees of the Russian Interior Ministry were involved in the special operation to eliminate the shooter.

Four special forces operatives were wounded during the operation, local media reported citing Kolokoltsev.

Investigations would be carried out to determine the motive behind the man's shooting, said Kolokoltsev.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 01:34:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RABAT, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Thousands rallied in Morocco's capital Rabat on Sunday to show support for the protests that have continued in the country's northeastern region for more than six months.

Opposition parties, human rights groups and civil society organizations took to the streets to demand release of the arrested and denounce the government's handling of the protests in the city of Al Hoceima and its neighboring towns.

Rights groups said over 100 have been arrested, while the government said 86 have been prosecuted.

The government denied accusation of torture, stressing that the detainees have all the legal guarantees for a fair trial.

The situation in Al Hoceima has been tense since October 2016, when fish vendor Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death after climbing into a rubbish lorry to retrieve his swordfish confiscated by police.

Demanding justice for Fikri in the northeastern part of the country, also called Rif, has evolved into a grassroots movement demanding greater government investment in the region and more jobs.

Official delegations have visited the region and vowed to accelerate the implementation of the ongoing projects and announced new projects, but they have not seemed to calm protestors.

Morocco has not witnessed any protests of this size since the pro-democracy demonstrations during the Arab spring in 2011.
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 02:25:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KHARTOUM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that President Omar al-Bashir will attend the extraordinary summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Monday.

The summit, to be attended by IGAD heads of states or governments, is to try to tackle the security and humanitarian conditions in South Sudan and the barriers to the implementation of the peace deal signed in August 2015.

"President al-Bashir will take part in the IGAD summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa Monday," Abul-Ghani Al-Naeem, the undersecretary of Sudan's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

"The president's participation in the summit comes as part of his personal concern with the situation in the Republic of South Sudan, and as part of his continued endeavors to stop the war and achieve peace and stability in the south," he added.

According to the statement, Al-Naeem met with U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Khartoum Steven Koutsis on Monday to discuss the ongoing efforts to restore security, stability and peace in South Sudan as part of the IGAD's extraordinary summit.

Both sides agreed to support the peace efforts to reach a cease-fire in South Sudan as well as the IGAD efforts to restore security and stability in the new-born country.

The IGAD, a eight-country trade bloc in Africa, was established in 1996 with its headquarters in Djibouti.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 03:00:35|Editor: xuxin

French president Emmanuel Macron waves during an inauguration ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on May 14, 2017. Centrist Emmanuel Macron was sworn in as the eighth president of the French Fifth Republic in a ceremony at the Elysee Palace here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen/File photo)

PARIS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- President Emmanuel Macron's party "The Republic On The Move" (LREM) and its ally MoDem took the lead in the first round of French legislative election on Sunday.

Major results of all available exit polls showed that LERM won up to 33.5 percent of votes, ahead of the conservatives which collected between 20.8 percent and 22 percent.

Eying to form a strong opposition, the far-right National Front collected up to 14 percent while the outgoing ruling Socialist Party reported a poor score of between 9 and 10 percent.

Following the first result of parliamentary competition's first leg, LREM and its allies were likely to win between 415 and 455 seats out of the 577-seat lower house of parliament, securing a landslide majority.

The Kantar Sofres-onepoint estimate, made for French newspaper Le Figaro, put the number at between 400 and 440 seats for LERM.

"With this result, there is a desire of the French to be coherent and want to give a majority to the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron," government spokesman Christophe Castaner told TF1 news channel.

In his first political test at home, Macon, who created LREM only one a year ago, named 428 candidates, including 214 female faces, with half of them are from civil society and had never held an elected post.

By 5 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), 40.75 percent had cast their ballots, the lowest turnout in the 5th Republic, compared with the same time of day in the first round of 2012, when the figure stood at 48.3 percent.

Opinion pollsters predict Sunday's turnout to hit record low of 49 percent, mirroring the French people's growing disinterest in legislative election.

A second and final round of voting is scheduled for June 18 to determine the makeup of an assembly that Macron, at the start of a five-year term, needs to implement his campaign promises of boosting economy and reducing deficit.

Under France's electoral rules, only candidates who win more than 50 percent of votes in the first round win the seat outright. If there is no clear winner, all candidates who win more than 12.5 percent in the first round qualify for the second round next Sunday.

Related:

Interview: France's Macron "will likely have parliamentary majority:" expert

PARIS, June 8 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron's party "Republic on the Move" (LREM) stands a good chance of winning a parliamentary majority in upcoming legislative elections, an analyst at opinion research institute BVA Guillaume Indigo said Thursday.

Indigo told Xinhua in an interview that despite a quarter of French voters still being undecided, the 39-year-old French president "will have very likely an absolute majority" in the lower house of the parliament. Full story

France's Macron creates new counter-terrorism body as risks remain high : Elysee

PARIS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- At a defense council held in Paris on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron decided on a new body including all the country's intelligences services to better coordinate response to eventual terror risk, his office said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 03:30:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ROME, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Converting to a circular economy is "a truly irreversible process" and the circular economy is no longer just environmental policy but economic policy as well, Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti said Sunday.

"We signed accords with multinationals, including U.S. ones such as Unilever -- they are the ones asking us to convert to a circular economy," Galletti told reporters at the end of the first day of an environmental meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) nations.

He also said that China and Europe are destined to take over global leadership on climate change after the U.S. withdraws from the 2016 Paris Agreement.

The agenda set by current G7 president Italy includes the fight against global warming, in spite of U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he would withdraw his country from the global Agreement that went into force in October last year.

The Paris Agreement has so far been ratified by 148 of the 197 countries that signed on to it.

Patricia Espinosa, chief of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reminded reporters that under terms of the Paris Agreement that went into effect in 2016, the U.S. is still bound by the landmark global treaty for the next three years.

"While reiterating the fact that they are withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the U.S. insisted that they will continue lowering their emissions," Professor of Environmental Economics Carlo Carraro from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) told reporters.

The IPCC is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The gathering hosted by Italy's Galletti included his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States, plus the European Commission, the United Nations, and four invited countries: Chile, Ethiopia, the Maldives, and Rwanda.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 03:40:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HELSINKI, June 11 (Xinhua) -- While the forest abundant Nordic countries regard the wood resources as a clean energy to invest in, some European politicians and researchers maintain that forests are an excellent way to store carbon and harvesting them reduces the chances of slowing down the greenhouse effect.

Finland has high-profile plans to increase harvesting wood from the current 66 million cubic meters annually to 80 million by 2030. Much of the addition would end up becoming biomass or biological fuel, and the use of fossil fuels would decrease accordingly.

The current debate started last year when Finland protested against plans published by the EU Commission on how to calculate the impact of forestry on the climate change. The core of the issue is the calculation plan, known in the EU jargon as LULUCF, which stands for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry.

In the draft of the Commission, the carbon sink impact of forests was reduced to much below the Finnish estimate. Finland would be allowed to credit 4.5 million carbon dioxide equivalent tonnes in 2021-2030, while the Finnish view would define the real intake of the forests as 20-30 million tonnes per year.

Brussels based environmental organization Fern has listed, besides Finland, also Sweden, France and Austria as countries that want to "water down the plans of the EU Commission".

Hannah Mowat, an expert from Fern, told Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet recently that countries that otherwise profile themselves as "front-runners in climate policy work actually for the opposite".

She said the European Union has underlined the need to stop de-forestation worldwide. "Large forest countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Russia follow the issue closely. It would not be correct if the EU itself calculates the impact of harvesting in an incorrect way", Mowat said.

The debate has escalated of late. In the past week, Finnish Minister for the Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen said that Finland has experienced a long economic recession and the future well-being of Finland relies heavily on the investments in bio-economy and increased use of wood. "EU policies should be fully coherent," he complained.

Finnish scientists have expressed different opinions on the use of forests. Olli Tahvonen, a professor of national economy at Helsinki University, recently criticized the key role of forest biomass in the bioeconomy. Instead, he suggested to increase in the volume of forests as a storage of carbon, and to tax carbon dioxide emissions instead of subsidizing the burning of biomass.

The Finnish climate change panel concluded recently that replacing fossil fuels with forest energy will create climate benefits only if fossil fuels are permanently replaced and forest lands are well maintained and the growth of forests remains unchanged.

It also said that the greatest climate benefit of wood use can be achieved with long-lasting wood-based products that preserve the carbon content. That would mean building houses and furniture, for example.

The situation has triggered anti-EU statements from normally pro-EU politicians.

Finnish MEP Henna Virkkunen told newspaper Kauppalehti that forest should fall under the jurisdiction of national policy making, but admitted that it would be a challenge as forest has such a strong role in climate and energy policies "where European approach is strong".

"Finnish forest grows more than that is being cut down, and the use can be increased," she added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 03:56:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is close to make its largest achievement against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, a monitor group reported on Sunday.

The SDF and allied fighters of the Syrian Elite forces, both forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition and led by Kurdish forces, have captured the southern parts of the strategic Sina'a neighborhood in Raqqa, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the SDF and other forces are trying to fully capture Sina'a, as part of intensified military operations in the eastern and northwestern part of Raqqa on Sunday.

The operations in Sina'a was coupled with intense airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, said the Observatory, adding that if the U.S.-backed forces succeeded to fully capture Sina'a, they will be in contact with the old city of Raqqa, which is the depth of Raqqa.

The new achievement came after the SDF with the heavy backing of the U.S. captured three neighborhoods in Raqqa city, since unleashing their wide-scale offensive on Raqqa last Tuesday.

The SDF, which comprises of Kurd, Arab and Assyrian fighters and led by the Kurdish YPG militia, so far captured the neighborhoods of Mashlab, Jazra, and Romaniyeh in the city.

The SDF announced their campaign to liberate Raqqa under the title of "Euphrates Wrath" in November last year, and declared their fourth stage of the attack to storm the Raqqa city last Tuesday, after months of battles at the outskirts and countryside of the city.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 04:16:21|Editor: xuxin

Former Director of FBI James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu/File photo)

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday invited President Donald Trump to testify before the Senate about his interactions with former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) James Comey.

"I'd like to invite the president to testify before the Senate. I think we could work out a way that it could be dignified, public with questions with (Senate Republican) Leader (Mitch) McConnell," Schumer told CBS News's "Face the Nation."

Schumer said Trump could "clear up that cloud" surrounding his presidency by testifying or publicly releasing tapes he alluded to recording his interactions with Comey.

"If there are tapes, he alluded to the fact that there are tapes, maybe as a threat or taunting Comey. He should make them public right away. If there aren't tapes, he should let that be known. No more game playing," Schumer argued.

"And of course, he said he would testify. So I' m inviting him to come testify, and we could work that out," Schumer said, adding they would also consult with Robert Mueller, the special counsel to oversee the probe into the Trump campaign's relations with Russia, before the hearing.

At a press conference on Friday, Trump denied Comey's account that he asked Comey to pledge allegiance or he asked the then FBI director to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

"Some of the things he said just weren't true," Trump said, adding he is "100 percent" willing to "speak under oath" to give his version of those events.

The Trump administration fired Comey in early May, citing his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. But Comey believed that he was fired because of his investigation into Russia's ties to the Trump campaign.

"I was fired in some way to change, or the endeavor was to change, the way the Russia investigation was being conducted," Comey said Thursday at a Senate hearing.

Related:

Trump partially denies Comey's testimony, mum on existence of recordings

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey was not speaking the truth regarding several details during his Thursday testimony to the Senate.

"Some of the things he said just weren't true," Trump told a joint press conference with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Full story

Spotlight: U.S. Senate hearing sheds light on Trump-Comey interactions

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Former Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) James Comey on Thursday told Congress the contents of his interactions with U.S. President Donald Trump since election day, amid concerns that Trump tried to interfere with an ongoing probe on Russia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 04:41:27|Editor: Lu Hui

U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May (front) arrive for a joint press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Sunday denied a Guardian report that suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering postponing his first state visit to Britain over concerns about potential large protests.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Sunday told The Washington Post that the Guardian report was "false."

The Hill also cited another White House spokesman as saying that Trump "has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May," adding that "that subject never came up on the call."

Earlier on Sunday, the British newspaper Guardian cited sources as saying that Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a recent phone call that "he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests."

The newspaper cited as its source a Downing Street adviser who was in the room at the time of the call.

Trump's statement was said to have surprised May, according to those present, the newspaper added.

In an e-mail response to Xinhua, a spokesperson with the Downing Street said that "We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

So far, it remained unknown the date for Trump's visit to Britain. However, British local media had previously said that the visit was planned for October.

The incident came as Trump again found himself bogged down in controversy after mischaracterizing London Mayor Sadiq Khan's remarks.

Following the recent terrorist attack in London, Trump was critical of Khan over the mayor's message to Londoners not to be alarmed by the increased presence of armed police.

It led to Khan calling on the British government to cancel Trump's invitation. The Guardian newspaper has also called for the invitation to be rescinded.

May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 04:51:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MEXICO CITY, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Mexico's military is searching for at least seven missing soldiers swept up in a mudslide that killed another two, Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos said on Sunday.

The disaster occurred Saturday in El Carrizal, a community in the town of San Miguel Totolapan, in the southern state of Guerrero, where troops were working in areas affected by heavy rains, the minister said.

"My sincerest condolences to the families of the two soldiers who regrettably died in the line of duty on June 10, 2017, as they were swept away along with seven more soldiers by an avalanche of mud, rocks and branches," Cienfuegos posted to Twitter.

"The members of the Army and Air Force ratify our willingness to continue searching" for the missing, he added.

The fatal victims were buried under the mudslide.

Guerrero state's government issued a statement, saying two of its helicopters, and two belonging to the Mexican Air Force, were dispatched to the area to try and find the others, the Televisa News website reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May (front) arrive for a joint press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 27, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Sunday denied a Guardian report that suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering postponing his first state visit to Britain over concerns about potential large protests.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Sunday told The Washington Post that the Guardian report was "false."

The Hill also cited another White House spokesman as saying that Trump "has tremendous respect for Prime Minister May," adding that "that subject never came up on the call."

Earlier on Sunday, the British newspaper Guardian cited sources as saying that Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May in a recent phone call that "he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests."

The newspaper cited as its source a Downing Street adviser who was in the room at the time of the call.

Trump's statement was said to have surprised May, according to those present, the newspaper added.

In an e-mail response to Xinhua, a spokesperson with the Downing Street said that "We aren't going to comment on speculation about the contents of private phone conversations. The Queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the UK and there is no change to those plans."

So far, it remained unknown the date for Trump's visit to Britain. However, British local media had previously said that the visit was planned for October.

The incident came as Trump again found himself bogged down in controversy after mischaracterizing London Mayor Sadiq Khan's remarks.

Following the recent terrorist attack in London, Trump was critical of Khan over the mayor's message to Londoners not to be alarmed by the increased presence of armed police.

It led to Khan calling on the British government to cancel Trump's invitation. The Guardian newspaper has also called for the invitation to be rescinded.

May invited Trump to Britain seven days after his inauguration when she became the first foreign leader to visit him in the White House.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-12 05:41:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ALGIERS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is due to pay a two-day visit to Algeria on Monday, Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

This visit is the first of a French official since the election of President Emmanuel Macron. "It is part of regular dialogue between Algeria and France linked by strong and diversified relations," said the source.

Le Drian is due to hold talks with his Algerian counterpart, Abdelkader Messahel, as they will assess bilateral relationships and discuss regional and international issues of common interest, including counter-terrorism cooperation, and the situation in Libya and Mali," notes the statement.

The two diplomats will also discuss the forthcoming bilateral meetings, including the visit of French President Macron to Algeria in the next few weeks.

On Thursday, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika held phone conversation with Macron, as they agreed to boost their counter-terrorism cooperation, and continue efforts to restore peace and stability in Libya and Mali, said a statement of the President Office.

The source noted that Macron will "pay a state visit to Algeria in the next few weeks," without providing a specific date.

Macron had already visited Algeria on Feb. 13, part of his election campaign, as he met with President Bouteflika.

Algeria and France share complicated relations and are unable to reach full normalization due to historical factors, as France colonized Algeria for 130 years (from 1830 to 1962).

In fact, Algeria is still waiting for France to openly recognize the crimes that had been committed by the colonial system, ahead of normalizing ties.

President Macron seems to head on that path, as he said in a statement during the visit he paid to Algeria, as part of his election campaign, that once elected he would work to strengthen and further conciliate the issue of "the Memoire" (referring to the fallout of 130 years long French colonial era in Algeria), which has been initiated in recent years.

This statement has been understood as a will by Macron to the outright recognition of French colonial crimes and therefore open a new era for bilateral relations.
Hannah Abdool Dreams a Dream

I still havent seen anything like it up to now, she gushed.

I had never felt that I needed to be part of something so badly. With the path of her dreams much clearer, Abdool knew that upon her return to Trinidad, she would have some serious work to do. I joined Crazy Catholic/ DC Shell Theatre and was part of the cast of Rapunzel. It was the first time I did more than just singing on stage. And she loved it, so she continued to involve herself more and more deeply in the local theatre fraternity. Abdool understudied actress Tova Miller for the role of Maria in the Sound of Music excerpts in First Instinct Productions Encore: Live from Broadway concert in 2013.

Her involvement, as well as the mentorship she received while shadowing Miller in the production, gave Abdool a more profound understanding of the craft of musical theatre and the combination of skills that she would need to hone in order to get to where she needed to be.

I learned from Raymond Choo Kong and other people who had been in the industry for some time that it is more than just about pretending to be a character, that it was about becoming the character, she admitted, describing it as one of those pivotal moments. I realised what a challenge it all was, especially coming into it so late and not really knowing how to dance properly or to act. But alongside navigating the learning curve of the musical theatre world, Abdool had some additional learning of her own  of an academic nature. Seeing how much progress there was to be made in her musical theatre work, she admitted that fear set in. I went into Form Six and did environmental sciences, but while studying for CAPE, I was distracted, researching schools in London that offered musical theatre. I always knew what I really wanted, so I told myself to just get through it. Abdool passed her exams with flying colours, and by then, the call of the stage was even louder now, booming over the pressure to pursue something a little more practical. She decided to apply to the schools she had been researching. With the audition dates just months away, Abdool resolved to take a gap year in order to throw herself into all she needed to learn in that short space of time.

She studied voice at the Vanessa Briggs Academy and began taking drama and dance classes at Noble Douglas and Lilliput Childrens Theatre. I did ballet and modern for the first time ever. I knew that the auditions were in six months and that I would have to cram 18 years of work into that time, not knowing technique or anything, only knowing that I had to do it anyway. Half a year of rigorous training later, Abdool found herself in London for her big moment. When I got to the audition, I saw that there were people there who were just as or even more talented than I was. But she didnt allow the intimidation to prevent her from giving her best.

It was one of those moments where I had to tell myself that if I wanted this, I would have to keep fighting; I gave everything that I possibly could. Abdool recalled scary hourand- half-long dance screenings, as well as the dauntingknowledge that only 800 students would be selected out of the initial 1,700.

Three callbacks and a final assessment round later, Abdool was told she had been accepted into the Mountfield Academy of the Arts.

The audition, she said, was the hardest thing Id ever had to do in my life; I have no idea how I got through it. I had come from so far and all the work that I had put in was just enough to get me this far. Abdool has dreams of being in the West End, where only the very best take the stage to give award-winning performances.

It would be such an amazing experience to get into the field and work, to be part of productions.

I want to expand the industry locally but also to come back and help other people who might have the same dream as I do, to let them know that is it possible and that there are things that they can do. She warned those who are interested in serious performance to arm themselves against doubt and suggestions against following their dreams.

Many people asked me, Why cant you stick to something practical? But there are so many people who want to do this and feel like they can. Many of those who trained for the rigours of the stage often find themselves put out of a job by producers who select TV and film stars to play stage roles in order to boost box-office earnings. I think that the industry is a fickle one, Abdool commented.

Its sad that we have to face these challenges, but I hope that our training will propel us to get the roles that we deserve. With an increasing number of roles for people of colour its also an exciting time for actors who dont look like the standard to get work. We are looking at diversity in our casts; the harder we try, the more we bring people that are different to the table, and so people who you mightnt think to see in the roles will be the ones who will get them. She admitted, Being a mixed girl, [not getting cast] was a worry of mine, but you have to believe that you will get your breakthrough. To successfully make her way to Mountfield Academy of the Arts in September, Abdool is hosting To Dream a Dream, a concert of inspirational songs to be held on June 18 at the Bishop Anstey High School Auditorium at 6 p.m. Abdool will share the stage with vocalist Vanessa Briggs and Kerry Ann Duncan, pianist DAndre Wilson, dancer Shel-Marie Narine, hop-hop artiste Shiselon, spoken-word artists Ashlee Burnett and Darren Narine, as well as the Bishop Anstey High School Choir, directed by Lorraine Granderson, and others.BY Selwyn D Joseph Jr
Striking a balance

Add to the equation peer pressure, the inherent desire to prove oneself and the influence of social media.

How, then, do parents navigate the process in developing wholesome relationships with their children, especially in dealing with youngsters who stray from the traditionally accepted path? Family life counsellor and therapist Dr Kenneth Niles says parents need to be one anothers eyes and ears in coping with the myriad of challenges confronting young people.

He told a youth forum in Sangre Grande on June 1 he was a firm believer in the adage, It takes a village to raise a child, adding that parents can no longer view their role in isolation.

I need the village to say, Are you seeing my child? Lets macco properly with the intent to preserve our children for tomorrow. Parents cannot do it by themselves. They must talk to the child who is not their child, he said.

Niles was the feature speaker at a Community Police Youth Development Programme in Brooklyn Settlement, Sangre Grande.

The theme of the event was Building A Healthy Family With A View of Reducing Crime.

The Youth Development Programme, co-ordinated by police sergeant Jerry Baptiste, emerged last year from the CITY (Caring Intervention for Troubled Youth) programme, which he established in 1996 to address troubled youths in schools throughout the region and neighbouring districts.

The programme places emphasis on family life and equipping parents with the skills to tackle effectively errant youths.

Niles was well-positioned to speak on the events theme, having spoken at several forums on a range of topics, including problem-solving and family/child conflicts.

He is also interested in building and nurturing male leadership in the home and wider society.

During his highly animated and interactive session, Niles responded to the observation that children often do not heed the advice of people other than their parents, declaring: I go to parents. I do not mess with children, because they still are not in control of themselves.

So I will find out who that child is and then go to the school and say, Can I get a parents name and hang around? But I am going to the parents. That has to be an ongoing process. He added: The issue is that you cannot deal with it by yourself.

Even though it may be a rose tree and it have plenty picker (thorns), you still have to care for the little rose. Niles reasoned that there will always be negativity in the environment, But my heart is, Lets see how people could support one another. Insisting that parents need to establish bonds with their children at an early age, Niles said inherently, human beings yearn for companionship and fruitful relationships.

But in the parent-child relationship, he observed, the movement toward this ideal was often impeded by the parents work commitments.

Giving the example of his own 92-year-old father, who he said still wants to see him on a daily basis, Niles said: If it is that at 92 he is still looking for someone to talk to, what about age 29 or 19? You all are looking for somebody to talk to.

He wanted my attention. He wanted my company. He wants me to call him every day. He wants to hear my voice. But does he really know me? So insistent was his father that he visit him, Niles said he was forced to tell him one day that he was a married man, to which his father stone-facedly responded, Before she (Niles wife) was me. Niles told the audience that on the way to the function, he had asked his assistant, a married father of two, if he truly knew his parents. The answer was No. Niles said: Parents are always wanting to have their children, but I dont know if parents know what to do with the children. But children need somebody to talk to. If we have to build healthy relationships we have to be able to talk to each other. The therapist gave another example of an event years ago, in which he asked his sons to speak about their mother. He said their response was an eye-opener.

I called my sons to say to talk a bit about their mother, and they said very glibly that she is married to our absent-present father. Niles said the truth had hit home.

It was a reality, because I got married with an objective of supporting a family, so that I had to work. He noted this was the reality in many families.

The children leave for school at 7.30 am and come back at 4pm. I get back at 6pm and then go to bed by 9pm. That is just three hours with them, Niles said.

In all my quest to make sure that they have the sneakers, the book bag, the uniform, the lunch kit and the big money for the bazaar, for the kids to go swimming and to go on the hike, I have to work.

So, I dont have time to spend with no child, because I working.

Working means I dont have time to spend with my children. I only have three to four hours a day. That is a reality. So that is what my children meant when they said that I was present but I was absent. Do I know my children? No. He also alluded to an incident one day, in which his daughter had used unbecoming language.

When my daughter came into my Christian home from her bigshot school, with bigshot intelligence, using bigshot words that I never thought I would have heard her use, I had to acknowledge that daddy was absent and things went awry with my children and I had to take stock. Niles said teachers were often better acquainted with children than their parents for the simple reason that they spent most of their time with them.

They know we children better than we because we dont have time. We too busy making money.

And when we not making money, we educating we self for more money. We not there, but we are still parents. We dont spend time with them, so how do we know them? he asked, eliciting nods of approval from the audience Niles said as far as possible parents need to bring balance to knowing their children and vice versa. Such relations, he noted, can be fostered through seemingly mundane activities like going to the mall or to the parents workplace.

In his remarks, Sgt Baptiste urged the young people to strive for excellence despite the odds.

Alluding to Police Commissioner Stephen Williams youth leadership initiative, Baptiste said young people have been excelling in various fields, including science and the military.

It begins with you, he told the young people.

Baptiste said his daughter had initially gravitated toward engineering as a course of study, before choosing another option.

Some lecturer recognised that she had the ability and said, Go fill out this form, make this presentation. The next thing, we got a message that we were to be guests of the (US) president. Following that, she ended up with a Fulbright scholarship to study in Texas. Baptiste said he did not know where he would have got the money to support her only to learn that it was free and they paid her. He said even though his daughter had people to cook her meals, she wanted to prepare them herself.

You know what, she paid herself, and in so doing graduated six months before her time with honours, Baptiste said, adding that headhunters later offered her a job in any part of the world.

So she made a choice and is outside there in Lubbock, Texas.
Emancipation key for African descendants

So said Khafra Kambon, chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee at the Yoruba Village Drum Festival at the Yoruba Village in Port-of-Spain yesterday.

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Kambon said the celebration was psychologically important to African descendants, and it had made an impact on their everyday lives.

All those things in your environment  whether its your built environment, the things you hear, the things you see  all that has an affect on your mind and how you see yourself, which is critical to the development of any people. A lot of things can contribute to your sense of self so wherever you can make an input in the things that can affect the mindset of Africans, affect our sense of self, it is very important. For example, he said when he was younger, Nigerians would wear their African clothes and they would be laughed at because if it. Now, thousands of people wear their African clothes proudly on Emancipation Day and special occasions. Also, he said black women began to be proud of their natural hair and dark complexions in the 1970s and what has been sustained has been sustained a lot by the Emancipation festival. Kambon said the Emancipation Support Committee also got involved in the formal education system by hosting and providing literature for an African history quiz in secondary schools and a spoken word competition in primary schools. He said when the children learned the contributions past and current people of African decent made to the world, they were surprised and encouraged to do more themselves.

Therefore, he said, such information needed to be part of the curriculum but did not expect that to be the case anytime soon.

I would be pleasantly surprised if there is a radical change in how the curriculum addresses information that affects how we think about ourselves as a people so we have to do, in our small ways, what we can. MP for Laventille East/Morvant Adrian Leonce said the Yoruba Village Drum Festival was a way to promote a level of consciousness for people of the area to develop themselves as he felt that consciousness was dwindling.

I think the reasons people gravitate to things that may be negative and have a negative impact on the community is because they do not have a proper understanding of what the community is about and where it came from. I think that knowledge, and developing that strength inside, would not allow some of the weaknesses that make them gravitate to negativity. Noting the Yoruba Village once encompassed parts of Port of Spain including Laventille and Belmont, Leonce said more people needed to support and contribute to the Yoruba Village Drum Festival. He said that contribution could include just listening to and understanding the history of the Yoruba Village, or through the giving of resources like time, experience or money.
Prakash: Dont demonise Frank

Speaking to reporters at the start of his constituencys Food For All Gods Own at Helping Hands Recreation Ground, St Augustine, Ramadhar responded to the latest controversy plaguing the legal fraternity - allegations which questioned how Seepersad came to be assigned to three cases brought by attorneys closely linked to the United National Congress.

He warned against further attempts to undermine the Judiciary, having regard to the controversies surrounding Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) in relation to former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar appointment to the High Court in April and her subsequent resignation.

Our democracy is very fragile, he said.

We have seen the attacks on all sides in relation to the JLSC and the Chief Justice. We cannot afford at this time for the country to lose faith further in our Judiciary. To do that, if we lose faith, we will truly have mayhem and anarchy in the country. Ramadhar said as far as he understood, Seepersads actions were above board.

I think it is important for the process to be as transparent as it could possibly be....And from what I understand, it was in accord with every due process, he said.

I am not speaking on his (Seepersads) behalf but it is important that you do not demonise because you disagree. That is why it is important if somebody in a mature society, if you have disagreement, there is a process to deal with it.

You go before the Court of Appeal and those who are unhappy with the Court of Appeals ruling they go to the Privy Council, which is the final court. Ramadhar said Seepersad, in his professional capacity, has always shown himself to be very robust in carrying out his duties.

The rights of the people are always protected by him. He leans, if there is anything at all, in favour of the peoples rights as distinct from the States rights, he said.

There is a balance and that is his duty as a judge. So, you cant hold on because the ruling is unhappy for you to start demonising him because it is an attack on all judges.

It is a process if a judge rules in one way or other, there is the appellate process. This happens every single day. But when you start effectively undermining a member of the Judiciary, you undermine all of the Judiciary. Ramadhar recalled that in the past, judges also had been accused of being favourable of other political parties.

But you never saw that statement being made publicly. You may have your beliefs but you cannot prove anything like that, he said.

In a strongly-worded statement on Friday, Law Association president Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes said the assignment of cases to judges was done through an electronic system administered by the High Court Civil Registry.

Neither can any inference be be properly drawn from the alacrity with which he approaches his judicial functions or the efficacy with which he discharges them, Mendes wrote.
Deosaran: Come share views on police

Rather, he said the plan had always been to state its general objectives and get citizens concerns and suggestions for improving police performance and the countrys public safety .

The meeting, which was poorly attended, was eventually postponed .

Saying the postponement was indeed regrettable, Deosaran gave several explanations for the poor turnout .

He said the committee does not have its own budget for timely media advertisement and the request for advertisements faced bureaucratic challenges .

Deosaran added that active planning for the event should also have started earlier .

He said since the committee comprises six members, all of whom have fulltime jobs elsewhere, government hired a five-member implementation team who would no doubt treat last Fridays experience as a learning experience. The audit committee reassures the public that it will continue as hard as possible to achieve its important objectives .

Deosaran said the committee has planned two more town meetings, one of which is scheduled to take place tomorrow at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation at 6.30 pm .

The other takes place on Tuesday at the Siparia Plaza, Siparia, at the same time .

Again citizens are invited to attend to present their police and safety concerns and where possible, make recommendations to the Committee for improvement .

Their views are important, he said .
Missing boy, 12, found

Israel Critchlow, a standard five student of St Pauls Anglican Primary School, disappeared after being sent to take a bath by his mother at their home on Simpson Brown Terrace, Cocoyea. A report was made to the Mon Repos Police Station.

On Friday, at about 5.45 am, relatives were alerted by a friend that the boy was standing near a barbecue outlet in Duncan Village. His parents rushed over and picked him up.

The food outlet is less than two miles away from where he lives.

Critchlow reportedly told his parents he travelled to Morvant to meet an uncle and spent the night there before travelling back to San Fernando.

The boy was also taken to the Mon Repos Station where police questioned him about his whereabouts.

Police say the child will be sent for counselling tomorrow.
Ghany: Wait and see on UK Govt

Ghany said that while Prime Minister Theresa Mays stature had been weakened by her partys loss of seats, the key point was that her government remains in power.

If Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was forming a coalition government then there would be a lot to talk about, said Ghany.

But as of now there is no change in the government of the UK. Given that May had called the election ahead of time to try to build her numbers in Westminster ahead of her Brexit negotiations with the European Union, had her loss of seats now destabilised her government and the whole picture of Brexit? Ghany opined no. He said if May had been forced to resign this might have been the case, but as it is, she had got the Queens permission to form a minority government, and is also getting interim stability from the DUP.

Nonetheless, Ghany said there exists a very real possibility that May would face a leadership challenge this summer, even as her failed personal gamble to try to win more seats had led some of her partys sitting MPs to lose their seats.

Mulling all possible factors that may have influenced the vote, including recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, Ghany said, There is a lot going on, and a lot to unpack. A key issue was how the result would affect Mays negotiation of Brexit with the EU.

Ghany said, Its a tricky political situation.

A reduced parliamentary majority for the Conservative Party means that the partys Eurosceptics are more influential. In contrast, he also said the DUP in Northern Ireland could push Mays government towards a softer Brexit, such as having a softer border with the Republic of Ireland.

Ghany said the election reflected many parallel narratives such as immigration, security and terrorism, and the left/right dialogue.
Prakash: Govt game play on child marriage

Speaking to reporters at the launch of his constituencys Food For All Gods Own initiative in St Augustine, Ramadhar said this was his biggest disappointment in the debate.

Ramadhar, an attorney, said while the Oppositions position was that the debate on the controversial issue was a no-brainer, the Government had used child marriage in what he called a constitutional game play. When you started by saying that this bill required a constitutional majority but because of a strategic decision, they made it a simple majority, what you have done is that you have interfered with the parliamentary democracy - the right of the Opposition and all those who supported them to have a say in the legislative move, Ramadhar said.

He also accused some Government members of demonising the legislation by suggesting that those who showed some level of resistance to outlawing child marriage were paedophiles.

That, to me, is really immature in the worst possible way, Ramadhar said. My argument had been that I had no problem supporting the legislation. However, it should have been a constitutional majority . It was a simple majority but it was unanimously supported. The former legal affairs minister said he was not concerned about any potential fallout to the passage of the legislation.

He said the society was a mature one and people were given their voice in the Parliament.

The Government has its policy decisions, that is their right. They were elected to govern and, therefore, we cant have it all our way, he said.

I spoke on that bill and I felt that all minorities need to be respected but at the end of the day a decision has to be made.

Yesterday (Friday), a decision was made by the Parliament and as a democracy, we have to respect that whether we like it or not. The legislation has effectively raised the legal age of marriage to 18.
Hosein: Municipal police building trust

In a ministry release yesterday it was reported that members of he Municipal Police Service from Chaguanas, Princes Town, Couva, Port of Spain and San Juan/Laventille, led by Assistant Commissioner of Municipal Police Brian Headley, Senior Superintendent of Municipal Police (South) Carlisle Huggins, and Superintendent Glen Charles, came together yesterday to patrol the streets of the borough as well as the Chaguanas Market.

The main objective of this exercise, the release noted, was to address the numerous complaints received from members of the public regarding the illegal activities taking place in the borough and to implement a plan of action in order to deal with such issues.

During the exercise two persons were apprehended in the Chaguanas Market for selling marijuana.

Hosein, in the release, reiterated the importance of the burgesses knowing the municipal police officers in their area.

Every citizen, in every city, region or borough must be able to know who their municipal police officers are, so that they can reach out to them when the need arises.

Schoolchildren and leaders in the community must be able to

identify the police officers and view them as role models. He continued: I commend the municipal police officers and their leadership, who in a short time, have been building trust within the community, and display a great willingness to get to know the community and the burgesses. I have already been getting positive feedback from citizens about their efforts .

With increased foot patrols and collaborative exercises such as this in every municipality, we will restore community policing, and really improve the service to the people. Hosein also urged the officers present to continue building professional and community- centered relationships with citizens so they can become more familiar with those who they are committed to safeguarding .

Hosein commended the hardworking officers of the municipal service for taking speedy action against persons who blatantly disobey the law, and applauded their efforts as a right step towards returning a sense of safety and security to our beloved country. Collaborative municipal police exercises will continue regularly in each of the fourteen municipalities, based on the concerns of the burgesses, the release stated .
Rowley: Sandals deal in not too distant future

He made the comment in the Lower House on Friday in response to a question from Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial who had requested an update on the Sandals Tobago project.

Rowley said there had been discussions between Sandals and Governments team adding that Government has put in place a special purpose vehicle and qualified individuals to negotiate the entry of Sandals into Trinidad and Tobago. Those discussions took place in April and continued into May and we are expecting a visit from Sandals in the very near future. It is my expectation that the discussions could be satisfactorily concluded in the not too distant future. As soon as such conclusions are obtained the national public would be advised.

The discussions continue as per an orderly fashion. In June last year during a political meeting in St Joseph, Rowley had announced that a 750-room Sandals Resorts was earmarked for Tobago to boost the islands tourism, generate revenue, jobs and foreign exchange. He had said that it was part of a tourism plan to diversify the economy.

Last November, CEO of Sandals Resorts Adam Stewart, who was the keynote speaker at the Chamber of Commerce Champions of Business Award Ceremony, said Sandals Resort in Tobago will be a gold mine for this country and the benefits include increased airlift and opportunities for local entertainers, farmers, transport companies and others to the tune of US $80 million.

In February, the Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association called for any concessions that will be extended to Sandals to be similarly extended to Tobago hoteliers but expressed optimism that Sandals marketing and airlift would boost the economy of Tobago. In the Caribbean Sandals has resorts in Jamaica, St Lucia, Bahamas, Antigua, Grenada and Barbados.
Money-losing Japanese nuclear and electronics company Toshiba Corp will pay $3.68 billion toward the construction of two reactors in Georgia by its U.S. unit Westinghouse, which has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Tokyo-based Toshiba said Saturday the payment, under agreement with the operator of the Vogtle plant, will be made from October through January 2021.

Toshiba said the expense has already been figured in its earnings. Toshiba reported a 950 billion yen ($8.6 billion) loss for the fiscal year ended March.

Paul Bowers, chief executive of Georgia Power, the utility working with Westinghouse to expand Vogtle, welcomed the deal.

"We are pleased with today's positive developments with Toshiba and Westinghouse that allow momentum to continue at the site while we transition project management from Westinghouse to Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power," he said referring to his company and its parent.

Costs in the nuclear industry have ballooned since the March 2011 nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan, as safety requirements get tougher and the construction of the Westinghouse reactors has fallen behind schedule. Toshiba is still in similar talks over a South Carolina plant about such payments.
Itas a slice of history that carries a sheen of glamour and a dusting of a fairy tale: The worldas oldest continuous monarchy, dating back to 660 B.C., boasts a royal seat known as the Chrysanthemum Throne and a princess set to marry a commoner.

But the story of Japan's monarchy has a problem that may seem from an era long past. The country's male-only line of succession, combined with a dwindling royal household and an aging emperor set to abdicate, means that the royal family faces an uncertain future.

The Japanese parliament voted Friday to allow Emperor Akihito, 83, to abdicate in the next three years. The popular royal figurehead signaled last year that age was a contributing factor in his desire to step down. His would be the first abdication since Emperor Kokaku did so in 1817, two centuries ago.

But while Japanese lawmakers passed the milestone bill allowing for a one-time-only abdication, they also avoided the larger issue of opening up the line of succession to female members of the royal household --- which currently only has 19 members, just five of whom are male.

Related: Japan Enacts Law Allowing Emperor Akihito, 83, to Abdicate

Instead, the parliament noted in an addendum that it would seriously consider whether to allow women in the royal family to retain their official duties after marrying commoners.

The resolution speaks directly to the issue of Princess Mako, who indicated that this summer she would officially announce her engagement to Kei Komuro, who she met as a university student. Under current rules governing the Imperial Household, the 25-year-old granddaughter of the current emperor would relinquish her royal status, as well as her official duties, by marrying a commoner.

The resolution to reconsider the issue allowed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to appeal to public sentiment, which generally supports opening the line of succession to women, while also not alienating his conservative base, which does not.
Sweden's Team Artemis completed its remarkable comeback to eliminate SoftBank Team Japan from the America's Cup Challenger semifinal series on Friday and set up a showdown with Emirates Team New Zealand.

The Swedes, who at one point had trailed 3-1 to the Japanese in the best-of-nine series, produced a superb display on Bermuda's Great Sound to clinch a 5-3 victory.

Artemis, skippered by Nathan Outteridge, will now battle it out against the New Zealand challenge to decide which team will advance to face defending champion Oracle Team USA.

SoftBank's hopes were dealt a blow shortly before Friday's race, when its boat struck an unidentified object in the water. With not enough time to get the boat back to dock for an inspection, divers had to check on the boat in the water.

Barker said although no evidence of damage was detected, the time spent assessing the wings had disrupted the vital period usually spent gauging the conditions just before the race.
Schools in Japan that train certified care workers - who play a core role in nursing care - have seen a rapid increase in the number of foreign students.

The change is mainly due to enforcement of the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, which changed the status of residence system to allow foreigners, from September this year, to work in Japan once they graduate from such schools and qualify as care workers.

"Types of care service include 'kyotaku' [at-home] and 'shisetsu' [facility]. Do you know what kyotaku means?" A lecturer posed this question in mid-April to about 30 foreign students who had recently enrolled in the Sunshine College of Social and Child Welfare in Tokyo.

The class was tailored to teaching foreign students phrases and terminology frequently used in nursing care. The textbooks had hiragana printed beside each kanji.

The school accepts up to 80 freshmen, and this year 60 are foreign nationals from Vietnam, Myanmar, China and other countries. Students are divided into two classes - one for the 60 foreigners, the other for 10 Japanese.

According to the Japan Association of Training Institutions for Certified Care Workers, an organization based in Tokyo, that comprises professional schools, two-year colleges and other institutions, only 17 foreign students enrolled in care worker training schools designated by the health, labor and welfare minister in fiscal 2014. However, the figure increased to 94 in fiscal 2015 and 257 in fiscal 2016. By nationality, 114 are Vietnamese, 53 are Chinese and 35 are Nepalese.

Revisions to the status of residence system have spurred the change. Previously, foreign students were banned from working in nursing care jobs even if they qualified as certified care workers, except in special cases such as having a Japanese spouse. After the revised immigration law was enforced, foreigners who graduate from a relevant training school and gain certification as a care worker can change their status of residence from "student" to "care worker," allowing them to stay in Japan for work.

According to the association of training institutions, the proportion of enrolled students to the number of open spots at training schools in fiscal 2016 averaged below 50 percent nationwide, meaning schools have had a significant shortage of applicants.
The Japanese government has legalised gambling in Japan but it is still struggling to convince locals on the benefits.

Gambling on the lottery, racing (horse, boat and bicycle) and pachinko (a type of pinball) are popular in Japan, with the total gambling industry worth over $203bn (23 trillion yen). The betting revenue generated by pachinko players alone is more than the amount generated by a combination of all the gambling businesses in Macau, the world's top gambling resort . It is surprising, therefore, that the Japanese government has had to devote resources to convincing locals on the benefits of legalising casino gambling.

The argument against Casinos

According to a poll by the country's broadcaster NHK, only 12% of the populace supported the move to legalise casinos. Some of the critics mentioned the possible rise in problem gambling and the rise of criminal gangs. Some politicians are already mulling over the possibility of using an entry tax to discourage patronage as they attempt to avoid pachinko-like addiction. There are thousands of pachinko addicts, with around 11,000 pachinko parlours.

The hostility of the general public towards the idea has forced the mayor of Yokohama to withdraw her support for the legislation and with 75% of the Japanese populace showing disdain for the legislation, it is only a matter of time before others follow suit.

How is the government fighting the rejection?

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe has been keen to mention the fact that the casinos will only be a part of resorts that will be designed to be family friendly, featuring shops, hotels and more. The construction of the complexes will bring in 5trn for the country's ailing economy and will generate a 2trn yearly when activities kick off as a result of an upsurge in tourism.

To battle the rejection of construction in neighbourhoods by locals, the government is mulling over the possibility of building the resorts away from the people. Osaka best encapsulates this as the government is building the resort on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. The government is also hammering on the fact that the vast majority of visitors to the resort will be tourists. Over 20m people visit Japan every year, spending 3.5trn. The numbers are expected to rise to 40m tourists and 7trn spent by 2020.

Situation with Casino Operators

A good number of casino operators are already queuing up to become a part of the Japanese casino scene. They include Hard Rock Cafe International, MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and others. Stritcly online casinos like www.newcasinosonline.co are also expected to start offering content for Japanese audience.

Experts are, however, watching to see how Japan will deal with the competition from Malaysia, Singapore and Macau. The Japanese culture, cuisine and touristy appeal have been mooted as possible strong points but it remains to be seen how these will come into play in the grand scheme of things.
North Koreas satellites revealed to be in ideal position to unleash EMP attack on Americas most populated cities

Rumblings about a possible future attack on Americas power grid and logistical infrastructure have some politicians in a scurry trying to figure out how to prevent it. According to reports, North Korea currently operates two satellites that cross over the U.S. in what experts say are just the right patterns and altitudes for triggering an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, that would completely cripple the nations power grid.

Tensions between the U.S. and Kim Jong-Uns communist regime have escalated in recent weeks after the erratic dictator reportedly tested his countrys first solid-fuel missile. It was an unprecedented event from the perspective of the West, which was caught off guard by the notion that North Korea is apparently ready to launch a real missile at any moment, and with little to no warning.

Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, warns that North Korea could be planning to launch an EMP attack against the U.S. in the very near future. If successful, millions of people across North America could die, as all electronics would be instantly destroyed. The result would be no more food production, no more computers, no more clean water, and no more energy.

According to Dr. Pry, who also sits on a Congressional committee regarding the issue, the threat represents a cyber-age version of battleship diplomacy. What he means by this is that North Korea has positioned its satellites in such a way that either one of the other is very close to being over the United States at any given time, he told the U.K.s Independent.

Kim Jong-Un threatens merciless response to any US provocation

While North Koreas satellite program is said to have officially began back in the 1980s, it wasnt until about five years ago that the regime successfully launched its first observation satellite. In 2016, it launched its second, and both of these are able to make a complete orbit of the earth in about 94 minutes.

With this constant threat literally looming overhead, Dr. Pry believes that North Korea may use it as a bargaining chip should the U.S. threaten to carry out military sanctions against the nation. This is especially true now that President Trump has promised an end to the Obama-era policy of strategic patience with North Korea. The President has indicated that his administration will deal with the problem head-on, with or without Chinas help.

But Jong-Un has promised his own retaliatory action, should the U.S. attempt anything against his regime. Officials in Pyongyang say their country isnt the problem, but rather President Trump and the nation he leads.

Whatever comes from the U.S., we will cope with it, North Koreas Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told the media back in April. Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words. Its not the [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] but the U.S. and Trump that makes trouble  We are fully prepared to handle it.

Dr. Pry isnt convinced, though. He believes that North Koreas rocket tests looked suspiciously like practice for an EMP attack. Plans drawn up by the former Soviet Union during the Cold War era is where Dr. Pry believes North Korea is getting its inspiration for a possible future EMP attack against the U.S. At the same time, President Trump says his administration is fully prepared to neutralize this threat.

I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea, the President tweeted back in April. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will!

Sources:

Express.co.uk

Independent.co.uk

Independent.co.uk

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Never send a cop to do a man's job


In 2016, the Slime Cup series outperformed Nickelodeons channel average by 83%



Double Threat, winning team of SLIME CUP 2016

The Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand team got down and slimy last month while shooting the second season of the channels family-favourite adventure seriesThe 15 teams of besties taking part in the Slime Arena were found through online and live auditions. The live auditions returned to Mt Druitt in New South Wales this year and for the first time travelled to Gold Coast through Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealands partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland . The competition was open to children aged 9-13.premieres at 5.30pm on Friday, 30th June 2017 on Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand and will feature expanded digital content, including the chance for kids to create their own SLIME CUP course online and opportunities for bespoke integration across multiple platforms.In, 15 teams of superstar besties will compete in the Slime Arena and take on a series of larger-than-life inflatable challenges that will test their stamina, strength and stomachs to determine the final four teams. The finale episode will see these four teams compete on an all-new to win theIn the final episode of the six-part series, four teams will compete to win the ultimate prize, the 2017 Nickelodeon SLIME CUP trophy, on a inflatable obstacle extravaganza that has been kept tightly under wraps. Kristy Best will return as host of the series along with a yet-to-be-announced Nickelodeon talent from America.In 2016, the Slime Cup series outperformed Nickelodeons channel average by 83% with grocery buyers, and 25% of children aged 5-12 on STV tuned into watch the competition.In digital, Slime Cup had almost 100,000 unique visitors over the course of the campaign. Meanwhile, content related to the competition clocked up over three million social impressions on Facebook.Visit www.slimecup.com.au to create their owncourses, watch short-form clips, play games and see all the behind-the-scenes action!2017 is sponsored by Air Hogs, Nintendo Switch, Sea World Gold Coast, and It's Live! in Queensland.
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Livingston Republican Debra Lamm was elected leader of the Montana GOP by party delegates gathered Saturday in Billings, turning back late challenges by conservative radio star Aaron Flint and George Paul, of Cascade County.

A former legislator, Lamm made a measured appeal for growing the Republican Party at the local level, while her opponents were more energetic. She won on the first round, indicating that Lamm won at least half the vote. As with past party officer elections, the vote tally wasnt released.

Lamm replaces Jeff Essmann of Billings. Chairman since 2015, Essmann did not seek reelection. A longtime state legislator, Essmann is currently a candidate for Billings mayor.

Republicans are coming off of an historic 2016 near-sweep of state and federal public offices, losing only the governors race in 2016. The victories gave the party control of state trust lands, which are controlled by the elected occupants of the five highest positions in state government. It was the partys best election showing in 90 years with continued majorities in the state Legislature as well. It was followed by the May special election of Greg Gianforte to fill the states only U.S. House seat.

Gianforte unsuccessfully ran for governor last year, losing to incumbent Democrat Steve Bullock.

What are we going to do to win elections? We are on a roll. We have four Land Board seats. We retained our congressional seat. And we have to get together to make sure were ready for 2018 and beyond, Lamm said. How are we going to do that? It is all of you. Its our counties. It is everyone working together.

Lamm sold voting party delegates on her experience working the local-level GOP groups, which shes done for several years. She said county-level GOP groups havent always been used well in promoting candidates, and planned to increase participation at the local level.

This is a grassroots organization. It takes two things. It takes grassroots and it takes money. We will need to do both and I have a plan for that, Lamm said. I have organized people to raise money for us and it will start from the bottom, all the way to the top.

In the Legislature, Lamm spearheaded an effort to repeal national education standards known as the Common Core initiative. Lamm and other Common Core opponents say the standards create cookie-cutter curriculum that erodes local control and doesnt serve every student well.

Flint, a young war veteran and former host of Montanas only statewide political talk radio show, suggested similar goals as Lamm, but delivered his comments with more punch.

We have got to have everybody united and build a fundraising operation and apparatus that will take out Tehran Jon Tester and the Democrats in 2018 and build the momentum to 2020, Flint said.

Tester, Montanas Democratic U.S. Senator since 2007, is up for reelection next year. The senator from Big Sandy unseated the now deceased Conrad Burns in 2006 and fought off former five-term Rep. Denny Rehberg in 2012, but has yet to win 50 percent of the popular vote. One of only two Montana Democrats currently occupying a statewide office, Tester is receiving national attention.

Flint had suggested 2016 lieutenant governor candidate Leslie Robinson, of Malta, be his vice chair, had he won. Both had roles in Gianfortes campaign for governor.

Leslie Robinson worked her butt off for this state last year and weve been stuck in this purple mud for too long. Its time to make Montana a red state, Flint said.

Paul was most critical of the Montana GOP. The former leader of the Cascade County Republican Central Committee said Republicans didnt have much to show for their years of controlling both branches of the Montana Legislature.

The Republican Party in this state has been in the majority of both the House and the Senate and yet the Democrats won the day, Paul said. The Democrats embarrassed us to death in 2015. Thank God we kind of recovered in 2017.

Paul wasnt specific in his criticism of the 2015 Legislature, but conservatives have criticized GOP lawmakers for not preventing a small group of GOP lawmakers for siding with Democrats to expand Medicaid participation under the Affordable Care Act.

Notable in Gianfortes success in the May 25 special election was the Republican winning Cascade County, one of 13 counties Democrats have needed in the win column to take tight statewide races in the recent past. Cascade County Republicans credited Paul for county-level interest in GOP politics in their region, which is anchored by Great Falls.

Paul called Flint a RINO, short for Republican In Name Only, which drew laughs from Republicans familiar with Flints work on AM radio.

Flint has held several roles within the Montana GOP. He was part of the Conrad Burns reelection campaign that turned back Democrat Brian Schweitzer in 2000. Schweitzer went on to be a two-term Montana governor.

After working on the Gianforte campaign in 2016, Flint was hired to manage former Rep. Ryan Zinkes Montana staff from Billings. Zinke resigned his House seat March 1 to become Interior secretary. Zinkes employees continued to staff those offices after his resignation, but have been overseen by the Clerk of The House of Representatives.

Ravalli County Republican Chairman Terry Nelson was elected party vice chair, replacing Jennifer Fielder of Thompson Falls. Fielder did not seek reelection. Secretary Kris Hansen of Havre was reelected, as was Treasurer Mike Hopkins of Missoula and Assistant Treasurer Dave Lewis, of Helena.
Moroccos foreign ministry issued a statement expressing the Kingdoms willingness to mediate in the crisis that has shaken the Gulf after Saudi Arabia and the UAE and their allies in the Arab World and beyond severed ties with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting terrorism and side-lining with Iran.

If the parties wish so, Morocco is ready to offer its good offices conducive to a calm, franc and comprehensive dialog on the basis of non-interference in domestic affairs, the fight against religious extremism, clarity in positions and loyalty in commitments, the statement said.

Since the outbreak of the crisis, King Mohammed VI maintained close and continuous contact with different parties, the statement said.

Given the close personal ties of sincere brotherliness and mutual esteem between HM King Mohammed VI and his brothers Kings and Emirs of the Gulf, Morocco made sure not to indulge in public statements or hasty stands that would only widen the divide and deepen grievances, the statement added.

In this regards, Moroccos King called on all parties to show restraint and wisdom in order to defuse tension and overcome the crisis with a view to finding a lasting settlement to the causes that have led to the current situation in line with the spirit that has always characterized the GCC.

Morocco, which remains closely linked to Gulf countries in all fields despite geographic distance, is very concerned with this crisis although it is not directly involved in it, the statement said, noting that the North African Kingdom has adopted a constructive neutrality which does not confine it to a passive observation of a disturbing escalation between brotherly countries.

Last week, six Arab countries -Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, eastern Libyan government, and Yemen- severed ties with Qatar and banned all air, land and sea transport with Doha. Other allies of Saudi Arabia followed suit and broke off diplomatic ties with Qatar including Mauritania, Maldives, and Niger, while Jordan downgraded its diplomatic representation in the tiny Gulf emirate.
iStock/Thinkstock(PISCATAWAY, New Jersey) -- One person is in critical condition and 1,900 residents are without power following an overnight house explosion in New Jersey, according to WABC-TV in New York.

Twitter user Kareem Ali Elasmar took dramatic photos of the aftermath of the blast in Piscataway, New Jersey, showing a plume of smoke rising from the remains of the house. Piscataway is about 37 miles southwest of New York.

1 person injured in overnight house explosion on Stelton Rd in Piscataway. 1,900 wo power. @CandaceMcCowan7 on scene. Pics from @reemisreal_ pic.twitter.com/5tfNQEmidN  ABC7NY NewsDesk (@ABC7NYNewsDesk) June 11, 2017

A male resident of the home who is in his 50s was hospitalized and remains in critical condition with second-degree burns, WABC-TV reports.

Crews are waiting on state police and arson investigators to arrive. The homeowner has second degree burns @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/4VrbBwGGkJ  Candace McCowan (@CandaceMcCowan7) June 11, 2017

Video taken in the early morning hours shows the fire burning brightly on the street, as firefighters work to stop it from spreading.

WABC-TV reported that state police and arson investigators arrived to look into the incident, and authorities believe the blast was the result of a gas explosion.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
SHERIDAN, Wyo.  With a lawnmower as his only companion, Rodney Smith Jr. has embarked on a nationwide mission to lend a helping hand and inspire others to do the same.

The 50 States 50 Lawns project kicked off May 10. Smith will cut one lawn in each state and meet with local youth interested in their communities.

The Huntsville, Alabama, resident and student founded Raising Men Lawn Care Service less than two years ago; it provides free lawn care to elders, those who are disabled, single mothers and veterans. The bigger mission of the organization is to set youth on a positive path and get them involved in community service through its 50 Yard Challenge.

Smith said the program rewards kids with a different colored T-shirt after every 10 yards completed. He said RMLCS will send interested kids eye and ear protection when they start and at 50 yards RMLCS members will travel to the participant, mow lawns with them and give them a new lawnmower.

The 50 States 50 Lawns project is an effort to bring awareness to the organization's 50 Yard Challenge program.

He said nationwide there's more than 50 kids participating in the program with two more in England. In 2016, Smith said two people completed the 50 Yard Challenge and so far this year, the program has seen one finisher.

Wyoming is Smith's 19th state to travel to for the 50 States 50 Lawns project. He recently mowed the lawn of Dr. Sy Thickman.

Smith said he started by posting on Facebook, looking for people to suggest lawns for him to mow nationwide. That's how Maggie Bergstrom contacted him, asked him to come to Sheridan and mow Thickman's lawn.

Bergstrom said Thickman is a family friend and veteran. She said he's done a lot for her and the community, including giving services for free to the women's prison in Lusk.

"Sy has done so much for this community over the years and I just thought it'd be nice to give back to him for once," Bergstrom said.

Smith said he's gotten different reactions from those receiving the service, including tears from an elderly woman in Texas who hadn't had her lawn cut in about a year.

According to the press release, Briggs and Stratton made a contribution to RMLS to support its mission and help with travel expenses and equipment.

"Rodney and Raising Men Lawn Care Service are living a mission that's making a difference in peoples' lives on a daily basis," said Briggs and Stratton vice president of corporate marketing Rick Carpenter in a press release.

Smith said he's focusing on this group of people to help because lawn care can be a financial burden that among other things can lead to city fines when not maintained.

"From what I've seen, that's the group of people that have a hard time paying for lawn care, especially the elderly," Smith said. "They're on a fixed income; a lot of them can't really afford to get their lawn cut."

From Wyoming, Smith said he'll travel to Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota and make his way to the East Coast, continuing his mission.

"My hope is to encourage kids to get out there and make a difference with a lawnmower," Smith said.
How many anti-Trump voters do Montana Democrats believe are out there to be swept up in a state in which President Donald Trump won by 20 percentage points?

Put another way, there were 100,000 Montana voters more who voted for Trump than Hillary Clinton in state where only 700,000 voters exist. The margin, in Trumpspeak, is "yuge."

So, the state's Democrats want to start growing their bench by fielding a team of formidable candidates who will play on the anti-Trump sentiment?

It just seems unlikely that they'll be able to sway at least 100,000 votes or more just by being the opposition party. In fact, we think that just being the opposition will lead to more obstruction and could easily backfire on the Democrats by residents who are simply tired of gridlock, bickering, partisanship and a lack of compromise.

Billings Gazette journalist Holly Michels reported last week on the Democrats' effort to deepen their bench after a series of demoralizing losses throughout the state, culminating with the election of Greg Gianforte to Congress even after he had allegedly bodyslammed a reporter on the eve of the election. The Democrats spoke candidly about why they chose musician-turned-politician Rob Quist and what they'll have to do to be successful in the future.

In that spirit, we'd like to offer some friendly advice:

Don't be the anti-Trump crowd. The anti-Trump crowd is no better than than the anti-Obama crowd. It seems like too many political movements are a reaction against something than a move toward improving something. Trump, no matter what happens during his already embattled presidency, will not be a fixture forever. However, the programs and policies that lawmakers and politicians set in place could have long-reaching effects that last well beyond a presidency.

Let your issues speak for themselves. We believe that the Democrats have compelling issues to talk about (we also believe the Republicans do, too). For too long, we've been wrapped up in the personalities running -- like the Trumps and the Quists who were more style than substance. Instead, we believe Democrats have the upper hand when it comes to healthcare issues, strong public schools and women's health. Speak to those issues because so many of those issues are pressing concerns for Montanans.

Abandon the class warfare of the previous century. Enough with the tired "don't trust rich people" or just "tax the rich" more. It's obviously not a message that is resounding. You can't make your candidates stronger by tearing down those who have been successful. That's just going to look like jealousy. By the same token, success in business doesn't always translate into success in government. People resent the economic labels and groups. Pitting one against the other is a divide-and-conquer strategy that frustrates the voters. Moreover, just because someone makes a lot of money doesn't mean they deserve to be taxed more; conversely, just because a person uses government services doesn't make them a freeloader, nor does it mean entitlement programs cannot be reformed. Part of our political problem stems from class warfare, rather than sound issue-based policy.

Recapture the agriculture vote. Democrats should take a lesson from one of their own successes, Sen. Jon Tester. Montana farmers and ranchers have stood alongside Republicans because of the conservative values. But, recent trade decisions, coupled with a distinct change in crop programs could leave Montana agriculture exposed and hurting. If the Democrats have any shot at recapturing Montana's rural, eastern counties, it's going to be by fortifying the agriculture planks of the party's state platform.

Jobs, jobs and jobs. For too long the Democrats continue to believe the only way to talk about jobs was in context of unions. But hearkening back to those good old days is no better than the party's economic class warfare that continues to land with a thud for Montanans. Younger Montana voters are worried about good jobs in the Treasure State. The way to persuade them is not last year's answers to tomorrow's problems. In other words, stop the unending drone of unionization and start addressing issues. Workers want flexibility and they're happy to speak for themselves instead of through some steward. The Democrats should emphasize hard wiring rural communities for telecommuting, making sure that Montana's larger cities have quality-of-life amenities that compete with other larger or regional urban areas. Dems need to promote insurance programs that allow portability, along with benefits that aid young families, like improving childcare.

Boring is the new sexy. Finally, an maybe most importantly, before Democrats run another populist candidate, they should have some of their grandchildren show them how to use Google. The Democrats have done an abysmal job of vetting candidates. Moreover, they've tended to find more radical or flashy candidates in place of ones that have a more stable past and better political track record. Winning Montana will for the Democrats means more than gimmick -- boring is the new sexy.
Preet Bharara, attending the Senate hearing at which former FBI director James Comey testified on Thursday. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara told George Stephanopoulos on Sundays broadcast of This Week that, like fired FBI director James Comey, he was also the subject of unwelcome, one-on-one political advances from Donald Trump. Trump originally invited Bharara to Trump Tower during the transition to ask him to stay on as U.S. attorney for New Yorks Southern District. Trump later followed up with two phone calls while president-elect, then another as president in March. After consulting with his staff, Bharara opted against returning that third call, and was promptly fired. Explained Bharara on Sunday:

Ive been reading the stories of how the president has been contacting Jim Comey over time, felt a little bit like deja vu. And Im not the FBI director, but I was the chief federal law-enforcement officer in Manhattan with jurisdiction over a lot of things including, you know, business interests and other things in New York.

He went to note that President Obama had never called him in seven and a half years, and that distance was what he expected, because there has to be some kind of arms length relationship given the jurisdiction that various people had.

After the Trump Tower meeting, Trump called once in December ostensibly just to shoot the breeze and asked me how I was doing and wanted to make sure I was okay, Bharara said, and Trump made a similar call two days before his inauguration. Bharara said that though Trump wasnt president yet, the calls still made him a little bit uncomfortable.

Comey testified last week that he thought that Trumps efforts to talk to him privately were an attempt to build a patronage relationship with him, but Bharara had a slightly different take on his own exposure to Trump:



Thats not the word I use. I was in discussions with my own folks, and in reporting the phone call to the chief of staff to the attorney general I said, it appeared to be that he was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship.

Nonetheless, he was troubled:

[I]ts a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general, without warning between the president and me or any United States attorney who has been asked to investigate various things and is in a position hypothetically to investigate business interests and associates of the president.

In March, Bharara received a third call from then President Trump, and this time, he consulted with his staff and alerted Attorney General Jeff Sessionss office. Sessionss chief of staff, Jody Hunt, agreed that Bharara should not speak with Trump, and Bharara decided not to return Trumps call. Then, less than 24 hours later, Trump asked him and 45 other U.S. attorneys to resign. Bharara refused, and was quickly terminated instead. To this day I have no idea why I was fired, he said on Sunday.

Asked earlier for his views on Comeys testimony and its aftermath, Bharara said that he thought there was absolutely evidence to consider an obstruction of justice case against President Trump with regards to Comey and the FBIs Russia investigation. As to whom he would trust, Bharara unsurprisingly added, When it comes down to whos telling the truth and whos not, I think most people would side reasonably with James Comey.
I was going to make a 'sound like one of them good problems' joke but then I actually read the post and this sounds scary as hell.



PS: I love how she completely disappears when she's not promoting her work. I actually like her and yet completely forgot she even existed. Main reason why I roll my eyes when ONTD calls her an attention whore.



Edited at 2017-06-11 11:37 am (UTC)

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She does such a good job at staying off the radar. Lol that's why I piss myself laughing at d-listers like Ariel winters who want us to believe paparazzi are following them around supermarkets without their knowledge or consent, then make posts on instagram begging the paps to leave them alone. Child please!

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Every celeb that says the paps are stalking them and they cannot have privacy are lying big time. Prvacy is possible, they just don't want it

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4577844/Kristen-Stewart-leaves-ex-Alicia-Cargile-s-house.html Jen proves you can be a the top of the A list and still manage to keep your private life private if you want to. Others, not so much. Kristen Stewart is in the Daily Mail on an almost daily basis. They caught her this week going back to her ex, Alicia, while Stella Maxwell was in London. So thirsty and so messy.

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Same. It's one of many reasons I love her.

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this is why when she shows up on paparazzi pics with her boyfriend I know she knows lol

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lmao same, that's why it kills me whenever a movie of hers comes out and twitter just loses it with their "UUUUUGH SHE'S EVERYWHEEEERE" when she's actually one of the few celebs who..... isn't.

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save after an private!

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English is not everyone's first language sis. OP's profile says they're from Bulgaria (stalker alert @ me). English is not everyone's first language sis. OP's profile says they're from Bulgaria (stalker alert @ me).

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lol oop ty for your detective work

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Cackling

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hahahaha my brain had a miniature seizure trying to decipher the title.

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lmaooooooo

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lol sorry, i was having a rough night and realized my mistake after i submitted the post

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I love travelling but i fking hate flying.

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When I lived in Japan I'd take 12-13 hour flights to visit home and it was so horrible. I was anxious the entire time, couldn't sleep and was on edge every time it got bumpy. Not fun

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I'm the same. The longest was 4 like you and I wanted to die.

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Yeah I hateeeee flying (ANY turbulence means we are going to die) and I recently did a couple of 24 hour flights (well, 16 with an hour stop then 8) and the longer you go, the less worried you get. Until there's a bump and then you KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. At that point, I accept their offerings of free alcohol and pop a couple Xanax. Sometimes I'll try ambien, but I usually only fall asleep for like four hours and then feel like trash the rest of the time.





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Same. I was on a 12 hour flight and we hit turbulence before Japan and I was DYING. I was on the verge of tears and I was alone so i had no one's hand to hold.

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same

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Sameeeee

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SAME.



I fly often, incl. plenty of long haul flights (parents used to be expats) but I still go all white knuckle at the slightest sign of turbulence. Like, statistically I know it's the safest form of travel (especially commercial airlines!) but the lizard part of my brain HATES it and always will.



For real, if I could have any superpower it would be teleportation mainly 'cause I'd never have to fly again lol

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I used to be such a pro at flying, could sleep through even the worst turbulence, but now I'm petrified each and every flight I take. I have to get drunk to not have a panic attack, which is not a good look on those early morning flights, UGH.



Edited at 2017-06-11 06:28 pm (UTC)

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Same. I will enjoy any mode of transportation outside of a plane. Boat, tram, car, ferry, skateboard, horse and buggy, it's all good. I hate flying so much. It used to be I just hated being on the plane but now they've made airports such a nightmare, the whole experience is miserable.



The first time I ever flew was between NYC and Washington DC, and the plane sat on the runway for an hour because of a thunderstorm, and then after we took off, the plane was stuck by lightning and all the power went out. This was my first flight and I was alone, sitting there in the dark. I've never become used to flying.

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Omg that sounds scary as hell. Glad everyone is ok

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wow... small planes are scary

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Small planes freak me out, I feel like a see several small plane crashes a year on the news just in my area and I've known multiple people who have died in them.

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Where I'm from, a small plane crashed into a man's house :( Thankfully he survived but his house was completely destroyed and all his cats died. And the people on the plane died.

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a girl from my graduating class died when the tiny plane she was in hit a telephone wire :/

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I've had to make an emergency landing before. It sounded like the back of the plane was blowing up and people were legit screaming. The runway was lined for firetrucks as we made our emergency landing. It was one of the scariest things ever.



What's crazy is on my way to the place, because the emergency landing was on the way home, was that we had such bad truculence we were fish tailing in the air.

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Omg. Do you know what happened?

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Nooooooo omg no no fishtailing ?!?! Glad you're safe though

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literally my worst nightmare, as a person with flying anxiety I cannot imagine how awful this must be for her

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Same omfg.

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Same here :(

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Same. I love travelling but I dread every time I board the plane and these incidents make me even more nervous.

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same. I love traveling, but whenever I get on a plane, I need to have anti-anxiety pills. Even then, it's a nightmare. My last flight, the meds took longer to kick in, and I had to hide in the plane bathroom so I could cry while breathing into a paper bag.

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I take xanax for flights too. Mostly it's because I feel like I'm trapped on the plane and can't get off. I always try to take it 30 mins prior to boarding so I feel more relaxed by the time it's my turn to get on.

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sameee

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anyone else really into air crash investigations with their low budget recreations in every episode? i've watched all 17 seasons tbh..

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I love air crash investigations

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i love the extra unbelievable ones... like the episode where the front window blew out in the middle of a flight because a mechanic put the wrong bolts in and the pilot got sucked out of the plane and the stewards held onto him even if they thought he was dead and the first officer landed on his own, and the pilot only ended up surviving?!





but i love that the message is mostly, and this is why that was changed and therefore flying is safer than before, etc.

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In Canada, the show is called Mayday. I record it every day because I love it so much. It's pretty rare that I'll come across an episode I haven't seen but when I do, it's very exciting. As scary and horrid as the crashes are, somehow I also find it comforting to see the way the industry handles crashes and other situations; it does seem like they learn something from every event and use that to make flying safer.

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I looooove it!

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I love the older episodes but I haven't liked the last couple of seasons. I couldn't get through the episode about the Air France hijacking either...the head hijacker's acting was SO bad and I was laughing even though it was supposed to be tragic.

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I loved watching this show (even if it gives me way too much anxiety). It came to a point that whenever I got on a plane, I could hear the narrator of the show in my head so I was like NOPE, haha.

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Glad she and everyone is okay!



I think that if I were rich/famous, I'd still want to fly commercial planes as much as possible. They seem way less likely to get an accident, and obviously much cheaper.

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Holy shit lucky they were already landing when the second engine failed

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I don't like flying on small planes.

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Holy shit! Double engine failure? That sounds like a death warrant! I'm amazed they landed safely and didn't crash :/

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This is some Final Destination shit.

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No kidding, after that, I'd be like... Nah, I'll hang out here for a while.

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I'm glad she's okay. God, I hate flying.

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hey op if you feel like correcting it's "safe after a private plane accident"



But this sounds terrifying sheesh. I know logically planes are safer than cars but i still get nervous.

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i couldn't even figure out what it was supposed to say for awhile there so thanks!

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katy and taylor WISH they could have a rivalry this iconic and petty.

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icon!! queen of haters!! icon!! queen of haters!!

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the queen of soul did THAT! i love how she gets literally two words out and carole is already shook.



Edited at 2017-06-11 10:38 pm (UTC)

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honey, when she threw that fur coat to the ground! this is why i always laugh when people say real musicians play ~instruments (which, lbr, is usually code for a guitar or drums, not a piano). i dare anybody to listen to her go off at 123 years of age and say that her voice isn't as powerful as any guitar solo.

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I was hoping this would be here. Still snatching souls and wigs smh

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Jesus her voice is still perfection.

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Why am I tearing up at this lol??? I know because Carole King is legendary and she was shooketh with Queen Aretha. This performance is soooo wonderful.

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this always makes me cryyyyy

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I love when people get genuinely excited, like Carole King at the start

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I love how Carole is just fangirling the fuck out

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Everything about this is amazing.

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Gowns, beautiful gowns

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that classic shade slays me everytime. that classic shade slays me everytime.

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I worked at this with the non profit arts center I work at but I'd been on Madison Ave since ten am (I got up at 7 to get ready) so by the time she went on at 6 pm, all I wanted was to pack up my stuff and go home. I'm still exhausted but regret not seeing her now tbh

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Bless you for your hard work sis!

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Aw thanks so much! That means a lot! It was such a long, hot day tbh!!

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I always loved this performance. She had, like, twenty minutes to prepare it since Pavarotti was ill and asked her to sing it and crushed it.





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CHILLS. Thank you so much for sharing that!



Celine fangirling is the most adorable thing.

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Just kidding, I love Aretha and she deserves to be living up her golden years carefree and count her coin while ignoring the new generation's struggle vocals. Just kidding, I love Aretha and she deserves to be living up her golden years carefree and count her coin while ignoring the new generation's struggle vocals.

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bless this comment



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shame these heathen ass hoes!



speak the truth andthese heathen ass hoes!

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hateretha <333

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Please, Hateretha is going to come out of retirement the second Patti releases her next album.

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she really is the queen.

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This fur wearing hag. I hope she gets rabies.

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i sat next to her at a pistons game lol she was lovely. she had an entire chair for snacks.

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LOLOLOLOLLOL

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Despicable cunt.

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and you will stay very mad

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Imgur hasn't worked on ONTD in years you fool.

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The Queen of Soul deserves all the awards, all the honors.

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Petroleum industrys total economic value for Californialarger than 15 U.S. state economies

A new economic study released today by The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) details the oil and gas industrys sizable economic and fiscal impacts on Californias economy and also identifies the user industries of refined products and quantifying their economic activity today.

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) commissioned the LAEDC to study the economic contribution of the oil and gas industry in California for the year 2015, as well as identifying user industries of refined products most vulnerable to cost increases, supply restrictions and competitive pressures from outside the state.

Oil & Gas is major employer, leading economic driver

The report shows the oil and gas industry as a major employer and leading economic driver in California, responsible for 368,100 jobs in 2015, or 1.6 percent of Californias employment, with almost $66 billion in total value-added, contributing 2.7 percent of Californias state GDP.





The oil and gas industry also makes significant fiscal contributions to Californias state and local governments, including more than $26.4 billion in state and local tax revenues and $28.5 billion in sales and excise taxes.

Vulnerable industries of refined petroleum products like transportation/warehousing, manufacturing and agriculture represent 1.7 million jobs in California with an associated $111 billion in labor income and contributing 8.4 percent to the states GDP.

The oil and gas industry supports 77,846 jobs in Los Angeles County alone, said Dr. Somjita Mitra of the LAEDC. Industry activities in the county generate more than $6.9 billion in tax revenues.





By Oil and Gas 360

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The robots are coming to oil and gas. This message is something weve been hearing a lot lately, what with autonomous trucks, piloted by Canadas Suncor, to automated drilling rigs, robots that collect seismic survey data, and even self-sufficient, remotely operated entirely submerged oil production platforms. And that list is likely to grow in the future.

Besides all these major robotic applications for the oil and gas industry, there are also robots that can conduct pipeline inspections from the inside. An array of four such robots will later this year be used to inspect a 40-year branch of the Trans-Alaska pipeline system at the Valdez terminal.

The robots were developed by a Russia-based company, Diakont, which says that its pipeline crawlersRemotely Operated Diagnostic Inspection System or RODIS crawlerssupply highly accurate data and they do it in real time, which helps with timely decision-making. From a single access point, the company says, its robots can examine up to 1,800 feet of pipes with diameters ranging between 8 and 55 inches.

Alaska Dispatch News reporter Alex DeMarban writes that the four robots, all with human names, by the way, will use lasers and a technology similar to ultrasound to check a 350-foot underground pipeline section for signs of corrosion. The pipeline branch feeds crude from the Trans-Alaska pipeline to storage tanks at Valdez.

This is not the first-time robots will be used for internal pipeline inspection, replacing the so-called smart pigs, or pipeline inspection gauges, that rely on magnetic sensors to detect corrosion and cracks. However, the smart pigs are quite long and cannot be used to inspect branches off the main pipeline.

DeMarban quotes a spokeswoman for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. as saying that in the last few years, the likes of Alice, Dee, Fiona, and Gary have been deployed to several underground branches of the Trans-Alaska pipeline that were never before inspected internally because of the impossibility of access for the smart pigs. All the robots need is a clean pipe, flushed with hot water and detergent or diesel fuel. Related: Is $75 Oil Still Possible?

The robots have retractable legs that allow them to basically circle the diameter of the pipeline, go into vertical sections and turn other corners. They are not wireless, however  they are connected to their operator by a cord via which the data they receive from their surroundings is transmitted. And heres one fun fact from Diakonts U.S. management: the three robots with female names got them because they are a bit smarter than the male one. They can crawl through changing diameters mid-pipe, the companys director of pipeline services Brian Carlson told DeMarban.

Diakont says that its robots can be used for all sorts of pipelines, including offshore ones  an application that should have a bright future in light of all the worries around underwater oil and gas pipelines. A robot inspection could quench these worriesalbeit temporarilymuch better than a company statement full of verbal assurances.

Could all these robots one day combine into an almost completely automated supply chain? Its not impossible. Automated rigs will drill the wells, extraction will also be automatic and so will field maintenance. How soon this will happen, however, is another question.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
I take issue with The Gazettes recent hypocritical proselytizing about the attack on journalist Ben Jacobs.

Real journalists adhere to a code of ethics that includes objectivity and skepticism tempered with respect for those they cover. However, Jacobs is a political hack whose sole mission is to print falsehoods and innuendo exclusively to damage Republicans and bolster Democrats. Since The Gazette also seems to fetishize this practice in lieu of balanced journalism, I can see why they are so upset.

For three years now, Gianforte has been following, tracked, recorded, filmed, harassed and stalked by members of the Democratic Party and their allies. This treatment has also extended to his family, members of his church, his businesses associates, his charities and anyone else who dare stick up for him, his political beliefs or his Christian values. For far too long the left, including dishonest hacks who call themselves journalists, have traded a fair debate of ideas for personal assassination and destruction.

The journalist in question days before smeared Gianforte as some Russian agent because of his investments in a blind international trust. Meanwhile the Gazette itself was running complete falsehoods about Gianforte being associated with white supremacists.

Lies, innuendo and character assassination are not journalism. Under any other standard the behavior of journalists would be considered bullying, stalking and harassment. Politicians are still people, and seeing one finally stand up for himself against the bullies calling themselves journalists is a welcome sight for many Montanans.

Timothy Adams

Bozeman

Editor's note: The Billings Gazette ran the story about Gianforte's support of white nationalist candidate Taylor Rose on May 18. The story can be found here.
Two local siblings were killed Saturday morning on the Ohio Turnpike after the driver of the car they were riding in swerved to try to avoid striking a deer and was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The two girls killed were Payton Thatcher, 7, of Glens Falls and Tiarra Couture, 13, of Argyle. They were half sisters. Their deaths were confirmed by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiners office website.

Payton was a student at Big Cross Elementary School, and Tiarra was at Argyle Central School.

The girls mother, Nicole Underwood, 34, was in serious condition Sunday, according to a nursing supervisor at MetroHealth Medical Center.

Her mother, Bonnie Underwood, 51, who was driving, was discharged. Nicole Underwoods son, Carter Underwood, 9, was also hospitalized. His grandmother said by telephone that he was expected to be released Monday. She said her daughter had improved from Sunday morning to Sunday evening, and she said she hoped Nicole would be released within a day or two.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital, who asked not to be named, said the staff had rallied around the family and was doing everything it could to help.

The accident took place just before 4:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a highway patrol press release.

A state trooper who was on the scene said the investigation determined the Underwoods black 2010 Subaru Outback was being driven east when a deer ran in across the road. Bonnie Underwood was driving and could not avoid the deer.

The car's airbags deployed, the trooper said, and she lost control of the car, and it was hit by the Freightliner. The care spun, hit the divider and ended up on the berm.

The three children in the back of the Subaru had to be removed by Strongsville firefighters.

The driver of the Freightliner, Mohamed Foday Sesay of Bladeburg, Maryland, 50, was uninjured. His cab was pulling a trailer carrying 44,000 pounds of juice. The state highway inspection unit also investigated the case.

Strongsville is about 22 miles south of Cleveland.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the accident, but charges are not expected.

Leeann Mae Thorne, a close friend of the family, said she is working on several fundraisers to get funding for transportation and funeral expenses. The girls funeral will be held together.
OUT IN THE WOODS  Erik Schlimmer thinks of himself as the black sheep of New Yorks hiking community.

More than 10,000 people have successfully climbed the 46 high peaks in the Adirondack Mountains. Schlimmer, a 43-year-old Chestertown native and current resident of Troy, isnt interested in that been-there-done-that type of peak bagging. The former Army paratrooper has always appreciated the more obscure parts of the Adirondack Park.

His passion for hiking has been with him his whole life. But in the mid-2000s, he first came across the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, a 46,283-acre land parcel near Brant and Schroon lakes. He was working as an outdoor educator at the time and was blown away by the beauty of this particular portion of the Adirondacks.

I had hiked a lot in the Adirondacks and never been to Pharaoh Lake, he said.

After seeing some of the more traveled parts of that wilderness area, Schlimmer thought the rest of it must be just as beautiful. So he made it his mission to hike to all 106 of the named features in that wilderness area  ponds, rivers, streams, mountains, hills, passes, ranges and valleys. By 2011, he had achieved that goal.

As far as I can tell, Im the first person to do so, he said.

Schlimmer spent days at a time exploring the land in all its natural beauty. He plopped through marshes and swamps and bushwhacked his way to mountain summits, both bald and covered.

It was exploring this wilderness area that ultimately changed his perspective on hiking.

I reflected back on the Pharaoh Lake experience and realized theres thousands of named features in the Adirondacks, Schlimmer said.

He was hooked on what he calls name bagging, or hiking all of the named features in a given wildlife area. Schlimmer was driven to do the same thing he had done in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area in other areas of the Adirondack Park.

A few years after completing the 106 named features in the Pharaoh Lake area, he set out to tackle the Lake George Wild Forest and its 90 named features.

At 71,133 acres, the Lake George Wild Forest is far larger than the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, and because of the way it is broken up, it took Schlimmer longer to complete.

Lake George is almost twice as big and its cut up into parcels, he said. With Pharaoh Lake, I was going out for days at a time. With Lake George, it was take a day to hike to this mountain or this swamp. So it took me a little longer.

Just a couple weeks ago, he completed the 90 features that make up the Lake George Wild Forest.

Hes now setting his sights on the Hammond Pond Wild Forest, which borders the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness area to the north, expanding toward North Hudson where it borders the Dix Mountain Wilderness, a popular destination for those hiking the Adirondack High Peaks. Schlimmer said he has somewhere between 20 and 25 features left to trek in that 95-feature area.

He is also multi-tasking by hiking the features in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest near Lake Luzerne on the days hes not exploring the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. That 124,643-acre land mass has plenty of features to see. Hes already been to more than 100 features in that forest, leaving him with about a dozen left out of the 132.

The Trans Adirondack Route

Exploring the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area may have kept Schlimmer busy back in the day, but he still took time for other hiking adventures.

In 2010, he founded the Trans Adirondack Route, a 239.4-mile route which meanders diagonally through the largest protected land mass in the contiguous United States from its northeast border to its southwest border. The route starts in the town of Ellenburg, just nine miles from the Canadian border, passes near Wilmington, Lake Placid, Long Lake, Blue Mountain Lake and Piseco, before ending in Lassellsville, near Fonda and Johnstown.

The route includes 40 footpaths, 35 portions of roads and nine sections of cross-country travel, making for an interesting mix of terrain. It brings hikers to 55 bodies of water, three mountain summits and five life zones, contained within five wilderness areas and eight wild forests.

When Schlimmer took off on a 12-day adventure and hiked the route in 2010, he was the first person to do so. Since that time, 10 other people have successfully completed the trek, while seven others have failed.

I tell people, and its totally true, the hiking was the easiest part. I just put on a backpack and shoes and start walking, Schlimmer said with a chuckle. The hard part, he said, was writing a step-by-step guide to the trail so that others could follow it.

Schlimmer has written extensively about hiking, publishing five different books: Thru Hikers Guide to America, Blue Line to Blue Line, History Inside the Blue Line, My Adirondacks and Among the Cloud Splitters.

In 2013, he established a group called the Friends of the Trans Adirondack Route. The group maintains the trail and offers books, maps and other literature to help those who want to navigate the route do so successfully.

Whats next?

When he finishes up in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest and the Hammond Pond Wild Forest, Schlimmer hopes to make his way to the Ferris Lake Wild Forest in the southwestern reach of the park. That 147,454-acre parcel is one of the largest in New York.

Hiking the western portions of the park is somewhat of a rarity for Schlimmer, who admits hes a little more fond of the eastern portions.

The eastern Adirondacks have seen a good amount of wildfires, so a lot of the summits are bald, he said. You dont get that in the middle or the west of the park.

With thousands of features to be seen in the park, hes aiming for as many as time will allow.

Im 43  Im about halfway through life. I dont think one lifetime is long enough (to hike all of the features), but Im just going to keep going, he said. All of the features in the eastern half of the park might be a goal.

Of the hundreds of features he has seen, the views he has enjoyed most have come from some surprising locations.

The lower ones, in particular, Im really enjoying. Theyre lower elevation but theyre more beautiful, he said.

A timeless pastime

For Schlimmer, hiking is about more than just the views and the name bagging. Its about a special type of serenity, which is especially prominent on the more remote portions of his excursions.

What I most enjoy about this is the entire trip, basically. Theres no trails at all, he said. Im like, Erik, whens the last time someone was out here? It could have been last hunting season or it could have been 1910 when it was last logged. Theres a timelessness to this. You really wouldnt know if it was 2017, 1910 or 2117. Thats kind of unique for a place about an hour and a half from downtown Albany.

Schlimmer doesnt use a GPS, like many other hikers do when they venture off trail. He relies on a compass and a map that is cross-referenced between a National Geographic map and a USGS one.

I like doing things the old-fashioned way. Its like being a detective. I have to piece these little things together or Im going to be lost for a day and its going to be a wash, he said. With GPS, youre not solving the problem, youre just following the arrow. Its more rewarding when you have to figure it out yourself.

Reverse retirement

Schlimmer is a proponent of a concept he calls reverse retirement, where you explore the world in your 20s and 30s, before getting a real job in your 40s.

Through reverse retirement, he said he has mountain biked 12,000 miles, hiked 10,000 miles, summited 1,500 mountains and slept outside more than 1,000 nights.

When hes not off on an adventure, Schlimmer is a clinical social work graduate student at the University at Albany. When he graduates in May of next year, he hopes to facilitate therapy for trauma victims, particularly any combat veterans who have fought oversees in any of the post-9/11 wars.
We arrived in Italy after an overnight flight, took a bus to the Milan train station and started walking to our hotel, which was just a short distance away.

It was not supposed to be a problem.

But I took a left when I should have taken a right and the hotel was not where it was supposed to be, and I suddenly felt lost and vulnerable as we dragged our luggage through the streets of a strange city.

I stopped two policemen and hoped they knew some English.

They did not.

A man rushed up to them talking excitedly and pointing, and they ran off. I later learned they were chasing someone who snatched a purse.

Thats when the middle-aged man in the business suit appeared.

Do you need help? he said in accented English.

I gave him the name of our hotel and asked if he knew where it was.

He did not, but he did tell us that this was not a good neighborhood and we should be very careful.

He pulled out his phone and asked for the hotel address so he could map it. He started to explain how to get there when he stopped and said, I will take you there.

It was not far, just a block up and down the end of another lane, but it was out of his way.

When we arrived, I shook his hand and profoundly thanked him.

I later wondered if I would have done the same, especially for a foreigner with little or no understanding of English.

I wondered how many of us Americans would take a moment from our busy lives to help a stranger.

A couple weeks ago, two foreign students arrived in Lake George on the 9:30 bus from New York City. They spoke no English and were expecting someone to meet them to take them to their boarding house.

No one showed.

In the offseason, Lake George can be a ghost town late at night with nothing open. It can be dark, gloomy and cold.

The students tried to get help at a local cafe, but still couldnt find their residence. They ended up spending the night on a bench in Shepard Park.

Thats not acceptable.

Lake George Mayor Robert Blais felt the same way.

He has led the way this past year in reviving a student connection program to help foreign workers with problems while they are here working in the United States. Several local communities have joined the effort and provided funds to watch out for our international visitors.

In this case, Blais took immediate action.

He instructed village workers who check parking meters to meet each bus in the village. He armed the workers with maps and information that highlighted the most common places where foreign students stay.

The cafe worker who tried to help the students said it is not unusual for no one to meet the bus.

The student workers are a lifeline for seasonal businesses, taking jobs that Americans kids wont take.

The latest effort by local communities to look over them and provide a helping hand is a step forward thats not only good for business, but the right thing to do.

For international students, this is often their first impression of America, just as that Italian businessman was my first impression of the Italian people. How do we want to remembered?

America is still the land of opportunity and no one should ever feel lost and unwelcome.

Ken Tingley is Editor of The Post-Star and may be reached via email at tingley@poststar.com.
Red Trail Energy in Richardton plans to make use of an Environmental Protection Agency rule that allows North Dakota to regulate Class VI wells, or injection wells, that can permanently store carbon dioxide underground. Red Trail, a natural gas-fired ethanol plant, wants to reduce its carbon footprint so its product is more attractive to West Coast states and British Columbia.

Its all about good business. The West Coast has tougher fuel standards, but Red Trail would like to tap the market. The geology beneath the plant is considered ideal for an underground injection well. The carbon dioxide would be compressed and injected about 6,400 feet below ground into the Broom Creek formation, which is unsuitable for drinking water. The carbon dioxide wouldnt escape because there are thousands of feet of shale on top of the formation.

The project makes sense because Red Trail has a product that the West Coast wants and needs.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission will be responsible for regulating the carbon dioxide wells. The project will need to go through a comment period and the markets involved must approve the plant's operational plan to qualify for the low carbon fuel standards. The project probably wont get off the ground until 2020.

The Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota also is studying the use of captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery in the Bakken.

President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord had many of the agreements supporters wringing their hands over our environmental future. The Red Trail project indicates businesses will adopt good environmental processes if it benefits them financially. Good practices translate into good business.

Time to bargain

This will be a tough year for school districts and teachers negotiating new contracts. The Legislature kept K-12 funding flat for the next two years so districts will have a difficult time finding money for salary increases.

Minot and Dickinson settled for small- to medium-size increases in teachers' base salaries, but bigger districts may not have that luxury. Grand Forks Public Schools declared an impasse and asked for assistance from the North Dakota Education Fact Finding Commission. Fargo Public Schools has gone into mediation.

In Bismarck, the negotiations are moving slowly. The district recently increased the school board's initial proposal, which was to freeze teacher salaries across the board. At present, Bismarck teachers get a 1.5 percent increase in pay, or about $1,000, on average, with each year of teaching. A teacher's salary also increases with the level of education.

In the past, Bismarck teachers have gotten a pay raise each year. "At this point in time, we're still saying that we cannot afford to increase the salary schedule," Lisa Kudelka, head of the Bismarck Public Schools human resources department, said.

"We know we have good employees; we just can't spend money we don't have," Superintendent Tamara Uselman told the Tribune.

Shes probably right. Bismarck teachers may have to settle for less than in the past. They arent the only professionals encountering difficult times. We appreciate the work of teachers, but if the money isnt there, the raises wont happen.
Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind
Local governments didn't have a chance when it came to regulating fireworks. Iowa Legislature, hot to remake Iowa in its own image, saw to it.

Republican lawmakers were so giddy with the party's unilateral control that 2017 session devolved into a chaotic blur of partisan bills. Long-meandering legislation -- fraught with pitfalls -- were rushed through, a show of force about GOP domination that bolstered the conservative bonafides of individual legislators.

The legalization of consumer-grade fireworks was among the slew of partisan rush-job. And, unsurprisingly, the Legislature's exuberance to reshape Iowa as quickly as possible left local governments with few options.

Officials in Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County would love to regulate fireworks prior to the Fourth of July. Perhaps it's a local ban on use. Maybe it's tightened restrictions on when fireworks can be fired. But, thanks to legislative haste, any local oversight simply isn't workable. Unlike lawmakers, city councils and county boards believe in due diligence. Unfortunately, it's that very commitment to good government that's undermining them.

For years, legalizing the sale and use of fireworks has been kicked around the Capitol. It's been hotly debated. Medical experts warned of missing fingers and third-degree burns. Proponents cautioned against overblown hysteria. But previous iterations would have kicked the actual legalization out a full year.

But Iowa lawmakers weren't in the mood for giving local governments time to exercise any power. This year was about hammering things through, from sweeping deregulation of guns to closing abortion clinics. The former, mind you, robbed local governments of home rule by limiting their ability to ban firearms from public buildings.

And, now, consumer grade fireworks are legal from June 1-July 8 and Dec. 10-Jan. 3, under state law. Ironically, the rush-job has even hindered the state itself. Iowa regulators are struggling to grapple with the licensing paperwork for would-be dealers in time.

Ours isn't an all-or-nothing binary that simply opposes fireworks legalization. It's about respecting the purview of local governments.

With guns, lawmakers directly undermined local authority. With fireworks, the immediacy of the legislation rendered local action basically impossible. It's an inconsistent approach from Republican lawmakers who regularly rail about the ills of centralized control.

But that gripe only seems to apply when it's about the federal government and Democrats happen to be in charge. Rants about one-size-fits-all policy suddenly disappear when it's the state issuing the edicts or federal institutions happen to share conservative political philosophies.

So, now, Bettendorf and Davenport have little choice but to bow to state law without crafting regulations that best fit their individual communities. These concerns could have been dealt with early on, as the bill moved through the committee process, if legislators has any real interest in empowering local governments.

It wasn't.

Many a local official have thrown up their hands and said "it happens anyway." There's some truth to that, but such defeatism doesn't eliminate the necessity of local regulation. Many of the threats posed by small, colorful explosions differ between urban neighborhoods and rural farmland.

But cities and counties throughout Iowa weren't granted the time to study and react, which was present in previous stalled iterations of the fireworks bill. It was foisted on them because good policy wasn't the goal in Des Moines.

This was about political expediency and sudden unchecked power. Home rule be damned.
"Holacracy is not something to go beyond, it is beyond." This statement from David Allen, author of the iconic book, Getting Things Done, illustrates the challenge of describing the Holacratic approach to operating an organization.

Allen was a speaker at the first Global Holacracy Forum, held in Amsterdam, which I recently attended. It was a chance for Holacracy thought leaders from around the world to network and learn more from each other.

What is Holacracy? One of its founders, Tom Thompson of Encode.org, calls it "a complete wholesale replacement for management hierarchy" and says, "Its exploring work in pursuit of purpose."

Many of those attending the forum referred to Holacracy as a new operating system for organizations. Decision-making is taken from the "top" and distributed among clearly defined roles. The Holacratic structure is a highly disciplined way of working that invites everyone to become an entrepreneur in carrying out their role to achieve the purpose of the organization. Holacracy is not egalitarian or a democracy. Its goal is to serve the purpose of the organization by inviting people into conscious relationships with themselves and each other.

As good as that may sound, not every company or every person is a good fit for Holacracy, as forum participants pointed out. "There is a lot of deep individual behavioral change that needs to happen to successfully transition to a Holacracy," said co-founder Brian Robertson. Frank Klinkhammer, of NetCentric in Zurich, added, "The personal development of every partner (employee) is now important to the whole group. Do not over-estimate a persons ability to change, or even your own."

Robertson said a significant number of companies claimed to have adopted Holacracy but soon dropped the system. "Most of those thought they were doing Holacracy but instead still maintained their management hierarchy and just ran the Holacratic meeting structure." He noted that, in his experience, companies that make the leap and fully adopt Holacracy say they will never go back.

One of those is David Allen, who discovered Holacracy six years ago when he was about to fold his company of 45 people. He found it the perfect organizational overlay to his system of Getting Things Done. "Holacracy is about optimizing an organization, Getting Things Done is about maximizing the productivity of an individual." Allen also emphasized the importance of individual behavioral change, saying, "People must know how to manage themselves first to exist in Holacracy."

What is it worth to people to work in a Holacratic company? According to market research done by Michael DeAngelo, who works for the state of Washington, employees in the Seattle area must be offered 30% to 40% more a year to leave a Holacratic organization to work at a traditional company. He says a company using Holacracy "offers everything the workforce values: flexibility, a sense of purpose, autonomy, and personal and professional growth."

When is a good time to adopt Holacracy? "There is never a good time to start," said Allen. I would agree. When I adopted it four years ago, we had just lost a key employee who did a little bit of everything. I wanted a system that required less management, had clear job descriptions, and would give my staff more personal responsibility and freedom. I found all that and more in Holacracy. I also under-estimated people's ability to change their behavior and flourish rather than flounder with the increased freedom and responsibility.

Despite the challenges of implementing it, I do believe Holacracy is, as Robertson described it in his closing remarks, "a radical new way to organize power." He believes Holacratic principles can fundamentally change the power structures of society.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska | While major airlines are on board with the president's desire to privatize the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control operations, some in the general aviation industry have concerns.

"We need to do things different," said Adam White, a pilot and government liaison for the Alaska Airmen Association. "There's no argument there. I'm just a little concerned that general aviation is going to be boxed out of the decision-making process."

President Donald Trump wants to speed up modernization by shifting air traffic control away from the FAA into a nonprofit corporation supported by fees.

Under several Republican plans, the board controlling air traffic operations would have seats for the airlines, the pilots' union and recreational pilots.

Still, people in general aviation say their voices could be drowned out.

"We don't register any complaints about the current system," said Mark Baker, the president of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association, which has 300,000 members, including 3,000 in Alaska.

The reports Baker sees show most airline delays are due to weather and problems rather than traffic control.

Many non-airline aviators, including White, worry the user fees the self-financed corporation will impose will extend to services that enhance safety, Alaska Public Media reported.

Joe Brown, who runs an Ohio-based propeller company, is among the satisfied general aviators who paint a far different picture than the "ancient, broken, antiquated" air traffic control operations Trump spoke of last week.

"When I fly, I find a modern system, a high-functioning system," he said last month, testifying against privatization at a House hearing

"I can file a flight plan from my smartphone and get my proposed route back before I get to the airport in a text," he said. "When I take off I have GPS navigation systems on board that allow me to fly point-to-point, all over this country."

Brown said he's happy that enhanced technology guides him on precision approaches at hundreds of airports. About 40 of them are in Alaska.

Trump signed a memo and letter outlining his privatization plans Monday. The plan still has substantial opposition in Congress.
WASHINGTON | Emboldened by a business-friendly president, Republicans in Congress have set a goal that is nothing if not ambitious: To undo the stricter banking rules that took effect after the devastating 2008 financial crisis.

The bill was approved Thursday in the House. The landscape is far different in the Senate, where Democrats have the votes to block it.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law imposed the stiffest restrictions on big financial companies since the Great Depression. It curbed many banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless practices and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

The House bill, pushed by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who leads the Financial Services Committee, repeals about 40 of Dodd-Frank's provisions. Notably, it would sharply diminish the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which oversees the practices of companies that provide products and services from credit cards and payday loans to mortgages and debt collection.

President Donald Trump launched his attack on Dodd-Frank after taking office, ordering a Treasury Department review of the complex rules that have put the legislation into practice. Trump called the law a "disaster" whose restrictions have crimped lending, hiring and the overall economy.

One part of Treasury's review is expected to be released soon. It could provide a blueprint for regulators to rewrite the rules. But Congress' legislation would be needed to actually revamp the law.

Unwinding a complex law that clocks in at 2,300 pages takes its own hefty bill: The Republicans' Financial Choice Act, as it's called, runs 580 pages. Here's a look at key changes it would make:

Bank regulation

Under the House bill, banks could qualify for regulatory relief if they held enough capital to cover potential big losses  a 10-1 ratio of capital over borrowed money. In exchange, such banks would gain exemptions or eased requirements for "stress tests" to assess their ability to withstand a downturn and for their plans to reshape themselves if they failed.

During the crisis, the government intervened to rescue the largest banks from collapse and saved some faltering institutions with bailouts and emergency loans or helped sell them to other banks. Trillions of taxpayer dollars were put at risk.

To avoid endangering taxpayers again, Dodd-Frank authorized regulators to dismantle a failing big firm, if they felt its collapse could endanger the entire system, and sell off the pieces. The Treasury would pay the firm's obligations and be repaid with industry fees and money raised from shareholders, bondholders and asset sales.

Critics argue that that means taxpayers could still end up on the hook. The new legislation would eliminate the regulators' power to dismantle firms.

Volcker Rule

This rule, which bars the biggest banks from trading for their own profit, would be repealed. The idea behind the rule was to prevent high-risk trading bets that could imperil federally insured deposits. Some banks argue that the Volcker Rule stifles legitimate trading on behalf of customers and the banks' ability to hedge against risk.

Republicans have stressed the need for regulatory relief from Dodd-Frank for community banks. And in a fairly rare area of bipartisan agreement, some Democratic lawmakers have indicated support for this, at least in theory.

The legislation would exempt smaller banks from a number of Dodd-Frank requirements. Banks with under $10 billion in assets, for example, would have to run "stress tests"  gauging their ability to withstand a severe economic downturn  just once a year instead of twice.

Consumer protection

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was empowered by Dodd-Frank to scrutinize the practices of virtually any business that sells financial products and services, including for-profit colleges, auto lenders and money-transfer agents.

The legislation would reduce those powers. And it would let the U.S. president remove the CFPB director at will without citing a cause for firing. That's the subject of a battle now in federal court. No longer would the CFPB have a guaranteed funding stream from the Federal Reserve. Instead, it would depend on Congress for its funding just as most federal agencies do. The agency would also lose its authority to write rules, like those governing mortgages.

The bill's targeting of the CFPB especially rankles Democrats and consumer advocates. The agency has, among other things, conducted investigations across the spectrum of financial products and opened a database for consumers to lodge complaints against companies. As a result of its enforcement actions, the CFPB says it has recovered nearly $12 billion that it returned to 27 million consumers harmed by illegal practices.

Reining in regulators

Dodd-Frank established a Financial Stability Oversight Council of top regulators, led by the Treasury secretary, of top regulators to monitor the financial system and identify potential threats.

The council also has authority to review nonbank financial firms, like insurance companies, to determine whether they're so large and interconnected that their failure would threaten the entire system. Once the council deems a company "systemically important," it becomes subject to stricter rules. Its use of borrowed money is limited. And it must submit to close supervision by the Federal Reserve and make more detailed disclosures.

The new legislation would strip the council of its authority to designate financial firms as systemically important and would make its funding subject to Congress' budget process.

Retirement investors, shareholder power

The legislation would repeal the Obama-era Labor Department's so-called fiduciary rule. The rule tightened requirements for professionals who advise retirement savers. Wall Street and Republicans have been pushing against the rule, which compels financial pros who charge commissions to put their clients' best interests first in advising them on retirement investments.

The legislation also targets the frequency of "Say on Pay" shareholder votes on executive compensation as established by Dodd-Frank. Rather than hold a nonbinding vote at least once every three years, the legislation would allow it only when executives' compensation has changed "materially" from the previous year.

Shareholders with relatively small portions of company stock would find it harder to bring proposals to a vote by all shareholders. Individuals or groups of investors would have to own at least 1 percent of a company's stock for at least three years to put a proposal on the company proxy ballot. That compares with the current requirement of $2,000 worth of stock for one year.
For at least 20 years, the northeastern part of our state has been dealing with the issue of nonmeandered waters. For that entire time, the state has not been dealing with the problems that our laws have caused.

This issue arose during the 1990s, when eastern South Dakota received far more moisture than normal. Excessive rainfall created new lakes  called nonmeandered lakes  out of areas that once were farmland, pastures, small sloughs or other watersheds.

Nonmeandered lakes come in all shapes and sizes and offer varying degrees of recreational opportunities. Some, such as Cottonwood Lake in Spink County, are well-developed with several boat ramps and over 100 cabins and homes surrounding it; others may be only a couple of acres and a few feet deep.

As the waters of nonmeandered lakes expanded, so did their recreational use, much of which is tied to exceptional fishing in some of the new lakes. As fishing became more commonplace, so did conflicts between sportsmen and landowners. Complaints emerged about boat trailers blocking roadways, littering, noise and many others.

Unfortunately, our state laws surrounding nonmeandered waters have been ambiguous. While the public has a right to use the water, private landowners also have a right to control their property. Governors and legislators have tried several times to address these issues, but the many competing opinions and interests have made compromise impossible.

Ambiguous laws lead to litigation, and the courts have tried to resolve these ambiguities. But in South Dakota, our courts still understand that its not their job to write new laws  its their job to ensure the laws are properly and fairly enforced. The South Dakota Supreme Court made that abundantly clear in their Duerre v. Hepler decision this past March. In that decision the Court stated, it is ultimately up to the Legislature to decide how these waters are to be beneficially used in the public interest.

Our state legislators heard the Supreme Courts message loud and clear and the Legislature promptly convened an interim committee to find a solution.

That committee acted quickly. Over the past six weeks, it held four meetings, toured areas inundated with nonmeandered waters, met with affected agricultural producers, sportsmen, and business owners and heard testimony from over 70 individuals.

The committee was able to mold that mass of information and input into a compromise bill that balances the rights of landowners with the ability of sportsmen to use public waters for recreation. I applaud the efforts of the summer study committee and I support the bill. It will open tens of thousands of acres of nonmeandered waters to public recreation, while respecting the property rights of landowners. You can find it at sdlegislature.gov.

As I write this, I have called a Special Legislative Session for Monday, June 12, to address the recreational use of nonmeandered waters in South Dakota, and I am hopeful that we will finally resolve this issue for the betterment of our state.
When she was 9 years old, Quin Landguth woke up with excruciating pain in her stomach.

It came all of a sudden, a terrible pain. It was no other pain Id ever felt before, Quin said.

Eight days later, after four visits to the pediatrician and three trips to the emergency room , it was determined that Quins pancreas was the source of the pain. She was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, an inflammatory disease of the pancreas that can cause severe abdominal pain.

By the third trip to the ER, when we were in the waiting room (Quin) was telling me she was ready to go, said Carlene Landguth, Quins mother. She was ready to go to heaven. She could not do this anymore.

Quin, now 16, just finished her freshman year at St. Thomas More High School in Rapid City. Quin loves Africa and her dream is to see a hippo in its natural habitat.

And now, thanks to a national nonprofit organization, her dream is coming true. Make-A-Wish Foundation is paying for Quin and her family to spend a week in Africa this fall. With African music in the background, a group from the Make-A-Wish Foundation surprised Quin and her family at a school assembly on May 4.

I was crying so much, Quin said.

She will make the trip with her mother, father, Mark, sister, Shey, 11, and brother, Kale, 17. They will fly into Johannesburg in September and spend time along the border of South Africa.

It seems like such a spiritual and happy place, Quin said.

This is the least we can do to give (Quin) hope strength and joy to get through their struggles and get through lifes possibilities, said Melanie Barlcay, regional director of Make-A-Wish South Dakota.

Making amazing things happen

The South Dakota Make-A-Wish Foundation has 81 kids who are in the process of receiving a wish. Of those 81, 13 live in the Black Hills. On average, a wish costs $7,000, and Barclay said the funding mostly comes from private donors.

We can make some pretty amazing things happen, Barclay said. Its a tough time medically; they need a better outlook on life. We feel like medicine heals the body and make a wish heals the soul. Its a medical necessity for kids to have something bright in their lives when they need it the most.

Quins journey with chronic pancreatitis has been a long road, testing her strength and faith.

After Quins first bout of pancreatitis in the third grade, things took a turn for the worse. She was airlifted to a children's hospital in Denver, where she stayed for almost a week.

As a 9-year-old, all of this was kinda crazy, Quin said.

The pain started to subside, but Quin said she and her family still were curious about what was causing the discomfort in her pancreas. Most kids who have chronic pancreatitis have one of two genes, trypsin 1 or SPINK 1, that cause the disease, Carlene said. Quin tested negative for both those genes.

We never did get an answer to why this was happening to me, Quin said. And they didnt know if it would happen again.

So, Quin returned home and finished school.

That summer was really hard for me. I was very depressed. I didnt understand what happened or what I was going to do. Something inside of me still knew something was wrong, Quin said.

A few months passed and Quin felt well. However, that fall, she experienced frequent episodes of pain and nausea for the next year and a half.

They did test after test after test and were never able to find the source, Carlene said.

In the spring of 2013, Carlene researched the internet to try and find anything that could help her daughter. One day while sitting at the kitchen table, Carlene stumbled upon an article written by a doctor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

It was like all the pieces finally fit, she said. All the symptoms.

She emailed the doctor and got a reply within in eight hours.

Brush with death

In 2013 Quin underwent three surgeries at the University of Minnesota. Stints were placed into her pancreatic and common bile ducts. However, the second of the three surgeries resulted in Quin getting pancreatitis a second time; this time it was more severe. She was hospitalized and the pain medication she was given put her in a code blue state.

It was then Quin said she thought she was dying. As Quin received the drugs, Carlene recalls her daughters eyes rolling into the back of her head as she flopped back.

Things got real busy, Carlene said.

Quin recalls the experience, too. While sitting on the bed it hit her. This is it. Im going to die, she said.

She remembers doctors swarming into the room, confused, not sure what to do. Her mom was frantically shaking her head and she sat there.

That was the scariest part. I sat there and realized no one is going to help me, Quin said.

I saw colors you couldnt imagine, this beautiful light, Quin said. Looking down, she said she saw herself fall into the bed. It felt like an eternity that I sat there, Quin recalled.

Then she felt something grab her shirt, pull her down and she woke up in a room of darkness.

It was nearly six months before Quin shared her own Heaven is for Real experience in the emergency room with her mother.

I never imagined myself dying from this. I wanted to sometimes because this pain was so unbearable, Quin said. I know Im here on earth because I have a purpose to fulfill and I dont know what it is quite yet, but I know Im here to serve something.

Following the three surgeries in 2013, Quin had 18 months of pain relief before it returned in spring 2016 with a vengeance.

Its not there one day, and the next day it was there and it never stopped, Carlene said.

Quin underwent another round of surgeries in which more stints were placed to see if the pain would subside. Those surgeries failed, and Quin was referred to a transplant team in Minnesota for a TPIAT surgery. TPIAT is a Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Autotransplant.

Only two hospitals do this surgery, Carlene said. And less than 150 kids worldwide have it.

During the procedure, doctors removed Quins spleen. Her gull bladder was already removed or it would have been taken, too. They also took out her pancreas, and it was taken to a lab to remove the islet cells, which create insulin, while her small intestines were being reconstructed.

The islet cells need to be removed from the pancreas and placed into the liver where they can continue to produce insulin. In many cases, patients maintain normal blood sugar levels, Carlene said, which can eliminate additional insulin injections.

I should have been scared, but I wasnt scared at all. I was so excited, Quin said. I was excited for this pancreas to get out of my body. I knew this would work.

Fourteen hours later, Quin woke up with tubes and IVs attached everywhere. She was on a feeding tube for two months and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis for the rest of the summer.

Quin arrived home in August 2016, but suffered another medical setback later that year. In November she underwent the first of two surgeries for a bowl obstruction caused from scar tissue.

Since then Ive been doing pretty great. Ive just been doing as much as I can, she said.

It would be easy to be depressed, Quin said, but she has nothing but positive vibes as she moves forward.

Quin has doctor appointments scheduled throughout the next year, but she plans to meet up with two friends who underwent the same 14-hour procedure to serve a meal at the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis this summer.

I stay faithful. I knew this was going to happen. I knew I was going to have trouble. This is not just taking out your tonsils, Quin said. Faith in God and myself and just being happy. I just continue to be as happy as I can no matter what happens.
A South Dakota prison inmate who escaped from a job site earlier this month has been arrested in New Mexico on multiple charges, including second-degree murder in a killing in Rapid City, according to his detention information.

Andrew Eastman, 28, is a suspect in the killing of Larry Mintzlaff, 64, a former school teacher who was discovered dead at home in Rapid City on Tuesday, city police said in a release today.

Mintzlaff, a former Rapid City school district teacher, was found to have died of blunt force trauma. Investigators believe he died the week before his body was found.

Eastman was arrested Saturday afternoon at a parking lot in Albuquerque, N.M., by officers of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, the Marshals Service said.

He had been driving a blue 2007 Ford Focus that belonged to Mintzlaff, Rapid City police said. Investigators earlier reported the car missing from the victims residence.

The fugitive task force that arrested Eastman had been looking out for the vehicle and knew he was a suspect in a homicide, said Ben Segotta, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in New Mexico.

South Dakota investigators believed Eastman had fled the state and was hiding out in Albuquerque, Segotta said. He declined to comment on what ties Eastman had in Albuquerque, citing the ongoing homicide investigation.

Eastman is detained at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center on charges of second-degree murder, fugitive arrest, escape from custody/police and unlawful taking of motor vehicle, according to the detention center.

The Rapid City Police Department said the police and Pennington County Sheriffs Office investigation into Mintzlaffs death continues. It said law enforcement will work with the Pennington County States Attorneys Office to determine a timeline for Eastmans extradition and his potential charges in the case.

The South Dakota Department of Corrections placed Eastman on escape status on June 2 after he left an inmate job site at the Rapid City landfill. Authorities said he fled that morning in a pickup owned by the city government.

The white 2002 Dodge pickup was later found abandoned along Elk Street, a short walk from Mintzlaffs house in the 3300 block of Wisconsin Avenue, police said.

Eastman is scheduled for an arraignment in Albuquerque on Monday, according to the detention center.

He is serving sentences in South Dakota for drug offenses out of Hughes County and grand theft out of Pennington County, the Department of Corrections said.

Mintzlaffs killing is the fifth homicide in Rapid City this year, following three fatal stabbings in January and one in March.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Billie Sutton's recent announcement of Barbara Johnson as his campaign committee chairwoman gives Sutton a potentially crucial connection to Johnsons husband, former U.S. senator Tim Johnson, who still controls nearly $900,000 in leftover campaign money and could legally give it all to Suttons campaign.

There has been no indication that Tim Johnson would make such a large contribution to one candidate, but officials with the Federal Election Commission and the South Dakota Secretary of States Office said it would be allowable. There are no apparent federal or state limits on contributions from Johnsons federal campaign committee or his federal political action committee to a gubernatorial committee.

That makes the 70-year-old Johnson, who has been quietly retired for more than two years, still perhaps the most powerful Democrat in South Dakota and a key ally for Sutton and any other Democrat who wants to break the Republican Partys monopoly on statewide elected offices.

According to the most recent reports available from the FEC, Johnson had $766,592 in his federal campaign committee as of March 31, and $131,569.39 in his South Dakota First PAC as of Dec. 31, for a total of $898,161.39 in campaign funds at his disposal.

Barbara Johnson's role

Sutton announced Wednesday that the former senator's wife, Barbara Johnson, is his campaign committee chairwoman. She said Thursday in a Journal phone interview that her husbands campaign money was not a factor in her joining the Sutton campaign.

It had nothing to do with it, she said. It was never even brought up.

This is the first time she has chaired a campaign committee, she said. When asked to explain her role in the campaign, she did not mention fundraising.

As campaign chairwoman, as I see it, my role is probably to lend support when Im asked for it, she said, and to share any thoughts I might have based on my knowledge of Tims campaigns, and anything else I can offer that might be beneficial.

Tim Johnson declined a request to speak or correspond with the Journal. He said in messages relayed by Barbara Johnson that he has so far authorized a $5,000 contribution to Suttons campaign from the South Dakota First PAC, but has not considered how much more he might give.

In a 36-year political career as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning state, Johnson never lost an election while serving eight years in the Legislature, 10 years in the U.S. House and 18 years in the U.S. Senate. He retired at the end of his third Senate term as the second longest-serving member of Congress in South Dakota history.

Johnson was the last South Dakota Democrat to hold a statewide elected office when he left the U.S. Senate in January 2015, and his 2008 re-election was the last general election victory by a South Dakota Democrat in a statewide race.

Sutton said he views Barbara Johnsons willingness to be associated with his campaign as a sign that the Johnsons consider him a serious contender.

As far as their financial support, Sutton said in a phone interview, thats a question theyll have to answer as the campaign moves forward.

Sutton, a 33-year-old investment banker, rancher and state senator from Burke, announced his bid for governor May 31 and has only just begun fundraising. In terms of campaign cash, he trails his two main Republican counterparts by a combined total of roughly $3 million.

Republican candidate Marty Jackley, who is the state attorney general, and fellow Republican candidate Kristi Noem, who is South Dakotas only U.S. House representative, each transferred money from other campaign accounts when they formed their gubernatorial committees in November. By February, when they filed their most recent campaign-finance reports, Jackley had about $1 million in his committee and Noem had about $1.8 million.

Expert: Time could be now

Jon Schaff, a political science professor at Northern State University in Aberdeen, said Sutton does not need all of Tim Johnsons campaign money to run a competitive race, but Sutton could benefit from a contribution big enough to inspire other donors and Democrats.

Hes got a good story, Schaff said of Sutton. What he needs is money for people to hear that story. He cant just be talking to two people at a diner in Faith.

Suttons story includes growing up in a prominent rodeo family, and a 2007 rodeo accident in which a bucking horse slammed him into a chute and left him paralyzed below the waist. He overcame that to start a career and a family and rise to minority leader of the state Senate.

That story and Suttons record in the Legislature have attracted big-name supporters beyond the Johnsons. Suttons campaign kickoff at his family ranch along the Missouri River included speeches by former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bernie Hunhoff and former Texas congressman Max Sandlin (the husband of former U.S. representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D.).

Schaff said the swirling of so many important Democratic names around Sutton signals that the state Democratic Party establishment supports him and sees real potential in him, unlike some other Democratic candidates who've run and lost statewide races in recent years.

One of the biggest wildcards in South Dakota Democratic politics recently has been one of the Johnsons sons, Brendan, a former U.S. attorney who was rumored to be interested in a political career. But he has repeatedly sworn off politics lately. Meanwhile, Herseth Sandlin was recently hired as president of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, and Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether recently switched from a Democrat to an independent, leaving few names other than Suttons to be mentioned as leaders of the party.

The point is, precisely what is Tim Johnson waiting for? Schaff said. If the past is prologue, the chances are going to be substantial that the number of serious Democratic candidates will remain low, and the closest thing theyve got is Sutton.

Johnson has not been merely sitting on his cash. But he has been stretching it out while showing an occasional willingness to spend big on issues he cares about (pursuant to laws that limit or prohibit various kinds of expenditures).

The biggest single contribution Johnson made from his federal PAC last year was $50,000 to Vote Yes on V, the group supporting an ultimately failed ballot issue that would have established open and nonpartisan primaries in South Dakota. That contribution was among roughly $126,000 in total disbursements from Johnsons federal PAC during the 2015-2016 election cycle.

Johnson also disbursed about $63,000 from his federal campaign account during the 2015-2016 cycle. Among the largest individual amounts were a $15,000 charitable contribution to the foundation of Johnsons alma mater, the University of South Dakota, and a $9,000 contribution to the South Dakota Democratic Party.

More Sutton/Johnson ties

If Sutton is hoping for a chunk of Johnson money, he could rely on ties that go beyond the role of Johnson's wife in the Sutton campaign. The Sutton family, for example, gives an annual legislative achievement award in honor of Billie Suttons grandfather, who was also a Democrat named Billie Sutton and who served six years in the Legislature before his death in 1982. One of the first co-recipients of the award was then-legislator Tim Johnson.

Tim Johnson was often described by his supporters as a hardworking moderate who put South Dakota priorities ahead of partisan politics. Barb Johnson said she sees similarities between her husband and the younger Sutton.

I see the same honesty and integrity and willingness to work collaboratively across the aisle, she said, but also the willingness to take a stand when theres a need to stake out a position.

Further similarities can be found in the physical challenges faced by each man.

While Sutton has used a wheelchair since 2007, Tim Johnson was often seen using a mobility scooter after suffering stroke-like symptoms in 2006 from brain bleeding caused by a cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

Both men also entered politics at a young age. Johnson was 31 when he was elected to the Legislature, and Sutton was 26.

And yet Sutton might face longer political odds than Johnson ever did. The last South Dakota Democrat to win a gubernatorial race was Dick Kneip in 1974, which was 10 years before Sutton was born. Sutton also starts with a big voter-registration disadvantage; there are currently 254,335 registered Republicans in South Dakota compared to 169,212 Democrats.

And, of course, theres the fundraising gap between Sutton and his potential Republican opponents. Schaff, the political scientist, said the Johnson money looms as a potential way to quickly shrink that gap.

It does make you wonder, if hes got $900,000 sitting there in a couple of different accounts, what are his plans for that money? Schaff said. Because it sure seems like the Democratic Party in this state could use it.
PIERRE | A decade ago there was an insider joke of sorts about Deb Peters in the halls of the Legislature  at least among some of those professing to be in the know.

Those Capitol cognoscenti rolled their eyes about how she, a Republican lawmaker from Hartford, had this habit of telling people yes, she was a certified public accountant.

Well, that humor is out of style nowadays.

Suddenly, a lawmaker who is a CPA seems to be exactly what the Legislature needs.

Theres the guilty plea by felon Joop Bollen in Aberdeen last winter for mishandling money from EB-5 immigrant visa investments.

There are two fresh reports about the financial investigation of Mid Central Educational Cooperative at Platte by the state Department of Legislative Audit, regarding federal grants.

Legislative auditors identified $1.388 million missing from Mid Centrals bank account.

Those reports came on top of the September 2015 killings of Scott Westerhuis and Nicole Westerhuis, who were the business manager and an assistant business manager for Mid Central, and their four school-age children at the familys home south of Platte.

Those deaths and the fire intended to hide the murders came hours after state Education Secretary Melody Schopp reversed course.

Schopp earlier defended the cooperative to legislators. But in a telephone conversation with Mid Centrals then-director Dan Guericke, she pulled the management contract. She moved it to Black Hills State University.

Three people  Guericke, along with the former Gear Up director Stacy Phelps and Stephanie Hubers, a former assistant business manager for Mid Central  currently face state criminal trials.

Yes, Fun City is getting re-labeled, fairly or not, as South Dakotas very capitol of corruption.

Sen. Peters chairs the Legislatures Government Operations and Audit Committee that received Legislative Audits reports. At 42, she is in year 13 as a lawmaker.

Anything said in the past about a CPA went out a Capitol third-floor window years ago.

Bottom line is legislative auditors issued an adverse opinion on Gear Up to the federal government. They also issued an adverse opinion on Mid Centrals management of the teacher-quality program, which is federally funded too. They issued a qualified opinion on three other federal grant programs.

The commonality was that in all five instances legislative auditors determined Mid Central management overrode internal controls.

Russ Olson, the local government audit manager for the state agency, told GOAC members Tuesday that probably the most significant was $1.5 million of adjustments necessary for an accurate starting point.

Large dollar amount, Olson said.

A GOAC member, Sen. Neal Tapio, R-Watertown, observed that oftentimes accounts receivable serve as a slush fund for hanky-panky.

Another GOAC member, Sen. Stace Nelson, R-Fulton, continued pushing toward a formal public hearing on Gear Up misappropriation. He wants witnesses under oath.

Peters said shes willing to hold hearings but doesnt foresee oaths. If committee members think witnesses are lying, she said, there are avenues to pursue.

Traditionally, GOAC doesnt propose legislation, but she wants to consider requiring audits be discussed with boards.

We will continue the discussion. This is not the end, Peters said. I guarantee you that.
RAPID CITY | Shannon Olon Rigsby passed away unexpectedly Wednesday, May 31, 2017, at home.

Shannon was born June 1, 1970, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. An Air Force child, he spent his childhood in various locations, including England and Colorado, before finally settling in Sturgis as a teenager. He graduated from Sturgis Brown High School in 1988.

He studied at South Dakota State University for four years where he found his love for language, and cultivated lifelong friendships. Shannon was enlisted in the Army National Guard in Brookings. After four years, Shannon transferred to the Navy, where he was assigned to an intelligence division. A talented linguist, Shannon became fluent in Russian language in Monterey, CA, and greatly enjoyed his time stationed in Kunia, HI.

Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the Navy, Shannon entered law school at the University of South Dakota. He simultaneously earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Dakota and a Masters in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. Shannon was deeply involved with the USD Law Schools Alternative Dispute Resolution Board. He graduated in 2002, earning honors distinctions from Vermont Law School.

While in law school, Shannon met and married Cassandra Lynne McKeown. They married in May 2001 and together raised their daughter, Ashley Nicole McKeown.

As an attorney, Shannons experience was broad, including working as a solo practitioner in Sioux Falls, as a Deputy Prosecutor for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and as the registration officer for the University Of South Dakota School of Law. He immensely enjoyed his work for the tribe and the law school and carried fond memories of his dedicated colleagues. At the time of his passing, Shannon was anticipating his re-enlistment with the National Guard as a Judge Advocate General.

Shannon was intellectually very curious and broadly read in history and science. His primary joys in life included spending time with his father, who had a profound influence on his life, playing games of strategy with his sister, Laura, whom he cherished, and hanging out with his dogs.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Jo Kludt.

Shannon is survived by his father, Olon Russell (Cindy) Rigsby, Sturgis; sister, Laura Ann Rigsby Graczyk, Deadwood; siblings, Daniel Angus McLean (Ana), Laurel Springs, NJ, Carleen (Eric) Colhoff, Spearfish, and Jennifer McCaskey, Nisland; former spouse, Cassandra McKeown; daughter, Ashley McKeown; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, colleagues, and comrades.

Services will be held 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15, at Black Hills Funeral Home, 1440 Junction Ave., in Sturgis, with Chaplain (Ret.) Herb Cleveland officiating. Internment will follow at 2 p.m. at Black Hills National Cemetery. Military honors will be rendered by the US Navy and the Sturgis Volunteer Honor Guard. A reception will be held at 4 p.m. at the Sturgis Vets Club, 868 Main St.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that friends and loved ones make a donation to a humane society or dog rescue in Shannons name.

Friends and family may sign Shannons online guestbook and leave written condolences for the family on the Black Hills Funeral Home website.
More than 30 women attended the Soroptimists Senior Ladies Tea to socialize and reconnect with their fellow Bitterroot nonagenarians, Saturday, June 10.

This year is the 12th annual Senior Ladies Tea hosted by the Soroptimists. The Soroptimists of Hamilton volunteer their time to improve the lives of women and girls. The event honors Bitterroot Valley women who have reached 90 years of age.

We have women who are actually mad they arent 90 years old, said Mary Lyn, one of the Soroptimists who organized the event. We have to ask people for their IDs at the door.

Lyn said the Senior Ladies Tea is important for the older women of the Bitterroot Valley because it gives them an opportunity to see old friends they havent connected with in a long time.

The event featured a light lunch of tea, finger food and pastries and was accompanied by music from the 1930s. Jane Shigley played both piano and harp for the tea from a songbook called Joyful Party Songs published in 1937 by the Belmont Music Company. Her husband found it tucked away in his mothers piano bench.

Saturday was Pat Dunhams second Senior Ladies Tea. She turns 95 in a few months lives at the Living Center in Stevensville now, but she grew up in Southern California where she saw movie starts all the time.

Clark Gable only lived a mile away from me, Dunham said. Frank Sinatra wasnt far either.

Dunham said that it was nice to spend time with people her own age.

After tea was served the Soroptimists, led by Alene Tunny, handed out flowers to the eldest members of the gathering. Helen Jenkins was the oldest attendee this year at the age of 102. She grew up in Stevensville and walked up the Burnt Fork a mile a day. She lives at the Aaron Care Home in Corvallis now.

Dominic Farrenkopf, the director of community life at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, read a poem he wrote for the ladies attending the tea and followed his reading with a series of jokes at the expense of old men.

Its encouraging to see this many women over 90 gather together, Farrenkopf said.

Ann Robins grew up in Minot, North Dakota, but moved to Hamilton with her husband where they owned the Coast to Coast store, which became Ace Hardware. She received a yellow rose for turning 97 this year and has lived at Sapphire Lutheran Homes for 14 years.

In keeping with the theme of celebrating the women of the Bitterroot Valley, Robins assisted her friend Bette Thrailkill throughout the event. They were very close before moving to the Sapphire Lutheran Homes and continue to be to this day.

We are the best of friends, Robbins said.
North Dakota's hemp production is believed to rank the state as the third-largest in the nation behind Kentucky, with 12,800 acres, and Colorado.

There were 3,124 acres accepted for North Dakotas 2017 industrial hemp program  45 times more acreage than last years 70 acres. And with that planting boom came interest from processing plants, with several new operators expected to open by harvest time.

Healthy Oilseeds in Carrington is the only processing plant certified to handle hemp in the state to date. President Roger Gussiaas handled the processing of North Dakotas crop last year and will do so again this year, with the capacity to process 3,000 acres of hemp at his plant.

And because of the increased acreage in the state, Gussiaas has plans to expand and put up another plant on the west side of Carrington.

Were not sure about capacity yet, he said, as they complete market research.

Theres a possibility the new plant could be built yet this year in an effort to get in on part of this seasons production, according to Gussiaas, who offers milling, roasting and cold press but he may expand to dehulling, if the demand is there.

I anticipate we could expand our production leaps and bounds, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said, but that means developing the processing and marketing to coincide with the growing side.

Goehrings efforts are on making sure there are processors for growers to sell to in order to sustain the growth in acres.

Ill continue to expand the number of acres permitted if producers have the opportunity to sell product, he said. If Im going to permit 20,000 acres, Im going to check with processors to make sure theyre able to handle it.

In addition to hemp, Gussiaas does other specialty oilseed processing of flax seed and borage seed. He has access to markets in 18 countries and 35 states, selling oils and protein powder. He got into hemp processing as a way to offer another oil product to his customers.

There is demand for the product, he said. We dont know all the players yet, but were working on it. Weve got a ways to go to develop markets.

North Dakotas climate and soil are good more hemp production. Farmers say its an easy crop to grow, competing well against weeds and not requiring herbicides. Its drought resistant and fetches a higher price than many other crops on the market.

Its grown pretty much organically, said Gussiaas, explaining it needs only a small amount of fertilizer.

Clarence Laub, who grows hemp near Elgin, said his 240 acres are doing well despite the drought conditions plaguing the state, especially when he compares it to his corn and soybean fields.

Its not showing drought stress right now, he said. Some hasnt germinated, but even where its thin is a very nice stand.

In addition to Gussiaas, Goehring said hes been working with a number of other entities on a number of uses for the crop.

On the fiber side, theres opportunity for its use in textiles and paper. He said there are also companies exploring hemps potential use in construction materials, such as a concrete additive. Goehring hopes, if any of these pan out, some companies may set up shop in North Dakota. On the food products side, hes talked with potential de-hullers who would process hemp hearts for consumption.

Goehring would also like to see potential value-added options  perhaps a snack bar.

Ill try to stay open minded," said Goehring, adding it will be up to processors to get the necessary federal permissions.
Guwahati : The sleuths of Assam police CID on Saturday had arrested another official of state excise department from Delhi in connection with the multi-crore rupees BG bonded warehouse scam.

A CID team led by Additional Superintendent of Police had arrested excise superintendent Amarendra Nath from South Extension Kotla Mubarakpur area in Delhi.

Earlier, the CID had issued red corner notice against the excise official, who fled in past two months.

Meanwhile, the Patiala house court had sent the arrested official to 4-day transit remand to CID.

Police had already arrested liquor mafia Rajesh Jalan and proprietor of BG bonded warehouse Bonti Gogoi Pegu in connection with the Rs 40 crore scam.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that, those have found guilty in the scam, they will be punished as per law.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati, June 10 : A two-year-old child, who kidnapped from her house in Assam's Silchar nearly a week before was rescued by police from Meghalaya's Khliehriat area in East Jaintia Hills district by police on Saturday.

According to the reports, the girl was abandoned by the abductors at a barber shop at Khliehriat and local people had informed the police who rescued the girl into their safe custody.

Assam police ADGP (Law and Order) Mukesh Agarwala said that, Trisha is now safe.

'Following the abduction, we have taken the matter very seriously and taken adequate measures to rescue the girl safely from the kidnappers clutches. We have formed a special team for the rescue operation and also contacted with the counterpart of nearest states. Finally the girl was rescued safely,' the top Assam cops said.

Trisha, daughter of Assistant Professor of Assam University Subhadeep Roy Choudhury andMedical officer of the versity Dr Satabisha Roy Choudhury, was abducted from the residential quarter of the versity campus on June 5 last.

Police suspected that, their absconding maid namely Neha Bagdi alias Rambha Bagdi is involved in the abduction case.

Earlier, Assam police had announced a cash reward of Rs 4 lakh for any one providing about information of the kidnapped child.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati : A day after the death of SS Khaplang, the Chairman of Naga outlawed NSCN-K, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said that, all the Indian citizens of the Naga outfit will be rehabilitated if they give up violence.

While flagging of an ambulance service launched by Hindustan Prelab Limited in Guwahati, Rijiju said that, we welcomed those who abjures violence and respects Indian constitution.

"Anybody who gives up violence, we will rehabilitate them. Th centre will provide them special rehabilitation package,"Rijiju said.

The Union minister appealed to the Indian citizens of NSCN-K to come mainstream.

Rijiju said that, NSCN-K is a banned organisation and the Centre had banned the organisation by issuing special notification in 2015.

Rijiju further said that, the Centre cannot talk with Myanmarese citizens who are involved with NSCN-K.

The minister said about Khaplang death that, he was the heart and soul of the rebel group and the organisation will be suffered without him.

"The organisation will face difficulties without any leadership. Khaplang was a Myanmar citizen and he had strong influence in Eastern part of Myanmar. Under the influence of Khaplang, many Indian insurgent groups had taken shelter in the neighbouring country. Now all the Indian insurgent groups will face difficulties, " Rijiju said.

On the other hand, the Union minister said that, the ongoing talks with pro-talk faction group of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is in confidence level.

"Maximum demands and conditions raised by the pro-talk ULFA is a worthy consideration. The Centre is serious to meet a fruitful end over the issue," Rijiju said.

Rijiju said that, the Centre is ready to talk with Paresh Baruah led ULFA (I) in all issues apart from sovereignty.

"We will not talk with anyone in sovereignty," Rijiju said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati : In a move to expedite the development of the people belonging to scheduled tribe communities of the state, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday discussed several issues with Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram at Brahmapura State Guest House.

During the meeting Sonowal and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram extensively discussed welfare schemes of the Scheduled Tribe and the people belonging to 6th scheduled area as well as other tribal areas.

Duo discussed at length on Ekalavya Model Residential School for the tribal students the construction of two of which are going on in full swing and the construction of other two would start shortly.

It may be mentioned that the construction of two Ekalavya Model Ekalavya School is on the verge of completion in the tribal areas of the state.

The Assam CM requested the Union Minister to set up another Ekalavya School in the Mising dominated area of Majuli district so that the school can act as a force-multiplier in the development of Majuli in general and Mising community in particular.

Oram also requested Sonowal to extend all possible assistance for the completion of the schools expeditiously.

Altogether four Ekalavya Residential Schools to be set up in Assam and the Central government would spend Rs 42000 for every student every year in these schools.

Sonowal and Union Minister Oram also discussed at length the implementation of Forest Rights Act which enables any tribal family living in the designated forest area for three generation to own land patta of that land.

Moreover, Sonowal stated that the State Government would submit a proposal to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs regarding an exhaustive plan for the development of three Autonomous councils under 6th schedule and other six autonomous councils in the State.

Union Minister Oram also assured to take all steps for the development of the Autonomous Council once his Ministry receives the proposal. The Union Minister also enquired about the status of post matric scholarship for the students belonging to ST communities to which Additional Chief Secretary to the Assam government, Rajib Bora informed that the state has no pending cases of post matric scholarship.

The meeting also discussed the pending cases of the welfare schemes for ST communities where the Centre bears 100 per cent share under Article 275

(1).

The Union Minister said that his Ministry would shortly disburse all funds of the schemes under Article 275 (1) for speedy development of the ST communities.

Additional Chief Secretary Rajib Bora was also present at the meeting.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba along with leaders of ruling parties and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP-N) attend a meeting at Singhadarbar, on Saturday, June 10, 2017. Photo: RSS

Kathmandu, Nepal: As the leaders of the agitating Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJPN) remained adamant on their stand that they would not participate in the second phase of local polls unless their key demands were met, the political parties, particularly the government allies, are holding serious discussions to formulate the future strategy.

The ruling head Nepali Congress and the UCPN Maoist center are in internal discussion after the RJPN leaders on Saturday made their stand clear that they would not participate in the elections but launch a strike to foil the scheduled elections if their demands are not addressed before the scheduled local level elections by amending the constitution.

During a meeting with the leaders of the government allies including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday, the RJPN leaders had rejected the government and its allies appeal to anticipate in the elections though the former had expressed their commitment to amend the constitution after the elections. The government allies had also rejected the RJPN leaders request to postpone the scheduled local level elections.

It is said that the government allies are set to hold a discussion with the main opposition CPN UML to be clear about its bottom line over the demand of the RJPN. As the constitution could not be amended sans of UML support, the government allies are going to request UML to help to amend the constitution to participate the agitating RJPN in the elections.
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Human Rights Watch, 6 June 2017

by Heather Barr

Afghanistan June 6, 2017.

[Photo] Foreign delegation members listen as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivers a speech during a peace and security cooperation conference in Kabul, Afghanistan June 6, 2017. A 2017 Reuters

Kabulas citizens desperately need an end to the violence. The city spent much of last week burying its dead, again and again. On May 31, a truck bomb exploded at a busy intersection, killing 150 people and wounding more than 300. On June 2, nine people were killed and more wounded when police clashed with protesters marching in the wake of the bombing. On June 3, three suicide bombers detonated at the funeral of one of the slain protesters, killing at least 12 more and injuring dozens.

The last attack happened the evening before the Afghan governmentas latest effort at peace talks, the Kabul Process, began. And despite security challenges and the damage to the building where the meeting was to be held, the talks went ahead a a testament the urgency with which the Afghan government sees these talks.

Yet the Kabul Process is already missing a crucial factor to a successful outcome. Research shows that full participation by women in peace negotiations increases the chances of a deal being reached and it being successful. Yet the afamily photoa of the meeting participants, 47 Afghan and foreign dignitaries, included only two Afghan women.

In previous talks, Afghan women have sometimes been totally absent, sometimes been relegated to note-taking roles, and have never appeared in numbers sufficient to transcend tokenism. A long-promised plan by the Afghan government to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for womenas equal participation in issues surrounding peace and security, has been beset by delays and apathy.

The Kabul Process aims to bring together regional actors to support peace, and to put the Afghan government more clearly in charge than in prior efforts. But in the marginalization of women, the Kabul Process is already a continuation of earlier, unsuccessful, efforts.

This is a grave mistake for all Afghans who long for security. Last week, Afghan women died beside men in the bombing, and marched beside men in the protest. If peace is to come, they must also sit next to men at the negotiating table.

(Heather Barr, Senior Researcher, Womens Rights Division | Twitter: heatherbarr1)
Fueled: The Man They Call Pirate is a rousing, and slightly nationalistic, period drama directed by tentpole director Yamazaki Takashi (Returner, Space Battleship Yamamoto, Parasyte). Filmed from a screenplay he adapted from the novel A Man Called Pirate by Hyakuta Naoki the story in the novel is loosely based on the story of Sazo Idemitsu, the founder of Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese oil company.

Fueled reunites Yamazaki with his Eternal Zero star Okada Junichi. Eternal Zero was another adaptation of another novel by Hyakuta. We are sensing a trend here. Okada plays Kunioka Tetsuzo, the titular pirate and owner of the small oil company. As Japan rebuilds itself after the Second World War he believes that Japans future will be built on oil, not coal. So begins his fight with the established and bigger oil companies all along the way.

When he temporarily gets shut out of the oil business he finds other ways to keep his company solvent. When the larger oil companies try to bury him in bureaucracy he rallies his employees returning from the war and overcomes those obstacles. The story in Fueled culminates with Kuniokas biggest gamble, sending his lone oil tanker to get oil from a shunned oil supplier, blockaded by Allied forces after World War Two.

The story bounces back and forth, from the early 1900s to the years just after losing the war in the Pacific, from when Kunioka fights to establish the Kunioka Trading Company and set it up as a legitimate contender to keeping it relevant during tough times. From those humble beginnings the story focuses mainly on the post-war era as Japan rebuilds after the war. As his employees return from the war he struggles to keep his company open for business. There are strong messages about loyalty, tenacity and downright stubbornness. The story in Fueled is a mix of themes that at times seem blatantly Japanese (loyalty and fidelity) to an outsider like myself (fueled by our consumption of Japanese mass media), and other themes we feel would go against the grain of what we ignorantly think of as Japanese; non conformist, rebellion and tenacity.

However, one storyline that Yamazaki really misses out on is the marriage between Kunioka and his first wife, Yuki. Present in his life during the building of his company before the Second World War she leaves him and returns to her home, for reasons best kept to discover during the viewing of the film. Later in the film, in the epilogue, there is one last grasp for our heart strings, when we see Kunioka in his twilight years and he is reminded of Yuki. With very little time devoted to their relationship in the film it is an odd attempt to give them a tug when we have never really made that emotional connection with the couple during those scant moments in the film. Call it a missed opportunity. Call it too much focus on the story of making Japan great again. Bringing it back around at the end of film feels more like a tactic.

The real heart of the film is the relationships between Kurioka and his staff throughout the years. The co-workers and employees who stood by Kuniokas side as he fought to keep his company running from the ground up and after the war in the Pacific. Bringing any of them back in the epilogue would have had more emotional punch.

There is no doubt that as the story goes Yamazaki does stir the emotional pot and will get reactions from the audience, none of them being negative. From the start of the story, the early years of Kuniokas company, the story is light and humorous as Yamazaki and Okada plant the strong willed and minded company leader against the establishment. As Kunioka, Okada expertly handles the emotional ups and downs the character experiences throughout his life. One of Japans biggest leading actors he is convincing in his portrayal of youthful exuberance and elderly statesmanship. Even in that final epilogue he gives it everything hes got. A tip of the hat to the makeup team on Fueled as Okada was nearly unrecognizable as the elder Kurioka from the early minutes of the film before it jumped back to the beginning of Kuniokas story.

The slight nationalism comes in whenever a foreign company tries to take away business from Kunioka. It is not as overt as I may make it out to be but it is there, and as the story goes on, as Japan starts to rebuild after the war, after Fueled has already reeled us in and we are invested in Kunioka and his fight it pops up one more time.

In the final act, with his big move to secure a source of oil Kunioka sends his lone oil tanker to get oil from a country cut off by the Allies. When we see his tenacity and stubbornness and we can politely cheer on the company leader as he fights to keep his company going. But there is a statement made during an altercation that Japan is awesome, and more importantly it is a free country so it can do business with whomever it chooses to. One confrontation and an international crisis averted we can go back to celebrating the man who fought hard to keep his company going during some lean years in Japans history.

Above all of this, Fueled: The Man They Call Pirate is still an enjoyable period drama anchored by the strong performance of its leading man Okada Junichi. Understanding where its director and writer Yamazaki Takashi wants to focus the emotional attachments, the loyalty between a business owner and his employees, there is much to root for as these upstarts upset the apple cart and fight for what is theirs. It is not that often that we are given a film that explores the struggles of the people of Japan after the Second World War, shows us how some had to literally scrape together a living to rise from the ashes afterwards.
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Wife of man charged in #GhostShip fire breaks her silence: We would never have lived in a place that was unsafe. https://t.co/w7XB0ZSzZQ pic.twitter.com/PXz63ueA10  SFChronicle (@sfchronicle) June 10, 2017

A scheduled press conference with the defense team for Ghost Ship master tenant Derick Almena on Friday included a semi-surprise guest: Almena's wife Micah Allison. As the Chronicle reports, the event was held at the law offices of flamboyant criminal defense attorney J. Tony Serra  who most recently took on the high-profile defense of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow  and Serra used the opportunity to continue making the case that his client and co-defendant Max Harris are being scapegoated by an ambitious district attorney "in order to shield the true culprits."

Almena and Harris were arrested and charged Monday with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter following a six-month investigation by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Both men are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, June 15.

Serra says that criminal charges should never have been brought against Almena and Harris, and that he planned to "defend by pointing the finger at the real culprits." Those culprits he says include city building inspectors, PG&E, and a tenant in a neighboring unit who installed a transformer in recent years (after a previous one caught fire) without a permit. Previously, Serra's team had hired an expert who suggested that the fire could have even begun in the next-door building, and further Serra cited that the Oakland Fire Department could be blamed for poking holes in the building roof during the blaze rather than extending a ladder to the second-story windows, potentially exacerbating the smoke situation and leading to more deaths.

Serra has been saying since he took the case in mid-December that Almena should not be made a scapegoat, and he reiterated that in Friday's news conference saying, "Just because theres a death doesnt mean there has to be a head on the stake."

As KRON 4 reports, Serra also spoke to Almena's mental condition, saying he's experiencing "almost total destruction of his mental stability." Jeffrey Krasnoff, another attorney working with Serra, said Almena was "deeply distraught" and added, "People died in his house. He is definitely having mental problems processing this, like anyone would."

Says DA's office is shielding public entities by charging Almena w/36 counts of involuntary manslaughter pic.twitter.com/KeM36kFebf  Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) June 9, 2017 Micah goes on to say "we would never have lived in a place we thought was unsafe." pic.twitter.com/kXPeRWaITF  Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) June 9, 2017

Allison spoke to reporters, refuting the idea that there could have been criminal intent on the part of Almena or Harris. "My husband is a good man, Max Harris is a good man, they're not greedy, they're not selfish or reckless," ABC 7 quotes her as saying.

Allison also suggested that the very fact that she and Almena lived on the premises with their three children should be proof that they did not consider the space to be unsafe. "We would never have lived in a place that was unsafe," she said, adding, per the Chronicle, that the reason her family was staying in a hotel that night was "not because of fear," but because of the loud music event that was scheduled there. (And there has been some suggestion that such hotel stays on party nights were something the couple began doing with their children after Child Protective Services had briefly taken the kids away from their custody the previous year, though the circumstances surrounding that have not been made public.)

For their part, PG&E has issued a public response to Serra's claims saying, "We've seen no evidence to date that would lead us to believe that our facilities were the cause of the fire." The exact cause of the fire, according to ATF investigators, will remain "undetermined" due to the incineration of evidence, however the finger has been pointed at electrical wires that brought power into the space via a hole punched in a rear wall, with an inadequate amount of power coming in from PG&E lines to the neighboring building, which is also owned by the same landlord, Chor Ng.

Interestingly, Serra and the defense team did not look to implicate Ng as one of the culprits he intends to blame in court.

Also of note, Krasnoff refuted the much publicized description of the rickety staircase made of wooden pallets in the Ghost Ship space. Per the Chronicle, "it was not a rickety staircase assembled from pallets, as Almenas accusers have alleged, but prefabricated and installed with a wooden pallet at the bottom for a landing."

In response, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said simply, "We do not try our cases in the media."

All previous coverage of the Ghost Ship fire on SFist.
Surprise headliners can backfire, as Milwaukee should know better than most cities. In 2003 the city hosted perhaps the most infamous surprise-headliner fail ever when the heavily hyped secret headliner at Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration turned out not to be The Rolling Stones, as nearly everybody in the city expected, but rather Elton John, who was peppered with boos from thousands of disappointed bikers. In any other situation, a free Elton John concert would be cause for enormous celebration, but that's the thing about secret shows: They invite our imaginations to run wild, so much so that the actual concert can never live up to the fantasies we imagine in our head.

It was hard not to think about Harley's P.R. debacle while standing in line for MillerCoors' Cheers to Milwaukee concert at the Riverside Theater Friday night. When Miller first announced the show last week, there was no reason to believe the headliner would be anything all that specialafter all, free live music isn't especially rare in the city this time of the year. But then word spread the secret act was likely Chevy Metal, a cover band led by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins that usually, but not always, performs with Dave Grohl.

By Friday social media had all but confirmed the Chevy Metal booking, leaving Grohl's participation the only mystery. He had to be there, though, right? Because where's the fun in a Dave Grohl-less Foo Fighters side project? Any why would Miller even bother booking them if he wasn't part of the package? That would just be cruel, right?

Those questions were all the crowd could talk about while they waited in line for the Riverside's doors to openand, since most showed up hours before the ticketed-beyond-capacity show to guarantee entry, they had plenty of time to chew on them. And even after the curtain finally opened to reveal Chevy Metal at 9:10 p.m., well after the show's advertised 8 p.m. start time, the crowd was still left to speculate. No, Grohl wasn't there, but the band had three microphones set up on the front of the stage, and they were only using two of them. Certainly that third one had to be reserved for Grohl, right? Of course it had to be. Why else would it be there? And if it wasn't for Grohl, who was it there for? Did you hear that Chevy Metal once played with Mick Jagger? Mick Jagger. The guest could be anyone! You could cut the anticipation with a bottle opener.

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I want to be careful not to overstate the disappointment. This was not a Harley anniversary situation, where almost everybody left feeling cheated. A good chunk of the crowd, especially the die-hards in Foo Fighters T-shirts who knew what to expect from Chevy Metal, seemed to enjoy the shit out of the group and their high-impact versions of various Queen, Motley Crue and Billy Squire favorites. I'm sure they would have liked to have seen Grohl there as much as anybody else, too, but they weren't going to complain about the free show they got. We're a high school cover band, really, only we're 45 years old, Hawkins explained between songs, later liking the event to a giant keg party. Most of the crowd was very much down for that party.

So on one hand, you don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. But, on the other, this was a horse that a significant chunk of the crowd wouldn't have bothered wasting their time on if they'd simply been allowed to see a picture of it online first. With each song, it became more clear that Grohl was a no-show, and that we'd all just spent hours in line waiting to see a cover band, not all that much more distinguished thank something you might see mid-afternoon at the State Fair. They even played My Sharona. Why? Why would they do that?

Patches of the crowd left after just a few songs, while others hung onafter all, they'd waited this long, and how hard would they kick themselves if they learned Grohl took the stage right after they left? Incentivizing them to stay a little longer and sit through another Van Halen cover, sunk cost principle be damned, was the little matter of that tantalizing unoccupied microphone. Somebody had to use it, right? Grohl? Jagger? Turns out it was for Hawkins, when he stepped away from the kit to introduce the night's special guest: drummer Justin Krol, who in a bizarre coincidence is the the Milwaukee musician who most resembles Dave Grohl. His name even rhymes with Grohl, which only further confused the crowd as they tried to process if they were witnessing the big moment they'd been waiting for.

It's a free show, so you can't complain, right? I'll bet lots of attendees were telling themselves that as they headed toward the exists. For a free show, though, it sure did go to almost cruel extremes to get the crowd's hopes up.
NORTH SIOUX CITY -- Eventually, 3 to 4 million burritos a month will be hand-rolled, flash frozen and shipped out of Red's All Natural's new plant in North Sioux City.

But for now, Jensen Thome is pretty content that after less than two months of operation, Franklin, Tennessee-based company is producing about a million burritos per month at its first and only factory.

Thome serves as the chief manufacturing officer for Red's, a maker of frozen Mexican food products. The brand's lineup of heat-and-serve dishes includes burritos, bowls, enchiladas and taquitos, some of which are organic, dairy-free and gluten-free, and all of the meat is uses is antibiotic and hormone free.

Rice, beans and all of the sauces found in Red's products are cooked in North Sioux City, and the organic tortillas used in production also will eventually be made there.

Before Reds opened the 50,000-square-foot plant in April -- a quick turnaround considering it moved into the factory at 803 Derby Lane in December -- the company outsourced its production.

Everything we make will be repatriated by the end of July, Thome said. We still have a co-manufacturer doing our products, but were bringing in those SKUs full-time; we started enchiladas for the first time last week.

The burrito makers new plant in North Sioux City previously housed Portionables Inc., a division of Sargento Foods, which shuttered its operations there in 2013.

Thome, a 20-year veteran of the food processing industry, joined Reds in November to help the 10-year-old company launch this new endeavor.

Reds CEO Mike Adair and Thome knew North Sioux City was the perfect location for this development after visiting the community and touring the building it eventually leased.

Our current co-manufacturer is on the West Coast  out in the L.A. area  so weve got to ship over the Rockies and the highest concentration of people are on the East Coast and were kind of the the middle of everything (here), Thome said of the southeast South Dakota city. Were in the middle of things from a supply perspective, were in the middle of all this grain and meat products, so its a great advantage for us on the supply chain and also a freight advantage for us too.

With this being Reds first plant, Thome said one of the most important things they are trying to do is to build a positive working environment, create a company culture and find ways to ensure the nearly 40 people who work there enjoy coming to work each day.

We want it to be a better place to be, Thome said. A lot of folks say this is going to be the last job they ever have and Im so happy that they think that way. Retention is really important.

Considering the areas labor market has been consistently tight in recent years  the metro unemployment rate was at a historic low of 2.9 percent in April  Thome was surprised with how little difficulty he faced in building the team in North Sioux City. Thome said he received 250 applications for the initial 25 jobs.

Because of that response, he is confident the company wont have much trouble filling future openings when it expands its workforce by 65-70 people after it opens more production lines.

The North Sioux City plant also will serve as a research and development site for all of the company's new products once a state-of-the-art test kitchen is completed.

"The tours are going to end there, so you are going to come in there and see these bright white stone countertops, these new cabinets, the range, and this beautiful glistening red island with the Red's logo engraved in the metal," Thome said. "It's going to be like, 'Wow, this is where people create these amazing products.'"

Thome projects four to five new items being developed and launched from the facility annually.

With the food processing industry having such a strong footprint in Siouxland, Thome and Adair not only want Red's being mentioned in the same breath as the major players, but they want to be trailblazers as well.

"We want to put this plant to work because the sooner we get this plant running, the sooner we have control over all innovation and food safety and our capacity," Thome said.

"We want to be the thought-leaders and for us to be able to do that we have to have our own plant."
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- With the U.S. Senate expected to vote on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by the end of June, executives of Iowas hospitals continue to express worry over the future of Medicaid  the states safety net for the poor and disabled.

Leaders of the states hospitals gathered in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday for the Iowa Hospital Associations Summer Leadership Forum, with a handful speaking to reporters about their concerns during a news conference.

The American Health Care Act  the Republican-backed legislation that passed the House in May and now is being reworked by the Senate  effectively would end the Medicaid expansion, restructure the Medicaid program through a per capita cap, and replace the ACAs tax credit and cost-sharing protections with age-based tax credits.

The Senate is expected to vote on legislation by the end of June, and hospital leaders said that senators from 12 states  including Iowa  will be crucial votes.

We want to make it clear that the hospital community is very opposed to the American Health Care Act. We dont want to see a movement to per capita limits on Medicaid, and we think that expansion  which has expanded coverage to 150,000 Iowans  has worked very successfully, said Kirk Norris, chief executive officer of the Iowa Hospital Association.

The association represents the states 118 hospitals, including Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint Health -- St. Luke's in Sioux City.

Iowa is one of 31 states to expand Medicaid to low-income adults, through the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan in 2014. The expansion, along with subsidy-eligible plans purchased through the Iowa exchange  helped push down the uninsured rate in Iowa from 10.8 percent before the ACA to 5.9 percent.

This gives Iowa the sixth-lowest uninsured rate in the country, which in turn has led charity-care levels at hospitals to fall severely, hospital leaders said. In addition, the state has brought in an extra $750 million in 2015 in federal funding to help cover those costs.

It really helped rein in and rationalize the delivery of care by offering coverage and the opportunity to get the right care at the right time, said Cindy Mann, the keynote speaker of the conference and a partner at Los Angeles-based Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, a nationwide consulting firm. Mann previously was the deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services within the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Mann said that, should federal dollars for the expansion population be done away with in 2020 as the proposed legislation calls for, more than 117,000 Iowans would lose coverage within two years  with that number growing to 148,000 by 2025.

Virtually all of the people who gained coverage would lose their coverage, she said.

All four of the hospital chief executives discussing the potential effects of the AHCA said the increase in coverage has helped patients afford care and better manage chronic diseases.

People fear the health care system in this country  they fear they wont have access and that they wont be able to afford it. They shouldnt have to fear it, said Ted Townsend, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health-St. Lukes in Cedar Rapids.

Townsend said the hospital has a patient receiving kidney dialysis three days a week. Before the ACA, the patient  who has diabetes  was not able to receive the proper care and experienced total kidney failure.

If he loses his insurance, he doesnt know how he will pay for it, Townsend said. The reason he is in this situation today was that he had to make a choice between food and medicine.

The bill also would convert the Medicaid program to a per capita cap  in which the federal government would pay a certain dollar figure for each Medicaid member and states would be responsible for costs in excess of the per capita cap.

The federal government and state currently share the costs of Medicaid  with Washington paying about 58 percent of cost in Iowa.

According to an analysis by Manns consulting group, that per capita cap would cost Iowa somewhere between $450 million and $786 million in federal funding five years into AHCA implementation.

Tim Charles, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, brought up a special clinic the hospital operates that works with very low income and complex patients, not only connecting them with primary care but also a social worker, pharmacist, mental health and legal services to find housing and other needs.

These individuals require so much more than what you and I in this room experience as health care because their lives are so riddled, he said. Medicaid has enabled us step into that space and provide vital, necessary services. ... The (ACA) is not perfect. There are structural issues, but the way to address those issues is not to diminish the access those individuals have gained.
SLOAN, Iowa -- Sloan resident Derek Seward will serve as an intern with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation this summer.

INHF is a nonprofit conservation group that works with private landowners and other partners to protect Iowas land, water and wildlife. Since its founding in 1979, INHF has helped protect more than 150,000 acres of Iowas wild places.

Seward is working across Iowa as a statewide land stewardship Intern helping to maintain and restore native Iowa landscapes. Seward is one of the 19 interns at INHF this summer and works alongside INHF staff members and eight other statewide land interns.

Seward attends Iowa State University in Ames studying forestry and animal ecology.

INHF offers several paid internships ranging from communications to land stewardship opportunities.
SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center will celebrate Flag Day with Campfire Stories at 10 a.m. and Junior Explorers at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Each session will last 45 minutes.

Campfire Stories, geared for third grade and younger, will begin with a story of how the American flag gained its stars and stripes. Next, kids will head outside to complete a Flag Bingo, earning their explorers telescope.

Junior Explorers, geared toward fourth grade and older, will investigate the American flag used by the Corps of Discovery. Junior Explorers will learn about Captains Lewis & Clarks 15 stars, 15 stripes flag, known as The Star-Spangled Banner, and its importance to the expedition.
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE  Gen. John E. Hyten, who became commander of U.S. Strategic Command several months ago, says the best part of his job is to meet and visit with the airmen, as he did earlier this week while at Minot Air Force Base.

"I get to lead them and I get to try to get them the things they need to do their job but fundamentally they do all the work," he said.

Hyten, a four-star general, was at Minot Air Force Base Tuesday to honor the men and women of the 5th Bomb Wing with the presentation of the Omaha Trophy, an award for being the 2016 outstanding strategic bomber unit. While at the base he also recognized some airmen from various units for their hard work and presented each with Commander's Coins.

To the Minot community, Hyten said the Minot AFB bomb wing achieving the Omaha Trophy is significant.

"It means you are hosting the best bomber wing in the entire United States Air Force. That means to me the best bomber wing in the entire world because there's no better Air Force in the world than ours so to be the best bomber wing in the entire world is an amazing achievement," Hyten said.

He said the 5th Bomb Wing people keep their 27 B-52 bombers going at all times.

"They deliver the capability and it's all about the capability. We need to make sure our adversaries are aware that the capability is here and we'll always be ready, and they are," Hyten said.

David Peterson, president and chief executive of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce who also participated in the trophy presentation ceremony, said the U.S. Strategic Competition Committee started the award with the former Strategic Air Command 46 years ago to honor the best of the best.

"We have the honor as being members of the committee to accompany the trophy and present it to the commands that have earned that distinct honor each year. This was my turn this year so I'm honored to be here to present the trophy to the bomber wing," he said.

Miles away in the Middle East, B-52 bombers from the Minot bomb wing's 23rd Bomb Squadron are flying missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against ISIS. It's the first time in 12 years that aircraft from the Minot base have been deployed to support combat operations.

"The bombers are doing great. It just is a testament to the airmen that fly them and maintain them that that bomber still strikes fear in the hearts of adversaries and delivers the mission every day," said Hyten in an interview at the Minot base Tuesday.

Hyten became commander of U.S. Strategic Command, the command in charge of nuclear, space and cyber defenses, in November 2016. He replaced Navy Adm. Cecil Haney, who retired from the military. The command has its headquarters at Offutt AFB, Neb. Prior, Hyten was commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo., from August 2014-October 2016.

Hyten's visit to Minot AFB took place on the 73rd anniversary of D-Day, the landing of U.S. military members at Normandy during World War II.

A strong advocate of the nuclear triad  land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles  Hyten said the triad has kept the security of this nation since it was created in the 1960s.

"Because of the three elements of the triad no nation has felt like they can get away with a surprise attack against the United States because one element of the triad will always be ready to respond," he said.

"The ICBMs that we have here are the most ready element, the bombers that we have here are the most flexible, the submarine element is the most survivable and when you put those three together, you come up with a deterrent capability that our adversaries fear and they need to fear those capabilities. I hope to never have to employ them but they have to be ready all the time. That's the only way we can ever make sure," Hyten said.

He reiterated that the nuclear triad is essential.

"The way I describe it is 'how do you imagine a world without nuclear weapons?' A lot of people will say the world will be better off without nuclear weapons, but I know what that world looks like because it's in the history books. It's World War II," he said.

He said between 1939 and 1945, the world killed somewhere between 60 million and 80 million people in World War II. "That's 33,000 people a day being killed in war," he said. He said as bad as the Vietnam War was "and it was bad and the U.S. lost 58,000 heroes of the country, 58,000 is two days in World War II."

He said the three elements of the triad and their nuclear capabilities have kept that large-scale conflict down off the planet. "And I want it to stay that way," he said.

Replacing the UH-1N helicopters in the missile fields at Minot and other ICBM bases as well as modernizing each leg of the triad are among Hyten's high priorities.

Hyten said replacing the helicopters has been a long time in the coming.

"When I was at Space Command I actually was part of the team that was building the requirements for the replacement helicopters 10 years ago and we were doing it 10 years late then. So one of my highest priorities as commander of Strategic Command is to advocate hard with the Air Force to get replacement helicopters to the missile fields. We need them desperately," Hyten said.

The modernization of the nuclear weapons is his highest priority.

He said a plan to modernize the ICBMS and bombers is in the president's budget and Congress has supported the last two years is to modernize each leg of the triad.

The plan involves a new ICBM called the GBSD  ground-based strategic deterrent; a new bomber  the B-21; a new cruise missile  the long-range standoff weapon; and a new nuclear submarine to replace the Ohio Class submarine that will be called the Columbia, said Hyten.

Hyten said a nuclear posture review is under way right now that will assess the U.S.'s nuclear posture and make sure the country is ready for any nuclear threat. "I expect it will support the continued modernization of our capabilities," Hyten said.

When the new nuclear weapons are ready, he said they will go through the basing process.

"The B-52s are going to be around for a long time though so you are going to have B-52s here for a long time. They're part of the bomber force," he said. "That will be a long-term discussion where the B-21s end up but Minot's going to get the new missiles. That's for sure."
SUTHERLAND, Iowa | Carolyn Rohrbaugh never had the chance to meet Frederick ("Fred") Wilhelm Feldman personally.

After all, Feldman (a Bunde, Prussia native who emigrated to O'Brien County in 1864) had been dead for more than 140 years.

But Rohrbaugh always remembered Feldman's tombstone in the city's cemetery.

"His tombstone is still nestled on a bluff," she said. "It's overlooking the land he searched so hard to find."

Rohrbaugh, a sixth generation Sutherland resident, lived a mere five miles away from Feldman's former homestead.

When she came into contact with personal papers from his estate, Rohrbaugh wanted to delve into Feldman's life.

Rohrbaugh, an essayist, poet and children's book author, wrote "Dutch Fred: Immigrant," a 100-page book that weaves Feldman's personal history with fiction.

"Dutch Fred: Immigrant" (2017, Friesen Press) is available at Amazon.com as well as other online book retailers.

"This is the first time I've tackled anything this lengthy," Rohrbaugh said. "'Dutch Fred' is, by far, the most ambitious I've ever written."

Tell me a little bit about (Feldman). What was his life like before to America?

"Fred was born in Bunde, Prussia (now modern Germany), in 1827. He dreamed of freedom and of tending to his own land in America. Eventually, he married Wilhemine and they had a daughter, Marie Sophia. Fearful that Prussia would soon go war, Fred left his family behind in order to start life in America."

But life in America wasn't what he thought it would be, right?

"No it wasn't. Fred began his journey that was filled misery and sorrow. As soon as he landed in Manhattan, he was taken advantage of. Immigrants often made for easy marks."

Plus our country was going through plenty of upheaval at the time.

"Well, the Civil War was ending and Fred heard of land that could be homestead in Iowa along a river called the Little Sioux. Once he discovered the level of farming required, he became discouraged and depressed."

Why did the homestead leave him so discouraged?

"Fred wasn't expecting so much land. It certainly wasn't a one-man operation and Fred was completely alone. Plus he was no longer a young man.

Remind me how old Fred was when he came to O'Brien County. Wasn't he still in his 30s at the time?

"Fred was 37, which was considered old in the 19th century. He would only live another eight or nine years before he would die."

Gee, that's heartbreaking. Do you think things would've been different had his wife and daughter joined him in America?

"That was always Fred's dream but it wasn't truly realistic. Wilhelmine had her own family commitments plus travel to America was such an ordeal."

Wow, you got all of this from Fred's personal papers. That's amazing.

"I got the information from his papers, letters, even from receipts he kept and bills he had to pay. Fred kept very good records."

It seems like he was hoping that a good biographer would, some day, discover his story.

"I'd like to think so. The one thing I wanted to do is show Fred's life the way it was. He was a good man who wanted to live out his version of the American dream. While things were never perfect, Fred was willing to take a chance. For that reason, his life was one worth living."
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart referred to the organ as "the king of instruments."

That musical "king" gets a crescendo this week as Dordt College and the American Guild of Organists host a 6-day Pipe Organ Encounter. The camp represents a boon for local music lovers as clinicians/faculty members present recitals Sunday (tonight) through Friday, all free of charge.

"The intent of the Pipe Organ Encounter is to introduce young people to the pipe organ, with daily lessons, worship services, sessions on organ playing, field trips and organ recitals," said MaryLou Wielena, director of keyboard studies, piano and organ at Dordt College. "There is a demand for organ players as we get a number of calls each year from churches in need of organists."

Wielenga, a native of Hull, Iowa, and an organist at First Christian Reformed Church in Hull, has played organ for 50 years. She's taught organ for 39 years.

Wielenga, who is co-directing the Pipe Organ Encounter with Dordt colleague John MacInnis, noted that 10 to 12 students study the organ each semester at Dordt.

The national organization requires that the camp offer two organs per every student involved. So, in addition to students working on three organs on the campus of Dordt, six churches in Sioux Center will serve as sites for practice and play this week.

The main organ at Dordt has served B.J. Haan Auditorium since 1979. The 3-manual tracker-action instrument features 37 stops, 57 ranks, and 2,865 pipes that range in speaking length from one inch to 16 feet.

Casavant Freres Limitee, of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, built the organ, which was insured for $250,000 at the time it was installed. The instrument is worth many times more than that today.

In another sense, the organ is invaluable when one considers how it has helped impact worship services and the hundreds of thousands of people who have sung or prayed while the organ has filled this site in song.

"Playing for a worship service is the best thing about playing the organ," said Wielenga.

Clinicians serving the Pipe Organ Encounter will share their gifts with students and the public each evening this week, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. Sunday hymn festival featuring Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, an author, recitalist and choral conductor who will also lead a 7 p.m. recital on Monday.

A recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday takes place in Christ Chapel on the campus of Northwestern College in nearby Orange City, Iowa. Clinician Dr. Douglas Cleveland, professor at the University of Washington School of Music, leads that recital.

The Tuesday recital is followed by an "Organ Crawl" where Wielenga, who also serves as an instructor in organ and the college organist at Northwestern, opens the organ at Christ Chapel and invites those present to take a peek inside the workings of NWC's 45-stop, 56-rank organ, a tracker-action pipe organ built by world-renown organ builder Jan van Daalen.

The camp takes a break away from Sioux County on Wednesday with a field trip to the National Music Museum on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D. USD's Dean of the College of Fine Arts Dr. Larry Schou will also show off a rebuilt Aeolian-Skinner organ that day in Slagle Auditorium. That day concludes with a visit to the organ-building firm of John F. Nordlie in Sioux Falls, S.D.

A 7 p.m. faculty recital on Thursday at B.J. Haan Auditorium gives way to an 8:30 p.m. silent movie with accompaniment improvised by Dr. John Schwandt, associate professor of music at the University of Oklahoma School of Music.

"'The Cameraman' starring Buster Keaton is the silent film and John Schwandt does a wonderful job of improvising the music as the film plays," Wielenga said.

The 20 students from throughout the United States will then show what they've learned in a 1 p.m. Friday student recital at B.J. Haan Auditorium, an event that culminates the 6-day session, a week of music discovery funded by David Rossein, of Michigan.

"It is such a blessing to have so many involved in the organization of the Pipe Organ Encounter, a first for Dordt College," Wielenga said. "I am confident about the future for and the study and playing of the pipe organ."
WASHINGTON -- Having coined Bush Derangement Syndrome more than a decade ago, I feel authorized to weigh in on its most recent offshoot. What distinguishes Trump Derangement Syndrome is not just general hysteria about the subject, but additionally the inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences on the one hand and signs of psychic pathology on the other.

Take Trump's climate-change decision. The hyperbole that met his withdrawal from the Paris agreement -- a traitorous act of war against the American people, America just resigned as leader of the free world, etc. -- was astonishing, though hardly unusual, this being Trump.

What the critics don't seem to recognize is that the Paris agreement itself was a huge failure. It contained no uniform commitments and no enforcement provisions. Sure, the whole world signed. But onto what? A voluntary set of vaporous promises. China pledged to "achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030." Meaning that they rise for another 13 years.

The rationale, I suppose, is that developing countries like India and China should be given a pass because the West had a two-century head start on industrialization.

I don't think the West needs to apologize -- or pay -- for having invented the steam engine. In fact, I've long favored a real climate-change pact, strong and enforceable, that would impose relatively uniform demands on China, India, the U.S., the EU and any others willing to join.

Paris was nothing but hot air. Withdrawing was a perfectly plausible policy choice (the other being remaining but trying to reduce our CO2-cutting commitments). The subsequent attacks on Trump were all the more unhinged because the president's other behavior over the last several weeks provided ample opportunity for shock and dismay.

It's the tweets, of course. Trump sees them as a direct, "unfiltered" conduit to the public. What he doesn't quite understand is that for him -- indeed, for anyone -- they are a direct conduit from the unfiltered id. They erase whatever membrane normally exists between one's internal disturbances and their external manifestations.

For most people, who cares? For the president of the United States, there are consequences. When the president's id speaks, the world listens.

Consider his tweets mocking the mayor of London after the most recent terror attack. They were appalling. This is a time when a president expresses sympathy and solidarity -- and stops there. Trump can't stop, ever. He used the atrocity to renew an old feud with a minor official of another country. Petty in the extreme.

As was his using London to support his misbegotten travel ban, to attack his own Justice Department for having "watered down" the original executive order (ignoring the fact that Trump himself signed it) and to undermine the case for it just as it goes to the Supreme Court.

As when he boasted by tweet that the administration was already doing "extreme vetting." But that explodes the whole rationale for the travel ban -- that a 90-day moratorium on entry was needed while new vetting procedures were developed. If the vetting is already in place, the ban has no purpose. The rationale evaporates.

And if that wasn't mischief enough, he then credited his own interventions in Saudi Arabia for the sudden squeeze that the Saudis, the UAE, Egypt and other Sunni-run states are putting on Qatar for its long-running dirty game of supporting and arming terrorists (such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas) and playing footsie with Iran.

It's good to see our Sunni allies confront Qatar and try to bring it into line. But why make it personal -- other than to feed the presidential id? Gratuitously injecting the U.S. into the crisis taints the endeavor by making it seem an American rather than an Arab initiative and turns our allies into instruments of American designs rather than defenders of their own region from a double agent in their midst.

And this is just four days' worth of tweets, all vainglorious and self-injurious. Where does it end?

The economist Herb Stein once quipped that "if something cannot go on forever, it will stop." This really can't go on, can it? But it's hard to see what, short of a smoking gun produced by the Russia inquiry, actually does stop him.

Trump was elected to do politically incorrect -- and needed -- things like withdrawing from Paris. He was not elected to do crazy things, starting with his tweets. If he cannot distinguish between the two, Trump Derangement Syndrome will only become epidemic.
Kudos to the City Council for its decision on Monday to contribute $50,000 to the USS Sioux City Commissioning Committee.

We encourage our community - individuals and businesses - to follow the city's lead and support what is an historic chapter in local history.

A littoral combat ship, the Sioux City is undergoing tests on Lake Michigan near the shipyard at Marinette, Wisconsin, where the vessel was built, christened and launched. The commissioning, planned for sometime in 2018 on a date to be decided, will take place in Annapolis, Maryland. Mayport, Florida, will be the Sioux City's eventual home port.

Not only is the commissioning an historic occasion for the city of Sioux City, but it's historic for the Navy, as well.

The Sioux City - the 11th of America's littoral combat ships - will be the first ship commissioned in Annapolis, home of the U.S. Naval Academy, in 100 years.

The unique design of these vessels makes the Annapolis commissioning possible. While more traditional Navy ships can't dock at the pier in Annapolis' shallow port, littoral combat ships like the USS Sioux City can operate in shallower water close to shorelines.

The Commissioning Committee, chaired by retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Frank Thorp and co-chaired by Chris McGowan, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce executive director, hopes to raise between $800,000 and $1 million to pay for the weeklong event and establish an endowment to pay for education opportunities for crew members and their families for the 30-year life of the vessel. Planners hope to generate between $250,000 and $350,000 of the goal for the national fund-raiser locally.

Local pride and enthusiasm related to the USS Sioux City made a strong impression on Thorp when he visited the city in March.

"I had an expectation of a really warm, embracing reaction, and I've been overwhelmed. I couldn't have dreamed of a better group of people from a namesake city," Thorp told The Journal.

We aren't at all surprised.

Based on our community's deep respect and support for and contributions to America's armed forces, demonstrated in myriad ways over generations, we have nothing but confidence Sioux City will get behind the commissioning fund-raiser and the bond to its namesake ship and its crew will remain strong throughout its service to the defense of our nation.

If you wish to make a contribution to the commissioning of the USS Sioux City or read more about the ship, visit the following website: http://www.usssiouxcitylcs11.org/
LAKOTA -- Warren Nelson was memorialized Saturday at Lakota Lutheran Church, where he was baptized in 94 years ago, for the second time.

This time, 73 years after the first, his body was put to rest, too.

Nelson was killed in action by sniper fire on Nov. 20, 1943, running supplies to his fellow U.S. Marines on the frontlines of the Battle of Tawara on Betio Island, in the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was 20.

The Field Musician First Class attached to Echo Company, Second Battalion, Eighth Marines, Second Marine Division, was among the 1,696 American service members killed in the three days of fighting. All told, nearly 6,400 people were killed on the island in three days. It remains one of the deadliest battles in the history of the United States Marine Corps.

His body was not immediately recovered, and seemed lost forever, until the non-profit organization History Flight discovered a burial site on Betio Island in June 2015 that had remains of 35 Marines. The remains were turned over to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which identified one of the dead as Nelson.

Nelsons first service at Lakota Lutheran, in January 1944, also drew an unusually large crowd, according to a newspaper clipping at the funeral.

The pews filled up quickly Saturday for Nelsons service, though only two people present could say theyd ever known him. Marilyn Jane Nelson-Baker, his first cousin, was around 9-years-old when Nelson died. Her younger brother Bob Nelson told the Herald she recalled Warren taking her and other family children for ice cream as a child. Bob said he does not remember Warren, but was given Warrens old horn, which is now 117 years old.

Bob Nelson said he met an American Legion member Saturday from Cleveland, N.D., who said hed known Warren.

The funeral, complete with full military honors from U.S. Marines out of Wahpeton, N.D., and presided over by a U.S. Navy chaplain, brought attendees back in time to remember the sacrifices of the era.

For the first time, in some ways, it made me think of all those young men who are still over there, waiting to come home, said Chaplain Mike Madsen.

Relatives of Nelson read letters he sent to his parents prior to his death in which he told what he could of his daily life, asked them to send money so he could buy more Lucky Strike cigarettes and told them it was OK for his younger sister Marie to live in Los Angeles for a while as theres nothing to do in Lakota.

When the service attendees moved from the Lutheran Church to the cemetery, they were greeted by a crowd of about 300 bikers, mostly veterans, who had traveled from all over the state, from Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana and California, among others, as well as Manitoba.

Im overwhelmed, said Bob Nelson, who wasnt sure if thered be more than six people at the service when he drove up from Arkansas.

The bikers lined the road and waved flags as the hearse passed, and stood solemnly as Nelson was finally committed to the ground.

Tom Rainsberry, a Marine veteran who serves as a liaison between Vietnam veterans from the U.S. and Canada, said he tried to tip off others about the funeral. His friend Penney Scott rode down from Winnipeg for the service.

More than 73,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from World War II, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

Gov. Doug Burgum ordered the flags in the state be flown at half-staff Saturday in Nelsons honor.
Congratulations, Kim Reynolds, on becoming governor of Iowa.

Now, about these issues with the state budget and the human services department ...

Reynolds recently was elevated after serving for more than six years as Terry Branstads lieutenant, and in true be-careful-what-you-wish-for fashion, she was promptly greeted by a pair of critical issues facing the state.

The state budget is hanging by a thread as revenue continues to come in lighter than anticipated.

And the death of a teenage girl who had been adopted and home-schooled  the second such death within the past year  has the states human services department under the microscope.

How Reynolds addresses these issues could have a significant role in defining her early tenure as governor.

And while secondary to the real-life effects of Reynolds actions, they also could play a political role in 2018 if she chooses to run for election. How Reynolds addresses these situations could be tied to her candidacy.

It has been a rough year for Iowas state budget. Three times, the panel that estimates state revenues had to lower its forecasts. Because the panels predictions are used to build state spending, legislators and Branstad were forced to cut $88 million from multiple departments budgets for the current fiscal year, transfer $25 million from various funds and borrow $131 million from the states cash reserves.

The revenue situation has not improved. The latest tracking continues to show sluggish revenue, and the state may again not have enough money to pay its bills at the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30.

Reynolds last week said she plans to meet with her state budget team to discuss how they might address a possible shortage. One potential option would be to call legislators back to the Capitol for a special session to address the budget issue.

Weve not made any decisions at this point on what were going to do, Reynolds said. "Were going to look at all the options."

Reynolds also must name a director to the state Department of Human Services. Director Chuck Palmer, who had served throughout Branstads second tenure as governor and part of his first, announced his retirement shortly after Reynolds was sworn in. His last day is Friday.

The appointment comes at a time of great consternation for the department. This past week, legislators conducted an oversight hearing regarding the recent deaths of two adopted teenage girls who had been in the departments system.

According to authorities, 16-year-old Sabrina Ray of Perry was found unresponsive in her home on May 12 and died from severe malnutrition, weighing 56 pounds at the time of death. The state had been monitoring her home because of earlier complaints, authorities said.

Rays parents have been arrested and charged with neglect. The circumstances of her death are similar to another 16-year-old girl, Natalie Finn of West Des Moines, who died last year of starvation. Finns parents also were arrested and charged.

Reynolds must name a new director to the human services department, and that nomination will be subject to the approval of the Iowa Senate.

That nomination and the decision of how to address the budget are two huge decisions on the plate of a new governor.

Reynolds actions almost certainly will have a significant impact on the state and very well could help shape the debate during the 2018 campaign.

Kansas rolls back tax cuts

Reynolds will have another big decision to make next year when state legislators convene for the 2018 legislative session.

Reynolds and Republican lawmakers have made tax reform a top priority for the session, but the state budget has left no wiggle room for further reductions in revenue. And that very well could be the case next year as well if the budget picture does not improve.

And a cautionary tale was told just to the southwest in Kansas, where the Republican-controlled state Legislature rolled back deep tax cuts implemented by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, overriding the governors veto in order to reverse the tax cuts.

Brownback enacted deep tax cuts shortly after his election in 2011. Instead of the economic growth Brownback promised, the tax cuts have created gaping holes in Kansas budget, leading to significant spending cuts, particularly in education.

Republicans in Iowa have been asked about the Kansas experiment, and many have said the Kansas GOP went too far in its tax reform effort.

Iowa Republicans still want to pass a state tax reduction. Will they find enough room in the budget? And will they keep Kansas in mind? We will see next year when legislators return to the Capitol.
While Larry Werner fought in Vietnam, it was his infant son who became a casualty of the war.

Werner, 68, is the son of a "sidewalk farmer," who lived in McClusky and farmed two miles east of town. When he was 19 years old, the Vietnam War draft was in effect.

Werner was recruited to the U.S. Army and went to basic training in Fort Lewis, Wash. After that, he went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for more training in construction engineering on heavy equipment. In the fall of 1968, Werner shipped out to Bien Hoa, Vietnam.

"It was at night when we got off the plane. It was humid and smelly, very warm, and it had just started raining," he recalled.

After inprocessing, he was flown to Pleiku, Vietnam, and placed in a combat engineering unit, where he was on machine guns M-50s and M-60s  for three months.

"In October of '68, we got hit three, four times a week, and always at night with mortars," Werner said. "That was the worst Tet Offensive of the whole war: '68 and '69."

He and others in his unit went on mine sweeps daily, and, because he was trained in combat engineering, he said he had no clue what they were doing. He was later placed on a bulldozer and sent to a town in the Central Highlands region where he cleared thick jungle, or the field of fire," with the large machinery.

"They wanted to clear it out from the road, or by camp, about 300 yards on each side, he said of the actions they took so they wouldn't be surprised by enemy combatants.

Early one morning at the camp, a group of Americans were attacked while eating breakfast. The next day, the post commander sent him to clear the jungle on a hillside to avoid future attacks, and he remembers standing atop the hill while they sprayed Agent Orange overhead, which was used at that time to kill the vegetation.

"I kind of look up and thought, they must be spraying for mosquitoes. No one had really heard of Agent Orange all that much, he said. "I got a good dose."

Werner would later learn the effects of the chemical. He returned to North Dakota in October 1969 and married his wife, Mary, a childhood friend, who still recalls playing Red Rover when they were kids.

Next, he was assigned to a unit in Neu Ulm, Germany. In November 1970, his wife had a baby there  a son, who was born with part of his esophagus missing. Two weeks later, the infant died. The Army sent their sons body back with them to North Dakota to be buried in their hometown of McClusky.

The hardest thing was losing their son, whom they consider a casualty of the war. More than 45 years after his death, the Werners still struggle with that loss. Six years after that boy's death, they had another baby, Brian, who was born healthy.

"(During the war) we didnt really know what was going on, but had heard somewhat of Agent Orange, said Werner, who also attributes his heart problems to exposure of Agent Orange. He's had five heart bypass surgeries and, recently, a heart stent.

After his service, he worked for Food Services of America in Bismarck until the warehouse closed. He also operated snowplows for the state Department of Transportation for 20 years, then retired. He and his wife take care of their two grandchildren and spend time traveling.

I dont know if anybody knows why we had that war. At the time, it sounded like the right thing to do," said Werner adding there are still things he saw in Vietnam that he cant forget. "We did what our government asked us to do, not knowing what it would do to us for the rest of our lives."
AUGUST





1 - Kelli Newman, Laura Cheek, Jordan Bell, Jason Karten

2  Ashley Bravin, Margaux Cowden, Fred Smith, Teresa Osso

3  Disney Samutsakorn, Samantha Harder, Heather Levinson, Steve Wasserman, Cory Holtzman

4  David Trigger Ortiz, Kyle Burdges

5  Elizabeth Zimmerman Calderwood, Robert Nero, Chris Michael, Amy Rice, Sean Dunn

6  Joe Tomola, Jeff Greenwood,

7  Bodio-Jodi Hews Shultz, Michelle Charalambopoulos, Xinyan Zhang

8 - Jennie Wilson

9  Cassie Winters

10 - Wally Newman, Miguel Garcia, Lisa Marie Bauman, Tim Emery, Victoria Lobanov,

11  Laura Windell

12 - Josh Hammock, Javier Navarro, Laura Konowalski, Leah Frances Turano

13  Madi Swayne, Elle Michelle, Alannah Blanco

14  Nancy-Jo Webster White, Georgio Mahmood, Fia Fasbinder

15 - Joe Schmal, Kat Latona

16  Oliver Putnam, Charee Wagner, Brian Gardner, Jake Dieringer

17  Julie Kelley, Margo Cramer, Gene Shabinaw, Warunee Ngennak

18  Aaron Spiwak, Emily Joyce Phillips, Stacey Cambers

19 - Stephanie Olsen, Shelby Moran

20 - Brenda Bennett, Samantha Tang, Neil Reinhold, Richard Berentsen, Christina Rico Ricafort

21 - Jill Rudberg, Anders Strand, Melinda Bracken-Hof, Kayla Babb

22  Josh Schulman, Alberto Izarraraz, Cybele Parsignault

23  Eden Allegra Young

24  Keith Andreen

25  Serena Wong, Audrey Frenzel, Ashley Poole, Austin T-Rex Divine, Alex Campbell

27  Rose Angulo, Dave ONeill, Mary Jean Bustard

28  Tony (I-thought-you-said-pickets) Arlyn, Corky Cronin, Jasmin Newberry

29  Charlie Silveria

30 - Beth Beltramo

31  Debra Simons, Maggie Harris, Beth Lee, Zac Araneta, Kristen Casalenuovo









(if you'd like to be included in this list, email me - skip@skiptucker.com)
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.




Trotting Triple Crown winner Marion Marauder made his aged pari-mutuel debut on Sunday (June 11) at Tioga Downs, and he did so in fine fashion, as the OBrien Award winner triumphed in his $50,000 third-leg division of the Graduate Series.

With his regular pilot, Scott Zeron in tow, Marion Marauder ($6.60) started from the rail in Race 5 and utilized a cautious approach early.

Zeron and the Paula Wellwood trainee sat back off the speed in the early going. Dia Monde (driven by Jody Jamieson) shot out to the lead early and led the field past the opening quarter-mile pole in :28.2. Dia Mondes time on the point was short lived, though, as the post-time choice, Dayson (Yannick Gingras), moved to the lead and proceeded to click off the opening half-mile pole in :57.

Zeron had Marion Marauder in gear through the third quarter, as the duo was up and battling overland in second by the time Dayson passed the three-quarters pole in 1:25.1. Zeron and the millionaire had reeled-in and passed Dayson by the head of the lane.

When all was said and done, Marion Marauder posted a one-length victory in 1:52.4. Dia Monde rallied to finish second, while Cufflink Hanover (Jason Bartlett) came on for third.

Marion Marauder is owned by Jean Wellwood of Stratford, Ont. and Devin Keeling of Cambridge, Ont.

The Erv Miller-trained and Marcus Miller-driven Trolley ($4.60) had previously kicked off Sundays Graduate action in the first of the trotting divisions (Race 3). The favoured son of Donato Hanover was up to the test against his four other foes and prevailed with a one and a quarter-length win in a track-record-lowering 1:52.1 while racing as the chalk.

After having lined up in Post 3, Miller raced Trolley wide down to the quarter pole (:27.3) and grabbed the lead in the second quarter of the dash. He proceeded past the half-mile pole in :54.4 and went on to click off three quarters in 1:23.4. Trolley carried a half-length advantage into the stretch and expanded his lead slightly before trotting under the wire in a new lifes mark of 1:52.1.

Tight Lines (Jeff Gregory), who had raced first-over late, finished second, while Double L Lindy (Ake Svanstedt), who had worked out a two-hole trip, finished further back in third.

Trolley  who is owned by Paymaq Racing, Leland Mathias, Greg Gillis and Louis Willinger  has now won four of his 11 career races and boasts an overall bankroll of more than $230,000.

Fresh off of his Canadian-record performance from one week ago at Mohawk Racetrack, Somebeachsomewhere gelding Dr J Hanover ($7.00) continued his speed show, as the Tony Alagna-trained and Doug McNair-driven bay motored to a sharp 1:48.3 victory in the Graduate Series $75,000 third leg for four-year-old pacers.

After having lined up in Post 2, Dr J Hanover shot through the lane and was first to every call. He cut the quarter in :26.3, paced down to the half-mile pole in :54.4, and turned it back on before spinning off three quarters in 1:21.

Dr J Hanover needed to utilize a :27.3 final quarter to fend off a game challenge from Boston Red Rocks (Tim Tetrick), who challenged the leader from the second panel onward and just finished second, three quarters of one length in arrears. Check Six (Yannick Gingras) finished third.

Dr J Hanover is owned by Brad Grant (Milton, Ont.), Robert Leblanc (New York, NY), Steven Wienick, (Delray Beach, FL) and Irwin Samelman (Las Vegas, NV). Dr J Hanover has now won 10 of his 30 career starts and has banked over $400,000 in purses.

The card also featured a $12,000 Open I Pace which was won by Betterlatethnnever ($5.00) in 1:51, and a $10,000 Open II Pace which was won by BJs Guy ($28.40) in 1:50.2.
The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie...
SOUTH HEART -- Saying goodbye can be bittersweet. It can bring a lot of sadness and tears, but also joy and laughter as people remember the good times. Next week will be bittersweet for South Heart Public School District leaders in southwest North Dakota as they say goodbye to a building students have walked through for a century.

Even though the process of closing the school has been somewhat sad, South Heart Superintendent Calvin Dean said the community supports the districts new construction project and understands it is time for the old school to go.

You always miss something thats historical in nature, Dean said. ... Its a very historical building and its probably the oldest building in town. It was wore out and it was very expensive to heat. Itll be nice to have everything updated and new, but it is kind of sad to see an old building come down thats been here and served the community for 100 years.

The school has changed drastically since opening in 1916 when it was one building with four classrooms and an area downstairs that was used as a kitchen and cafeteria. There have been many additions since then, including one that connected the old school building with the new one. The district is also building another addition to the north and one to the southeast part of the building, Dean said.

The old school, which was used until the last day of classes this year, holds many memories for everyone in the community, Randy Kudrna said. Kudrna, a school board member who was born and raised in South Heart, said his father was one of about 20 kids who attended school in the old building. Three generations of the Kudrna family have walked the halls of the South Heart school. His last daughter will graduate from South Heart next year.

Its bittersweet, but its going to be an amazing place once its done, he said. It served its purpose. Way back when my dad went here, there was nuns and priests that ran it.  Where its come and where its going, its crazy.

The South Heart district is in the middle of a $13.1 million expansion project. The first phase will extend the north end of the school to include a new kitchen, an elementary gym  which will double as the entire school's cafeteria  and a number of elementary classrooms, Dean said. That part of the project should be done soon.

Also under construction is a new vocational agriculture building, which is projected to be ready for the 2017-18 school year.

Were tearing down an old building, we took away the modulars, but were able to build so much that we actually will have more space than we had before, Dean said.

Pamela Hoffman and her husband, Russ, who are janitors at the school, have kept a detailed history of the senior classes that have graduated from South Heart. She even has a record of her fathers graduation in 1940. Each class has its composite photo in her book and then she tracks how many students graduated and who they are. Her mother, Clara Wendel, started the project many years ago.

Clara attended South Heart and then worked there as kitchen staff and a janitor, even working with her daughter for several years. Pamela said her mother worked at South Heart until she was 85 and now lives in a nursing home. She has passed along her love of history to her daughter.

She started it and Ive always worked here, so Ive always helped her keep the book up to date, Pamela said. Im one of the older janitors thats still here, so Im interested in the history and Im interested in the community. I just thought its really fascinating to me, too.

She has seen the building change throughout the years with the additions, but has also seen the culture of the school change as more activities are added. She said she has worn many hats throughout her time at South Heart, including a student, a custodian, a teacher, a student-teacher, a paraprofessional and kitchen help. Pamela is sad to see the old school go, but is looking forward to what the new parts of the school have to offer.

Every time I came into town, I would always look at the old part of the school, the 100-year-old piece, and Ill miss seeing that when I come into town, she said. ... I did a lot of cleaning upstairs, I did a lot of painting and maintenance, so the memories Ill still have. But itll be a new addition and new building and its just hard to see it go when youve devoted so much time there. I went to school there, (my husband) went to school there.

Though the old school will be torn down sometime in the next week or so, Dean said the district allowed the community members to come in and take items they felt were special to them. Many took pieces of the floorboard, while others took parts of the old chalkboards that hung in the original building. After the school is demolished, community members will be able to take home a brick or two as a way to remember where they came from.

Ultimately, Kudrna said the community has to move forward, even if saying goodbye is a little hard.

You cant stand still, he said. Youve got to go ahead.
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The EU launched an anti-trust probe Friday into US semiconductor maker Qualcomm's $47-billion purchase of Dutch rival NXP, the biggest ever in the sector. The European Commission said the "in-depth investigation" was due to concerns that the deal would affect competition and lead to higher prices for consumers. The deal announced in October was aimed at extending Qualcomm's footprint into the "internet of things" -- everyday objects connected to the web - and the automobile sector.

"The Commission has concerns that the transaction could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced innovation in the semiconductor industry," the Brussels-based EU executive said in a statement. Qualcomm insisted that by working together the companies would "produce even greater innovation than they would alone", adding that it still expects the purchase to go through by the end of the year.

"Qualcomm is confident that it can address the concerns raised by the European Commission and intends to continue working with the Commission and other regulators to secure clearance," a company spokeswoman said. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said people were dependent on semiconductors, "as semiconductors are used in practically every electronic device".

"With this investigation, we want to ensure that consumers will continue to benefit from secure and innovative products at competitive prices," she said. The Commission is responsible for carrying out investigations to uphold free and fair competition in the 28-nation bloc's single market.

The deal, the largest ever in the semiconductor market, was designed to boost the US company amid falling mobile phone sales and stiff market competition. Based in the Dutch town of Eindhoven, NXP is a leading maker of chips for the auto industry, as well as for contactless payment systems.

A former division of the Dutch electronics giant Philips, it became independent in 2006. Vestager has launched a series of anti-trust cases against US firms, winning praise in Europe but angering Washington.

AFP
tech2 News Staff

We know Motorola has a bunch of smartphone launches this year thanks to a leaked product slide. The company has already announced the Moto C and the Moto Z2 Play and if the rumors are true, we could see the unveiling of the all-new Moto X by the end of this month.

Supposedly called the Moto X4, the smartphone will be a mid-range offering and comeback for what used to be a flagship and one of the most successful products for Moto.

https://twitter.com/HeyAndri/status/872736279045169152

https://twitter.com/HeyAndri/status/873233618323230720

Tipster Andri Yatim has leaked the release details for the Moto X4 claims that the smartphone would launch on 30 June with a price tag of Rs 20,999. Considering the leak includes the price for the Indian market, we are assuming that the release date is for the same. The leak also says that the handset will come with IP68 water-resistance certification, a metal unibody design and glass covering on all sides. The Moto X4 is also expected to feature a dual-rear camera system. The tipster also revealed that the Moto G5S+ will launch at Rs 17,999 and the Moto z2 Force will be priced at Rs 38,999.

https://twitter.com/HeyAndri/status/873620125395570688

The tipster has also speculated that the Moto X4 will feature a 5.2-inch full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB and 64 GB storage variants, 3,800 mAh battery, NFC and of course a fingerprint scanner. The dual camera setup will feature 13 MP sensors with f/1.7 aperture and an f/2.2 aperture camera on the front.
tech2 News Staff

HMD Global, Nokias parent company sent out official formal invites last week for the launch of Nokia 3, 5 and 6 smartphones in the Indian market. The launch is scheduled for 13 June 2017 and while the pricing was rumored to be between 9,000 to 15,000 a new leak suggests a slight surge in the prices of the upcoming phones.

According to BSU the Nokia 3, 5 and 6 will be priced at Rs 9,990, Rs 12,990 and Rs 15,990 respectively. The website also noted that the phone will be launched on 13 June and buyers can pre-order the phones from the same day. Pre-ordering will be available on online retail stores like Amazon India and Flipkart. The smartphone are expected to ship from 20 June. The specification of the phones remains the same. As reported by Techradar the phones released will also get the next Android O update once the new version is launched in the market.

A spokesperson from HMD Global said, "The smartphones will get the Android O update once the new release is available from Google for their OEM partners, the same way HMD Global is committed to the monthly Android security updates".

The smartphones are made by the independent Finnish company HMD Global, which has licensed the rights to use the Nokia brand name from Microsoft, for a period of ten years.
tech2 News Staff

China's popular instant messaging app WeChat has launched a new feature that warns users if a news item circulating on its accounts is false. The feature will notify users if a piece of news that they have received is deemed fake by Chinese censors, police or official media outlets, reports Efe news.

It is one of WeChat's "mini programmes" launched this year that function only within its platform, which Chinese netizens use for messaging, mobile payments, ordering food, and even renting bicycles. The programme will also function as a social game, ranking users based on how many rumour-debunking articles they have read. Users will also be notified if a news item they send to their friends is later found to be false.

Recently, 1,500 developers were asked by WeChat to handle increasing user engagement through new 'mini-programs' on WeChat. The apps look like the normal apps on Google's Android and Apple's iOS but they consume less data as compared to them.

With more than 938 million users, WeChat, known as Weixin in China, already serves as a one-stop-shop for everything from reading news and booking taxis to ordering takeaways and making payments. Half the users spend more than 90 minutes a day on its chat app, according to WeChat.

With Inputs From IANS
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi's Mi Notebook range has been praised as a value for money offering but the Chinese company has restricted them to limited markets. Back in December the company launched a 4G LTE variant of the 13.3-inch model and was also offering a 6th-gen Core-i7 option.

A new leak has revealed that Xiaomi is preparing to upgrade the laptop yet again, but only the 13.3-incher, leaving the ultra-portable 12.5-inch in the dark. The update could include a fingerprint reader placed in the right corner of the trackpad, as well as an internal hardware update including the latest 7th-gen Core i5-7200U processor with a maximum clock speed of 3.1 GHz. Even the Nvidia 940MX GPU will be replaced for a GeForce MX150 which is entry-level Pascal laptop chip, which offers three times better performance-per-watt than the 940MX.

RAM will still be restricted to 8 GB along with storage options of 128 GB or 256 GB SSD. Rest of the features include Bluetooth 4.0, a USB-C (5Gb/s) port, two USB 3.0 (2.5 Gb/s) ports, a full-sized HDMI and a 4-cell battery with fast charge support which can charge the laptop to up to 50 percent in 30 minutes. There has been no mention of a design change and even the overall weight is mentioned as 1.3 kg, which is almost similar to 1.28 kg of the original.

The refreshed 13.3-inch model is expected to be available from 12 June at CNY 4999 (Rs 50,000 approx) for the 128 GB model and CNY 5499 (Rs 55,000 approx) for the 256 GB version.
How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time. Kindness is a gateway for all of us to connect and care for each other.  Morgan Freeman Whether its a supporting...

MAKING CONNECTIONS Editors note: The following random acts of kindness were emailed or called into County Press editor Jeff Hogan at jhogan@mihomepaper.com. The following acts of kindness experienced by County Press readers...

Ed-Tech students connect with community ATTICA TWP.  The Lapeer County Education and Technology Center (Ed-Tech) is a place where students can get a taste of the career opportunities that exist in their field of...
Israel plans most settlement homes since 1992 defying peace moves

Children from the Palestinian village of Deir Ibzi in the Israeli-occupied West Bank look at the Jewish settlement of Dolev .

AFP, Jerusalem :

Israel has so far this year advanced its highest number of settlement projects since 1992, the defence minister said Sunday, despite warnings such plans will further cloud chances of a two-state solution.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the comments as Israel's government faced mounting pressure from leaders of the settlement movement, who wield heavy influence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.

Netanyahu has found himself seeking to balance the competing demands of the settlers and US President Donald Trump, who has asked him to hold back on such projects for now as he seeks a way to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

Lieberman told journalists and ministers at the start of a cabinet meeting that, so far this year, plans had been advanced for 8,345 homes in the occupied West Bank, including 3,066 slated for "immediate construction".

Settlement projects pass through a list of planning stages before final approval.

"The numbers for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992," Lieberman said.

The figures were similar to those published by settlement watchdog Peace Now last week.

Counting plans and tenders, Peace Now said 7,721 units had been advanced this year, almost triple the number for all of 2016, which amounted to 2,699.

Peace Now could not immediately say whether it agreed that this year's figures were the highest since 1992.

Last week alone, Israel advanced plans for more than 3,000 settlement homes.

While the majority of those are for pre-existing homes, some will be built in the first new official settlement in some 25 years, Peace Now said.

Last month, Trump visited Israel and the Palestinian territories, meeting both Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as he seeks what he calls the "ultimate deal".

But he has given no details about how he plans to restart talks, and there is deep scepticism over whether such an effort would have any chance of success.

Settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Some 600,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, alongside around 4.9 million Palestinians.

Netanyahu has said he still supports a two-state solution, but peace advocates say his actions show otherwise.

Last week, the premier told settlers he would keep building across the West Bank.

Israel's university leaders have lashed out at the nationalist education minister's plan to impose a code of ethics they say is aimed at limiting their academic freedom.

The umbrella organization of Israel's university heads says they "vehemently object" to Education Minister Naftali Bennett's guidelines calling on professors to refrain from expressing political opinions in class or openly supporting an academic boycott of Israel.

Bennett says Sunday he tasked Asa Kasher, an ethics and philosophy professor at Tel Aviv University, to draw up guidelines to protect students from lecturers who impose their "political worldview" on them. Bennett and other hardliners accuse Israel's academia of having a disproportionate liberal bias.

The university heads said such a code ran counter to the concept of academic freedom and doubted it would be enacted.




European mobile operators brace for end of roaming charges

AFP, Paris :

Long an important source of revenue for telecom companies, roaming charges will be lifted in Europe starting June 15, raising pressure on operators in a tight market.

Roaming charges within and outside Europe account for an average of around five percent of sales for telephone operators in Europe, estimates Sylvain Chevallier of BearingPoint. But the impact of the new measure will differ for corporate and individual clients, he adds.

On the Spanish market, subject to wide seasonal variations in business due to a reliance on tourism, Telefonica estimates the end of roaming charges in the EU will lead to a 1.2 percent drop in its sales this year.

But the change can hardly come as a shock for telecom operators, according to Victor Marcais of Roland Berger, who noted the plans have been in the works for several years and are "largely anticipated".

"If the operators are not ready, it will be more their fault than anything else," said Dexter Thillien, analyst with BMI Research. "It has been very gradual." Still, telephone operators are taking different approaches as they gear up for the change.

In Italy, for example, Wind-Tre says it implemented the European requirements two months early, while its rival TIM said it would adhere to the new rules the day they come into effect.


New Moroccan Envoy calls on FM



Newly appointed Moroccan Envoy to Bangladesh Majid Halim on Sunday paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali at the foreign ministry.

During the meeting, they discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and Morocco in the areas of political cooperation, economic development, trade and investment, agriculture and renewable energy.

Besides, they also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest and hoped to continue to support each other at the UN and other international bodies, a foreign ministry press release said.

Foreign Minister Ali praised the remarkable progress of Morocco under the visionary and progressive leadership of His Majesty the King of Morocco.

The Moroccan Envoy praised Bangladesh for its constructive and proactive roles to consolidate Muslim Ummah under the auspices of OIC.


Seminar on herbal products held

Chittagong Bureau :

A day- long seminar on prospects and problems of herbal products in Bangladesh held at Chittagong Theatre Institute Hall on Wednesday. The seminar jointly organized by Bangladesh Herbal Products Manufacturers Association (BHPMA) and Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products Business Promotion Council (MPHP BPC).

Md. Abdur Rahim, Assistant Director of Chittagong district Youth Development Department attended as chief guest chaired by Anowar Mustaq of BHPMA. Md. Rafiqul Isalm, Divisional Officer of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute and Hakim Md. Osman Sorwar, Principal of Chittagong Unani Tibbia College were present as special guests. Dr. Saleh Ahmed Soleman, Editor of Homoeo Chetona and Fatema Nargis, Executive Officer of Business Promotion Council were present as guest speaker. Abdur Rob Khan Principal of Dhaka Modern Unani Ayurbedic Medical College & Hospital, Hakim Md. Abu Taher, former Principal of Noakhali Unani Medical College, Dr. Syed Nazrul Islam and Dr. Moidul Islam, Medical Officer of modern Herbal Group delivered their valuable speech.


President of Hajj Pilgrims Welfare Council Ahmadul Islam Chowdhury seen addressing an Iftar Mahfil held at Hotel Paramount International hall in the city on Saturday.
Towards a future free from human rights abuses

Nele Meyer and Lucy Graham:

This week Apple will showcase its latest product developments at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Silicon Valley, providing a glimpse into the technology of the future. Though it's out of the spotlight, there is another exciting development for the tech world this week, one which should be cause for celebration for anyone with a smartphone.

A new EU regulation on so-called "conflict minerals", which comes into force today, will help make sure that some of the key materials in smartphones, laptops and other gadgets like those on display in Silicon Valley this week, are responsibly sourced when emanating from areas suffering from conflict and serious human rights abuses.

Your phone is most likely made up of nearly 50 different minerals and metals, including around 5% tin, 0.5% gold and 0.1% cobalt. All three are essential components of the phone. There is gold in the circuit board central to a phone's operation; tin is used to bond the electronics in the phone; and cobalt goes into its rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

But while these minerals help connect us to each other, they may also connect us to human rights abuses and conflict. Beneath the shiny covers of our phones lies a grim reality: the minerals that power them can be mined by children and adults who put their lives at risk to work in appallingly dangerous conditions. Violent armed groups are also profiting from our increasing dependence on technology, by illegally taxing or stealing from miners or forcing them to work at mines under their control.

The new EU legislation aims to change all that. It requires companies who import certain raw minerals and metals - tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold - to check their supply chains for conflict financing and human rights risks such as forced and child labour, and to put in place and make public measures to address these risks. Although it is limited to a small number of companies and materials, the legislation is a historic step forward. The world's biggest trading power has sent a clear message to companies in the minerals supply chain that responsible business is the future. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation is the latest in a line of similar initiatives within the EU and its member countries to ensure that businesses act more responsibly and transparently.

In 2014, the EU adopted a directive that requires large EU-based companies to report on key human rights, social and environmental impacts and what steps they take to address these risks. The 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act requires certain companies doing business in the UK to report on what they have done to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in any part of their business or supply chains.

And in early 2017, the lower house of the Dutch parliament adopted legislation requiring companies selling goods and services to Dutch consumers to determine whether child labour occurs in their supply chains and, if so, to develop a plan of action to address this.

The most far-reaching however, is the new French "duty of vigilance" law which was adopted in February 2017. The law requires large French companies to develop, make public and implement a plan to identify and prevent serious human rights abuses, as well as health and environmental impacts resulting from their own activities or their business relationships, including their supply chains.

These positive developments are encouraging, but now is not the time for complacency.

Although it is globally accepted that businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operate, laws requiring businesses to respect human rights are far from being a matter of course, and are often implemented very slowly. In many cases they are limited to specific business sectors (like certain minerals) or specific human rights violations (like child labour).

But there are plenty of other sectors and supply chains which are propped up by human rights abuses. For example, Amnesty International has documented child labour in a cobalt supply chain from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as serious labour violations on palm oil plantations in Indonesia.

The export by companies of technology and tools that facilitate illegal government surveillance of human rights defenders around the world is also a matter for serious concern.

In the case of cobalt, when Amnesty's report was released in January 2016, not one of the companies in that supply chain - which included Apple, Samsung and Sony - was doing even basic checks to ensure that cobalt mined by child labourers had not been used in their products. Another company in the supply chain admitted that this was because they were not required to do so under any law.

Demands for further legislation therefore rightly continue. The European Parliament called recently for mandatory due diligence requirements in the garment sector. National parliaments in eight EU member states recently asked the European Commission to put forward a legislative proposal establishing obligations on companies similar to the French "duty of vigilance" model.

These initiatives should be just the beginning. As the Trump administration looks to row back from corporate regulation - including by undermining Obama-era law on conflict minerals - the EU must live up to its status as the world's greatest trading power, and fulfil its commitment to human rights.

Responsible sourcing must be at the heart of how the EU does business, and this regulation is a welcome first step. The EU and member states must now ensure safeguards for those other sectors and human rights violations not yet covered. We can no longer accept a situation where our products come at the price of human suffering.

(Nele Meyer is senior executive officer for business and human rights at Amnesty's EU Office, and Lucy Graham is a business and human rights researcher).


Dredging Passur river to destroy aquatic resources

A STUDY reveals that dredging in the Passur river channel for plying the coal-laden vessels from India to the proposed power plant at Rampal in Bagerhat will destroy fish and other aquatic resources. The New Nation quoting the study said that as 33 million tonnes of silt and mud will be removed from the river Passur to the Bay of Bengal through massive dredging, different species of fishes and aquatic resources will be damaged. People from all social strata have been protesting the government's anti-environmental move to set up a coal-based power plant near the world largest mangrove forest but the government's stubbornness to destroy the forest at the cost of merely a power plant is ridiculous and unacceptable.



Dr William Kleindl of Montana State University and Dr Jon Brodie of James Cook University, Australia prepared the study and presented findings on Saturday. The government is going to dredge the outer bar in the Passur Channel at a depth of 7.5 metre so that large ships can sail into it but the dredging will destroy the underwater zooplankton, algae, flora and fauna that will endanger the food chain and have a negative impact on aquatic resources. Besides, sound and light pollution during the river dredging will also create a situation of disequilibrium in the forest and rivers, resulting in fishes and animals to change their habitats in search of food.



Dredging will be done from the Jetty No-9 of Mongla Port up to 13 kilometres upstream to ensure navigability of the river so that imported coals can reach the power plant easily. Under the project, 38.81 lakh cubic metres will be dredged and 3.28 lakh cubic metres of earth will be needed for constructing embankments. The construction time impact is seemingly incalculable, so how far the impact of the coal-based power plant puts on the ecosystem of the Sundarbans is unimaginable and irreparable.



When low-quality coal remains unused in India due to cancellation of "ultra mega power plants" for modernizing and diversifying Indian electricity sector, Bangladesh blindly is heading towards destroying Sundarbans by importing the low-quality coal for the plant. Since the government first expressed their intention to ruin the Sundarbans, environmentalists and activists have been strongly advocating for relocation of the project. But they were not successful in pulling the government from materializing the wishes of our neighbour.

We feel, there are many alternatives for power generation, but there is no alternative of Sundarbans. The need for electricity is undeniable, but the method to attain it should be sustainable and eco-friendly. This blind quest for electricity to light up the nation could end up casting a permanent shadow of darkness. Bangladesh can still now reverse from its move to destroy the shield of cyclones and storms.






Power contracts with Indian Cos without bidding

STATE-RUN Power Development Board is set to buy power from two Indian private companies at prices higher than those charged by local companies which won the deals through competitive biddings. The Power Board, being directed by the government, awarded two contracts without competitive bidding to Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 1,600MW coal-fired power plant and to Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 750MW gas-fired power plant, as per recent media disclosures.



They estimate that the Power Board will pay approximately $1.76 billion extra for awarding the contracts under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010 that indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making such decisions. The Power Board is expected to initial the two contracts with Adani and Reliance respectively soon.



In a move to award the contracts to the companies without tenders, the Power Board signed two memorandums with the companies on June 6, 2015, the day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit, said officials. No Indian firm has so far won a competitive bidding for supplying electricity in Bangladesh. Energy Adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, also an Electrical Engineer, said that the contracts had no technical basis in the sense that the prices of electricity were settled bypassing tenders.



Such a decision to award contracts without competitive bidding is in itself a violation of the technical basis for awarding contracts by bypassing tenders. As such, it is an anti-competitive and anti-people action. The extra USD 1.76 billion means that an extra 14000 crore takas has to be paid over the lifetime of the contract to the firms, meaning that the consumers will have to pay this extra amount as the government will not be paying this.

The only good things is that the land on which the Adani plant will be built in will not be in Bangladesh, as our land is much more scarce. Also the pollution that comes from the plant will not be harming Bangladesh. While the costs are lower than the furnace oil plants and fuel oil plants there was no reason not to go for a competitive bidding process to give the awards.



It would seem to many that the awards were given hastily and without a consideration for the best interests of the country's consumers in mind. Allegations of corruption may shadow the deal, as no genuine reason can be shown for doing this. Making our neighbouring country's big firms happy at the expense of our domestic consumers should not be the motive for making any deal.
Man Utd agree to sign Swedish defender Lindelof

Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign Swedish international centre-back Victor Lindelof from Benfica for 35 million euros, the Europa League champions announced on Saturday.

"Manchester United is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement with Benfica for the transfer of Victor Lindelof, subject to a medical examination, international clearance and personal terms," United said in a statement.

"A further announcement will be made once the transfer is complete."

The Portuguese club later confirmed that the deal was worth 35 million euros (o31m, $39.5m) and also included a 10 million euro bonus.

Lindelof, 22, joined Benfica from home-town club Vasteras SK in 2012 and has won three Portuguese league titles and two Portuguese Cups during his time in Lisbon.

Lindelof is in line to become the second centre-back signed by United manager Jose Mourinho following last year's o30 million capture of Ivory Coast international Eric Bailly from Villarreal.

Mourinho also has England pair Chris Smalling and Phil Jones at his disposal, along with Argentina international Marcos Rojo, while Dutch utility man Daley Blind has slotted into central defence on occasion.

Lindelof will be United's first new signing of the close season.

They are also in the market for a striker, having included Zlatan Ibrahimovic, currently sidelined by a serious knee injury, on their list of players due to be released on Friday.
People to reelect AL, hopes PM

UNB, Dhaka :

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday hoped the people of Bangladesh will reelect Awami League in the next general election to maintain the continuity of development in the country.

"In the next election, I believe the people who are now getting the benefits of development will surely vote for 'boat' and reelect Awami League to maintain the continuity of development and thus turn Bangladesh into a mid-income country by 2021 and a prosperous one by 2041," she said.

The Prime Minister was speaking as leaders of Awami League and its associate bodies met her at her official residence Ganobhaban in the morning and greeted her marking the 9th anniversary of her release from prison. AL general secretary Obaidul Quader was present.

Sheikh Hasina said, "Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is not amongst us now. But, I believe it's my duty to materialise Bangabandhu's dreams as his daughter. From that dutifulness, I've been working for the country's development and the welfare of its people."

Hasina, also the Awami League chief, asked her party leaders and workers to move ahead imbued with the spirit and ideology of Father of the Nation and render services to the country's people.

"As we've been doing good works for people, and people are now in good condition, my father is watching this from the heaven as at least his country's people are now getting two square meals every day," Hasina said.

Mentioning that the biggest power in the life of a politician is honesty, integrity, ideology and always remaining prepared for making any sacrifice, which Bangabandhu had said time and again, Hasina said, "We'll move ahead imbued with Bangabandhu's ideals."

On this day in 2008, Hasina was released from the special sub-jail set up on the

premises of Jatiya Sangsad Building after remaining captive there for nearly 11 months.

She was arrested from her Sudha Sadan residence at Dhanmondi on July 16, 2007 during the military-backed caretaker government, which assumed power amid the political changeover of 1/11, 2007.

Conceding to people's spontaneous and repeated demands and pressure from different quarters, the caretaker government was compelled to release Sheikh Hasina from jail.

Later, in the national election on December 29 in 2008, the Awami League-led grand alliance registered a landslide victory and Hasina was elected Prime Minister for the second term.

Blasting the BNP-Jamaat nexus for their misrule, looting, oppression during their tenure, Hasina alleged, "People have no trust and confidence in them (BNP) as it's a party of looters."

She said, Bangladesh became champion in corruption for five consecutive times during the BNP rule. "But, now Bangladesh is a role model of development as Awami League is in power. Whenever AL assumed office, the dignity and reputation of the people of Bangladesh increased while their socio-economic condition improved."

Recalling the days in the sub-jail, the Prime Minister said she was kept in an abandoned house for long 11 months, even she was not allowed to come down to the ground floor, let alone attending a doctor when she was sick. "But, I never lost hope."

Hasina lambasted again BNP chief Khaleda Zia for waging her so-called movement to foil the January-5 polls in 2014.

"Khaleda Zia wanted to go to power through burning people alive. But, she (Khaleda) couldn't foil the election, rather people didn't respond to her call and she had to return to her home from her office after appearing before the court in the face of pressure from people," Hasina added.

Criticising again Khandoker Mostaque and Ziaur Rahman for their conspiracies to assassinate the Father of the Nation, she said had Bangabandhu remained alive Bangladesh could have been a developed country in South Asia within the 10 years of country's independence.
Banani rape case shifted to tribunal



The case filed over the much-talked-about rape of two private university girls in a Banani hotel was transferred to a tribunal on Sunday.

The case was shifted to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 of Judge Shafiul Azam from Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Delwar Hossain.

On Thursday, police pressed charges against all the five accused -- Shafat Ahmed, Nayem Ashraf, Sadman Sakif, Shafat's driver Billal Hossain and his bodyguard Rahmat Ali -- in the case.

Ismat Ara Ame, inspector of women support and investigation centre of Dhaka metropolitan police, submitted the chargesheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.

The two university girls were raped at the Raintree Dhaka hotel in Banani of the capital on March 28 last.

One of the rape victims filed a case with Banani Police Station on May 6 accusing the five people.
Deal signed for constructing 3rd terminal at HSIA

Staff Reporter :

An agreement was signed on Sunday for constructing the third terminal building and other infrastructures at Shahjalal International Airport.

The work on the project, financed by Jaica, will begin in April, next year, involving Tk 13610.46 crore. The work is likely to end in April, 2021.

Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marsha Ehsanul Goni Chowdhury, acting vice chairman of Japan International Consulting Operation Nippon Co. Ltd, Haruhiko Kanai, vice chairman of Japan Oriental Consultants Global Ltd Jun Yamauchi, executive vice president of Singapore CPG Consultant Ltd, Rohani Binte Baharin and AKM Rafiquddin of Bangladesh Design Consultant Ltd signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon was present during the signing ceremony held at the headquarter of CAAB.

Addressing the programme Menon said the government has taken initiative to expand the airport services. Once the project is implemented, the passenger handling capacity of the airport will be increased to 20 million from the existing eight million per year while the cargo handling capacity will be increased to 5 lakh tons from the existing 2 lakh tons.

Senior officials of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority and the contractor firms concerned attended the signing ceremony.
Mr Trump is a threat to world order and responsible for Qatar crisis

First the US President paid a highly disputed visit to Saudi Arabia, and no sooner after he had left the region it had plunged into a deep crisis with Qatar being in the middle. In the midst of a deepening diplomatic crisis came the deliberate testimony of the former FBI Chief James Comey - where he clearly stated some of the most dangerous traits or apparent flaws in the character of Mr Donald Trump.



The point, however, by taking a series of contentious decisions - Mr Trump is not only disrupting the normal course of global peace but he is playing with fire knowingly. We are yet to understand what form of political machination did he implanted in the Middle East - that despite repeated pleas for lifting the Qatar blockade made by the US Secretary of State - the Gulf states are still silent. Apprehensively enough, we are witnessing the visible conflicts of interests regarding the peaceful handling of the ongoing diplomatic crisis between separate tweets and statements issued by the US President and the US Secretary of State. This having followed - Mr Trump is not only dividing the American system of government, but is relentlessly trying to establish a one-man rule by practicing the extreme political gimmick that he was gifted by the American public barely six months ago. Back in the American soil, the former FBI Director James Comey's Senate testimony, broadcasted throughout the world last Thursday is already having a big invisible political impact in Washington. It is likely to foster more partisan bitterness and much more ill-feelings about the weaknesses of the US political process. The bottom line is that the former FBI chief had clearly admitted that he not only felt shocked, uncomfortable and stunned by the US President's behaviour, but the President could not be trusted at all. Furthermore, he peppered his testimonial narrative by branding him a liar as well. This incident clearly suggests that the leaders of the most powerful US security establishments, such as the FBI, have lost much of its faith in Mr Trump's presidential integrity and political trustworthiness.



Observing carefully, the damaging impacts of Trump's apathetic and emotion-driven actions have shrouded entire Washington and the Middle East with a dark smoke of distrust, suspense and fear. By resorting to a stronger anti-Qatar stance after the diplomatic ties were cut-off, it has now become clear that his recent visit to Saudi, in some way was actually planned to destabilise the religious unity between the Arab states. If he had come to sow the seed of more bloodshed and lawlessness in the Middle East - it's high time for the Arab states to unite collectively against such destructive conspiracy against Islam.



Also jumping deeper into bed with Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries isn't going to produce a breakthrough, and moreover there is little to believe that Mr Trump cares at all about Israelis or Palestinians, if he honestly did, why would he assign the crucial Arab-Israel peace process to his overworked, inexperienced, and borderline incompetent son-in-law?



Lastly, the point is - Mr Trump is not only facing the growing deficiency of trust and decency at home, appears determined to undermine the greatness of its world role for peace and democracy worldwide. He is proving disastrous because he is not competent and not even aware of high position he is holding as President of the United States. President Trump directly blaming Qatar for supporting terrorism when at the same time it is very important to have ban on Qatar lifter for reducing tension in the Middle East. His Secretary of States Mr Rex W. Tillerson is proving more sober and balanced in expressing his opinion while pressing all sides to bring an end to the crisis in Qatar.
The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.